Hi! This is my first Bonanza fanfiction ever!!!! I wasn't sure if I should continue this or not, but if you like it, give me a review and I'll continue with the writing!

-Lgbabyblu

"Papa! Adam! You're home!" Little Joe Cartwright yelled, running out the front door to meet his pa.

Ben Cartwright smiled as he saw his energetic, 4 yr old run out of the house as he was just getting down from his horse Black. Before he could even put both his feet onto the ground, he felt something leap onto his left leg, while his right leg was still in the stirrup.

"Whoa cowboy! Let me get down first." Ben laughed, seeing his youngest son move back a little bit, but still bouncing slightly in anticipation.

"How was your day baby brother?" Adam asked, come up from behind and lifting his brother up into his arms.

"Adam!" Joe said with a laugh, throwing his arms around his older brother's neck.

Adam was 16 yrs old with dark, brown hair. He usually stayed home to watch his younger brothers, but lately his father had decided to yield to some of Adam's constant pleading and let him follow him to work off of the ranch.

"Little Joe! Come back here and eat your lunch before I whoop your behind!" Hoss yelled, waving a wooden spoon in the air.

Hop Sing had gone to visit his family in Virginia City for a few days, and Hoss had the responsibility to watch his younger brother for the a few hours. Although Hoss was only 10 years old, he was only a head shorted than his older brother Adam.

Ben didn't tell Hoss, but he had one of his trusted hands keep an eye out for them. He just wanted Hoss to feel like he had a role to play at home, because he knew his heavyset son wanted to help, but was still too young.

"I don't want any!" Joe protested with a firm look on his face.

"Adam, can you put the horses away." Ben asked, seeing his oldest son nod. "And you," He said, picking up Little Joe from Adam's arms, "Are going with me back into the house to finish your lunch."

"Awwww... Papa..." Joe groaned pouting with his bottom lip stuck out. "Can WE go to put the horses away? Please? I promise I'll eat."

"Well..." Ben said, looking at his son's emerald, green eyes that looked so much like Marie's.

He had never been able to say no to Marie and because of that, he's never been able to say no to Joseph who strikingly resembled her.

Lately he hadn't had a lot of time to spend with his younger son, and he felt really guilty about it. It was slowly killing him to hear his son beg to for his daddy and older brother to bring him along, but it was too dangerous for a young, energetic child to come along while they do ranch work. They all knew that between all the working and watching, Joseph could get injured or even killed.

With Marie gone, he knew how lonesome the 4 year old got, and decided just for once, he'd postpone lunch for a few minutes due to a young boy in dire need of his father.

"Well... all right." Ben said, seeing the glow on Joe's face after he agreed to his request.

Ben lifted his son and put him on Black's back. He turned his back to Joseph to give a grin to Adam and Hoss.

"You two go wash up and start on lunch. We'll be back in a few minutes." He said as he saw Adam's face turn from a grin to a frightened look.

"Joe! No!" Adam yelled out, running towards the horse.

He saw his brother take the reins of the horse and move them in all different directions, confusing the horse. At first, the horse only looked a little agitated, moving a little ways to the left and a little to the right, but then Adam saw the first leaping movements, showing that the horse was getting angry.

Ben had a confused look on his face. He turned around just in time to hear a terrifying scream of fright and his horse bucking, and throwing his front legs into the air. Everything seemed like slow motion. Ben froze as he saw his youngest son start falling from the horse and calling for him, making him have flashbacks of the death of his third wife Marie who died of an unfortunate riding accident.

Although his father was frozen in horror, Adam quickly went into action. As Joe was thrown off the horse, he was too late to break his fall but he was quick enough to reach the horse as its hooves hovered just a few feet above his baby brother's head.

"Whoa!" Adam yelled out, running to scoop up his brother just as the hooves came down to the ground.

Ben came out of his frozen state and grabbed onto Black's reins, pulling him down. When he got his horse to calm down, he turned his attention to his frightened sons, seeing all of their ashen faces. Guilt washed over him through and through. With his head bowed down, he took Black and Adam's horse Sport towards their stalls.

Adam held onto his baby brother as Joe cried on his shoulder, nestling his head in the crook of Adam's neck. Joe clutched onto Adam's neck for dear life and Adam was starting to run out of air. By then, they were a safe distance away from the horse, and his father was leading the horses away.

Adam looked at his father, seeing the proud man now with his shoulder slumped. It didn't look like the man he'd known for the 16 yrs of his life.

"Adam, is Joe all right?" Hoss asked, tugging on Adam's sleeve.

"I don't know. Let's bring him inside and see." Adam said, taking charge since his father didn't seem to be in the mind set to be helping Joe of any bit.

Adam rubbed Joe's back, hoping it would comfort his younger brother as he brought him to the settee with Hoss right behind his trail. Now that he was seated a bit, he got a closer look at Joe. Nothing seemed to be out of place, other than a few scratches and faint bumps that would soon be bruises. He brushed his hand back through Joe's hair.

"You all right Joe?" Adam asked in a gentle, yet concerned voice.

He pulled Joe off him a little bit to get a better examination of his younger brother.

"There's nothing broken is there?"

Joe's response was to lean in and hug Adam harder.

"Okay, okay. Everything's going to be all right." Adam said, wrapping his right arm around the back of Joe's head and left on his back.

"Yeah short shanks. Adam's gonna take real good care of you." Hoss said, sitting on the settee next to his two brothers. "I'm gonna take good care of you too."

Hoss stared at his younger brother, not hearing a word come out of him. He looked at Joe and then back at Adam.

"You think we should get Dr. Martin here? He's really quiet." Hoss said with concern.

"Well you can't ride alone. Either Pa or I will have to go get him." Adam said, stroking his Joe's hair.

The thing was... he didn't know what happened to his pa. His father would never leave one of them if they were hurt, especially the youngest of all of them. It confused him more that his pa didn't come in with them to check on Joe.

Please review with any constructive comments, because those comments will be the deciding factor in the continuation of this story!!!! And no... if you think I'm an adult, I'm not!!! Teens can like oldie shows too!