Synopsis: A conversation between brothers returns Ben to a time in the past. A what happened before The Stranger.
Category: Bonanza
Genre: Western, prequel
Rating: T
Word Count: 4,135
Riding into the yard, Ben Cartwright inhaled deeply of the pine-sweet air and welcomed the sight of home. A smile broke forth as he watched his middle son heave the last of the fifty-pound bags of seed from the back of the buckboard onto his shoulder and carry it with little effort.
Dismounting and looking around, he failed to see his youngest.
“Hoss?”
Exiting the barn, “Oh hi Pa! Got everything unloaded and stacked inside.”
“And your brother?”
“Now Pa, he already helped Hop Sing unload all his supplies.” Grinning, “Ya shoulda seen him while we was loading it. He puffed himself up all important like; said he wanted to make sure everything made it back safely this time.”
“Did he check everything off the list as you loaded it?”
“Shore did.”
Laughing and wrapping an arm around Hoss’ shoulders while trailing Buck behind, they entered the barn. “Between you and me, I think he wanted to make sure the sack of sugar and the chocolate weren’t forgotten so Hop Sing would make him chocolate cake.”
“Oh, we picked up the mail too. There’s a letter from Adam.” Taking Buck from his father, he handed over the stack of envelopes.
*****
Dinner had long been served with the much-anticipated chocolate cake. Afterwards, his youngest sons had attentively listened to him read the latest letter they’d received from Adam, on the other side of the country attending college.
“Don’t that beat all,” Hoss slapped his thigh. “Our big brother working on drafting that building. Why I bet it’s going to be taller than Eagle’s Nest.”
“Why’d he have to go on and on about some dumb old girl?” Joe crossed his arms and sulked.
“Joseph,” Ben admonished his nine-year old son who sat on his lap.
“Sorry, Pa,” Joe perked up. “I only meant I wanted to know more about that Governor and the fight he got into and why he was shot.”
“If I remember what I read in a few of the Boston Evening Transcripts that Abel sent me earlier this year, he was a police inspector.” Knowing Joe was going to protest. “The man wasn’t the Governor of Massachusetts. In this instance, governor is what a lot of the lower level officers call the detectives or inspectors on the police force.”
Hoss offered, “Sort of like them British police being, Bobbies.”
“Yeah, it has to be confusing with everyone named Bobby.” Joe giggled at his comment.
“Don’t ya remember Adam tellin’ us about that minister fella organizing the police force instead of being made up of night watchmen and army soldiers?”
“Yeah, he told us about them and how they were different from the U.S. Marshals and the Texas Rangers.” Joe slipped from his father’s lap. “Still, Adam coulda wrote told us more about how the guy got shot.”
“Shortshanks, you know ol’ Adam, he was probably too polite to ask since with all his studying he don’t have much time to write us all the details anyway. We should be thankful for what he did write. Something for alla us.”
Knowing where the conversation might lead, “Boys, it’s getting late. Best get upstairs and ready your prayers. Tomorrow will be here early.”
A bright smile appeared on the face of the tussle-haired youth, “Yeah, we gots lots a work to do, don’t we Hoss.”
“Shore nuff. Night Pa.” Hoss steered his youngest brother to the stairs. “Joe!”
Having dropped his shoulder to evade the inevitable push, Joe turned and ran to Ben. Giving him a resounding hug, “Night Pa. Don’t you worry about tomorra. Hoss and me’ll be just fine out there with them beeves.”
“I’m sure you will. You just make sure you mind your brother and Charlie.”
“I will.” With a kiss to the cheek, Joe whispered into his father’s ear, “I love you Pa.”
“Same here son.”
*****
With the boys tucked in and sleeping, Ben returned downstairs intending to work on his ledgers, but his mind wandered to an event earlier in the day.
“But Hoss, how will people know it belongs to us?” Joe practically ran to keep up with his longer-legged brother as they crossed the yard.
“They’ll know by the horses.”
“That’s my point!” Joe tossed his arms in exasperation. “We brand our cattle and horses to let people know they belong to us, so why not brand our buckboard?! People will see the brand as we’s driving down the road and say, there’s the Cartwrights from the Ponderosa.”
Guffawing, “That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. They’ll know it’s us just by seeing us.”
