" WORKING TOGETHER "
By: Lynne G.
Ben
Cartwright and his oldest son, twenty three year old Adam, needed to go to
Hoss would have plenty of help with running the ranch with the ranch hands who had been working at the Ponderosa since Ben had started the Ponderosa.
" Pa, I have an idea that Hoss just might find to his liking. He could build a large cage and put Little Joe in it while we're gone, so that way little brother couldn't cause any trouble for Hoss," Adam suggested as he was laughing. " Now, that is a good idea son. I'll mention it to him and come to think of it, maybe we could keep that little brother of yours in that cage until he is 21 years old !" Ben replied as he was laughing too. " Great idea Pa," laughed Adam
Ben had,
had several talks with Little Joe about behaving himself and not causing any
mischief while he and Adam were away from the ranch. "
" Little Joe, I do trust you, but I know how you are. I really mean it when I say that I want you to please listen to what Hoss tells you. He has my permission to punish you if you disobey him in any way. Do you understand me son?" Ben asked. " Yes sir. I promise to be a good boy," Little Joe told Ben as he smiled at Ben.
"
Hoss, I've had several talks with your little brother about him behaving
himself and listening to you while Adam and I are gone, so if he disobeys you
in any way, you have my permission to punish him," Ben explained.
" I'll try my best Pa to get him to behave. Dunt
worry, we'll be just fine," Hoss reassured Ben. Ben then told Hoss
about Adam's idea for building a cage to put Little Joe in order to keep the
boy out of mischief. Hoss laughed and said, " I like that. I
just might have to build one. I do have plans to keep that boy very busy
so he won't have time for any mischief
The next
day as Ben and Adam were ready to leave, Ben again warned Little Joe to be
good. " I will Pa, ya can trust me,"
the boy said. Adam looked at Hoss and shook his head. He felt sorry
for Hoss. " Hoss, now if any problems should occure,
Charlie and Hank will know what to do," Ben reminded Hoss. " I
know Pa, dunt worry," Hoss said. "
" I hate it when Pa is gone Hoss. I miss him so much," Little Joe sadly said. Hoss noticed how sad his little brother looked and he felt sorry for the boy. " Please dunt be sad Punkin. I know how much ya miss Pa when he's gone, but we will have fun too," Hoss said as he tried to convince the younger boy.
Both boy's headed for the barn to start their morning chores. " Dunt worry little brother, I ain't gonna work ya ta death. We will do some fun things too. I thought maybe later taday, we can go fishin' and catch us some fish for dinner. How does that sound?" Hoss asked. " I'd like that Hoss. Hey Hoss, dunt worry, I promise to be a good boy for ya," Little Joe told Hoss as he smiled at his big brother. Hoss thought to himself, " Yeah, right !"
Hoss and Little Joe got a lot of chores finished that day and now they headed off to catch some fish for dinner. Both boys enjoyed being together and they also loved doing the same things too.
Fishing was very good that day, and soon the boys had enough fish for dinner. They cleaned and washed the fish, so all Hop Sing would have to do was to cook the fish. " Hey Hoss, do we have time ta go for a swim?" Little Joe asked. " We sure do. Race ya to the water," Hoss suggested. " Yer on Hoss," the boy replied. The boys quickly took their clothes off and ran to the lake. Little Joe was the first one to reach the water and he said, " beat ya Hoss !" " Ya sure did Short Shanks, Hoss answered back.
After a nice refreshing swim, both boys got out of the water, dried off and got dressed. They grabbed their fish and headed home. " That was fun Hoss," Little Joe told his big brother. " Yes it was Little Joe, and we and Hop Sing have fish for dinner too, Hoss replied.
" Hop Sing, look we got lots of fish for dinner," Little Joe proudly said as he held up the fish for Hop Sing to see. " Very good. Fish look very nice. They will taste good," Hop Sing told the boys.
The fish were indeed very good. Hop Sing enjoyed eating them too. After dinner, the boys went out to do their evening chores. " Tomorrow little brother, we have ta go out to the Eastern pasture and repair that small section of fence," Hoss told his little brother. " Ok Hoss," the boy agreed
As the boys were busy with the fence repairs, it started to pour down rain and soon there was mud everywhere. " Dadburnit ! Why did it have ta rain ? Now look at all this here mud !" complained Hoss. " Dunt worry, it will be fine. Just wait and see," Little Joe told Hoss.
