CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Pip had run home with a note about Elizabeth's arrival, so Ben ensured that the downstairs guestroom was ready for the little girl. Hoss rode to the Pearsons' farm to collect Elizabeth's clothes and a few toys, and the men put all these away in the drawers in the guestroom. Ben had been surprised to read Adam's note about the little girl, but he was pleased. Adam's enthusiasm had shone through his writing, and Ben was looking forward to seeing his son happy again, though he was filled with sorrow for the thirty-two people the epidemic had claimed.
When Adam, Josie, and Elizabeth finally rode into the front yard, Ben was startled to see how thin his son and niece were. Adam had lost the weight he had regained after this summer, and Josie looked like she'd lost ten pounds off her already slim frame. Both slouched in their saddles. Only the little girl seemed well fed and rested. She waited patiently atop Sport while Adam slid to the ground and reached up for her. Josie nearly tumbled off Scout and gratefully handed her reins to Jimmy. She trudged to the porch and fell into her uncle's arms.
"Welcome home, Josie," Ben said, stroking her hair.
"I don't think I've ever been so glad to be home," Josie said as she drew a deep, shuddering breath.
Adam joined them with Elizabeth perched in his arms. "Hey, Pa," he said, shifting the little girl to his left side so he could shake his father's hand.
"Good to have you home, son," Ben said, smiling. "And this must be Elizabeth!" He tweaked the girl's cheek. Elizabeth giggled and buried her face in Adam's shoulder.
Adam introduced Elizabeth to his father as well as to Hoss and Little Joe, who had wandered out to the porch when they heard Adam's and Josie's voices.
"Let's get you all inside," Ben said, rubbing his arms vigorously. "It's cold out here."
Adam set Elizabeth on the ground and took her hand as they entered the house. Her eyes widened as she gazed around the enormous home. The living room alone was nearly as big as the farmhouse she had lived in her entire life. Adam led her into the guestroom.
"This is your room," he announced. He was pleased to see that Hoss had set out a few of Elizabeth's own toys in plain sight. She raced to them.
"My blocks!" she squealed.
"We got your clothes in the bureau there, too," Hoss said.
Elizabeth went to the bureau and opened one of the drawers. She pulled out a blue gingham dress, buried her face in it, and inhaled. "Smells like Ma's laundry soap," she whispered and burst into tears.
Ben instinctively reached for the crying child, but Adam beat him to her. He scooped Elizabeth up in his arms and sat with her in the nearby rocking chair, where he held her close.
Ben smiled sadly. He remembered how after Marie's death, Adam would often rock the then four-year-old Little Joe in that very chair. Adam clearly had not lost a step in the past sixteen years, and Ben caught himself daydreaming of grandchildren. He shook his head to clear the thought and whispered to Adam that supper would be ready in a few minutes. Adam nodded as he continued to rock the weeping girl, and the rest of the family left the room.
Josie made a beeline for the washroom, where she filled the bathtub nearly to the brim with steaming hot water. She sank into it and sighed deeply. She sat in the bath so long that Little Joe came upstairs and banged on the washroom door.
"Hey, Josie! You drown?"
"Yes!" Josie shouted back.
"Well resurrect yourself and come have supper!"
She groaned and heaved herself from the bathtub. By the time she dressed and made her way downstairs, Elizabeth was all cheered up and chasing Hoss around the coffee table. Josie laughed as Hoss let Elizabeth catch him and tackle him to the ground with a ground-shaking boom.
"Come on, you two!" Ben called. "Supper's ready."
Everyone raced to the table except Josie and Adam, who plodded to their seats. Hop Sing had roasted two chickens to celebrate the end of the epidemic and Josie and Adam's return home. After Ben blessed the food, everyone dug in. Ben suppressed a chuckle as Elizabeth gave Adam very specific instructions for the correct placement of the chicken, potatoes, and carrots on her plate. Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe tried to engage Adam and Josie in conversation, but neither of them had the energy for much beyond lifting food to their mouths. By the time Hop Sing served the pumpkin pie he had made for dessert, Josie's eyes were drooping. A few minutes later, her head dropped, and Hoss snatched her plate away just before her face landed in her pie. Josie's head snapped up as soon as it hit the table.
"What?!" she shouted, her eyes wild. "What is it?! It's okay! I'm awake! I'm awake!" She blinked her eyes a few times, looked around at her very amused family, and remembered where she was. Ben, Hoss, Little Joe, and Elizabeth broke out in giggles, and even Adam joined in with a tired chuckle.
"Josephine," Ben said once he brought his laughter under control, "go to bed."
"Gladly," she replied. She excused herself from the table, kissed everyone goodnight, and headed upstairs, where she collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep fully clothed.
Once the dinner dishes were cleared, Adam took Elizabeth into her room and helped her change into a nightgown. As had already become their custom, he tucked her into bed and sang her a song—tonight's selection was "Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming." Ben smiled as his son's voice drifted through the door and into the living room. Like Josie, Ben had missed hearing Adam sing.
