Latest story: A Grand Christmas – posted 12/24/2025 (see summaries below)
A Candy Floss Christmas – McFair_58
Summary: Clementine Hawkins saves the day by preventing an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction.
Rating: G 2,710 words
Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
Summary: All sixteen-year-old Hoss wanted for Christmas was a kiss from Ellie Miller. He was so excited he set off for the Millers’ place before his brothers. Instead of a kiss, Hoss was soon hoping for a Christmas miracle….
Rated: PG Word Count: 8081
A Cold Day in Hell – by McFair
Summary: Twenty-one year old Hoss Cartwright has a problem. Older brother Adam just took off into the desert without a word and Little Joe wants to follow him. Pa will have his hide, he knows. But it’s awful hard to say ‘no’ to Little Joe…
Rated PG Word count 21,317
A Different Kind of Desert – by McFair
Summary: Fifteen-year-old Joe Cartwright dropped his gaze to the vast forest before him with its tall pines, low bushes, and tangled undergrowth – all of them buried in three to four foot high drifts. He was alone. All around him was silence and snow. Winter was a whole different kind of desert.
Rated: PG-13 for mild language and Western violence and brutality
Word count: 20,913
A Grand Christmas – by McFair_58
Summary: Preparations abound for Christmas on the Ponderosa
Rating: G (2,630 words)
A Little Bit of Heaven – a Tribute – by McFair
Summary: This was written for Michael Landon’s 83rd birthday. He may be gone but he will never be forgotten! Joe and Hoss have a discussion.
Word count: 1216 Rated: G
A Man that Studieth Revenge – by McFair
Summary: A WHB & WHN for ‘The Last Haircut’, ‘Marie, My Love’, and ‘The Hayburner’ with a nod to ‘The Truckee Strip’ and ‘The Crucible’. Everyone in Virginia City knew Duke Miller had gotten away with murder, but there were few who knew he had done it before. At the heart of his hate lay one man and but a single goal: the complete and total destruction of Joe Cartwright.
Rated PG-13 for Western brutality and lots of angst and SJS
Word count: 72,114
A Rose by Any Other Name – by McFair
Summary: The ending of the pilot has always bothered me. Would Alphaeus Troy and the mine owners really have given up that easily? What if the fight in China town had ended differently and Little Joe never made that dinner date with Lotta Crabtree…?
Rated: PG-13 Word Count: 21,226
A Switch in His Shoe – by McFair
Summary: Written in honor of Dan Blocker’s birthday. The Hoffmeisters have come to the Ponderosa for their annual December visit bringing tales of Germany’s Wienachsten and its mystical creatures. As strange things begin to happen, young Hoss Cartwright becomes convinced that St. Nick’s man-servant, a feller he calls ‘K-necked Rupert’, has come to bring judgement on them all.
Rating: G 14,550 words
A Tale Told by an Idiot – by McFair
Summary: It is 1875. Two years later, Joe Cartwright’s inability to cope with his wife’s death is ruining his life. His Pa thinks getting away might be the answer. Little does Ben know that his decision will put Joe’s life in danger, as well as the lives of the Ingalls’ family who take a wounded Joe in and bring the wrath of a man who hates him down on their heads.
Rating: PG-13 for violence, brutality and adult situations 54,680 words
A Warrior’s Tears – by McFair_58
Summary: A youthful dream becomes an adult nightmare for Hop Sing. Does he have what it takes to save his beloved Cartwrights?
Word Count: 7,348 Rated: PG
All the Butterflies Have Broken Wings – by McFair
Summary: A WHN for both the episode ‘A Time to Step Down’ and ‘Lonely House’. Five years have passed and Trock has been released from prison and returned to marry Lee Bolden. Little does the former bank robber know, but his past is about to catch up to him – and Joe Cartwright – in the form of a man whose dark secret only Dan Tollivar knows. A note for the Adam-gals, your feller is home for a visit.
Word count: 61,659 Rated: PG-13 for adult situations and innuendo, torture, and typical Western violence and brutality
An Unspeakable Dawn – by McFair
Summary: It has been five years since Joe Cartwright took Bella Carnaby as his wife and nearly twenty since he first met Rosey O’Rourke – a woman he knows his father loves, but one that life and time has conspired to keep away from the Ponderosa. A new threat and an old enemy appear to threaten the Cartwrights – will the end of their collective tale be joy, or tragedy?
