What Happened Before, Missing Scenes, What Happened Next, What Happened Instead, and stories that begged to be told that were not included within the series. Some of these stories were challenge inspired and some, the writers were just never satisfied with what was aired.
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Please be advised that the listing of stories below may contain works which have been assigned and “R” or a “Mature” rating by their respective authors. Such stories could contain explicit language and/or adult themes; and are not intended for readers under the age of 18. Please heed our rating guidelines.
To reach the story, click on the title.
A Brother’s Heartache by Dodo
Summary: A WHN for Season 5’s Triangle. Laura Dayton has gone and there’s a heartbroken brother on the Ponderosa. But which brother?
Rating: K Word Count 2700
Amen and Amen by Krystyna
Summary: So what did happen to Will and Laura and Peggy after the wedding day? Did they ride happily off into the sunset and disappear like many other Cartwright neighbours and friends? If they did it was only after this particular adventure …
32,505 words Rating: K
Another Side of the Triangle #1 by BluewindFarm
Summary: Missing scenes from The Triangle, and what happened next.
Rating: K+ 5,170 words
Another Side of the Triangle #2 – The Epilogue by BluewindFarm
Summary: A continuation of Another Side of the Triangle — missing scenes and WHN for the episode, The Triangle It is not necessary to have read Another Side of the Triangle in order to understand the epilogue.
Rating: T . 1,220 words
At Dusk by faust
Summary: What has happened that has changed Adam so much? A story about the ravages of life and the endurance of love with references to ‘Triangle’ and ‘Forever.’
9,500 words, Rating: T
Believe in Love – A Special Love by AC1830
Summary: Adam Cartwright and Peggy Dayton developed a special relationship that seemed to go beyond friendship. This is a WHN about the strength of that bond after tragedy strikes at Christmas.
Rating: K+ WC = 8882
By Wisdom’s Wings and Love’s Own Hands by the Tahoe Ladies
Summary: A WHN for Triangle
Rating: T 3,980 words
Dead Men Tell No Tales by AC1830
Summary – October challenge – write another worldly story involving one or all the Cartwrights. The unthinkable has happened – all four Cartwrights are dead!
Rating – K, Word count – 2045
Epiphany by Claire
Summary: Tensions are high when Adam and Joe set off on an important journey together, but events allow them to reach a true understanding of one another.
Rated: K+ 5,720 words
He Was Laughing by Calim11
Summary: What Happened Next for the episode “Triangle”
Rating: K+ 7,100 words
Just a Neighbor – by Millieshepherd
Summary: In the aftermath of Laura Dalton running off with Will Cartwright and Adam’s accident that left him crippled, he is still trying to recover both physically and emotionally. In an attempt to heal and get rid of the itch to leave the Ponderosa for a while, he buys a six-month homestead claim contract. His piece of land is a beautiful little spot about forty miles north of the Ponderosa and he soon discovers his closest neighbor is a pretty young lady named Felicity Quinn. While helping each other through multiple situations, a close friendship grows between them and they aren’t sure if they want to continue to be “just neighbors”. (This story takes place around the beginning of season six.)
Rating: PG Word Count: 7,648
Laura’s Decision by BluewindFarm
Summary: A Missing Scene reflecting on events from The Pressure Game and The Triangle.
Rating: T 685 words
Marrying Off Laura by JennyG
Summary: It’s just like the title says.
Rating: T 3,515 words
More than a Memory #1 by JC
Summary: Adam re-assesses his life in the aftermath of his broken engagement to Laura Dayton. WHN for “Triangle”
Rating: T Word Count: 4,184
More than a Memory #2 – Convergence by JC
Summary: Three years ago Adam left the Ponderosa for parts unknown, and now Ben finally gets the news he has been praying for – his firstborn is coming home. However, an unexpected reunion in Stockton isn’t the only surprise fate has in store for the Cartwrights. A Bonanza/Big Valley crossover story.
Rating: T 35,257 words
Night Trilogy by JC
Summary: Strange things are afoot on the Ponderosa in these three after-dark comic vignettes.
Rating: K 1,040 words
On a Wedding Day by Krystyna
Summary: Laura’s wedding day – how does everyone actually feel about this coming marriage?
Rated: K+ 4,745 words
One Step Closer – For Love’s Sake Only by MissJudy
Summary: Adam promised Laura that he’d be back for their engagement party. But he’s delayed and during that time, he unexpectedly meets his first love – a young woman he knew in Boston. After an evening spent talking, they realize that they still love each other, yet they know that it can’t make a difference. Life and time have sent them in opposite directions and they part again, while wondering what might have happened if they had taken one step closer. This is a what happens during, and after the episode, Triangle.
Rated: K+ WC 10,000
Pride & Ponderosa by Sandspur
Summary: What happens when Jane Austen’s ultimate chick-fic, “Pride & Prejudice,” crosses into the burly, macho, he-man world of Bonanza? Confusion? Kidnappings? Crossover characters from other series like “Bronco” and “the Big Valley”? Anything can happen—and anything does!
Rating: T. Totally clean, but one description of an unseemly death. WC 86,200
Relatives and Reasons by DJK
Summary: In an effort to convince Will to stay, memories are stirred like the embers of a dying fire.
Rating: 27,050 words
Slipping Through my Fingers by Krystyna
Summary: This is the story of Jane Halcrow and the way she met and fell in love with Adam Cartwright? Does she marry him? Not if Laura Dayton has anything to do about it, but then….?!
Rating: T 32,395 words
Wanderlust by Indyanna130
Summary: Contributed for the Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament 2015
Words: 1326 Rated: G
Wheelchair (The) by DJK
Summary: Years later Adam’s wheelchair from “The Triangle” comes out of the attic.
Rated: K+ Word count: 667
When Grace Heals a Broken Spirit – by MissJudy
Summary: The Triangle episode has always bothered me. It showed an upbeat Adam who was always chipper and jolly. Yet he’d been seriously injured, and was not having optimal outcomes when it came to walking again. He would certainly have gone through some very dark times while considering his future in a wheel chair. In addition, he had to have felt Laura’s coolness and emotional absence, since she loved Will. This is my personal adaptation of that episode with a little backstory. It is a realistic and gritty look at the likely medical outcomes of the fall; the emotional battles Adam would have faced, and the power of brotherly love.
Rating: K Word Count: 17425
