Hi, everyone! This is my first Bonanza fanfic, and I'm writing it for a very special occasion. Today is the birthday of one of my favorite fanfic writers, and one of my favorite people to hang out with in the entire world (as well as being my mentor), KayValo87. I love her so much. She's the one who introduced me to Bonanza, and so this fanfic is dedicated to her. It's mostly from Little Joe and Adam's points of view, and it makes reference to some Bonanza episodes I've seen, or a couple of KayValo87's stories- "San Francisco Holiday" (episode), "The Meaning of Forgivness" (fanfic about Hoss, not out yet), "Blood on the Land" (episode)...and some other ones that I can't remember. Anyways, please rate and review, and KayValo87-have an AMAZING birthday!

"Now, boys," Ben said gruffly, "I don't want to hear of you three causing any trouble while I'm down in San Francisco, d'ya hear?"

"Yes, Pa." Little Joe smirked. "I'll keep an eye on everyone." Ben chuckled. Little Joe needed someone to keep an eye on him! Adam and Hoss at least didn't go looking for trouble. Little Joe, it seemed, found it at every corner.

"I'll be taking Hop-Sing with me, and Joe's volunteered to do the cooking." he continued. To Adam (who was standing next to him), he muttered, "I'd advise not being home for supper, or at least not any supper that involves Little Joe using sharp knives." Adam chuckled under his breath, and agreed. Ben mounted his horse. "I won't be gone long." he said. "The cattle rancher's conference should be done in a few days, though why they're having it at the Barbary Coast is beyond me-"

"Why no one listen to Hop-Sing? Hop-Sing tell all you-Barbary Coast no good!" The cook cried, riding up on another horse. "Mister Ben go to Barbary Coast, get shanghaied again!" All of the Cartwrights chuckled. "We'd better get going," Ben murmured. He looked back down at his sons. "Be good, all of you." he said. They nodded.

"Come on, Pa," Hoss smiled. "We're always good." Ben snorted, and then headed out, with Hop-Sing and a few of the hands following. As soon as the company was out of range, the brothers turned to each other. "So, what're we doing before supper?" Adam asked.

"I'm going to check on Chub. He's been acting a little finicky lately." Hoss replied. Adam nodded. "Little Joe, how about you?"

"I'm gonna go into town for a little while. Get some stuff for dinner, and maybe chat with Roy a little." And with that, he was off, swinging up onto his horse, and headed out for the town.

*V*I*R*G*I*N*A* C*I*T*Y*

By the time Little Joe arrived in town, it was half-past one. He figured he had a while until supper, since the Cartwrights didn't eat before five. He stopped by the sheriff's office to chat with Roy, and then, after going shopping a little, headed back to the Ponderosa. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he started to hear the sounds of metal clinking, horses neighing, and men shouting. Joe paused for a moment, wondering if he should investigate the strange noises. "Curiosity killed the cat-and Joe's an awfully skinny cat." Adam always said. This time, he felt that he couldn't help himself, and he headed up the hill after tethering his horse to a tree nearby. The climb took him awhile, and he couldn't help but wonder if he shouldn't just go back down the hill and forget about it. The view at the top of the hill dissuaded that notion, however. Across from Little Joe, on the other side of a large plain, was an old mine. It was one of those ones where the minerals that could be mined were too deep for anyone to risk their lives mining them. The mine was near the outskirts of the Ponderosa. Men were swarming in and out of it, carrying pickaxes, sticks of dynamite, and other things that could be used in a mining operation. "What are they doing with that old mine?" Little Joe mused to himself. That wasn't all. Little Joe's sharp eyes picked out a sea of white behind the mens' camp and behind all the activity surrounding the mine. "Let's move it, boys!" a sharp voice bellowed. "We've got to get the sheep away from the mine and through this here countryside by next Tuesday!" And with a sweeping gesture, the man pointed towards the Ponderosa. "There's no way in heck that they're taking their sheep across our land!" Little Joe fumed angrily. "Didn't we already prove we wouldn't take such nonsense with Drummond?" In his frustration, he was about to charge down to the camp and ask the leader who he thought he was, taking his sheep across private land. Then, he took a deep breath, raised his gun, and shot three times into the air. (this was a signal between him and his brothers that let them know that the one shooting was in trouble or that they found something important. Little Joe's was three shots, Adam's was two, and Hoss's was one-which corresponded to the syllables in their names.) Everything was quiet for a moment. Then, one of the men from the camp glared into the trees. "Look! A spy!" he yelled. Little Joe turned to run-and ran straight into a frying pan swinging towards him with the force of an angry bull-or, for those on the wrong end-with the force of an angry Hoss. Little Joe dropped to the ground. He was out like a light.

*T*H*E* P*O*N*D*E*R*O*S*A*

By the time Adam returned to the house from doing his chores around the ranch, Hoss was inside reading the paper. His hat was lying on the top of a catapult that looked like it had hastily been put back together. Hoss had broken it a couple days before his sixteenth birthday, when Adam and Little Joe had used it to throw cake at him. Needless to say, the catapult couldn't survive the full power of an angry Hoss, but the boys had rebuilt it later, and now it just reminded them of a good memory-mostly. Hoss was using it to store his hat instead of the usual hat rack for two reasons. One, the "bowl" of the catapult was big enough to hold his large hat, and two, the hat rack was still being mended after Little Joe tried to use it as a battering ram.

"Any good news?" Adam called out as he entered.

"No, sir, unless you like hearing about the guv'nor of Mississippi losin' his toupee during his speech." Adam laughed. Hoss was right-there wasn't any good news. He opened the kitchen door to inquire after Little Joe-only to find that the person he was looking for simply wasn't there.

"Hey, Hoss...shouldn't Little Joe be making supper right about now?"

"Why, yes he should-but you know Little Joe. He probably got stuck in town looking after some girl. Or, I should say, looking at her."

"Still, it's getting late. Shouldn't one of us..."

"Don't worry about Little Joe. He's plenty good at taking care of himself." Suddenly, the two men heard three shots ringing through the air-Little Joe's signal. "Well, maybe now..." Hoss began, and the two grabbed their hats, and headed out the door.

So, what's going to happen to Little Joe? Will Adam and Hoss find him in time? Sorry this chapter ended on such an evil cliffe, but I'm kinda pressed for time. Please rate and review (again, this is my first Bonanza fic), and the next chapter should be up soon! Thanks!

~1monster2