Epilogue

Sara lay fast asleep on the stomach in her bed with the blanket sprawled over her legs. Adam slowly made his way over to her and sat carefully down on the edge of the bed. Sara turned to the side, but continued to sleep.

She was dreaming of the fair. Her dad had bought her a wagon full of caramels, but then Black Knight jumped up on the wagon and gobbled everything up.

When Adam heard her murmuring something about a mean ole dog, he decided to wake her up. He gently stroked her cheek, causing the child to stir. Sara woke up a few seconds later with a dozy expression on her face as Adam continued to caress her small cheek.

"How did you sleep Sweetheart?" Adam brushed some curls out of her face and was greeted by a sleepy smile.

"Good. I dreamed that you bought me a wagon full of caramel, but then Black Knight ate everything. I guess he still angry, cause I made him eat my bonnet." Sara murmured sleepily and reached out with her arms. Grinning Adam picked her up and sat her down on his lap.

"I bet he was."

"Harumpht, I would have gave him some, if he had asked." Sara huffed and snuggled closer to her dad.

"Given, Sara, not gave."

"Huh?"

"I would have given him some sweets." Adam repeated pronouncing the word.

Sara hit him playfully against the ribs. "It's too early for gram... grammatical lessons dad. I'm tired." She muffled.

"Well then, you probably aren't interested in eating breakfast."

"I am! I am, don't be silly dad." The child quickly protested and jumped off his lap heading for her wardrobe to get some clothes. Adam got to his feet and followed her. As she went to take out a pair of flap-trousers, Adam took the clothing out of her hand. Setting it back he handed her a dress instead.

"Awww daddy, can't I just for once wear pants ta school?" Sara whined giving him her best puppy-eyes.

"We've had this debate too numerous times to count; Sara and I won't say it again." Adam replied, playfully swatting her backside causing Sara to yelp.

"My backside is still sore; I can't take any more swats today." She complained rubbing her backside to get some relief from the sting.

"You will just have to stay out of trouble, then. Now, let's get you dressed and then you can chase Little Joe out of his bed." He took her hand, led her over to the bed and quickly helped her into her clothes.

"Can ya do my hair, daddy?"

"Of course." He turned her around and gathered her hair into the preferred ponytail. "Finished!" Adam spun her around and kissed her nose causing her to giggle. "Now go and try to get your lazy uncle out of bed. Tell him if he doesn't come, Grandpa will come and get him."

"Okay." Sara ran out of her room with a broad smirk on her face. This could be fun. She thought.

When she entered the room, she spotted Little Joe sound asleep on his bed, snoring very loudly. Tiptoeing over to his bed, Sara tried to think of a good way to wake him up, without making him too angry. She decided to be nice, this time at least. Patting him on the chest she tried to get him out of the land of dreams, but there was no sign that she was going to be successful. Sara huffed and pinched his nose, but that didn't get any reaction either.

Such a sleepyhead! She headed over to the full wash basin, soaked a cloth then headed back and stood next to the bed, dangling the wet cloth above Joe's head. Then she dropped the dripping piece of cold fabric on her uncle's face. With a startled and muffled scream Little Joe sat bolt upright. Now wide awake and groaning, he put both hands against his head.

"Aah, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, my head! Adam ya stubborn granite-head leave me alone. I'm sick." He folded the washcloth and placed it with a relieved sigh against his forehead.

"I ain't dad, Uncle Joe. It's me Sara. Dad said if ya don't get out of bed, Grandpa will come and fetch ya, but I tell them that you're sick." Sara turned around and started to head out of the room again.

"No, tell them I'm coming." Little Joe quickly protested. The girl went back to his bedside with a worried expression on her face.

"But ya said; you're sick? So you should stay in bed." Sara went to push him back onto the mattress, but her attempts were blocked by Little Joe.

"Stop mothering me, Shorty and go down to breakfast." He muttered, then added. "I have no need of a little girl's help."

Sara flounced out of the room in a huff. First he says he's sick and then when I wanna help he sends me out. Grownups can be so dumb sometimes.

