Summary: In an Alternate Reality where Adam didn't leave the Ponderosa, Ben and his bride return to the ranch and discover news that is cause for a triple celebration: two weddings, an engagement...and another not totally unexpected surprise. But will a specter from the past snatch away the future for one of the Cartwrights?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third story in the Bridal Bonanza series, in which I attempt to hitch up all the Cartwright men.
The following story—in fact, the entire Bridal Bonanza series—is effectively an Alternate Universe-type...I happen to be of the opinion that any fanfiction is automatically AU, and so the precedents set in the TV series on which it's based aren't necessarily so.
The changes in my universe: the six seasons of the show span three years in "real" time and Adam hasn't left the Ponderosa. That means that the ages of the Cartwright clan members are: Ben is 53 (he just celebrated his birthday prior to the story), Adam is 32, Hoss is 26 and Joe is 20. This story is set mostly after the events of the first part in my Bridal Bonanza arc, and makes references to that first two stories of the series (Silver & Gold and The Steeplechase), but it is a stand-alone tale regardless.
Please be aware that there are parts in this story that are adult in nature...however, I will put a warning when those parts are about to surface,so that if you don't want to read them, you may skip that chapter if you wish.
DISCLAIMER: The following story is a fanfic—that is to say, it's a work of fiction written by a fan without any kind of recompense. It is meant for entertainment purposes only, is in NO way official to the Bonanza continuity, and the recognizable characters from the television series are not my intellectual property. Original characters in the story, however, are creations of mine, as is the story itself. If you wish to archive this story, please ask my permission.
Reviews are welcome—just please be polite.
WHAT'S IN A NAME? by Pykkadilly (which is really how my pen name is SUPPOSED to be spelled!)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1862 – Kansas City, Missouri
The travel-weary and unkempt pair of men were sharing a bottle of overpriced whiskey in a saloon that was one of the few in town that would allow the two of them to sit at the same table without insisting that the man with the negro blood in him be segregated to a special section. Neither man, however, was in a mood to celebrate their togetherness—almost three weeks earlier, they'd lost out on a thousand dollar bounty thanks to a quartet of interfering do-gooders...the Cartwrights of Nevada. If those sanctimonious S.O.B.'s hadn't butted in, they'd be in a much higher-class dive, surrounded by pretty saloon girls and having themselves a hog-killin' time.
"Boss," the mixed-blood man said suddenly. Wayne Harkness grunted an acknowledgment. "Boss...there's a woman coming over."
"Oh?" the master bounty hunter responded, grimacing. "I didn't think that this saloon had any girls available that didn't mind that you're not white." Still, Harkness made an effort to straighten up in his seat and looked around, his eyes widening as he saw the appearance of the woman that his partner Carter had been warning him about.
She was certainly no saloon girl, as she was dressed in the clothes of a well-to-do lady and was probably just a few years older than the profession preferred its adherents to be. Her apparel screamed quality, as did the set of matching sapphire bracelets, necklace and brooch.
"I've been told that you are a bounty hunter," the female said tightly. "Is this true?" Harkness nodded, unable to actually speak—a lady in a saloon was unheard of...especially in a saloon like this one.
"I have need of a bounty hunter," the woman said. "May I sit down and tell you about it?"
"Please do." It was Carter who spoke, since Harkness was still unable to get around his surprise that a lady was in a saloon. The lady nodded at Carter and took a seat, producing an oval frame and placing it on the table so that the men could see the face of the person pictured within it.
"I am searching for my—" Whatever the woman had been about to say was cut off by Harkness grabbing the portrait and letting loose with a color stream of invectives.
"Boss!" Carter hissed. The master bounty hunter fell silent, then glared at the lady sitting at his table.
"You seem to recognize her," the would-be client nodded towards the picture.
"Sure, I recognize her!" Harkness snarled. "The witch helped four men steal a thousand-dollar bounty away from me!" The lady tilted her head, her eyes narrowing.
"Then you know where she is?"
"Damn straight I do, may she rot in hell!" cursed Harkness. The lady then removed the brooch she was wearing, placing it on the table.
"This should be worth a minimum of a thousand dollars," she said evenly. "I want you to find her for me. Take the brooch now and have it appraised—you may even sell it, if you wish. I will pay you more if you but take me to where she is." Harkness and Carter exchanged glances. It looked like the bounty that busted outside of Virginia City would actually pay off after all. However, it still rankled a bit that they had lost the bounty in the first place, and Harkness didn't want to reward the woman in the portrait.
"What d'you want with her, anyhow, lady? She come into a fortune or something?" the bounty hunter asked truculently. The woman's face was wreathed in a smile that would have frozen the souls of the two men at the table, had they actually possessed them.
"You could say that, sir...she has, indeed, come into a fortune...a very bad fortune."
"C'mon, Carter," Harkness said, scooping up the brooch. "We're gonna escort this lovely lady to wherever she's staying an' then find out when the next stagecoach for Virginia City is leaving. We don't want the pretty little lady—" Here the mercenary also picked up the oval portrait and waggled it as he spoke, "—to miss out on her fortune, now, do we...?" All three of the conspirators laughed as they left.
THE FIRST WEEKEND of September in the year 1862 was a memorable one for the newest schoolteacher to Virginia City, Nevada. Mercy Harris had managed to escape the machinations of the Virginia City Ladies' Temperance League and their designated suitor for her, one rather boring solicitor by the name of Barnabus Lathrup III. In doing so, she had propitiously run into Hoss Cartwright, the man that she found herself increasingly attracted to—he had been in the company of two of her young students, Naomi and Gabriel Callahan, with whom Mercy had claimed to the League and Mr. Lathrup she had a scheduled tutoring session.
The pretty, jet-tressed twenty-one-year-old accompanied Hoss and his newly-expanded family to the International House for ice cream, where he enthusiastically informed her about how his Pa had married Cassandra Callahan, the manager of Callahan Station to the east of Virginia City. The newlyweds had taken Zach Callahan along with them on their honeymoon trip to the East Coast, leaving the Cartwright brothers to help incorporate the remaining Callahan minors into the family.
Looking at and listening to Hoss as he proudly spoke about the newest additions to his family, Mercy couldn't help but think he would be a fantastic father to his own brood. She also couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't married and responsible for several children already—were the women of Nevada blind, deaf and dumb? Then she smiled to herself and conceded that she ought to be thankful that nobody had snatched up Hoss already, or she wouldn't be able to be here in his company.
Hoss had walked Mercy back to the little house a few streets away from the café, this time with Mercy speaking at length about how she loved teaching in the thriving town, as well as about some of the drawbacks to children developing negative records during their school year, citing an example of how one local girl had been responsible for putting a skunk in the schoolhouse to delay the end of year exams. Even though it was now at least thirteen years after the fact, the record about her behavior still existed and had served to prevent the student from obtaining a scholarship to the college in Reno. Hoss had been rather troubled by the story, but Mercy attributed that to his being so very empathetic and tenderhearted when it came to other people. It was a characteristic that had endeared him to the schoolmarm.
The following Sunday had revealed even more about the biggest Cartwright brother: she had been rescued by the man yet again—this time he had taken an active role in occurrence—when they'd met outside the church right after services. Just as they'd greeted each other, Mrs. Weatherbee (the chair-lady of the Temperance League) had suddenly appeared with that pokey lawyer from the day before in tow. It was only due to Hoss' quick thinking that Mercy was saved from hours of boredom...he invited her to his family's ranch and she accepted with alacrity.
She found herself delighted with everything about him—from his smile to his laugh to the way he would ask her to explain the definitions of certain words. Mercy just loved knowing that Hoss was interested in expanding his vocabulary—he was never afraid to ask to have the meaning of words he didn't know explained to him.
