I thought I’d do The Tall Stranger. I wondered what would have happened if Margie had lived and married Hoss.

Hoss went to see Margie in the hospital. He had rushed to her when her father told him about her problems. Hoss found out through Mark’s friend, Kathie, about her having a baby and he rushed to Margie’s side. He knelt next to her bed.

“Margie, come back with me,” he whispered.

“I can’t. What will people say?” Margie asked.

“Nothing. They’ll say nothing,” Hoss assured.

“I can’t. I’ll be alone with my baby.”

“Margie, you won’t be. If you marry me, you’ll both be taken care of.”

Margie looked at him.

“Please, don’t do this because you feel bad for me.”

“I don’t. I still love you.” Hoss took her hand.

Margie smiled and shrugged. She thought about it. How would the Cartwrights react to her after she had hurt Hoss? Maybe they would forgive her when they would tell them what happened with her and Mark.

“All right,” she replied.

When Margie got better, they went to the Justice of the Peace and got married. Hoss took Margie and the baby back to the Ponderosa. His family was surprised at the news but quickly welcomed Margie into the family. Ben gently took the baby in his arms and cradled her.

“Her name is Alicia,” Margie said shyly.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” Ben said.

He carefully bounced Alicia and softly sang to her.

“I’m going to take Margie upstairs so she can rest,” Hoss said.

The three men nodded.

“I’m surprised they accepted me after what happened,” Margie said surprised.

“I’m sure they’re still a little taken by surprise but they are quick to welcome you. They know how much you mean to me,” Hoss replied.

Downstairs Adam was still a bit skeptical. “What makes you think Margie won’t change when she gets better?”

“Adam, Hoss is giving her a second chance and so should we,” Ben chastised.

Adam nodded grudgingly then looked at his new step-niece.

“Guess you’re right Pa, besides we can’t let this little darling leave us,” Adam said and gently took Alicia from her father.

He then spoke softly to her. Ben chuckled when he watched Adam. He always knew that his boys would be good
fathers and uncles.

“Adam, you can’t keep her all to yourself,” Joe said trying to take the baby from him.

“I just got her. You’re going to have to wait,” Adam said turning away.

As time went on, Hoss and Margie moved into their own home after he, Adam and Joe built a house on Ponderosa
land. Margie had always wanted to travel but after what had happened with her first marriage, she was happy to just have someone love her. Hoss had been perfect with her and Alicia. She was surprised and had waited for him to leave her like Mark Connors had but he didn’t. He waited on her hand and foot. Mark had lied and treated her poorly but Hoss was a breath of fresh air for her. Hoss was happy to have Margie in his life.

Months later they heard that Mark was in jail for stealing money from those he conned. The law finally caught up with him. Hoss knew they’d never hear from him because he up and left Margie and the baby, and cared nothing for them. He felt sorry for Mark though for what he lost. Alicia’s babbling pulled Hoss out of his thoughts. He was truly blessed for the changes that happened.

The scene I chose to rewrite is the garden scene in She Walks In Beauty. Much of it is as it was in the episode, but it turns out quite a bit differently. I didn’t like it in the episode so I wrote it the way I thought it made more sense to me anyway. Of course, the rest of the episode would have to be rewritten then too and some dramatic moments wouldn’t happen. I guess the writers had a reason for putting their version in there but it didn’t seem true to the character of Adam there or Hoss’ reaction to it.

When he went out to the garden to see Regan, Adam wasn’t sure which persona she was going to be using. At first, it was the more demure one she had exhibited when he had first arrived home surprised to find her there and then thunderstruck to hear from Hoss that he intended to ask her to marry him. Doubts about her troubled him and caused him to lose sleep at night because of what he knew of her past. There was a party scheduled for that night for Hoss and Regan to announce their betrothal. Before that happened, Adam wanted to know if she was toying with his brother or if she had genuine feelings for him. Even if she did, he wondered if there still was a game she was playing in which his brother was a pawn.

“Regan.”

“You startled me.”

“I didn’t mean to. I thought we should talk.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I think you know.”

