7

"Ultima, I'm home," Adam called out as he took off his gun belt and placed it next to his hat and work gloves on the long, elegant table in the foyer. A large gilt-edged mirror was above it and a vase of roses sat in the middle of the table. He had been reprimanded many times by Ultima for leaving all his belongings there but Adam always just smiled and did so anyway.

Mrs. Fontaine came rushing out. "Mrs. Cartwright asked that as soon as you get home…" She didn't finish because Ultima walked into the area.

Ultima made a sound of frustration. "Adam," she said and then looked at him. "I have asked you before not to wear your boots into the house. That's an expensive Chinese rug and I've also asked…oh, Adam. What am I going to do with you?"

He pulled her to him with an arm around her waist. "Anything you want, wife." And grinning at her annoyance, he leaned down, bending her over slightly and kissed her, letting his lips run down to the exposed part of her neck. Mrs. Fontaine quietly left. She didn't want to be around to see if Mister Cartwright would sit his wife on the table, pull up her skirts and take his homecoming welcome that way.

Now," he said quietly, "why the furrowed brow? It's not the boots. What is it?" He put his arm around his wife and guided her into the drawing room. They sat on the sofa as if they were a young couple fresh into courting. Adam held both her hands in his, ready to listen.

"Mr. Forsyth stopped by today." Adam started to speak. "I know, I know. You told me not to accept him but I…well, I thought that if I could handle you, I could handle anyone but I overestimated myself—or underestimated you. He upset me."

"What did he say? Or was it something he did?"

Ultima pulled her hands away and stood up, her back to Adam as he watched her. Suddenly Ultima wasn't sure exactly how much she should tell her husband. Adam was usually logical in his dealings, at least from what she had observed, but then she had once seen the aftereffects of his losing his temper and it had frightened her; he had remained in a dark mood for days afterward. She remembered that her childhood tutor had once told her that "still waters run deep." That was Adam; so much was below the surface. Ultima was always aware that they hadn't married for love but they had grown to be fond of one another and Adam did indulge her; she had only to ask and it was given to her. But yet she always sensed that he had a dangerous side and then she knew he did after she had finally found out most of what had happened.

Ultima still vividly remembered the incident when Adam had come home late one night, blood splattered on his clothing and with a bruised and swollen cheek and eye and spilt knuckles that had been closed and bandaged by the doctor in town. Adam had refused her sympathy and solicitations and didn't even say anything to Hoss who had ridden home with him; he just went into his den and shut the door. Ultima heard the key turn in the lock.

"What happened, Hoss?" She stood before him in her dressing gown and Hoss had a worried look on his face.

"Oh, Adam got into a fight with some sonofabitch…excuse me, Ultima. I just…it's been…" Hoss blushed. Of all the Cartwright brothers, Hoss was the only one who was as polite toward women as their father, watching what he said and always being gallant. His slip into raw language only showed how upset he was.

"It's all right, Hoss. Just tell me. Please." She looked at Hoss' face and noticed that he avoided her eyes, preferring to stare at the pine slats in the flooring instead.

"Believe it or not, Adam won the fight." Then Hoss looked at her and smiled. "The other guy looks worse, a heckuva lot worse. But you know how Adam is. Iffen I tell you about it, he'll be sore I done so since it's his business. He'll tell you himself what happened if he wants you to know."

And after Hoss left, Ultima debated whether or not she should go to the locked door and knock. She decided against it and climbed the stairs to her room. She didn't understand her husband at all but even if Hoss had told what had incited the fight between her husband and another man, she still wouldn't have understood; it was a matter of masculine power and of honor.

The evening had started pleasantly enough; Hoss and Adam had been out on the property all day marking trees for cutting to fulfill the contract with the railroad and instead of going to their homes, they rode into Virginia City to have a "coupla cold beers," as Hoss put it, at The Silver Dollar saloon.

Adam and Hoss sat at one of the round tables in the front by the bar talking and laughing, exchanging greetings to the many others who all said that they hadn't seen Adam in a while, and enjoying their mugs of beer. Hoss and Adam then went going over the events of the day and discussed how the Pacific Railroad was expanding.

