Lies do Hurt
part 4

By: Lynne G.

After Ben had left the Copelund farm he went into Virginia City to explain what had been going on between Little Joe and the Copelund brothers to Miss Jones.

Miss Jones was absolutely shocked by what Ben had told her. " Oh Mr. Cartwright, I had no idea what was going on and if I had I would have tried to stop it. Poor Little Joe. I just can't imagine what he was going through. I hope and pray that he will be alright. I am so very sorry Mr. Cartwright, I truely am," Miss Jones softly said as she felt numb.

" Thank you Miss Jones for being so understanding, and I thank you for your concern over Little Joe. We all hope he will be alright, but it could take time for him to come to terms at what has happened. Well, I need to get back home now and see if I can help my son. Bye Miss Jones," Ben said as he left the school building.

After Ben had left, Miss Jones sat down at her desk and cried. All she could think about was Little Joe and she said a prayer for him.

Over the next several days, Little Joe was very quiet. He was so confused by everything that Skip and Henry had told him and he couldn't figure out why they had lied to him.

Even though he had heard his family tell him just how much they all loved him and especially how much his mother had loved him, but deep down inside of him he didn't trust anyone. He felt lost.

Skip and Henry had been severely punished by their parents, which included being put in jail for a few days. The brothers were shocked by that, but they finally realized what they had done and they decided to change their lives for the better. They hated being in jail, and they knew just how deeply they had hurt their parents trust in them.

They tried to put themselves in Little Joe's place and and all the hurt that they had caused to the little boy and his family. They now hated themselves for all of that and they decided to have talk with the boy and his family after they got out of jail, and that really scared them having to face the Cartwrights.

A couple of days later Bert and Bertha Copelund arrived at the Ponderosa to have a talk with Little Joe. They hoped that they could help the little boy.

Little Joe was in his room having a nap since he still wasn't sleeping very well at night and he also had a slight headache.

Ben was working at his desk when he heard a knock on the front door. He quickly stood up and went to answer the door.

As soon as he saw the Copelunds standing there he smiled and invited them in. " Hi Bert, Bertha, please come in and sit down," Ben greeted warmly.

" Hi Ben, thank you. How is Little Joe ? We have been very concerned about him and we hope we can help him. Would it be alright if we had a talk with him?" Bert asked.

" My son is doing just ok. He is having trouble sleeping at night, he's very quiet and confused by everything your sons told him. He isn't eating much either but then he isn't a big eater to begin with. "

" We keep telling him that what Skip and Henry told him were all lies, very hurtful lies. We have also been telling him that we love him more than everything. I told him that his mother, God rest her soul, loved him more than anything else in her life and that he was her world her everything."

" You see, my little son is a very sensitive boy. He takes everything to heart and it doesn't take much to break that child's heart. He just can't understand why your sons told him all those hurtful lies. It is so very hard to see him so depressed," Ben sadly finished explaining to the Copelunds.

" Ben, our hearts are breaking for Little Joe and I hope we can help him. Skip and Henry now realize what they have done to your son and to your family, and believe me, they are truely sorry and they feel absolutely awful."

" I know that Bertha and myself should forgive them, but we can't. I can never forgive our sons for what they have done," Bert softly said as he felt awful.

" It will take time, a long time for me to be able to forgive my sons Mr. Cartwright," Bertha sadly told Ben as she had tears in her eyes.

" I know how you both must be feeling about your sons, but even though they have done a very bad thing, you need to forgive them. I know that that can be very hard to do, but you need to not only for your own good but for that of your sons as well. That is one of the hardest parts of being a parent. You are both wonder parents and you have tried your best, but never give up on your children, and they need to know that," Ben explained.

Ben looked at them with forgiveness in his eyes and in his heart as well.

" Thank you Ben. We can see what you are trying to say and we will try for the good of our family. Would it be alright if we had a talk with Little Joe?" Bertha asked hoping that Ben would say ' yes '.

With a smile on his face, Ben replied, " Yes. I'll go up and get him for you. Would you both like some coffee?" " Yes, that sounds nice Ben. Thank you," Bertha replied.

As Ben went to ask Hop Sing to please take some coffee and cookies in for the Copelunds, Bert and Bertha softly said what a wonderful man Ben was.

Ben hated to wake up his son, but he knew that he needed to. " Little Joe, wake up now son. Open your eyes for me sweetheart," Ben softly said as he rubbed the little boy's back lovingly.

As Little Joe slowly opened his eyes he saw his Pa sitting on the edge of the bed smiling at him. He yawned several times as he rubbed his eyes.

" I'm sorry I had to wake you up son, but you have visitors downstairs. It's Mr. and Mrs. Copelund and they really want to talk with you. Don't be nervous, they won't hurt you and I'll be there with you. Alright ?" Ben asked as he looked at his son's face.

Ben could tell the boy was nervous and he was pleased and relieved when the boy agreed to go downstairs and listen to what the Copelunds had to say.

