Summary:  With word of Ben Cartwright’s death, the three Cartwright brothers must decide if they’ll keep the Ponderosa going in order to preserve their father’s legacy.  Meanwhile, it’s Little Joe whose nightly dreams propel him to search for the truth about how his father perished and if he’s really dead. Rating – T, WC 28,200, Family/Drama/Hurt/Comfort 

Summary: Little Joe is having a rough go of it. Things get worse when a fired ranch hand decides Joe owes him. Will life get better for the youngest Cartwright?
Written as a response to 2nd quarter chaps and spurs challenge.
Word count: 15,015
Rated: T

Summary: The Cartwrights go after the Dalton brothers and Joe struggles to face the horrors done to him in the cabin in order to leave the darkness and come into A New Light.
Rating:  MA (graphic violence and adult subject matter) WC 56,939

Summary: Joe tries to repair his friendship with Mitch, which leads to many other problems. Meanwhile, he’s being watched.

Sequel to the story ‘Different Than Planned’; It is useful to have read the first story, but not necessary.

Rating: PG       Word Count: 20700

Summary: Ben and Little Joe are targeted in retaliation of being key witnesses in a murder case that lead to a hanging.
Word count: 4,928
rated: M

Summary: In the final entry of three short stories, can the Cartwright hayloft provide poor Hoss with the comfort and understanding he needs to deal with the humiliation and shame he feels after being teased by unkind classmates?

Rating: K/G (3,401 words)

Summary: After Joe is found alive after months spent in captivity, his family’s joy is short-lived. Now Ben, Adam, and Hoss must decipher why Joe adamantly insists that for the rest of his life he must “Stay in the Darkness ”     Joe/ family/ Drama/ Hurt/Comfort.
Rating  T-13. Word count 40,990  

Summary: The Cartwrights’ new friend, Black Bear, encounters a wild cat, and they catch the tail end of the adventure.
This story was written for the Chaps & Spurs 2025 1st Quarter Challenge.”
Rating:  T  (2,350 words)

Adam takes care of Joe after a run-in with a wild animal.
Rated: T word count: 2917

Summary: Joe is once again in a tight spot
Rating: PG Word count: 6500

Summary: During the events of “A Stranger Passed This Way,” Adam struggles against his own emotions while trying to comfort Joe as they both face the grim reality of losing Hoss to the Vandervorts. A Missing Scene Story because these boys deserve some comfort.
Rating: G  Word Count: 2,106

Summary: The story plays after the episode ‘Between Heaven and Earth.’ Joe plans a well-deserved summer vacation, but the journey becomes an unexpected nightmare.

Rating: M  (sexual content, violence)   Word Count: 19100

Summary: Little Joe gets kidnapped during a bank robbery. Will he survive? Will he be found?
Rated: T   Word count: 7192

Summary: The Founders Day horse race was a tradition for Adam and Joe Cartwright, but the question always is – which brother will win?

Rating: G, Word Count: 772

Summary: Little Joe couldn’t believe it when Pa turned his back and walked away. Adam had been injured and it was Joe’s fault and Ben refused to get him out of the charges or even post bail. Now after six weeks in the Virginia City jail Joe must face Pa for the first time and make a tough decision about his future. A lesson about love, the tough kind.
Rating T  (word count 21,290)