"You're doin'
real
well there, Petey," said Hoss, smiling over at the
little boy. "Ya remind me of when my little brother was your size,
he
loved to ride, too, but me and Adam always had a problem gettin'
him
ta slow down. He was mite too fast for a little 'un."
"Did you learn to ride when you was as small as me, Hoss?" asked
Petey, smiling up at the big man, whom he had come to love, like a
father, since moving to the Ponderosa.
"Well, ta tell ya the truth, Big Shorty, I never was as little as
you. I've always bin a big guy and I used ta get teased about it,
too."
"I get teased, cos I'm so little," said Petey. "The other
guys my
age, at school, are all bigger'n me, it ain't fair."
"Aw, don't ya fret, none. After a few more months of living on the
Ponderosa, I reckon you'll be bigger than all of 'em."
Hoss knew that when the boy was living with his mother, he had
often
gone hungry, as she spent any money she had, on alcohol.
"I don't fink I'll be here, that long, Hoss," said Petey.
"I'm sure
Mama will soon be better and she'll be coming to take me home. Not
that I ain't liked living with you, but Mama needs me,'specially
now
that Papa is in prison. I havta be the man of the family, and take
care of her."
"No, you don't, young 'un," replied Hoss. "Ya remember what
I told
ya? Your Mama has got someone takin' care of her. He's a doctor and
so he's the best person to get her well, ain't he? All you havta do
is be a boy. Go to school, go fishin', ridin', climbin' trees, you
don't havta be a man, jest yet. And, if ya wanna, ya can stay here
and do all those things, and have me and ma Pa, and brothers, look
out for you, 'til you're a man. Wouldn't ya like that?"
Hoss had been thinking, for some time, about adopting Petey,
especially as his mother had been very emphatic about not wanting
the
boy back, but he'd been reluctant to take the final step. Now, he'd
decided it was time to do so, and this ride out was to give him the
chance to broach the subject with the boy.
Little Petey was obviously thinking over all that Hoss had said,
and
there was silence for several minutes. Hoss found himself hardly
able
to breathe, as he waited for the boy to speak.
"I reckon that is a mighty kind offer, Hoss, but I really fink I
wanna be with my Mama, if'n it's all the same to you. You see, I do
love you and Joe, Adam and Uncle Ben, very much, but my Mama, well
she's my Mama, and I havta be with her. I know she ain't always
that
well, and she gets mad, sometimes, but she does love me, heaps, and
if'n that doctor's gonna make her well, then fings will be better,
won't they? I'd still like ta come and visit ya at the Ponderosa,
and
I'd be obliged if'n I could take the teddy bear that Joe gived me,
home with me, cos I ain't never had a toy as fine as that, before,
but I do wanna live with my Mama."
The words nearly broke Hoss' heart, but he knew that he had to help
the little boy get his wish and put his own feelings aside.
Over the next few weeks, Hoss paid several visits to Mrs Conway and
was pleased to see how the responsible, pretty young woman, was
beginning to emerge from the drunken, dishevelled harridan she had
been, when he first met her.
Eventually, she was well enough to see Petey again, and there was
no
doubt left in Hoss' mind, about whether he'd made the right
decision,
when the two were reunited.
Hoss rode home, sad and happy, all at the same time, hoping that,
one
day, he would know what it was like to have his own child love him,
as much as Petey loved his Mama.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne