~CHAPTER 5~

"Hey, Charlie."

"Oh hi, Mr. Cartwright."

"Charlie, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Joe."

"Sorry, I never got used to callin' a person I work for by their first name," he chuckled. "What are you doin' out here anyway?"

"Just thought I'd come out and see how things were going," Joe answered as he draped a leg over the pommel of his saddle. "Don't want this herd getting away from us."

"No, siree," Charlie replied.

"Charlie, I... I didn't get a chance to tell you before, but I just wanted to thank you for insisting on staying with us even though we might not be able to pay you regular wages for a while."

"Think nothin' of it Bos... Joe. You Cartwrights have always been good to me, and you couldn't have found a happier man alive when you offered me this foreman job."

"Yeah, but you also convinced some of the hands to stay too."

"They're good men, every one of 'em. Most of 'em were already decided before I even posed the idea."

"All of them have been with us for quite awhile, haven't they?"

"Yep."

After a slight hesitation Joe asked, "Charlie, I haven't been involved much as far as handing out assignments to the men, but didn't they all have off yesterday? Because I was in town for a bit, and I didn't see any of them. I thought they'd all welcome the day off. Usually they can't wait to get into town."

"Uh, well yes they did have off, but... every one of 'em decided to keep an eye on the rest of the herds. I reckon they know what a hard turn your family's had. Your Pa was always good to all of them... all of us. I guess this is our way of payin' 'im back."

Joe was touched by the devotion of their men and smiled before turning his paint around and heading back down the hill. As his body smoothly adjusted to the horse's steps on the rocky ground, his smile slowly turned into a frown as his forehead creased in thought. Stop it, he scolded himself. You heard what he said. Every one of them voluntarily decided to stay with the herd... but... where was he? Charlie failed to mention where he was at that time, he scoffed. Do you really know what you're suggesting? You're getting paranoid, Joseph Cartwright. Although, as Joe approached the main road that he would take to go home, the frown stayed, and almost unwillingly, he turned back to the herd. He had to find something out.

"Adam, there you are. Sorry to keep you waiting. Just had to take care of a drunk," Sheriff Coffee said as he put his ring of keys down on his desk.

"That's alright," Adam said walking over from the bulletin board where he had been observing 'Wanted' posters. "Drunk, huh?" Roy nodded. "New in town?"

"Nope, why do you ask?"

Adam sat down in the chair in front of Roy's desk, crossed his legs and took off his hat before answering. "Well, you won't believe this. The Ponderosa's payroll was stolen." Adam then told him what precious little he knew about the robbery.

After he was done, Roy put his pen down and sat back in his chair. "Well... I don't know what tuh say, Adam. It seems like one thing after another with your family. I'm sorry I haven't been able to do more, but there's been no other fires, rustlin's, or robberies anywhere else in the area, just at your place, and there wasn't enough evidence there to shake a stick at. Don't yuh see, I got nothin' to go on, yet. But hopefully the precautions you suggested we take'll turn up something soon," the two men shared a knowing look.

"I hope so, Roy. But after this last... incident," he grit his teeth as if he were sick to death of that word, "I'd... like you to check to see if any of our hands have any previous records worth noting."

"Now Adam, that would make sense havin' it be someone that close to the Ponderosa, but you really suspect one of your own hands?"

"I'm not saying that, Roy. I guess I just need to be sure," Adam felt completely helpless as he fidgeted in his chair. It used to be once a person earned his trust, it was pretty hard to shake it. He felt like these dire circumstances were turning him into something he didn't like. He kept trying to tell himself it was just a precaution, just looking at all the angles. There was a lot at stake, and he just needed to be sure.

"I understand. Well, I'll check 'em out for yuh and get what I find to yuh as soon as possible. You know, I've been meanin' tuh stop out at the house some evenin'. How are Hoss and Little Joe?"

"Oh, they're... as well as can be expected," Adam finished with a sigh. "Thanks for your time, Roy," he said, standing up.

"My pleasure, Adam," he replied, offering his hand.

They shook hands briefly before Adam turned, presumably to leave. His hand reached for the door when he stopped. "Roy?"

"Yeah, Adam?"

"You knew my father for a very long time. You were one of his oldest friends, as a matter of fact," he paused. He hated bringing up these unhappy memories. "Therefore you'd probably be pretty well acquainted with his dealings in the past. Do you know if anyone who might've had a grudge against him has been released or escaped from jail recently?" Adam knew it was a long shot, but he was desperate to find any sort of clue. "You see, originally I was thinking the landslide that killed my father was nothing more than an accident..."

"But now with all these other "accidents", you're not so sure," Roy's keen mind filled in Adam's sentence for him.

Adam raised his eyes to meet those of the kind Sheriff's and nodded slowly.

"Well, Adam, I'll keep my eyes open. If such a person did escape jail recently, though, I'm sure I'd be notified."

"Thanks, Roy. Oh, and Roy, you'll let me know if anything turns up with those bills?"

"Now Adam, you know I'll tell yuh the second anythin' turns up."

Adam wearily nodded again, and this time he did take his leave.

Hoss stepped up to the front door of the impressive farmhouse and gave it a hardy rap. The Triple 'T' was the last ranch he was checking today, and he was very glad of the fact. He was tired through and through, and the hit he took yesterday was giving him a headache today, and headaches with him resulted in only one thing, making him hungry... well, hungrier.

The front door opened to reveal the owner of the ranch, Tim Hackett. "Well howdy there, Hoss. Won't you come in?" he opened the door wider.

"No, no thank yuh, Mr. Hackett. I gotta be headin' back soon."

"Well, how are things at the ranch?"

"Uh, not too good. I reckon yuh heard about the rustlin'."

"Yes, yes I did. I'm sorry about that, Hoss. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, sir, thank yuh. I was just wonderin' if you'd seen anythin' suspicious around your own herds. My brother Adam said that seein's how rustlers usually don't stop with just one spread, he was wonderin' if anythin'd happened 'round here."

"No, Hoss. Everything's been fine around here. Pretty quiet, as a matter of fact." Sadness clouded Hackett's eyes as he continued, "I'm...I"m sorry about your father. As you know, I was away on business when it all happened, or else I would've been at the funeral. He was a good man, Hoss."

"The best," Hoss said quietly, nodding his head. "Thank yuh, sir. I best be headin' back now."

"If there's ever anything I can do, Hoss, you just let me know."

"Thank yuh, Mr. Hackett," Hoss said turning to his horse. If there was somethin' you could do, I'm sure I wouldn't know what it is, he thought dismally as he trotted Chubby out the front gate. I hope Joe'n Adam haven't come up as empty as me.