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Summary:\u00a0<\/span>Adam gives in to a small temptation while at college.<\/span><\/p>\n Rated:<\/span>\u00a0T\u00a0\u00a0 Word count:\u00a0<\/span>1331<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n …And He Shall Not Depart from It<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam came awake and lay in the stillness. Hearing the chimes, he counted them slowly, started to rise, and then settled back against the pillows again. Tugging the bedcovers up under his chin, he rolled onto his side and allowed himself to drift back to sleep. Three hours later he opened his eyes, glanced at the clock on the bedside table, and swung his feet to the floor. Taking a second to locate his slippers, he rose and walked over to the window.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pulling back the curtain and staring out at the bright Sunday morning, he spotted several people clearly returning from morning services, and his teeth chewed the corner of his bottom lip. For the first time in his life, he had failed to attend church not for some justifiable reason but simply from self-indulgence. Pa would\u2026 he shook the thought from his head, but a memory slipped in to replace it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAdam!\u201d Ben Cartwright followed his own shout entering his son\u2019s bedroom with a second call. \u201cAdam! What are you doing still in bed?\u201d He hesitated before striding across the room. \u201cAre you sick, son?\u201d The volume of his voice dropped from concern.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam swallowed and took in a deep breath. \u201cNo. No, Pa, I\u2019m not sick.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThen?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI am not going to church.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNot going?\u201d The volume of Ben\u2019s voice rose again.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2019ve thought about it, and I think I can. . .\u201d The statem<\/em>ent remained unfinished for Ben reached down, grabbed Adam by the upper arm, and in one swift movement pulled his son\u2019s lanky, fourteen-year-old body out of the bed. As Adam\u2019s feet hit the floor, Ben\u2019s free hand came full force to meet his son\u2019s backside. The crack seemed to echo in the air.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe first or the last, Adam Stoddard, which shall it be?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe last, sir.\u201d Adam\u2019s voice had grown years younger.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTen minutes then! You have ten minutes to be properly dressed and downstairs ready to go, or it shall become the first of many. Is that clear?\u2019<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, Pa.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He had been downstairs and in the buggy ten minutes later. His stomach had not growled during the church service only because Hoss had slipped him three cold biscuits to eat on the long ride to town.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam smiled wistfully at the thought of his younger brother and let the curtain drop back over the window. He walked to the bedside table and picked up the leather-bound volume that lay there. Opening the cover of his Bible, he looked down and read the inscription:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To Adam Stoddard Cartwright<\/em>, with love from his mother and father.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam\u2019s finger skimmed lightly over his father\u2019s bold letters. Above his father\u2019s writing was an older inscription:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To our daughter Elizabeth. May God keep you always in his hand.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The writing held no familiarity as it belonged to a grandmother that Adam had never and would never meet, but at that moment it seemed to hold as much reproach as that of his father\u2019s.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam sat down on the edge of the bed; the sound that escaped his lips was part sigh and part entreaty, \u201cPa.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I can go to evening service<\/em>. Adam shook his head in chagrin.\u00a0Am I telling myself or trying to placate you, Pa?\u201d\u00a0<\/em>This time his smile was rueful.\u00a0Both, I suppose.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He stood and went about his morning routine. I suppose going without breakfast could be considered a punishment. Some kids get sent to bed without dinner. You never did that though, did you, Pa? I suppose there were too many memories of the hard times for you to use hunger as a punishment. Still, it\u2019s too near dinner time to eat anything now, so no breakfast and a couple of hours of Bible reading shall have to do for a penance. Penance, you taught me that word didn\u2019t you, Marie? You\u2019d be none too happy with me either, now would you, not with all the trouble you took to get to mass in the beginning.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He picked up the Bible again, glanced at his bed, and then settled into his straight-backed desk chair and began to read.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~ACACAC~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCartwright! You\u2019re coming with us, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam turned and looked back at his friends shaking his head. \u201cNot today.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCome now, Cartwright, the Lord instructed us to take a day of rest. Tonight will be time enough to put your nose back to the grindstone.\u201d The statement was echoed by several murmurs of agreement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to study. I\u2019ve something else to do this afternoon, and then I\u2019m\u2026 well, I have something to do this evening too.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAdam, is it really that important?\u201d Tim stepped forward and focused on his friend\u2019s face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam paused and then smiled. \u201cMy father and brothers expect the occasional letter, and I\u2019ve only managed to send two so far.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell then, my good fellow,\u201d Tim smiled, \u201cjoin us later, if you can.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It occurred to Adam that few people would understand how the slim, dark-eyed nineteen-year-old Tim could remind him so much of Hoss, but Adam smiled because Tim often did. \u201cEnjoy yourselves!\u201d he called as he walked away from the group which had started off in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reaching his room, Adam took a seat at the desk. He placed a large sheet of paper before him and dipped his pen into the ink.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dear Pa, Hoss, and Little Joe,<\/em><\/p>\n It is Sunday, and my thoughts are much with you, so I am taking pen in hand. Perhaps one of you will do the same, and our missives will pass each other on the long journey from East to West.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dipping his pen repeatedly, Adam wrote page after page about his life at college, his new friends, and the days he had spent with his grandfather. He also asked question after question about what was happening at home. Finally, he concluded with \u201cYour loving son and brother, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Glancing at the clock, he sighed and reached for another sheet of paper.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For your eyes only, Pa. Please.<\/em><\/p>\n I know that when I asked to come East to college you had many reservations and concerns. I appreciate so much the faith you showed in me by agreeing to allow me my dream. I believe that one worry which came to you was that the temptations here might lead me from the path you have taught me to follow. <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I cannot tell you, Pa, that I have not done, nor shall I never do anything of which you would not approve. You, best of all, know that I have misbehaved in the past even with you there to take me in hand. I do wish to tell you, though, that you need not worry that I shall become the prodigal son. Even in small matters, I find that you have instilled in me a most stern conscience which not surprisingly speaks in tones quite similar to your own, though I must admit that the tones of several others echo there also. <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Pa, the thought that you might be disappointed in me or that I might be a poor, even if distant, example to Hoss and Little Joe guides me always onto a path I am determined will allow me to return to you all with my head held high. Of course, if you still wish to kill the fatted calf and throw a party, I really do not think Hoss or Little Joe would mind.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Trying, as ever I have and shall, to be your obedient son,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Adam<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hearing the chimes, he set the letter aside to be sealed and mailed on the morrow, rose, and went out to attend evening services.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Disclaimer:<\/u> All 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 <\/p>\n