Summary: Playing off the theme for the month – heat and water – “Proud Mary” (Water theme), “Ringo” (Desert theme).
Rating: G, Word Count: 2687
“What happened, Mister Cartwright?”
“Someone shot at us. I think it might have been the new man, Ringo. Whoever it was, the shots came from there.” Ben pointed at the place in the trees where the shots had originated. If it was Ringo, these men would overtake him. He couldn’t ride well enough to elude them.
One of the men must have gone to alert Hoss and Joe because they arrived at the house about the same time as the other men brought Ringo back. He wasn’t in the best condition. The men explained that he had resisted their efforts. Ringo was going to argue when Ben said he shouldn’t as that could be a cause for the men to teach him some manners. Ben was still upset that the man had tried to kill them and asked him about that rather forcefully. Ringo never got a chance to answer because Adam was once again seated on the porch next to Mary who had come back out with Hop Sing who was alerted by all the noise.
“He’s one of the men who beat me and left me to die. I didn’t recognize him, but I heard his voice when he told me they were leaving me to die, and the beating started at his order.”
Exercising all of his willpower, Ben didn’t order the men to exact justice directly then. Instead he had some questions. “Who are you working for? Why beat Adam? What did you hope to gain?”
“What kind of deal are you offering?”
“Deal? You talk, and I won’t let my other sons do to you what they want to do.”
Ringo looked at Hoss and Joe who appeared to be angry enough to kill him. It was no act after hearing that this was the man who had tried to murder their brother. Ringo told the whole story of how he had been hired to arrange for men to kill Whittaker and put the blame on Darnell. It was all so his employers could get two larger investment groups out of the way so they could buy into the best deals on the Comstock, raise the prices, and then sell to whomever won the contest to control the mines in Virginia City.
“So, it was all about greed? It was murder for money.”
“I never killed anyone.”
“You tried to kill my son.”
“He got in the way. He would have messed up everything. Besides, we didn’t kill him.”
“You tried because he would have saved an innocent man’s life.”
Turning to Hoss and Joe, Ben asked if they would take Ringo to town to tell the sheriff the whole sordid story. After that, Ben tried to console Mary. “I hope that helped in some small way.”
“It did in that people will know that William was innocent. They’ll have to live with it. I can walk with my head held high again, and if they say Proud Mary, well then, I am. I’m proud that I have friends like the Cartwrights who stand up for the truth and for justice no matter what the consequences. I’m proud to say my husband didn’t do anything wrong, and all those people who were so self-righteous have to live with their guilt because they can never say that.”
Taking her hand, Adam smiled. “Thank you, Proud Mary. It is a pleasure being your friend.”
Mary was swimming in a lake she discovered when she and her family had moved to Virginia City. After moving from Boston she missed the ocean. Riding around to familiarize herself with the area she found the lake and decided it was the next best thing. Mary enjoyed the quiet lake. She had two younger brothers who were rowdy. Mary finished swimming and got out to change from her swim outfit into a dress. She sat by the water for a bit then decided to head home. She heard a splash and looking behind her saw someone coming out from under the water and step on the shore. Mary got to her horse hoping to leave before he saw her.
“Excuse me,” a voice said.
Mary spun around with a yelp and saw the man standing by her. He had on black pants and his black shirt was hanging open. His hair was wet from the water.
“I’m sorry I startled you. I saw you by the water and wanted to meet you.”
“I’m Mary. I live over that direction,” she said quickly, pointing behind her.
“I’m Adam Cartwright. I live over on the Ponderosa. How did you find this lake?”
“I found it when I was riding around. I’m sorry to be rude but I must be going,” Mary said and got on her horse and rode off before Adam could reply.
He smiled thinking how beautiful she was in her swimming outfit. He wanted to meet her again but realized he
didn’t know where exactly she lived. Frowning, he headed to his horse.
A few days later, the Cartwrights heard about a singer in town and thought they’d go see the performance. The board said “Proud Mary singing to-nite”. Adam looked at it. His mouth dropped. That girl looked like Mary he had met at the lake!
“Come on, Adam, let’s go inside,” Joe said pulling on Adam’s jacket.
