***** SEASON SIX *****

Invention of a Gunfighter

His voice echoes in my head, I can’t hear my own. The song of terror is wailing inside me, I’m driven by my wish to understand. I realize that I’m looking for explanations and a framework in vain. He is not a bad person, I should know that after my time with Al – only scarred by his previous helplessness. There is nothing to suggest his eager for justice will always find the same expression. When he becomes more mature, he’ll stop killing. My own mean doubts run stakes of shame through my abdomen. I’ve judged him far too rashly.

By ForeverFree

The Scapegoat

Hahaha. Did you hear our Pa? “Waldo, sit down please!” Well, the polite “please” at the writs ending won’t soften the instruction that much. This powerful voice, this patriarchal undertone. How many times was it me that the order was placed to? No Waldo, you won’t be able to escape our father’s claws, the same as my brothers and I weren’t able all these years when it came to decisions. Ben Cartwright, as he lives and breathes. But you see, with this voice in our back we had grown to men, able to face whatever life holds ready to us.

by Silver Sven

A Dime’s Worth of Glory

I am ready to go downstairs when the front door slams.

“Hoss!”  The glee in Joe’s voice gives me pause.  “Look!”

A rustling, and then, “Naw…is that…?”

“It is!” My youngest son giggles, and I peer around the corner to see him actually rolling on the coffee table.  Hoss, staring at a newspaper, begins to grin.

“Aw now…ain’t that just fantastic?”  That tone usually means trouble.  “Daring decimation and capture, huh?”

Oh.

Oh no.

“Deceptive garb of ordinary businessmen.”  Joe cackles.  “Pa and big brother have got themselves secret identities!”

I back slowly away.

Nothing good can come of this.

by PSW

Between Heaven and Earth

I know I hurt him, but I can’t believe there’s no chance that Mitch and I will ever be friends again.  We’ve been together too long for somethin’ this stupid this to ruin things.

I’m gonna have to tell him.  It’ll be embarrassing, sure, because… well, because it is embarrassing.  All that trouble between us, over a little thing like me bein’ afraid of heights.  The nightmares, the anxiety, the snappin’ at everybody all the time.  Course, I didn’t know it at the time.

That’s no good excuse, I know.

I was hurtin’ everybody around me and didn’t care because I was so miserable, and I was pushin’ them all away because I didn’t want anybody to get close enough to see it.

It’s all so clear now that Pa helped me understand it.  Wish things had been that clear before.

It can’t be over with Mitch, not over somethin’ like this.  We’re better than that.  He’s got to listen, and he’s just gotta forgive me.

And if he doesn’t… maybe the last thing I can do for my friend before we part ways is convince him he don’t need somethin’ like an arm wrestlin’ title to make him special.

By PSW

Old Sheba

Fascinating.  Joe and Hoss had that expression they have had since they were children and got caught stealing donuts or hiding a note from the teacher.  But never did I guess they hid an elephant in the stable. Pa’s look was pure stupefaction.  It was hilarious especially when Old Sheba decided she didn’t like being in the stable and decided that perhaps being in the house was a better idea. My brothers failing to sell her back was amusing.  When Joe made Hoss haul all of those timbers for the railroad but it started to rain flooding that creek.  Priceless.

By BettyHT

~ B ~ O ~ N ~ A ~ N ~ Z ~ A ~

Joe thinks it’s a good idea, but I don’t know.

I mean…we’re sure enough not gonna get our money.  I know it.  And we gotta come back with somethin’ ta show for our time away from the ranch (not ta mention all them bruises I collected along the way).  Pa ain’t gonna be none too happy otherwise, and Adam’ll spend the next three years laughin’ at us.  But this?

She’s worth all that money and more.  And I gotta admit, I’d just downright love ta keep her.

But, how we gonna tell Pa we got an elephant in the stable?

By PSW

A Knight to Remember

The king is dead, long lives the king.

Well, no, the king is not dead. The king actually never lived. Right, live he did; he just wasn’t a real sovereign.

Well, as a matter of fact, he was much more of a king than Adam originally thought. Courageous, noble, generous. Inspiring. Kingly to a point where Adam might or might not have started to ask himself if Arthur could possibly…ah, no.

Joe and Hoss thought him a mere fraud, a lunatic. Laughing stock. And Adam to be only a step away.

Ah, leave them be. Aren’t they just peasants anyway?

By faust

Woman of Fire

Don Miguel and his family left today.  Don Luis seemed so very happy with his bride-to-be and Margarita smiled in that conspiratorial way that she and I learned to share in the last few days of her visit.  The house will be so much more peaceful now.  Pa can relax and look through the catalog to order replacement china.  I wish he would buy something that fit a man’s hand better than that dainty pink and white china that Marie liked, but I suppose it’s like having her here to have that setting for every meal.  I’ve got a new guitar on order from New York, and Don Miguel was most gracious to offer to pay the cost of it and the shipping.  The bruises on Hoss’ head are fading now, and he claims that he has no more headaches from the blow of my guitar exploding over his head.  Carlos and Manuel can fight for Elena’s hand in marriage to make Don Miguel a happy man.  Yet, I have this vague feeling of loss as I lay here staring at the ceiling lying alone in my bed thinking of the fiery shrew I tamed and wishing she were mine.

By BettyHT

The Flannel-Mouth Gun

Hunching his shoulders against the steel edge of the air, Adam listened with the rest of the posse as the man on the cabin porch introduced himself. He knew Sherman Clegg by reputation. “Range detective” was merely a polite designation for a hired killer. Pa had warned him about Alf Simmons when he left him his proxy for the Cattleman’s Association meeting, but the new president had prevailed with the other ranchers to retain Clegg’s services. Now a man lay dead.

