Disclaimer- I do not own Bonanza.
I am actually kind of surprised no one has written one of these yet. I tried looking as well. If anyone has had the idea of fans from our time going back into the Western time, write it! Don't keep it in!
I was at my least favorite place: the mall. My mom decided that she needed us to go and shop for some new shirts and pants. I was twenty-one, on break from college and had come home for awhile- so I could drive my younger brother, who is nineteen, and my younger sister, who is eighteen. My brother offered to drive, but he is more about speed than safety so I declined his offer. I honestly didn't mind the notion of going, I didn't mind helping my mom out, I just don't like the mall itself. There are too many people and not enough interesting shops.
I quickly looked at the mall map and quickly turned to the nearest men's clothing store. As we walked my brother, sister, and I passed several dress and jewelry stores. Most girls would have sighed and stared at all the dresses that we were walking by, but I just walked right past, not even taking a cursory glance in any of the stores direction. My brother was the same way, not that he even wanted to look at dresses and fluff. My sister, though, is not like us. She looked at the dresses and sometimes ran up to one of the displays and felt the material. She, unlike me, was more in tune with her feminine side. While she would spend fifteen minuets rifling through her closet choosing different articles to match and wear, I just grabbed a clean shirt, some comfortable pants, and a loose jacket.
I turned into the shops entrance and made a motion to my brother. He knew that it meant, "You can go choose some thing you want." When it came to clothes I wasn't as picky as my mom. I tolerated more logos than she did, so long as the shirt didn't have naked people or similar themes. He walked off and I walked to the back of the store and started looking at jackets. I like to wear guy's jackets, they are always so much comfortable than girl's jackets! If you have ever put on a guy's jacket, there is a lot of room. It doesn't constrict your arms or back, like girls jackets. If you put on a girl's jacket, you instantly ask yourself 'Why are my arms turning purple?' They don't have as much arm room.
I took some jackets off the rack, but dissatisfied with them, put them back. I looked through a couple more sections before finding one that looked promising. It was an all black jacket that went down to my waist with wide arms. I put the jacket on and moved my arms around. The inside was soft and it didn't cling to my figure, it was perfect. My sister nodded at the jacket. My brother came over, carrying a bunch of t-shirts.
"Do they fit, Max ?" My sister asked.
My brother nodded. "Yeah, they fit. You did the jacket you wanted Jaz?"
My brother's name is Maximus, but Max is his nickname. My name is Jasmine, but my brother and sister just call me Jaz. We nicknamed my sister, Emily, Em. We hadn't called each other by anything but our nicknames for as long as we could remember. We just wanted one syllable nicknames. They're, short , sweet, and to the point.
"Yeah I found one." I answered holding the jacket up.
"Now we just have to pay for these and get Em something." My brother said.
I nodded and we went to the register, payed, and left. I turned into the next store that looked like it would have what my sister wanted.
I didn't bother looking around much, I apart from a few pairs of jeans nothing really caught my eye. I looked for my sister, she had already found at least six shirts that she liked and fit. We went up the register and payed for the shirts. We left the store. I looked at my phone. It was eleven thirty, just about lunch time.
"You guys hungry?" I asked my siblings.
"Sure, I'll eat." Max answered.
"Yeah, I'm getting hungry." Em said.
"What you feel like eating? They've got just about everything here in the mall." I asked.
"Anything." My brother answered simply.
"Oh! Could we have pizza?" My sister piped up.
I shrugged and nodded. "Sure why not." I looked to my brother to see if he had any objections. He just shook his head and followed my sister toward the food court.
I looked at another mall map and saw that the food court was on the second floor. It shouldn't take to long to get there. We used the escalator and continued on our way. We were almost there when my sister started to babble excitedly.
She started pulling my hand, "Ohmygoshcomeonyouhavetoletmeseethisstore!" She said rapid speed.
I barely understood her and when I finally got what she was saying, I had been successfully dragged into a magic and fortune telling shop.
"I thought you said you were getting hungry?" Max asked, looking around.
"Oh that can wait. Besides when have you ever seen a store like this." Em answered, examining a deck of fortune telling cards.
I had to admit, I hadn't seen a magic shop like this one in a long time, but I never remembered seeing it in the mall. Dust covered some of the older items like a crystal ball and a small shriveled up hand.
"I see this young lady has good taste." A voice said behind me. I turned around. There was a young man with a small turban on his head and wearing an old magicians outfit, talking to my sister. She was holding a charm of some sort. I walked over to her. It was a small metal snake pendant.
"Oh, this? It just reminded me of the charm on my necklace." My sister answered.
"Oh, you mean this necklace?" The young man smiled coyly, holding up my sister's snake pendant necklace.
My sister's eyes flew from his hand to looking down at her front. Her hand a went to her neck and back down again. "How did you?"
"How did I what?" The young man looked at her with mock innocence, his now empty hands held up in the air.
My sister's hands once again flew to her neck and found her necklace.
"How did you do that?" My sister asked, clearly awed.
"A good magician never reveals his secrets, and I'm afraid that includes a pretty young lady like yourself."
We all had a pendent according to the Chinese Zodiac that corresponded to our personality. We didn't choose it ourselves, we had each other pick. I had a bracelet with an engraved tiger on the charm. My brother had a belt with a monkey engraved on the buckle. My sister had a necklace with a snake pendent. We almost never took them off.
My sister smiled. I was a little suspicious. "Pretty neat place you've got here." I said. "I haven't seen it in the mall before."
"My shop is new. Business has been a little slow, but it's getting there. Now would I be able to interest you ladies in anything? Perhaps a charm of some sort or a working crystal ball?"
I shook my head "No sorry." I grabbed my sisters arm. " We have to be going actually."
"Then allow me to give you a gift, for being the first to step into my store." The young man said.
"No, thank you." I replied, not unkindly. I motioned to Max and we started to head out.
"One wish, you will get one wish. It will come true, I promise you!" The man shouted.
"Ooh, I wish-"
I interrupted my sister and wished for the most outlandish thing, something that would never ever come true, I could think of. "I wish we could go into Bonanza."
I stepped out of the store, but not before hearing "Consider your wish granted!"
"That is what I get for letting myself be dragged into the damn magic shop." I muttered.
"What it was fun." My sister said.
"Yeah, you were getting hit on by a man older than me. Real fun." I said.
Max was staying silent the whole time.
"Hey Max, you feeling okay?"
"No, a little dizzy actually." He replied. We walked a few more feet before he collapsed onto the floor.
"Max!" My sister cried.
I ran over to my brother. I whipped out my phone and started to call 911.
People were passing us right by, did they not see us? My sister was yelling at me for something. I just focused on the dial tone. Suddenly I heard a faint buzzing in my head, causing it to hurt. I saw my sister collapse. I reached out to grab her before she hit the floor, the effort was futile as my vision went black.
...
Something was pulling my hair. I ignored it. It pulled my hair again, only harder. I swat out at the nuisance. I hit something solid and it gave a little grunt. My eyes flew open to see a large pair of nostrils. I gasped and scooted away as quickly as I could.
It was a black horse with a white blaze down its face. It reared a bit when I scooted away. I noticed that it had white marks that went up almost half way up its leg. I remembered that they were called stockings. I hadn't ridden a horse in many years, but I still remembered some of the markings the rules about how to handle them. One of them was, don't run at them or move to quickly in front of them. It makes them nervous.
"Sorry, shhhhhh, it's okay. You jus' startled me that's all." I soothed.
The horse calmed down and looked at me. I stood-up and brushed myself off. I was wearing different clothes than what I had in the mall. My jeans were the only article of clothing that had stayed the same. My black cotton t-shirt had been swapped for a black long-sleeved button up. And my shoes had been changed into a pair of black riding boots. A million questions went zinging through my head. The horse snorted, making me ask the questions aloud.
"Where the hell am I? First I'm in a mall, now I'm in the middle of a desert. Where are my original clothes? How are you here? Is this my wish coming true? Why am I talking to a horse... and now I am just realizing I am talking to a horse." I pinched the bridge of my nose, "I feel really damn stupid."
The horse snorted and turned to the side. On it's back was a western-style saddle and a note tied to the horn. I walked over and pulled off the note. When I opened it another piece of paper dropped out. I read the note.
Your wish has been granted, with a little extra bonus. When you opened this letter, I am sure a map fell out. On it is the locations of your brother and sister, as well as your home. The horse is yours to keep, mind you she is a very special horse. Enjoy your wish.
The Magic Man
P.S - There's two pistols in the saddle bags as well as some money to get you by.
Once I finished reading the letter, I unfolded the paper that had fallen out of the note. Sure enough, it was a map. On it, three small dots glowed faintly. Two of the dots were red, the other was blue. I assumed the red dots were my younger siblings and home was the blue. The "sibling" dots were in a place I had seen all to often, Virginia City. I went to pull out my phone, but only to find that it was nowhere on my person, only my wallet -that still had twenty dollars in it- remained.
"Well, this is going to be fun." I grumbled. The horse nickered. I got over the phone problem and examined the horse. It was a Fox Trotter mare, a beautiful horse. "I have to give you a name, I can't just call you 'horse' or 'girl' all the time." I pat the mare's shoulder. "Well you're very pretty. Look at that blaze on your face. It brings out all the black. How about...Clover."
The horse neighed and bobbed her head up and down, as if agreeing with the name. I smiled. "All right. Clover it is then. Now I just need to remember how to ride." I lifted my left leg and put it in the stirrup. Then I grabbed the horn and swung my right leg over to its stirrup. I picked up the reins and held them in both hands. Making sure to leave some slack on them.
"Okay, easy does it." I said to myself. I clucked my tongue and nudged Clover's sides and she started to walk. I clucked again and brought her to a jog. I was already bouncing like a sack of potatoes in the saddle. I held myself steady and tried to bounce in unison with Clover's strides. I urged Clover a bit faster and brought her to a quick-paced canter. After about ten minuets of this I looked at the map. We were a little less than a mile from the town. I mustered up my courage.
"Let's see how fast you can go eh?."
Clover neighed. I gripped the reins a little tighter and took a deep breath.
"Ya!" I yelled, tapping her flanks with my feet. Clover took off, I almost fell off the saddle, but I managed to stay on by grabbing a handful of her mane.
Clover whinnied, seeming to laugh at me.
I started to laugh too. "Go on and laugh. I know I must have looked pretty ridiculous."
The rest of the ride was smooth. Not once did Clover lose her footing or slow. I leaned against her neck to reduce the wind resistance. I could feel the muscles in her neck, they were slowly pumping, each pump transported a buzz of what felt like raw energy. It wasn't long until we neared Virginia City. Once on the outskirts of town, I slowed Clover down. She breathed deeply, perspiration was evident on her flanks.
I patted her neck. "Once we get into town, I'll lead you to a water trough." She gave a breathless nicker. Once I got into town, I headed to the first watering trough I saw. I clambered off the saddle and lead Clover to the water. She drank deeply. Once she was satisfied she lifted her head and shook. She sent water spraying everywhere, some got on me, but I didn't mind.
"You alright." I asked her.
She whinnied and bobbed her head up and down. I took the map out of her saddle-bag and opened it up. I was studying the map, trying to interpret where my siblings would be now, when I suddenly heard a loud "CRASH!" from a near-by building. I looked to see what building it was in. Of course, it was coming from the saloon. I ignored it, thinking it was probably just some drunks getting into a bar brawl. I heard another loud crash, then a scream, then loud shouts. I looked at the saloon and walked up to the door. Inside where the two people I least expected. It was my brother and sister. I ran back to Clover, careful to slow down a little when I neared her. I opened the saddle bag and took out the two pistols that the letter had spoken of. They even came with a belt and tied to secure the holsters to my leg.
"Why didn't I put this on before." I inwardly groaned as I buckled on the belt and tied the strings. I looked at Clover. "When I whistle, come get me okay?" She neighed and I ran. I prayed that the neigh was not just a coincidence and she had actually understood me.
So this is my first Bonanza fanfiction. Thanks for reading. Reviews of any kind, whether it be praise or criticism, is appreciated.
