"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Hoss said energetically while attempting to rouse Joe from deep slumber.
"Aw, Hoss" Joe groaned. "Why do you have to be so dog-gone cheerful?"
Hoss grinned. "It's the last day on the trail, that's reason enough to be cheerful."
Adam rolled over, then forced himself to sit then, eventually, stand up. He walked by Jeni's sleeping form and lightly nudged her with his foot. "Jen. Jen!" Adam called, trying to wake her.
Jeni mumbled something about not wanting breakfast and Adam heard a faint "Five more minutes you big louse" directed at him as she rolled over putting her back to him.
"We are getting to Sacramento today." Adam spoke in a persuasive tone. "That means hot baths, good food, and soft beds."
Jeni slowly sat up, blinking, trying to shake sleep out of her eyes.
"That usually does the trick." Adam whispered to Hoss.
Hoss grinned again. "I know another trick." He responded as Jeni slumped back onto her bed roll. Hoss walked over to Jeni with canteen in hand. Upon reaching her, he dumped the entire contents on her head.
Jeni shot up, sputtering. "HOSS!" She coughed. "I can't believe…" She coughed up more water. "You…" She finally caught her breath. "Revenge will come, oh so sweetly. You just wait!" She threatened angrily.
Hoss, Adam, and Joe were laughing so hard, their faces turned red.
Jeni was not amused. "Hey!" she yelled over the noise of her brothers' laughter. "Where's Pa?" she asked.
They all glanced at his bed roll. He was still in it.
"Hoss, how about you try your canteen trick on Pa?" Joe smirked.
Adam frowned. This was uncharacteristic of Pa. He was always the first one up in the mornings, not matter how hard of a day they had experienced the day before. Adam walked over to his father, kneeled beside him, and touched him lightly on the shoulder. Ben didn't move. Adam's hand went to his father's forehead. It was burning up. "Pa." Adam shook Ben.
"I'll do the ledgers later." Ben moaned deliriously.
Jeni rushed over to her father's side. At the sight of his flushed face, she blanched. "Adam, we've got to get him to a doctor. Now!"
Adam anxiously paced the floor of their hotel room. Jeni, Joe, and Hoss all sat, crammed onto a normally two person couch, impatiently staring at the closed door to the adjoining room. The door opened. Those previously on the couch shot to their feet, waiting for the diagnosis.
"Scarlet fever." The young doctor pronounced shortly.
Joe gave a confused look. "But Doctor," he questioned, "we've all had scarlet fever as children and Pa was exposed to it each time one of us had it. Why did he not get it until now?"
The doctor sighed, bored. "A miracle, I suppose." He responded with a condescending look.
Seeing Joe's nostrils flare and jaw set in anger, Adam stepped between the two. "Just how bad of a case are we talking?" Adam asked.
"Your father has all the classic symptoms of a severe case of scarlet fever. The major symptoms will be severe throat pain and a high fever that may cause hallucinations." The doctor replied, distracted by a woman crossing on the street below.
"Hallucinations?" Hoss asked.
The doctor rolled his eyes. "That occasionally happens. I doubt it will in this case, but it did make things more interesting for a moment there." He heaved a preoccupied sigh once more. "Here are some medications and instructions." The doctor spat out as he headed towards the exit. "I do hope at least one of you can read."
"Now see here…" Jeni started towards the man, contempt in her eyes.
Adam again stepped forward between the doctor and his sibling, earning a dark glare from his sister. "Now Doctor, as I understand the situation, my father has a severe case of scarlet fever and you are leaving us with instructions and medicine to treat him." Adam recapped.
"Yes." The doctor snapped. "I am a very busy man with too much education to sit here with you hillbillies all day. Besides, I have never had scarlet fever and there is a baby of a wealthy man being born on the other side of town. I cannot afford to linger here. Good night!" And with that, the illustrious doctor slammed the door and was gone.
"Why of all the low-down, cowardly, contemptuous men." Joe seethed.
