"All right, let's find your nightgown," Ben said pulling it out of one of the trunks. "Turn around and I'll help you with your buttons." He reached out and taking her shoulder he turned her around and opened the buttons down her back. "Now you head over there and put this on," he said encouragingly, putting the gown in her hands.
Sally did as she was told and came out with her wadded up dress in her hands.
"Here, I'll take that from you," Ben said as he started folding the dress up. "Now you know I'm new at this, so if there's something important I'm forgetting, you'll let me know, right?" He reached over to pick up the brush on the dresser.
"Lizzie likes to have her hair brushed sometimes, do you want me to braid it for you?'
"Yes," Sally said sadly.
"You're missing your mama right now, aren't you?" Ben asked, taking a seat on the bed as he started brushing the tangles out of her hair. "I'll bet she's missing you too, but she'd be glad to know how well you're doing with us." Ben held out the brush. "Put that on your dresser and bring me something I can use to tie off your braid."
Sally came back with a ribbon and Ben used it to finish off the long braid he made down the back of her head.
"What's next?" he asked. "How about we wash your face? We had a long dusty day on the road." Ben said, as he pulled her to the washstand and picked up a cloth. Sally stood there with her face upturned and her eyes closed as he washed her face for her. Ben smiled at how young and innocent she looked, nothing like the difficult child she had been all week.
"What else?" He asked.
"Mama sometimes let's me put on some of her lotion…" Sally suggested.
"All right," Ben stood and finding the bottle, he poured a little bit on her hands and began to massage them. "Now you smell as pretty as your mama," he said. "Now hop into bed." He held up the covers for her to climb under.
Sally stood for a minute continuing to rub the lotion into her hands and then wiping them on her nightgown, she came over and crawled into bed.
"So, do you want a story or do you just want to talk?"
Sally shrugged.
"Let's just talk, then, all right?"
Sally arranged the pillows behind her back and nodded. Ben sat down on the bed next to her and put an arm around the pillows behind her head.
"I know you're missing your mama, are you still feeling bad about what happened this morning?" he asked.
Sally started crying and put her head down.
"Yeah, I know," Ben said, wrapping his arms around her and rocking her back and forth. "But you apologized to your mama and you really are sorry; your mama knows that. So, you know what you need to do now?"
"No," Sally whispered her voice hitching with sobs.
"You forgive yourself and you remember the lesson. Do you know what the lesson is?"
"Don't go in the corral with off limits horses?"
Ben smiled, "Well, that's the particular lesson in this case, but the bigger lesson is that the adults around you are looking out for your best interests and you need to obey them even if you don't agree with or understand why they are telling you what they are."
Ben patted her arm, "Do you remember people telling you to stay away from that horse?"
"Uh, huh."
"Do your remember who?"
"You and Adam," Sally took a deep breath and whispered, "and Lizzie."
"So three people, and you disregarded all of their warnings. So, the next time, you'll listen, right?"
"Yes," Sally said starting to cry again.
"Your mama's going to be okay. She's forgiven you and you're going to work on forgiving yourself and we move on from here. Right, honey? Sometimes learning valuable lessons can be painful, sometimes that pain comes from inside, like you and the guilt you're feeling right now and sometimes it comes from outside, like me and my father's belt."
Sally looked up at him quickly.
"Well, not putting myself in danger was a valuable lesson, the same one that you learned today. I forgave myself for disappointing my parents and scaring my mother, and you," Ben said, putting his finger on her chest, "are going to forgive yourself for your part in your mother getting hurt. Notice I said part, your mama played her part too."
Ben pulled her close for a few minutes and listened as her breathing quieted.
"Now, are you going to be okay in here by yourself? You know where everybody's bedroom is, so if you need anything, even if you just get scared or lonely, any one of us will be happy to help. Don't be afraid to wake one of us up, do you hear?"
"Yes, Ben," Sally said smiling slightly.
"You're a good girl, Sally, and we're all really glad that you're staying with us. Lie down now and close your eyes," he reached out to stroke her head. "Tomorrow we'll go to town and check on your mama, all right?"
Sally nodded and closed her eyes.
Ben left, closing the door softly behind him.
Adam followed Lizzie into her bedroom and started pulling down the covers on the bed as she went behind the screen to change into her nightgown. He took a seat in the rocking chair and waited. When Lizzie came out from behind the screen he smiled.
"What are you smiling at, Papa?"
"You, sometimes I am just so proud of you I think the buttons are going to pop right off my chest."
Lizzie giggled, "I'd like to see that."
"Well, keep making me proud of you and I suspect you will see it. Come over here."
