Chapter 7   Birthday Letters

            Every year on Adam’s birthday, Ben Cartwright got a letter to read. It was always a personal letter not meant to be shared with the rest of the family or anyone else. Adam had started that tradition a couple of years after he had set out to see the world and find his own place in it. When he finally slowed down his travels and settled in one place for a time, he got a letter from Hoss that changed his perspective on how he was living his life and on the family he had left behind.

“Adam, I don’t know how to say those fancy things like you do so I’ll just say what I got to say straight out. Pa’s been hurting something fierce since you been gone. He hides it pretty well most of the time, but you should see the look of pure relief on his face when one of your letters arrives. Now I know you been moving around a lot chasing that dream you got, and I ain’t asking you to give it up. What I think you oughta do though is send Pa a letter a bit more often if you could. Now Joe and me really do get a kick outta your letters and the things ya done, but Pa seems to wonder more about what’s going on in your head and in your heart. Ifn you could write to him sometime and tell him some of that stuff, well I know he’d be tickled pink and happier than that ole rooster in the hen house. More importantly it would lift a load of worry off his shoulders. I miss you a lot too, older brother, but I know you’re doing what you think you gotta do. I don’t begrudge you the chance at all. So you take care and I hope my letter don’t bother you none. Love, Hoss.”

From that point on, Adam put himself on a strict schedule. On the first Sunday of every month, he sat down wherever he was and wrote a detailed letter to his family about everything he had been doing, people he had met, and wonders that he had seen. Once a year, in the month before his birthday, he wrote a personal letter to each of his brothers. Hoss’ envelope was always a bit thicker and heavier than Joe’s because it contained a letter to their father. In that letter, Adam opened his heart and bared his soul. He asked Hoss to please give that letter to their father on the morning of Adam’s birthday. Each year, Hoss was pleased with himself for having written that letter to Adam because Ben would have tears in his eyes but he would smile when he finished reading. Then he would share stories with Hoss and Joe about Adam as a young boy and as a young man.

Adam’s birthday became a day to celebrate his life even if he wasn’t there. Hop Sing would bake a cake and decorate it just like Adam would have liked it. The family would share that cake, and one of them would write to him telling him how delicious his cake was and how he ought to come home sometime and enjoy some of it.

It had all settled into a comfortable routine, but everything changed eight years after Adam had left. He had traveled to Europe, to South America, and to Australia. He had lived quite a while in Australia, but had returned to the United States late that winter to take a job in New York. He had written that he hoped to take a trip to Nevada for a visit raising all of their hopes that they would see him again soon. But then they received an unusually cryptic letter informing them that his plans had changed. He said he was returning to Australia to take care of some ‘unfinished business’. His birthday came and went, and there were no letters. They waited and hoped that his travels and the distances involved had delayed the letters as they sometimes had in the past when two or even three letters would arrive at the same time or within days of each other. But by summer, it was clear that there would be no letter.

In some ways, this was worse than when Adam had written infrequently. Then they expected those gaps in correspondence. But they had grown used to receiving news of his life in a regular supply of letters. The absence was felt all the more keenly because of that. It was all the more shocking when they received a telegram from San Francisco in September.

“Need help. Lick. Adam Stoddard. Come quickly.”

“What do you think that’s all about? Do you think that’s really Adam?”

“Hoss, of course it’s Adam. Seems like he must be in trouble. I’m leaving as soon as I can pack.” Ben headed up the stairs.

“Pa, we’re coming with you. I’ll get Joe from the breaking corrals. All we need to do is pack a bag. Our horses are already saddled. Won’t take but a few minutes to saddle up Buck too.”

So Ben and his two younger sons traveled as rapidly as they could to San Francisco. Ben suspected that he knew some of what had happened. The letter he had received the previous year on Adam’s birthday had mentioned quite a bit about a young woman in Australia, but her father apparently did not approve of Adam as a suitor. Adam had told his father that he was in love like never before. However Ben had assumed the relationship had ended because Adam left Australia and went to New York. He had wondered how serious the relationship had been and how hurt Adam must have been when it ended, but Adam had not confided that to any of them. Ben had to wonder if the ‘unfinished business’ had something to do with that young lady. He had been told about her in confidence though and couldn’t share his thoughts with Hoss and Joe. As soon as they arrived in San Francisco, they went directly to the Lick House and inquired at the desk for an Adam Stoddard. They were asked to identify themselves, and when they complied, they were shocked by what they were told.