"I'm telling you, Hoss, take some of that money you've managed to stash away and invest it. I guarantee that railroad stock is going to go sky-high."

"Tell you the truth, Adam, right now I'd rather take all my money and invest it in a good steak with fried potatoes, a few more rounds of beer and a broad-hipped woman with welcoming thighs. I'd love to pillow my head on some woman's soft breasts and enjoy them. Damn, I'm making myself uncomfortable just talking about it."

Adam laughed. "You need to find yourself a wife. I tell you…" and Adam's face took on a tender aspect that Hoss noticed, "I wasn't sure about marrying Ultima but now that I did, well…" Then Adam took on a more sardonic expression. "Hell, I'm not drunk enough yet to get maudlin over my wife." He took a long draught of his beer.

"To Ultima," Hoss said, raising his mug, "And all other women with welcoming thighs!"

"To Ultima," Adam said, grinning and then took another swallow.

Other ranch hands from the surrounding properties began to stream in as it was dusk and their workday was through. The place became noisier and more saloon maids came down from upstairs, the short skirts showing off their legs and their low-cut dresses with spangles and sparkles attracting attention. Some had feathers and other ornaments in their hair and all wore earrings that swayed and attracted the light.

Hoss and Adam along with the others looked up as the bartender, Harley, shouted. "Damn you, Rollo! I've told you before—if you gotta take a goddamn piss, go out back. Those spittoons are for tobacco spittin', not for you to stink up my fuckin' saloon with your horse piss smell!"

Adam chuckled and Hoss grinned and shook his head. Rollo worked for Farley Maxwell, another rancher who had a smaller herd than the Cartwrights. There was bad blood between Maxwell and the Cartwrights—mainly Adam—because Adam refused to return the mavericks that had wandered onto the Ponderosa. Ben had suggested that in order to keep peace, Adam should return them and not brand them as he planned. But Adam had stated that Maxwell knew that any unbranded cattle that wandered onto another rancher's property was his to claim.

"Maybe it'll teach Farley to keep his fences repaired and to brand earlier in the year. I'm having them culled and branded tomorrow—Farley Maxwell be damned." But Ben worried; he knew that Adam was stubborn and that Maxwell was as well; there would be a bigger conflict than there had already been.

Rollo was a mean, huge Maxwell ranch hand who had been in the confrontation with Adam over the mavericks a few days earlier. Rollo did just about anything he wanted because no one dared to stop him even though he wore no gun. But he did have a curved-blade hunting knife with a horn handle and he had been known to do serious damage, once carving his initials in a man's chest while the man screamed in agony. In the saloons, his tendency was to drink more beers than anyone else could possibly hold and when his bladder was full, to unbutton his pants, pull out his penis and urinate in one of the spittoons; it was a joke among the patrons and even the saloon girls laughed at it but Harley, the barkeep, was outraged. And yet he was helpless to change Rollo's behavior. He feared the man as did everyone else.

Adam reclined in his chair, resting on its back two legs and was enjoying the atmosphere when one of the women stopped by their table.

"Well, Adam," she said. "I haven't seen you in here but once since you married. She keepin' you locked up or keepin' you happy?"

Adam just grinned. "Well, Lil, I must say that you look as lovely as usual."

Lil leaned over Adam's chair allowing him to stare down her full cleavage. "I've been keepin' myself nice for you. Want a little company?"

But before Adam could answer, Rollo's booming voice rang out and silenced all the noise, all the idle chatter and laughing. Even the poker players stopped and silence fell. Everyone was waiting.

"You wouldn't want him, Lil. Come over here if you want a man. Adam's got his balls cut off by that cold, rich cunt he married. He ain't nothing but a worthless sonofabitch who can't get his cock hard anymore and has to steal another man's cattle to prove to 'imself that he's still a fuckin' man—which he ain't. I'll bet that wife of his has to ride the fence posts to get a hard pole stuck up her! Bet that's why the lines are down between our properties, huh, Cartwright? Your wife been fuckin' those fence posts so hard they fall over?"

And Hoss sighed and his head and shoulders dropped in resignation. He knew that trouble was coming.