This is the first Bonanza story I have ever written. I write primarily 21 Jump Street and Jeremiah. I am branching out... WOO-HOO!!! I love this series and will do my best to stay true to the charactors so be gentle on the "I hate this story" critiques... I have feelings too you know:-)

Well, here goes! I do not own Bonanaza, wish I did! The O/C's belong to me. That is all I own. Please enjoy, and thanks for reading!!!

Chapter 1

She tapped her toe wildly on the burnt black soil of the newly named Nevada territory. The wind whipped wildly all around her. The sky was starting to resemble the blackness of night; however, coming far too early in the day to be close to evening. The clap of thunder tore through the day as the lightning streaked wildly across the sky. It was more than apparent to Melanie J. Albright that she was about to enter into the completely unruly and wildly untamed west.

The day had been a scorcher leading up to the broken axel of the stage coach. Not her favorite form of transportation but transportation none the less. She could feel the sweat soaked bustle rubbing uncomfortably next to the chaffed skin of her long torso. The unannounced, but very welcoming wind blew around her ankles and up underneath her petticoat offering some relief to the normally irksome sweat that accompanied the pounds and pounds of under clothing that society deemed it necessary for her to were. On her neck she could feel the wind lapping at the minimally exposed skin that shown just a mere half an inch above her collar and below her hair line. Her lengthy flaxen locks secured tightly to the back of her head in a neatly pinned bun. A hat stood elevated above the top of the bun like a tiara on a sovereigns head.

Through the wind and the freshly churned up dust she could smell the rain as it neared the coach where she stood waiting. It was a fresh smell offered to her that she hadn't smelled since she was a small girl. She could remember the trip to the Ponderosa. She had gone there with her father who had been a long time friend of Ben Cartwright's. She could remember the boys Adam, Hoss and Joe who was barely more than a toddler at the time. They were all so young then. She had remembered wanting to play with her doll but having to be the Indian to their Cowboys. She could remember hating the fact that they would not let her ever choose the games. They had been polite when they needed to be, but in the end they were still boys. They were dirty, smelly, loud, overly excited boys. Boys she would rather have not been around at first, but hated to go leave when the time came for her and her father to go back to Boston.

"Alright folks, we're ready." The tall coachman shouted to the four passengers standing to the side waiting to finish this leg of the trip.

There were men two businessmen, one from Colorado, one Baltimore, and a school master from New Orleans. Then there she was, Melanie; the tall, simply dressed woman in the cobalt blue gingham traveling dress. She wasn't going to Virginia City for business, she wasn't going for pleasure, and she wasn't even going to bring good news to anyone. She was just a woman delivering sad news to an old friend of her fathers. She was carrying a picture that her father wanted Ben to have. A picture that she herself would have been inclined to keep had her father, upon his deathbed, not asked her to deliver it to the famous Ponderosa herself.

--

"Just hang on daddy…" Melanie cried softly

"Melanie… you have so much of your mother in you." William Albright smiled as he lifted his large frail hand and touched it to Melanie's cheek.

Melanie whimpered softly as she looked over at her father. She slowly lifted her own hand to her fathers touching it gently. It felt cold under her warm, soft fingers. He was always such a strong and powerful man. It was the influenza that had just torn him apart. He was so week like a kitten. He was hardly more than a shell of the man he once was. His once fair hair was now white like snow. His once handsome face was now wrinkled and aged. He looked far older than the fifty three years he was at the present time.

His breathing was becoming shallower as the doctor walked quietly in the door. At Melanie's side was her Uncle Claude, her father's brother, and the nurse Claude had brought to help take care of his brother in his last days.

"He's fading rapidly doctor." The nurse said in a hushed voice.

"I was afraid of that. The influenza has taken far too many this year." Doctor Colman responded tucking his stethoscope back into his bag. "Not much longer."

"I'm afraid not." The nurse sighed quietly.

"Take the picture to Ben… Melanie. Take it to Ben and tell him I'm sorry that I never made it back out to see him." William told his daughter in a strained voice.

"Father please, you're gonna take it too him in a week or two. That's all you need to get better." Melanie struggled to hide her tears as she too knew it wasn't going to be much longer. "Just a week or two daddy. You and I, we'll go together. We'll have chicken in the meadow like we did when I was a kid. I'll make lemonade and Mrs. Geere she'll make us a pie. Cherry… it's your favorite. Daddy… daddy… daddy… come back daddy please…" Melanie's tears were streaming down her face as the nurse took her by the shoulders.

"He's with your mother now." She whispered in her ear.

--

Melanie licked her lips as she stepped into the coach with the aid of the charming man from New Orleans. His name was St. Clair. He was a tall, handsome, dark haired, green eyed a Creole. He was well spoken but there were times his words were sometimes hard to make out from the distinct dialect used in that area. He called her mademoiselle which in turn made her blush.

"Thank you." She offered in return as she took her seat next to the window looking out at the sky as it tore open and began drenching the thirsty ground.

--

"Pa!" Joe Cartwright shouted as he walked in the front door shoving the door closed behind him.

Joe could smell the rain as the wind was starting to pick up. He heard the thunder rip apart the fragile fabric of sound as it echoed through out the house and surrounding valley. Joe nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw the white hot lightning slash across the darkened sky.

"Good Lord!" He commented loudly to himself.

He took his had off and placed it on the coat rack next to the door. He didn't hear his father answer so he proceeded to walk further into the house and try again.

"Pa!"

"What is it Joseph?" Benjamin Cartwright walked down the wooden staircase from where he had been.

"Sorry pa, listen a telegraph was just dropped off from town. It's for you from a… a Claude Albright." Joe shrugged as he handed the yellow slip of paper to his father.

"Claude Albright… I wonder what…"

Joe watched as his father read the letter. His face fell as he finished reading the paper. His brow furrowed as he walked the rest of the way down the steps to his chair behind his large desk. He let out a deep sigh as he placed the paper on the desk and laid his head in his hands.

"What is it?" Joe asked his own brow line reflecting concern for his suddenly distressed father.

The door opened again this time Adam and Hoss Cartwright came through. Both tall men were carrying on conversation about the grass in the upper forty. They argued about how they could possibly keep the sheep herders from tearing down fence rows to cut through Ponderosa land on their way to market.

Adam sighed as he looked down at the floor. His dark eyes clouded over as he shook his head. He ran a hand through his dark tresses licking his lips before looking up at his much bigger but younger brother Eric or Hoss as they called him.

"Adam, you just have to…" Hoss stopped and looked over to where Joe stood with his hand on his fathers shoulder. "Pa…"

Joe looked up at the two his green eyes reflecting sadness. He swallowed hard at his older brothers and then down at their father. Joe patted his father on the shoulder as Ben took a deep breath and rose quickly to his feet.

"I just received some news from Boston." Ben sighed as he held the yellow paper in his trembling hands. His eyes continued to glisten with unshed tears.

"Boston, who do you know in Boston pa?" Hoss blurted out scratching his forehead.

"Claude Albright sent a telegram. His brother, my friend William passed away a month ago. His daughter Melanie is on her way to Virginia City with a package for me." Ben recited.

"William Albright…" Adam wrinkled his nose as he formed the words in his mouth. He then turned and looked at Hoss and then Joe for an explanation of why the name sounded familiar.

"He was one of your old shipping buddies." Hoss remembers quickly.

"That's right. He had a daughter named Melanie. Boy she must be in her twenties now." Adam smiled as he looked up at his father who seemed to still be distraught by the unexpectedly upsetting news.

"She's due in town this afternoon." Ben concluded.

"Today… in this weather?" Joe looked out the window at the rain pouring down on the fertile earth. The trees were almost bending from the continuous downpour of liquid from the heavens.

"Would you like me to pick her up, pa?" Adam chimed in as his father wiped a tear from his eye.

"Once the weather breaks you can take a team and head into town. Hoss, have Hop Sing prepare for an extra person for dinner. Joseph, make sure that there is some water brought into the guest bedroom. Boys, I need some time alone right now." Ben turned and walked towards the staircase clutching the yellow paper in his large hands. He ran his free hand unhurriedly along the hand rail while trudging unenthusiastically up each step.

--

"The stage is running late today Adam." Sheriff Coffee commented as he stopped Adam as he rolled down the muddy streets of Virginia City on his wagon.

"Late... how late." Adam replied letting his eyes wonder over the white washed store fronts that lined the normally dusty streets.

"We'll I was expecting the new school master from New Orleans about an hour ago. My guess is that they got caught in the rain." Roy Coffee looked at his pocket watch and leaned heavily against the seat Adam sat perched upon.

"Great." Adam thought out loud.

It wasn't long before the creaking of metal and wood could be heard over the sloshing of loose ground as the stage coach made its way through the soggy roads. The horses whinnied as they pulled harder at the usually effortless job of pulling the stage coach. The unusual condition of the mud-covered roads created a more problematic challenge for them.

"Whoa!" the coachmen exclaimed tugging back on the reigns. "Virginia City!" He shouted again.

Adam climbed off of his buckboard as the rain started to drop from the sky again. He pulled his coat tighter around his neck. He could remember being awfully warm earlier in the day. So warm that he was sure it had to rain. The unpredictable climate of Nevada seemed to torture its people with high humidity on the days it was preparing to cut loose and precipitate.

