Chapter 1

Adam turned when he heard someone entering his hotel room. "You, what are you doing here? How did you find me?"

The man sneered as he looked Adam up and down and then said "Looks like I caught you at a good time for me. You're not wearing a gun so the advantage is all mine. You thought I wouldn't find you, huh, Cartwright? Did you really believe that I wouldn't hunt you down like the dog you are after you killed my brother. Yes, that was my brother. From the look on your face, you thought you were seeing a real ghost. You thought he died in that desert, and then he showed up here alive and well. No, he's my twin and you killed him."

Adam kept staring at him with a glazed look. "He tried to kill me - he tried to break my spirit and nearly succeeded. I wanted him dead, but I did not kill him. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to feel what my brother felt. I want you to know the hopelessness he felt, the loneliness, and the knowing that he was going to die long before it happened. Dying from thirst is a slow death, isn't it? You feel yourself succumbing and your head starts pounding and your stomach rebels but there's nothing there to spew out. Your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. Your lips crack. Your body gets hotter and hotter and there's no relief. All that pain and he knew it but you gave him no comfort and no water."

Adam bent over to sneeze and pulled the knife he always kept in his boot and threw it at the twin and barely missed hitting Joshua Kane in the chest. Adam lunged for his knife but Kane did too and the fight was on. Both men struggled for the knife and traded blows until there was yelling from next door as Joe heard the commotion. That startled Kane who released his hold on the knife and bolted from the room. Adam jumped up to follow him, but barefoot, shirtless, and without his gun, he wasn't going to get very far. Kane was quickly out of sight.

Joe stepped out of the adjoining room and asked "Are you alright Adam?"

"I'm fine, but Kane's brother was here." Adam told Joe what had happened, and then told Hoss at breakfast. For the rest of the day, Adam was nervous looking over his shoulder wondering where Kane had gone. He remembered his threats and knew he wasn't done with him yet, and he knew that he had to be on his guard at all times because Kane was after him, but only he had seen him.

As they rode out of town, Adam was sure he saw someone riding behind them, but when Hoss and Joe looked, they didn't see anyone. They began to wonder what Adam was doing. Joe finally asked because he saw Adam looking back so often and looking so worried.

"I am now thanks to you, Joe."

Joe looked at Adam. "Can you tell us why you're so worried? What's going on?"

"You know that Kane fella back some time ago that I didn't want to talk about."

"Yeah, he died."

"Yeah, well, his twin just turned up, and said he's been looking for me, and he said he wants me to feel the pain his brother suffered." Joe and Hoss looked worried and Adam nodded as he looked at them. "I've got trouble, brothers. I've got big trouble."

But no one knew the terrible memories he was facing although Joe and Hoss should have. They were there when after a terrible trek Adam crumpled into Ben's arms. That experience will never leave him but somehow he had managed to put it at the back of his mind until now.

In the next town, they stopped in the saloon for a beer and a sandwich. While they were there, Adam was startled by a laugh that sounded like that maniacal laugh of Kane's. When he looked around, he didn't see Kane's brother. Hoss and Joe said he was getting too worried and that Kane wouldn't dare do anything with the three of them there. Adam wasn't so sure. Maybe madness ran in the family. Adam knew he had heard that laughing behind him, but he wasn't sure if he could convince his brothers so he said nothing more. He did rush his brothers through lunch hoping to get back on the trail towards home. It was a hot, dry, dusty day, and when he got to Sport he saw something printed in the dust on his saddle. It said... poison. Had their lunch been poisoned? their beer? their horses? their supplies? their canteens? or was it a promise of things to come?

Adam wasn't sure what to think. Soon Hoss and Joe came over to Adam, but he quickly wiped away the dust from the saddle even as Hoss asked what the word 'poison' meant. Hoss had noticed the writing when he walked past Sport to Chubb. Adam felt sick as he considered the import of the word. He grumbled to Hoss that it was just kids playing in the dust. He suspected his queasiness had little to do with having been poisoned yet. But he worried about his brothers and what he should say to them. He wondered if Kane would kill one or both of them instead of him to get revenger for brother for brother? He decided to not take any chances so he suggested that they should

notify the sheriff and then see if the doctor could examine them for any traces of poison before heading home.

"Yeah, you think we might have been poisoned, but what about you, Adam?" Hoss was worried.

"Don't worry about me. Please just do as I say and see a doctor. I'm not taking any chances. It's me he really wants, but he might hurt you to get to me."

"But you didn't kill his brother, Adam. Why don't you tell him?"

"Hoss, do you think he is going to believe me. I tried to tell him at the hotel. He won't listen. Please do as I ask and see a doctor in case he has poisoned you, and tell the sheriff. Then make your way home. I'll try to catch up with you. Now, go, please."

