TWO

oooooooooo

The next day Harriet Guthrie came to stay. Mrs. Guthrie had lost her family the year before to a fever that raged through the town. She'd had two little boys of her own, so whenever Pa asked her to come out for a few days, she jumped at the chance. Adam smiled as the older woman placed a plate of pancakes before him and then ruffled Little Joe's curls before returning to the kitchen. The only thing that concerned him about leaving her alone to care for the little scamp and Hoss for the two to three days it would take him to ride to Carson City where he was to negotiate that contract and back, was that he knew Little Joe could wrap her around his little finger. He'd probably come home to find the boy twice as fat and three times as sassy.

Of course, with Little Joe, the 'twice as fat' couldn't hurt.

"Adam."

The teen looked over his forkful of pancake at his middle brother. He knew what was coming. He also knew what his reply would be.

"How come I cain't go with you?" Hoss pleaded.

"Because we can't leave Mrs. Guthrie here alone with Little Joe. She needs someone to look after her too."

"What about Dusty?"

He'd put the pancake in his mouth. He nearly spit it out.

"Well, for one thing," he replied, "Dusty has more than enough to do since Jake is injured. And for another, you know he's heading out tonight to check on the herd." Dusty was the most experienced man left on the ranch. He was going out to show the ropes to a couple of the younger hands who were going on their first drive. After that, he'd turn them loose and return to do whatever it was Mrs. Guthrie needed him to do. It worried him a little to leave the widow and his young brothers for all intents and purposes alone tonight, but he had no choice. If they lost that contract they might not make it through the coming year. Mrs. Guthrie, of course, had assured him that she would be fine. She knew how to use a rifle and wasn't afraid to do so.

He believed her.

"I know, Adam, but..." Hoss glanced at his younger brother. Little Joe had made a mountain out of his pancakes. One of his remaining wooden horses was riding toward it. "It makes me feel like a kid havin' to stay home with Little Joe.

"I ain't no kid!" Joe protested as his horse splashed through a gushing stream of syrup.

Adam dabbed at the aftermath of the charge that dotted the checked tablecloth with his napkin before speaking. "Of course not, Joe. You'll help Hoss take care of Mrs. Guthrie, right?"

Joe's eyes went wide over the top of the wooden horse whose hoof he was sucking on. "Mrs. Gurther's nicer than Hop Sing," he said as he pulled it out. "She lets me have all the cookies I want."

"Guthrie, Joe." Adam sat back in his chair and pinned his middle brother with a questioning stare. "I need to hear you tell me I can count on you, Hoss. Otherwise I won't go."

"But don't you gotta Adam?" his sibling asked.

"I could send someone else – Hiram, maybe – but I'd rather not. It's important I represent Pa. His partner's need to know he's still in the game." He paused. "We need that contract. It will help to secure our northern border among other things."

Little Joe raised his hand, pretending to hold a gun. "Pa'll shoot dead anyone who comes on our land who ain't s'posed to. Ain't that right, Adam?"

Adam ran a hand over his face. His father's bluster – meant to intimidate – could be, at times, a bit misleading.

"Only if they threaten us, Joe, and then after we give them a chance to explain. Pa just... Well... Pa just means to scare them off."

Joe sniffed as tears formed in his eyes. "Pa scares me sometimes."

Adam just about melted into a puddle. He held his hands out. "Come here, Joe. Please." Once his little brother had climbed into his lap, he squeezed him tight and held him close. "Pa doesn't mean to he harsh, Joe. He's just... Well, he's kind of lost now."

"How comes he got lost? Wasn't he lookin' where he was goin'?"

The teen smiled. "Right now Pa tends to look backwards more than forwards, which doesn't help."

Joe was putting two and two together. "So Pa can't see where he's goin'? How come he doesn't take one of us to look out for him?"

"That'd be smart, buddy. How about you tell him that next time he comes home?"

Little Joe nuzzled into his shirt, clutching the fabric with his syrupy fingers. "Pa ain't never comin' home," he said with a sigh.

