Silent Night
New
Years Eve at the Ponderosa
The moonless night was gripped by a deep winter cold. A dry wind rattled the silent, frozen pines. In the clear dark sky the stars were scattered like diamonds on black velvet. Each celestial fire shone as bright silver lamps in the dark. Their silver light was picked up and amplified by the white blanket of snow covering the ground. On the distant horizon the jagged black bulk of the Sierras shouldered themselves into the sky.
The
man’s boots crunched in the snow. His breath whitened the air, creating a
miniature cloud that trailed behind him as he walked. He paused in the middle
of the yard. Before him the great sprawling ranch house was ablaze with light
and laughter. The New Years Eve Party was in full swing. . . . The Cartwrights
always threw a good party.
He
took a slow breath and looked up; four bits of star stuff shone particularly
bright in the dark. A more mundane silver marked the man’s temples, a sign of
the years of work and dedication to the ranch founded by his step-father. The
warm cherry light of the great ship lantern on the porch revealed that Jamie’s
copper bright hair had faded over the years. The weedy foundling that had been
adopted into the Cartwright family had matured into a compact sturdy oak of a
man.
Jamie
was the only Cartwright to successfully raise a family. Gossips throughout the
county had nodded sagely over their beers—that at last the ‘Cartwright Curse’
was broken. The young red head never forgot the men who had given him so much.
Jamie built Ben Cartwright’s dream into one of the biggest operations in the
West. Seldom was it remembered anymore that the redhead wasn’t a blood born
Cartwright. He was James Cartwright owner of not just The Ponderosa, but
‘Cartwright Enterprises’. He headed a dynasty of four sons and three daughters.
Three of the boys and two of the girls were married with children of their own.
The ‘Family’ was a powerful force in the boundless growth of the young
Alone
in the night at the birth of a New Year, Jamie breathed out a silent prayer to
the stars.
“Pa,
I miss you more every year.” Jamie
whispered, his bright blue eyes brimmed with unshed tears. “I just pray that
you’re happy with what I’ve done.” The
silver starlight seemed to warm the night air around Jamie Cartwright. He
closed his eyes taking a deep breath. The air wasn’t cold any longer, but
rather fresh and clean as if new made from the surrounding mountains.
The
front door of the ranch house banged open. Three whirlwinds of two-legged
energy came bounding out. “Grandpa! Grandpa!!” Two boys and a little girl ran
out into the yard.
“What
are you all doing out in this cold?”
Jamie scolded.
“Uncle
Mike claims he can beat you at checkers!”
Said the oldest boy. His hair gleamed in the starlight, as shiny as a
copper penny.
“Oh
he did?” Jamie laughed as he knelt in
the snow. “Well I learned checkers from
the best champion player of
“Beat
Unca Mike!” Piped the little girl. Her raven dark pigtails bounced in
counterpoint to her gyrations as she grabbed her grandpa’s worked hardened
hand, urging him to move.
“Grampa!
Grampa!” Lisped the youngest boy. His
dark eyes sparkled with glee as he grabbed Jamie’s other hand.
“Children!
You come inside this instant!!”
Josephine, Jamie’s eldest daughter was standing arms akimbo on the
porch. She had taken the time to wrap a warm woolen shawl over her party dress.
“Coming
Mama!” Jamie piped in a squeaky
falsetto. The children laughed in delight as their Grandfather swept them up
out of the snow and onto the porch.
“Honestly
Papa you’re as bad as the children.” A
smiling Josephine spread her arms like a mother hen with her chicks and shooed
them into the noisy warmth of the sprawling ranch house.
“And
you Joey, love every minute of it!”
Jamie planted a kiss on his daughter’s cheek.
“Oh
go on with you!” Joey mock scolded as
she shut the door.
Beyond
the empty porch the silver starlight reflected in the snow seemed to gather and
grow. In the brightening dark—time slid to a halt. At the edge of the yard four
men stepped out from the screen of the forest. Had there been anyone to see,
that observer would have noticed that the men left no tracks in the snow.
“Champion
checker player! Pleeasse!” The youngest
man scoffed.
The
object of his scorn turned his blue eyes on his accuser. “The game takes skill and patience. Which you
never learned little brother.” The big
man preened himself.
The
oldest man fondly watched the wrangling of his younger sons. The silver in his
hair picked up and reflected the starfire of the heavens. As his thoughts began
to wander the old man’s shape grew fuzzy until the quiet man at his side spoke.
“He’s
done a good job
“That
he has.” The old man focused on the
great house with it’s many new additions. His gaze took in the new bigger barn,
the attached kitchen on the bigger bunkhouse, the added corrals and the new
cabins for the working families of the Ponderosa. “That he has.” The old man
repeated with quiet satisfaction. After a long moment the three younger men
came to stand with him. They stood together in the silver light, listening and
watching the noise and the laughter of the party.
“He
sure throws a good party.” Said the big
man.
“Taught
him everything he knows about parties.”
Preened the youngest.
“Ha!” The dark man snorted as he traded an amused glance
with his father.
A
new breeze whispered across the land, bringing with it the promise of a New
Year.
“Come
on boys—time to go.”
In
the bright dark, the ranch yard was silent. The jagged black bulk of the
Sierras shouldered themselves against the sky. The faintest of breezes stirred
the frozen forest. The land drowsed in the grip of winter, bathed in silver
starfire. A New Year began for the Ponderosa.
Fini
Marcia
Lee