TIME FOR MISCHIEF AGAIN

By: Lynne G.

Nine year old Little Joe Cartwright, the youngest son of Ben Cartwright's three sons had been stashing empty grain sacks for many weeks now.  He even had his friends saving all the empty grain sacks they could find for him too.  He had big plans for all of them.

This little boy loved to pull jokes on his two older brothers, twenty two year old Adam, and fifteen year old Hoss, and so every time he thought up a new joke, he would write it down so he wouldn't forget it.

Little Joe had also been collecting a lot of pine cones that he had stored away in the woods, that he had planned to use as part of his jokes too.

One night before he went to bed, he had snuck into Hoss's bedroom and he reached under the sheet and blankets of Hoss's bed until his small hand was at the foot end of the bed, and he carefully place a rabbit pelt there.  Then he smothed out the sheet and blankets again.  He hoped that Hoss would think that there was a furry animal in his bed.  He was having a very hard time trying to hold back his giggle that threatened to come out, plus he hoped that he would be able to stay awake long enough to hear what happened when Hoss went to bed that night.

" I think I'll head up to bed.  It's been a long day.  Goodnight Pa, Adam," Hoss said as he started for the stairs.  " Goodnight Hoss," both Ben and Adam replied.

Once up in his room, Hoss got undressed and into his nightshirt.  He kept yawning as he climbed into his bed.  As he pulled up his blankets, he stretched out.  He suddenly flet something furry on his feet.  His eyes opened up wide, he screamed and leaped out of bed and he ran away from his bed.

" WHAT IS GOING ON UP THERE?" Ben shouted as he and Adam took off running up the stairs.  As they ran into Hoss's room, there stood a scared Hoss.  " Hoss, what's wrong ?" a very concerned Ben asked.  " P..P..Pa, there's an animal in my bed !" Hoss shouted.  Ben and Adam looked at each other in surprise.  " An animal in your bed ?" Ben questioned.  " Dadburnit Pa, I tell ya, there's an animal in my bed !" Hoss nervously said.

They all looked at the bed and nothing seemed to be moving under the blankets.  Ben walked over to the bed and pulled back the sheet and blankets, and he saw a large rabbit pelt laying there.  As soon as Ben and Adam saw the rabbit pelt, they both laughed.  They knew who had placed the pelt in Hoss's bed.

" Hoss, son, here's your ' bed mate'," Ben said as he held up the rabbit pelt for Hoss to see.  Hoss now felt very embarrassed when he saw the pelt. 

By now silly giggling could be heard coming from a certain little boy's bedroom.  " Dadburnit !  I'm gonna pound him !" Hoss angrily announced.  " Now Hoss, we all know how that boy loves to pull jokes and well, you have to admit it is rather funny," Ben explained.  " Yeah, but Pa, dadburnit, I ain't sleepy no more !" Hoss replied as he wasn't very happy at what his little brother had done to him.  Adam stood there chuckling at the whole thing.  Still the giggling continued.

" Let me at him Pa.  After all it was me he did this too," Hoss begged.  " He's right Pa," Adam said agreeing with Hoss.  " I promise I won't hurt him, much !" Hoss said.  " Alright, but then it's back to bed," Ben said.  He knew that Hoss wouldn't hurt his baby brother.

Adam and Ben had each gone to their own rooms for the night as Hoss entered his little brother's room.  Hoss stood there with his hands on his hips watching his giggling baby brother rolling around on his bed.  Suddenly the boy rolled off his bed and landed on the floor without missing a single giggle.

" Ha, ha, ha !  So you think you are so funny, huh, little brother?  Well, maybe you are and maybe you ain't.  Pa said I get ta do what ever I want with ya at your little joke," Hoss said as he grinned at the giggling curly haired imp rolling on the floor. 

" Hey Hoss, was ya really scared?  Huh?  Was ya?" the boy cried as he was trying to control himself, as he had tears running down his face from giggling so hard.

