The Goose Story Continues

A sequel to “A Goose Story”

By

Grammagoose

Prelude

After the Christmas party was over, Joe helped to put the glasses and plates back in the kitchen for Hop Sing to wash and put away. He and Hoss joked some more with Ben about Abby.

“Pa, I think you may have some competition. I saw Abby leave here holding hands with another man.” Joe remarked with deadpan seriousness.

“Oh, come on, boys! I’m not interested in her and anyway, I think she’s older than me!”

Everyone had a good laugh and then headed up to bed.

As Joe lay in his bed, he could see the moonlight shine through the window. It cast a bright shadow on the wall and made it difficult to sleep. He began to think again about geese. There was more to his goose story. In fact, the best part was yet to be remembered.

Chapter One

Everyone was on time for dinner. Hop Sing was thrilled. And since he was so happy, the mood at the table was also happy and relaxed.

“Well, Little Joe, why don’t you tell us all about your first day of school?” Ben smiled and gave his youngest son just the opening he needed. It was Joe's second year of school and the first without his big brother, Hoss. He was bursting to tell his brothers about school. He had already talked into Ben’s ears, all the way home from Virginia City.

Little Joe became animated. The curls on his head bounced as he began his story. His eyes sparkled; his story went on. He got up on his knees to get closer; his story went on and on. Adam kicked Hoss under the table. Hoss tried to pay attention. Adam’s eye lids were getting heavy. They both nodded in agreement at anything that sounded like a question. They smiled at the “funny” parts and acted as interested as possible. However, by the time Little Joe had explained the details of lunch and recess for the third time, his brothers just couldn’t stand it anymore.

Adam was the first to speak, “Pa, I need to go check on Sport. He was limping a little on the way in tonight.”

Hoss saw the opportunity, “Me too Pa. I mean, I gotta go check on Chubb. I think he needs some liniment or something.”

“Of course Adam, Hoss. Go ahead.” Ben grinned. He knew why the boys were eager to leave. When Little Joe started talking, there was usually no end in sight.

Ben turned his attention to Little Joe. “Well son, it sounds like school went well today.”

Joe sighed, “Yeah, but I missed Hoss. There were some big boys and they called me “shorty pants”. I wanted to punch them out, but I was scared. If Hoss was there, he woulda’ punched ‘em out, good.”

“Joseph, there will be no “punching out” anybody. You go to school to learn, not fight. Is that clear? If you have a problem, tell Miss Knackenhorst or tell me.”

“Sure Papa”. But Little Joe knew if he did that, he would be a sissy and there was no way he was going to be a sissy. It was bad enough being the smallest boy in the school; again, he didn’t have to be a sissy as well. He knew he had to be tough or the bigger kids would tease him all the time.

As Little Joe played with the remaining peas on his plate, Ben finished his coffee. Finally convinced that the peas were going nowhere, Ben strode into the great room and sat down in his blue chair by the fireplace. He started to fill his pipe, but then set it down.

“Little Joe, come bring your new reader and sit with me for awhile. I’d like to hear you read. Then its time for bed.”

Little Joe wasn’t sure how to react. He was glad to escape the peas on his plate. And, yeah, he could read. He didn’t mind that too much, but bed?

“Thanks, Pa, but I need to go out to the barn and see what Adam and Hoss are doin’.” Joe started for the door.

“Stop right there. Adam and Hoss are just fine. They don’t need your help.” Ben knew his son was trying to avoid him. “Little Joe, you have to get up early for school every day now and you are going to have to go to bed earlier. Better get used to it, son.”

Joe knew he could not win, but argued to the end. A half- hour later, he was sound asleep.

Chapter Two

The second day of school was longer than the first. Some of the newness had worn off and for Little Joe, sitting still had become impossible. Luckily, Miss Knackenhorst was a good teacher and took everyone outside for the afternoon. She knew that children could read better under a tree than they could sitting at a desk. She also knew that little children learn best when they are allowed to play, explore the environment and construct their own knowledge of the world. Miss Knackenhorst had recently come from Germany where she had gone to school with a man by the name of Friedrich Froeble. Froeble had introduced her to the idea of using blocks, games and songs to teach the youngest children. In fact, she had brought a large set of 500 "Froebel Blocks" all the way from her homeland. In Germany the schools were called "Kindergartens” or “gardens for children”. She always kept a copy of Friedrich's own words on her desk:

"Children are like tiny flowers. They are varied and need care, but each is beautiful alone and glorious when seen in the community of peers."

But this philosophy had not yet reached the Wild, Wild West. Miss Knackenhorst also understood the need to make the Virginia City School Board happy. She kept quiet about her ideas and vowed to find as many opportunities as possible to allow her children to enjoy learning.

The real problem came at the end of the school day. Little Joe was supposed to sit and wait on the school steps for one of his brothers to come pick him up. It was almost an hour’s ride from the school to the Ponderosa- much too far for a seven-year-old to go alone. Joe thought he could ride home alone. He knew the way and besides, he wasn’t a baby anymore. As he waited, he pouted, just thinking about how mistreated he was.

“Hey shorty pants! Whatch ya’ doin’? Gotta’ wait for your papa?”

Little Joe looked up and there they were: the “Big Boys”.

“Little Joe is a bay-by, Little Joe is a bay-by, bay-by.” The bigger boys laughed and poked at Joe with their boots.

The pout turned to a scowl and the scowl turned to anger. Little Joe’s temper quickly took control. His green eyes flashed in rage and before he knew it, he was swinging his arms and beating on the Big Boys. But the Big Boys only laughed, held him back, hit him in the face and then threw him on the ground.

“Hey little kid, better be nice to us or next time we’ll really beat you up!”

Little Joe lay belly down on the ground. He buried his head in his arms. He wanted to cry, but didn’t dare. It was bad enough that they called him a baby, he didn’t need to cry and prove them right. He lay there for a long time. His face hurt and the tears leaked out and stung the fresh scratches.