As the boys continued to work on the fence, Hoss slipped and fell into a large mud puddle. " DADBURNIT !" he shouted. Little Joe looked over at Hoss and he started to giggle. " Hey Hoss, why ya sittin' in that old mud puddle for?" the boy asked as he was giggling loudly. " Ha ha. Ain't that funny little brother. Hey come on and help me will ya?" Hoss asked.
Little Joe walked over to Hoss and Hoss surprised the boy by pulling him down into the puddle too. " Ha ha. Gotcha !" Hoss said as he was laughing too. Little Joe was still laughing hard as he picked up a handful of mud and threw it at Hoss. " Oh, so ya wannna play do ya? Ok. Yer in for it now little brother," Hoss laughingly said as he started to roll his little brother around in the large mud puddle. Both boys where having a great time playing in the mud puddle. Hoss loved to pick up the youngster and drop him back in the puddle. After just over thirty minutes, both boys were getting tired. They both laid in the puddle laughing at each other and breathing hard. " Hoss, ya should see yerself. What a big MESS !" Little Joe said as he was still laughing. " Well, I wouldn't laugh too hard boy, cuz ya should see YOU !! Hop Sing's gonna have a fit when he see's how muddy and wet we are," Hoss explained as he stood up and then pulled up his muddy little brother just as the sun came out brightly again.
" I gots an idea how ta get clean Hoss. Let's go over ta the river and get in the water. That will get all the mud off our clothes, and Hop Sing will never know we was covered in mud," suggested Little Joe. " Good idea little brother," Hoss agreed. The brothers gathered up their tools and put them in the buckboard.
Instead of riding in the buckboard to the river, Hoss led the horses over to the river that was very close to where the boys had been working. Once they reached the river, Hoss set the brakes on the buckboard and both boys ran over to the river and they jumped into the water. They were having a good time playing in the water. Hoss would put his little brother on his shoulders and the boy would dive off Hoss. They took turns at pushing each other under the water. Little Joe was having a great time swimming between Hoss's legs, and then he would climb up on Hoss's back to get on top of Hoss's shoulders so he could dive off again. There was a lot of giggling going on as well. By now both boys were exhausted, so they decided to get out of the water and rest.
Hoss then decided that they needed to be on their way home again. All the mud was now off their clothes, and soon the two soaking wet brothers were on their way home. " That is the most fun I have ever had repairing fences little brother, thanks to you. This wouldn't happen with old Adam. He dunt know how ta have fun like this," Hoss said to this little brother. " Really Hoss? I sure had fun too, but I'm so tired now," the boy stated as he kept yawning.
By the time the boys got back home, their clothes were still a little damp, but they didn't care. After they took care of the horses, and the buckboard, they headed for the house. " Boys wash up for dinner now," Hop Sing told them. " Ok Hop Sing," they both answered.
The next
day Hoss and Little Joe went into
When they returned home they unloaded the buckboard for Hop Sing, and then they took care of the horses and buckboard. Then they put all the cans of paint in the barn.
After lunch, they decided to start painting the outhouse. They had picked out a dark brown color for the smokehouse, a medium brown for the outhouse, and of course barn red for the barn and chicken coop.
As the boys were painting the outhouse, Hoss bent down to get more paint on his brush as Little Joe had just put more paint on his brush. So as Hoss was bending down over the can of paint, Little Joe quickly painted a large line across Hoss's bottom. Luckly for the youngster, Hoss didn't feel the paint brush go across his bottom. Little Joe was holding in a giggle that threatened to escape his mouth.
" Ya know little brother, it sure ain't taken long ta get this here outhouse painted, so why dunt we get started on the smokehouse taday too ? What do ya think?" asked Hoss. " Yup, I know we can. We are a good team big brother," Little Joe told Hoss.
Sure enough, after the outhouse was finished, they got started on the smokehouse. Once again, Little Joe painted another line on Hoss's bottom, but this line went down the middle of the older boy's bottom. Little Joe stood there and admired his artwork that was in the shape of a cross.
Just as the boys were cleaning up the paint brushes, Hop Sing told them to get washed for dinner. " BE RIGHT THERE HOP SING !" Hoss yelled back. " You did a great job taday little brother. Just think, we got both the outhouse and smokehouse all painted. Tomorrow we can start on the barn," Hoss suggested. " Ok Hoss," a tired Little Joe replied back.
