A/N: I do not own Bonanza, only my OC.
I had to rework this episode a little since a lot of it followed Fillmore and his crew, plus, Annie wouldn't have been on the Dixie for some parts of it. I hope I did this episode justice. Leave me a review as feedback is always appreciated.
Tonight on Bonanza: Showdown at Tahoe
Edited 2-18-21 to add line breaks and fix formatting.
The four Cartwrights waited at the dock, watching as the Dixie churned her way across Lake Tahoe towards them, white foam cascading over the giant wheel at her stern.
Hoss pulled out his watch. "Captain Larson's got her right on time. Pretty as a forty dollar colt, ain't she?"
"Only a forty dollar colt?" Annie shook her head. "She's prettier than that."
"Lot different than them clipper ships you used to sail, huh, Pa?" Ben laughed.
"Yes. She'll do though. Until we get some good roads, this is the best way to haul heavy freight around here. She'll pay her way and then some."
The boat grew larger, thick smoke belching from graceful twin stacks rising high above the main deck. The torrent of water rushing over the wheel slowed, then stopped as Dixie drifted up to her berth.
"Wonder how Candy's making out?"
"I guess we'll see, sis." Joe waved at Captain Larson's daughter. Annie elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey, what was that for?"
"She's too young for you, big brother."
"Mind your own business, you know it's Candy she's hooked on, anyway." Joe made his way over to the front of the boat as Candy left the cabin, tossing lines overboard so Dixie could be tied up to the dock. Joe caught the lines and laughed. "You know, it's a good thing I'm running that cow camp instead of you. The way you toss those ropes, all you'd catch is a cold." Candy smirked.
"It's not a rope, landlubber, it's a line."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Captain Larson's daughter came over, smiling at Candy, and leaned against the railing beside him.
"Papa and I will make a sailor out of you yet." Joe laughed again.
"Don't count on that, Julie, I still can't make a cowhand out of him." Annie rolled her eyes and considered pushing her brother into Lake Tahoe.
"Why he practically ran the boat by himself the last three times, didn't you, Candy?" He smiled, but said nothing.
"Three trips, and you only hit the dock twice. One out of three, that's not bad," Joe giggled. Candy held up his hand.
"Don't try and explain my skills to him, Julie, he's jealous because I get to spend so much time with you." Candy touched her face and walked off. "Good to see you in one piece today, sweetheart." Annie ground her back teeth together and debated adding him to her list of lake-bound candidates.
Why in the world could he not use her name unless it was a life or death situation? He had his canned peaches, but she still didn't have an explanation. Of course, she hadn't given him a time frame on that conversation, so it was her own fault she didn't have answers.
"Wait for me, Captain Kidd, I'll give you a hand." Joe jumped onto the deck and followed Candy to the cargo holds. Ben climbed aboard and she followed, giving Julie Larson a wide berth as they made their way over to meet Captain Larson.
"Nels, good to see you, have a good trip?" The men shook hands. Annie watched the small group of passengers disembark.
"Fine, fine."
"Oh, you brought the mail."
"Bad news in the paper, I'm afraid." He dug out the paper and handed it to Ben. Annie read the headline over his shoulder.
"Deputy Tucker? Wasn't he a friend of yours, Pa?" Ben's hand tightened on the page.
"Yes." He heaved a sigh. "He was a friend. Nels, didn't you hear anything around the lake?"
"Nothing."
"Shocking, I tell you this is shocking." A man standing nearby said, and made his way over to them. "This is terrible, I heard about this yesterday on the South Shore. What is this country coming to when even the officers of the law can't ride the road in safety?"
"That's what a lot of people are wondering, sir." Ben glanced up, then went back to the paper. Captain Larson cleared his throat and nodded at the stranger.
"Mr. Cartwright, this is Mr. Jameson Fillmore, a lumberman from San Francisco." Really? Annie studied him again. Probably wanted to hire the Dixie, then. Maybe even buy her, though he'd find out soon enough she wasn't for sale.
"Mr. Fillmore." They shook hands.
"Mr. Cartwright." Fillmore frowned. "Cartwright, Cartwright." He looked up. "Owner of the Ponderosa Ranch and this fine stern wheeler?"
"That's right." Ben was still reading the paper. "This is my daughter, Anne." Fillmore tipped his hat and she nodded.
"Quite an achievement, launching a ship this big so high in the mountains."
"Well, Mr. Fillmore, I consider it a great achievement, and I can say that because I had nothing to do with the building or the launching of it. It was brought up piece by piece, on mule-back, right up the side of the mountain." He pointed out over the lake. "By the man who had the vision to do it, I merely bought it from him." He paused. "You're in the lumber business, are you, sir?"
"I am, and I've spent a great deal of time up here at Lake Tahoe."
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Annie put in. Usually, if she was around and men knew she was a Cartwright, wild horses couldn't drag their attention off her. So why was this one different? Fillmore grinned.
"Frankly, when I saw your Bear Ridge stand of Timber, I said to myself, I've just got to have it." The men laughed; Annie tilted her head. Single-minded when it came to his business. He could be married, some men didn't wear a ring after all. He turned and gestured to two other men standing against the railing. "I took the liberty of bringing two of my top timber cruisers with me." That certain, was he?
"Well, you don't waste time, do you?"
"And with your permission, I'd like to have them cruise that stand of timber. After I get their reports, I'd like to make you an offer you cannot refuse."
"You might be surprised, Mr. Fillmore. Pa can refuse a lot." She offered them a sweet smile. Ben laughed.
"I find no objection in that, sir."
"Good. We'll need some pack animals, horses, and a place to camp."
"No problem at all. You'll be wanting to start immediately."
"Yes, we will." Ben chuckled as Fillmore walked off with his men.
"Nels, there is an enthusiastic gentleman." He clapped Captain Larson on the shoulder. "Business is picking up. Annie, let's go find your brother."
"Right, Pa."
And if he hadn't shut his mouth about Julie Larson, he was going in the lake after all. Or maybe she'd lock him in the cargo hold, let him sweat out a trip or two across Lake Tahoe.
"Something the matter?"
"No, Pa. Just thinking."
"About that lumber man? He won't take enough timber to harm anything. That stand hasn't been logged since before you and Joe left the cradle, it needs thinning out."
"That's not it." Ben halted on the deck.
"Then what is it?" She frowned.
"I don't know."
"You worry too much sometimes, Annie. Just because we've been known to find trouble doesn't mean every incident will lead us to it."
"I suppose, Pa." They resumed walking. Didn't mean she wouldn't keep an eye on that slick lumber man should he make an offer that wasn't refused.
A week and a half later, she and Hoss rode up to the lumber camp where Joe and Ben were waiting. Joe sat outside the tent, sipping coffee and wasting time. "Just got the mail off the boat," Hoss announced as he dismounted. "Pa around?"
"Yeah, he's inside. Got some for me?" He took the stack and flipped through it.
"No, Joe, I don't reckon anyone loves you. Course, anyone that loved you couldn't read nor right nohow." Annie snorted.
"Very funny." The tent flap opened and Ben appeared.
"Anything from San Francisco?"
"Don't look like it, you waiting on something special?"
"I wrote to the bank, asking for references on Mr. Fillmore, not that I think we'll need them." Ben flipped through the mail. "He seems to be a gentleman and he really knows the lumbering business. Didn't even look twice at your sister," he added.
"So that's why you were sore that day." Joe cackled. "You got used to every man between the ages of eighteen and fifty eyeing you like a steak dinner, let one turn you down and look what happens."
"And I decided against dumping you in the lake. What was I thinking?"
"Settle down, you two. Joe, you know we've stopped many a scheme against the Ponderosa dead in its tracks by paying attention to what men do around your sister. A quarter share of six hundred thousand acres brings out the worst in the wrong kind of people. If Mr. Fillmore isn't attracted by that, either he's got enough of his own, he's married, or – " Ben shrugged. "She's just not his type." Annie straightened.
"I'm glad he's not sniffing around, saves me a bullet. I don't like his little weasel eyes." Joe cackled again, then sobered.
"He may know lumber, but I can't say much for the fellows he has working for him."
