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By Oxgirl

~~~

Chapter 1

“Pa?”

“I think he’s coming to.”

“Pa? No … don’t!  Please …”

“It’s okay, take it easy.”

He was lying sprawled on his back in the snow, a light dusting starting to settle on his prone body.  He was struggling to open his eyes and was tossing his head from side to side in obvious distress.  Blinking, he managed to squint up and see us crouched over him, and he raised his gloved hand to the nasty cut on his forehead.  As his senses and memory started to return, he gasped and tried to sit up rapidly.  Too rapidly.  His eyelids fluttered and he would have slumped back down onto his back had Hoss not caught him in time.

“Can you hear me?  My name’s Joe.  This is my brother, Hoss, and we’re here to help you.”

He looked about 14 and terrified.  He was skinny and dirty, and dressed in shabby clothing far too big for him.  His long, blond, straggly hair was unwashed and it looked as if he hadn’t eaten properly in a good while.

“What happened, son?” asked Hoss gently.  He has a way of soothing youngsters and, as he helped the boy to sit up, his reassuring manner seemed to be working on him.

“My … my horse stumbled, I think he slipped on some ice, and I fell and hit my head,” he mumbled, looking back and forth between the two of us, panic still evident in his eyes.

“Yeah, we found your pony, he hadn’t gone far and we just followed his tracks in the snow ‘til we found you.  What’s your name, son?”

“Josh.  I guess I blacked out.”

“Where’re your folks, Josh?  What are you doing out here on your own?” I asked, as Hoss pressed his kerchief to the boy’s head wound.

Hesitating, he shifted his gaze uneasily away from me, and stared down at the ground.  We waited for him to answer but, after a few moments of silence, it was obvious he wasn’t going to so, exchanging glances, we silently agreed not to push him.

Hoss stood up, brushing the snow from his pants.  “Well, look, Josh, we all can’t stay out here any longer.  It’s going to start snowing again real soon and we need to get out of this cold,” and reaching up to Chubb, he pulled down his blanket to wrap around the boy’s shoulders.  As he helped him to stand and walk over to his scrawny pony and mount up, I stood up and looked around. 

We’d been travelling back from Placerville and were only about an hour from the house.  With Adam having recently left the Ponderosa to pursue his own goals, we’d both felt bad that we weren’t with Pa where we belonged.  We’d been delayed with our business in Placerville and should have returned three days ago and, with this being Christmas Eve, we were eager to get back so we could all be together for the celebration.  The last thing we wanted was for Pa to be alone at Christmastime.  So we’d been hurrying along with our heads down trying to keep the wind-driven snow out of our eyes when we’d come across the lone horse.  We hadn’t noticed any signs of homesteaders or travellers, but I guess it was possible that we might have missed them.  Still, I was puzzled as to where the boy had come from.  And where he had been going. 

With Josh now hunched over in his saddle and starting to shiver violently, I pulled Hoss away a little so I could speak to him without the kid hearing us.

“Why don’t you take him back to the house, I think I’ll have a look around, see if I can find his folks,” I said.

“Well, alright.  But, don’t be too long, Joe.  Like I said, the weather is turning real bad real soon, you don’t wanna get caught out in this for too long.  Mind you get back before it starts to get dark, y’hear.”

Nodding, I gave his shoulder a quick pat and then let Hoss mount up and watched as he walked Chubb slowly towards home, leading the boy’s pony behind him.  At least the kid would be able to warm up, and I was sure Hop Sing would fuss over him and get some good hot food into him.

With the snow covering the ground, it was easy for me to find the route that the boy had taken.  Snow was very useful for that, if not much else.  With the black hoof prints standing out in the white carpet, I could see that he’d been coming down from the north quarter so I mounted up and started to follow his tracks.  Hoss had been right about the weather, though, the temperature had dropped further and, even though it was only three in the afternoon, the sky was already turning dark and threatening.   Pulling up the collar of my fur-lined coat, I urged Cooch onwards.

~~~

“Boy not eat good for long time!  He finish two plates already!” announced Hop Sing excitedly as he reached the bottom of the stairs on his way to the kitchen with the empty dishes.

“Sure looked like he needed them, too,” I said to Pa.

“Where do you think the boy came from, Hoss?”

