Two minds
"So, you're telling me that Adam is locking himself in his room at night?" Hoss frowned, not knowing what to do with this piece of information. "You sure it wasn't a one-time kinda thing?" Hoss asked, scratching his sweaty and itchy head. They've been out in the field working on a fence while the sun has been burning down on their heads. Hoss noticed that his brother was upset about something because he was literally fuming and he was darn sure it wasn't the sun's fault. Little Joe had been unusually quiet as well; Hoss was just about to ask his little brother what the matter was when the dam inside Joe broke and words spilled out of him like a waterfall, telling Hoss a tale about secret investigations, clues to solve a mystery and a very upsetting, locked-up door.
"I am sure! What do you take me for? I'm not an amateur. I checked for a second time a few nights after and the door was still locked while Adam was asleep." Joe puffed out of anger and agitation. "At least, he is supposed to be asleep… That's the thing, Hoss. Didn't you notice the dark circles under Adam's eyes and how it feels like he is standing beside himself during the day? Whatever he is doing at night in his room, sleeping isn't one of those things. I thought he might be working on something but the few times I checked, the light was rarely on. What bothers me the most, is that he is not trusting us with his problem… whatever that might be!" Joe concluded, taking heavy breaths after finishing his rant. Hoss took it as an opportunity to try and calm the situation down a notch.
"Y' know, Adam is ma brother as well, and I love 'im but I hate how stubborn and reserved he is from time to time. When you think about it, Adam never does it to hurt us… At least not on purpose. He usually does it to protect us… or himself. It might be shocking little brother, but I've done ma own investigation too, ya know…" Hoss took a break, a smug grin plastered onto his sweaty face. Joe's expression turned from mad to skeptical but Hoss could see the curiosity glittering in Joe's eyes, so he continued.
"I noticed the same things as you, but there is one clue you didn't take into account even though it started the whole investigation." Hoss left it at that watching his little brother's face to see if he could follow his train of thought. Joe scrunched his eyebrows, tapping his foot impatiently, while searching his memory for what Hoss meant. Hoss could see the wheels turning inside Joe's head and then, there was a light in his eyes and an almost silent gasp escaping Joe's mouth.
"He sneaked outside during the night and came back in the morning." Joe said, eyes wide. How couldn't he think about that and take that into account? That has been without a doubt the weirdest thing Adam has ever done. Why would he wander that far just to get some air? Why willingly injure his feet in the process? Joe slowly shook his head. "You are right, there has to be another explanation for him sneaking out. At least one that is more convincing that what he tried to sell us." Joe looked at his brother in anticipation. Hoss continued.
"Yes, his explanation bothered me from the start, so I tried to think of what would make Adam sneak outside. And now, that you told me that he locks himself inside his room at night combined with the evidence of lack of sleep, I might've figured it out. Just think about it. Why would he lock his room? I'd sure do it if I'm tryna hide that I'm not in ma room. I bet his bed is empty and he is sneaking out of the window." Hoss said. Watching Joe's skeptical face, he continues to elaborate. "What do you think is worse? Getting caught locking yourself inside your room or getting caught sneaking out at night on a regular basis? I know which I'd prefer for sure." Now, Joe looked convinced. He absentmindedly rubbed his hide in memory of getting caught sneaking out one too many times.
"But why would he snea-" Joe stopped mid-sentence, his eyes jumping to Hoss, staring at him in realization.
"A woman." Both Hoss and Joe said in unison, a slight smile on both their faces. Yes, it was the only logical explanation; Why Adam sneaked out at night and returned in the morning, the locked-up room, the lack of sleep and his secretiveness made sense now. It's not far from reality that a man does crazy things out of love. Adam sure wasn't an exception.
"He really doesn't want us to meet his mystery lady, doesn't he?" Joe asked, his eyes blankly staring into space while thinking of how to deal with the situation.
"That's what I though as well. Adam seriously goes out of his way to make sure to keep her a secret from us. I'm curious as to who it is." Hoss said, deep in thoughts as well.
"Maybe if we knew who it was, we could confront him about it and find a way to tell Pa, y' know, together as brothers." Little Joe suggested. He was determined to solve this whole thing. All the tension at home, the odd behavior, the secrets, it was exhausting. And if Joe already felt like that, he couldn't imagine how Adam must be feeling.
"So how do find out who that mystery lady is? Come on little brother, I know ye has all the plans up your sleeves." Hoss said, rubbing the back of his hand across his forehead and then crossing his arms across his chest.
"Yes, I might have a plan." Joe said, a mischievous grin on his face.
Lying in bed one night, awake, Adam slowly turned his head to the window, gazing at the moon in the sky, casting its gleam through Adam's window and tinging his furniture in a pale, ghostly shade of gray. He was tired, but his restless mind kept wandering to the what-ifs and the consequences of giving in to the temptation of sleep. Somehow, he could feel it. There was a pressure in his chest that made his limbs twitch as if they were ready to move as soon as Adam wasn't the one in control anymore. He was slipping again, when a sound brought him back up to the surface. His head snapped into the direction the sound had come from: His door and the chair wedged underneath the doorknob. At first, Adam thought he was imagining things but there it was again: a creaking noise, as if someone from the outside tried to pry open his door. Adam slowly propped himself up on his elbows, watching in horror in the pale light as the doorknob turned again and the chair creaked under the pressure from outside. Then, the doorknob snapped back into his original position as if being released all of a sudden. Adam held his breath, intently listening for movement outside. The unexpected sound of someone stomping away loudly from his door startled him. Darn it. He was caught locking himself in. Adam took a wild guess and assumed it had been Joe outside, sneakily trying to barge in and then walking off in a huff as if someone denied him his favorite toy. Adam knew Joe was up to something. Even a blind man would've noticed the glances and the sneaking and snooping around… oh Adam hated the snooping. He knew what Joe was doing. He was trying to crack the case. Joe always had a thing for a mystery that needed solving. Adam blamed the countless dime novels Joe read, cursing them for putting idiotic ideas into his brother's influence-able mind. The last mystery that needed solving in Joe's eyes was the case of 'Who ate all the baked goods?' and resulted in Joe following trails of crumbs through the house, questioning witnesses and intently taking note of everything on the ranch for days, until the other Cartwrights had enough and Hoss admitted that it was him that had eaten all the pastries. What a surprise! For Joe, another solved mystery in his book. And now, apparently Adam was detective Joe's top priority. Adam couldn't really blame his younger brother. If he'd witnessed one of his brothers behaving the way he'd done the last few days, he'd put on a detective hat as well. He glanced towards the door again. The chair under the doorknob was a good solution to his moonstruck problem but it was also the weirdest behavior he could display for Joe. He needed a different solution to prevent him from being able to leave the room at night.
A few nights later and after testing different methods, he found a solution that might work. Adam stopped using the chair for locking himself in after he was sure he'd found a better way. Instead of trying to stop moonstruck-Adam from leaving the room, Adam now tried to stop himself from leaving the bed. He'd settle himself in and then used a soft white cloth binding it around his ankle and securing it at the end of his bed frame. Pulling his leg up and down, stretching the material and testing its durability, Adam smiled with satisfaction and laid down in bed. He also still wore the slim pair of shoes which prevented him from simply slipping out of his makeshift bond. With a new sense of safety, Adam was fast asleep.
AN.: Thank you for reading up to here. This is in many ways my first fanfiction, so it would help me a lot to get a review from you concerning your impression so far. I'm also planning on updating this little story regularly. I hope you enjoy it and excuse the mistakes I make as english is my second language.