Pleading, “But Hoss, they won’t know we own the Ponderosa.”
“Joe, they know Pa owns the ranch.”
“But what if’n we stayed overnight and unhitched the horses, and we’re not the only ones, and the next morning Hal at the livery goes to hitch it up, and he gives our buckboard to someone else? Pa paid good money for that to have someone just give it away because they didn’t know it was ours.”
“Shortshanks, that ain’t gonna happen.” Reaching out to lift his brother, “Let’s get you on up in the seat.”
Stopping short, he crossed his arms, “Then tell me why stagecoaches have their names painted on the sides?”
Shaking his head, “We ain’t got no need for such foolishness.”
Hop Sing handed his list to the older brother, “Lit’le Joe have good idea.” The cook steadied the youngest son of his employer as the boy climbed to the bench seat.
Climbing up and stepping around his brother, “Don’t go encouraging him, Hop Sing.”
“What if I talk ta Pa, you’ll see it ain’t foolishness to brand something to show it belongs to us.”
The boys left the yard after Hoss rein-slapped the horses and ye-hawed the team forward.
*****
Innocent words spoken by his son drew his attention to the three portraits in silver-gilded frames, and remembered.
Elizabeth, though she was a married woman, was very much her father’s daughter; refusing to leave the home in which she had been raised. Fearing to leave her father alone, with no family to come home to each night as he returned from the chandler’s shop. She was the reason for the sparkle in the old man’s eyes, even more so when the two of them informed the former captain that he would soon have a new responsibility, that of a grandfather.
Inger bore a physical strength and a sunny zest for life. Though she and her brother had lived in the small Illinois community since they were children, she eagerly looked forward to taking on the role of a new mother to a five-year old boy, and a wife to her husband. The dark clouds that had seemed to follow Ben late into the evenings when there was no one to sleep at his side were when the two said, ‘I do’. The small family set off for adventure and to fulfill Ben’s dreams of a life and home in the great west.
And then there was Marie. She bore a grace that neither of his previous wives contained, a grace born of hurt and loss. Her family, the DeVries, had been a well-known family in certain quarters of New Orleans. But they were well below the aristocracy of the ‘old money’. To her, it was the world when the only son of Madame deMarigney requested her hand in marriage, and the two quietly wed in a local Catholic church. Innocent Marie had no idea of the deceit that would rear its ugly head and tear her world apart. With a strength far different from Inger’s; Marie trusted the only thing she had left to call her own, her faith in God and that He would see her through the trials of her life.
*****
Years before – New Orleans:
It was a debt of duty which prompted him to travel to the Crescent City to tell a young woman that she was a widow. Before leaving his two young sons, he had decided he could make the most of the trip by taking the animal hides that he had trapped and tanned, and hopefully sell them to a furrier in the big city.
While walking to keep his appointment with Jean’s mother, he never imagined it would lead to a chance encounter with a fiery woman riding through the streets of New Orleans. Her laughter, in sheer pleasure as her horse reared, was music to his ears; and yet he knew not the importance of the moment.
*****
Days later, Marie’s one true friend had tried to warn Ben he was going up against an evil and arrogant man. Though there was no proof; however, Marius Angerville was positive that Eduard D’Arcy was the main conspirator behind the event which drove Jean deMarigney from his wife and New Orleans.
Standing in the business owner’s private office Ben felt the encounter collapsing. Pleasant at first, the meeting turned acrimonious. He’d known hard captains and first officers and their ways of dealing with others, but this man was speaking of a member of his family. “Let me put it in terms a man of your station might understand. She wears my brand Cartwright, and nothing you say or do will ever change that.”
“You talk as if she were….” Appalled, Ben was unable to finish his statement.
“A heifer? A broodmare? Believe me, Marie is far from either.” Cutting off the end of his cigar before lighting and inhaling the rich fragrance. “With my guidance, she has risen above the fodder and men of a higher class than to which you will ever rise adore her. You’re nothing more than some backwoods, mountain man playing at being a gentleman. The deMarigney family can trace their lineage back to the patricians of France, and her husband wasn’t man enough to keep her from straying from their marital bed. The D’Arcy family is almost as storied. What do you think of her jewels, her clothes, the suite where she lives. I pay for it all. And I get what I pay for. A man like you? What could you possibly have to offer her?”
