Before Bedtime Too (by Robin)

Summary:  Word Count:  6400

 

 

                                            Before Bedtime Too

 

 

Spring, 1845 – The Ponderosa Ranch, Nevada Territory

The adults were in the well-appointed parlor of the Victor home having tea and engaged in a serious discussion. Fifteen-year-old Adam Cartwright pulled his chair up next to the men and was trying to be included. The two younger boys were attempting their best to be polite but as the afternoon dragged on they were increasingly miserable. Hoss squirmed in his chair. Little Joe squirmed more. Pa had told the boys to be on their best behavior

Mrs. Victor sensed their discomfort and whispered something to Marie. She nodded and Mrs. Victor took Hoss and Little Joe aside. “Hoss, my dear, if you want, take Little Joe outside and visit with Lady and her family. Ask the cook for her dinner.”

Hoss’s face lit up. He loved Lady. He had visited the Victor house before with his father and played with the dog. “Come on, little brother, follow me!”

Little Joe couldn’t imagine why a lady and her family would be in the Victor’s yard but he was anxious to be anywhere he didn’t have to sit on a hard chair and be still.

Hoss grinned as he and little Joe walked out of the back door of the Victor house. “Look!” He pointed at Mrs. Victor’s prized terrier and her pups.

“Puppies!” Little Joe shrieked with delight and started running toward them. “I love puppies!”

“Hold on, Baby.” Hoss grabbed his brother’s tiny hand before Little Joe launched himself off the back porch to grab a pup. “Now jest go slow, Short Shanks. Let that Mama dog sniff you out and see you ain’t gonna hurt her babies.”

“I won’t hurt them. I just want to play with them.” Little Joe tried to squirm from his brother’s firm grasp.

“Lady don’t know that and she is gonna bite you to protect her babies,” ever-patient Hoss explained. “Walk real slow and let her see you are a friend. Let her sniff at you.”

Hoss walked slowly with his little brother following his lead. The mother dog growled and eyed the Cartwright boys warily as the pups scampered about. “Hi Lady,” Hoss greeted the dog. “How ya doin’, girl. The dog, sensing his gentleness stopped growling. Hoss let her sniff at him.

Joe wanted to do just what his brother did “Hi Lady,” he repeated. The dog leaped up on his chest and started licking him. He was almost knocked over but bravely stood his ground.
“Hoss, Hoss, she is tasting me!” he called. “Help!”

Hoss laughed and gently pulled Lady off his baby brother. “She smells that food you are holding. Let her have it.”

Joe dropped the tin plate of scraps on the ground with a clatter. The dog yipped and started eating. “Now she knows we are friends,” Hoss explained.

“Look, Lady! Meat!” Little Joe bent down and started to poke the chunk of stew meat. The dog growled threateningly.

“Just don’t touch her food while the mama is eating,” Hoss pulled his brother away before he got bitten. “Dog’s don’t want you messing with their food, Little Joe.”

“You know lots about dogs, Hoss,” Joe admired. Hoss knew everything about every animal.

“A bit,” the bigger boy said modestly. He loved all creatures and naturally had a talent of knowing how to behave near them. Animals seemed to sense his gentle sprit and let him get near and tend them. Hoss was always collecting strays and wounded animals. “Maybe Pa will let us have one.”

“Or two? One puppy for you, Hoss, and one for me? Or three puppies! One for Adam too.” That proposition made perfect sense to Little Joe. There were three brothers and they needed three puppies. He was only three years old and couldn’t count higher than three anyway.

“Let’s see if Pa lets us have one pup first,” Hoss hoped. Ben had told Hoss that these were purebred dogs and too delicate for living on a ranch. They were too high strung for helping herd cattle and not much good for hunting either. With all the wolves and coyotes in the hills, a dog like this would wind up as dinner in no time. Hoss still hoped Pa would change his mind.

Little Joe already had a plan. “They can sleep in my bed with me. Pa said I had to stay in my room but he didn’t say I couldn’t have puppies with me!”

Hoss laughed. “Pa don’t like animals in the house and Mama sure won’t want no puppy peeing on her new rugs and chewing on the furniture.”

“Oh,” Little Joe sighed. Maybe he could bring one home under his coat and no one would ever know? The pups were scampering around the yard chasing each other and Little Joe and Hoss joined them. “Which doggy do you want, Hoss? I‘m going take me one home,” Little Joe piped up Hoss as the boys watched the puppies race around in the Victor yard. “Then we can each have one and no one will know. I can put it under my coat.” The boy held open his tiny jacket that wasn’t big enough to hide a hanky no less a frisky pup.

“Oh no, you can’t do that, little brother. That’s stealing. Those are Mrs. Victor’s dogs. You can’t steal a puppy.”

“But I want a dog. You want one too, Hoss.” Little Joe pouted.

“But you can’t take what ain’t yours to take. And you know what happens to horse thieves? They hang ’em. And you won’t go to heaven if you steal anything.”

Little Joe swallowed hard, his eyes were wide. He wanted to go to heaven with the angels and the cloud wagons that bumped around the sparkly sky. “Do dogs go to heaven? What about horses? And bugs?” Joe noticed a big black beetle crawling on the ground. Before he could poke at it, one of the puppies growled at the bug and devoured it.

“Yuk! Hoss, that puppy just ate a bug,” Joe gasped. Adam had once caught Little Joe about to eat a honey bee and knocked it from the boy’s hand. Little Joe was sure it would tasted just like candy as it was a honeybee. The older boy explained that he should never eat bugs and Joe promised he wouldn’t.

Hoss tossed a stick and all the pups raced after it. The two young brothers were enjoying the dogs immensely and soon both boys forgot about Joe’s proposal to filch the pups. The adults sat inside discussing some legal problems Ben had just resolved with Carl J. Duprey over a cattle sale. Every once in a while, Mrs. Victor stood at the window admiring the boys playing with her puppies. She enjoyed watching the Cartwright boys having fun, more than the brothers were enjoying the dogs.

The boys and the pups were scrambling around, running wildly in circles kicking up clouds of dust. “Head that one off!“ Hoss directed as the smallest one tried to wiggle under the fence. Little Joe pulled off his hat and waved it at the dogs imitating how the cowboys moving the herd. “Ye haw. Get along from there!” the little boy hollered at the puppy.

Hoss just leaned over and picked up the squirming pup and kindly faced it toward its mother. He gave it a gentle nudge with a finger “Go to your mama, little pup.”

The rest of the puppies just ran around in circles wagging their tails happily. The two brothers imitated the energetic dogs. Soon they got winded and fell down breathlessly in a heap. Lying on their backs, they both panted like dogs with their tongues hanging out. The frisky pups kept going. They were so caught up in their running that they even raced right over the boys, much to Joe’s delight.

“What are they doing, Hoss?” Little Joe watched as the puppies ran in increasingly small circles.

“They are playing. They are chasing their own tails. They want to see their own tails and keep chasing after it.”

Little Joe had rested long enough to catch his breath and jumped back up and ran is a dizzy circle yipping like the puppies. He ran in spiral until he was too dizzy and too tired to run any more. He finally collapsed in a heap and pillowed his head on his brother’s stomach. Everything was spinning around.

“Sure would like one of them puppies,” Hoss sighed.

“Me too,” Joe yawned. He cuddled up to Hoss and closed his eyes.

Hoss yawned and wrapped his arm around his baby brother. The bright spring sun felt warm on his plump cheeks. Suddenly he felt a shadow cross his face.

 “Oh no you don’t!” It was Adam. “Don’t let Little Joe fall asleep what ever you do. If he falls asleep now, there is no way he is going to get to bed once we get home. Pa won‘t like that one bit.” He scooped Little Joe up off the ground and swung him up in the air. Then he tickled him under the arms and said, “Come on little brother. Let‘s go say our goodbyes to Mr. And Mrs. Victor and thank them. You too, Hoss.”  Marie insisted on the boys always being well mannered.