They found their seats and the curtain rose. Mary was standing on the stage in a purple dress. The orchestra started and she began to sing. Adam was mesmerized. She had a voice of an angel. Hoss nudged Adam and he looked over.
“She’s really good,” Hoss whispered.
“Yes she is.”
After the performance, Adam went backstage to talk to Mary.
“Who are you?” a burly man asked.
“My name is Adam Cartwright. I wanted to meet Proud Mary.”
“I’m her father Ringo and you can’t see her,” he said gruffly.
Just then the door opened and Mary looked out.
“Father, let Adam talk.”
“I just wondered if I could take her for a ride tomorrow and show her around the area.”
Ringo looked at him.
“All right, you can take her for a ride.”
“Thank you.”
The next day, Adam took Mary around the Ponderosa.
“Why are you named Proud Mary?” Adam asked.
“My mother. She’s from Denmark and couldn’t speak English very well. Anything I did she’d say ‘proud Mary’ in broken English. We came to the west from Boston a couple of months ago because my mother had Consumption. She passed away last month. I haven’t been around town because I’ve stayed with Mother. I sang back east. My father had me start singing again and I decided to call myself Proud Mary in honor of my mother.”
“You have a beautiful voice. I’m sorry about your mother.”
“Thank you.”
Adam took Mary home later and met her brothers and spoke with Ringo about seeing Mary again.
“You may.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Mary smiled at the exchange. She wondered what would happen between her and Adam.
This Sourdough is an extension of the one I wrote in July 2018, taken from the Broken Ballad. Here is the link if you wish to refresh your memory.
This current one is based off the song of Ringo, by Lorne Greene.
After I shot Billy Buckley in the arm to keep him from killing Ed Payson, I thought, not to mention hoped that everyone’s lives would go back to some semblance of order. A year later I would be proven completely wrong when I came across a man in the desert shot in the back. His beard and long hair didn’t hide his identity.
“Dear God, Billy!”
Finding him barely alive, I removed the bullet, got him to a nearby town, and learned an awful truth. As he healed I watched him practice his left-handed shooting, his right arm useless as I’d predicted that night at Ed’s cabin. When he told me he was no longer Billy Buckley, but Ringo
the deadly gunslinger of the West, I realized he would never be swayed from his chosen path.
The next night he disappeared without a word, but I followed his bloody trail through the news reports. Sadness for a life wasted and guilt for not stopping him the two times I had the chance made me join a Marshal’s posse and hunt him down, to stop him with words or a gun.
After following him from town to town, something told me where to go. I headed home. In the quiet of the late morning I nursed a beer, more holding it than drinking from it. Rumors said he was in the area so I just waited. However, hearing him call my name still made my blood run cold. My draw was fast but would it match the lightning draw of Ringo?
In the street we squared off.
“Where are Ed and Sally?”
“I don’t know. They left without a trace one night after you tried to kill Ed.”
He stiffened and dropped his shoulders down.
“Billy, it’s time all this ended. Drop your gun now.”
“Billy’s dead! I’m Ringo now! Besides I owe you!”
He barely flexed his left hand as my words fell to the dirt. The sun glinted off my badge and I saw his eyes turn to narrow slits. We drew together but I felt the sting in my wrist and my gun fired wide. His smile was sinister as he spoke, “Now we’re even, Adam.”
I grasped my bleeding arm as a flicker of hope filled me that he might still have some good in him. That hope died as he took aim on me again. A loud report split the air and Ringo fell forward. His body made a muffled thud as he hit the dirt, a red stain blossoming across his back. A few feet away I spied the angry face of a bent and broken Will Cass as the shotgun fell from his hands.
There was no court. There was no funeral. Only cheers for the death of Ringo. I crouched by a lonely grave offering a moment of silence for a forgotten kid; feeling regret for what he’d become. I laid my badge on his grave, turned my back on the past, and headed home; wondering if I could ever forget the name of Ringo.
Adam reached out and pushed Joe back into his chair. “You stay put! There’s going to be trouble and you don’t need to be in the middle of it!” Adam held firm when his brother resisted. “That man is on a mission. I’ve heard about him. He goes by Ringo.”
Joe settled and became inquisitive, always up for a good story.
Adam pointed to the swinging doors of the saloon. “Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you what I’ve heard.”
Joe hesitated not wanting to miss whatever action might be forthcoming, but then followed Adam out.
On the way to the livery, Joe listened as Adam spoke of the trail of dead men that had been left by the gunslinger named Ringo. Having been left for dead in the desert, he had been saved by some kind soul. Adam wondered aloud what that man would say now given the path of death Ringo was leaving in every town he stopped.
The sound of shots brought the Cartwright brothers back into the street. Ringo was just returning his pistol to his holster. His opponent lay dying with a hole in his heart. Bystanders were silent as the gunman mounted and rode out of the dusty little town, fearful of becoming his next victim.
The story was always the same. Ringo called some unwitting, pistol-packing fool out in to the street. Rumor was that there was no one faster, at least not so far.
Joe shook his head. “Someone needs to stop him!”
“Well, I plan to ride upright in the saddle and get home by tomorrow evening. Don’t you even think about doing anything stupid like going after him!”
The Cartwright brothers mounted up and headed out of town in the opposite direction of Ringo. However, Joe took a long look over his shoulder before leaving the last of the dusty little cow-town behind him.
Hoss rode to the livery. Along the way he chuckled, hearing children singing.
“Ole Proud Mary had a dog
And Ringo was his name-o
R-I-N-G-O
R-I-N-G-O
And Ringo was his name-o.”
Hoss reached the livery and boarded Chubb. He walked to the new bakery. Once there, he stopped and stared at its new sign.
Proud Mary’s Bakery
He grimaced, wondering how Stan had messed up the sign. Mary Proud was not a proud woman. He winced, thinking she might be offended by both it and the song. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and entered the shop.
Her puppy was lying on a blanket next to the front door. Hoss bent over and scratched him behind his ears. Hoss smiled when the puppy sighed and wagged his tail with delight.
“You must be Ringo now.”
The puppy licked Hoss’ hand and looked at him like that was obvious. Chuckling, Hoss half-expected the puppy to roll his eyes. Giving the puppy a final pat, Hoss stood and looked around the shop.
Mary was behind the counter. No one else was in the shop. She seemed calm and smiled. The counter, normally brimming with baked goods, was bare except for a few cookies. He hoped it meant her business was doing well, not that she had no customers.
He removed his hat. “Miss Mary, good to see ya.”
“Hoss, I missed you.”
“I missed ya, too. We had some trouble with rustlers and the recent storms kept us on the ranch…”
She smiled. “That’s alright. I know how busy this time of year is. Thanks for the dog. He’s wonderful company and sizes up my customers right away.”
“You named him Ringo?”
“Yes. It seemed to suit him. How did you know?”
“I heard the children singing.”
Mary giggled. “Well between that and the new sign, business has been booming. No need for me to advertise or beg for customers.”
“I was hopin’ you could go to lunch with me.”
Mary flashed Hoss a brilliant smile. “I’d love to. I was going to close early anyway since I’m almost sold out.”
“How about ifn’ I buy the rest of the cookies?”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
“Let’s discuss it over lunch.”
Hoss helped Mary close the shop and offered his arm as they walked to the cafe down the street. They shared stories of what they’d been doing the past few weeks. Mary enchanted him with her stories about Ringo. The children had taken to him and changed the words to the song Bingo. The sign was an error, but it ended up being a blessing since the townspeople all wanted to see “Proud Mary” and her dog Ringo. Mary was boarding at Clementine Hawkins’ who made sure all her friends and acquaintances knew she expected them to support Mary’s business. Hoss thought it a good use of the town grapevine. Mary regularly was closing early due to being sold out.
Over the rest of the summer and fall, Hoss made regular visits to town to see her and Ringo whenever possible. Usually he’d take her to dinner once a week on a Friday or Saturday. He escorted her to the Harvest Dance and to church.
In November, he proposed, and she accepted. The following spring Mary Proud finally became Proud Mary, the proud wife of Hoss Cartwright. He loved to tell the story of how she’d convinced Ben that Ringo would live in the house.
After Ringo’s alarm froze an intruder, Ben referred to Ringo as “our dog” and let him lounge by the fire next to his chair.
