{"id":15799,"date":"2018-11-03T17:38:09","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T21:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=15799"},"modified":"2026-10-18T12:47:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T16:47:49","slug":"no-ordinary-day-by-jc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=15799","title":{"rendered":"No Ordinary Day (by JC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: <\/strong>It was supposed to be an ordinary trip into town for the Cartwrights, but dying wasn’t on anyone’s list. (Part of the Ties That Bind AU series)<\/p>\n

Rating K+\u00a0 \u00a0(2081 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ties That Bind series<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ties That Bind<\/a>
\nImperfect Memory<\/a>
\nA Pearl Without Price<\/a>
\nA Piece of Cake<\/a>
\nSomething About Amy<\/a>
\nGuarding the Henhouse<\/a>
\nWhen Angels Cry<\/a>
\nNo Ordinary Day<\/a>
\nWinter of Discontent<\/a>
\nInterval<\/a>
\nNot to Me<\/a>
\nGently, Full of Grace<\/a><\/p>\n

No Ordinary Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It had the beginnings of an unremarkable, ordinary day\u2014 a weekly trip into town, like so many others, with no hint that this one might be any different from the ones before.<\/p>\n

The Cartwright family arrived in Virginia City that morning with a list of sundry errands and items of business, mixed with a little pleasure\u2014stops at the mercantile, the bank, Hiram Wood\u2019s law office, the post office, the dressmaker; a few social calls; perhaps a beer or two in the saloon before finishing up with a meal at the hotel\u2014in other words, the usual stuff of any given Friday. With no particular urgency, the five parted company in front of Cass\u2019s General Store, each with their own agenda of things to do and people to see.<\/p>\n

It would be fair to say that dying was the last thing on anyone\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

What surprised Jilly the most was how easy it was. In fact, the thing so many people held in mortal terror was practically a non-event.\u00a0 In all honesty, it was probably because she hadn\u2019t seen it coming and didn\u2019t have even a second to think about being afraid.\u00a0 It was over before she knew it was happening.<\/p>\n

In those last moments, she had been walking down the main street, on her way to somewhere she would never arrive. Her brain had no time to process the stray bullet that pierced the soft flesh at the base of her skull, and she didn\u2019t feel the rough boards of the sidewalk driving splinters into her cheek as she fell. \u00a0The world faded as she was swept away from all sensation into a soft darkness where she was hardly more than a breath of air.<\/p>\n

The darkness slowly swirled into gray, and then light, revealing a frantic, seemingly impossible tableau unfolding before her. People were crowding and shouting; a woman was crying. A disheveled drunk in the grip of two cowhands slurred a tearful apology as they dragged him toward the jail.\u00a0 A man wearing a badge lifted her up from the sidewalk where she lay, and she saw the blood spreading across the back of her dress. How could that be? Find her Pa and her brothers,<\/em> he barked to someone as he rushed her into a house.<\/p>\n

Her Pa and her brothers\u2014she had only a vague memory of them. Would her father keep her picture in a frame on his desk along with his three dead wives?\u00a0 It seemed an odd thing to recall with everything else so quickly slipping away. She thought of all the things she would never do.\u00a0 She would never be sixteen. She would never fall in love, get married, or raise a family. In a few years, there would be no one to remember she had even existed. Not that any of it mattered.<\/p>\n

Four men were running, pushing into a room where a sad-faced doctor met them, shaking his head. \u00a0I\u2019m so sorry,<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n

The man with the silver hair made a gut-wrenching sound and seemed to crumple like a paper doll. The biggest one caught him and guided him to a chair, steadying him there with one hand on his shoulder, while he covered his eyes with the other and choked on a sob. The youngest put a fist to his mouth, stifling a cry, then turned his face to the wall and wept openly, while the one in black clutched his hat in front of him, streaming silent tears.<\/p>\n

Their grief was a crushing weight in her chest, as if all the air had been sucked out of the room, and for the first time since it happened, she felt afraid.<\/p>\n

