Category: Action/Adventure
The Cave (by BettyHT)
SUMMARY: Caught in an ambush, three brothers have a chance to show what’s in their hearts and take on different roles than the usual. The outlaws aren’t going to be easily defeated and rescue isn’t as near as they hoped.
Rating: T Word count = 6282
The Ballad of Tahoe Tessie (by sandspur)
Summary: Cattle are being eaten, and their picked-clean skeletons are being deposited near the lake, but when the Cartwrights investigate, they find a lot more than they ever bargained for … and the effects will last forever.
Rating: T (20,000 words)
Mustang Sally (by BettyHT)
SUMMARY: On a trip to catch mustangs, Adam learns about breaking horses from an unlikely source. Edited in a second Mustang Sally story based on a Pinecone challenge from Brand — McTeague.
Rating: PG Word count = 2215
Yuma & Yuma: Lost and Found (by BettyHT)
SUMMARY: In Yuma, while attempting to fix a mistake that Joe made, Adam makes one far worse and with greater consequences for his future. Eventually his family will be drawn into it too and with lessons learned, they will face the problems. Edited in a second story, Yuma, Lost and Found — it is a companion piece to the first part with the story told from Anne’s POV.
Rating = T Word count = 44,158
Only One Returns (by BettyHT)
SUMMARY: The third story in the Confederacy of Dunces series, this story takes the family on a dangerous ride. Gunmen want to make a reputation by gunning down the fastest Cartwright, but he’s not willing to fight. They decide on a way to draw him out while another brother faces personal tragedy that makes him examine what he’s doing with his life.
Rating: T Word count: 12,774
A Confederacy of Dunces Series, links to all the stories within the series included.
Redemption (by Questfan)
Summary: My entry for BoNaNo 2018 as well as the Crossover Challenge. After a chance encounter in his youth, Joe meets up with the man again, many years later, under trying circumstances.
Rating: T Word Count: 14,878
The Protector (by Sierra Girl)
Summary: After six years away, Adam is on his way home. But events conspire against him to delay his long anticipated return, and he finds himself up to his eyes in a plight that threatens both his life and those around him. With his father and brothers one step behind, will they be able to reach him in time to bring him home to the Ponderosa.
Rated: T (49,558 words)
The Protector Series, links to all stories are included within.
When the Hate is Gone (by AC1830)
Summary – Written for the 2018 Bonano Challenge on Bonanza Brand. A Missing scene for The Stranger – When Ben rides off with Charles Leduque, heading to New Orleans, how do his sons react after being told not to follow or rescue their father? They are Cartwrights after all.
Rating = K, Word count = 5306
When Opportunity Knocks (by JulieS)
Summary: Joe is offered the chance to buy a hotel in Virginia City. As he sets about raising the finance he needs to buy it, he discovers that he isn’t the only one answering opportunity’s knock.
Rated: PG 6,300 words
The Way Things Are Series, links to all stories of this series included.
A True Cartwright (by freyakendra)
Summary: The Ponderosa sets the stage for a kangaroo court that puts Ben on trial and puts a pubescent Joe through a whole lot of trouble.
Rated: T Word Count: 14,000
An Unspeakable Dawn (by McFair_58)
Summary: It has been five years since Joe Cartwright took Bella Carnaby as his wife and nearly twenty since he first met Rosey O’Rourke – a woman he knows his father loves, but one that life and time has conspired to keep away from the Ponderosa. A new threat and an old enemy appear to threaten the Cartwrights – will the end of their collective tale be joy, or tragedy?
81,360 words
Rated PG-13 for western violence and brutality and mild adult language
Author’s Note: This story will make more sense if the reader is familiar with both Wet Bottoms, Warm Heart series (Bella Carnaby) and Blood and Bread (Rosey O’Rourke) series, links to the stories for these series included.
Though She Be But Little (by McFair_58)
Summary: A slight mishap brings the old Indian blanket that hangs on the stair rail to Joe Cartwright’s attention. His questions bring odd looks and just a little bit of pain. When his Pa breaks down and tells him the story of how the blanket came to be there and what it means, Joe realizes he will never look at his mother the same way again.
Rated PG-13
Word count: 17,653
The Squirrel’s Stash #3 (by Questfan)
Summary: A few more Pinecone Challenges for my pet squirrel to gnaw on. Each chapter has a lyric prompt and had to be no more than 500 words.
Word Count: 8885 Rating: T
A Cold Day in Hell (by McFair_58)
Summary: Twenty-one year old Hoss Cartwright has a problem. Older brother Adam just took off into the desert without a word and Little Joe wants to follow him. Pa will have his hide, he knows. But it’s awful hard to say ‘no’ to Little Joe…
Rated PG
Word count 21,317
Another Stranger In Town (by BettyHT)
SUMMARY: This is the crossover story for the August 2018 challenge — Adam goes to Dodge City and meets the cast of Gunsmoke in a WHN for the episode of that series, A Stranger In Town.
rating = T word count = 8046
Another Stranger in Town Series, links for all the stories of this series included.