Ponderosa – Present

 

     Adam dropped his travel bag next to his blue chair and sat down wearily. Trying to explain such a difficult time in his past, coupled with the overwhelming flood of memories, had drained him of energy.

As if seating himself were a silent cue, Hop Sing appeared with a tray of refreshments. Adam smiled gratefully at him as he poured himself a steaming cup of coffee. His pa and brothers had been quiet so far, only asking an occasional question. Adam sat back and took a sip of his coffee. Glancing up over the brim of his cup, he quickly scanned the faces of his family. In their eyes he saw confusion, apprehension, and in his father’s, a deep sadness. He had to force the black liquid past the tightness in his throat as all the feelings of guilt he’d been struggling to hold back came crashing forward.

Across the room, Ben took note of the way Adam’s shoulders drooped, as if they carried the weight of the world, and he wished he could bring himself to give his son a few words of consolation, but knowing the heartache Adam had endured in the past kept him silent. He would never forget the day Adam’s first wire had arrived.

Pa. I’m married. Some trouble. Moving to Boston with Grandfather. Will write soon. Love Adam.

Ben had stood at the telegraph office window in complete shock until Hoss’s worried voice had called him out of it. The timing couldn’t have been worse with Hop Sing away and his foreman, as well as most of the ranch hands, out on a cattle drive. He’d had to plan quickly on the way back home. Adam’s letter hadn’t indicated any danger, but something in his gut told him that things were not what they seemed, and he was filled with a deep sense of desperation to get to his son. In the end, he’d decided to bring Hoss and Little Joe with him on the long voyage to Boston. Neither of them had ever seen any country outside of a sixty mile perimeter of the Ponderosa, and he knew that Adam’s grandfather would delight in meeting them. The two younger boys were thrilled, and Ben tried, for their sakes, to make the journey enjoyable, but he’d been consumed with worry. Little Joe was so often seasick that Ben was rarely able to leave their cabin, and Hoss spent much of his time wandering the ship’s decks alone. Halfway through their voyage, the ship had taken port during a bout of bad weather in a little shipyard near New Orleans.

The storm had caused Little Joe to become violently ill, and Ben, taking his two boys, had disembarked in search of a doctor almost the moment the ship had docked. It was three days before Little Joe was well enough to travel again, and Ben had spent that time getting in touch with an old friend of his from his wagon train days. Mr. Barrett lived with his wife in New Orleans and had welcomed the nomadic Cartwrights into his home. Ben had wired Virginia City asking them to forward any messages, and word soon came from Adam.

Pa. Things are bad. Never left VA. Need your help. Please come quickly.

Ben’s heart had nearly given out; his oldest son had never been one to ask for help—only thirteen words but they had shaken him to his core. He arranged to leave the boys with the Barretts and left two days later for Charlottesville, VA. When he arrived, he’d found Adam, and his worst fears were confirmed. Things were bad.