A/N: I should be working on the next chapter of Threads of Fate, but this little side trip won't leave me alone. Elsewhere in fan fiction, someone did an AU where Ben was accompanied by Hoss and Joe in To Die in Darkness instead of Candy. I found myself wondering what such a situation would have done to Annie and Candy's relationship, especially if Postley hadn't developed an attack of conscience in the nick of time. Warning: character death!

A couple things to note about this universe: the mountain lion from my altered episode did exist, he just picked somebody else to bother, leaving Annie uninjured. And as for Candy's double … I haven't decided if he survived the war or not.

If that interests you, sit down and enjoy Shadows Over the Land. As always, I own nothing but my OC. Entertainment only.


"Chicken and dumplings." Hoss looked like a scolded puppy. "Pa, why can't you have Postley to supper another night? It'll take two or three days to ride those line camps."

"Well, Hoss, I want John to have a chance at dumplings." Joe cackled and Annie shook her head. Trust brother Hoss to think with his stomach. Candy cracked a grin as he drank his coffee, but didn't say a word. "And I'm sure Joe will be happy to keep you company." Her twin's laughter died and Hoss snorted.

"But, Pa –"

"It won't take you that long."

"I'll do it, Pa." She sat up and laid her book aside. "Candy can ride along and we'll get finished faster than those two could manage. They'd spend half the time thinking about those chicken and dumplings and take twice as long to check the camps." Ben chuckled.

"As long as Candy doesn't mind, I have no objections."

"Of course not, Mr. Cartwright." Their foreman finished his coffee and stood. "I think I'll turn in early. Night."

"Good night, Candy." The front door closed behind him and Annie stood up.

"Night, Pa." She hugged him. "Night, brothers." She tossed them a smirk over her shoulder. "The both of you owe me."

"I'll make sure big brother doesn't eat all the chicken," Joe called as she rounded the landing, his familiar cackle drifting up the stairs.

"Why me?"

"What?" She turned, found Candy watching her as they rode between camps. "Oh, Candy don't start that again. You're part of this family, too."

"Says you."

"Says Pa," she retorted. "Mr. Ponderosa Foreman." He shook his head.

"Most places I've been, sweetheart, the foreman ain't family."

"Cartwrights aren't like that." She ducked under a low-hanging branch. "Don't even think about saying you're leaving again."

"Alright, I won't." Annie whipped around, throwing him a sharp look, and he cracked a grin. "I'll just go to your pa when we get back and collect my pay."

"I'll lock you in the bunkhouse." Candy laughed, the sound carrying in the still afternoon.

"I'd give you points for trying, sweetheart, but ain't no jail can hold me if I don't wanna be there, much less a bunkhouse."

"Why do you do that? I have a name, Candy, what's wrong with it?" The grin melted off his face and he stared off into the distance at nothing. "You said you'd tell me," she continued. "And you never have."

"I can't," he finally said. "Talking about it takes me right back to the day it happened." He kicked Scout into a lope and raced ahead. Annie heaved a sigh and gave Reno his head. Stubborn, mule-headed foreman. She'd get an answer out of him one of these days, or her name wasn't Anne Cartwright.


The next day

"See to the horses, Candy, and I'll see if there's any of that chicken and dumplings left." She dismounted and rubbed her lower back.

"Getting old, sweetheart?" He asked with a grin and she slapped his arm. He laughed and headed for the barn, both horses trailing at his heels. Annie watched him for a split second, then shook herself and made her way to the house, surprised no one had come out to meet them.

"Pa, we're home!" She unbuckled her gun belt and laid it on the sideboard next to theirs. The house was still and silent, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. Annie rounded the corner into the kitchen, but it was empty. "Joe?" She turned back and picked up a plate off the table, looked at it, then set it back. Why would they leave the supper dishes on the table?

She took the stairs two at a time. "Hoss!" Annie rushed down the hallway, opening doors to empty bedrooms, her heart slamming against her ribs, panic engulfing her like a house afire. What was going on? Where …? "Joe, this isn't funny!" The front door opened, bringing a split second of relief.

"You find any chicken, sweetheart?" Candy closed the door downstairs. She ran for the stairs. "I don't know about you –" She burst into view on the landing and the laughter on his face vanished. "Annie, what's wrong?" She clung to the railing and tried to force herself to think positively. It was a joke, it had to be ….

"Candy, go back outside and tell him this isn't funny."

"What isn't funny?" He looked over his shoulder at the front door, then back to her. "There's no one in the barn," he said slowly. "Just the horses."

"All of them?"

"Of course all of them."

"Candy, there's no one here." He stilled, eyes locked on her face, and time froze for one horrifying moment, then restarted with a sickening jolt.

"I'll send one of the boys to town, maybe Doc needed them, or Roy called for a posse."

"Without their horses?"

"I don't know, Annie. We'll … we'll figure it out, I promise." He turned and bolted out the door. Annie slid down the railing and sat down hard on the top step, her mind spinning.