“What did you hear about me?”

“I think you know that too.”

“I suppose you told Hoss.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Thank you for that. At least you gave me that courtesy.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I did that for Hoss. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I don’t want to let you hurt him either.”

“I wouldn’t hurt Hoss.”

“Then why don’t you stop amusing yourself at his expense. Why don’t you go back to San Francisco where I heard you enjoyed amusing yourself with a number of men.”

“It’s not true. I did nothing to encourage those men.”

“What about my brother?”

Putting her hands on the skirt of her plain shirtfront dress, Regan was plaintive. “Look at me. Does it look like I’m doing anything to beguile or entice Hoss or anyone?”

For a moment, Adam wasn’t so sure of himself and what he had thought to expose in her character. He had to know how she’d react though. “All right. I’ll tell Hoss and let him decide.”

“Why? Why would you try to ruin everything? I came here to get away from all of that. I came here to get a new life, to find someone who would love me and not want me as a possession, someone who was real and genuine.”

As she talked, she stepped closer and her voice wavered as fear and sadness seemed to infuse each word. “Can you offer forgiveness? Can you understand? Is that too much to ask?”

Hearing the pain in her voice did get to him. He reached to her and turned her so she would look at him. “Yes, I do understand. I guess you do deserve another chance.”

“You do understand, don’t you, Adam, that all I ever wanted was to be loved.”

Putting her hands on his shoulders, Regan moved in close pressing her body against his as he leaned against the tree in her garden. As she moved closer and attempted to kiss him, he raised his hands to her shoulders and pushed her away.

“It almost worked, but you really can’t change who you are, can you? You can’t say you love a man and then try to kiss his brother.”

The slap resounded loudly as Regan’s anger exploded. Adam turned back to her and saw her eyes grow wide as she looked behind him.

“Hoss, did you see what happened? Did you see what he did?”

“Regan, I saw and I heard some. Adam, would you mind leaving? I got some things ta say ta Miss Regan, and they’re gonna be a mite ugly.”

I chose to rewrite the gunfight scene between Ed Payson and Billy Buckley in Broken Ballad.

Broken Ballad – The Final Shootout

Night had fallen hard at the small cabin as Adam Cartwright and Ed Payson argued over what had happened in town with Billy Buckley. Ed had been willing to give up being a gunfighter but neither Will Cass or Billy wouldn’t leave him be. As much as Ed liked Adam, he didn’t want his friend fighting his battles for him. Silence had fallen between the two men when Ed heard a horse approach the house.

“Didn’t take him long to make up his mind, now did it.”

Ed walked slowly into the yard, with Adam a few feet behind. Billy stood near his horse, ready for confrontation.

“Cass has got you doing his dirty work for him, Billy. Go home or you’ll be fighting me.” Adam took a menacing stance.

“No Adam,” Ed spoke slowly, “it’s not about Cass, is it Billy? It’s about Sally.”

Billy kept his eyes on Ed and barely nodded.

“You see Adam, I have to fight. It’s him or me, kill or be killed.”

“No Ed, you’re wrong. You don’t need to fight him. You’ve got Sally already.”

“Adam, if it’s not Billy, it’ll be someone else.” Ed raised his chin. “I have to fight him.”

Pleased how things were progressing, Billy tossed Ed the gun he’d brought from town and Ed put it on and checked the pistol.

Just as the two men squared off, Sally drove her buggy wildly into the yard. She cried out as she jumped from the rig and ran between Ed and Billy.

Adam was too far away to stop her but he yelled out, “No Sally! Get back!”

In tears, Sally pleaded for them to stop. “Why can’t you just leave Ed in peace Billy?” She backed up toward Ed as if to protect him. “Go home, please! I don’t love you Billy. It’s Ed that I want, not you!”

Adam noticed Ed inching toward Sally but he also saw Billy’s eyes squint.

“Get down!”

Startled into action Ed dove for Sally just as Adam bent low, drew his gun and fired. Billy fell backwards when the bullet from Adam’s gun cut through his lower right arm. The boy’s gun never cleared leather.

