THE WICKED STEPMOTHER

Adam Cartwright had met the lovely Kate Wilcox in Virginia City. It happened at a dance. Adam was standing at the bar when Kate caught him into her eye. She thought, If I marry him then my ship has sailed in.
Adam was just about to go home when Kate came towards him.
“May I have this dance with you?”, Kate asked polite.
“I just wanted to go home”, the eldest Cartwright boy said.
He looked at the lady from top to bottom. He had to admit that she was attractive. Kate was wearing a blue dress and had shining blonde hair. Strangely enough Kate interested Adam so much that he remained the whole evening with her. What he didn’t know was that Kate was looking for a rich and single man to marry with and then to ruin him mentally and mostly financial.

When the party was over Adam was still stuck with Kate.
“Shall I go home with you”, Kate asked.  
“I live quite far away from here”, Adam replied.
“Then I just go home with you”, the young woman suggested. The young woman had fallen head over heels  in love and it was mutual to her enjoyment. To get acquaintanted with her family in law to be Kate had decided to come with him to the Ponderosa.

In her bedroom Kate was lying awake for a while. In her mind was to be read, Now I have finally found the man of my dreams. With this thought she fell asleep.

The next morning Mitch got involved with Kate. He came out of the bathroom when she came in.
“Who are you”, Mitch asked amazed.
“The finace of Adam. Who are you?”, Kate asked on her turn and with an attitude.
Mitch looked at her from top to bottom and kept silent.
“I asked you a question and then I demand an answer. Your parents must have not raised you being polite”, she said scornful.
“Well, my mother died when I was a year and my daddy is your financee. I am his son Mitch”, the young Cartwright replied smiling.
Kate was struck dumb. Mitch fled in the meantime to his bedroom. He was  already busy with getting dressed when Adam came into his room to help him with his walkbrace like that happened each morning.
“Daddy, do you know that there is a woman in the bathroom who calls herself your financé?”, Mitch asked directly .
“I know that and her name is Kate Wilcox. I met her last night at the party and took her home. Grandpa knows about her and he didn’t mind”, Adam replied.
“She doesn’t like me and I don’t like her”, the boy reacted.
“That will change soon” his father said while he placed the walkbrace around his leg.

Although Mitch knew that his father was crazy about Kate he didn’t want anything to do with her. This led to great tensions at the Cartwright household. Kate made sure that it was not very jolly at the house and it remained that way. The men noticed almost directly that there was again a woman at the house. She was as she called herself a lady of high standards and behaved herself in that way. But only when the Cartwrights were around.  She hated children of someone else very much and let no moment pass by to let that show. Hereby Mitch began to feel uncomfortable and this had as result that he began to stutter when she was in his area.

Adam spent very much time with Kate and neglected hereby his son. Mitch went to complain at Ben when Adam again had forgotten an appointment with him.
“Grandpa, when you have an appointment with someone, you must show up, mustn’t you?”, the jongen asked.
Ben stopped with chopping wood and went to sit at the porch. Then he pulled his grandson near him.
“Of course I have to show up then. That is the way it is”, the rancher said.
“Tell daddy that because he had promised me to help me with pitching and hitting. He is with
her again for sure”, Mitch answered indignant.
“Your father is happy with her but you obviously not. I will talk with him”, Ben said. Mitch looked ahead of him and kept silent for a moment.
“She will try to talk him out of it. If she marries him then I am away from here and so is Cody”, the boy said determined.
“I don’t want to lose you and neither do the others. If you leave then Candy has no fishing mate anymore on Saturday afternoon, has he?”, the rancher asked.
Mitch sighted deeply. Fishing with Candy was always fun but living with Kate was something Mitch didn’t want either.

Not much later Adam took Kate along for a picknick near the waterside.
“Adam, I have to tell you something”, the young woman said at a certain moment.
“What then?”, Adam asked amazed.
“You must see that I grow bigger every moment. Well, that has a very good reason because in my tommy there develops a whole new life. I am pregnant. The father of my baby took me and then he ran off”, Kate said.
“so you want me to become the father for your baby?”, Adam asked worried.
“Yes. I want to marry you before the birth so that the baby will get born legally”, the young woman said determined.
“That is a whole thing you ask me. Mitch doesn’t like you at all and the feeling is also mutual”, Adam said calm.
He didn’t respond anymore to her proposal sand took some distance between her and himself. He had to go away for two weeks for business anyway.

