Temper Temper

 By Ciejye

Hoss felt terrible, he couldn't believe he had hurt his little brother, the baby of the family and his best friend in the whole world, but he had. And he felt worse than he could have ever imagined. He listened to the sobs of the small boy, as the tears ran down his own face and wondered if his brother could ever forgive him. Indeed if he could ever forgive himself for hurting the precious baby of the Cartwright clan.

Hoss was just 13, his 19 year old brother, Adam, had gone off to attend college in the East a few months earlier and left Hoss as the oldest brother to their younger
brother, Joseph, who was 8. Hoss and Little Joe both attended the local school, though Hoss hoped it was his last year there. He was not the best for book learning.
But he excelled at caring for animals and was as strong and as big as an ox.

Little Joe and Hoss had been in the barn doing their evening chores. Their father, Ben, had gone into town for a meeting and their cook Hop Sing had taken some
soup to a neighbor who was doing poorly. Hop Sing had left a savory stew on the stove and there was fresh bread and an apple pie still warm from the oven waiting
for them when they finished their chores. While still young, Hoss was more than capable of caring for his younger brother and often did. And if anything happened
the foreman, Charlie, was just over in the bunkhouse with the other ranch hands. Hoss felt something hit him in the back of the neck and reached up, it was a bit of
manure. He frowned and growled at his little brother. "Dadburnit Little Joe, you be careful where your flinging that, I don't wanna have to take a bath before we have
supper. I'm a powerful hungry."

"When aren't you a powerful hungry?" Little Joe giggled and flung another pitchfork full of the muck at his older brother.

Hoss dodged it with only partial success and yelled at his brother. "I mean it now Little Joe, if you don't stop I'm gonna pound you."

Little Joe laughed as he ran up the ladder to the loft. "You can't pound me if you can't catch me." He giggled and kicked some straw down on his hapless brother
who had started up the ladder after him. Then Little Joe turned and headed for the wall and the rope that hung there. The rope was normally used for pulling things
into the loft via the pulley that was over the main area of the stable. Right now it was secured to the wall to keep
it out of the way. Little Joe quickly unwrapped it from the peg and ran toward the edge of the loft.

"JOE NO!" Hoss yelled as he made a mad grab for his brother. Little Joe didn't listen and went sailing off into space still with a firm grasp on the rope. He knew his
Pa would have tanned his hide for playing like this over the stable. If he fell he could be seriously hurt on a pitchfork or the edge of a stall. But Little Joe had the
immortality that comes with being young and didn't feel anything could hurt him.

Hoss watched with his heart in his throat as his little brother swung in an arch over the hazards of the stable and came back to the loft. Hoss reached out and
grabbed for the giggling youth. Little Joe squirmed and wiggled and managed to avoid his brother's reach. "Can't catch me!" Little Joe laughed then slipped and fell.

"JOE!!" Hoss screamed as he watched his brother land hard and lay still. Then he scrambled for the ladder, heading down as quickly as he dared. His mind raced at
what might have happened. How could he explain to his Pa that his little brother was killed? How could he live without his little brother? Tears welled up in his eyes
as he practically slid down the ladder; his feet barely touched the rungs. Hoss scrambled to his still brother and almost gathered him in his arms, but stopped before he did. He did not want to make things worse. "Ohh Joe, Joe." Tears fell as Hoss tried to see how badly his
little brother was hurt.

A moment Little Joe sat up giggling. "You should have seen yourself Hoss, you were so scared." The imp laughed.

"Y-your not hurt?" Hoss blinked, he was sure his little brother had been hurt or killed.

"Nah, I was just playing possum." Joe laughed again, his green eyes flashed with the mischief in them.

