~CHAPTER 13~

Their brother had been acting strangely all morning. Joe wondered if he had really gone to his room at all last night, or just spent the entire time rambling through old records. Adam had been up when he and Hoss came downstairs that morning, but that wasn't so unusual. He was usually the early riser, but it was the dark circles under the eyes and the unkempt hair showing the clear signs of having nothing run through it but his hands, that told a different story. Hoss knew something was eating away at his brother, at both of his brothers actually, because he could tell by the way Joe kept taking occasional glances at Adam that their older brother's plight was affecting him as well. He decided to not read too much in to it, however, at least not at the moment. He knew by now that Adam was not one to confide anything that was irksome to him unless he was ready, and over the years, Hoss had learned to wait for that moment with patience.

As for Adam, he let his brothers take the lead that morning as they took their planned expedition to the line fences and young herds. Several hours before dawn he had gone back to his room, but spent the rest of the night merely looking out his window, knowing that any attempts at sleep would be fruitless. Although he had tried throughout the morning to rid his mind of his late-night thoughts, the far-fetched idea would not go away. But, he couldn't be sure if it was because his interpretation of events was truly logical, or if he just wanted the idea to be true so much that he was overlooking something even more important. Even though Adam was known for hiding his feelings with amazing success, to both his brothers there was little doubt that something was preoccupying him.

"I'll tell you one thing," Hoss spoke up, breaking the silence as their horses plodded along in step with each other. "It sure is a good thing that sun ain't out today, or this thing would be reflectin' the tar out of it," Hoss chuckled.

"Have you seen anything yet?" Adam asked.

"Nope, not yet," Hoss replied, moving the small mirror in his hand so that it scanned the high mountains in back of them, the general vicinity that Wavoka had said he had seen their watchers most often. It was a long shot they knew, but they saw no harm in trying.

The next few hours passed without any incident or sighting. They had planned to spend the day just making rounds, trying to see if they could pick out anything unusual along the way. They had just finished talking with the hands who were watching the young maverick herd and had started on their ramble again when Hoss spoke up. "Hey there..." he said softly, as he paused the mirror's perusal of the mountains behind them.

"What? You found something?" Joe asked in astonishment, keeping his head forward and his voice as low as Hoss's in case their stalker was closer than he thought.

"There he is," Hoss replied with suppressed excitement. "About a half mile up on the ridge. Dadburnit, no wonder we never noticed him way up there. You'd have tuh know exactly where tuh look tuh spot that varmint."

"Alright, then. Let's start heading back home, see what he does," Adam said, and instead of taking the road to the east fence as planned, they turned their horses down the main road and started back toward the ranch.

"Why you reckon he's exposin' himself so much?" Hoss questioned, moving the mirror in sinc with Chubby's steps so as to not lose sight of their quarry.

"Probably figures we've never spotted him before, why should we now?" Adam said quietly, reining Sport in as he began to prance some. The realization that they were being followed and had actually seen the man himself, just added to the tension and gave them that edgy feeling. Maybe the man would sense that someone was watching him. The horses neighed nervously and pulled at their bits, feeling the uneasiness of their riders.

They were almost in sight of the ranch when Hoss exclaimed suddenly. "Hey, he's gone."

"You lost him?" Joe asked in disbelief.

"No, he just turned and left. Reckon he figures we're close enough to home by now, that that's where we're goin'."

"You sure?" Adam asked, not wanting to take any chances in this tricky little game of cat and mouse where the stakes were becoming higher all the time.

After another second of checking the area where he had last seen the horseman, he nodded. "Sure as shootin', Adam."

To that Adam nodded and veered Sport off into the underbrush by the side of the road where it connected with an adjoining trail leading back toward the mountains, Hoss and Joe following close behind. Once they were far off the main trail and had reached some high ground, they pulled up and dismounted, standing together as Hoss pointed out the exact area where he had seen him. "Right up on that ridge. See that jagged rock stickin' out from the overhangin' shelf? He was on his horse perched out right on top of there. After a while, he turned back around to the right and up that side trail."

Adam nodded. This was it. He silently tried to assure himself he was doing the right thing. Turning to his brothers he said, "Alright, this is where we part company."

Hoss looked at his brother in consternation, his voice clipped with impatience. "What are you talkin' about, Adam? Come on let's go, time's awastin'. That jasper's gettin' farther ahead of us."

"I've decided it's best if I go alone, Hoss. You and Joe stay here and wait till I come. If I'm not back by ten o'clock tonight, go to town and get Roy. Tell him what's happened."

"Listen, Adam, there's no way we're letting you go up there by yourself. It's too dangerous," Joe blurted out, putting his hands on his hips.

"It's too dangerous having more people go up; we'd just run a greater risk of being spotted. Now please, Joe." Adam paused and his eyes looked pleadingly into those of his brothers. "Trust me on this."