"You're not still angry with me about how I acted this morning?" Lizzie asked with a blush.
"Hmm, mmm, you turned things around pretty effectively, I'd say. The bullfighting game was just the right thing to do today with Sally. I know it was hard to listen to Sally tell her stories of her afternoon when your afternoon was a little rough," Adam kissed the top of her head, "but you did fine. Let's get you into bed."
Adam patted her leg. "I will read you any story you pick out."
"Jack the Giant Killer!" Lizzie said gleefully.
"Okay, not any story," Adam said, tickling her. "We both need to get some sleep, unless you want to start it tonight and work our way through for the next few nights."
"Papa," Lizzie asked as she climbed into bed, "Did you know Great Grandpa?"
"Yes, I met him when I went back east to study."
"No, I mean Grandpa's papa."
"Oh, no, I never met Grandpa Cartwright."
"He seems really strict."
"I supposed he was, but from the stories your grandpa has told about him, he was a good papa though."
"Was Grandpa strict like that too when you were growing up?"
"Well, he was pretty strict when we were coming west. Of course, that was only with your Uncle Hoss, I was perfectly behaved, never got into trouble, not once," he winked at her. "Nope, I didn't get in trouble for reading instead of doing chores or going on long walks without asking permission, and of course I never talked back." He arched an eyebrow at her and Lizzie laughed. "Then after we moved here and settled on The Ponderosa, Grandpa got less strict with your Uncle Hoss and Uncle Joe, of course, since I remained perfectly behaved. He got to be more like he is now."
"I'm glad you're not strict like Great Grandpa," Lizzie said, staring off into space thinking.
"I don't need to be, honey. First of all, you're a girl and girls are notoriously better behaved the boys. Second, you've never once gone to the docks by yourself, have you?" he asked sternly.
"No, Papa," Lizzie laughed.
"Have you any intentions of going to the docks by yourself?" he asked even more sternly.
"No, Papa," Lizzie laughed out again.
"Promise?"
Promise," Lizzie giggled. "Cross my heart," she said drawing a finger across her chest.
"Good, then you won't be giving me cause to be strict like Great Grandpa Cartwright."
"Will you read to me about Jack now?" Lizzie asked after a few moments.
"Sure," Adam said, standing to get the book.
Adam made his way downstairs to find Ben sitting near the fire.
"Did you get her to bed?"
"Yes, after a few pages of Jack the Giant Killer. I am sometimes surprised that she can sleep after hearing stories like that," Adam laughed.
"She's a brave little girl and she knows we're safe from giants here," Ben smiled.
"She thinks Great Grandpa Cartwright was too strict with you," Adam said taking a seat in his chair.
"That's sweet of her. I disagree, but it's sweet none the less."
"What was your father like, Pa?"
"He was a good father, but distant. That's how fathers were supposed to be at that time. They set a good example, going to work and taking care of the family, giving us a good walloping when we needed it, but the other things were left up to our mothers. He was strict, not too strict, but strict, he was raising boys after all."
Adam laughed, "That's what I told Lizzie. She said she was glad that I wasn't as strict as your father and I told her I didn't need to be since she's a girl."
"That is probably true, at least I hope it is. I know I was tough on you boys, but I hope I can take it easier on Sally, be more like you are Adam."
"Well, thanks, Pa,"
"No, I mean it. You're strict in your own way, but you have a gentler touch than my father did or than I think I did. You are also closer to your daughter than I was to you and your brothers."
"I'm not sure you could have been gentler as we traveled across country. Thing were just too dangerous. You eased off once we were off the road and you had a lighter touch with Joe."
"Too light in your eyes, as I believe you told me a time or two," Ben said smiling.
"You did let him off the hook for things you would never have let me get away with, Pa," Adam accused, "but Joe's a good man, so maybe that was not such a bad thing, unfair, but not bad," Adam laughed.
Ben laughed, "I was tougher on you. The curse of the eldest I suppose. My brothers used to tell me the same thing: how much I got away with compared to them."
"Well, I guess the trade off is that we eldest don't have to share our pas like the ones that come along later do."
Ben got quiet and stared at the fire.
"Thinking about Sally?"
"Yes, she's still pretty upset about what happened this morning, understandably, and I'm not sure how she's going to do up there in her room all by herself. I told her to come and get any one of us if she needed to."
"We'll get her through this, Pa. You were pretty strict when we were growing up, but I can't remember a time when you weren't also pretty good at chasing away the fears and upsets that your children faced. I think Sally is going to be just fine. And as far as you being a distant father, I've got not complaints in that area."