"Very hard to find good workers these days. You know, Hoss, even in the bosom of one's own family, it's difficult to find a hard working young man." They both turned to look at Joe, who looked back at them and said nothing. Annie smothered a snort. Pa still didn't miss a thing, even after all these years, and why should he? He'd had plenty of practice.
Three days later, Annie and Ben were back up at the logging camp, looking over the figures, when a horse came thundering into camp, lathered and blowing. Candy leaped off while the animal was still moving.
"Mr. Cartwright!" He launched himself at them, gasping for air, and latched onto her pa's vest. He doubled over, chest heaving.
"Dixie was supposed to sail twenty minutes ago, what's happened?" Annie grabbed his arm and helped him to a chair. Ben ran for a canteen. Candy drank several swallows and took a shaky breath.
"Captain Larson – he's – he – Julie found him dead on the road up here." Ben stepped back and sat down hard in the other chair.
"What?"
"He rode off, said he'd only be an hour. It was twenty minutes to sailing and he wasn't back. I told Julie I'd go find him, but she said she could. I shouldn't have let her go, she wouldn't have –" Ben laid a hand on his shoulder.
"You didn't do anything wrong, son. Where is she now?"
"With her pa. She didn't come back, so I rode out myself and found them, about two miles down." Ben stood so fast he tipped over his chair. He ran for his horse and galloped away in a cloud of dust. Candy gulped more water. Annie sat down in the abandoned chair.
"Did he fall off his horse?" Candy shook his head. "Heart attack?" He took several ragged breaths and looked up.
"I think it was murder."
They buried Captain Larson on a ridge overlooking Lake Tahoe. Annie waited with the boys, Candy, and Clem, while her pa talked to Julie at the grave. Ben finally came back, but Julie stayed by the grave, her head bowed.
"Found plenty of tracks," Clem offered. "Followed them up the mountain until we lost them in the shale. I still say it was robbery, they probably saw him on the trail and thought he was carrying a lot of money for you to pay your loggers, Ben."
"It's possible." Candy shook his head.
"I don't think it was robbery."
"Why not?"
"Nels Larson had been carrying a load of trouble. He was jumpy, nervous, not himself at all."
"How long had that been going on?"
"A week," Candy offered.
"Maybe he was sick or something," Joe said.
"No. It was more than that, at least I think it was." Ben's lips thinned.
"You know what he wanted to see me about?"
"He didn't tell me, he didn't even tell Julie."
"If you hear anything, tell me or Clem. Meanwhile, you're the skipper." Candy nodded absently and they all turned back to watch Julie standing lost and alone at her pa's grave. Annie tried to imagine how she would feel in the younger girl's place, and found she couldn't bring herself even to guess.
That afternoon, she rode up to Dixie's berth and ground tied Reno at the edge of the lake. Candy and Julie had gone back to the boat after the burial, she didn't know why she'd come, except maybe to see if Candy could pin down just what about the captain's death struck him as odd. His instincts were good, maybe the best of any of them, and anyone who dismissed his suspicions did so at their own peril.
Dixie waited at the pier, silent as the grave that cradled her captain, despite the fact she was due to sail in less than half an hour. Annie slipped on board and made her way to the main cabin.
"You've got a lot of friends, Julie." Candy's voice drifted through the half-open doorway. "We'll be glad to help."
"I know that." She sniffed. "My aunt says I can come and live with her in St. Louis. And I'll go to boarding school, and I'll make a lot of new friends, and … and …" Julie burst into sobs. "And I'll hate it!" More sobs. "Why? Why Candy? Why did he have to be killed? What trouble was he in?" Annie stepped up to the door and peeked through the gap.
Julie and Candy stood wrapped in each other's arms. Annie bit her lip. She was glad Julie had a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk it through with, but …
But what? Why was there a but?
Overhead, the steam whistle blew and they broke apart., Candy's hands drifting up her arms. "i don't know who killed your father or why, but I'm going to find out." He pulled her back against his chest and Annie had seen enough. "Or die trying." She froze and her blood ran cold. How many times over the years had they come close to that without trying?
