Bonanza: "His Father's Son."

Chapter Four

The next afternoon, Joe and Alice arrive by buggy to Adam's house, a quaint little cottage in the countryside. Joe pulls the reins on the horses to stop and he then gets up out of the buggy and Alice hands Sara over to Joe and she then gets up and out of the buggy and Joe then hands her back over to Alice and they start walking up to the house. Alice looks around as she remarks. "It's very beautiful here." "It is." Joe says. Alice then tells him. "It almost looks as if we're on the Ponderosa again." "Yeah..almost." Joe responds. They come up to the door and Joe knocks.

Inside, Adam's wife, Emily is in the kitchen when she hears a knock at the door. She comes up to the door and opens it to see Joe and Alice. She smiles as she says. "Oh, Joe, Alice." "Hi." Joe says and Alice then says. "I hope we're not too early." "Oh, not at all, come on in." Emily replies and then steps out of the way as Joe and Alice walk into the house. Emily closes the door as Joe and Alice look around the Victorian style home and Alice then remarks. "You have a very lovely home." Emily smiles as she replies. "Thank you. I'll go get Adam, he's outside working." Emily then proceeds into the kitchen and out the back door.

Adam Cartwright is outside chopping wood in his signature black shirt with the sleeves rolled up when Emily appears and calls out to him. "Adam?" Adam stops and turns to her as she tells him. "Your brother's here!" Adam sticks the ax into the wood and then heads inside the house with Emily following.

Joe and Alice are standing in the living area when Adam walks into the room. He smiles as he says. "Joe." Joe turns around and smiles. "Adam." He comes up to him and embraces him. They pull away with their hands on each other's shoulders as Adam tells him. "It's good to see you." "It's good to see you too." Joe says and then turns to Alice as he says. "You remember Alice." Adam looks at Alice as he responds. "Ah, yes, I remember. The beautiful young lady who stole little brother's heart." Adam holds out his hand to her and she takes it and smiles as she says. "Hi." Adam then looks at little Sara Marie and says as he takes her out of Alice's arms. "And who is this little lady, huh?" "This is Sara..Sara Marie." Joe tells him. "Marie." Adam says. "That's a very lovely name. Well.." He hands Sara back over to Alice. "I'll go get cleaned up and then we'll catch up." Emily then tells them. "I'll go make us some tea." "Thank you, my dear." Adam replies and he gives her a kiss as he heads to the bedroom.

A little while later, Joe, Adam, Alice and Emily are all in the living room laughing as Joe and Adam reminisce about old times. Adam is now wearing a bright red shirt and sitting down in a chair with Joe sitting on the settee next to Alice as Joe says with a bit of a chuckle. "So Adam and Hoss convince me to race this horse, this beautiful Kentucky thoroughbred which he guarantees me can't lose." Adam speaks up and remarks. "I'm a fairly good judge of horseflesh." Joe chuckles as he responds. "Yeah, apparently not good enough. You see, Hoss and Adam needed the money to buy the horse and of course I'm not gonna just spend money on a horse I have no interest in so I sweeten the deal a bit with a little security." "Ah, yes, security." Adam says with a sigh. "How I've come to despise that word." Joe then continues. "Anyway, if the horse wins, I get my share of the winnings but if the horse loses, I get the horse and Adam's rifle." Adam then says. "Ah, but you are forgetting the best part. In an interesting turn of events, our dear, sweet, conniving younger brother went behind our backs and made a deal to race against our horse for five hundred dollars." Alice opens her mouth in disbelief and tries to hold back laughter as she says. "Joe." Joe shrugs his shoulders a bit as he responds. "Alright, I'll admit it was a rotten thing to do." "Very rotten." Alice says. "Okay, but you know me I can't pass up a good opportunity when I see one, I mean, either way I couldn't lose." Joe says. "Yeah, and I was the one who ended up losing..big time." Adam says. Joe chuckles and then says. "I ended up winning the race and the five hundred dollars plus the horse and Adam's rifle." He whistles. "Boy, that thing was a beauty. You know I actually sold that rifle and made a pretty..nice..profit." Adam looks at him as his smile turns into a frown and says. "You what?" Joe giggles and then tells him. "I'm just messing with ya." Adam's frown turns back into a grin as he gives a soft chuckle and then says. "Lucky for you, little brother." He then leans forward in his chair as he tells him. "I still believe I would have won that race if it hadn't been for that English saddle of yours." He places his teacup down on the coffee table as Joe giggles a bit and responds. "You keep thinking that, older brother. And I wasn't the only one who betrayed you, you know." Adam sighs. "Yes, I know." Joe then tells them. "It turns out Hoss ended up betting against their horse and made some money of his own." He giggles and then takes a sip of his tea as Emily responds with a chuckle. "Oh, no." Adam then says. "Yes, it was the ultimate betrayal from my own kin." Joe then says to him. "You never did say what happened with you and Hoss after you were chasing him all over town." "Well, we got as far as the Silver Dollar Saloon and then Hoss comes up behind a water trough and he falls right into it." Adam tells him and Joe then bursts into a fit of giggles as Adam then says. "Yes, I could have warned him, but it was much more satisfying this way." Emily shakes her head as she says. "I don't believe it." Alice then says. "With them, I can believe it." Emily then says as she gets up from her chair. "Why don't I make some more tea and then get supper started." Alice then speaks up and says. "I'll help you." She gets up from the settee as Emily tells her. "You will do no such thing, you are our guest after all." Alice comes up to her as she responds. "That's true, but we're also family. And families do things for each other." She folds her arms. "Like helping them with supper." Joe grins as he tells her. "I wouldn't argue with her if I was you, believe me." Alice smiles and Emily sighs as she places her hands on her hips and says. "Well..alright. Come on." Alice then follows Emily into the kitchen.