The Christian hymn "Be Still My Soul" is referenced in this chapter
Manned with torches, the Cartwrights and some of their ranch hands went out in search of Hoss. They headed to one of two obvious places along the road to Virginia City where a traveler would be most vulnerable to an attack. The first location turned up nothing, however, it did not take long at the second to locate Hoss. It took most of the party to carefully load the big man onto the buckboard that had been trailing those on horseback. Two of the hands were sent on to town to contact Sheriff Coffee and bring Doc Martin to the ranch. With only the scant light of the torches, Ben could still see that his son had been severely beaten. Hoss would not have been able to open his eyes because of the tremendous swelling of his face even if he had been conscious. The ride back to the ranch house was arduous. While Joe sat in the back of the buckboard cradling his brother's head in his lap, a vengeful fire was beginning to roar within him.
At the first sign of light, Adam and Joe were mounted and ready to return to the location where they had found Hoss the previous night. Adam had been torn leaving Ben alone to care for their brother especially with Hoss barely clinging to life. Adam tamped down those emotions to be fully focused on the task of finding the men who had done such a despicable thing. Still, Joe's silence worried him. His youngest brother's body language gave away the unspoken rage that was boiling beneath the surface. The confirmation came when they found tracks for three horses heading in the direction of Carson City.
Joe launched himself atop Cochise. "Come on! Mount up. What the hell are you waiting for?"
"Roy's not going to be happy if we take off without the posse."
"I don't give a damn about Roy! You're wasting time, Adam! We know who we're looking for. There's no point arguing and pretending! Now are you coming with me or not?"
Adam gave Joe a hard look before he turned to look for dust along the road in the direction of Virginia City. Seeing none and fearful of what situation his brother might get into alone, Adam mounted Sport. "Let's ride." The brothers urged their horses toward Carson City.
In Virginia City, word of the attack on Hoss soon traveled to the Peters' cafe by way of their customers. Sally was practically beside herself when Harold relayed the news to her. Martha tried her best to get Sally to calm down. At almost seven months into her pregnancy, the baby could not possibly survive if she went into labor.
Sally took her hands from her face to look at Harold and Martha. "I've got to go to him."
Sally's pitiful cries were very disconcerting to, Delores, the new girl who was working her very first day at the cafe. Martha asked her husband to arrange a ride out to the Ponderosa for Sally at the livery. In the meantime, Sally packed a few things so that she could spend the night if necessary.
Hop Sing greeted her at the front door when she arrived at the ranch house. "Big surprise you here, Missy Sally. You come to see Mr. Hoss, but not sure you should have come." The Chinaman looked very solemn as he spoke.
"I'm sorry to show up without letting someone know ahead of time. How is he? Can I see him?"
"Mr. Hoss hurt real bad." Hop Sing paused, shaking his head in sadness.
With tears in her eyes, she pleaded. "Please, Hop Sing, I just have to see Hoss."
The cook nodded and disappeared upstairs. Moments later he returned and Ben came to the top of the stairway. "Sally...I'm not sure this is the right time for you to visit Hoss."
Stress and fatigue were written onto Ben's drawn face as he stood with his arms helplessly hanging at his sides. Sally's hand came up in an attempt to choke back the sobs that were working so hard to come forth. It went against his better judgment, but exhaustion won out as Ben gave the young woman permission to go up. Sally steeled herself for what was to come, even still, she was shocked when she saw Hoss' face. Initially she turned away, unable to look on his battered head that was wrapped up in thick bandages.
"Will he…"
"Live?" Ben finished Sally's question blandly. "The doctor is hopeful, but until he wakes up, we have no idea if there will be long-lasting effects from his injuries." Ben bolstered himself and continued. "My son is strong and I believe he has the will to live."
Sally was briefly lost in her own thoughts. Eventually she turned to look at Ben. "May I sit with him for a while? You look like you could use some rest. Where are Adam and Joe?"
"Looking for the cowards that did this to him."
Sally dropped her head. "It's because of me that Hoss got hurt, isn't it?"
"Don't even think like that. If the man we're thinking did this is truly responsible, then he thought that he had a score to settle which had nothing whatsoever to do with you."
"Yes, but if I hadn't been around, Hoss might not have gotten hurt."
"Like I said before, you are not responsible."
Sally looked at Hoss again. "Please, let me do something to help. I can stay with Hoss while you rest."
"I appreciate your offer, but I would prefer to stay here with my son."
"I promise I'll come get you if he moves even the tiniest bit. Please? It won't do Hoss any good if you get sick."
Ben heaved a deep sigh. He was tired beyond measure. "Alright. I'll be in the room right next door, but please come get me right away if anything changes."
"I will. I promise." Sally offered Ben a teary smile.
"Thank you."
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Adam and Joe stopped frequently to make sure they were still on the right trail. Their search led them to Carson City where they went directly to the sheriff's office. The deputy at the desk confirmed that there had been a telegram from Roy Coffee. The message stated that the Sheriff of Virginia City was looking for a man named Tom Harmon and two others in connection with the brutal attack of Hoss Cartwright. If found the men were to be held for questioning. The deputy told the brothers that the word had been sent out to local establishments, but that so far no one had reported seeing the men in question. With an admonition to steer clear of trouble, Adam and Joe left the sheriff's office to do some looking around town on their own. They hit several lower class drinking establishments, but came up empty. Exhausted and famished after beginning their day at the crack of dawn, Adam and Joe were in need of food and drink. They came upon an upscale saloon and decided to go in.