Someone spoke behind her.\u00a0 \u201cCome away, cherie<\/em>. This will do you no good. You must leave them to their sorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The voice resurrected an ancient memory, etched in her brain the day she was born, buried but not forgotten.<\/p>\n

\u201cMama?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be frightened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother was beautiful, exactly the way she had always pictured her. She rushed into her arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Mama, something terrible happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother stroked her hair, murmuring softly, \u201cIt\u2019s all right. It\u2019s over now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose men\u2014I think I\u2019m supposed to know them, but I can\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will, in time. For the moment, it\u2019s better this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked into her mother\u2019s eyes, wise and dark yet full of light at the same time. \u201cAre you really here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, darling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens now?\u201d The question sprang from curiosity, not fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor how long?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot long in the way you think. Here a thousand years is like a day.\u201d \u00a0She took her by the hand. \u201cCome, I want to show you something.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were standing high on a hill overlooking the lake she recognized. It was bluer than she had ever seen it, framed in stunning contrast by the trees and matched only by the sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cA sight that approaches heaven itself.<\/em>\u201d \u00a0<\/em>The words formed on her lips without any recollection of where she\u2019d heard them.<\/p>\n

Her mother smiled. \u201cYour father used to say that. He couldn\u2019t have known how right he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you remember?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good things, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you ever wish you could go back?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really. One quickly learns to let go of that life.\u00a0 We all die sooner or later, and though the timing wasn\u2019t my choosing, I have no desire for the troubles of the living.\u201d She touched her daughter\u2019s cheek, and her smile seemed sad. \u201cTime doesn\u2019t matter here, but in the world, it\u2019s everything, and not one minute is truly ours.\u00a0 From the moment we\u2019re born, it\u2019s only borrowed. It can be a friend or an enemy, depending on how it\u2019s used. Even a few seconds can change the course of many lives, and the burden always falls on those left behind. Your father knows that too well.\u201d<\/p>\n

She couldn\u2019t recall her father.\u00a0 The world seemed years and miles away as she gazed over the water with her mother\u2019s arm around her. She closed her eyes and tipped her face toward the streaming light, unbound from all that once was, at peace with whatever would be.<\/p>\n

~*~<\/p>\n

\u201cJilly?\u201d<\/p>\n

She opened her eyes to Joe regarding her with an amused look on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, I didn\u2019t mean to startle you.\u00a0 Were you asleep just now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just enjoying the sunshine. Maybe I did doze off for a few seconds, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you visit the Fordhams?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t home when I stopped by, so I just came back here to wait for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I still have to pick up the mail. You want to come with me or would you rather stretch out in the wagon for another forty winks?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, you’re cute when you try to be funny.\u00a0 If it\u2019s all the same to you, I think I\u2019ll walk down to Mrs. Henderson\u2019s to see if my dress is ready. She promised it by this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuit yourself. Adam said Pa wants us to meet him at the International House for lunch so maybe you should go straight there when you\u2019re finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

She headed off in the opposite direction down the main street.\u00a0 Stepping onto the sidewalk, a peculiar sense of the familiar struck her, as if she had experienced the moment before. The feeling was strong enough to slow her steps until she stopped and looked around.\u00a0 Nothing seemed amiss or unusual, and the feeling left her as soon as it came.\u00a0 Scolding herself for her unfounded apprehension, she started to move on but found her heel caught between one of the boards.\u00a0 She was attempting to extricate it when Sheriff Coffee came up behind her.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello Jilly, looks like you might have a problem there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do seem to be stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me see if I can help.\u201d\u00a0 He took out his pocket knife and knelt down, prying the board up just enough to free her. \u201cI believe that does it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stood up. \u201cMy pleasure,\u201d he replied, smiling.\u00a0 \u201cI hear you\u2019re gonna be leavin\u2019 us again soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I\u2019ll be going back to San Francisco in a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour Pa sure was happy to have you home for the summer after all these years.\u00a0 Hope you won\u2019t stay away too long this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try not to.\u201d<\/p>\n