Screaming and shaking Sally clung to Ed as he rose from the ground and pulled her into his arms. Adam walked cautiously over to Billy. Seeing the boy grabbing his right arm with his left hand as blood spurted through his fingers, Adam quickly removed Billy’s gun from the holster and tossed it away.

Checking his wound he found bone protruding so Adam worked to straighten it as best he could and tied it off to slow the bleeding.

“Don’t think you’ll be using that arm for a long time boy, if ever again.”

Billy gave Adam a weak, angry look at those words then shifted his eyes to look at Ed and Sally.

As Adam continued to work on Billy’s arm, he followed Billy’s gaze over at Ed and Sally. She had calmed down and the two were sitting silently on the porch step just staring into the night.

Adam wasn’t sure what would come of the events of this night. He hoped this would finally give Ed the chance he was needing to get his life in order. He hoped he was right that Billy’s gunfighting days were over, but it seemed he could never sure about anything related to Ed Payson.

I chose The Way of Aaron because I find it intensely disappointing. The episode could have explored the two religions and the problems of marrying outside your faith in the 19th century. Instead, they gave us two tacky cliche outlaws and happy ever after. This scene begins in the front yard of the Ponderosa. Aaron is in the seat of his tinker’s wagon, Ben, Adam and Rebekah to his left.

“Come on young lady, get aboard.”

“What time must you get home?,” Adam asked.

“Before sundown,” Rebekah answered.

“Where is home?,” Ben asked

“Carson City.”

Ben observed Aaron. He appeared to be in a panic. Ben was aware what sabbath meant for the devout Jew. Unlike Christians, the Jews believed that the sabbath began at sundown the evening before. He looked at Adam and sighed. What he did for his sons.

“Mr. Kaufman, why don’t you spend Shabbat here?”

It took everyone’s cooperation, including Hop Sing’s, but preparations moved along smoothly. The Cartwrights gathered around the table with the Kaufmans, all standing behind their chairs. On the table sat a tray containing six candles. Rebekah lit all six, dropping the lit match onto the tray when she was finished. She reached out toward the candles drawing her hands inwards three times in a circular motion, then covered her eyes and said a blessing in Hebrew. She uncovered her eyes and greeted everyone with Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath peace). She and Aaron followed that by singing Shalom Aleichem, a song of peace, and Eishet Chayil,a tribute to women written by King Solomon.

After they were seated, Adam walked around the table pouring a small amount of wine in everyone’s glass. Then Aaron said a special prayer over the wine.

“Now, we’re going to wash our hands,” Rebekah explained.

“I washed my hands before I came to the table,” Joe protested.

“This is a special hand washing.” She smiled shyly.

Joe gave her a feeble grin. The entire family lined up in the kitchen in front of a basin. Each person poured a small amount of water from a pitcher over their hands and then returned to the table.

“Do you go through all this every Friday?,” Hoss asked earnestly. Adam cringed.

Rebekah nodded, put her finger to her lips for silence, and turned toward her father. Aaron said a blessing over the bread, tore off a piece for each person, and dipped each in salt before passing them all around.

Once these rituals were completed, the meal became an ordinary affair except for the meat. Because the Cartwright’s meat wasn’t kosher, Aaron and Rebekah had prepared their own gefilte fish and hard boiled eggs. Other than that, they gratefully shared in Hop Sing’s mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots. The crowning glory was the little cook’s spiced sweet potato pie.

The conversation was warm and homespun, running the gamut from work to music. Hoss even convinced Adam to bring out his guitar and the entire group sang. Later that evening, Ben and Aaron sat on the front porch trading stories of their travels. Finally, Ben turned to Aaron.

He motioned to Adam and Rebekah as they stood talking over by the corral. “Tell me honestly. What do you think about it?”

