Joseph, My Son

Chapter 1

All canon characters belong to Paramount Pictures and David Dortort. I make no money from this work.

This story is the first sequel in "The School Marm" AU and takes place immediately after Hoss and Prudence's wedding ceremony.

Both Little Joe and Adam had been more nervous than their brother Hoss at his wedding ceremony, but everything came off without a hitch and then they both began to relax. Their father, Ben Cartwright stood happily while the new couple greeted the guests and joined in the toasts. They had no intention of staying longer than was minimally proper at the reception. Hoss and Pru quite obviously wanted to get started on married life as soon as possible. They drove the few miles down the road to the house that Adam had built for them in their new buckboard, serenaded by the sound of the empty cans and old shoes tied on the back by Joe.

Now the party really got into full swing. Besides the music, there was all the food that Hop Sing had prepared, and he had outdone himself. First of all was the side of beef that had been turning on the spit since early that morning. Then there was ham, fried chicken, multiple salads, breads and, of course, wedding cake. Ben had put out several pitchers of champagne punch, plus wine, spirits, and sarsaparilla for the youngsters. Naturally, the ranch hands had the day off and their contribution to the festivities were some exhibitions of horsemanship, rope tricks and bronco busting.

Among the guests were Mr. and Mrs. Williams and their niece, Eleanor. Mr. Williams was as much a legend in Virginia City as was Ben Cartwright. He and his father had gone out to California during the gold rush of 1849 and had a small strike at the beginning of the next year. The William's sold their claim, and while the father opened a liquor importing business in San Francisco, Tom Williams headed up to what would become the Washoe bonanza shortly thereafter. Once more, luck shined on him, and he laid stake to a sizeable silver vein.

Again, he sold his claim and with the money gathered from the gold and the silver, he too opened a business importing liquor and wine to Virginia City. Being a forward-looking and enterprising young man, he realized that there would be a market for other spirits than just whiskey and rum in due time. He was particularly interested in the production of gin and Russian vodka. Both were easy enough to distill, although getting the juniper berries needed for gin would be easier if there was a close availability of juniper trees, so he eventually bought a plot of land and planted several acres of the tree.

Williams had become rather wealthy, especially in comparison to most other inhabitants of the region and quite naturally was involved in the political and civic life of Virginia City. He had served on the Town Council and currently oversaw the town's Budget Committee and was seriously thinking about running for mayor. He had been married for almost thirty years to Anna Crawford and had raised a family in the town. In fact, his youngest, Sophronia, had just gotten married two weeks before in an equally impressive wedding celebration.

Their house, one of the largest and most elegant in town, (if not the whole territory), would have been empty with the last of their children grown, had not Anna's niece arrived from Sacramento. Eleanor was the only child of Anna's brother, Andrew Hood, and his wife Leandra. Andrew was a lawyer and had also served as the Chief Council for the city of Sacramento. Therefore, It was quite a surprise when it was discovered that he had contracted tuberculosis since he did not frequent the poorer parts of city where the disease was rampant. It was suggested that he go to Denver to the new sanatorium there, but he was in the middle of several important cases and had refused. Now his health was very poor and, in all likelihood, a trip that rigorous would likely kill him. Instead, he and Leandra had decided to send Eleanor away to Nevada to protect her health.

Mrs. Williams had been very eager to introduce her niece to the important people Virginia City. She had made a "brilliant" match for Sophronia with the only son of a wealthy rancher from Reno, and she hoped to engineer one for Eleanor. The only young man who would do, of course, would be Joseph Cartwright, the youngest of the Cartwright sons.

Joe had been asked to introduce Eleanor to the younger citizens of the town when she arrived, but with the activity surrounding Hoss's wedding, he really hadn't had the opportunity yet. In any event, the young woman was occupied with organizing herself in her aunt and uncle's home and obtaining suitable clothing for life in a small town. Her cousin Sophronia's marriage had been the first social event she had attended in Virginia City and the Cartwright wedding was the second. She was anxious, therefore, to make a good impression. Her clothing was as stylish as one could obtain on the west coast, and although all the dresses and gowns had been worn at least once previously, they were as good as new. A little bit of fresh ribbon, some lace, perhaps a few seed pearls around the high collar and no one would know that the dresses hadn't been just finished by a fine French seamstress.

Eleanor was not "stuck up" as some of the younger girls would likely imply. She was, however, the product of an upbringing in a wealthy city family. She understood perfectly well that she was expected to find an eligible young man of her class or better to marry, and she was not unhappy at the prospect of finding just such a man and settling down. She had never considered finding a profession and working. It just wasn't done by a woman of her background. Teaching was respectable for someone of the middling classes, like Hoss's bride, Prudence Whitman, as was being a companion to an older gentlewoman or a governess in a well-bred family. Of course, once married, such a young woman would retire to raising her family and caring for her husband and home. No other female occupation even approached anything proper, and it was best to avoid those women altogether.

