A month passed by uneventfully after Doc Martin had removed Eleanor's stitches and cleared her to go about doing whatever activities she wanted. Eleanor was finding her place in the family. They were rather impressed with her horsemanship skills and the way she could handle cattle. Though she remained rather reserved and still preferred to keep to herself. Ben would offer to drive Eleanor into town whenever he went in for supplies or even when he went on minor trips to see certain businessmen around town. Eleanor turned these offers down, not feeling ready to go in and face the general public and be introduced as Ben Cartwright's daughter. She knew people would have questions, like where she had been and what she had been doing for the past 20 years. Everyone would be judging her too, trying to decide whether she was worthy of being a Cartwright. After all, the family had money and money comes with a lot of scrutiny. But every time Eleanor would turn down her father's offer of going into town, she saw a brief look of disappointment cross his face. She knew he was excited to introduce her to everyone, to finally get to say those words he never once uttered over the last 20 years, "this is Eleanor, my daughter."

After turning down one of these offers, Candy spoke to Eleanor about going into town. She told him exactly what she'd been thinking and worried about, half expecting him to laugh at her or brush off her fears as just being a woman's worry, but he didn't. Instead, he offered her that he would go into town with her when she decided she was ready.

It was a Saturday, the sunny kind of Saturday where you feel like nothing could possibly be wrong in the world, when Eleanor finally decided to take up both her father and Candy on their offers.

"I need to go into Virginia City today to get some supplies," Ben casually mentioned at breakfast. "Eleanor, would you like to come with me? It's a nice day for a trip on the buckboard."

Eleanor considered this offer for a moment. She could tell her father was already anticipating that she would reject his offer. "Yes, I'll go with you," Eleanor replied, surprising even herself. Ben lit up at her words. "But only if Candy comes with us," she continued, earning looks from her brother's seated around the table. Eleanor noticed and shyly looked down at her plate. "He promised he'd show me around some," Eleanor hastily finished, feeling the need to explain herself.

"Of course he can," Ben said with a knowing smile. "I'll need someone to help load the grain anyway."

"Someone's gotta show Ellie all the places where Joe's gotten himself beat up," Candy said, teasing his friend.

"More like all the places where I saved you from ending up in the doctor's office," Joe shot back.

"Sure Joe, whatever you say," Candy replied, winking at Eleanor.

"Finish up your breakfast so we can get going, its a long trip into Virginia City," Ben said, interrupting Joe and Candy's teasing. "And boys, while we're gone, there's a lot of work around here that needs to be done." He glanced over at his three sons, Joe in particular.

"We know Pa," Adam said. "I was planning to fix that fence the cattle tore down in the southeast section today."

"Good Adam. Why don't you take Joe with you. I'm sure you could use some help and he could benefit from a hard days work."

Joe shot a look at his father. "But Pa! I was planning to take a look at that prize bull that Fred Jannison-"

"Yes and then spend the rest of the day taking a look Fred's daughter Arlene?"

"But Pa!"

"No, I think your day would be better spent helping your brother with that section of fence."

"But Pa!"

"No buts, Joseph," Ben said in a no nonsense tone.

"Yeah, little brother, you spend any more time over there and you're liable to end up on the wrong end of a shotgun wedding," Hoss quipped.

"Oh? And just what are you doing today older brother?"

"I'm staying right here and I'm going to be fixing that wagon axle, just like pa asked me to!" Hoss said with a smirk.

"I bet you are and then I bet you'll take it on a test ride and pick up Betty Sue," Joe glared back.

"If I do recall, Pa told you to fix that axle over a week ago," Adam remarked, giving Hoss a sly look over his cup of coffee.

"Say, whose side are you on anyhow?" Hoss asked.

"Mine," Adam responded coolly.

"Enough boys. I expect you all to get some work done today and that's final," Ben said, ending the conversation before it could escalate."Now finish up and get started."

"Yes, Pa," the three answered.

