Hi, so here is another story from me for this wonderful fandom! I am so glad to be back with a couple of stories and I hope that you enjoy this one. This is a stand alone one centring around one of Season 1s best villains.
Disclaimer-Nothing is mine here.
I might have been a bit lazy when it came to the naming of the children but if anyone is a fan of Michael Landon then you will get the inside joke and you will hopefully forgive me.
I am not a spelling expert so please keep that in mind.
Please Read and Review and let me know what you think.
This is set in Season 1 as a stand alone story and I expect it to be under twenty chapters.
To Another Heart.
Chapter 4-Hold Fire
Ben Cartwright and Mary Spencer spend an afternoon together.
Mary Spencer was nearly turning six and was very proud to say that she could read and write…thank you very much.
Momma…not that she could remember her that well…had insisted that she and Laura learn how to read and write, none of what 'THAT MAN' had said about a woman's place being in the home had applied to their Momma…she had sat with them and patiently taught them how to read and Mary had been a vigorous reader ever since she had realised that books had that magical power to transport you places and that words had the magical power to heal.
She loved reading. Laura did it because Laura had to much preferring to be outside but Mary had read through all the books that they had and was vastly looking for more.
She had not meant to go inside the big house but she had. The door had been open and the nice Chinese man (Mary had never met a man with hair that long) had given them both caramel shortbread the other night and had insisted that they come and spend time with him and now that school didn't start for them for another week she found that she was wasting time.
Laura was not, the nice man called Hoss had instructed her to brush down the ponies and she was having the time of her life with it but the truth was that she her sister would have the time of her life with any animal. Hoss was a nice man…he had told them sternly not to call him Mr and that he would find animals for them. Mr Adam had smiled at Pa's expression and had patted him on the shoulder but in the week that they had been here she had conclude that the Pondarosa was unlike any place she had ever been.
Granted Mary was nearly six…she had not been many other places.
But she stepped into the big house slipping through her blonde hair swinging from side to side and she stepped in looking for Hop Sing and then she caught sight of it and she felt her mouth drop open.
For along the back wall hidden from view was rows and rows and rows of books…
Mary had not known there were this many books in the whole world!
They were thick and heavy and leather bound and must have cost…well…she didn't know but she reckoned more than she had ever expected to earn. They were thick and she ran her finger down one of the spines in an almost reverent way and she knew what is was to want something so badly that it hurt. Never before had she wanted to read books such as these. Never before had she wanted to read more than she had wanted now…she could read well for her age but suddenly she wanted to be an adult so that she could read more.
As she bent down to see if she could heave one of the books out she fell a little and managed to catch herself but it must have been enough to alert whoever it was upstairs that there was someone in the house because…
"And what do you think you are doing young lady?"
In all the books that Mary had read, the brave heroines of the novel did not scream. She didn't either…it was worth pointing out however that she did let out a small cry and stagger backwards but that was surprise and not fear.
She had not been expecting to see Mr Ben Cartwright standing there in his dressing gown watching her sternly.
Oh…this was not good. This was not good AT ALL.
She had only ever met Mr Ben Cartwright that first day that she had arrived. They had been here a whole week now and she had barely seen him since. She did not know enough about the man to know what he would do when he had clearly been woken up by her sneaking into his house to run her grubby…well…not grubby but you know what she meant…fingers down his books.
For a second the two of them stared at each other and then.
"You're the oldest right…Mary?"
"Yes Sir"
He pulled a face and then.
"What are you doing sat on my floor like that?"
"I fell…Sir" she tacked on at the end though she feared that it was useless.
Mr Ben Cartwright stared at her for a second and then.
"Well get up then"
She scrambled to her feet and he came down into the living room. Mary eyed the door and wondered if she dared make a break for it but before she could even think about it he spoke again.
"What were you looking at?"
Maybe a clever girl would have found a convincing way to lie but Mary never claimed she was a clever girl…only one who enjoyed reading.
She sighed and then.
"The books"
He frowned at her coffee cup in hand and halfway towards his mouth.
"The books?"
"The books" she confirmed and still by the look in his eye he didn't get it.
"Why?"
"Well…I wanted to speak to Hop Sing but I couldn't find him and then…well you have so many books, I didn't know that this many books existed in the whole world" she said waving her arms about and sounding rather hysterical.
For a second he stared at her and then.
"Oh."
It was like he was surprised to find out that she could read.
"I can read very well" she said trying not to sound to pleased with herself. "But I wish that I could read as much as to understand all of this…" she pointed at the books behind her and he nodded still watching her in that odd little way as if he didn't get it.
"That comes with patience"
"Pa says kids weren't meant to have any"
He did laugh at that and then he nodded and when he looked at her Mary thought that his eyes were very warm and that surely had to be a good sign right?
"You like reading"
"Yes Sir, very much"
He laughed again that small tug at his lips that made him look a lot warmer than he had been the first time that she had met him.
"What do you like to read?"
