The sun had barely cast its first rays over the horizon when Ben and Hoss finished strapping the loaded saddlebags to the horses.
“Now remember, boys,” Ben said for the tenth time that morning, “We’ll only be gone a week. Joe, you mind what Adam tells you.”
“Aw,
“That was if Adam wasn’t here, Joseph. Naturally when Adam is here I expect him to be in charge of things.”
Joe caught sight of the self-satisfied smirk on Adam’s face and dropped his gaze to the ground to avoid having to look his older brother in the eyes.
“Now, don’t worry, son.” Ben placed a consoling hand on Joe’s slender yet muscular shoulder. “Your time will come. Enjoy the freedom from responsibility while you can.”
“And we can be sure that Joe always enjoys freedom from responsibility!” Adam joked. Joe felt a crimson flush on his cheeks as Ben and Hoss joined Adam in laughter. He tried to convince himself that Adam meant it only as a joke, but he had heard the hard edge to Adam’s comment that Hoss and his father had clearly missed.
Joe looked up to see Pa shaking Adam by the hand and to hear him give last minute instructions. “Now remember, Adam, the Carson Railway Company will be expecting those contracts signed and delivered by Wednesday, and oh, before I forget, there’s a damaged fence up on the north pasture. You’ll need to get somebody up there as soon as you can. Reilly perhaps.”
“Now, Pa, don’t you worry. I’ll have everything under control.” Adam cast a sidelong look in Joe’s direction to be sure that he was listening. “I’ll get somebody up there first thing this morning.”
“Oh great,” Joe groaned inwardly. He had planned to spend the morning doing some repairs to the barn and smokehouse, with a possible late afternoon ride on Cochise. Adam obviously had other plans for him.
After the final farewells, Ben and Hoss thundered out of the yard. Adam crossed his arms, and, leaning casually on one leg, looked across at Joe and said, “Well, well, well. Looks like it’s just you and me, little brother.”
*********************************************
Joe decided not to rise to the bait, and instead turned to walk back into the ranch house. As he passed Adam, a hand shot out and gripped his arm.
“Just where do you think you’re going, boy?”
“I’m going to finish my breakfast, then start on my chores.” Joe clenched his jaw and tried to suppress the urge to knock Adam’s hand from his arm.
“But I haven’t given you your list of chores for the day, Joe. So how do you know what you’ll be doing? You getting psychic on me now, boy?” Adam’s voice was low, with a mocking edge to it.
“Why are you doing this, Adam?”
“Doing what?”
“You know what. Every time Pa’s away you ride me harder than any of the hands. It’s like I’m not even your brother!”
For a moment Joe saw something cross Adam’s eyes, a softening perhaps. But the moment was fleeting, and Adam’s expression hardened again quickly. “I have to ride you, Joe. You may not realise it, and I’m sure Pa doesn’t realise it, but he treats you differently to the way he treats Hoss and me. We’ve been doing a man’s work from the time we could sit a horse. You, on the other hand…. Oh, just forget it, there’s no possible way you could understand.”
“Try me Adam. I’d just love to hear you explain why you treat me like an outsider. I’m a Cartwright too!”
“That’s right, Joe. You’re a Cartwright.” Adam’s voice softened, and for a moment Joe thought Adam was actually going to hug him. “You’re my brother, and you’re a Cartwright. And for precisely those reasons I’m going to ride you harder this time than ever before. There have been some serious omissions in your education, and it looks like it’s always going to be up to me to correct those omissions.” Once again Adam was hard, and all business. “Finish your breakfast, but be quick about it. I’ll have Hop Sing pack you supplies, and then you can head up to the north pasture and do some good old fashioned hard work.”
Adam stalked off back into the house, leaving Joe staring after him. Adam consistently confused him. One minute he was the ranting martinet. Nothing Joe could do was good enough, and he seemed to take great joy in making Joe’s life miserable. The next minute he seemed convincingly to profess that all he did was for Joe’s ultimate benefit. Joe shrugged his shoulders. He might as well give up ever trying to figure Adam out. His eldest brother was a mystery to him. Always had been, and from all the evidence to date, probably always would be.
