by J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Fan Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13
LINK TO PART ONE
~
Adam cringed, convinced that he had discovered his own personal hell.
He had one arm around Marie, who was sobbing into his left shoulder. His free hand was clinging to the scruff of Little Joe’s neck, who was kicking his shins in an effort to escape.
Five more months till he left for college, he reminded himself. He just had to survive five more months.
“Let me go!” Joe shouted.
“Only if you stop attacking me,” Adam told him, keeping his voice even.
Joe’s response was a rude French phrase he had presumably picked up from his mother. Fortunately Marie intervened.
“Leave him be, mon petit,” she said. “He did not hurt me. I’m fine.”
Little Joe regarded Adam with suspicion but he stopped kicking him.
“Are you still angry with my Ma?” he asked.
Adam released Marie and crouched down so that he was eye level with his brother.
“Yes,” he answered. “But I won’t lay another hand on her. That was wrong of me.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. Now come here, buddy,” he said.
Little Joe flung himself into Adam’s arms, so Adam lifted him up and carried him upstairs.
“Why don’t you set up your fort and your toy soldiers,” Adam said as he set him down in his room. “Give me a few minutes with your Ma and then I’ll come up and we’ll have a battle.”
“Ok,” he answered. But he didn’t rush to set up the figures as Adam expected.
Adam scratched Joe’s head. “What wrong, Little Joe?”
Joe looked down at his feet and then back up at his brother. “Why do you hate my Ma so much?” he asked.
The question took Adam aback. “I don’t hate her, Joe,” he told him. “Why would you think that?”
“`Cause you’re always talking back to her and saying stuff to her. You make comments about her clothes and her perfume and the stuff she puts on her face—why don’t you think she’s pretty?”
Adam picked Joe up again and carried him over to the bed. He sat down with Joe on his lap.
“I do, Little Joe,” he said truthfully. “Your mother is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. But she would be just as beautiful in more modest dresses and without the paint.”
Joe sighed. “Yeah, but it’s not only that, Adam. If my Ma tries to help you with anything, you tell her that she’s doing it wrong. And you talk down to her—as if she doesn’t understand anything. And your voice always sounds nasty when you speak to her.”
Adam tried to respond to that—tried to defend himself. But he shut up as he realized how much truth there was to his brother’s words.
“And you always compare her to Hoss’s Ma,” Joe continued. "You’re so mean to her, Adam. I’ve overheard Pa and my Ma talking about it. He’s wanted to tan you good, but my Ma always stops him.”
Adam felt a sudden burning anger. He didn’t need Marie to protect him.
But his anger was tempered by shame. He knew how poorly he had treated her—right from the beginning. He promised himself that from now on he would show her respect.
No matter how he disapproved of her.
“You’re right Joe. I haven’t—well, I haven’t been kind to your Ma. I’ll try to behave better from now on.”
“I wish you would like her,” Joe said simply. “She likes you. She’s always saying how smart you are and how hard you work here. And she thinks you’re going to be real handsome.”
Adam managed to smile at that. “I need to go talk with your Ma,” he said as he set Joe back on the floor. “You get those soldiers set up.”
Joe nodded and set about gathering the figures that were strewn throughout the room. Adam got up and walked out. He shut the door behind him and then made his way downstairs.
Marie was curled up on the settee, staring into the fireplace. The flames cast a glow on her face.
Adam paused on the landing just to stare at her. Her hair was spilling over her shoulders and her face was glowing in the firelight.
She truly was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known.
He felt something catch in his throat as he stared at her. He looked away for a moment and then forced himself to continue down the stairs.
He walked over to her. She didn’t look up at him as he sat down on the table across from her.
“I’m sorry,” he said at length. “That will never happen again. I won’t lay a finger on you, I promise.”
She didn’t answer him.
He sighed. “Look, Marie. I don’t need you to protect me from Pa. I’ve been brutal to you—I know that. If Pa wants to take me in hand over it he’s got every right to.”
She still didn’t look up at him—but at least she smiled. “I’m not about to say a word to him—not while I still need the loan from you.”
“You can have it,” Adam said at once. “I won’t ask you any questions about it either.”
“You don’t need to,” she informed him, finally meeting his eyes. “I’m going to tell you the whole story. But cheri, I want you to promise to keep it to yourself. You cannot tell even your father.”