He and Hoss exchanged a glance. "What makes you think that, Joe?" he asked.

Silent tears slipped down his brother's cheeks. "He don't like me."

Hoss was on his feet. He came quickly to their side. "Little Joe, you know that ain't true! Pa loves you, just like he loves me and Adam."

Joe's curly head shook. "Mama liked me. She went away and I should have gone with her. I bet Mama misses me even if Pa don't."

Dear Lord! What did you say to that?

A soft voice spoke from behind them. "Little Joe, you told me about Hoss breaking your horse last night. Do you remember?"

Both he and Hoss turned to look at Harriet Guthrie. The blond woman had come in silently with a tray of milk and cookies in her hands.

Joe nodded.

"And do you remember telling me how you couldn't stand to look at your other horses because they reminded you of the one that was broken?" She had put the tray down and come to stand before them.

Joe nodded again...slowly.

Mrs. Guthrie knelt and placed a hand on Joe's knee. "It's like that for your papa. When he looks at you, he thinks about your mama and he gets sad." The older woman paused. "You were playing with your horses at the table. You got over them making you sad, didn't you?"

His little brother sniffed and nodded. "Uh huh."

The older woman opened her arms and Joe jumped into them. Rising with him balanced on her hip, she spoke as she wiped away his tears away with the tip of her apron. "One day your papa will look at you and be happy that you remind him of your mama. That way there will always be a little bit of her still with him. You have to give him time. Can you do that?"

Joe's lips twisted and he scowled, thinking hard. "Maybe 'til tomorrow. That's an awful long time. Is it long enough?"

Mrs. Guthrie hid her smile as she raked her fingers through Joe's golden-brown curls, pushing them off of his face. "Well, let's start with that and we'll take it day by day. Shall we?" A second later she looked at her hand and exclaimed, "Child, what have you done? Taken a bath in the honey?"

"It's syrup," Adam said quietly. "His horse had to ford a river."

The older woman laughed. "Well, it's time this little one forded a river of his own. I think a bath is in order!"

"I don't want no bath!" Joe proclaimed and started wiggling. "I ain't dirty!"

Hoss leaned in close. "Joe, you remember your last bath? You was captainin' that ship and the pirates was comin'? Hop Sing came in and stopped us before we could fire the cannons. Well, he ain't here. Is he?" His blue eyes fixed on the older lady. She smiled and nodded. "Now you go on with Ms. Guthrie and I'll come up in a minute or two and bring the shot. Okay?"

Joe's irrepressible giggle made them all smile. "Heave to, laddie!" he shouted.

"Hoist the mizzenmast!" Hoss responded.

As Mrs. Guthrie mounted the stairs, Adam turned to his middle brother. Hoss' smile had faded and he looked thoughtful.

"Poor little kid," he said at last. "You and me, Adam, we ain't never had a mama, so's we cain't miss 'em." He stopped short. "I mean, there was 'mama', but she wasn't – "

He clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I know what you mean. Joe has a great big hole in his heart and I think the only thing that can fill it is Pa." He sighed. "I just wish Pa understood that."

"He will, Adam. He will."

The teen nodded. He just hoped it was soon enough for little Joe, and that their father's absence didn't leave permanent scars.

"Adam?"

He looked at his brother. "Yes."

"You can count on me while you're gone. I'll watch over Little Joe and Ms. Guthrie and won't let nothin' happen to them."

Adam thought a moment and then came to a decision. Unlikely as it was, it could come to that – Hoss defending their home. And Hoss was a responsible kid.

It was time he proved to him that he believed it.

"Come with me. I have something to show you."

His middle brother frowned but did as he was asked. "What is it?"

The teen crossed to their father's desk and took a seat. He reached under the desk for the hidden key and then proceeded to unlock the top right hand drawer. Once it was open, he drew out a Colt.45 revolver.

Hoss whistled. "That sure is a beauty."

"It's Pa's and it's always loaded." Adam closed his fingers on the elegant handle. "It's here in case of trouble."

His brother looked a little green, as if he knew what was coming. "Okay."

