{"id":3790,"date":"2002-09-26T16:55:37","date_gmt":"2002-09-26T20:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3790"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:49:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:49:35","slug":"christmas-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=3790","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Surprise (by Rona)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 <\/strong>Written originally for Bonanza Gold, here is a little tale of a surprise at Christmas, funnily enough!<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 T (1,150 words)<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christmas Surprise\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, Cooch, what do you think?\u201d Joe Cartwright asked his pinto horse as they rode within sight of the ranch house of the Ponderosa. \u201cDo you think they\u2019ll all come out to greet us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cochise, Joe\u2019s pinto horse, didn\u2019t comment. Joe grinned, and patted the horse. He had been away from home for three weeks, breaking horses down at a friend\u2019s ranch in Arizona. The contract was up, and Joe was glad to be back, as Christmas was only a few days away. Compared to Arizona, the weather in Nevada was pretty seasonal, with snow lying all around.<\/p>\n

Trotting into the yard, Joe was surprised when nobody came out to greet him. Sighing, he took the horse into the barn and tended to him. Gathering up his saddlebags, Joe trudged across to the house, and opened the door.<\/p>\n

The big room downstairs was cold, because the fire was out. Joe dropped his hat, bags and gun belt on the credenza by the door, but decided against removing his jacket. It wasn\u2019t noticeably warmer indoors. Concerned, Joe shut the door behind him, and went into the kitchen. The range fire was out, too, and there was no sign of Hop Sing, the family\u2019s Chinese housekeeper.<\/p>\n

Shaking his head, Joe picked up his bags, and headed for the stairs. He opened the door to his room, and saw movement from the corner of his eye from Adam\u2019s room. Joe dropped his bags, and reached for his gun, forgetting that he\u2019d left it downstairs. When his hand encountered only fresh air, Joe decided he\u2019d better take the initiative, and barreled into Adam\u2019s room, expecting to find someone going through his brother\u2019s things. Instead, he saw Adam lying in bed, deathly pale.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam!\u201d Joe exclaimed. He crossed to his brother\u2019s side and felt his forehead. It was sweaty, but there wasn\u2019t much sign of fever. \u201cAdam,\u201d Joe said again, and Adam\u2019s brown eyes slowly opened.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe,\u201d Adam croaked. He swallowed with difficulty, and Joe, spying the glass of water by his bed, helped his brother drink some. \u201cGlad to see you,\u201d Adam whispered. \u201cAll sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll?\u201d Joe echoed, with dismay. \u201cPa and Hoss, too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Hop Sing,\u201d Adam confirmed, nodding. \u201cGetting better. Paul said so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Paul has been here?\u201d Joe asked. At Adam\u2019s nod, Joe patted his arm. \u201cYou rest, big brother. I\u2019ll go and see how the others are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tiptoeing along the hall, Joe looked in on Hoss first. Hoss was asleep, a fact that Joe already knew, due to the snoring he could hear. Like Adam, Hoss was pale. He, too, was free of fever. Joe left him to sleep. His next stop was Ben\u2019s room. He inched the door open, and saw his father was awake.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe!\u201d Ben said. \u201cThank goodness you\u2019re home.\u201d His father was pale and weak.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelax, Pa,\u201d Joe said. \u201cI\u2019ll take care of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

*************<\/p>\n

Joe was as good as his word. He built up the fire in the main room, and in the kitchen. He sent a hand into town to see if he could hire a cook for a few days. Ben, Adam, Hoss and Hop Sing had all had the flu. Paul Martin, the doctor had tried to come out every day to see them, but the epidemic had swept through the town, and he hadn\u2019t always managed.<\/p>\n

The family began to pick up after Joe\u2019s return home. Regular food, and warmth helped immensely. Hop Sing was first on his feet, determined not to have a stranger in his kitchen. Joe nursed his father and brothers, and kept an eye on the ranch, too. It was rare that he got to his bed before midnight, and he was up by 6 each morning. However, there wasn\u2019t a single word of complaint from him, as he tackled the extra chores caused by the sickness in the house.<\/p>\n