After they had washed up, they went into the house for dinner. Hop Sing did a double take when he noticed the painted cross on Hoss's bottom. " Hoss, why you got painted cross on bottom?" asked Hop Sing. " Huh ? A what ? Where?" asked a confused Hoss.
By now Little Joe couldn't hold in his giggle any longer. He was soon rolling on the floor holding his stomach. Hoss touched his bottom, and then he looked at his hand to see if there was any paint on his hand. He was relieved when he didn't see any paint on his hand.
" Very funny little brother, just you wait ! Yer turns a comin' ya know," Hoss warned his little brother as he was watching the youngster rolling on the floor and he couldn't help it, but was soon laughing too. " Dinner ready now," Hop Sing said. " Come on little brother, dinner's ready and I'm plum starvin' to death," Hoss said as he pulled his little brother up to a standing position. Little Joe had been giggling so hard that he had tears rolling down his face. " Oh Hoss, ya look so funny. I'm really sorry, but I couldn't help it," Little Joe said as he was trying to control himself.
As they were eating dinner, Little Joe was now having a really hard time keeping his eyes open. Hoss noticed this, and decided that he needed to keep an eye on the youngster. He wasn't upset with the boy at all. In fact, he thought it was funny what the boy had done to him. He was so proud of at how hard the youngster had been working while Ben and Adam were gone.
Little Joe's head kept getting closer to the table and soon the boy was sound to sleep. A couple of minutes later, the boy's head fell forward and his face landed in his bowl of stew, and he didn't even move one bit. Hoss sighed, shook his head and went over to his little brother and lifted the boy's face out of the bowl of stew. Just then Hop Sing came out of the kitchen and he saw Little Joe's face in his blow of stew. " What happened to little boy? Why his face in bowl of stew?" Hop Sing asked as he looked at the sleeping boy. " He's so plum worn out. Poor kid. He just fell asleep Hop Sing," Hoss explained. Hop Sing went into the kitchen to get a wash cloth so he could wash off the boy's face. After Little Joe's face was clean, Hoss picked him up and carried him up to his room, got him undressed and into his nightshirt. They he covered up the boy and headed back downstairs.
" Boy Hop Sing, little brother sure has been a good boy, and he's been workin' real hard too. Even though he painted me, I can't be upset with him. I'm really proud of him," Hoss proudly told Hop Sing. " Hop Sing notice how good little one is. He good boy. Father be very proud of him and you too. You both work very hard. You two need day off tomorrow. Have fun. Barn painting can wait till next day," Hop Sing told Hoss. " Really Hop Sing ? We can have tomorrow off ? Thank you !" Hoss said as he was grinning.
The next day, Hop Sing let the boys sleep in . After they had their breakfast, they did their chores. They were excited about having the rest of the day off to do what ever they wanted. Hop Sing had made them a picnic lunch, so they could go down to the lake to swim and fish.
The boys were having a great time at the lake. They would swim for a while, then fish, them swim again. " Golly Hoss, this is so much fun ! I really love bein' with ya big brother. I love ya Hoss, Little Joe said as he hugged Hoss. " Thanks Punkin. I love ya too, and I really love bein' with you as well," Hoss told the boy.
" Hey Hoss, how many days do ya think it will take ta paint the barn?" Little Joe asked. " I dunno. It gets day light really early, and if we are ready to paint as soon as it is gettin' light and we work real hard, um maybe a full day or two at the most," Hoss reasoned.
Very early the next morning before it was daylight, the boys had their breakfast and got their barn chores finished. They then got everything ready for painting, the ladders in place, so as soon as it was light enough to see, they could start their very long day of painting.
" Let's get started on the back of the barn first," Hoss suggested. " Ok Hoss, sounds good ta me," the boy agreed. They were now painting as a team, and four and half hours later, they had finished the entire back of the barn.
The boys stood back to admire their work. " It looks really good big brother," Little Joe proudly said. " It sure does Punkin. Ready ta start on the sides now ?" Hoss asked. " Ready," the boy agreed.
They started on the side that was closest to the corral, which didn't take very long. As they got everything ready to start the other side of the barn, Hop Sing called then for lunch. They were happy for that as they were both hungry. They quickly washed up and went in the house for lunch
When Hop Sing brought out the ham sandwiches and soup, he had to smile at Hoss and Little Joe, as they had red paint in their hair and some on their faces too. " How painting going?" Hop Sing questioned. " It's goin' great Hop Sing. We got the whole back of the barn done, and one side too," Hoss replied. " Yeah, we sure did Hop Sing," the boy added as he took a bite of his sandwich. " That good. You boys work very hard. Hop Sing very proud of boys !" Hop Sing told them. " Thanks Hop Sing !" they both said.
