Girl Cartwright
The letter had traveled a long way when it arrived at the Virginia City stage stop. It had been bumped and jostled, crumpled and crinkled. But it had arrived at its destination. It was addressed to Ben Cartwright. The sender wrote Ben's name in straight, no-nonsense script, the pen pressed heavily into the paper.
It was a few days until one of the Cartwrights came into town to run errands. When he did, Adam took his time. Trips alone to Virginia City were a pleasure to Adam. He reveled in being without his brothers and father. Joe was always jumpy and trying to impress the girls, Hoss chatted with everyone he met, and Pa did what he came to do in an orderly fashion and then went back to the Ponderosa. Adam liked to take his time.
The general store was his first stop; Little Joe wanted his aftershave. Next he headed to the green grocer, where he got some groceries for Hopsing. Hoss had ordered a special bridle for a new colt, which Adam picked up at the livery. Pa wanted a new hat from the milliner's. Adam needed new boots.
The last stop was the stage stop, where Adam picked up the letter, along with some other mail.
No return address-wonder where it's from? It was queer to receive a letter from anybody, much less without a return address. But the day had been a long one, and the drive back to the Ponderosa was still ahead of him. The letter was not given another thought until much later.
That afternoon, after all the chores were done, Ben sat down to his big oak desk and started to do some paperwork. It had been a tiring day, and he did not want to strain his eyes. But he knew he needed to, so he did. The mail sat on top of the small pile of accumulated paperwork. He reached for it, and from the pile fell the letter.
Ben opened the drawer to the right of him, took out a letter opener, and slit the top of the letter. His eyes widened as he read. Then he began to cry, silent tears sliding down his weathered cheeks.
Little Joe walked in, and saw his father, sitting at his desk, as he so often did. Crying, as he almost never did.
"What's wrong, Pa?"
"I have a daughter."
A few more tears were shed as the two other brothers learned of their sister. The letter was passed from Hoss' hands, to Joe's, to Adam's, and back to Ben's. It was read over and over again.
Dearest Benjamin,
It has been a long time since I last spoke with you. This letter will not suffice to build back the bridge that was broken so long ago. I must, however, speak my mind. I always have. That was the reason for the sad note upon which we parted. I spoke my mind, and in doing so, I commanded you to never let me see you again. I meant it then, but now, as I lie dying, and will already be dead as you read this, I take it back. I take back all the cruel words I threw your way, all the curses I laid upon you. I have always loved you, even after I sent you away. And now, as I leave this life and journey to the next, I send you my daughter, your daughter, OUR daughter. I never wanted you to know of her, for I thought, at the time, that you would not want her. I know, now, that you would have come back to me, had I told you that I was with child. She looks like you. Every time I look in her eyes, I see you. So now, as you must unknowingly say goodbye to me, you will also unknowingly be saying hello to your daughter.
Yours for always,
Eleanor
In a letter that surrounded that letter, a man's straight script informed Ben that his eighteen year old daughter would be traveling with the stage to Virginia City.
Ben let the letter drop to the desk. His head fell onto his hands.
"I never knew...I would have come back...I would never have left her." Ben's words jumbled together. His sons could see that he was distressed, and so they left their father to his thoughts. Outside, they all sat down heavily on the boards of the deck.
"We have a sister." Adam said what was on all three of their minds.
"Wonder if she's pretty." That was Joe.
"Wonder what she's like," Hoss pondered. He didn't care how she looked so long as she was good at heart.
The brothers were left to wonder about their newfound sister.
Joe pulled at his necktie. He hated wearing them. And it was making him hot. Hoss leaned against the stage building, laid back and seemingly calm; inside, he was very nervous. Adam chatted quietly with the stage stop clerk, who was waiting outside for the stage as well. Ben paced back and forth, creating a small dust cloud.
Suddenly, in the distance, a larger dust cloud was seen, and the four Cartwright men straightened up and stopped what they were doing. The stage rolled up, the cloud of dust engulfing it. The six horses shook their harnesses, foam at their mouths and along their necks and chests. The driver was already down from the driver's seat and unpacking the passengers' luggage. The stage clerk had set up a small step stool and was helping passengers out.
Two men and two women walked out, and the Cartwrights knew that none of them was their person. The last passenger stepped out. The four men inhaled. From the stage stepped a girl. Brown, curly hair was hanging loose and blue eyes were made even more blue by a simple blue dress. She looked at each of them in turn, smiling, then jumped out of the stage and ran into Ben's arms, burying her head in his chest.
"You are just as I imagined you to be, and even more handsome than Mother told me!" The girl, Leanora, was crying onto Ben's white shirt.
Ben didn't know what to do. This girl, this child, his daughter, was hugging him. He slowly, gently, put his arms around her and held her to him. Ben had always wanted a daughter. More tears fell from his eyes, and his sons looked on and cried with him.
The girl finally let go of Ben and dried her eyes. Adam put his hand out, and when she took it, smiling shyly, he clasped her hand in both of his. Hoss and Joe did the same.
"Well, Leanora, you must be tired and hungry from you long trip. Why don't we get your bags and take you home," Ben suggested.
"Yes, sir, I would like that."
The new family rode home in companionable silence, smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts.
The next day, Leanora was shown around the Ponderosa, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She learned her brother's names and faces and tucked them away in her heart. But it was her father's face that she really learned and loved. All her life, she had never had a father, and now she had one, and she adored him. His eyes twinkled at her, and his lovely smile touched her heart and infected her with ecstasy.
A week after Leanora had arrived, she already felt as though she had lived on the Ponderosa her entire life. Hoss had given her a beautiful gelding, Ace. She rode him every day under Hoss' watchful eye. She had ridden before, and Hoss was impressed by her skill. When he felt sure of her competency, he and Adam and Joe and Leanora rode out.
Leanora was excited for the ride. From what she could see out of her window, the six hundred thousand acres that her father owned were majestic. This was all new and exciting to her. Before the Ponderosa, Leanora had lived with her mother in St. Louis, where she had had riding lessons from her grandparents until they both died in a tragic house fire. Then her mother had become sick and died. Leanora didn't like to think about that last part; it only made the world darker, and the world was so bright for her now. She wanted it to stay that way.
The group was quiet as they rode, only the sound of the saddles creaking and the horse's hooves pounding on the dirt resonating in their ears. Joe broke the silence.
"May I call you Nora? Seems less of a mouthful than Leanora, beautiful a name as that may be."
Leanora laughed.
"Of course, Joe. No one's ever called me that, but I like it. Seems fitting that I get a new name along with a new life. From now on, I'm Nora to whomever wants to call me so."
"So, Nora, let's see how well you can ride!" Joe kicked his paint into a gallop. Hoss and Adam laughed and chased after him.
Nora kicked her horse as well and chased after her brothers. Her horse was fresh and young and raced neck in neck with her brother's horses. Her hat rushed off her head, saved by its stampede string. Brown locks flew back from her face.
The girl Cartwright threw back her head and laughed. She let go of the reins and stuck her arms out to her sides, and her brothers did the same. None of them had flown in a long time. The four Cartwrights stretched out their arms and rode, fingertip to fingertip, their horses matching paces. The moment seemed to stretch forever, until Hoss' horse slowed, and the other horses followed suit.
Nora's cheeks were flushed and her hair was blown everywhere, but neither she nor her brothers cared. They were one now, the four Cartwrights.