*************<\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow\u2019s Christmas Eve,\u201d Hoss complained. \u201cDadburnit, we don\u2019t even have a tree this year. It just don\u2019t seem right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, tell me,\u201d Joe snapped. \u201cWhen have I had time to get a tree?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Little Joe,\u201d Hoss soothed. \u201cI didn\u2019t mean nothin\u2019 by it. I\u2019m right pleased you came home when you did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaking his head, Joe smiled tiredly. \u201cI\u2019ll be pleased when you people can get up,\u201d he commented. He felt as though he was running round in circles the whole time.<\/p>\n

So it was with relief that Joe heard Paul Martin say that the family could get up on Christmas Eve, provided they didn\u2019t do too much. As he sat by the fire that evening, Joe looked at the space where the tree usually went, and wished he\u2019d had the chance to get one. He had gone from bedside to bedside, then out to the yard to talk to the hands, then back to his nursing duties. Sitting there in front of the fire, Joe felt his eyes begin to close.<\/p>\n

***********<\/p>\n

There was no sign of Joe the next morning, and Ben, venturing out of bed, discovered his youngest son sprawled across his bed, still sound asleep. Smiling fondly at him, for Joe had been a tower of strength over the last few days, Ben decided to let him sleep.<\/p>\n

The atmosphere in the house seemed suddenly very festive. Ben put it down to the fact that he and his boys had recovered from the dreaded flu. It wasn\u2019t until he went downstairs that he discovered why Joe was sleeping so late.<\/p>\n

In the living room was a huge Christmas tree, decorated with all the baubles Ben had stored carefully from year to year. The only thing not on the tree was the star for the very top. It lay on the table in front of the fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen did he do that?\u201d Adam asked, amazed, coming down behind Ben.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Ben replied, equally astounded. \u201cHe\u2019s been so busy, when did he have time?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDadburnit, that\u2019s what I call a tree!\u201d exclaimed Hoss. \u201cAin\u2019t it pretty, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPrettiest tree I ever saw,\u201d agreed Ben. \u201cBut when did Joe do this? It wasn\u2019t here last night, we\u2019d have smelt it.\u201d As he said the words, Ben realized that it was the rich smell of the pine tree that had given the house its festive air.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d said a sleepy voice from the stairs, \u201cI wasn\u2019t doing much last night after you fellas were asleep!\u201d<\/p>\n

Grinning delightedly at his family\u2019s surprise, Joe continued down to join them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerry Christmas!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

Crowding round him, they hugged him and patted him on the shoulder. Joe had single-handedly made the Ponderosa\u2019s Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerry Christmas, Joe,\u201d they chorused.<\/p>\n

*****End*****<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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

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

Summary:\u00a0 Written originally for Bonanza Gold, here is a little tale of a surprise at Christmas, funnily enough!<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 T (1,150 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":13526,"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":[23,4,1007],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-humor","category-joe-cartwright","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-4-id","wpcat-1007-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1582,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/G-1-DVS.jpg?fit=574%2C690&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13926,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=13926","url_meta":{"origin":3790,"position":0},"title":"Creatures Stirring (by Susan G)","author":"SusanG","date":"December 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 As stewards of the land, every now and then, the Cartwrights need someone to watch over them, especially this Christmas Eve. 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Rating:\u00a0 G Words:\u00a0 855 Written for the Bonanza Brand 2023 Advent Calendar","rel":"","context":"In "Brothers"","block_context":{"text":"Brothers","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=1009"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Christmas-Traditions.jpg?fit=639%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Christmas-Traditions.jpg?fit=639%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Christmas-Traditions.jpg?fit=639%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13923,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=13923","url_meta":{"origin":3790,"position":2},"title":"Christmas Wish (by Susan G)","author":"SusanG","date":"December 23, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Could it be that St. Nicholas himself ensures that Ben's Christmas wish comes true. 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