Back at the main house of the Ponderosa, Mercy found herself enjoying the company of not only Hoss but his brother Joseph—whom many of the people in the town referred to as "Little Joe." Personally, Mercy couldn't immediately tell why the young man would be called that—he was about six feet tall, although she supposed when one compared him to his brothers, he was the smallest of the trio...barely.
"Little Joe" or not, it was very clear to Mercy that the youngest of the Cartwright men was quite the natural charmer. He certainly cut a rather dashing figure with his curly dark brown hair and its chestnut highlights as well as his intensely jade-colored eyes...but Mercy merely smiled politely at him. She preferred sandy blond hair and eyes the color of the summer sky.
Rebecca Callahan, stepsister to the Cartwrights, had come to join the conversation at that point, but then realized that Naomi was missing from the group. The pretty blond discovered her little sister hiding as an extreme reaction to assuming the worst had befallen her twin brother Gabriel (who was being disciplined by the eldest of the Cartwright brothers.) Mercy volunteered to look after the two children when it became clear to her that Becky wished to talk privately to the trio of men.
Gabriel and Naomi, now that they were together again, were as engaging and bright socially as they were academically. Mercy found it a joy to talk to them and almost didn't notice when the adults of the household returned.
Almost. When Hoss stepped into the house, the dark-haired teacher looked up with a smile, basking in the warmth of the grin he aimed her way. She remembered to tell the cook, Hop Sing, that the duck he served was wonderful, in spite of the fact that Mercy could barely recall what it tasted like—she was too focused on the big man sitting at the table. She was especially impressed when Hoss was able to persuade young Gabriel to only give up three of his cookies instead of giving his new older brother all of them as a self-imposed punishment for disobeying Hoss earlier that morning.
After the meal Hoss took Mercy on that promised tour of the Ponderosa, showing her the immediate house and the nearest buildings, as well as some of the various aspects of the horse and cattle operations, and then finally capping it with showing her one of his favorite places by the lake. Mercy was entranced by the vista.
"Oh, Hoss—it's so...so..." the pretty school teacher was at a loss for words as she cast her emerald eyes around the pristine area, the overwhelming feeling of tranquility and immediate evidence of life in all its aspects escaping her ability to speak.
"It's...so..." Mercy tried again, and failed to find the words to convey her feelings. She instinctively turned to the man with her, leaning forward to look at him while those selfsame emotions were still fresh within her. Hoss, at that very moment, turned towards the young lady with him, leaning down to emphasize that she should try to think of some words.
They came together and froze for a moment, suddenly realizing that...oops, hey—they were kissing each other. In that moment sky-blue eyes blazing with unexpressed desire looked deeply into the depths of emerald green ones glowing with abiding love and peace.
They both surprised each other when their mouths met, at first wide-eyed with shock, but then the sweetness of the contact prompted them to close their eyes and savor the thrilling contact. Never before had anything felt so completely right for Mercy than when Hoss put his arms around her and pulled her close, his lips raining kisses all over her face, wandering from her mouth to her eyelids to her temple, her cheek and to the pulse beating wildly beneath her ear. It was all Mercy could do to cling to him, one hand clenched against the broad strength of his back and the other raking up into the sandy silk of the hair on his head.
"Mercy, aw, Mercy..." he murmured, cradling her close as he nuzzled the side of her neck. Then he chuckled. "I don't know if I mean to be calling your name, or begging for mercy from the feelings I'm getting with you in my arms." Hoss pulled away from her so that he could look into her face, and she could see his eyes twinkling at her in a warm azure glow.
Mercy knew it for sure then: she loved Hoss. Her smile dazzled and her own eyes blazed green fire as she enthusiastically kissed the man again, this time passion prompting her to be exceedingly bold. For an endless, ecstatic moment, Hoss was equally bold, answering her advances with equal reaction, pressing her closer and closer still—then suddenly stopping, laying a cheek atop her head.
"Mercy, darlin'...we have to stop." he told her in a somewhat shaky voice.
"Why?" Her whole body was humming with a feeling that made her feel lighter than air. The woman felt as well as heard Hoss chuckle.
