Thank you very much for all of the reviews! I hope you enjoy this next chapter and sorry for the slight delay in posting.
~CHAPTER 7~
Hop Sing's capable fingers worked quickly and methodically through the dough he was preparing, having had years to perfect his method. Mr. Cartlight sons velly tiyed, he thought to himself. Hop Sing make special supper for them. He slowed in his preparation, thinking of how he was only serving three instead of four now. He had been affected as much as anyone by his employer's sudden death. Having been with him for so many years, he almost didn't consider himself as an employee, but more like part of the family. He had watched the boys grow up into fine upright men, and it wasn't easy for him to watch them try to ease their present heartache. And especially with all of these terrible things happening to the ranch at the worst possible time, he decided to try and make them forget about their troubles with the more than delicious dinner that he would serve them tonight. His mind went back to the dough in his small hands, and he renewed his mixing once again. "Lil' Joe come back from town soon, and Mistuh Adam and Mistuh Hoss come back from lange. Must have food leddy."
The three Cartwrights were tired that night, both physically and mentally. Hop Sing's exquisite dinner did exactly what he had hoped; it made them forget about their troubles for the time being, and all three of them dug in with an appetite that pleased the little cook immensely.
"That was excellent, Hop Sing. I sure do thank yuh," Hoss commented after the meal was done and the three of them were standing up to take their coffee and relax in front of the fire. Adam and Joe immediately added their own praises on the delicious meal.
Hop Sing smiled, not at the prospect of having created such a fine feast, but in achieving a smile on each of "his boys'" faces, for he knew they were scarce these days. As he started clearing away the dining table, the three of them made their way into the great room, Joe taking the big red chair which his father had most often occupied while Hoss took the settee. Adam grasped the poker and started shifting the logs to get the fire roaring once again.
"Dadburn, I swear this is the coldest it's gotten this early fer as long as I can remember," Hoss commented, sitting forward to capture more heat emanating from the orange threads of rekindled flame.
"I won't argue with you there," Adam replied, hanging the poker back up and sitting down in his customary high-backed blue chair. As if on cue, the wind picked up outside, reminding them all that tonight was a perfect night to stay in front of the fire. The three of them remained silent for some time, quietly sipping their warming coffee while listening to the loud crackling of the hot embers.
"I uh... talked to Charlie today. It turns out when we were bringing the payroll back he was in town asking about a second job."
As soon as Joe had spoken the words, he looked up quickly, his eyes meeting those of his brother's, and one of those warm hazel eyes winked its understanding of Joe's relief. A warming smile came to Joe's lips, and he turned his gaze back to the flame once again.
"Hoss, you said all of the other major ranches hadn't seen anything in their own herds?" Adam asked, trying to reaffirm all the facts in his mind.
Hoss shook his head. His brow furrowed before stating, "Adam, I just don't see who else could be doin' this. Now, I never thought it was one of our own men, mind yuh, but it seems like we're back at square one now."
"I know," Adam said quietly, thoughtfully.
Silence reigned once again for some time. Even though it was quite an absurd question, Hoss felt he had to ask it, "Adam... are we really expected tuh believe that all these things... are just coincidences?"
Joe brought his head up at the question and looked at his brother intently. Neither one was expecting an answer, but the question had been on both of their minds for quite some time and both were glad that it had finally been posed.
Adam slowly took a sip from his cup, his eyes never leaving the flickering firelight. He appeared to have not even heard him, but his brothers knew better and continued to stare. Finally, he answered the question with another question, "Are you suggesting... that these calamities are not just mere coincidences?" It was a very obvious question, but one that affected everything depending on its answer.
Joe nodded in agreement, and Hoss said, "I don't reckon how it can be anythin' else, Adam. These incidents seem to be aimed square at us. Like I done told yuh, there ain't been nothin' else goin' on anywhere 'round here."
Adam then took the matter more to the heart of things. "Would you include Pa's death in that list of non-coincidences?" he asked softly.
Neither Joe nor Hoss had allowed themselves to even consider that possibility, but now they couldn't help but see the connection, which would mean that their Pa could have been... murdered.
There was a period of more silence as that thought was allowed to sink in. Adam slowly brought his head up and looked at his siblings. "To answer your question, Hoss, if one person is indeed behind all this, then one thing would have to be true of that pers..." Adam's sentence was broken off by the sound of a horse galloping into the ranch yard. Abandoning his train of thought, Adam quickly got up from his chair to see who it was. Not too many people would venture out this late, and even fewer would come in this weather. Even Hop Sing came out from the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron, wanting to see who it could be. Adam hadn't even made it to the door when an intense knocking came from the other side of it. He hurriedly opened it to reveal Roy standing on the doorstep, his hair sticking out in disarray from under his hat and his slicker fastened tightly around him.
"Roy!" Adam exclaimed in bewilderment, holding the door open wide to let in the cold man.
Seeing the honorable sheriff stiff from the cold, Hop Sing hurried back to his kitchen to start another pot of coffee.
"Howdy, Roy. What brings you out here in this weather?" Hoss asked, as he and Little Joe came to stand beside him, their wonderment at Adam's statement allayed for the moment by the sheriff's hasty and surprising arrival.
"Adam. Hoss. Joe," Roy said, acknowledging each one of them while taking off his hat and rubbing his raw hands together, whether to get rid of the cold or in anticipation, none of them could tell. He looked like he'd burst with his precious news. In all this time, these poor men, his dear friends, hadn't had a spark of hope to see them through, not a ray of evidence to go by. But they did now!
He turned to Adam eagerly and announced, "Adam, your precaution worked! We found some of the payroll money!"
"It's colder than a metal harness in January out there," a man looking quite frozen declared, entering the cave for the fourth time since his watch started. "I barely get out there before I hafta to come back in 'n thaw my hands out."
"Oh, quit your complaining," a second man said stirring up the fire, around which he and the rest were gratefully sitting. "At least you don't have to be out like Sam does. Must be pretty near frozen by now."
The rest of the men scattered around grunted in agreement. "Where is ol' Sam, anyway? Shouldn't he have been back by now?" a third spoke up. "All's he had to do was watch that Cartwright pup back to the ranch."
"How should I know what's keepin' him?" the guard grumbled irritably, not enjoying the prospect of leaving the warming fire again. "All I want to know is what our next move's gonna be. That last one went off so well, I'm just itchin' fer another," he said, a smile forming to some degree on his chilled lips.
"I don't know," the second of the men spoke up, poking the fire. "Whatever the boss says, that's what we'll do."
"Boss's got this well planned, I think," a fourth, sitting in the corner said.
"And why shouldn't he? He's got old dead man Cartwright's information to go by," the leader replied with a wry chuckle that was seconded by all the other men in the cave.
"Yep, he's sure got..." he was cut off by the sound of footsteps approaching the mouth of the cave. The second man motioned for the fire to be smothered, and the guard to go over by the entrance, ready for whoever it might be. The steps came closer and closer, heading straight for the cave...