When the song ended, Adam kissed Elizabeth's forehead and headed back into the living room. Ben handed him a brandy, but he waved it away. "Bedtime for me, too," he said and started for the stairs.
Ben grabbed his arm and turned Adam to face him. "Son, it's good to have you back."
Adam smiled. He understood his father's meaning. "Thanks, Pa," he said and turned once more toward his bedroom.
When he heard Adam's door close, Little Joe turned to his father. "He saved that little girl's life, didn't he, Pa?"
"I think they saved each other," Ben said.
Everyone enjoyed the three weeks Elizabeth Pearson spent on the Ponderosa. The child still had bad moments as she continued to grieve the loss of her parents, but she always had an honorary big brother or sister on hand to comfort her. She enjoyed chasing around the front yard with Pip and jumping out at Little Joe from around corners. She tried this on both Hoss and Adam, but Little Joe had the best reactions. He screamed louder than anyone else in the family. But her favorite pastime was following Adam around the ranch. This impeded his work a bit, but he managed to find little chores she could do to help him out. Elizabeth particularly enjoyed the day she spent helping Adam patch up some holes in a few of the line shacks. He handed her a paintbrush and a pail of pitch and told her to have fun. Josie shook her head when Adam and Elizabeth returned home that evening, and she saw the little girl was coated in the sticky resin.
"If you think I'm bathing her tonight, you've got another think coming," Josie said as Adam guided the filthy child into the house.
It took Adam forty-five minutes to scrub all the pitch off Elizabeth while Josie watched and laughed.
Once Elizabeth finally emerged from her bath, her skin pink from all the scrubbing, Adam dressed her in her nightgown and carried her downstairs for a bedtime story. She insisted he read to her in the living room so the entire family could hear the story, too, so Adam sat down in Ben's burgundy armchair. Elizabeth snuggled up in his lap and rested her head against his chest. She wouldn't let him begin reading, however, until Ben, Hoss, Josie, Little Joe, and Hop Sing were all seated quietly in the living room.
"All right," Adam said, opening a battered volume of fairy tales, which fell open to a familiar, much-loved story. "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," he announced and began to read.
Elizabeth fell asleep in Adam's lap only halfway through the story, but Hoss insisted he finish the tale. When the story was over, Adam handed Hoss the book and picked up Elizabeth so her head rested on his shoulder. He carried her to her bedroom, laid her in bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin. He stood there for a moment, gazing wistfully at the sleeping little girl. After several long minutes, he kissed her forehead and left the room.
The weeks followed in much the same pattern with Elizabeth tagging along after Adam like a tiny shadow. One day, watching Elizabeth riding on Adam's shoulders as he walked to the barn, Hoss remarked to Josie, "Looks like you been replaced, Little Sister."
Josie laughed. "That's what I get for growing up." There was something very fitting and natural about seeing Adam carry a little child around with him, and as much as she loved having the whole family living together at the ranch house, maybe it was time Adam moved on with his own life.
The day in late November when Elizabeth's aunt and uncle arrived from Sacramento to claim her was a sad one for the Cartwrights. But when Elizabeth saw her father's sister step off the stage in Virginia City and screamed "Aunt Peggy!" as she rushed into the woman's arms, they knew the little girl was going where she belonged. They all hugged her goodbye and wished her well. Elizabeth held onto Adam a long time.
"I'm gonna miss you," she whispered.
"I'll miss you, too, kid," Adam replied, blinking back tears. "I'll visit you every time I come through Sacramento."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Adam kissed Elizabeth's forehead one last time and lifted her into the stage beside her aunt. As they watched the stage drive away, Ben put an arm around Adam's shoulders.
"You all right, son?" he asked.
"Yeah. She belongs with her family. I have to admit, though… No, never mind."
"What?" Ben asked.
"It's silly."
"Coming from you? I doubt that."
Adam chuckled. "Part of me had hoped Roy wouldn't be able to locate her family. I had it all planned out. I thought I'd adopt her and build us a little house down by the lake. Maybe Josie would like to live out there too." He dropped his head in embarrassment.
"That's not silly, Adam. That's beautiful."
Adam sighed. "I want a family, Pa."
"What do you call us?" Ben asked in mock bemusement as he gestured to Adam's brothers and cousin, who were chatting with one another a few feet away.
"You know what I mean," Adam said, smiling as he kicked at a dirt clod.
"Get on with it then. Do you have young woman in mind to assist you with this endeavor?"
Adam looked up at his father, a dopey grin spreading across his face. "No," he said and broke into a laugh.
Ben laughed, too, and clapped his son on the back. "You'll have to start looking. Come on, let's have lunch."
They turned around and rejoined the family, Ben's arm still draped across Adam's shoulders.