The sheriff told Hoss and Joe that he was going to follow Adam out of town to see if anyone was following him. Hoss said he and Joe would be watching too and following along behind him. If Kane was out there, they expected to find him, but Kane anticipated that and left a message for Adam at the end of town tacked to a tree and told him where to go or his brothers would die. The message said "my brother's mine", and Adam shivered. Images of his time in Hell flashed through his mind and he fought the urge to ride as fast as he could from that tree. He knew he had to return to Hell to save Hoss and Joe. So he set out to face and conquer what was lying ahead of him because he was determined to settle things once and for all. With Hoss and Little Joe in danger, he knew he had to work fast so he rode on toward the desert where the note told him to go looking all around him as he got closer. Suddenly he pulled Sport to a halt and his hands shook. He heard Kane's voice mocking him. Slowly Adam realized it was not the voice but poison that was making him shake as his whole body began to convulse. Adam could not stop it and fell from Sport as he passed out. He awoke with his head hammering and his insides cramping into knots. He knew that he had been poisoned, but wondered how it had been done. He emptied the canteen. Then he looked at his hands and saw a sticky residue. He cursed quietly and then chuckled sadly. "Facing a madman is hard. Facing him while dying will be just a little harder." He pulled himself up, grabbed Sport's reins and began walking the rest of the way into Hell. His steps halted when he heard the sound of horses. As he got closer, he could see three, and two belonged to Hoss and Joe. Slowly he walked forward until he saw Hoss and Joe tied up and leaning against a large rock. Then that damn voice.

"Ah, you finally made it."

"Let them go, Kane. It's me you want."

"About time you showed up, Cartwright." Kane's laugh was ugly. "Did you like the little surprise I left on your saddle horn? The poison will kill you slowly just like my brother died, but we have some time until then." He waited expectantly. "What? Don't you have anything to say?"

"You're as sick as your brother, Kane. What do you want me to say? I didn't kill your brother. He killed himself and nearly killed me. He put me through hell, but I still tried to save him.

"Liar! " Kane screamed and spittle flew from his mouth. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying, Kane." Hoss and Joe could see the pain Adam was in, and both were trying to get themselves free because their brother needed help and fast. With Kane's attention on Adam, Hoss and Joe struggled hard and finally one of Joe's hands fell free from the ropes. He quickly took his other hand out and untied Hoss. They both got to their feet and jumped onto Kane. Adam was so weak and in pain that he fell to his knees and couldn't help his brothers not that they needed his help. Hoss hit Kane quite hard and he fell to the ground. The brothers heard Adam groaning and ran to him.

"We need help, Hoss, and fast. I'll go look for the sheriff. You stay here with Adam."

Joe rode as fast as his horse could carry him and didn't have to ride far before he met the sheriff and two deputies heading towards where Adam was with Hoss. Joe told the sheriff what had happened and that Adam needed a doctor quick because he'd been poisoned. The sheriff told one of the deputies to get back to town and tell the doctor what had happened and that they would be bringing Adam Cartwright in as fast as they could and to be ready.

Hoss helped Adam all he could, and Adam tried his very best to hold out against the poison that was ravaging his body, but he felt that he was fading fast. His vision was getting very blurry. He started sweating profusely. He worried that he was fading very fast but tried his very best to muster up all of the last remaining strength that he could. As he thought about it though, a wry smile turned Adam's lips as he grabbed the canteen from Hoss and drank more. The Kane brothers didn't kill quickly. They tormented you to death. He smelled his hand and recognized the distinct odor of creosote. He'd gotten it on his hands before. It made him sick but wasn't fatal. He drew long on the canteens trying to neutralize the effects. He needed to get to the doctor but knew he would be fine with his care. Once they saw that Adam was not in any immediate medical danger, they turned their attention back to Kane to see if he was all right after what Hoss and Joe had done to him but Kane was gone. Where he had been, there were a few small bloodstains, but the man had disappeared. Adam still needed medical attention though so they couldn't go search for Kane.

Kane survived the assault from Joe and Hoss, and he was even more determined to seek his revenge against Adam. He vowed to not let Adam get away with killing his brother. Meanwhile, Hoss tried to explain to the sheriff where Kane had gone.

"Can't anyone stop him?"

"No, Sheriff, only me."

Hoss looked at Adam still looking very weak and sick. "Adam, you ain't in fit state to go after Kane."

"I've got to get him, Hoss. He won't let up on me."

Hoss and Joe looked at each other and grinned. "Well, older brother, you ain't going alone. We are with ya."

"No, you two head home."

"Older brother, you ain't fit to do or say anything, and we ain't listening this time."

"You tell me a time you did listen to me."

"Well that one time …"

"Joe, we ain't got time to argue." Hoss was getting a little angry with them both.

The sheriff looked at the three of them. "I'm taking charge now, boys, so if you want to come along you'll do as I say, understood?"

"Yes, sheriff." the boys agreed, but Adam still felt sick. The sheriff didn't want him along, but he already knew he could not stop Adam Cartwright. Adam was so very determined to face Kane even though he knew that Kane very desperately wanted to destroy him for the death of his brother, and he would not rest until the deed was done and paid in full. That's why Adam spoke up.

"Listen: the only way to stop him is to trap him. Otherwise he keeps making up the rules. Let's set it up so that he can take me where he wants to take me, but all of you be ready to move in when he does. I'm depending on all of you. I don't feel well enough right now to fight him."