81,360 words Rated PG-13 for western violence and brutality and mild adult language
Summary: A barren tree and a string of glass beads bring two lonely men together on Christmas Eve.
Rated G Word count: 4121
Summary: Every year, on the night before Christmas Eve, Hop Sing would make candles. Now, candles are kind of old fashioned, so I asked him why. This is the tale he told me, a tale of wonder and grace.
Written for day 9 of the 2021 Advent Calendar.
Rating: G Word Count: 3915
Beauty of Darkness (The) – by mcfair_58
A sequel to The Friendship, The Guilty, The Tall Stranger, The Crucible, and The Storm. Jimmy Partridge. Margie Owens. Peter Kane. Laura White. Things were far from routine on the Ponderosa. His life – his family – was a shambles. That indefinable ‘thing’ that held them together, what made them ‘the’ Cartwrights, was lost. Ben Cartwright despaired of ever getting it back.
Rated: PG-13 for brutality and Western style violence
Word count: 55,298
Belly of the Whale – by McFair
Summary: 14 year old Joe Cartwright was just trying to do something nice for a friend. Older brother Adam didn’t see it that way. An argument between brothers sets off a series of events that turns into an unstoppable torrent of trouble, which leaves one of Ben Cartwright’s sons with a terrible task to perform and another near death, trapped in the Belly of the Whale.
Rating: PG-13 for mild language and implied adult situations, which do not occur. WC 76.500
Best Proof of Love (The) – by McFair
Summary: This piece is a WHN and WHB for season thirteen’s ‘Bushwhacked!’. This is my idea of how and why Joe might have thought his big brother was trying to kill him.
Rated PG-13 for angst, some violence, and vile characters Word count: 13,660
Dedicated to Debbie B. or Debbie Beshears (because she asked for it!) Eleven-year-old Little Joe Cartwright is on a mission. His friend, Sarah Winnemucca, needs his help and so, he sets out to find her in the woods. Of course, since this is Little Joe Cartwright, he’s bound to find something else as well – BIG trouble!
Rated: PG Word count: 32,644
Biggest Miracle of All (The) – by McFair
Summary: Just before Christmas Ben Cartwright makes a choice he will soon regret. He allows his twelve-year-old son, Joseph, to help the young woman who is filling in for Abigail Jones over the holidays find her way home. Little does Ben know that the blue sky of morning will soon become the deep gray of an approaching snow storm, and that his son and his teacher will need a miracle to survive.
Rated: PG-13 Word Count: 12,321
Summary: It is October, a time of looking back and giving thanks for a harvest of blessings. For Joe Cartwright, this is impossible. The autumn marks one year since he lost his beloved brother, Hoss. Needing to escape, Joe heads out to visit to Carrie Pickett. He never makes it. Instead, Joe finds himself lost and alone and badly injured. Half-dead, he works his way toward a plume of smoke rising in the distance. Little does Joe suspect that what he finds at the end of his journey will change his life forever.
Rated: PG Word count: 22,401
Summary: Two years after he was bushwhacked, Joe Cartwright returns to Lone Pines and the Griswolds’ spread. Though he intends to stay for one night, circumstances beyond his control compel him to change his plans. Something is terribly wrong, and he is bound and determined to set it right – even if it it costs him his life. Slightly AU in that the eps ‘Forever’ never happened.
Rated: PG-13 Word count: 66, 499
Blood and Bread #1 – by McFair
Summary: Twelve-year-old Little Joe is late for supper. Hop Sing is hopping mad and Adam is none too pleased. When he heads for the stable to look for his brother, Adam expects an argument – what he gets is something else entirely. Something that begins in terror and rolls on toward tragedy. Will the Cartwrights ever be the same?
Rating: PG-13 for typical standard episodic TV Western violence and brutality. 92,480 words
Blood and Bread #2 – Keep Your Eyes on the Sun – by McFair
Summary: Nearly a year after Little Joe was kidnapped by Wade Bosh a new threat arises born of an old pain. Can the Cartwrights survive being drawn into the tangled web woven by the choices Rosey O’Rourke made long ago?