She thanked him again and promised to stop by his office next week to say goodbye. She had only taken a few more steps when the first shot rang out, freezing her in place. The sheriff ran ahead of her to the spot where two men were disarming a drunken cowboy.<\/p>\n

The commotion drew a crowd of onlookers. \u201cIt\u2019s all right, folks. Trouble\u2019s over,\u201d the sheriff assured them. \u201cYou\u2019re lucky you didn\u2019t kill somebody,\u201d he scolded the man as he escorted him to the jail. Jilly watched them, beset once more by that same unsettling feeling. Her hand unconsciously went to the back of her neck, and she shivered.<\/p>\n

Hoss hurried toward her. \u201cYou all right, Little Bit?\u201d<\/p>\n

His use of her childhood nickname made her smile. \u201cI\u2019m fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe was at her elbow, his earlier mocking grin replaced by a look of concern. \u201cI knew you were headed this way, and for a few seconds I had an awful feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a few seconds, so did I.\u201d<\/p>\n

They crossed the street to where Pa and Adam were waiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing like a nice, quiet morning in town,\u201d said Adam.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose all\u2019s well that ends well,\u201d said Pa. \u201cIs anybody hungry?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t nobody gotta ask me twice,\u201d said Hoss.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe neither,\u201d said Joe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait for me.\u201d Adam followed them around the corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoys\u2014when are they ever not hungry?\u201d Pa chuckled. \u201cWell, young lady, may I escort you to lunch?\u201d<\/p>\n

On impulse, she answered his invitation with a hug.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was that for?\u201d<\/p>\n

The look of happy surprise on his face brought an unexpected lump to her throat. \u201cPa, does a girl need a reason to hug her father?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not in my book.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled and planted a tender kiss on her forehead. \u201cCome on; let\u2019s catch up with your brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

~*~<\/p>\n

The day ended as predictably as it had begun, with Joe and Hoss hunched over the checkerboard, Adam ensconced in the blue chair with a book, Pa nodding in front of the fire with the newspaper in his lap.\u00a0 Jilly watched them from across the room, absorbing the scene as though from a great distance, and it made her want to smile and cry at the same time. She would soon be leaving them, and this time it was by her own volition. It had seemed an easy choice at first, but as the day drew nearer she had the niggling thought that she might never return. There was no reason for it\u2014at least none that she knew, yet the feeling persisted, along with others she could not explain, like the one she had that morning in town. It was enough to give her pause, to take a closer look at the things she had taken for granted and store them up in her heart, just in case.\u00a0 Moments like these were what she would remember long after she was gone.<\/p>\n

Leaning against the desk, her hand brushed the gilded frame perched at the edge. She picked it up and studied the portrait.\u00a0 Maybe it was because she was growing up, but lately she felt drawn to the mother she had never known, empathy for the woman who had loved these four men as she did now.<\/p>\n

A triumphant whoop from Joe signaled the end of the game and a defeat for Hoss.\u00a0 Adam closed his book; Pa rose from his chair and stretched.\u00a0 As the clock struck nine, ticking away the time they had left, Jilly concluded there was really no such thing as an ordinary day. Each one held something precious and extraordinary if you were willing to look for it.<\/p>\n

She set her mother\u2019s picture back in its rightful place. Glancing up, she caught her father watching her, and she returned his smile.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you didn\u2019t have to look far at all. Sometimes it was there in plain sight, right in front of you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Oliver Wendell Holmes<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Family,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Jilly Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright,\u00a0Marie Cartwright,\u00a0Sister<\/p>\n

For a complete, up to date list of my stories, check out<\/strong>\u00a0JC’s Author Page<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: It was supposed to be an ordinary trip into town for the Cartwrights, but dying wasn’t on anyone’s list. (Part of the Ties That Bind AU series)<\/p>\n

Rating: K+ (2081 words)<\/p>\n

Ties That Bind Series, links to stories of this series included.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10253,"featured_media":1805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,23,1008],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-u","category-drama","category-family","wpcat-7-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-1008-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/laketahoe.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10253"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}