Category: Family
Stories that focus on the entire family
The Dawson Gang (by freyakendra)
Summary: Heroism comes in all shapes and sizes, as the good folks of Virginia City discover when Sam Dawson and his notorious gang of outlaws hold the whole town under siege—all because Joe tried to help a woman in need and Adam was thirsty for a beer.
Rated: T WC 37,000
Just A… Series, links to all the stories are included within.
Long Road Back (by Tauna Petit-Strawn)
Summary: A what if I got from “The Crucibles”…mostly, what if Ben, Hoss and Little Joe hadn’t found Adam. What if someone else did? And What if Adam didn’t just ‘bounce back’?
Rating K+ (14,570 words)
Long Road Back Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
The Lake Tales (by faust)
What if things had gone differently the night Adam had wooed Abigail Jones? What impact can a lost horse shoe, a squirrel and a spider have on a blossoming romance? And had faust gone completely bonkers?
4,000 words, rated K
Blue (by faust)
Hoss talks to Adam while taking care of him.
Ben faces the unthinkable.
And copes.
1,300 words, rated K
A Son for a Son: Brand Edition (by freyakendra)
Summary: A man from one of Ben Cartwright’s previous lives has come to take revenge on his oldest son, Adam–but it’s Joe who pays the price.
Rated: T WC 14,000
Death Valley – Complete Story (by MonicaSJ)
Feedback: All, good or bad. If bad, constructive.
Reader Alert: Violence. Nudity. Sexual innuendo. Rated: T WC 35,100
Death Valley Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
Thunder Mountain (by slaine89)
Summary: A storm threatens to keep Ben, Adam, and Joe from returning to the Ponderosa. Adapted from Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Rated: K (8,700 words)
His Father’s Son (by Inca / aka Tye)
Summary: A murder on a cattle drive; Joe vanishes and Ben is forced to face the ghosts of the past, bringing his family into terrible danger. Only Hoss’s stoic perseverance and Adam’s selfless heroism can save the life of the youngest Cartwright.
WC 26,000 Rated: T
GAMES Book II: Endgame (by freyakendra)
Summary: A prison break sends Alfred Whitfield, a man on the edge of madness, and Peter Nobridge, an enigma whose alliances are yet to be proven, back to the Ponderosa one year after Adam’s old classmate played a deadly game with Cartwright lives. This time, when the siege begins there is more at stake than mere blood. (This is a sequel to “The Game,” but should offer enough hints to stand alone.) The SJS & SAS are, of course, integral to the plot, and there’s plenty of angst and ES? to go around….
Rated: T WC 48,300
Games Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
It’s Only a Year – The Final Trial – A Lesson in Mettle #5 (by MissJudy)
Summary: The final episode of the prequel series, It’s Just a Year. Adam has remained home for a year longer than he’d planned before heading for college. In that time, he’s been hazed, poisoned, almost killed and now we find him healthy and camping with Hoss for a final brother’s weekend before leaving for Boston. The idyllic time takes a ominous turn when Adam realizes that someone’s been watching their camp and must soon face his worst fears again and save his brother from the same fate. As with all theses stories, this can be read without reading the others first. This concluding episode brings the two oldest Cartwright boys together for some defining moments.
Rated: K+ WC 17,000
It’s Only a Year Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
The Grizzly and God’s Hands (by freyakendra)
A day at the lake with his brothers is shattered by gunfire, leaving Joe in God’s hands. Follow Joe’s muddled thoughts through his family’s struggle to keep him alive, and his own struggle to focus on where he belongs.
Rated: K+ (6,505 words)
GAMES Book I: The Game (by freyakendra)
Summary: A old college rival of Adam’s takes competition to an extreme, playing chess with Cartwright lives. SJS, SAS, JAM, ESA, ESH…let’s just say lots of hurt, comfort, angst and mystery. I
Rated: T. WC 29,000
Games Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
It’s Only a Year – The Quiet of Uncertainty – A Lesson in Hope #4 (by MissJudy)
Summary: 17 year-old Adam has been in his first gunfight and although his wound seemed minor, it worsened as he continued to work, until he lost so much blood that he was near death. We now find out what happerned that night and who helps to heal a family wrought with sadness, guilt and decisions. there is no need to read the previous stories to enjoy this one. A young Abigail Jones makes her first appearance and Hop Sing makes a friend.
Rated: K+ 15,000
It’s Only a Year Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
Half a Man (by HazelMom)
Summary: Hoss fights his family while they fight for his life.
Rating: K+ (15,371 words)
(Author’s note: Characters appear from several episodes including The Scapegoat, The Tax Collector, The Wild Ones, Gift of Water, The Good Samaritan, Half a Rogue, Lothario Larkin, Enter Thomas Bowers, and Once a Doctor.)
Purgatory (by freyakendra)
Summary: After Joe is attacked by Apaches in an incident that threatens a fragile peace, he is left hanging somewhere between life and death, between Heaven and Hell, and, more importantly, between Army soldiers and Apache warriors on the verge of war. How long must his family watch before the risk of waiting outweighs the risk of action? With Ben facing the ultimate sacrifice, Adam drawn into a fight to the death, Hoss preparing for the worst, and Joe praying for the unthinkable, this is a tale of strength, courage and the limits of human endurance.
Rating: T WC 9600
