A/N: Welcome to my first Bonanza fan fic! This will be a WHI for season nine all the way through season fourteen. I intend to work my way through every episode with Candy, so it may take a while. Some of this is already written and updates should be fairly quick, but once I run out of written chapters it may slow down.

I decided to write this since Candy is my favorite character from the show and there aren't nearly enough fan fics with him in them out there.

Of course, I sadly do not own Bonanza or anything relating to it, just my OC. Please read and review!

Edit: updated 2-18-21 to fix format and add line breaks


Anne Cartwright, Little Joe's twin sister, kept her eyes on the Paiute prisoner Wabuska. The man was watching a spot off to the left of their guards. She palmed her Colt and slipped back into the shadows of the towering butte overhead, working her way around to the right. The stranger popped right into the middle of their camp, rifle in the air, to lean against a large boulder. He glanced at the Paiute and turned his attention to the men milling around.

"Sure like to have a can of those peaches." The Sergeant jumped and spun. The man threw his hands in the air with a cocky grin. "Been a while since I ate."

"Major! Where'd you come from?"

"Out there." The stranger jerked his chin at the desert. He eyed the Paiute and strolled forward, every gun in camp aimed his way. "Your, um, tied up friend here looks like he could give a bobcat the first bite and come home with a fur coat," he said with a grin.

Her pa came hurrying away from where they'd left Joe on guard duty and the sergeant turned. "He just popped up Major. Didn't see or hear hi come in."

The stranger grinned.

"My name's Candy." Her pa frowned.

"Where you from?"

"Any town within five hundred miles east of here and I've been there."

"What's your business?"

"Trying to stay alive."

"How did you find this camp?" Another grin.

"Simple. I heard it." Pa and the Sergeant exchanged glances. "I walked upwind of the voices, saw your guards. Didn't want to bother them so I just walked right on in. That Paiute heard me coming. He was watching and waiting when I walked up." He looked around and grinned. "I'm the only one that's doing any talking. Any of you men got names?"

"Cartwright," her pa introduced himself. "Major Cartwright."

"Major? That sounds like Army."

"Militia. 116th."

"Militia, Army, what's the difference?"

"A big difference," the sergeant said. "No offense to the Major, but if this was a regular Army detail, you never would have got past those guards."

"Well, maybe not, but I sure would have tried," the stranger said on a laugh. Anne caught Hoss's eye and raised her eyebrows. Cocky fellow, wasn't he? "I sure am hungry, sir. Could I have a can of those peaches now?" Ben jerked his chin at the closest man who dug out a can of the preserved fruit. The stranger accepted it and whipped out his knife. Her pa glanced over the man's shoulder and Anne nodded.

"You say no one saw him come in?"

"Like a danged ghost, Major." Ben chuckled, despite the severity of the situation.

"You wanna bet on that, Sergeant?" The stranger looked up from his peaches.

"No one except him saw me come in."

"Anne?" She cocked her pistol and the stranger froze, glancing over his shoulder. She offered him a smile and the barrel of her Colt.

"Sure about that, cowboy?" He swallowed the peach half he'd just stuffed in his mouth.

"I have been wrong before." His gaze took in her dusty trail garb, the Colt in her hand, and the battered hat covering her braided hair.

Coyotes yipped, the sound rising and echoing across the night. Candy froze, staring off into the darkness. Wabuska yipped and called out. Anne blinked when Candy was suddenly in front of the Paiute, the knife he'd been eating with held to the warrior's throat.

"That one out there's coyote, but this one's pure Pauite. There are Paiute out there, let him make a sound and he'll bring them down on top of us." His eyes were grim. "We all know what they'll do to her."

Annie uncocked her pistol and stuffed it in its holster. "They'd have to catch me first."

"Which ain't gonna happen as long as one of us has breath in his lungs and a bullet in his gun." Hoss glared.

"What's she to you all that you'd bring her along?"

"She's my daughter. If I didn't know she would have followed as soon as we headed out, I would have left her behind in Virginia City."

"I sure hope you know what you got yourself into, Ms. Cartwright."

"Who's alone, me or you?" Candy eyed the group one by one.

"Come tomorrow, we may both be alone."

"Tomorrow, you all die." Wabuska said, voice dripping with contempt. Anne leveled him with a dark stare.

"We'll see about that." The stranger stepped away and went back to his peaches. The rest of the group gathered around.

"Candy. Candy," Steve snickered. "Now what kind of a name would that be?"

"My name." He licked his knife. "After a while, it won't sound any funnier than Steve, or Hoss." They all looked at each other, amused smiles spreading. Her pa nodded thoughtfully and leaned against a nearby boulder.

"You've just come from the country to which we're headed. What's it like out there?"

"You're gonna run into every Paiute in this part of the world. Plus some Shoshone and some Utes. All of them wearing warpaint and hunting for scalps."

He set to scraping the can. "Don't ask me how many, I was too busy hiding and too scared to count."

"You said you walked in here? Where'd you leave your horse?"

"About two days and about forty miles behind. Shot out from under me." He looked up. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra would you?"

"No, sorry."

"Afraid of that," Candy said with a shrug and slurped the last of the peach juice. "Tell you what, I'll settle for another can of peaches." Her pa nodded at Spence and the man plucked the empty can from Candy's hand and left to bring another couldn't keep quiet another minute. She stepped forward and leaned against the rock beside him.

"You couldn't get past me if you tried, cowboy."

"Give me time, miss, we may have occasion to find out." Anne laughed.

"I'll take that bet, Candy." She pushed off the boulder and made her way across camp to her guard post.


She paced the edges of their camp, watching the night. Everything might look like shadows, but her gut told her someone was out there, watching them. Hoss was the best tracker in the family, but she wasn't far behind. Another year or two of practice and she might best even her older brother. The faint click of a rifle cocking spun her around. She was already moving before the trigger happy kid screamed. Candy was flying off to the right before she could react. Gun ready, she almost ran over top of the kid's lifeless body. Anne sighed and ran on, finding her pa and the sergeant hovering over the dead Paiute a few yards further on. The sergeant stared out into the night.

"Where the devil did he go?"

"I wish I knew." She followed their gaze. Already cleared out. Somehow, she wasn't surprised. Anne turned back for camp. It was going to be a long night.

A few hours shy of dawn, she jerked upright when a branch snapped under foot. Joe and Candy strolled into the middle of camp, Candy leading a blaze-faced roan."Makes a fella feel good everybody so glad to see him."

"We might be. If we knew where you've been and why." Her pa stepped forward, eyes stern.

"Horse hunting. Told you I'd been walking for two days, figured them Paiutes owed me a horse. Took me an hour to find him."

"That leaves two hours unaccounted for," Anne spoke up, earning a frown from her pa.

"I wanted to make sure that brave was alone. Only one set of tracks leading in, no scent of smoke on the wind. Only thing I didn't figure was the kind of horse I was gonna find." The sergeant was already running his hands over the roan.

"You know this horse, Sergeant?"

"Colonel Brill's mount." He turned. "A Troop must have been completely wiped out after we left with the prisoner."

"Just as Wabuska promised," the warrior interrupted. "Paiute, Shoshone, Ute. Kill all soldiers. All white men." The sergeant flew across the camp and grabbed the Paiute by the chin.

"One more sound and you're gonna be wearing that gag."

"At any rate, they're gonna be looking for this horse come first light," Candy said.

"We'll be gone by that time. You coming with us?"

"Hadn't figured to. Got no love for the Army or the militia. Saluting, taking orders, and saying sir kinda rub me the wrong way. I started out on my own when I found him." He looked down at the horse. Hoss shifted his weight.

"Why'd you come back?" A good question. As ghost-like as he could be, what would worry him? Candy grinned.

"Got lonesome." Anne snorted and his grin widened. "I figured when the Paiutes start taking horses from the cavalry, a man alone don't stand much of a chance. I'd like to ride with you. I'll even learn to salute." He brought his hand up to his forehead.

"They're out there, Major. And they won't give up."

"Can you obey orders?" Her pa had that tone to his voice that brooked no argument.

"Yes, Major." Her pa nodded.

"Alright, from now on we ride two man point, first man keeps in sight of the second, who keeps in sight of the main body himself. We leave in an hour."

"Yes, sir." The group broke up. Anne drew in a deep breath and stared out at the silent desert. Would they make it to Fort Churchill?


Anne kicked her horse closer to Cochise and followed Joe's gaze over the ridge. "How close do you think they are?" Her brother shook his head.

"You shouldn't have come."

"You know I wouldn't stay behind."

"This is one time you should have listened, Annie." Joe turned, meeting his twin's gaze. "If we get overrun, you take off for the sage and run Reno into the ground if that's what it takes to get to that fort alive."

"Joe, take point behind Spence. Keep him and us in sight at all times." Ben headed the column and gestured for them to move out.

Anne found herself riding two back, next to Candy. He glanced over and studied her attire. "They get close enough, they'll see right through that disguise."

"They're that close, they're in pistol range." Her hand dropped to the Colt at her hip.

"You got sand, sweetheart, but it'll take more than that to reach Fort Churchill alive."

"I've never been the shrinking violet type, Candy." She reined Reno around a downed branch. "I grew up with three older brothers."

"They weren't out to kill you." A grin tipped up her lips.

"There might have been a time or two they'd have liked to do just that." Candy chuckled.

"Really?" She nodded. "I might like to hear about those sometime."

"Whoa." Anne frowned and reined Reno up beside her pa and Joe; Candy followed.

"What is it, Pa?" Joe stared over the ridge.

"He should still be in sight." Worried eyes traced the ridge line. "But he's not."

"Go slow."

"Right, Pa." Joe nudged Cochise into motion and Anne heeled Reno right behind him, sliding her rifle from its scabbard.

"Annie!" She ignored her pa's bitten off cry of protest. She always had her twin's back; a bunch of marauding Indians wasn't going to change that.

"You're not really gonna let her go –"

"Candy, once she gets an idea in her head, it'd take a dynamite blast to dislodge it." She turned and found her pa's eyes. He nodded wearily and she nodded back, wheeling Reno around to canter after Joe. They hadn't ridden more than a few hundred feet before Joe leaped off Cochise and flattened himself against a rock. Annie followed suit, pressing herself flat against the ground next to Reno's hooves. Joe brought his rifle up, then lowered it, and Annie caught a glimpse of brown fur as a coyote tore off into the scrub. She rolled her eyes. Really, Joe? She got to her feet and inched closer as Joe straightened. Suddenly, he spun around and waved her back, then crept around the giant rock. And he was already ignoring what he'd been told about keeping in scrambled after him and rounded the Indians rode off in the distance, leading a third mount behind them, and she knew just what had happened to Spence. The Indians vanished over the next rise and Joe crept up to the man's crumpled body, rolling him over, but even Annie could see the man was dead. No one could live with that many arrows in their chest. She sighed and swung back into Reno's saddle. How many more would they lose before this trip was over?


That night, she watched the desert from her guard post, occasionally glancing over to catch her twin's eye. The silence out in the desert at night was enough to drive someone crazy. She could imagine a creeping Paiute behind every piece of scrub or rock. The night passed without incident. Her pa woke the men still sleeping shortly after dawn. Steve ambled over to his brother's bedroll and kicked at the blanket covered figure. The blanket pulled back to reveal Joe. "Where's Hack?"

"He's on watch, relieved me just after two this morning." Joe crawled out of the bedroll and stretched. Steve shot him a worried glance and made his way out to the guard post. He was back in less than a minute. "He's not out there." He hurried to her pa. "Did you send Hack on a mission?" Ben shook his head. "It's them Paiutes, they couldn't get him, so they must have got Hack." He worked the lever on his rifle, would have killed Wabuska had her pa not grabbed the gun and wrestled it out of his hands. No one moved, staring in silence, as Steve walked to the edge of camp. "I got my brother out of jail. And I brought him out here just to get him killed." Annie looked to her own brothers, able to understand the man's quietly devastated emotions. How would she feel if it had been Hoss? Or Joe? She swallowed hard and went to saddle Reno.

Candy and Joe took point that morning. They stopped just short of a ridge and Candy dismounted, then crept forward on his belly to peer over the top. He froze and Ben motioned her and the sergeant to join him. They reached Joe and the four of them rode to meet Candy. They crept up the rise. Annie swallowed hard at the sight of the war party riding along four or five wide, at least ten or fifteen deep.

"Is that who I think it is?" Joe looked over at their pa.

"That's Winetka." They watched the horde of Indians pass. "The one chief I didn't think could be stampeded into war." The last stragglers rode by the ridge and they crept back down. "Let's go."

They rode on, rifles at the ready, watching the cliffs for any sign of an ambush. Candy looked over at Joe several hours later. "My turn." He kicked his horse forward and took point. He hadn't gone more than a few miles when he suddenly wheeled his horse, jumped off, and scrambled for cover, prompting Joe to do the same. Annie rushed up and promptly swallowed bile at the gruesome sight in front of them.

"Hack." Steve took two steps away from the horses. "Hack!" He scrambled over the rocks. Joe tackled him and they went down. "Hack! Hack!" Anne looked away from the fight on the dusty ground as Joe attempted to subdue the murdered man's brother. Her pa dismounted and rushed over to help.

"Steve, listen to me, they want you to go out there so they can kill you, they want us to go out one by one so they can pick us off."

"Major, look what they done to Hack!" Steve struggled.

"Listen to me! You're gonna stay with the detail and you're gonna follow orders. Do you understand?" Would any of them see Fort Churchill? She looked past Candy to Joe. What if she lost her brother?

"They'll do even worse to you." Candy sidled the roan up on her right side.

"And just what do you propose I do – light out like my tail end is on fire for Fort Churchill? Alone?" The look in her eyes questioned his sanity. "None of us can go back or forward unless we go as one. Like you said, if they're taking horses from the cavalry, what chance does a man – or woman – alone have?"

"You got me there, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry."

"You don't sound it."

"Move out!" Candy glanced up and sighed, barely audible over Steve's sobs. Anne kicked Reno into a canter and shouldered past him, determined to prove she could pull her own weight. Hoof beats rang out and she glanced over her shoulder to see the roan coming hard. Leading the column down into a gorge, she wheeled Reno sideways, studying the ground ahead, the towering buttes on either side. Several yards back, she could see Candy halted and waiting for the signal to go ahead. Reno's nostrils flared wide and she leaned over his neck, pressing her face to the sun-warmed hide.

"What is it, boy?" She whispered to the mustang. "Where are they?" She knew they were out there; the little mustang didn't miss a trick. They were only about eight to ten hours from Fort Churchill; the Indians window of opportunity was disintegrating like a rain soaked cliff. Her instincts were screaming that it was time to ride hard and ride fast. Laying the carbine across her lap, Anne knotted the reins and dropped them over the saddle horn. She drew her pistol and cocked both weapons. Looking back again, she could see her pa and Joe exchange worried looks. Joe reined Cochise forward at the same instant Candy seemed to realize exactly what she was doing.

"Wait a minute!" He kicked the roan into a canter when she spurred Reno hard, driving the savvy little mustang into a dead run. Hooves drummed over the ground behind her, alerting her to Candy's pursuit.

Maybe she'd been wrong, maybe nothing was going to happen.

The sand exploded on either side of Reno; Paiutes leaped from the ground. She fired point blank, taking out one before the little mustang carried her out of range of the reaching hands. Rifle fire whizzed through the air, followed by a startled exclamation. Anne spun in the saddle, firing at another brave. Candy'd been surrounded, too. She fired at the closest man and saw him topple onto his face, giving Candy a little room to maneuver.

"Go! Split up!" Ben shouted from the rear. "Get clear!" She picked up the knotted reins in her pistol hand, reining Reno around, still firing like the devil was coming at her head on.

Candy fought himself free and gigged the roan away from the oncoming horde of painted warriors. Side by side, they bolted across the plain, racing for the canyon the rest of the survivors had found.

As soon as she slid off Reno, Joe was there, scooping her up in a hug. "Don't you ever do anything that stupid again, sis."

"Anne Marie Cartwright." Ben stalked forward, finished seeing to the wounded sergeant. He engulfed her in a tight hug. "You just took ten years off my life."

"Do you have any idea how stupid that was?" Candy shot forward until they were nose to nose. "We all could have been killed."

"And what kind of chance would we have, had I trotted across that? Speed was our ally, Candy. Trotting, they would have had a much better chance of pulling Reno over. Galloping, they had to catch up to him first."

"But –" He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "It doesn't matter now, we're outnumbered at least ten to one." He jerked his chin at the waiting line of braves three hundred distant.

"Why are you doing this? Nothing can save you now." Ben turned his attention to the Chief they'd captured during the melee.

"You and I are friends, I have been to your house and you have been to mine. We have exchanged many gifts of friendship."

"Long ago, yes. Now, all changed."

"You and I haven't changed, we are still the same." Her pa pointed out at the line of braves. "But out there, things have changed. People have died, many more will die. Thousands of soldiers will come, your tribes will be destroyed, all of them."

"We will not die, only the white men will die this time. Bullets will not hurt Wabuska, he laughs at white men's guns and he will teach us his magic."

"Winettka, you're a wise man, how can you believe this?"

"Look at him." The chief stood and gestured at Wabuska. "He ride through hundreds of bullets all this day and not one of them harmed him."

"We rode through the same fire –" Joe began.

"And nothing happened to us," Anne finished.

"Just luckier than the rest, that's all Chief," Hoss added.

"He cannot be hurt, he will never die," Winetka protested. "It is written, Wabuska will lead our people to victory everywhere. With my own rifle I fired at him and the bullet leave no mark."