It was a question that genuinely stumped her. She didn't know what she liked to read. So much of what she had read had been stolen away before someone else could snatch and grab it that she didn't know what it was to read freely. Maybe that showed on her face because he nodded as if he understood her and that was quite frankly ridiculous but there you were.
Mary watched as he put down his mug and paused running his hand over some of the older books before pulling one out and handing it to her. It was heavy but not too heavy and it fit perfectly in her hand.
"Start with that one, history of this country for children…both my boys started on it and then I have a few more books for children learning if you want them"
"Wow…really?"
"Your always welcome to borrow my books" he said as he found her enthusiasm endearing. "In fact if you promise to be very quiet you can sit on that chair and read it now."
Mary jumped up and down and then stopped because he had told her to be very quiet and dignified.
He chuckled. Turned and poured some milk into a glass and then went and got her cookies before he put the little plate on the table next to the chair. Mary watched him and then when he pointedly coughed she turned and opened the book sitting cross legged on the chair and she began to read.
She did not resurface for a while.
"I really hope she's not been that much trouble" Freddie said to Hoss as Laura walked the little pony around the yard.
"Don't be foolish she's been a great help, got the horses done in half the time. To be honest could do with her help more if you think that she would be up for it"
"Please, anything with animals and Laura's up for it."
Adam watched for a second and then.
"Where's your eldest"
Freddie wiped his brow on the back of his hand.
"Bedroom I think…mine anyway, last I checked she was spending time reading. Why?"
"Ah no reason" Adam said quickly and Freddie nodded jogging over to help his daughter put the tack away. Hoss didn't dare look at Adam and Adam didn't dare look at Hoss. Unspoken was the agreement that today was the day that Joe went missing. They didn't speak of it but they both knew their father well enough to know that this was the one day where he didn't want to get out of bed. He usually spent it with a bottle of brandy. The rest of the year he was fine, Joe's birthday and the day he had been taken that were the two days where his father didn't come out of his room unless the ranch was on fire…and there was no guarantee of that either.
Neither one of them tried to think about it very much. Unspoken was the acknowledgement of what this day was and what it had cost them and what it would continue to cost them.
Freddie came back to their side and then.
"Laura says Mary went to see Hop Sing and hasn't been seen since"
There was a hint of concern in his tone though his eyes spoke of it more in spades but Adam caught Hoss's eye. Hoss shrugged as if to say that he didn't get it either but then…
"Alright then let's go and find Mary" Adam said. Hop Sing too knew what kind of day it was and though he didn't want to deal with it that much he too would make sure that the daughter of their farm hand wouldn't be in too much trouble…besides…Hop Sing liked to test out new recipes and children as he put it would eat anything and be heartbreakingly honest about it. So all in all Hop Sing was a fan.
He pushed open the door and the three of them stood there and stared. Mary was sat reading on the chair and by the smile on Freddie's face that was nothing new. She was sat crossed legged reading from a book and her little face looked alive with the joy that came from learning…again Adam knew what that looked like. He often liked to sit there with a good book and pretend that nothing had happened and that all the world was a stage.
What was surprising was that in the corner still in his dressing gown working away was his father. His father who for the last nineteen years had never come out of his bedroom on this day and was now sat at his desk working away as if nothing had ever happened. Hoss next to him stared.
"I hope she's not been a bother Mr Cartwright?"
"Not at all" his Pa said looking up. "She's been a great comfort. In fact if she wants to come here and read during the day when she's not at school she's more than welcome to. It's good company for me" he said turning back to look at his papers. Hoss's eyebrows were now at the top of his head and Adam knew he was looking much the same. There was a reality that their father didn't…had never…well…he had never seemed to be this open with any of them before.
Yes…that was the word for it.
He nodded and then clapped Hoss on the shoulder.
"What you reading kid?"
"A book about English Kings and Queens" said Mary looking thrilled. "Oh Pa there's this one called Elizabeth…and I've just got to the bit where she's been forced to let the man she loves go because he might have killed his wife and it's so good—"
"Eh…Mary…we do have supper waiting.
"Why don't you take the book with you" his Pa said looking up.
"I will finish it!"
"Then bring it back tomorrow and you can show off your writing…I want to see a report on how good the book was and how much you liked it and what you didn't like about it before you borrow a new one"
Mary nodded her little face illuminated and then…
"Thank you Mr Ben" she said kicking off the chair and Adam watched as his Pa smiled as she left before turning to Freddie.
"Charming girls you've got there. Guess I just had to see it"
Freddie opened his mouth and then closed it perhaps realising that there was very little else to say and then he nodded and he was gone.
Their Pa stared at them for a second and then.
"Tell Hop Sing I'll take dinner in bed tonight. He can come in and change the sheets when I'm done" and then he shuffled off to bed and Adam and Hoss were left to stand in the doorway looking at each other each one of them not having a clue what was going on.
And there you are-Due to the chaotic nature of work for the next few weeks there might be a slight lull in updating.
Next Chapter-Freddie learns about the third missing Cartwright boy.