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Category: Prequel
Any time before the episode, A Rose for Lotta
The Twelve-Year-Old Gunman (by BettyHT)
Summary: How do you get a sixteen-year-old son or a younger brother to be careful with their first pistol? You tell them the story of the oldest son and brother and his first pistol to teach them as well as make them willing to follow the rules. Written on another site as a challenge to use cowboy lingo in a story; definitions are at the end of the story.
Rating: PG Word count: 6,749
Not Forgotten (by BettyHT)
Summary: A story for those who are willing to accept an Alternate Universe version of some of the Bonanza story. In this case, it is the story of Ben and Marie and the story of Adam in the prequel years with Adam’s backstory drastically altered.
Rating: PG Word count: 15,477
Second Son (by Sierras)
Summary: Marie feels fear after the birth of her son, Joseph. Can she hold him forever?
Rating: G
Word Count: 764
Obloquy (by Cheaux)
Summary: Ben is compelled to defend Marie’s honor. A prequel written for Brand’s Mother’s Day Challenge. Rating: T Word Count: 1900
Mending Fences (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: Adam, Little Joe, a strained relationship, and one stupid school essay. A prequel story.
Rating: K
Word Count: 1,190
A Rose for Mama (by AC1830)
Summary: Adam and Hoss have a surprise for Marie
Rating – K, Word Count – 748
His Father’s Arms (by mcfair_58)
Summary: Written in honor of Lorne Green’s birthday, 2021. A stand-off at the bank reveals what’s truly important to Ben Cartwright.
Rated: PG
Word count: 4088
Going Home (by mcfair_58)
Summary: It is 1847 and such a winter had never been seen! Snowstorms and squalls. Sleet and ice. Winds so ferocious they built drifts high as a man. Driven by a need to escape the memory of his late wife, Ben Cartwright ventures out into a frozen landscape and becomes lost. As he seeks a way to survive, he has no way of knowing that another member of the family has become lost as well. Will the killer snow claim two Cartwright lives?
Rated PG
Word count 20,990
The Cold Isn’t All Bad (by wx4rmk)
Summary: Cold temperatures on the Ponderosa can be downright miserable especially when it lasts for weeks. With everyone becoming restless, Adam comes up with a creative and fun activity to combat cabin fever.
Rating: K / Word Count: 1343
The Hayloft (by BettyHT)
Summary: In this prequel, Ben tries for a romantic interlude, but the weather and hay fever conspire against him.
Rating: PG Word Count: 1,619