"Oooooh, my head!" Little Joe groaned and sat up in his bed. "Never, ever, ever again." He promised himself. His head was killing him and he felt like he was going to throw up and to top everything off, he had an absolutely disgusting taste in his mouth.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get down for breakfast!" Adam bellowed when he heard his little brother's grunts.

"Be quiet!" Little Joe yelled.

Ben looked up hearing the loud voices. He also spotted a miffed little girl coming down the stairs followed by a frowning Adam.

"JOSEPH FRANCIS CARTWRIGHT! GET DOWN HERE, NOW!" Ben roared.

Sara suppressed the urge to laugh, when she heard him groan, "Yes, sir." and soft thumps as Little Joe tried to dress himself too quickly.

"He's grumpy today, Grandpa." Sara slumped down on her usual chair and looked over to her dad. "Do I havta go to school today, dad? I don't want ta sit all day."

"I'm afraid you have no choice, sweetheart." Adam replied grinning into his cup of coffee.

"It ain't funny." Sara grumbled in a low voice as she stared at her plate, then picked up a fork and dug into her breakfast.

A few minutes later Little Joe shuffled down the stairs, murmuring over and over again. "Coffee, coffee, all I need is coffee."

"You and I will have a serious talk after breakfast, young man." Ben stated firmly.

Little Joe simply nodded and grabbed his usual chair. Sara curiously looked from her young Uncle to her Grandpa. What did he mean a serious talk? If dad said that, it usually means that I'm in deep trouble and would most likely be getting my backside tanned, but Grandpa couldn't do that to Uncle Joe, could he? After all he is all grown up.

"Finish your breakfast, Sara. We have to leave soon," said Adam.

Sara looked up to her dad, nodded quickly and directed her attention to her plate again. As soon as she was finished she raced up to grab her slate and school books, just stopping a few seconds to ruffle Black Knight's fur.

A few minutes later Adam was helping her up in the saddle and together they rode off to Virginia City, leaving Little Joe in the custody of Ben.

Joe poured himself another cup of coffee and nibbled on some toast.

"Now, Joseph," started Ben.

"Pa, not so loud."

"Don't not so loud, Pa, me. You have nobody to blame but yourself, young man. How many times have we talked about not drinking to excess? Beer after beer on a hot day, Joseph was never going to fair you well, so don't be going; OH NOT SO LOUD PA… ME!" He shouted.

Joe cringed with each of his father's roaring words. "Sorry pa, you're right, I should have kept tabs on how much I was drinking."

"Joseph, I'm fine with you having a social bear. I'm fine with you having something a little stronger on a cold night on the trail, or a celebration after months of hard work after a dusty round up, but I will not tolerate intoxication. We now have a child in this house who looks to you for guidance…"

"Why, I ain't her pa?"

"Looks for guidance, along with her father. In her eyes, you are an adult, a young man and should be setting a good example. She is also a girl child, Joseph, one surrounded by men. Sara will need the men in this house to guide her to make sound judgements about future men in her life. It is important that she has sound and moral expectations."

"Okay Pa, I get what you are sayin and I will be more careful next time." A now fully remorseful Joe responded.

"Good Joseph, because this is the last time I will remind you of your responsibilities. And I would like to make it perfectly clear, that while Sara sees you as an adult, I still see you as my son, a boy who may be in need of some old fashioned correction."

"Pa I'm too old for a trip to the barn." whined Joe sounding all of ten years old.

"Oh, you think so… well I wouldn't test me on that one, if I were you. And if I haven't convinced you yet, just ask Adam and Hoss what happened to them the year they got into old Muley's moonshine after a barn-dance. You just ask them, whether they were too old for a trip to the barn the next morning, when their HEADS STOPPED HURTING and their rear ends started."

"Yes pa," whispered Joe, so wanting to hold his head, fearing it was actually going to fall off his shoulders and land in the pile of uneaten and unsavoury looking scrambled eggs. Instead he gulped down another full cup of coffee.

Ben tried not to laugh as Hop Sing then came in from the kitchen, with a glass of cold milk spiked with peppermint. He had to cover his mouth with his table napkin, when he saw Joe turn pale at the sight of the cook cracking an egg and drop it into the milk.

