I do not own the copyrights to Bonanza

Coming Clean

Authoress' note: This is an AU story NOT cannon only in the sense Captain Stoddard remarried before Elizabeth passed away. However; she is not actually in this story -only mentioned.

Second A/N... I am posting the rest of the story because there is a chance I may be going out of town. Please, even though it is clear right off the bat what the captain's motive were, read the whole story.

Story Begins

Scene two

"So?" Ben asked once the family was done eating and he, along with Adam, were sitting in the living room as he'd already requested his other sons go upstairs as the talk did not concern them in any way, shape, or form. "What is the truth?"

"Do you mind a long winded answer? I can't paint you a picture but I'd like to tell you more than a one sentence reply; no matter what you end up thinking." Charlotte was relieved when Ben and his son saw no problem with that. "I always loved walking the shorelines near the lighthouse. It was my safe haven. A place I'd go to whenever I felt I needed protection. Trust me, the storms of the sea and the coast were gentler than the storms inside the Painter home." She chuckled and smiled, "It freaked others out when they saw the captain's boat come up out of the water as if Morgan had steered it up from the ocean's floor and forced it to break out onto the surface." Ben hadn't been on that particular trip; however; there had been plenty of talk.

"Didn't it scare you?" Adam asked in amazement as Charlotte appeared to think it an every day occurrence.

"Why? They were safe. Besides…" Her eye narrowed. "It along with the dancing figures formed by the fog were less threat than what lived behind our home's closed doors." She'd long ago disowned her father's family and her mind began playing scenes from the past and ignored the shocked look on Ben's face and the questioning ones on his son's.

"If I told you once, I've told a thousand times that is the wrong lamp to use!" Charlotte's grandfather shouted as if his granddaughter had committed some unpardonable sin. "Use your brains!" His fists had swung more than once and Charlotte had considered it a blessing she'd managed to run out of the house and down the steps before any of her bones were broken.

"I didn't realize he was so abusive." Ben spoke softly.

"Morgan did." Charlotte snapped and then quickly apologized. "Sorry, his death is still a fresh wound." She then admitted even he hadn't realized the extent at first. "That night, as many evenings and nights before, I walked the shore lines watching out for boats. It wasn't an uncommon sight for the sailors to see me standing on the rocks waving at them. They joked I was their guardian angel. Morgan, and his crew, weren't the only ones I waved to…" She sighed. "However; it was his that seemed to go on a regular basis. And it was he and his men I waved to the most." Ben knew that to be true as he'd seen it with his own eyes.

"Aye, little one, you best be careful on these rocks." Captain Stoddard grinned and laughed as he'd set anchor when he had his men depart the ship sooner than expected due to bad weather. "Not safe for you to be out on a night like this."

"I didn't fight him taking me home at that time for he did not realize the truth of my situation and I had no where else to go." Charlotte twisted her hands and continued as Ben sat in silence listening closely and seeing the captain's second wife in a new light. "Anyhow, that night no ships were sailing and I walked the shorelines holding no desire to go back up to my grandfather's home." No one spoke as Charlotte took a deep breath. "I sensed someone behind me and I turned prepared to strike out if necessary."

"Easy, Charlotte, it's just me Jack, Captain Stoddard's quartermaster."

"Jack hadn't expected to see me out so late at night and was only out himself due to insomnia hitting him hard." She chuckled. "I think he really would have preferred to be asleep."

"I bet." Was Ben and Adam's only reply.

"Turns out Morgan had asked him to come and see if I'd go talk to him, only Elizabeth's father hadn't expected anyone to come calling until morning."

"You can't go back, Charlotte." Jack could see, because of beams from the light house, the young lady was shaking hard and it wasn't due to cold weather, plus her shawl slipped and before she could pull it up he'd seen what made his blood boil. However, his voice stayed calm not revealing what he'd witnessed. "Captain would see you tonight I know it, and he wouldn't be touching you for sure. He's not that kind of man."

"Elizabeth's father's reputation was strong, I knew that…" Charlotte looked between Ben and his son. "I would be safe enough in his home, but to visit someone that late of night seemed iffy to me and I hesitated."

"Go on." Ben was easily connecting the dots as to why Elizabeth's father and married someone so much younger than himself, but wished to hear more from the captain's widow.

"Do you mind if we continue talking tomorrow evening when you get back?" Charlotte asked softly. "All of a sudden I am very much drained."