IT SEEMED A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME

Lyn Robinson

Adam and Hoss were enjoying a quiet beer in the middle of the afternoon. They had worked hard all morning on the never ending task of fence repair up on the north pasture. Then they had to come to town to get some stores. While Mr Cass collected the large order Adam had suggested they visit the newly opened Bucket O’ Blood. It was the first time that 18 year old Hoss had been inside and he was feeling very grown-up drinking in the middle of the day. He was speculating about the rooms upstairs, having heard stories from the hands. Even so he wasn’t prepared when one of their neighbours Mr Purdie came running down the stairs being chased by his wife. The errant husband was shirtless and trying to hold up his pants as he ran. Hoss stared open mouthed at the scene but Adam joined many of the others in the saloon chuckling at the sight. Mrs Purdie was well known for her vicious tongue and they could all imagine the hard time she was going to give her husband once she got him home.

Things had barely settled down again when there was an almighty crash outside, with horses whinnying, woman screaming and men shouting. Adam downed the rest of his beer and addressing the saloon as a whole commented “Did I say a quiet beer!” He turned to Hoss with a sigh “Come on let’s see what’s happened now.”

Most of the customers in the saloon had the same idea, only four dedicated poker players in the corner ignored the hubbub and carried on with their game. All the rest were pushing forward, trying to get out of the door to see what was going on. Not thinking that it was anything to do with them, just idle curiosity, Adam let the rush go out before following.

As soon as they hit the street that changed, for flat out in the middle of the street, a lariat over him, and pieces of timber round him was their youngest brother.

At first the only thing that worried either of them was concern for Joe’s health and both pushed through the crowd to see if he was hurt.

Joe was more winded and shocked than hurt, although he had landed on his butt and that was sore. He was more shocked by the uproar all round him than by his fall and he hardly dared look up. Then he saw two pair of all too familiar boots approaching and his heart sank even further. With his brothers in town there was no way he could keep this escapade from his father and he had a feeling that his butt was due to get considerably more punishment by the end of the day.

Adam loomed over him, cutting out the light, and Joe couldn’t ignore him any further. He gulped slightly trying to get his voice under control “What are you fellas doing in town?”

“I don’t think that’s quite the question here Little Joe. Are you alright?”

“Just a few bruises”

Adam reached down and hauled his little brother to his feet. Adam studied him carefully “You sure there’s no damage?

Joe shook his head he had fallen quite slowly as the balcony gave way and hadn’t landed that hard. He dared a look at his brothers. Hoss just looked worried as he always did when Joe was caught, up to mischief, but he couldn’t tell with Adam. Adam had his inscrutable face on and Joe couldn’t read him at all. That puzzled and alarmed Joe more than anything. He had expected Adam to be furious, blazing anger he could cope with, but this he didn’t understand.

Hoss frowned “You’ve really done it now shortshanks! Anyways why ain’t you in school?”

Before Joe could begin to answer he saw the sheriff approaching. He wasn’t at all sure how much trouble he was in and even if his brothers were furious he was glad of their protection. Roy Cawfee considered the mess and his gaze settled on Little Joe. “I might have known it!” He looked over at Adam “Do you know anything about this?”

Adam shook his head “Hoss and I were having a quiet beer, as far as we knew Joe was in school”

“Alright you two take him down to my office and I’ll be along soon as I’ve seen the damage.”

Adam decided he wanted to know the exact damage too and ordered Hoss to take Joe down to the gaol and both of them to wait for him and Roy. Little Joe went along with his big brother hardly daring to lift his head. How could things have gone so badly wrong, it had only been meant to be a bit of fun.

It had all seemed such a great day. Miss Jones had had a terrible headache and dismissed them early and the fourteen year old boys had decided to have some fun in town. None of them had much money and so they had been daring each other to do tricks. Mitch had dared him to get from one end of the town to the other without touching the ground. He had been doing fine until that balcony collapsed. Joe was worried but he really didn’t see it was his fault, it was a new building it shouldn’t have collapsed, they should have built it stronger. Joe could see again, as if in a nightmare, the effect of a boy falling from a height on the horses in the street. Three had pulled loose from the hitching rail and run off down the street, but it was the two on the wagon that had veered into the shops. They must have broken loose because one had gone into the dressmaker’s window and reappeared with some sort of hat caught on the broken wagon tongue. The other had gone into the store knocking barrels of fruit down to roll over the street. Everyone was shouting or screaming and all his so-called friends had done a vanishing act.

