THE DOOR
by
Lynne C.
If only walls could talk, is an expression that you often hear being
bandied about, but I suppose it could be said for doors, as well.
After all, a door is a bit like a wall, only it can open, as well, so
is more versatile.
Now this particular door is the one that leads into the house on the
Ponderosa ranch. Ben Cartwright is the owner and he has lived there
for nearly twenty years. When he first moved to the area, it was known
as Utah Territory and Ben was a widower, with two young sons. Their
first home was a two-roomed cabin, which was quickly erected, to
ensure that they had shelter by the time the cold weather arrived.
But, once that was inhabitable, they began to build the big house.
Adam, the eldest son, was only around ten, at the time, but he was a
bright boy, with an eye for detail, and he was a big help when it came
to designing the house. The younger boy, Erik, known as Hoss, was only
four, and so not able to assist, that much, although the sweet child
did all he could to help his father and his big brother.
The land they settled on provided them with all the materials they
needed, to build the house, as there was an abundance of timber. And
the day that they hung the front door, stands out as a landmark in the
life of the Cartwright family. Mind you, there have been many times,
since, that Ben has wished he hadn't built such a solid door. You see,
Hoss is incapable of closing it, without making it slam; a noise that
resounds around the house, which was described by one guest as being
bigger than a church. *
Ben's vision was to build a house, which seemed to almost grow out of
the ground and be at one with the land. This man was a conservationist
and an environmentalist, before such words entered into our language.
He would never chop down a tree, without planting one to take its
place, and although it appeared that he had thousands of trees at his
disposal, he was very frugal with the number he actually used, to
build the house.
By the time the house was ready for occupation, the ranch was doing
well enough for Ben to be able to employ a cook. This was something
that the boys were very pleased about, as their father, although he
did his best, was never going to be a top class chef. So, the first
major event to take place in the new house, was when the door opened
to admit Hop Sing. He was a young man, whom Ben met in town, when he
was being victimised, just for being Chinese. Ben saved the young man
from a beating and offered him a job, the very same day. It turned out
to be one of the best decisions Ben ever made. Only a couple of months
after Hop Sing's arrival, Ben was called upon to make a trip to New
Orleans, and he left, knowing that his sons were being cared for,
almost as well as they would have been, by him. The lasting memory he
took with him, as he set off, on the long and arduous journey, was of
Hop Sing, standing in front of the door, with Adam on one side of him,
and Hoss on the other, waving him off.
The next important event that the door played a part in, was when Ben
carried his new bride, over the threshold. Marie was the most
beautiful woman he'd ever seen, since the Good Lord had seen fit to
take Elizabeth and Inger from him. From the very first moment he set
eyes on her, in New Orleans, he knew that he had to make her his wife.
Fortunately for Ben, Marie was just as enamoured of him, as he was, of
her, and so the two were married, before they set off, back to the
Ponderosa.
It came as a great shock to Adam and Hoss, when they discovered that
instead of the usual gifts, their father had brought them back a new
mother. Typically, it took the deep thinking Adam, a lot longer than
his happy go lucky little brother, to adapt to the idea of having a
mother around the place. And while he was getting used to the idea,
the front door was often slammed, as Adam stormed out of the house,
or, as he entered it, angrily, having been sent to his room, for being
rude to Marie.
But the door, and the family, withstood this temporary war, and soon
peace and harmony reigned in the ranch house. Well, it did, for a
short while, until that door opened again, this time to admit Doc
Martin, who set the world record for driving from Virginia City to the
ranch, that night. The reason for the rush was because Ben's third
son, Little Joe, decided to arrive, several weeks earlier than he was
supposed to, and sent the whole house into turmoil. Adam was asked to
take Hoss outside, and Charlie, the ranch foreman, offered to take
care of the six-year-old, until the baby was born.
The twelve-year-old boy, who, by then, had grown very fond of his
stepmother, then faced a dilemma. He stood outside, for some
considerable time, just staring at the front door, not sure whether to
return to Marie's bedroom, or not. Her labour had begun, and Adam
recognised what was happening, from having been present when Hoss was
born. Ben and most of the hands were out, for the day, on another part
of the ranch, and Hop Sing was in town, visiting his father. As the
baby wasn't due for a while, no one was concerned about Marie being
alone, least of all, her, but Little Joe decided it was time to put in
an appearance.
