Summary: Adam and Hoss seem to have vanished while on their way to Placerville for ranch business, leaving Ben and Joe to search for what might have happened. What they can’t imagine is that the lost Cartwrights were left for dead by two brothers who had once worked on the Ponderosa. Hoss and Adam’s lives depend on being rescued quickly, but their situation stacks the odd against that happening, forcing Adam to make a decision that may leave the family short one son.

Rating: K+  Word Count: 23,425

Summary: This first story of a series called It’s Just a Year didn’t come through from the old library. This episode tells of how Adam received and education that allowed him to enter a prestigious Eastern university while living in the wilds of the west where there wasn’t a school or people with a formal college education. Adam has studied hard with a Harvard professor he found on the Ponderosa and is ready to leave for Boston when Ben asks him to remain home another year. Marie’s death has left him reeling and in need of his son’s help while he finds men to work the growing ranch.

Rating: K   Word Count: 10,321

It’s Only a Year Series, links to stories within the series are included.

Summary: Marie and Ben’s attendance at a funeral in town leaves Adam at the Ponderosa to watch six-year-old Hoss, and seven-month-old Little Joe. The day of babysitting gets started with only minor difficulties, but takes a frightening turn as a late-season thunder storm hits the area, trapping the parents in town overnight, and making the boys rely on all that they’ve learned to get by alone.

Rating: K   Word Count: 12,862

Summary: A story of Cartwright family love:   When Adam refuses to fight for his life…or his limb…after his Mountain of the Dead experience, (The Savage) Hoss and Joe return to the camp where they found him and figure out what really happened there. Hoss confirms that Ruth was real, but in following his Adam’s journey, he also finds truths his older brother couldn’t see. Twelve years later, Adam is a happy husband and father living in Boston at the time he travels to San Francisco where he meets his father and brothers there for a reunion. Another “unexpected” reunion sheds more light on the past.

Rating: T      Word Count: 22,384

Summary:  A “What might have happened” story for the Crucible, this story tells of Adam’s experience as a 12-year-old with a madman who played games with his mind. It begins with a prologue from the Crucible, but then switches back 20 years to the time when Ben returns from New Orleans after completing a sacred promise made to Jean DeMarigny before he died. The boys have been living with a widow in the town near the Ponderosa, eagerly awaiting Pa’s return. Neither expect the surprise Ben brings back with him, but Hoss adapts easily to Marie, while Adam likes her, yet feels he doesn’t need a “mother.” A sacred promise Adam has made to his own mother puts him at odds with Ben. Adam leaves home and sets out to prove himself a man after hearing a conversation between Marie and Ben that indicates his father plans to send his oldest son away since he won’t do as he’s told. All goes well until a man named Levi shows up and unleashes his own personal war against Adam.

Rating: T               Word Count:  30,000

Summary: Adam and his wife, Melinda, are living in England, and getting ready to welcome their first child. After a fall on the stairs, Adam must face the fear of losing his wife and child, and he comes to terms with his own lingering grief over his mother’s death. We also see the family back on the Ponderosa waiting impatiently for the arrival of a new Cartwright. The story returns the young parents to the states where a number of surprises await – including a visit from some Nevadans, and one old foe who leaves them reeling.  

Rated: T  WC  45,000

One Step Closer Series, links to all the stories within the series included.

Summary:  Adam has been home home from school for a short time when he witnesses 11 year-old Joe “stealing” from a store in town. After finding out that his brother had been pressured into doing this by two brothers who are new to the area, he tries to help. His assistance is met by Joe’s anger, resentment, and profession that Adam means nothing to him anymore. Adam still promises that he will protect Joe from these boys…or die trying. His words prove prophetic.  

Rating: K+                     Word Count: 21,463

Summary: Following a harrowing experience in Boston, Adam and his new wife head west to the Ponderosa for a visit, hoping to relax where they feel safe. Unfortunately Little Joe is not happy with their presence. Hoss helps sort things out between his brothers, but when one problem is solved, the Cartwrights “welcome” two more unexpected visitors. A misguided act by one of these guests brings near tragedy. This is a story of new lessons learned while old feelings are dealt with. It ends with Melinda and Adam in London, still wondering whether they can ever escape the trouble that seems to shadow them.

Rated: T  WC 36,000

One Step Closer Series, links to all the stories within the series included.

Summary: Adam is back in Boston after a 12 year absence. His career has taken off in a prestigious engineering firm; he’s happily married to his college sweetheart, and he’ll be a featured performer at an upcoming choral production. But the life he’s made is destroyed in three weeks after a beautiful stranger hires him to build a wine cellar. He loses his job; his wife thinks he’s having an affair with the stranger, and he’s forced to participate in a federal crime, knowing that he won’t live through it, but hopes to stay alive long enough to protect the people he loves.

Rated: T  WC  28,000

One Step Closer Series, links to all the stories within the series included.

Summary:  Adam’s getting married! He’s moved to Boston to help his grandfather, and has begun to build a good life there, including an engagement to the girl he fell in love with during college. Their wedding is set to coincide with a unexpected visit from Ben Cartwright. All is well until Adam’s fiancee disappears and Ben and his son set out to find her. Adam battles a worsening illness along with the lies of those involved. He must rely on help from those more familiar with the city and at one point despairs as he asks his father why the women who love him…die. Will there be a wedding or will Adam sink further into loneliness and pain as another opportunity for love is torn away.

Rated: T  WC  82,700

One Step Closer Series, links to all the stories within the series included.

Summary:  Adam has never worried about his father’s faith and trust in him. That changes dramamtically after a woman drops an 11 year-old at the Ponderosa, telling Ben that the boy is Adam’s son, conceived before he left for college. After repeated attempts to defend himself against th accusation, Adam leaves home, angry and hurt by his father’s seeming refusal to accept that the woman is lying. Once Adam confronts his accuser, he is forced to look further to find out how he and his family became targets for her ploy, and pays a high price for trying to find the truth in her life of lies.

Rated: T  WC  60,000

Summary:  Ben is trying to sleep after laying his son to rest and is visited by memories of a life well lived. In another room, Joe is struggling with similar thoughts as he tries to quiet his mind to sleep. And in a place far removed, Adam receives the news that sends his heart reeling. This is a story about Hoss’s passing, but it is not about death. It’s about a family coming to terms with loss while rejoicing in the man they knew. and figuring out how best to honor the life that was lost.  

Rated: K+  WC  9000

Summary:  This was a poem I wrote shortly after Pernell Roberts death, remembering his accomplishments and wonderful character. It’s not sad! Those who love Adam or Pernell or any of his other characters will understand exactly what I’m writing about. Sweet dreams!  

Rated: K+  WC  200

Summary:   A stage crash has killed everyone on board…including Adam Cartwright. While Paul Martin has made a “best guess ID” of the “remains,” and even though Adam’s most personal possessions were found in the wreckage, Ben refuses to believe it is Adam. Hoss and Joe begin a journey of discovery with their father as a mystery develops that includes another man in black, attempts at blackmail and the eventual acceptance of what seems ovious – that Adam is gone. It becomes the story of two families facing the loss of a child and a woman whose care of a deathly ill stranger may restore one of these families to completeness.  

Rated: T  WC  45,000

Summary:   I’ve always wondered how Adam’s life would turn out after he left the Ponderosa. This story takes a look at the later years of his life. He’s had a distinguished career as an educator, philanthropist and businessman, and is “comfortable” with where he is and not looking for more. That changes when he sees a woman fall on the sidewalk in front of him and finds out that 40 years ago, she was his student in Virginia City. While getting to know her again, he comes to realize many things about himself – in particular – that being in love again is wonderful…but never easy.

Rated: K  47,000 words