A Cold Day in Hell

ONE

"You really think these are Adam's tracks?"

After a quick glance at the burning sky overhead and a swipe of a white sleeve over his forehead to clear it of sweat, Hoss Cartwright used two fingers to trace the outline of a boot barely visible in the shifting sand.

"Yep. I'd know them anywhere."

A slender shadow eclipsed the prints, bringing with it a whisper of relief from the heat. "How?"

The big man indicated the heel of the boot. "See that?"

The young man who had cast the shadow crouched beside him. "Yeah. So what?"

"Them ain't no ordinary cowboy's footwear. That there heel is too dang narrow," Hoss replied. "Don't you remember them fancy boots older brother bought last time he was in San Francisco?"

"Yeah. It's a wonder he doesn't tip over." There was a pause and then his fourteen-year-old brother added, "Then again, it'd be hard for that Yankee blockhead to tip since he spends most of his days with a poker up his – "

"Joseph!" the big man sighed. "You mind your manners."

Little Joe ran a hand through his sweat-soaked curls and sniffed as he climbed to his feet. "Why? Pa ain't here."

Hoss Cartwright followed slowly. At twenty-one he was feeling the strain of the heat and the anxious ride from Virginia City, unlike the little jack rabbit he turned to face who was grinnin' like a possum eatin' a yellow jacket. The big man counted to five and then, leanin' in and lowerin' his voice, did a fair imitation of their pa when he got up on the wrong side of the bed.

"Oh? Ain't he?"

Little Joe's smile faded. He even turned and looked around.

"Joshin' Adam is one thing, Little Joe, and I know sometimes – well – maybe most times older brother deserves what he gets. But I ain't gonna stand here and have you disrespect your elders." Hoss pursed his lips and scowled – for two heartbeats. Then he pushed a finger into his brother's bony chest. "And don't you go forgettin' that includes me too!"

For a second Little Joe's emerald green eyes blazed. Then that pert little nose of his wrinkled and he cackled, "Adam? My 'elder'? Seems to me it's older brother who's acting like a kid. Who rides off into the desert without tellin' anyone why?"

Hoss tipped his hat back and cleared the sweat away again before speaking. For once, Little Joe was right. "It sure don't make no sense, 'specially when it comes to our big brother."

"So, what do we do?" Joe asked as he turned to stare at the endless vista of sand spread out before them.

Now that, as Adam would have put it, was a conundrum. He could sense Little Joe's excitement, overridin' the boy's fear. Joe wanted to take off after Adam in spite of the danger. The trouble was, Pa didn't let little brother go into the desert much – and never without him. Pa was afeared, and rightly so, that if something happened the boy didn't have no fat to live off of.

"Hoss?"

"Sorry, Joe. I was thinkin'."

The little squirt giggled. "Good thing! Somebody's got to do it. Looks like older brother forgot to put on his thinkin' cap today."

That's what bothered him. It just wasn't like Adam to do somethin' so, well, impulsive. Older brother didn't run a comb through his hair without thinkin' about just the right spot to start and stop so those black waves of his would be lined up straight as a column of bluecoats.

"Did he say anything when he lit out?" Joe asked.

Hoss sighed. They'd gone to town to pick up supplies. For some reason Pa'd decided this summer was the one to make sure every building on the Ponderosa was up to snuff before winter came. It didn't seem to matter how many shingles, planks, and nails they picked up, they was always runnin' out. This summer was provin' hot enough to wither a fence post, and him and his brothers had been plenty happy to take Pa up on his invitation to go to town. If the truth be known, he kind of suspected Pa was givin' them all a break. They'd busted their butts the last few days and was ahead of schedule. When Pa'd first mentioned it, him and Adam had exchanged glances, their lips smackin' as they thought of that first long tall glass of cold beer. They both knowed Joe'd be wantin' one too and when they talked about it a little later, they'd decided maybe he was old enough at fourteen to join them. Pa'd skin them, of course, if he found out.

But then, that's what brothers were for.

Due to the heat, they was all draggin'. About mid-way there, Adam'd leaned over and nudged him, rollin' his eyes over toward Joe. He'd looked and found their little brother swayin' in the saddle, plumb tuckered out. Older brother'd winked and smiled and then reined in the horses, pullin' the supply wagon to a stop. He'd done the same to his big black and Joe's pony, Cadfan, stopped too. Little brother jerked awake and looked at the pair of them like they was half or maybe all crazy.