Joe was playing a prank, he had to be. But would Pa and Hoss really go along with it? Why hadn't they shown themselves now that they'd gotten their laughs? She swallowed hard. If this wasn't a joke … what was it?

What could happen to three grown men without a struggle?

She hadn't moved when Candy returned. "Most of the hands are still out with the cattle, but Dude was in the bunkhouse. He'll ride out as soon as he saddles a horse." She nodded and his face twisted. "He hasn't seen them since yesterday afternoon, he just rode in maybe an hour ago himself." He climbed the steps and sat down a couple steps below her, one hand tentatively reaching for hers. "We'll have some answers when he gets back." She nodded slowly, but didn't say anything. His grip on her hand was familiar, comforting, and she clung to it, needing an anchor.


Five hours.

Annie set her ice cold coffee on the table and stared into the dancing flames. Candy straightened and pulled his foot off the hearth, his own coffee long ago ignored. "I don't get it," he said softly. "No one in town has seen them, the horses are in the barn, the supper dishes … it just doesn't make sense."

"Someone's taken them." He looked up. "Joe might pull some stupid pranks, but Hoss wouldn't go along with this, much less Pa. It's all that's left." Candy's throat worked, but he didn't say anything. A horse neighed outside and she jumped like she'd been kicked by a mule, then bolted for the door. Candy reached it first and yanked it open to reveal John Postley standing next to his horse, blinking in surprise. Her heart fell to her boots.

"Evening, Ms. Anne, mister. Your pa around?"

"No. No, he's not. He didn't happen to say anything at supper about going anywhere, did he?" Postley worked his hat in his hands.

"That's what I come to talk to him about. I worked so hard at the diggings I plum forgot about supper and I came to apologize for missing it." He glanced between them. "Is something wrong?"

"I think so." She turned and went back in the house. Candy followed a moment later.

"We don't know that."

"What else could it be?" She turned on him, eyes stinging. "If they went somewhere they'd have left a note and you know it." Candy folded his arms across his chest and stared at the floor.

"I know. But all we can do is wait. If someone's holding them for ransom, they'll have to contact you soon." Annie drew in a shaky breath. She had to keep it together … had to think. They hadn't ruined anyone's plans … lately. And there wasn't anyone sniffing around the Ponderosa. So why?

Why would someone take them?

The door opened and she looked up. Candy took his hat off and shook his head. "Nothing?"

"No." He braced a hand on the sideboard, unable to meet her gaze. "Roy sent the reward posters out."

"It's already been in every paper from Carson City to Placerville," she said in a monotone. "If someone knew anything, they'd have said so by now." She exhaled a shaky breath. "It's been two weeks." Her voice cracked and Candy's throat worked. His head turned, watching her over his shoulder.

"Mistah Candy want coffee?" Hop Sing appeared in the kitchen doorway, back early from his visit to family in San Francisco. His eyes were dull.

"No, thank you, Hop Sing." Candy took off his gun belt and placed it gently on the sideboard. "I wouldn't drink it anyway, no need to waste good coffee." He rounded her mother's settee as Hop Sing returned to the kitchen in resigned silence and took a seat on the parlor table. "I don't know what to say, sweetheart. If there's even anything I can say." She blinked back tears and curled deeper into the corner of the settee, legs pulled up to her chest. His throat worked again and he seemed to be contemplating something. "Is there any way to reach your brother?" Her head came up.

"What?"

"Your brother, the one that went to sea. He needs to come back … you need family, not just some … drifter turned foreman."

"You're more family than Adam ever was," she said shortly. "We haven't gotten a letter in I don't know how long. He wouldn't come back, even if …." She choked on the words, unable to think them, much less give them voice.

"Give him the choice. I know I'd want it if it was me."

"Then you write, his letters are in Pa's desk, top left drawer." She uncurled herself and headed for the stairs. "We'll ride out in the morning, scout around over Carson way." Annie made it into her bedroom and got the door closed before her legs gave out. She landed in a heap on the floor, hot tears sliding down her cheeks and she curled into a ball, a finger wedged into her mouth to muffle the sobs. "Pa … where are you?"

"Dude, Sam, Lucas, with us, everyone else get to work." Annie tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "When Pa and the boys get back, I want the ranch to still be standing."

"It will be, Ms. Cartwright."

"You can count on us." Voices overlapped as the hands offered reassurance. She forced a watery smile.

"Thank you all." She turned Reno and urged him to a lope out of the yard, the others following behind. There had to be somewhere they hadn't looked yet, despite three weeks of searching.

But where?

Why?

Even the tether that had linked her to her twin since they were born failed her. She could feel him, but not find him. Like a compass with no needle, she was lost without hope.

They rode for miles down lonely box canyons and up tree lined ridges, to no avail. No Cartwrights rode out of the trees like nothing was wrong.