A rumble in Joe’s stomach reminded him that a pile of flapjacks and fried potatoes still sat on the breakfast table. Always eager to see the brighter side of things, Joe wondered whether he’d be able to convince Hop Sing to pack him the leftover flapjacks for the trip up to the north pasture. He’d be away for 2 days at least, based on what Pa had said. He picked up his pace towards the house as the memory of the cooling fried potatoes consumed his thoughts and pushed aside unpleasant thoughts of Adam and his behaviour towards him.
*******************************************
Freshly shaved and changed, Joe bounded down the stairs. His natural youthful exuberance and happy-go-lucky nature could not be quelled for long by what he considered to be unfair treatment by his brother. In fact, he had begun to look forward to two days away from the ranch and the domination of a brother intent on moulding him into something he was not. Who knew….once he inspected that fence in the north pasture, he could be gone for almost the whole week. Joe chortled to himself, and trotted into the kitchen to ask Hop Sing to pack extra supplies.
Hop Sing at first acted indignant that Little Joe was asking for more food. “What you think you Hoss now?” The Chinese cook scowled, then laughed and pinched Joe’s cheek between finger and thumb. “I make good joke, yes?”
“Yes, Hop Sing, you always make good jokes.” Joe leaned back on the kitchen table and watched Hop Sing rush around loading up more supplies. “Where’s Adam anyways? Thought for sure he’d be here to make sure I wasn’t wasting time.”
“Hop Sing not know anything.” Head down, eyes averted from Joe, Hop Sing rushed around the kitchen. Joe was not convinced by the Chinese cook’s act. After all, he had known Hop Sing since he was a child, and could usually tell when he had something to hide.
“What’s going on? Where’s Adam?” Joe immediately began to fear the worst. “Is it Pa? Has something happened to my Pa?” Suddenly frantic, he leapt to his feet and headed towards the door.
“No, no. Stop worry Little Joe. Adam just gone to town.” Head down and turned away from Joe, Hop Sing muttered, “Adam always go to town when father away.”
“What are you saying, Hop Sing? If Adam’s gone to town, then it’s on business. That’s all Adam thinks about. Work, the ranch and more work.” And, Joe added silently to himself, “making my life miserable.”
“Me no know.” Hop Sing
clearly didn’t want to betray Adam, yet could feel
Joe’s pain and wanted to spare him.
“Only know, Mister Adam take fancy
clothes. Always take fancy clothes. Come back one, two day before father. Smell bad, look bad. Run around, make loud noise, get work done, big panic.
Joe was flabbergasted. Could this be true? Could the steadfast, reliable, hardheaded and even more hard-hearted brother be living a secret life away from his family?
His first
reaction was to saddle Cochise and ride into town to confront Adam. But then a sense of calm came over him. Pa had entrusted the running of the Ponderosa
to his sons. If the eldest son was so
obviously uncaring and duplicitous about the ranch, then clearly the
responsibility must now fall to Joe – the only son left at the ranch that
really cared about the responsibility. And this responsibility was one he would take
deadly seriously. But
where to start? Joe had heard Pa
say that the contracts were due in
“Not if I can help it.” Joe spoke out loud and slammed his left fist into his right palm. He’d show Adam, he really would. Not only would he complete by himself the menial chores that Adam had assigned him, but he would return early to the ranch, and complete Adam’s tasks as well. “We’ll just see who Pa is mad at when he gets back!”
************************************************
Joe, Reilly and Danny loading supplies onto the wagon. Weighed down with a load of cut timber, nails, axes and shovels, the wagon creaked under the strain. “You sure you shouldn’t be sending us up to do this for you, Joe?” Danny queried as he scratched his head. “Looks like an awful big pile of work for one man.” Winking at Reilly, Danny added, “And especially a little fella like you.”
Reilly snorted with laughter, but was brought up short when Joe rounded on him, his face dark with anger.