"Dadburnit, Little Joe." Hoss said, interrupting Joe's rant. "We can't be worrrin' 'bout that right now. We need to get Pa better first. Then we can go beat the tar outta that there lousy excuse for a doctor." Hoss looked to Adam for support.
Adam stood there, very angry. If there was one thing he couldn't stand it was to be looked down upon. "Well," Adam tried to recover from the incident quickly to take charge of the new situation. "Let's take a look at these directions given to us by the town's…good doctor."
Jeni sat by her father's side. She put cool, wet cloths on his forehead, talked soothingly, prayed, then repeated as she had for the past 3 days. It was all there was to do and the lack of action worried her. She sighed. "Pa," she whispered, "Get well. Please."
"Hey." Adam's entrance to the sick room jolted Jeni.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"It's my shift." He stated.
"Adam Cartwright, do you think I am stupid!" she whispered furiously. "I know that my shift ends at exactly 3 o'clock a.m. and I know how to tell time and the clock clearly says 2!"
Adam sighed. "Nothing gets past you, huh?"
Jeni's face fell. "Adam, I'm so worried. What if…"
"Don't say it!" Adam sharply interrupted.
Jeni flinched. "Sorry." She mumbled then turned back to her father as Ben moaned.
Adam put his hand on Jeni's shoulder. She shrugged his hand off. He backed up. "No, I'm sorry. I'll go back to bed now."
As Adam left the room, Jeni called out, "Adam! Adam, wait!" She sobbed and ran to him. "Adam, I'm so scared."
Adam pulled his sister into his arms. "Shh… It will be alright." He comforted. "Pa will be fine. He always comes out okay."
Jeni abruptly pushed back and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said shortly. "That was stupid of me."
Adam was confused. It was like someone had flipped a switch and for a brief moment Jeni had been transparent with him, but now it was back to business. "Jeni, it wasn't stupid." He replied. "It was actually kind of…nice."
Jeni's mouth flew open to respond with a sarcastic retort, but Adam stopped her. "What I mean is that you haven't been that real with me for a long time. I can't remember the last time you acted like you needed me."
Jeni breathed deeply. "Adam, no matter how I act, I'll always need you. It's just…" she trailed off.
"It's just what?" Adam asked trying to pull words out of his reluctant sister.
Jeni's brow creased as if she was trying to remember something then she winced at the headache that exploded behind her eyes. She put her hand to her head. "Nothing." She responded.
Just as Adam was about to pry further into the cryptic "nothing" Ben moaned softly.
"I'd better see to Pa." Jeni stated. "I'll switch with you in about an hour." She quickly turned and went back to tending to her father.
Adam frowned, knowing the brief window into Jeni's thoughts was closed. "Something is wrong." He thought to himself. "She is hiding something. Something has hurt her deeply and she feels like she can't tell me. I can't help her and it's killing me."
Fifteen minutes later, Jeni sat back in her chair. She sighed. Ben went through periods of hallucinations, tossing, and turning then went straight into a restful, quiet state. The quiet state was worse than the hallucinations for the caretaker. That gave one time to think.
So, Jeni thought. She thought back. It's funny how times of trial send you to the past. Jeni thought about Adam which made her remember when everything had changed. It had all started with the roaring beast of higher education: college.
6 years earlier…
"Adam, I wish you the best of luck and give you a father's blessing." Ben said, emotionally. "Remember, you will always have a home and people who love you here."
"I know." Adam replied with a smile and hug for his father. Then Adam looked at his big-hearted brother. "Hoss, I'm expecting you to write and tell me about everything that's happened. Watch out for Little Joe and Jeni. I'm counting on you to keep them out of any serious trouble. I know you can do it."
Fourteen year old Hoss beamed with pride. "I'll do my best, Adam. I'll miss ya. Don't stay gone too long."
"I won't." Adam promised. He moved down the line of family standing at the stage coach stop to mischief personified. "Joe," Adam began, "I want you to be good while I'm gone. Look out for everyone. You need to write me too."