She whirled around and stalked back to Reno, pulling his head up and leading him over to the hitch rail. He'd be fine to wait until she got back on the return trip, it wouldn't be that long. Besides, the weekly payroll was supposed to go up to the logging camp on this run. It wouldn't hurt to have another gun on board, just in case.
They'd already lost one captain, and they weren't going to lose another, not if she could help it.
Annie slipped her rifle from its scabbard, made her way back on board, and headed for the wheelhouse. She yanked the door open, surprising Candy, who already stood at the great wheel.
"What are you doing here?"
"You really going to ask after we've lost one captain?"
"Nels was in trouble, I told you they weren't after the payroll."
"Maybe, maybe not." She draped the rifle over her arm. "Where's Julie?"
"In the captain's cabin." Candy pulled the cord for the whistle and a long blast shattered the afternoon. He reached over and called down the tube to the engine room, "Go in reverse." The giant wheel began to turn, churning the waters of Lake Tahoe. "You mind, sweetheart? I've got a job to do." Annie bit down hard on her tongue.
At least he was past the afraid to joke around with the boss's daughter stage. It only took him half a year. His sudden assertiveness would have been more welcome at some other time.
"Pa has a lot of money riding on this venture."
"He's got a lot riding on both, actually." Candy steadied the wheel as Dixie backed away from the dock. "It's my job to see he don't lose nothing." She ground her teeth.
"If it wasn't attempted robbery, what was it?"
"I wish he'd told someone what he had to talk to your pa about." Candy hunched over the wheel, effortlessly turning Dixie around and pointing her bow out into the lake. "Whatever that was, it's what got him killed."
"Julie doesn't know?"
"He didn't say anything, didn't even write anything down." Candy slapped the wheel. "I wish he had." Annie watched Lake Tahoe sail past outside the windows. Movement down on the deck caught her attention.
"Fillmore's on this trip?"
"Yeah."
"What do you think of him?" Candy shrugged.
"Haven't had much occasion to talk to him. Seems okay, I guess."
"But you're not sure?"
"No." Annie chewed on her lip.
"You're introduced to a woman who could bring you a quarter share of a 600,000 acre ranch, mining interests, timber, the whole lot, what do you do?" Candy threw her a funny look. "Answer the question."
"Well," he said slowly. "If I was looking to expand my own interests, I might give her a second look." He grinned. "If she was pretty, I'd give her a third, too."
"Fillmore didn't even take much of a first look." Candy frowned and glanced down at the man standing at the rail. "Yet, he's after Pa tooth and nail for a timber contract."
"I'll keep an eye on him, he crosses at least once every two or three days." They watched Fillmore in silence for several minutes, but the man didn't move from his position at the rail.
"I think I'll mosey on down and wave bait in front of the rat just once more." She turned and made her way down the stairs to the deck, sauntering past Fillmore's cruisers and making sure they saw her. The man himself turned away from the rail and watched her pass. She'd bet a month's pay that Candy was up there watching everything; she'd have to talk to him after they docked and find out what he thought of Fillmore's reaction.
Make that lack of reaction. He only nodded and tipped his hat to her before resuming his perusal of the lake. Annie hurried into the main cabin and leaned against the wall. She was glad he wasn't, but why wasn't he interested?
She passed the trip in the main cabin, watching out the windows as the lake shore slid past. About fifteen minutes before they were to dock, Fillmore glanced up at the wheelhouse and started up the stairs. She sat up straight.
What was this?
She'd been right about something, though exactly what it was yet she couldn't be sure. How brazen he was, he knew she was onboard and he still went up to do … whatever he had planned. She grabbed her rifle and stood.
Losing the payroll would hurt him just as much as it would them, so he couldn't be after that. What did he want? He didn't seem like the kind of man for idle chatter, so what was his game? Annie bit her lip. She'd give them five minutes, maybe a little more, then she'd pop in and see what darted out of the bushes.
She ended up slipping up the stairs four minutes later. Voices drifted through the wheelhouse door. "Stealing it would be a cinch, but getting away with it, that's the tough part. But I just might figure out a way to do it. Just to pass the time."