Little Joe’s eyes lit up. Maybe if he was saying “Thank you”, there was some really fine reason for the gesture. Maybe Mrs. Victor was going to give the each of the three Cartwright brothers his very own puppy to take home to the Ponderosa.

 

*****

 

All the way back to the Ponderosa, the family struggled to keep Little Joe awake.

“Don’t fall asleep, Mon Petite Choux.” Marie jiggled her baby on her lap.

Joe’s eyes kept getting heavy and drooped. He couldn’t quite fathom what was going on. First his family kept telling him to go to sleep and stay in bed. Now everyone was ordering him to stay awake.

“Sing everyone,” Ben commanded. “Sing a lively song and get Little Joe to sing along as well.”

For the next three miles, from the back of the wagon, Adam and Hoss loudly sang every lively song they knew, urging their brother to join in his sweet little voice.  At some point the boys ran out of songs and Ben led them in a sea chantey and one of his favorite hymns. The wagon rode on and each time Joe sagged Marie jiggled him. “Don’t sleep, Little Joe,” she pleaded.

“Maybe we shouldn’t sing any more, Mama. Maybe that is what is putting him to sleep,” Hoss suggested. “Play a game.”

“Yes, play a game.” Marie looked sideways at her husband hoping he would relent and allow the baby to sleep. It was not to be. Ben had that determined intractable look in his dark eyes. Joe had to remain awake.

“Don’t let Little Joe fall asleep. It is far too late for the boy to take a nap. He is going to be up all night if he does.” Ben flicked the reins on the back of the team urging to move a bit faster.

Being up all night sounded mighty fine to Little Joe and he closed his eyes and settled into his mother’s warmth. She smelled so nice. His father reached over and gently tapped his finger on the child’s cheek. “Don’t close your eyes, son.”

“Benjamin, maybe this isn’t a very good idea. The baby is very tired.”

“He is not a baby, Marie. He’ll be just fine. We are almost home. He‘ll have his supper and then go to bed. Not a moment sooner,” Ben argued. There was no way he wanted his youngest son bouncing around from bed to bed all night disrupting the entire family. They all had chores to do the next day and needed their rest.

“Hey Little Joe, try figurin’ what we see,” Hoss started. “Guess what I see.”

“Is it a tree?” Marie said trying to get the game moving.

“No, not a tree. Now it is Little Joe’s turn.” Hoss responded from the back of the buckboard.

“A horse!” Joe said lifting his head off Marie’s shoulder.

“No!”

“Mama! You see Mama. I see Mama!” Little Joe asked again. Then he squirmed out of his mother’s arms and stood on the wagon seat. “I see Papa and the horses too and Hoss and Adam and…!”

“Sit down, Joseph!” Ben yanked the child down by the back of his jacket. “Can’t you hang on to him, Marie? We can hit a bump and he will go flying under the wheels.”

“It ain’t your turn, Little Joe,” Hoss pointed out. “And I said it ain’t the horses.”

 The wagon was getting close to the ranch road and it looked like this trick might just keep his little brother awake like Pa wanted. Hoss was proud of himself.

 “It isn’t,” Marie corrected her middle son‘s grammar.

“That’s what he said, Marie,” Adam said sullenly. The words just boiled out of his mouth.

“Adam, mind your tongue,” Ben growled wearily. He wished he was home with his feet up, not reining in his rude eldest son and poking at his baby son while his middle son blathered endlessly in his ears.

Hoss looked at Adam wide-eyed. Why was his big brother being nasty to Mama?

“Yes sir. Let’s play a harder game. Let’s see how smart you all are. I see something Little Joe can’t see,” Adam smirked. He would show everyone how clever he was and how stupid they all were. “What do you think I can see that Little Joe can‘t see? We can all see it but not Little Joe.” He would make his point and make it well. He just wasn’t sure what his point was.

“The horses?” Joe guessed. He was going to keep guessing horses.

“Little Joe, you can see the horses,” Marie explained. “Brother said it was something you can’t see.”

Little Joe shrugged. “Puppies?”

