Synopsis: Adam Cartwright is home again, but not everybody seems pleased about it….
Rating: K+ Word Count: 827
We Meet Again
Adam Cartwright commented in a dreamy voice, “Next December I’ll likely be up on the rooftop playing at being St. Nicholas.”
“No doubt,” I said waspishly. “You’re nothing but a broken-down warhorse come home to green pastures and permanent retirement.”
One eyebrow went up, then the other. “You don’t approve,” he commented as his lips began to quirk.
“I don’t believe it.”
“And you don’t approve.”
“Your father still works as hard as he’s able. Harder than he should, or so Dr. Martin tells me.”
“There’s always plenty for a rancher to be doing,” Adam agreed. “Pa likes to be useful.”
“Oh, and you don’t, of course.”
Abruptly he swung around and put both hands together on the table. “So what is it you’re trying to tell me, eh?”
What he actually said was a name he should have known was as good as a slap in the face to me. I made myself stay calm. “There’s always plenty for anyone to be doing around here, Mr. Cartwright. Rancher, or miner, or even social engineer.”
Amusement–feigned or real–evaporated from his face. He watched me with all the expressiveness of a top-class poker player.
And for a moment I could find nothing more to say to him.
+ – + – +
What I felt, of course, was anger. What I wasn’t entirely sure of was why. Well, besides that flip way he seemed to dismiss all his obligations now that he was home. Or, even worse, my suspicion that the flippancy was intended to conceal a conviction that he couldn’t meet his obligations and might as well stop trying. He’d taken on the world, and the world had won. In a landslide, as the newspapers might say. He may have been trying to pretend he didn’t care, but all I could think about was the defeated slump in his shoulders.
If that was how Adam Cartwright felt about the future, we were all in deep trouble here.
Not that gloom-and-doom mongers had ever been far from the Comstock. They weren’t a very loud thread in the clamor and bustle of a place that took pride in reinventing itself at least once a decade, but the mere fact that so many reinventions were necessary suggested we were all treading on unsteady ground. No mine is bottomless, and here in particular if the pumps were ever turned off they would never come back on. No one would bother to invest in restarting a mine that had to be pumped dry before even a test assay could be run. Our big bonanza had come and (probably) gone–and Adam had missed it.
There had been so many ways he could have helped us all make better use of the opportunity. Better management of the money poured into the Storey County Courthouse, for example. Better ideas for what should be taught in our schools–or for how teachers should go about their work. Better solutions to the problems of the Paiute Indians, who had gradually vanished from the land they once had understood so profoundly. He’d always been good at getting Virginia City to live up to the “better angels of its nature.” Not as good as his brother Hoss, perhaps, but Hoss seldom meddled in the city’s affairs; and, anyway, Hoss was dead now. Another event Adam had missed. No wonder I was angry at him.
+ – + – +
Just then, though, my mind went to more personal places. To the people who might have benefited from his presence here. Some who had known him, like Sarah Winnemucca, and others whom he hadn’t met, but might have liked. There were causes enough at hand to occupy his attention for twenty-four hours a day without his ever leaving Nevada. Foreign travel was a gift he’d given to himself, and if he’d gotten less pleasure from it than he’d expected, he had only himself to blame.
But now he was back. With his wife, whom I counted my friend, and their daughter, who was too much like each of them to seem entirely real.
Did he think I was angry that he was happy with them, even if with nothing else?
Did he think I meant to be malicious?
Oh, dear God, did he think I was jealous?
But I’d spent all my adult mind trying to keep him from reading my mind. I could hardly blame him if by now I’d learned to conceal myself all too well.
I took a deep breath, forced a smile, and hoped he would recognize the disinterested (but never, never uninterested!) friend I wanted him to believe me.
“I guess–” inwardly I winced at the tremor in my voice–“I guess I just wanted to tell you you were missed.”
The End
Written for the 2017 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.
The words/phrases dealt to me were:
dreamy
malicious
teacher
next December
up on the roof
I’ll add my request for more of the story, so many questions to be answered!
I guess who the narrator is and with that the story shows all its beauty. I love it that the person has a lot of “layers”, even one that shows that she (I think the person is a she) is mistaken about her own motifs.
Intriguing, but like everyone else has said, it is not enough. I hope you’ll continue since there are so many unanswered questions. You have definitely piqued our interest.
I agree with the other comments that your story is well written but we don’t know who the narrator is. Please expand the story so we have a better understanding of what happened to Adam in the years he was gone and who the narrator is. I’m sure it would make a great read.
This is almost like a teaser for a longer, potentially very dramatic story, which I would love to read. You just have to write it. Asap! Because we have here not the average narrator, but rather someone multi-layered with an obvious hidden..agenda? No, but interest, I’m certain of that.
Well written entry, but difficult for me to become involved in the story without knowing who is speaking.
Oh, there’s so much more to tell! Well done.
Hard to judge what’s really going on with such a short fragment. Can the narrator be trusted? Most people don’t get angry when they see an old friend. I definitely hope there will be more to this story!
People who are curious about my take on Adam’s life away from the Ponderosa or who would like to know more about the narrator of “We Meet Again” might find some answers in my old WIP in the Reading Room.
This story catches the attention and leaves the reader thinking about many things: why does Adam feel defeated, is he unhappy with his wife, and just who is the narrator that seems to know him so well. This hand brings enjoyable speculation to the reader. Good job!
The mystery about who the narrator really was, definitely piqued my interest on this one! Nicely done!
Odd that Adam would have found a wife and daughter and still return home so apparently defeated. Unhappy in love? I can’t help wondering who the narrator is, of course. The word choices don’t sound like Little Joe, but if not, then he rates no mention at all, as is accorded to Ben and Hoss, and that seems strange, as well. I think you quit writing too soon, as there is much more story to be told.
Sorry to disappoint you, but Joe didn’t make an appearance in the narrator’s train of thought…which doesn’t mean she has no appreciation for him, just that she had other things on her mind at that moment. You might try checking some of my other library stories for information about her attitude towards Joe!
A slightly depressing but very “full circle” tale of a somewhat world-weary Adam returning to the Ponderosa after finding out (just like Dorothy & Toto) that everything he wanted had been here all along. I’m sorry the world won but it looks like Adam is at least content to be home.
Interesting with the other participant unidentified, just who other readers feel it could be. If I’m correct about the writer, I think I know the unknown. Maybe the story is just a teaser of a future time and place in an already existing realm of Cartwrights.
Oh the want and longing and the thoughts of the unfulfilled.
I’m the oddball here, I guess, and to make the story complete, I need to know who’s talking. Otherwise, nicely written.
Well written and very intriguing. There is much more to this story waiting in the wings, like putting your toe in the water and finding it cold, but wanting to plunge in anyway. I want to take that plunge, to find out the identity of this speaker and just what comes next! ?
Very intriguing! Just who is she? And she seems to know Adam very well indeed. A bittersweet vignette on the return of Adam from far away places. But then, how he could he be happy anywhere but the Ponderosa 😉
THe I-form is very interesting and now I’m curious. I wonder. Is it Joe or Ben ? THanks for the story and I know, we’ll get more informations later.
I can’t help but wonder if Peggy is the narrator, especially from the observation that Adam “is happy with them.” I’m intrigued by what isn’t said about where Adam’s been and what it is he’s been doing. It’s kinda sad to think he left with hopes and dreams that were never fully realized so he comes home as if defeated. I hope there’ll be more to this story someday.
No, not Peggy either–but that was an interesting guess!
I’m so curious about the narrator, and just what his or her relationship is to Adam. To leave home and not find what you’re looking for, that’s just awful! But it sounds like in some ways he did, since he has a wife and daughter.
Good job!
Interesting! Curious to know the story behind this narrator and her relationship with Adam. She makes some very good points … but also needs to realize that no matter how much there is to do someplace, some people will need to step away and see what else is out there. It’s just in their natures …
Thanks for writing!
I can easily imagine such an encounter between the brothers after all the time and events have passed. The two of them have to learn to relate to each other as adults who have both experienced loss and disappointment. Well done! Thanks for contributing this story to the tournament.
Belle, sad to say, it isn’t a brother speaking–though she has experienced her share of loss and disappointment, I’ll admit.
I’m sad to see Adam didn’t find what he was after, but happy that he has come home again. The only problem with coming home is that home has often changed from what we remember.
“He’d taken on the world, and the world had won.” Say it isn’t so! Adam didn’t find his heart’s desire out there after all, even with a with a wife and a daughter? Our eloquent narrator seems to know him so well but how well does he know her? I’m glad he has such a “disinterested” friend. Perhaps there will be more to this story. 🙂