Aaron rose and leaned against the post. “Benjamin, a year ago I would have sent her back east to her aunt. But, this is a new country with many kinds of people. They have different ideas. Who’s to say if they are good ideas or bad ideas? He paused thoughtfully. I have also seen that this is a hard life out here. A woman needs a strong man who can work beside her and protect her. Each must decide what is most important – faith or love.”

“It could be that nothing will come of it,” Ben added. “In the meantime, you are heading for Carson City and towns east tomorrow morning.”

“Wherever business takes us.” Aaron slapped the post. “We shall see what tomorrow brings, Ben.”

The above was not my first attempt at changing a scene. I’ve gained a new respect for people who novelize a television episode or movie. I found it was quite easy for this to go wrong. I’m posting my first attempt for entertainment purposes only. When it comes to The Crucible, I always thought it was ridiculous that the Cartwrights would discuss money in front of perfect strangers. So I rewrote that first scene.

Adam carefully placed the money inside his wallet before leaving the teller’s window in Eastgate. He glanced up at the blistering sun as he headed to the saloon where Joe waited.

“Hi Brother, how’d you make out?,” Joe asked as Adam sat down at the green skirted table, the owner’s attempt at gentrification.

“Oh, pretty good. Five thousand dollars.”

At the table behind them, a pair of poker eyes looked up surreptitiously from underneath a tan hat in acknowledgment of the sum.

“Five thousand? Pa was right when he said the people around here were hungry for meat.”

“Yep, “Adam continued. “The bank’s going to ship it out to Virginia City on the first coach.” Joe looked at him, surprised. “You didn’t think I was going to carry it on me, did you? Don’t worry. We have enough for dinner, the hotel and a bath.”

By anybody’s estimation, this is a tad short. So, I continued.

It felt good to sink into a warm bath and wash off the dirt and the stink of the drive. Both men luxuriated in clean clothes and dinner at Jed’s Kettle, Eastgate’s premier dining establishment. Both were ready for bed the minute they hit the hotel. Each had a different idea as to how they wanted to spend the next day.

“I thought you said you left the money at the bank,” Joe said in disbelief as he watched Adam remove the thick wad of cash from his wallet.

“As far as anyone but you knows, I did. The bank refused to send it.”

Adam transferred the money into the filthy boots he had worn on the drive.

“You’re gonna put it in your smelly old boot?”

“Can you think of a safer place?” Adam stuffed his old trail boots under the hotel bed.

Joe shrugged. “Everybody’s talking about the trial for Obadiah Johnson. I’d kinda like to see that trial. How about you?”

“Nah. I think I’ll head on over to Pyramid Lake.”

“That sounds good too. Would you give me one day?”

“What am I supposed to do during the trial?”

“Sleep?”

“How about you turn off the light so I can do that now?,” Adam suggested.

At this point, I decided that there was nothing to do but bring this story to its logical conclusion.

Adam grunted when he nicked himself again. It was high time to get his razor sharpened. As he splashed his face with water, Joe came strolling in.

“No need to hurry, Big Brother.” Joe slumped down onto the bed. “The trial’s been postponed.”

“Postponed? What happened?”

“Seems the bank was robbed last night.”

“This bank?” Adam had a thought. “Were they looking for $5000?”

“Maybe. Anyway, the sheriff can’t be in two places at once. So, the judge moved the trial to this afternoon.”

“You know how it’s going to end.”

“One day Adam.”

Adam sighed. As the brothers emerged from the front of the hotel searching for anything of interest, a column of United States cavalry rode past escorting two cowboys whose battered faces bore testimony to having had better days.

Joe pointed toward the man in the tan hat. “He was in the saloon yesterday.”

The two men nonchalantly walked down the little street past the fountain, the only element of beauty in this crummy little town, and quietly approached a young private.

“What did those guys do?,” Joe asked.

“We caught ’em red-handed robbing a stagecoach,” the private answered.

“Looks like they gave you a little trouble,” Adam commented.

“Their faces? Nah, the passengers did that. They said it was too hot to be stranded in the desert.”

“There won’t be any trial today,” Adam predicted.

The brothers looked at each other and smiled.

“Pyramid Lake,” they said simultaneously.