Dr. Martin need to operate, and he asks Hoss to help him as Hop Sing is gone out of town. Hoss has a test of his courage and he tries to be strong from Em. Stay tuned as he has a startling announcement for Ben, and has some upsetting news to share with Hoss...

Now we are onto more sundry problems...Just when we thought Em was doing better, Dr. Martin has some shocking news...things are not all as they seem...but hold on, Hoss to the rescue. I can't promise she will make it though...that might keep y'all from sticking with me to the end!

Getting caught up a bit today on writing. I am up over 15,500 words now...so  very exciting if you ask me! I wrote in a new dream sequence today, after telling y'all we would be moving toward a new crisis, we will be. But I had one of those really intense dreams last night that could have been about the Cartwrights and their showdown with Caleb, so I wrote it into the story.

Let me know what you think. If it is too wierd, I will pull it out. Just goes to show mental state of Emma as she is facing some big issues in the near future. I may post more tonight, and if not, tomorrow. We have to start this next week off with a good Cartwright crisis!

As promised, I am writing again. I posted Chapter 15 on Thursday I think it was...It has been a very busy week in RL so I am losing track of the time. I want to warn you, the next two chapters are key to the plot. This chapter moves us to the brink, and when Dr. Martin arrives and takes another look at Emma, there will be added complications...But as I told my biggest fans (who I also named my main mystery character after), I can't really kill her off now since she is named after two of my Bonanza friends...However, it is amazing what a character can live through.

I hope I don't lose any of you with the next few sections. I will be introducing an interesting twist that even Holliday hasn't guessed yet. (BTW, she keeps guessing my plot line, so if you really want to know how it all ends, check with her)

Just got to light a fire under the Cartwrights so they get out and really get this Caleb guy! But perhaps I have already said too much, so I will leave it there for today...

Ok, I will be honest and admit I haven't added much. I did rework Chapter 14 to include Em's real name and a touching moment with Hoss. Are you ready for her name? Well, since you are my fans here it is "Emma Rachel Holliday" and yes, I did name her after several of my friends from Hoss Heaven. Cowgirljones was already enjoying the story so much I just had to write her into it, and Holliday is always coaxing me to post more. I have a late meeting tonight, and class last night, so it is hard to say when I will get a new section up. But I still hope to reach my goal of bringing "Lost Wanderings" to a satisfying conclusion by month's end!

I have an interesting development. And I have to admit, as the author I totally didn't realize this would be a concern to my readers. Up to this point, I have avoided the issue of the lady's real name for 2 reasons-1) she hasn't remembered it yet and 2) I haven't really selected her real name yet. But several different readers have mentioned how the fact she is remembering other details of her life but not her name makes them suspect she is trying to pull a fast one over on Hoss. That would be the furthest thing from my mind. Truth be told, I have been trying to create a woman who was as open and honest as Hoss is good and noble...but now I have my readers thinking she is a woman of darker motives, much like many of the women from his past. I guess this keeps people guessing, but I wonder how much harder it will be to convince them that she really just loves him for being Hoss, not a rich Cartwright...

And that brings us to another issue...gotta name this gal...Hoss calls her Em, and I had thought of naming her Emma for short (After the character of my favorite Jane Austen novel) but one of my fellow Hoss fans is identifying so personally with the story I might add her name to the bunch...so I am trying out the name Emma Rachel Holiday...any thoughts? 

Just wanted to stop in and announce that Chapter 14 is up at Bonanza World. I have reached the 13,000 word mark! This is a rough section, and I may end up reworking the whole part. I need Em to tell Hoss what really happened to her so he can get a posse together and get justice for her. But I wonder if it seems she remembers too much too fast? I guess I could say that fall and blow to the head shook her memories loose. But I want it to be believable for the reader. So, readers, what do you think?

Today RL was calling my name, and as exciting as scraping paint and cleaning house can be, I didn't get much typed up for Hoss and Em. I did add a little bit, mostly dialog but it does explain some of Em's past and why she ended up on the Ponderosa in the middle of a snowstorm anyway. Enjoy this romp down memory lane since Em might be laid up and out again for a while in the near future. Fallin' off horses will sometimes cause internal injuries that don't present themselves right away. But I want Em to have some one on one time with Hoss before I put her out of commission again. Not trying to be mean about it, but it will all make sense very shortly.

For all of you who have been patiently waiting for Em to wake up, here is your special day! I have the full scene posted on Bonanza World, but this is the opening excerpt:

Chapter 13

She awoke slowly, as if a leaf floating to the crest of a wave after spending a long while submerged on the river bottom. A strong, kindly voice pierced her grey world like rays of sunshine. She followed the voice in her mind. It was so familiar somehow. In fact, it sounded like her Pa, like the voice he used when she was a child and would wake in the night after her Ma’s death. But where was Pa, her mind asked? She couldn’t see him since it was still to dark. But the voice continued, and she clung to it as her only lifeline to the real world.

 

“Pa!” she called, “Where are you? Please help me! Don’t leave me alone…you know I’m scared of the dark!”

 

The soothing voice suddenly stopped. She panicked, and through her sobbing called, “Pa, Pa help me!”

 

She sensed rather than saw the strong arms that wrapped her in their warm, safe embrace. She wasn’t alone as long as she stayed in the refuge of those arms. With a deep breath to stifle her tears, she bravely opened her eyes to face the world beyond the darkness. As her eyes opened and tears subsided, the embrace released her back to rest on the soft pillow. She saw the hefty man with the deep blue eyes and wracked her brain for some memory of his name. It seemed the polite thing to do, given the circumstances. His name was something earthy sounding and she remembered Little Joe had told it to her. She almost smiled as she thought how dissimilar Joe was from his brother, almost different as night and day. She had to say something to him…

 

“You’re…Hoss, right?” she asked timidly.

 

Sounds like a promising beginning to a wonderful relationship if you ask me. Of course Em has to survive first! But as the author I am hoping she does...as I admitted before this story has taken on a life of its own so even I don't know all that is in store for Em and the Cartwrights. That chapter has not been written yet. But it would be lots of fun to finish like Jane Austen always did her stories-a wedding

The good news is that if you survived my strange rambling in Chapter 11 I am back to more normal happenings in Chat 12. We are still in a fight for Em's life, but Hoss is in charge and I figure he will be some good medicine!