"
SNEAKING OFF TO THE
By:
Lynne G.
As the Cartwrights were getting ready to leave on a two week cattle drive, Ben Cartwright's two older sons, twenty two year old Adam, and sixteen year old Hoss would be going along, plus several of their ranch hands. The youngest member of the Cartwright family, ten year old Little Joe wanted to go along on the cattle drive too, but Ben had told the boy that he was too young and too little for cattle drives yet. This made Little Joe very angry, as he hated to hear that he was too young and too small to do most things except his chores, but he wasn't going to let this stop him, not this time.
He had decided to sneak along, but staying at the back of the herd in hopes that his family wouldn't see him
As the cattle drive was about to get started that morning, Ben tried to talk to his youngest son, but the boy wouldn't come out of his room. After everyone had left, Little Joe snuck down the stairs with his bedroll, and he quietly left the house and went out to the barn to saddle his horse Tony. He made sure he had two canteens, some food and his jacket. After he had Tony saddled, he led the horse out of the barn, and he rode off to follow the herd.
Little Joe
stayed far enough behind everyone so he wouldn't be seen, but he made sure he
could keep them in sight. He watched as the cattle were herded together
for the drive to
About five head of cattle decided to take off in a different direction, which no one saw, except for Little Joe. At seeing this, the boy took off after them. Around thirty minutes later, Little Joe was able to round up the wayward cattle, and he returned them to the herd. One of the hands, Red had seen Little Joe herding the cattle back to the herd, so he rode over to the boy, and he said, " good job Little Joe. I didn't know any cattle had wandered off." " Yeah, they took off way back thata way," Little Joe told Red as he pointed back to the direction he had just come from. " Little Joe, does your Pa know that you are here?" asked Red. " Nope, and he's gonna be so mad at me. Please don't tell him Red," begged the boy. " I don't know Little Joe, but I'm glad you saw the cattle that got away, and that you were able to bring them back. You did good kid," said Red as he rode off. Little Joe felt very proud of himself, and he continued to stay behind and keep an eye on the cattle just in case they decided to take off again.
Little Joe
could tell that the herd was stopping for the night, so he continued to stay as
far back as he could. He was a little scared to be by himself as it got
dark, but he didn't want to be seen by family, especially his
After he had laid out his bedroll, and laid down, he could hear laughter coming from the camp near him. Even though he was really tired, he couldn't sleep. Every sound he heard sounded so close and that scared him. He also wished that he could have made a fire to help keep him warm, but he knew that was out of the question, as it would give him away.
As it was getting daylight, he crawled out of his bedroll, he rolled it up and he tied it down to his saddle after he had saddled Tony for the day. He could smell breakfast coming from the camp, which made his stomach growl even more. All he had for his breakfast was a piece of jerky.
The day was very cool with a hint of rain. He also had realized that he had forgot to bring his rain slicker with him. " Oh, how could I ferget that?" he thought to himself. He got on Tony and headed off to rejoin the herd as soon as it started up again.
About two hours later, just as he thought, it started to rain and he was angry at himself at forgetting his slicker. He was now soaking wet and cold.
He continued on when he noticed the cattle had started to stampede, so he urged Tony to run faster, so he could catch up, and help to keep the cattle as together as possible.
The rain
had finally stopped for which everyone was grateful for. The stampede
lasted about thirty minutes, then it stopped almost as fast as it started.
Little Joe had gone off to regroup a large group of about twenty steers that
had gone off on their own away from the herd. Again, he was able to herd
the group back to the main herd. This time it wasn't Red who had seen
him, it was his own
Ben couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the missing cattle being herded back to the main herd by his youngest son. Ben very very angry that the boy had tagged along. Little Joe was surprised and very nervous when he saw his Pa sitting there on Buck looking at him and he could tell Ben was very angry with him as well, and he he knew he was in big trouble this time.
In the mean time, Red and Smitty had gone back to Little Joe and had taken over the twenty head of cattle that the boy had safely returned to the herd.
"JOSEPH
FRANCIS CARTWRIGHT, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS ?" Ben angrily shouted at
the boy. Little Joe looked at the ground and softly said, "
Ben had
caught up with Adam and Hoss and told them that their little brother had snuck
along, and he was at the back of the herd. " Pa, did you punish
him?" asked Hoss. " No, not yet Hoss, but believe me, that boy
WILL BE PUNISHED ! Then Ben told them that Little Joe did round up some
cattle that had wandered off. "
As the cattle were settling in for the night and everyone had their bedrolls out for the night, Little Joe stayed behind the cattle again. He had just taken his bedroll off Tony when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, and turned around and he saw Ben standing there. " Aren't you going to join us, or are you going to stay here by yourself ?" Ben asked as he looked at his son. " I didn't think you wanted me with you since I'm in so much trouble," Little Joe softly, as tears ran down his face. Ben didn't say anything, but he stood there looking at his now trembling son. Ben could tell how sad and hurt his young son felt, and he said," Well, I don't want you out here alone. Come on now, let's join the rest of the guys." He put his arm around his son's shoulder.
Little Joe started to cry harder, so Ben just stood there and he held his son and let him cry. He could feel his child's body trembling. " Shhh, it's alright son. You've done a wonderful job so far. Those cattle would have still been missing if you had not been here. I'm proud of you Little Joe. Are you hungry son ?" Ben asked. " Y..Yes sir. I haven't had hardly anything to eat for the last couple of days," Little Joe softly said. " Why don't you get Tony and your bedroll and follow me back to camp," Ben told his son. Little Joe picked up Tony's reins and his bedroll and he joined Ben on the way to camp. Ben took the bedroll and carried it for his son. Little Joe still wasn't sure what to expect at camp. He was still very hurt at all the words Ben had said to him earlier that day.
" Well look who's here. If it isn't little brother," Adam said. " Hi Punkin. You sure handled them cattle really good little brother," Hoss told his little brother. " Thanks Hoss," Little Joe said quietly. Ben laid Little Joe's bedroll out next to his own bedroll. He could tell that his little son was exhausted and that he hadn't been sleeping at all. He then went over to the chuck wagon and got a plate of food for his son. Ben handed the plate to Little Joe, and he said," Here you go. Now eat up, then it's off to bed with you. You need to get some sleep son." " Thanks Pa," Little Joe softly said.
Little Joe ate most of his dinner, but he fell asleep before he could finish all of it. " Hey Pa, look at Little Joe, " Adam said as he looked at his sleeping little brother. " That boy is exhausted. At least he can get some sleep now," said Ben as he looked down at his sleeping son. Ben leaned down and took the plate out of the boy's hand, and he handed it to Hoss. Then he picked up his son and carried him over to his bedroll, laid him down and covered him up. He kissed the boy's head and he said, " Sweet dreams baby."
When Ben rejoined his two other sons, Adam asked him if Little Joe was going to ride drag again. " Yes, it's safer for him back there," Ben said. " Pa, can I ride there with him, even though it's not the best place to be, but at least I can keep an eye on him ?" Hoss stated. " Yes, I'd like that Hoss. Thank you. Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going to bed now. Good night," Ben said to Adam and Hoss. " Good night Pa," they both said as they too decided to turn in for the night.
The next morning, Little Joe got up as soon as Hoss had awaken him. That surprised his family, since the little boy was so hard to get up in the mornings. After breakfast Little Joe saddled Tony, put his bedroll back on his saddle and he rode off to the back of the herd without being told. As soon as the drive started for the day, Hoss joined his little brother.
The day was cool again with rain coming down off and on all day. " Hey Punkin, did ya bring yer slicker with ya?" asked Hoss. " I sorta fergot it Hoss. I'm sorry," Little Joe told Hoss. " Well, I always bring a extra one just in case someone needs one," Hoss said with a big grin on his face. He took the slicker out of his saddle bag, and he put it on his little brother. " There ya go Punkin. Now ya will be nice and dry. I know it's way too big fer ya, but you look real cute in it Short Shanks," Hoss said with a chuckle.
" Thanks Hoss. Hey Hoss, is Pa still really mad at me ?" asked Little Joe. " I dunt know little brother, but he probably still is," Hoss said. " He said he was gonna punish me, and I deserve it too, but, but Hoss, he said so many mean things to me, like he can't never trust me again, that I was stupid, and that I really disappointed him. Those words really hurt Hoss," Little Joe said as he started to cry. " Oh Punkin, he didn't mean it. He was jest mad when he saw ya is all," Hoss said as he patted his little brother's leg. Little Joe just looked at Hoss and he gave a little smile.
As they rode along, Little Joe suddenly said, " Hoss, that group of cattle's gonna take off. See the way they are actin' !" warned Little Joe. Hoss took a good look at the cattle, when they just ran off to their left. Little Joe headed off right after them. Hoss followed and soon they got the cattle under control and back to the main herd.
" Hey little brother, how'd ya know them steers was gonna make a run fer it anyway ?" asked a surprised Hoss as he looked at his little brother. " Cuz, they do that same kinda movement everytime they decide to take off," Little Joe said. " Well, I'll be darn, little brother. I wouldn't have known that. Ya really have been watching their every move, haven't ya ?" said Hoss who was so proud of his baby brother, and he couldn't wait to tell Ben and Adam what a wonderful job Little Joe was doing.
When they stopped for the night, as Little Joe was taking care of Tony, Hoss told Ben and Adam about how his little brother could tell that the cattle were going to run off. That surprised them, and they were both proud of the youngest Cartwright.
Ben told Little Joe how proud he was of the boy's actions that day, and Adam had also told Little Joe the same thing. " Joseph, I'm very happy you are here son. You are doing an excellent job for such a young boy, but as you know, you are still going to be punished," Ben told the boy. " I know sir. I'm really sorry Pa," Little Joe said softly as he looked at the ground. " I think I'm gonna go ta bed. I'm tired," the boy said. " Aren't you going to eat some dinner? You haven't eaten anything since breakfast Little Joe," Ben said. " I ain't hungry sir," Little Joe said as he walked over to his bedroll.
" Pa, do ya have ta punish him? He's doin' a great job here," Hoss said to Ben. " I'm sorry Hoss, but yes he is going to be punished. He disobeyed my orders, and he has to be punished," Ben told Hoss and Adam. " Pa, he would have eaten dinner if you hadn't mentioned the punishment. I know for a fact that little brother was hungry, cuz he said he was as we were unsaddling our horses," Hoss said. " I guess I shouldn't have mentioned the punishment. That boy needs to eat with all the hard work he is doing," Ben sadly said.
Ben walked over to his little son to try to get the boy to eat, but Little Joe was sound to sleep. " I'm sorry sweetheart, but you do have to be punished, even though I don't want to. Oh God, please help me do the right thing with him," Ben said softly to himself.
Early the next morning, Little Joe woke up without anyone calling him. He quickly rolled up his bedroll and went to saddle Tony. As he tied his bedroll down on the saddle, he noticed everyone was now up, so he walked back over to his family. They had noticed that Little Joe was saddling Tony and they wondered if he might be up to now. " Good morning Little Joe," they all said. " Good morning," he said softly as he sat down next to Hoss. Ben looked over at his youngest son, and he noticed that the boy looked tired and sad, but he didn't say anything. After breakfast they began to move the cattle again. Little Joe quickly got behind the herd again to make sure the cattle didn't make a break for it again.
Over the
next several days everything went smoothly. Ben had figured that they
would reach
After the cattle had been herded into the stockyards, Ben told his sons to take their horses to the livery stables down the street, then to head over to the Sacramento Hotel and check in, but be sure to tell them that there would four of them instead of three. He also wanted them to reserve a nice warm bath for all of them. He told Adam that he would be at the hotel in about an hour, but first he needed to meet up with the cattle buyer, and get a bank note for the sale of the cattle.
" Hi, we have a reservation for a room under the name of Cartwright. There will be four of us instead of three," Adam told the desk clerk. " That's fine Mr. Cartwright, it's not a problem. You have a suite which has three bedrooms in it. One of the bedrooms has one bed in it, while the other two bedrooms each have two beds in them," the clerk told the Cartwrights. " That will be just perfect. Oh, we need to get enough hot water for four baths," Adam told the clerk.
" On the floor where your suite is, there is a tubroom that has three tubs, lots of soap and towels. Plus there is also a tub in the bathroom in your suite. I'll order that hot water now," the clerk said. " That will be great. For the tub in the suite, can that hot water be ready in an hour ?" asked Adam. " Yes sir, it will be. He's your keys and I'll have a key here for your father when he gets here," the clerk said. " Thank you so very much for all your help," Adam said.
Once the brothers entered their suite, they were surprised at how big it was and at how clean it was too. " Hoss, you can have the room with the one bed in it, so your snoring won't keep us awake," laughed Adam. " Sounds good ta me big brother," Hoss said with a big grin on his face.
Little Joe took some clean clothes out of his saddle bags. " Good goin' little brother. I see ya brought clean clothes with ya," said Hoss as he messed up his little brother's hair. " I sure did Hoss," Little Joe said.