It was only a half hour later when the buckboard pulled out of the yard with Ben and Eleanor on the front bench and Candy riding along just behind them on the wagon bed. Eleanor sat quietly, looking over the scenery. She'd seen a fair amount of the Ponderosa but never the land along the road leading to Virginia City. She'd never strayed this way, always afraid of who she might find or who might see her. She was nervous about going into town. She hadn't been in a town since before she'd been shot, which had been about three months ago.

As they got closer to town, Eleanor's anxiety only grew. She was worried that somehow the man who had kept her captive would find out she's alive and living at the Ponderosa. What if he was still around?

Ben nudged Eleanor. "Hey, it's gonna be alright," he said, noticing the growing tension in his daughter. "You don't have to say much if you don't want to, I'll do all the explaining."

"Thanks, Pa," Eleanor replied quietly.

"And," Candy's teasing voice floated up from the back, "if you stay out of trouble, maybe I'll even buy you some chocolate."

"You know I will..." Eleanor muttered quickly, looking downward at her feet. It was out of habit, she was used to being threatened before going into town. It was always 'behave or you're going to get it later.'

"Eleanor," Candy said softly, noticing the change in Eleanor's demeanor, "everything will be fine, don't you worry none."

Eleanor nodded slightly in response.

"Say, maybe Candy has a good idea there. Have you ever had chocolate, Ellie?" Ben asked.

"Nope."

"Well then, you're in for a real treat!"

When the buckboard finally rolled into Virginia City, Eleanor was surprised at all she saw. There were people. Many people. Walking, smiling, laughing, going about their business. There were ladies dressed in fine dresses, which did make Eleanor feel a little inadequate in her simple pants and nice blouse. Then there were men. Rough looking men, cowboys, businessmen. There were all kinds of people in the streets of Virginia City. It wasn't surprising, really. Eleanor had been in towns bigger than this, Los Angeles for one, perhaps it was that Eleanor had never really gotten to actually just look at town. Before she always had to keep her head low and disappear into her surroundings.

"Well, Eleanor, what do you think?" Ben asked as he drove down the main street.

"Its... busy," she said, gazing at the store fronts and the brick buildings.

Ben called the horses to a halt in front of the general store. "This will be our first stop," Ben said, pulling a paper out of his pocket. "Candy, here's a list of the things we need, see to it that they're loaded on the wagon. I'd like to show Eleanor around."

"Of course, Mister Cartwright," Candy said, taking the list and heading into the store.

Ben turned to his daughter. "Now, where would you like to go first?"

"Um... I don't know. I guess right here is fine," Eleanor said uncertainly, surprised she had a say in the matter and not knowing where else they'd be going.

"Alright, lets go on in then," Ben replied, getting off the wagon. He walked around the other side, fully intending to help his daughter get off like he would for any other lady but she was already off the wagon and looking through the store windows by the time he got around.

"It sure looks like there's a lot of stuff in there," Eleanor commented.

Ben looked through the window with Eleanor. "There certainly is. They sell just about everything a person needs in there. Food, fabric, seed, tack, plows, you name it, they have it." Ben took Eleanor's arm, "Come on, lets go inside." Eleanor glanced down at his hand, hesitating a moment before allowing him to lead her inside. Normally, she would have hated being lead around but this was different. This wasn't someone trying to drag her along, this was her father wanting to show her off to the world.

In the store, Candy was already preparing to haul out the large sacks of whatever it was that the Ponderosa needed. There were a few women browsing around the shop, two of which were scrutinizing the bolts of calico, a man and his young son were looking at the assortment of jackknives, and two children were looking at the candy jars with their mouths slightly parted in awe.

"I'll be right with you in a second," the greying clerk behind the counter said without looking up from tallying some numbers.

Eleanor was too nervous to leave Ben's side, not just because there was so much stuff in the store but also because she was worried about making a good impression. What if she messed up and Ben decided she wasn't fit to be brought into town ever again?

"Alright Ben, your hand is set to start loading up the wagon. What else can we do for you?" the clerk asked, finally finishing up his bookkeeping, looking first over at Ben and then over to Eleanor. He studied her and after a second, a smile grew on his face. "Say, is this the long lost daughter of yours that I've heard about?"