Adam ignored him. He climbed out of the wagon and then stood beside it, pressin' a hand to his achin' back. "It's time to rest these old bones for a bit," he said as he reached for his canteen.

"Rest all you want, Adam, but remember," Joe added with wink as he easily swung off his horse, "if you reach down and find your clothes are cold, you've overslept!"

There was a sharp reply on the tip of older brother's tongue, he could tell, but Adam bit it back. 'I'm going to fill the canteens," he said as he reached for the others. "Hoss, you see to the horses. Little Joe, I want you to check the wagon bed. Make sure all the supplies are secure.'

"Secure? Just how do you think they'd be anything but secure?' Joe protested. 'You two've been travelin' about as fast as a pair of old ladies on their way to a church social.'

'No lip, Joe. Just do as I say,' Adam growled.

Little Joe didn't give older brother no lip, but the boy grumbled all the time he was climbin' into the wagon bed about old men and stupid chores and hot, dusty days. Of course, once little brother found that pile of empty sacks in the wagon bed, he stopped grumblin'. Joe glanced after Adam and then laid right down on top of them.

Hoss chuckled. He'd grinned like a possum eatin' cactus when Little Joe woke up. The boy was fit to be tied once he realized he'd slept all the way to Virginia City!

Once in town, they'd done their duty by their pa and the Ponderosa, pickin' up the mail and gettin' the supplies loaded and so on, and then they'd headed for the saloon. Little Joe was set to bust his buttons, he was so puffed up with thinkin' he was all growed up and gonna have his first beer. While he ushered the little scamp to a table – past a gaggle of grinnin' saloon gals near old enough to be Little Joe's ma, who were eyeing him like a fresh cut of beef – Adam went to the counter. He watched as older brother spoke to the barkeep and saw him cross the man's palm with a coin so's he'd keep his mouth shut.

There were times when bein' an older brother was a real pain. And then there were times when it was just about the best thing in the world. Joe drinkin' his first beer was both. He got to watch his baby brother shine for a minute, thinkin' he was all growed up, and then spent the next twenty minutes cleanin' Little Joe up after he turned ten shades of green and lost not only the beer but his lunch and maybe some of his breakfast too.

To save the poor kid from bein' embarrassed they'd let him rush outside before he puked. He and Adam left him to his own self for a few minutes, takin' time to finish their beers before chasin' him down. Adam guessed Joe would head for the alley and he was right. Funny thing was, Joe weren't alone when they found him. One of their newer hands – a man by the name of Lark Miller – was in the alley bendin' over their brother. Lark rose when he saw them and walked their way. As he passed, he tipped his hat and winked as if to say, 'Ain't nothin' worth worryin' about'. Then, without a word, he pushed past them and went into the street. Weren't no more than two minutes later Roy Coffee appeared at the end of the alley and asked after Little Joe. The little scamp had been pale when they found him, but he went white as a windin' sheet when he saw the lawman, afeared Deputy Roy would tell their pa about him drinkin'. Older brother looked down at Joe and smiled that funny little smile of his, and then went over and took Roy by the arm and walked him around the corner.

That was the last they'd seen of him.

"You better hope your face don't freeze that way," Little Joe said.

Hoss blinked. "What?"

"Like this." Joe formed his face into a monstrous frown.

"You quit bein' silly. This ain't no time for tom-foolery. You was there, Little Joe. Adam didn't say nothin'. He just walked off with Roy and didn't come back."

The frown disappeared. Joe started gnawin' his lip. "Do you think he was...mad at me?"

"For gettin' sick? Nah." The big man chuckled. "Now, for pukin' all over them expensive San Francisco boots of his? Well, that might be another matter."

"Somebody had to rough up those old boots so they'd be worth wearin'," Joe replied with a wink as his gaze returned to the desert. The boy sobered quickly. "Hoss, do you think Adam's in trouble?"

It was plain as the nose on his face.

Little Joe was scared.

That was okay. So was he. Not so much about Adam, as about the choice he had to make – go home and leave older brother alone to face, well, whatever he was facing, or take Little Joe into the desert and go lookin' for him.

Into the desert and danger.

"What'd Roy say when you talked to him?" Joe asked, like he hadn't asked it ten times before.

"I done told you, Little Joe. He said Adam asked him not to say nothin' to Pa about what he'd just see'd. Deputy Roy weren't too happy about you drinkin' beer, but he said 'boys would be boys' and he agreed."

