A/N: Okay, this episode never really sat well with me. Maybe because I know as a horsewoman that no one who has ever been around horses – least of all an experienced cowboy like Candy is portrayed to be – would ever try to pick up a hoof like he does in the opening scenes for exactly the reason the script had him doing it. Also, a hoof merely stepping straight down on your hand – or your foot, voice of experience, there – isn't likely to cause a large bleeding wound. It can break bones, so the insinuation that his hand was broken is plausible.

But, the scenario the script sets up isn't very necessary. If Steve would only be doing "a few hours work" why not let Joe lead the horses back to the ranch? He did fine taking them to Angelus without Candy leading any.

Also, jumping on a strange horse bareback to ride across country? Um, yeah. Whatever you say scriptwriter.

So, this is the first episode where I did a lot of wrecking. I kept the highlights and scrapped most of the rest. As such, I did damage poor Candy a little more than in the canon episode so I could keep them in Angelus. Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more "overhauled" episodes in the future. I will also be writing some original episodes but not quite yet. The dynamic isn't there yet for what I have in mind.

And in case some of you guest readers aren't aware, you can leave a review without having a fanfiction account in case that was stopping you.

As usual, I don't own Bonanza, the characters, settings, episodes, anything. Entertainment only, you know.

Tonight: Commitment at Angelus.

Added line breaks 2-19-21

"That coffee sure is good in the morning," Joe said slowly as he took a drink. Candy nodded and Annie found herself nodding, too. It was good, mainly because Joe hadn't made it. A few feet away, the string of horses they'd just bought shifted nervously and she refocused her attention on their surroundings. Nothing looked out of place. It was probably that blasted hammerhead chestnut stirring them up. That was one animal she'd have happily left with the horse trader.

"Whose turn is it to clean up?" Joe's voice broke into her train of thought. Candy took another drink of his coffee and lowered the cup.

"Yours." Joe grimaced. It might actually have been Candy's turn, but ask a stupid question … Candy dumped the last of his coffee.

"I'm gonna check the stone bruise on that chestnut."

"Watch that hammerhead," she started. "He's –"

"Mean," Joe finished. Candy shook his head on a grin.

"At this time of the morning, we're all mean." He stood and walked over to the horses. Annie snorted and dumped her coffee.

"Speak for yourself." Joe laughed.

"Does it seem to you that he's gotten a little more relaxed since Pa officially made him the foreman?"

"I don't know if I'd say he's relaxed."

"He jokes around more."

"Finally." One of the horses neighed shrilly and she jumped, spinning around on her bedroll just as the blasted hammerhead shrieked and launched both hind hooves, throwing Candy back several feet. They leaped off the ground and raced over.

"Don't you even think about moving," Joe said sternly as Candy tried to regain his feet. Annie grabbed his arm. "How bad did he get you?" But he didn't wait for an answer, already feeling Candy's ribs.

"Get off," Candy hissed, sweat beading his forehead. He curled into himself, guarding his chest, and took a few shaky breaths.

"Candy, answer me, are you okay?"

"Better he doesn't." Joe's face darkened. "That jughead broke a few ribs. Candy, we've got to get you to a doctor. I told you to watch that hammerhead."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Annie braced his left side as Joe took the right, and they slowly helped him to his feet. "There's one in Angelus, isn't there?"

"Yeah, that's not too far away. Can you sit a horse?"

"I said I'm fine, why won't you two listen?" But he wheezed as he said it.

"Come on." Annie saddle the horses while Joe supported Candy, then they carefully got him into his saddle. Pain lined his face and a muscle in his jaw twitched, but he didn't utter a sound. Annie swung into Reno's saddle and took Candy's reins in hand while Joe led the string of horses.

They had to take it slow, bringing them into Angelus just over an hour later. Annie pulled up at the hitch rail, eyeing the silent crowd standing around the store with more than a touch of unease. That did not look good. "Isn't Angelus a company town?" Joe looked over at the waiting people.

"Run by the Angelus Mining Company."

"Armed guards in front of the store … what do you think is going on?"

"None of our concern, look, the doctor's office is over there." He jumped off Cochise and tied up the rest of the string. "Come on, help me get him down."

"Joe, I'm fine." Candy slid over the horse's side and fell hard against her brother, sending a tremor through his frame. He took a few uneven breaths, clutching at Joe's arm with a shaky hand.

"You're not fooling us, Canaday, so come on." Slowly, they worked their way across the street and into the doctor's office.

"Sorry, Mr. Reagan, orders, you know." Joe glanced over his shoulder and stopped in his tracks, nearly pulling them both over.

"Joe!"

"Sorry, sis. That's Steve, did you see?" She turned her head enough to catch sight of her brother's old friend as he descended the steps in front of the store, his shoulders bowed.

"You can catch up later, come on." But he didn't listen.

"Hey, Steve!" Annie smothered a growl and refocused on Candy as her brother took off. She could have sworn Candy started to laugh before pain brought him up short.