*****
Being drawn into the lives of those Jean had forsaken, Ben never dreamed of finding himself defending the woman’s honor. With flint smoke from the pistols hanging thick in the humid air, Marie gave her heart to the one who could remove her from the Code she had come to abhor.
*****
They arrived at the Ponderosa as husband and wife, and Marie thrived in her new home. She doted on the two boys to whom she took to her heart as her own. She developed a special bond with Hop Sing, who had come into their lives when Ben realized that Marie had not been totally prepared for life on the frontier; she couldn’t cook to save her own life, nor that of her new family.
*****
As the Ponderosa grew and expanded, Ben had no choice but to spend more time out on the range or away from home while negotiating contracts. Worse were the nights he retired to his bed well after midnight.
Marie had yet to fall asleep as her husband slipped between the sheets. After a quiet, heartfelt discussion, Ben willingly turned over the handling of the ledgers to his wife after she revealed that she had been well-instructed while attending school. Ben was thankful to share this part of his dream with his partner, his soul mate, taking some of the burden of the Ponderosa off his shoulders.
*****
Winter gave way to spring and Ben’s dream became reality, and he relished his family.
*****
Having professed tiredness after days of tending to Hoss who was finally getting over a bitter cold, Marie bid goodnight to her husband and retired to the room they shared. Watching his wife disappear around the upstairs hallway, Ben sat forward in his chair and pulled out the ledgers to check where they stood financially. He hoped their finances were sound as an opportunity for another expansion had presented itself.
Looking through the past few months, he flipped the sheets back and forth after noting several irregularities. Slamming closed the book, fisted hands on the desk forced him from his seat, the chair crashed against the back wall.
*****
Without knocking, he entered their room and held out the ledger. “Explain!”
Startled from the beginnings of slumber, a confused Marie looked to her husband. His ramrod straight posture, deep breathing through his nose, and his clinched jaw screamed in the quiet of the room.
Recognizing what Ben held, fears stuttered her composure. “I, I had no c-choice!”
“NO choice?!”
“Ben, I was thinking of you, of Adam and Hoss.” Tears cascaded down Marie’s face. “Please, I couldn’t let the ugliness of my past tarnish what you have.”
“What I have?” Ben queried. “The Ponderosa is ours, Marie. Yours, mine, and the boys.”
Climbing from the four-poster bed they shared, Marie grabbed her robe and slipped it over her shoulders; her trembling shoulders and downcast eyes were those of someone who knew she was about to lose everything she held dear. Unable to face her husband, she moved to a richly brocaded chair positioned in front of a window, curling into one of its wings, her legs pulled under herself.
Following and kneeling, Ben crooked a finger, gently forcing his wife to look at him; gone was the anger.
Almost in a whisper, “Why?”
“He said he’d reveal my past and by doing that, he’d turn you against me. Such as Jean had.”
“Marie, I know of your past. I know what happened between you and Jean. I know of your working at your cousin’s establishment. What happened in the past, is the past. Why should words concern me?”
“LaRoche told me what he would tell you, what he would tell your friends, your business acquaintances. Though they are vile lies, yet wrapped with a hint of truth, why would your friends not believe him. His words would ruin you and the Ponderosa, I couldn’t risk you losing your dream when others would stop doing business with you because of me.”
Snuggling into the chair, Ben lifted his petite wife to his lap and wrapped her in his arms. “Now, tell me everything.”
*****
Several weeks later Ben found himself once more entering the establishment he had never expected to see again. “I’m here to see Eduard D’Arcy.”
“He’s out on business,” the man at the door spoke with a heavy British accent.
Looking into dark eyes that reflected recognition and contempt, “Then I take it you are Simon LaRoche?”
“And if I am?” Standing as tall as the man in front of him, he sized him up. Taking note of the slightly broader shoulders and the added years of age, it mattered little to him. He’d spent his maturing years in the poor quarters of the city after his parents emigrated from England, and he knew how to fight. Based on those skills, he’d been hired by Eduard D’Arcy to act as a strong-arm or body guard, keeping out the riffraff and to deal with those who couldn’t handle their losses in his gaming hall.
