TALES OF THE PONDEROSA #1:MORAL MEN

By EVE

Fandom: Bonanza (Where men were men, and the men were glad of it!).

Rating: PG-13.

In Bonanza's fifth season, Adam courted the lovely Laura Dayton (Kathie Browne), but through a series of misunderstandings and other circumstances, wound up losing her to his cousin Will (Guy Williams). This story is an alternate retelling of that loss, and an interesting twist. It also gives new insight into Adam's personality and an explanation for a certain tenet of Bonanza. :)

Since this is a slash story set in the Bonanza universe, warning must be given: there is intimation of sex between blood relations.

This story does not intend to infringe upon the copyrights for Bonanza held by David Dortort or NBC or anyone else.

You got comments? Put them on-list if they're nice. Just don't shoot the piano player! :)

And if this gets on the WWOMB Archive, here's the e-mail address: dueslasher@hotmail.com

(c) August 25, 2001

TALES OF THE PONDEROSA #1:MORAL MEN
By EVE

Adam sat in his wheelchair. It had been a month since he had fallen off the ladder of the house that he had been building for Laura, a surprise for their wedding day. He was still paralyzed though he was continuing with the exercises that Doc Evans had prescribed. The kindly doctor was filling in for Paul Martin while the other physician was attending a conference in San Francisco. While he missed Paul, Adam liked Arthur Evans. He had certainly been competent during his treatment.

His family had been their usual supportive selves through this whole mess. Hoss and Little Joe had built the ramp from the porch to the yard for him. Hop Sing made his favorite meals. And his father was always there, always ready to talk or to help.

And Laura. What a beautiful angel of mercy, her hair a blond cloud and her blue eyes the color of the sky. A little green mixed in with the blue, too. A lovely lady. A kind lady. A lying bitch.

Adam's mouth curled in contempt. Women were useful in their way. He had certainly availed himself of their services in the town's saloons and brothels more than once. He enjoyed courting the respectable ones. They were pretty and usually smelled very nice, and they allowed him a chaste kiss, which was all he wanted.

But he had never really expected to marry one. Laura had just happened. Because despite his use of whores' services and his courting, his interests lay elsewhere.

It was hard to live in an all-male family surrounded by male ranchhands when you were attracted to men.

Yes, he had admitted that about himself years ago. Young Wolf and he had experimented as adolescents and he had been excited to discover the pleasures of the male body.

He had been in seventh heaven in Boston during his college days, able to avail himself of companionship with a few students with his own inclinations after careful study, and they had introduced him to a very special, very discreet brothel indeed in the central part of the state, hidden away from prying city eyes. It had been difficult to leave Boston and return to the wilds of Nevada, but he loved his family.

He knew that the preachers condemned such a thing as the most heinous sin. He knew that if a man was caught doing what he wanted to do, he faced serious consequences. He also knew that the trappers and mountain men of a generation past had taken male companions during the long, lonely winters, and some had stayed together. They had come to the spring gatherings and danced together, one wearing the symbolic apron, and no one had commented on it. Just like no one did at the miners' camps on Sun Mountain now as one of the partners tied handkerchiefs to their arms and danced. And he had found those of his type during the silver rush there, stolen moments in line shacks and secret places in the woods. Rough, hardened men who knew what they wanted, and he had given it to them.

His father was a moral man. God-fearing. Bible-reading. And he had brought up his sons to be moral men.

Little Joe was definitely a ladies' man and always would be. Hoss was too naive to even dream of laying with another man, or maybe just didn't have the inclination. Hoss was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for, so the naivete might not be the answer. Hop Sing? He seemed perfectly happy with his single status and had never had a romance that Adam was aware of.

Now he was stuck, engaged to Laura, who would never leave him while he was in this wheelchair due to her guilt.

Over being in love with Will.

Cousin Will. Wandering, dashing, amiable Cousin Will. Who was broad-chested and slim-hipped and moved with a grace that matched Adam's own. And he was handsome and witty and damnit, he had a great ass.