" Yeah, I was dadburn ya, ya little monster !  What do ya think I should do ta ya little brother ?" Hoss asked, as he already knew what he was going to do.  Little Joe quickly thought of something to say.  " Uh, how bout just love me Hoss, cuz I r-e-a-l-l-y do love ya, ya know," Little Joe answered as he gave his big brother one of those 'melt your heart' looks.  Hoss thought to himself, " Yeah, sure, tryin' ta soften me up huh?  Well not this time little brother."

" Come here little brother," Hoss said as he held out his arms and he had a big smile on his face.  Little Joe carefully looked up at a smiling Hoss, and he felt relieved.  He wasn't sure what Hoss had planned for him.  The boy got up off the floor and he walked over to Hoss and into his waiting arms.

Hoss put his very strong arms around his little brother and lifted him up in his arms as he walked out of the room with the boy in his arms.  " Hey Hoss, where we goin'?" the now concerned youngster asked.  " Just for a walk is all," Hoss replied.  " I can walk ya know Hoss," Little Joe tried to tell Hoss.  " I know you can Punkin, but I need ta carry you," Hoss explained as he carried his baby brother down the stairs and over towards the front door.

" HOSS, PUT ME DOWN !  HOSS !  I WANNA GO TA BED !  PUT ME DOWN PLEASE !" Little Joe shouted.

Back upstairs, Ben and Adam had heard Little Joe yelling, so they left their rooms to find out what was going on now.  Once downstairs, they noticed the front door was open and they could hear Little Joe yelling at Hoss.  They were now met with by a concerned Hop Sing who had got out of his nice warm bed when he heard Little Joe yelling.  " What wrong?  Why door open?  Why little boy yelling?" Hop Sing asked.  Ben told him about the joke Little Joe had pulled on Hoss.  Hop Sing mumbled and followed the Cartwrights outside.

Hoss carried his struggling little brother over to the water trough and dropped him in the water.  " HA, HA, HA !" Hoss chanted over and over while his little brother resurfaced and spit water out of his mouth.  " Whatja dun that for?  Can't ya take a joke?" Little Joe shouted as he was shivering in the freezing cold water. 

" What is going on out here?" Ben asked.  Hoss startled, turned around to see Ben, Adam and Hop Sing standing there.  " Oh, hi Pa.  I took care of little brother," Hoss sheepishly explained.  " So I can see.  Now please explain to me how in the world your little brother is going to get back in the house without getting his feet dirty?" Ben asked as he looked at Hoss.  " Dadburnit !  I didn't think of that !" Hoss sheepishly replied.  " Obviously not.  So you had better get him out of that water before he freezes to death.  It's freezing out here !  Then you are going to carry him into the washroom so he can get out of that wet nightshirt and get dried off.  I'll get him a clean nightshirt.  Get going !" Ben declared as he slowly walked back to the house. 

" Come on you little trouble maker," Hoss mumbled as he picked up his soaking wet and shivering little brother.  " Sneeze, sneeze."  "Serves ya right !" Hoss mumbled.  " Sneeze, sneeze."

Finally everyone was back in bed.  Little Joe was very proud of his joke he pulled on Hoss, even though he was still shivering.

No more jokes had been pulled for a couple of weeks, which made Little Joe's family a little nervous.  One day Little Joe thought of something to pull on Adam, even though this one made him a little nervous.

The next day after Little Joe had finished up with his chores, and his family was gone, Little Joe found a small cage in the barn's hayloft.  He took the cage and went off looking for his plan for Adam.  It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for.  He set the cage down on the ground, opened its door and he softly began to talk to the skunk that was standing there looking at him.  After several minutes, he gently put the skunk in the cage and he closed the door.  He had remembered to put some carrots in the cage for the skunk which the skunk found and it began to eat. 