As soon as Bert and Bertha saw Ben and Little Joe coming down the stairs, they both stood up and smiled at the very nervous looking little boy.

Once Ben and Little Joe were in the livingroom, Ben still had his arm around the boy's shoulder and he could feel the boy trembling.

" Little Joe, this is Mr. and Mrs. Copelund," Ben said. " Hi Little Joe. It is wonderful to meet you son," they both said as they smiled at the child.

" Thank you. It is nice to meet ya too," Little Joe softly replied as he looked at them. " Ben, he's a beautiful child ! You should be very proud of him," Bertha declared.

" Thank you. We think he is a beautiful little boy too. This little guy is the heart of our family. He looks just like his mother for which we are so very thankful. Just looking at him we see Marie," Ben proudly told the Copelunds.

Ben sat down and he had Little Joe sit on his lap. He handed the boy a cookie which he took in his small hand. As the child slowly ate his cookie, he leaned back against Ben's chest. He felt safe now.

" Little Joe would be alright with you honey if we talk to you for a few minutes please ?" Bertha asked as she smiled at the boy. " Y..yes ma'am," he softly replied as he looked at them with wide open eyes.

" Thank you Little Joe. We want to apologize to you for everything our sons told you. They had no reason to say to you what they did. What they told you were all lies, very hurtful lies. They have both been severely punished for what they told you and for making you fight them."

" We had them put in jail for a few days as part of their punishment. They were also tanned and they are both now on a two month restriction. We are totally ashamed of them," Bert and Bertha told Little Joe.

" Little Joe, we are also very sorry that they made you fight with them too. They had absolutely no reason to do that. Did you know that they are both jealous of you because you are a very sweet boy and that everyone at school are your friends. No one wanted to be friends with Skip and Henry because they were so mean to everyone. I wouldn't want to be their friends either !" the Copelunds explained to Little Joe.

" Honey, we want you to please believe us when we tell you that everything Skip and Henry said to you were all just awful lies. Awful lies !" Bertha said as she looked into the child's big green eyes.

" Son, you are a very lucky little boy to have such a loving and very caring family who love you so much. Plus you have wonderful friends who would do anything to help you," Bert told Little Joe.

As Little Joe continued to sit on Ben's lap, every word he had heard from the Copelunds, he knew was the truth. He could tell just by looking at them how awful they felt at what their sons had done to him and he felt very sorry for them as he really liked Mr. and Mrs. Copelund.

Taking a deep breath, Little Joe spoke up. " Thank you fer tellin' me all of this. You really put em in jail ?" That surprised the boy. He couldn't imagine how hard that must have been for them or how that must have made Skip and Hnery feel. He hoped that his Pa would never put him in jail as punishment.

Smiling at the boy's reactions, Bert replied, " Yes Little Joe, we had them in jail for several days so they would realize how it felt to be locked up for doing something very bad. Thank goodness that seemed to teach them a good and hard lesson and they now realize that being in trouble and having to go to jail was no life for them."

" You see Little Joe, they feel extremely upset at what they did to you. It has hurt them in a way that we have never seen in them before, and that has changed their lives for the better," Bertha began.

" One day last week, Skip and Henry went over to the school and they got up in front of the class and they apologized to the students and to Miss Jones for all the trouble that they had caused. They told us that that made them feel so much better."

" Little Joe, honey, both Skip and Henry want to come to the Ponderosa and apologize to you and your family too. I know that that will be hard for you, but if you could please see it in your heart to allow them to come to see you, it will put a closure to this whole awful thing. You think about about that son, that's all we ask. If you choose not too, we will fully understand," Bertha finished explaining.

Little Joe let out a big sigh. He knew that he should probably allow Skip and Henry to come over, but that also scared him badly. He had a lot to think about.

As Ben hugged his little boy he could feel the trembling in the boy's body start up again.

" Sweetheart, we will all be here with you if you agree to allow Skip and Henry to come over here, but that is all your decision son," Ben explained to his young son.

After a couple of minutes, Little Joe softly said, " they can over if'n they want to."

With much relief, Bertha spoke to the nervous child. " Thank you Little Joe. You don't realize how much that this will mean to our family. I will tell you this, that both Skip and Henry are sacred to face you, but they also both need to know that this is something that they need to do."

Little Joe was surprised to hear that Skip and Henry were afraid to see him. " The're scared of me? Golly, I won't hurt em !" That statement by the little boy made everyone chuckle. Ben felt so proud of his baby boy and he again hugged the boy.

" Mr. Cartwright, would tomorrow be alright with you if our sons came over?" Bert asked as he looked at Ben.

Ben looked down at Little Joe and the boy nodded that it was fine with him. " Yes, tomorrow afternoon is fine with us," Ben said as he again felt so proud of his son.

For the rest of the day, Little Joe thought about nothing else except for the visit of the Copelund brothers. He was scared, but he tried his best not to show any fear to his family, and he certainly didn't want to show any fear to the Copelund brothers either.

