Mysterious Man

By Tennessee

One day while working at the ranch Adam was so happy to be outside because he loved his work on the Ponderosa. Ben and Hop Sing were in town, and Adam's brothers were in school, so Adam was alone on the Ponderosa. He was working and singing out loud when a man rode up.

Adam did not see him at first, and when Adam turned around the man hit him on the head and tied him up. When Adam woke up, his head was bleeding and it hurt, but he did not see the many anywhere. He tried to get untied but couldn't. He wanted to yell but thought the man might still be around.

He'd taken Adam's boots and all of Adam's money. Adam knew he would have to wait to make sure the man was gone.

Adam was tied up for hours. He thought he heard someone coming, but it was only a rabbit. He tried one last time to get free but all he did was hurt his hands. Adam knew he had to get help.

Then the man came back and said, "No noise, boy."

Adam asked, "Who are you?"

The man laughed and got on his horse and rode off.

Adam looked at the sun and knew someone should be coming home soon. Hoss and Little Joe saw him coming, and he yelled, "Help!" Hoss and Little Joe rode fast toward him.

"Untie me."

"What happened, Adam?"

Some man I've never seen before hit me and tied me up."

"Where are your boots, Adam?"

"He took them and my money too."

Hoss and Joe helped Adam up and into the house. They couldn't believe what they saw there. The man had taken all their food and some of their clothes.

"Adam, your head is bleeding," said Hoss. "Joe, get me some fresh cloths and some water."

Little Joe came back with the items and Hoss cleaned Adam's head. "You've got a big cut, brother."

"I'm fine," Adam said, "We need to look around and see if he's gone." When Adam stood up he fell back down.

"You need to rest, Adam. We'll look around," Hoss said.

Hoss and Little Joe looked around and saw that a horse and saddle and some blankets and a pot and pan and all the money in the money jar had been stolen.

Ben and Hop Sing rode up and Little Joe told Ben that Adam was hurt.

"Where is he?"

"In the house, Pa."

Ben ran into the house and to the boys' room. "Adam, son, it's Pa."

Adam opened his eyes and said, "Pa, this man hit me and tied me up and took my money and my boots."

Little Joe, Hoss, and Hop Sing came in and Hoss told Ben what other items were gone.

Ben said, "Did you know the man, Adam?"

"No, Pa. Never seen him before."

"Hop Sing, please look after Adam. Little Joe, you stay here with them. Hoss, let's go look around."

They rode for a long time but did not see any sign of the stranger. They rode back to the Ponderosa. Adam was asleep. Then Ben went in to town and asked around, but no one had seen anyone new in town. Ben went to the trading post and got some food to replenish the supply, then he rode home.

Adam was still asleep, and his head had begun to bleed again. When he woke up, he asked, "Pa, did you find him?"

"No, son. No one else has seen him. I'm just thankful you're all right, son. We replace what we lost, but we could never replace you."

Adam smiled and went back to sleep. It took them a day to clean up the mess. Soon Adam was up and around again. His head was sore and he got dizzy and he would not stay at the Ponderosa alone for any length of time. Then one night Ben said, "Adam, I know you don't want to be alone on the ranch, but you need to get over what happened, son. That man is long gone from here, and the Ponderosa is your home, son."

"I know, Pa," Adam said. He still dreamt about the day the man had attacked him, but he didn't tell his Pa that. The next day when everyone was going to town, Adam said he'd stay on the ranch.

Hoss said, "I'll stay with you if you want."

Adam shook his head. "No, I need to do this by myself."

Adam watched his family leave and then went to work in the barn. Every noise made him jump, but after a few minutes, he calmed down and started to sing, and he was happy that he'd been able to overcome the scared feelings.

When his family got home, Adam was outside and he smiled and waved.

They never saw the man again and never knew his name, but they always remember how lucky they were that Adam was not badly hurt that day. As Adam's head healed, he realized how lucky he'd been, too. The man did not do any lasting damage.

The next day he got up early to see the sunrise. It was so pretty, and the sky was so blue. As he walked to the barn, he was singing and happy.

The End