“What a dumb answer. There are no puppies here,” Adam said sharply. “No puppies at all. That was real stupid.”

Marie sighed wearily. The baby couldn’t understand the game. At least he was staying awake like Ben wanted.

“What do we all see that Little Joe can’t see?” Adam demanded again with an angry edge in his voice.

“We don’t know Adam. Tell us,” Marie asked patiently. “I am sure you have a very clever answer.” She slid her hand across the wagon seat and gave her husband’s hand a warning squeeze. Ben wanted to box that boy’s ears but Marie would never stand for that.

Ben glanced at his wife and smiled at her remarkable calm with the boys. No matter how much Adam bristled and acted rudely, Marie retained her remarkable patience.

“Puppies? One for me and one for Hoss and one for Adam? Adam, you get the first choice ‘cause you are the oldest and I love you. Then Hoss and I get one too. Papa, go back and get us them puppies. Get a real nice big one for Adam ‘cause he is big and nice.”  Joe tugged on Ben’s sleeve. “Please, Papa. Get Adam a nice puppy.”

Adam felt his face turn red. He was glad it was only he and Hoss in the back of the wagon. In the dark, no one would sense his embarrassment. No matter how angry he got, how sharply he spoke, his little brother was cheerful. The foolish kid still wanted to give him first pick on a puppy.

“We are almost home, Adam. What was the thing you could see?” Marie asked as if she hadn‘t noticed his teasing Little Joe. She protectively hugged her little one closer. She smoothed his curls and kissed the back of his neck.

Adam swallowed hard. The comment that seemed so clever and biting moments early now seemed childish and cruel. “I…ah…um…” Adam stammered trying to figure what to say next.

“Speak up, son, I can’t hear what you are saying,” Ben said firmly. His clutched the reins so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Had Marie not warned him, Ben would have pulled the team to the side of the road, yanked Adam from the back of the wagon and walloped him then and there.

“Tell me, brother, what can’t I see?” Little Joe piped up from his mother’s lap. He was oblivious that Adam had been cruelly teasing him and was delighted to be included in a game. “What? What? What?”

“We can all see Little Joe’s …Little Joe’s… We can all see his bottom,” Adam said. He regretted starting this whole rude game. He couldn’t even understand why he was in such a bad mood and being so nasty. “And Little Joe can’t see it. He can‘t see his own bottom.”

Hoss laughed loudly. “Joe’s hind end? Good one Adam! We can all see his rear but Little Joe can‘t!”

As angry as Ben was his oldest boy’s behavior, he couldn’t help chuckling at the idea. On the other hand, there was no excuse for Adam to be picking on Little Joe and trying to upset Marie in the process.

The Cartwrights rode in silence for the remainder of the ride. That is, all except for Hoss. He kept laughing and trying futilely to explain to Little Joe why they could see his bottom but he never could.

“But why can’t I?” Joe piped up. “Why Hoss?”

“Because,” Hoss said.

“But why?”

“Because. Because you can’t.”

“Why?”

“You ain’t able to that’s why,” Hoss grinned. “Try and you’ll see you can’t. No one can see their own bottom.”

“But why?”

“Cause your eyes are in front and your bottom is in the back.”

“But why? Pa? Why can’t you?” Little Joe persisted.

Adam wished he could clamp his hand over Little Joe’s mouth to make him quit. Instead he poked Hoss and said “Shut up,” Unfortunately, in the dark, Adam’s misplaced blow caught Hoss painfully in his ear instead of his shoulder.

“Ouch! What did you do that for?” Hoss rubbed his ear.

“Adam!” Marie exclaimed.

Ben halted the buckboard in front of the barn. He helped Marie and Little Joe climb down as his two older sons scrambled out of the back. Hoss moved quickly away from his older brother, not wanting to get poked again. Adam was pretty strong.

“I’m hungry Mama!” Joe exclaimed as Marie set him down on the ground. He yipped like a puppy and licked his chops.

“Me too!” Hoss added. He was proud that they had kept Little Joe awake just like Pa had requested.

Adam remained silent, frozen in his place. He felt his father’s hand squeeze his shoulder.