Even hours later, Hoss was not sure what exactly happened. One moment his brother was laughing at him and the next he had Little Joe face down over his knees
and was spanking the daylights out of him. It was not the controlled pulled swats that his Pa used when disciplining the boy. Nor was it the measured swats that
Adam had used when he had had to spank Little Joe before he left. This was an all out angry spanking from a big brother whohad his wits scared out of him. The
spanks to the tiny bottom were full handed and hard. Little Joe sobbed almost from the start and tried to wiggle free, but Hoss had too good of a hold on him and
the blows kept falling.  Little Joe tried to protest the spanking but his brother was relentless and only after a good 2 dozen hard swats that he didn't even count and
that left his brother sobbing over his knees did Hoss stop and pull the boy up.

"Don't you EVER do something like that again, YOU HEAR ME!!" Hoss roared at his brother as he shook him.

"Yes Sir." Little Joe sobbed then fled the moment Hoss let go of him. "I HATE YOU!!" Little Joe screamed at the barn door and ran into the house and up to his
room.

Hoss just say on the stable floor, his hands shook both from the shock of what had happened and from the shock that he had just hit his little brother in anger. He felt
terrible and wanted to die.

It took several minutes before Hoss could bring himself to stand up and go see if his sibling was okay. Little Joe had locked his door and would not answer Hoss'
pleas and apologies. Hoss finally stopped and went back to finish the chores. He hoped his little brother would talk to him soon. Chores done, Hoss decided he was
not hungry and never ate supper.

After a long time the sobs stopped from upstairs. Hoss tried again to talk to his little brother but Little Joe still would not let him in. Finally, Hoss settled down on the
settee and waited for his Pa to come home.

Upstairs, Little Joe also waited for their father to come home. He couldn't believe his beloved older brother, his playmate; his best friend had done that to him. It was
only a joke no one was hurt. But Hoss hit him. HARD. He had given him the hardest spanking he had ever received in his entire 8 years of life. It was harder than the
ones Pa had given him and even harder than the one he had gotten from Adam when he tried to break the bronk the week his father was in Carson City. And THAT was the hardest one before this. 'Never gonna forgive him for this, it was ONLY a JOKE." Joe thought rebelliously before the crying induced sleep overtook his small body.


Hoss heard his father ride in a while later and prepared himself for what was to come. Ben was a bit surprised to see his son up at this hour but could see
immediately that something was wrong. "What are you doing up so late Son?" Ben asked as he put his gun belt and hat on the credenza.

"Pa, I done a terrible thing." Hoss broke down and began to sob as his father came to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

Ben was concerned at the tension that emanated from his boy "What's wrong Hoss, what have you done? Tell Pa what has you so upset."

Slowly, Hoss told his father everything that had happened; the teasing, the flight, the fall and the spanking. Ben listened without comment to the tearful confession
from the distraught youth.

"I'm so sorry Pa, I know I aint allowed to spank Little Joe, I was just so scared. I didn't even think what I was doing until it was over. I know you're disappointed in
me." Hoss couldn't meet his father's eyes. He just couldn't bear to see the disappointment he knew he would find there.

"Look at me, Son." Ben said gently but firmly.

It took Hoss a minute but he finally looked into his father's eyes. What he found there was not disappointment but love and gentle concern. "Son, while its true you
are not permitted to punish your brother, though I can see how it could happen. I am not disappointed in you for that. Yes, you did something wrong and you will be
punished for it. But it was not necessarily spanking your little brother that was wrong. It was how you did it. In anger. We have spoken about this before."

Ben's eyes changed from concern to anger though Hoss could still see the love in them. "You can not lose your temper and strike out. You could seriously hurt
someone one day. And that is why you are going to be punished. Had you calmly spanked your brother, I would not have condoned it but it was justified, I would
have done the same. But to strike him in anger, to lose your temper." Ben took a long slow deep breath. "Son, that is not acceptable. You are too big to let your
temper take control of you. You could hurt someone one day, and Eric, I would rather give you a tanning ever day for the rest of your life, than to have to visit you
once a month in prison or" Ben's voice broke, "or have to bury you."

"Yes, Sir." Hoss said as the tears fell down his face again. He knew what his father said was true. He was too big to let his temper control him.