The boys heard a knock on the door, so Adam answered it. " Sir, bath water is ready for three baths now, and there is extra hot water for rinsing off," said one of the hotel workers. " Thank you," Adam said. " Come on brothers, let get all this trail dust off of us," Adam told his two younger brothers. They all grabbed their clean clothes and headed off to the tubroom.
As all three brothers settled into the clean hot water, they all let out a big sigh. " Be sure to wash behind yer ears little brother," Hoss teased. " I will big brother," Little Joe said.
The hot water felt wonderful to the brothers. It was also very relaxing as well. After Adam and Hoss had finished their bath's, they noticed that their little brother had fallen asleep in his tub, before he washed his hair. " Will ya look at Adam. Poor little guy is all tuckered out," Hoss said as he was tucking his shirt into his pants. " He sure is Hoss. Come on, lets wake him up and help him wash his hair and rinse it," Adam said as he and Hoss walked over to the tub their little brother was sleeping in.
" Hey, little buddy, wake up. You need to wash your hair now," Adam said to the boy as he gently shook his little brother.
Little Joe slowly opened his eyes, yawned and he mumbled, " huh ?" " Let's get your hair washed Punkin," Hoss told the boy, as he got Little Joe's hair all wet. Adam put some soap on his little brother's hair and he gently washed the boy's hair. Then he rinsed all the soap out. Hoss then pulled the still very sleepy boy to a standing position and lifted him out of the tub. Adam handed the young boy a towel so he could get dried off. Hoss dried the boy's back as Adam towel dried the boy's hair. Soon Little Joe was dried and dressed. The brothers headed back to their suite.
Ben was
bathing in the suite's bathroom as his three sons returned. " Hi
Pa," they said. " Hi boys. How were your
baths?" " Just great
After Ben had joined his sons in the livingroom of their suite, he suggested they go out and get some dinner. " Now, that's what I wanted ta hear," said Hoss with a big smile on his face as he rubbed his stomach. Ben looked down at Little Joe who seemed very quiet. " Are you alright son ?" asked Ben. " Yes sir. Are ya gonna punish me now ?" Little Joe asked softly. Ben smiled as he looked at his nervous little son, and he said," No, Little Joe. I'm not going to punish you now." Little Joe looked very relieved. Ben put his arm around Little Joe's shoulder and he said, " Come on and let's get some dinner."
The Cartwright thoroughly enjoyed their steak dinner that night. After dinner, they went for a short walk down to the river to watch the boats in the water. Then they headed back to their hotel. Little Joe was almost asleep while they were walking back to the hotel. Little Joe walked into the bedroom, sat down on the bed to take his boots off. Then he laid back for a minute, he thought, but he fell into a deep sleep. Ben went into the bedroom to see if the boy was ready for bed. He stood there and looked at his sleeping son. Adam and Hoss soon joined Ben in the bedroom and they too looked down at the sleeping boy. " I've never seen anyone who can go to sleep faster than Little Joe," Ben said. " That's for sure," both Adam and Hoss said. They helped Ben get their little brother undressed and into his nightshirt. Ben covered up his little son and he gently kissed the child's head.
Back in the livingroom, Ben told Adam and Hoss that he had sent a telegram to Hop Sing to tell him that Little Joe was with them. " Pa, Little Joe told me that he left a note for Hop Sing telling him that he was goin' on the cattle drive, and not too worry about him," Hoss said. " He did, did he ? That boy ! He wants to grow up so fast, but he's still very much a little boy, whether he likes it or not," Ben said. " Pa, are you still going to punish him ?' asked Adam. " Yes, but not until we get home," Ben told Adam and Hoss. " Pa, can't you just let go this time. I know he disobeyed you, but he really has done a wonderful job and he hasn't been any trouble at all." Adam told Ben.
" Adam, I'm surprised by what you just said. You're always telling me that I'm not strick enough with Little Joe, and now you are asking me not to punish the boy ?" questioned Ben as he looked at Adam. " Pa, I totally agree with Adam on this too. I know little brother did wrong, but like Adam said, he really did a great job on the cattle drive. Pa, he rounded the cattle that had wandered off. If he wouldn't have been there, then them steers never would have been found. He even knew by the way they were actin', that they were gonna take off," Hoss told Ben. Ben just sat there and listened to what Adam and Hoss had just told him. " I'll have to think about what you told me, but right now, I think I will turn in for the night. Good night boys," Ben said as he headed off to bed. " Good night Pa," they both said. Adam and Hoss both headed off to bed also. Once Ben walked into the bedroom, he recovered Little Joe, and then he got into bed and he too, was soon fast asleep.