“He drew on me; it was self-defense. I get along fine with the law,” Clegg assured Sheriff Coffee. His amiable manner left Adam unconvinced, but Roy had no grounds to hold him.

Watching Clegg and Simmons ride off shoulder to shoulder gave Adam a feeling colder than the morning. He wasn’t sure which one was the more dangerous, the one who made his living by killing or the one who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. It was a match made outside of Heaven, and the Devil would have his due.

Before payment was finally delivered, four others would also die including Clegg, Simmons, and an innocent woman caught in the crosshairs of greed and hate.

by JC

The Search

When he first walked into that saloon, I knew he would never bow to another man’s will.  A passionate man, he has a sense of justice that things have to be set right in the world.  Defiant to the sheriff, he insisted on doing what needed to be done.  He took chances impersonating a man, and in that mine, he took a huge risk of being shot to get her to tell the truth.  Looking up at him against the sky, I know I’m letting a piece of my heart ride away. Why did I have to call him Tom?

By BettyHT

Once a Doctor

“Help him.” It was such a simple plea, but I couldn’t do it; I hadn’t operated on anyone for far to long. A shudder ran down my spine as I thought of all the possible ways it could go wrong; with my shaky hands, one tiny slip of the scalpel was all it would take to end a life. Besides, I was still mostly drunk. Alcohol and surgery were two things that should never mix. And yet….

I took another look at the man before me and saw the desperation in his black eyes—a desperation I had seen countless times in the past. This was a father pleading for the life of his son, a son who just happened to be the only friend I had in the world.

“This is my only friend.” I had once told Hoss, pointing to the bottle of tonic.

“No, you got another friend whether you want ‘im or not.” The big, honest-faced cowboy had replied, a smile tugging at his lips.

Could I do it?

Yes, I could, and I would…for Hoss.

I rolled up my sleeves, hands suddenly steadier than a rock.

It was time to get to work.

by AnnieKCowgirl

The Trap

I’d argued with Roy until I was blue in the face. I wanted Booth Shannon gone. How could a lawman twist the truth from fact to fiction to serve his perverted sense of justice? Tension in Virginia City ran thick as molasses in winter.

I hadn’t realized my son chose to defend his honor by challenging his antagonist to a gunfight. I’d never ran so fast after hearing the shots fired.   Seeing my son sprawled face down, his life’s blood oozing from a bullet wound; I prayed to God Almighty.

All this because a man was jealous of his brother.

By BluewindFarm

B ~ O ~ N ~ A ~ N ~ Z ~ A

I didn’t do it! It’s a lie! I neither killed Burk nor Hallie. But if the whole town thinks that way, if Booth makes the people believe this, what future do I have here? So you better face me out there, lawman. I won’t die on the gallows. If I have to die, then I’ll defend my reputation on this street.

Virginia City can have its spectacle, but it won’t be a hanging. I’ll fight Shannon’s trap until the very end. Even if the probability is small that I’ll hit him before he kills me, I go for that chance.

By Silver Sven

B ~ O ~ N ~ A ~ N ~ Z ~ A

These widow’s weeds aren’t for a beautiful, young woman like me.  Joe won’t like seeing me in black; not a good color for me anyway.  Oh how I wish I had married Joe instead of Burke, but that doesn’t matter now, does it?  Of course Joe didn’t kill for me, he’s too honorable, too decent.  I don’t care, I’ll have Joe now, no more living in this dingy little cabin.  Joe will build us a house, grand like his father’s ranch house.  It’ll be beautiful with flowers and a porch and children and  . . . .oh no, Booth!

By Justafan

B ~ O ~ N ~ A ~ N ~ Z ~ A

Shots rang out and I instantly knew Little Joe was in trouble.

Roy and I bolted out the door and rounded the corner, the sight before me seizing my heart.  The motionless body splayed out face down in the dirt was my Joseph, blood staining his green jacket and his gun laying at his feet.  Running to his side I felt like my feet were made of lead.  As I passed Booth, he told me he didn’t want to do it, but we both knew Joe was no match for him in a gunfight.  I hope he saw the look of pure disgust on my face when our eyes met.   I reached down and cradled my wounded son, lifted his unconscious body and carried him to Doc Martin’s office.  Damn you, Joseph!  Damn you for being so reckless!

When I knew he was going to be ok, I sunk into a chair in the waiting room and counted my blessings. Sure, he was impetuous, but his conviction to die if he had to for the sake of the truth about Burk and Halley comes from a maturity not often seen in young men his age.  I am one grateful, proud Pa.

By Home Alone

Dead and Gone

Ya know, it’s hard work being a law-abiding citizen and a family man.

Just wish things hadn’t happened as they had.  What with Adam killin’ Ross Marquette.  Then all the heartache after Montpelier Gorge, and the Reardons.  Just when life looked to be turnin’ around, and he might just settle down and get married, his fiancée falls in love with our cousin.

Guess the final straw came when he had no choice but to kill another friend, who done broke jail and shot Roy.

Old Howard’s Dead and Gone.  And so’s Adam; gone that is, traveling and exploring the world.

By BluewindFarm

To Own the World

A child is born innocent; at some time he learns the sin of greed. Charles Augustus Hackett, a self-made tycoon, suffered no guilt or remorse. He capitalized on anything and anyone. To him, everything had a price and at the same time he valued nothing. He’d ruin a man, just to say he won.

His wife stood there and admitted she wanted him dead. Had her shame for his past turned her heart just as cold? No, she admitted he hadn’t corrupted her. Then he claimed her weak.

How could he not understand the priceless gift he’d been given – love.

By BluewindFarm

To Season Seven