Most Recent: The Trap – posted 03/20/2026 see summary below
Summary: Young Hoss Cartwright reflects on the loss of his mother. WC 550
Rating: K
A Brother’s Torment #1 – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Adam isn’t talking about whatever happened to him in the desert, but a concerned younger brother has developed some unique theories to explain it. According to Little Joe, who tells the aftermath of “The Crucible” from his perspective, it’s all a matter of kerosene and water.
Rating: K+ WC 14,000
A Brother’s Torment #2 – Water for a Burning Soul – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Returning home with Little Joe, Adam Cartwright seeks his father’s help in dealing with the aftermath of his “Crucible” experience in the desert with Kane.
Rating: K+ WC 5000
A Diamond in the Desert – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Hoss isn’t sure whether Little Joe’s latest get-rich-quick scheme will leave him rich beyond his boldest dreams or dead in the desert. Written for the 2018 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.
Rated: K+ 24,400 words
A Dish Best Served – by Puchi Ann
Summary: The course of true love rarely runs smoothly for any Cartwright, especially when a vindictive father and son are determined to punish the one they hold responsible for their personal tragedy.
Rating: T Word Count: 70,950
A Holiday Homicide – by Puchi Ann
Summary: The Cartwrights are enjoying a festive Christmas party at the Ponderosa, when what to their wondering eyes should appear but a corpse in a closet. Oh, my and oh, dear!
Rating: K+ WC 6600 A holiday mystery written in response to a suggestion by our own bahj
A Near-Perfect Courtship – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Little Joe Cartwright is surprised to find himself attracted to shy little Laurie Reynolds, the girl next door. Although she isn’t the sort of girl that normally draws his attention, he’s beginning to wonder if she just might be the one true love of his life.
Rating: K WC 22,000
A Peculiar Penance – by Puchi Ann
Summary: While serving a self-imposed sentence in the barn on Christmas Eve, Little Joe learns a lesson in the forgiveness that lies at the heart of Christmas.
Written for day 20 of the 2021 Advent Calendar.
Rating: G Word Count: 1903
A Performance to Remember – by Puchi Ann
Summary: The citizens of Virginia City are treated to The Nativity Play, with the Cartwrights having prominent parts in the production.
Written for the 2017 Advent Calendar
Rating: G 4,000 words
A Quartet of Limericks – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Ben Cartwright reflects on his three sons in this quartet of limerick verses.
Rating: K
A Separate Dream, Book 1: A Fresh Beginning – by Puchi Ann
Summary: This novel begins a new series, A Separate Dream, which is a companion to my Heritage of Honor books. In “A Fresh Beginning” Adam Cartwright travels east to attend college, meeting new friends and facing new challenges throughout his freshman year against the backdrop of a nation at war.
Rating: K+ 212,654 words
A Stranger Came to Stay – by Puchi Ann
Summary: What if Hoss had not regained his memory during his overnight stop at the Ponderosa and had, instead, gone off with the Vandervorts? Could he ever find his way back to himself again and how would the other Cartwrights cope with a loss that might become permanent? Discover the answers in this WHI version of “A Stranger Passed This Way.”
Rating: K 26,269 words
A Tiny Preprandial Tale – by Puchi Ann
Summary: An old short story, which I was inspired to post by the Dan Blocker Literary Birthday Challenge. It was originally written in response to a challenge to use the word “preprandial” in a story. Word Count: 770
Rating: K
A Wreath of Blessings – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Summary: A poem originally inspired by a Christmas card showing a wreath made from pine branches and cones and sent out years ago to Bonanza friends.
Word count: 122
All in a Day’s Work #1 A Near-Perfect Day – by Puchi Ann
Summary: A single day in the life of the three Cartwright brothers. Please read them in order. Pa has divvied up the chores according to his “usual fair method,” and Joe is exceedingly happy with his assignment.
Rating: K WC 6300
All in a Day’s Work #2 – A Day for Respect – by Puchi Ann
Summary: The events of a single day for the Cartwright brothers. Please read the stories in order. Neither winner nor loser in Pa’s assignment of chores, Adam still faces a challenging day.
Rating: K WC 4550
All in a Day’s Work #3 – A Day Beyond Endurance – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Hoss faces a day that only he could be strong enough to endure. Please read these stories in order.
Rating: K+ WC 4600
An Electrifying Christmas – Puchi Ann
Summary: Christmastime without a Christmas tree threatens Virginia City.
Rating: G 5,370 words
Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar
Another Fine Mess – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Little Joe thinks he’s found the perfect way to raise money to help Virginia City’s needy orphans, while providing a few side benefits for himself and his friends. Originally published in Bonanza Gold.