Adam knew what he had to do, and headed for the door. Even though the
prospect of maybe having to deliver his own brother or sister was a
daunting one, to the young boy, he knew that he couldn't stand by, and
do nothing. The doctor had been sent for, but if he didn't get there,
in time, then everything would fall on Adam's slim shoulders.
He shut the door, with more strength of conviction than he really
felt, and was soon at Marie's side.
As it turned out, the doctor burst through the door, followed fairly
closely by the nervous father, just in time to bring the baby into the
world. However, Marie was full of praise for her eldest stepson and
how he had helped to keep her calm, during the labour.
From then on, the house was rarely quiet, but the noises that bounced
off the walls, were mainly joyous ones.
That is, until that fateful day when Marie was killed, falling off a
horse, as she arrived in the yard. Adam and Hoss ran through the front
door, after hearing their father's anguished cries. Ben was on the
porch, as Marie rode in, and saw her fall. By the time he covered the
short distance across the yard, she was already dead, having broken
her neck. Fortunately, Little Joe, almost five and the apple of his
mother's eye, was taking a nap, and by the time he woke up, his mother
had been carried through the door, by Ben, and laid out in the
downstairs guest bedroom.
On the day that she was buried, the door was opened wide, to enable
her coffin to be carried through it, and taken outside, into the
waiting hearse.
The service was held up at the lake and Marie was laid to rest. When
Ben and the boys returned to the house, and they walked through the
door, they felt as though the heart had been ripped out of their
family, and nothing would ever be the same, again. But, the phrase
`time is a great healer' proved to be the truth, and things did improve.
It wasn't roses all the way, of course. As the door shut on Adam, when
he set off for four years at college, once again the family was
worried how they were going to cope. For so long, Ben's eldest son had
also been his right hand man, and Ben knew that he owed a huge debt of
gratitude to Adam, for the way the young man held the family together,
during the dark days after Marie's death. And since leaving school,
Adam had worked alongside his father, proving that not only was he
clever, but he was also more than capable of putting in a full day of
hard, physical toil, too.
Four years apart was a long time, particularly for a small boy like
Joe, who absolutely idolised his big brother, and there were plenty of
times that the little boy went to bed and cried himself to sleep,
wishing Adam was there. He also had to face walking through the door
and heading off to school, for the first time, without his big brother
there, to calm his fears, although Hoss did a good job of filling
Adam's shoes.
But, eventually, the four years passed, and the day the door opened,
to welcome Adam back to the Ponderosa, was one of the best Ben and his
boys could ever recall.
There were plenty of comings and goings, throughout the following
years. Various members of the family took business trips, and guests
came to stay; there was even the arrival of a new big brother, for
Joe. Marie's son, Clay, from her first marriage, turned up, and the
three boys stood, anxiously, outside the front door, as their father
talked to him. He stayed, for a while, but eventually decided that
life on a ranch was not for him.
But nothing changed, that dramatically, until the day arrived when
Adam decided it was time to leave the Ponderosa, possibly for good.
Ben and Hoss were very upset, but Joe took the news the hardest, and
reminded his big brother of the promise he had made to Marie, on the
day Joe was born, to always look after the boy.
"Buddy, I have always kept that promise, but you're all grown up,
now,
and don't need me to look after you, anymore. And now is the time to
do something, just for me. I have always been here, being the eldest
son and the big brother and I have loved doing that, but now I have to
just be Adam Cartwright, my own man. Please try and understand."
Right up until the time that the big, front door closed on Adam, Joe
maintained that he couldn't understand. But, the prospect of his
brother leaving, with there being bad feeling between them, was just
too awful for Joe to consider, and so he ran out of the door, calling
Adam's name.
"Wait, Adam," he yelled, and Ben, who was driving Adam to the
stage
depot, brought the horses to a halt.
Adam alighted from the buggy, and as the two young men embraced, Joe
said, "Don't forget, big brother, the door will always be open, and
you'll always be welcome on the Ponderosa."
"I know that, buddy, and one day, I'll be back, I promise," said Adam.
Joe knew that his big brother would never break a promise and so he
was content to see Adam go. He didn't know when it would be, but he
knew that, one day, he would open the door to find Adam standing
there, and that thought sustained him, through the many times when he
wished that Adam had never left.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
October 2nd 2006
* The Mountain Girl