A Trail of Courage and Paper (A Bonanza Story)

Chapter Two

Pain slowly brought Joe out of his unconscious state. He was bouncing, continuously bouncing, making the throbbing in his head become a steady pounding. His stomach lurched with every jolt, and Joe clamped his mouth shut and took deep breaths through his nose to keep from upchucking his beer and the eggs and biscuits Hop Sing had made for breakfast. His right arm and shoulder hurt like nobody's business, and the pain only increased his nausea.

Joe tried to raise his fist and rub his eyes, but found that his hands were stuck together and couldn't move. He cracked an eye open so he could see what the problem was, and once his hands had swam into focus, he was shocked to discover that they were tied together and he seemed to be tossed across the saddle of his horse.

What on earth? Joe thought, How did this happen? He struggled to remember, then abruptly narrowed his eyes. Indians. But what's happened to Adam? He raised his head and looked around frantically. His eyes spotted Adam's horse trotting behind him, carrying his brother who was lying slumped across Sport's back, also tied up. Alarm spiked through him as he noticed the crimson blood that covered his brother's limp form.

Unfortunately, his movement caught the attention of one of the braves riding alongside him. Scowling at Joe, he raised his rifle and slammed the butt of it into Joe's head, causing the fog to wrap more firmly around him once more and draw him deeper into darkness.

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The sun was just beginning to lower itself behind the mountains when Samuel Carter found himself leaving Virginia City. He had been there even longer than he had expected and couldn't wait to pick Rachel up from the Cartwrights and get home, even though he had forgotten to get her hat.

Sam sighed softly. It had been just Rachel and himself ever since his wife died seven years back on their way to Virginia City. That had been a difficult time for both of them, starting a new life without her luminous presence. That's when they had met the Cartwrights, a family that had experienced what they were going through and who gave them support while they got back on their feet. Ben helped him through his loss while his boys helped Rachel. With their help they were able to carry on and began to slowly work towards their dream to open a horse ranch.

Deep in thought, Sam rounded the corner of some rocks- and was greeted by the sight of dead Indians lying sprawled on the ground. And beside them, just beginning to dismount, were Ben and Hoss Cartwright.

Sam spurred his horse into a gallop and in no time he was sliding off next to the Cartwrights. "What on earth happened here?" he exclaimed.

"Just what we were wondering." Ben said as he stooped down and examined one of the bodies. "Well, couldn't have happened too long ago; this one's still warm. Couldn't have happened more than an hour ago."

Hoss frowned. "'Round 'bout the time that Adam and Little Joe should've been on their way home."

Sam turned very pale. "What?"

Ben sighed, worry stiffening his spine. "Adam came back from San Francisco today, and Joe was supposed to pick him up. When they didn't come home, Hoss and I came out lookin' for them." He pointed to the ground where there were glistening flashes reflecting off of something. "There's broken glass here. Must've been from the window pane Joe was supposed to get."

"Pa, it looks like they ran into Indian trouble." Hoss said grimly. Then he noticed Sam's paleness and shaking. "Sam, you alright?"

Fear constricted Sam's throat, making speech nearly impossible. At this point, Ben looked up. "Sam?"

He swallowed a few times to get past the lump in his throat. "Rachel rode out to c-catch up with your boys to g-give them the money for Thunderhead," He managed to choke out.