Chapter

Home Sweet Turmoil

"Pa. The bodies that were recovered from the desert didn't die of natural causes. They were all murdered."

"Murdered?"

"That's right." Adam affirmed. "Shot, stabbed and beaten to death."

"My God!" The color drained from the pater.

Adam turned to Hoss, who had gone into himself. "You brought him home. What do you know?"

"Like I told pa," He stumbled for the words. "I don't know much."

"What did you see when you picked him up?"

"Nothing strange."

"What did you see?"

"He was there when we arrived. He looked alright when we got in. A little worn but alright."

"Hoss." He warned. "I need you to be more specific than that. Tell us exactly what you saw from the moment you rode up. Spell it out for us."

Hoss grimaced then took a gulp before beginning.

"Well, when I rode up with the posse, all seemed normal; from the outside at least. All was quiet. We had no way of knowing anyone other than the manager was inside. It wasn't till we got inside when we saw other people were even there. Naturally we thought they might have been passengers of a later stage but the looks of them said otherwise. We saw the man and woman first. They were in the front quarters as we came in. They both looked like they've been through some kind of hell. Weather worn as all get out. We figured out fast that they were the ones we been looking for. When I asked them 'bout Joe. They told me he was in the back with the manager. I went right in."

"How'd he look when you saw him?"

"Like the others." Hoss creased his brow as he thought. "Only…" He wasn't sure how much he was supposed to divulge.

"What?"

"Like he'd been…" Hoss went off into his head again. "He looked like, like his battle wasn't just with the desert."

"What do you mean?"

"The manager was fixing him up."

"Fixing him up?"

"Yeah, cleaning his injuries."

"How bad are his injuries?" He heard from the manager already. Now he needed to hear it from Hoss.

"He didn't look so bad then. His hand was wrapped up real nice and the manager was touching up a cut in his hairline."

"Then?" Adam seemed to have caught on to what Hoss was trying not to say. "You said then. What did you mean by that?" He took another nervous gulp before answering but it was the father who expounded.

"When he came through the door you could hardly make out anything. After a night's rest, color was forming under his eye and on his forehead. It's darker today." Adam gave Hoss a side glance as if trying to decide whether that really was all.

"How about the others?" Ben not noticing Adams side glance asked of the middle boy. "How did they look to you?" The father's mindset was focused now in looking for someone else to lay the suspicion on. Hoss was just glad for the redirection.

"The woman had a bandage on her elbow. The man had one on his head. There were no other injuries that I could see, other than being weather-worn." Adam could confirm this when he saw them. The woman was lethargic and burnt as if her biggest contender had been with the sun.

"What did he say when you saw him?" Adam asked.

"Nothing. He was staring at the floor as the manager worked on him. It kind of took him a moment for him to even realize I was standin' there. Even after he looked up at me, his eyes were vacant, distant. Then like that, there was a flicker, and he smiled and greeted me. He was back to being the good ol' Joe, we always knew him to be. The manager excused himself to give us a moment. Said he was gonna go out and talk with them posse boys.

"Did he say anything after Harley left the room? Give you any information at all."

"No. I could see he wasn't much up for speaking. I just took a seat next to him to let him know I was there. Joe was quiet as I sat next to him but seemed to be comforted." They both nodded understandingly. "I guess, there was one more strange thing." Hoss added. Adam looked back wondering if Hoss would tell him what he thought he was hiding from him. Hoss picked up on this but Adam wasn't going to get that just yet. "The manager says Joe was the one that guided the others back to Hallows Point. He saved their lives."

"He'd be the one to know the way?" Adam responded matter of fact.

"It's just, you know, when you're in a life and death situation like that with other people, you tend to build up some sort of a camaraderie."

"Yeah?"

"When I walked him out of that room and past the couple, they didn't say a word to each other. Not one word. Not 'bye', nor 'see you later', nothing. They looked up at Joe as we walked past them, but Joe didn't look back. He didn't want to. They averted their eyes and we left."

"How about on the ride home? Did he say anything then?"

"He was quiet and sullen near the whole way back. He didn't straighten up until we neared the house." Adam emitted a heavy sigh. Hoss didn't know why he felt like he still had to keep what Joe was hiding from them. Was it more important to keep this secret or to tell them? With everything that was going on, he hadn't quite made up his mind on the matter.

