Category: What Happened Instead
Episode inspired stories.
Broken Bonds (by BettyHT)
SUMMARY: The story is the WHI for She Walks In Beauty to answer the question of what might have happened if Regan stayed and she and Hoss married. That decision would not only affect her and Hoss but Adam and the rest of the family as well. Here is one version of what those effects might be.
Rating = T Word Count = 33,467
A Dish Served Cold (by Questfan)
Summary: A somewhat AU What Happened Instead for The First Born. While New Orleans had brought Marie into Ben’s life, it was also a breeding ground for lies, whispered rumours, family disputes and long-held hatred. It has long been said that revenge is a dish that is best served cold.
Rating: T
Word Count: 63028
A Rose By Any Other Name (by McFair_58)
Summary: The ending of the pilot has always bothered me. Would Alphaeus Troy and the mine owners really have given up that easily? What if the fight in China town had ended differently and Little Joe never made that dinner date with Lotta Crabtree…?
Rated: PG-13
Word Count: 21,226
Freedom’s Just Another Word (by AC1830)
Summary: A WHI for A House Divided. “Father against son, brother against brother. A house divided against itself cannot not stand.” What if Adam did leave in order to keep peace in the family? This is a journey of healing for the Cartwright family and some newfound friends.
Rating = T, Word Count = 14415
The Scales of Justice (by Questfan)
Summary: Written for the 2018 Missing Man Challenge – Add Adam into an episode as if he has always been there. I have chosen an episode from Season 12:6, Gideon the Good.
Rated: T Word Count: 8,148
Not Too Old A Fool To Change (by Hart4Ben)
Summary: A WHI for A Home For Jamie, screen play written by Jean Holloway. This piece primarily covers the gap between Jamie rescuing his grandfather and the final scene of the episode.
Rating: K+ Word Count: 3933
Searching for Life (by AC1830)
Summary: When Ben and Inger left her brother Gunnar in Illinois (Inger, My Love), he was searching for his purpose in life, heading to the Canadian gold fields. The Last Viking showed he maintained his wild side. But how would his life have turned out if he had listened to his sister’s words? A WHI for The Last Viking.
Written for the Bonanza Brand 2018 Ancestry Challenge – Several relatives of the Cartwrights have turned up from time to time. Are there more and what effect do they have on the Cartwrights?
Rating – K+, WC – 5547
Bound by Love (by AC1830)
Summary – A young woman’s sudden departure from Virginia City leaves heartache and anger behind. After an eight-year absence, she returns home hoping to reconcile with the ones she left behind.
Rating – T, Word Count – 9751
When Worlds Collide (By JC)
Summary: Unexpected guests arrive at the Ponderosa on Halloween night. Includes a re-imagining of events depicted in “The Strange One” (Season 7).
Rating: K+ (3702 words)
The Outlaw Brother (by BettyHT)
Summary: Adam finds himself in dire straits and needs help to extricate himself, but he has to flee to avoid worse trouble. He makes a friend but manipulation takes from him something he had hoped never to lose. His family worries about him and wonders if he will keep his promise to come home one day.
Rating = T WC = 25,590
When Angels Cry (by JC)
Summary: The arrival of a range detective in Virginia City means trouble for Adam in more ways than one. (A WHI for The Flannel-Mouth Gun, part of the Ties That Bind AU series)
Rating: T (13,258 words)
Ties That Bind Series, links to stories of this series included.
Fear No Evil (By Questfan)
Summary: Written for the Missing Man Challenge – Add Adam into any Season 7-14 episode as if he never left. Based on The Kingdom of Fear episode. Ben, Hoss, Joe and Candy are captured and illegally found guilty of trespassing so they can be used as slave labour in a gold mine. There is no hope of escape and no hope of parole.
Word Count: 9621 Rating: T
Something About Amy (by JC)
Summary: Tennyson said, “It’s better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.” What would Joe Cartwright say? (WHI/WHN for The Truckee Strip and part of the Ties That Bind AU series)
Rating K+ (1782 words)
Ties That Bind Series, links to stories within the series are included.
Hello Darkness — or, the Sounds of Silence (by PSW)
Summary: WHI for ‘To Die In Darkness’ — Season 9.
Rating: K+ Word Count: 14,737
The Cup of Bitterness (by Questfan)
Summary: After being cleared for shooting Zach Crenshaw in self-defense, Joe tried to square things with Zach’s father. While he thought he was helping Amos Crenshaw to dig a well, Amos had other plans for that hole. A WHI for “The Wormwood Cup.”
Word Count: 9,689 Rating: T