A Proper Friend – by freyakendra
Summary: For the good folks of Virginia City, Roy Coffee is a darned good sheriff. For the Cartwrights, he is also a proper friend, as he proves to himself when his job intermixes with a tragic event on the Ponderosa. Word Count: 2400;
Rating: K
A Son for a Son, Brand Edition – by freyakendra
Summary: A man from one of Ben Cartwright’s previous lives has come to take revenge on his oldest son, Adam–but it’s Joe who pays the price.
Rated: T WC 14,000
A True Cartwright – by freyakendra
Summary: The Ponderosa sets the stage for a kangaroo court that puts Ben on trial and puts a pubescent Joe through a whole lot of trouble.
Rated: T Word Count: 14,000
And This Gives Life to Thee – by freyakendra
Summary: Adam returns home to stay, after a loss helps him to be ‘found.’
Rating: K+ Word Count: 4,700
Ballad of Brothers: Opus – by freyakendra
Summary: A sandstorm leads to a special moment of brotherly bonding between Adam and Little Joe before tragedy strikes—and then that bonding takes on a whole different depth of meaning when they look to the songs that had first given them a night of laughter to help them survive through the day. When Ben, Hoss and Sheriff Coffee go to their aid, they discover Joe is missing and Adam fears the worst.
Rating: T Word Count: 28,400.
Summary: Even a good friend can become one of the “bad guys” when he lets himself get bedeviled.
Rating: T Word Count: 2,500
Big Sisters, Little Brothers, and Moving Mountains – by freyakendra
Summary: A lost little girl, a restless Little Joe and a hungry puma converge, sparking a story that explores what it means to have family looking out for you–or counting on you to look out for them.
Rating: K+ word count: 9,300
Brothers, Above All – by freyakendra
Summary: While the Civil War pits brother against brother, a night on Hell’s battlefield pulls Joe and Adam into a fight that only one can survive.
Rating: T Word Count: 3,000
Summary: Joe is forced to accept that sometimes a man’s fate is out of his hands. But sitting back and waiting for God to do what He would didn’t have to mean giving up hope.
Rated: K+ Word Count: 2,600
Summary: A villain who thinks he’s a hero explains his “reasoning” to an Incapacitated Little Joe.
Rating: MA Warnings: Language & Violence—a brutal attack on a woman is alluded to but not described explicitly.
WC 2250
Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: On a quiet night after a rough afternoon that could have taken their little brother from them, Hoss and Adam ponder Joe’s instincts and … athleticism.
Rated: K Word Count: 1,846
Dawson Gang (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: Heroism comes in all shapes and sizes, as the good folks of Virginia City discover when Sam Dawson and his notorious gang of outlaws hold the whole town under siege—all because Joe tried to help a woman in need and Adam was thirsty for a beer.
Rated: T WC 37,000
Decklin Principle (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: When Adam’s favorite professor pays him a visit, another visitor hides in the shadows, intent on proving a skewed theory about savagery.
Rated: T, Word count: 27,000
Summary: A man of God who lacks true faith heads into the desert on a quest for miracles — catching the Cartwright brothers in his flawed pilgrimage. A story of faith, free will and divine intervention
Word count: 22,000. Rating: T.
Dime Novel Rescue (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: A complete tale told in 5 progressive short stories each of which can stand alone
Wounded, trapped in the desert and surrounded by a renegade band of Bannocks, Paiutes and Shoshones, Adam and Joe prepare for death, unaware of the unfolding chain of tiny miracles that is setting them up for an improbable, last-minute rescue.
Rated: T Word Count: 23,500
Fire Inside (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: A surprise assault on the Ponderosa tests twelve-year-old Little Joe’s mettle, and proves he truly is his father’s son.
Word count: 4,470. Rating: T.
For the Soul is Dead that Slumbers – by freyakendra
Summary: A Tale told in 2 parts:
Part I: The Darkest Hour: When Joe is missing, he’s not the only one trapped in darkness.
Part II: No One: Even after Joe comes home, a part of him remains lost.
Rated: T Word Count: 22,500
Games – Book I – The Game – by freyakendra
Summary: An old college rival of Adam’s takes competition to an extreme, playing chess with Cartwright lives. SJS, SAS, JAM, ESA, ESH…let’s just say lots of hurt, comfort, angst and mystery. If you like this story, check out the sequel, “Endgame.”
Rated: T. WC 29,000
Games – Book II – Endgame – by freyakendra
Summary: Sequel to: The Game. A prison break sends Alfred Whitfield, a man on the edge of madness, and Peter Nobridge, an enigma whose alliances are yet to be proven, back to the Ponderosa one year after Adam’s old classmate played a deadly game with Cartwright lives. This time, when the siege begins there is more at stake than mere blood. This is a sequel to “The Game,” but should offer enough hints to stand alone. The SJS & SAS are, of course, integral to the plot, and there’s plenty of angst and ES? to go around…. R
ated: T WC 48,300
Grizzly and God’s Hand (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: A day at the lake with his brothers is shattered by gunfire, leaving Joe in God’s hands. Follow Joe’s muddled thoughts through his family’s struggle to keep him alive, and his own struggle to focus on where he belongs.
