{"id":11887,"date":"2000-08-14T18:57:13","date_gmt":"2000-08-14T22:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=11887"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:04:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:04:43","slug":"night-visitor-by-helena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=11887","title":{"rendered":"Night Visitor (by Helen A)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 <\/strong>Not everything that shuffles in the night is a bad omen.<\/p>\n

Rating: <\/strong>K\u00a0 (611 words)<\/p>\n

Night Visitor<\/strong><\/p>\n

A soft click. A high-pitched squeak. The low creak of some slight weight depressing a floorboard. A faint thud followed by another click. The shuffle of bare feet padding across the floor.<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright smiled to himself in the darkness. He had awakened at that first click of the door handle, years of parental instinct alerting him to the slightest of unusual noises in the night.\u00a0\u00a0 That particular series of sounds was a familiar one, but still one he had learned to subconsciously listen for.\u00a0\u00a0 He did not have long to wait before he felt his bedcovers lift up on one side and a puff of chilly air hit his chest.\u00a0\u00a0 Reaching out with his arm, Ben assisted the small boy squirming up the side of his tall bed and pulled him inside the warm blankets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, Pa!\u201d The child\u2019s shrill whisper was loud in the darkness, and Ben could easily imagine the sunny smile that would be accompanying it. \u201cI come to sleep with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph,\u201d he said softly. \u201cWhat did I tell you about staying in your own bed at night?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat I\u2019m s\u2019posed to,\u201d the child replied glibly, snuggling happily down into his father\u2019s feather mattress, and curling up against him. \u201cBut I like it better here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Struggling to keep the smile on his lips out of his voice, Ben asked, \u201cAnd why is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re lots warmer than Adam and you don\u2019t snore like Hoss,\u201d Joe confided easily, punctuating this bit of childish logic with a deep yawn. He wrapped one small hand around the forearm his father had instinctively tucked around his body and cuddled back against the warmth of Ben\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n

Ben gasped softly as two small icy feet suddenly planted themselves against his legs. He could feel the coldness right through his woolen nightshirt. Better understanding Little Joe\u2019s quest for company, he asked, \u201cIs it too cold to sleep in your room?\u201d<\/p>\n

He could feel the tickle of soft hair against the bottom of his chin as the child nodded sleepily. \u201cFireplace gone dark,\u201d he mumbled. \u201cI gots all shivery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand,\u201d he said, and he did. Ben had personally tended the fire in Joe\u2019s room the evening before, making sure the room was nice and toasty before putting his son to bed, but the night had grown much colder since then and obviously his precautions had not been enough. The air in his own room was frigid, making him very reluctant to leave the comforts of blankets and quilt to go stoke up Joe\u2019s fireplace and put him back in his own bed. He knew he should, getting the boy to stay the night in his own room had been a struggle ever since his mother had passed away six months earlier and letting him stay where he was would make the battle that much harder the next time, but Ben really didn\u2019t want to move.<\/p>\n

While he was still debating the matter, Little Joe began to squirm around, twisting his body until he turned all the way over. With a contented sigh he nestled his head against his father\u2019s shoulder and drifted off to sleep with a mumble that sounded vaguely like \u2018good night\u2019.<\/p>\n

Wrapping his arms more securely around his son\u2019s body, Ben planted a kiss in his soft curls. Who was he fooling? He didn\u2019t really want to send the boy away any more than Joe wanted to go. Smiling again, he shook his head slightly at his own folly and whispered, \u201cGood night, son,\u201d then settled back down to sleep.<\/p>\n

The End<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:<\/strong> Ben Cartwright<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 Not everything that shuffles in the night is a bad omen.<\/p>\n

Rating: K\u00a0 (611 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":5963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,30,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-prequels","category-short-stories","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-30-id","wpcat-8-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1507,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Moon-Blind.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10277,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=10277","url_meta":{"origin":11887,"position":0},"title":"All Through the Night (by bahj)","author":"bahj","date":"October 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: Left alone once again to pick up the pieces, Ben struggles to move forward after Marie's death, and finds comfort in the words to an old song. 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Rating:\u00a0 G\u00a0 (920 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Christmas-Visitor.jpg?fit=286%2C260&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1283,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=1283","url_meta":{"origin":11887,"position":2},"title":"A Dog Called Perro (by KateP)","author":"KateP","date":"May 18, 2001","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: Ben and Joe head into trouble. 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