Ben, Adam and Hoss could tell that the youngster was very nervous, but they didn't mention their feelings. They just hoped that the visit would go well.

That next afternoon the knock on the front door startled Little Joe. As Ben went to answer the door, both Adam and Hoss gave their baby brother a big hug and Adam told him that everything would be alright.

When Ben opened the door, there stood two very nervous looking young men, Skip and Henry Copelund. They looked like they were about to be hung Ben thought.

" Mr. Cartwright, I'm Skip and this is my brother, Henry. Would it be alright if we came in for a few minutes ? We have to talk to Little Joe and to you and his brothers too ," Skip nervously explained.

" Welcome and please come in and sit down," Ben greeted as he smiled at the two boys. The Copelund brothers took off their hats as they entered the house and they nervously ran their fingers along the rims of their hats.

Once they were all seated, Henry looked around the cozy room and he said, " You have a very nice house Mr. Cartwright." " Thank you Henry," Ben replied.

Ben introduced them to Adam and Hoss. " Nice to meet you ," Adam said as he eyed the nervous boys as did Hoss. Hoss felt like pounding them into the ground for what they had done to his baby brother.

" We thank you for allowing us come over to speak to all of you. We have a lot to say to you Little Joe and to your family as well," Skip softly said and he hoped he and Henry could do this apology the right way.

" First, Little Joe, Skip and me are so truely sorry for what we did to you. We had no reason to make up all those lies we told you. I guess we wanted to feel important."

" We were both very jealous of you because all the kids at school like you so much and no one liked us at all, which we now know was our own fault. We thought that if we could get you upset and make fun of you, then maybe some of the older kids would like us, but we were so wrong."

" It got to the point that we couldn't stop teasing you and we wanted you to feel bad like we did."

" You are a good kid Little Joe and we wanted to be like you, but we didn't know how. You are dearly loved by your family and all of your friends who would do anything to keep you safe and happy, plus they stick up for you too. We had no one to stick up for us."

" Skip and I convinced ourselves that our parents didn't love us even though they did. We were just too darn stubborn to realize that."

" Then when they put us in jail for those awful few days, that made us realize the huge mistake we had made. We had turned everyone against us especially our parents. To see that hurt in their eyes made us realize that we needed to change our lives around fast or we would be spending much of our lives in jail and we didn't want that," Henry finished.

The Cartwrights, especially Little Joe could see how hard this was for Skip and Henry and they felt a little sorry for them.

" Little Joe, Henry and I are so very sorry at all the hurt and pain we have caused you. If we could take it all back, we would. We hope that one day you can forgive us, but if you can't then we do understand why you can't. Please Little Joe, please be alright," Skip tearfully said.

Little Joe looked at both Skip and Henry and he softly began to speak to them.

" You two hurt me real bad and it still hurts, but I do fergive ya. Please do me a big favor, please don't ever do that ta anyone else ever again. Being a good person is so much better. Yer mama and Pa do love you and knowing that ya have turned yer lives around fer the better has made them very grateful and very happy," Little Joe concluded.

As the tears ran down their faces, both Skip and Henry thanked Little Joe for his forgiveness. That made them feel much better.

" Skip, Henry, we also forgive you both. That took a lot of courage to come over and apologize the way you did. A life of crime is no life at all," Ben told them as he smiled at them.

Feeling so much better inside, Henry said, " Thank you Mr. Cartwright. That meant a lot for you to be able to forgive us too. Your sons are so lucky to have such a wonderful caring father. We realize too how lucky we are to also have such loving parents and we almost lost that love forever."

" Thank you again Mr. Cartwright, and Little Joe, you keep being a good kid," Skip said as he and Henry left.

After the Copelund brothers had left, Ben turned to his young son and said, " Little Joe I am so very proud of you. What you told Skip and Henry was from your heart and that meant so much to me and to them as well." Adam and Hoss were also so proud of their little brother and they both hugged him tightly.

With tears in his eyes, Little Joe replied, " Thank you Pa, but it still hurts what they done ta me." " We know it does sweetheart, and don't you ever doubt for one second that when we say how much we love, we mean it from our hearts. You are the heart of our family son," Ben lovingly explained as he had his arms around the boy's shoulder.

" Pa's right little buddy. Even when we are upset with you, we love you more than life it's self," Adam told the youngster as he also gave the child a big hug.

" That's the truth Punkin. You are the most loved little boy in the whole wide world, and I am so thankful that you are my baby brother and ya know what else, I love all yer mischief too," Hoss teased as he too gave his little brother a big old bear hug which caused the boy to giggle, a giggle that hadn't been heard for a long time.

" I love ya all too and I'll try ta stay out of mischief too," the boy sheepishly declared. " That is what makes you so special son is all of your mischief," Ben teased as he ruffled up the boy's curly soft hair. More giggling erupted from Little Joe. Life was back to normal for the Cartwright family again.

The End.

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