“Hey Short Shanks, whatcha’ doin’ layin’ on the ground? You’re gonna’ get all dirty. Come on, we gotta’ go home."

It was Hoss. He had come to get Little Joe and bring him home from school.

When Little Joe got up on his knees, Hoss could see his bloody lip and red swollen eyes. His dirty cheeks were scratched and moist from tears. He was a pitiful sight.

“What happened?” Hoss squinted and looked up close at Joe’s face.

“I fell down”

“Aw, go on, you didn’t fall down." Hoss was not convinced.

“Yes I did! You don’t know. You weren’t here! I hate you, Hoss!” Little Joe got up and stomped off.

Hoss chased after his brother. He was very surprised at what his little brother said.

“Wait Joe, what’re ya’ mad at me fer? I didn’t do nuttin’! I’m sorry ya’ got hurt, Little Joe.”

Hoss caught up to Little Joe and swooped him up in his arms.

“No you’re not sorry! Lemme go! I just wanna go home!” Little Joe struggled to free himself.

Hoss held on tight. He put his little brother up on his horse, Chubb, and climbed up behind Joe. The trip back to the Ponderosa was too quiet. Joe refused to talk. Hoss wasn’t sure what to think. His brother usually jabbered so much it could put a Jack Rabbit to sleep, but this was ridiculous.

Joe sure is mad at me. Wonder why? Hmm.. Maybe 'cause I didn't go back to school with him this year. And 'cause I wasn't there to help him, he got in a fight. Dang, I feel so bad, thought Hoss.

Chapter Three

The next day Joe tried hard to listen to Miss Knackenhorst. She was nice. She smiled a lot and even laughed. She was kinda’ pretty, too. Sometimes she was a little hard to understand. Adam had told him it was because she came from some place far away, Jimmany or something. She had some wooden blocks like the ones he had at home and she let the kids play with ‘em.

But Joe couldn’t help himself. He was very worried about what would happen after school today. It was going to be really, really bad - much worse than what happened with the “Big Boys”.

The night before, Ben had been very angry when Little Joe finally told him what had happened outside the school. He wasn’t so much angry with Joe. He was angry that anybody would hurt his little boy.

Adam was concerned, too. Ben and Adam talked about the problem for a long time. Little Joe tried to join in the conversation, but Adam just patted him on the head and said, “Don’t worry Little Buddy, nobody is going to hurt you ever again.”

Joe stayed close to Hoss. He wasn’t mad at his big brother anymore. They talked it out over dinner. Hoss told him how sorry he was he couldn't be there. Ben explained, again, to Joe that Hoss was bigger now and didn't need to go to school. Joe leaned into Hoss as they sat together on the steps and looked at picture books.

Finally, Ben called Little Joe over to his chair. “Son, Adam and I have come up with a solution. We are going to take you to school tomorrow and then ride over and talk to Sheriff Coffee.”

“What are ya’ gonna do? Put those bad Big Boys in jail?” Joe was excited. This was going to turn out way better than he ever dreamed.

“Not yet, Little Joe. I’m sure it won’t be long before they get to jail on their own accord. But we are going to talk to Sheriff Coffee about letting you go home with his little girl, Amanda. Sometimes we can’t be on time to pick you up and we don’t want you to be left alone. You can go home with Amanda! Isn’t that a good idea, Little Joe? This way the Big Boys can’t bother you and you get to spend the afternoon with a little friend.”

Ben’s face beamed with a wide smile. He was pleased with his plan.

Joe was stunned. His mouth was open but he couldn’t talk. He just stared at his father and his brother. How could they do this to me? Joe thought.

That was what happened last night. Now it was today. And it was almost 3 o’clock. Joe knew this time very well. Last year he learned to tell time by watching the schoolroom clock. Everyday he waited for the big hand to be on the 12 and the little hand to be on the 3. That meant school was about to end. Usually he couldn’t wait for it, but not today.

At recess time, Amanda had told Little Joe all about what was going to happen. She had been home that morning when Ben and Adam came to talk to Roy Coffee. Her papa was glad to have Little Joe come over after school. Amanda was elated. She bubbled over with excitement. All day Amanda had been looking at Little Joe with loving eyes and thinking, Little Joe is so cute. I can’t wait to have him all to myself. We can play house and we can play with dolls and we can make mud pies.

All day Little Joe tried to think of a way out of this mess. Maybe I could get sick? I sure feel sick. Maybe Pa or Adam or Hoss will pick me up on time. Maybe I can run away. He made faces at Amanda and even stuck his tongue out when nobody was looking.

It was 3’oclock. Miss Knackenhorst told the children it was time to go home. She reminded them to do their homework and to be good to their parents. But Joe was in a hurry. He rushed out the door, trying to beat everyone. He thought maybe he could just go quickly to Sheriff Coffee’s office and hang out there. It was sort of what he was supposed to do. However, Amanda was fast, too. She rushed up to Joe and grabbed his hand. Joe was mortified.

“Come on Little Joe, my housekeeper, Miss Mabel, will be waiting for us.” Her long blond curls were tied up in a blue satin ribbon on top of her head. Her dress was full of ruffles and tiny bows.

Gee, she looks so much like a, a… a girl! Little Joe wondered how she could ever run or play or do anything fun in those clothes.

Amanda smiled down at Joe. She was at least 3 inches taller, even though they were the same age. She couldn’t believe her luck, Little Joe all to herself!

They got to Amanda’s house and Joe was relieved to see Sheriff Coffee on the porch.

“Hello there, little ones. Come on in Little Joe. Miss Mabel has some nice warm chocolate chip cookies and cold milk for both of you.” Sheriff Coffee opened the door and escorted the children inside.

Joe tried to stay close to the Sheriff. “Mr. Coffee, I like cookies, but I would rather go with you. Don’t you have some bad guys in your jail? I could help you watch ‘em!”

“Oh no, Little Joe. You need to stay here with Amanda and Miss Mabel. Your Pa and brothers are going to look for you here, not at the jail. Now you just run-along and play. I’ll stop by in a little while.” He gave a little wave as he walked out the door.

Sheriff Coffee looked quite serious, so Joe decided not to argue. He knew, you should always do what the sheriff says. He’s the law!

Giving a long sigh, Joe turned to face Amanda and the housekeeper, Miss Mabel. With a half smile, he sat down at the kitchen table to eat the snack. Amanda slid her chair close to Joe and watched him eat his cookies. It made Joe nervous, but he tried to keep munching. Actually, the cookies were good, almost as good as Hop Sing’s. Little Joe was feeling a little sad. He missed Hop Sing, his own house and his own toys. He wished he were going home with Hoss, like last year at school.

“Come on Little Joe. Let’s go in my room so we can play!” Amanda was real happy. Her long blond hair bounced on her back as she skipped to her room, which was located up the stairs at the other end of the big house.

Joe dreaded what was going to happen. He trudged behind Amanda like an outlaw being led to the hangin’ tree. Suddenly he stopped. He had a brilliant idea.

“Wait! I gotta’ go.”

Amanda stopped in her tracks and swung around to look at Joe. Her smile was gone.

“Gotta’ go? Go where?”

Joe was a little embarrassed.

“You know. I gotta’ go.”

He gave her a distressed look and tilted his head toward the back of the house, hoping she would get the hint without having to explain further.

“Oh, you have to pee! The outhouse is right outside the back door.”

Amanda tried to suppress a giggle.

Joe was mortified. He gritted his teeth and spun around on his heel to go out the back door. He did have to pee, but he also had an idea.

Miss Mabel handed him a page from the Sear’s catalog and pointed him toward the outhouse. Once outside, Little Joe gave a sigh of relief. First, he actually tried out the outhouse. Then, stepping out of the little wooden building, Joe looked around. The yard wasn’t very big, especially compared to his yard at the Ponderosa ranch. There was a small vegetable garden, some blue flowers and a woodpile. All around the outside edge was a tall white picket fence. One thing did attract Little Joe’s attention. It was an apple tree and it looked perfect for climbing. And if there was one thing Joe did like, it was climbing trees. Looking around to make sure nobody was looking for him, Joe made a dash for the tree. It was perfect for climbing and in no time at all, Joe was almost to the top. Finding a comfortable branch to straddle, he took a good look all around him. Behind him was Amanda’s house. From his perch he could see right into the upstairs bedroom windows. Then he looked beyond the yard.

“Oh my gosh.” Joe was stunned. As he strained to get a better view, his heart began to beat very fast. Joe whispered to himself, “I can’t believe it. It’s Mrs. Bell’s house. I see the pond and the flowers and…. Oh my gosh! It’s the gooses and my goose, Baby!!!” Little Joe was so excited, he nearly fell out of the tree.

“Little Joe, where are you? Are you lost?” It was Amanda.

Drawn back to reality, Joe rolled his eyes and groaned. He climbed quickly down the tree and hurried over to Amanda. “ How could anyone get lost out here? I’m okay. I was just lookin’ around is all.”

Amanda had a look of concern on her pretty little face. “Did you see my flowers? Aren’t they pretty?”

“Yeah. Sure.” Joe gave Amanda a weak half-smile.

Amanda continued. “We can play out here sometime. But we would have to put on play clothes ‘cause we would get really dirty. I like to pretend to make pies. See that spot over there?”

Amanda pointed to an area beside the garden. There was a small wooden table with two matching wooden stools. They looked old and worn out, as if they had been out in the weather for a long time. On top of the table were several flowerpots, some old baking pans, spoons and pebbles of various sizes. The area under the table was covered in dark, rich soil. “That’s where I make my pies. Papa really likes my pies. You wanna make pies with me sometime?”

Little Joe considered the offer. Well, it sure sounded better than playing with dolls, he thought. “Okay Amanda, but I might not want to make pies. Maybe I wanna make cakes. In fact, you know what? Let’s make stuff out here tomorrow.” Joe’s plan was beginning to form.

“Okay, Little Joe. But tell your papa to send some play clothes or Miss Mabel won’t let you go outside. Come on, let’s go inside. I have all my dolls ready and we’re going to have a tea party.” Amanda began to drag Little Joe toward the door.

“Children, come in now. Adam and Hoss are here to pick up Little Joe.” Miss Mabel’s words were like a welcome rain on a hot sweaty day. Joe bolted from Amanda’s grip.

“Adam! Hoss! I’m here!" Joe ran in the door, nearly knocking Miss Mabel down.

“Whoa! Slow down, little buddy.” Adam knelt down and Joe ran into his arms. “You almost knocked Miss Mabel down. Better tell her excuse me.”

Joe looked to Miss Mabel. “Sorry.” Then he grabbed Adam’s hairy arms and began to pull. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Hoss looked a little embarrassed. Giving a shy grin, he tipped his hat and said, “Guess the little tike is wantin’ to go Ma'am.”

“Oh, no problem. He was a joy to have with us today." Miss Mabel said. Adam and Hoss looked at each other and smiled. Adam stood up and whispered to Hoss, “It’s only the first day.” Hoss tried to suppress a chuckle.

And so they walked out to the buckboard together, Little Joe between his two big brothers, holding both their hands.

The ride home was quiet. Little Joe fell asleep almost as soon as they started. He lay with his feet propped up on Hoss’s lap and his head resting on Adam’s lap.

“Amanda must have really worn him out.” Adam motioned to the still form flopped between them.

“Sure are right, Adam. Can’t say as I’m sorry though. Stackin’ those logs sure wore me plumb out today, too. Iffin’ we had to listen to his jabberin’ all the way home, I think I’d go nuts.”

Adam smiled. His “little” brother Hoss was six years younger than him, but nearly his same size. Hoss worked hard to keep up with the other ranch hands. They all had to remember that Hoss had just turned 13 and last year, Hoss had been spending his days at the Virginia City schoolhouse. Hard physical work wore Hoss out and Adam figured that he would probably ask to go to bed early tonight. Hoss would soon be sleeping, just like his other baby brother.

The nap on the way home gave Little Joe a second wind. He dominated the conversation at supper. Nobody complained. Everyone else was too tired to care. Joe told them about reading outside under the tree and about the very long road he built with the blocks. Ben did pay attention to this. He had never heard about such things before and he was a little concerned. I certainly hope that Joseph is learning to read and write, he thought.

Ben asked Joe about his stay with Amanda.

“Pa, you know, if I had my pony at school, I could just ride her home and then nobody would have to come and get me.” Joe thought he would try this old argument again.

“Joseph! I have told you a million times; you are too young to ride all the way from town to the Ponderosa by yourself. The issue is settled. Now, I asked you about your stay at Amanda’s house. How did it go? What did you do?” Ben smiled.

Joe wanted to complain about this too, but decided against it. “It was okay. She’s got mud in the back yard. Can I take some play clothes tomorrow?”

Ben considered the request. “Well, I suppose. Remind me to have Hop Sing pack a bag for you. Did Miss Mabel have a snack for you?”

“She made good chocolate chip cookies. Only don’t tell Hop Sing. He might feel bad.” Joe thought about his discovery from the tree but decided against telling anyone. That would just have to be his little secret. Perhaps he would share it with his imaginary friend, Jimmer.

Later that evening, after Ben had tucked him in bed, Little Joe allowed himself to think about the geese. “Jimmer, we gotta’ get out of that yard somehow and go see Baby. Probably Baby really misses me a lot.” He closed his eyes to imagine a plan and fell asleep.

Chapter Four

The next day at school went much like the last. It was still warm outside and Little Joe’s teacher, Miss Knackenhorst, allowed some of the lessons to take place under the big tree in the side yard. She had the children in Joe’s group look for pebbles. Joe liked doing this. It was something he did all the time. He had, in fact, a big rock collection in his room at home. Miss Knackenhorst had each child draw a large circle in the sand with a stick. Then she told the children to put 10 pebbles in the circle. At first Joe thought maybe they were going to play a game like marbles. Instead, Miss Knackenhorst told them to count their pebbles and make sure they had 10. Then she told the children to pick up three pebbles and hold them.

She asked, “How many do you now have in your circle?”

Joe counted, “I have 7!”

Then they put their pebbles back into their circles and Miss Knackenhorst had them put 5 pebbles in their hands. They counted what was left.

“I have 5!” Shouted Little Joe.

The game continued and Joe was very proud of himself. He could count the right number every time. Later when they were inside, Miss Knackenhorst told them they had just done their math lesson and what they had learned was called “Subtraction”. Little Joe felt very good about himself and couldn’t wait to tell Adam that he had learned to do “Subtraction”.

The big hand was on the 12 and the little hand was on the 3. Time to go home. Joe grabbed his bag of extra clothes and started for the door. As he went down the steps, one of the “Big Boys” bumped into him. “Sorry Little Joey. What ya’ got? Your extra diapers?”

Joe nearly lost it. He glared at the boy with his most convincing angry face. But Amanda was quick and grabbed Joe’s arm and pulled him toward her house. Joe said nothing, but turned back to continue his glare at the bully. The big boy just grinned.

Joe and Amanda had an afternoon snack of apples and peanut butter. At first Joe thought it was disgusting, but after a little nibble, decided it was really good and ate all the apple slices on his plate.

After the snack, Miss Mabel led him to her room so he could change into play clothes. He came out in his faded blue overalls with the strap that just wouldn’t stay up. Amanda looked at him and thought, Awe, isn’t he cute?

Joe saw her face and scowled. However, he did take a second look at Amanda. She had on jeans and a checkered shirt. Joe thought, Mmmm, Amanda looks pretty good for once.

“Come on, let’s go.” Little Joe headed for the door.

Once outside, Amanda showed him how to use a wooden bucket to bring water from the pump over to the table. She put the water into a large bowl of black dirt and demonstrated how to mix the mixture together till it was just right. Then she carefully formed her mudpies, put them into a pan, and set them on a log to “bake” in the sun.

Joe had his own method of mixing mud. He dumped some water on the ground. Then he got down on his hands and knees and began mixing the black dirt and the water with his hands and arms. He slapped at the mess and muddy water splattered all over his face, hair and clothes. It made him laugh.

Amanda was horrified. “Little Joe, you are making a mess!”

Joe just shrugged, “What do you expect? This is mud isn’t it?”

Amanda scrunched up her nose in disgust.

Little Joe made his cakes. He put piles of mud onto large rocks. He patted them down and added sticks for candles and dry sand for sugar. He was having so much fun he almost forgot. Then he remembered the gooses.

“Hey Amanda. We gotta’ sell our stuff so we can have money. I’m goin’ to town.” Little Joe scooped up some mud and slopped it into an old pie pan, scurrying away before Amanda could stop him.

Joe began his search all around the perimeter of the yard. He was looking for a way out. He was beginning to think that Mr. Coffee’s back yard was as secure as his jailhouse. But finally he found it, a loose board. If he just pulled it back a little, he found that he could slip through easily. Tall scratchy weeds grew on the other side of the fence. Joe pushed them aside and there before him was Mrs. Bell’s pond! “Oh my gosh” Joe whispered.

“Little Joe! Where are you?” It was Adam’s voice. Joe suddenly grew tense and quickly scooted back into Amanda’s yard. He tried to calm down and shouted back, “I’m over here Adam! I ‘m sellin’ pies and cakes. Want some?”

Joe emerged from the flowers along the edge of the fence just as Adam walked up. Adam looked at Joe and rolled his eyes. “Good grief, Joe. What have you been doing? You're covered in mud!”

“Of course I am, silly. I’ve been makin' stuff with mud. Want some cake? Here.” Joe started at Adam and Adam retreated quickly.

“Stay away from me little brother!”

This intrigued Little Joe and he began to run after Adam, giggling and holding out his pie pan of mud and sticks. Adam kept running and yelling, “Get away!”

Little Joe stopped short, however, when he saw his father step out from the back door of Amanda’s house.

“Hi Papa! Want some cake?” Joe thrust the mud pie in front of Ben.

“Gee, thanks Little Joe. He kneeled down and pretended to take a bite. This is delicious.”

Joe thought this was a good opportunity. “ It only cost 10 dollars.”

“Well, here you are.” Ben proceeded to give Joe some pretend money.

Adam watched his father. Sometimes he was amazed at how his father dealt with Little Joe and he hoped that one day he would be just as good a papa as his father.

Little Joe was sleepy on the trip back to the ranch, but managed to stay awake. It was partly because neither his father nor Adam encouraged him to get too close. He was covered in mud. The first job for Joe when he got home was to take a bath. Hoss was assigned this chore. But Hoss didn’t mind. He loved splashing water with his little brother and made a game of washing his hair and face. When he was squeaky clean, Hoss helped him put on a clean nightshirt.

Dinner was difficult for Joe. He kept falling asleep in his food. Ben finally gave up and carried him up to bed. He pushed Joe’s curly hair off his forehead and gave him a kiss. Ben was pleased that having Joe go to Amanda’s house after school was working so well. It was good to see his son having fun with children his own age.

Chapter 5

For the next week Little Joe continued to go to school and then to Amanda’s house. Some days his family managed to pick him up early and some days he stayed later. Joe was getting used to the routine and had learned how to keep Amanda happy, but still maintain his dignity. Most days he convinced her to go outside to play. He climbed the tree and watched the geese almost every day. Amanda wouldn’t climb the tree and Joe was glad. He didn’t want to share his geese with her anyway. He kept trying to think of a way to escape the yard long enough to go over to the goose pond.

Finally, one day a solution came. Amanda had not felt very well and was sent home from school early. Sheriff Coffee himself came to pick up Joe and took him to Amanda's house.

“Joe, I want you to stay away from Amanda. She is not feeling well and I don’t want you to get sick too.” Mr. Coffee was talking seriously to Little Joe as they shared a glass of milk and a slice of gingerbread. “Do you think you can keep busy till your brothers come for you? I think it would be best if you played outside.”

Joe couldn’t believe his ears. He almost jumped up and yelled, “Hurray!” But thought better of it and tried to act concerned for Amanda.

“Gee, Mr. Coffee, I sure hope Amanda feels better soon. I’ll be fine. I’m used to playin’ by myself.”

Sheriff Coffee then got up to go. He patted Joe on the head and said; “Well that’s fine. Be a good little boy.”

“Oh, I will Sheriff Coffee.” Joe tried to control his urge to jump right up and run out the door. Miss Mabel reminded him to change his clothes. She was very busy looking after Amanda and told Joe to be a good boy. He once again said, “Oh, I will Miss Mabel" Then he scampered outside.

Little Joe went right to work. He never knew when someone would be there to pick him up and he needed time for his plans. He headed straight for the loose piece of fencing. Pulling it back, he squeezed between the boards. He took a deep breath and ran for the pond. As he got closer, he slowed down. More slowly he crept up to the water’s edge and began looking for Baby. What Little Joe didn’t know was that he wasn’t the only one sneaking around.

"Ouch!" Joe yelped in pain. Something had pinched his butt, hard. But what he saw when he turned around was a big surprise. There was a huge white goose. It’s beak was up in the air and it honked loudly as if to say, “Ha, Ha. Got you!”

Joe was frightened. He didn’t know that a goose could be so mean. His baby goose had been so sweet. He loved his goose. This was a crazy goose and fear took over. Joe ran as fast as he could, all the way back to the broken fence. He squeezed in quickly and ran to the tree. There he climbed up high. He could see the loud goose. It was still honking and it sounded to Joe like laughing. From this distance, Joe regained his bravery.

“Stupid goose! I’m not goin’ to let you do that ever again! I’m commin’ back and you better watch out!” Joe stayed in the tree until Adam came to get him.

Chapter 6

The next day Amanda didn’t go to school. But Miss Mabel came to pick him up anyway. Again, he was told to stay outside and play. Joe was thrilled. He was going back to the pond and this time he was going to be ready for that crazy, sneaky goose.

As Little Joe carefully tiptoed to the pond he kept a wary watch all around him. Nothing, not even a goose was going to sneak up on him this time. Just as he thought the coast was clear and he was nearing the pond, out from nowhere charged a huge white goose. It pinched Joe on the butt again and ran back to the other geese squawking and laughing the whole way.

This time Joe was mad. He couldn’t believe that goose could pinch his butt again. He had been so careful. But instead of running, he rubbed his backside and gathered his courage. He was going to keep going. On he went toward the pond. The big mean goose kept an eye on Little Joe and Little Joe kept an eye on him.

As he got close to the water, he spied a smaller white goose that looked familiar. “Baby!” Joe yelled. Then, as if by magic, the smaller goose flapped its wings and came running and honking to the boy. When she got close to Joe, the bird ruffled its feathers and put its head down low, “talking” the whole time. “Whuh-whuh-whuh.”

Little Joe sat on the ground and the goose came close. Joe reached out to touch Baby and she let him gently stroke her wings. Joe was thrilled. He talked to Baby about how much he missed her and how he had been trying to come see her. He told her he would come back lots of times.

Baby used to live at Joe’s house. Joe had helped raise Baby from the time she hatched out of her shell. But since foxes usually killed the geese on the Ponderosa, Joe’s father arranged for Baby to live with Mrs. Bell. Mrs. Bell had a dozen other geese and was glad to allow Baby to come and stay.

After awhile, Joe looked around him. He had been so engrossed in talking to Baby that he didn’t notice that all the other geese had formed a ring around him. They were looking at him with curiosity. It made Little Joe nervous, especially when he noticed the big white goose getting closer. Joe decided he better not chance getting caught. He quickly got up and shouting a good-bye to Baby, he sprinted back to the fence. Baby started to follow him, but the big white goose came between her and the boy.

Joe was out of breath when he got back to the yard and it was just in time. Adam was there again, looking for him.

“Joe, when I call you, I expect you to come. I don’t see how there is a place to hide around here, anyway." Adam was a little peeved. He had plans for tonight and wanted to get the chore of picking Little Joe up over with as quickly as possible.

“I didn’t hear you.” Joe was telling the truth.

“Well, maybe Doc Martin should check your ears or something.” He grabbed Joe’s arm and dragged him into the house and out the other side to the waiting horse.

Whew, that was close, thought Little Joe.

On the way home Adam was still acting grouchy, so Joe tried to get him in a better mood. “Guess what I learned in school! I learned subtraction!”

“Oh yeah?” Adam brightened up slightly. “Okay, how much is 8 take away 2?”

Joe held 8 fingers up and put down 2. Then he counted the rest of his fingers. “6!”

“Good, Joe.” Adam continued to ask Joe some simple subtraction problems. Joe got the answer right every time. “Well, I suspect it won’t be long before Pa turns the Ponderosa’s accounting books over to you. You are pretty good at this subtraction stuff.” Adam gave Little Joe a playful squeeze.

Little Joe just giggled, glad that Adam was now in a better mood.

Chapter Seven

The days marched on. Amanda was still sick and each afternoon Joe was told to play outside. Every day he carefully made his way to the pond and talked with Baby. And everyday the big white goose would sneak up and pinch his bottom. No matter how careful Joe was, that goose just seemed to know where he was. A couple of times he came close to getting caught when his brothers came early to pick him up. But he managed to get back in the yard before they suspected anything. He also used his best smile and quickly changed the subject when they wanted to know why it took so long for him to come out of the back yard. Joe knew he had Hoss wrapped around his finger. He wasn’t always sure about Adam, though. The pond remained a secret. Only Jimmer knew about it.

On the last day of the week, Joe had escaped to the pond as usual. He carried a whistle that Adam had whittled for him from a piece of wood. As he got closer to the pond, he began blowing the whistle. To his amazement, all the geese came running.

“Hey, that’s cool” Joe whispered to himself. Again he blew the whistle and started to march around. To his further amazement, all the geese followed him. This must be like that story about the Pied Piper that Adam read to me, Joe thought to himself.

But suddenly, Joe heard a door slam shut. He stopped in his tracks, and ducked down low. In the distance he could see Mrs. Bell standing on her porch. Her hand was shading her eyes and she was looking all around.

“I was wondering where she was.” Joe whispered to the geese. “I better get out of here.”

Quickly and quietly, Joe ran back to Amanda’s backyard. He scooted in through the broken fence and slid to the ground. His heart was beating fast and he was out of breath. Finally he got up and moved to the apple tree. From his perch in his tree he could see Mrs. Bell and the geese. She was throwing them pieces of bread and the geese were all excited. Some of the bread she threw into the pond and the geese scrambled around trying to get it before the fish ate it all up. Joe was enjoying the sight and made a mental note to bring some bread for the geese next time he visited.

“Joe, come on! Time to go!” This time it was his whole family there to pick him up- Pa and Adam and Hoss.

“Why are you all here? Where we goin?” Joe just knew something was different. Everyone else was dressed up.

“Joe, put on these clean clothes. We are going out to eat tonight. Now hurry and change.” Ben scooted Little Joe into the back bedroom.

Joe was happy to do as told. He liked going out to eat. He especially liked going into Virginia City. There was so much there to see- lots of people, horses, and stores with things like candy and brightly painted toys. In seconds he emerged from the room, and throwing his dirty clothes to Hoss, shouted, “Let’s go!”

Ben was holding Miss Mabel’s hands. “I’m so glad to hear that Amanda is doing better. Little Joe will be glad too. He has been lonely this past week without anyone to play with.”

Joe made a face and ran out the door ahead of everyone.

It was a short walk into the town. The horses had already been put up in the stable. Joe wanted to run ahead, but Ben stopped him short. “Joseph, you must hold my hand. You know that. There are horses and buggies going every which way. You could get run over very easily.”

Joe thought that was silly. He wasn’t going to walk in the street. Everyone treated him like a baby. As he walked by the stores, he tried to see in the windows, but Pa kept him moving. One window had some toy guns and rifles and bows and arrows. They were painted and almost looked like real. Joe couldn’t just pass this up.

“Wait! Papa, look!” He dragged his feet and pulled Ben to a stop. Ben couldn’t resist. Little Joe’s face was lit with delight. So, he stopped and lifted Joe into his arms. Together they carefully examined everything in the window and both agreed that they had never seen anything so wonderful in all their lives.

Hoss and Adam smirked and wondered again at their Pa. How could such a serious rancher and businessman be so silly sometimes?

The International House had the best food in Virginia City. Hoss was very fond of their Prime Rib and baked potatoes. So, that is where they went. Joe liked the place, too. It had lots of glass and gold paint. Everything sparkled and glittered. They were given a seat by the window. Joe liked that, he could look out the window and watch the people go by. In fact, he so enjoyed it that Ben had to remind him to turn around and eat quite a few times.

Just as they were having dessert, Sheriff Roy Coffee came over and Ben invited him to sit down.

“Hi there, Ben, boys. Good to see ya’. Guess ya’ heard, Amanda’s feelin’ better. Should be back in school on Monday. Had me concerned for awhile there. Got somethin’ else concernin’ me too, Ben. Seems the Coulson gang is headed fer Virginia City. They’re a right ornery bunch, too.”

Joe turned around and sat down in his chair. Suddenly the conversation at the table was more interesting than what was going on in the street.

“That’s not good, Roy. That’s not good at all.” Ben’s face revealed his great concern.

“Roy, isn’t the Coulson gang those crooks who threatened to get back at you for putting their cousin in prison?” Adam was now leaning closer and his eyebrows pulled together in concern.

Joe got up on his knees while listening to every word. He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. He tried to make his face match the concern on his big brother’s face.

Hoss just kept on eating. But he was listening, too.

“Yes, they are Adam. But I plan to put that bunch in jail the minute they step into town.” Roy Coffee slammed his fist down on the table to emphasize his feelings.

“If you need any help, just let me know, Roy. You know that Adam and I are always available to join a posse if need be.” Ben often joined the posse when trouble came to Virginia City.

“Thanks Ben. I just might take ya’ up on that offer. Well, better get back to my Sheriffin’ duties. Looks like its goin’ to be a wild night in Virginia City. Boys are already gettin’ drunk down at the Bucket of Blood.”

Joe’s eyes got big. Bucket of Blood! Wow, that must be a great place. Can’t wait till I’m big enough to go there! He kept this thought to himself, knowing that his Papa would probably never let him go anywhere with a name like that.

Ben threw down his napkin. “Well, boys. I think its time we got back to the ranch. Town doesn’t sound like a place to be tonight.”

Adam protested. “But Pa, I’m meeting some friends this evening. I can’t go home.”

“Now Adam”, Ben began. “You can meet your friends anytime- but Friday night in Virginia City is not a good time. There’s nothing but a bunch of ruffians in town tonight and you would do nothing but get yourself into trouble.”

Adam forced himself to remain silent. There was no use having an argument in a public place. Yes sir, I definitely need to get away. I’m going to send that letter to Boston College this week, Adam thought to himself.

All the way home Joe jabbered about the “bad guys”. He wanted to know what they looked like, why they were bad, what kinds of bad things they did and what they were going to do with the bad guys when they caught them. Ben tried to answer the questions simply so as not to frighten his young son. Finally, Ben stopped the questioning and changed the subject to something more enjoyable. But Little Joe couldn’t stop thinking about the bad guys. He wished he could catch the bad guys, then everyone would realize that he wasn’t a baby anymore.

Chapter Eight

Monday morning started well enough. Joe was a little hard to wake up, but once he was to the breakfast table, he was his usual bubbly self. Of course, his conversation went back to the bad guys. He recounted his dialog from Friday night and then proclaimed to everyone that he was going to capture the bad guys for Sheriff Coffee.

Adam and Hoss tried to keep from laughing. “Of course you are, Joe. Make sure you take your wooden rifle with you, just in case.” Adam put his hand to his mouth to hide his smile.

“Enough of this talk about the bad guys!” Ben’s voice was booming. He really didn’t want to hear anymore about it. “Joseph, the only thing you need to worry about is your spelling words. We will practice those on the ride to school this morning.”

Joe felt shot down. “’Kay, Pa.”

True to his words, Ben drilled Joe on his spelling words, all the way to school. Little Joe hadn’t studied them, but he knew how to spell them all. He knew, if you just sounded out the words, the letters were easy.

When they got to school, Ben lifted Joe down to the ground and reminded him to be nice to Amanda. “Amanda has been sick, Joe. You be extra nice to her.”

“Sure Papa.” Joe kicked the sand and turned to run up the school steps.

Ben noticed some older boys leaning against the fence. Their faces were set in a sneer as they watched Little Joe climb the steps. “MMMM… must be those boys who gave Joe trouble.” He watched a few more minutes until he was sure Joe was safely in the school building and then rode off to check the herd down by the river.

Joe saw her right away. As soon as he entered the schoolroom, Amanda came running to greet him.

“Oh Joe, I’m so glad you are here today. Papa told me you might get sick too. I didn’t want you to get sick, too. I missed playing with you. This afternoon I have to stay inside, but we can play in my room. We can have another tea party.”

Little Joe looked around nervously, hoping nobody heard Amanda. His friend Mitch was just walking into the schoolroom. Thank goodness he didn’t hear Amanda, thought Little Joe.

“Okay Amanda. But let’s talk about it later.” Joe shoved past her to get to his friend. He wanted to talk to Mitch about the outlaws that were coming to town. Joe also wanted to brag about how he was going to catch those outlaws.

But Miss Knackenhorst stopped all conversation. “Now children, time to settle down. We have a spelling test today. I hope you all studied over the weekend.”

The spelling test went well as did the rest of the day. Joe was feeling very good about himself. He didn’t even pay attention to the Big Boys when they teased him as he left for Amanda’s house at the end of the day. He didn’t care. He was going to show everybody that he wasn’t a baby.

Miss Mabel had made brownies and they tasted very good with cold milk. He had to admit, Hop Sing made great food, but so did Miss Mabel. Amanda ate quickly and scurried off to her room. “Come on up when you are done, Little Joe. I can’t wait to have that tea party!”

Joe decided to eat more slowly. In fact, he asked for another brownie. He knew he would feel stuffed, but maybe if he delayed long enough, one of his brothers would show up and save him from having to play tea party with Amanda. Then he remembered one more way to stall the inevitable.

“I gotta go, Miss Mabel”.

“Fine, Little Joe. You know where the outhouse is.” Miss Mabel was clearing away the dishes.

Joe ran out the back door. He really wished he could just stay out there. He walked around for awhile and even spent some time in his tree watching the geese. Then he looked at the house and decided that he couldn’t delay his fate any longer. In fact, he was surprised that Amanda hadn’t called him from the door already.

He dragged his feet in the sand as he made his way to the door. Opening the door, he peeked inside. He didn’t see anyone and it was quiet. He walked down the hall to the kitchen and looked in, nobody was there, either. Just as he was heading for the living room, he heard a loud sound. Quickly he hid behind the overstuffed chair nearest the back door. Joe couldn’t believe his eyes.

On the other side of the room, Amanda was tied to a little chair with a bandana tied around her mouth. Her eyes were wide and terrified. Next to her was Miss Mabel. She too, was tied up and also had a gag around her mouth. She looked very frightened as well. Then Joe looked to the other side of the room. There was Sheriff Coffee, Joe’s hero, and he was all tied up and had his mouth covered with a red bandana. Three men were shouting at each other and at Mr. Coffee. They were scary. The men had long scraggly hair, dirty scruffy looking clothing and the meanest faces Joe had ever seen.

“Now you are going to pay, Roy Coffee. Nobody crosses the Coulson gang and lives to tell about it. You and your family are goners!” The ugliest one was yelling and waving his gun in the air. Roy was struggling to free himself.

Joe was so terrified, he couldn’t move. He knew he had to do something. He had told the whole world that he was going to catch the bad guys. Now was his chance. Suddenly the idea didn’t sound so good and Joe felt sick to his stomach. Two chocolate brownies didn’t help, either. He wished his Pa and brothers were there. They would fix everything.

But nobody was there to help. Joe was alone and he knew he had to act quickly. The mean Coulson gang members were shouting and getting louder by the minute. Joe thought hard. What can I do? All at once he knew what to do.

He carefully backed away from the chair and keeping very low, he crawled to the back door. Slowly and silently, he opened the door, slipped outside and shut the door behind him. He ran to the broken place in the fence. He tore the board off easily. All the times it had been moved weakened the nails. Joe ran to the pond. Before the big white goose could pinch him, Joe pulled his whistle from his jacket pocket and began to blow as hard as he could. The geese had been sleeping at the far end of the pond, but when they heard the whistle, they popped their heads up. One by one they rose to their flat webbed feet and waddled toward the sound the boy was making.

When Joe was sure they were on their way, he yelled,

“Come on guys, we have to save Mr. Coffee and Amanda!”

This caused the geese to start a wild goose chase as they ran and flew and flapped their wings, racing toward the little boy. Joe continued to blow his whistle and yell as he turned towards the Coffee’s back yard. The geese followed.

“Look guys, you have to go in the back yard and then into the house and bite those bad guys before they hurt someone!” Joe was nearly frantic. The geese seemed to sense his urgency and followed him through the hole in the fence, into the back yard and up into the house.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bell ran out of her house. She could hear all the commotion down by the pond and was trying to figure it out. Then she saw her geese flapping and squawking and running after a small boy who was heading for Sheriff Coffee’s back yard.

“My stars! What is going on?” She ran after her geese. As she got near to the hole in the fence, she heard what the boy was saying. “My lands sakes, this is terrible.” She wrung her hands and wondered what to do.

Meanwhile, Little Joe lead the charge as he and his geese stormed into the house. A huge commotion broke loose and everywhere geese chased men and bit their legs and backsides.

“Get ‘em! Get ‘em!" Shouted Little Joe.

The men were yelling and the geese were honking. It was an amazing sight.

Just then, Ben and Adam and Hoss threw open the front door. “What in tarnation?”

Ben couldn’t believe his eyes. There was his friend Roy Coffee tied up, as well as his family. Geese were everywhere and three men were yelling and trying to get away from the geese. In the middle of it all was his baby boy, waving his arms and urging the geese on.

Ben came to his senses and quickly figured out what was going on. He pulled out his gun and ordered the three scruffy men to lay on the floor.

“Adam, keep your gun on those men.”

He then went over to Roy and undid his gag and untied his arms. Sheriff Coffee quickly ran to Amanda and untied her while Ben untied Miss Mabel. Amanda was crying and Roy held her tight.

The geese calmed down and Little Joe blew his whistle. Like well-trained circus animals, the geese looked to Joe for instructions.

Just then, Mrs., Bell came in the back door.

“Oh my goodness, what is happening?”

Little Joe flashed the best smile he had ever made. “Oh, nuthin’ Mrs. Bell. Me and the gooses caught the bad guys, just like I said I would.”

Everyone turned to Little Joe with looks of surprise.

“Yes, Little Joe. You did catch the bad guys, just like you said you would!”

Ben scooped his son up in his arms and squeezed him tight.

“Stop Papa, you’re squishin’ me.”

Adam and Hoss joined their father and everyone had to hug Little Joe. Even Amanda hugged him, much to Joe’s displeasure.

Finally, Mrs. Bell took her geese home. Sheriff Coffee put the Coulson gang in jail and Little Joe became the hero of Virginia City. Even the Big Bad Boys stopped teasing him. Everything turned out great, except…..

“Pa, can’t I just ride my pony to school? I’m big enough.” Joe whined all through dinner.

“Absolutely not, Joseph. Now git on up to bed. It’s 7 o’clock and your bedtime.”

Ben was proud of Little Joe but still knew what was best for his young son. However, there was one thing still bothering him, just how did Little Joe come to know that those geese were behind Roy’s house? And how did he manage to get them into Roy's house?

"Well", he said to nobody in particular, "I'll save that little investigation for tomorrow."

Epilogue

“Come on Joe. Don’t be such a sleepy head. Time to rise and shine. It’s a bright and sunny day!” Hoss kept up the assault.

Joe put his pillow over his head. He didn’t want to get up. Then he thought about the goose story that he had remembered last night. He smiled as he thought, Yes, I was a hero then and I’m still a hero!

He threw his pillow at Hoss and told him to quiet down. Nobody was going to tell him what to do! “I’ll be down when I'm ready, Hoss. Us heroes take a little while getting used to being up.”

"What are you talkin about Little Joe?" Then Hoss shoved the pillow over the back of Joe’s head and held him down.

From down stairs Ben could hear Hoss laughing and the muffled cries of Little Joe, “Help, Help!” Joe was struggling to get free.

And so another day begins on the Ponderosa.

The End?

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