"Well, I'll have to give that some thought myself. Just to pass –" She yanked open the door, hoping she looked the picture of a disgusted Cartwright.
"Mr. Fillmore, passengers aren't allowed in the wheelhouse, even if they are logging Pa's timber." She adjusted her rifle. "Canaday, you want to keep your job, there better not be another incident, do I make myself clear?"
"Ms. Cartwright?" Fillmore looked between the two of them. Candy's hands tightened on the wheel. "I'm afraid I don't know what you refer to, ma'am."
"Dixie may be built strong, but you keep crashing into the dock and it won't matter. And now I find you're letting people run in and out of the wheelhouse. You can be sure Pa will hear of this." She raised her chin and sneered at him. "You may even find yourself back in that jail cell Pa hauled you out of. Mr. Fillmore, go back to the deck." Candy's jaw tightened.
"Now, Ms. Cartwright." Fillmore pulled off his hat. "I just came up to ask Mr. Canaday if he'd heard anything more about what happened to poor Captain Larson. He was just about to tell me I needed to go back downstairs when you arrived."
"He was, was he?" She turned narrowed eyes on Candy. "Dock this boat and get on up to the logging camp. Pa's waiting on you."
"Of course, Ms. Cartwright." Candy turned away, back stiff. Fillmore fiddled with his hat another few seconds, then stuffed it on his head and vanished out the door. Annie raised her chin and stalked down the stairs, taking care to keep the haughty, disgusted look on her face.
They'd managed to play it perfectly; now all they had to do was wait and see if Fillmore took the bait. If this worked, Candy deserved a raise; he'd been brilliant.
The next payday, she chose not to cross on Dixie, instead riding Reno around Lake Tahoe to reach the logging camp. Fillmore had had all week to contemplate what – if anything – he was going to do about the rift he thought existed between Candy and the Cartwrights.
What had they been planning to steal – the payroll? Maybe even the Dixie?
No, it couldn't be the boat, where could they take her? It wasn't like Lake Tahoe connected to the Mississippi.
"Annie, something the matter?" She jolted out of her thoughts.
"Just thinking." Hooves clattered on approach and they all looked up. Candy rode up and dismounted, then dug the payroll sack out of his saddlebags and dropped it on the table.
"Wait a minute," Ben picked up the bag. "What's this doing open?"
"It's all there," Candy said in a rush. "I opened it when I offered Fillmore half the payroll." Heads turned in shock. Annie's jaw dropped.
"You what?" Ben dropped a stack of money.
"Offered Fillmore half the payroll."
"I think you heard him right the first time, Pa." Hoss squinted up at Candy.
"Why didn't he take it?" Annie stood. "What's he after?"
"Sit down, young lady. Candy, start talking, and you better start from the beginning."
"Yeah, I better." She sat slowly. "Julie and me done some hard thinking." That wasn't all they'd done. "And she was sure her dad's trouble started when Fillmore showed up."
"What's that got to do with this payroll?" Ben's face was like stone.
"Fillmore's been feeling me out for a week, ever since she staged a confrontation in the wheelhouse last payday." The corner of his mouth tipped up. "That was good thinking adding that bit about finding me in a jail cell. He thinks we're at each other's throats, thinks I'd like nothing better than to knock you down. So I set up stealing the payroll to test him, and I offered him half."
"Well, young man, don't you think you ought to consult with me before doing anything like that?"
"As it turned out, Mr. Cartwright, there wasn't time. If I'd have brought this up here before going to Fillmore's camp, he'd have known I was setting a trap."
"But he didn't take the money, did he?"
"He's after something bigger. He offered me four times this amount if I'd go back to the Dixie and wait for orders." Hoss folded his arms across his chest.
"Pa, don't you think it's about time we got the law in on this?"
"What's the law got to do with it? There's no evidence, just Candy's suspicions."
"I want to turn that suspicion into evidence. I'd like to go back to the boat and wait."
"Not alone," Annie protested.
"Oh, no, you can't come along. He sees you – maybe even any of you – anywhere near me without you snapping at my hide, he's gonna know something's up. I'll be fine." Ben sighed and picked up the payroll bag, took out a few stacks of bills, then stuffed them back inside and dropped the bag back onto the table.