She wanted to cry as yet another day ended with no new leads, but that would have to wait until she was alone. She looked over her shoulder at the setting sun as they rode slowly back into the yard, hoping against hope one of them would be riding home. She dismounted at the hitch rail and handed Dude the reins when he held out his hand.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Anne."

"Me, too." She went in the house and met Hop Sing bustling around the table.

"Missy Annie eat. Hop Sing cook favorite supper, you getting skinny as bird."

"I'm not hungry." The little cook drew himself up and pointed at the table.

"You no do Mistah Cartwright any good falling down sick." He muttered in Chinese. "Eat, now." Hands landed on her shoulders and she jumped.

"I'll see that she does, Hop Sing, thank you."

"Mistah Candy need eat, too."

"I will." He guided her to the table and kicked a chair out for her to sit. "Starving yourself won't help."

"I'm not starving myself, I'm just not hungry." Candy heaved a sigh and dropped into the chair beside her, propped his chin on the heel of his hand.

"You know what? Neither am I, but when there's food, I eat it." His eyes dimmed. "You never know when you'll get more." She searched his face, not even sure what she was looking for, then closed her eyes on a nod.

"Fine."

"Good." Silver clinked on china, then he put a fork in her hand. "Eat." She opened her eyes and found two plates loaded down with a little bit of everything Hop Sing had prepared.

"Where's yours?" Their eyes met and he grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"That's more like it."

They ate in silence, broken only by Hop Sing wandering around or their forks scraping on the plate. "Hop Sing, just sit down and eat," Annie said softly, her eyes never leaving the cooling food on her plate. "I can't stand it with just two people at this table." There was a pause, then a chair across from her scraped on the floor and Hop Sing sat down. He offered her a wobbly smile.

"We find," he said hoarsely. "Someone knows."

"But will they say anything?"

"I pray to all the ancestors of China it will be so." He patted her hand, his eyes misty. Annie squeezed her eyes shut against the brimming tears.

"I hope so. You go on to bed, I plan to stay up a while." She pushed her mostly full plate away and left the table for her pa's desk and dug the map out of the middle drawer. Tomorrow, she'd have Roy send another message to every town within a five hundred mile radius. Her finger traced the line of the railroad across the state line into California, then back east into Utah.

How could they have just disappeared? A tear plopped onto the map and she wiped her face. Candy appeared in her line of sight.

"You can't search if you fall out of the saddle asleep," he said softly.

"I won't."

"You say that now," he said, the hint of joking in his tone, "but what about tomorrow when I'm carrying you home like a newborn calf?"

"I said I won't!" She slammed a fist on the desk hard enough it hurt, the sound sharp in the otherwise silent room. Candy's eyes flickered and he took a step back.

"Apologies, Ms. Cartwright. If you have no objections, I'll turn in for the night. See you at six thirty." He headed for the door, leaving her floundering. What just happened? She pushed back her chair and rounded the desk.

"Candy, wait!" He stopped, hand on his hat. "I wasn't … I can't … I didn't …" She wrapped her arms around her waist. "Take the guest room, please, don't go to the bunkhouse. I can't stand the silence. Joe talks in his sleep, Hoss snores, and Pa checks on us when he can't sleep and they're not here." She bit her lip. "I can't take it anymore."

"Hop Sing doesn't snore?"

"No. Candy … I've never been alone before and I hate it." He sighed.

"You know what Virginia City –"

"I don't give a damn what they say!" A sob escaped. "They haven't lost their entire family." Another sob, and she couldn't stop it. Candy dropped his hat and wrapped her in his arms, one hand pressing her head to his shoulder, the other rubbing her back. She threw her arms around him, clinging to the only piece of normalcy she had left.

"Cry it out, sweetheart," his voice was thick. "Cry it out." He drew in a breath. "I'll snore extra loud, I promise." He was probably hoping it would make her laugh, but all she could do was cry.

Cry for what she'd already lost, and for everything she could still lose.


Cartwrights Missing A Month – Feared Dead

The headline screamed at her in bold faced type on the front page of the Territorial Enterprise. The chair across from her creaked as Candy shifted his weight. They said nothing, the proof of what they'd tried to ignore staring them full in the face. Annie's hand clenched into a fist and she drew in a shaky breath.

They'd searched everywhere they could think of, posted a reward, sent messages to every town in the state and halfway to St. Louis.

"I could ride to town." He sounded resigned and defeated, something she'd never heard from the man sitting across from her. Even when faced with a murder charge he'd never lost his smile.

"To check the telegraph office again?" She looked up, saw it in his face. "We're kidding ourselves, Candy. It's been a month … the only hope we had was someone wanted a ransom and …" She swallowed hard. "No one would wait this long to ask for money."

"I've been a lot of places, seen a lot of things, but I just can't understand this," he said hoarsely. He picked up the paper and stared at it, as though it might tell him something new by holding it closer. "Can you feel them at all?"

"I don't know. I don't want to believe they're gone, but if they're not, where are they? Why haven't they come back? Why hasn't anyone found …." Bile rose in her throat and she clapped a hand over her mouth, taking deep breaths through her nose to try and ward off the nausea. "All I feel," she said through her fingers, "is resignation, and I don't know if it's me or Joe. Or both." Her eyes burned. "There's three of them, Candy … if they could escape they would. So why haven't they?"

"I wish I knew." He dropped the paper, jumped up, and began to pace. "If someone wanted them dead, why hide it? No one could take advantage of it unless –" He froze mid-step and spun around. "You." His eyes were wild. "Damn it, why didn't I think of that?"

"What do you mean, me?"

"You better hope Adam responds to that letter I sent him."

"Why?!"

"All that stands between a man willing to get his hands dirty and an empire is a ring." A ring? Her blood chilled in her veins. "Right now, you and your brother are the keys to the Ponderosa and without him here, if someone can force you into marriage everything we're standing on becomes theirs by law."

"Adam's not dead."

"If he never comes back, he might as well be. Someone gets their hands on this place, they can destroy it, sell it, do whatever the hell they want, and we can't stop 'em."

Her breath came in gasps, the implications running through her mind like a herd of mustangs. "If Adam did come back, they could make him disappear, too."

"He has to, whether he's in danger or not. Annie, the word is out, people know. It won't take long for the vultures to descend and I'm just your foreman, I can throw them off the Ponderosa for you, but I'm not a Cartwright and he is." Annie felt behind her and sat down hard on the arm of the settee.

"Do you really think that's what happened?"

"I don't know. I hope not, but it fits … I don't know what else to think."

"But they'd have come around before now." Candy shrugged and raked a hand through his hair.

"I just don't know." His hands clenched into fists. "But I do know you're not going anywhere by yourself until Adam comes back or we find them." His throat worked. "Everything your pa built rests on you."

"You think I don't know that?" Her chest tightened. "I'm reminded every day I come downstairs and there's only two places set at the table. Every time I go out to that barn and and see three horses staring back at me that aren't mine. Every time I sit behind that desk instead of in front of it. I know what's at stake and I wish to God it wasn't." Tears burned, but she refused – absolutely refused – to let them fall.

"I'm sorry."

"You didn't take them."

"I should have stayed, you could have handled the line shacks on your own. Maybe I could have stopped it."

"You'd be missing, too, and I'd have no one."

"I owe your pa my life, Annie, and I wasn't there when he needed help." His throat worked.

"He'd be grateful you're here for me."

"Maybe so, but … I still feel bad."

"You think I don't? If I hadn't said anything, Hoss and Joe would be here now." She swallowed hard. "We can go back and forth but it doesn't change anything. I just want to know why." Candy nodded slowly, eyes closing.

"Me too," he whispered.

"Why would anyone want to do this? What could they possibly get out of it?" Her voice broke. "They're dead, they have to be. Joe would have come up with some stupid plan and escaped by now if they weren't!" A wail tore up her throat and she collapsed to the floor, finally accepting what she'd refused to see until now, when it was spelled out in neat black type.

Arms cradled her close and Candy was in the floor beside her. "Don't give up. I did and I've regretted it ever since." His voice was thick; his heartbeat loud in her ear. "Her name was Ann," he said hoarsely. "I was nineteen when I married her and not even two weeks older when I lost her." Annie stiffened and raised her head, meeting blue eyes dulled by loss and misty with emotion. "I was an orphaned Army brat, and not good enough for the fort commander's daughter. I kissed her goodbye on our wedding day and never saw her again. He annulled the marriage and I didn't even try to fight it. Saying your name … it's like I'm back at Fort Despair … the smell of cactus blossoms by the door, the feel of her hair against my fingers, spurs jingling, her smile …" his voice shook. "At least you don't wear rosewater."

"I'm sorry."

"Just don't give up … not while there's still hope, however slim it might be."

"Your past is safe with me, Candy." She hugged him back, hoping it would offer some small piece of comfort. They sat huddled in the floor for hours, not saying a word, the paper discarded on the table.


The next morning

Annie stared at her full breakfast plate, the mere thought of eating turning her stomach. She pushed the plate away, ignoring Hop Sing's warning glare and Candy's haunted eyes. "I'll eat later, Hop Sing, I promise. Just not right now." The cook picked up her plate and carried it back to the kitchen,

"I put in oven and keep warm," he called over his shoulder, before muttering viciously in Chinese.

"I don't want to know, do I?" Candy's usual teasing tone was gone as he stared into his coffee.

"I couldn't even begin to understand it." She picked up her cup and just looked at the cooling liquid. "We should search again, but I don't know where." She set the cup back on the table and ran her finger around the rim.

