A/N My apologies to the original creator of Cassie (the girl in the river). When she asked me to write Cassie's story, I tried more than once to work from the two chapters she'd written and NOTHING would come for me. I finally had to simply start the story from an angle that it would come for me. I hope this version of Cassie's story will suffice.

Chapter One

Hoss and Adam, who had been away on business, were now riding towards home. The morning had started early and one thing after another had popped up to delay their journey. The fact that the sun was throwing its blistering hot rays down upon their backs did not help them. "If I have…" Adam started to speak only to have Hoss raise his hand and motion for Adam to quit talking.

Adam looked at the look of grave concern that had appeared on his brother's face. It didn't help Adam's curiosity any when Hoss stretched his neck forward slightly and leaned his head to his right, as if he was trying to listen to something. However, curiosity was replaced by horror when Adam realized what Hoss was hearing. "The river! It's flooding!" Adam yelled as Hoss and he sped towards the river. They might not have done so only they could also hear more than one person screaming.

If Sport and Chubby could talk, they'd probably have complained that their shoes were receiving more than a good pounding as their hooves flew through the tall, green grass and hit the hard, brown earth below. As it was the horses were pushed their limit as Adam and Hoss raced towards the river.

"Adam, look!" Hoss pointed to a wagon that was just disappearing in the river. For a second the two brothers thought that whoever had been screaming had been lost to the river only then they heard the screaming again. This time they looked off to their left. They're hearts skipped a beat as they saw a young girl who looked to be around twelve years of age, holding onto a rock for all she was worth. Before Adam could say a word, Hoss had flown off his horse and went to the girl's rescue. With his brother rescuing the young girl, Adam tore off in the direction the wagon had been carried. He hoped to find the child's parents and anyone else who had been traveling with them.

While Adam was searching for other survivors, Hoss was pulling the young girl out of the river. Soon he had her sitting on another rock, one that sat a good ten feet away from the river. It didn't take long for him to grab his bedroll off Chubby's back and wrap it around the child, as she was shivering quite badly.

"M…ama, P…apa," the young girl stammered through her badly chattering teeth, tears streaming down her cheeks. "W…e w…were in the wa…g…on. The fl…od h..it be…fore we kn…ew it. M...ama, sh…she fell o…ut f…irst. I…I'm sure sh..ee dro…wned 'cause sh..e ca…n't sw...im. Pa…pa…pa, I do…don't kn…ow what h…happened to h…him."

Hoss did his best to assure the young girl who told him her name was Cassie that Adam would find her father if possible. Cassie only cried harder. "What if he can't find them?" She asked as she got control of her speech.

Hoss went to answer only to fell his heart sank as he heard the words and saw his brother riding, alone, towards them. If Adam was coming back alone, Hoss knew there were no other survivors. "Don't worry none," Hoss did his best to smile at the young girl beside him. "Me and my brother, we ain't gonna leave ya out here alone. Yer comin' with us."

Cassie looked rather uneasy, even if she knew the giant of man next to her meant well, still they were strangers. "I don't even know who you are or where your home is!"

Hoss' grin grew wide as he introduced himself and told her about the Ponderosa, his younger brother and their pa. "Believe me, Pa would have my and Adam's hide iff'n we left you out here by yerself." Not that he or Adam would have left her, he made sure she knew that.

Hoss turned away from Cassie and looked at Adam, who had reached Hoss and their new friend. He told Adam what the young girl had said about her mother and then her mother. He asked, "I don't reckon ya find her pa?" After what the young girl had said about her mother, Hoss didn't see what good it would do to ask about her.

"I'm sorry." Adam threw a sympathetic look towards Cassie as he dismounted. "I rode for quite a ways. I never saw a sign of him." Adam figured that the fact that he'd found the girl's mother washed up on the bank of the river, and had buried her, was something he could tell his pa and brothers before sitting down with Cassie and explaining it to her. "I think you best come with us. We'll, that is, our pa, our younger and the two of us will be more than happy to let you sleep in the guest room for now."

Cass didn't like the idea of leaving the area without her father. After all, he'd always said the fastest way to get found was to stay in one spot, and she didn't hesitate to say so. "Pa will have a harder time finding me if he finds me at all!" she blurted out, her eyes wide with terror as she thought of her father searching for her in vain.

Adam and Hoss looked at each other. For a moment it was as if they were communicating silently. "Tell ya what pumpkin," Hoss turned his eyes towards Cassie and said, "we'll stay here for another hour. Iff'n yer pa shows up great."

"But if he doesn't," Adam sat down on a small boulder that sat nearby. "You come with us."

Cassie still didn't like it only she didn't see where she had a choice. At least the men were willing to wait and give her pa a chance to show up. Nodding her head, she wrapped the blanket around her even tighter…more out of a need for comfort than anything else.