Summary: The past and present merge to tell the story of the Cartwrights and their first winter after the house was built.
Rating:  G   (1,650 words)

Finding Solace Series:

Between the Twelfth of Never and Forever
Between Forever and Where No One Stands Alone
So, This is Christmas
Not as Originally Designed

Bonanza
~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~
Day 24

Not as Originally Designed

With a lighter heart than the first time he had climbed the staircase earlier that night, Ben Cartwright knew he had been granted a precious gift this Christmas eve; the ability to spend time talking with his long-lost son and meeting the grandson he never knew. As the hour drew to a close, he chose to end the evening before he could no longer hold back the tears.  Within the safety of his own room, he slipped into bed, pulled the covers over his shoulders, and snuggled down into a well-deserved slumber.

*****

“Uncle Hoss?” the tow-headed child asked several minutes after watching his grandfather turn the upstairs corner.  “When do you think Mr. St. Peter will want us back?”

“Not sure.  Surprised he ain’t brought us back when Pa went up the stairs.”  Looking and waiting, hoping that maybe his brothers would come down next; Hoss turned as the boy dropped his hand and stepped over to the dormant hearth.

“I know the Ponderosa is huge and all,” Joey paused while climbing up onto the stones and peeking up into the chimney.  “Sure is large enough for Père Noël to come down.”  Turning to face his uncle with a smile so reminiscent of his father at the same age, “Why I bet he could even bring down a reindeer or two and not get stuck.”

Stepping to his nephew, Hoss gently pulled the boy from delving deeper into the fireplace.  Anything to prevent him from having to explain to Alice, Marie, AND St. Peter how Joey came to be covered in soot.

Lifting the child to his hip, he walked to the middle of the room.  Unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face, “Now I know you’re your father’s son.”  With a quiet guffaw, “Only Joe’s little boy would have Santa Claus bring a reindeer into the house with him.”

“Then the fireplace wasn’t built for Santa?”

Slowly moving his head from side to side and hugging the child close, Hoss spoke, “I guess it kind of goes in line with all the remodeling Adam done did, and why he chose not ta change anything about it other than adding the option of a gas fireplace.  The story of this fireplace started long before even your père was born…”

Slowly Hoss carried the child over to the alcove.  Setting his nephew to the desktop, Hoss pulled out and unrolled the original drawings of the Ponderosa ranch house, now yellowed with age.

“Back then, there weren’t no upstairs, and this room didn’t exist neither.”

“No fireplace?”

“No, no fireplace.”

“No clock by the door?”

“Nope, not even the door.  No staircase, no nothin’.”

*****

Ben Cartwright looked admiringly at the small home they had recently finished constructing.  It wasn’t as grand as the home where his oldest son had been born when they lived in Boston.  But it was a vast improvement over the covered wagon where his youngest drew his first breath while traveling across the Plains.  Whatever the size, it was theirs: Ben, Adam, and Hoss.

Central to the homestead stood the kitchen that would also serve as their dining room, a large plank table and benches for sitting were placed in the middle of the room.  A butcher block countertop stood at the end nearest the brand, new wood burning stove for cooking that would help emanate heat through the structure.  Ben had been pleased that his latest acquisition he had shipped in from Sacramento had arrived before the trade routes closed for the season.

The narrow corridor leading out of kitchen opened into a room that would serve as their living area.  Continuing along the corridor wall was a row of windows that provided a glorious view of the landscape and the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the distance.  In a corner farthest from the corridor stood a pot-bellied stove providing warmth for the cool evenings and the cold winters to come. 

Next to the stove was a trundle the boys could use as a sofa during the day and pull out into a bed at night.  On the opposite wall was a chair next to a small table with a lamp.  The furniture was placed against the walls with the intention that the room would also serve as a place for the boys to burn off energy when the weather kept them indoors. 

The kitchen, corridor, and living area made a u-shape surrounding a bedroom; partitioned off with a curtain for Ben to sleep on one side with the area closest to the door serving as an office for him to work when not out on the range; and needing a little quiet from his sons.

Connected to the kitchen was another room, constructed for the two men Ben employed, Charlie Yeagle and Jean DeMarigny, to use as a bunkhouse.

There had been discussions of building a larger home, but living in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains, they built what they could for a home and a barn for their animals before winter set in.

*****

The first winter had been relatively mild, allowing the Cartwrights and hands to live out of a crudely built hut/lean-to attached to their wagon.  Thankfully, Old Man Winter and Mother Nature had waited to unleash their full furry until after the barn and house were constructed.

*****

A clear, deep blue sky and a deep snowpack stretched as far as the eye could see.  Yet, the sun only served to magnify the extreme harshness of the land.  Knowing being outdoors without proper clothing for any length of time could mean death; Ben also recognized that all the preparations they had made during the Fall might not be enough to see them safely through the latest snowstorm.

“Boys,” Ben sat at the table, arms wrapped around his sons sitting on either side of him.  “This year’s weather is bad.  We need to conserve our resources.”

Ben looked to Adam first, knowing that his youngest would not understand.

“Pa, what can I do to help?” asked Adam.

“I need you to watch after Hoss.”

“I already do that, Pa.”

“I know you do, but until the weather improves, neither of you boys will be able to go outside.  It’s too cold.”

“What about you, Pa?”

“Charlie, Jean, and I need to take care of the horses and the cows in the barn.  Otherwise, we’ll be in here with you two.”

“All of us living in here?”

“Yes.  After we’re done in the barn, we’re going to grab all the blankets and bedding to bring into the kitchen. Then we’re going to close off the rest of the house.”

“House!” three-year-old Hoss shouted while clapping his hands.

Pulling his son closer, “Yes, house.”  Turning to face Adam, “If we keep all three wood stoves burning, we’re going to go through the wood faster than if we only had one stove going to keep one room warm.  We’ll all live in the kitchen for the time being.  Like we’re out camping, only we’ll be indoor.”

“Camp?” Hoss queried.

“Yes, Hoss, we’ll camp in the kitchen.”

During the days, blankets and pallets for sleeping were rolled and placed under the bench table.  Adam did his best to keep Hoss occupied; reading from the books that had made the trip from Boston and a few purchased along their journey.  The brothers enjoyed drawing, or scribbling as the case may be, on old newspapers or playing made up games with the deck of cards Jean shared with them.

*****

Doing their best to shake off their Abominable-snowman appearance, the three men spoke as they entered the kitchen.

“I can’t believe it’s Christmas Day with the thermometer registering fourteen degrees below zero inside,” Jean whispered.

“Thankfully, it’s a lot warmer in the kitchen,” Ben offered, looking towards his eldest to see if he’d heard reference to the day.

With a sad smile and nod of his head, Adam acknowledged that he knew and had heard.

“Ya know Ben,” Charlie stated as he unwrapped the scarf from his neck.  “Maybe we ought to reconsider that fireplace design when we enlarge the house.”

“Pa, I got a drawing,” Adam offered, pulling out a scrap of paper from a small stack on the table.

Ben, Charlie, and Jean looked over the youth’s shoulder.

“Oui, that is a beau dessin, I mean, a good drawing there Adam,” Jean admired.

“It looks like it would keep the entire house warm,” Charlie offered.

“All those stones would help retain the heat and radiate it through the house after banking the fire.”  Ben agreed, his hand squeezing his son’s shoulder.  “I’m proud of you Adam.  Keep this up and we’ll see what you can design for the rest of the house next year.”

*****

The long clock by the front door was chiming the hour.  Hoss lost count of the number as he looked once more to the top of the stairs. “Not now St. Peter!” he quietly begged as a soft glowing light slowly surround him and Joey.

“Hoss?” each of his brothers voiced as they stopped on different steps down the staircase.

It didn’t surprise Hoss to see Jamie in a long nightshirt, nor Joe wearing only sleeping pants and a partially closed robe, but there stood Adam, still dressed as he had been earlier in the evening.

“Merry Christmas!” Hoss eagerly waved and called out.

Peeking out from behind his uncle, but hidden from those on the staircase, Joey gave a slight wave of his hand and quietly spoke, “Merry Christmas, Père!”

And then they were gone.

Looking over his shoulder to his older brothers, Jamie inquired, “Did I really see Hoss?”

Joe partially turned to look to Adam, his face asking the same question.

Slowly shaking his head, Adam offered, “It is Christmas,” as the only explanation.

“A night for miracles,” Joe whispered as he looked to from where his brother had disappeared.

Merry Christmas!  Wishing everyone warm winds and sunshine, in addition to love and laughter filling your holiday.

Prompt:  Christmas Day with the thermometer registering fourteen degrees below zero inside
Character:  Ben (I guess based on the beginning and ending I should have chosen Hoss).

Author’s Note #1:  Between The Twelfth of Never and Forever was the start of my Finding Solace Series that the reader may want to read to understand more of this story.

Author’s Note #2:  The final scene was added to the story after a request made by Sibylle in the Forums.

Author’s Note #3:  I never believed that the ranch house was built in one go.  Back then, I don’t think that Ben had the money to build something as large as we came to know.  Based on all the convoluted corridors and changes during the series, I felt it was expanded numerous times since its first, humble beginnings.

For this rendition, I envisioned the kitchen as such.   The living area eventually became the dining room after the great room was built.  The bedroom between the kitchen and the dining area in the series is Ben’s bedroom/office in this story.  In the early seasons of Bonanza, there was an extension to the left side of the kitchen that I have chosen to be a small bunkhouse for the employees.

History of the Thermometer