THE RIDDLE OF THE DIRTY DISHES

By: Lynne C.

"Well, I'd sure like to know what's going on," said Ben, as he
surveyed the mound of dirty dishes, piled high on the kitchen
table. "I know that since Hop Sing has been away, we haven't been
keeping on top of the kitchen chores as well as he does, but I
thought we were doing better than this. Joseph, it was your turn to
clean up, last night, after Adam cooked the meal. Why didn't you do
so?"

Little Joe looked over at his father, and could feel his temper
rising to the surface.

"I did clean up, Pa," he said, his voice squeaking a little, in that
endearing way that it did, when he was upset. "Might not have got to
everything, but it was definitely tidier than this, when I left it.
Hoss probably came down for a midnight snack, and then for another
one, around three," and he glared at his big brother, as he said this.

"That's right, pick on me," said Hoss, indignantly. "Jest because a
fella's got a healthy appetite, don't mean I'm a slob, too. I took a
sandwich and a glass of milk up ta bed with me, but those dishes are
still in ma room. I ain't the one who made this mess. I reckon it was
you, little brother. You were the one who was meant to clean up, last
night, and now you're the one flingin' around accusations 'bout it
being me."

"Well, I know it wasn't me or Adam," said Ben. "We sat in the main
room, all evening, playing chess, and then went up to bed, at the
same time. Neither of us went near the kitchen. Are you sure you did
the dishes last night, Joe?"

"Of course I'm sure," shouted Joe. "Do ya think I wouldn't know if I
did 'em, or not?"

"Pa's not saying that, Joe," said Adam. "He's just asking you to be
honest. If you didn't do them, say so and then we can solve this
mystery."

"Yes, that's what I meant, son," said Ben. "And don't raise your
voice to me, young man, or you will be doing the dishes every day,
until Hop Sing returns, instead of us taking it in turns."

"Sorry, sir," said Joe, calming down a little. "I'm telling you the
truth, Pa, I did tidy up in here, last night."

Ben wanted to believe Joe, but it didn't make sense that the kitchen
was full of dirty pots and pans, if Joe had done what he'd said he'd
done.

"Well, in that case it remains a mystery," said Ben. "Please wash the
dishes, Joseph, before you go and do your other chores. If Hop Sing
came back early and saw his kitchen in this mess, he'd turn tail and
leave, again."

"Why me?" said Joe, doing his best to keep his voice at a normal
level.

"Why not you, buddy?" said Adam. "You're just as capable as the rest
of us and Hoss and I have got to visit the lumber camp, today,
whereas you are working closer to home. If we don't leave now, we
won't get there and back in one day, so we don't have time to do
kitchen chores."

"That ain't the reason," said Joe. "You're getting me to do 'em, cos
you still think it was me who left this mess, last night. Nice to
know that your own family don't believe ya."

"Joseph, I think it best that you just get on with the job you have
been given, before you say something that you might regret. I am the
boss, and your father, and I have given you the job, so please get on
with it," said Ben.

Joe could tell by the look on Ben's face that he had gone as far as
he dared,with his complaining, so he turned his back on his family
and started to clean up.
The others left him to it and it took Joe about an hour to bring any
semblance of order back to the kitchen.
Once he was finished, he went into the main room, to collect his hat
and jacket, prior to leaving the house.
Ben was working at his desk, but joined Joe by the credenza.

"All done, son?"

"Yeah, Pa, and I've had my fill of dirty dishes. Thank goodness I get
a few days off from doing 'em, now. It won't be my turn again for
four days and maybe Hop Sing will be back by then. I'm gonna go fix
that barn door now and then get to the corrals. Got me two more
horses to break to finish up that Army contract."

"Okay, Joe, I'll see you later," said Ben. "And thanks for cleaning
up the kitchen."

"Didn't have much choice, did I? When you fix me with that glare of
yours, I know I'm beat. I still say it wasn't me who left the mess,
though."

"Fair enough, Joe, we'll put it down to the fairies, or maybe one of
us was sleepwalking and got up and cooked a meal. Whoever it was, the
job is done now and so let's put it behind us."

"All right, Pa, see you at supper," and Joe left the house, still
trying to puzzle out what had happened.

Ben's wish, to put it behind them, did not happen. The following
morning, Hoss, who was on cooking duty that day, went into the
kitchen and found it just as bad as it had been, the day before. He
called for Adam, who had been on dishes duty, the night before.

"Jest because you're the oldest, don't mean that ya cain't take a
turn at kitchen chores, older brother," grumbled Hoss, when Adam
arrived in the kitchen.

