Bonanza Fan Fiction
Based on Is There Any Man Here -Last Ponderosa Ma
I do NOT own the copyrights to the show Bonanza or any
Of that show's characters
This is my version of the Episode titled Is There Any Man Here. And I DID use quite a bit of the show in it. Alice I put in here earlier- as I did on my other fan fiction and Britta (my OC, got put in here too).
Scene 1
"Missy Jenny! Miss Jenny! I not know you come! Welcome! Welcome!" The china man needed a rope to tie him down when he saw who had ridden up to the house.
"It's good to be back." Jennifer's laugh and smile were contagious and her whole face brightly shined in the morning sun.
"Ben tell me Mista Harry come, not tell me I get pretty bonus." Hop Sing's excited energy could not be contained as he led the young lady into the house. "I fix up guest room, very special." Ben's employee began to walk away when Jennifer spoke up.
"Hop Sing?" Jennifer's voice was kind and gentle.
"Yes, Missy Jenny?" Hop Sing stopped and turned back to face the new visitor.
"These are Ben's wives aren't they?" Jennifer pointed to three pictures standing next to each other on the top of a dark brown table.
"Yes, Missy. Adam mother, Hoss mother and Little Joe's mother." Hop Sing didn't stop grinning a mile wide as he went upstairs and stopped to see Jennifer pick the middle one up and go to the mirror. This was one visitor that was more than welcome at the Ponderosa.
Jennifer looked at the picture - which was of Hoss' mother- and marveled how much the woman must have cared for Ben. Jennifer had heard Ben talking to her father about how Inger could have insisted on staying where they were instead of traveling out west while she was carrying Hoss.
Her support of my dream was something else. It was beyond anything I'd ever felt. Oh, don't get me wrong, Elizabeth would have supported me, but not while still carrying a child - at least that's my opinion .
Those words had been spoken during the man's first visit to her father. It was also words which had sunk in deep. She'd grown up seeing many spouses not supporting their husband's, or their wife's, hopes and dreams. Woman walking out of their marriages when their husband didn't make enough, men giving up on their wives just because they'd have the courage to speak up and make a very valid point, and both sides giving into anger and hurting the other just because they could. No, that was not the kind of marriage she'd have. Which is why -in the end- she'd left Tuttle Ames at the alter.
Tuttle James was an arrogant, obnoxious, self-righteous, stuck-up brat who needed to grow up. Turning back to the table she set the picture down and then picked up Elizabeth's. As she looked at the picture other words came to her mind's ear from the past -ones spoken to her father as she played near the water.
"Elizabeth was my kindred spirit of youth. We had so many dreams and I was her father's first-mate aboard his ship. I loved her dearly and never showed her my doubts on whether, or not, she could really handle my dream of living out west. To her credit, that wife of mine never complained and when we found out she was expecting we were thrilled. To lose her due to complications from childbirth. It was very difficult on my young heart.
Childbirth. One word and yet it held so much weight. Jennifer had thought over and over on the subject. At one point it had scared her so bad she'd ignored the possibility of having any -which was what drove her to go to become an engineer. That thought made her chuckle as her father about had heart failure over that decision, but her mother's stubbornness popped up in her daughter and Jennifer and won out. Now? The thought of having a child was no longer so scary and the young lady hoped she'd be able to have a couple -or at least one. If she died during the process? At least her grieving widower would have a child to remember her by. Setting the picture down she picked up Little Joe's mother's last as a she saw in her mind a long oak dining table came into view -it was one that Ben had sat at while he talked to them over dinner towards the end of his visit.
"Marie…" he'd shaken his head. "…I thought I was through with that part of my life. I had the ranch, I had my two sons and we were doing okay, but then I met her. Life -which had been so fulfilling- all of a sudden seemed so dull. Her spirit was bright, energetic and she didn't ever act as if she had to compete against my deceased wives. It was one of many things I admired about her." He'd chuckled and tacked on. "And she never cared that I was rich. I think that woman would have lived in a tent with me if she had to."
Live in a tent. That thought -while not appealing- had etched into a very sharp twelve -year old's mind the concept that you married someone you could respect. Someone who treated you like royalty even if you were a pauper. It was two more reasons why she'd broke things off with Tuttle. That man had neither qualities. If money wasn't around,
the mansion left and her looks deserted her, well, Jennifer just knew he would too. Hop Sing's cough got her head turned.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Hop Sing. I guess I got lost on memory lane." The china man laughed.
"It all good, all good. I do that too. Clothes put up, room clean, you go up anytime. It dinner time, I get you something to eat." He bobbed his head and hurried to the kitchen and Jennifer went upstairs to hang up her hat and then headed back downstairs.
Scene 2
Ben, Hoss, Little Joe, Candy and Jamie all rode back in from working with the cattle. They were hot, tired and hungry, but not so much so that they were rude to Hop Sing who came out just as they stopped their horses. Alice and Britta followed on their heels as they'd come across them on the men's way back.
"You come , supper ready, it hot." Hop Sing's order wasn't unexpected but Hoss -politely- told him to put it on the back burner as they had to put up the horses. When he headed towards the barn Hop Sing shouted.
"You want me to put Miss Pretty on back burner too!" Ben's eyes lifted out of curiosity.
"Miss Pretty?" Who on the earth was coming besides Harry -surely, that man wouldn't be labeled Miss Pretty.
"Jennifer Collier… Missy Jenny, you not tell me." But Hop Sing was smiling too wide for Ben to think his hired help mad.
"Jenny's here?" Ben grew excited as his cook assured him she was and then went into the house. It didn't take long for Ben to follow suite.
"Jenny!" Ben's eyes - and mouth - smiled as the young lady put a book behind her on the chair she was sitting at and then stood up. "Your father didn't tell me you were coming." Ben's hands clasped the young lady's as his own face refused to quit beaming. "I'm sorry we weren't here to greet you."
"That's okay." Jennifer smiled and assured Ben that Hop Sing had taken very good care of her.
"Come, let's go outside. I have got to see my sons' faces when they see Little Miss Jenny all grown up." Ben guided her outside without another word.
"Hoss and Little Joe, here's someone you'll remember." Ben laughed as Hoss and Little Joe grinned a mile wide themselves and gave their old friend a hearty welcome -hugs and all. The women were then introduced and Jennifer was more than thrilled to see the family's potential in expanding.
"You both have such fine men here." Jennifer stuck out her hand and quickly won the women over. "They've grown so much."
"You too, Jenny. You've turned into quite a lovely woman.." Hoss spoke sincerely and easily got a sincere agreement out of Little Joe.
"I think we all should go inside and eat the food I've been smelling the past couple of hours." Ben grinned and the rest of the group agreed.
"