The Cartwrights all slept in that next morning. Ben sat down on the side of Little Joe's bed and he gently woke his son up. " Little Joe. It's time to wake up son," Ben said as he slowly rubbed the boy's back. Little Joe slowly woke up and he turned over to see Ben sitting there on the bed smiling at him. " Good morning sleeping beauty," Ben said. " Good morning Pa," Little Joe said as he kept trying to open his eyes, and he kept on yawning as well. " Did you have a good sleep son ?" Ben asked the boy who was rubbing his eyes. " I think so, but I was sleeping, so I guess I slept good," Little Joe told Ben who smiled at what his son had just said. " As soon as you get washed up and dressed, we can have some lunch," Ben said. Little Joe opened his eyes wide and asked ," What happened ta breakfast ?" " Well son, we all slept through it," Ben said with a smile on his face. " Oh, poor Hoss! He must be really starvin' by now," Little Joe said as he started to giggle. " I would imagine he is sweetheart," Ben said as he too laughed at what his youngest son had just said.
" I can't believe I slept through breakfast !" Hoss said. " That has to be a first for Hoss," laughed Adam, as the family headed for the hotel diningroom. During lunch, they decided that they would leave for home early that next morning. " It seems like we've away from home for a long time," Adam said. " Yes it does son." agreed Ben.
After
lunch, they headed off to buy some supplies for their trip home. When
they finished putting the supplies in their suite, they decided to show Little
Joe the sites of
Bright and early that next morning, after breakfast, the Cartwrights checked out of the hotel, and headed to the livery stable to get their horses and head home.
The trip home was nice and luckily the weather stayed nice, but it was cold. Little Joe was very quiet on the way home. In the back of his mind, he knew he was going to be punished once they got home and he realized that he deserved it, but it still bothered him. He didn't like to disappoint his family, especially his father.
Ben, Adam and Hoss could see how sad looking the boy was and they knew why, but they didn't say anything. Adam and Hoss hoped that Ben would just forget about any punishment this time. Ben still wasn't sure what to do, if he should punish his son, or not. After all, he did have several talks with his young son while they were on the cattle drive, and he could see that the boy knew he had done wrong.
Finally after several days, four tired and dirty Cartwrights rode into the yard of the Ponderosa. Hop Sing came out to greet his family, who he had missed very much, especially Little Joe. When he saw Little Joe, he gave the boy a big hug, then he swatted the child's little bottom, and said, " You very naughty boy to sneak off like that." " I'm really sorry about that Hop Sing, but I needed ta help out on the cattle drive," Little Joe quietly said.
" Hop Sing, Little Joe did a wonderful job on the cattle drive. He rounded up several cattle that took off on their own. He wasn't any trouble at all. We were very glad he was there with us," Ben told Hop Sing. Hop Sing looked down at Little Joe and he smiled at the boy.
Before dinner, all the Cartwright had bath's and they all felt much better and glad to be clean again.
"
Boy's, I just want to thank you for all your hard work on the cattle
drive. I am very proud of all three of you. I have the best sons
that any father could ever want. Little Joe, I think you have learned
your lesson about disobeying me this time, so there won't be any more
punishment. I think all the talks we had were enough punishment,"
Ben said. Little Joe went over to Ben and hugged him, while the tears ran
down his face. "
During dinner that night, Little Joe was having a very hard time keeping his open, as his family noticed. Sure enough, he fell asleep at the table and his head fell forward and his face landed in his fried chicken. " Joseph, wake up son. Joseph." There was no response from the sleeping boy. " Boy, when he goes to sleep, he's dead to the world," Adam said as he looked at his little brother. Hoss just laughed.
Ben got up and he sat his son back up, and he then washed off his face with the wash cloth Hop Sing had just brought him. " Little boy very tired," Hop Sing said with a big smile on his face too.
Ben picked up his sleeping little boy and carried him up to his room. Adam had gone ahead of Ben so he could pull the covers down on the bed so Ben could lay Little Joe on the bed. He helped Ben get his little brother undressed and into his nightshirt. Ben covered up his son. They both stood there looking at the deeply sleeping boy. " He's really something, isn't he Pa ?" Adam said with a big smile on his face. " He sure is son," Ben said as he leaned down to kiss the sleeping boy in bed. Then they left the room and returned to their dinner.
THE END