Little Joe quickly headed home with the skunk in the cage.  Once he was home, he checked to see if anyone was around, and when he didn't see anyone, he picked up the cage and went up to Adam's bedroom.  He left the caged skunk in the room and he left the room and quietly closed the door.  " Oh this should be good !" he told himself as he giggled.

After dinner, the family was relaxing in the livingroom, when Adam headed up the stairs.  Little Joe watched his big brother out the corner of his eyes while he and Hoss played checkers.

Suddenly a very loud, " OH MY GOD !" could be heard through out the house.  " WHAT IN TARNATION ??" Ben shouted as he jumped up out of his chair.  Hop Sing ran out of the kitchen and shouted, " WHAT WRONG ?"  Hoss and Little Joe jumped up and looked towards the stairs as Adam ran down the stairs holding his nose shut.  Hoss suddenly got a funny look on his face and he said, " E-E-E-E-W-W-W-W, What's that awful smell ?"  And he held his nose shut too.

By now the skunk had made his presence be known.  As the family ran to open every window and door down stairs, Little Joe collasped on the floor giggling like crazy.  Adam glared at his  little brother, then he ran outside and took several deep breaths of fresh air.  Then he ran back in the house and up to his room, where he grabbed the caged skunk, ran back down the stairs and back outside.  He took more deep breaths and opened up the cage door and the skunk ran off as fast as it could.

In the mean time, Hop Sing and Ben ran up the stairs and opened every window up stairs to air out the second floor.  Thank goodness there was a strong cold wind blowing which brought in the much needed fresh air into the house.

As Little Joe continued to roll on the floor in fits of giggles, he didn't notice his family and Hop Sing standing there angrily looking at him.  " JOSEPH FRANCIS CARTWRIGHT !!  OF ALL THE STUPID THINGS TO DO !!  WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, BOY ??  I know, you think this is very funny, but it is NOT one bit funny !!  It's just a good thing for you that, that skunk didn't do it's business in the house !" Ben ranted.

" But Pa, it's just a joke.  Geez ain't anyone got a sense of humor round here?" the boy asked, without really thinking of what he had just said.  " Yes, we do, but THIS WASN'T funny !  I am going to punish you and I'm also going to let Adam punish you as well.  NOW, get up to your room !" Ben told his youngest son.

It took several hours for all the skunk smell to go away.  By now the house was freezing cold and the only warm thing in the house was a certain little boy's bottom.

Ben made Little Joe do all of Adam's barn chores along with his own chores.  Now as Ben, Adam, Hoss and Hop Sing thought back to the evening of the skunk, they laughed, as it now seemed funny, but it wasn't funny that evening.

" I hate to think what that little boy has planned for his next joke," Adam said.  " I don't even want to think about that son.  Let's hope he has learned his lesson," Ben replied.  " With Little Joe around here, probably not.  We all know that he most likely has more jokes already planned for us," Hoss declared.

A couple of weeks later, Little Joe decided to move all of Hop Sings pots and pans around the ktichen.  He had also put some of the bowls in the root cellar as well.

When Hop Sing was ready to start making dinner, he couldn't find the pots and pans he needed.  None of them were where they were suppose to be and some of the bowls were no where to be found.  He was having a fit and yelling in very loud Chinese.

As soon as Ben, Adam and Hoss rode into the yard, they could hear loud Chinese yelling.  " Oh no, now what's wrong ?" Ben asked as they got off their horses.  Hop Sing came running out of the kitchen yelling at them.  " Hop Sing, slow down please and in English too.  What's wrong?" Ben asked.  " All Hop Sing's pots and pans not where they belong.  Some bowls missing.  No can find.  Gotta make dinner.  Where that little boy?" Hop Sing yelled.  " Oh no, not again.  That boy !" Adam sadly said.  " I'm sorry Hop Sing.  Do you know where Little Joe is?" Ben asked.  " No, Hop Sing not know," Hop Sing replied. 