“What’s so funny, Reilly? And you too, Danny O’Toole. You’re hardly the one to be making jokes about a man’s size. The only reason you’ve been allowed to stay on at the Ponderosa is because Pa’s a soft touch for a sad story.” Joe struggled to keep his voice level, but it cracked beneath his anger and humiliation at realizing that even the ranch hands held him in contempt. Clearly they had seen Adam’s treatment of him and did not consider him worthy of the respect they accorded his Pa and his brothers.
“Now, Joe,” Danny was contrite. “You know I’m just funnin’ with you. We always saying stuff like that to each other. Why you so uppity all of a sudden?”
“Yeah, Joe,” Reilly added. “Why you getting’ so mad at us? Danny didn’t mean anything by it. We joke around with you like this because we think you’re one of the boys. Heck, we wouldn’t even think of making a joke with your brother, Adam!”
“Well, I’m not one of the boys. I’m one of the Cartwrights. And I’d be keeping that in mind if you want to keep your jobs.” Joe could not be swayed by their arguments. He leapt effortlessly up into the wagon. “You’ve got your list of jobs for the next two days. Make sure they’re done by the time I get back.”
Without so much as a backward glance, Joe drove the wagon away from the ranch house and towards the track that led to the north pasture.
“What the heck was that all about?” asked Reilly.
“Damned if I know. Boy’s got a bee in his bonnet about something, that’s for sure.” Danny scratched his head, found a bug and held it up to his eyes for closer examination. “Well, I do think I got a flea.”
“It’s a pity though,” Reilly added.
“What’s a pity?”
“Now we might actually have to do some work. Could always rely on Little Joe to be up for a prank or to look the other way. Not like that hard-nosed older brother of his.”
“Yer sure right there,” Danny concurred. “And the old man was no slouch either, always checking up on us. And Hoss. You’d a thought a man like that, so big and friendly would be a good boss. But no. Tough as they come if you started to ease off a bit.”
“So whatcha think, Danny boy? Is it time to light out for greener pastures?”
“Could be, sonny. Although I have a memory that Ben…I mean ‘Mr’ Cartwright has a fine liquor collection in that front parlour of his. Might borrow a bottle for the road first.”
“Good idea, Danny. I’ll get the horses.”
**********************************************
Joe continued to fume as he skilfully guided the wagon along the rough track. Thinking back, there were many seemingly innocent encounters that he had ignored. Yet these clearly showed in what little regard both the ranch-hands, and –more importantly - his own family held him.
But for the moment he would remain focussed on the task at hand. Joe could always remain focussed on one task until it was completed. That was one of his strengths, and one of which he was proud. Not like Adam. No, not like Adam at all. Adam would be off doing 10 different things at once. It took Adam a lot longer to get one of his tasks finalised than it took Joe with his.
Joe smiled to himself. He’d show Adam. And Pa too!
*********************************************
Adam sighed with relief as he rode up to the house, dismounted, and handed the reins to one of the hands. He hated the Cattlemen’s Association bi-monthly “meetings.” For the last year his father had scheduled his out of town business commitments around avoiding these poorly disguised excuses for drinking and debauchery. Adam remembered vividly the first time Ben had forced the duty upon him.
“Adam, now I know you are familiar with the way of the world, and you know that I always trust that you will do the right thing in any given situation….but I must ask you to assume a duty of mine. And it is not a duty that I am proud to pass down to any son of mine.” Ben was clearly embarrassed.
“It’s those meeting with Cyril Banks and the others, isn’t it?” Adam had known for years that his father returned intoxicated and unhappy from the Cattlemen’s Association meetings. The Ponderosa was a big place, but home and hearth were frighteningly small when secrets that tore at the happiness of its inhabitants loomed large.
Gradually Adam
had taken his father’s place at the meetings of the power-base of the
He remembered the first meeting he attended. Even with some cautious words of warning from Ben, the blatant way in which he was approached came as some surprise. Drunkenness and debauchery were the mantle under which legitimate business was conducted and alliances formed. By carefully pacing himself with the copious quantities of alcohol served, Adam generally managed to keep a clear head, and was often able to slip away unnoticed once the festivities were well under way.
Not always, though. If cornered by a determined cattle buyer, Adam had no choice but to accept the proffered drinks. Refusing to drink with such business partners marked a man as unfriendly, or worse still, as a pantywaist. A man not really a man at all.
