The New Hand, Part 105

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

~

Everything remained calm on the Ponderosa for the next two weeks—but Adam should have realized that it was the sort of calm that comes just before a storm.

Abby, Josephine and David were all still living at the main house. Josephine and Abby shared a guest room while David continued to share Adam’s room.

Adam hadn’t actually intended for David to remain in his room—not now that David was up and about. After all, Adam had promised himself that he wouldn’t flaunt his relationship with David in front of Pa. But Pa didn’t seem to care about the sleeping arrangements, so Adam decided to leave well enough alone.

Of course, the arrangements would change soon enough—David and Abby would move into the cottage and Josephine would start dividing her time between the Ponderosa and Virginia City. But at present, everyone seemed content and so Adam decided to enjoy the calm that had settled over the house.

But as soon as Adam walked into the main house that Friday afternoon, he could sense the tension in the air. Abby was talking with Hop Sing, discussing the menu for dinner. Her voice was agitated—she seemed upset at something.

Because Joe was Catholic, the Cartwrights usually ate fish on Friday nights. Up until now, that had always suited Abby for the Sabbath meal. Nothing would make the Ponderosa kosher, but fish was the least un-kosher thing that the ranch had to offer.

Adam waited until Hop Sing had returned to the kitchen and then cocked his head at Abby. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

She sighed. “Everything’s ruined for the Shabbat meal tonight,” she said.

Adam automatically translated Shabbat in his head: it was Hebrew for ‘Sabbath.’ Adam noticed that she was saying the word with a Sephardic accent—‘sha-BAHT’—instead of her own Ashkenazi accent—‘SHAH-bus.’ No doubt that was due to David’s influence.

He gave Abby a reassuring smile. “I’m sure that’s not true—I can already smell your challah bread. And I think we’ve done a good job of learning Shabbat traditions. I know the meal won’t be kosher, but—”

“Oh, there’s no problem with the food,” she said at once. “David and I don’t expect you to keep kosher for our sakes. The problem is—” she paused to sigh.

“The problem is,” she continued, “That David’s mother has decided to marry Mr. Cartwright in his church. She told David that this morning.”

Adam cringed. He could guess David’s feelings about his mother being married in a Christian church. “How—how did David react?” he asked.

“Quite well, actually,” Abby said. “Oh, he wasn’t pleased, but he said the right things. He told his mother that she should do whatever she thought was best. And when I spoke to him later, he just shrugged and said that it was only fair. He knows that his mother doesn’t care about religion one way or the other and your father does—so he could understand them marrying in Mr. Cartwright’s church.”

Adam was surprised but pleased. “Good,” he said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Then what’s the problem?”

Abby sighed again and sank into one of the dining room chairs. “I think that Josephine was trying to get a rise out of David. And when it didn’t work, she decided to push him further. She told him that she intends to convert to your father’s religion.”

“I see,” Adam said grimly. “I imagine that did get a rise out of David.”

“It did,” Abby agreed. “It led to an awful fight between the two of them—you should have heard the things they said to each other! And now they’re not speaking. Josephine’s not even here; she went into town. You’re father has already ridden to Virginia City in order to talk some sense into her.”

“Good—it’s best to let him handle her,” Adam advised. “I’ll go up and talk to David and see if I can calm him down.”

Abby nodded and wished him luck. Adam leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and then made his way upstairs.

David was inside his room, dressing for Shabbat. He kissed Adam in greeting and then gave him a sheepish smile. “You missed the fireworks here this morning,” he commented.

“So I heard,” Adam returned.

“Should we talk business first?” David asked. “We might as well get that over with before the Sabbath. I took care of all the accounts that had to do with the timber contracts, but you ought to look over the one that concerns the Hastings—”

“That can wait,” Adam said, shaking his head.

“Should we talk about Niles, then?”

Adam grinned as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “You’re determined to talk about anything other than your mother, aren’t you?” he asked. “You know we don’t have any more news on Niles. He’s been charged with ordering your murder. Now we just have to wait and see if he’ll weasel his way out of the charges.”

David grinned back at Adam as he leaned against the wall and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I suppose I was trying to avoid discussing my mother. She’s converting just out of spite, you know.”

“It’s not unusual for a woman to convert to her husband’s religion,” Adam pointed out.

“Marie didn’t convert,” David countered. “She remained a Catholic and made sure that Joe was christened a Catholic as well.”

“That’s true,” Adam owned. “Well, maybe Josephine feels that, since she doesn’t care about religion, she might as well follow Pa’s lead.”

David regarded him quietly for a moment. “Adam,” he said at length, “this is different. You know what’s at stake. For the past 2000 years, Christians—or so-called Christians—have subjected Jews to pogroms, expulsions, inquisitions, forced conversions—the list goes on and on. And they’ve decimated our numbers. Because of Christian persecution there are, relatively speaking, precious few Jews left.”

Adam didn’t bother arguing—he was too well acquainted with Christian history. “Christianity, from the time of Constantine, has had tremendous political power,” he said softly. “And we all know how dangerous a religion with political power in its hands is—any religion.”

David nodded. “Just so. Look, if my mother honestly believed that a nice Jewish boy was God incarnate and that his death on a cross somehow saved the world—well, I wouldn’t be happy about it, but I’d support her decision. And I’d do my best to respect her beliefs. But to convert out of spite? I swear, she’s trying to punish me for daring to be even marginally observant.”

Adam sighed. “That’s what it sounds like,” he admitted. “But I don’t see what’s to be gained from fighting with her over it.”

David just shrugged, but his face was twisted with annoyance. Adam could tell that, left to himself, he’d spend the next few hours stewing in anger.

He stood up and crossed over to David. Then he placed his hands on David’s shoulders and looked deeply into his eyes.

“David,” he said, speaking softly again, “your mother loves you. She accepts you and me and she’s even doing her best to make our lives easier.”

He paused and gave David a half-smile. “But for whatever reason,” he continued, “she has a deep and abiding prejudice against observant Judaism. And—well, she enjoys getting a rise out of you. That’s not her most admirable quality, but you’re going to have to learn to live with it.”

David’s eyes hardened. “You’re asking a great deal of me.”

“Oh, I’m not asking,” Adam assured him. “I’m giving you an order.”

“Is that so?” David asked, raising his eyebrows at him. “You and I are going to have quite a wrestling match when my shoulder is healed.”

“When your shoulder is healed, I’m going to give you the talking-to that you’ve earned,” Adam promised. “I don’t think I’ll have to wait that long, either. It’s almost safe enough to take you over my knee now.”

David smiled, undaunted. “I’m looking forward to it—or at least to watching you try.”

Adam smiled back as he leaned forward, mock-forcing David back against the wall. He kissed David roughly—and David returned the embrace with enthusiasm. It was a long while before they broke apart.

David sighed as the kiss finally ended. “Much as I hate to admit it, you are right about my mother,” he owned. “When she returns I’ll tell her that—well, that she can do as she pleases and that she’ll get no more argument from me. I'll even support her if she goes through with the damned conversion. But I’m going to order her not to badmouth Judaism in front of her future grandchildren—or tell them that they’d be better off as Protestants.”

Adam cocked his head at him. “David, your mother would never do such a thing.”

But David just smiled wryly. “Oh, you have no idea how spiteful my mother can be.”

LINK TO PART 106