A tall man in a brown over coat climbed out of the coach. He reached his hand up to his hat and adjusted it before it could have a chance to fall. He looked down at the mud sodden ground that his black shoes had sunk into and pulled them out shaking the caked on grime off and putting his foot back down again. He then turned and raised his hand to help a young woman off of the step and down into the mud. She too looked at the ground noting her shoes sinking into the soggy earth. She looked dazed and almost hurt as she pulled her cobalt blue skirt above her ankles in an attempt to keep it clean and dry. She looked up at the coachman who was flinging trunks from the top of the dingy red painted coach onto the ground. The result was a spray of mud covering the front of her skirt and dotting all the way to her face.

"Oh sheri, let me help." The tall man in the brown suit pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket handing it to her.

"Thank you… I-I'm alright." She still held her skirt in her hands as she started to lose her balance in the muck while she tried to take a step forward.

"I got ya." Adam Cartwright reached his arm out and caught the woman before she had an opportunity to fall face first into the grime.

"Oh dear, thank you sir." She grasped Adam around the waist as she struggled to find her footing; however with each step she seemed to slip again.

"Are you alright." Nicholas St. Clair also reached out to steady the unsteady female. He looked uncertainly at Adam Cartwright.

"Yes, gentlemen thank you, but I think I'll be fine." Melanie responded gently. She felt foolish for not being able to maintain her balance in the mud.

"Are you Melanie Albright?" Adam asked once the woman was standing on her own two feet.

"Yes sir, I am Melanie Albright." She replied looking up at the tall dark haired stranger.

"My name's Adam Cartwright. My father sent me to bring you back to the Ponderosa."

"Adam Cartwright?" Melanie raised her eyebrows almost confused by the name. "You were just a boy, I mean; it's been a long time." She smiled as Adam wrinkled his forehead and then began to smile.

"You've grown just a bit since the last time I saw you." He replied with a crooked smile.

"I'm sorry; I forgot just how long it had been since I was a little girl. Anymore I feel like each day is a lifetime ago." She looked down at the ground and then back up at Adam's dark eyes. They twinkled in the ever fleeting daylight.

Adam looked over at the man in the brown over coat. He extended his hand as Roy Coffee approached the trio.

"Adam Cartwright."

"Of the famous Ponderosa." St. Clair replied. "My name is Nicholas St. Clair. I was hired to be the school master here in Virginia City."

"You're from New Orleans?" Adam asked curiously as the school master shook his hand in return.

"Yes and a beautiful city at that." Nicholas beamed. He looked over at the woman standing between himself and Adam.

"May I call on you at the Ponderosa, ma'am?" He asked tipping his hat.

Melanie smiled as she wiped the white handkerchief across the mud on her face. She looked down at the front of her clothing. She was a mess.

"Mr. St. Clair?" Sheriff Coffee asked interrupting the conversation.

"Oui Monsieur?"

Sheriff Coffee raised his brow and looked at the tall young man standing in front of him. He knew that there was a chance that he would speak a little southern but he hadn't expected this.

"I mean, yes sir. Old habits die hard. I am Nicholas St. Clair, you must be Sheriff Coffee. I was told you would meet me here." The young man smiled as he introduced himself.

"Yes, yes I understand. Ben Cartwright's third wife, Marie spoke like that." Coffee replied as he lifted the school masters trunk out of the mud.

"Ah, there is a Creole in Virginia City?" Nicholas smiled.

"Uh, no, my step mother died some years back." Adam replied as he reached over and pulled Melanie's trunk from the mud.

"My apologies, sir." Nicholas tilted his hat as he took a step forward in the sloppy street.

"Come on Miss Albright, we need to be heading back to the Ponderosa before it gets dark." Adam put his arm out for Melanie who gladly took it to steady herself.

"Miss Albright…" Nicholas shouted moving towards Adam and Melanie.

"May I call you?" He asked removing his hat completely from his head. His dark hair fell in a mess across his gentle forehead and face in the continuous drizzle.

Melanie pushed her falling blond hair behind her ears as she looked up at the rain soaked man with her crystal blue eyes. She smiled and looked back at the man. Licking her lips she looked down again and then back up at him.

"We shall see Mr. St. Clair." She answered firmly, a tight smile on her rosy lips.

With that said she smiled again and turned walking towards the buckboard with the assistance of the eldest Cartwright. Nicholas watched like a lost child as Adam helped her onto the wagon. He stashed her trunk and her bag on the back and then climbed up on the rig, grabbing the reins and taking his seat beside her. Nicholas watched miserably as she pulled her soggy white shawl tighter around her shoulders. He could see her gloved fingers curling softly into the folds of the material. He noted the rain as it beaded at the tips of her hair and dripped silently off of the ends, falling aimlessly to the surface beside her. He then watched her ride off into the unknown wild by another stranger's side.

"Come on Mr. St. Clair. This rain is fixin to come down harder boy. You're libel to catch your death of cold." Sheriff Coffee shouted from the porch of the hotel.

"Oui Monsieur." Nicholas spun excitedly around on his feet and sloshed his way quickly to the hotel front.