Rating: T 69,970 words
Blood and Bread #3 – Thirty-Six Ways to Get Out of Trouble – by McFair
Summary: Continuing the story of Ben and Rosey O’ Rourke.
Rating: PG-13 WC: 83,100
Blows of Sound (The) – by McFair
A WHN and Missing Scene story for ‘The Stillness Within’. While rewatching the episode I realized that, after the first commercial break, while Doc Martin was examining him, Joe says it’s been a month since he was blinded. Say WHAT?? This tale explores what happened between the explosion and Paul’s examination of Joe, as well as what happened during that missing month and ends after Miss Dobbs’ departure.
Word count: 18,320 Rated: PG
Summary: Who would have thought that a pair of missing boots would propel the Cartwrights into the nightmare world of a madman? One morning Joe wakes up to find his boots gone and the mystery of how he lost them – and who is wearing them – leads to a series of events that could cost not only Joe’s life, but Adam and Hoss’ as well.
Rating: PG-13 58,335 words
Summary: A WHB or prequel to ‘Between Heaven and Earth.’ Have you ever wondered what happened when Little Joe climbed Eagle’s Nest as a five year old boy that could have been so traumatic it resulted, not just in a fear of falling, but in total amnesia that lasted for nearly 20 years? This is my take on what happened when Ben Cartwright was told to ‘Bring Marie’.
Rated PG-13 Word Count: 31,167
Broken Cord (The) – by McFair_58
Summary: A tie that binds is broken. Can Hop Sing make it – and the Cartwrights – whole again?
Rating: G Words 3,420
Written for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
Cavalry is Coming (The) – by McFair
Summary: A prequel to ‘A Rose for Lotta’. Ben Cartwright’s meeting with Alpheus Troy and the other mine owners did not go well. They want his timber and he won’t give it to them. The rancher knows Troy will do whatever it takes to keep his mine running, and when he arrives home to find out sixteen-year-old Little Joe is missing, he fears the worst.
Word Count: 19871 Rated PG-13 for typical Western violence
Christmas has Come – McFair_58
Summary: No one signed up for the fourth, so this day was opened to all members in the Forums to try their hand at writing poetry for the season.
Rating: G 350 words
Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
Circumstances of His Return (The) – by McFair
Summary: A violent storm, a frightened mare, and the matter of his homecoming. My entry for the 2021 ‘Man in Black’ challenge.
Rated: PG Word count: 10,999
Summary: A Christmas peek at Ben and Adam on the trail West.
Rating: G (4,040 words)
Curse of Bodie (The) – by McFair
Summary: In 2269 an archaeologist digging in the ruins of the Bodie mine on Earth discovers skeletal remains dating to 1876. On the wrist of the dead man, who is wearing a green jacket, is an alien device. Its discovery sends the crew of the Enterprise into the past to Ben Cartwright’s Ponderosa where the eddies of time and an alien menace are moving together to doom Ben’s youngest son.
Rated: PG-13 for western violence and adult situations 77,500 words
Darker Angels of Our Nature (The) – by McFair
Summary: An angel. A messenger. Sent to bring news, sometimes good, often bad. Which was this, the one who gazed at me? Had she come to reward or punish me? To return me to my family or cut me down as I deserved? Forgive me, Adam, Pa. Mama, forgive your little Joseph. If only, I had known….
Rated PG-13 for brutality and violence, minor torture, and some uncomfortable language. Story contains words in use by some people in the South during the 1860s such as ‘dusky’, ‘bright’, and so on when referring to African Americans.
Word count: 71,074
Devil’s in the Details (The) – by McFair
Summary: Ten year old Joseph Cartwright has been assigned a project by Miss Jones to write a paper about his mother. The trouble is, he’s not quite sure what he knows so he asks for her help.
Rated G 2,100 words
Summary: Ben Cartwright’s young sons are under threat. Could a secret long buried be the reason? And if so, just whose secret is it?
Word Count: 66,559
Rated PG-13 for racial slurs and western style brutality and violence
Summary: Adam Cartwright sentimental? A certain day and a certain blue velvet chair hold bittersweet memories.