"I want you to come outside. I'm going to show you how to use it."

"I thought you said I wasn't s'posed to play with guns, not even a rifle!"

Adam nodded. "You're not. This isn't playing. This is...protection. Mrs. Guthrie knows how to handle a rifle, but in case she's away or something happens to her and you have to do something to protect yourself and Joe... Well, I want you to be prepared."

"Somethin' happens? Like what?"

He didn't want to scare the boy, but the territory they lived in was wild and there was no predicting what might occur. Thieves, banditos, even men just down on their luck – all could pose a threat to two young boys and a woman alone. Of course, the odds of something happening in the brief time they would be alone were astronomical.

Still...

"I don't know, Adam," Hoss said, his eyes wide as he looked at the weapon.

He hid his smile. "I thought you wanted to handle Pa's rifle."

"Just 'handle it'. Shootin' it is another thing. S'pose I do somethin' wrong?"

Adam closed the drawer and stood with the pistol in his hand. "That's why I want to show you what to do." He paused. "Has Dusty let you handle a pistol? Just answer. I won't get mad."

His brother shrugged. "A couple of times, just for balance. Ain't shot it, though."

"Okay. Well, it's not hard. It's lighter and easier to aim that a rifle. And remember, if it comes to it, just showing the weapon will probably be enough to chase trouble away. I don't think any hard cases are going to show up."

And with that, Adam led his younger brother to and through the door and into the yard.

oooooooooo

"You're sure you saw old man Cartwright ride out, Jasper?"

Dawson Dubbs, thin as a bed slat and rangy as a prairie chicken, with wheat stalk hair and eyes the color of dirt, spit out a wad of tobacco, missing the lizard he was aiming at before answering. "You blind or somethin'?" he asked. "Back on the trail? The old man rode right past us while you was sleepin'."

Jasper, as dark as his younger half-brother was pale, with a beak of a nose like a hawk and narrow, nasty black eyes to match, echoed, "While I was sleeping?" He cut Dawson's nod off by back-handing him. "That woman that whelped you wasn't fit for a drinking man to hole up with," Jasper sighed. "If I was asleep, how was I supposed to know Cartwright rode past?"

"I figured you woke up."

"Did I say I woke up?"

Dawson shrugged. "You always tell me you're a light sleeper."

Jasper Dubbs shook his head. All his half-brother knew about brains was that you could buy them scrambled. Their pa had made him promise to look after him, but at the moment finding a nice cozy jail he could leave him in and send regular letters to was looking good.

Making an abrupt gesture with his hand, he asked, "Did you see which way he went?"

"Toward Eagle Station," Dawson answered.

So, if Cartwright went to town, it was a good four to five hours there and back at a quick clip. Odds were he'd stay the night. Hell, odds were, he'd stay a week from what one of the old man's hands had told him over a beer. Seems the rich man had lost his wife half a year back and just didn't care about nothing anymore.

That was fine. He'd just relieve him of the burden of all those nice things in his house including the payroll in his safe.

"You nose around about who's in the house like I asked?"

Dawson looked at him like he was the idiot. "Course, I did. Most of the men are gone, gettin' ready for the drive. That old one...Dusty, I think? He's gone for a couple of days, and the oldest one of them Cartwright boys is s'posed to leave tonight for Carson City."

"But you haven't seen him leave?"

His half-brother shook his head. "Ain't come by this way. Only one come by here was a woman headed toward the Ponderosa. Since that Chink is gone, they probably hired her to cook or maybe watch the brats."

A woman and two boys. A few scattered hands, maybe paying attention, most likely not. Not too bad. Shouldn't be too hard to take the house. And if things got messy, well, the high and mighty Ben Cartwright deserved it. His pa had worked for the rancher once upon a time and been let go for drinking on the job. Ma'd left after that and things had just gone to hell. A month or two later Pa'd married the hussy that whelped Dawson. That woman, well, she'd lived in the badlands where the lights are red and the carpets soft. Didn't take too kindly to homestead life. It wasn't too long for she was gone too. Took all the savings with her. After she left, Pa drank himself to death.

