{"id":1705,"date":"2013-09-02T17:13:33","date_gmt":"2013-09-02T21:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=1705"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:29:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:29:18","slug":"setting-the-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=1705","title":{"rendered":"Setting the Course (by BluewindFarm)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>:\u00a0 At the end of \u201cA House Divided\u201d, have you ever wondered why Adam wasn\u2019t farther along to join the cause before Little Joe caught up with him?\u00a0 Adam had emotionally left the night before Ben\u2018s encounter with Frederick Kyle and Joe in town.\u00a0 Me… I don\u2019t think it had anything to do with Adam\u2019s response to Joe during the closing scene, \u201cThat lake really gets under your skin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Seedling’s Challenge inspired short story.\u00a0 The prompt was the word gray.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>:\u00a0 K+ \u00a0(800 words)<\/span><\/p>\n

The final page contains reviews\/comments left on the old BonanzaBrand Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SETTING THE COURSE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Frederick Kyle.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe how close the man came to tearing our family apart, all for the sake of what\u2026 gold?\u00a0 No, it was something more than gold\u2026\u00a0 Honor?\u00a0 Fighting for a way of life that was a breath away from dying?<\/span><\/p>\n

Drab, dreary, dingy, characterless, indistinct, dull, plain, colorless, pale, insipid, bland, indeterminate\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

There was nothing indeterminate or vague with the man\u2019s plan.\u00a0 He used my little brother\u2019s love for his long deceased mother to stir up feelings of kinship in hopes of encouraging Joe to convince Pa and other mine owners to side with the Confederacy in the burgeoning War Between the States.\u00a0 He knew exactly what he was doing in his toneless speeches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, there was nothing remotely toneless to his words if you truly listened to the man.\u00a0 Factual was his ploy, nothing rabble rousing or overtly passionate in his character.\u00a0 He knew the people of the west felt themselves immune to the cause, but still\u2026\u00a0 The gold of the Comstock could sway England to join the South in their fight against the North\u2019s war of aggression towards a way of life that had successfully supplied material to the growing industries in the north for generations.\u00a0 Cotton and tobacco were a few of life\u2019s necessities that meant commerce and prosperity on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.<\/span><\/p>\n

That line, an invisible fence, people were either on one side or the other.\u00a0 However, there were two kinds of people who straddled that fence.\u00a0 Those out to make a profit from both sides, playing one against the other, and those who chose to remain neutral, claiming it was not their fight.\u00a0 And our father declared our neutrality, he would not have the battle that waged in the east re-enacted in our home.\u00a0 He did not want to see or hear brother against brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

I love our father dearly; however, I cannot understand how he can be so blind to the consequences\u2026 Whether he wants to or not, the war can and will come to the Washoe.\u00a0 Pa said he found the newspaper articles uninteresting, I’m sure it was an effort to close the subject.\u00a0 The stories weren\u2019t uninteresting, they were words describing the dream of watching your sons grow up and one day, their lives become a nightmare\u2026 \u00a0and then snuffed out. \u00a0In his eyes he slowly watched the light fade from green eyes, blue eyes, or brown eyes as blood seeped from mortal wounds as the body lay in a battlefield until the only thing left was insipid death.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know I broke Pa\u2019s heart when I rode away that night, no longer being able to live in the house of my father.\u00a0 A country divided, a house divided, a soul divided.\u00a0 I wanted to get as far away from the Ponderosa as possible and join the cause; after all, my grandfather still lived in the North and there was where my mother was buried.<\/span><\/p>\n

I camped out my first night away from home and thought of my feelings and why I was acting so much as I had always claimed Joe to irrationally act\u2026\u00a0 Joe, would he ultimately storm from his father\u2019s house, claiming he too would fight for the cause?<\/span><\/p>\n

Stars and Stripes vs. Stars and Bars.\u00a0 Red, white, and blue\u2026\u00a0 North vs. South.\u00a0 Blue vs. Gray<\/strong>.\u00a0 Vivid green eyes turned pale, their flame extinguished\u2026 The image of the two of us lying on the same battlefield in death was a sobering vision.\u00a0 With dawn\u2019s early light, I realized the two sides would wage their war and my contribution would be paltry at best. \u00a0But Joe\u2026\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t ignore the desire to see that my youngest brother lived to grow up\u2026 and that was a cause my heart couldn\u2019t pass over.\u00a0 Turning Sport westward, I knew my course was set.<\/span><\/p>\n

~The End<\/span><\/p>\n

This story inspired by A House Divided: written by: \u00a0Al C. Ward<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Story Tags: Adam Cartwright<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Reviewer: <\/span>Sibylle<\/a> <\/span>
\n Date: <\/span>02 Sep 2013 10:57 am Title: <\/span>Setting the Course<\/span><\/p>\n

How good you posted this little piece here again. It’s very believable that Adam thought right that before Joe showed up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author’s Response:<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Sibylle, I guess you could say that we are happy the logical Adam reasserted himself before he did something we’d all regret.\u00a0 I’m happy you approved.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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

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

Summary:\u00a0 At the end of \u201cA House Divided\u201d, have you ever wondered why Adam wasn\u2019t farther along to join the cause before Little Joe caught up with him?\u00a0 Adam had emotionally left the night before Ben\u2018s encounter with Frederick Kyle and Joe in town.\u00a0 Me… I don\u2019t think it had anything to do with Adam\u2019s response to Joe during the closing scene, \u201cThat lake really gets under your skin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 K+ \u00a0(800 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5695,"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":[1009,23,61,8,13,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brothers","category-drama","category-missing-scene","category-short-stories","category-whn","category-challenges","wpcat-1009-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-61-id","wpcat-8-id","wpcat-13-id","wpcat-40-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1816,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/YankRebjpg.jpg?fit=290%2C174&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13630,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=13630","url_meta":{"origin":1705,"position":0},"title":"A Cry for Freedom (by JennieA)","author":"JennieA","date":"January 7, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 It started with Ben giving Little Joe more responsibility for the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Little did the family realize the course Ben was setting in motion. 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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\u2026","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\/2018\/01\/Side-over-shoulder-scaled.jpg?fit=985%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Side-over-shoulder-scaled.jpg?fit=985%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Side-over-shoulder-scaled.jpg?fit=985%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Side-over-shoulder-scaled.jpg?fit=985%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4765,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4765","url_meta":{"origin":1705,"position":3},"title":"Choices (by pjb)","author":"pjb","date":"January 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0The vote in favor of statehood has been cast. 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A house divided against itself cannot not stand.\u201d What if Adam did leave in order to keep peace in the family? \u00a0This is a journey of healing for the Cartwright family and some newfound friends. 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