"Alright." Candy half-turned. "Candy. You be careful." He grinned.
"I'll be careful." He untied his horse and swung into the saddle, then rode off without a backward glance. Hoss shook his head.
"I hope he knows what he's doing."
"He usually does." Ben picked up the bag again. "I'm just afraid that one of these days, he's going to get in over his head and we won't be able to reach him in time." Annie swallowed hard and looked down at her hands. "And as for you, Annie, why did you see fit to keep me in the dark?" She shrugged.
"Like you said, it's just suspicions."
"For now. It may not stay that way for long." Ben took the payroll inside the tent, then came back out. "Annie, stay away from the Dixie until after Fillmore has made his play. We can't risk him dumping you into Lake Tahoe."
"You'd leave Candy on Dixie with no one to back him up? We don't even know what Fillmore is after."
"Thanks to the two of you and your handiwork, that man thinks he sees a rift he can exploit. If I put someone on that boat, he's liable to take them out before she ever leaves the dock. Candy's worked alone before, and I trust him." Ben glanced out over the logging camp. "Despite his sometimes questionable tactics."
"Yes, Pa." She hoped this wouldn't go sideways, but when it came right down to it, more often than not it did.
Two days later, Joe came racing into the logging camp like his tail end was on fire. He drew Cochise to a halt outside the tent. "I just came from Fillmore's camp and there's nobody there."
"They're probably out timber cruising." Ben walked up to the pinto.
"Not unless they can make a boundary without a compass." Joe handed something down and Ben took it, Hoss and Annie crowding in to see. They all looked up in unison; Annie's stomach dropped to her feet. Ben's face hardened.
"Let's ride."
They raced out of camp, shooting straight for the North Shore where Dixie was supposed to be making ready to cast off. But there was no stern wheeler in sight, just a crowd of people milling around on the dock. They drew rein near the hitch rail, Annie's heart pounding.
"Mr. Cartwright!" someone called, "They hijacked the Dixie!"
"When?"
"About fifteen minutes ago!"
"Let's ride." Annie pushed Reno to his limits as they rounded the lake, Dixie visible out in the middle, sailing away as though nothing was wrong. The stern wheeler heeled hard to port, coming right at them.
"Pa!"
"She's turning in!" Ben drew rein and they all watched the boat looming larger. Gunshots cracked across the water, then again. "Something's wrong." Annie had to squint, but she could just barely make out figures running across the deck.
"What do we do, Pa?"
"We can't do anything until Candy brings her into rifle range." Annie swallowed hard. If he could. The gunshots had stopped and she didn't know if that meant he'd won … or lost.
The boat slowly swung back out towards the middle of the lake and she figured she had her answer.
"Let's go, they have to dock her somewhere." They kept galloping around the lake, Annie darting anxious looks at the boat every few strides. What had gone wrong?
Then, the boat turned towards shore again. "Pa!"
"What's going on out there?" They watched, but this time, she didn't turn away, smoke billowing from the stacks, the giant wheel churning the lake into a froth. Closer and closer she came, still not turning aside. "He's gonna run her aground." Ben waved them forward and they leaped back into motion.
Gunshots echoed across the water, sending bark spraying off the nearby trees. They dashed into the treeline and took cover, returning fire.
Less than three minutes later, a grinding noise rang out and the bow rode up high on the lake shore, jolting to a sudden halt. The men on the deck kept firing.
"We can't charge the boat, we'll run right into their rifle fire." Ben looked around.
"So what do we do?" Annie fired again. Joe stared out at the boat, then took off his hat and wiggled out of his green jacket.
"Cover me, give me some running room."
"Joe, they'll kill you as soon as you set foot on that deck," Hoss protested.
"Joe –"
"Not if I go in under the bow, take 'em from behind where they're not looking." They all looked to their pa. Ben sighed.
"When I give the word." Joe readied himself and they all waited. "Now." Annie and Hoss poured lead down on the Dixie; Joe took off and slid up under the bow, sloshing through the waist deep water around to the stern until he was out of sight. Annie took up her brother's rifle and alternated firing both guns, hoping they wouldn't notice Joe's absence.