After lunch, the boys got started on the other side of the barn. As they were painting, Hoss put more paint on his brush, then he walked over to his little brother and he painted the boy's old shirt. " Gottcha little brother !" Hoss said as he started to laugh. Little Joe looked at Hoss, and he painted the front of Hoss's shirt as he was giggling. Hoss then painted Little Joe's face, and then Little Joe painted Hoss's face too. By now both boys were laughing. " Little Joe, you silly boy. You got paint all over ya!" Hoss laughed.
Hop Sing could hear laughing as he was working in his garden, and he was wondering what ever could be so funny. He decided to walk over to get a look at the boys to see what they were laughing so hard about. He gasped when he saw the two red painted boys laughing as they were painting.
" What you do? Why you both painted red?" Hop Sing asked. " Oh hi ya Hop Sing. We wanted ta match the barn, and we was havin' fun too !" explained Little Joe. Hop Sing shook his head and walked in the direction of his garden while mumbling away in Chinese.
The boys finished up the side of the barn, and again they stood back to admire their hard work. " Do ya wanna get started on the front of the barn little brother?" Hoss asked. " Yeah, we gots lots of time, so lets get it done," the boy replied.
Hoss set up the ladders and they were soon painting the front of the barn. They had just finished the upper part and were starting on the lower part, when Hop Sing called them in for dinner.
As they were getting washed up, they could smell fried chicken. " Oh boy, fried chicken ! I love fried chicken ! Yummy !" Little Joe said as he was licking his lips.
Dinner tasted wonderful as the boys were very hungry. " It's been a fun day Hoss. Do ya wanna paint some more on the lower part of the barn?" the boy asked. " Yeah, let's see if we can finish it up tonight. It will be daylight for a few more hours.
The boys went right back to their painting and they were able to finish up the rest of the barn. As it was starting to get dark, they cleaned up all the paint brushes, and went to do their evening barn chores. " I can't believe that we were able to get this whole barn done in one long day. Tomorrow we can do the chicken coop," Hoss said. Little Joe was so tired that all he could do was to nodded at Hoss.
The boys washed up. " Hoss, I'm too tired to take a bath. All I wanna do is go to bed," Little Joe explained. " Me too little brother," Hoss replied, as they were both almost asleep on their feet.
Hoss told Hop Sing that the had finished the barn and that they were going to go to bed. " You boys sleep in tomorrow. Boys need to rest. Good night," Hop Sing told them. " Night Hop Sing," they both said as they headed up to their rooms. They wished each other ' good night 'then went into their own rooms.
Little Joe quickly undressed then he slipped into his nightshirt. He sat down on his bed, sighed and laid straight back and soon was in a deep sleep.
About thirty minutes later, Hop Sing went upstairs to look in on the boys. Hoss was sound to sleep and snoring away. Hop Sing smiled at him. Then he headed towards Little Joe's room. As soon as he saw the deeply sleeping boy, he smiled at the sight of how the boy was laying on the bed. The boy's legs were still hanging off the bed, and he had his arms stretched over his head. Hop Sing gently lifted the boy's legs on the bed and he straightened up the boys body so he was laying straight and he lowered the boy's head down on his pillow. He covered Little Joe up, and he leaned down a gave the boy a kiss on his forehead. " Little boy very tired. Work much too hard today," he softly told the boy. Then he left the room and went back down stairs.
True to his word, Hop Sing let the boys sleep in that next morning. " Good morning Hop Sing. Thanks for lettin' us sleep in taday," Hoss said. " Good morning Hoss. Little Joe still sleeping?" Hop Sing asked. "Yeah, I think so. I'll go and get him up," Hoss told Hop Sing. " Breakfast almost ready," Hop Sing told Hoss. " Oh good. I'm really hungry this mornin' !" Hoss replied as he headed towards the stairs to go up to his little brother's room while he rubbed his stomach.
Once Hoss was in Little Joe's room, he looked down at the sleeping boy, and he thought, " He is sooo dadburn cute, and he looks like an angel too when he's sleeping. I hate to do this to ya little brother, but it's time ta wake up now."