"Help me knock him off his horse and we'll leave him in the middle of nowhere until he's learned his lesson. I'll never breathe a word to Pa that you were in on it." Candy did snort that time, but it was barely audible. Sweat trickled down his pale face and her stomach clenched. "Never mind, let's just get you inside. I can kill him later." Annie kicked the door open, bringing a woman she figured to be the doctor's assistant out of her chair.

"Oh, dear." She rushed towards them. "What happened?"

"A horse kicked him. Broken ribs."

"Bring him in here." She swung open a door off the main hallway. "I'll get Doc Rhodes." She vanished deeper into the house before Annie could ask her for help.

"Just a little farther, Candy, you can make it." He slumped onto the edge of gurney set up in the middle of the room, one hand clutching her arm, the other wrapped around his waist. A moan slipped through his teeth. "Easy," she whispered. "Easy."

He raised his head, breathing hard, but unevenly. The door flew open as the doctor rushed into the room, Mrs. Carter right behind him. He took one look at Candy and that mask all doctors seemed to wear when bad news was inevitable slipped over his face.

"He was kicked by a horse?"

"Both hind legs." She winced. "It threw him several feet." The doctor made a noise in his throat and caught Candy's chin in his hand, tipping his head up. Candy tried to pull away, but the man tightened his grip and held on.

"Be still, young fella. He hit his head?"

"I don't think so." He nodded and began to knead Candy's ribs with gentle fingers. She felt Candy tense under her hand a split second before he sucked in a gasping breath, his back arching, and bit off a yelp.

"Easy, son, easy, now." The doctor steadied him carefully. "Don't make any sudden moves. Mrs. Carter, I need you over here, please. Miss, uh –"

"Anne Cartwright. Candy's our foreman."

"Ms. Cartwright, I don't think his lung is involved, which is good. We'll wrap his chest and I'll give him some laudanum so he can rest. Is there any way you can stay over in Angelus? It would be best if he didn't ride for a day or two. That rib could dislodge and tear his lung."

"I said I was fine, but they … they wouldn't listen." Candy tried to slide off the gurney.

"Stop being stubborn and behave yourself." Mrs. Carter brushed sweaty hair off his face. "Doc Rhodes knows what he's doing, you think you're the first man to get himself kicked by a horse?"

"You keep jerking around like a fish on a line and you'll only make it worse." The doctor gently listened to his lungs, then finished checking his ribs. Candy flinched, every muscle in his body locking down. He grabbed her hand and squeezed until her fingers turned white as bone. The doctor straightened and Candy relaxed his grip on her hand. "I'm fairly sure he's alright but leaving now is out of the question. He needs to stay right here, at least overnight."

"He will."

"I'm –"

"You are not fine, Candy. I'll send a wire to Pa and tell him we'll be late getting home."

"But –"

"Don't argue."

"Mrs. Carter, if you'll run and get some of that cotton binding from the supply cupboard, we'll get Candy taken care of. Ms. Cartwright?" He nodded at the hallway. Confused, she followed him. "Is he liable to lash out when in pain? We've got to pull that binding tight and I don't want Mrs. Carter getting hit."

"If he does, it won't be her he's aiming at." Indignation flooded her veins. How dare he think Candy would strike a woman, even if he was in pain at the time?

"I would feel better if you stayed until we got him in bed. He listens to you."

"When he feels like it." Mrs. Carter returned and the doctor ushered them back into the room. Candy eyed the man, distrust burning bright in his eyes.

"You'll feel better after we're finished, I promise." The doctor carefully removed Candy's vest and shirt. He closed his eyes on a wince, a muscle in his jaw twitching again. Annie caught his hand and held it as the doctor wrapped his ribs. He bit back another yelp as the binding pulled tight. "There we go, young fella. Let's get you into bed."

Even with his ribs wrapped, he walked hunched over like an old man as they helped him down the hallway into a back bedroom, holding himself stiff even after he was situated in a comfortable bed. Mrs. Carter handed him a cup of water and he took it.

"You go on and see to your business, Ms. Cartwright, we'll take care of your foreman." The older woman wiped his face with a clean cloth. Annie didn't want to leave him alone, but Joe did have to be told. If she ever managed to drag him out of wherever he and Steve had gone that is.

She found them in the saloon, enjoying a beer and swapping stories. "Hey, Steve, you remember Annie?" She turned a chair around and straddled it backwards.

"He's not going to forget us in a year, Joe." She grabbed her brother's mug and downed half of what was left. "Candy will be fine, by the way, thanks for all the help getting him to the doctor." Her tone hardened. "But we can't leave tonight. Doc wants to watch him in case he was wrong about the ribs not puncturing his lung."

"Everything alright?" Steve lowered his beer.

"Our foreman got kicked by a horse." Steve winced. Joe frowned and reclaimed his mug.

"The doctor is sure he'll be alright?"

"That's what I just said."

"You can stay with us, I know Stephanie would love to see you both."

"No, we can't intrude."

"I insist."