“All of you go in the house and start eating your supper and getting ready for bed. Adam is going to help me put up the team. We are going to have a very necessary discussion and we may be taking a long time so don‘t wait for us.”

Adam swallowed hard and followed his father into the barn.

Hoss knew what that meant and he averted meeting his older brother’s eyes. He followed Little Joe into the house.

Joe was wriggling and squirming as he skipped into the house. He kept looking over his shoulder despite Marie tugging on his hand.

 “Tell me again why I can’t see my bottom, Hoss? Mama? Tell me.”

Adam slowly opened the barn door and watched his father efficiently unharness the horse from the buckboard and lead it inside. Ben angrily forked some straw into the stall. He didn’t say a word.

“Pa?”Adam started is a small cracking voice. Ben had his back to him and didn’t answer. “Pa?” the boy repeated a little louder.

Ben didn’t turn to face him. “Water all the stock,” the rancher ordered the boy. “And make sure there is enough clean bedding in those last few stalls in the back.”

Adam nodded. The boy picked up the bucket did as he was told.

The chores were finally finished. Adam was not able to stand the suspense and spoke. “I suppose you are going to tan me, Pa,”

Ben lit the lantern that was hanging on a hook near the door. He carefully licked his fingers and held the spent match between them until he was sure the match was cold. He tried to control himself and not lash out at his son. Harsh words between a father and son could be more damaging than the swing of a belt. Ben knew that would not be of any constructive value to either Adam or any one else in his family.

Unfortunately, Ben’s own father never had the opportunity to learn that lesson. Joseph Cartwright never had the chance to make amends for the last tanning and harsh tongue-lashing he had given his son, Benjamin.

 “You think you are quite a grown man, son?” Ben asked as he gently lowered the fragile glass chimney on the lantern. It was a statement, not a question. It was important to choose his words. The same way the sea had lured New England boys from their homes, cattle drives called boys living in Nevada Territory. Trail bosses always needed eager young hands. Adam was used to working as hard as any man and would be welcomed on any cattle drive in the west if he wanted to leave the Ponderosa to prove a point. He might never return if he left home now.

Adam nodded, “Yes sir, I do think I am pretty grown, Pa.” He wondered what Pa was leading too. He really wished that his father would just take off his belt and be done with his punishment.

Ben handed Adam the pitchfork. “Go toss some more hay down in that back stall.” Adam nodded and did as he was told. Ben started examining the foreleg of the sorrel mare in the middle stall. She had been limping but the leg looked much better now.

“It isn’t easy to be a man, Adam. You are almost as tall as I am, son, a grown man to those two little brothers of yours. Little Joe thinks you are a giant. He told me that the other morning when you were heading out to Winslow‘s with those horses. Little Joe said that his giant brother was bossing that wild black stallion. You are some sort of hero to your little brothers. Hoss imitates everything you do. They both do.”

“A giant?” Adam hung the pitchfork back up in its place on the wall.

“You do the work of a grown man. You work hard and do well when you set your mind on something, son. That’s why I sent you out to the Winslow Ranch with those horses. You did a mighty fine job,” Ben poured some grain into the sorrel’s feed bin, and patted her flank. Ben turned at looked at the boy. “I’m very proud of you, son. Mr. Winslow even went out of his way to tell me how impressed he was with how you handled the horses and the money and all.”

Adam felt even worse. Here his father was praising him and he had just acted so poorly.

“Pa, are you going to tan me?” Adam wished he could get it over and done with.

Ben shook his head. “You are too grown to be taken across my knee, Adam. You are almost a man. I expect you to act one. Men don’t bully little children or purposely go to make women upset for an amusement.”

“Yes sir,” Adam bit his lip. “I was wrong and I’m sorry for it Pa. I didn’t really think.”

“Men think about what they do before they do it. They think before they hurt someone. Or make fools of themselves.” Ben put his hand on his son’s shoulders. Adam felt very foolish at that moment.