"What are you talking about?" said Adam, as he buttoned up his
shirt. "I did my turn last night."

"Now you're soundin' like another brother of mine," said Hoss. "Look
at the state of this here room, you never did no dishes last night."

"I tell you, I did," said Adam, and he turned away from Hoss and
started walking out of the room.

Hoss went after Adam and grabbed his arm, pulling him around so that
they were facing each other.

"Oh no you don't," said Hoss. "I cain't cook breakfast, til you clean
up this mess, so get to it, else I'm gonna pound on ya, til ya do."

Although Hoss was taller and bigger than Adam, Adam was still older
than Hoss, and the younger man didn't often challenge Adam's
authority. He was used to Adam being in charge, but was upset that he
couldn't get on with preparing breakfast, as he was hungry.
Adam was surprised that Hoss had spoken to him, like he had, but he
had great respect for his younger brother's strength and so quickly
backed down.

"Okay, you win. Let go of my arm and I will clean up."

Hoss did so, and Adam began to scrape the leftover food off the
plates, into the pig bin. As he did so, he noticed something strange.

"Hey, Hoss, look at this," he said. "This isn't what we had for
supper last night. This is eggs and we didn't have any, did we?
Someone else has been using this kitchen."

"Ya know, you're right, Adam. We didn't have eggs, or bacon and
there's some of that in those scraps, too. Someone's not only using
our kitchen, they're stealin' our grub, too."

Adam finished tidying up and then left Hoss to cook breakfast. He
went to find Ben and Joe and told them what he had discovered.

"See, told you it wasn't me who left those dirty dishes, night before
last," said Joe, pleased to be vindicated.

"And I'm sorry for thinking that it was you, Joe," said
Ben. "Obviously someone is sneaking in here, once we are all asleep,
and helping themselves to a meal. I think we'd better post a watch,
tonight."

They did so, and it was Adam who happened to be the one on guard,
when the sneak thief arrived. It turned out to be a young man, who
was down on his luck, after trying his hand at panning for gold. He
didn't put up much of a struggle, when Adam confronted him, and the
rest of the family joined them in the main room, to find out what it
was all about.

"I'm really sorry about this," said the man, who told them his name
was Tom Walker. "I've never stolen in my life before, but I was
desperate. My wife is expecting a baby and I wanted to get her home
to her folks, as soon as I could, so that she could be with her
mother when the baby came. We found a cave close by to your house and
we've been living there, to save on rent. I've been doing a few odd
jobs, but no one's hiring on, much, at the moment. I was only earning
enough to feed us each day and I knew I was never gonna raise the
stage fare to get Martha to her folks. Anyway, I called here for a
job, a few days ago, but you had nothing for me. I noticed, as I
left, that there was a small downstairs window open, at the back of
the house. So I decided to come back, after dark, and see if I could
sneak in and get some food for Martha. That way I could at least save
the money I was earning for the fare. I was in luck, the window was
open, so I climbed in and made Martha and me a meal, took it to her
and then returned the dishes. I've kept a list of all I took and I
was planning on sending you the money for it, as soon as we were back
home and I had a job," and he took a piece of paper out of his pocket
and showed it to Ben.

Sure enough, all the food was itemised, with an approximate price by
the side of it.

"Martha's near her time, so she can't work, to help us out, but I
should have the money in a couple of weeks, as I do have a bit of
work lined up at a ranch, near here. The owner said he'd lend me a
horse, so I'll be able to get back to Martha each night. I guess
you're gonna take me in to the sheriff, now? May I go and tell my
wife what's happening, first? Otherwise, she'll be worried sick and
it ain't good for her, with the baby coming."

The family had listened, in silence, to Tom's story, and once he had
finished speaking, no one said anything, immediately.

Eventually, Ben spoke.

"It was through our cook's bedroom window that you gained access to
the house. He is away, at the moment, and must have left it open and
as none of us go in there, we didn't know about it. I don't know why
I should trust you to be telling me the truth, after all you have
been stealing from me, but the fact that you had this list in your
pocket, does make me think you are genuine. I am not going to take
you to the sheriff, but we are going to go and get your wife and
bring her back here. A cave is no place for an expectant mother to be
living; you can have a room in the house, until you have raised the
stage fare. I have seen many such young men, as yourself, lured here
by the thought of making a fortune and then discovering that the
streets aren't paved with gold. I think you are making the right
decision in taking your wife home to her folks to have her baby and
we will help you all we can. Just one thing, though, from now on, you
wash your own dishes," and the whole family laughed.

THE END

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