For Want of a Brother, Part Fourteen

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: Mature Content

LINK TO PART ONE: http://jrosemary.blogspot.com/2008/02/for-want-of-brother-part-one.html

~

As curious as I was about Drew, I couldn’t stomach the notion of sitting down at a dinner table with him--and I didn’t think he’d be able to stomach my presence either. So I took my meal up in Adam’s room.

There always had to be a lawman watching me--and preferably more than one. With that in mind, ‘Deputy’ Adam spent the first half of dinner up with me and then ‘Deputies’ Hoss and Little Joe spent the second half.

So Adam and I had the chance to talk alone for the first time since we’d gotten to the Ponderosa. And I had my chance to worm the story out of him--but, in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I told him about the conversation over the whist game instead. That drew a laugh from him as he cut my meat for me, in deference to the cuffs.

“Hoss and Joe have made far too much of that,” he said, shaking his head. “Drew and I, two of his servants, and a couple of strangers were all in a coach accident. It was serious one. One of the strangers--a fellow from Carson City, it turned out--died of his injuries. The only good thing is that we weren’t too far from one of the old way stations.”

He paused, thinking back on the accident. “There was no doctor, so we had to manage as best we could for the night. One of Drew’s servants rode off for help. The rest of us did what we could to get the injured parties comfortable. I came down with the devil of a fever, and Drew and his valet were the only two who were well enough to help me through it. But by early afternoon the next day, help arrived. I was still sick, so I don’t remember getting out of there, but Drew saw to it that I made it home.”

“And that’s all there is to the story?” I asked, smiling a little.

“That’s all there is,” he agreed, smiling back.

“Then why doesn’t he mind you helping him?” I asked.

Adam shrugged. “You were probably right--he probably feels that I owe him. He also knows that I respect his business acumen. And he knows that I won’t condescend to him. Blind or not, he’s a formidable opponent.”

I thought about that. “He must trust you more than he trusts most folks,” I ventured.

Adam just shrugged again.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “So even though you owe him, you're still willing to oppose him in business matters?

"Yes,” Adam answered. “I've had to--and, to his credit, Drew doesn’t think less of me for that."

"Why have you had to?" I asked.

"We both hold a large number of shares for the same mine," he explained, "and we clash over the operation of it.” He paused and sighed. “Unfortunately Drew is just like Jack in one respect--he won’t spend money merely to improve the safety of the miners. As far as he’s concerned, the men who work the mines know the risks they’re taking. No one’s forcing them to accept the job.”

I snorted at that and looked away. “Well, why should he?” I asked. “I reckon they’re not real to him, those miners. Any more than they were to his brother. Or any more than Rosalind was to his brother.”

I caught Adam nodding from the corner of my eye. “That’s about the size of it,” he agreed. “On the whole, though, I’d say that Drew’s a better man than his brother was. Or at least he has the potential to be.”

I turned back to him. “Adam, if Jack Clayton was anything to judge by, then Drew is a powerful man. He’ll pull every string he can to get me hanged--and I doubt he’ll have to pull all that many. I think a judge and jury will be predisposed to see me swing. Maybe you oughtn’t waste your time and money on the fancy lawyer. You should spend your efforts where you can do some good. Like fighting Drew over the welfare of the miners.”

Adam stared at me for almost a full minute after that. “Tell me something, Reuben,” he said at length. “Why are you so anxious to get your neck into a noose?”

I shrugged. “I’m not,” I said. “But my odds aren’t good, Adam. Besides, there’s an argument that says I deserve to hang for what I did. And I’m not afraid to,” I added defiantly. “Don’t think I’m a coward. I’m not afraid to pay the price for killing Jack Clayton.”

“Is it that you aren’t afraid to hang?” he asked. “Or is that you are afraid to face life in prison?”

I drew a sharp breath at that. But I managed to turn it into a bitter laugh. “You’re right,” I owned. “I told you already, Adam, that I’d rather hang than spend my life that way. I don’t want to face the lash and I don’t want to face--well, whatever I’d have to face from the other prisoners. If it were a matter of fifteen or twenty years, maybe I could stand it. But not life. What would be the point of going on? How could I make anything worthwhile of myself?”

He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever happens,” he said, “I can make sure that you’re not put in a prison where you’ll be whipped within an inch of your life.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I reckon Cartwright influence can prevent that. But you can’t protect me from the other horrors a prison has to offer, Adam.”

He looked away from me this time. “That’s true,” he admitted. But then he forced himself to turn back to me. “Reuben, as long as you’re alive, I can work on your behalf. But I need to know that you’re going to have the courage to face prison.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll find the courage, Adam--if you really think it’s worth finding. But I still don’t see how you’re going to prevent me from hanging in the first place.”

“You’ll have to leave that to me,” he said.

But I wouldn’t let him get away with that. “Tell me, Adam, please. This is my life, after all. What do you have in mind?”

He considered that. “All right,” he said at last. “If Drew were to ask for leniency in your case, I think we could ensure that you don’t get the noose.”

I stared at him. “Didn’t you hear Drew earlier?” I asked. “He wants me dead. And I don’t even blame him. Why would he change his mind?”

Adam favored me with a wry smile. “Well, just knowing that you’d rather face the noose than life in prison will go along way with him, I suspect.”

I couldn’t help but smile back at that. “Well, yeah,” I agreed. “That might induce him toward leniency.”

“Just so,” Adam agreed. “But I have to know that you won’t give up once you’re behind bars, Reuben.”

I sighed and set my plate aside. “I don’t suppose I’ll try to hang myself, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

“Good,” he said. “Now I’ll see if I can reason with Drew.”

I cringed, remembering the feel of Drew’s hand on my face--not to mention the fury of his expression. “Good luck on that,” I said.

LINK TO PART FIFTEEN: http://jrosemary.blogspot.com/2008/02/for-want-of-brother-part-fifteen.html