Word Count: 3019 Rated: G
Fragrance of Violets (The) – by McFair_58
Summary: A shadowed room, thick with the scent of incense, reverberates with the whispers of the Ancestors. What do they seek, and can anyone defy their mystic call? For He Xing—known to the white man as Hop Sing—questions crowd the silence, yet only one answer emerges, undeniable and unyielding. Xuè hǎi xuè chóu. Blood revenge.
Rating: T+
Word Count: 55,685
Frail Branch (The) – by McFair_58
Summary: A tale for our times. 17 year old Adam Cartwright is sure he’s up to taking care of his two younger brothers while his Pa and Marie head into town. And he would have been, had an unseen and deadly enemy not come to call.
Rated PG-13 Word count: 20,692
Glass Bird (The) – by McFair_58
Summary: Christmas brings an unexpected guest to the Ponderosa and forces Joe Cartwright to confront his past, present and future in the form of a tiny glass bird.
Rating G Words (4750)
Written for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
Summary: It is 1847 and such a winter had never been seen! Snowstorms and squalls. Sleet and ice. Winds so ferocious they built drifts high as a man. Driven by a need to escape the memory of his late wife, Ben Cartwright ventures out into a frozen landscape and becomes lost. As he seeks a way to survive, he has no way of knowing that another member of the family has become lost as well. Will the killer snow claim two Cartwright lives?
Rated PG
Word count 20,990
Summary: Adam intended to introduce his youngest brother to good literature, but you know Little Joe – instead of culture, he found trouble!
Rating: G Words: 4,500
Written for the Bonanza Brand 2023 Advent Calendar
Summary: With a storm approaching, Little Joe heads out to find the prize foal his father is so fond of and is caught in a flash flood. While his brothers deal with their own fears, Ben Cartwright fights a battle to overcome despair and grief and face the very real fear that Joe may never be found.
Rated: PG-13 Word count: 38,190
Summary: A new school teacher comes to town and Adam and Hoss fear their little brother is growing too attached to her. Little do they know that the real danger is to their father. Will Ben’s heart break if he dares to love again, and what secrets does this mysterious woman hold?
Word count: 50,584 Rated: PG-13
Summary: For all the mothers out there who give us so much. An innocent comment by the reverend at church sends 40 year old Ben Cartwright on a journey into his young son’s hearts.
Rated: G Word count: 3,427
His Father’s Arms (by mcfair_58)
I’ll See You Outside – by McFair
Summary: A What Happens Next for ‘The Magnificent Adah’. As Hoss finishes one last beer, Little Joe heads outside to saddle Cochise and wait for him – little knowing the deadly danger that lurks in the dark.
Rated: PG-13 for brutality, violence, and graphic images
Word count: 14770
Lady with Yellow Hair (The) – by McFair
Summary: Each year at Christmas a beautiful lady graces the Cartwright’s Ponderosa ranch house. From her post high atop their tree the little angel with cornflower yellow hair watches them. A smile lights her face for she knows that, without her, Ben Cartwright’s life would have been very different…
Word count: 7489 Rated: G
Summary: That baby brother of his, he could talk him into anythin’. They shoulda been home, but instead they ended up campin’ out near 13 year old Little Joe’s little gal’s house. All would have been well and good if’n only Joe’d have stayed put. But this was Joe and he didn’t. When he asked him how come, his baby brother said he didn’t know. Was it a nightmare, Hoss wondered, that called Little Joe out into the mist and got him nearly drowned? Or was it somethin’ else?
Rated PG 7, 666 words
Summary: Joseph Cartwright is a haunted man. He can’t forget the woman he met in Martinville. Little does he know, she remembers him as well and has made a pact with the Devil to make certain he will be hers for eternity. A WHN for the Bonanza episode Twilight Town. The characters of Nicholas, Janette, and Lucien LaCroix were originally created by Barney Cohan and James D. Parrott for the TV series Forever Knight.
Word count: 38,844 Rated: PG-13
A badly wounded Little Joe Cartwright is propelled into an adventure where he meets a beautiful Indian girl who seeks his love…and maybe his life!