Ben was thinking of the spiteful things he had done when he was Adam’s age and the last argument he had with his own father. His father had tanned him over an insignificant misbehavior, telling him that he was lazy fool. He said that Ben would never amount to anything.  Ben furiously defended himself but his father persisted. Then, not realizing his own strength, Ben had struck his father and knocked him flat. Fearing what he had just done, young Ben had run off that very night and signed on the crew of the Wanderer. He never saw his father again. Joseph Cartwright died while Ben was at sea and neither had the opportunity to ask the other for forgiveness and make peace between them. When Ben came home, his poor mother had to tell him his father had died three months earlier from typhoid fever. His mother died a few months later. Ben and his brothers scattered to the four winds, never to live under the same roof again, barely keeping in touch with each other. Ben returned to the sea with Captain Stoddard and his brothers got jobs that took them off on their own journeys.

That was not what he wanted for his sons.

“I’ll go apologize to Marie.” Adam said softly. He sincerely regretted his behavior and his lack of self-control.

“And also apologize to your brothers. You have a big responsibility Adam. Those boys look up to you.”

“Little Joe thinks I am a giant?” Adam asked with amazement as they walked towards the house.

Ben smiled. “He does. He told me just the other morning when you rode out to Winslow’s. He was watching you from the porch. He is in awe of you, Adam. And Hoss will follow however you behave, too. I know that is a big responsibility, to be the oldest.”

Adam nodded. “I suppose.”

“You are too old to be tanned, Adam. Not too big, just too old.”

“Yes sir.”

Adam had no doubt about his father being strong enough toss him clear across the barn if he wanted to. Just a few months earlier, Adam had seen Pa lift a fallen tree off a man and carry the injured fellow across his shoulders for a couple of miles through the woods back to the house. Once, before Joe was born, he had seen Pa take on two large wranglers who had made some rude remark to Marie and pound both of them senseless. Then, Pa fired them.

 “Yes, sir. I know you are pretty strong.” If Little Joe thought Adam was a giant, how did he describe Pa? A gigantic giant?

Ben rubbed his chin and tried to think of what to do next, what to say to his first-born.

“Pa? We better go inside. You must be pretty hungry and I have some apologizing to do to Marie. And to my brothers.”

Ben smiled in the dim light. He blew out the lantern and followed his son into the house.

“Pa! Come sit down!” Hoss called cheerfully. He had crumbs on his cheeks and his napkin tucked in his collar. He looked warily at his older brother. Hoss wouldn’t dare comment on Adam’s punishment.

Little Joe sat next to Marie. She was futilely trying to spoon the last of his stew into his mouth before the little boy fell asleep. He sat leaning back in his chair, but his eyes fluttering closed as Adam watched.

“Um.” Adam didn’t know how to start but knew the best thing he could do was to not put off making amends for his self-centered behavior. He would start with Hoss. That would be the easiest apology. Hoss never bore a grudge.

“Hoss, I’m sorry I poked you and all.” Adam started. The boy swallowed hard and stood ramrod straight.

Hoss smiled. “That’s okay, I forgive you. Do you want to go fishing together tomorrow?”

Adam smiled. “It would be my pleasure. You can even use my fishing pole if you want.” He nervously exhaled. Adam could feel his father’s dark eyes boring a hole in the back of his neck.

Marie continued trying to get Little Joe to eat a few more bites. “Little Joe, one more bite. Just one more.” She held the spoon in front of him but it was too late. The child appeared sound asleep in his seat with his eyes closed and his mouth wide open.

Adam drew in a deep breath and stood ramrod straight. The boy started the rest of his speech. “Marie, please forgive me for being so rude to you as well. Not just today, all those other times too, Ma‘am.” He wanted to face his stepmother as a repentant man and pledge his honor to her. Adam struggled to think of the appropriate elaborate word. “I was a… a…”

“Naughty sissy,” Little Joe murmured. He opened his eyes and smiled up at his oldest brother. “Hi Adam. Do you want a puppy?”

“Little Joe! I thought you had fallen asleep!” Hoss laughed.

