I do NOT own Bonanza or any of the original Cartwright characters.

Star's Hope

Chapter Fifteen

Luke sat in a jail cell with Scott while Jeffery sat in the one to his right. Jason was in the only cell that sat against the south wall. All four men's eyes widened as two men of Paiute blood were brought in, one was put in the cell with Jeffery and the other one in the cell with Jason. Foster shook his head; the jail cells had never been so full. Good thing they were hanging Jack 'Heart of Stone' the next day, the other one was only in for a couple of days and the others were being tried on a verity of charges at the end of the week. He and Roy didn't need the cells this crowded!

Once Foster was out of the holding room, the man sharing the cell with Jeffery looked at Jason. "They," the brave said pointing towards the window in the cell, indicating he was talking about the people outside the jail walls, "say you had those men sell Mr. Cartwright's woman." He pointed to Luke; the man crawled into the corner of his cell. "This true?"

Jason felt the intense stares from the two Paiute men. He saw the hatred in their eyes. He backed up into a corner as he lied through his teeth. "I don't know what they're talking about. One minute I'm having a drink in the saloon with my friends," he pointed to Scot and Jeffery, "The next thing I knew, Ben Cartwright was coming at me just like a mad man would." Jason might not have meant to, but with those words he signed his death warrant.

"Ben Cartwright good man! He hate you, you bad man!" the brave whom the Paiutes called 'Heart of Stone' grabbed Mitchell by the neck. To his credit, the brave, who happened to be the one who had brought Brooke to Ben did his best to talk the man out of what he saw he planned on doing. "He bad white man, white man law punish him!"

Jason's eyes grew wider as Heart of Stone's grasp grew tighter and he spoke with an almost insane tone. "I die tomorrow, no matter to me." His grasp grew tighter; Jason started thrashing around trying to get some air as he did what he could do loosen the man's grip. The other prisoners started shouting for the sheriff and the deputy. Their ruckus brought the lawmen running. Roy's and Foster's eyes grew wide and they ran to the cell. It was too late. Heart of Stone let go of the now lifeless Jason and let his body fall to the floor.

"Move back!" Roy had his gun in his hand; Heart of Stone did as he was told. Foster opened the door and dragged the dead man out of the cell. He might have said something, but how do you thank a condemned man for doing what you had wanted to do all along?

"Don't put anyone else in that cell; at least, not until Mr. Jack is gone!" Roy ordered Foster as the man locked the cell back up and helped carry Mr. Mitchell out of the office and lay him in the back of a nearby wagon, making more than one head turn. By now everyone in town knew what had happened, and they knew just who was in the jail cells. "Bet you one of the Paiute prisoners got to him" was also heard more than once.

While Foster searched for the undertaker, the search for Brooke continued. Ben, who had stopped for a rest, looked around. He couldn't see anything, yet he got the strongest impression he was closer to finding Brooke than he knew. When he heard the sound of a horse approaching, he turned his head. It was Hoss. "Pa, maybe we should turn around, we're starting to get into some high country. She wouldn't have come up this far."

Just as Hoss spoke, Ben remembered a trail that twisted around the high country and led to the back of the house. "She and that boy took this trail! I don't know why, but they did! And they'll be needing help soon too." Ben spurred Buck on; he didn't have time to explain to one very puzzled son just how he knew all that, though he wished he did. Hoss shook his head and followed, but not before sending the other men back telling them to keep searching wherever they saw fit too.

If Brooke and Jamie had realized it wasn't Mr. Cunningham following them, they would have stayed where they were. As it was, they'd broken camp and were again pushing hard to get back to the Ponderosa. "Tell me more." Brooke looked at Jamie as they rode onward. She was curious when it came to the young boy who was willing to risk so much to get her back to her husband and family.

Jamie shook his head, "I don't know what you want me to tell you. Ma died when I was ten, might have lived but we didn't have a doctor nearby. Pa wasn't a bad man, but he let his grief get to him, and he drank a lot. It caught up with him. Doc did what he could for him, but it was no use. He died anyway, and I was stuck with the bills. I've got no brothers or sisters, and any aunt and uncles I have are back east. I don't want to go back there." He didn't either. He like the wide-open country the west offered. He wanted to be free to wake up in the morning and walk for miles before he ran into any neighbors, not wake up to the hustle and bustle the city would give to him. "What about you? How did you wind up with Mr. Cartwright? I mean, from what I've heard people say and from what I can see, you're young enough to be his daughter."

Brooke smiled from ear to ear and told him her story, and then slid her hand over her abdomen and sighed. "I want my sons. I want my daughter. I want baby to know father. I want Ben." Her voice had turned into a whisper, and then completely stopped as she stopped her horse and sat straight up. Jamie would have insisted they continue going; after all, not knowing Cunningham was in jail, he feared the man may have taken the most direct route to the Ponderosa, but he heard it too, the sound of horses' hoof and the voices of strangers.