"I will, Adam. I'll be the best writer ever!" Ten year old Joe boasted. "I'll miss you, Adam." Joe said seriously, then he put one hand on his hip, wagged his finger at Adam, adopted a deep voice that resembled, in a ten year old way, his father's and ordered "You stay outta trouble, hear?"
Adam smiled and bent down to hug him. "Bye little buddy." Then Adam moved to the last, and possibly hardest, goodbye of all. "Jeni, you'd better look after Pa. You need to keep him in line while I'm gone."
Jeni's tear-stained face looked up at her brother's. "But…but Adam th..that's your job." She tried to act brave and hold the tears at bay as she struggled to say what she'd been thinking for so long. "Adam, d…don't you love us anym..more? Am I n..n..not smart en..nough? Is it 'c..cause I st..stutter and m..mix my words up?" She struggled to convey her feelings into the broken sentences.
"No! No! Jeni, it's not that at all!" Adam tried to assure her. "I'm not leaving because I don't love you. I'm not leaving forever. I'm just going to school. I'll be back." He held her small frame as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"Adam," Jeni cried into his shoulder, "Who am I g..gonna t..talk t..to? Who is gonna sh..show me how t..to do m..my…" Here Jeni stumbled over a particularly difficult word that only slightly resembled the originally intended word.
"Arithmetic." Adam supplied.
"Yeah and w..what if m..my w..word..ds m..mix up and n..no one und..derst..tands w..what I'm t..trying t..to say?" Jeni sniffled and looked at Adam in the eyes so he could understand what she was trying to tell him.
Adam dried her tears. "Well, hon, Pa's here too, you know. So if you look after him I'm sure he will look after you."
"Listen, I have an idea." Ben offered. "How about you write Adam and he can correct your letters and send them back with another and you read it aloud to me?"
Adam sent his Pa a look of thanks. "Yeah, Jen. Then it would be just like I was teaching you."
Jeni's chin trembled. "Exc..cept you'd b..be th..there w..would..dn't." She paused, frustrated. "I m..mean, w..would..dn't b..be th..there." She sputtered.
"I love you, Jeni and I hope you will write me." Adam tried to console her. "I'd get awful lonely not hearing from my favorite sister." Adam pretended to look sad.
Jeni replied, "B..but Adam, I'm your on..nly s..sist..ter. How c..can I b..be your f..fav..vorite?"
Adam smiled. "Because I would pick you over any choice of sisters any day."
Jeni glowed. "I l..love you and I'll m..miss you and I'll w..write you and you'll n..n..need to c..come b..back s..s..soon." She said in a rush of stuttered and rearranged words that were barely decipherable.
Adam laughed. "Of course, Jen. I love you all too much to stay away for too long." The sound of an approaching stage signified Adam's departure. "There's my stage and I'm off!" He said excitedly. Remember Jeni, take good care of Pa!" Adam boarded the stage and waved out the window one last time as the stage left.
Ben began walking away as the stage faded into the distance.
"Pa!" Jeni shouted.
"What? What's wrong?" Ben asked, startled by this loud outburst from his usually quiet child.
"W..where d..do you th..think you're g..g..going? Adam t..told m..me t..to k..keep you outta tr..troub..ble and th..that's w..what I p..plan on d..doing." Jeni marched over to her father and grabbed his hand tightly. "I l..love you, Pa." She whispered.
"Love you too." Ben whispered back. "Good job, Adam." He thought. "I hope this feeling lasts." But with a father's intuition, he knew it wouldn't. The only question was, how long?
The answer was, not long enough. In the magic of puberty, the spell Adam had cast wore out like a 13 year old fan belt. Or, more precisely, a 13 year old girl.
One morning at about 2 o'clock, a shriek split the heavy quiet. "PA! OH MY GOSH! PA, I'M B..BLEEDING!" Jeni cried out.
Ben rushed to Jeni's room to find her in a camisole top and a towel wrapped around her waist. Blood stains were on her sheets and bed clothes. Joe and Hoss rushed in after their father.