“I dunno, Pa.  I couldn’t get anything out of him on the ride back, he seemed to be in some kind of shock.  Could be his folks are hunkered down someplace to wait out the snow maybe?”

“Could be,” agreed Pa, taking another thoughtful sip of his coffee.  “Why wouldn’t he be with them though?  Surely his folks wouldn’t have sent him off looking for game on his own like that?  Especially in an area that they don’t know and in this weather?”

“He seemed pretty scared when he saw us, something sure happened.  Maybe I’ll go up and try and talk to him.”

“No, let him rest, Hoss.  Joe will probably be home soon, maybe he’ll have found something.  And we can always find out more from the boy in the morning.”

~~~

Chapter 2

It had started to snow again and the hoof prints were slowly disappearing, but looking ahead and squinting I could make out where they were leading.  Up ahead, I could see a couple of horses and a covered wagon tied up outside one of our old line shacks.  Obviously, this is where Josh had come from, but I had no idea why or where he’d been heading.

Tying Cooch up next to the other horses, I made my way to the door and knocked, calling out as I approached so as not to spook whoever was inside.  Hearing no response, I knocked again, louder this time, and eased the door open cautiously.  It was dark and cold inside, no fire or lamps had been lit. 

“Hello?” I called out, lighting a match from my pocket as I entered. 

I couldn’t see much at first, but as I came more into the room, holding the match ahead of me, I could make out a shadow in one of the corners.  At first I thought it was a pile of old rags, but as I got nearer I could see that it was a woman.  She was sitting with her knees bent up to her chest and was hunkered forward, her head on her knees, so I couldn’t see her face, and she looked to be hurting.  Her hair was the same colour and in the same bedraggled condition as the boy’s.  His mother, I guessed.  Her clothing was equally as ragged too. 

“Ma’am?  Are you okay?” I asked quietly as I approached, not wanting to frighten her. 

She raised her head up suddenly and stared at me in alarm.  Her eyes were enormous and full of fear, and her face was covered in cuts and bruises.  Gasping at the sight of her blackened eye and the blood oozing from her cheek, I hurried over and knelt down next to her and placed my hand on her arm.  She tried to scuttle away from me in terror but had backed herself into the corner and had nowhere left to go.  She had the same terrified look on her face that I had seen on Josh’s earlier.  Something bad had happened here.

~~~

“Josh!  Josh!  It’s okay, you’re safe, you’re safe!”  I held onto his shoulders and was trying to hold him down on the bed but he was bucking and thrashing and trying to get away from me. 

“Pa!  Pa, don’t do it!  DON’T!” he was screaming now in terror.

“Josh!  It’s me, Hoss, remember?  Your Pa ain’t here, it’s just me, and you’re safe.”  He opened his eyes suddenly and seemed to see me for the first time before collapsing into loud sobs.

“Is he okay, Hoss?” I heard Pa ask from the doorway?

“He must’ve fallen asleep.  He was having a dream, I think”.

I eased him down so he was lying back and handed him a clean kerchief to wipe his face.  When he had calmed slightly, I sat down on the bed next to him. 

“Tell me, Josh.  Tell me what happened.”