Rating: K 7,470 words
Be My Valentine? – by Puchi Ann
Summary: For twelve-year-old Joseph Cartwright, things go from bad to worse as he struggles with the most “mushy-gushy” school assignment he’s ever been given. When all his efforts to solve his dilemma fail, there’s only one person who can stand between him and the painful consequences he’s destined to reap—Adam.
Rating: K WC 15,100
Blueberry Burglary – by Puchi Ann
Summary: When three pies go missing at the Ponderosa, everyone’s suspicions naturally turn to a particular Cartwright, but who actually ate all the pies?
Rating: K WC 2400
Caution: Easter Bunny Crossing – by Puchi Ann
Summary: A reprisal of the episode in verse
260 words Rating
Christmas Gift (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Little Joe’s recent misbehavior has him singing the “I’m Gettin’ Nothing for Christmas” blues.
Rating: K 1155 words
Contemplations in Church – by Puchi Ann
Summary: When a frilled bonnet and an old man’s sermon compete for a young man’s attention, which one do you think will win?
Rated: K WC 1200
Summary: While looking for strays, fifteen-year-old Joe spots some tracks that he feels compelled to investigate, despite knowing the objections his family would raise.
Rated: K WC 1700
Crossing the Rubicon… Again – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Little Joe is asked to fill in again as Sheriff of Rubicon, but surely nothing could go wrong this time.
Rating: K+ 2794 words
Damsels in Distress – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Thanks to the machinations of a conniving editor, Ben finds himself besieged by needy females in a town whose male population has been ravaged by accidents and disease.
Rating: K 7,429words
Deadeye Kid (The) #1 – The Daring Deeds of the Deadeye Kid – by Puchi Ann
Summary: When bandits invade the Ponderosa, a fourteen-year-old boy with an overactive imagination fed on dime novels decides that he and he alone can save his family.
Rating: K Word Count: 6,040
Deadeye Kid (the) #2 – The Deadeye Kid Rides Again – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Little Joe once again draws inspiration from his favorite dime novels when he is kidnapped and held for ransom.
Rating: K+ Word count 15, 138
Dear Santa, 1859 – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Even though he’s all grown up, there’s one Christmas tradition Little Joe is reluctant to give up, his annual letter to Santa Claus. It’s his way of reflecting on the events of the past year, and this story those center on the episodes of Season 1 of Bonanza.
Rated: K+ WC 2700
Dear Santa, 1860 – by Puchi Ann
Summary: It’s time again for Joe’s annual letter to Santa Claus, this time based on the events represented in the second season of Bonanza. From Jennifer Beale to Ellie McClure and beyond, Little Joe is still having trouble dealing with the opposite sex and remains in great need of Santa Pa’s advice.
Rated: K+ WC 3800
Dear Santa, 1861 – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Little Joe writes his annual letter to Santa Claus and sneaks downstairs to deliver it secretly, but someone is already down there to catch him in this most private act of the Christmas season.
Rated: K WC 2600
East, West: Home’s Best #1 – The Easterner – by Puchi Ann
Summary: At first, Adam isn’t sure how his Eastern friend will feel about life on the Ponderosa, but he–and the rest of the Cartwrights–soon realize that George is not the only one who has a lot to learn from his visit.
WC 35,000 Rated: K+
East, West: Home’s Best #2 – The Westerners by Puchi Ann
Summary: To help Adam’s friend George, Little Joe has impulsively boarded a ship for Boston. Now it’s up to Adam to chase him down and bring him home.
Rating: K (97,504 words)
East, West: Home’s Best #3 – The Journey Home – by Puchi Ann
Summary: As they return from Boston, Adam and Joe Cartwright plan to defer resolving their differences until they reach home, but that’s going to be a lot longer and harder journey than they could ever imagine.
Rating: K
Word Count: 49,640 words
Summary: A silent killer stalks the streets of Virginia City, and all Ben Cartwright’s sons are at risk.
Rating: K / Word Count: 14,210
Final Bequest (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: A retrospective on two episodes of Bonanza, The Quality of Mercy and The Dark Gate. Adam and Joe each contemplate the death of a best friend.
6,285 words Rated: K+
Summary: There’s a first time for everything and everyone.
Rating:K+/T Word Count: 12,449
First Thaw (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: The weather isn’t the only thing frosty that first Christmas after Marie joins the Cartwright family, but through the magic of story and song, they all find new warmth, acceptance and heartfelt love.
Rating: G (6,520 words)
Ghost of Christmas (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Lost, both literally and in the wanderings of his fevered mind, Little Joe encounters a ghostly presence (or is it?) and fears he’s in for a visitation like that of Ebenezer Scrooge.