"Pa! G..get them out!" Jeni screamed as she tried to cover herself and hold the towel around her thin waist.
Hoss realized what was going on and tripped over Joe in his attempt at a hasty exit. Joe, bewildered, tried following his brother's lead, but fell over Hoss and landed on top of him. Jeni's screams and the boys' apologies created an unprecedented chaos in the Cartwright household.
"BOYS!" Ben bellowed. "Get back to bed NOW!"
Jeni's screams quieted to soft hiccups as the boys scrambled out and closed the door behind them. Ben walked over to his daughter. "I knew this day would come." Ben started to explain. "But I'm not sure I was ready."
"Y..y..you weren't ready?" Jeni shot sarcastically.
"Oh great. " Ben thought. " I, um.." he tried to recover. "How about I let you get dressed and we get Hop Sing to get you some clean sheets. We have a lot to talk about."
And, boy, did they have a lot to talk about.
Jeni continued to work the same as she always had, just as hard as her brothers did and her speech improved to where she only rarely stuttered. When Adam stopped writing, however, she had felt rejected and hormones didn't help the situation. When he came back, she was a young woman. She'd grown up and he'd missed it. Most of all, he didn't seem to care.
Jeni jolted back to the present when she heard her father talking. "Marie?" Ben moaned. "Marie?"
"Not again." Jeni thought. "Yes, Ben." She tried.
Ben looked confused. "You're not Marie. Who are you?"
"It's me, Jeni." Jeni tried to explain. "Your daughter. Marie's daughter."
Ben moaned again. "Marie, make it go away. Make the pain go away. Marie!" he cried desperately, thrashing on the bed, threatening to injure himself or Jeni.
"Adam!" Jeni yelled as she tried to hold her father down. "Adam, help!" She couldn't keep him still. He sat up, pushing Jeni onto the floor. She stood quickly trying to calm him.
"Marie, Marie don't leave me!" Ben called out. "Please don't leave!" he deliriously reached out and grabbed Jeni's arms. "Marie!" he shook Jeni. "Don't leave me!" he shouted.
"Pa! Pa, it's me, Jeni!" she cried, desperately trying to pry his hands off. A cry of pain escaped her lips as he tightened his grip.
"You're not Marie." Ben looked confused and betrayed, then outraged. "Get out of you hussy! I'm married! Go lure someone else into your trap!"
As Adam burst into the room, Ben hurled Jeni across the room into a wall. Adam launched onto his father and used all his weight to keep him down. "Hoss!" Adam shouted. "Help me!"
Hoss came in the room and helped Adam hold Ben until the fit subsided and he drifted off into a fitful sleep.
Joe sleepily staggered in and surveyed the damage. "Wow." He said. "Where's Jeni?"
Adam started. "Oh no!"
Jeni was slumped against a wall, unconscious.
"Jeni?" Adam picked her up gently and carefully laid her on the couch. "Jeni, please wake up?" Adam pleaded.
Jeni moaned. Her eyelids fluttered open. "Pa?" she questioned groggily.
"Is fine." Hoss finished. "How 'bout yourself, sport?"
"Bruised, concussed, and…" Jeni tried to move her left wrist then bit down on her lip. "Apparently broken." She concluded dryly. She glanced at Adam as the clock struck 3. "Your watch." She mumbled as she fainted.
"Well," Adam thought, "Just when I think it can't get any worse Fate says 'Hello Adam Cartwright! I haven't dealt you a blow in a while. Here: take two!' Dang." He shook his head. "Well Jeni," he continued thinking to himself, "You were wrong. Your wrist is only sprained. Fate has a nice side to it. Lovely." He rolled his eyes. "Why didn't she just let me take watch early?" he asked himself. "But no! She can handle it, she says. Why does she always act like she can handle it?" Adam stopped himself. "Because she is like you. She thinks she has to handle it all. She thinks she has to pull her weight to gain respect." Adam's conscience bombarded him with the truth.
