MIRROR, MIRROR,
ON THE
WALL
"Are you ever gonna move away from that mirror, Adam? I know I am
perfection on two legs, but I still just need to check my hair. It
hasta be perfect tonight, if I'm to win the heart of the fair
Mollie," said Joe, trying to move his brother away from the mirror.
Adam, although finished, stayed where he was, for a couple more
minutes, admiring his reflection, just to annoy his little brother.
And when he finally moved away, he ruffled the 16 year old's hair.
"Thanks a lot, big brother," snapped Joe. "Now it'll take
ages to get
it looking right, again."
"No need to bother, Joe," said Adam, laughing. "Pa will be
keeping
such a close eye on you tonight, you'll be lucky to get one dance
with Mollie. In fact Pa's likely to be your only dancing partner,
if
he has his way. After the fiasco last time, you are lucky to be
even
going."
Joe was now in front of the mirror, running a brush through his
chestnut golden curls, and was not paying that much attention to
Adam, but he did pick up on the comment about dancing with his
father.
"Dancin' with Pa? You've gotta be joking. I ain't done that since I
was about 6. Remember? I used to stand on his feet and he would
dance
me around the room. I'll get round Pa, you'll see. After all, he
did
say, at first, that I couldn't go at all, but now he's letting me."
"Only because Hop Sing's going out for the evening and there'll be
no
one here to keep an eye on you," said Adam, putting on his
jacket. "He'd rather have you at the dance with him, than here
getting up to mischief."
"In that case, I'll be happy to stay home," said Hoss, who was
sitting on the bed, making no attempt to get ready. "I hate dances
and I'd rather stay home and keep an eye on ole Nellie, she's due
to
drop that foal, anytime."
"Now you know that Charlie promised to stay with her, Hoss, she'll
be
fine," said Joe, not wanting Hoss to stay at home, in case it meant
he would have to, as well. "Come on, get ready, we don't wanna be
late, all the best grub, and the best girls, will be gone."
Hoss sighed, but did as he was told. Not for the first time, he
wished that he had the easy charm around women that both his
brothers
seemed to have been born with.
Once Joe had finished preening at the mirror, it was Hoss' turn.
The
face that looked back at him was not the most handsome, but it was
an
honest and open face. It matched the kind of person that Hoss was,
kind, gentle and ever willing to help his fellow man. Sometimes,
people tried to take advantage, mistaking his naivety and
generosity,
for maybe being a bit simple in the head. They soon found out their
mistake. Hoss was simple, but not in the head, just in his outlook
on
life. Until he found out otherwise, he was always willing to take
people at face value and do all he could to help them, if they
needed
help.
At the moment,though, he was struggling with a bit of a dilemma. He
really liked Miss Bessie Sue Hightower, and his brothers assured
him
that she liked him. Joe had done some detective work, on Hoss'
behalf, and told Hoss that Bessie Sue had told Caroline, the older
sister of Mollie, and Caroline had told Mollie, and Mollie had told
Joe, that she really liked Hoss. This had given the young man the
courage to agree to go to the dance, even though, after the last
one,
he had vowed never to attend one again.
It had been a box social, and Joe and Mitch, his best friend,
thought
it might be fun to put an extra ingredient in the picnic boxes,
some
frogs and mice. Hoss was so upset and embarrassed about his
brother's
behaviour that he didn't want to attend another dance, for a while,
but Bessie Sue's words encouraged him.
The other sticking point had been his dancing skills, or lack of
them. One thing that Bessie Sue loved to do was dance, and so Adam
offered to teach Hoss and now he was pretty good.
As Hoss finished brushing his hair, Joe came alongside of him,
carrying a large blue bottle.
"Here, brother, have a splash of this. Bessie Sue will be bowled
over."
Hoss took the bottle and sniffed at the contents. It didn't smell
too
bad, and he was surprised, as Joe's taste in cologne did not
usually
match his own. Joe was never subtle, his message was 'come and get
me' and he often smelt like a French madame's boudoir, whereas Hoss
preferred the more musky, earthy smells, reflecting the kind of man
he was.
He dabbed some on his freshly shaved face and declared that he was
ready.
With a final look in the mirror, the three Cartwright boys headed
down the stairs to join their father, and soon they were on their
way.
The dance proved to be a great success, for Hoss, anyway. He and
Bessie Sue had a wonderful time and danced the night away, laughing
about the frog in the box. Besie Sue was not like most girls,
scared
of things like mice and spiders, and she assured Hoss that it
hadn't
put her off going out with him. In fact, she let him into a little
secret that had him laughing so much, he had to sit down and have
several glasses of water, before he was able to continue dancing.
"Watch Joe and Mollie," whispered Bessie Sue, as Hoss' little
brother
took to the floor.
As the youngsters danced by them, Bessie Sue pointed at the corsage
that Joe had purchased for Mollie at the start of the evening. A
huge
spider was just beginning to uncurl itself from where it had been
asleep, hidden in the foliage, and was now crawling up Mollie's
dress. When it reached bare flesh, she felt it and screamed, trying
to brush it off. She immediately assumed it was another of Joe's
silly tricks and she slapped him round the face, before being taken
home by her parents and sister. That scuppered Adam's plans, as he
was hoping to spend the evening with Caroline.
In fact, Bessie Sue had placed the spider in the corsage, just
before
Joe pinned it on Mollie's dress, in revenge for the box social
debacle.
Ben's date had cancelled too, owing to having sprained her ankle,
so
he decided to take Joe home, where he delivered one of his famous
blistering lectures, before sending Joe to bed.
Adam headed for the saloon, and a poker game, and Hoss danced the
night away with Bessie Sue.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne