-Part 1-
The Cartwrights and and Abbie were riding around the land of the Ponderosa, something they did on a regular basis to watch for intruders who often trespassed on the land. They were just about to head back to the ranch-house when they saw something laying on the ground in the distance. It was too far away for them to see what it was.
"What is that out there, pa?" Hoss asked.
"I don't know, Hoss. We'd better go find out." Ben said, and they rode off in that direction. Once they got near enough, they could see clearly that it was a person, a petite young woman with blonde hair. She was wearing a white dress with purple flowers on it, and her hair was worn put up. She was clearly unconscious, lying on the ground.
"Well, I'll be." Hoss said.
"What in the...? Where did she come from?" Abbie said. Hoss and Ben got down off of their horses to check the woman for a pulse.
"She's alive." Ben said.
"That's all we need, somebody dying on your property. Enough people have it out for you as it is." Abbie said. Hoss picked the unconscious woman up and lay her gently across his horse. Then, he and Ben got up onto their horses, and the group rode quickly back to the ranch-house. They put the young woman in one of the guest rooms and waited downstairs for her to wake up.
"Who do you think she is, pa?" Hoss said.
"I don't know, Hoss." Ben said.
"What do you think she's doing on the Ponderosa?" Abbie asked.
"Well, we won't know anything until she wakes up." Ben said.
The young woman awoke to find herself in an unfamiliar room. Her first thought was that maybe she had been kidnapped, but she quickly dismissed that idea as she realized was that she was laying in a bed, and that she wasn't restrained in any way. She sat up, looking around the room. It was a nice room, plain, but definitely nice. She sat up, slowly getting out of bed. She may not have been kidnapped, but she was still in a strange place. The smart thing to do would be to be careful, and that was exactly what she planned to do. She walked out into the hallway and to the top of a staircase, from where she could hear voices below. She slowly walked down the stairs, which ended in a sitting area with a group of people, who all turned to look at her when she entered the room. Sitting at a small table were two men playing checkers, one of them young with dark wavy hair, the other a husky man, balding with bright blue eyes. In a chair was an older man, the oldest of the group definitely, with grey hair and brown eyes. On the couch was a dark-haired man with blue-grey eyes, older than the two at the table, but still significantly younger than the gray-haired man. On the couch, next to this man was a young woman with blonde wavy hair and grey eyes.
"Well, look who's awake." said the young, dairk-haired man at the table. He smiled brightly as he spoke. The older, gray-haired man stood from his chair and approached her.
"It's alright." he said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder, "You're safe here." Something about the way the man spoke to her told her to trust him. He seemed to be speaking sincerely.
"Here. Come sit down." he said, gently leading her over to a chair and setting her down. She looked around the room, wide-eyed at the group of strangers.
"It's alright." the husky man said, "Ain't nobody gonna hurt you." His blue eyes were so bright she could swear they actually sparkled, and, though he had a deep voice, he spoke so gently to her. She decided that these people couldn't possibly be enemies. In fact, it seemed like these people had rescued her. She took a deep breath, calming herself.
"Can you tell us your name?" the gray-haired man asked.
"My name is Sarah. Sarah Collins." she said softly.
"Sarah. My name is Ben Cartwright. These are my sons, Adam, Joe, and Hoss. And that's Adam's fiancee, Abbie." the older, gray-haired man, apparently named Ben, introduced. Little Joe was the youngest-looking one with the dark, wavy hair who was sitting at the table. Hoss was the husky man with the bright blue eyes who was sitting at the table with him. They were the two who had been playing checkers when she had entered the room. Adam was the oldest looking of the three sons with dark hair and blue-grey eyes who was sitting on the couch with the blonde woman, who was, obviously, his fiancee, Abbie.
"Mr. Cartwright, where am I?" Sarah asked.
"You're on the Ponderosa. It's the ranch my boys and I own." Ben said.
"I'm in Nevada, then?" she asked.
"Yes, that's right." Ben answered.
"Why? Where did you come from before?" Abbie asked.
"San Francisco." she answered. Everyone looked at her in surprise.
"San Francisco?" Little Joe said.
"Then, how did you get here?" Abbie asked.
"Well, she didn't walk all that way. That's not possible." Adam finally spoke up.
"No, I didn't walk. My family and I came here from San Francisco by wagon." she said, "But..."
"Where's your family now?" Joe asked. Sarah took a deep breath, then began to speak.
"My father was a doctor. But, he wanted to come out here, to Nevada to mine for silver. That was the idea, anyway." she said, "So, we packed up everything on a wagon and left. I didn't want to leave. I was learning from my father. I was his apprentice. But, he got the idea that we could strike it rich, so we packed up everything and left. For a long time, everything went fine. But, then... We came across some men on the trail, two men. Or, I should say, they came across us. The men tried to rob us. We told them we'd give them anything they want, to please just let us go, but... but, the men told us that they couldn't let us live because we'd seen their faces. They... they killed my parents. I just ran... I was so scared and I just ran and didn't look back. I ran for so long. I didn't even know where I was. Finally, I just couldn't run anymore. That's all I remember. Everything just went black after that." She buried her face in her hands and began crying. By this time, Hoss had walked over to stand beside her and Ben.
"I'm sorry." she sobbed.
"Now, you've got nothin' to be sorry about." Hoss said, placing his large hand gently on her back.
"Hoss is right. You've done nothing wrong. If you need to cry, cry. It's completely understandable after what you've been through." Ben said.
"Thank you." she said. After a few minutes, she finally calmed herself and the tears stopped.
"Sarah, you can stay here for as long as you need to." Ben said. She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide.
"Are you sure that would be alright? I don't want to be a burden to anyone." she said.
"Of course it would be alright." Ben said, "You'll be safe here."
"You saved my life. And, now, you're offering me a place to stay. I guess I'm really in no place to refuse, am I?" she said, smiling, just slightly. It was the first time they'd seen her smile since she'd arrived.
"But, how will I ever repay you?" she asked.
"There's no need to repay us." Ben said, smiling.
"But, you're being so generous." she said.
"It's fine." Ben said, laughing slightly, "Hoss, will you show her to one of the guest rooms, please."
"Alright, pa. Come on, Miss Sarah." Hoss said. He led Sarah up the stairs and down the hall to a room. It was the room that she had been in when she first woke up there.
"Thank you, Hoss. You and your family are being so kind to me. I don't know how to thank you." she said.
"Now, don't you worry about that, Miss Sarah. You just let me know if you need anything." Hoss said. Sarah smiled.
"Alright." she said, "And, Hoss. Just Sarah. Please." She smiled gently at him, and he felt his heart skip a beat.
"Alright... Sarah." he said after a moment. She smiled as she watched him leave the room.