Summary:  Every Adam’s Girl nightmare… Adam is leaving the Ponderosa.

Rated: K (1,100 words)

Chaps & Spurs April 2013 by BnzaGal

Author’s Notes:

The words that needed incorporated into the story were: Vulcanization, Friction, Revolution, Chalk, and Dimension. 

–The first of these words, Vulcanization, is given the following definition: treatment of rubber to give it certain qualities, e.g., strength, elasticity, and resistance to solvents, and to render it impervious to moderate heat and cold. I have used this word to the best of my ability/knowledge… hopefully I used it at least somewhat correctly!

Farewell

Joe was biting the inside of his lip to keep it from trembling. He had done that since he was just a youngster. It had never worked very well. I clasped his hand and pulled him into a hug. The friction that had been between us since I let the family know I was leaving melted away in an instant. “Take care of Sport for me.” I whispered. I was going to miss that horse, but not nearly as much as I would miss them.

“Was it something I did?” The look in Joe’s eyes almost made me waver in my decision as my heart waged a revolution against my reasoning. Almost, but I was determined. So all I did was shake my head, “No,” I whispered.

Hoss stepped forward. I could tell he wanted to say something but was having trouble finding the words. “Watch over Joe for me.” I spoke softly so only he could hear.

“You know I will.” Hoss wrapped those big arms around me and pulled me close. Then let me go. “Come back, Adam” He said it as if I was already gone and he was calling me back.

I didn’t answer him. I didn’t nod. I just turned to Pa. I had felt his eyes on me the whole time, but looking into them tore at my resolve.

“Adam.” That one word. It was all he said. And yet somehow it was all he needed to say.

“Good bye, Pa.” I still don’t know how I forced those words out. That hug hurt so much. I don’t really know how a hug can hurt, but it did.

I mounted Sport. Joe would pick him up from the Virginia City livery stable sometime after the stage left. I don’t know why I didn’t want them there at the stage when I left my home behind me. Maybe I was afraid I would get emotional in front of the other passengers. Whatever it was, they had agreed to say their goodbyes there. There where we had grown up together. There where we shared so many memories. Good memories. Memories I will never forget.

I waved and smiled, hoping they would all remember the smile and know that I was doing what I needed to do. Then I turned Sport away and nudged his sides. I didn’t allow myself a backward glance. No looking back, even though I could feel them all watching me.

As I rode toward the stage that would be the first part of my journey to a new life, I saw the land I rode over as I had the first time. The time when there had been no roads through the Ponderosa’s wide dimension. When it had been just me, Pa, and Hoss coming to a land that was so pretty it could make a man’s heart burst. I could see the sweat roll down Pa’s face as he cleared the land and worked her. I could see the times we had fought for her. I could hear Pa’s voice saying that he had carved our name into her with his life.

In a way the Ponderosa had been a means of my own vulcanization, as it were, leaving me stronger, more adept, and ready to face the world that now lay before me.

At the border of the Ponderosa I reined in Sport. I dismounted and turned for my final look at what had been my first and only home. She was beautiful. I still swear to this day that there’s a symphony that ripples through her grasses and sings through her mighty pines. That song will always whisper in my heart no matter how far away I go.

Riding off the Ponderosa for the last time held a bittersweet feeling. I wanted to leave. I needed to see the world. Yet it took all my power to ride forward and away. The miles would make it easier.

I was the only passenger on the stage. I was glad. I hadn’t really wanted to talk to anyone.

The stage leapt forward and I leaned my head out the window like a boy on the stage for the first time. Roy Coffee stepped out of his office in time to spot me and raise his hand in a final salute.

Virginia City faded behind me and I pulled my head back in, settling in for the long ride. Excitement began to overtake the sorrow of leaving.

I’ll never know why I glanced out the widow just when I did. I could have missed them so easily.

We were just outside of town where a little hill slopes up on one side of the road. And there they were. All three of them on top of that hill, watching. I didn’t have to look hard to know it was my family. They had made good on their promise to not come to the stage, but they couldn’t help watching over me for as long as they could.

I don’t know for sure how long they sat there on their horses and watched, but it was probably long after the stage had become just a speck on the horizon.

I was so very glad no other passengers had chosen to ride the stage that day, because I was leaning out my window again looking back at my family through the chalky dust that rolled on behind the stage. And when I couldn’t see them anymore I pulled myself back into the coach. The tears were not from the dust and wind.

I will go back someday. After all, my name is written next to my family’s, carved forever into the heart of the Ponderosa.

Thank you for reading. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you’re thinking 🙂

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.