Pistols shots echoed from the stern, then silence. Annie bit her lip until she tasted blood and kept firing, pausing only to reload.
Joe came into view, easing his way along the starboard side deck. She held her breath as he jumped past the engine room, turning to check inside.
A man appeared behind him and she raised the rifle, squeezing the trigger without a second thought. The man staggered and Joe spun around, fanning the hammer on his pistol. The man reeled and fell over the side to float face down in the lake. Joe ran around the front deck just as Candy appeared from the stern, gun aimed at the last hijacker. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright, mister, drop it." The man froze, his hands going into the air, and he stood slowly. Joe turned and waved them forward.
"Come on." She and Hoss followed their pa down to the Dixie and climbed aboard.
"Son, I have sinned grievously. Will you forgive me? Will you be merciful and forgive?" His voice rose. "Oh, Lord! Help this poor sinner to repent!" Candy grinned and stuffed his pistol in its holster, leaning back against the railing. Joe shook his head. "Lead him back to the paths of righteousness!" The man stooped and snatched up something off the deck, spinning around in one smooth movement, lunging at Candy. Annie went for her gun, but it wasn't necessary.
Candy dodged the blow and struck back, knocking the man over against a stack of crates. He yanked him upright and drew back for another strike.
"Now, you can't fault a man for trying to save his neck. Now can you?" Candy threw him back against the crates. Ben ran up to the wheelhouse and Annie ran for Candy.
"Having second thoughts there?" He grinned at her.
"I'll admit, a million dollars was tempting, but I figured if I tried, I'd have you on my tail the rest of my life."
"A million dollars," Annie breathed. "Where did he find that?" No wonder he hadn't cared about the Ponderosa.
"The sheriff will know."
"Fillmore said you was at each other's throats." The last man looked between them. Annie smirked.
"Guess he didn't know everything he thought he did."
"Him and his big plans," the man groused. Ben left the wheelhouse, cradling Julie in his arms. "Taken down by a couple of girls and a hard nose cowhand."
"Watch your mouth, mister."
"Oh, let him." She cradled her rifle. "I hear anything I don't like," she shrugged. "I'll just shoot him." Joe and Hoss laughed; Candy grinned. Ben joined them, Julie tucked against his side.
"Everyone alright?" They nodded and he sighed. "Good. Let's get this one to Clem and then we'll see about getting Dixie back where she belongs."
The steam whistle screeched overhead and Ben waited until it died off before continuing. "Now, Julie, I expect a letter every week, you keep your grades up, and you better spend your summer vacations on the Ponderosa."
"I will, Mr. Cartwright."
"I'll be writing too, Julie, tell you how things are on the lake."
"Oh, Hoss." She hugged him tight then turned around. "Candy." Annie pressed her lips together and focused out over the water. Candy sighed.
"I'm sorry you won't be around to make a sailor out of me." Everyone laughed. The whistle blasted again and Joe called down from the wheelhouse.
"Hey, all you landlubbers, get ashore! We're heading to the south end of this lake to meet the stage." Annie rolled her eyes.
"Julie, feel free to dump him in the lake, I've wanted to for years." The girl laughed and Hoss grinned.
"Well, Candy, if I'm gonna make a cowboy out of you again, we better get started."
"What's the hurry? I got ten minutes left on my lunch hour."
"And you have twenty miles to ride to where you go to work, so you best get to slapping leather," Ben said before he kissed Julie's cheek. "Bye, Julie." They all left the deck and made their way to the horses tied up at the hitch rail. Joe blasted the whistle again and Dixie began to back away from the dock. Julie waved. Annie swung into Reno's saddle and turned the grulla.
"Canaday, you heard Pa, get your behind moving." He looked startled for half a second, until he saw her grin.
"You planning to dump me in the lake if I don't?"
"If I can't get to Joe, I guess you'll do." Ben rolled his eyes and reined Buck around.
"It's like I have five children instead of four these days. Get on home, the lot of you." They laughed and put their horses to a lope, soon leaving the shores of Lake Tahoe behind as they thundered into the towering stands of Ponderosa pines.