"Silly boy, drink, then run." ordered Hop Sing.

"Huh, why?"

"DRINK!" Yelled Hop Sing.

Joe jumped, and quickly downed the drink. When he felt the egg slide down his throat and the brew hit his stomach, Joe's eyes went wide... And he ran.

Hop sing and Ben burst into fits of laughter as soon as the boy made it through the door and was out of sight.

"Work every time, Mista Cartlight, every time," the Chinese cook giggled as he stared to clear the table.

Sara's POV

"Dad? When will Grandpa come back from San Francisco?" I asked looking curiously up at him.

"He'll be gone for about one week, Sweetheart. He leaves tomorrow on Tuesday and comes back next week."

"Why does he havta leave, anyway?"

"He wants to secure a contract with a large company down there. Our old contract we had with a hotel chain has been cancelled. They went bankrupt and now we've got hundreds of good cattle waiting to be sold." He explained.

"Okay." I replied. To be honest I hadn't understood everything, but I had gotten the point. Grandpa would be gone cuz he wanted to make money.

"Dad? Do ya think he'll bring me a present?" I asked smiling broadly up at him.

He chuckled and bent down ruffling my hair. "I bet he'll do that. He spoils you good, little miss."

"And ya spoil his good spoiling daddy." I replied and pouted, but had to giggle as he simply continued to ruffle my hair. "Stop! I don't wanna look like I jist gotten out of my bed."

Several minutes later we arrived at school. Dad helped me down from Moci and made his usual demand. "Behave, Sara."

I rewarded him with a salute and cheeky grin. Sighing he handed me my books and slate and got off Sport. Tucking the school books under my arm, I hugged him around his waist, then turned and started to run towards Kylie and her father, but was pulled back by Dad, who held the back of my clothes.

"I want to talk with Cormac, Sara. Why don't you take Kylie go into the school house."

My eyes widened in shock. He would tell Kylie's Papa, that she had helped me with her prank!

"Please, daddy. Can't ya jist leave it." I begged giving him my biggest puppy-eyes.

"Nope. Now go and fetch her." He sent me away with a swift swat to my behind.

When I was out of his reach, I turned around again. "But..."

"Sara." He reprimanded softly and I turned away, sighing heavily.

I better warn Kylie. I quickened my steps and ran over to her. She grinned at me first, but as I didn't reply with a smile, it quickly faded. She then saw Adam walk over to her Papa and she gulped.

I shrugged and gave her an apologetic smile. "He found out." I said when I reached her.

"Is he..." She didn't dare to finish the sentence.

I simply nodded. "Yup, he's goin' to tell yer dad."

Kylie winced and looked over to her father. His expression grew darker when dad filled him in on with all the information I had told him. Then he seemed to ask dad something and he nodded.

"I think we better go in." I whispered to Kylie. She whole heartedly agreed as we both hurried towards the school room. I was actually tempted to run, but that would be unfair on Kylie. I couldn't let her deal with her father alone; after all I had talked her into helping me with the prank.

I threw a quick glance over my shoulder and squeaked in surprise. Cormac was right behind us!

Leaving me no time to warn Kylie he planted a firm swat on her backside. "OW! Papa!" She complained rubbing her behind.

Cormac took her by the arm and turned her sideways and then gave her another three hard wallops. "Now, little misses, you might think twice before playing pranks again. And as for you, little Miss Sara Cartwright…" He directed his attention to me. I quickly moved my hands back to protect my behind.

He chuckled at my actions, but I didn't think it was funny. His hands looked quite intimidating. "If I catch you two doing something similar you'll get a tanning from me before I hand you over to yer father. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." I quickly replied not moving my hands even an inch.

"Good, then you can go to school now, both of you, get."

We both nodded in unison and turned back towards the school house, but before making it to the safety of the steps, Garrett and his father decided to show up.

"Sara! Hold on a second!" Dad ordered. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked back to him. He was coming towards me with a determined expression on his face.