“Ah, yes, Mr. and Mrs. Stoddard are expecting you.   You have the suite next door to their suite. We’ll have the steward show you the way while the bellhops are delivering your luggage.”

“Dadgummit, Adam done got himself hogtied. He sure works fast when he’s a mind to.”

The steward waited for them to drop their coats and hats in their suite and then showed them to the room next to theirs. As he was about to knock, there was the unmistakable cry of a baby inside although it was quickly hushed. Ben stepped forward and knocked on the door which was opened a moment later by Adam. The three of them got their third shock in a very short time frame. Adam was pale, thin, and had a full beard.

“Come on in. It really is me. Hi, Pa.”

Any further conversation was cut off as Ben enveloped his son in a hug. He didn’t care at this point if Adam was uncomfortable with the display of affection. He needed to hug his son. Hoss hugged Adam next as Ben turned and tipped the steward who pulled the door closed as he left. Joe stepped forward to hug Adam after Hoss let him go.

“Take it easy, Joe. I think Pa and Hoss might have cracked some ribs.”

Ben shed tears without shame. His family was reunited after eight years. It was when Joe released Adam that the three men noticed a dark haired young woman holding an infant.

“I’d like to introduce my wife, Carolyn, and our son, Aaron.”

“Dadburnit, Adam, you better start telling us what happened.”

“I met Carolyn in Australia. We spent a lot of time together, but when her father returned from a trip to China, he forbid me to see her again. I tried, but he said if I persisted, he would have me jailed and deported. Then he sent Carolyn to another one of his properties, and I had no idea where she was. I hired a detective to find her, but that apparently was the last straw for her father. He had the constables on me. They came to my room, and told me that I could go with them and book passage out of the country or go to jail and be deported. I had to leave, but first I left word with friends as to how I could be contacted. A few months later, a friend of hers wrote to me telling me she was carrying my child. I dropped everything, and I went back with an alias and a beard. With the help of my friends and hers, I found her and was able to get messages to her. As soon as I had a plan to get her away, we slipped away from her father’s estate and got passage on a ship for home. Once her father realized she was gone, he knew what had likely happened and had all the ships being watched. The only way to escape was that I had to swim to the ship under cover of darkness and tow Carolyn behind me on a raft. Luckily the ship’s captain had a soft spot in his heart for a couple in love. We were married by that captain as soon as we were at sea.”

Ben watched Carolyn smile as Adam recounted the adventure. Apparently she was amused by Adam’s ability to downplay the dangers he had faced and the efforts he had made.

“Sorry, but why do you look so awful? You’re skinny enough to wear my shirts.”

“Joe, I got pneumonia complicated by a relapse of malaria. The stress and the physical discomfort caused Carolyn to go into early labor and that was another stressful thing. We’re fine now, but we need help to travel.”

“Of course, son, but why the beard and Adam Stoddard?”

“If her father is searching for us, there is no record of an Adam Cartwright ever entering this port or staying here with his wife and child. No one would know me like this. Now how soon can we go home?”

Ben loved hearing those words, but he was concerned too. “Adam, you look like you need good food and rest first.”

“Mr. Cartwright, he looks a sight better than when we arrived. The bloke looked more like a cadaver than a man. He does like the food here, but we’ve been spending a small fortune eating in our room here. Do you think there’s a quiet little place we could all go to for dinner? It would give us time to get to know one another as well. I’ve heard so much about all of you, but I daresay you probably know as much about roos as you know about me.”

Hoss couldn’t believe all that he had heard. “Dadburnit, Adam, you coulda said something about all a this in your letters.”

Looking at his father, Adam smiled. “I did. Just like you asked, I opened my heart and my soul to our father.”

Then Hoss and Joe knew why their father had not looked nearly as surprised as they were. So they began with the questions.

“You gonna keep the beard? How long you had it?”

“Where did you get malaria? I didn’t know it could come back once you had it.”

“Weren’t you afraid of sharks swimming out to that ship? You told us there were sharks in that harbor.”

“You staying home this time?”

That last direct to the heart question from Joe made Adam look at Carolyn.

“Wherever you are is my home, love.”

Adam smiled because he could answer then. “Yes, this time I’m staying. Now I won’t have to write all those letters.”

With that, Ben asked to hold his grandchild. Hoss and Joe crowded around him as he held the infant, and all three made cooing and babbling sounds for Aaron. Adam wrapped an arm around his wife and smiled. She looked up at him returning his smile.

“They’re just like you said they were. We’re home.”

Tags:  Adam Cartwright, Ben Cartwright, Family, Hoss Cartwright, Joe / Little Joe Cartwright