" Hey Punkin, it's time ta wake up now. Breakfast is about ready. Oh Joey boy, wakey wakey," Hoss said as he looked at his baby brother, who was trying very hard to open up his eyes. He kept yawning over and over. The boy managed to mumble ' good morning ' to Hoss. " Hi Hoss," the boy softly said. " Good morning to you too little brother, Hoss replied as he smiled at the sleepy boy.
Little Joe slowly sat up and stretched and continued to yawn. " Boy, that was sure a fast night !" he said. " Sure was Punkin. I'm glad Hop Sing let us sleep in this morning," Hoss answered.
Soon both boys were eating breakfast, as they were both very hungry. " Should we paint the chicken coop taday little brother ?" Hoss asked as he took a big bite of his ham. " Sure, that way all the painting will be all done, Little Joe said. " Great, after we do our barn chores, we can do the chicken coop," Hoss suggested. Little Joe nodded his head.
Painting the chicken coop proved to be the hardest of all the painting, because the chickens and they roaster kept going after Hoss and Little Joe. Both boys were pecked several times, but finally they had finished all of the painting and they were very happy about that. They had worked very hard and had put in very long hours in order to get all the painting finished up, plus they also kept up all their other chores as well
The boys had finished cleaning up the paint brushes when Hop Sing came out to them and he had a picnic basket for them. " You boys take rest of day off. Go to lake and have lots of fun swimming and fishing," Hop Sing told them. " WOW ! Thanks Hop Sing. That sounds wonderful !" they both said.
The boys went for a swim which they thoroughly enjoyed, as it seemed to give them more energy. Then they got out of the water and ate their lunch. They didn't bother to take their clothes off when they went swimming. They just wanted to get into the water and play.
" Sure was nice of Hop Sing ta make us a picnic, wasn't it Hoss?" Little Joe said. " Sure was Punkin," Hoss said as he grabbed another sandwich. As Little Joe was looking through the picnic basket, he discovered some sugar cookies. " Hey Hoss, Hop Sing put lots of sugar cookies in here too !" the boy excitedly said. They both loved sugar cookies. " Dunt eat em all now little brother," Hoss jokingly said. " Golly Hoss, dunt ya trust me either?" Little Joe joked right back as he started to giggle.
Fishing had been very good that afternnon as well, and the boys had caught a lot of fish. " I can just taste em right now," Hoss said as he looked at the fish and he licked his lips. " Ain't ya gonna wait fer Hop Sing ta cook em first big brother?" Little Joe asked. " Course I am little brother. I just said a figure of speech is all," Hoss explained as he smiled at his little brother.
Hoss and Little Joe cleaned the fish, then Little Joe told Hoss that they should probably get their feet dry and put their socks and boots on. " Yup, yer right on that little brother, but I need to do somethin' first," Hoss stated as he looked at his little brother. Little Joe couldn't figure out what Hoss meant by that. Hoss suddenly picked up his baby brother and carried him back down to the lake to throw him in the water.
" PUT ME DOWN HOSS ! PUT ME DOWN !" yelled the younger boy. Hoss was laughing and he said, " your wish is my command baby brother ," Hoss giggled as he dropped Little Joe in the water. The boy came back up to the surface spitting water out of his mouth. Hoss stood there laughing loudly. " Ya just wait big brother," Little Joe warned as he started to splash water on Hoss, and he too was giggling loudly.
Little Joe pushed Hoss and he fell into the water and soon they were both wrestling in the water and having a big water fight. They were having a wonderful time playing in the water and giggling too. After an hour both boys were tired, so they sat in the water breathing hard and still giggling. Little Joe sat on Hoss's lap and he laid his head against Hoss's chest. " I'm so tired Hoss," he softly said. " Me too, but this sure has been fun little brother," Hoss said as he stood up with his little brother safely tucked in his arms. He walked over to the tree and he laid his brother on the ground where their towels were, along with their socks and boots. " I hope Hop Sing dunt gets mad at us fer swimmin' in our clothes Hoss, said a thoroughly soaked Little Joe. " Oh, dadburnit, I never thought of that," Hoss replied.
The boys
went back down to the lake to wash the fish that they had caught. Then
they slowly headed home. As they walked along it started to pour down
rain, and then they heard a very loud crash of thunder. " Yikes,
let's hurry !" Hoss suggested as they started to run. " At
least now Hop Sing won't know we went swimmin' in our
cothes,"
Little Joe said.