Rated: PG Word count: 34,669
Summary: A missing scene for the episode ‘A Matter of Circumstance’, which is one of my favorites. Left alone in the house with what may be a dying Joe, Hoss has a conversation with himself and makes a promise.
Rated G Word count: 2912
Midnight – by McFair_58
Summary: What happens between the eleventh and the twelfth stroke of the clock on All Hallows Eve? Beware! Twelve-year-old Little Joe and his big brother Adam are about to find out. Written for the 2021 Bonanza Brand Boo-nanza challenge.
Rated: PG for spookiness Word count: 6,574
Summary: It’s not the merriest of Christmases for Little Joe and his family.
Rating: G (4,175 words)
Summary: 12 year old Little Joe Cartwright loves black horses, especially the new black mare his brothers found and brought home. Though their father disapproves, Little Joe knows she’s the one for him and sets out to prove it. What do an apparition, a burned out ranch, a stolen fortune, a group of desperate outlaws, and Little Joe Cartwright have in common besides trouble? Mystery.
Rated PG for frightening images and western violence 25,100 words
Never Frighten the Cat by McFair
Summary: Ben comes home to a comic crisis creating by who else – his youngest son! Can he help him before the boy is buried alive?
Word count: 1746 Rated: G
Never Quote Me the Odds – by McFair
Summary: Ben Cartwright had thought the worst thing that could happen was that his son, Hoss, was shot in back by mistake. But like the other time Hoss was shot – by Red Twilight – Little Joe was in danger too. His brother could be dying and Joe is nowhere in sight. What’s going on?
Rated PG – references to drunkeness Word Count – 4406
One Little Two Little Three Little Thunderbirds – by McFair
Summary: A friend of Ben’s comes for a visit, bringing with him his three daughters and a dark secret from his past. At first it appears the greatest danger the visit presents lies in the insanity of a trio of young females in the Cartwright household. All too soon it becomes apparent that Gil Jenkins’ demons have not been laid to rest and threaten not only him, but the Cartwrights as well.
Rated: PG-13 WC 79,400
Painted Lady (The) – by mcfair_58
Summary: Fifteen-year-old Little Joe Cartwright is in love and, as usual, it brings a world of trouble. Can big brother Adam save the day or will he too be drawn in by the Painted Lady and lose not only his way, but maybe his life?
Rating: PG Word Count: 29,166
Remarkable Tin Soldier (The) – by McFair
Summary: Remembrance of Christmas Past
Rating: G 7,950 words
Note: This story was written for the Bonanza Brand 2020 Advent Calendar, posted in the Forums.
Real Man Smiles in Trouble (The) – by McFair
Summary: Joe is attacked. At first it seems the motive was robbery, but all too soon it becomes clear that something devastating has happened to the youngest Cartwright son. As the truth comes out, the Cartwright men face a challenge none of them could have conceived; one that calls upon them to look deep within themselves to find a way to save Joe.
RATED M: This story is rated M for adult situations and themes including sexual assault, sexual innuendo, abusive behavior, violence and brutality. It contains mild adult language 72,000 words
Same Pines Different Wind – by McFair
Summary: This story is a sequel or WHN for the wonderful episode ‘Different Pines Same Wind’. As Joe Cartwright helps the old woman Carrie Pickett prepare for winter, the arrival of a beautiful young woman at the Ponderosa spells disaster. Her appearance serves as a catalyst for an unexpected series of events that culminate in a showdown in the Piney Woods in which not only Joe, but Hoss and Ben, must face and overcome Marks deep seated need for revenge.
Rated PG-13 Word Count: 50,528
Secret Ingredient (The) – by mcfair_58
On Christmas eve Deputy Roy Coffee found himself starin’ down one of the baddest desperados he’d ever come across – six year old Little Joe Cartwright. What secret ingredient did he have in his pocket to make the boy smile?
Written for day 7 of the 2021 Advent Calendar.
Rating: G Word Count: 3284
Summary: A follow-up to The Crucible. An unexpected visitor helps Adam Cartwright heal his broken heart before breaking it again. A story for Valentine’s Day.
Word count: 3296 Rated: G
Silent as the Snow – by mcfair_58
Summary: With Little Joe, following his heart often leads to trouble.