"But –"

"Joe, it'll be okay. We're not that bad off that we can't extend a little hospitality to old friends." Annie looked between the two of them.

"What's going on?"

"The mine's not safe to work so we walked out. But now the company store won't give us any more credit." Steve blew out a breath. "Don't worry about it, it's not your problem. We've got a meeting tonight to decide what we're going to do now." He pushed back his chair and stood. "Come on, please come. Stephanie will be upset if you don't stop by and at least say hello."

"Alright, Steve, we'll drop in and say hello." Joe sat back in his chair. Annie stood.

"Guess I'd better get those horses to the livery stable for the night. I'll wire Pa too and let him know we've been delayed so he doesn't worry."

"It's us, he'll worry no matter what you do."

"Can you blame him?" Joe looked down at his hands.

"Not really." He sighed. "I'll go check on Candy."

"He's probably asleep by now. The doctor's assistant gave him some water that I'd bet my saddle was laced with laudanum." Steve nodded.

"Mrs. Carter's a good woman. Her husband was a miner." He looked at his hands. "Until the cave in. We had to walk out, his death was the last straw."

"Maybe we can help, Pa owns stock in the Angelus Mining Company, he's one of the biggest shareholders."

"I can't ask you to get him involved."

"We offered." We? Annie bristled. She didn't recall offering anything. Oh, she didn't have anything against Steve, it wasn't that.

Candy was laying over at the doctor's office and Joe couldn't even be bothered to worry about him? She flipped the chair back around. "I'll see to the horses and wire Pa. Come find me when you're finished catching up." She stalked away.

"Annie, something wrong?" She turned back.

"Not a thing, Joe." She kept walking. That couldn't be fixed by dumping him in the middle of nowhere until he finished growing up. Why did she always have to be the cool head, the voice of reason? Lately, it seemed all he did was make stupid decisions, dating all the way back to when their pa had almost been killed.

She led the horses down the street to the livery stable and paid to keep them overnight. She hoped they could get out of here come morning, but that would depend on the doctor. A quick stop at the telegraph office later, she made her way back into the doctor's house. Mrs. Carter looked up from her desk.

"He's sleeping, child. Best thing for him right now."

"Can I see him?" The woman nodded back down the hallway and Annie slipped up to his half-closed door. He seemed to be resting easy. "He'll be fine, dear, ribs mend," the woman said softly. She laid her hand on Annie's shoulder. "Come on, you don't want to wake him, he wouldn't thank you for it."

"It's just … we had a hand kicked in the chest several years ago and he – the rib – Doc Martin said the kick drove the end of the rib straight into his heart." The woman's face softened.

"That can happen, child, but it didn't this time. He's not going to up and die on you if you leave him alone. Your foreman is in good hands."

"I know."

"Then go on. He wouldn't want you and your brother to fuss over him." Annie's head came up.

"How did you know I have a brother?"

"You're a Cartwright. Every soul in this town knows your father owns most of the stock in that mine out there, and that he has four children." The woman drew in a deep breath. "I've prayed for months that he'd come here and take a look at that mine for himself."

"Is it really that bad?"

"The men say it is, and I believe them." Maybe they'd be staying longer than overnight. She couldn't refuse the plea shining in the woman's tired brown eyes. As long as she didn't have to … Annie touched her arm.

"I'll see what we can do." She left and went to find Joe. He and Steve were just leaving the saloon. A couple of men approached the group.

"Uncle Thad, you remember Joe?" Steve turned, caught sight of her. "And Annie, from the Ponderosa, remember?"

"I remember."

"Good to see you, Mr. Wotjak." Joe shook the man's hand. "Kabe." She nodded to both men.

"You going to be at the meeting, Steve?" Kabe's face darkened.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"We've got decisions to make."

"And we'll make them. Right now, I'm taking Joe and Annie to see Stephanie." Steve headed off down the street, Kabe and Mr. Wotjak trailing along behind them. Annie studied everyone they passed, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

Something was wrong in Angelus, very wrong.

They finally reached a small frame house and Steve knocked on the door. It opened, revealing a dark-haired woman wiping flour off her nose. "Steve, what –?" He eyes widened. "Joe Cartwright! Annie!" She rushed past her husband and hugged them both. "I told him you'd come by someday." She pulled back. "I just made a cake, you can stay, can't you? I'll run and put some coffee on. Come in, come in." Steve ushered them inside and Annie looked around.

It was small, but comfortable. Stephanie had done a good job turning a run down company house into a home. Mr. Wotjak and Kabe trailed Steve into the kitchen, but she grabbed Joe's arm before he could follow.

"What is it?" He said softly with a glance at the kitchen.

"What did the last inspection report say about that?" She cocked her head at the window and the mine dug into the mountain.

"The inspector passed it, said it was perfectly safe."

"And the report before that?"

"Same thing."

"You two coming?" Steve called from the kitchen. "With these two, the cake'll be gone if you wait too long." She let go of Joe's arm and they made their way to the kitchen. They could discuss things later.

She nibbled her cake while Joe and Steve caught up on the last year. Hadn't they already done that at the saloon, though? And men called women gossips.

"Is your foreman alright? Steve mentioned he'd been kicked." Stephanie wrinkled her handkerchief. "I don't see how you can work around those animals all the time, I'd be afraid of getting hurt."

"Accidents do happen, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world." Annie laid down her fork. "Doc Rhodes said he'd be okay, he just wants to watch him overnight."

"He's always cautious. One time Steve –"

The front door flew open with a bag, slamming against the wall. Annie leaped to her feet, hand going for her gun until she saw the star on the leader's vest. What was going on? All of them looked at each other as a fat man with caterpillars for eyebrows stepped inside.

"Search the house."

"This is my house, what are you doing?" Steve stood up and walked over to the sheriff. The man slugged him with the rifle butt and Stephanie gasped, running to him. Annie and Joe drew their guns, cocking them, ready to fire. The fat man held his hand up, staying the sheriff.

"Joseph Cartwright. And this must be your sister, Anne. These men are under my orders. Nothing here concerns the two of you. I suggest you go back to the Ponderosa where you belong."

"I suggest you get out of here," Annie said in an icy voice. If he knew them by sight, he had to be part of Angelus Mining. The fat man ignored her, turning beady eyes on Stephanie and Steve.

"I have to search the house."

"For what?" Joe spit out.

"Ten cases of dynamite stolen from the company warehouse." The miners and Stephanie exchanged confused glances.

"There's no dynamite here," she said.

"Your husband, Mrs. Reagan –" the sheriff began, only to be interrupted by Steve as he picked himself up off the floor.

"I don't know anything about any dynamite." He rubbed his head.

"He was with us all morning," Joe said, voice hard as nails. "Now get your men out of this house." The fat man gave them an appraising look.

"Go on, Garrett." The sheriff nodded and waved his men out the door. "We don't often get to see Cartwrights in Angelus. Say hello to your father for me when you get back." He turned for the door, pausing with his hand on the knob. "I would advise you to leave soon." The door closed behind him. Annie holstered her pistol.

"I take it that was Emmit Hudson? He reminds me of a porcupine." Stephanie covered a laugh with a cough. "I kept waiting for one of those caterpillars to crawl off his face and make a run for it." Steve laughed that time, and Mr. Wotjak cracked a smile, but Kabe didn't even blink. Joe turned around.

"What are the men afraid of? Is it the stolen dynamite?"

"Like Steve, I know nothing of any dynamite." Mr. Wotjak settled back onto the sofa. Kabe only shrugged. "The mine is not safe. Timber bad, shoring no good."

"I tried to talk to Mr. Hudson, but he won't listen." Steve broke in.

"Someday soon, the tunnels will go." She and Joe traded a look. Thad Wotjak had been a miner his whole life, and his father before him, back in Poland. Was the report wrong, or were the miners … overcautious? Scared? Lying?

But why?

"Joe, I think we need to go to that meeting." Maybe that would be enough. Maybe they wouldn't have to go … her stomach twisted.

"No, you need to go on back to your big ranch and leave us alone!" Kabe burst out.

"Kabe!" Uncle Thad's face turned red. "You will not be rude to Steve's friends. If they wish to help, I, for one, welcome it."

"We need all the help we can get," Steve added.

"I don't know what we can do, we're not Pa."

"We're still Cartwrights." Annie settled back in her chair and stabbed at her cake. "Emmit Hudson is no different than any one else we've dealt with. Besides, with Candy laid up, we can't leave until tomorrow anyway, might as well make ourselves useful."

She said it because she knew Joe would argue until he was blue in the face if she tried to suggest it wasn't their fight. Even if he'd been the one to say it wasn't their concern when they first rode in. How did they always manage to get themselves into situations like this?

"Are you sure?" Stephanie cleaned her husband's face. "It might be better if you rode out."

"We can't." Joe said softly. "Not until Candy can ride with us, we won't leave him behind."

"The meeting's tonight at seven-thirty."

"We'll be there." Annie stood.

"I'll get us a room at the hotel." She took her time on the street, hoping to pick up any nuggets of information she could, but no one was really talking, not even a simple good afternoon. Angelus was fixing to blow sky high, with or without that missing dynamite. It was easy to read their faces. Everyone in town was getting hungry, and when a man had to watch his family slowly starve, anything could happen.

How long had it been since they walked out? How long before everything exploded? If miners really had stolen that dynamite, the situation could get very ugly, very fast.

She secured a room, but didn't go back to Steve's. Annie settled herself in the bar, soaking up the muttered conversations floating around her. Almost no one was drinking, not a big surprise if they were all broke or close to it. Boots thumped on the hardwood floor and she looked up, still nursing her first beer.

The sheriff stood beside her table, a rifle cradled in his hands. "I believe Mr. Hudson asked you to leave Angelus." She lowered her mug.

"As a stockholder in his mine, I have every right to be here."

"You don't look like Ben Cartwright."