"Roy is on his way. He's going to want to talk to him."

"Maybe we should call him back home."

"I'd like to go get him, Pa." Adam requested. "If that's okay."

"Yeah sure." Ben agreed addled.

"Where is he?"

~.~

It was a warm day and Joe was feeling the effects of the summer heat even before noon had rolled around and that was hours ago. He glanced up at the sky took off his hat and rubbed the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. He let out a hot sigh.

"You're responsible for this." DeSoto was in his head. He did this to himself. He did this to others. There was no gift. No act of kindness. No honor. There was responsibility, then an accident, then a murder. There were accusations and then there were hostages. Hostages.

There was little water to share between the group. What little there was, was divvied out among the group leaving him out of the equation. They hated him. What had he done to deserve such treatment? He knew what he had done, but they hated him even before this. That's why he did it. Revenge? No. Survival. Who was he kidding? This wasn't survival.

He shook away the imagery. He wasn't there anymore. He was here. In this rich and beautiful place. Where water was bountiful.

"Hey, girl you thirsty? How about we take a little rest. Get you some water." He hopped on down and pulled the canteen from his saddle horn pouring the contents into his own hat and placed it under Cochise's chin. As Cochise lapped up the liquid, Joe let his mind slip again. Again, to the last time he was truly thirsty.

"None for him." He heard him say before the canteen was ripped from his lips. That lifesaving precious resource spilling to the floor. He was so thirsty. He just needed a drink. One drink to quench him. His throat burned. His lungs burned. "You're responsible for this." DeSoto was right of course. It was his fault. A bountiful resource was denied to him. It was denied to him but only after he'd denied it to the others. He had played God and had paid the price for it. Joe wasn't the only one fighting for his life. Roberto was fighting for his life too. Roberto was desperate. Joe had created that desperation in him.

Joe looked up at Cochise as she drank. He pulled his hat away from her lips. She snorted and bucked to express her discontent. Joe watched her. Watched her suffer. As he had suffered. As they all had suffered. To hold the power of life and death.

"Hey Joe." Adam road up breaking him from his thoughts. His heart skipped a beat as he was snapped back into the moment. He put his hat back under his horse's chin and let her finish up. "Pa told me you were back."

"Yeah." His response was short, not even caring to note how his elder brother too was back.

Adam jumped down to join him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah Adam." Joe gave an uneasy smile.

"You seemed a bit lost in thought there."

"Just taking a rest." He tipped over the empty hat to let the last few dribbles fall away and rested it carelessly on his head. He took a swig of the canteen and placed the cap on before wrapping the canteen back over his saddle horn. Adam didn't push the issue.

"How's it going out here?" He asked instead, giving his brother an out.

"I finished up the one spot back a ways. I thought I'd ride up a little further. See if there were any other weak spots. There were a few I came across that were questionable. Then there was this one." He pointed out to the dilapidated post not 20 feet from them. This one seems like it could use some repair. "I could get to this one now. The other two might wait for another day."

"It looks like this one will have to wait a bit longer too."

"It's no problem. I'm here. I've got the tools. I could take care of it."

"Pa needs you back at the house."

"Really? What for?"

"Some things that he needs to talk to you about." Joe gave Adam a long gaze. "Adam wasn't saying more, but in his silence a lot was spoken.

"Yeah," Joe finally said. "I suppose this could wait."

~.~

Hoss was wearing down the floor in front of his pa's desk with his incessant pacing. His pa had gone into the kitchen to ask Hopsing to brew up some coffee for their expected guest. He'd been in there a while now. Perhaps he was watching it brew. Hoss got his answer when his pa came out some time later with two steaming cups. His pa could ill-wait for his guest to arrive before partaking in the comforting and familiar flavor. He needed something to occupy his mind. To dull his agitation. He offered to Hoss the second cup.

"Thanks pa."

The horses could be heard trotting into the yard.

"Is that them?" Ben asked. Hoss went straightway to his pa's office window, sloshing the hot liquid over his hand as he did. He haphazardly put the cup on his pa's desk creating a coffee ring. He paid no mind to this ring, nor to the burn on his hand, as the liquid was already cooling. His focus was what was out that window. "It's Roy." He said back to his pa. Roy was accompanied by a few others. One of which wore a star.

