I do not own Bonanza nor any of the original Cartwright Characters.

Keeper of My Heart

Chapter One

The sun was beating down unmercifully upon the lone figure making his way down the mountain. The traveling would have been much faster had his horse not thrown him and then taken off, and it would have been tons easier, but the fall had blinded him. Now, with dried blood on his face, he did his best to remember which direction he'd been going and hoped he was heading in the right direction.

As he wandered down what he hoped to be the correct path, his mind wandered to the morning he left home. "Be careful, son and don't hurry. We still have time." Be careful, don't hurry, two things he had did his best to do, or not do, depending on which instruction one was talking about. The trip had been a success. If it wasn't for that blasted rabbit that spooked the horse, he was sure he'd be almost home by now or at least to Virginia City. As he took another step, he slipped and felt himself falling.

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Ben stood in front of his home talking to Sheriff Coffee as Hoss came out of the barn. Instantly, Hoss grew worried. His father's eyebrows were turned down and he looked upset. What on earth had happened? He hurried over to where the two men stood and listened. He felt shock waves go through him as Roy spoke.

"Look Ben, I can't say one way or the either. All I know is Lee Pearson is out of prison and wanted again by the law. I just wanted to know if he's been by here. After all, both Adam and Little Joe tried befriending and helping him. I had hoped to talk to them." Sheriff Coffee finished and waited for Ben to talk.

Ben wished he could help but neither one of his sons was home at the moment. Adam had went to Salt Springs for him and Little Joe had went to Placerville for him. He'd have made the trips himself, but he'd been under the weather and the two had offered to help. He shook his head and restated what he'd already said. "I'm sorry, Roy. Until the boys get home from their trips I can't do a thing." He couldn't either, the sooner his sons got home the better. He assured Roy he would let him know if Mr. Pearson stopped by. After the man left, Hoss spoke up.

"Iff'n ya want I could ride around the ranch and see if there's something out of place, pa." Hoss had never liked Lee and the fact that he was out of prison didn't sit right with him. He had tried to get Adam and Little Joe see that the man was no good and only trying to use them. His brothers hadn't listened though and almost wound up in jail themselves because of it.

Ben shook his head. He saw no point in chasing around after someone who might or might not be on the ranch. Besides, Lee had never sworn to get any revenge of any kind on any them. Then again, why would he? As far as he knew, it was one of the men in town who had found out the truth and turned him in. "Just get your work here done, Hoss. Once your brothers get home, we'll talk about it.

"Yes, sir." Hoss went back to work hoping they didn't have to deal with Lee Pearson again.

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Gabriella Thompson looked down upon the stranger and shook her head. She'd left South Dakota after her father had died looking for something different. She'd never planned on winding up in Nevada playing nursemaid to some injured stranger. Then again, she muttered under her breath and she managed to get him onto the *travios she'd built. Guess all those long hours on her father's farm had given her some benefits after all.

After securing him to the travios she made sure it was secured to her horse, mounted it and began her journey back towards the camp she'd made. She had to laugh at the thought of what her parents would do if they knew just how accustomed to being in the outdoors she'd become over the past four years. Oh, they'd often gone camping as a family, learning everything they could about the outdoors, but it had never really been their lifestyle either. Now, she had no intention of ever living close to any city again. She preferred the wide open spaces.

When the stranger let out a groan, Gabriella looked back and again shook her head. Well, from her examination of the man (she had her nursing certificate thank to her mother pushing her to get it), she didn't think he had any internal injuries, but she was worried about his head and what appeared to be a broken leg. Hopefully, when he woke up, the consequences of his fall wouldn't be too much for either one of them to handle.

"Pa…business…finished. Watch it…" the man was mumbling a lot of other things, but no one of it was understandable-so much for hoping to gather information from the man while he was talking in his semiconscious state. "Tell Hoss…." The man quit speaking and slipped further into total silent.

Hoss. Well, it was a name anyway. Gabriella took it and put it in the back of her mind. The wind blew gently through the air, the birds that flew through the air sang and the leaves on the trees that lined the pathway she was on rustled as the wind passed through them making the trip to her camp a pleasant one. Well, as pleasant as it could be considering she was dragging an injured stranger behind her. The sooner she got to her camp the better. After all, the sooner she arrived there the sooner she could care for the stranger properly, and he needed that more than anything right now.

*Travios =to my knowledge this is what those contraptions are called that a person can be put on and pulled behind a horse.