Jeni moaned softly. This did not surprise Adam. Jeni talked in her sleep, more often than not it was only little moans and incomprehensible gibberish. She moaned again. Through her moan, the word 'Adam' escaped. Adam leaned closer.
"Adam?" she spoke clearly. "Adam, please. Please come home. I need you." Jeni's voice grew louder and more panicked. "Adam? Stop! You're hurting me!" she thrashed, fighting some unseen enemy.
Adam's face registered shock. "What?" he thought. "What was she talking about?" These thoughts swirled in his mind as he calmed her and she settled down again.
Hoss walked in on a bewildered Adam. "Adam, why do you look like you just saw a cow jump over the moon?"
Adam stood up quickly, grabbed Hoss by the shoulders, and asked urgently "Hoss, when I went to college, what happened?"
"Umm… lots of things happened, Adam. You were gone a long time." Answered a confused Hoss.
"No! Like to Jeni!" Adam clarified hastily.
Hoss shook his head as he searched his memory. "Uhh…" Then something clicked in Hoss' mind. He looked sick. "Oh no."
"Oh no, what!" Adam demanded.
"What did she say?" Hoss asked with dread.
"Oh, she only cried in agony, pleading for me to come home then begging me to stop hurting her!" Adam answered in a biting tone.
Hoss grimaced. "I was afraid of this."
"Afraid of what!" Adam asked. "Dang you Hoss, tell me what the heck is going on!"
Just then, Joe ran into the room. "Adam, Hoss! It's Pa! His fever has broken!"
Hoss looked relieved. "Well that's swell." He said, a grin spreading across his face.
"And," Joe added, looking at Hoss, "It's your watch."
Hoss looked at Adam then darted out of the room.
"What's gotten into him?" Joe's eyes went wide as he looked at his eldest brother. "Gosh Adam, you look like you're either about to cry or spit nails." Joe said, cautiously watching his brother for any sudden movement.
"Okay Joe, the burden then shifts to you." Adam glared.
"What burden?" Joe asked nervously, making the distance between him and Adam wider and wider.
Jeni moaned again. "Adam." She mumbled. "Adam, please come home."
Joe went white.
"Adam, please. I need you." Jeni rolled off the couch and landed with a scream. "Adam! Adam, please make it stop! Please!" She sobbed.
Adam ran to her and picked her up off the floor, holding her close like the one he had when she was a small child. "Shah… It's alright, hon. I'm here." He soothed.
Jeni's eyes shot open, but the un-recognition in her eyes proved that she was still asleep, dreaming. "Adam?" she slurred. "Is it... is it really you? No. It c... c... cannot be. He didn't come b..back. He left m..me to d..die." she sobbed uncontrollably into Adam's shoulder. Joe stood by looking guilty and feeling stupid for not being able to do anything. Tears fell unchecked down Adam's face. Jeni slowly fell back into a restless sleep.
"Adam… Adam, I'm sorry. We should have told you." Joe reached out to put his hand on Adam's shoulder as Adam laid Jeni back on the couch.
Adam turned and faced Joe, looking broken. "Joe." He choked out. "Please, tell me what happened."
"Are you sure you want to know?" Joe asked. "It isn't a pretty story."
Adam responded as he took a seat. "I absolutely want to know."
After sitting down, Joe took a deep breath. "Well, I guess it sorta started when she..ah..she..well.." Joe searched for the right words. "…became a woman." He resolved lamely.
Adam looked at Joe in confusion. "Became a woman?" he repeated.
"Yeah, you know, uh..became a woman." Joe struggled to make Adam understand what he was trying to say without actually saying it.
Then it clicked in Adam's head. "Oh! Became a woman!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah." Joe said with relief. "But that wasn't the main part. That was when she went missing."
"She what!" Adam stood up. "Joe, you are indisputably the world's worst storyteller. Please, just tell me exactly what happened!"
"Okay." Joe took another deep breath. "Here it goes. You might want to sit back down. It's a long story."