Joe let himself smile for half a second before sobering and shaking his head. “I’ve known you a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. Maybe you got this way when I was too young to notice or wasn’t around to remember, but… I don’t know, seeing you down here tonight all alone, I sort of got worried.” Or, after Laura Dayton’s departure, Joe finds his oldest brother in need of some consolation. A WHN for the “Triangle.”

Word Count: 2,316   Rating: PG

Canon refers to Ben leaving the Ponderosa for a time after Marie’s death. This story presents a possibility for how Adam managed during this time. (This is an Old Ned story.)

Summary: A missing scene from Emily. Joe finds an ambushed money transport with a dead and injured man lying next to it. He fires three shots to call for help, but he gets shot in the back. Hoss and Candy arrive at the scene shortly after Deputy Wade.
Rating: PG Word Count: 1600

Summary: This is a sequel to A Shadow Calling with the same OCs. A tragic experience from a decade earlier has consequences for the Cartwright family and triggers memories and fears until the threat is faced. It is a story within a story, and both tales are told.
T  12,921

Summary:  Faced with the trials of heart failure, young Adam Cartwright embarks on a journey of courage and resilience, drawing on the memories of the mother he never knew and the solidarity of his loving family to confront his limitations and cherish every moment of life. Rating:  K+ Word Count:…

Summary: A follow-up to The Crucible.  An unexpected visitor helps Adam Cartwright heal his broken heart before breaking it again.  A story for Valentine’s Day.
Word count: 3296
Rated: G

Summary: Just when it seems like certain scars have begun to fade, a chance encounter sends Adam spiraling back into the torment that still follows him more than a year after Eastgate. A WHN for The Crucible. Word Count: 7,332  Rating: G

Summary: Another prequel, but Little Joe is eleven in this one, Hoss is seventeen, and Adam is twenty-three. Climbing that pine tree is again key to the story, but it is what happens after that which is most significant.
Rating: T  Word count: 5, 575

Summary: The third story in the Vine series answers the last question of who sent the vine, but there is also an examination of Marie’s background to explain the motivation for that act. The story may not make sense in every part unless you have read the first two stories in the series.
Rating: T  Word count: 5,865

Summary: While it’s become abundantly clear that some hurts never heal, a small bullet wound and a night trapped out in the rain reveal that the scars that stick around do so with a vengeance. Every time Adam tries to take a step toward healing, his mind forces him to take two steps back. This time around, Joe is there to have his back. A WHN for The Crucible.
Word Count: 2,561  Rating: G

Summary: Heading out on a hunting trip that Adam had requested for his birthday, the family runs into a lot more trouble than expected when they find signs of rustlers working on the Ponderosa.
Rating: T  Word count: 2,919

Summary: Ben witnessed a robbery and murder. Threats to his life have caused him to go into hiding until the trial, but it is Adam who suffers the consequences as accomplices of the accused set out to find Ben’s location by questioning Adam who finds that his mind is his only weapon against their relentless brutal inquisition.   
Rating T  Word count 4,354

Summary: The Ponderosa is in crisis and the family asks Adam to come home to help, but that sets in motion a plot that leads to tragedy and loss and surprises too with the two drifters who showed up on the ranch. 
22,010  T

Summary: !5-year-old Adam is awaiting a letter from San Francisco, but his plan to  check for its arrival at Cass’ store are detoured by his father’s directive to head the opposite direction for the day instead. Something about this feels off to Adam, and he lets his frustration at being kept from his simple request billow into anger. After hearing something that seems to confirm his feeling that all is not right with this situation; he lets his emotions ride unchecked, causing a chain of  painful events he has to sort through. He settles on writing it all out just as it happened, including each step and misstep he made and the feeling that drove it. Meanwhile his father will have to examine his part it what happened as well, and we see this conclusion through Adam’s eyes as well.

Rating: K          Word Count:  16841

Summary: The first Christmas after Hoss is gone is difficult for everyone even with Adam there.
Rating: PG  Word count: 1223