Most Recent: True Blessings – posted 12/24/2024 (see summary below)
A Catalogue of Memories – Questfan
Summary: Sometimes memories need something to hold them in.
Rating: G 2,400 words
Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
A Debt of Honour – by Questfan
Summary: A trip back from Sacramento takes a deadly turn and Joe is separated from his brothers. Believing he caused their deaths and left traumatised, Joe is picked up by a father and daughter who are heading for California.
Rating: T Word Count: 23,769
A Debt of Kindness – by Questfan
Summary: Some debts cannot be repaid; they must be paid forward to others. A tough day for Joe leads to revelations for both Ben and Adam.
Written for the 2019 Advent Calendar
Rating: G Word Count: 2,340
A Dish Served Cold – by Questfan
Summary: A somewhat AU What Happened Instead for The First Born. While New Orleans had brought Marie into Ben’s life, it was also a breeding ground for lies, whispered rumours, family disputes and long-held hatred. It has long been said that revenge is a dish that is best served cold.
Rating: T Word Count: 63028
A Ponderosa Christmas Carol – by Questfan
Summary: My version of Charles Dickens’ famous story, as written for the 2016 BoNaNo Challenge. Thank you to the fun group of writers who participated as it was the first time I have done anything like that.
Word Count: 7111 Rating: T
A Surprise Delivery – by Questfan
Summary: A winter storm, a broken-down shack and a couple of strangers in need makes for a different kind of Christmas celebration.
Rating: G Words 2,700
Written for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
All That Glitters – by Questfan
Summary: Youthful dreams were lost long ago when a father decided he knew best what his daughter needed, but a second chance comes about in a most unexpected way.
Rating: G 3,420 words
Note: This story was written for the Bonanza Brand 2020 Advent Calendar, posted in the Forums.
Angels, In Spite of it All – by Questfan
Summary: Virginia City awaits the highly anticipated Nativity play. Thankfully, anyone can be an angel when there is a need.
Written for the 2017 Advent Calendar
Rating: G 3,700 words
Summary: Ben had taught his boys a code of honour that extended to others. They lived by it and he was proud of them, but would that code sustain him if it cost him one of his sons?
Word Count: 7208 Rating: T
Closing the Book – by Questfan
Summary: Adam finally comes home and has to face something he’s kept buried for many years. Can he close the book on a dark chapter of his life?
Word Count: 3183 Rating: T
Cup of Bitterness (The) – by Questfan
Summary: After being cleared for shooting Zach Crenshaw in self-defense, Joe tried to square things with Zach’s father. While he thought he was helping Amos Crenshaw to dig a well, Amos had other plans for that hole. A WHI for “The Wormwood Cup.”
Rating: K+ Word Count: 9,689
Fall Leaf aka The Greatest Gift – by Questfan
Summary: The distance of time through a child’s eyes, and a dilemma of epic proportions.
Written for the 2018 Advent Calendar
Rating: G 2,725 words
Summary: My story is based on Kingdom of Fear – Season 12. Ben, Hoss, Joe and Candy are captured and illegally found guilty of trespassing so they can be used as slave labour in a gold mine. There is no hope of escape and no hope of parole.
Word Count: 9621 Rating: T
Summary: When Ben leaves on a cattle drive with two of his sons, he has no idea that when he returns home, Joe will be gone. After searching for him, he has to face the very real possibility his son will never return.
Word Count: 13,562 Rating: T
Hole in the Barn Door aka Pieces of the Whole – by Questfan
Summary: A failed attempt at past traditions leads to memories of the boys’ mothers. A AU post-series Christmas.
Written for the 2018 Advent Calendar
Rating G 1,900 words
Joe Cartwright – Magician! – by Questfan
SUMMARY: My entry for the Michael Landon Birthday Challenge. Michael was well known as a practical joker and the challenge was to write a Bonanza story celebrating that fun side of Michael in his role as Joe Cartwright. Make it scary, funny, or dramatic . . . or all three!
Rating: K Word Count: 659
Long Way Home (The) – by Questfan
Summary: My entry for the 2018 Camp in the Pines. At fifteen, Joe thinks he knows what it is to be a man. Unexpected events tip his ideas upside down and he finds the road home is a lot longer than he thought.
Rating: T Word Count: 10856
Summary: An incident with his granddaughter brings up childhood memories for Joe.
