Chapter 5

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The whole family was back together at the breakfast table this morning. Ben and the boys had come home late last night, and Adam and Alissa were telling them all about Percy and his little escapades since they were gone. Ben just kept shaking his head, while Little Joe would let out an occasional laugh as they listened to Adam. Hoss only smiled as he listened. He was enjoying his first home cooked meal in a week and was too busy refilling his plate once it was empty to really pay attention to all that was being said.

"I tell you, pa, he just kept doing one thing after another until it finally was too much to let go unpunished," Adam declared, as he looked over at his father and took a drink of his coffee.

"I hope I haven't overstepped too much, and Mr. Mathews will continue to be friends with you."

Adam set down his coffee cup and leaned forward slightly waiting for his father's reply.

"Not in the least son. You did exactly what I would have done if I had been here. I am really surprised that you didn't take him to task sooner than you did. You certainly had more patience than I would have given the circumstances."

"Yeah, older brother…. you would have warmed my backside after the first offense," laughed Little Joe, as he leaned back in his chair munching on a biscuit.

Narrowing his eyes, Adam glanced over at Alissa, "Well I wanted to, but a certain little someone here wouldn't let me!"

Hoss had finally finished his third helping and was listening to this part of the conversation.

"Ali gal, why did you go and do that for ? You know if you would have let Adam handle the situation sooner, you might not still have that mud in your hair."

Hoss couldn't help but let out a lively laugh as he reached over and pulled some dry mud from Ali's hair.

"Just go ahead and laugh, but it's not funny. I still don't know what he put in the bucket cause I can't get it all out of my hair!" Ali complained miserably, as she ran her hand through her hair.

"By the way, has anyone seen our little house guest today?" Ben asked, as he glanced toward the stairs. He fully intended to have a serious talk with Percy himself when he saw him.

"Haven't had the privilege yet today," Adam responded in his usual droll way, as he wiped his mouth and put his napkin on the table.

"Well it is time he came to the table!" Ben declared, as he stood and walked over to the stairs and up to Percy's room.

"Boy howdy, sure glad my name ain't, Percy," chuckled Little Joe, as he winked at Alissa.

A few seconds later all eyes were looking at the stairs as Ben came down angrily shouting Percy's name.

"He's not in his room! Did he come in from outside while I was upstairs?"

"No… haven't seen him."

Adam just shook his head and scowled before he stood up and came over to stand by Ben.

"Well he has to be here somewhere. He doesn't know his way around well enough to go off by himself."

Ben rubbed his hands through his hair, trying to hold on to his temper. No wonder Adam lost his temper with that young pup he fumed, as he started deciding what to do next.

"All right then, everyone go out and search the grounds. He may just be outside somewhere and we are getting excited for nothing."

"Knowing our dear Percy… I doubt it," replied Adam sarcastically, as he headed for the front door.

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An hour later everyone was on their horses getting ready to go and search the ranch for Percy. The immediate grounds were thoroughly searched and the decision was made to start looking for him out on the ranch.

"You all have a section of the ranch to search and if you find him, fire your gun three times to signal the rest of us," ordered Ben, as he rode out towards the east with Joe and Hoss each going in a different direction.

Adam hung back as he stood beside Alissa waiting to give her a goodbye kiss.

"We have argued this enough, Alissa, you are NOT going with us! It is just too hard to try and look for him and worry about you too!"

"But I really want to go, Adam. And besides, you won't have to worry about me…. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, I have seen how well you can take care of yourself. No, you're staying here."

"But…"

Adam's eyes narrowed, just daring her to disobey him on this.

"The answer is still, No! And don't even think about following us. I mean it, Alissa! You and I will have a very unpleasant discussion if you don't stay here where you are safe. I don't want to have to worry about you along with trying to find Percy. Besides, someone needs to be here if he finds his way back home."

Pulling her into his arms for a quick kiss, Adam did his best not to smile when he heard her sigh and saw her thrust her chin up stubbornly after their kiss.

"I love you, little one," Adam said tenderly, as he mounted Sport and looked down at her standing there with her arms crossed.

"Well, if that were true, then you would let me go with you."

"No…I want you safe and this discussion is over. I will see you when I get back."

Turning Sport, Adam rode out before Alissa could continue this argument.

Alissa kicked at the dirt as her fiery temper took over. "We will just see about that, Adam Cartwright."

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Percy had been riding for a couple of hours now and was starting to realize he was totally lost! Unbeknownst to him, he had been going in circles for the last hour.

"I'll show them," he muttered, as he wearily rode down the road.

"When my father comes back and sees that I am gone…. then Adam Cartwright will pay dearly for treating me so badly! I'll just find some place to hide for a couple of days and then go back. They will be besides themselves with worry while I am gone and be ever so glad when I return."