"We need to stop 'cuz you're a lady," he told her gently, although his arms around her tightened, "...and I want you to stay that way." She sighed but didn't protest when Hoss released her and picked up the reins to the buggy, busying himself with driving her back to town. Mercy satisfied herself with sliding close to his side and hugging his muscular arm while laying her head on his shoulder for most of the ride back to town. The second Cartwright brother helped her down from the buggy and escorted her to the door of her house.
"There's a dreadful lot of work as needs to get done on the Ponderosa, but I'll try to visit with you this week," Hoss promised. "If I can't get away, though, I'll see you Sunday after church for sure." She smiled at him and murmured an assent. The tall man's cherubic face crinkled in an answering smile and he brought her hand up to his lips to kiss it before he reluctantly released it. Mercy watched him get into the buggy and waved goodbye when he nodded to her, her heart full to bursting for love of him.
Her dreams that night were of dancing with Hoss, waltzing around and around with him until they both fell down—and when they fell, they landed in the lush green grass that surrounded the lake he'd shown her. Mercy laughed and threw her arms around his neck to pull him down to her...and woke up with a smile on her face the next morning.
Her life was wonderful...and nothing could spoil it.
The Palace Hotel, Virginia City, Nevada
The trio at the dining room table looked decidedly odd, but they had paid for their rooms an entire month in advance, so the maitre d' didn't ask any questions, he simply assigned them a table and dispatched a waiter to service them.
"Have you news for me?" the elegant-looking, middle-aged lady asked, unfurling her napkin and placing it on her lap. The scruffy-looking man with the reddish-brown hair shook his head.
"Not yet," he told her, "Kind of hard to ask after a woman without showing the picture you have..."
"If you show that picture," the lady countered, "She will immediately know that I am here for her...no, you have to ask after her without it...at least for now. We only arrived here yesterday, so there is plenty of time to track down where she is."
"It would help if we could remember her name," the third man, the one who obviously had Negro blood in him, said.
"Yeah, well," the other man replied sourly, "We won't forget her face, thanks to that bounty she lost us, but neither of us was paying attention to what she was called. That's why I'd like to use the picture to ask around."
"Give it a week," the lady told him. "If you cannot find out where she is by that time...then I will give you the portrait and you may use it to make your inquiries." Just then the conversation was delayed by the arrival of the waiter to take their order.
"Good afternoon, folks," the server greeted them in a professionally friendly manner. "The lunch special is fresh trout with scalloped potatoes." He glanced around the table. "Are you all here for the Harvest Festival celebration?"
"Harvest Festival?" the lady echoed inquiringly.
"Virginia City is celebrating an exceptionally productive year of crops and cattle." the waiter explained. "All this week there are events around the town, but the big day is this Saturday, when there will be the Steeplechase and the social right after. Everyone in town will be there."
"Everyone?" repeated the mahogany-maned man.
"Yes, everyone from around the area." the waiter confirmed, nodding.
"I'll have the special." the lady told the waiter. The two men opted for steaks. The waiter hurried away to get their orders in.
"You heard the man," the female at the table said. "Everyone from around the area will be attending this Steeplechase and the social. If you cannot find her amongst the people there, then I'll make sure you have the portrait to make your inquiries."
"Sounds good to us, eh, Carter?" the brunet man asked. The halfbreed's lips twisted.
"Sure does, Harkness." he answered. The lady lifted her glass of water.
"To just desserts, gentlemen!" she toasted. All three glasses clinked together.
Sunday, September 14, 1862 – Virginia City, Nevada
Mercy couldn't wait for the sermon to end, eager to see Hoss after not being able to for an entire week. It was all she could do to take her time and serenely return the greetings of those students of hers who waved or called her name. Finally she was walking towards the biggest of the Cartwrights, smiling as she drew near to where Hoss was speaking to one of the local women...one Miss MacGruder, if Mercy recalled the name correctly—the very same person from the parable about permanent educational records. The brunette was speaking when the teacher was within earshot.
"Well...go ahead...ask me already." the young lady prompted a bit impatiently. Hoss reached out a hand and took one of hers within it.
"JJMacGruderwillyoumarryme?" he blabbed all in one breath. The female's mouth hung open.
"What?"
"JJ...will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Hoss repeated, shattering Mercy's world into little pieces. The schoolmarm saw the brunette's cocoa-colored eyes grow wide as they fastened onto Mercy's face. Mercy couldn't speak for the agony that lanced through her at the moment, her eyes filling with tears as she was brutally reminded that she had no right to expect a happy ending to her personal story.
"Oh no." Hoss Cartwright's would-be fiancée breathed. Hoss seemed to stiffen and then whirled around to see that Mercy was there—and that she'd heard what he'd just asked of Miss JJ MacGruder.
"Oh no." Hoss echoed, a look that Mercy identified as a combination of remorse and pity leaping into his eyes. "Mercy!" The last word she heard him utter sounded urgent, but the school teacher wheeled away and fairly ran from the scene, bumping abruptly past Joe as he and Becky were drawing near, causing the youngest Cartwright brother to stumble back a step or two.
Mercy had headed as far away as she could with all the haste she was capable of in her state of agonized shock, knocking and bumping into people without so much as a "by your leave". She couldn't understand it—she loved Hoss, she knew she did, and she had been so utterly sure that he had feelings for her, too. She halted under a cottonwood tree, leaning against its trunk and panting in an effort not to scream and wail her heartbreak out loud, and her mind turned back to the time she had shared with the big, gentle man by the shores of the lake last week.
Mercy knew with a deep sense of shame that—had Hoss asked it of her at that time—she would have gladly chucked away all pretensions of being a lady and lived with the consequences. But he hadn't asked. She'd been sure at the time that he hadn't because he was a consummate gentleman...but now...after hearing him propose to JJ MacGruder...now it was obvious that he had just been making sure that he was free to get engaged to the woman he really loved.
"Miss Harris?" a voice behind the suffering schoolmarm asked solicitously. She blinked to insure that no tears were building up in her eyes and turned around...to face her—the Jezebel who was the object of her Hoss' affections. For a moment Mercy seriously considered scratching the hussy's eyes out...but then she recalled her upbringing and drew in a deep breath.
"How may I help you, Miss MacGruder?" Mercy asked with icy courtesy. JJ blinked as the evil daggers the teacher was willing her way were almost palpable.
"Please allow me to explain what you thought you overheard," the taller woman said earnestly. Mercy clenched her teeth and her hands but didn't move.
"Thank you, Miss Harris," JJ nodded as she spoke. "Now...first of all, I am so sorry that you heard it at all, because clearly this has hurt and upset you. Secondly...Hoss proposed to me by accident." The raven-maned woman stared at the brunette, almost forgetting her emotional wounds.
"...'By accident'...?" echoed Mercy a bit scathingly. "Forgive me, Miss MacGruder, but you're a tall, strong, pretty woman who has grown up in a similar way to Hoss...how can he have proposed to you...'by accident'..?" JJ's lips twisted.
"Because he thought he had to save me from my Pa," she replied, humor warming her voice at the absurdity of the whole situation. "You see, Miss Harris, Hoss will do just about anything to help a body in need—so he asked Joe to propose to me, but I turned Joe down when he did that yesterday. Joe was supposed to let Hoss know that I don't need their help, but Joe forgot...so Hoss, still thinking that I needed help, proposed to me today." JJ coughed a bit. "I...uh...I turned Hoss down, too, I'll have you know."
"Why would you do that?" Mercy demanded. "Hoss Cartwright is the nicest, kindest, most handsome man in Nevada!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Mercy's face turned red, and she had to wonder what in the world was she trying to do—make the other woman change her mind and accept? The brunette she was facing merely grinned at her discomfort.
"For the very same reason I turned Joe down, Miss Harris." JJ told her. "Neither of them are at all in love with me...they're only offering out of a sense...of chivalry."
