Summary: Picture of Inspiration: Choose one of the three pictures below. (Adam and Joe from The Quality of Mercy, Adam and Ben when Hop Sing reports men all over Ponderosa from Enter Mark Twain, Hoss and Joe in jail (unknown episode). Write a short scene for one, two or all three, OR use it to add to another Sourdough starter
Rating: G, Word Count: 2613
December 2019 Sourdough:
Making the Match“I’m telling you this is an impossible task. I put my hand in and he nearly bit it off. You will never get them together, much less by the Ponderosa Christmas party.”
“Oh ye of little faith. Do you doubt my skills as a matchmaker or as a woman, Adam?”
“I would never doubt your skills as a woman, Dolly, but you’ve been warned. I think you will have met your match in my brother.”
“Pah, just eat your pie. Here he comes. Let me see what happens for myself, then we shall see if you’ll be eating your words along with that pie, dearie.”
****
“Evening, Hoss. I’m glad to see you.”
“Evenin’ Miss Millie. Think I’ll have some pie an’ coffee, an’ sit here by the window.”
“Uh, sure Hoss.”
****
“That’s it? He eats the pie, drinks his coffee, and leaves?”
“Yep.”
“You saw their eyes, right?”
“Yep.”
“If two people needed to be together, it’s those two.”
“Yep.”
“Well, time to get to work. Just leave everything to me. And don’t say ‘yep’.”
*****
“This note came for you my dear.”
“Thank you, Aunt Clemmie. ‘Dear Millie, I don’t know what I was thinking yesterday. I wanted to invite you to have pie with me but, well, I was too nervous. After the dance last month, my brothers said it only takes a moment to meet the right gal, and I had that moment with you. Can we meet on Saturday for another piece of pie and talk? – Hoss Cartwright’
“Oh my, this is wonderful. I’ll wear my pink dress, wear my hair down , and hang ribbons down my back.”
*****
“What you got there, brother?”
“Looks like a note for me.” ‘My dearest Hoss. I keep thinking about how much fun I had at the Harvest Dance, and sure do miss being with you. Would you come on Saturday for more pie? – Millicent O’Connor’
“Well, ain’t that somethin’. I was feelin’ rather bad about last night at the cafe. Now it seems I got a chance to make things right. Guess I’ll be headin’ to town tomorrow.”
“Better put on your Sunday clothes, brother.”
“Right. Thanks Joe.”
*****
“Goodness Hoss, why did you come out after all the snow we got?”
“Ah, this snow wouldn’t have kept me away. I just had to meet you here.”
“I’ve got warm apple pie and hot coffee.”
“That sounds mighty fine, Miss Millie.”
“Oh, Hoss, just call me Millie, please?”
“Uh, Millie, before I forget. Would you like to come to our Christmas party at the Ponderosa?”
“I’d love to Hoss. That is if you’ll be my escort?”
“Oh shucks. Of course I will.”
*****
“Don’t give me that look, Dolly Levi. I will never doubt your matchmaking skills again.”
“They’ve been dancing the entire time. Ahem, looks like Hoss spied the mistletoe.”
“Yeah, Hoss has been seeing her so much he’s hardly been around to get any work done.”
“Is that a complaint, Adam? You did ask for my help.”
“Oh, no. No complaint. I’m thrilled to finally see them together. Pa and Joe are betting on an announcement from them quite soon.”
“Well, it takes a woman to get things moving before the parade passes by. So what about us, Adam?”
“What about us?”
“I believe you owe me for my help in getting them together.”
“Oh, well, look up.”
“You sly devil. I’ll accept the kiss for now. But you know my fee is much higher.”
“So you’ve reminded me a few times. We’ll discuss that later. May I have this dance, Miss Levi?”
“It would be my pleasure, Mister Cartwright.”
The 2020 May Sourdough:
It’s Complicated
Taking a break by an old oak tree, Adam and Joe dug into the Hop Sing’s fried chicken. They’d spent all morning at a neighboring ranch selling some cattle and selecting some breeding horses for their own herd. Hoss was settling the price for the cattle and would join his brothers soon enough, so Joe and Adam quickly got their chicken before their middle brother had a chance to claim his.
Finishing off one chicken leg, Adam gave Joe a sidelong glance then reached for another leg. His younger brother had been unusually quiet all morning.
“What’s got you so quiet today? We’ve picked out some fine horses. I’d expect you to be excited about that.”
Joe tossed down the remnant of his chicken and sighed. Glancing around and noting that Hoss was still busy, Joe turned toward Adam. “I’ve just been thinking.”
“It takes that much effort, huh?.” Adam went back for a bigger piece of chicken.
“Watch it. Anyway, Hoss and Millie are finally courting.”
“For several months now.”
“Quit interrupting me.”
“Sorry. Go on.”
“Anyway, you know I’ve been seeing someone in town.”
“Yeah, since the Christmas party. Is it getting serious?”
“Might be. But that’s not what I’ve been thinking about. It all made me wonder what’s going on with you and Dolly. You two seemed a good match last fall when you were helping Hoss and Millie, but now you don’t say much about her.”