“Uh uh. I just was resting my eyes waiting for Adam and Pa,” Joe yawned widely. Marie poked the last spoonful of food in the child’s mouth and gave up for the night.

“Now it is really bedtime, Mon Petit Choux.” Marie smiled.

Still standing behind his nervous oldest son, Ben cleared his throat. He was tired and hungry and just wanted Adam to be done with his penance. Perhaps he could devise some means of getting all the boys away from the table and he could sit peacefully with his wife and enjoy her company over supper. It wasn’t only a bowl of stew that Ben Cartwright hungered for.

“Marie, I am sincerely sorry for being disrespectful and mean to you. And picking on my brothers. I will never ever do that again,” Adam blurted out nervously. “Never. I promise. On my honor.”

Marie wiped Little Joe’s chin with the checked napkin that had been tied around his neck. She smiled graciously, catching her husband’s eye. “I accept your apology, Adam, and trust that you are a man of your honor and will hold to that promise.”

“Yes, Ma’am, you and the boys have my word of honor. Pa too. Always. A Cartwright‘s word is his bond.” Adam answered hoping that this was finished to his father’s satisfaction. Behind him, Ben smiled with pride.

“Carry me, brother!” Little Joe put up his little arms to Adam. He had a blob of gravy on his cuff and grass stains on his elbows from tumbling around with the Victor‘s puppies. The boy had been thinking about Adam’s earlier remarks and had come up his own plan.

Ben nudged his oldest son, “Looks like your baby brother wants you to put him to bed, Adam. Seems like you didn’t even have to ask for Little Joe’s forgiveness. ” Ben was very proud of his oldest son’s sincere apology. In addition, if the boys retired, he was getting a shot at having a brief island of tranquility with his beloved wife.

As if she read her husband‘s mind, Marie suggested “Hoss, why don’t you start getting ready for bed too?”

“Sure, Mama,” Hoss said in his usual cooperative fashion. He eyed the remainders in Little Joe’s bowl and wavered for a minute. He decided planning the fishing trip with his older brother was worth far more than the few bites of stew left behind by his baby brother. “Good night Mama. Good night Pa.”

Adam scooped up Little Joe and all three Cartwright brothers went up the stairs.

 

*****

Adam supervised Little Joe’s use of the chamber pot.

“Do you want a puppy?” Joe asked. Then he yawned.

Adam hesitated in answering his brother, knowing from experience that engaging in a conversation with the child would only serve to keep him awake as well as distract his aim.

“Those puppies saw their tails, Adam.” Joe said softly.

Adam silently unbuttoned Joe’s grubby shirt. He set the little fellow on the edge of the big new bed and helped him remove the rest of his clothes. Taking the green striped nightshirt that Hoss handed him, Adam pulled it over Joe’s curly head. Joe put his little arms through the sleeves and limply rolled over.

Tucking his baby brother under the quilts Adam ruffled Little Joe’s hair. “Good night, buddy. Go to sleep, now.”

“Woof” Little Joe whispered.

“Woof,” Hoss said as he blew out the lamp.

“Let’s go figure where we are going fishing, Hoss,” Adam smiled as the brothers walked down the hall to Adam’s room. “Come sit down in my room and we can plan it all out before we turn in. We have a big day tomorrow.”

Hoss smiled widely. He was being welcomed in Adam’s room just like an equal. It wasn’t often that Adam had time to go fishing. Besides, when he did have the time off from work, he usually wanted to be with his own friends like Ross Marquette or John Dayton and the Bonners, not a kid like Hoss.

Adam patiently listened to Hoss list every possible fishing spot within an hour ride of the house and the relative merits of each. Then Hoss urged Adam to help him figure what type of bait would work best. “What do you think? Should we dig some worms back of the barn and take them with us or dig some worms up by the creek? Or maybe we should take some bacon? Or some grass hoppers. We are gonna catch us a real mess of fish, Adam.”

Adam, who normally would resent the intrusion into his private domain, was appreciative of Hoss’s jovial return to normalcy and companionability. “I don’t know, Hoss. I think we might do better taking some plump worms and a piece of bacon fat and seeing which one works. And pack a good lunch too. And I think I might just have some of that candy I hid from Little Joe in my saddle bag.”

