-Part 5-
A day later, Abbie was awakened at night by voices in the hallway. She recognized the voices as Hoss's and Sarah's.
"Adam." she said, shaking Adam awake. He opened his blue-grey eyes to look at her.
"Abbie." he said, sitting up, "What's wrong?" He could see on her face that she was concerned about something.
"It sounds like something is wrong. Listen. In the hallway." Abbie said. Adam could hear Hoss and Sarah talking in the hallway, and, by the tone of their voices, it did sound like something was going on. Adam got out of bed with Abbie following after him as they walked out into the hallway.
"Now, Hoss, what's going on out here? Some people are trying to sleep." Adam said. Sarah was the one that looked the most shaken.
"Sarah reckons she saw somebody outside." Hoss said.
"You don't believe me, Hoss?" Sarah asked.
"No, I do believe you, Sarah. That's just what I'm worried about." Hoss said.
"What do you mean 'somebody'?" Abbie asked, "You couldn't see who it was or what they looked like?" Sarah shook her head.
"It was dark. I couldn't sleep, so I went downstairs for a little while. I saw someone outside through the window. I think they saw me in the window because they ran." Sarah explained.
"Dad burn it, Sarah. You... you gotta be careful. What if that scoundrel would have seen you and took a shot at you?" Hoss said, placing his large hands on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Hoss." she said, casting her eyes downward.
"Nah, I'm sorry, Sarah. I shouldn't have snapped at ya' like that. I just... worry about ya' is all." he said.
"I know. Thanks, Hoss." she said, smiling at him.
"You don't think it was one of those men the sheriff mentioned, that formed the angry mob?" Abbie said.
"It's a high possibility. If they heard about pa, they'd be here." Adam said.
"If it was, why would there have been only one person. Wouldn't the whole group come instead of just one?" Sarah asked.
"Not if they sent just one person to scout out the situation." Abbie said.
"It makes sense that they'd come at night, when we're all asleep." Adam said.
"And take us by surprise. " Abbie said.
"I reckon they knew they'd get a fight if they came during the day." Hoss said.
"That guy will probably go back and tell the others he's been seen." Abbie said.
"Then, what? They'll leave?" Sarah asked. Adam shook his head.
"They'll probably attack the Ponderosa now while they think we're still getting ready for them." he said.
"I'll go wake up Little Joe." Hoss said before hurrying down the hall to Joe's room.
"Little Joe." he said, trying to shake his younger brother awake, "Little Joe, dad burn it, wake up!" Joe just groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore Hoss's waking him up in the middle of the night. This just made Hoss angrier, and he continued attempting to shake Joe awake.
"Dad burn it, Joe. This ain't no time to be lazy. Those fellas the sheriff was talkin' about are fixin' to attack the Ponderosa." Hoss said. Joe rolled over, opening his eyes to look up at his older brother.
"In the middle of the night?" Joe asked, blinking tiredly.
"Adam reckons they're tryin' to take us by surprise." Hoss said.
"Adam's paranoid. There's probably nothing to worry about." Joe said, preparing to roll back over and go back to sleep.
"No, Little Joe. Sarah saw somebody outside just a few minutes ago." Hoss said. Joe sat up, looking at his brother. Joe knew that if Sarah said she saw someone, then she must have, or, at least truly believed that she did. Sarah wouldn't lie, and she wouldn't play a practical joke, either. Joe got up out of bed.
"Alright. It might be at least worth checkin' out." he said. He quickly put on a shirt and followed Hoss down the hall.
Meanwhile, Adam, Abbie and Sarah headed downstairs. Adam had quickly thrown a shirt on and was buttoning it as he walked down the stairs. Abbie and Sarah were both in their nightgowns. Adam went to the gun cabinet and grabbed his pistol, and Abbie did the same.
"Abbie, you're not going out there like that." Adam said. He wasn't going to let his fiancee go out and fight an angry mob of men in her nightgown.
"Adam." she said, "I don't have to put clothes on. This is kind of an emergency situation."
"Abbie, I'm not letting you go out there like that." Adam said. Abbie sighed.
"Adam." she said.
"Excuse me, Adam, Abbie, I don't think there's time to argue right now." Sarah said, "Those men will probably be here any minute." Adam let out a frustrated sigh as he and Abbie loaded their pistols. Hoss and Little Joe came down the stairs.
"Any sign of 'em yet?" Joe asked.
"Not yet." Adam said. Hoss walked over to Sarah, placing his large hands on her shoulders.
"Now, Sarah, will you do me a favor?" he asked.
"Of course, Hoss." she said.
"Will you go upstairs and check on pa? And, you stay up there with him 'till this is all over and done." Hoss said. Sarah wasn't a violent person, and hardly ever fought or used guns, and Hoss was worried that she might get hurt. Even if she didn't join in the fight, she could still get hurt in the crossfire. Hoss was sure she would be safe upstairs in Ben's room with him. Sarah hated when Hoss was about to face danger, but, she knew that he was afraid of losing her. She knew about how he lost a woman he loved once before and how it devastated him. She didn't want that to happen to him again, especially if it happened because of something she could prevent by doing as he asked. She nodded.
"Be careful, Hoss." she said, kissing him on the cheek before hurrying upstairs. Hoss and Joe took their pistols out of the gun cabinet and loaded them while Abbie looked out the window.
"Here they come." she said. Adam and the others walked over and looked out the window as well. They could what looked like several lantern lights approaching in the distance.
"We'd better get a move on and get out there." Hoss said. The three of them stepped outside. They could see a large group of men approaching the ranch-house. The men were carrying a lantern in one hand and a weapon in the other.
"We hear your place is infected with the sickness. We came to fix that." one of the men said.
"You can try." Abbie said, glaring at him, holding her pistol up to aim at him. Hoss put his arm out and gently pushed her arms down.
"Now, just wait a minute, Miss Abbie. You just let me talk to these fellers before we all start fightin' each other." he said.
"Fine. But, they're not going to listen to you. These men are blinded by fear." she said, though she did as Hoss asked and let him speak.
"Well, that may be so. But, I reckon I still oughta try." Hoss said. He then turned to face the group of men.
"Now, you all listen here, I know you're all scared and whatever else, but, hurtin' innocent folks ain't the way to go about solvin' anything." he said.
"This is the only way to get rid of this fever for good. If we don't stop this people are going to keep dying." one of the men said.
"Not everybody dies from the fever. We got two people right here that had the fever and are just fine now." Hoss said.
"Way more people die from it than live. We can't let that keep happening." one of the men said.
"We know about Ben. We know he has the fever." another one of the men said, "This is the only way."
"Now, listen, dad burn it..." Hoss started to say, but was cut short when one of the men fired a shot at him. The shot missed, and Hoss, Joe, Adam, and Abbie took that opportunity to get behind something for cover. More of the men started firing shots.
"Looks like your talk really got to them." Joe said sarcastically, earning an irritated look from Hoss. The Cartwrights and the men exchanged shots for a few minutes when a couple of the men tried to sneak up behind them. One of them started fist fighting with Hoss, which eventually ended in the man being knocked out cold on the ground. One of them tried to grab hold of Abbie, but she picked up a nearby shovel and knocked him out cold. Unfortunately, one of the bullets from one of the men who were still shooting grazed Abbie's upper arm.
"Agh." she said, dropping the shovel and holding onto her arm where she had been shot.
"Abbie." Adam said, hurrying over to her. Joe and Hoss continued shooting at the men.
"Abbie." he said, gently taking hold of her injured arm, "Let me see your arm."
"I'm fine, Adam. It's just in the arm. The bullet just grazed me." she said.
"Abbie, you're bleeding." he said. It was true. Though, the bullet didn't lodge in her arm, it left a fairly deep wound when it grazed her, and she was bleeding pretty steadily. Just then, they heard a booming voice from the ranch-house.
"STOP."
They looked in the direction of the voice and saw Ben standing in the doorway with Sarah following close behind him. The men, as well as the Cartwrights, stopped firing their guns and looked at Ben.
"Ben?" one of the men said in surprise, "We heard you had the fever. What are you doing out here?"
"I did have the fever. But, now, I'm healthy again. But, all of you were ready and willing to kill me and my family." Ben said, approaching the men.
"We... we're just trying to keep people from dying from the fever." one of the men said.