Joe gulped as he thought about what he had done, however inadvertently, and just what his Pa was going to say and do. He rubbed his butt almost in anticipation, this time his Pa was gonna kill him and he’d be working off the damages and stuck on the ranch until he was 21 at least.

Hoss led his woe-begone brother into the jail “You sure you ain’t hurt?”

“Not yet” Joe looked wide-eyed at the cells. As a kid he had enjoyed playing in them but now he might be seeing them for real. “Do you think Roy will lock me up?”

Hoss sighed heavily “I don’t know shortshanks. You sure done a lot of damage.”

Joe grinned half-heartedly “I might be safer in here than with Pa once he hears.” Hoss couldn’t deny that and the brothers sat in silence awaiting his fate.

Once Adam had dispatched his brothers to the jail, he was finally able to give in to the bubble of laughter that had been threatening ever since he’d seen his little brother with the mess all round him. Adam didn’t need any explanation he could have described exactly what Joe had been up to and now he was only interested in extricating his aggravating little brother from the consequences of his actions.

Looking up, he met Roy’s eye and realised the sheriff wasn’t as amused as he was “Come on Roy, it’s hardly his fault. The balcony didn’t take his weight. He caught the wrong part. If he had managed to get the corner strut he’d have been okay.”

“Look at the mess! Your brother is trouble personified.”

“Can’t argue with that, he certainly manages to attract trouble, but lets see what I can do to smooth things over.”

“Even you are gonna have you’re work cut out this time Adam.” Roy sighed but he knew the Cartwright brothers very well. Although Adam was fairly strict with his siblings, he was also quick to defend them from outsiders, even if he read the riot act later.

Adam looked round at the near hysterical women, broken glass and ruined fruit and carefully schooled his features to hide his amusement as he went to pour oil on the troubled waters.

The eldest Cartwright was a firm favourite with many of the older women in town. Handsome, with perfect manners and so good at looking after his younger brothers, more than one matron had a soft spot for Adam Cartwright. When he exerted himself to charm them they found him irresistible and before Roy could have believed it, smiles and nods of understanding were replacing hysterics and dire threats. Adam made it very clear to each one that he personally would see that his youngest brother was punished for the chaos he had caused.

The men were more interested in payment for the damage caused and Adam found himself emptying his pocketbook. The cowboys, who had lost their horses were placated by the return of the animals and some drinking money.

The owner of the dress shop was an old friend of Adam’s and settled for the price of the window. She insisted that the hat had been a bad mistake and unsaleable so the horse was welcome to it. Adam was worried he didn’t want anyone to be out of pocket but she laughed. “All the ladies in town who missed the excitement will be coming in to find out just what happened. I’ll make a profit on all the extra sales because they will need an excuse to come, won’t admit they just want to hear the gossip”

Adam laughed and gave her a hug and a kiss “You’re marvellous Becky I’d love to take you out for dinner next week once I’ve got this sorted.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Roy shook his head as Adam went out, but he thought the last two stops might cause more problems, even for the silver tongued eldest Cartwright. He led the way into the General Store. Will Cass was far from amused at the damage that had been done and demanded to know what Adam intended doing about it. Adam promised that he would personally see that Joe was suitably punished and that he was there to reimburse Will for the damage done. By the time Adam had paid for all the fruit in the three barrels, which had fallen over, and for the window and any work done in reinstalling it, Will was looking happier. Adam sweetened the pot a little by buying two books which Will had ordered in, hoping Adam would take. The books had been sitting on the shelf for nearly three months. Will had been trying to get Adam to buy them, scared he had wasted his money in stocking them. Adam didn’t really want them but he knew Will would be pleased at winning their long running discussion and more ready to overlook the days problems.

As they left Roy looked back and said “You realise he will put nearly all of that fruit back in the barrels and sell it again?”

“Of course he will, but while he’s feeling good at putting one over on me with that and the books, he’s not feeling mad at Joe. Will can hold a grudge so it’s worth a few dollars to get him feeling good.”

