Soon after the sun set completely, Hoss and Adam arrived with Joe in tow. The youngest Cartwright's left eye was swollen and already turning black and blue. He shot a one eyed glare at me as he was marched to his father.
Well. I knew I shouldn't be surprised that he blamed me. After all, he had planned on it being a quick excursion into town, one his family wouldn't discover. And I tattled on him.
No doubt he believed he had everything under control.
I excused myself to the kitchen to inform Hop-Sing he could start putting supper on the table. Joe was due a scolding and I didn't want to hear it. If I were present, it would only make him more sore at me. I had no idea how I was going to soothe his ruffled feelings as it was.
Of course, Hop-Sing had already heard the Cartwrights come in, so he didn't need me to tell him anything. I managed to get in his way in five minutes before he ordered me out. Reluctantly, I returned to the great room, not sure what I would find there.
"He said his name was Cal Wilson," Joe was saying. He was leaning against the fireplace as though he hadn't just been in a fist fight. "I swear I didn't do anything to provoke him."
"Sure you didn't," Adam said, his tone full of skepticism.
Joe shot his brother a sharp look. "He knew who I was, Pa," he said, turning back to Ben.
"That really doesn't mean anything," Adam commented. "I don't think there are many people in Virginia City who haven't seen us and even fewer who have heard of us."
"Did he say anything about Billington?" Hoss asked.
"Hoss, Billington would be a fool if he tried to do a land grab when he doesn't have any power or position to use for leverage," Adam objected. "He and his wife left Virginia City to avoid arrest. They wouldn't have come back."
"But they might have," Hoss told him stubbornly.
"That Cal Wilson didn't say anything about who he's working for," Hoe said, ignoring both of his brothers. "He didn't seem like he wanted to have a conversation after he saw me."
"Is it too much to hope that you didn't ask him why he tried to scare Rosemary?" Ben asked.
"Try? There was no try. He did scare me," I felt obliged to correct.
"There wasn't any time for questions! I thought I said that. I barely learned his name," Joe protested. "And it's more than we knew before. We can find out who he works for and then go after him."
The one thing Joe had correct was how fast the fight must have begun with Cal Wilson. He couldn't have been in the saloon for longer than ten minutes, if I remembered correctly. Not much time to have a conversion or to ask any questions.
"Cal Wilson isn't a name I've heard before," Adam said, his tone serious. "He must be new to the area. That's going to make it hard to learn who he might be friends with or who he is working for. It's not likely we could describe him and someone would recognize him from our words."
"I can ask the men if they've seen or heard anything when they've been in town," Hoss volunteered. "Since they're not Cartwrights, someone might have been freer to speak up around them."
How I wished there was something I could do to help! Instead, I had been frightened and ran to them for protection. True, it had been my choice to do so, but it still weighed on my mind. I felt more of an imposition than a help.
"Supper getting cold," Hop-Sing declared from behind me. "Come to table or I quit! Go back to China! Throw all food out!"
Once, his threats might have alarmed me. He always managed to sound as though he meant every word. But I knew his loyalty to the Cartwright family now. He employed his threats with a strategy I had to admire. I'd lost count of the times when he'd announced a meal at just the right moment when the family needed a change of conversation.
"We're coming, Hop-Sing," Hoss protested, spinning around. "Don't throw anything out."
The rest of the family followed him to the table. "Hold on, Joe,' Adam said, grabbing his brother's arm. "I think you are forgetting something."
"What?" Joe demanded, immediately trying to escape. "I haven't forgotten anything. I told you everything that happened, how it happened, and everything that was said. What could I have forgotten?"
"You haven't apologized to Rosemary for leaving her alone on the streets of Virginia City when she's already been scared."
"Adam, no," I began to protest. Joe was already annoyed with me. I didn't want to make it worse. Now when there were more important matters at hand. "It's really not—"
"No, Adam's right, Rosemary," Ben said. "An apology needs to be made, considering everything that happened."
Joe heaved a heavy sigh. "Fine. I'm sorry."
"For what?" Ben prompted before I could say anything.
"I'm sorry for abandoning you in Virginia City," Joe said as if he were reading the words from memory. He cast a glance at his oldest brother. "And I'm sorry for talking you into going in the first place. There. Can you go eat now and forget all about this?"
