{"id":8288,"date":"2014-06-02T11:18:10","date_gmt":"2014-06-02T15:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=8288"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:29:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:29:16","slug":"another-side-of-the-triangle-the-epilogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=8288","title":{"rendered":"Another Side of the Triangle #2 – the Epilogue (by BluewindFarm)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>:\u00a0 Inspired by JoaniePaiute’s June 2nd Seedling Challenge — missing scenes and WHN for the episode, Triangle. <\/span><\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 T\u00a0 (1,220 words)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another Side of the Triangle Series:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Another Side of the Triangle<\/a><\/span>
\nAnother Side of the Triangle – The Epilogue<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another Side of the Triangle – the Epilogue<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not quite sure how I feel, but I\u2019m thankful Pa has allowed me the time to reflect on all that happened.\u00a0 \u00a0So today, I saddled Sport on my own and rode out, giving Pa a handshake and a smile to let him know how thankful I am that he is the father that he is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a rocky month, after forcing myself from my wheelchair to prove to Laura that I didn\u2019t need her and then the following morning I rode out to search for\u2026 Little Joe\u2026 Joseph…\u00a0 Joe.\u00a0 Yes, my brother Joe.\u00a0 For the past month it has been Joe.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

I had no place in mind as I rode out, I just let Sport have his head.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t surprise me when I looked up to see the shell of what was to have been my future.\u00a0 It\u2019s been two months since my fall and a month since my fianc\u00e9e left Virginia City to marry my cousin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After stepping from Sport, I loosened his cinch and looped his reins over the pommel of the saddle; I knew he wouldn\u2019t wander too far. I knelt and almost reverently, I ran my hand over the board that was to be the last rafter I had been attempting to put into place.\u00a0 If I hadn\u2019t overbalanced myself and been startled to hear a horse and buggy; there are so many different ways that day could have ended.<\/span><\/p>\n

Staring at the lumber, I remember Doc Martin saying I was extremely lucky that this board didn\u2019t fracture my skull or even crush it.\u00a0 It could have crushed my ribcage, but all it did was bruise my ribs.\u00a0 The impact from my fall could have paralyzed me, and I realize that had been Joe\u2019s worst fear when he returned home with the doctor.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know I\u2019m thankful to no longer be confined to my bed or to that blasted wheelchair.\u00a0 I\u2019m free to work the ranch with my father and brothers or to ride into town for whatever the reason.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stepping through what would have been the front door; I remembered my thoughts of carrying Mrs. Adam Cartwright over the threshold and into our lives together as a family.\u00a0 I’m no longer ensnared in what became an unhappy relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back at the events, I do realize that I was more in love with the idea of marriage and becoming a father to Peggy than I was actually in love with Laura.\u00a0 Being imprisoned in my room for so long and having to watch her enter and leave carrying the trays with my meals; it was like she was performing penance for something.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thank God that I was allowed that brief peek into what could have been.\u00a0 It would not have been a marriage as my father knew, three times he knew true love; but for Laura and me, it wasn\u2019t love.\u00a0 We were both searching for something\u2026 and settled on each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, I didn\u2019t mind helping Laura out, Frank\u2019s death had been a complete shock.\u00a0 And to see how unprepared she was to maintain the ranch and oversee the hands\u2026\u00a0 I just naturally felt compelled to help; make sure the hands were pulling their fair share and not taking advantage of the young widow.\u00a0 Now, I know I misguidedly mistook feeling sorry for her as love.<\/span><\/p>\n

But then there was Peggy.\u00a0 For so many years I was there, as Pa\u2019s right hand man in helping bring the Ponderosa to her maturity, as well as my two younger brothers.\u00a0 I guess it shouldn\u2019t have been any surprise for me to want to step in and help guide Laura’s daughter, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that was then.\u00a0 I still miss Peggy, but Laura\u2026\u00a0\u00a0 Pa received a letter from Will yesterday, they\u2019re now happily married and the three of them are settled in San Francisco.\u00a0 Will has a job lined up as a cattle broker and Peggy is settling in nicely at school.\u00a0 And it seems that Will and Laura are the hit of their new neighborhood; hosting parties and attending social engagements.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moving from room to room, I envisioned what could have been, but no longer mourned my loss.\u00a0 It felt\u2026 liberating.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Me\u2026 I\u2019ve become closer to Joe lately. \u00a0It seems that my accident and the breaking of my engagement were good for something after all.\u00a0 \u00a0Hoss will always be Hoss, and our relationship is just as easy going as ever.\u00a0 But Joe seems to have matured, and it has shaken me, a little.\u00a0 I mean, wasn\u2019t this what I always wanted, for Joe to grow up? \u00a0Joe\u2019s taken more of a keen interest in the running of the ranch, and the books.\u00a0 You could have knocked me down with a feather three weeks ago when Joe entered the house and saw me at Pa\u2019s desk working on the ledgers, he asked if once he was cleaned up if I\u2019d really show him how to manage the books.\u00a0 Not just making entries, but balancing the accounts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember looking at Joe and for the life of me I no longer saw my little brother, I saw a man, a partner.\u00a0 For three weeks it\u2019s been this way, no arguing, just an understanding.\u00a0 Together we’ve kept the books up to date and discussed several contracts that are coming for renewal.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there was last night\u2026 and Will\u2019s letter. \u00a0At first I didn\u2019t understand it, but now\u2026 standing in my past I can see everything so clearly.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s comment before he headed up to bed, though said in jest, held so much emotion, \u201cI got one less problem without you.\u201d\u00a0 It was his way of letting me know that he was giving me his blessing and that he could accept my deepest secret.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe I should talk with Pa\u2026 Or maybe Pa already knows and that\u2019s why I\u2019m here today.\u00a0 Pa knows I want to leave\u2026\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t want<\/em> to leave the Ponderosa, but I do want to see what else is out there; across the oceans. \u00a0I\u2019ve read of lands and people; strange and mysterious, so different from what I\u2019ve experienced so far in my life.\u00a0 I want to visit the locations of the masterpieces of literature.\u00a0 Who knows, maybe sometime I\u2019ll find her\u2026 the woman who is meant to complete me.<\/span><\/p>\n

No, the Ponderosa will always be my home of homes and where my family lives, but me\u2026\u00a0 Beyond family, there\u2019s so much more to life than cattle and horses, lumber and mineral ore.\u00a0 There\u2019s a whole other life to live beyond the borders of the Ponderosa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, Joe knew and so does Pa.\u00a0 And if they know, then Hoss knows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stepping from the incomplete home and walking across the barren land, I accepted that this was my past.\u00a0 If not tomorrow… soon, I\u2019ll embrace my future. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With a spring in my step I reached for Sport\u2019s reins, \u2018Look out world, Adam Cartwright is taking a page out of his little brother\u2019s book, I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going, but I\u2019m coming none the less.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0~The End
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The phrase from this challenge:\u00a0 I got one less problem without you.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This story inspired by the episodes The Waiting Game through The Triangle, credits given to their respective authors.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 Missing scenes and WHN for the episode, The Triangle.<\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 T\u00a0 (1,220 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5779,"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":[1009,23,13,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brothers","category-drama","category-whn","category-challenges","wpcat-1009-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-13-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\/2014\/05\/Adam-Stories.jpg?fit=637%2C480&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288","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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}