Percy grinned to himself as he thought about how glad everyone would be to see him after a few days of worry. He looked around to see if there was any scenery he recognized as his horse slowly continued down the road.

"I can't be too lost," he whined, as he urged his horse ahead.

"After all, it shouldn't be that hard to find your way around in this forsaken place. There has to be an empty house somewhere out here," he muttered, hoping to make himself feel a little braver than he was really feeling.

Leaving in a hurry, Percy only had on his velvet jacket and that wasn't providing much warmth at all. Although he may look stylish in his eyes when he ran away, his choice in attire certainly wasn't practical for staying outside for long periods of time. Pulling his jacket a little tighter around his slender body, Percy suddenly heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like a dog, but he really wasn't sure as he nervously kept looking around.

"I wonder what that is?" he groaned, as he felt a chill run up his back as he looked over his shoulder into the darkness.

When he saw a clump of trees off the side of the road, it didn't take him long to quickly decide that this is where he would camp for the night.

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Adam was sitting by the fire he had made planning what course of action he would take come first light. He really wanted to keep searching tonight, but knew it was useless in the dark. So after finding a good spot, he had made camp and settled in for the night. The fire felt good and took off the chill that was in the air, and Adam slowly became lost in his thoughts as he watched the flames flickering in front of him. Suddenly, the sound of the bushes rustling over by Sport brought him out of his thoughts and made him quickly sit up and take notice. In one fluid movement he jumped up, pulled his gun and was standing by the bushes with his gun drawn.

"Come out with your hands up!" Adam ordered, as he aimed his gun at the bushes.

"Don't shoot…it's just me, Adam!" Alissa quickly answered, as she came out of the bushes with her hands in the air.

Adam let out a frustrated sigh and holstered his gun. Fury clearly etched his face when he finally saw the person standing in front of him. It was his fiancée, the one who was suppose to be safely back at the ranch, looking like she had just lost ten years off of her life.

"I thought you were going to shoot me," Alissa replied nervously, as she put her shaking hands down by her sides.

"I very well could have! I didn't know it was you. What are you doing here, you little fool? I thought I told you not to come!"

"Oh, Adam, I just had to come. I've never been on a search party before. And you know me… half the time I never do what you tell me to do anyway. Besides, aren't you glad to see me?"

Alissa gave Adam a sheepish grin, but she could see from the disapproving frown on his face, it wasn't working.

"No, I'm not glad to see you. You could have been hurt riding around out there in the dark. Or you could have gotten lost and then we would be looking for two fools! You're lucky I didn't shoot you!"

Adam stood there with his hands on his hips as his eyes narrowed at her in irritation.

"Woman, you are the most stubborn and exasperating person I have ever known!"

Edging a little closer to Adam, Alissa hesitantly asked, "Adam, aren't you just a little bit glad to see me?"

Adam shook his head as his expression darkened.

"I ought to give you what I plan on giving dear Percy if I find him first."

"What's that…a great big hug?" Ali asked smiling, as she finally was brave enough to come and stand directly in front of Adam and put her arms around his waist and hug him tightly.

"Not hardly," Adam smirked, as he pulled her arms from around his waist and started to guide her over towards the fire. But not before he landed one sharp swat to her backside!

"Hey! What was that for?" Alissa gasped, as she reached back and rubbed her stinging backside.

"For putting yourself in so much danger. Any number of things could have happened to you all alone out there," Adam said, as he looked at her shocked expression.

Arching his eyebrow Adam responded, "Just be glad that is all you get, young lady. I am not very happy with you at the moment."

"I know, but let's go eat, darlin'… I'm starving," Alissa said playfully, as she put her arm through his as they walked back to camp.

Adam just shook his head and smiled down at her as he pulled her in close, "Well now that you are here, I guess you will have to stay for the rest of the search. I certainly don't want you heading back home in the dark. So let's go over to the fire and get you settled in."

Alissa smiled contentedly as she snuggled closer against his body as he put his arm around her shoulder.

"Of course, sweetheart, anything you say."

Shaking his head, Adam had to grin at that comment as he softly chuckled, "If only that were true, Alissa, if only that were true."

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A few miles down the road someone else had settled in for the night, but this person was very scared and very cold and was not smiling in the least. Percy had remembered to bring some food to eat, but being a city boy and not use to camping out under the stars, he hadn't thought about bringing matches to light a fire. Of course he wouldn't have the faintest idea how to start a fire even with the matches. So he got what little food he had brought and a blanket out of his saddlebags and headed for a large tree.

After quickly eating his bread and apple, Percy wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and scooted up against the tree trunk. But without a fire the blanket certainly wasn't keeping him very warm, so he pulled it tighter around his skinny, velvet clad body and then leaned back against the tree. This was going to be a very long night he sighed, but it would be worth it just so he could make Adam suffer.

TBC

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More to come as Percy gets a real taste of the wild!

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