A shaft of pure panic lanced through her gut and into her chest, lingering until she could barely breathe. Her hand jerked and the cup toppled to the floor, splashing cold coffee across the tablecloth and her pants. Candy bolted to his feet, hand going for a gun he wasn't wearing, eyes wide in confusion. "What is it?" She blinked several times, trying to focus. "Annie, what is it?" He reached for her, but froze halfway, for some reason hesitant.

Joe.

"He's alive," she breathed, hope all but choking her as it drowned out the fear. She pushed back her chair and stood. "Something happened."

"What?"

"I don't know … it was there, then it was gone. He was afraid."

"Why? Why now? Why not before?"

"I don't know." Their eyes met. "Saddle the horses." Candy bolted out the door, barely avoiding crashing into an irritated Hop Sing, dish cloth in hand. "I'm sorry for the mess," she apologized, but he waved her on without a word, a spark of hope burning in his eyes as she ran past.

They tore out of the yard accompanied by half a dozen cowboys with no destination in mind. She tried to focus on the fear, but it was gone completely, tempered back to resignation, and she wanted to scream. What good was a bond between twins if she couldn't find him?

They stopped at a creek late that afternoon to water the horses and Annie stared off at the empty lands around them. It was Cartwright land as far as the eye could see, the very seat of an empire, but what good was that now? She'd willingly trade every acre and gram of silver to have them back.

Was that the plan all along?

Had Candy been right, even if only in part? Was someone lurking in the shadows, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike? But who could it be? Annie was certain that if she could only figure out who, she'd known why.

Who could overpower three grown men – one the size of a bear – without any sign of a fight? Barring that, what would have made them leave willingly? If they'd been overpowered, she needed to watch for someone rich, with enough money to hire the men needed to convince her family a fight was doomed before it started, and men like that – while not exactly scarce – also weren't as common in Nevada as one might think.

"Anything?" She shook her head and tugged Reno's dripping nose out of the creek. The gelding huffed and swished his tail with a snort. Annie patted his neck and turned the grullo north, ambling along at a slow jog. Her family was out there somewhere … but where?

They'd combed every square inch of the Ponderosa and every abandoned cabin, farm, ranch house, and cave within thirty miles of Virginia City. By now, she had a very good idea of where they weren't, for all the help that was.

"What if they're not even in Nevada?" She turned to Candy and reined Reno to a halt, the hands following suit. "So much time has passed they could be anywhere." Eyes lowered to saddles and horses' manes in a vain attempt to avoid her eyes as she looked from man to man. "They could have been hauled off to San Francisco and dumped on a ship headed for the Orient." It had almost happened once before, to her Pa and a couple of the hands ….

"If that's what happened, it'll be months, maybe even a year or two, before it returns." Candy's voice was grim. "Don't give up."

"I'm not." She looked around them. "I just don't know where else to look." She'd send messages to their agent in San Francisco, ask if anyone matching her family's descriptions had been seen around the docks. Someone, somewhere, had to have seen something. Annie closed her eyes, letting the breeze tug at her hair.

Use your head. She could almost hear her pa saying those familiar words. No one was out to get them, or take over the Ponderosa, or pressure them into selling cows, or timber, or mining rights, or anything. Which in itself was downright unusual, but also told her nothing she didn't already know.

Postley had reason to hold a grudge, a year and a half of it, but he supposedly didn't. According to her pa, the man had been forgiving when he showed up on the doorstep. Was it true, or was he that good an actor? She'd asked when they first got the news if he might retaliate, but her pa dismissed the idea out of hand.

Had he been wrong?

But how could Postley have convinced them all to go with him? How could he have gotten them out of the house unnoticed by anyone and spirited them away? Was he really calculating enough to show up at the Ponderosa afterwards and feign ignorance?

She didn't know. Didn't even know where his mine was. He'd been to town only a handful of times since being released from prison and hadn't talked much about his situation. "What about Postley?" The hands traded looks and Candy stared down at his saddle with a frown, thinking. Finally, he sighed.

"Anything is possible, I guess. He could have been lying about missing supper. I just get hung up on how he'd have gotten them to leave the house. One man – even with a rifle – couldn't control three grown men without one of them getting him. And if he was holding a grudge against Mr. Cartwright, why bother involving Hoss and Joe?"

"We could always find him and ask." She worried her lower lip. "I don't think he told Pa whose claim he took over, just that he had one."

"Assay office would know." But if they focused on Postley, would they be ignoring the real culprit? A mine in the mountains would explain why they hadn't escaped, but how would he have gotten them up there in the first place?

He could have drugged them with opium she supposed, but how would he have gotten it in the food and then – more importantly – how would he have transported them? One man the size of Postley could never move an unconscious Hoss by himself. He'd probably struggle with Joe, come to think of it.

No, he would have needed help, and from what she knew the man didn't have the money to hire it. And if he had, someone would have talked after a few drinks. Unless he killed them … but no one from the area was missing except Cartwrights.

"Let's take a trip to town."