Jasper spit again and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

He held Ben Cartwright responsible.

"We gonna wait 'til it's dark?"

"No, we're gonna rob the house in broad daylight," he groused. "What are you? An idiot?"

"Now, Jasper, you ain't got no right to –"

"I gotta every right to call you an idiot because you are one. " Jasper turned and headed for his horse that was ground tethered nearby. "I'm not being mean. Just telling the truth."

"Well, it still ain't nice," his half-brother said as he mounted up.

As Jasper settled in the saddle, he snorted, "Never said I was nice. Just honest. Now, come on. We got us a ways to go and we need to be in place before sundown."

oooooooooo

"I ain't so sure about this, Adam." Hoss's blue eyes were wide. "I mean, pointin' a gun at a tin can is one thing..."

"Pointing it at a man with the intent to do him harm is another. I know." Adam pursed his lips and let out a little sigh. It pained him to see his almost eleven-year-old brother holding a pistol and pointing it at the straw 'man' he'd constructed. "I wouldn't be happy if you felt any different." He paused. "Maybe you can think of it this way. Odds are you wouldn't have to shoot. Most bad men are cowards and will turn tail and run if they see a gun pointed at them."

"You mean all I gotta do is scare them off? Kind of like a scarecrow?"

His hand came down on his brother's shoulder. He'd had Hoss take a couple of empty shots at the straw man, just so he could get used to the gun's weight and learn how to balance it. He was a big kid, so he really hadn't had any trouble. It was a double-edged sword. He was glad to see that Hoss was uncomfortable holding the weapon. Still, if for some unforeseen reason he needed to hold it and use it, he also needed to feel confident.

Adam waited until his brother looked at him. "Are you all right with this?"

Hoss drew in a breath and let it out slowly. Then he nodded. "Yeah, I can do it if I hafta."

"BANG BANG!" a voice proclaimed from close behind them. Adam pivoted, pistol in hand but quickly dropped it when he saw who the little noisemaker was.

"Little Joe! What are you doing out here?" he asked, his voice harsh. "I thought I told you to stay inside!"

Tears welled up in the little boy's eyes. He sniffed between just about every word. "Mrs. Guthrie...told...me to...find...you..."

That's right. He hadn't told the older woman what they were doing. Placing the pistol on a nearby hay bale, Adam went over to Joe and scooped him up off the floor. Holding him in front of him, he looked right into those big green eyes.

"I'm sorry, Little Joe. I shouldn't have yelled. You startled me. Can you forgive me?"

Joe shuddered with a sob, but nodded his head.

Adam ruffled his brother's curls as he smiled. "What did Mrs. Guthrie say?"

The little boy sniffed again and then his face lit up with the most amazing smile. "Time for chocolate cake!"

Twirling Joe like a lariat, Adam hoisted him onto his shoulders and took a step toward the house. A moment later he turned back. "You coming, Hoss?"

His brother was frowning. Hoss indicated the hay bale with a nod. "What about...you know?"

How could he have forgotten?

"Come here, will you?" he asked the ten-year-old. When Hoss obliged, he said, "Go out for a pass."

Hoss nodded eagerly as he ran forward. "You got it."

Adam looked up at his littlest brother. "Ready to fly, Little Joe?"

Joe's answer was to spread his arms wide.

"One...two...three!" The teen smiled as he watched his giant of a middle brother catch and then cart his baby brother toward the house. He'd never get tired of that giggle. "I'll come in a minute," he called after them. "I need to saddle my horse so I can head out before dark. You be sure to leave some cake for me!"

Hoss had Joe turned upside-down. The little boy was dangling over his back. "No promises, big brother!" he replied.

"No promises!" Joe echoed.

With a sigh, Adam turned from his brothers and went to the hay bale and picked up his father's pistol . Such a simple thing, but one little mistake like he had just made could mean the difference between life and death. This time he'd emptied the revolver before handing it to Hoss.

But if he hadn't and Joe had gotten hold of it...