The new owner of the Bucket O’Blood, Bert Harris was spitting fire when Adam and Roy went in. His beautiful new building ruined by that boy and he wanted Joe locked away for ten years, if he couldn’t have him strung up right now. Roy sat back and watched to see how Adam dealt with this one. Adam was very understanding to begin with, it was such a pity for the new building to be damaged. Then he appeared to consider the matter and frowned slightly “Mind you if the balcony broke so easily with a light boy’s weight, I can’t help wondering if it would have survived a man leaning on it. Some of your customers do go out and consider the view and enjoy the night air don’t they?”

Mr Harris considered the young man and nodded slowly. Adam went on “If they had fallen because the balcony broke, you could be in a lot of trouble.”

“Are you trying to say your brother did me a favour with his behaviour?” Harris said in disbelief.

“Oh no of course not. Just wondering if the balcony was really fitting for such a beautiful building”

“Can you do better?” Harris said mockingly but he was brought up short by the certainty in Adam’s voice when he said “Yes I can.”

He stared at the young man. A newcomer to town he had heard of the Cartwrights but assumed that only Ben counted. Now for the first time he studied Adam. This was no boy, reliant on his father. This was a man with an aura about him that said he could do exactly what he said. “What are you suggesting?”

“My brother damaged the balcony. I will design you an aesthetically more pleasing and much stronger one. We will build it with Ponderosa timber and my other brother will carve the struts to give you something really fitting for this building.”

“Why should I trust you to design anything?”

“I have a degree in architecture and engineering from Harvard.”

“Sound reason.” Harris went and poured three brandies, offering one to Roy and one to Adam. “Two questions. How long will it take and what happens to the culprit?

Adam, with his fingers crossed that he would be able to sell his plan to his father said confidently “Ten days at most to build it, we have the seasoned timber available. My brother will be far too busy working on this and a number of other chores I have for him to get up to any mischief for a long time to come."

“No punishment?”

“I have already promised all the people affected that I shall personally see to a suitable punishment”

Roy had a job to keep a straight face as Adam looked so stern and austere that anyone, who didn’t know him, would assume that Joe was going to be severely beaten. Roy was quite prepared to lay odds that Adam had something totally different in mind but it seemed to satisfy the saloon owner and he shook on the deal. Turning to Roy he said that under the circumstances he would not be pressing charges as he had heard from all quarters in town that Cartwrights always kept their word. Adam assured him that was so and the three men separated very amicably.

At the jail time had passed very slowly and both brothers were on edge. Joe was scared and his big brother had been totally unable to reassure him. This wasn’t just a few chairs and tables in a saloon where it was expected. This was part of the building and two respectable stores damaged. Hoss tried to tell Joe that he was still too young to go to jail, but neither of them were convinced, and the sheriff was taking so long. Equally Joe was scared what his eldest brother would say and for once Hoss, well as he knew Adam, had been unable to read his mood. It wasn’t the open fury both had expected but Adam could be far worse when he was quietly angry.

Twice they thought someone was going to come in and Joe had jumped up but the door stayed firmly shut and the brothers sat in silence, both thoroughly miserable. Hoss never liked it when his little brother was in trouble, even though he knew Joe often asked for it.

Finally Joe heard footsteps definitely approaching the door and he sprang up, moving to stand against the wall his hands instinctively protecting his butt. Roy came in first with their eldest brother looking very stern behind him. Joe cringed away scared, just how much trouble was he in?

Roy glared at him “Come here Little Joe”

Joe had learnt over the years that when he was in trouble adults expected him to stand straight and meet their eyes, so he moved over as ordered and big green eyes looked up at Roy. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean it.”

“Have you any idea of how much damage you have done?”

Joe shook his head, his eyes beginning to fill with tears but he blinked them back angrily. “I’ll find some way to pay it back. Honest.”

“You are very lucky Little Joe that your brother has settled up enough to keep you out of jail. If I had my way I would lock you up now and wait for ten days until the Circuit Court Judge arrives.”

Hoss lunged to his feet in protest at that but Adam took a swift step forward to grab his big brother’s arm “Easy. Roy isn’t going to lock anyone up. Go fetch our horses.”

Adam turned to Joe “Where is Cochise?”

Joe frowned for a minute, it didn’t seem possible only a few hours had passed, but it was. Cochise was still in the stable at the school, they had just walked into town. He told his brother in a small voice and Adam said “Okay you can ride with me as far as the school. Go on Hoss”

Hoss was glad to get out of the sheriff’s office and hurried down the street to get the horses. As soon as he’d gone Adam turned on his little brother “Just why weren’t you in school?”

It was the last thing Joe had expected, but at least on that point his conscience was clear. “Miss Jones had a headache let us out early.”

Roy nodded he had heard that as well, whatever else Joe was guilty of, for once it wasn’t truanting.

Adam was relieved that Joe hadn’t been skipping school, whatever else he had done. Pa would not forget that without punishing Joe. He was careful to school his features and Joe had no idea what Adam was thinking. Eventually Hoss arrived and Joe scuttled outside thankful to get away from the cells. He would have preferred to ride with Hoss but he wasn’t about to do anything to antagonise Adam further and meekly got up behind his eldest brother on Sport.

It didn’t take long to get to the school and Adam let him down “Go saddle up. We’ll wait for you so hurry up.” Joe wanted to argue that he was able to ride home on his won but Hoss recognised that and gave a little shake of his head. For now it was far safer to do just what Adam said until they knew what he was planning. Joe was ready within five minutes and the brothers rode home. Adam let his two younger brothers ride just ahead of him, acting almost like a sheep dog keeping them moving.

At least that way he didn’t need to hide the glint in his eye.

All too soon they reached the ranch and Joe subconsciously slowed Cochise. Adam moved up next to them “Come on you two. We can’t put it off.”

Joe sighed heavily “Pa’s gonna kill me”

“Let me speak to him first Joe. You and Hoss take the horses and see to them start the barn chores.”

Joe glanced over at his big brother, but Hoss nodded, and so he said “Thanks Adam” At least it delayed the time before he had to face his father.

Adam was glad to find his father sitting relaxing, drinking a coffee and reading a copy of the ‘Territorial Enterprise’. He hoped his father was in a good mood. He moved over towards him having taken off his gunbelt. Ben frowned as he studied his eldest son looking almost like a guilty school boy. “What on earth is wrong?”

“Well nothing, not really”

“Looks like it! Explain.”

“Pa, do you remember Mrs Hodge?”

Ben was totally confused at that “Well of course I do but she died, what eight years ago?”

“I was thinking of one particular day when she was real upset. She’d dropped her basket and all the eggs were broken.”

For a moment Ben frowned unable to remember and than as though it was yesterday he could see a 12 year old Adam lying in the street, pieces of rope round him, horses panicking and Mrs Hodge screaming. Slowly he said “You were trying to get from one end of the town to the other without touching the ground.”

Adam nodded and Ben began to grin as he recognised the look on his eldest son’s face “Joseph had the same bright idea I take it?”

“Guess like me, it seemed like a good idea at the time Pa.”

Ben shook his head and sighed “How much damage has that boy done this time?”

Adam came and sat down, but with the worst of the news broken and no explosion he was more confident of getting what he wanted. He wasn’t about to make the mistake of hiding anything from his father and told him exactly what damage had been done. By the time he had finished Ben was no longer grinning. “That boy is going to get a tanning he won’t forget for a long time.” he insisted grimly.

Adam put his hand on his father’s arm as he went to stand up “Please Pa, let me finish.”

“You mean there was more damage?” Ben yelled and his younger sons could hear the anger in his voice from the barn. Joe lost colour as he heard the fury in his father’s voice, even if he couldn’t make out the words. “Do you think I should go in?”

Hoss shook his head. “Adam said to do the barn chores and that’s exactly what we do until either he or Pa says otherwise.”

Adam had been quick to reassure his father that he only wanted to tell him the arrangements he had made with all the injured parties. He allowed his father to believe that he had paid less than he had in practice, but did emphasise that in each case, he had promised to be personally responsible for Joe’s punishment. He tried to make Ben see that it really wasn’t Joe’s fault that the balcony had broken, it had been poorly built.

“So you are going to do better I take it.”

“That’s what I promised Pa and Harris accepted because he said he had heard that the Cartwrights always kept their word.”

Ben grinned ruefully seeing how neatly his eldest son had caught him. “Joe can’t rebuild it without help”

“No I plan to help and to get Hoss to as well but we won’t get behind with our work Pa because Joe will have to pay us back by doing our usual chores,”

“I presume that you think that’s sufficient punishment?”

“ Well Pa it was only luck that the lariat broke for me and I didn’t do much damage. I still remember the punishment you gave me. I had to work for Mrs Hodge in my spare time for the next month. I reckon I repaired and repainted every scrap of wood on her place, right down to the chicken coops. That woman sure was a slave driver.”