"That's right! Tom, this is Eleanor. Eleanor, this is Tom, he runs the general store," Ben said proudly.

"Nice to meet you, Tom."

"Good to meet you Eleanor, I hope we'll be seeing a lot of you around here from now on," Tom said enthusiastically, reaching out a hand. Eleanor stared at his hand for a second until Ben gave her a gentle nudge and she realized that she was supposed to shake it. "How do you like things out at the Ponderosa?"

"Very well, thank you."

"She's a beauty, Ben. You've got yourself a nice daughter here."

"Thanks, Tom. She takes after her mother in that," Ben said.

"I can see she's got that Cartwright grit though!"

"That she does. Now I'm afraid we've got to be going over to do some business at the bank. Be sure Candy gets all those supplies loaded and give my regards to your wife," Ben said, shaking Tom's hand.

"I will, Ben."

"Thanks Tom."

"Bye, Miss Eleanor. I hope you enjoy Virginia City."

"Bye, Tom. I think I will."

Ben and Eleanor left the general store. Candy already had the wagon a quarter loaded with supplies.

"Just a second, Eleanor," Ben said, removing his hand from Eleanor's arm and going over to give Candy a final instruction and handing him something small before rejoining her. "Ready?" he asked, taking her arm again.

"Ready," Eleanor replied a bit more enthusiastically.

The father and daughter crossed the dusty street together. Though the bank wasn't far from the general store, it took them some time to finally get there. They got stopped on the street a couple times by curious friends and acquaintances of Ben's. Each one desiring to meet the daughter they'd all thought dead or had no idea ever existed. Eleanor thought she was getting quite good at being introduced to people. She would smiled slightly at each person and was much quicker to shake hands if they wanted to. At her father's side, it was easy for her to forget her worries and fears about meeting everyone. She even began to forget why she was so worried to come into town in the first place. People seemed delighted to meet her and welcomed her to the community.

Finally, the pair reached the bank. The teller looked up from his work, "Ben, nice to see you. Is this the daughter I've been hearing people buzzing about this afternoon?"

"Yes this is," Ben said proudly. "And I'd like to open an account for her here."

Eleanor looked at her father sharply. What was he thinking? She didn't have any money to put in there! Was she supposed to? "Pa," she said quietly, speaking before this could go too far, "I don't have any money."

Ben didn't pay her comment any attention, instead he seemed to smile a little bigger. "Title it Eleanor Cartwright. We'll open the account with this." Ben placed a small pouch of coins at the teller's window. "There should be one hundred dollars in there."

Eleanor's mouth dropped open. "Pa!" Eleanor was so shocked, her knees felt weak and she felt like she might just fall flat on her face. She felt her father's hand tighten around her arm, steadying her. "Why?" she asked quietly.

"Because you're my daughter and you deserve some money to get you started," Ben said, raising his hand when Eleanor looked like she might object. "I know, I know, and don't worry, after this you'll be earning your money just like your brothers."

Eleanor just stared at her father for a minute, studying him. She knew he wouldn't lie to her but never before had anyone given her money without any strings attached. "Thank you," she finally managed to say. It didn't feel like enough. She couldn't quite put into words just how grateful she was, not just for the money, but for everything. She felt like she might get emotional but she quickly squished those feelings down. Now wasn't the time nor the place for that.

"You're welcome sweetheart."

"If you would just sign here please," the bank teller said, interrupting their moment. He was looking at Eleanor. She had to sign.

"Of course," she replied nervously. She swallowed and looked at the paper with all its words on it. Towards the bottom she saw her name and another blank line below it and figured that was where she was supposed to place her signature. The fountain pen shook in her hand as she scratched out her signature or something resembling one. She quickly passed the pen and paper back to the teller. He stared at it for a moment, his brows furrowing as he looked like he was going to say something critical.

"It's on the wrong line but I suppose that'll work anyway," the bank teller sighed.

"Sorry," Eleanor apologized hastily.