“My P-pa,” he hiccupped through his tears, “I … I killed him!” and then, covering his face with the kerchief, he threw himself over onto his front to sob into the pillow.

~~~

Chapter 3

“It’s okay, ma’am.  I’m not going to hurt you.  I’m here to help.” 

I wasn’t sure if she could understand me or even hear me, she was just staring at me with her enormous eyes, but at least she wasn’t trying to get away from me anymore and seemed content to let me crouch down in front of her. 

“What happened, ma’am?  Who did this to you?”

I was about to reach out to her and help her to stand and move over to the cot, when I noticed the look on her face.  She was focussed on something behind me and, if possible, her eyes had widened even more.  Her mouth dropped open and she looked as if she was about to scream.  In the split second that it took me to realize that somebody was behind me, I had just enough time to turn my head slightly before feeling the impact explode on the side of my head. 

It sent me sprawling sideways to land heavily on my left shoulder and dazed me momentarily so that I didn’t move quickly enough to avoid the next blow.  This one landed on my temple and I found myself on my back stunned and unable to move, but I could feel someone open my coat and remove my gun from my holster.  The woman had started to scream and now the figure turned on her. 

“Shut up, woman!” screamed a loud, deep voice, and she immediately covered her mouth with both hands to try and quell her cries.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to focus my eyes on the man who had entered the shack.  My vision was blurred, but he was big, that was clear, almost as big as Hoss.  I couldn’t make out the details yet, but what I could see was the blood dripping down his face.

Raising my shoulders, I tried to shuffle backwards so that I could sit up and lean my pounding head against the wall behind me, but before I’d made it all the way he’d barrelled down on me and shoved me back down.  Then, grabbing a handful of my coat, he dragged me up to within six inches of his face so that I couldn’t avoid his rancid breath. 

“What are you doing with my woman, boy?” he growled, spraying my face with spittle.

He cocked his head towards the woman and grinned toothlessly before turning back to me. 

“Suppose you had it all planned, the three of you, did you?  Thought you could get rid of ol’ Tom, did you now?”

Shoving me back down on the floor he stood over me holding what I could now see was an axe handle in one hand and my gun in the other.  He pointed the gun towards the woman, who I assumed to be his wife, and she shrank away in fear.  I felt a fierce loathing for this brute of a man, who had reduced her so completely to this whimpering wreck.

“Where’s the boy?” he demanded of her, but she seemed too afraid to answer and just shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

With the gun now pointed away from me, I figured this was my only chance.  He was a heck of a lot bigger than me, but I had to try.  So, without thinking it through too much, I launched myself at him, planning to throw him off balance and try to wrestle the gun away from him.  He was too strong, though and, with my legs starting to give way beneath me, he easily shoved me aside, ramming the end of the axe handle into my belly for good measure.  I fell back gasping for air and writhing on the ground in agony, all the fight knocked out of me.  I wouldn’t give up, though, I’d wait for my chance and I’d make this monster pay.  But for now I could do nothing to stop him and concentrated on trying to get breath back into my body.

“Woman!  Bring some rags over here”, he demanded, turning my gun back on me now.  Quickly she scurried away to do his bidding, and returned a few minutes later with some grimy sheets.

“Tear them up and tie his hands, and make it tight”, he growled.  She had some trouble tearing the material, but did manage to get it done, but when it came to tying my hands she was shaking so much that she couldn’t manage the knots.

Losing patience with her, he shoved her roughly aside.  “Get out the way,” he yelled at her furiously, “You’re useless, can’t do nothing right,” and, snatching the rags from her, he thrust the gun into her trembling hands. 

“Here, take this and point it at him while I get the job done right.” 

Reluctantly, she held the weapon out in front of her, pointing it towards me shakily while her husband bent down to start tying my hands.

He was starting to enjoy himself, I could see that.  Grinning suddenly, he bellowed at her to hold the gun steady, then sneered at her with contempt. 

“You, woman, are gonna pay for this.  First off, you’re gonna watch your boyfriend here die.  Then, when that boy comes crawling back, you’re gonna watch that cur get what’s coming to him too!”

As he chuckled to himself, the woman let out a long, high-pitched whine.  She sounded like a wounded animal caught in a trap and I closed my eyes for a moment so that I wouldn’t have to see her pain. 

Then a shot rang out!

~~~

I gently turned the boy back over to face me and held onto his shoulders so he couldn’t turn away again. 

“Go on, Josh.  Tell it.”

He took a few ragged breaths, before looking up at me and meeting my eyes.

“He was hurting my Ma”, he whispered miserably, so low that I had to lean forward to catch his words. 

“He’s always hurting her.  He’d hurt me too if she didn’t protect me and take my beatings for me.”  He dropped his head as if in shame.

“I wanted him to stop.  I thought he’d killed her!  She was so still and … and I just wanted him to stop.”  He blinked up at me as if begging me to understand.

“Go on, Josh, what happened then?” I urged gently. 

“I … I picked up his old gun.  I shouted at him to stop, but he just turned and laughed at me.  He started to get up to come after me and I … I was scared.  I pulled the trigger!”

Squeezing his eyes shut, he was obviously reliving the moment in his mind and he let out a low whine of fear and pain.