"If you check the paperwork, you'll find that alongside our father, the three of us also have shares of stock in our own names." She gave him a tight smile. "My tally happens to run close to ten percent."

"I'm afraid the miners will cause trouble, Ms. Cartwright. I don't have enough deputies to guarantee your safety should they decide to strike out at you." She leveled him with a hard stare and drew her gun, dropping it on the table.

"I can protect myself, Sheriff. Against anyone." He swallowed hard. Good, let him make of that what he would. She wasn't afraid of the likes of Emmit Hudson and his cronies.

"Just remember, you were warned." He waved his deputies out the door. She took another slow sip. Too bad he didn't heed that warning himself. She laid a dollar on the table and stood.

"He means it, miss." One of the miners at a nearby table spoke up.

"So did I." She holstered her gun and stalked out, pausing in front of the saloon. It might be a good idea to give their father an update on the situation. She turned for the telegraph office. By the time she returned, Stephanie had supper on the table. Annie ate sparingly, they had jerky and a few biscuits left in their saddlebags. She could eat later.

Supper passed in a tense silence and Stephanie retreated to the sink not long after her husband pushed back his empty plate. He checked his pocket watch and stood.

"Time to go." Annie pushed back her plate and followed the men out the door. By the way he went straight in, she supposed the meeting was in Thad Wotjak's house. A ring of concerned faces filled the tiny front room.

"What do we do, Steve? My children are hungry."

"My mother is hungry."

"We've got to hold out," Steve pleaded. "Sooner or later, they'll have to send someone else to look at the mine."

"Who are they?" One grizzled old man pointed at Annie and Joe. "Why have you brought them here?"

"We own stock in that mine. The reports we get indicate it's safe, rated well above Federal standards."

"We want to know why you say otherwise," Annie finished.

"What do you care?" Kabe scowled. "You've got your reports and your big ranch, so why do you care about us?" They traded a knowing look.

"If it's really not safe," Joe began, bringing a chorus of agreement.

"We'll stop Hudson," Annie finished, raising her voice to be heard over the din.

"You want to know if it's not safe?" Kabe snarled. "Then go down in those tunnels yourself." Annie's stomach twisted. She may be familiar with every aspect of the Cartwright empire, but when it came to the mining interests, she stayed on the surface thank you very much. Having a million tons of rock hanging over your head wasn't just unsettling, it was downright unnatural. How these men could work like that every day was beyond her understanding.

"Maybe we will." Joe turned his hat over in his hands. He gave her a sideways glance, silently asking if she could do it.

One of them hated heights and the other depth. Go figure. Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought of all that dirt overhead, just waiting for an excuse to rain down and bury someone.

"Sure you will." Kabe advanced, anger pouring off him like wave. "Your pa turn you out of your nice soft beds? You just want the mine producing again so you can make your money, you don't care about any of us."

"Kabe, that's enough!" Steve followed Uncle Thad over.

"They say they want to help."

"All we'll get is another fake report."

"If Joe says he'll help, he will." Steve eyed them both. "What are you going to do?" Annie took a deep breath and willed her voice not to shake.

"We'll go into the mine ourselves." Joe tossed her a sharp look and she nodded slightly. They had to do it. Something was going on and it wouldn't be resolved unless they stepped in. It shouldn't take that long, if it was as dangerous as they claimed, there should be evidence all over the place, maybe they wouldn't have to go that deep.

"You go right ahead, Cartwright," Kabe sneered. "I just hope you're down there when all of D level comes down." Joe yanked open the front door and pushed her out ahead of him into the evening dusk. She took a deep breath of the cool air.

"You don't have to go with me, Anne." She smothered a snort; her hands shook.

"Who's going to save you if Hudson pulls something?"

"Can you do it?" She nodded once and swept loose strands of hair back from her face.

"We should check on Candy, then get some sleep."

"Are you sure?" Her brother grabbed her arm.

"I said I'd be fine." She pulled her arm free. "Let's go." Hudson likely wouldn't be in his office to give them an inspection until nine. She had all night to get used to the idea.

"I sure missed a lot, didn't I?" Candy inched upright with a muted hiss. Mrs. Carter clucked her tongue and laid his breakfast tray on the nightstand so she could help him.

"Stubborn man." He grinned, looking like his old self.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Men." She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. Annie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. A night of sleep had done him a world of good. "Behave yourself, you have company, after all." He grinned again.

"How could I forget?" The woman left the room and he sobered. "False reports or lying miners?" Annie sighed and fiddled with the end of her braid.

"False reports would be my guess. But that means there's someone else involved." Candy nodded absently and took a few careful bites of his eggs.

"So what are you and Joe planning?" She wished he hadn't asked, she'd been doing a decent job of forgetting about it.

"We're going into the mine." He dropped his fork.

"Now?" He looked around the room. "Where did they put my boots?"

"Just where do you think you're going?"

"With you two." He scooped up one more bite and threw back the covers. "With our track record, it'll take all three of us."

"I sent another wire to Pa early this morning, as soon as the telegraph office opened. If he can, he'll ride over." Candy raised one finger.