"So, you'll kill them instead. Is that it?" Ben said, "Not everyone who gets the fever dies. I didn't, Joe didn't, and Abbie didn't. And, some others in town didn't, either. But, if you had your way, you'd have killed them, innocent people. And, I'm betting, some of those people you killed would have lived, too. You're not controlling anything. What you're doing is murder." Ben said. The men were all silent for a few moments, contemplating what Ben had said.
"You're right. I never saw it that way, but you're right. What we're doing is murder. It ain't right." one of the men said.
"Yeah, we should be helping each other, not killing each other." another one of the men said.
"We're sorry, Ben." another said. The rest of them nodded in agreement before all of the men left the Ponderosa. Ben and Sarah turned their attention to their family, and noticed Abbie's arm.
"What happened?" Ben asked.
"She got shot." Adam said.
"Shot?" Sarah said, "Oh, Abbie, you take too many risks."
"It's fine. The bullet just grazed me." Abbie insisted. Though the wound didn't look extremely serious, there was a decent amount of blood.
"Get her inside." Ben said.
"Come on, Abbie." Adam said, putting an arm around her, leading her inside as the others followed them.
"Sit down." Ben told her. She took a seat on the couch with Adam sitting beside her.
"Somebody should go into town and get the doctor." Adam said.
"Wait a minute, Adam. Let me look at it." Sarah said.
"What?" Adam said, "Why?"
"My father was a doctor, remember? I told you before, he taught me some things." Sarah answered.
"It's alright, Adam. I trust her." Abbie said. It wasn't that Adam didn't trust Sarah. She was a smart girl, and she definitely meant well. It's just that he would have felt better having an actual doctor treat it. Adam hesitantly agreed and Abbie showed Sarah her wound.
"It doesn't look like the bullet is lodged inside. It did just graze you." Sarah said as she examined the wound.
"See, I told you all it was fine." Abbie said.
"But, the wound is a little deep. It's bleeding pretty steadily." Sarah said, "It will need to be sewn up."
"So, we do need to get the doctor." Joe said. Sarah smiled and shook her head.
"I can do it. I've seen my father do it many times, and I've even done it before." she said.
"I'm impressed." Joe said. Hoss got a huge smile on his face.
"Yup. That's my girl. She's just so dad burned smart." he said. Adam, however, still wasn't sure it was a good idea.
"Don't give me that look, Adam. I know what I'm doing. As I said, I've done this before. It's one of the simplest things to do." Sarah said.
"Alright. Fine." Adam finally said. Hoss turned his attention to Ben.
"Pa, I know you're feelin' better and all, but, I think you should probably be gettin' to bed. Don't wanna overdo it." Hoss said. Ben smiled.
"Well, it looks like everything's being taken care of here, so, alright, Hoss, I'll get to bed." Ben said.
"You can all go to bed. I'll take care of things here." Sarah said.
"Now, that's the best news I've heard all night." Joe said.
"You sure you don't need anythin', there, Sarah?" Hoss asked.
"I'm alright, Hoss." she said, "Thank you." Ben, Hoss, and Joe went off to bed while Sarah gathered the supplies she would need to treat the wound on Abbie's arm. She started cleaning the wound first. Abbie winced and jerked away.
"Hold still, will you?" Sarah said.
"Sorry." Abbie said, shrugging her shoulders as she smiled at Sarah. Sarah smiled and shook her head as she continued cleaning the wound.
"Alright, this is going to hurt a little. Are you ready?" Sarah said, as she prepared to start stitching up the wound.
"Do it." Abbie said. She winced as Sarah started sewing up the wound, and Adam held onto her hand. Before long, Sarah was finished stitching up the wound.
"There." she said, smiling.
"You really are good at this." Abbie said, looking at the stitched up wound, "Thank you, Sarah."
"You're welcome, Abbie." Sarah said.
"Thank you." Adam told her.
"You're welcome, Adam." Sarah said. She smiled at them before standing and walking towards the stairs.
"Goodnight." she said as she walked up the stairs.
"We'd better get to bed, too." Abbie said, placing a hand on Adam's arm.
"Yeah. Let's go." Adam said. The two of them stood and walked up the stairs and off to bed.
THE END