Too Good a Day
Written by: Starlite
Ben Cartwright looked up from his ledgers for the fifth time in the last
fifteen minutes. The fresh fragrant warm air drifting in from the
open window above the desk made his mind wander. Trapped indoors while
working on the books was not the thing to be doing on such a lovely spring
day.
Taking a deep breath, he closed the ledgers and stacked them to the side
of his desk. Today was a good day to be outdoors enjoying the countryside
he reasoned.
Taking purposeful strides he moved towards the sideboard near the door
and buckled on his gun belt and grabbed his hat. As he reached for
the door handle he paused. What would the boys think of him playing
hooky? He wondered, as he'd chastised them often enough for shirking
their responsibilities.
Glancing back to the confining space occupied by his paper-strewn desk,
he sighed. Then a thought struck him, he'd take his sons their lunches,
that way he'd have plausible excuse for avoiding the paperwork. Not
to mention, getting a nice ride out around the Pondersosa in the warm inviting
sunshine.
Turning around, Ben made his way to the kitchen.
***********
Hoss grabbed and pulled out a split rail from the back of the buckboard.
Taking a few steps back from the wagon, he threw it onto a pile not far
from the break in the boundary fence.
Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, he stretched his arms to work out
the strain in his shoulders that was starting to form from hauling the timber
from the wagon. In mid stretch he opened his eyes as he heard a flock
of geese fly overhead.
Fascinated, Hoss continued to watch the migrating birds until they were
out of sight. As he returned his attention to the task of unloading
the heavily laden buckboard, a small movement caught his notice from the corner
of his eye. There stood a small little fawn, he couldn't discern whether
it was a buck or a doe. In wonder and awe he watched the little thing
as it watched him.
Slowly he lowered himself to a sitting position on the ground, not wanting
to frighten the little creature off. He had no idea how long he'd
been sitting there when he spotted off to the side of the little deer, a
small rabbit. Shortly the rabbit was joined by a couple of tiny fuzzy
offspring.
Hoss was enthralled as he watched the small little bunnies learned how
to hop and munch on the wildflowers that were plentiful this wonderful spring
day.
Wood rails and fence repair, were soon forgotten as Hoss enjoyed the sights
and sweet smells of this wonderful spring day before him.
**************
Adam rode his horse, Sport, at a nice canter up along the boundary fence
north of where he'd left his brother Hoss. He was checking for any
additional breaks which had formed over the winter which would need repair
before they could move the herd back north for grazing.
The warm day was making him sleepy and he stopped momentarily to remove
his jacket. The mild sun felt good on his face and body, inhaling he
smelled the intoxicating aroma of fresh clean air and pine.
Refreshed, he decided there was no rush with his chore of checking the
boundary line. He knew Hoss wouldn't be expecting him back to help
with fixing the fence until lunchtime. And Little Joe, he didn't expect
to see him until it was time to head home. Joe was supposed to check
on the herd and then help his brothers with the fence, but knowing his baby
brother, Adam wasn't planning on Joe showing his face until the work was
done.
Deciding to indulge himself for a change, Adam pulled a small leather bound
volume of poetry out of his saddlebag. Throwing his right leg over
the saddle horn, he encouraged his mount into a nice slow pace while he read.
Glancing up occasionally he continued with his tedious chore and enjoyed
the nice invigorating spring day.
*****************
Little Joe Cartwright chuckled to himself as Cochise side stepped along
the edge of the herd. The sight of all the fat and sassy newborn calves
amused him as they danced and played around their mothers.
This year's winter had been mild and the herd was in good shape.
This would be a very good year for the Ponderosa.
Sitting tall in the saddle, Joe glanced around to enjoy the vista that
was his home. The snow still capped the mountains, which were accented
by evergreen trees that were tall and majestic. The scent of wildflowers
and spring was definitely in the air.
Joe considered briefly just finding a nice shade tree and wasting the day
away. Then he remembered back to this morning when he and Adam had
tricked Hoss into the chore of unloading the wagon. He couldn't believe
that Hoss had never discovered that he and his brother always wetted their
fingers in preparation before lighting the match. Poor Hoss, almost
burnt his fingers this time, Joe shook his head at the memory.
Then again, he figured he also didn't want to get old bossy Adam mad at
him this early in the season either. Adam, in his opinion, had been
uncharacteristically nice to him lately. He'd even covered for him last
week when he had disappeared to go to town for a quick beer and a game of
cards.
Adam was definitely an enigma to Joe. One minute Adam was complaining
about him not pulling his weight around the ranch and doing his part, then
the next he was helping to cover for his misbehavior. Joe frowned
and wondered if he'd ever understand that oldest brother of his.
"Well Cochise, better go and help with the fence." Joe grumbled to
his horse, as he patted the animal's neck then spurred him into a smooth
gallop.
**************
Ben Cartwright rode to the area of the fence that his sons would be working
today. He scanned the area and noticed that Adam and Joe's horses
weren't nearby, which meant his two other sons were still off on their other
respective tasks. He was shocked to see a nearly full buckboard by
the fence and his middle son nowhere to be found.
