Category: Hurt/Comfort
Chiaroscuro – Between Dark and Light (by Wrangler)
Summary: Little Joe is emotionally caught between dark and light when Trenton’s brother Preston devises a plot to capture him by using Pa as bait. Will he break under the trauma of another captivity? Part three of the Stay in the Darkness series, links to stories provided within.
Rating T, WC 42,240
The Problem (by LillianMontane)
Summary: Hoss thought Joe’s problem with food had been solved years ago. But he wasn’t as right as he thought.
Rating: T, discussion of eating disorders.
Word count: 2,343
An Eye For An Eye (by bonanzagirl)
Summary: A man wants revenge.
Rating: PG Word Count: 8280
If Silence Keeps You (By Wrangler)
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
The Arroyo (by Lillian Montane)
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
A New Light (by Wrangler)
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. (updated 2026)
Rating: MA (graphic violence and adult subject matter) WC 56,939
Reckoning and Redemption (by bonanzagirl)
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
Vengence (By Lillian Montane)
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
The Loft – #3 (by Pat D in PA)
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)
Stay in the Darkness (by Wrangler)
Summary: After Little Joe is finally found 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”
Rating T-13. Word count 40,990
Catamount (by SydneyFate)
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)
Porcupine Creek (by LillianMontane)
Adam takes care of Joe after a run-in with a wild animal.
Rated: T word count: 2917
Stuck (by bonanzagirl)
Summary: Joe is once again in a tight spot
Rating: PG Word count: 6500
A Ghost Passed This Way (by HarpistforHim)
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
Different Than Planned (by bonanzagirl)
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
