Ben heaved a heartfelt
sigh. “Sometimes I really regret buying Adam all
these books,” he confessed. “I feel
they’ve
gone to his head a little.
Actually, I think they have addled
his
brains, in fact.”
Hoss nodded and hoped the sun would
not
wreak to much havoc on his fair
skin. Already, various parts of his
anatomy
were turning a tender shade of
pink and even the broad brim of his
hat
could not shield him from the fierce
summer sun.
“It could be worse!” Joe called out,
grateful that at least his feet were
decently covered by his boots. He
knew the
devastating effect they had on
many young ladies.
“Worse? I hardly see how anything
could be
worse than re-enacting the story
of Lady Godiva just because your
brother had
some hare-brained idea of
persuading the City Council not to
raise
taxes…”
“Didn’t she ride on a horse?” Joe
asked.
Ben treated Joe to one of his
inimitable
glares - wide eyes, lowering
eyebrows and whole-hearted disdain.
“I may
be amenable to all manner of
things - why I even indulged Adam in
his
silly fantasy of building
windmills, didn’t I?” Ben snapped.
“But I’m
not stupid! Have you any idea
how much leather can pinch bare
skin?”
Hoss cringed visibly as he imagined
the
effects.
Meanwhile, Adam tried to maintain an
air of
moral superiority, but this was
not easy, given that he was
basically as
naked as the day he was born.
“It’s the right thing to do!” he
urged. “And
that’s what we Cartwrights are
all about – we can always be counted
upon to
do the right thing. Why, there
isn’t a posse can be formed without
at least
two of us taking part!”
“I allus thought that was written
into the
City Ordnances?” Hoss mumbled. He
hated going away for days on end,
eating
bare rations of beans and tough
beef jerky. How galling to find it
was actually
voluntary! Why had no-one
ever explained this before?
“Put your best foot forward!” Joe
said
perkily, envisaging the rapturous
reception his arrival would engender
among
the local populace. Mind you, it
might have been prudent to warn Doc
Martin in
advance, so that the physician
could replenish his supplies of
smelling
salts. Joe was not entirely
impervious to the effect his smooth
golden
chest and leanly muscled loins
had on ladies. Not to mention other
parts of
his manly physique…
Hoss gave him a dunt on the
shoulder. “That
sun’s going to your brain,
Shortshanks!”
Ben surveyed all three of his sons
carefully. “No, I think the sun is going
to Adam’s head – or more
particularly, his
hair! It’s turning quite auburn!”
Sure enough, Adam's normally dark
hair had
turned a decidedly ginger shade.
For one moment, the oldest
Cartwright son
had a sudden flash into the
future – he was far away from home,
perhaps
even overseas and rarely even
mentioned, while a child called
Jamie was
living on the Ponderosa…
“Okay – it was a dumb idea!” he
bleated.
“Let’s go home!”
Claire