Now that Adam had found out where Little Joe was, he was unsure what
to do next. He knew that his little brother was upset and he wanted to
help him, but he realised that he was walking a fine line between
helping and interfering, and he didn't want to cross it. So, he stayed
where he was, hidden from Joe's view, in a stand of trees, trying to
decide what to do for the best.
Little Joe, at sixteen, often told his older brothers, Adam in
particular, that he was now all grown up and too old to require a
nursemaid, but Adam and Hoss found it hard to accept that Joe didn't
need them anymore. The habit of looking out for their little brother
was firmly entrenched in both of them, but even more so in Adam, as he
was the oldest of the three and had always taken his role of first
born, very seriously. Besides, neither Hoss nor Adam, and most
definitely not their father, Ben, thought of Little Joe as being an
adult, yet. The boy was now working full time on the ranch, but he was
still very much the junior member of the family firm.
All had seemed well, earlier that day, and there was no reason to
suspect that a storm was brewing. The Cartwrights were going about
their usual chores; Adam and Hoss were working on a new branding
corral, Joe was in the yard, chopping wood, and Ben was at his desk,
doing the monthly accounts.
A buggy drove into the yard, containing Mr Nate Williams, a rancher
who owned a small spread fairly close to the Ponderosa, and his
daughter, Melissa.
"Where's your father, Joseph?" demanded Mr Williams, of the boy.
"Howdy, Mr Williams, he's in the house. Do you wanna see him? Hi,
Melissa, how are you?"
"Of course I want to see him, why else would I ask where he was?"
said
Mr Williams, crossly. "And you leave Melissa alone, you've hurt her
enough, already."
"I'll go and get him for you, sir, but I don't know what I'm supposed
to have done to Melissa; I never hurt her."
Joe headed for the house, but before he got to the door, it opened,
and Ben stepped onto the porch.
"Mr Williams wants to speak to you, Pa," said Joe, and Ben walked
over
to the buggy.
"Hello, Nate, what brings you and your beautiful daughter over to
see
us?" said Ben, extending his hand to the man.
Mr Williams ignored Ben's outstretched hand and said, "I've come over
to discuss a rather delicate subject, Mr Cartwright. As you know, both
our families attended the Church Picnic yesterday, and during the
afternoon, my Melissa spent some time with your son, Joseph. While
they were together, your son made some improper advances towards my
daughter. She was too upset to tell me about it, at first, but she
confessed to her mother, last night, and so that's why we are here. I
want to know how you propose to deal with Joseph, now that you know
what he's been doing."
Ben was looking rather bewildered by Mr Williams' comments, and it
took him a while to reply.
"I'm not sure what to say, Nate. I know that Melissa and Little Joe
did spend some time together, yesterday, but as far as I know, all was
well between them. I've brought my son up to always be respectful
around young ladies, and so I find it hard to believe that he would
have done anything improper, when in her company. Could you please
tell me what it was that he did, Melissa?"
The girl looked over at her father, before she replied, and he nodded
to her, encouragingly.
"Go ahead, darling, tell Mr Cartwright what Joseph did to you. Don't
be afraid, speak up now, girl."
Melissa's voice was no more than a whisper and Ben had to strain his
ears in order to hear what she was saying.
"Little Joe asked me to go for a walk with him, and Ma said I could,
so I did. We went over to where the stream runs through the meadow and
sat on the bank. He put his arm round me, and then he tried to kiss
me. I told him not to, because we are too young for that kind of
thing, but he wouldn't take no for an answer and he kissed me. I
pulled away from him and stood up, and said I was going back to my
folks, and he just laughed at me. I was scared, because I knew that Ma
and Pa would be cross with me for kissing a boy, so I didn't say
anything to them, but Ma knew something was wrong and in the end I
told her. She told Pa and he said he was gonna see to it that Little
Joe got the thrashing he deserved, for taking advantage of me."
Joe stood in the yard, looking totally shocked by what he was hearing.
By the time the girl finished her story, she was crying, and Mr
Williams put his arm around her and consoled her.
"It's all right, darling," he said. "You were very brave
to tell Mr
Cartwright what happened and now we can leave it with him to deal with
Joseph."
Ben found his voice and said, "Rest assured that I will be dealing
with Joseph, and please accept my sincere apologies for all of this. I
really don't know what's got into the boy, acting this way; he really
does know better."