" JOSEPH !!  JOSEPH !!  You had better answer me right now !" Ben shouted, hoping the boy was near by.

Little Joe had been up in the hayloft hiding from Hop Sing.  He decided that he had better answer Ben when he heard the tone of Ben's voice, so he climbed down from the hayloft and walked out of the barn.  " Did ya call me Pa ?" the youngster sweetly asked as he looked up at Ben with that look in his eyes.  " Joseph, were you in the ktichen?" Ben asked as he looked at his young son.  Little Joe tried to look as innocent as as possible.  " Who, me ?  In the kitchen?  Ummm, yes sir, I was," he sheepishly announced very quietly.  " Why did you move all of Hop Sing's pots and pans around the kitchen?  He is very upset about that," Ben told his young son, as he looked at the boy, who was looking at the ground.  " I dunno.  I guess I thought it was funny," he quietly replied.  " You thought it was funny?  I want you to go straight into that kitchen and apologize to Hop Sing this instant.  He has my permission to punish you if he wants," Ben told the boy.  Little Joe nodded and he slowly started to walk towards the house.  Before he entered the house, he stopped walking, turned around and looked sadly at Ben for a couple of seconds before he continued on.

Little Joe slowly made his way into the kitchen and he saw Hop Sing putting all the pots and pans back where they all belonged.  " I'm really sorry Hop Sing.  I really am.  Please forgive me," the boy softly begged as he looked up at Hop Sing with his eyes filling with tears.

Hop Sing glared down at the sad looking boy and said, " You naughty boy !  Where are Hop Sing's bowls?" Hop Sing loudly asked.  " I put em in the root cellar," the child softly replied.  Hop Sing grabbed  one of his wooden spoons, sat down and told the boy to lay across his lap.  Little Joe did as he was told, and Hop Sing swatted the boy's little bottom.  Then he stood the boy up, and told him not to do that again.  " I won't Hop Sing.  I'm so sorry," the boy said, as he ran up to his room, laid down on his bed and cried into his pillow.

Little Joe wasn't hungry that night, and he was afraid to come out of his room, so he stayed in his room.  He couldn't figure out why no one thought his jokes were funny.  After all, he thought that they were funny.  " Grown up's dun't know how to have fun.  I dun't wanna be a grown up.  It ain't no fun," he told himself.

Little Joe tried so hard to be a good boy and not pull any jokes, but he just couldn't help himself.  He decided the time was right to do something with all those pine cones he had been collecting. 

One day while Ben was in Virginia City and his two brothers were working on some fences, Little Joe drug every sack full of pine cones over to the outhouse.  He put the lid down over the holes, and he began his long chore of filling up the outhouse with pine cones.  Once he got it filled to where he could close the door, he closed it.  Then he walked over to the side of the outhouse, opened up the window and filled the rest of the outhouse full of pine cones.  This took him a long time to do, and once he was finished, he gently closed the window, picked up the empty grain sacks and stored them in the barn.

A couple of hours before dinner, and the family was all together again, Ben excused himself and he headed for the outhouse.  As he opened the door, pine cones came tumbling out at him.  " What the heck?  That boy !" Ben said outloud as he headed back to the house.

" Little Joe, I see you've been very busy today," Ben stated.  Adam and Hoss looked at their little Joe, who had a big grin on his face.  " I sure was Pa.  Did ya see what I dun?  I dun all my chores," the boy replied as he was trying to side step the issue at hand.  " Oh, was that a chore?" Ben asked as he was trying not to laugh at the look on his little imps face.  " Pa, what's going on ?" Adam asked.  " Come with me and I'll show you," Ben suggested as he headed back outside and over to the outhouse, with his son's following.

When Adam and Hoss saw the pine cone filled outhouse they started to laugh and then they looked at their little brother, who wasn't sure what was going to happen.  " Good one little brother," Hoss said as he continued to laugh.  " Really, Hoss?  Ya like this ?" the surprised boy asked.  " Yup," Hoss replied.  Adam just laughed.  " Joseph, I want all of these pine cones out of there now.  So get them out please," Ben declared.  " Yes sir," the boy answered back. 

Once all the pine cones were out of the outhouse, Ben went to check to make sure they were all out of the outhouse.  " Good job," Ben said.  " Thanks Pa," the boy responded.

Ben suddenly picked up his imp of a son and took him over to the water trough and dropped him in the water.  Ben stood there grinning at his son.  Adam and Hoss were shocked at what Ben had just done to their little brother. 

" Pa, whatja dun this for?" a shocked Little Joe asked.  " Oh, just a little joke son.  Just a little joke," Ben replied as he kept grinning at the soaking wet boy.  " Hey little buddy, it looks like you met your match here with Pa." Adam said as he grinned at his little brother.  " I guess so.  Right Pa?' the boy declared.  " That's right son.  Come on and let me help you out of there," Ben suggested as he reached for his soaked son. 

As soon as Ben reached out for Little Joe, the boy suddenly began to splash Ben.    A surprised Ben looked down at his and he said, " So you want a water fight do you?"  Ok, your on," Ben said as he pushed the boy under water.  Little Joe resurfaced and splashed Ben again.  Father and son were having a great time. 

Adam and Hoss couldn't believe what they were seeing.  " Looks like children must play Hoss," Adam declared as he and Hoss continued to watch their father and little brother in a big water fight.  " I guess so.  We had better get lots of towels and dry clothes for our 'children' and take them into the washroom, Hoss suggested.  " You are so right about that Hoss," Adam agreed as they walked towards the house.

Ben and Little Joe were laughing loudly as the played in the water.  Hop Sing heard the loud laughing and squealing and he wondered what was going on outside that was so funny now.  He walked outside, stood there watching the water fight.  " My family gone crazy !" he said as he went back into the house slowly shaking his head and mumbling.

After the water fight had ended about thirty minutes later, two totally soaked Cartwrights were very tired, but they kept laughing as Ben again pushed his little boy back under the water, and Little Joe giggled under the water which made Ben continue to laugh. 

Ben finally reached into the water and he pulled his son out of the water and he held him tightly and he kissed the boy's dripping wet hair.  " Now that was fun !" Ben declared.  " It sure was Pa.  I love you Pa.  I'm so tired now," Little Joe told Ben.  Ben continued to hold his little son in his arms.  " I love you too sweetheart.  We had better get out of these soaking wet clothes and into some dry ones before dinner," Ben said as he again kissed his son.  Little Joe laid his head on Ben's shoulder as Ben carried him into the house and straight to the washroom.

" You two look like two drowned rats," Adam said as he grinned.  " I feel like one too," Ben replied as he stood his soaking wet son on the floor.  Adam left so Ben and Little Joe could get changed.

Soon father and son were in dry clothes.  They had hung up their wet clothes so they could dry.  Then it was time for dinner, which everyone was looking forward too.

After dinner, Ben and Adam were reading while Hoss and Little Joe played checkers.  About an hour later, Little Joe had fallen asleep while holding a checker in his hand.  That sight made Hoss smile as he looked at his baby brother.  " Hey Pa, little brother is is down for the count," Hoss said.  Ben got up and walked over to the deeply sleeping child.  " He sure, isn't he?" Ben said as he smiled, and he gently picked up the sleeping boy while Hoss took the red checker out of the boy's hand. 

Ben carried his baby up to his room, undressed him, got him into his nightshirt, covered him up and he leaned down to kiss his son.  " Goodnight sweetheart.  I love you.  Sweet dreams my precious little imp," Ben softly said as he smiled at his son who had the face of an angel.

Once Ben was back downstairs, he said, " That boy is such a little character.  He really makes life around here very interesting and fun too."  " He sure does," both Adam and Hoss agreed.

The End.

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