Alright, I'm afraid that this chapter will stray a bit from Philly and will concentrate more on the relationship of Rose and Hoss.
I do not own Bonanza, just the characters Rose and Philadelphia.
Hoss smiled to himself when he heard the hoof beats. Philly was probably making a stir just over ol' Virginia City. Slowly and gently he let the horse' hoof that he was cleaning drop to the ground and straightened up.
"Hoss!" His pa called. Hoss grinned and jogged around to the front of the house. Ben Cartwright was smiling as he helped his daughter down from the wagon. "There you are. There's some one who I think you should meet." Hoss' brow creased in confusion.
"Who?" Hoss asked. Almost on cue, Rose hopped down from the back of the wagon and strode over to shake Hoss' hand heartily.
"The name's Rose. But y'all can call me Rosie." She announced. Joe and Adam snickered but Hoss' eyes lit up with interest.
"Well I'm Hoss. Nice ta meet'ya." He answered. Rose whistled and took a step back.
"You sure is a big feller, ain't ya?" She laughed. Hoss nodded.
"Yup. I get it from my ma, I think. I couldn't be from my Pa. He's too tiny."
"Alright, alright. Maybe we could take up this conversation inside. It's about time for supper." Ben Cartwright cut in, laughing. All in a merry mood, they entered the house.
The stars shone bright over the Cartwright house. Hoss, Philly, and Rose all stood outside, having a fun time finding shapes in the stars.
"Oh! See that frog?" Rose yipped excitedly. Philly laughed and nodded. Hoss smiled. For some reason he didn't feel much like laughing. In fact he felt downright sick. But he didn't want to rain on Philly and Rose's parade like Joe and Adam had. After a half hour more, Philly began to yawn.
"Philly, you ought to go in to bed." Hoss scolded. Philly rolled her eyes then kissed him on the cheek and started to run inside, but stopped just before closing the door behind her.
"Oh, Hoss? Could you show Rose where she's to sleep. It's closer to your room than mine." She asked, then ran inside. Hoss chuckled to himself. Then he turned around to Rose.
"I'll be." She said, a laugh in her voice. Hoss' face reddened.
"What?" He asked, a little too quickly.
"Nothin'. I was just thinkin' that this is one close family." Rose said soberly. Hoss was intrigued.
"What's your family like?" Hoss asked as the two began walking. Rose laughed, but Hoss could tell that she wasn't really happy. "Sorry. Didn't mean to pry." He apologized.
"Oh, you're fine. You're pa's my employer so you might as well know where I came from." Rose rationalized. More to herself than to Hoss. "My ma was a drunk. Odd isn't it? She would drink until she couldn't sit up. Eventually she drank herself to death." For a second she paused, took a deep breath, and smiled at Hoss.
"Miss Rose, if you don't want to..." Hoss began. But Rose waved him off.
"She drank because of my uncle. See, after my real father died when I was three, she married his brother. My uncle was a horrible man. He brought 'aunties' right into our home. He wouldn't let my mother even enter the room she had once shared with my father. About a week after my ma died, I fifteen, he lit out and never came back. That coyote took every bit of money I had to my name with him." A dangerous light came into Rose' eyes and Hoss felt sure that he wouldn't ever want to be an enemy of this woman. For some reason he thought of Philly. She always had a way to rub some people wrong.
As quickly as it had come, the violence in Rose disappeared.
"Once my uncle was gone, I figured that I'd set out myself. That was about a year ago. Now I guess I'm stayin' here. And I wouldn't say I've done so bad." She finished. Only now did she realize that they were outside a door. Hoss opened it for her and motioned for her to enter it.
"Breakfast will be at five o'clock. Good night." Hoss said then closed the door behind him.
I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Now someone pointed out to me my error in the first chapter about Adam's mother. I'd like to apologize here for it and just say that I was only stating what my sources had told me. Now that I know the truth I won't make that mistake again. Again I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and the ones that will come.