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Summary: Ben's out in the cold on his way home from a business trip.
Shivering Ben tossed another log on the fire. It sure was a cold night, but even so, he was glad to be heading home. It always amazed him how cold people were to one another, and those merchants could be so frustrating and sneaky that it just burned him up inside. How could a man live with himself when he purposely went out of his way to cheat others? Ben would never understand it much less tolerate it. His sons knew that better than anyone. He chuckled at the memory of his return from his last trip. The boys had mechanically nodded at all the right spots as he had ranted on about the deceitful banker he had encountered in San Francisco and, although he was sure each of them agreed with him, even Ben couldn't quite miss the secretive grins they shared with each other.
When he had finished his tale Hoss had looked him straight in the eye saying, "Well, Pa, I reckon if it bothers you that much, you'll just have to do something about it." Adam and Joe had both grinned and nodded their agreement.
"Of course, with you keeping us so busy with ranch work," Adam had added with a slightly mischievous grin on his face, "you'll just have to do it without our help. That is, unless you want to give us some extra time off? Then we'd love to ride into town and share the value of honesty with everyone else."
At this point Joe was practically grinning from ear to ear, "You know, I think Adam's right for a change. Just think of all the good we could with that extra time off."
Ben had glowered at them and shooed them out of the house, "Out with you. I saw some ranch work out there still in need to be done. Didn't you tell me you'd have those fences fixed by the time I got home, Joe?"
Joe had laughed guiltily, "Did I say that?"
"I think you did, Little Brother. Something about proving you could meet a deadline…" Adam had teased following his brothers out the door.
"Of course that was before that pretty little distraction had found her way over here," Hoss had replied. Ben would have loved to hear more about that, but by then the door had closed behind the three and he had remembered some other matters that needed his attention.
Ben smiled at the memory, shifting a closer to his small campfire. They had lightened his spirits though, and he wouldn't have been all together surprised to find that that had been their purpose in the first place. It warmed his heart to think of what good men his sons had grown into, and when he thought about it, he realized that, in a way, he had done something to change the world. He had raised three warm-hearted sons, sons that would do anything for each other. Pride filled him, and Ben drained the last of his coffee, settling down to sleep. It would still be pretty early in the day when he'd reach the Ponderosa and all of its warmth. It might have been cold that night, camped outside along the side of the road, but it would be warm at home, with good fire built in the cozy fireplace, and the love of his family all around him.
The End.