Mitch caused a big commotion when Kate had prepatred his oatmeal one morning. Like usual there was a hot bowl of oatmeal ready for him. Mitch took a bite but could hardly swallow it.
“Doesn’t it taste it?”, Ben asked.
“No! Who had prepared this oatmeal?”, the boy asked while he filled his throat with much water.
“Hop Sing might have done it like each morning”, Ben said.
“Well, he has done a lot of salt in it instead of sugar. I don’t want anything of it”, his grandson said as he pushed the full bowl away from him.
Ben took a little bite and tasted that there was indeed a whole lot of salt in it. Mitch got up and walked to the kitchen to file his complaint to the Chinese cook.
“Hop Sing, have you prepared my oatmeal this morning?”, the boy asked.
“No, Miss Kate. Not Hop Sing”, was the answer.
Mitch knew enough.
“She has enormously thrown much salt in it”, the boy said.
“Little boy, wait here. Hop Sing make baked eggs for him”, the cook said as he felt sorry for him.
“Okay but then I will eat it here or otherwise Uncle Hoss will eat it for me”, Mitch remarked.
Hop Sing made quickly the baked eggs and Mitch ate them in the  kitchen. In the meantime Kate came inside and looked around the diningroom. She saw the full bowl of oatmeal standing at the table and knew enough.
“I thought Mitch wanted to have oatmeal for breakfast each morning?”, she asked innocent.
“Oatmeal with sugar yes but not with salt”, Ben replied.
“I always make it with sugar so then the cook must have done it”, Kate reacted fierce.
“Hop Sing works for us for years and he would never do such a thing. Maybe it is better if you would go away and leave us alone”, the rancher said.
“Then the chance is very big that Adam and Mitch won’t be living here much longer because they are crazy about me and I about them”, his daughter-in-law said.
“We will see about that”, was Ben’s reaction.
He got up and walked to the kitchen.  
“Mitch, are you coming along to the herd as there is a lot of work to be done?”,  he asked his grandson.
Mitch nodded and ate quickly.  

One afternoon Kate had put a bowl with red apples at the small table. Hoss, Little Joe and Mitch came inside and saw the bowl standing.
“Gee, how delicious”, Hoss and Little Joe said at once.
Mitch looked at it for a moment being sceptical.
“I w.…w…wouldn’t eat fr…from it as…they are p….poi…poisened a…anyway”, the boy remarked then.
The brothers looked at each other with a look from, where is that nephew of ours talking about?
“Does someone has objections against the appples I brought along?”, Kate asked snappy.
“I g….go p…p…..p….play outs…s…side w…w……with Co…..Cody”, Mitch said quickly as he felt danger coming.  
“Not so fast young man! First you are gonna tell me why you want to play outside so fast while you are not allowed of me. And no stuttering this time. I find that so bothering and it costs me too much time to listen to you”, Kate said strict.
Syhe grabbed the boy so tight that he couldn’t get away anymore.
“You h…have no..nothing to say ab…about me. Only d…daddy”, Mitch reacted furiously.
Kate wanted to hit her stepson but Hoss and Little Joe took control of the situation.
“Let Mitchy go or I will get hold of you”, Hoss said calm.
Kate let the young Cartwright  loose at once. He gave her a dirty look for a moment and went then outside. Kate looked ather two brothers-in-law and could drink their blood. But the feeling was mutual.     
“We go away now and you leave our beloved nephew alone. When we find out that you have done something with him which is not good in our eyes you will know about it”, Little Joe said cool.
“I will control myself”, Kate said with her head up high.
The brothers went with Cody to the herd.

Mitch knew that he had to come inside by dinnertime and he did that too. Kate and Mitch were together at home. The young Cartwright didn’t trust her at all and let that also show very clearly.
“W…..What a….are you d…d……doing here act…actually? D…Daddy d….d…doesn’t c….come h…home until to…tomorrow”, he said after a while.
“I have promised him sincerely to look after you and that what I do. When your father and I are married you have to listen to me as well”, the young woman answered.
“Wh…When d…daddy is aw…away f…for b…b…busineses or w…whatever th…then gr…grandpa  l….l…looks after m…me”, Mitch reacted.
“Not this time. I take care of you now and you have to listen to me alone! Or I will make your short life even shorter”, Kate said snappy.
She was so fed up with the boy that she completely beat him up. Mitch got beaten black and blue and to make the disaster even worse Kate began to kick him too. Mitch screamed the lungs out of his body but his stepmother kicked him unconcious and went o stand upon his left hand so that it broke. Kate ran upset away from the ranch.

