by J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Fan Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG
LINK TO PART ONE
~
Liam sighed as he lied down on his cot. The worst part of his punishment was that he still had to apologize to Molly and do something nice for her. He could think up a real convincing apology, but what was he supposed to do for her? Adam wouldn’t let him off, though—he just shrugged and said that Liam would come up with something.
Liam turned his head so that he could look at Adam. His bleeding-heart benefactor was sitting up on the big bed with his legs stretched out in front of him, looking over some papers.
Liam smiled a little. His brother used to let him sleep next to him sometimes—especially on nights when the fog was thick and the air was cold and damp.
“Hey Adam,” Liam called out.
“Hey what?” Adam asked, still looking over the papers.
“Did you ever used to sleep next to your little brother? Your youngest brother, I mean.”
Adam smiled but he still didn’t look up from his work. “Sometimes,” he owned. “Little Joe used to love to crawl next to me at night and listen to stories.”
“Even when he was my age?” Liam asked.
“How old are you?” Adam countered. “Eleven?”
“Yeah,” Liam answered. “I just turned eleven in February.”
“Well, not so much when he was eleven,” Adam admitted. “But he did every once in a while—especially if he’d had a nightmare or if it was really cold out.”
“It’s kinda cold right now,” Liam informed him. “It’s always cold in San Francisco.”
Adam set the papers down on his lap. “Yeah, I suppose it is,” he agreed. “Come here.”
Liam didn’t wait for any further invitation. He pushed himself off his cot and lipmped over to Adam. Then he settled down next to him. Adam put one arm loosely around his shoulders as he used his free hand to pick the papers up again.
“What are you working on?” Liam asked.
“Timber contracts,” Adam explained. “The Ponderosa does a certain amount of logging each year.”
“Oh,” Liam said. Adam had talked about his family’s ranch before, but Liam couldn’t really picture it. He’d never been outside of San Francisco.He wouldn’t mind seeing the Ponderosa, but it was hard to imagine living on a place like that. Liam liked city-life—he was used to lots of people around. It must get lonely to be surrounded by cattle.
But it didn’t matter, he reminded himself. Adam didn’t need a street rat trailing after him on his ranch.
He sighed. He had long since learned that it didn’t pay to get your hopes up about the future. It was best just to enjoy whatever you were lucky enough to get your hands on right now. And with that in mind, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with his head on Adam's shoulder. He would just enjoy the security that Adam provided—however temporary it might prove.
LINK TO PART ELEVEN
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