Category: What Happened Instead
Episode inspired stories.
The Best Little Bed and Breakfast in Nevada (by JC)
Summary: The Cartwrights entertain house guests. Again. Joe has a better idea.
Rating: K++, or maybe T- (4592 words)
The Gambler and the Cowboy (by Dodo)
Summary: What If the episode “The First Born” had never happened?
Rating: T (2,750 words)
Of Little Boys and Puppy Dog Tails (by Questfan)
Summary: It has only been a short time since the family lost Marie and each of them is struggling to come to terms with it. None of them could have foreseen the impact one small, stray dog would have on the whole family.
Word Count: 5846 Rating: T
Prelude (by JC)
Summary: Adam Cartwright is taking the long road home, but sometimes life takes a man in a direction he never intended to go.
Rating: T (1683 words)
A Question of Mercy (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: A What Happened Instead/What Happened in Between for the episode A Question of Strength.
Rated: K+ Word Count: 1,466 (Includes one instance of mild language and mentions of violence)
The Greatest Of These (by Hart4Ben)
Summary: April Christopher has contracted rabies from a bite from a rabid wolf. Now more than just a dear friend, Ben is committed to being by her side for her horrific final days. A WHI for the season 12 episode “A Time to Die”.
Rating: K+ Word Count: 5,055
Second Chances (by Questfan)
Summary: An alternative version of the episode, The Trap. Joe accidentally shoots and kills Burk Shannon, but all is not what it seems.
Word Count: 8079 Rating: T
Close To a Guarantee (by ForeverFree)
Summary: This is a combined WHN/WHI for The Tall Stranger.
The first sentence is the Oct 1, 2016 Pinecone prompt, even though the story never made it to the challenge.
Rating: K+ (722 words)
Siren Song (by sandspur)
Summary: What if Ben hadn’t seen Adam pulling Kane through the desert just before abandoning the search? And what if the only thing keeping Adam going…stopped?
Rated: T Word count: 5403
A Different Conversation (by AC1830)
Summary: Imagine the scene in The Ride where Adam and Ben are by the fire having a serious conversation. What if father and son discussed something totally different?
Rating = K WC = 818
The Lilies of the Valley–Book 2 of the Lilies series (by sandspur)
Summary: Adam and Tilly go to Europe for the worst honeymoon ever, landing in the middle of a war to end up missing and presumed dead. Meanwhile, Ben, Joe, and Hoss move on with their lives, finding new friends and uncovering strange secrets from the past.
Rating: T. Violence, character death, attempted rape, etc. (109,635 words)
The Lilies Series, links to stories within the series are included.
A Stranger Came to Stay (by Puchi Ann)
Summary: What if Hoss had not regained his memory during his overnight stop at the Ponderosa and had, instead, gone off with the Vandervorts? Could he ever find his way back to himself again and how would the other Cartwrights cope with a loss that might become permanent? Discover the answers in this WHI version of “A Stranger Passed This Way.”
Rating: K Word Count: 26,269
More Than Enough Love Part 2 (by Hart4Ben)
Summary: The Cartwright family continues to adjust to the addition Ben’s new wife, Kate and her nieces, Mary and Hannah. Will an unexpected visitor bring tension into the household?
Rating: T Word Count: 115,895
Ben Brown Series, links to all the stories for this series included.
Forever Changed (by BluewindFarm)
Summary: After concluding a business trip in San Francisco, Joe’s life is forever changed.
Rating: T (14,520 words)
Doppelganger (by BettyHT)
Summary: WHI for Death at Dawn in which the plot by Bryant is more complex than simply trying to save Farmer Perkins. Adam’s apparent failure to save his father as well as other events shake his confidence in his abilities, and it will take several crises and support from his family for him to regain his self-confidence.
Rating = T WC = 38683