In the meantime Hop Sing came home and he found the boy lying still on the floor. He ran to him and gave first aid at once. He turned the boy around and saw how awfully Mitch was attacked. Candy came inside and saw the cook near the youngest inhabitant of the ranch. The foreman understood right away what might have  happened and went away to warn the others.

Candy rode like a madman to the herd where the others were.
“Mitch has been robbed and seriously attacked at the ranch”, he said hasty.
“You and Joe go to the city to warn the doctor. Hoss and I go home with Cody”, Ben said deeply shocked.
Everybody rode in the direction they had to go.

Because Little Joe and Candy were already in town they decided to send a telegram to Adam in Reno right away. They came out of the telegraphoffice when Little Joe bumped into Kate.
“How dare you to walk up against me?” she asked snappy.
“You have beaten up my dear nephew”, Little Joe reacted.
“I don not know from such a thing. How dare you to accuse me falsely of child abuse?”, his sister-in-law asked resented.
“When we left Mitch alone he was still healthy and all. Hop Sing found him injured. You were the only one around because even Cody was with us. You are the only one who hates him”, Candy explained.
“So what? Mitch is just a really spoiled rotten kid who cannot speak his words right”, Kate snapped.
“Strange. Before you came he spoke normal. It has to do something with you I guess”, Little Joe reacted.
“Are you coming to the tradingpost?”, the foreman asked.
Little Joe nodded and walked along. Kate looked at the two friends and walked on by with her head up high. At the tradingpost Candy saw a brandnew baseball lying in the window.
“Shall we buy that for Mitch?”, Candy asked pointing at the ball.
“We do that. When Mitch sees that ball he is hopefully soon well again and she gone”, Little Joe said.
They went inside to buy the ball.
“May I have that baseball which lies in the window?”, Candy asked.
“Of course”, Dan Miller said who owned and worked at the trading post.
He got the ball and wrapped it up nicely. Candy paid and went home with Little Joe.

Mitch laid in bed and got treated by Paul. Ben was there too and wondered who had gotten hold of his grandson so badly.
“Mitch has a few bruised ribs and a broken hand but by much bedrest he will recover again. After all he is till very young and healthy. I come within a few days by to check on this patient”, the healing master said.
“I will make sure that the boys will leave him alone. No matter how difficult that might be”, the rancher said.
Paul set the broken left hand of Mitch in plaster and the wrist of him as well. Then Mitch got a sling for his arm. Mitch looked at his grandfather and he gave him smiling a wink. Mitch gave a weak smile.

Hoss waited in the living room for news and Hop Sing was there too. Little Joe and Candy came inside with a present for Mitch.
“Is there already news about Mitch?”, the young Cartwright asked at once.
“Pa and Paul are still upstairs. Mitchy is awake though”, his brother answered.
“We ran into Kate in town. I have the strong suspects that she has manhandled him”, the foreman said.
“Adam will come home at once when he get our telegram. Who touches Mitch is a dead man at him”, Little Joe remarked.
At that moment Ben and Paul came downstairs talking. The three boys looked at them questionable.
“Mitch has a broken hand amnd a few bruised ribs. That is all what he is having. I have prescribed him complete bedrest. He may leave it for the meals but hen straight back after that”, the doctor said.
“Well, then I better can keep this for myself”, Candy said dry.
“We have bought him something”, Little Joe explained.
“A short visit can not hurt him but don’t make him too tired”, Paul said.
Hoss, Little Joe and Candy went upstairs straight away.
“They adore the boy”, Ben said while he and Paul watched the boys go up.
“It doesn’t surprise me because Mitch is such a cute boy. But I suspect that you are thrilled with him as well. And not to forget Hop Sing and Adam of course too”, the house doctor said.
The rancher nodded.

Hoss, Little Joe and Candy entered the bedroom of Mitch.
“Watch him lying there doing nothing so we can and must do all the work again”, Hoss said teasing.
Mitch put his tongue out right away to them as a reaction. Little Joe and Candy laughed.
“How does this ballplayer feel?”, Candy asked.
“Everything hurts. Kate has beaten me up and kicked me too. She says that daddy and she will be getting married”, Mitch said with tears in his eyes.
“When Adam hears about what Kate has done to you the wedding will be off at once”, Little Joe said.
“Here you have something from us”, the foreman said while he gave the present to the boy.
Mitch opened the present a bit clumsy and saw what it was.
“Thanks but I will not be able to pitch and hit for a while by that munster”, the youngest Cartwright said.  
He put the ball aside him and closed his eyes. Hereby Hoss, Little Joe and Candy went downstairs again.