"John Postley, you say?" The assayer frowned. "I don't believe I know exactly where his claim is, he never said." He hurried into the back room and returned within a few minutes with a thick ledger that he laid on the counter. "He came in almost three months ago and asked about abandoned claims in the area, but never filed for one." He indicated several notations in the ledger. "There are several abandoned works hereabouts, so it could take a while to find him."

"He bring in much?" Candy peered over her shoulder at the ledger. The assayer shook his head.

"A few ounces here and there, but nothing serious. Maybe two pounds once. Enough to buy beans and coffee." Annie turned away from the counter and went to study the map, tracing a finger over the dashed lines splitting each section until she found the abandoned claims. "Of course, he could have also dug himself a little place of his own without telling anyone. My impression was he didn't care to be bothered none."

"Did you ever notice what direction he'd come into town from?" Candy leaned on the counter.

"He'd always seem to head down the street after he was finished conducting business, at least what few times I had occasion to notice." The assayer closed the ledger and glanced between them. "Something wrong?" Annie forced a smile she didn't feel. Postley might not be involved; to provoke speculation that he was would only cause further trouble.

"No, Pete. Just curious. Pa offered him a little piece of farmland and he refused. I just wondered why."

"Pride keeps a man from doing many a thing, Ms. Cartwright." He paused. "I sure am sorry about your family." She nodded her thanks, throat suddenly tight, and headed outside. Candy followed her and they stood at the hitch rail in silence.

"Anything is possible," he said again.

"But did he lie?" She spun to face him under the setting sun. "Did he take my family?" Her voice shook. Candy's throat worked.

"I don't know."

"I say we find out." She snatched at Reno's reins, but Candy grabbed her arm. She turned on him, ready to scorch his ears, but he nodded over her shoulder.

"Speak of the devil." She whipped around, and there was Postley coming down the street on horseback.

"Postley!" The man turned his head as he approached the hitch rail and offered a friendly wave. He halted his gelding at the other end and dismounted.

"Evening, Ms. Cartwright." He looked them over. "Any news?"

"No," she said shortly and he frowned.

"I'm right sorry to hear that." He took his hat off and worked the brim between his fingers. "I was hoping …." He sighed. "Might as well get on down to the mercantile then. If there's anything I could do for you, just holler."

"Show me your mine," she said in a rush, and he halted in surprise.

"Now, miss? You couldn't see your hand in front of your face by the time we'd get there. Don't know why you'd want to see it anyway, it ain't nothing fancy, but if you don't mind waiting, we can go up tomorrow morning."

"First thing in the morning."

"Sure thing, miss." He touched his hat in acknowledgment and ambled on down the street.

"Baker, Russell, watch him," Annie hissed under breath. "If he leaves town before morning, one of you come get us, the other follow him."

"You got it, ma'am." The two of them ambled their horses down the street and turned the corner.

"We'll get rooms at the hotel and hopefully some answers come morning." She dismounted and grabbed her saddle bags and rifle. Dude leaned over and collected the grullo's reins.

"I'll see to the horses, Ms. Anne."

"Thank you." Candy handed over Scout and Dude led the animals down to the livery while she and her foreman headed for the hotel. Annie couldn't keep from glancing at the people they passed on the street. Did the architect of their disappearance lurk behind a friendly facade, just waiting for their plan to succeed?

Heart heavy, she climbed the hotel steps and made her way inside.

After a quiet supper in the dining room, she lay awake for hours, unable to sleep even with Candy snoring next door as he'd promised. They needed to be out looking, not laying here wasting time! She rolled over and threw off the covers. A few strides brought her to the window overlooking the street and she pushed back the curtain to stare at the moonlit night.

How could they be gone a month with no sign? Why hadn't they escaped?

They had to be held somewhere that made escape all but impossible; they would have at least tried otherwise.

Or had they tried, but failed? Was that what caused the fear coursing down her connection to her twin? Was he alone and on the run even now while she sat here and did nothing? A tear slid down her cheek and she let the curtain fall.

As soon as there was light enough to see by, they'd saddle up and wait for Postley. God help him if he was a late riser.


The riders thundered across the plain in the early morning light, bathed in a pinkish glow by the rising sun, Annie in the lead and Candy to her right, a dozen hands trailing to their rear, with Postley out in front. She kept her gaze locked on the mountains up ahead, certain she'd find answers up there, one way or the other.

Postley raised a hand and slowed his horse, turning the animal onto what was little more than a deer trail from the looks of it. Slowing to a jog, they picked their way ever higher up the mountain until a run down shack with a post corral came into view, a dark bay mule standing inside. The man stopped his horse and turned in the saddle. "Easier to go on foot from here," he said as he dismounted and ground tied the gelding. "Right this way." He ambled across the tiny yard – if it could be called that – and began to climb the slope above the shack. Annie jumped down and hurried after him, hand on her Colt and Candy at her heels, the hands trailing in their wake.