Rated: K+ 6,505 words WC 6500
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? – by freyakendra
Summary: Each of Ben’s sons rides off in the wake of tragedy, leaving a stranger home alone—at least until suppertime.
Rated: K+ WC 5300
Handkerchief (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: Caught in a mudslide, Little Joe’s survival might just depend on a lacy handkerchief. Written for the 2018 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.
Rated: K+ 1,675 words
Summary: After Little Joe’s testimony helps put a noose around the neck of a murderer, his nightmares are nothing compared to the reality that comes to haunt him.
Rated: T word count: 25,450
He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother – by freyakendra
Summary: When Hoss’s life is hanging in the balance, Joe gives no thought to the limits of his own strength.
Rated: K+ WC 2800
He Had a Bad Day – by Ffeyakendra
Summary: No bad day could ever compare to Joe’s bad day. Next time you have a bad day, read this and suddenly it won’t seem so bad after all!
Rated: K+ WC 6400
Head, Heart, and Gut – by freyakendra
Summary: Joe postpones a tough decision—and learns about the power of “3.”
Rated: K+ WC 2000
Summary: When Joe is trapped and facing what they believe will mean certain death, Adam’s heroic refusal to let go sets him on a heart-wrenching and soul-searching journey it takes Hoss to sort out. Excerpt: “And if the measure of a man’s worth in this life was in how much he refused to let go, then both Pa and Adam were worth more than Hoss could count”.
Rated: T WC 11,300
Summary: Some people have devils on their heels, chasing them every step of the way. Others invite the devil to walk with them, right in their shoes. When Joe meets a man in chains for doing exactly that, he soon becomes devil’s bait in a deadly endgame for the man’s hollow soul. Can good overcome evil when the devil holds all the cards?
Rated: T Word Count: 19,600
Just a… #1 Just a Little Disagreement – by freyakendra
Summary: Adam comes home with a black eye and a poor excuse for how he got it, so his family helps him produce a better plot..
Rating: PG
Just A… #2 The Dawson Gang – by freyakendra
Summary: The results of the boys’ efforts in Just a Little Disagreement.
Rating: PG
Just a… #3 Poker Game – by freyakendra
Summary: Joe comes home late from a poker game without a story worth telling, so Adam helps him concoct a plot intense enough to satisfy SJS fans everywhere.
Rating: PG
Just a… #4 Loser Take All – by freyakendra
Summary: The results of Just a… Poker Game.
Rating: PG
Killing Cartwrights – by freyakendra
Summary: Total, inane, silliness, prompted by Inca challenging writers to do what no one–or mostly no one, anyway–wants to do: actually kill a Cartwright! Subsequent discussion bordered on the macabre, with congratulations bestowed upon writers meeting the challenge. These 2 parodies resulted….
Rated: K+ WC 550
Kings Over Aces – by freyakendra
Summary: A businessman is tired of playing by the rules and uses Ben’s sons to manipulate Ben, himself. It falls to Sheriff Roy Coffee, Deputy Clem Foster and a very determined Hop Sing to prevent the Cartwright family from falling like a house of cards. What results is a high stakes game in which Ben must gamble his full house against his rival’s hidden aces.
Letter of the Law (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: Joe makes an instinctive, impulsive decision to help a widow and her family, bringing his own family along for the bumpy ride.
Rated: T
Loser Take All – by freyakendra
Summary: Joe’s biggest ever poker win results in Adam and Hoss playing for higher stakes than any of them could ever have imagined. Rated:
T WC 12,600
Night Before Christmas (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: The boys have some childish fun in a poem that borrows from the original.
Rating: K 430 words
O Come, O Come Emmanuel – by freyakendra
Summary: Caught in a blizzard on Christmas Eve, Joe follows his brother’s song after the trail itself becomes obscured by the heavy snow.
Rated: K+ WC 2500
One Bullet & Holding to Hope – by freyakendra
Summary: One Bullet->: Wounded and running out of time, Joe’s only hope is his ability to believe that a single bullet can make any difference at all. Keywords: SJS, JPM, drama
Holding to Hope->: Sequel to One Bullet. In the wake of Annie Grainger’s murder, Joe’s family and hers are brought together in bitterness, compassion, and a shared need for hope: one, for survival of the body; the other, for survival of the soul.
WC 10,200
Pandora’s Sisters – by freyakendra
Summary: The unexpected arrival of a mysterious group of women complicates—and threatens—Cartwright lives, turning the Ponderosa into a decisive battleground.
Rated: T
Ponderosa Pining – by freyakendra
Summary: Poems written in tribute to and framed around our boys, addressing the things that make them so special to us. Rated: K
“Ponderosa Pine” — An homage to the majestic guardian of Cartwright dreams.