Adam was in Reno at the telegrafoffice when the telegram of Little Joe and Candy came. He tored it open and read,
Adam, come home at once because Mitch is injured by Kate.

Joe and Candy

The eldest Cartwright boy didn’t think any further and rode home at once. Kate was also at the ranch again and slept already. Ben was outside for a while when his eldest son came riding upon the yard.
“Pa, what in the the name of hell has happened to Mitch? I got a telegram of Joe and Candy which said that Kate had injured him”, Adam said while he dismounted of Sport.
“Mitch has a few bruised ribs and a broken left hand. He says that Kate has mistreated him and I believe him. Your girlfriend  is already sleeping so confront her in the morning with your conclusion”, Ben said.

The morning after the attack Adam came shaved sand dressed into the bedroom of his son. He went to sit upon the bed and looked softening at the sleeping boy. Slowly he woke up.
“Hello boy. How does this gent feel?”, Adam asked smiling.
“Putrid”, Mitch said.
He went  to sit with much pain and difficulty and began to cry. Adam took him into his arms and let him have a good cry.
“I came home at once when I got the telgram of Uncle Joe and Candy where in was said that you had been attacked. But you were sleeping so deeply that I didn’t wake you up. I make a hot bath for you and then I wash you”, Adam said when Mitch was clam again.  
They got up and walked to the bathroom. Kate wanted to go in as well but Adam and Mitch were there before her.
“Adam, I am supposed to go first because I am a lady and in the family way”, she said fierce.
“Mitch is my son and he needs me now the hardest!”, Adam reacted
“Have it your way. I will wait”, Kate snapped.
She turned arpund and walked back to her room. Adam pushed Mitch the bathroom in and prepared the bath. Mitch got undressed and put into the washing-tube by his father and washed.
“Doc said that you needed a lot of rest so after breakfast you go back to bed again”, Adam said.
“Are she gonna stay much longer here?”, asked Mitch asked worried.
“Not much longer because I will show her personally the door”, his father promised.
He lifted his boy out of the washing-tube and dried him. Hereafter he carried him back to the bedroom of the young Cartwright. Mitch got dressed himself as much as possible but the buttons gave  him difficulty.

Mitch came downstairs being very shy.
Ben, Hoss, Little Joe and Candy were already eating when the boy sat at the table. Everybody looked at each other and knew enough.  
Hop Sing came out of the kitchen with a bowl with hot oatmeal. He put it in front  of the young Cartwright and disappeared again to the kitchen.
“She and daddy are quarrelling again”, Mitch said suddenly.
“About you?”, Ben asked carefully.
Mitch nodded and began to eat.

When Mitch was downstairs already Adam went back to Kate to give her a good piece of his mind.
“Mitch said that you have beaten him up. Is that so?”, he asked.
“Not at all. We were playing a game nicely when a savage indian came into the house and beat up Mitch. I could dive away safely or otherwise he would hurt me and our baby”, she lied hard as nails.
“There is no savage indian in the first four milestones from here so you are lying”, Adam reacted.
Kate noticed that she stood alone in her indianstory and took a decision.
“Adam Cartwright, you can go to hell with your pity kid because I am leaving!”, the young woman said angry.
“Great because I cannot understand what I actually ever saw in you”, Adam growled.  
He left the bedroom and went to have breakfast. Kate packed her bags angrily.