On such
occasions, the long ride back to the ranch from
This morning however, he didn’t feel as badly off as on other occasions. The brisk morning air had driven the tiredness from his body, and the long ride had invigorated rather than drained him.
Adam noticed that the wagon was missing from the yard, and smiled to himself. At least Little Joe had followed his orders this time. One less confrontation – at least for today. Suddenly hungry, Adam headed inside, hoping that Hop Sing had saved him some breakfast.
******************************************
Little Joe in the meantime was preparing himself simpler fare. A delicate eater since birth, Little Joe carefully poached an egg in the pan over the campfire. When it was cooked through, he carefully separated the yolk from the white and sat down to enjoy his morning’s repast.
The previous day he had worked long past sundown. As he had suspected, there was more work to be done than his Pa or Adam had reckoned with. It was just as well he had brought the extra supplies with him; otherwise Adam would have tried to imply that he was trying to get out of work once the supplies ran out. He shook his head sadly. Little Joe just didn’t know what more he could do to gain Adam’s love and respect. Maybe it was just too late, and they were forever destined to remain at this impasse – a great gulf between them emotionally that Adam was too stubborn and hardheaded to cross. And, if his suspicions were correct, that Adam had been shirking his responsibilities in order to carry on doing goodness knows what in town while Pa was away, then Joe would saddle those responsibilities as well. Adam was destined to lose not only Little Joe’s respect, but Pa’s as well.
“Well,” Joe spoke aloud, “that’s just Adam’s problem now. I’m going to prove to Pa that he has one son that he can trust. And it’s not Adam!”
Scraping the remains of his egg into the fire, Joe prepared to return to fence building.
The morning passed quickly. Joe’s natural athleticism enabled him to carry large fence posts that normally a man of his build would be unable to lift. Before long he had repaired the most severely damaged section of fencing. Wiping the thin shimmer of sweat from his forehead with his kerchief, Little Joe leaned back against the wagon and surveyed his handiwork. Not even Adam at his most critical would be able to find fault with the job that Little Joe had done. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a section of fencing further down that appeared to be crooked. The perfectionist in him could not stand to see the fence out of alignment. On closer examination it was apparent that one of the supporting posts had split, and would have to be replaced.
“No matter,” Joe
thought to himself. So the job would
take longer than he had planned. He had
plenty of supplies, and so long as he got back to the ranch by morning he still
had plenty of time to ensure that the contracts were in
Manoeuvring the large heavy post towards the back of the wagon, Joe prepared to slide it to the ground. Suddenly the wagon shifted as the increased weight on one side sunk the wheel into the soft ground. Thrown off balance, Little Joe tried to compensate, but even his disproportionately strong upper body strength could not stop the heavy post from careening off the back of the wagon.
For a moment he thought everything was going to be alright, then in an instant the air was knocked from his body, and he found himself staring up at the sky. A searing pain in his chest gave testament to broken ribs; confirmed when his next breath made him cry out in agony. Slowly and gingerly raising his right had to his chest, he attempted to feel how badly he was injured. The slightest touch from his fingers sent waves of agony coursing through his body. As waves of red and black pain threatened to send him spiralling into unconsciousness, Joe knew that he had to find the strength to get to his feet, or at least to his knees so that he could pull himself into the wagon and return to the Ponderosa for help.
Tentatively, Little Joe tried moving his legs. Puzzled but relieved to find there was no pain, his relief turned to panic when he realised that he could not feel his legs at all. Gulping in shallow mouthfuls of air, he inched his hand further down his body. The tips of his fingers flicked across the top of the post, which lay across his upper thighs, pinning him surely and completely to the ground.
A single tear welled in this left eye and trembled on his lashes before cascading down his pain-ravaged cheek. He was sure that he was in serious trouble. Adam might not realise that something had happened to him for days yet. That is, if Adam even bothered to consider him at all. But despite the seriousness of his situation, Little Joe’s thoughts were not on his pain and the possibility of his death. His Pa, and the loss of the opportunity to prove to him just how much he could rely on Joe, were the thoughts that consumed him now.