Ben placed his cup on the dining table, wiped his moist palms on his trousers hoping to also wipe away his trepidation. He straightened himself and opened the door as they came up the porch.

"Afternoon Ben." Coffee removed his hat.

"Afternoon Roy."

"Mr. Cartwright, this is Special Agent Brent Simmons. He works for the Union Stage Line."

"Pleasure. Come in." he stepped aside allowing the whole group to enter. "How can I help you?"

"We come to call on Little Joe. Is he in?" Hoss and Ben met each other with a quick glance.

"He's riding fences. Perhaps there's something I could help you with?" He asked feigning innocence, fishing for information.

"Has he talked to you about what happened?"

"No. He hasn't brought it up and neither have we."

"Ben," Roy's shoulders slumped. "There are some serious accusations being made against your son. The ones that didn't make it out of that desert appeared to have all been murdered. I'm sure Adam has told you as much."

"Yes, Roy." Ben dropped his defenses. "Adam told me."

"We are going to need to talk to Joe."

"You don't think he had anything to do with this?"

"Mr. Cartwright," Brent Simmons cut in. "I don't know what happened out there. All I know is that I've got four dead people in my care and I can assure you, it was not the sun that killed them. Now, out of the three survivors, your son was the only one who had marks on him to suggest that he'd been in any sort of a battle. Was he a victim? Was he the killer? I just don't know."

"My son is not a killer."

"Men have been known to do some unfathomable things when they're pushed to it. Being out there in the place they were. A lot could happen."

"Have you talked to the others? What do they say?"

"They're being pretty tight lipped about it. I can't get a single straight answer from the pair of them." Roy explained. "The only thing I could get from them was, 'Talk to Joe.'"

"Where's he at Mr. Cartwright?" Brent asked.

"Adam went out to go bring him in."

~.~

It was twilight now as they rode into the yard. Dread filled him when he saw the horses. The sheriff's horse, among others, was tied to their hitching post. He gave his older brother a sideways glance but averted his eyes for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Adam sighed in regret. He was hoping they'd have some time with Joe before Roy would make his visit. He imagined his younger brother might feel as if he'd been betrayed. Set up. He understood the lawman would be pretty anxious to get some answers and put this thing to rest. About as anxious as the rest of them would be.

The men, who were mostly seated around the great room, coffee in hand; stood to greet the pair as they came through.

"Joe."

"Sheriff." Joe responded with a nod without raising his eyes to meet his. Ben perceived that this was not the same boy that left the house this morning.

Roy addressed the young man. "Son, I need to have a word with you about what happened." Joe's eyes fluttered about the room glancing at each one of his kin before resting again on the floor.

"Did Ms. Hayden or Henshaw tell you what happened?"

"They only told me that I had to talk to you."

Of course, they did. They were cowards then. Why would now be any different?

"If you don't mind sheriff, I'd like to get washed up first."

When his son left the house this morning, he was so full of sanguine and rapture. His deportment now was melancholy as if he'd been expecting Roy.

"Of course. I can wait." Joe scooted past and went up the stairs, leaving the entourage below.

"You did this!" His accuser was in his head again as he opened the door to his room.

There were accusations and then there were hostages. Hostages. His thoughts stopped on that word. That's what they were to him. Hostages. They were his hostages. He was the bad guy. How could that be? How could he be the bad guy? He's done some bad things in his life, but he was never the bad guy.

Roberto was fighting for his life. He'd lost the fight. Then lost his life. "You did this."

~.~

"I'm not sure Joe is okay." Adam talked in hushed tones to his pa and brother who were standing near the dining table. The rest of the men spread out among the floor of the great room. "When I went out to bring him in, I saw something. Something he was doing."

"What did you see?"

"It involved Cochise. You know how Joe loves that horse."

"Yeah?"

"He was denying her water."

"What?"

"He was giving her water…except he wasn't. He'd poured water into his hat and was letting Cochise drink from it."

"Yeah?"

"Well, then he pulled it away, even before Cochise had a few licks. His hat still full he held it just out of her reach. It was like he was lost in thought."

"Well, that was it then." Their pa defended. "He was just distracted."

"No, that wasn't it. It did seem like his mind was someplace else, but at the same time, not. His actions were purposeful. Cochise was whinnying and neighing. Bucking her nose against him. He just stared at her with this strange look. He was intentionally denying her water."