“Ben’s Advice” — Cherish what you have, for blessings often carry a price
“The Cartwright Brothers, Three” — A sad yet endearing tale of Adam, old and tired, returning to what isn’t quite the empty home he’d expected.
“From Sea to Saddle” — A sonnet for Adam to honor Pernell’s birthday in response to a challenge posted by Cheaux at the forums.
“To Joe” — When letters don’t suffice, Adam drafts a poem to help Joe understand why he left.
Summary: A dying man’s warning and a hunter anxious to target the ideal prey set Adam and Joe on a race for their lives.
Rated: T
Summary: After Joe is attacked by Apaches in an incident that threatens a fragile peace, he is left hanging somewhere between life and death, between Heaven and Hell, and, more importantly, between Army soldiers and Apache warriors on the verge of war. How long must his family watch before the risk of waiting outweighs the risk of action? With Ben facing the ultimate sacrifice, Adam drawn into a fight to the death, Hoss preparing for the worst, and Joe praying for the unthinkable, this is a tale of strength, courage and the limits of human endurance.
Rating: T WC 9600
QiXi: Seventh Night of the Seventh Moon – by freyakendra
Summary: A Chinese fairy-tale, an all-too-human Hop Sing and a carefree moment of make-believe usher the Cartwrights into a nightmare involving Chinese assassins and a beautiful, young woman two men will do anything to possess.
Rated: T (29,000)
Razor’s Edge (The) – by freyakendra
Summary: At thirteen, Joe is eager to prove his manhood. Somewhere amidst the careless antics of childhood, he discovers he’s closer to the edge than he could have thought possible.
Word Count: 4500; Rating: K
Right Where He’s Supposed to Be – by freyakendra
Summary: When tragedy strikes twice in as many months, the Cartwrights discover that the strength of love, the bonds of family and the sense of wholeness can truly transcend mere mortality.
Rated: K+ WC 9000
Ruby Lips and White Satin – by freyakendra
Summary: After Adam and Joe take an early spring ride up into the mountains, Joe comes home alone with fragmented memories and a haunting fear that Adam might never come home at all. A story told in two voices: Joe’s and Adam’s.
Rated: T WC 24,000
Summary: Men who hide in shadows can be the worst kind of monsters, as Joe discovers one night when he’s home alone.
Rating: T Word Count: 13,500
Six Feet Deep – by freyakendra
Summary: For a brief moment in time, Amy’s death brought Little Joe and Luther Bishop together. But when the moment ended and Luther realized he had nothing left to lose, burying the hatchet with Ben Cartwright took on a new level of meaning.
A What Happened Next Story for The Truckee Strip.
Rating: K+ 6,855 words
Slings and Arrows… and Snowballs – by freyakendra
Summary Sad news drives Ben to a quiet hilltop, where he finds a moment of grace in a silent snowfall. This story links with the events as told in “And This Gives Life to Thee,” but can easily stand alone.
Rated: K WC 1900
Something So Savage – by freyakendra
Summary: Two unexpected visitors arrive at the Ponderosa within hours of each other: Adam’s favorite professor from college and a blue-eyed Indian with a skewed understanding of Paiute ways and a twisted view of good vs. evil. Join the Cartwrights as they struggle to get through a night of savage terror that marks Little Joe as a target—and his scalp as a trophy.
Rated: T WC 28,000.
Tall Tales and Taller Truths – by freyakendra
Summary: An Indian woman who ‘haunts’ young, tenderfoot Joe during a cattle drive gives him a night he’ll never forget.
Rated: MA Word Count: 1,520
Ten Little Indians – by freyakendra
Summary” Four full grown Cartwrights—and one overworked Doc Martin—being bested by a bunch of angry, young Shoshoni boys could provide fodder for some uproarious saloon talk…if they can live long enough for their story to be told. SJS, SAS, ESA, ESH, ESB
Rated: T WC 18,500
Summary: Two brothers plagued by accidents and misfortune, one young man haunted by his own brothers’ deaths, a deadly outlaw with no conscience…and the Cartwright family caught in the crossfire. Follow the trail of the Nevada Territory’s most notorious outlaw through the words of Tumbleweed, a writer aiming to turn a killer into a legend, until that trail dead-ends on the Ponderosa. After the shooting stops, will tragedy be avoided, or simply rewritten?
Rated: T Word Count: 14,900
Viva la Brothers! – by freyakendra
Summary: After a night of brotherly bonding is complicated by a group of distrustful vaqueros and a jug of pulque, the morning after — two days later — opens Adam’s eyes to a whole new dimension in his relationship with Little Joe.
Word Count: 4351 Rating: T
Wolf in the Wind – by freyakendra
Summary: Seeking shelter in a line shack during an early spring ice storm, Joe encounters a family of moonshiners he doesn’t stand the chance of fighting. He can do nothing but hold to the thin hope that his family will reach him in time.
Rated: T Word Count: 25,000