Joe was taken aback by the heartfelt words. They were uttered so unlike Adam's regular air of straight business with no time for second opinions. It almost sounded as if he were begging them, imploring them to stay there, to not go up with him. Joe didn't like it. That uneasiness he'd been feeling all day over his brother's manner came back tenfold. He didn't like the idea of him going up there alone, and was about to voice his objection when Hoss spoke up. "Alright, Adam. We'll do it your way. We'll stay here."

Joe looked at his brother in shock. Surely Hoss saw the folly of such an idea just as much as he did, but if he had, his blue eyes didn't show it. They were serious but confident, and he raised his hand slightly in Joe's direction, cutting off the objection he knew was coming. "You best hurry now. He's gettin' a good lead on you," he finished, his voice drawn with worry and emotion. Joe looked back at Adam and saw the quickest look of gratitude flash across his face. Without another word, just a quick squeeze on their shoulders in farewell, he mounted again and started on the path that wound up into the nearby mountain.

He had no sooner disappeared from sight than Joe hurried over to Cochise and prepared to mount as well. His actions were stopped by Hoss's meaty hand grabbing hold of his bridle. "Where do you think you're goin'?"

"What do you mean where am I going? I'm following him. You saw how he was; something's not right. I can feel it, and don't try to tell me you didn't notice how he acted."

"No, I noticed, Joe," Hoss replied in a low tone. "But we cain't do nothin' 'cept what Adam asked us tuh do. I don't know what he's plannin', but if he felt the need fer us to stay here that much, then I reckon he must have a powerful good reason. We'd only be causin' him more trouble if'n we went along or tried followin' him."

Joe looked back at the trail that Adam had taken, then looked Hoss in the eyes. "I'm scared, Hoss. He's our brother. What if he's heading into trouble. We... we may lose him just like Pa." His voice cracked at the mere thought of losing another member of his family. Deep inside, the overwhelming desire to see that didn't happen was battling with the trust he had in his brother.

Hoss placed a hand on Joe's shoulder and nodded. "I know, Lil' Joe. But we just have tuh trust that Adam knows what he's doin'. Reckon we can't do nothin' else but wait."

He wished for some assurance that what he was doing was the right thing. How he would've loved to have his brothers along, would've loved to tell them of his suspicions, of what he remembered. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't build up their hopes just to see them hurt again if he was wrong. Yes, he had done the right thing. He was also glad they didn't ask why he hadn't wanted to send for the Sheriff the moment they caught sight of the man. What could he have told them….that even if they knew right where their camp was, they couldn't go up there with a posse because they might shoot their Pa? Every time Adam thought of it, the likelihood of his father being alive became less and less a possibility to him, but he couldn't take any chances. Inside, he was waging war, logic against feelings. The victor would decide what he should do next. Right now he was on the fence, not trusting himself to make any decision for fear that, either way, he would hurt his family.

He had the feeling Joe might try to follow him. Oh yes, he had seen the impetuous look in his young eyes, the look that spoke nothing but action, but he could count on Hoss to stop him. Hoss would trust him no matter what, just as he had his entire life. He just hoped this time he wasn't leading them astray. But now he had to concentrate on what he was doing right then and follow the trail before him more carefully. He felt he was getting close.

Once he started getting up into steeper country, he decided to leave Sport in a clump of pines out of sight and continue on foot. Firmly attaching him to a low branch, he started out again. After another few minutes of following the man's trail, he suddenly heard the sound of a horse snorting not too far in front of him and a man's voice speaking to it in casual tones, obviously not suspecting anyone of tailing him. Adam ducked into the shrubs by the side of the trail and, under cover, worked his way up so he could view the cleared area. He could see the stranger now leading the horse into a small corral, half of which was made from the rock face, and filled with at least a dozen other horses. Adam realized why they had chosen such a spot. It was a perfect place and only someone with a complete knowledge of the ranch would know it. This, again, brought home the many coincidences involved in the events of the past several months.

The man now gave his steed a final farewell pat before closing the gate and heading off for a destination further up the hill. After he was gone from sight, Adam ducked out from cover and continued following at a safe distance, knowing full well that there might be lookouts stationed in any shadowed corner or crevice. He could hear the man whistling further up ahead, and for some reason, the simple act almost infuriated Adam. That man was staking out men whose lives he was helping ruin, and he thought so little of it that he was able to indulge in a carefree whistle. His jaw clenched, and he was glad the man didn't turn at the sound of his teeth grinding together.

The two continued on, Adam taking small silent steps, when the man ahead called out. "Hello, the cave. Clint, it's Jesse." Adam stilled as his breath caught in his throat.

ansi - Thank you so much for the lovely compliments. I hope you continue to enjoy the read. :)

Oh, yes what I put these poor boys through. lol It's going to get a bit worse before it gets better though, I'm afraid.