Little Joe was glad now that he had eaten almost the whole poached egg for breakfast. It could be days before he had another meal. Water could be a problem though. The pain from his shattered ribs prevented him from turning his head more than an inch in either direction. Exploring the ground beside him with his fingers, Little Joe felt the hard edge of a canteen. It had been thrown out of the wagon with the post, and lay within reach. Little Joe felt like weeping with happiness, but knew that until he had the canteen closer he could not afford to relax.
For the next 2 hours he battled agony, despair and fear as inch by inch he drew the canteen towards his broken body. Finally, as the hot sun beat mercilessly down on his unprotected face, pain and fatigue overwhelmed him and he sank into a forgiving blackness.
*********************************************
Freshly bathed, shaved and wearing clean clothes, Adam headed downstairs for the evening meal. He was in a good mood and even determined not to needle Little Joe whenever he eventually decided to put in an appearance.
Adam’s good humour, however, began to dissipate as the evening wore on and there was no sign of Little Joe. Tired of waiting the evening meal, Adam brusquely told Hop Sing that he wouldn’t wait any longer for his brother, and sat down at the table to be served. As he downed a large plate of steak, potatoes and fresh garden vegetables, Adam pushed aside faint nigglings of concern for Joe’s whereabouts that threatened to ruin his appetite. He had no doubt that Little Joe had wasted so much time up at the north pasture that the simple task of repairing one small section of fencing had blown out of all proportion. He would ride back to the Ponderosa in the morning full of excuses and ready to cast blame on everyone but himself. Disgusted, Adam threw his napkin onto the table and pushed the plate aside. Angry now at Little Joe, Adam wished he were in the room so that he could berate him at length.
The contracts
however, still needed a final cursory look before he took them into
******************************************
Little Joe lay on the hard ground as the night wore endlessly on. The temperature dropped and cool tendrils of mist licked at the flesh exposed by his torn shirt. Every now and then a violent shudder wracked his body, and the pain it caused his shattered ribs caused him to cry out in agony. He dropped in and out of consciousness. Just before dawn he tipped the final drops of water from the canteen into his parched mouth.
“Oh, Pa” he moaned. “Please God, give me the strength to live through this torture, if only long enough to see my Pa’s face again.”
******************************************
Adam pushed himself into a sitting position on the settee. He was stiff and cold and the fire, untended, had gone out during the night. He had been determined to wait up for Little Joe, but had succumbed to sleep. Little Joe had not appeared, and Adam again felt the stirrings of concern that he had managed to suppress the evening before. No matter how distracted Little Joe could get, he should have been home before dark. Adam hoped in his heart that his anger at Joe had not blinded him to the true situation. He prayed that Little Joe was safe as he ran out to the stable to saddle his horse.
*******************************************
The sun climbed high into the sky. Through swollen eyelids Little Joe spotted a cloud of dust in the distance. A rider. He said a silent prayer of thanks and lapsed back into unconsciousness.
*******************************************
Nearing the north pasture at full speed, Adam first noticed that the broken section of fence had been repaired – and expertly repaired. Little Joe had obviously worked long and hard here. He frantically scanned the area and felt his heart sink as he saw the motionless figure pinned to the ground by a huge fence post.
Crying, “Joe, Joe,” Adam wheeled his horse as close to the prone form as he dared and leapt to the ground. His eyes quickly took in the shattered form of his baby brother. “Joe, Little Joe, can you hear me?” There was no response. Adam reached out a hand and gently stroked Little Joe’s brow. Leaning forward he held his ear close to Joe’s lips, desperate to hear any sign of life. For a moment there was nothing. Then, a faint whistle from between pain-clenched teeth gave testament to Little Joe’s battle for life. Overjoyed, Adam wanted to throw his arms around his brother and clasp him to his chest. He wanted to carry him home, to make him well. Above all he wanted the opportunity to tell his brother how much he meant to him. All the pettiness of the past few months meant nothing when he faced the real possibility of having his brother taken from him.
“Don’t worry, Little Joe. I’m here now, and I’m going to make sure you get through this.”
To be
continued.