“I came here to inform you and your ‘master’ that Marie is through paying your blackmail. I know the truth and there’s nothing to hide.”
“So you say,” LaRoche huffed.
Before turning to leave, “Tell Eduard I’m staying at the Savoy.”
Shutting the door, “Just wait Cartwright, just you wait and see.”
*****
Returning to the second-floor office, “You fool!” was spat as LaRoche closed the door.
“Now governor take it easy,” LaRoche answered.
“You know how I hate that term.” Charles Leduque paced, stopping momentarily to look out the window, watching Ben Cartwright cross the street.
“You fancy yourself a chief inspector someday, then ya better get used to it.” LaRoche crossed the floor to stand next to the desk of his boss.
“This is New Orleans, not New York or London. If you address me, you’ll use my proper title.” Turning to the sound of liquid being poured into a glass, “Why were you blackmailing him?”
“He’s only doing as I bid, Charles,” Eduard handed one of two glasses of brandy to the New Orleans police inspector.
“Again I ask, why?”
Taking a seat and leaning back in his chair, Eduard lounged and placed his feet to the desktop, “What other reason is there… money, of course.”
“I thought you were in love with her?”
“Charles, Charles, Charles… It’s business, pure and simple business. Once I get Marie back, then it will be pleasure, my pleasure.” Tilting his face up, he blew smoke rings toward the ceiling. “Imagine if something were to happen to Ben Cartwright. His wife would inherit everything, and when I marry her?”
It only took a few moments for Leduque to understand, “A wife owns nothing, all property transfers to a husband once married.”
“And surely you’ve heard of the Ponderosa.”
“He has two sons.”
“Anything can happen out in the wilderness.”
“Then why bring him here?” Leduque questioned.
“I enjoy business so much more when it happens on my terms, in my town.”
Bored with the posturing of the other two men in the room, with his thumbs hooked over his vest pocket, LaRoche asked, “When do you want Cartwright taken care of?”
“Give him a few days to enjoy the last days of his miserable life.”
*****
Ben walked along the cobblestone streets, returning from a corner restaurant to the hotel. Hearing a scuffle and the sound of a woman’s cry, he entered the darkened alley and followed the noise.
“Hello. Is someone there? Do you need help?”
Quick footfalls tapped away from him. However, a menacing presence approached from a side alley, “You should have left well enough alone.”
With no time to register the owner of the voice as a threat to him; the punch to the side of his head caught Ben unprepared, and unable to react to the two arms grabbing him from behind. Another punch, to the stomach, knocked the breath from his lungs. A third punch landed on his jaw; white pin-pricks of light hampered his vision. A second punch to his solar-plexus left him gasping deeper for air. Being driven into the man who held him from behind, Ben finally reacted by lifting his legs and thrusting them towards the approaching attacker, propelling him away.
Taking advantage of the lull in the onslaught, Ben grabbed onto the arms around his chest, struggling to break the hold. Looking down gave him the distance he needed to throw his head back, breaking the nose of the man behind him. Free of one attacker, Ben felt the blade of a knife from the original presence slice across his side.
Ignoring the moaning man lying on the ground, blood seeping through both hands that covered his nose; Ben grappled for control of the weapon. The two body-slammed each other against the building as they struggled for superiority.
“You should have never left your wife. Such a pretty little thing will be left to wonder what happened to her husband.”
A rush of adrenalin surged through Ben as he finally recognized the voice and realized this was not a street mugging. The unexpected shove sent LaRoche backwards, pulling Ben with him. They stumbled over something in the alley-way, and fell to the ground. Startled to find there was no pain, Ben pushed himself off and stood above the unmoving figure.
Chest heaving from exertion, Ben slowly turned away and began to run.
“Murderer! He killed LaRoche!” the second assailant screamed as Ben fled the scene.
Turning another corner, Ben jolted into another man who grabbed his arms. His first thought was the newcomer was trying to keep him from falling; until the man assaulted him, throwing a punch to Ben’s already bruised face.
Blindly, Ben threw a punch, allowing him to break away. Running once more, Ben ignored the sound of a gun firing.
Eagle Station:
The man sitting behind the desk specialized in land acquisitions; assisting settlers who traveled great distances to fulfill their dreams. But first and foremost, he was a lawyer. He represented the drunk and disorderly after spending a night in what served as a jail. Brokered cattle and lumber contracts, and anything else required of him to see that justice prevailed.
