POW
CHALLENGE
Joe stood on the boardwalk, outside the saloon, rubbing his hand.
He
couldn't believe what had just happened to him. He'd only been
trying to help and he'd ended up being bitten.
Joe and Adam had ridden into town, earlier that morning, to pick up
the mail and the supplies. Once the list was dropped off at Cass',
Adam declared that he was going for a haircut and a shave.
"Well, I don't need either," said Joe.
Adam rubbed his hand across his youngest brother's chin and let out
a deep-throated chuckle.
"Smooth as a baby's bottom. No, you're right, Joe, you don't need a
shave, but I think you could use a haircut. I've never known
anyone's hair grow as fast as yours does."
Joe backed away from Adam and he, too
rubbed at
his chin. As much as
he wished he could dispute the issue with his brother, he knew that
Adam spoke the truth. At sixteen, Joe still had no need of the
razor
that he'd pestered Ben to buy him for his last birthday.
"I don't need a haircut. I only go through that torture when Pa
insists I do, and he never said anything about it, before we left
home this morning. I'll go have a beer in the Silver Dollar. You
can
meet me in there, once you've had your shave and haircut."
Now it was Adam's turn to rub his chin.
"I'm not so sure I should let you go to the saloon, alone. You have
a nasty habit of getting into trouble whenever you are let loose in
there."
"Aw, come on Adam, I'm only gonna have
one
beer. I ain't got enough
money for any more. I'll just sit and sip it, until you come by and
collect me, okay?"
"I think you should come to the barber's with me, and then we'll
both go to the saloon."
Joe rolled his eyes.
"Sometimes, Adam, you sound more like Pa than Pa does. Stop
fussing,
I'll be fine, and I really don't wanna
waste my
time sitting in the
barber shop, when I'm not even having anything done."
Adam sighed and ran his finger down the side of his nose.
"All right, go and pick up the mail and then go and have a beer,
but
just one, mind. I'll be along as soon as I can and then we'll have
some lunch, after we've loaded up the wagon."
Before Adam could change his mind, Joe ran off and headed for the
post office. There wasn't much mail, so he slipped it into his
jacket pocket and then went along to the Silver Dollar. As he'd
promised Adam, he bought his beer and then sat down at a table in
the far corner of the room. There weren't that many people in the
saloon and Joe looked around to see if any of his friends were
among
the clientele. None of them were and so Joe spent the time
observing
the other people in there.
As he was doing so, he noticed a little girl, about five years old,
standing just inside the swinging doors. She, too, was looking at
the customers. Joe found that his eyes were drawn to her, and he
wondered how long it would be before Sam, the bartender spotted
her,
and chased her out.
`Wonder who she's looking for?' thought Joe, and he tried to see if
he could guess which of the men in the place might be the little
girl's quarry.
Sam was chatting to a customer at the bar and hadn't noticed the
little girl, but suddenly she spotted the person she was in there
to
find, and she ran across the room, yelling at the top of her voice.
"Papa, you gotta come quick, Mama
needs ya."
She grabbed the hand of the man she was addressing and tried to
pull
him out of the saloon.
"Get lost, you little brat," shouted the man, attempting to break
free of her grasp. "And I ain't ya Papa, so quit callin'
me
that."
"You are, too, ya married my Mama, and
she
says that makes ya my
Papa. She's sick, she needs ya, come
on."
The little girl's voice became shriller, as the man continued to
try
and push her away.
"She needs a doctor, please Papa."
The man, who was very drunk, finally managed to prise
the child's
fingers off his hand and he struck her across the face, knocking
her
onto the floor.
"Hey mister," said Joe, walking over to where the man was
standing. "That's no way to treat a little girl."
"Ain't none of your business, kid,"
snarled the man. "Keep your nose
out, unless you want it spread across yer
face."
Close up, Joe could see that the man was big, not as big as his
brother Hoss, but about the size of Adam, and he was obviously not
a
very nice person, if he could hurt a child like he had. For a few
seconds, Joe wondered if he should get involved, but then he took
in
the sight of the little girl, still lying on the floor, and he made
his decision.
"I'm making it my business, mister. I'm not gonna
stand by and watch
you beat up on a little one like that."
The man, who was called Jed Bennett, said nothing, but hit Joe,
with
a vicious right hook, knocking him down, practically on top of the
little girl. She was already stunned, by the force of the blow,
from
her stepfather, and when Joe landed right next to her, it made her
jump. Joe rolled over to try and get up. He got as far as kneeling,
but as he reached out his hand to steady himself, he touched the
child. She was scared and, reacting instinctively, she bit his hand.
"Ow," yelled Joe. "I was only
trying to help you."
Joe stood up and so did the little girl. Bennett was now standing
at
the bar, ordering another drink, and so he had his back to Joe.
"Hey, you at the bar," yelled Joe. "I ain't
finished with you yet."
Bennett turned around and glared at Joe.
"Mebbe you ain't
boy, but I've had a bellyful of you," and he
grabbed Joe by the collar of his jacket and his belt, and
practically threw him out of the saloon.
Before Joe could catch his breath, the little girl joined him on
the
boardwalk, also ejected by her stepfather.
Joe was holding onto his hand, not sure what to do next, when Adam
arrived.
The young man took in the sight of his little brother, a bruise
beginning to appear on his left cheek and rubbing his hand, and
immediately assumed the worst.
"I'll just have one beer, Adam. I won't get into any trouble, I
swear I won't," said Adam, mimicking Joe's voice. "When are you
going to start doing what you say you will do, Joe? I leave you
alone, for less than half an hour, and
you get
into a fight. How
much are the damages, this time? And who's your friend?"
Adam had noticed the little girl, who was still standing next to
Joe, her tears leaving white tracks down her dirty face.
"I don't know her name, but I had to help her," said Joe.
He quickly explained what had happened in the saloon and Adam took
charge of the situation.
"I'm sorry for thinking that you were to blame for this, buddy,"
said Adam, in a softer tone. "Take the little girl down to Doc
Martin's office. Get him to check both of you over, and then ask
him
to go and help the child's mother. I'll take care of the father."
"He said he ain't my Papa, he just
married
my Mama," said the little
girl. "He brought me and Mama out here to look for gold, but when
he
didn't find none, he kept
getting mad
with both of us, and coming to
this place. Mama's real sick and needs medicine. I thought he'd
gone
to get her some, but he didn't come back, so I comed
to look for
him, and he was here, again. My name's Annie and I'm
sorry I bit ya,
mister, but I was scared and I thought you was a bad man, too."
"That's okay, Annie," said Joe. "My name's Joe and this is
my
brother, Adam. We're gonna get the
doctor to have
a look at your
Mama. Can you show me where she is?"
"Course I can, and thanks," said Annie.
This time when Joe held out his hand, towards the child, she took
hold of it, instead of biting it, much to Joe's relief.
They went along the street to the doctor's office, and Adam entered
the saloon, where he quickly taught Bennett that it was not wise to
mess with a Cartwright.
Bennett decided, with a little bit of persuasion from Adam and
Sheriff Coffee, that he would do better
living
elsewhere, and he
headed out for
Fortunately, Annie's mother, Mollie, wasn't that ill, and she soon
recovered, sufficiently, to be able to travel. She had some
relatives in Carson City, and they were happy to offer her and
Annie
a home with them, now that she had come to her senses and left
Bennett.
The pair spent a few days recuperating at the Ponderosa, before
Adam
escorted them to
Joe became very fond of the little girl and promised to keep in
touch with her. Hoss teased him about his latest conquest and
referred to Annie as the youngest saloon girl in
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne