A GOOSE STORY

By

Grammagoose

It was a Christmas party that began when a group of carolers showed up at the

Ponderosa singing songs. The Cartwright family invited them in for food, drinks

and more singing.

The mood was light and merry with everyone smiling and happy. Ben had just begun

singing a new song he had heard while in St. Joe. It started out something like

this:

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat,

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat."

Immediately Little Joe’s heart skipped a beat. He said quietly to himself, "The

goose is getting fat for only one reason. They’re going to eat him." Joe slipped

quietly to the corner of the room where Ben’s desk stood. He sat in the swivel

chair, twirled it around to face the wall and put one of his feet up on the

seat. He wrapped his arm around his knee and let his mind drift back to his own

goose story………

"Come on Jimmer, let’s go."

" We got ‘portant stuff to do."

"Hop Sing needs some more eggs and we gotta get ‘em."

The little boy shouted as he slammed shut the door to the kitchen and half

skipped and half ran to the barn.

"Watch out for Missy Goose, Little Joe. She not velly happy. She sit, sit, sit

on her eggs. Goose get velly cranky."

Hop Sing worried about the little boy. He knew that the goose was almost as tall

as the child and had a bite that could make any man sore.

" ‘Kay! " Little Joe called back. Then he slowed down, thinking about what Hop

Sing had said. Cautiously he pushed opened the heavy barn door. He scanned the

scene before him. To the right, were stalls for the ranch horses. This morning

most of the stalls were empty. His two older brothers and father had saddled up

after breakfast and gone to work. They were off chasing cows. That’s what his

father and brothers did every day, at least that is how it seemed to the little

boy. He begged to go with them, but he was always told he was too little. So,

Little Joe stayed at home, helped the Chinese cook, Hop Sing, and played.

Off to the left, something caught his eye. It was small, yellow and almost

buried in the hay. Quietly, he tip- toed closer.

"Hey Jimmer, look!" he whispered.

Squatting down low, Little Joe’s large green eyes met with the brown eyes of a

small yellow creature. Slowly and carefully he reached his arms out and touched

the animal. It was soft and very small like a baby chicken. But it wasn’t a

chicken. Whatever it was, it started to move toward him, wobbled and fell down

on the hay.

"Jimmer, I think he’s cold. Let’s take him inside. Hop Sing will know what to

do".

Little Joe picked the little animal up and cradled it in his arms. The bird and

the boy watched each other as Little Joe carefully walked back to the house.

"Hop Sing! Hop Sing! Open the door! I got somethin’!"

"You got eggs? How many eggs you got?"

As Hop Sing opened the door, he was taken aback. Before him was an endearing

sight. There stood a little boy of six, dressed only in a pair of faded blue

corduroy overalls, one strap was in place and the other was sliding down his

thin bare shoulder. Under a pile of dark curly hair beamed a pair of large and

excited hazel green eyes, a cute little nose and a big grin with one front tooth

missing. In his arms he held a small pile of yellow fluff.

"Look, Hop Sing. Look what I found in the barn."

Hop Sing became very excited. He bounced up and down, pulled Little Joe into the

kitchen and slammed the door shut.

"Where Missy Goose? You make Missy Goose velly mad! You take her baby!"

Little Joe was confused. "But Hop Sing, Missy Goose wasn’t in the barn. She

wasn’t even there, honest. Is this her baby? Is she gonna come get me?"

Worry started to cloud his face as Hop Sing took charge.

"Little boy stay here. Sit by oven and keep baby goose warm. Hop Sing look for

Missy Goose." Grabbing a frying pan, Hop Sing ran out the door.

"Gosh, Jimmer. Hope Missy Goose won’t be mad ‘cause I have her baby."

He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the oven and nestled the little

yellow fur ball on his lap. The creature’s big brown eyes started to close and

its head nodded and finally rested on Little Joe’s knee.

"He sure is cute, Jimmer. Look at his little black beak. It has holes in it. And

his feet feel soft and warm. They’re flat, not skinny and scratchy like a

chicken. I wish I could keep him in my lap forever."

Meanwhile, Hop Sing was outside calling for Missy Goose. The goose had been

sitting in the barn on a nest for the last month. There were three eggs in the

nest and they were expected to hatch any day. The goose had been very cranky the

last few days and refused to eat or let anyone near her. Missy Goose and Mister

Goose had been a gift from a neighbor. But Mister Goose had met an untimely

demise when one day a fox had come into the yard.

As Hop Sing rounded the corner of the barn, he noticed feathers scattered on the

ground. He also noticed the tracks of a fox and scratches in the earth where an

animal had been dragged. It seemed that Missy Goose had met with the same fate

as Mister Goose.

Little Joe looked up as Hop Sing entered the kitchen.

"Baby goose all alone, Little Joe. His mama gone." Hop Sing’s face looked sad.

"Where did his mama go? We can find her." Little Joe was sure they could fix

this problem.

"No, not find mama. Mama go with fox."

Little Joe’s eyes became big and round, as he understood what Hop Sing was

saying. The baby goose did not have a mama anymore. The baby goose was alone. He

looked down at the soft, yellow ball in his lap. Tears fell from his eyes as

sadness filled his heart. He knew what it was like to loose a mama. His mama had

gone away, too. He held the little goose and gently petted its head.

"Don’t worry little baby, I will take care of you."

When Little Joe woke up, it was raining. The sound of the rain on his window was

loud and a little frightening. He hurried from his bed, out the door and down

the stairs.

"Hop Sing, where is everybody?" Usually when it was raining, his father and

brothers stayed home. He loved it when that happened. Then he wasn’t so alone

and had somebody to play with all day long. But the great room was empty and so

was the dining room.

"Everybody go, Little Joe. Say river is rising and have to move some cows to

different place. Sorry, little boy. Come eat some food"

The boy walked dejectedly into the kitchen. Gosh, even when it’s raining I got

nobody to play with. At least I got my baby goose. And I got Jimmer, too. Later

that morning, Hop Sing brought some blankets, sheets and pillows from the back

and suggested that Little Joe build a fort. He had helped the little boy do this

before and felt like it might keep him busy for awhile.

Little Joe went straight to work. He pulled chairs from the dining room to the

area between the stairs and Ben’s desk and started creating. This area had been

designated as Little Joes’s space. It had a large Oriental rug, a low shelf

against the wall and a wooden toy box with the name Joseph written on top. He

had lots of toys, too. The shelf held a complete set of wooden blocks. The

blocks came in different lengths, in triangles, half circles and cylinders. His

father and big brother Adam had made some of the blocks and some blocks were

brought back from the toy store in San Francisco. In fact, his big brother Adam

often played with the blocks and helped Joe build intricate buildings and

bridges. Little Joe decided that Adam really got the blocks just so he could

play with them. His collection included four carved wooden horses and one was

painted black and white. The horses could be hooked up with a little wooden

wagon. There was also a wooden Noah’s Ark and a set of animals that he had had

since he was a baby. A worn out stuffed bear and a Raggedy Andy doll sat on the

shelf too. He also had a set of tin toy soldiers that Hoss got him last

Christmas. He loved to play soldiers with Hoss. The toy box held some other

things, too, like an assortment of metal wind-up toys. His favorite toy was a

wooden rifle that his brother Adam had carved out of wood. He wished he had a

real rifle, but this wooden one sure looked real and anyway- you could always

pretend.

"Come on Jimmer, let’s go inside our fort. This is great. I’m goin’ to put the

pillows over on this side and then I’m goin’ to build a fireplace over here and

then I’m goin’ to make some food. You want some? Let’s put Mr. Bear and Andy in

here. They can eat some food, too." Little Joe worked hard, draping blankets

over chairs and pulling all the wooden blocks off the shelf. As he played, a

story unfolded about stagecoach robbers and Joe was the good guy. "Jimmer, you

gotta be the bad guy. I’m goin’ to shoot you. Bang! Bang! You fall down and then

I go get the sheriff and you gotta go to jail. Okay? Joe struggled with his

imaginary friend and finally pushed him against the wall. “There, Jimmer, you’re

in jail." Joe slammed the chair against the wall.

"Stay there. I’m going to get some real food now, Jimmer." Little Joe had been

playing for hours and decided to go see what Hop Sing was doing. He entered the

kitchen but did not see Hop Sing.

"Gosh, everybody has left me." A pout began to form on his face. Then he spied

the little goose and the little goose spied him. Instantly the goose began to

make little noises. Joe went to him and knelt down by the wooden box that he was

kept in.

"Hey, baby goose. Wanna play?" Little Joe carefully lifted the little animal out

of the box and set him on the floor. He answered the goose in baby goose talk,

"Peep, peep, peep. Come on, I’ll show you my fort."

The little goose followed the boy across the kitchen, across the dining room and

across the big room. The goose had never walked so far in its life. It’s little

flat feet made splat, splat, splat sounds as it crossed the floor. Little Joe

thought the sound was funny and giggled. The child got to the fort first and

plopped down on the floor. With his little wings out-stretched, the baby goose

ran fast so it could catch up and then scrambled into the little boy’s lap.

"That’s OK baby. I won’t leave you. I know what it’s like to have short legs. I

always have to run when I am with my big brothers. Do you like my fort? See the

pillows? We can lay down, just like this……."

The front door slammed. Three men came sloshing in all wet, tired and dirty.

"Look over there Pa! What is it?" Hoss started across the room to inspect the

blanket, sheet and chair creation. He peeked inside the fort of blankets.

"Awwwwww. Look here, Adam. Shhhhh! Look inside. Dang, ain’t that just the cutest

thing you ever done see?" Curled up on the pillows was a little boy fast asleep

with his thumb stuck in his mouth. Nestled under his chin was a yellow ball of

fur.

Adam stuck his face in to see. "Yeah, real cute." Just then the baby goose woke

up and splurted goose goodies across the floor. "Pa! Little Joe has this thing

in the house! Yuck!"

************************************************************************

"Goose poop! Goose poop all over my kitchen! Baby goose not stay in my kitchen

any more. Get too big. Make velly big mess! Can’t cook food. Spend all time

clean up after goose! Clean, Clean, Clean. Hop Sing not goose mama. Hop Sing

leave, go see cousin in town. Not come back." Hop Sing was hoppin’ mad.

"Pa, don’t let Hop Sing go! Please Pa, do something!" Hoss wailed above the din

of the small Chinaman. "We gotta eat!"

For Little Joe’s older brother, Hoss, the idea of loosing the cook was very

scary. Hoss loved to eat and really appreciated the efforts of Hop Sing. At 12,

Hoss was already the size of a young man and did the work of a man. He needed

the fuel for energy because he not only worked hard, but was also still growing.

"Hoss, calm down, son. Hop Sing won’t leave. We won’t let you starve." Ben tried

to console Hoss. Little Joe’s papa was also very big. His voice was deep and

sounded like thunder sometimes.

Soon, Adam joined in. "Pa, I think the goose is getting too big to stay in the

kitchen. I can’t believe you are letting Little Joe keep that thing in here,

anyway. It’s an animal, Pa."

Adam was Little Joe’s oldest brother. At almost 19 years of age, he was always

the logical one. And keeping a baby goose in the house was not logical.

"I can make a cage for him. We can keep him in the barn and when the thing gets

big enough, we’ll have him for dinner."

All the noise down stairs had woken Little Joe up. Usually, he slept late.

Sometimes his brothers tried to wake him, but he was cranky when he woke, so

most mornings he was left to sleep as long as possible. Little Joe crawled out

of bed and shuffled to his door. It was already open, so he shuffled to the end

of the hall. At the top of the stairs he peeked around the corner. It was then

that he heard his brother Adam.

"Nooooo! Nooooooo! You can’t eat my baby!" Little Joe flew down the steps and

raced across the room to confront Adam. Pounding on Adam’s stomach, Little Joe

continued to scream, "Don’t touch my goose! You’re so mean! Please Pa, don’t let

Adam eat my goose!

By this time, Ben was really ready to go "chase cows". The morning had started

so peacefully with a beautiful sunrise he could see from his bedroom window. It

was times like this that he really missed all three of his beautiful wives.

Adam’s mother had died during childbirth; Hoss’s mother had died during an

Indian attack and just a couple of years ago, Little Joe’s mother had died in a

riding accident. But there was no time to linger on those thoughts now. He

needed to take charge and get his household calmed down.

"QUIET!" The voice sounded like thunder. "Everyone calm down! Sit down now. Hop

Sing, come sit down on the couch. Hoss, get in here and sit in this chair!” He

pointed to one of the red chairs by the fireplace. "Little Joe, come sit on my

lap. Little Joe, stop hitting Adam right now and come here!" Ben snatched

Little Joe up in his arms and carried him to the blue chair and held him tightly

in his lap. Ben tried to soothe his youngest son. "Joseph, nobody is going to

eat your goose." Joe continued to sob, but at least sat still. "I want everyone

to listen right now. The goose cannot live in the house. A goose needs to live

outside. Little Joe, you are going to help Adam make a nice house for your

goose. A fox might come back and you have to make a safe place for him. Hop

Sing, please don’t leave. We all thank you for taking care of the goose for the

last two weeks. The goose won’t stay in your kitchen anymore. Hoss, you will

help Hop Sing clean his kitchen. And Hoss, you will get fed. I promise!" Ben

took a deep breath and sighed as he looked around the room. Everyone was quiet.

At least for the moment.

"Jimmer, this goose needs a bigger house. Look, his tail feathers are poking out

the side. He’s gotten so big! He needs out so he can move around. Maybe he wants

to fly. Come on, Jimmer, let’s go find some stuff and make a bigger house. I

know how ‘cause I helped Adam make this little house. Now let me see, where did

Adam get all the wood and nails and things to make a goose house?"

Little Joe went to the barn. The room at the back of the barn always had lots of

interesting things to look at and it held the tools and wood that he needed. Pa

didn’t like him to touch things in there, something about it not being safe. But

Joe knew he had to use the tools. He would make sure he put everything back and

nobody would know he borrowed a thing. And anyway, his family wasn’t even home.

His father and his brothers were out chasing cows, again. And Hop Sing was busy

making a cake for Hoss’s birthday.

"I think there are nails on this shelf, Jimmer. I can climb up on this chair and

reach real far and… whoops!" A whole can of nails tumbled down and scattered all

over the floor. "Jimmer, we gotta pick all these up or somebody will know I’ve

been in here. Look at this thing. What is it? Uh- Oh, it broke. I’ll just put it

under the table.” Joe shoved the broken leather and wood object under the table

and stood to scan around the room. “Let’s see, I need a hammer and a saw. Here

they are. Ouch, that’s sharp." Joe stuck his right index finger in his mouth.

"Now I need some wood. I’m goin’ to put everything in my red wagon." Joe piled

his wagon high with materials. Sure he had everything he needed, he pulled the

loaded wagon towards the door. Little Joe turned to survey the room. "Wow, I

sure made a mess.” He shrugged his small shoulders. “Oh well, I’ll clean it up

later."

It was only 10am, but Ben had decided to quit early. It was Hoss’s birthday and

the boys had worked hard for the last two weeks rounding up strays for the

annual cattle drive. It had been a good year and there were many new calves.

They were all corralled and the next step would be branding. That was a hard

job and could wait a day or two.

"Adam, Hoss, will you boys please put Buck up for me? I’m going to check on some

things in the house" He gave Adam a wink. Ben really needed a few minutes to

make sure that everything was ready for the party. Ben had planned a surprise

party for Hoss, inviting several of his friends, Sheriff Coffee and Doc Martin

and his wife. He invited the last two partly for himself and partly for Little

Joe. Sheriff Coffee would bring his little girl, Amanda. She would keep Little

Joe busy and out from under everyone’s feet. He had told his plans only to Adam

and Hop Sing, knowing that his youngest could not keep a secret.

Little Joe was so busy; he didn’t hear anyone coming. He was pulling his heavy

wagon across the bumpy barn floor, chattering all the time to Jimmer about what

he was going to do. "Jimmer, this is going to be such a great house that I think

I might even live in it, too.

Adam and Hoss stopped in their tracks, and scooted behind a pile of hay bales.

They listened to their little brother and then looked at each other. Adam rolled

his eyes and Hoss grinned. "Who’s he talkin’ to, anyway, Adam? I don’t see

nobody" Hoss whispered.

"Well, Jimmer, of course" Adam said in a matter of fact way as if it were

obvious.

"Who in tarnation is Jimmer?" Hoss was confused.

"Well, I don’t know for sure, but I think he might be an imaginary friend that

Joe made up."

"Oh." Hoss still wasn’t sure what this was all about.

Just then, Little Joe noticed his brothers and panic set in. But he decided the

best thing to do was just act natural.

"Hi Adam! Hi Hoss!" Joe gave one of his biggest, toothiest grins, but the

missing tooth made it almost comical.

"Little Joe, what are you doing in here? What’s in your wagon?" Adam was being

nosey.

"Oh, just some stuff. It’s nuthin’ really." Little Joe tried to push the wagon

behind the wall of one of the stalls.

"Wait a minute there, little buddy. I see some tools and some nails and some

wood. Where are you going with that stuff?"

Adam sure knew how to get right to the point, thought Little Joe.

"Ummmmm" Well, you see…..ummmm" Just then Ben came into the barn. "Where are you

boys? And where is Little Joe?" Then he spied the child and the wagon. "Joseph,

do I see tools in your wagon? Tools that you are not supposed to play with?"

"But Pa-Pa, I’m gonna put ‘em back and anyways I need ‘em." Little Joe was

afraid now and his hands flew to cover the seat of his pants.

"Oh, you will put them back alright. Right now." Ben grabbed Little Joe’s hand

and the handle of the wagon and headed to the tool and tack room. As he went, he

looked over his shoulder and told Adam and Hoss to go in the house and get

cleaned up. The sight when he entered the tool and tack room made him cringe.

Nails covered the floor, boxes were turned upside down and everything that was

on the table was now on the floor. "Joseph!" His voice really boomed like

thunder. "Did you do all of this?"

Little Joe had to think fast. "I didn’t do it, Pa. Jimmer did it. I told him not

to."

He decided he would have to make it up to Jimmer later.

"Jimmer? And just who is Jimmer? I don’t remember allowing you to have any

friends over today."

"Well, Jimmer is my friend. But you just can’t see him. Only I can see him."

Ben made a face of exasperation. He had had enough of the nonsense. He spanked

Little Joe and then made him help clean up the mess. All the while, Little Joe

sobbed and couldn’t believe how unfair life was. When the room looked orderly

again, Ben took Little Joe inside and gave him a bath, a wet affair for anyone

near the tub. After trying to get Joe to eat some lunch, Ben was very tired, so

he sent his little boy to bed for a nap. Little Joe felt he was definitely too

old for a nap, but was glad to be away from his grumpy father.

Finally, Ben felt he could relax and concentrate on his other son, Hoss. He

really wanted this party to go well. He still had to wrap the birthday present

he had gotten him- a brand new saddle. He also still needed to clean up himself.

"Mr. Cartwright not worry. Hop Sing have everything ready. Make Hoss’s favorite

supper, fried chicken and biscuits and beans. Have ice cream, chocolate cake and

candles. Everything OK."

Ben was so glad to have Hop Sing. He kept the household going. But he was

worried because Little Joe was hard to keep an eye on all day and still take

care of the house. Ben was glad that school would soon be starting up again and

his youngest son would be in someone’s care all day. He also was worried about

"Jimmer". He made a mental note to ask the doctor about that tonight Doc Martin

always seemed to know everything about children.

"Shouldn’t I go get him up, Pa? I don’t want him to miss my party." Hoss had

finally figured out that a party had been planned for that evening.

"Alright, Hoss. I guess we can’t let him sleep all night. His clothes are laid

out on the dresser. Please make sure he puts them on correctly."

"Sure, Pa!" And up the stairs Hoss bounded.

"You know Pa, I think Joe was trying to build a bigger house for his goose."

Adam was sitting in his favorite chair by the fire, relaxing. "That goose sure

is cause for a lot of trouble. Maybe we should make a bigger place for it in the

barn? I can do that tomorrow." Adam made his offer not only to make Little Joe

and his father happy, but also because the bird was getting very big and very

fat. And there’s nothing like the taste of roasted goose and browned potatoes,

thought Adam.

"Thank you Adam. Sounds like a good idea, for now, anyway." Ben was thinking

ahead also. He knew that Little Joe really loved the goose, but that keeping a

goose on the Ponderosa had never worked out very well in the past. He had an

idea, however, and was eager to discuss it this evening with his friends, the

sheriff and the doctor.

The next morning dawned bright and early with a shimmering glow across the

eastern sky. It was a beautiful sight and the air held a slight chilliness.

Summer was surely on the way. But the group around the breakfast table was not

so glowing. Adam and Hoss had partied way into the night- singing and laughing

with their friends. Little Joe was also a sleepy head as he had stayed up much

later than usual playing with Amanda. They had played in Joe’s corner- but the

play did not go exactly as Joe would have liked. They played house and he had to

be the daddy. Then he had to be the baby. He refused to be the sister. He didn’t

want to do any of it, but when he started to argue, his Pa-Pa had told him to

mind his manners and be nice to their visitors. He tried, but it wasn’t easy.

From this day on he knew, girls were yucky and he was never going to play with

another girl again.

"After church, I have a little surprise for everyone." Ben announced this

cheerily and got blank stares in return. "I think you are really going to like

this, Little Joe" He turned his attention to his youngest son.

Now Joe’s curiosity was aroused. "What is it, Pa? Tell me! I want to know now!"

With a twinkle in his eye, Ben said, "Well, you’ll just have to wait."

Little Joe could hardly contain himself through the whole morning. The Minister

just talked and talked and it was all boring. Joe tried to sit still, but his

body would just not do it. Finally, Ben held him on his lap and Little Joe fell

asleep, his head on Ben’s shoulder.

But the minute the organ began playing and everyone got up, Little Joe was

awake. He was excited and he couldn’t wait for the surprise.

"Come on boys, we are going over to Mrs. Bell’s house. She has invited us for

lunch."

"Why, Pa? We don’t even know her." Adam frowned. He had plans of his own and was

not too thrilled to be included in his Pa’s plans.

Mrs. Bell was a widow who lived on the edge of Virginia City. She had a neat

little yellow house with white shutters, a front porch and a white picket fence

all around. Behind her house was a little barn and a big pond with flowers

growing along the edge. Little Joe thought the house looked like a sissy girl

house and cringed at the thought of having to go inside and eat lunch. Hoss was

eager to have lunch, anywhere.

"Come on in everyone. Sheriff Coffee told me all about it and everything has

been taken care of. I’m ready!" Mrs. Bell was flapping her apron in expectation

of her dinner guests.

Adam and Hoss looked at each other with questioning eyes. Ready for what?

The family clambered into the little house and seemed to take over the whole

place. Mrs. Bell showed them to the table where they all sat down to eat. Lunch

was excellent. The widow had fixed pot roast and gravy, little potatoes, carrots

and topped it off with apple pie. Even Little Joe ate his food. After the last

crumb of pie was eaten, Ben stood up. "Now I know you are wondering why I

brought you here today. Well, to answer that, I want us all to take a walk out

to the barn and then you will understand."

Little Joe ran ahead and tried to open the door. Ben and Mrs. Bell came up

behind him and swung open the heavy barn door. There, waiting to come out, was a

flock of white geese and some gray geese. They looked just like his baby goose

at home. One goose caught his attention.

"Pa-Pa! This is a lot of gooses!" Joe exclaimed

"A lot of geese, Little Joe." Adam tried to correct his grammar.

"Yeah Adam, there’s a whole passel of them critters!" Hoss was impressed.

"Pa-Pa, is that goose mine?" Little Joe pointed to one that stood apart from the

others.

The one he was pointing at spotted his boy. His nose went in the air and he

started to honk. He was a young goose, so it came out kind of squeaky. The goose

started toward Little Joe, voicing its opinion the whole way.

"Yes, Little Joe. That is your baby goose. He has found a new home. He is going

to live here with Mrs. Bell and all these other geese. They will be his friends

and he can play and run and even swim in the pond. Isn’t that great?" Ben said

this with the utmost hope that Little Joe would agree with him.

Little Joe looked dubious. Ben held his breath.

"Look Pa-Pa. It is my baby goose and he wants me to come with him." They all

followed the squawking goose as he made a run for the pond. "Wow, look at him

go!" shouted Little Joe. The goose ran into the water, making a huge commotion

with his large wings flapping and feet kicking. All the other geese followed and

soon the pond was boiling over with geese and noise and chasing.

"I think my baby goose is having a lot of fun." Little Joe was grinning from ear

to ear. He wished he could jump in the pond and join the fun. But probably Pa-Pa

wouldn’t like that very much.

Ben knelt down and put his arm around his little boy. "Well, Little Joe, you did

a good job taking care of that baby goose. Now he is grown up and he is going to

live with all the other geese and be very happy."

Mrs. Bell showed the Cartwright family all around the pond. She pointed out the

food she feed them: corn, lettuce and left over bread. She explained to Little

Joe that all the geese had names and that nobody ever ate the geese.

Adam made a face. What a waste, he thought.

I guess my goose can stay here, Pa-Pa. Can you feel happy and sad at the same

time? ‘Cause I’m happy that my goose has friends, but I’m sad ‘cause I’ll miss

him."

Ben looked at his son. "Sometimes I feel happy and sad at the same time. Just

think, soon you will go to school! You will be with friends everyday You can

play and learn. I’m happy that you will be able to go to school, but I am sad

because you are growing up so fast."

Little Joe moaned. "That is a happy and sad thing. I’m happy I get to play with

friends, but I’m sad to have to do schoolwork."

Ben hugged his son and they all turned to walk back to the house. "Well, Joe,

we’ll have to buy you some new clothes for school. Do you think Jimmer will need

some new clothes, too?”

Little Joe giggled. "Pa-Pa, that’s silly. Jimmer doesn’t need new clothes. He’s

only pretend and besides, I don’t think he’s going to school anyway."

Ben grinned as he thought, Yes, everything was going to be just fine

Little Joe had been in the corner office, deep in thought, for some time. Hoss

noticed and sauntered over to his brother. "Gosh Joe, what did ya do wrong?’

Little Joe looked at Hoss with a hurt expression. "I didn’t do anything. What

are you talking about?"

"Well, Joe, you’ve been over here, in the corner and by yourself for the last

twenty minutes. What ya been doin’?" Hoss questioned.

"Oh nothing Hoss, I was just remembering that ole’ goose we used to have.

Remember him?"

"Sure do, Joe. He was somethin’ else, warn’t he?"

At that, Joe popped out of the chair, slapped Hoss on the back and said, "Come

on Hoss, let’s go put some candles on the tree!"

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