{"id":46189,"date":"2023-08-17T19:00:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T23:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=46189"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:37:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:37:36","slug":"friends-and-family-vcls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=46189","title":{"rendered":"Friends and Family (by frasrgrl)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Summary: After suffering a tragic loss Ben learns true friends are really family.<\/p>\n<p>Rating: K+<br \/>\nWord Count: 822<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Ben Cartwright took a seat in the back of the room. The race for mayor was in full swing, and the Viginia City\u2019s Ladies Society was holding a political rally. Ben sighed as he listened to the speaker. He wasn\u2019t here by choice. Hop Sing had badgered him all morning to get out of the house, and out from under foot. <em>\u201cMista Cartwright sit and mope too much. Honorable Son not be happy with father.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>\u201cI know Hop Sing, I just\u2026\u201d <\/em>Ben\u2019s thoughts trailed off and he grimaced remembering the tirade Hop Sing went on upon hearing his excuses. The best thing to do at that moment had been to retreat with his hide intact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYa doing okay, Ben?\u201d Roy Coffee asked as he slid into a vacant seat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d Startled out of his thoughts, Ben hadn\u2019t heard Roy approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw ya ride into town and sure was happy to see you. You haven\u2019t been to town since\u2026 I\u2019m sorry, Ben, I didn\u2019t mean\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben held up a hand. \u201cNo need to apologize. It has been a while.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both men sat silently and pretended to listen to the speaker until Roy chuckled and Ben looked at him. \u201cIf Hoss were here, he\u2019d say a big mouth don\u2019t make a big man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben chortled and nodded. \u201cAnd Joe would say any man you have to tell not to squat with his spurs on shouldn\u2019t be running for office. And you\u2019d sure as shooting would have to tell this one.\u201d Both men started guffawing at the image the phrase evoked. When heads turned and glared at them, they quickly stood and left. \u201cWe\u2019re as bad as they are.\u201d Ben choked out, then sobered. He was shocked, he had laughed, actually laughed. Ben didn\u2019t think he would ever find humor in anything again and here he sat with Roy doing exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow is Hoss doing?\u201d Roy asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout like the rest of us \u2013 as good as can be expected.\u201d Ben nodded, acknowledging the pressure of Roy\u2019s hand on his shoulder. \u201cRound up is in full swing and it\u2019s helping him to stay busy.\u201d Ben remembered Hoss leaving that morning and looking at his plate, still half full. Hoss was eating only to please Hop Sing. Like Ben he didn\u2019t have much of an appetite. Meals had lost their enjoyment. Food, even Hop Sing\u2019s best dishes, were tasteless. Meals were now a means to an end. That end was Hop Sing\u2019s constant rants about them not eating and he should move back to China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow \u2018bout coming down to the office for a cup of coffee?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe another day, Roy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roy nodded his understanding. \u201cAnother day then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben reached for Buck\u2019s reins, but before he mounted, he took a deep breath and slowly released it. Turning back, he called out to the sheriff\u2019s retreating back. \u201cRoy.\u201d When his friend turned around Ben gave him a shaky smile, \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roy nodded and walked away. When he could hear the hoofbeats he turned and watched his friend ride off and frowned. \u201cI\u2019m sorry you feel the need to say that.\u201d Roy whispered. Roy had witnessed how the so-called friends had been treating the Cartwrights. At first, they were there for them, always offering help or to be there. Pestering them for the latest information, but later when the family needed them the most they were gone. Grief is like a yellow fever epidemic. The true friends were there to fight and stayed to listen to the memories and stories. They continued to treat them the same as they always did.<\/p>\n<p>**********<\/p>\n<p>Ben gladly turned Buck\u2019s reins over to the hand who greeted him when he rode up to the Ponderosa. When he walked into the house Hop Sing was there waiting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou back already?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ben scowled at the cook. \u201cYes, I\u2019m back. Is there a problem with that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly if Mista Cartwright cause Hop Sing more work. Mista Hoss be home soon and needing to be fed.\u201d Hop Sing looked intently at Ben before nodding. \u201cYou sit, I get coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow about some of that new tea you have hidden away?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hop Sing humphed and grumbled as he headed back to the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith some honey.\u201d Ben called out only to hear a tirade of Cantonese coming from Hop Sing\u2019s kingdom. \u201cAnd some of those cookies you\u2019ve got tucked away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hanging his hat, Ben paused and touched the jacket hanging there and realized his heart was a little more content, something that had been missing since that awful day. Thanks to the friends who insisted on dragging him back to the land of the living. Friends who are so much more than just friends. They\u2019re family.<\/p>\n<p>***The End***<\/p>\n<p>A\/N:\u00a0 Written for Bonanza Brand\u2019s 2023 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.\u00a0 The words\/phrases dealt to me were:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA big mouth don\u2019t make a big man.\u201d<br \/>\nHoney<br \/>\n\u201cDon\u2019t squat with your boots on.\u201d<br \/>\nEpidemic<br \/>\nPolitical Rally<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary:\u00a0After suffering a tragic loss Ben learns true friends are really family.<\/p>\n<p>Rating: K+     Word Count: 822<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":23243,"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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[7,1008,40],"tags":[158],"class_list":["post-46189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-u","category-family","category-challenges","tag-pppt","wpcat-7-id","wpcat-1008-id","wpcat-40-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\/2019\/08\/PPPT-pic.png?fit=588%2C325&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46189","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\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}