During the twenty minutes or so they'd waited for older brother to show, he'd cleaned Joe up, rinsin' little brother's shirt and face with water from the trough. Then, they went to find Adam. Instead they found Deputy Roy standin' in front of the mercantile by their supply wagon. Roy'd asked the store-keep and he told him that Adam had been there. He'd gathered up a few things before heading for the livery, and then took off lickety-split without so much as a by-your-leave. Hoss' gaze went to his little brother who was shiftin' nervous-like from one foot to the other. He'd studied on the problem for a few minutes and considered leavin' Little Joe behind with Deputy Roy where he'd be safe. Trouble was, one look at Joe's face told him the boy wouldn't stay put lessen he was hog-tied and hamstrung, and the idea of Joe followin' him into the desert was scarier than the idea of Joe bein' with him. So they'd taken off together.

And now here they was – a half-mile into the hottest place on earth with night comin' on, with only the supplies they could stuff in their saddlebags, a quartet of canteens, and the clothes on their backs – flyin' on a wing and a prayer.

Little Joe was practically dancin' on the dune. "Something's wrong, Hoss. I know it. Adam... Adam needs us. We gotta go after him."

He knew it too and he was all right with that. What he wasn't 'all right' with was leadin' his baby brother into whatever that 'something' was.

"I promise I'll do whatever you say," Joe said as if readin' his mind. Them big eyes of his were shinin' like emeralds in the fadin' light. "You can trust me, Hoss. Please."

For all Adam and Little Joe acted like they'd as soon kill each other as claim one another as kin, there was a deep bond there – deeper in some ways, maybe, than the one he had with his little brother. Him and Joe, they was best friends. Joe and Adam? Well, for a time, Adam had been Little Joe's rock. After Ma died, when Pa, well, when Pa just plain lost it, older brother made sure he was always there for the little tyke, so that Joe knew he had somethin' and someone to hold onto. The big man shook his head. Their pa taught them that there was a reason for everythin' and God knew what it was, but it sure seemed to him that it was pure bad luck that Mama died so close to the time Adam had to go away to college. Pa'd come back by then, but Adam leavin' had done somethin' to Little Joe that none of them liked to admit.

The boy was plain scared of bein' left behind.

Reluctantly, Hoss nodded. He reached out and took his brother by the arm. "I want a promise, Little Joe. I know you don't break your promises. Before we go any farther into the desert, you gotta promise me you won't run off on your own for any reason. You stick by my side like glue, you hear?"

Joe nodded.

"That ain't good enough." Hoss leaned down so his eyes were on a level with his stubborn little brother's. "You look me in the eye and you give me your word you won't go runnin' off or doin' anythin' stupid."

"I ain't stupid," Joe growled.

"Prove it." He held his brother's gaze. "Prove you're a man who gives a man's word."

Little Joe straightened up a bit at that. Dang! If he didn't look cute.

"I promise, Hoss," Joe said, and then added quietly. "I promise on Mama's grave."

That was as good as it got.

"All right then. You check Cadfan's cinch and I'll check Chubb's." Hoss eyed the sinking sun. "It's been a long day and there ain't a lot left of it. You tell me when you get tired and we'll stop."

"Hoss, I can ride..."

"I know you can. But we don't know what tomorrow's gonna hold, and you bein' tired and bitin' my head off ain't somethin' I need to worry about." The big man sighed. "I'm gonna get enough of that when I get home and Pa finds out I let you talk me into goin' into the desert."

As his brother went to mount his horse, Hoss turned his face toward the vast expanse of sand and scrub that lay before them. The only thing drivin' him to venture out into it was the fact that older brother had taken off across it without givin' them a reason why. He had to believe that Adam knew he would follow him. He'd leave a sign as soon as he could; somethin' to tell him where he was goin'. He was sure of it.

Well, mostly sure.

As Hoss continued to stare at the barren land, somethin' one of Pa's old wranglers had said came back to him. He'd been just about Joe's age and was lookin' at crossin' the desert for the first time.

'A cactus don't live in the desert because it likes the desert, boy. It lives there because the desert hasn't killed it yet.'

Cadfan pulled up alongside him. "I'm ready, Hoss," Joe announced. "Let's go find Adam."

Little brother sure enough was ready.

He didn't know if he was.