"Chivalry?" Mercy echoed again, hope beginning to bloom in her broken heart...after all, Hoss was the kind of man who was extremely empathetic towards others, even people who got into trouble...like Miss MacGruder, to judge by whatever her present situation may have been, not to mention her past escapades with the former school master. Come to think of it, Hoss had seemed awfully absorbed by that story when Mercy had related it to him some time ago.
"Are you telling me that Hoss proposed because he feels sorry for you?"
"Yes, Miss Harris...he's sorry for me and nothing else. And...I said no."
"I think you're being foolish for saying no." Mercy told her honestly.
"But...'no' is still no," JJ replied, smiling. "So...don't doubt anything that happened between you and Hoss...or the way you feel about each other." Mercy's emerald eyes looked warily at JJ. The taller young lady sighed.
"Listen," she said, "I can't stay—my Pa is expecting me home as soon as possible. Just...go talk to Hoss. He's really anxious...and I can tell he really loves you. Please don't make him suffer because he let his sense of chivalry overcome him." The school teacher hesitated, then looked around, finally spying Hoss in the distance. The Callahan-Cartwright family had set up their picnic blanket and Mercy could see that Naomi and Gabriel were trying to get their biggest brother to eat some of the food, but he just shook his head.
"I...I..." Mercy began to respond, then turned to JJ and reached out, squeezing the brunette's hand. "Thank you, Miss MacGruder." Then she hurried off to join the man she loved. On the way there, she was stopped by Mrs. Mary Bendix, little Billy's mother.
"Miss Harris," the older woman said, "I'd be obliged if ya'd accept this cheese pastie after all the trouble mah boy caused ya." Mercy looked down at the little tin plate with the baked pastry in it.
"Of course I will, Mrs. Bendix!" the schoolteacher answered brightly, taking the plate. "If you'll excuse me—I'll be right back!" With that, Mercy hurried off, not even waiting to hear the mother thank her. The dark-haired young woman approached the place where the Cartwright-Callahan brood was picnicking, drawing near as little Gabriel was talking to a rather morose Hoss:
"Hoss..." he said plaintively, "...if you're not gonna have that johnnycake, can I have it, then?" The big man gave the boy a twist of his lips that was supposed to be a smile and handed over the cornbread he was holding without a protest. The blond boy eagerly reached for it, but found it plucked from his grasp by Adam. Gabriel turned shocked sapphire eyes up to meet probing hazel ones.
"I think you're taking unfair advantage," Adam told him. "However...there's something that you forgot to say, don't you think?" The little boy's brow furrowed a moment.
"Oh...right..." he recalled, brightening a bit. "Please?" The eldest of the Cartwrights nodded down at him.
"Much better," Adam agreed, giving the lad his johnnycake. "There you go."
"Thank you," Gabe said, then bit into the bread.
"You're welcome," Adam replied dubiously, turning his hazel regard onto his middle brother. "Hoss...aren't you going to eat?"
"No." The monosyllabic answer was rife with depression. Frowning, Adam was about to respond when another voice interrupted them:
"Does this mean that I can't interest you in this cheese pastie, then...?"
Hoss turned his head and saw Mercy standing close by, holding a plate that had a puffy-looking pastry in it—no doubt the cheese pastie that she spoke of.
"Mercy, Hoss doesn't like—" Joe began to say, but felt a sharp shove on his right shoulder. He turned and glared at Becky, who glared back at him. Adam hid a smile, realizing that he didn't need to be concerned about his bigger brother any longer.
Hoss got to his feet, his eyes and face full of awe-struck hope. Mercy smiled at him and held the plate out. Without a word, the big, tall man plucked up the food and ate it in three bites. The jet-tressed young lady touched him on one forearm.
"Let's go get some lemonade," Mercy proposed. Hoss followed her away.
"But we have lemonade here, Hoss...Hoss—OW!" Joe called and, once again, got jabbed in his tender right shoulder. "Becky, what the heck is that for? That hurt!"
"You..." Becky grumbled at Joe, "...have no sense of romance, Joseph Cartwright."