Looking quickly around, he found his middle son planted firmly on the ground
in a cross-legged sitting position watching small animals playing in the
distance. In wonderment, his heart warmed at the sight of his overgrown
boy.
Ben shook his head then stifled a chuckle when he thought back to this
morning; when yet again, Hoss's two brothers had conned his big innocent
and trusting son into the task of unloading the buckboard. Knowing
that Adam and Joe would never intentionally hurt their bigger brother's
feelings; he was still amazed that Hoss never caught onto their tricks.
As quietly as possible, Ben made his way over to where his middle son sat.
Hoss was so engrossed in the sights before him he never heard his father
approach.
Standing over the younger man, Ben Cartwright waited a few moments before
taking a large breath and bellowed, "Hoss Cartwright, just what do you think
your doing?"
Hoss almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of his father's voice booming
down upon him. Taking a large swallow, he turned a panic-stricken
face upward to look at his father who towered over him.
"Ah, hi Pa." Was all that Hoss could say before swallowing once again,
as a sheepishly guilty appearance overtook Hoss's face.
Hoss was bewildered by his father's reaction, when Ben broke out into a
large smile and began to laugh heartily.
"Here son, let me give you a hand up." Ben offered as he extended
his right hand out to his large son. He was thoroughly enjoying the
puzzled expression displayed upon Hoss's face.
Still a little stunned, Hoss grabbed the offered hand with his large mitt
and was pulled easily to his feet.
"So, where's those two brothers of yours?" Ben questioned.
Reaching around to slap his son on the back in a playful and loving manner,
then clasping a hand onto Hoss's large shoulder.
Realizing his father had just been joshing with him, Hoss shrugged a response.
"Don't know, they ain't come back yet."
"Tell ya what, why don't you and I take a little break and have some lunch
while we wait for those two scalawags to return?" Ben stated, as he
untied his saddlebags heavily laden down with sandwiches from his horse.
Throwing the bags over his shoulder and grabbing a canteen, Ben walked
by his son down towards the bank of the nearby river.
Hoss was a little confused, but he definitely liked his Pa's suggestion.
Nodding his head, he followed to join his father.
Reaching the edge of the stream, the two men sat to enjoy a leisurely lunch.
*************
Joe Cartwright rode up to the place where he had left his big brother.
He easily found the partially loaded buckboard, but no brother. Glancing
around he found his father's horse tied to a nearby tree.
Panicked, he quickly jumped down from his mount and began to search the
area fearing that his brother had been injured. His fears were quickly
allayed when he found both his father and brother stretched out by the bank
of the river.
Stunned, but slightly amused, he stood over his father and brother with
his hands on his hips. Both men appeared to be dozing in the nice warm
sunshine.
"Ahem," Joe uttered while clearing his throat. It wasn't often he
caught his father goofing off. In fact, this was the first time his
father had, as far as he knew.
"Ah, Joseph, nice of you to join us." Ben smirked as he sat up.
Ben reached into his saddlebag that lay nearby and retrieved a wrapped
parcel. He handed it up to his slightly astonished youngest son.
"Here, have a sandwich."
Joe took the proffered package. Then shrugged as he sat down on the
other side of his father to partake of his lunch.
*************
About an hour later, Adam rode up at a smooth canter. He had surveyed
the entire fence line and found no other breaks which was a blessing.
He stopped his horse abruptly at the scene before him.
There sat the buckboard with most of its load still on the wagon.
Joe's horse was grazing nearby ground tied, and Buck, his Pa's horse was tied
to a tree. But his family was nowhere to be found.
Cautiously, Adam dismounted to survey the situation carefully. There
didn't appear to be any signs of foul play, nor could he find any evidence
of someone being injured, which would've required his father's assistance.
Still a little disconcerted, Adam broadened his scope to study the surrounding
area for clues as to his father and brothers' whereabouts.
He was not amused with what he found. There lying by the bank of
the river was his father, with Little Joe on his left side and Hoss on the
right. Both Joe and his Pa's shirttails were leisurely untucked.
He noticed that Hoss and his father both had their hands propped behind
their heads as they rested, and Hoss even had his right leg crossed over
the other. All were stretched out napping and enjoying the warmth
of the spring day.
"Like father like sons," Adam muttered to himself at the spectacle before
him.
Hearing their big brother's baritone voice. Hoss looked up and grinned
then winked. Joe just smiled his most impish smile, knowing that Adam
couldn't get mad because their Pa was with them.
Well if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, Adam concluded. Afterall, he
too was a Cartwright son. Finding a nice spot next to his brother
Hoss, Adam reclined onto the soft inviting grass.
Tipping his hat down to cover his eyes to shield them from the warm sun,
Adam relaxed his body and took a deep breath of the warm inviting fresh
spring breeze. A thought occurred to him just before dozing off with
the rest of his family.
"This was too good a day to waste on work."
The End
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