Forever Yours

Bonanza Fan Fiction

I do not own any copyrights to the show Bonanza

Scene 10

One Goal in Mind

Andrew is the farthest thing from my mind as Adam invites me to go riding, I politely turn him down. Somehow I don't think he is surprised when it's his father I go riding with. I have to give Adam credit, he holds no grudge over it.

Ben and I have finished taking a ride in his buggy. I am surprised I have felt no pressuring signal that has come before telling me that there's not much time left. In the back of my mind I make plans on what to say, or do, should I have to get to cover. But, consciously, it's only our talk of what interests us, our childhoods and such, we concentrate on.

"So, you have no sisters?" Ben asks me as he helps me down when we are done with our ride.

"Nope, six brothers and no sisters," I laugh and say I wouldn't know what to do with any girls. "Probably hand them a gun and tell them to go set traps. Maybe, things would be different if my brothers had been stronger, but their health wasn't that great; well, all except the oldest. So, Dad needed all the help he could get with any work he got."

"You're mother never taught you how to sew?" Ben is dumbfounded at the things I begin to tell him.

"No. Oh, I can sew on a button. Maybe, put a patch onto something, but even that would be pushing it. One of my brothers liked cooking so much he took over the kitchen as he got older and now he's a chef." That was no lie; I do have a brother who is a master cook. I'm not sure what I'd do if I was stuck in the middle of a feminine household." That makes Ben shake his head, but his eyes are smiling wide.

There is still plenty of daylight left and we sit on the porch sharing our views on life, our interests, and our family. I tell him as much as I can without giving him a reason to haul me off to the loony bin.

"You're something else." I begin to get the inkling I need to leave and begin to stand. Ben asks if I can stay just a little longer.

I want to tell him I can, but I don't. "I have to get back home."

He insists on giving me a ride, I compromise and tell him he can take me as far s the mill. Thankfully, he does not argue.

Once we arrive at the water site he throws me for a loop by pulling me close. "I've just met you and yet I feel as if I've known you forever."

My mind tells me to argue with him, to push him away, but I only tighten my own grip and whisper, "I know."

"I have to go." I get out of the buggy, but not before allowing Ben to pull me into his arms and give me a good-bye kiss. The depth of which shakes me to the core. How I wish I didn't have to leave.

"You'll be back?" Ben's voice and eyes fill with concern I may not. After losing wives and a number of prospective ones, I find I can't blame him.

"I'll be back." I walk out of his sight and unclasp the bracelet with one goal in mind. I will, somehow, find a permanent way back to the eighteen hundreds, back to the Ponderosa, and back to Benjamin Cartwright's side.