Category: Prequel
Any time before the episode, A Rose for Lotta
Blood and Bread (by McFair_58)
Summary: Twelve-year-old Little Joe is late for supper. Hop Sing is hopping mad and Adam is none too pleased. When he heads for the stable to look for his brother, Adam expects an argument – what he gets is something else entirely. Something that begins in terror and rolls on toward tragedy. Will the Cartwrights ever be the same?
Rated PG-13 (92,480 words) Rating assigned for typical standard episodic TV Western violence and brutality.
Blood and Bread Series, links to stories within the series are included.
Surprise! (by AC1830)
Summary: Young Hoss and Joe have decided that Ben deserves a day off so they plan a special day with him, but Ben soon discovers it’s more special than anyone anticipated.
Rating K Word Count 678
Ben’s Boy Little Joe (by DJK)
Summary: Six vignettes and a poem giving glimpses of Ben Cartwright’s youngest.
Rating: General Word count: 2,412
Ben’s Boys Series, links to stories within the series are included.
The Devil’s In the Details (by McFair_58)
Summary: Ten year old Joseph Cartwright has been assigned a project by Miss Jones to write a paper about his mother. The trouble is, he’s not quite sure what he knows so he asks for her help.
Rated G (2,100 words)
Blessings In The Balance (by Hart4Ben)
Summary: Lost in grief following Marie’s death, Ben is jolted out of his despair.
Rating: K+ WC: 871
Fist City (by BluewindFarm)
Summary: Gossips sour Ben’s mood when he returns from a business trip; and he only wants to hear an explanation direct from the guilty party.
Rating: T (1,455 words)
Love Has Eyes (by DJK)
Summary: Adam didn’t lie to his father, but Marie wasn’t so sure that her stepson wouldn’t lie to her.
word count: 1407 Rating PG for references to mature subjects and corporal punishment
Hunting for Memories (by MissJudy)
Summary: Ben is enjoying a hunting trip with Adam when it takes an unexpected turn and forces a detour to the cabin in the woods where the Cartwrights first lived and trapped on the Ponderosa. Adam has not been there since he was a child, and Ben is filled with trepidation over how his son might remember those days. All seems well, even though a few of Ben’s memories leave him wondering what his son is thinking. Then a vivid dream about a incident from Adam’s childhood leaves him thoroughly shaken, and he finally finds out just what Adam thought of his early years on the Ponderosa. This story occurs a year after Adam got back from school in Boston.
Rating: K Word Count: 20,876
The Long Way Home (by Questfan)
Summary: My entry for the 2018 Camp in the Pines. At fifteen, Joe thinks he knows what it is to be a man. Unexpected events tip his ideas upside down and he finds the road home is a lot longer than he thought.
Rating: T Word Count: 10856
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
A Moment Just Before Dark (by Robin)
Summary: A prequel story that includes the Milfords from The Hayburner.
Rating: G (9,630 words)
Mystery (by McFair_58)
Summary: 12 year old Little Joe Cartwright loves black horses, especially the new black mare his brothers found and brought home. Though their father disapproves, Little Joe knows she’s the one for him and sets out to prove it. What do an apparition, a burned out ranch, a stolen fortune, a group of desperate outlaws, and Little Joe Cartwright have in common besides trouble? Mystery.
Rated PG for frightening images and western violence (25,100 words)
From the Murky Depths (by Hart4Ben)
Summary: While Ben is away on business, Adam is in charge of his two younger brothers. Predominantly a prequel.
Rating: K+ Word Count: 1001
Sense of Smell can be so Evocative (by mumu74)
Summary: This story was written for the Challenge “Lorne Greene’s birthday”. It’s not a poem, it’s not a 102 words text, it’s a 2915 words short story about Ben during one very special moment of his life. I wrote this text in french, the translation was not an easy one because I wanted to keep the special atmosphere of that romance. I was helped by my English friend, who reread and corrected the text. Now you’ll be able to discover it ; I’m glad to share it with you.
Have you ever experimented that sensation that one special smell could bring so many memories ?
Rating: K+ (2,915 words)
My Dearest Husband (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: The year is 1848, and Marie Cartwright writes a letter to her husband for Valentine’s Day.
Rating: K Word Count: 649