Now that Eleanor's bank account had been opened, Ben did a few transactions of his own before they left the bank and made their way back to the buckboard, which Candy now had fully loaded and was sitting on the seat waiting for them. "Hope you don't mind if I sit up here with you, its kind of full in the back," he said, grinning at Eleanor.

"You mean I have to sit next to you after being treated like a princess all day?" Eleanor scoffed teasingly, accepting Ben's help as she climbed onto the buckboard and scooted to the middle of the seat.

"If you'd prefer a more luxurious ride, Princess, you could sit on my lap," Candy teased back.

"Are you kidding me? You've got some of the boniest legs I've ever seen!"

Ben said nothing but he smiled as he sat on the seat next to Eleanor and took the reigns. "Giddup," he said, urging the horses into moving. "Candy, did you remember to pick up that little package for the Princess of the Ponderoas?" Ben asked as they made their way out of town.

"Oh yeah, I'd almost forgot," he said. He reached down by his feet and picked up a small brown bag. He had a mischievous look on his face as he gave the bag to Eleanor.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Open it and find out."

Eleanor opened the bag inside of it were a couple lumps of- "Brown?"

"Brown," Candy chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Try one, Eleanor," Ben said gently.

Eleanor picked one out of the bag and eyed it suspiciously.

"Well don't let it melt!" Ben nudged her, watching her as he drove the horses.

Eleanor quickly put the brown lump in her mouth and bit into it.

"What do you think?"

"Its... sweet!" she said, chewing it. "Its rich and creamy. It doesn't at all tasted like how it looked! What is it?"

"Its chocolate. Do you like it?" Candy asked.

"I do! It's very good." Eleanor passed the bag back to Candy, expecting him to take one but he waved her off so she tried to pass it over to her father.

"No Eleanor, the rest of that is for you," Ben said, waving the bag away.

Eleanor began to feel emotional again. Given both chocolate and money on the same day, it felt like it had to be a dream. Eleanor quickly squished those emotions once again and managed a quiet, "thank you, Pa... for everything." She looked down at her feet, continuing to blink back tears. She felt someone wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"Its no problem, Eleanor," Ben said kindly, giving her a half squeeze.

The three of them rode the rest of the ride back in a quiet contentedness, enjoying some small conversations about the beauty of the landscape, which Eleanor now appreciated in a different way than she had before. Now she truly felt at home, something she had only experienced once before in a time that felt so far away.

After they'd reached the yard and parked the wagon, Ben told Eleanor that she didn't have to help unload it, he and Candy had it handled. Rather, he told her to get ready for supper, Hop Sing would likely have it ready soon. So, Eleanor quickly went up to her room to store her last piece of chocolate, which she decided she'd save for later-or possibly show it off to one of her brothers. Eleanor made sure to hide it well, just in case Hoss was somehow able to smell it, find it, and eat it himself! After all, he did seem to have a mighty powerful sense of smell.

Finally, the family had gathered around for supper which consisted of steak, potatoes, and peas. Adam was happy to report that he and Joe had managed to fix that section of fence. Hoss had also fixed the wagon axle like he said he would and to nobodies surprise, he had also taken it for a test ride with Betty Sue, who he appeared to be increasingly sweet on. The three brothers were happy to hear that Eleanor had a wonderful first trip into town. Joe joked that Pa had better ready his rifle just in case they had a sudden influx of young male callers. And finally, Eleanor got to bring up the chocolate that Candy had gotten her. She'd gone upstairs to get it, teasing comments from Joe about how she was acting like a kid on Christmas following her, when there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be at this hour," Ben pondered as Adam got up to answer the door.

"I don't know. I hope it's not trouble," Joe commented.

"Sheriff Coffee, come on in," Adam said, inviting the Virginia City sheriff into the house.

"Roy! What brings you out here at this time of night?" Ben asked, getting up from his seat to great his friend.

"I'm afraid it's bad news, Ben. Its your daughter," Sheriff Coffee said gravely, taking off his hat. The tone in the room shifted from jovial to tense. "She's been accused of horse thieving."