: Author's Note: Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. I've been really busy lately and hadn't had any real inspiration. All the stories I have to finish just be patient they will get done.
Anyway.
I'm a big fan of Bonanza. So I thought it would only seem fit to write a story about it. It is one of my main interests. I love old westerns and this one ranks up there.
(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)(%)
It was nearly midnight on the Ponderosa. The horses were bedded down in the stable and the cattle were grazing in the pastures. The men who worked the large ranch were either in their beds fast asleep or were getting ready to hit the sack.
Ben Cartwright sat at his desk doing his books by lamp light. It had been a rough day for him. He had lost two head of cattle on the north forty. They had gotten caught in some rocks and had to be put down. Little Joe, his youngest son, had fallen and hurt his ankle, forcing him to go back to the house and rest up. That left Ben with two hands, his older son Hoss and his ranch hand Candy.
When he had come back to the house, Hop Sing had had dinner ready but he wasn't ready to eat. That made his cook very unhappy. He went back cursing in Chinese. His sons had argued after dinner about something trivial. That had set his teeth to gritting. He didn't yell at his sons often but this was one time he couldn't suffer it any longer. He let them have it.
The rest of the night had gone off without a hitch. His sons had retired after a few hours in front of the fire. Candy had disappeared to his bunk house, undoubtedly to get caught up on some reading or writing or whatever he did after dinner. Hop Sing had retired to his room for some sleep. That man spent so much time in the kitchen he rarely got out.
At the moment it was quiet in the house. Ben heard a bed upstairs squeak as one of his sons turned over in his bed. His pen scratched against the paper in the log and the clock ticked on the wall. He could hear coyotes howling in the distance.
This was the sound of the Ponderosa and he wouldn't change it for anything.
It reminded him of the days he had been building it. Adam had been a boy and Hoss a toddler. Little Joe hadn't been born yet but Ben had been married to his mother. He had the living room and the kitchen set up and they all slept in there, screens dividing their bedrooms. Not long after Little Joe had been born and Ben had lost another wife. He vowed to take care of his children. That's how the Ponderosa became the way it was. It was a family home.
He looked around the massive living room that tripled as a dining room and his office. The boys had made this place theirs, as they always did everything they owned. There were some bridles on the couch that Joe had been working on, Hoss had a book on the coffee table and Candy had left his knife on the mantle from where he had stood whittling this afternoon.
If his last two sons left, this place wouldn't be a home anymore. Adam was gone and would never return. That was a loss he would never get over. Candy hadn't taken his son's place but he made it easier to work the ranch like it had when Adam had been there.
As he sat thinking about his son, Joe walked down the stairs in a robe. He didn't look as if he'd been asleep. The hair on the back of his head was sticking up as if he'd been lying on his back looking at the ceiling. He came into the living room and sat on the chair watching the fire as it roared in the fireplace. It was a cold November night and the fire was the only thing keeping the living room warm.
"Have you ever wondered what would happen if one of us got married?" Joe asked.
Ben sat back in his chair and looked at his son. Joe was looking away from him which meant he was in deep thought. "I have. I think about it every day. I'm not opposed to it. I would enjoy having grandchildren."
"I figured that, Pa."
"What brought this on, Joe?"
"I was just thinking, Pa. that's all."
Ben looked at the picture of his family and ranch hands on his wall. If he added a daughter-in-law and then grandchildren, he'd be a happier man than he was at the moment.
"Mr. Cartwright! Mr. Cartwright!" Candy's voice rang through the quiet night like a bell at a church.
Both Ben and Joe jumped up and ran outside. Candy and another ranch hand were kneeling over one woman while another stood to the side with a toddler in her arms. A third ranch hand was holding the reins to a palomino to keep him from running.
"What happened, Candy?" Ben asked.
"I was walking around the stable, making certain everything was locked up tight, much like I normally do. When I rounded the corner, I saw a horse coming from town with two riders. This woman here reined the horse in and fell as she was getting off. She has a busted lip, Mr. Cartwright. She's been abused."
Ben looked up at the other woman as she stood quietly in the background. As he got a closer look, he saw that both women were Native American, or rather one was full-blooded and the other was half-Native American and half white. The baby in her arms was darker making it at least a third Native American.
"Get her into the house." Ben ordered.
Candy did as he was ordered. He lifted the woman from the ground and carried her into the house. He placed her on the couch and looked at her closely. "Mr. Cartwright, she's just a child, no more than eighteen."
Ben turned to the other woman who had followed them. The baby was asleep in her arms. She was looking at them as if they didn't scare her, which was a good thing. Now that he got a good look at her, he could see the resemblance of the two young women.
"Excuse me. What is your name?" he asked kindly.
"I am Flying Eagle. This is Black Bear and that is my sister Running Wolf." She replied.
"I'm Ben Cartwright. This is my son Joseph and my ranch hand Candy. Do you mind telling us what happened?"
"Our father beat Running Wolf after finding out about her marriage and Black Bear. He found her with her husband, Chief Red Eagle of the Lakota Sioux, and snatched her away. Red Eagle came searching for her and Father killed him right in front of us. Tonight Father went after Black Bear and Running Wolf attacked him. After she knocked him out, we ran. We ended up here, looking for help. Please, Mr. Cartwright, don't let our father take us back."
Joe looked at Ben. "Pa, we can't let their father get hold of them. If we do, there's no telling what will happen."
Ben looked at the sleeping baby. He didn't seem to care that his mother and aunt were in danger as long as he got to eat, sleep and do his business. He reminded him of his sons when they were that age. They were so cute and dependent on him.
"Pa?"
"Mr. Cartwright?"
He looked up at his son and the man that was like a son. They were looking at him expectantly. "Joe, let the ladies sleep in your room for tonight. We'll get Doctor Henderson out here tomorrow to check on this young woman to make sure she is okay. After that, we'll figure out what to do."
"Yes, Pa." Joe moved to get extra blankets so he could sleep on the couch.
"Candy, will you take the young ladies up to Joe's room so they can get some rest?"
"Sure, Mr. Cartwright. Follow me." Candy picked Running Wolf up again and carried her upstairs as Flying Eagle followed with Black Bear.
Ben watched as Joe made his bed on the couch. "I'll get Hop Sing to make the guest room tomorrow. Can you handle being on the couch tonight, Son?"
Joe looked up from the arm rest. "Yes, Pa, I can handle this for tonight. Let's just make sure we find the man who did this. They're just girls, Pa."
"I know, Son. I know. Well, I'm going to bed. Try to get some sleep." Ben patted his son on the shoulder and went up the stairs. He ran into Candy as he was coming down. "Are they settled?"
"For the most part. Flying Eagle is fretting over Running Wolf." Candy said. He scratched his head. "What are we going to do, Mr. Cartwright? We can't let their father come and take them back. That's going to lead to murder. It already has actually."
"We'll figure it all out. First I think we need to get the doctor up here to check her out them we'll look for the Sioux to return the girls, if they want to go."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea. What I know of the Sioux is if they find the women with us, they will try to slaughter us as well."
"We'll make sure that doesn't happen. Now go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Candy walked past his boss down the stairs and out the door.
Ben looked around the hallway and made a mental note to baby proof the house once again before he disappeared in his room.