Little did they know that inside Tom Harmon and his buddies were celebrating their good fortune. Hoss had been carrying over one hundred dollars in his wallet when they attacked him. Now rip-roaring drunk, some card sharps had suckered Harmon into a game of poker at the corner table beside the entrance to the saloon. At first the professionals allowed the inebriated cowboy to win enough to keep him interested, but Harmon's luck had run out. Hoss' pistol rig was sitting in the middle of the table, it was the last thing of value he had to wager. Furious at losing all the money and drunk beyond rational judgment, Tom Harmon was spoiling for trouble when Adam and Joe walked past his table on their way to the bar.
Harmon could not believe his eyes. "Cartwrights! I'm gonna kill me a Cartwright." He lunged for the pistol on the table and fired at the brothers.
The shot missed its mark; it did, however, ricochet off the bar and graze a bystander's leg. Before he could get another shot off, one of the card players seated next to Harmon slammed his shooting hand against the table causing him to drop the pistol. Adam and Joe stood with their revolvers pointed in Harmon's direction. With the threat of being shot past, Joe ran and lifted Harmon out of his chair and punched him relentlessly until Adam and two other men were finally able to restrain him. WIthin minutes the sheriff, who had been out making his rounds, showed up to take control of the situation.
Statements about the incident were taken from the witnesses and Harmon and his accomplices were locked in the Carson City jail. The sheriff sent a wire to Roy Coffee to let him know that Adam and Joe would accompany the deputy from Carson City the next day and return the prisoners to Virginia City for an inquest.
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After Ben went to his room to lay down, Sally sat down in the chair beside Hoss' bed. She wished that he needed tending of some sort, but there was nothing for her to do except sit and stare at the man who had so generously offered to be her husband. She had thought a lot about what Hoss said the day before. In fact, she had slept very little because it weighed so heavily on her mind. Tentatively, Sally reached out and touched his large hand. Not knowing what else to do, she began speaking to him as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Hoss, I'm so sorry you got beat up. I bet anything it was those awful cowboys you ran off a few weeks ago. I doubt you want to marry me now. Why would you? Why would you want that trouble? The crazy thing is that I was thinking about saying 'yes'. Do you know what? I've never even had a beau? Just look at me. I've got some terrible man's baby inside me. But you've been so kind to me. You've made me want to believe that we could have a good life together. Why couldn't you have found me before Bolton did? But now look what's happened. My life is nothing but trouble upon trouble. I can't let you do that, Hoss. You don't deserve it. I'm not going to hold you to what you said. I'll figure something out after the baby comes. Maybe I should do like Martha said, and give him up." Sally broke into sobs. "I just don't know what to do."
"God, I know I've asked you for a lot over the past year. I prayed for help and you sent me Hoss and his family. They're really good people, but Hoss needs your help now. He needs it real bad. Please don't punish him because of me and my problems. Please, God!"
Sally pressed her clasped hands against her forehead and rocked back and forth. She continued to pour out her heart. As she thought through her trials, in her mind Sally could envision her mother laboring in the garden. Her mother would escape there when burdened by the weight of the world to work out her frustrations. Sally could also hear her mother's voice singing a song that brought her comfort. Sally began singing the song quietly to Hoss.
"Be still, my soul, the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He, faithful, will remain.
Be still, my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end."
She continued to hum the melody even after finishing the last strain of the hymn. Suddenly, Hoss began to stir and tried to speak, but his words were raspy and garbled.
"Hoss? Hoss, you can hear me." Again he moved. Sally reached out and patted his arm. "I'll be right back! I'm going to get your Pa!" She disappeared quickly into the hallway.
"Sally." Hoss croaked out. He tried to raise himself up, but could not and then he slipped back into unconsciousness.
Though knocking vigorously on Ben's bedroom door, it took some time for Sally to rouse him from a deep sleep; so by the time they returned to Hoss, the big man appeared just as he had when Ben had left him earlier.
Bleary-eyed, Ben looked at Sally uncertainly. "You're positive that he woke up and that you didn't just imagine it?"
"He tried to talk, Mr. Cartwright. I'm sure of it. Hoss! Hoss!"
Seeing the girl's distress, Ben did not press her further. "It's alright, Sally. I believe you. Sometimes it happens like that. He must not have enough strength yet." Ben forced a smile. "Even still, that's a good sign. Thank you for sitting with him for a while, but, maybe you should head back to town now before it gets too late."
Sally really did not want to leave, but sensed that Ben was not comfortable with her staying with Hoss any longer. "Yes, my driver is waiting. When Hoss does wake up, please tell him", she paused not exactly sure what to say, "please tell him that I hope he gets better real soon."
"Thank you, I will. Maybe you could come back for a visit in a few days."
"Yes, maybe so."
The look she gave Ben left him unsettled. "Let me have Hop Sing get you something to eat and drink before you leave."
Ben escorted Sally down the stairs and called for Hop Sing. After a light lunch, Sally returned to town.