Rating: T Word count: 4228
Night Before Christmas (The) – by Questfan
Summary: The Cartwrights share their most fervent Christmas wishes.
Rating: G Words: 2,610
Written for Bonanza Brand 2023 Advent Calendar
Of Little Boys and Puppy Dog Tails – by Questfan
Summary: It has only been a short time since the family lost Marie and each of them is struggling to come to terms with it. None of them could have foreseen the impact one small, stray dog would have on the whole family.
Word Count: 5846 Rating: T
Prodigal Sons #1 – by Questfan
Summary: Pitching brother against brother is a cruel game, but turning father against son is even better. Long buried hatred resurfaces in an unexpected way with devastating consequences for the whole family.
Word Count: 39,833 Rating: T
Prodigal Sons #2 – A Friend in Need – by Questfan
Summary: A sequel to Prodigal Sons with some of the characters from that story. When Adam receives an urgent telegram, calling in a marker, he has no idea what he is riding into. A tale of brothers and the bonds that hold them together, no matter what comes against them. This story does go into OC territory, but it all ties in with our favourite family along the way.
Word Count: 39,542 Rating: T
Summary: When Joe returns home with a child that he claims is his, the story is not quite what anyone expects.
Rating – T Word Count – 14,709
Summary: My entry for BoNaNo 2018 as well as the Crossover Challenge. After a chance encounter in his youth, Joe meets up with the man again under trying circumstances.
Rating: T Word Count: 14,309
Repent at Leisure – by Questfan
Summary: When Joe and Mitch befriend two orphaned boys and try to help them, Ben has no idea where this new friendship will lead his youngest son. It would actually prove to be Ben’s spur-of-the-moment decision that would lead to disaster. All parents have acted in haste and he just prays he has time to set things right again.
Rating: T Word Count: 60,173
Reunion – Part 1 – by Questfan
Summary: Little Joe has a very big Christmas wish, but learns there is no hope it can be fulfilled.
Written for day 1 of the 2021 Advent Calendar
Rating: G Word Count: 2900
Reunion – Part 2 – by Questfan
Summary: Adam is facing another Christmas a very long way from home and family. Can Little Joe grant his Christmas wish?
Written for Day 2 of the 2021 Advent Calendar
Rating: G Words: 2850
Scales of Justice (The) – by Questfan
Summary: Written for the 2018 Missing Man Challenge – Add Adam into an episode as if he has always been there. I have chosen an episode from Season 12:6, Gideon the Good.
Rated: T Word Count: 8,148
Summary: An alternative version of the episode, The Trap. Joe accidentally shoots and kills Burk Shannon, but all is not what it seems.
Rating: T Word Count: 8079
Something Important – by Questfan
Summary: Adam is forced to consider what is important to him, especially when he may have lost someone that is very important to him. A Bonanza prequel story, set just after Adam returns home from college.
Word Count: 16231 Rating: T
Squirrel’s Stash (The) #1 – by Questfan
Summary: I’ve been playing in the Pinecone Challenge for a while and decided to post the collection here. Each chapter has a lyric prompt and had to be no more than 500 words.
Rating: T Word Count: 5205
Squirrel’s Stash (The) #2 – by Questfan
Summary: Some more Pinecone Challenges for my pet squirrel to chew over. Each chapter has a lyric prompt and had to be no more than 500 words.
Word Count: 5275 Rating: T
Squirrel’s Stash (The) #3 – by Questfan
Summary: A few more Pinecone Challenges for my pet squirrel to gnaw on. Each chapter has a lyric prompt and had to be no more than 500 words.
Word Count: 8885 Rating: T
Summary: At sixteen, Joe was champing at the bit to be counted as a man. Until the day where his choices could have dire consequences for both his brothers.
Rating: T Word Count: 33,779
Three Halves Make a Whole – by Questfan
Summary: When seven-year-old Little Joe gets the wrong end of an idea and twists it out of shape, it’s up to his family to straighten things out. An early prequel story before Adam has left for college.
Rating: K Word Count: 3041
Summary: Amid the harsh conditions, can the Cartwrights share true blessings?
Rating: G (3,800 words)
Summary: There is more than one way to die. A man can still be breathing and yet not living as Joe has discovered. Somebody is sent to find a lost soul and turn him for home once more.
Written for the 2019 Advent Calendar
Rating: G Word Count: 1950