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. As soon as he knew I was there, he snapped out of it. He let Cochise finish up. I didn't ask."

The lawmen were getting impatient. Ben picked up on that one of the other men, a shorter man bent at the waist, was whispering back and forth between the special agent and another man. Hoss knew both of these other men. The shorter man was Lucius Nickum, the taller one was Carl Maccaro, the man who had led the posse. He'd spent days in the saddle with the both of them. Though he didn't get a chance to learn about what kind of man Lucius was, he got to learn that Carl was an upright man. One of moderate education but he had a strong conviction to duty. Early on, he evoked confidence among the men in his abilities to lead. The reason it took as long as it had to build the posse was because this man wouldn't allow anyone who was just along for the ride. He looked for a particular quality in each man, that they were there to work and they weren't going to quit until the job was done. The three of them seemed to share a peculiar interest in Adam. What was even more strange was, Adam seemed to know why that might be, though he wasn't expounding. Whatever was shared between them though caused Brent to look at the whole family now with suspicion. The special agent appeared to have given the taller one an order because he nodded obediently and went outside. Ben entertained that Brent might have thought that they were protecting Joe. Like they were providing interference, allowing Joe enough time to slip out the window or something, which wouldn't make much sense being that Adam was the one who brought Joe in.

"Hoss." Ben was going to put their minds to ease. "Go up and tell Joe we need him to come down."

"Yes pa." Hoss went up.

~.~

"Hey Joe." Hoss knocked but there was no answer. "Joe?" At the silence Hoss got to fearing that maybe Joe really had gone out the window, or worse, that he'd fallen down plum clean dead. He pushed the door open. Joe was sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands.

"Sorry Joe. You weren't answering." The boy kept his head in his hands. "You okay Joe?" He couldn't answer. "Joe?" His hazel green eyes stared miles beneath the floor. "What's the matter Joe?"

"They think I did it." He finally mumbled. Hoss knelt before his baby brother tenderly.

"Did what Joe?"

"They think I'm a murderer. They want to hurt me. Take me away. Kill me." His voice was rising in agitation.

"Roy's a friend Joe. He don't want to hurt you." He mollified.

"No! They want to kill me!" He stood in a panic pushing past Hoss who was standing with him. Hoss grabbed his arm and turned Joe to face him. Joe's green eyes were wild. Hoss grabbed both arms and shook him, hoping to shake away the panic.

"Joe?"

"They tried to kill me."

It was as if he wasn't even here right now. His whole countenance was eerie. The big boy slapped his brother's bruised face to snap him out of his trance. Joe came back and looked at his big brother's worried face before him. "Oh Hoss." Joe wrapped his arms around him. He felt the tremor within his baby brother.

"What happened out there, Joe?" Joe still didn't say. He wasn't going to get his answers just yet. "Joe, Roy's downstairs. He's gonna want some answers." The smaller boy pulled away. He turned his face and wiped his eyes.

"Take me down there Hoss." His words humbled.

"I'm here with you Joe."

~.~

There was darkness in the young man's eyes as he sauntered down. Hoss, true to his word, remained a step behind.

"Sit down son." The lawman and long-time friend of the family directed. "We need to talk." The young Cartwright took one of the wooden chairs at the small round table beneath the banister. Hoss took up a protective position behind his brother.

"What happened out there?" Roy began. If Hoss thought Joe was waiting until he got before his family and the lawmen to disclose the details of his ordeal, he'd been wrong. "Son, we need to know." Joe, was just as quiet, as when Hoss found him upstairs with his head in his hands. Roy was disconcerted at Joe's stubbornness, mainly due to the critical eyes of the Special Agent overseeing his work. "Now I've got four dead bodies out there and I know they didn't die naturally. Tell me what happened?" He couldn't lie. Joe wasn't a liar, he'd never been; but he couldn't tell the truth either. The words were so hard to get off his tongue. They were stuck there. Carl Maccaro, the man Brent had sent outside was still out there. Brent whispered to Lucius Nickum who then dipped out the door. "I've got the other two locked up." Roy enlightened to which Joe looked up surprised then somewhat remorseful. "Do you want to join them? Cause that's where you'll be if you don't start talking." He turned his face as he considered.