What did I do wrong, now? I thought, but stood my ground. Cormac seemed to understand what was going on, because he took Kylie's hand in his and waited for my dad to do the same. Then we were led over to Garrett and his father like prisoners.

"You still have to apologize to Garrett for getting him into trouble." Dad stated firmly, daring me to protest.

"But he really did call Kylie; Cripple-Kylie. It was jist a too good opportunity to waste." I whined and Kylie nodded avidly.

"It may have been wrong of him to call her that, but you provoked the situation that had him name calling then got into a physical fight. This was done all to deflect the attention on your intended crime, you little pranksters." Cormac explained, "Plus the boy did apologize."

"Yeah, after his dad swatted him, and he didn't apologize nicely, either." I murmured under my breath. A second later dad's hand connected with my backside causing me to yelp.

"Don't push it, young lady." He warned.

Standing in front of Mister Brown, dad pushed me forward. "My daughter has something to tell your son Mister Brown."

"And so does mine." Added Cormac, as he lined up Kylie next to me.

Kylie and I just glared at Garrett who tried to stare us down.

"Go on!" I heard the warning tone in dad's voice from behind me, too close, so I decided to get over with it. I didn't want him to swat me in front of Garrett.

"I'm sorry for getting ya into trouble." I said, trying to keep a neutral voice and not to sound too angry.

"I'm sorry too, but ya did call me Cripple-Kylie." Kylie grumbled.

"And he will apologize once again for that, and more sincerely, won't you son?" Martin directed his gaze at Garrett again.

Garrett nodded, "I'm sorry for calling you Cripple Kylie. It was rude and mean of me." delivering a well prepared and unemotional response.

"AND!" Mr. Brown prompted.

"And I will never call you that again." answered Garrett, though a little more shamefaced this time.

"AND!" His father said again.

This was getting real interestin.

"And Ifin I ever do, yer Pa has permission from my Pa ta take a strap to my behind." said Garrett, who was now dying from embarrassment, by the looks of his cherry coloured face.

Kylie and I looked at each other, trying not to giggle, not cuz we didn't want ta embarrass Garrett anymore, but cuz our Pa's were still standin right behind us, an in good swatting form. "Apology accepted." We sung together.

"Can we go into school now?" I asked dad.

He nodded and let me go. Together Kylie and I headed into the school. We hung our lunch pails on the pegs in the cloakroom before either one of us dared to speak.

I looked at Kylie, ready ta apologise fer getting her into trouble with her Papa, but she had me all confused, cause she was laughing.

"What's so funny, ya jist got yer tail swatted."

"Yep I know, but it was sure worth it. The look on Garrett's face was sure worth it, and the prank was a real good one. I never seen something so funny in all my life. Plus, Papa never smacks me, well ever hardly, but he was sure fuming."

"So? I still don't get why that's so funny."

"Cause it makes me jist like any other kid. Dad's are just like that with normal kids, and well he's my dad, my Papa and I love him, and I know he loves me even more when he treats me like a normal Kid."

"Kylie you sure are the craziest best friend I could have."

"And you Sara. I am glad you are my best friend. It was sure a good day for me when you met the Cartwright's, because now you're my best friend in the whole world. And now you have a dad and we are gonna have lots of fun together."

"Well, that sounds jist perfect to me, though I think we should give the fun part a bit of a rest for a couple of days, don't need any more fun that gets us inta trouble; my butt is killing me. I think my dad must love me a lot."

We both busted up laughing as we headed into our classroom, where Miss Evans was standing at the front of her desk with a warm smile on her lips.

"Well Kylie and, now officially I hear, Sara Elizabeth Cartwright, have a seat." She welcomed.

Gosh, that sounded real nice; "The Sara Elizabeth Cartwright," part of course, "The have a seat" part, not so. Boy a long day of school was awaiting me.

THE END

A new Sara adventure is on the way. Stay alerted. I will reveal her past, as one of my reviewers asked me to do. However it'll take me some time to write. I still only got the key-words.

A big shoutout to Gaben, for her help and some funny ideas for the chapter. Like the egg-milk-peppermint-mixture for little Joe. THANKS!