Before the wedding ceremony, Mrs. Williams had nearly hog-tied Little Joe so that he could meet Eleanor and hear all about her. The young woman was obviously quite pretty and well-mannered, and he definitely wanted to learn more about her, but not at that particular moment and not from her very determined aunt. He had excused himself from the scene so that he could perform his duties to Hoss as his Best Man, but now that the post-ceremony celebration had begun, he had the time and most definitely the inclination to seek out Miss Hood and get to know her better.

She was a beautiful young woman with blond hair, green eyes and a "peaches and cream" complexion. She was petite but shapely, just as Joe liked a young woman to be. She was standing with her aunt and uncle, who were happy to step away when he turned up by her side.

"Please forgive me for rushing off before the ceremony, Miss Hood. Standing up with Hoss for the wedding was not only my duty, but naturally, my joy. That is, until now, that I can properly introduce myself to you," the young man said with every ounce of his well-known charm.

"I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance as well," she responded as she held out her gloved hand. Instead of shaking it as was considered normal in that part of the world, Joseph bent over the hand and placed a gallant kiss on her small knuckles. She laughed lightly.

"I didn't expect to find such manners on a cattle ranch!"

"You'll find that the Ponderosa is much more than just a cattle ranch, Miss Hood. And we Cartwrights were raised to have good manners, thanks to my father. He expected the best from my brothers and I, and that included knowing how to behave like gentlemen. Would you care for some punch?"

While the youngest Cartwright was giving his undivided attention to the lovely newcomer, Adam had been waylaid by another wedding guest; Prudence's younger brother, Teddy had just turned sixteen and hadn't quite made it out of his awkward period yet. The poor boy had an equal amount of pimples and peach fuzz. He was approaching six feet and Adam estimated that he'd probably grow an inch or two more and rather rapidly, at that. Teddy barely knew where his limbs were going, nearly knocked over one of the elderly Carey sisters and had spilled a glass of sarsaparilla on Hop Sing. The eldest Cartwright son thought sardonically to himself how at that age the mothers of many of the girls in school with him were already trying to rope him into a marriage with their daughters. Why, in heaven's name? What did a teen know about life, supporting a family and everything a grown man needed to know? And, dammit, they were still trying to get him married off to some relative or other. It wasn't that he didn't like women. He had loved more than one. It was being manipulated, toyed with and tied down that he couldn't stomach. And as for children, he was sure that Prudence and Hoss would make him an uncle soon enough. He'd already had a role in raising his brothers, especially Little Joe. Being an uncle was just fine by him; he could play with his nieces and nephews, teach them all the things he knew, but hand them back to their parents when it was time for a diaper change or tending to a runny nose.

But it was impolite not to pay attention to Teddy, who really wasn't a bad kid, all in all. He was asking him about engineering and mechanics and where to study them once he was old enough for college. The day before, as the Whitman family toured the house that Adam had built for his brother and his new bride, Teddy had been very attentive. He had asked good questions and as they were talking now, Adam realized that the youngster was the odd man out in the Whitman family of teachers. Subtly, his attitude toward the boy changed as he remembered how he had wanted the answers to all those questions about engineering he had come up with at that age. At least Ben Cartwright had his seaman's background in relationship to the mechanical arts and could begin to explain the basics to him. Teddy didn't have that advantage. It was no wonder that he bombarded the older man with question after question. Although the Whitmans would be returning to their home in Cincinnati in just a few days, Adam decided that he would take him under his wing.

Both of them were surprised when Teddy's next older sister came to retrieve him. Sally Ann was four years younger than Prudence and three years older than Teddy. She had followed all the other Whitman's and was about to start her second year at the normal college that Pru had graduated from. She was about the same height as her sister and shared the same blue eyes, but her hair was lighter, and she was more outgoing. This was evident as she firmly put her hand on her brother's arm.

"Come along, Teddy. You've been monopolizing Adam for far too long. It's not polite."

"Aw, Sally Ann, I was just learning about engineering schools. Adam's gone through finding a good one and going through the coursework. I don't know anyone else who could tell me about it."

"Nevertheless…"

"It was no problem telling the boy about my experiences, Sally Ann. Although you are right, too. I should pay more attention to our guests, including you," Adam responded graciously. The young woman had a very different character than her sister. She was viewed as the outgoing one in the family, whereas in social situations Prudence tended to hang back. That was why, Adam realized, she had been uncomfortable at first with him and Joseph. Having his father try to pair the two of them off hadn't helped, either. Now it was easy to see why she had responded to Hoss's gentleness. They gave each other the strength to be more forward than each would have been otherwise. Sally Ann, on the other hand, had no trouble speaking to anyone. "Have you had a piece of the wedding cake yet?" he asked her.