Written for the 2019 Advent Calendar
Rating: G Word Count: 3,800
Gideon’s Trumpet – by PuchiAnn
Summary: The Cartwrights are saddened to learn of the death of an elderly friend shortly before Christmas, but the bequest he has left one of them stirs warm memories, one very private and another soon to become very public.
Rating: G Words 5960
Written for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent calendar
Great Baby Switch (The) – by PuchiAnn
Summary: Bored boys, left to their own devices, can come up with wild ways of passing the time, and when the bored boys are Little Joe Cartwright and his friends, Virginia City is in for quite a fright. Written for the Michael Landon Birthday Challenge.
Rating: K Words: 5,068
Summary: Not exactly a WHN for My Brother’s Keeper, but the action takes place after that story and involves some reflection on its events, as once again Adam finds himself pondering whether to move back East to a more “civilized” country. Rating: K+ Word Count: 2,051
Heritage Companion – Centennial! A Journey of Discovery – by Puchi Ann
Summary: When Adam receives his father’s permission to take one brother with him on an extended trip east to visit the Centennial Exposition, even he is surprised at which brother he chooses and at the critical turn the grand adventure takes.
Rating: K+ Word Count: 277, 566
Heritage Companion – Never Alone – by Puchi Ann
Summary: The first weeks after the death of Inger Cartwright, as seen through the eyes of young Adam. The time and location of her death correspond to the Heritage of Honor series, which differs to a minor degree from the series.
Word Count: 2680 Rating: K+
Heritage of Honor, Book 1 – A Dream Deferred – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Ben Cartwright meets and marries Inger Borgstrom. With young Adam, they journey west, meeting new people along the way, developing friendships that will last a lifetime, and adding one more member to the family before Inger’s death and Ben’s settlement in what will become Nevada.
Word Count: 211, 512 Rating: K
Heritage of Honor, Book 2 – A Dream’s First Bud – by Puchi Ann
Summary: As he deals with problems in a sparsely settled land, Ben fights his own loneliness after Inger’s death. Another death takes him to New Orleans, where he meets Marie, and they return to struggles at home and the birth of a third son.
Word Count: 200,442 Rating: T
Heritage of Honor, Book 3 – A Dream Imperiled – by Puchi Ann
Summary: The Cartwrights are caught up in ever-increasing conflict between Indians and white settlers, culminating in the greatest peril of all, the Pyramid Lake Indian War.
Rating: T Word Count: 222,074
Heritage of Honor, Book 4 – A Dream’s Darkest Hour – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Ben Cartwright begins to see his boldest dreams take root and blossom, but dark clouds loom on the horizon. The long-dreaded storm of the Civil War breaks, and the death of Marie plunges the Cartwrights into the darkest hour of their lives.
Rating: T Word Count: 196,262
Heritage of Honor, Book 5 – A Dream Divided – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Following the death of his wife Marie and his son Adam’s departure for college, Ben Cartwright and his two younger sons struggle to deal with both losses while meeting the challenges of a growing community and the crises in the lives of their friends.
Word Count: 161850 Rated: T
It’s a Bonanza-ful Life – by Puchi Ann
Summary: In this Bonanza adaptation of the Frank Capra holiday classic, Ben Cartwright is facing a Christmas so bleak that he finds himself wishing he’d never been born. Enter one slightly unusual guardian angel with the offer to let him see what the world would have been like without him.
Rated: K+ WC 20,000
Jury-Go-Round (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Written for Camp in the Pines, 2018. Sometimes the best show in town is in the courtroom, especially when the Cartwrights are involved. Rating: K Word Count: 5,385
Summary: Written for the 2016 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar. Freshly home from college, Adam becomes concerned when it appears that the Christmas traditions of Little Joe’s mother have been abandoned during his absence
Rating: K 5,240 words
Let’s Try That Again – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Have you ever had a day that started on the wrong side of deluge of water . . . and went downhill from there? Join Little Joe Cartwright as he struggles to reach the end of one particularly problematic Monday.
Rating: K+ (15,600)
Milk of Human Kindness (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Man and Nature conspire against the Cartwright brothers making it home for Christmas.
Rating: G Words: 8,220
My Brother’s Keeper – WHI – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Ever wished that the Reardons had not been part of “My Brother’s Keeper”? This story is a rewrite of the episode, with some added scenes, that provides an alternative to them with greater focus on the Cartwrights and the addition of one, hopefully more likeable, character, a young ranch hand.
Rated: K+ WC 31,500
My Little Boy Who Never Was – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Ben reflects on the son he should have had.
WC 768 Rating: K
Summary: A tribute from Adam, Hoss and Joe for Father’s Day (transcribed by Puchi Ann)
Rating: K Word Count: 88
Summary: Joe’s in a precarious position, and he can only pray that rescue will come before it’s too late.
Rating: T 2329 words
On the Hunt for Brotherhood – by Puchi Ann
Summary: My Camp in the Pines story, using the following words from the fishing tournament: eggs, petticoat, gunshot wound. Adam had been reluctant to take sixteen-year-old Little Joe on a hunting trip, but when he is Incapacitated by a freak accident, only his baby brother stands between him and certain death.
Rating: T Word Count: 16,760
Orange You Glad It’s Christmas – by Puchi Ann
Summary: It was a simple request and one that could not be granted due to circumstance beyond their control. Or could it?
Rating: G 6,880 words
Note: This story was written for the Bonanz Brand 2020 Advent Calendar, originated in the Forums.
Pantalettes and Kisses and Passionate Misses – by Puchi Ann
Summary: On a secret mission, adolescent Joe Cartwright tracks his best source of discovering what girls are hiding beneath their frilly drawers—his brother Adam.
Rating: K+ Word Count: 8954
Power of Words (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: While sitting in jail, Adam Cartwright ponders the potency of words.
Rating: K+ Word Count: 1,203
Santa’s Little Helper – by Puchi Ann
Summary: With eighteen-year-old Little Joe the only Cartwright not confined to bed, the prospects for a merry Christmas appear bleak. Ben has even ordered the cancellation of the annual Christmas Eve party, but in a burst of Yuletide enthusiasm, Joe decides to host the party by himself. After all, how hard could it be? And then his carefully laid plans begin to unravel.
Rated: K WC 15,000
Scarlet Ribbons – by Puchi Ann
Summary: When a color truly matters.
Written for the 2018 Advent Calendar
Rating: G 5,935 words
School of the Dancing Dolphin – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Joe reflects on his first solo excursion to the Barbary Coast.
Word Count: 1,519 Rating: K
Summary: When Adam Cartwright left college to join the Union Army, he had no idea he would be involved in three of the most significant battles of the Civil War. Nor did he know that the experience would mark his life forever and influence the man he would become.
Rating: MA for battlefield violence
Word Count: 94,855
Solitary Witness – by Puchi Ann
Summary: A day of skipping school turns tragic for Little Joe, who must then find the courage to stand alone in the defense of justice. This story is based on a little known incident in the annals of Virginia City justice. While I do not know the outcome of the actual case, this is what I think might have happened had Little Joe Cartwright been the only witness.
9505 words
Three Little Words – by Puchi Ann
Summary: A Tiny WHN for “A House Divided” Surely, the brothers had more to say to one another than what we heard at the lake. Perhaps just three little words?
Rating: K Word Count: 705
To Set the Captives Free – by Puchi Ann
Summary: When Adam returns from California, where his father still remains, he finds one brother seriously injured and the other missing. While caring for the injured, he races to solve the mystery and find his missing brother before it’s too late.
Rating: K+ Word count: 20,154
Together in Darkness – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Written for the 2018 Missing Man Challenge. I have always felt that the drama of “To Die in Darkness” would have been intensified if Ben had experienced its situation with a son, rather than with Candy, much as I like him. This challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore that idea.
Rated: K+ Word Count: 14,833 words
Town Hero (The) – by Puchi Ann
Summary: A grateful Virginia City wants to both reward and exploit Little Joe’s valiant defense of the town, but Adam fears his young brother may be unable to handle his sudden newfound fame. Written for BoNaNo 2021.
Rating: K+ Word count: 13, 175
Trap (The) – WHN – by Puchi Ann
Episode summary: During what he believes to be a search for rustlers, Little Joe is fired upon and fires back in self-defense, only to learn that the man he has shot is his friend, Burke Shannon. Then Burke’s wife Hallie intimates to him that he did it deliberately out of love for her. When Burke’s twin brother Booth arrives, believing the same thing, he intimidates Hallie until she “confesses”. When Booth demands she repeat the story to the sheriff, she flees and apparently falls to her death. Booth then launches a campaign to convict Little Joe of both “murders” and to settle the issue, Little Joe challenges him to a duel in the Virginia City street. Shot down by the superior gunman, he is carried by his father to the doctor . . . and that’s the last we see of him. Adam and Hoss have also disappeared halfway through the episode. For this fan, at least, neither of these omissions was acceptable, so here is my take on what happened next.
Rating: T 11,100 words
We’ll Be Home for Christmas – by Puchi Ann
Summary: Having promised Pa that they will be home for Christmas, the three Cartwright brothers are ahead of schedule as they return from a late-season shopping trip in San Francisco. A sudden snowstorm in the Sierras, however, may make keeping that promise or even staying alive – impossible.
Rated: K+ WC 15,000