After a long silence, Joe risked a glance at his brother in time to see his face go dark. “Sorry, didn’t mean to intrude.”
“No, it’s just that it’s complicated, that’s all.”
“Oh.”
About that time Hoss wandered over and dug into what was left of the chicken. “We got a good price for the cattle. Adam, you paid for them horses yet? I wanna get home soon as I promised Millie I’d take her to dinner tonight.”
Joe saw another dark look from Adam which Hoss totally missed.
Adam rose abruptly and muttered sullenly, “I’ll see to the horses.”
Hoss’s head snapped up with a frown. “Did I miss somethin’? What made his mood go south?”
Joe eyed his elder brother. “It’s complicated.” Leaving Hoss to his lunch, Joe jogged over to join Adam and the ranch owner.
—-
Late in the night, Adam silently moved around his room packing a couple of bags. By dawn he was on his way to Virginia City to catch the early stage to San Francisco. When Joe awoke he found a note on his nightstand.
Gone to SF to settle some business. Thanks for the nudge.. Oh, and pick up Sport from the livery.
~A
Joe found himself caught between a frown and a smile. He finally settled on good thoughts for his brother to settle things with Dolly, hopefully for the best.
On a break from their work, Joe asked Adam about their house guest. “Does it bother you what people are saying? I mean, her husband was hanged for murder, and now she’s staying here as your guest.”
“People will always talk, and in this case, it’s rubbish. William Darnell didn’t kill anyone. He was set up. Mary probably isn’t safe either until this whole business about who gets to own those mining rights is settled.”
“If she’s not safe, then neither are you. You’re the executor of his will. That puts you in charge of his share of the mining rights for now.”
“I am well aware of that. There are times I feel like I have a target on my back.”
“What are you doing about it?”
“Not a lot I can do. Roy is looking into things as much as he can. We have our lawyer checking things.”
“So Pa knows.”
“Yes, that’s why I keep getting sent to work with you or Hoss. He thinks I need to be protected.”
“I think you ought to take a lot more precautions than you are.”
“Joe, I can’t live my life scared of every shadow.”
Those words proved to be wrong. Adam went to take care of business that evening and didn’t return to the house. After a half hour, his father and brothers were concerned and Hoss stepped out to call his name. There was no answer. A general search found nothing. A manhunt began. It was their good fortune that one of their men had recently gotten a dog and was training him to track and hunt. He found Adam’s trail in the dark. They found him in a thicket where no one would have been able to see him easily even in daylight. He was badly beaten. If he had been left there until the next day, exposure added to his injuries might have caused his death.
As it was, he felt reasonably well after a week and was willing to take a carriage ride to town with his father. They wanted to meet with Roy and with their lawyer. That didn’t end well either. They had not gone far before they were ambushed. It was their good fortune that sunlight reflected off their assailant’s rifle and gave them warning. Ben veered off the road with the carriage as Adam pulled the rifle from beneath the seat. The exchange of gunfire brought Ponderosa hands riding in.
“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 wanted to do what he could to save an innocent man’s life and then protect his widow.”
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.”
“Joe, what’cha lookin’ at?”
Joe didn’t answer.
“Joe,” Hoss said louder.
“Huh?” Joe asked turning to his brother.
“I said what are you looking at?” Hoss repeated slowly
“There was a lady out there. Really pretty.”
Before Hoss could tell him to stop, Joe jumped up and followed the woman. Hoss sighed and followed Joe.
Joe rushed to the woman and began flirting with her. Hoss noticed her ring and gasped. She was a married woman and Joe was flirting with her. He hurried to Joe realizing who she was.
“Joe. Joe, come on let’s go,” Hoss said in a rushed whisper.
Joe looked at his brother in annoyance then turned back to the woman. Hoss looked at the woman with a tight smile and wanted to say something but Joe never let him get a word in.
Getting flustered, Hoss leaned close to Joe’s ear and whispered, “Joe, you’re going to get us both thrown in jail.
She’s Senator Wilson’s wife. He’s a very jealous man.”
Mrs. Wilson smiled at Hoss and looked at Joe.
“Samantha, what are you doing with these men?”
Hoss and Joe looked towards the angry voice. Hoss gulped and Joe looked like he was going to be sick.
“Samantha, were these men flirting with you?” Senator Wilson demanded.
“Yes, they were.”
“What are your names?” Senator Wilson asked.
“Hoss Cartwright and this is my brother Joe, um, sir.”
“You’re Ben Cartwright’s boys, correct.”
Hoss gulped. “Yes, Sir.”
“Come with me.” The Senator gave them both a dangerous look.
They followed him to Sheriff Coffee’s office. Hoss felt dread with every step he took. He looked at Joe and knew Joe felt the same.
Ten minutes later.
“Joe, I told you we’d get thrown in jail for chasing after the Senator’s wife,” Hoss complained leaning against the bars.
“How did I know who she was and that she was married? Heaven help us when Pa finds out,” Joe said looking at the ceiling.
A Note from the Brandsters. This was originally written and published on the Bonanza Trail Riders site. Brand is happy to offer this story a new home.
