Summary: Adam and Ben find themselves caught in a storm… a storm that brings back a childhood memory for Adam that they both reflect on and recreate in their minds. Ben certainly left a lasting impression on his boys.

Rating:  K+  1500

Be Ready for the Thunder

Adam and Ben Cartwright wearily lowered themselves from their saddles after a long day on the trail.

“This looks as good a place as any, pa. I’ll look around for some wood and get a fire started.”

Adam then grabbed a small ax from his saddle bag and disappeared into the woods.

Ben began removing their bedrolls and gear. It wasn’t long before the two found themselves comforted by a warm fire and the scent of their supper lofting up into the cool evening breeze. The two sat leaning against their saddles basking in the quietness and solitude of the world around them. These moments came few and far between and both men relished in the silent comfort of the other.

Adam arose and neared the fire. He spooned out their meal onto plates and turned to deliver it to his father. Suddenly, the evening sky briefly lit up around them. Both men paused to glance up and survey the situation. Another flash… then another… followed by silence.

“Heat lightening?” Adam questioned as he handed over the food. Ben simply shook his head and settled back to enjoy his meal. Adam sat back down, crisscrossing his legs beneath him. The two men ate silently as the sky continued to produce random moments of daylight.

It was Ben that heard it first; pausing mid bite. He cocked his head, straining to pick up on it. Then more flashes.

“Be ready for the thunder,” he matter-of-factly stated. Then scraped his plate and swallowed his last bite of food.

Adam glanced over at his father as his simple words brought back a wave of memories. “Be ready for the thunder,” he softly repeated.

“What?” Ben questioned.

Adam smirked and repeated the line once more.

This time Ben shared in the memory.

“I must have made a lasting impression on you,” he chuckled. Adam simply nodded.

Again nature lit up the sky and a moment later another far off rumble.

Ben suddenly laughed. “I don’t know how you ever came up with such a tale let alone think for a moment that I’d believe it.”

Adam blushed slightly and then added, “Did you ever stop to think that you were to blame for my imagination? Always telling me stories of the sea and reading me all the classics.”

“Well, perhaps in some way.”

Again nature interrupted.

Ben reflected for a moment then stated,“Tell me the story again, son. I’ll come in on my part when it’s time.”

Adam smirked. “I’m not too sure I want to relive your part, pa.” Then he smiled as he took a sip of coffee, “But then… I guess it’s only fair.”

“Now let’s see…” Adam paused to gather his thoughts. “I do believe I was around 7 or so and we were traveling with the wagon train. Oh yes, there was a boy a year or two older than me…I can’t seem to remember his name.”

“Martin Miller,” Ben stated. “He wasn’t the best influence on you at times I might add.”

Adam smiled. “Yes, good old Marty. He talked me in to going with him, shall I say beyond our boundaries. We didn’t go far, just out of sight to look at a cave Marty had spied when we were setting up camp. We were gone maybe a half an hour at the most before we strolled back into camp thinking we had gotten away with not being caught.”

Adam looked over to Ben. “You knew before we came back in camp, didn’t you?”

Ben smiled. “Yes, we noticed you boys were missing and started looking for you. Martin’s father spotted you coming out of the cave and we both wanted to confront you right there, right now.”

“Why didn’t you, then?”

“Something inside me said otherwise. We could see you two were okay and that you were headed back to camp.”

Adam smirked at the realization of what now seemed obvious to him.

“Well, you two were sitting near the fire eating supper when we arrived. I remember Marty’s father briskly arising at the sight of us and escorting his son away by the arm. Then I remember looking over at you and I knew I had some explaining to do.”

Ben chuckled. “Yes, I figured just my look would make you spill the beans immediately but I was wrong. Boy was I wrong.”

The two men laughed.

“I remember you asked me simply and plainly, ‘Where have you been’? I told you that the strangest thing had happened. Marty and I were just walking, within our boundaries when we found a shiny looking rock. We picked it up and it sparkled in the sunlight. When Marty put his hand on it, it started leading him away

“Oh?” Ben questioned. “How so?”

The role play was on.

Adam suddenly turned into the 7 year old son. “Well Pa. Marty all of sudden lunged forward like he wasn’t under his own power. Being the good friend that I am I didn’t want to leave him so I followed.

“Oh, I see. Where was Marty led off to, then?”

“A cave, Pa…just over the hill. The rock pulled him right to it.”

“A cave you say? I’d like to see it. Take me there now.”

Another flash of lightening followed by a much louder rumble closed the curtain momentarily on their act.

“We best move under those trees there for the rain is not far behind,” Ben instructed.

Ben and Adam spent the next several moments preparing themselves for the storm. Once settled in their new location, Ben picked up where they left off.

“So you led me to the cave… and… I’ll never forget the look you gave me when I asked you to show me the magic rock.”

“I sweated bullets, too. I tried to find something that looked even remotely shiny and out of the ordinary, but found nothing but a plain old black rock. I I’ll never forget your look when I handed it over to you.”

Act 2…

“Here it is Pa, but … but… the magic has worn off now. That’s what happens to Irish Troubless’ you know.”

“Irish Troubless’?”

“Yes, you don’t know about them, Pa? I read about them in a book . They have magical powers? The Irish people believe that if you find a troubless, it will lead you to a pot of gold.”

“Really? You don’t say… So where is this pot of gold then?

“Well…”

“Well, what son?”

“Well, it must be in the cave somewhere, but it remains invisible until there is a…..storm. Yeah a storm.”

Suddenly the first droplets of rain began to fall from the sky and once again father and son were brought back to current day.

They sat in silence and smelled the rain’s fresh scent in the air as it steadily gained force.

After a few long moments, Adam continued. “I remember you taking me by the arm and leading me over to a boulder just to the right of the cave. You sat down and squared me to you. You then looked at me with such concern.

Ben laughed out loud and continued the role play. “Son, are you feeling okay? There was a storm, don’t you remember? It started the moment Marty picked up that rock. Do you remember a slight breeze and then stronger gusts just before he was pulled towards that cave?”

This time it was Adam’s laughter that interrupted the story.

“I remember you then swaying me back and forth in front of you for emphasis and me innocently saying, ‘No, Pa. I don’t remember’.”

Ben chuckled and then continued. “But you must remember son, you must. By the time you reached the cave the wind must have been so strong that you had difficulty standing.”

Adam couldn’t help but interrupt. “I had difficulty standing all right. Within an instant, I found myself over your knee with my pants at my ankles. I only had a brief moment to utter, ‘Pa’ in surprise before you added your own conclusion to my…uh tale.”

“Yes, I do believe I announced that lightening flashed and thunder boomed and the rain beat down.”

“And it really came down,” Adam added.

Again both men paused reliving the memory.

Then Adam looked over at his father in admiration. “I’ve never forgotten what you said afterwards, Pa. ‘Son, I want you to remember to always tell me the truth… always… regardless the consequences. No more stories or exaggerations. Understood? For if you choose not to heed my warnings then be ready for the thunder.’”

Again the two men laughed.

“You, know from that day forward, Pa, I probably was the only kid that not only knew what thunder sounded like, but what it felt like, too.”