"Now, I am going to go check on your little brother, then you can I will take a trip to the barn." Ben patted Hoss on the shoulder as the boy nodded.

Little Joe was still asleep when Ben used his key to unlock the door. He confiscated the key that was on the dresser and moved to check his baby. Little Joe slept
deeply once he was asleep and Ben had no trouble as he undressed the child and put on his nightshirt. He took a moment to check the damage done by the
spanking. Little Joe's bottom was very red. Ben winced at the sight. He did not see any signs of bruises, but Little Joe would not be sitting down easily anytime soon.

Ben covered the boy up and tucked him in, with a gentle kiss to the curly head, he left the room to deal with his older child.

Hoss was still where Ben had left him, his red eyes showed the pain from his guilt. Ben had almost decided not to spank the boy until he saw that guilt. Ben knew the
boy needed closure; he needed to control his temper. Heneeded his father to be consistent both in his discipline and in his love. "Let's go Son." Ben said in his
rumbling deep voice.

Hoss startled for a moment then nodded and turned. The walk to the barn was the longest, short walk of his young life. Once there, Ben nodded to the bail of hay in
the far corner. Hoss walked over to it and waited for hisfather to take off his belt.

Instead, Ben sat down on the bail and patted his knee. "Take your pants down Eric, over my knee." Hoss just blinked at his father, even though he was just 13 he
was as big as most of the men on the ranch.

"But Pa, aint I too big to go over your knee?" Hoss asked bewildered, the last couple of tannings had been done with his Pa's belt while Hoss was bent over the
desk or a bail of hay.

"What you are, Eric, is a little boy who needs to learn to control his temper. What did I do when your little brother had a temper tantrum last week?" Ben asked
patiently.

"You put him over your knee and spank him, but Pa, I'm a lot bigger than Little Joe is." Hoss shifted from one foot to another.

"True, but you had a temper tantrum just the same as he did, only difference is, when he had his, he threw a toy horse and hit you in the stomach. You spanked his
backside. I see very little difference between them. Other than the fact that you ARE bigger and could have seriously injured him. Still you act like a little boy and I
will treat you like one. I know your as big as many men. But you are only 13. You are still my little boy as much as Joseph is. Yes you're older and have more
responsibilities, but you ARE my little boy. And right now you're a little boy who is about to go over his Pa's knee for a good sound spanking. Right now Eric."

Hoss unfastened his pant, lowered them and went over his fathers lap. It had been a long time since his Pa had given him a bare bottom spanking. But it hurt as much
as he remembered. Ben didn't lecture as he spanked. Though he did realize his son was almost too big for this kind of spanking for the simple fact of his size. But
Ben firmly delivered the sound spanking he promised then held his sobbing son tightly in his arms before he helped him refasten his pants.

Ben locked up the house, then went up to say goodnight to his middle son. He paused out side the door as he heard voices, he stopped to listen a moment.

"I'm really sorry I spanked you Little Joe, I know I had no right to do that. I was just so scared. Can you ever forgive me?" Hoss said.

"Of course I forgive you, you're my big brother. I know what I did was wrong. I was really scared when I fell. And the spanking hurt worse than anything Pa or
Adam ever done. But I know why you done it. I.. I don't reallyhate you Hoss, I'm sorry I said that." Little Joe's voice was thick with tears. "I love you Hoss."

"I love you too punkin."

Ben looked in a moment later and saw both boys were laying on their stomachs, arms around each other. He didn't think he would ever know what happened before
he came upstairs. But as long as the boys were right with each other again, all was well. He stepped in the room and kissed them both.

"Goodnight Joseph, I love you. God bless." He tucked his littlest boy in for the second time that night.

"'night Pa, love you too."

"Goodnight Eric, I love you, God bless." Ben tucked his second son in as well.

"Goodnight Pa, I love you too."

Ben lowered the lamp and moved to the door, he watched the two boys as they slept for a moment. Then slipped out. No matter what
happened, the love of brothers would overcome all.

The end.


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