The man pointed to a dark hole in the mountainside. "There she is, Ms. Cartwright, such that she is." he continued inside and picked up a lantern from a nail protruding from a wall brace. He turned the flame up and swept out a hand. "It was already started when I took it over, goes back a couple hundred feet." Her gaze flew to the low roof barely two feet above their heads. All that rock just looking for a reason to fall …. Her blood chilled and she could hear the hissing fuse from Angelus. A shudder ran down her spine and Candy touched her back. "I ain't found much yet, just some small chunks of color, but I'm hopeful. Ain't got nothing but time on my hands after all."

It took less than an hour to explore the entire shaft and her heart was in her boots by the time they emerged into daylight. She turned to Postley with a pit in her stomach. "Thank you, Mr. Postley. No sense us taking up more of your day."

"You thought they were here." It wasn't a question.

"You had motive."

"That I did, miss. Can't blame you for asking, I'd have done the same if I was you." His throat worked. "I can't imagine what you're going through, I just can't." He blew the lantern out and hung it back on its nail. "I don't know what anyone could hope to gain from this."

"Neither can we," Candy answered for her, probably sensing she was close to breaking again. "We'll be going." They returned to the horses and mounted up. Annie stared down the mountain in defeat. What now? Her eyes stung with unshed tears. "Let's keep looking."

She dismounted in the yard that night, every muscle in her body aching from the punishing ride. Dude took the horses to the barn and Candy followed her into the house, only to be greeted by a glaring Hop Sing. "You eat, now. I fix plenty good supper. No can search if falling out of saddle." He ushered them to the table, seemingly willing to overlook the fact they hadn't washed up yet. The cook vanished back into the kitchen and Candy picked up his water glass, draining it in one long gulp. Annie followed suit, then sat down hard as she motioned for a refill.

"There's nowhere else to look," she said in a hoarse voice and Candy sighed after a second of hesitation.

"Fraid so." He played with the empty glass.

"Why, Candy? What could anyone possibly gain from this?" He shook his head without a word and stared at the table.

"When was the last time you turned a fella down?" Annie blinked.

"What?"

"They'd have motive."

"Everyone around here stopped asking by the time I was seventeen."

"A man gets mad enough, he can hold a grudge a long time, sweetheart."

"It's been almost a decade." Candy shrugged and halfheartedly inspected the contents of the supper platters.

"It's the only idea I've got left. If it's not Postley, and no one's come out of the woodwork to try and marry you … I don't know." He picked up the silver fork and studied it intently. "I can't make it make sense." Annie swallowed hard. She wanted to make him promise they'd find her family, but she couldn't ask.

Because she knew he couldn't keep it.


"I don't know why I'm so thirsty," she said as she hung the canteen back on her saddle horn. It was almost dry again, and it was barely past dinner time. Candy eyed her, then the canteen.

"Pond up ahead, we can water the horses, too, if you want to stop and refill it." Annie nodded, and Candy led the group off up the hill. Reno puffed up, ribs expanding on a greeting call as they rounded a bend in the trail, and she looked up.

There was another horse out there.

A grazing mule hitched to a buckboard stood a few feet from the pond, no one else in sight. Candy reined up and frowned. "Something ain't right." Hand on his gun, he started forward slowly. "Look sharp." As they approached and could see down the bank, the situation became all too clear. Candy was off his horse in a flash, Dude a split second behind him. They splashed down into the pond and shoved the heavy barrel off the floating body and turned it over.

"It's Postley." Defeat colored his tone.

"Postley?" She jumped down and hurried to the water's edge. The cowboys helped carry the man back up the bank and laid him on the grass. Candy sloshed out of the water and shook his head.

"Hard to say how long he's been here, could have been early this morning to sometime yesterday. Maybe even longer." He turned his attention to the ground underfoot. "We messed the tracks up a mite and the mule moved, but I think the barrel slipped off the wagon and knocked him into the water. His legs were broke and pinned underneath." Annie pressed her lips together and regarded the calming water in silence, trying to keep her eyes anywhere but the sodden body.

"What an awful way to die," she said finally.

"I can think of better ways," Candy agreed. "And worse ones. I'll send one of the boys to town with the wagon, take him to the undertaker. We'll have to mark this water hole as unsafe." He moved away to talk to the hands and make arrangements, leaving her staring at the water lapping at the bank.

"Have someone get his horse, too," she called over her shoulder. The wagon rattled off towards town moments later with its grim cargo and Candy returned, holding out his own canteen.

"We'll find another watering hole and keep looking." Annie swallowed hard, but didn't respond. She only picked up the canteen and drank it dry as they stared at the lonely pond.


The next morning, she was so thirsty she couldn't stop drinking water at breakfast. Hop Sing gave her an astonished look when she drained three glasses in succession. She held out her glass for another refill and Candy whistled softly. "Your stomach is gonna explode, sweetheart."

"I can't help it, all I want is more water." She downed half the new glass and set it down hard on the table, one hand pressed to her mouth.

