The New Hand, Part Five

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

~

Adam sat down at a corner table in the Silver Dollar with a mug of beer. He took a long sip and then sighed in satisfaction as he stretched his legs out in front of him. He had only a minute or two to relax—there were supplies to fetch and mail to pick up—but he intended to make the most of it.

"Excuse me, Mr. Cartwright?"

He glanced up to find Abby—the girl that David had taken under his protection—looking intently at him. She was no longer dressed as a saloon girl and she looked decidedly out of place in the Silver Dollar. Adam rose to his feet immediately and tipped his hat at her.

She smiled. "I was working here until recently," she reminded him. "You needn’t treat me with such courtesy."

Adam shrugged at that and waited for her to seat herself before he sat down again. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

She seemed to have trouble finding the words to start. Adam cocked his head at her, considering her for the first time. She had probably been a pretty-enough girl before someone scarred her face. And there was a sharp intelligence and a steely determination in her eyes that set her apart from most of the other girls in the saloon.

David might be indifferent to women, Adam reflected, but he certainly had shown good judgment by selecting Abby for his masquerade. She would might well prove a trustworthy friend and a confidant to him and not a mere dependent.

At length she took a deep breath and began speaking. "I’d—I’d like to know what happened between you and David," she stammered. "I’d like to know why he’s so determined to revenge himself on you."

Adam shrugged. "I imagine that you know as much as I do. He’s angry over losing the timber contract."

Abby sighed. "You don’t believe that, do you?"

"No," Adam admitted. "I don’t. Losing a contract wouldn’t make him bitter—it would only have made him more determined to best me next time."

He paused to take another long sip of beer. "Something else must have happened," he continued. "Something that soured David. But I don’t know what that was—and I’m not likely to find out until he confides in me."

"Do you think he will?" Abby demanded.

He nodded. "I know he will—if for no better reason than to make sure I understand why he’s determined to ruin me."

Abby stared down at her hands. "You seem remarkably calm about all this."

Adam shrugged again. "I don’t know what he has in mind, Abby—but I don’t think he’ll go through with his scheme. We get on too well for that."

She bit her lip. "Is that why you’re keeping him on at the Ponderosa?"

"Yes," he answered. "I want to keep an eye on him—but I also want to give him every opportunity to abandon his scheme."

He paused and gave her a half-smile. "You shouldn’t be here, you know. You look out of place now."

It was Abby’s turn to shrug. "A change of clothes doesn’t make a girl respectable."

Adam grinned. "Maybe not, but I don't think David would want you in here. If you want to continue this conversation, let me bring you to a restaurant."

She shook her head at that and stood up. "No thank you. I suppose you’ve told me everything you could. I’ll keep after David—sooner or later he’ll grow tired of me nagging him and then he’ll tell one of us what’s eating him."

"I hope so," Adam agreed, standing up as well. "I take it you want to keep this conversation from him?"

She shook her head again. "No, I don’t mind him knowing that I spoke with you." She paused for a moment and then shyly held out her gloved hand to him. "May I—may I consider you a friend?"

He took her hand and shook it warmly. "Yes," he assured her. "And I’m still a friend to David—if you find out that he’s in some sort of trouble, please come to me."

"I will," she said with a grateful smile. Then she bobbed a slight curtsey at him and made her way out of the saloon.

LINK TO PART SIX