"But you won't wait for him."

"Joe doesn't want to."

"So why aren't you fighting him on it?"

"There's ten cases of dynamite 'stolen' out of the company warehouse." Candy's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he pushed himself out of bed, hissing and clutching at his chest. "What did I –"

"Get me my boots or I'll quit and then no one can stop me from following you in there," he panted. Annie rubbed her forehead. She already had three brothers, she didn't need a fourth.

"Candy –"

"I'll do it." She smothered a growl. Of course he would. And probably hurt himself worse in the process.

"Fine." She bent, reached under the bed, and tossed his boots at his feet. "Let's go. Everyone else around here is pretty much crazy, why not join them." Candy stiffened and gave her a searching look.

"Is there something else bothering you, sweetheart?" She pressed her lips together and forced herself to meet his gaze without flinching. "Annie?" She blinked. She could count on one hand the number of times he'd called her by name when they weren't in the middle of a life and death situation and still have fingers left over. "What is it?" She drew in a breath, let it out slowly.

"Besides a million tons of rock hanging over our heads?"

"Oh." He gave the word four syllables instead of one. "You know, I would have thought being twins you'd share traits."

"A few."

"But not that." She shook her head. "Underground, huh?" She nodded. "Well, help me find my shirt, will you? I can't go out like this." He gestured to himself wrapped in bandages and she laughed, which he'd probably intended. A grin made his eyes dance. "Let's go find your crazy brother."

"It may seem that way to you, Mr. Cartwright, but I'd say you've been talking to the wrong people." Annie bristled at his tone. Who else – if not the miners inside that thing day in and day out – should they talk to? "Those miners have filled you with a lot of lies."

"If it's safe, why put themselves out of work and watch their families go hungry?" Annie cocked her head. Hudson nodded at the man in the back of the office.

"Mr. Polk here is a qualified inspector with the Bureau of Mines. He completed the report your friend is reading just this morning." Candy looked up from the report in his hands and tossed it on the desk.

"Safest mine in the world, according to this."

"So why walk out?" she repeated. "Why?"

"Well, they –" Hudson spluttered. "They want more money than their labor is worth."

"Then you can't object to us having a look around." Joe shot her a sideways look. You can still back out. She shook her head. Hudson gave them an amused, patronizing smile.

"The mine is closed. I can't take you down there." Joe's face hardened and he leaned against the desk.

"You can show us today, or you can show our father tomorrow, it's up to you." Hudson looked around the office for a moment before finally giving a resigned nod.

"Well. Since you put it that way, and since your father is a stockholder –"

"So are we," Annie put in. He glared at her but didn't comment as he waved them towards the door.

"Mr. Garrett." The sheriff collected his rifle and made to follow.

"What do we need him for?"

"These are troubled times in Angelus, Mr. Cartwright, we wouldn't want you to get hurt." Hudson led the way out the door.

Annie eyed the armed guards standing at the mine's entrance. Her stomach dropped as they took the first steps into the belly of the beast, the temperature cooling and the light fading. Only a few dozen feet in, timbers groaned and dust sifted down from overhead. She jumped, her heart climbing into her throat as she looked up.

The light touch of a hand at her back brought her focus back to the man beside her. Candy's eyebrows hitched up and she took a deep breath, then nodded and kept walking, careful to watch her footing lest she trip over the tracks for the ore carts.

Farther in they went, and the groans of timber increased, more dust raining down. The sheriff looked up as he ducked under a low-hanging timber. Candy looked up, too, then guided her under, his hand still at her back.

"That shouldn't concern us, Ms. Cartwright, if you were a miner, you'd know that things are always shifting and moving about underground."

Exactly why she stayed above ground.

"That timber you're looking at, it's some of the oldest in the whole mine." Annie looked back in time to see Joe tear a piece of wood free and study it closely. He tossed it aside and kept walking. She swallowed hard and kept her feet moving.

Wait. She froze and leaned in to study a wall brace. That wood … it was … she looked up and around. They had to get out of here, but how could she get Joe to listen without tipping off Hudson?

"Water up here, watch your step."

"Wet and dark, it's all more of the same." Hudson was getting on her nerves. Timbers groaned again and debris sifted down onto the tracks. Sounds of a scuffle brought her around in a heartbeat. She and Candy ran back to where they'd last seen Joe, Hudson and the sheriff on their heels.

Her brother stood over an unconscious Kabe. Hudson passed them and peered into the side tunnel. "One of your miner friends, Mr. Cartwright. He was about to set off that dynamite, bring the whole mountain down and kill us all." Joe's eyes flashed and she knew what he was going to say. No!

"He knew what I just found out. Every timber in this mine is rotten!" Candy shoved her away from him, practically throwing her back up the slope past Hudson as he slammed the butt of his gun into Joe's head, sending him to the ground in a heap.

She staggered, almost fell, but managed to keep her footing as Candy turned on the sheriff. She drew her gun, but hesitated. Would it bring the whole thing down? The man drove the rifle stock into Candy's ribs and he collapsed with a choked cry that almost became a scream.