Lucius, the second man Brent sent out, came back in, holding something in his grasp. The object, whatever it may be, was wrapped in linen. Roy sighed when he saw it, as if he knew exactly what it was. Brent took the bundle from the man and held it before Joe and for all to see. He unwrapped it revealing the object within.

"Is this your knife son?" Joe gulped when he saw it. The family looked on in alarm. They all knew that to be Joe's knife but Joe didn't answer. He just closed his eyes and dipped his head. The shocked response he got from the family as well as the boy's ignominious demeanor gave the Agent the answer he was looking for. The sheriff knew it too. Roy knew what he had to do. Despite his close relationship to this family, he had to remain impartial. Right now, all the evidence was pointing to Joe as the murderer and he was saying nothing to defend himself.

"I'm going to have to take you into custody." Upon hearing this, Brent whispered to the same man who brought in the knife. He took off in flight once again.

"Wait a minute." Ben stepped forward. He turned to his boy. "You have to talk to him son. You have to say something."

"I can't." Was Joe's panged response. Ben looked back when he heard the clinking and was suddenly horrified. The man had come back in, this time holding manacles.

"Now wait a minute." Roy defended. "I know this family. This kid isn't going to try anything."

"With all due respect lawman, I don't and I never take any chances with prisoners." Brent took the manacles from his friend.

"Wait." Roy stopped him. "I'll do it." Brent eyed the lawman now, with suspicion. Under Brent's scrutinizing gaze and the family's befuddled distress, he went forward to manacle Joe. "Stand up son." Roy said softly.

Joe bit down his fear. He knew he deserved this. All of this. There really was no explanation, no justification for what he had done. After all, they're dead because of him. It was all his fault. He rose before the lawman, allowing Roy to do his job. Roy pulled back Joe's sleeve then suddenly grew still. Their friend's inaction as he stared down trying to comprehend what it was he was looking at, was enough to draw them all to look. There was chaffing on the boy's wrist, appearing to be days old. His wrist had been recently bound.

Ben went to his son and touched his arm, sliding his hand down tenderly until it met Joe's hand, which he gripped, preventing Joe from pulling away. With his other hand, he pushed up the sleeve as far as it would go, which was only about the length of his forearm, but it was enough to reveal more bruises.

"What happened to you son?" Joe clenched his eyes trying to hold in the tears.

"I did something pa." He puled. "I'm so sorry." Ben's heart fell. Those simple words were enough to convict Joe in Brent's mind. Brent pulled at Ben, bidding him to step aside, gently at first, but when he offered some resistance, he became more forceful.

"Wait, just wait!" The father contended, but Brent remained obdurate.

Recognizing the threat, Adam stepped between. He wanted to avoid it escalating into something they'd all regret. He culled the agent assuring him that they meant no trouble, then turned to his pa, pulling at him, just about as gently as he could.

"Pa, you got to let him go."

Hoss went in to help but their father was incommode to give up his son.

"Pa, Joe will be okay. Roy will make sure he stays that way." The middle boy mollified. Ben was hard-pressed to give up his son, but submitted, just enough to give the sheriff room to work.

Roy grimaced as he placed the manacles over the already chaffed wrist. He looked to Joe apologetically, but Joe kept his eyes to the floor. The lawmen guided Joe out of Ben's reach, out the door and into the night. Ben felt the pang in his heart. Already Joe was too far from him.

"I'm going with him." Ben declared, going for his gun belt and wrapping it around his waist. Brent who was the last of the lawmen to leave turned back at the door creating a barricade. A barricade Ben was fully willing and capable of barreling through, if he had to. He told the agent so, with his glower.

"Fine by me." The agent assured, "but if you try anything, I will not hesitate to gun that boy down." Ben was really starting to detest this man. Brent walked out and Ben went to follow but a tug at his arm stopped him.

"Pa wait." Hoss pulled him back.

"What?!" He snapped his arm back in agitation.

"Pa. Joe broke down up there. Wasn't himself. Talking about, how they think he did it and are trying to kill him." This ruminated with the pater.

"If he didn't do it, then why won't he tell us who did?"

"I don't think he was talking about the lawmen." Ben was confused. "He wasn't talking himself; it was like he was in a trance. I think he was talking 'bout whatever happened to him out there."