The Old Deringer, Part Nine

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Fan Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG

LINK TO PART ONE


As it turned out, the maids had no sense of humor at all. And neither did Adam; at least not in this case. In fact, Adam was really sore over the whole thing. Liam swallowed hard at the expression on Adam’s face. Maybe, just maybe, he should have thought better of this prank.

Well, it was done now and nobody was hurt. There hadn’t been enough powder on those logs to injure anyone. At least, Liam didn’t think there had been.

Adam was sitting on the edge of the bed with his arms folded across his chest. “I just want to make sure I have this story straight,” he said in a voice that seemed dangerously soft. “You went through my desk without my permission, took four of my bullets without asking, opened them, sprinkled the gunpowder over the logs and then asked Molly to light the fire for you?”

Liam swallowed hard. He’d never seen Adam this angry before, not even when he had robbed him. So he wasn’t sure what he was in for. “Ah, yeah.”

“Would you care to tell me why you thought that was a good idea?” Adam invited.

“I dunno,” Liam offered. “I just thought it’d be funny.”

“It wasn’t,” Adam assured him.

“How do you know?” Liam demanded, finding a bit of courage. “You weren’t here!”

The ghost of a smile crossed Adam’s lips. “No,” he agreed. “I wasn’t here. But I’m going to take Molly and Nancy’s word over yours in this case.”

“Molly only got singed a little,” Liam pointed out, swallowing again.

“She could have been seriously hurt,” Adam informed him. “Now you better start thinking about how you can make this up to her while I see to your punishment.”

He reached out to take hold of Liam, but Liam recoiled from him. “Wait! Maybe I don’t want a punishment from you. I’ll just get out of here instead. You can keep your money.”

Adam stared at him for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was still calm. “Liam, do you really think it’s unfair of me to tan you for rifling through my desk, taking those bullets and putting Molly in danger?”

Liam frowned a little as he considered that. “No,” he said uncertainly. “But is that all you’re going to do?”

Adam sighed and leaned forward. “Yeah. Liam, that's the worst you have to fear from me.”

“Can I—can I talk my way out of the tanning?” he asked, treating Adam to his best penitent look again. Adam had told him to practice it, after all.

“Well, I can’t think of another way to punish you right now,” Adam answered, smiling at the look. “Because of your leg, you’re pretty much grounded already. And since you’re laid up, I can’t assign you any chores. So unless you have another idea, I think you’re going to have take the tanning. If you want to stay here, that is.”

“I want to stay,” Liam admitted.

Adam nodded. “Then let's get this over with,” he said.

LINK TO PART TEN