“Well she did acknowledge that you were a good worker” Ben grinned as he recalled those long ago days and his woebegone young son.

Adam went on “ I think he has already had his real punishment. Roy was not amused and sent him to wait at the jail. Hoss went with him and I think they were both convinced Joe was going to be locked up. It took me close to two hours to smooth things over and Joe is still scared now, He thinks I’m furious and knows you will be so he’s waiting for the worst to happen.”

“How long are you going to keep him waiting?”

“After supper I think, then I’ll put him out of his misery”

“Well you had better get that grin off your face and go fetch your brothers or Hop Sing will be throwing it out.”

Joe was making work for himself not wanting to go in and face his father but he turned rapidly to face the door as he saw Adam approaching. Adam quietly told them both to go get washed up for supper.

Joe swallowed hard “I’m not hungry”

“I don’t think Pa is interested in that Little Joe. He wants you cleaned up and at table on time.” Joe scurried off not wanting to make things worse, if that was still possible. Hoss looked very worried “Is Pa real mad?”

“Shall we say he’s not best pleased. What do you expect? With Joe doing his best to demolish Virginia City all on his own.”

“Oh come on Adam he didn’t mean any harm”

“He never does Hoss, he never does.” Adam put his arm round his big brother’s shoulders “Come on I’m sure you’re hungry even if Joe isn’t.”

It was a very quiet meal, Joe barely lifted his eyes from his plate and pushed the little food he had taken round on the plate barely touching it. Eventually Ben said “If you are not going to eat any more Joseph, you may go to your room.”

Once Joe had left, Adam filled his big brother in on the planned punishment. He was hardly surprised that Hoss was very willing to help but Hoss frowned as he looked at his father “You mean you ain’t gonna tan him Pa?”

Ben smiled “You think I should?”

“Oh no Sir, it’s just that” Hoss stuttered to a stop.

Ben took pity on him “But you thought I would”

“Well yes Sir. I guess Joe and I both thought that.”

“Your elder brother has rather tied my hands by telling the whole town that he will be personally responsible for Joe’s punishment and I have to back him”

Hoss looked at Adam “I don’t understand”

“Maybe I’ll explain it later but for now I think it’s time I went and put our younger brother out of his misery.” Adam grinned broadly and headed for the stairs.

Joe heard the footsteps approach his door and stood up to await the feared retribution. When Adam came in he glared at his eldest brother “You come to gloat?”

“Watch your manners little brother, you’re already in enough trouble”

“Sorry Adam I was sorta expecting Pa.”

“Well as I had to sort everything out in town Pa decided that I could be responsible for your punishment.”

Joe’s face dropped he had felt Adam’s hand before and it was hard, but to his surprise his brother moved over to sit on the bed and patted the bed next to him “Come on little buddy, take it easy.”

“You’re not going to tan me”

To his amazement Adam broke into a broad grin “Well I think it would be a bit hypocritical. I haven’t had such a good laugh for ages. Your face, flat out on the street and chaos everywhere round you. It wasn’t your fault the balcony broke. Mind you, you should have lassoed the corner post, it might have held.”

Joe edged a little closer to his big brother and Adam put his arm round him “I think you have had a big enough fright to count as punishment and you are going to have to rebuild that balcony.”

Joe looked at him horrified “I don’t know how”

“Nope but I do. Hoss is gonna help us, but you’ll have to do some of our chores here to keep Pa happy that we aren’t slacking on the ranch.”

Joe considered that, it was hardly a punishment to work with his brothers, he loved doing it. Then he remembered all the broken glass “What about those windows?”

“All paid for Joe, forget about it.”

“I don’t understand.”

Adam laughed “Well they say great minds think alike. I was about 12 and the lariat broke, along with a lot of eggs and some run away horses.”

“You mean –“ Joe gaped at his brother

Adam gave him a hug “The town was a lot smaller but I was dared to get to the far end without touching the ground. Made it about halfway. Where did you start, how far did you get?”

Epilogue

The brothers had a great time building the new balcony, with it’s carved struts. By the time it was finished it became one of the town attractions, always pointed out to any newcomers and Mr Harris had to admit he had very much the better of the deal. He even treated them to a free beer each and for once Adam even allowed Joe to join them.

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