As the hours ticked by and night relinquished its hold on the sun, Adam continued to grow stronger by leaps and bounds. Light had begun to peak over the window sill when he awoke. A headache pounded in his left temple and he winced, raising a hand to touch his forehead. A sound came from his right and he paused, a smile touching his lips.

"Reda? Is that you?"

"No, son, it's me. It's Pa."

Adam's smile lessened but a safe hope welled up too. He was home and the knowledge that he was in familiar surroundings gave him pleasant pause. The worried face of his father greeted his eyes when they opened and he reached out a hand. "Hi there, Pa. Sorry, thought you were...someone else."

"So I gathered," Ben smiled, taking a seat on the bed and placing a hand on his son's forearm. "You had us so worried, Adam. What happened that night?"

Shaking his head, Adam slowly sat up and leaned his head back on the headboard with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm not sure. One minute I was at the mill, then the next I was waking up in the cold darkness. I was hurting like hell. Just to breathe was agony of the worst kind. Next thing I remember was waking up in a cabin and being...tended to."

Ben gave him a wry look, lowering his head while raising an eyebrow. "Was it a woman, by chance? Reda, I think was the name?"

Feeling red around the collar of his nightshirt, Adam refused to give his father the satisfaction of the moment. He made sharp eye contact. "Yes. Her name is Reda Smith. She happens to be a woman who lives alone and didn't much like my intrusion at first."

"I'll bet she didn't. How old is she?"

"Somewhere in her twenties. Don't look at me like that! For God's sake, I'm not a hound. She saved my life and I would never do anything to..."

"Hold on, hold on now," Ben laughed, holding his hand up to interrupt. "She sounds like a strong individual and a woman of courage. Her notes were well-written. Is she schooled?"

Adam cocked his head, bewilderment passing across his face. "Notes? What are you talking about? Are you saying that she wrote to you somehow?"

Ben nodded and reached into his vest pockets until he found what he was looking for. He handed over the sheet of paper and watched his son's confusion grow. "This was tacked up on our front door. The first one has been lost, I'm afraid, I think that I may have thrown it away when we all were out looking for you. Both of the notes were the only link to you that your brothers and I had. We...we thought you were dead."

Adam looked up quickly and laid the paper to one side. His father's face was stricken and he appeared to be struggling to keep his face inscrutable. Guilt swept over Adam and he gulped. "I'm so sorry, Pa. I should have had better sense. I must have been plum out of my head to leave the mill after falling off that ladder."

"If you were too ill AND hurt to think straight then there isn't any blame on your shoulders, Adam. I knew that you weren't feeling well that morning but I let you go anyway. I should be the one apologizing. From what witnesses say, you fell off the ladder because your head started swimming and you lost your grip."

Adam shrugged again, knowing that his own stupidity had gotten him into the mess but he was tired of arguing and knew that his father wouldn't listen anyway. "Let's both call it quits then and stop beating ourselves up. What's done is done and I'm home. Everything's okay now, isn't it?"

The smile returned to Ben's face and he reached up to cup the back of Adam's head. "Yes, everything is fine now, son. We are both blessed men and this family should be thanking God for what we have been granted."

Adam cleared his throat for it suddenly felt quite choked up. He picked up the papers again and read them slowly. "Pa...I don't understand why she signed the letters with an 'A' and how could she have made the long ride each night to deliver this? Riding double on her horse, it took us more than three hours to get here last evening. She was usually there to fix my meals and take care of me when I woke up because I slept most of the time. She would have had to ride there and back in only a couple of hours which is what it would have taken every single night. None of this is adding up. I suppose I'll find out when I ride back up there on Saturday but I was wondering..."

Ben sat up with alarm. "You are not going anywhere for a while, young man, and don't you forget it! I just got you back and your brothers and I aren't so ready to lose you again. Do you understand me? You need time to recover from a head wound AND pneumonia and, by thunder, you won't be gallivanting all over kingdom come before I say so! That's my final word on the matter!"

Adam simply sat still and grinned, nodding when he thought it appropriate until his father ran out of breath. "Are you finished now, Pa? What I was going to ask was, do you mind if I take Hoss with me up the mountain? Before I left Reda, I told her that I would return in two days time to help enlarge her cabin and make her life a bit more comfortable."

"But why so soon?" Ben asked, flailing his arms about to illustrate his point, "Now, Adam, I understand that you want to help the lady, I feel indebted to her myself, but so soon?! Why can't she come to the Ponderosa? I'll gladly get her job or a place to stay. I could send Hoss to go get her."

Adam shook his head vigorously but regretted that action when his headache worsened. He sighed as he raised a hand to rub his right temple. "For one, she already has a seamstress' shop in Genoa and, for another, she is very wary of strangers and is scared stiff to move. My intention is to help her be more comfortable, not force her into something that she isn't suited for. I think that she might be happier with us too but it isn't for you or I to say. It's her choice and hers alone."

His face registering defeat, Ben sighed and helplessly shrugged his shoulders. "Of course, you can take Hoss with you but I'm only letting you out of this house if you promise to follow every rule that he sets forth that I will be giving personally. And no heavy work until you are fully recovered, are we clear?"

Amusement bubbling over, Adam gave a mock salute. "Yes, sir, Colonel, sir!"

"Oh, get on with you, impertinent young buck! Best get some rest and I'll be around if you need me. Just holler, okay?" Ben smiled, patting Adam's knee as he rose to leave the room. Adam called after him and he paused, his hand on the doorknob.

"Yes, son?"

"It's good to be home."

The older man returned his son's smile, their eyes meeting in mutual understanding of the horror that might have been. "Good to have you home, boy, very good indeed. Sleep well, Adam."

Once the door had closed, Adam slipped back under the covers and closed his eyes. He had trouble getting to sleep, however, and tossed and turned for a time before giving up. His headache had slowly gone away and he felt able to do some work so he rose carefully and sat at his drafting table in the corner. He pulled the cabin plans from his new coat and spread them out in front of him. He began to copy the papers down on onto a sheet of tracing paper*, a new drafting tool that had begun to be popular in the professional community and one that he found more than useful. Although he was stuck out in the middle of the West, he still prided himself on keeping in touch with the latest innovations from back East and his college friends helped much.

A permanent smile settled on his face as he happily worked, soon having the rough sketches finished so that he could begin defining the ideas that he had for Reda's humble abode. Ah, Reda...something flip-flopped in his stomach and he paused to gaze out of the window. Resting his chin in the palm of his right hand, he allowed his mind to wander and soon was lost in thought, imagining what it would be like to save her from her loneliness. In a perfect world, he would return and she would jump into his arms, kissing him and calling him "darling" but the real world didn't work like that. Despite his caution, he knew that he was falling in love with the beautiful enchantress, so innocent in some ways yet tortured in others. She made him feel vulnerable and iron-strong, all at the same time. His first instinct was to run for the hills, to avoid her company all together and protect his heart which pleaded with him to give her a chance, but his second instinct was to protect her and that is what he needed to focus upon. The resolve clear in his mind, he resumed work with an added vigor until fatigue made his eyelids grow weary. Slumping to rest his arms on the table, he lowered his head and promptly fell asleep.

I* * * * *I

Exiting the bank, Angelina sighed as she pulled her black veil tighter about her face and neck. She hurried to the livery and collected Cole, kicking him into a hard gallop out of town. Once free from prying eyes, she slowed the stallion to a brisk trot. Well, she had done it. She had sold her business, withdrew all of her money from the bank and bid goodbye to Genoa for good. If her dark love proved to be a betraying disappointment, then she wouldn't be missed by anyone. If he accepted her then she wouldn't have any strings to cut and could start fresh. She had put all of her chips on the table and was making a life-threatening gamble.

Her life or death was in Adam Cartwright's hands and a peace came over her from that thought. She was beginning to trust him but the cynicism that had been nurtured over her century-and-a-half reared its stern head. The thought of being in his arms again sent an exhilaration to her soul; whether or not it would be the last time was of no consequence. She would gladly fall under his hand if he decided as such because then her torment would be over and she would be free from the curse forever. Either way, she couldn't see how she could lose.

*Tracing paper began to be popular in the early 1860s and would have been of a fascination to Adam who, I would feel, would keep tabs on such innovations.