Adam turned to me. "What do you say, Rosemary? Will you accept a half-hearted apology? Or does my younger brother need to try harder?"
Why did I have the feeling he wanted me to agree with him and make Joe apologize again? But, looking at Joe's bruised eye, I couldn't bring myself to do that to him. Not when he already felt humiliated by the whole thing. First getting defeated in a fight and then having his brothers come drag him home? Surely he'd already learned his lesson.
"Of course I accept your apology," I said to him. "Nothing happened to me and Slim saw me here safely so... All's well that ends well?"
And with that we were able to go to the table. "So did you have a conversation with Slim?" Joe asked with sudden interest. "Maybe he owes me for creating an opportunity for you two to have a conversation. That's what you wanted, right?"
Why did he have to say that? I couldn't throw a glass at his head. Not in front of Ben. "I've changed my mind," I said, refusing to look at Joe. "Am I allowed to do that? I don't forgive him."
As Joe protested, Ben said, "Joseph, if you are going to feel free to comment on Rosemary's personal life, you are giving her permission to question you and offer her own commentary on your own decisions. Is that what you want?"
The youngest Cartwright paused. "No," he said slowly.
I'm not sure what comments he thought I might give, but if he made him leave me alone about my courtship, or lack thereof, I would take it.
"Then, we will say no more about it," Ben said firmly.
At least he wasn't going to make Joe apologize. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adam frowning at me. Oh, dear. Did he suspect there was more to the story about me and Slim? If there was anything worse than Joe teasing me about romance, it was Adam becoming involved.
By Saturday morning, Joe's eye was swollen shut. At breakfast, he did not offer to go riding or fishing or any of the fun things he might normally want to do when I was there. I could only assume that he was annoyed with me still. I don't know what he had planned that day, for I spent my time with Hoss.
Hoss' task of tending to injured and sick animals was no one I was usually eager to help with. Blood made me queasy and reminded me of when I'd shot a man earlier in the summer. But since I didn't want to be sent along with whatever Adam was doing, I forced myself to endure.
Sometimes, Adam was just too perceptive about things. Discussing Slim with Ben was one thing. I had no desire to have a repeat conversation with Adam.
It was while I was helping Hoss that I managed to learn a little more about what had happened in town the previous night. After soundly thrashing Joe, the stranger—Cal Wilson?—had managed to escape unseen. The sheriff had arrived, and since someone had to be held responsible for the damage to the saloon, he'd taken Joe to the jail. Cal Wilson could be anywhere in town or even on the Ponderosa, watching us for whatever reason he had to do so in the first place.
And that thought definitely made me uneasy.
If Hoss noticed that I kept looking over my shoulder, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he began to tell me about the many animals he'd tried to raise as a child.
The idea of him carrying a squirrel on his shoulder made me laugh: how incongruous such a tiny animal on the shoulder of such a large man must have been! But it was exactly what I would have expected of him, and I wished I had the same talent for handling animals.
When I asked him how he'd learned, Hoss paused and then stared up at the sky. "It wasn't anything I learned," he finally said. "I guess you might say it comes natural to me. I treat animals with respect and kindness, and they know I'm not going to hurt them."
Which made sense, and could probably be applied to people.
A colt nudging my arm for a treat or attention distracted me, and I put the matter out of my mind.
On Sunday, the sky was gray as we went into town. There was a cool, damp breeze that made me grateful for the shawl on my shoulders. Winter was coming ever closer, and I wasn't looking forward to it.
Once we arrived, we were greeted by more people than I could count. It seemed the entire town had learned about what had happened. Every lady had the same thing to say: it was awful, and I ought to have come to them first. It was difficult to tell what they were more concerned about: that someone had frightened me in the middle of the night or that I had been staying on the Ponderosa.
Apparently, a young woman alone on a ranch with four men who treat her like a daughter and sister was unheard of.
Though I knew it wasn't the safest thing to do, I finally made my escape from the churchyard alone. The cemetery was only a few yards away and was always peaceful. Whenever I was there, I imagined I was visiting my own father's grave. Hoss had buried Daddy by the river where he'd been killed. Though the Cartwrights had offered to take me, I hadn't felt up to going there myself.
Maybe one day I would.