You Can Count On Me

Disclaimer: This story is being written for enjoyment only. I do not own any of the characters and no profit is being made from it.

Trail dust still clung to his shirt, pants, and boots as Ben Cartwright sunk down heavily into the chair beneath him. The wooden seat offered little comfort to the gray haired patriarch of the Ponderosa as a frown creased his face and furrowed his tanned brow.

The cattle drive had not gone well. It hadn't gone well at all. During most drives problematic events always arose and were addressed, but this last drive had been different. It seemed plagued from the start by constant trouble and misfortune. First, there had been a broken axle, when the chuck wagon hit a rut, leaving the men without a hot meal for the first 48 hours until it could be repaired and Hop Sing could catch up with them. Next, came the torrential rains to a land so sun baked by weeks of drought that a flash flood occurred claiming the lives of two of his drovers and twenty of their herd with its raging waters. The loss of livestock was not what lay heavily upon the older man's mind and heart, but the untimely deaths of two of his men. Two lonely crosses now stood many miles back upon the beaten path behind him as a reminder of their sacrifice.

Though Pete Wilkins and Sam Turner had passed nine days earlier, this was the first chance Ben Cartwright had to reach a telegraph office and notify their families of the sad news. Sam was a loner. He had no family except for an older sister in Sacramento. Pete, on the other hand, had a young wife and son back in Virginia City with another baby on the way. Ben would make sure that Louise, Danny, and the baby were well cared for, but he couldn't replace the husband and father forever lost to them.

Thoughts of Pete's children now turned to his own. Hoss and Adam were at the bar ordering drinks.

"A cold beer will do you good, Pa," Hoss exclaimed. "It' ll wash away that trail dust." He smiled trying to lighten his father's dark mood.

"Hoss is right, Pa, " Adam chimed in. "We'll even order a sarsaparilla for the kid, for when he returns."

"Kid…." Adam was referring to his younger brother, Joe. "Joe…." Ben Cartwright's troubled mind began to wander further as thoughts of his youngest returned to the forefront. The frown upon his face increased tenfold as his dark eyes filled with regret.

His last words to his youngest had been harsh ones before he sent the boy off to the livery to stable their horses. Remembering the hurt that filled Joe's eyes, his stinging rebuke returned to haunt him.

"Perhaps you can show some level of responsibility this day, young man! See to the horses! Your brothers and I will be at the telegraph office and then the hotel."

He hadn't planned on stopping at the saloon, but his two eldest sons, sensing their father's foul mood, thought this impromptu visit might help to lighten their father's spirits some. But as he waited for Hoss and Adam to return with their libation, his thoughts remained with Joe.

Perhaps he had been too rough on the boy. Joe was only fifteen. Not nearly a man yet like his two older brothers. But with Pete and Sam's death, he had given the boy responsibilities that were perhaps beyond his ability to shoulder. Earlier this day, the boy had been caught daydreaming, musing, had let his mind wander…hell, perhaps he was just damn tired like the rest of them…exhausted by the misfortunes of this trip… Whatever the case, he had lost track of a few of the steers. It had taken over an hour for Adam and Hoss to round them up and return them to the herd delaying their arrival to their long awaited destination, market, by another two hours garnering the Ponderosa herd a much lower price than had been anticipated at the outset of this drive . It was to be Joe's ill fate that this would become the final straw to break the camel's already weakened back.

Ben Cartwright's even keel had taken a beating during this drive, and Joe's succeeding irresponsibility had brought his father's already stoking ire raging to the forefront. He hadn't meant to lambaste the boy for his unintentional lapse of good judgment, but once he got started it was as if he couldn't stop the flood of bitter words that left his lips as he let his son know in no uncertain terms of his disappointment with him.

At first Joe had tried to interrupt him, had tried to explain the reason behind his momentary lapse, but Ben Cartwright had not been in the mood to listen.

"Don't interrupt me, young man, when I'm talking to you!" He railed, as Joe shrunk back under the weight of his father's heated words and the intensity of his glare. He then remained silent, taking in his father's rebuke, like a sponge water, as his ever brightening eyes filled with both shame and regret.

When at last the fire sparking Ben's anger diminished, Joe raised his now bowed head to look his father straight in the eye before answering in a clipped voice. "I'm sorry, Pa. I won't let it happen again. I promise. You can count on me."

"I surely hope so, Joseph!" He returned derisively.

"Why…why did he have to make that one, final derogatory comment towards his son? Why did he have to put voice to such cutting doubt? Hadn't he scolded the boy enough already? And then to add further insult to injury, after the long and silent ride into Laurel Springs, he had hung onto the chilliness now between the two of them when he ordered Joe to stable the horses as he walked off with Hoss and Adam.

" How could I let my anger get away from me like that? I'll make it up to you, Joe," He sighed as Adam and Hoss returned to the table to rejoin their father, catching only the tail end of their father's remorse.

"Joe should be here soon, Pa," Hoss interrupted.

"Yeah, it won't take the kid long to get the horses settled," Adam responded before taking a long draw upon the cold beer in front of him. "Ahhh! Now that's good and well deserved, I might add," He finished, his dark eyes now twinkling with amusement.

"Here, here, brother, " Hoss added before imbing as well as he drained the contents of the mug in front of him in one, long swallow, sighing his appraisal. "I knew we should have gotten ourselves a pitcher, Adam."

"So much for foresight," Adam chuckled in return before turning to his father. "Come on now, Pa. Drink up! Joe will be here soon. Enjoy! You surely deserve it."

"Yes…you're right…I guess I should," Ben Cartwright replied distractedly, drawing the mug upwards towards his lips.

He had little time to even wet them with the amber suds before saloon's walls and hardwood floor rocked around them. Glasses from behind the counter were sent shattering to the floor below as the chandelier above them swayed back and forth in reaction to this unexpected momentum.

"What the heck…" Hoss barely had time to register his confusion before someone came rushing in from the street.

"What was that, Harry?" A patron from behind them inquired worriedly towards this new arrival.

"I'm not sure…" The grizzled cowboy muttered as he grabbed towards the counter now in front of him for support in case there was an aftershock.

"Was it an earthquake?" Someone yelled from the back.

"Nah, I don't think so…" The cowboy answered still stunned by the prior tremor that had rocked this small town moments earlier until a shout raised up from the street interrupted him, alerting all within the tense barroom.

"Explosion! Explosion! ….There's been an explosion at the livery!"