He shook his head. “I’m not going to make that promise. If you’re in some sort of trouble, Marie, there’s no one better than my father to get you out of it.”
She sighed. “Very well. I’ll tell you and then you’ll understand.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I’m a quadroon, Adam.”
Adam stared at her. ‘Quadroon’ was a common term in her native New Orleans—it meant someone who was one-quarter black.
“My mother was a mulatto,” she continued. “But she was a free black—one of the gens de couleur. She was the mistress of a wealthy French Creole—a white man, of course. When I was born my father knew that I would be light enough to pass. And so he arranged for me to be brought up in the white world without anyone knowing my ancestry.”
It took Adam a moment to assimilate her story. Marie took hold of his hand as he came to terms with the information.
“You’re father doesn’t know,” she told him.
“He wouldn’t care if he did,” Adam said at last. “You must know that.”
“I do know it,” she assured him. “But he would not relish hiding it like a guilty secret.”
“Well, why should it be a secret?” he demanded.
“Because of Joseph,” she explained. “You have no idea how difficult his life would be if people knew.”
Adam took his time about answering. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Marie. Little Joe should be told. It’s his heritage, after all. He deserves to know his ancestry.”
She smiled at him. “You’re growing up to be a good man, Adam—just like your father. And you’re an idealist, which I admire. But it’s easy to afford your ideals when you’re white.”
He looked away from her and thought that over. He was adult enough to realize that there was truth in her words.
“I won’t say anything to them,” he said. “Not now. But I won’t promise to keep quiet when Joe’s grown.”
“Thank you, cheri,” she said, giving his hand a light squeeze. “That gives me time to bring you to your senses.”
“What does all this have to do with the two thousand dollars?” Adam demanded.
Marie looked away from him. “One of my brothers came here today while you were out on the range. He needed it. And no, you may not meet him. He’s well on his way to San Francisco by now.”
“Was this charity on your part, Marie, or did he blackmail you?”
She smiled. “A bit of both. I send money to my mother when I can. My father was generous while he lived, you see, but he has been gone for some time. My brother is worthless, and my other brothers died of fever. But I have sisters as well. They’re all darker than I am—none of them could pass. One is married, but the rest still live with my mother.”
She paused and looked back at Adam. “I—I would like to know that they’ll always be looked after,” she continued. “In case anything should happen to me, perhaps you would be kind enough to send them funds from time to time? Nothing elaborate of course—I just send my pin money when I can.”
Adam nodded. “All right,” he said. “Give me their information. But Marie, if this brother of yours comes knocking at our door again, I expect you to tell me. I won’t have him coercing you.”
“Don’t worry, cheri, he won’t be back. I made that plain to him.”
Adam had his doubts on that score—if her brother had gotten money from her this time, why shouldn’t he try again?
And if she would just tell Pa the truth, she would be immune to his blackmail. But he didn’t point that out to her. He could tell that she meant to be stubborn on this issue.
But he was stubborn too. Someday he would tell Joe the whole story.
She released his hand and sighed. “The picture of Inger is fine—although I will have to replace the frame.”
“We’ll tell Pa that it was an accident,” Adam said.
She gave him a light, teasing grin. “Adam,” she said, “I know I’m a trial to you. I’m so very different from Inger. I don’t do all this tending the sick and fighting off Indian attacks. I’m sure if she were here she could run the Ponderosa by herself—but unfortunately you are stuck with me.”
“Well, Inger might be an impossible standard,” he admitted.
“She is,” she assured him. “But you are correct—she would not have taken that money from the safe. But then, she was also sensible enough to be born of two white parents.”
Adam laughed. “Don’t worry about the money—I said I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ll pay you back, cheri. With interest.”
“There’s no rush,” he said.
She smiled. “You can be so kind when it pleases you, Adam. Thank you. Now how long do you suppose we can stay in charity with each other?”
He returned her smile. “An hour or two, at least.” Then his face grew serious. “Marie, I don’t mean all the cruel things I say to you. It’s just that—”
“I know,” she said, cutting him off. “You and I have learned too well how to bring out the worst in each other. But every now and then we bring out the best.”
“Every now and then,” Adam agreed.
He stared at her, wanting to say something more. But he couldn’t find the words.
She winked at him. “Go upstairs, cheri,” she ordered. “We must part now while we are still on good terms. Besides, Little Joe is waiting for you.”
LINK TO PART SIX
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