“He fell down, blood was all over his head, I think he’s dead.  I think they’re both dead”, and then, as he collapsed into heart-wrenching sobs, I pulled him to me.

~~~

My heart felt like it had leapt into my throat and my eyes snapped open as I jolted violently at the sound of the gun exploding. 

She was standing over her husband, still holding the gun with both hands straight out in front of her.  I could see that her husband was dead, lying on his back with his eyes still open, a look of utter disbelief frozen on his face, a bullet hole in his forehead.  The shock was mirrored on her face too, neither would have imagined that she’d ever find the courage to defy him.  But, he’d threatened her son and so she’d protected him.  And she’d protected me.

Slowly, I worked to release my hands from the unfinished knots and, levering my aching body up, made my way over to her, this brave woman.  She still hadn’t moved but, as I eased the gun from her limp hands, she wilted and slid down onto her knees, letting out a guttural yell that sent a shiver down my spine.

I knelt down next to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. 

“I don’t even know your name?” I said softly.

She looked me in the eye then for the first time, and the hint of a shy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. 

“Esther,” she whispered, “My name’s Esther.”

I smiled back at her.

“It’s good to meet you, Esther.”

~~~

Chapter 4

Finally, we were nearly home.  I was driving Esther’s wagon and Cooch was hitched up and following along behind.  After covering her husband’s body with an old blanket, I’d set about making coffee for us both.  I’d added a shot of whiskey from a bottle I’d found into both cups, figuring we could both use some.  We’d each then cleaned our cuts as best we could and, as soon as we both felt able, we set off for the Ponderosa. 

As I drove, Esther told me how the family had been travelling from place to place for the last three years, how her husband had lost job after job, and how every new plan he made had come to nothing.  He’d gotten meaner and meaner as time went on and had started taking out his frustrations on her and the boy, blaming them for all his failures.  Things had got so bad that she hadn’t been sure how much more she could’ve taken.  She was sure that one day he would kill her and her son.

I’d told her that Josh was safe with my family now and she’d collapsed into sobs of relief.  After she’d woken from her last beating, she’d found her husband unconscious with a head wound and Josh gone, she didn’t know where.  When Tom had come round, he’d gone out looking for the boy and that was when I’d turned up.

“Well, it’s all going to be alright now, Esther.  It’s over and you’re safe.”

Pulling her blanket tightly around herself, she sighed deeply and closed her eyes and wept.

~~~

As we pulled into the yard, I could see Hoss and Pa were getting ready to mount up, and Hop Sing was standing at the door with his arm around Josh.

“MA!”

Josh bolted towards his mother, and I barely had time to bring the wagon to a halt before she’d thrown herself down to the ground and ran to meet him.  They collided into each other, throwing their arms around each other, holding on so tightly that they looked to be one.

Hoss and Pa had run over to me and were helping me down, Pa looking anxiously at the cut on my face and no doubt seeing that I was hurting. 

“Are you okay, son, what happened?” he asked, holding onto my shoulders firmly. 

“Yeah, I’m okay, Pa,” I managed before being marched into the house and lowered down onto the sofa.  Hop Sing ushered Esther and Josh inside, their arms still wrapped around each other, and then retreated to the kitchen.  He was in his element with so many people to fuss over.

I looked over at the reunited mother and son with a satisfied smile. 

“Pa, Hoss, I want you to meet Esther.  She saved my life.”

Pa, who had been leaning over me, all the better to examine me, turned to look at Esther and then stood, smiling widely.  Walking briskly over to her, he took both her hands in his and squeezed them gently.  His eyes glistening, I could hear his voice hitch as he spoke.

“Esther.  Thank you for my son.” 

~~~

After good, long sleeps for all of us, Christmas morning arrived and with it came a sense of peace.  One of the hands had been sent to Virginia City the previous evening to inform Roy of the body to be found in the line shack.  We’d all need to go to town to give our statements about what happened, but that was for later.  Today was about new friendships and gratitude, and celebration.  We’d eat like kings and queens, and we’d toast each other with fine wines and we’d sit in front of the roaring fire and we’d talk and get to know each other. 

And when it was all over and Christmas was done, Esther and Josh would look forward to starting new lives.  She wanted to go back to Montana where she’d grown up.  Her sister still lived there and she wanted to go home. 

And we would help them and we would never forget them.

The End