It was true, Adam still felt all the ill-effects from the poison, but he also knew he had to get his family away from Kane. He'd faced a similar decision in his last Kane-brother odyssey. His father and brothers had been within hollering distance that time, but he wouldn't alert them, knowing that his captor would have shot all of them as they came down the hill just to prove he could. He was sure that this brother would take more pleasure in breaking him than in killing him. If they came at him together, he'd kill Hoss and Little Joe so that Adam would have to live with the guilt of putting them in harm's way.

"Get going, now," he told his brothers. "Stay away until I can figure out a way to entrap him without his knowledge. He's very crafty, but he's no fool so be on your guard at all times. Watch out for any telltale signs. We can and must defeat him at all cost so stay on your Ps and Qs. I'll try to hold out for as long as I can. All right, let's get moving."

The sheriff didn't like the idea of Adam being the bait but knew it was their only chance to catch this madman so he agreed to stay with Hoss and Joe but close. Adam climbed onto Sport

"Now remember to stay away from me until we can get him and keep him. We won't have another chance." Then he rode in the direction of some tracks that Kane had left. After a few miles, Adam needed to rest so he climbed down from Sport and walked a little way to where some rocks were and sat down. His stomach still till hurting so he got his canteen of water and took a mouth full.

The water churned in his gut like a boiling pot of stew, but he stayed put until he was sure his brothers and the sheriff were far enough away, and then rode back to the camp. He knew in his gut that Kane would want to end things where this odyssey had begun, and had undoubtedly sent his horse out on its own. He'd wanted his brothers away from him because he knew Kane would go after them first. The man would do anything to obliterate Adam's mind including destroying anything or anyone that was important to him. He slipped from the saddle, still wobbly and nauseous, and walked toward the cave, knowing that Kane could be inside waiting for him or lurking nearby watching his every move, so he pulled his gun and hollered.

"You can come out now, Kane. We're alone."

A shot rang out and a bullet ripped the skin on Adam's thumb, making him drop his weapon. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain, holding his wounded hand as Kane walked over and stared down. Adam looked up at the smooth skin on the man's face, and started to laugh uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Kane asked angrily.

Still laughing, Adam choked out, "I see you hold your brother's same fastidiousness for shaving. Your brother might have had enough water to make it out of the desert if he hadn't had to shave every morning. So you see, I didn't kill him. It was his personal hygiene practices that did him in."

Kane shook his head as his prey continued to laugh. Adam stood up slowly still holding his hand. He knew his brothers would be close by with the sheriff. He stopped laughing. "All right, Kane, you got me. What now?"

"Well, now, let me see. How should I complete my mission? I owe you big time, Cartwright, and I will take great pleasure in seeing you slowly squirm and beg for mercy at my hands. So are you prepared to face the consequences? I'm going to have you dig your own grave knowing all the time you're digging it that you'll spend eternity in it. Here's a shovel. Start digging." Holding his pistol on Adam, Kane had him start digging. As he dug down, Kane had him step into the hole and dig deeper until he was slowly being swallowed by the desert sand it seemed.

Adam knew that the end was near unless he did something about it, but he knew that the Sheriff and his brothers were somewhere nearby watching their every move too. Knowing this it brought him a small amount of comfort, but not once did he let on that something by way of rescue was about to take place, so he continuously did as he was told. The exertion took its toll. He was sweating and feeling dizzier by the minute as he continued to toss shovel after shovel of sand from the hole. He knew he had to make his play before he got any weaker.

"You gotta see this! Who'd ever think of finding gold this deep in the sand!" Adam looked up at the man above him. When Kane dropped to the edge to peer at what Adam was pointing out, Adam swung the shovel at the madman's head. He connected, but without enough strength to finish the deed. It glanced away without doing any serious damage. The effort was too much for Adam's weary body though, and he dropped in a heap as the world turned to darkness around him. The last thing he heard was Kane's laughter.

"You made this way too easy, Cartwright."

But out in the desert, his brothers and the sheriff were ready. As Kane stood above the hole Adam had dug and aimed his pistol down at Adam, both Hoss and Joe fired at once. Kane's pistol fired too when their bullets hit him. The two brothers could only pray that their shots had caused him to miss Adam. They raced to the side of the hole and looked down to see Adam staring up at them with Kane's bloody body lying across his. Kane managed to utter some terrifying words to Adam.

"I am not the last brother."

Then Kane gasped and fell silent. Adam looked up at his brothers and held out his hand for them to help him out of the hole.

"You two sure waited until the last minute."

"You told us to wait til we were sure we would get him, older brother, and you said you wanted us to do what you said." Joe was grinning broadly covering the fear he had had a moment earlier.

"Come on, Adam, let's get you home and get you to bed for a rest after the doc has checked ya." Hoss pulled Adam to his feet and put an arm around his older brother's shoulders. Joe stepped up to do the same as they left the sheriff to deal with Kane's body. The three walked to the horses laughing with each other until Adam stopped.

"Do you believe he has another brother?"

"Don't know 'bout that, Adam. Let's not worry yet about that ifn we don't hafta. Let's go home."