There. He let out a breath. He felt better.

Laura was suddenly in front of him, nearly scaring him out of his skin.

"Adam, are you all right?"

He looked around. His father and brothers were out on the range. Peggy and Hop Sing were in town to pick up groceries for tonight's meal. And Will was still in the barn.

He told Laura that he knew about them and urged her to go to Will. She couldn't believe him when he said he wasn't in love with her. He gave her a long song-and-dance about being in love with being in love and marriage and building his own Ponderosa, but she thought he was just being noble. He would have laughed if it hadn't hurt so much.

He had just gone through this with Will in the barn. His cousin couldn't believe that Adam really wanted to step aside, so to speak. There was that noble thing again. Why was everyone so fixated on nobility? Damn the romantic Victorian mind, anyway.

He would just have to take charge. "Will!"

Laura blanched. Will hurried out of the barn. "Everything all right, Adam?" He stopped short when he saw Laura.

"No, nothing's all right." He impatiently slammed the heel of his hand on the arm of his chair. "You two have got to stop all this noble crap. Laura, I don't love you, Will does. Now take her and get out of here, will you?" His heart pounded as he looked at Will's handsome face with the pencil-thin mustache. It would have looked silly on any other man. On Will it looked good.

Shocked, Will stared at Adam, chocolate-brown eyes disbelieving. He looked at Laura, a flicker of some indefinable emotion sparking from those eyes.

Laura was wide-eyed herself, not daring to breathe.

Finally Will broke the silence. "I, um..." He shifted his feet.

Laura's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong, Will?"

"Well, I..." He smiled nervously. "I've been thinking it over, Laura, and I'm not sure if this would work out. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're a beautiful woman and all, but I'm sort of the wanderer type and..."

"Oh, I know perfectly well what type you are!" she exploded. Will took a step back. She advanced on him, blue eyes blazing. "What is with you Cartwrights, anyway? First Adam takes months to propose to me and even then it's out a sense of obligation, and then when he *really* proposes he falls asleep on me and disappears for days on end and yes, I know he was building our house but after he's done reading you the dozenth book of poetry, he begins to lose his charm!" She whirled on Adam, who had begun to protest. "Shut up! You're lousy at courting, Adam Cartwright! That's probably why you've been unmarried this long, and you a prime catch with your ranch and intelligence and looks! Ben spoiled you rotten!" She turned back to Will, who looked ready to flee. "And you! Footloose and fancy-free! Running off like an irresponsible little boy! How I thought I could build a life with *either* of you is beyond me!" She stamped her foot. "I'm leaving! And I'm never coming back! What a bunch of weirdos!"

She stalked away, climbed into the wagon and drove off. The men watched her ride off, then Will turned to Adam.

"Well, so ends the saga of Mrs. Laura Dayton," Adam said with an immense sense of relief. He looked at his cousin. "Sorry about that."

Will's smile lit up his face. "Oh, don't be."

Adam cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes." Will stepped closer. Adam could smell the leather of his jacket. He closed his eyes for a second, and when he re-opened them, Will was leaning over him. "I think it's time you and I got to know each other more...*intimately*...Cousin."

Adam couldn't believe his ears. "Uh, Will...?"

"C'mon, I haven't been riding with men all these years not to see the signs." Will's strong hands gripped the arms of Adam's chair. "How about we go upstairs to your room?"

Heart racing, Adam said, "There's a little problem of, um, non-performance."

Will brushed his lips against Adam's cheek, causing the other man to shudder. "Adam, the techniques I know, you'll be too busy from the waist up to worry about from the waist down." His teeth gleamed. "Thank God you got rid of Laura."

Adam laughed, and he wheeled back into the house with Will at his side, allowing his cousin to sweep him up out of the chair and carry him upstairs.

Well, it looked like once more a wedding was not to be in the Cartwright house, and that suited Adam just fine.

Eve (Hoping The Boys Bite More Than An Apple)