by J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13
LINK TO PART ONE
~
A grizzled, bearded man coughed and swore as the stage coach lumbered its way to San Diego. God, how he wished there was an easier way to travel.
Well, at least this was a straightforward job. Ed Niles wanted him to find out all about a girl who had run off to Virginia City with a wicked scar on her face. The girl had received some sort of mail from San Diego, so she must know someone there.
San Diego wasn’t that big a place, the grizzled man reminded himself. And there weren’t too many women with the kind of scar Niles had described. It should be easy enough to discover her history.
He closed his eyes as the coach bounced over some ruts in the road. Not much longer now, he reminded himself. Then he’d find out about this filly—like as not she had run away from a husband—and then he’d be on his way back home.
The grizzled man smiled, thinking that at least there’d be a healthy payday in this for him. With any luck, it would take no more than a week to uncover the girl’s origins. Then he’d be heading back to San Francisco, where he belonged.
~
Adam trudged back into the hotel, cursing his little brother under his breath and wishing very much that he had his hands on Joe’s hide. He had wasted hours searching for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
But Adam spied Joe as soon as he entered the hotel—and he was hard put to decide if he was relived to find his little brother or even angrier at the wasted hours.
Joe was sitting opposite David at the chessboard. The two men weren’t murdering each other—in fact, they were shaking hands. Adam raised his eyebrows at that but was careful not to get his hopes up.
He walked over to the chessboard and leaned sideways up against the wall behind David, so that he was facing his little brother. “Here you are, Joe,” he said evenly. “I’ve been out looking for you.”
Joe had the grace to look guilty, Adam noted. He even flashed Adam an apologetic smile.
“I’m going upstairs,” David announced as he took his leave of the two brothers. “We should all be ready to, ah, resume our ‘trailing’ duties in about two hours.”
Adam nodded as he took the seat that David vacated. He stared at his brother for a moment, determined to let Joe speak first. He was curious to hear what he had to say for himself.
“Sorry about making you look for me,” Joe managed. “I was too angry to talk before—but I should have left word at the desk.”
Adam said nothing—he just nodded again.
Joe stared down at the chess pieces. His face colored as he began talking. “I had a long talk with David,” he said softly. “I don’t—I don’t understand what you two see in each other. But do I understand that there’s something there—genuine affection, I mean. It’s not just—just mindless rutting.”
Adam started at that. “Is that what you thought was going on between us?”
Joe’s face became even redder as he answered. “Yeah. Well, how was I supposed to know different? I didn’t know two men could love each other.”
Adam managed a smile. “Didn’t you ever read about David and Jonathan in First Samuel?”
“First Samuel?” Joe repeated, frowning. “Is that a Bible book?”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Yes, it’s a Bible book.”
Joe shrugged. “I’m a Catholic, Adam. We don’t read the Bible; we have priests to do that. And we have just one interpretation—that’s why we haven’t broken up into a thousand tiny churches like you Protestants have.”
“True,” Adam acknowledged, smiling again. “All right, I’ll do my best to relay the story to you. A man named Saul was the first king of Israel. He had a shepherd named David in his court.”
“Is this the famous David?” Joe asked, interrupting. “Is he the one who slew Goliath and wrote some psalms and became the first, uh, Davidic king of Israel?”
Adam grinned. “Yes. But you’re getting ahead of the story—David’s not king yet. But because of his immense popularity with the people, Saul began to consider him a rival.”
He paused and leaned in closer to his little brother, careful not to upset the chess pieces as he did so. “Saul had a son named Jonathan. And Jonathan, according to First Samuel, ‘loved David like his own soul.’”
He paused again and narrowed his eyes at Joe. “Most clergy will assure you that it was a platonic, unconsummated relationship—but there’s no question that Jonathan loved David and was willing to do anything for him. He stripped in front of him once and gave him all his garments, even his girdle and sword. And another time, when the two men were making a pact, he promised David to do whatever his soul desired.”
Joe raised his eyebrows at that. “I imagine that caused some problems between Saul and his son.”
“It did,” Adam assured him.
“Did David feel the same way about Jonathan?” Joe persisted. “Would he have done anything for him?”
“I don’t know,” Adam admitted. “It’s hard to tell. But we know that they kissed one another and wept together when they were about to be separated. And when Jonathan died in battle, David lamented him by saying, ‘Thy love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women.”
Joe’s eyebrows shot up again. “And priests think that there was nothing, ah, improper between them?”
Adam shrugged. “David calls Jonathan ‘brother’—so most clergy like to call it a brotherly relationship.”
“I think they’re blind,” Joe said candidly, shaking his head. “We’re brothers, but if I ever die in battle, promise not to tell people that my love for you surpassed the love of women.”
Adam couldn’t help but chortle at that. “I promise.”
Joe stared down at the chess pieces again and frowned. “Adam, David loves you. Deeply loves you, I mean.”
“I know,” Adam said softly.
“Do you feel the same about him?”
He took a deep breath before answering. “I care for David, Joe. There’s no question of that. And I don’t want this relationship to end. But do I love him the way he loves me? I don’t know.”
Joe considered that. “Maybe it doesn’t matter,” he said at length. “Despite his namesake, I think David’s willing to play ‘Jonathan’ to your ‘David.’”
Adam responded with a small smile. “So it would appear.”
LINK TO PART SIXTY
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