Hudson lunged for her and she drove her gun against the side of his head, turned and fled back up the slope.

"Stop her!"

Keep running, don't turn off anywhere, just go straight, and she should reach the entrance in no time. But what about the guards outside?

Debris tumbled from the ceiling and her skin crawled. No, she couldn't lose it, not this time. If they caught her, none of them would ever leave this mine alive. She stumbled and fell against a framing timber and the earth groaned, making her heart skip a beat.

Don't cave in, don't cave in, please don't cave in!

Her breath came in ragged gasps. Why couldn't Adam have been here instead? The man loved blasted mines, enjoyed being underground. He'd have probably known everything was rotten two steps past the entrance.

Her foot caught on something in the dark, sending her sprawling. Her head slammed into the cart rail hard enough she saw stars. The tunnel spun in slow circles, fading to grey, then black, then back to grey. The rail dug into her shoulder and she pushed off the ground, head spinning.

Keep going.

Whatever he had planned, he couldn't pull it off until he caught her. All she had to do was make it outside, Hudson couldn't explain it away if the whole town saw her. She touched her face and her hand came away sticky. Especially like this.

Annie regained her feet and staggered up the slope, her head pounding. The tunnel faded again and she drew in a choked breath. Her stomach lurched, bile climbing up her throat. She fell against the wall, landing hard enough to knock the air from her lungs. Wait, how …

It was a side tunnel. Every cell of her body screamed at her not to go down it, but she could hear the sheriff running up the tunnel, she'd never outrun him now. If she could hide until they left the mine …

Annie drug herself a few feet down the side tunnel and pressed herself up against the wall. Her head. She clutched at her head in a desperate attempt to make it stop hurting. She curled up in a tight ball on the ground, breathing hard, as the tunnel continued to spin. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but voices finally penetrated the haze.

"I'm still not happy you let her escape."

"I told you she didn't. No one left this mine and believe me, the guards would have noticed a bleeding woman staggering out of here. You saw the blood on that rail, I'm betting she fell and hit her head, probably sprawled unconscious in one of the side tunnels."

"Is the dynamite ready?"

"You don't want a short fuse on this, Mr. Hudson, unless you want to go up right along with them. We'll be safe in your office when the blast goes off."

A lantern bobbed past the side tunnel, the brief flash of light sending a shaft of pain lancing through her skull. She smothered a moan. Lights flickered behind her eyes.

What they'd said began to sink in, sending panic racing through her veins. She had to get to her brother and Candy, they had to get out before it went up. She crawled on her hands and knees out into the main tunnel.

A faint, tantalizing glimpse of light lured her to the right, and the outside world. No. She turned back around, staring into the dark recesses of the mine. The fuse, she had to get the fuse. If she could pull it free, they were safe.

But where was it again?

She kept crawling, trying only once to stand before the pain knocked her back onto her knees. If she passed out now, she'd die in here.

She followed the tracks for the ore cart deeper into the mine, searching blindly for the side tunnel where Joe had found Kabe. Blood trickled down her neck and under her collar. Where was it? Timbers groaned and her heart leaped into her throat, choking her. She crawled faster.

Noises up ahead caught her attention. Dark shapes rounded the corner, materializing into Joe, Candy, and Kabe.

"Oh, God, Annie!" Hands pulled her upright, sending her headache pounding like a drum, but she didn't know who it was that helped her. She stumbled against one of them and whoever it was jerked violently, choking on a gasping wheeze that sounded like a strangled cry.

Candy, it had to be Candy, but what had happened to him?

"Come on!"

The four of them stumbled down the tunnel. Annie could almost hear the fuse hissing as it slowly inched its way closer to those ten cases of dynamite somewhere behind them. She could see daylight just ahead when the earth rumbled, the tunnel shaking under their feet. Timbers groaned and gave way, and the mountain began to collapse over top of them.

A wall of dirt and debris enveloped them, shooting out the entrance and into the sky. She coughed, dust coating her throat, and choked, coughed again, every movement sending spikes of pain lancing through her skull.

Light washed over them, and they were outside, collapsing to the ground in a jumbled heap. She landed on someone, her head spinning worse than before.

"Pa, stop them, they're the ones that set off the blast!" Gunshots rang out; hands clutched at them, separating them. "Annie, look at me!" Hands brushed over her face and she opened her eyes to find Joe inches away. "Say something, please, Annie!"

"Get Doc Rhodes," someone hollered. Beside her, Candy coughed and moaned, sliding towards the ground on top of her legs.

"Pa, get over here, now!" She winced at the shout and clutched her head, sinking closer to the ground. "Annie, no, don't you even think about it. Come on, say something!" Candy slumped against her legs and she knew he was out. Men ran towards them. "Annie!"

"You drag me into a mine again and I'll kill you," she slurred. Her skin washed cold and the world faded to grey, then black, as she slid into oblivion.