The bespectacled Walter Carter had spent the last hour listening to the facts recounted by Ben Cartwright of the events during his recent trip to New Orleans.
Shoulders slumped, he sat in the chair facing his lawyer, his head sluggishly moving from side to side. “All lies and jests.”
“You only heard what you wanted to, Marie lived that life.” Setting pen to the desktop, “Ben, you’ve always wanted to believe there is a good side to every man.”
“Even though I should know better? I should have learned my lesson from McWerter.” Shaking his head, “Marie tried to warn me. The only reason I thought her fears were justified was because she was a woman. I felt that as a man, I’d do better in beating the D’Arcy at his game. Showing him I couldn’t be intimidated. I should have never traveled to New Orleans.”
“You’re right, you should have come to me once you found out about the blackmail attempts on Marie.” Walter stood, walked to the front of his desk and leaned back against it, arms to his side, palms against the edge. “I’ve known you for a few years so let me ask you this. Have you given thought to what might have happened had you not gone?” Crossing his arms, “Consider what could have happened had LaRoche traveled here. To your home. In addition to Marie, the man could have harmed your sons.”
Startled, Ben looked up.
“I’ve taken your statement and I will follow-up with the chief of police in New Orleans to make sure your report is properly filed. As you said, it was a case of self-defense.”
“But only on my word.”
“Yes, only your word, but there are other contributing factors… LaRoche’s death might simply be a body found with no clue behind why he’d been killed. Possibly written off as a case of attempted robbery with him as the unfortunate victim. You said there were three, they could fear facing D’Arcy with their failure, so the remaining two could have left New Orleans for places unknown.” Pausing to see if his client was following all he was saying. “An finally, most police know that blackmail is quite common, to the point of being rampant in New Orleans, especially in those so-called gaming halls. With what you’ve told me, I don’t believe there will be any issue with what happened.” Standing, “I’m also confident this LaRoche probably has a criminal record, which should bolster your account of events. Ben, go home to your wife and family, I’ll let you know once I hear anything.”
The Ponderosa:
Ben obeyed his attorney’s instructions, returning home to his family. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and entered the great room. Speechless, he stood still at seeing his wife for the first time in almost two months. Setting her knitting aside, she allowed Adam to aid her in rising from a chair set to the side of the stone hearth.
“Welcome home, mon cher.” Running a hand over her expanding waistline, “It seems you’re going to be a father.”
That night, ensconced in their room and each other’s arms, Ben told Marie everything that had transpired.
Once heard, Marie sighed, “She was a grand city at one time, full of history and honor. But debauchery and licentiousness have vested themselves deep within its heart. I’m not even sure the Devil would be welcome among such sin and evil.”
*****
All but one of the memories returned to where they belonged when Ben greeted the morning dawning bright across the Ponderosa. The three Cartwrights led their mounts from the barn, with Little Joe chattering excitedly about being allowed to work the cattle with his brother. Ben halted Buck and watched as Joe showed him a new trick he’d learned, mounting his pony without his feet touching the stirrups.
“Ya coming Pa?” the boy asked once settled in the saddle.
“I’ll join you two shortly, I have something I need to do first.”
“But I wanted to talk to you about branding…”
Seeing a fleeting expression cross their father’s face, “Hush, not now Shortshanks.” Climbing into his own saddle on Chubs, “We’ll see you later Pa.”
Ben waved the boys off before climbing into the saddle, and heading towards Lake Tahoe.
Less than half an hour later, Ben ground tied Buck and walked to his destination. “Oh Marie. How I miss you,” and placed a hand to the granite stone.
~The End
Episodes referenced:
Elizabeth, My Love: Writer: Anthony Lawrence
Inger, My Love: Writers: Frank Cleaver & David Dortort (teleplay), Anthony Lawrence (story)
Marie, My Love: Writers: Anthony Lawrence (teleplay), Anne, Howard Bailey (story)
The Stranger: Writers: Oliver Crawford (story), Laurence Heath (teleplay)
A writing challenge where the words given were:
My words/phrases were:
Governor, Evil, Brand, Buckboard, Grace
WomenWritersBlock 