“Candy?” Hoss loved sweet stuff.

“Sure, from last time I was in town. It will be for you and me. Just us two.” Adam had forgotten how much fun he used to have just fishing with his brother.

Suddenly the sound of a crashing thud echoed from Little Joe’s bedroom. Both brothers dashed down the hall. Hoss and Adam burst into the room and found Little Joe sprawled on the floor.

“I did it! I did It!”  Little Joe exclaimed.

“Are you all right?” Hoss scooped Joe up in his arms and held him while Adam checked the little one’s head and each tiny limb in turn.

“I’m fine!” Joe said squirming out of Hoss’ grasp into Adam’s arms.

By the time Ben and Marie had rushed up the stairs Adam was holding the baby and had finished checking him for injury. Little Joe looks none the worse for wear other than his nightshirt being twisted askew. However, as soon as the tyke saw his mother, Little Joe started to wail dramatically. “Oh Mama!” he sobbed.

“Don’t cry! You aren’t hurt Little Joe,” Hoss said indignantly.

“Oh, I forgot,” Joe immediately smiled sweetly at his mother.

Ben shook his head in disbelief at his impish little son.

“Adam, I did it!” Joe proclaimed as scrambled back to his bare feet. He stood beside his brother and looked up at him.

“Adam, are you sure he is alright?” Marie asked.

“Of course, Marie. Cartwright boys are made of tough fabric.” Ben winked at his boys.

“That’s right, Mama. Cartwrights are tough.” Hoss said sincerely. Adam nodded.

“I did it, Mama. I did it, Papa!” Joe scrambled back onto the bed. Marie wanted to stop him but was too embarrassed to fuss over her little boy in front of her husband and the other boys.  Little Joe was clearly not her baby anymore. The little boy is somehow now part of some masculine tribe of Cartwright men that Marie Cartwright could only observe from the sidelines.

“What did you just do, Little Joe?” Ben asked. “What is the boy talking about?”

“Look, Adam! Look! Look!” Little Joe stood at the head of the bed and faced the headboard.

Perched precariously on the pillow he announced, “You said I couldn’t see my own butt, Adam! But look at this.”  Before any one could stop him, Little Joe Cartwright flipped up his nightshirt and doubled over to peep between his legs at the mirror on the dresser.  “Look, I see my very own butt in the looking glass,” the little boy said excitedly, wriggling like one of the excited puppies. He shook the bed and lost his balance. The new mattress bounced the little boy in the air catapulting him forward, again somersaulting off the bed.

 “Oh my!” gasped Marie.

 Adam agilely leaped forward and snagged Little Joe as he flipped off the bed toward the wood floor.

Little Joe was totally unaware that he just came close to breaking his own little neck falling from his bed. He was simply delighted that he saw his own bottom despite what Adam had declared as being impossible during the carriage ride home. “I saw my own butt, Adam. I really did. You said I couldn’t but I really did! I did!” Little Joe bragged and then he howled like one of the pups. “Woo wooo!”

Hoss fell on Little Joe’s bed laughing so hard that he thought he would burst. “You sure showed us, Short Shanks. You sure showed us!”

“Wooo!” Little Joe howled again and Hoss howled back.

“Yes, you did indeed, buddy.” Adam hugged his precious baby brother tightly.

“Little Joe showed us, both literally and figuratively,” Adam thought but was wise enough this time to keep his mouth shut. Shaking his head, Ben sat down wearily on the chair near the window. “I said that Little Joe needed to learn to listen but I didn’t know how much listening that boy was doing.”

Marie then announced, “Now listen to your mother, boys. Everyone go to bed. It is well past everyone’s bed time, Pa included.” Marie kissed Ben’s cheek. Next, she took Little Joe from Adam’s arms. The little one wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck and snuggled close.

“Pa included,” Ben agreed tiredly. “Bed time!”

“Bed time.” Joe whispered.

 

The End