"Winetka, he tricked you."

"No, he has great power, power to destroy our enemies!" Anne caught Candy rolling his eyes.

"He is a man, like you and me. If he has magic powers why doesn't he use them? Why doesn't he disappear in a puff of smoke? Why does he allow himself to be captured by us?" Wabuska sat against a rock, a smug look on his face. Anne wanted to slap if off his sneering face.

"It was my wish. Take me to your strongest fort. I will melt away, the strongest iron cannot hold me."

"Alright." Her pa's jaw firmed and he drew his gun. "Winetka. Let's find out if he's a man or a god. If I shoot a bullet into him, he'll bleed and he'll die." Joe looked up from tending the sergeant.

"Major, you can't do that, sir!"

"He's my responsibility." Ben aimed at the brave, who started squirming and trying to move out of the line of fire. "Wabuska, I'll find out about you. What are you afraid of, Wabuska? This is only a white man's bullet, white men's bullets cannot hurt you, you've said so many times. You're a god, you have magical powers. Let's see how these magical powers work right now."

"Stop him! Stop him!" Hoss shoved the man back in front of the gun. Anne smiled at the look in Wabuska's eyes. He knew he was caught.

"Wabuska, I see fear in your heart. You tremble like a woman!" Anne smothered a growl. "For this one, my braves have died!" The chief grabbed the gun and fired. Blood oozed from Wabuska's arm. Everyone looked at each other, then out to the line of waiting braves.

"Winetka, he bleeds like any man." The chief straightened, his proud face lined with sorrow and disgust.

"I have been a fool. What you do with us now?" Ben holstered his gun.

"Go back to your people. Tell them Wabuska bleeds, tell them he lies, and he's no longer your leader. Tell them they must allow us to go through to Fort Churchill where he will be punished. Speak to the other tribes, say to them there must be no more waste of lives. No more blood must run on the sand as it ran today white man's or red man's. Tell them we know no false gods. Tell them this, Chief Winetka." The chief looked up and held out his hand in silence. Ben shook it and the chief walked out of the canyon, mounted his horse, and rode away.

"Would you have shot him, Pa?" she asked softly. He looked at her.

"You saw the death, the blood, the senselessness. Would I have shot him? Would you?" She swallowed hard and looked away, watching the line of warriors ride off over the ridge. Ben called for them to mount up and she moved back to Reno.

"You know, there's a little thing I forgot to ask. What does this military duty pay?" Candy leaned against the roan.

"It's volunteer duty. Food, bandages as needed, and a vote load of thanks." Ben fiddled with Buck's saddle.

"Well, you think maybe that vote of thanks could stretch to a horse and saddle?" Candy pressed. "You recall, that Paiute kinda shot mine out from under me."

"Yeah, I guess it could include that much." Her pa's face lightened, as though he'd thought of something. "And more, maybe. We'll need some roundup hands once we get back to the ranch."

"Hard work," Hoss interjected, "but one thing's for sure, the Paiute won't be shooting your horse out from under you." Candy shook his head.

"No, thanks. I'm not looking for a steady job. I got a lot of traveling to do." He moved to mount up. Annie and Joe exchanged amused looks.

"Kinda sounds to me like the man don't like hard work." Joe snickered.

"Now wait a minute." He looked between the three of them. The lot of you haven't seen the day I couldn't work you into the ground. I could show you more riding, more roping, more bulldogging – "

"Looks like you done hired yourself a hand, Pa," Hoss interrupted. Candy drew in a breath and let it out without saying a word. He shook his head, a smile creeping over his face.

"Alright. For a while. But it's gotta cut both ways: I can leave anytime I get the notion, and you can send me down the road, same way."

"Sounds fair enough," Joe commented.

"Yeah, I guess it sounds fair enough. It sounds like we've got a new hand. And mister, you've got yourself a job." Candy smiled and swung into the saddle.

Annie mounted Reno and reined the gelding around on Candy's right side. He glanced over, eyebrows raised, as the boys and Ben rode off.

"You got something to say, sweetheart?"

"Pa's a good man, don't mistake that for weakness. We Cartwrights have dealt with more trouble than you'll ever see." Candy grinned.

"Don't be too sure about that, sweetheart, we might be more evenly matched than you think."

A/N: You'll notice I omitted the last night of the trip since it seemed kind of redundant to me. Next chapter should be up tomorrow or Wednesday. Have to polish it up just a little. While you're waiting, I have another fan fic up for Young Guns, titled The Last Regulator, if that interests you.