Adam went to sit at the table and looked at his son for  a moment.
“Pa, boys, Kate has cheated me where I was right standing by. She didn’t care about me but she just wanted a father for her child”, he said quite calm.
Cody put his head upon Adam’s leg like he’d say, “Mitch and I do love you and will stay with you.” Adam stroked the dog. Cody directly took advantage of the situation and gave a leg.
“To your place”, his master said directly.
“Are you going back to Reno?”, Little Joe asked.
“Yes, I am but  I take Mitch instead of Kate along. He needs me now more than ever”, his eldest brother answered.
“You remain here with your son. Joseph can go in your place”, the rancher reacted.
“Good. Then I stay nicely at home and have a vacation. I will watch when you do the administration”, Adam remarked dry and teasing.
“The administration awaits for you and not for me anymore”, Ben said directly.
Everybody laughed. Even Mitch showed a weak smile.
“Don’t you laugh!”, Adam said teasing to his boy.
Now they laughed even harder. At that moment Kate came downstairs and she thought they were laughing at her. Suddenly Cody began to growl at her, something he normally never did. Adam looked from Mitch to Kate and knew the ins and out of it. He got up and ran to her.  
His brothers and Candy followed him.
“Why have you beaten up Mitch?”, Adam asked while he pushed her against the frontdoor.
“He refused to listen to me. I was  so fed up with listening to his stuttering that I on purpose did an opportunity to kill him. I have no regrets. On the contrary. If I got the chance to do it again, I ’d do it again”, Kate confessed triumphantly.
Adam hit Kate down to the floor. The young woman fell and grabbed her stomach tight. She began to scream loudly.
“It won‘t help you anymore. Although you scream the whole world together, I won’t you no more. The sooner you are out of here, the better”, Adam groaned.
“You make me lose our baby. I am in labour”, Kate screamed in a new attempt to win Adam for herself.
“It can never be mine because I never shared the bed with you”, Adam replied.
“It is really true. But I will go away so that you will stay behind with a lifelong guilt about the death of your baby”, Kate snapped at him.
She got up and with her suitcases she walked out of the door. The boys went to sit at the table again.
“She is a terrible liar. We have never made love to each other”, Adam said.
“Boy, I believe you. The most important thing is that you good the relation with your son good again”, Ben said calm.
Adam nodded and said, “I stay home for him.”
“Are you gonna bring me back to bed?”, Mitch asked.
“We make a bed for you on the settee. Then you can rest and have our company as well”, Ben said.
He saw that Mitch had become very tired but the others had noticed that also. The boy was striking quiet and looked bad despite a very good night rest.

After breakfast Ben and Adam made a bed on the settee. Not much later Mitch was sleeping again so that everyone except Adam and Hop Sing went away to give him the so needed rest.

After her hasty departure from the Ponderosa Kate rode quickly to town. There she met the owner of the boarding-house, Mrs Vera Stone. Vera saw right away that Kate was in trouble and deeply too.
“Sweet child, come along with me”, she said suave.
Kate got out and held her stomach tight.
“I have to see the doctor because Adam Cartwright pushed me aside”, the young woman said almost crying.
The two women walked to the practise of the doctor.
“Paul, you must examine this young lady because she is pushed asisde by that scroundrel of an Adam Cartwright. And that in her condition”, Vera said.
Kate went to lie on the examiningtable and got examined.
“There is nothing wrong with you. You aren’t pregnant at all”, Paul said calm.  
“You may live at my place”, Vera promised.
Kate went with Vera outside. Kate began to cry enormously and vowed for revenge on the Cartwrights.

Because of all the love and attention from his family, Candy and Hop Sing Mitch got over the violent attack. Hereby he began to talk more and to everyone’s surprise and joy he didn’t stutter anymore.

Two months after the attack Adam and Mitch were in Virginia City to get the plaster off the hand and wrist by Paul Martin. When they were almost there they ran into Kate. She looked very dirty at Adam but didn’t say anything. The Cartwrights didn’t reacted at it at all.

In the waiting room Paul called Adam and Mitch to his office. The healing master cut the plaster  off the wrist and hand of Mitch.
“May I play baseball again now?”, Mitch asked when the plaster was off.
“Take it easy for a while because it is still very sensitive”, Paul said.
Mitch nodded.
They said goodbye and went outside again.

In an alley Kate took hold of them. She grabbed Mitch and pointed a revolver at Adam.
“If you resist I blow Mitch away. You made sure that I lost my baby and I will do that to you”, the young woman said determined.
Mitch gave her a hard push with his elbow whereby she bended over of the pain and dropped the revolver. Adam pulled his revolver and shot his ex dead. By the shots deputy Clem Foster came to them and with one look at the body of Kate he knew enough.
“Come with me to make a statement and then everything is arranged”, Clem said.
Adam put an arm around Mitch and together they walked with the deputy.

At the office the Cartwrights got coffee. Adam told what had happened between him and Kate. Clem wrote it all down and saw it as self-defence.  

On the way home Adam asked, “Mitch, why did I had to read you that story of Snow White?”
“Well, Grandpa read to me earlier and when you got intop that relationship with that creep I saw somehow the resembles between her and the stepmother of Snow White”, was the answer of Mitch.
Adam kept silent for a moment to let it get through into his mind.
Then he said, “You certainly are right.”
“I am always right. And if not then rule number 1 is in working. And rule number 1 is, Mitch Cartwright is always right”, Mitch reacted.
“You mean, I am always right”, Adam corrected his son.
“Uncle Hoss and Uncle Joe are right”, the boy said.
“What do you mean?”, Adam asked amazed.
“Well,  that you always want to be right”, Mitch said.
Laughing and talking they rode together back to the ranch.



THE END


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