" Here Hop Sing, here's the fish we got fer dinner," Hoss told Hop Sing as he handed the fish to Hop Sing. " Very nice fish. They make good dinner tonight. Boys need to get out of wet clothes and get dry now. I go get towels and dry clothes. You go to washroom get out of wet clothes," Hop Sing suggested.
After Hoss and Little Joe were in dry clothes, they went into the livingroom to relax until dinner was ready. Little Joe went straight over to settee and he laid down, and he quickly fell alseep. Hoss looked up from his book when Hop Sing came into the room with a plate of cookies. " Thank you Hop Sing. Little Joe fell asleep all ready," Hoss said as he bit into his cookie. " Little boy very tired," Hop Sing said as he looked down at the sleeping boy. Hop Sing went and got a blanket to cover up the sleeping boy as the day had turned rather cold. " Dinner ready in two hours," Hop Sing announced. " Great ! Your the best Hop Sing," Hoss proudly told Hop Sing.
Over the
next few days, Hoss and Little Joe kept busy with their chores, plus going into
While Hoss and Little Joe were gone that day, Ben and Adam rode into the yard. They both noticed at how well the barn, chicken coop, smokehouse and outhouse looked with their fresh coat of paint. " Looks like your brothers have been very busy. They did a wonderful job with the painting," Ben said as he and Adam looked at all the building. " They sure did. Hum, I don't see that large cage Hoss was going to make," Adam said as he laughed. " Hopefully, that is a good sign," Ben replied. They took their horses into the barn and took care of them before heading towards the house.
As they entered the house, Hop Sing greeted them. " It nice to have family together again. Little boy really missing his Papa," Hop Sing said. " I bet he is," Ben said, as Hop Sing headed back to the kitchen. For some reason, Hop Sing knew that Ben and Adam would be home that day, and he had been working on a 'welcome home ' dinner for them.
" It sure is great to be home again. I wonder where your brothers are ?" Ben said to Adam. No sooner had Ben said that, when Hop Sing entered the room with some fresh hot coffee and cookies for them. " Hop Sing, how did you know we needed coffee and cookies now?" Ben asked as he looked at Hop Sing and smiled. " Hop Sing just know. Hoss and Little Joe go to some line shacks to put more supplies in them. Be home very soon. Little Joe very good boy while you gone. He and Hoss work hard. Get all painting done plus other chores, and they help Hop Sing too," Hop Sing proudly told Ben and Adam. " Are you sure that it was our Little Joe who was so good?" questioned Ben as he joked with Hop Sing. " Yes, it our Little Joe who was so good," Hop Sing replied as he smiled and went back into his kitchen.
An hour before dinner was ready, Hoss and Little Joe drove the buckboard into the yard. They jumped down, unhitched the horses and Hoss took them into the barn. As soon as he saw Ben and Adam's horses in the barn, he grinned and said, " Hey Punkin, why dunt ya go into the kitchen and let Hop Sing know that we are back." He knew the boy would be very surprised when he saw Ben and Adam. " Ok Hoss," the boy said as he slowly walked towards the ktichen door.
" Hop Sing, we're home," the boy softly said as soon as he walked into the kitchen. " That good. You go in livingroom for Hop Sing, and stay out of Hop Sing's way now," Hop Sing suggested. " Ok."
Little Joe walked out of the kitchen and into the livingroom, and as soon as he saw Ben and Adam, he stopped, gasped and yelled, " PA, ADAM YER HOME !" He took off running towards Ben, who had just stood up, because he knew that his baby would jump into his loving arms. Ben caught his excited son and he hugged the boy tightly. " Oh Papa, I missed ya so much. Ya too Adam !" Little Joe excitedly said. Ben contiuned to hold his son and he rubbed the boy's back. " We missed you and Hoss very much too," Ben said.
Hoss walked into the house and he was very happy to have Ben and Adam home too. Adam and Ben both hugged Hoss too. " Pa, Little Joe was such a good boy, and he worked really hard and he did everything I asked him to do too," Hoss proudly told Ben. " That's great ! I'm so proud of you Little Joe !" Ben very proudly said. Ben told the boy's how wonderful they had done with all the painting, and that made Hoss and Little Joe feel good. Adam was having a hard time believing that his baby brother had been so good the whole time they were gone. " Hey little buddy, I am really proud of you too. I guess I will just have to do something to you," Adam said as he started to tickle his baby brother. Loud giggling was now heard through out the large ranch house. That was something that Ben and Adam had really missed, was that special giggle of Little Joe's.
Dinner was wonderful that night, now that the family was together again.
The End.