She opened her eyes to see their father sitting beside the bed. Wait, bed? Where was she? She turned her head and pain exploded behind her eyes; a moan slipped through her teeth.

"Dear God, you scared me half to death." He leaned over the bed. "Don't move, just lay still. Doc Rhodes!" She winced again, but it wasn't as bad as the last time.

How long had she been out?

She reached up, felt bandages around her head. "Anne Marie Cartwright, I told you not to move." He pulled her hand down. "You've been out for hours." Hands cradled her face. "After the blast, I was afraid I'd lost you both."

"Joe?" she whispered.

"He's with Steve, helping get things sorted out at the store. I'm extending credit to the miners until things are settled." No, that wasn't who she needed to ask about, was it? It was Candy, he'd been hurt worse, hadn't he? She remembered the sheriff driving his rifle into his chest.

"Candy?" His face blanked, sending a frisson of panic coursing through her veins. She tried to sit up. "Is Candy –?"

"Don't move!" He pushed her back. "Candy's in the other bed, but he's still out, his ribs punctured his lung and the doctor had to operate immediately. He should be waking up soon."

"He's okay?"

"He will be, and so will the other fellow with you, Kabe." The door opened, admitting the doctor.

"Well, it's good to see you awake." He bent down and peered into her eyes. "Still uneven, but better than they were, all things considered. Men have died after hitting those rails."

"Don't remind me," Ben growled, his hands working at his hat brim. "How long until I can take them home?"

"I wouldn't advise moving either one of them, even in a wagon, for several days." The doctor turned aside, nearly disappearing from her line of sight. "He hasn't come around yet?"

"No." Fabric rustled.

"He seems to be fine. Sleep is the best thing for him right now. I'll send Mrs. Carter in with some tea. If you can keep that down we'll see about some chicken broth."

"Delightful," Annie muttered and closed her eyes, the throbbing easing to a dull ache.

"Behave yourself." Ben frowned. "I should let Joe know you're awake. he's beside himself, I had to make him go with Steve to keep him busy, but I …" She opened her eyes.

"I'm fine, Pa, really."

"I'll be right back, don't you dare even think about getting up." He left the room in a rush and she closed her eyes again, burrowing deeper into the blessedly soft pillow.

"Your whole … family …" Candy wheezed. "Hovers worse … than a … than a maiden aunt," he finished in a rush. Her eyes snapped open and she rolled onto her side, biting back a gasp when her head protested the sudden move.

Candy lay with his head turned in her direction, a grin planted firmly on his face. It slid off as fast as it had appeared. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Not stopping that," he winced, "that sheriff from chasing you." He clutched at his chest and panted for air.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine." He closed his eyes. "I didn't … didn't split … my head open."

"Just your lung."

"Yeah." He took a few shallow breaths. "I think I feel about how you look."

"Is it that bad?" She stretched a tentative hand up to her head, feeling the throbbing lump under the bandages. Touching it brought on a wince. He started to say something, then stopped, clutching at his chest again. "Candy?" He shook his head slowly, eyes clenched tight.

"Fine," he choked out. She closed her own eyes and sagged against the pillow. Like he'd admit it if he wasn't. "Took … a lot of … lot of guts, sweetheart."

"What?"

"Coming back." Why didn't they turn the lamps down? The light was making her headache worse. She pressed her hand over her eyes. "Annie?"

"Fine," she mumbled. The door flew open with a crash that made her flinch.

"Annie, are you okay?" Joe rushed into the room. "Pa, Candy's awake!" Why couldn't he lower his voice? The whole town probably heard that. "Sis, you scared me half to death, I thought – then you were – all the blood."

"Shut up," she hissed, peering carefully between her fingers. Joe blinked from the foot of the bed, hands on his hips. "Or I won't wait for you to drag me into another mine before I kill you."

Candy coughed out a laugh that died in a choking wheeze.

"Then I won't tell you a secret I know."

"Stephanie's having a baby." Her brother's jaw dropped.

"How did you know? She just told Steve this morning."

"I just knew, now go away and let me sleep." Her head was pounding again, but it wasn't as bad as it had been.

"Well, pardon me for being concerned when my only sister stumbles out of a mine with blood all over her head and her skull practically split open, not to mention my best friend carting around busted ribs and a punctured lung."

"We're all still in one piece," Candy mumbled. "Turn the lamp down on your way out, would you?" He asked in a rush on a sharp breath. "I just want to go back to sleep for a while." Joe's face softened.

"You need anything?"

"A raise would be nice, I don't get paid enough to go running into mines that blow up." Joe chuckled and shook his head.

"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor." He turned down the lamp and shut the door. Annie burrowed deep into the wonderfully soft bed and tried to will the ache in her head to fade enough she could sleep.

"Hey." She turned; Candy's eyes danced. "We still going to leave him in the middle of nowhere?" She was surprised he remembered that, he had been half conscious after all.

"As long as we find someplace to hide and watch him lose his mind until we take pity on him and ride back in."

"Deal." He stretched his hand out carefully and she met him halfway.

"Deal."