"Annie?" She swallowed again slowly, half afraid it was all gonna come right back up. She held up one finger on her free hand, asking him to wait. If she opened her mouth right now, it wouldn't be pretty. She leaned back in her chair and stretched out her legs, breathing slowly with her eyes closed.

It took a few minutes, but the nausea passed and she opened her eyes. Candy's head was cocked, brow furrowed. "What?"

"Is it you that's thirsty," he finally said slowly, voice thoughtful. "Or is it Joe?" Their gazes locked for one horrified second, then she turned to stare at the water pitcher in Hop Sing's hand.

The bond.

"Oh, God," she whispered, her hand falling from her mouth. She shot out of her chair, startling Hop Sing and making her stomach lurch, and seized Candy's shirt in a desperate grip. "They have no water, we have to find them!" Her voice broke.

"Can you use that connection?"

"It doesn't work like that," she said through her tears, and he pulled her close. A tremor ran through him and he held her at arm's length.

"I'm going to round up the hands and we'll search again, I'll send Sam to town and get the locations for every single mine and abandoned homestead in the area." Candy rushed past her, grabbed his hat and gun belt, and was out the door before she could get a single word past lips that had gone numb. Annie's heart slammed against her ribs in blind panic.

Three days without water …

How often had that been drilled into her head since she'd been old enough to understand? Her knees went weak and she collapsed back into the chair, shaking hands slowly rising to her face. Hop Sing touched her shoulder and a sob broke loose, then another, and another.


They scoured the land until day faded to night, and came dragging back to the house in the pitch dark. Hop Sing stood on the porch with lantern in hand to light their way. Candy helped her from the saddle and guided her inside. Annie collapsed on the settee, tears already falling, her throat so dry it felt like she'd swallowed the desert whole. A glass of water appeared in front of her and she took it blindly, downing half before acid burned its way back up her throat and she vomited on the floor.

How could she possibly drink when they had nothing? Candy offered his handkerchief and she took it, swiping at her mouth before crumpling it in her fist and sobbing. He rocked her slowly, like her pa had when she was a child plagued by nightmares after her mother's death. Hop Sing bustled past them and cleaned up the mess, murmuring softly in Chinese.

She cried herself to sleep on Candy's chest.

And cried even more the next day when the raging thirst began to slowly fade. Candy sent the hands out again, but stayed at the ranch house with her, fetching water and holding her as the sobs racked her body over and over.

The sounds of horses returning that night was agony, as was the knock on the door. Candy opened it to reveal an ashen-faced, misty-eyed Dude who murmured apologies for not finding anything. "You've done the best you can," Candy said softly. He dismissed Dude and closed the door, turning around slowly and leaning against the carved wood. He shook his head, and his mouth opened, but nothing came out. "We'll try again tomorrow," he finally managed to say, and Annie sobbed again. The previous night repeated itself and she barely stirred as Candy carried her up the stairs to her bedroom.

She heard the door close behind him and rolled over, curling up into a ball under the sheets, tears already spilling over again. "I'm sorry, Pa," she choked out. "I don't know what else to do." Tears soaked the pillow. "Help me," she whimpered.

She was somewhere between asleep and awake when something inside her chest snapped like a logging chain stressed beyond recovery. Annie gasped, unable to catch a breath, and sat bolt upright, panic and knowing crashing over her like the waves on Tahoe.

"NO! Joe!" Seconds later, her door flew inward and Candy practically fell into the room, gun in hand.

"What is it, what's happened?" He caught his balance and turned up the lamp on the dresser, freezing when he saw her face. He dropped the gun on the dresser and rushed over, grabbing her by the arms. "What happened?" Annie was sobbing too hard to answer and could only shake her head as the tears coursed down her cheeks.

"What happen?" Hop Sing appeared in the doorway with a meat cleaver in hand.

"I don't know," Candy replied, and she threw her arms around him.

"He's … he's … he's … dead," she finally forced out and Candy froze. Hop Sing spit out a harsh word in Chinese and the cleaver hit the floor. Candy drew in a shaky breath, but didn't say a word. He only held her closer and rocked her gently, his own tears dripping onto her neck.

To be continued ….


A/N: I think it's entirely possible Postley had two mines for a couple good reasons. One, when they arrive at the mine we never see a cabin, or corral for his horse and mule, or the buckboard. Where were they all the time? Two, since Ben and Candy never saw Postley unless he brought food and water and subsequently lost track of time, he couldn't have been working that mine every day. So what was he doing when he wasn't visiting them? If he "had a lot of time to think about it" as he told Ben and Candy the first day they were trapped, he had enough time to think up a little misdirection, so in this story he did.

Two, sorry for killing off the rest of the Cartwrights. I need them out of the way for this story because I want to see how it would have gone had circumstances drastically changed the situation between Annie and Candy.

Get ready for a deep dive into an AU of an AU, we are nowhere near finished with this story though I do hope it doesn't get as long as Threads of Fate. Until next time.