Rating: G
Words: 2,050
Written for the 2023 Bonanza Advent Calendar
Storm Whisperer (The) – McFair_58
Summary: Adam’s brothers are missing. Will the Christmas secret he is keeping lead to their rescue?
Rating: G 3,515 words
Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
Summary: It was just another ordinary day for Adam Cartwright, with the ordinary prospect that he would have to step in and keep his little brother out of trouble. Or was it?
Word count: 2507 Rated: G
They Do Dream Things True – by McFair
Summary: When 10 year old Joe Cartwright awakes screaming his pa’s name in the night, his brothers assume the young boy is afraid since their pa is away in Placerville. What they can’t know is that Joe’s nightmare is all too real and their brother’s reaction to it will catapult all four Cartwrights on a journey that will end with both their father and little brother losing their lives – unless Heaven intervenes.
Rating: K+ 41,980 words
Though She Be But Little – by McFair
Summary: A slight mishap brings the old Indian blanket that hangs on the stair rail to Joe Cartwright’s attention. His questions bring odd looks and just a little bit of pain. When his Pa breaks down and tells him the story of how the blanket came to be there and what it means, Joe realizes he will never look at his mother the same way again.
Rated PG-13 Word count: 17,653
Ultimate Wound (The) – by McFair
Summary: As Ben Cartwright seeks to comfort Little Joe after he is forced to kill his childhood friend, Sharp Tongue, the older man recalls the curious circumstances that brought the two boys, Indian and white, together – circumstances that threatened his young son’s life then as surely as now. A WHN/WHI for season six’s ‘The Far Far Better Thing’.
Rated PG-13 for Western violence and brutality Word count: 29,541
Wet Bottom, Warm Heart #1 – by McFair
Summary: Deep inside 17 year old Little Joe Cartwright there’s an angry beast waiting to get out. It makes him say and do things he always regrets, like talking back to his Pa. After one such incident, his shame drives him away from the Ponderosa, straight into the arms of trouble – and the waiting rifle sight of a little golden-haired girl named Elizabeth Carnaby.
Rating: PG Word Count: 13,300
Wet Bottom, Warm Heart #2 – Sunshine with a Little Hurricane – by McFair
Summary: After 11 year old Elizabeth Carnaby saved Little Joe’s life, he promised to bring her to the Ponderosa. She arrives along with a sudden winter storm that blows in not only a little fun but a whole lot of trouble, including a killer named Fleet Rowse who is looking to make easy money by lightening the load in Ben Cartwright’s safe.
Rating: T 82,825 words
Wet Bottom, Warm Heart #3 – In the Darkness as in the Light – by McFair
Summary: A burned out stagecoach lies on its side, the victim of an Indian raid. There’s a name on the coach manifest that makes Joe Cartwright’s heart stand still. Can it be that Elizabeth Carnaby is dead? And, as the man who robbed the coach seeks personal vengeance against Ben Cartwright’s youngest son – can Joe himself survive?
Rated M. 101,760 words
Wet Bottom, Warm Heart #4 – Doubt that the Stars are Fire – by McFair
Summary: Eight years have passed since Joe and Bella met. Both have experienced great tragedy. A letter from Ben Cartwright paves the way for them to meet again. But is it too late for their love? This story takes place post-canon.
Rated: M for adult situations, language, and intense emotional drama. 62,200 words
What the Wind Blew In – by McFair
Summary: One day the wind blows in a woman claiming to be Ben Cartwright’s daughter. As her claim appears to be valid, Belle moves into the Ponderosa bringing trouble from her past in the form of a man who is obsessed with her and who blames Ben Cartwright for taking her mother away. Before the end the lives of the Cartwrights and the Ponderosa itself are in danger of going up in flames.
Rated: PG-13 Word count: 59, 034
When the Autumn Moon is Bright (by McFair_58)
Summary: Adam goes looking for his little brother in the woods on All Hallows Eve and finds more than he bargains for.
Word count: 2497 Rated: PG
Whose Sin is Her Love – by McFair_58
Summary: Adah Menken and John C. Regan return to Virginia City stirring up old emotions and creating new trouble for the Cartwrights. A sequel to my story ‘I’ll See You Outside’ – extended
Rated PG-13 Word count: 55, 282