"Well, I hate to say it, but bad blood will always show through,
eventually. It looks like Joseph is taking after his mother. Goodbye,
Mr Cartwright and I trust Joseph will not bother my daughter,
anymore," and with that, Mr Williams drove his buggy out of the yard.
As soon as they left, Joe ran over to Ben's side and said, "It didn't
happen like that, honest, Pa. I did kiss her, but she let me. And what
did Mr Williams mean by saying I am taking after Mama? I do look like
her, but he said it like it was something bad."
Ben could tell by Joe's reaction to what Melissa had said, that the
girl was lying, but that didn't alter the fact that Joe had been wrong
to kiss her.
"I'm not sure what Mr Williams meant by that remark, Joseph, but I
think you and I need to have a talk about the way you should conduct
yourself when in the company of a young lady. Let's take a trip over
to the barn, young man."
Later on, that afternoon, Ben became aware that Joseph was missing,
and when Adam and Hoss returned to the house, he told them what had
taken place with Mr Williams and Melissa.
"I had no choice but to punish him, for behaving like that with a
young girl, but I don't believe Melissa's version of what happened. I
am sure that the girl was a willing partner, but for whatever reason
she told her parents a different story."
"Maybe her mother found out what she'd been doing, and so to make
it
seem less of a crime, she made up the bit about Joe forcing her to
kiss him," said Adam.
"Sounds likely," said Hoss. "I sure don't like it that Mr
Williams
said bad things about Mama."
"Joe wouldn't have liked it, either," said Adam. "And without
an
explanation, he's probably thinking all sorts. No wonder he's gone
missing."
"I was just waiting for you boys to get back, then I was going to
suggest we went and looked for him," said Ben. "I didn't know
what to
say to him, when Nate said what he did, about Marie. I was more
concerned about his behaviour with the girl. However, I planned to
talk to him about his mother, later on today, but he went off,
somewhere, before I got the chance to."
"It's okay, Pa, I know where he'll be," said Adam. "I'll
go and fetch
him back, and I'll talk to him about Mama, too, if it's all right with
you?"
"Of course it is, Adam. You were of a similar age to what Joe is now,
when people were saying what they said about Marie, so you are in a
good position to be able to explain it to him. However, if he wants to
talk to me, as well, he can do so, when you return."
Adam rode out to Marie's grave, after making a slight detour and
visiting the Williams' ranch, first. He talked to Melissa's younger
brother, who told Adam that he'd seen his sister kissing Little Joe,
and threatened to tell their parents. So Melissa had made up the story
about Joe forcing her to kiss him, as she knew that her father would
believe her, over her brother, and she wouldn't be in trouble.
When Adam got closer to the grave, he could hear that his little
brother was talking to Marie.
"I guess I deserved the tanning that Pa gave me, as I know I ain't
supposed to go off alone with a girl, and kiss her, but Melissa's Pa
had no right to say you had bad blood, Mama. You were a great mother
to me, Adam and Hoss, and Pa loved you very much. Mr Williams didn't
even know you, that well, so how could he say that about you? I think
I'll talk to Adam about it, when he gets home, cos I know I can always
count on him to tell me the truth. Not that Pa doesn't tell me the
truth, but sometimes he forgets that I'm not a baby anymore, and he
tries to keep things from me, thinking that I can't deal with it, yet.
But Adam understands that I do need to know these things."
"And I'm ready to tell you whatever you need to know, whenever you
are
ready to listen, buddy," said Adam, coming alongside Joe, at the grave.
"Oh hi, Adam. I guess you know what's been going on, or else you
wouldn't be here, would you?"
"Yes, I do know what's been going on, in fact I know more than you
do," and Adam told Joe about Melissa lying to her parents, because
she
was frightened her brother would tell them what he saw. "She got in
with her version, before he told them what really happened, and her
father believed her, probably because he didn't want to have to admit
that his little girl kissed a boy, willingly."
"I'm glad you all know that I didn't force her into kissing me,"
said
Joe. "But I still don't understand why Mr Williams said what he did
about Mama."
"We've talked about this before, Joe, I'm sure you must remember.
When
your mother first arrived on the Ponderosa, everyone didn't
immediately accept her, as she was so different to most of the women
living out here. She dressed differently, talked differently, wore her
hair in a different way, and she was definitely the most beautiful
woman to ever grace the territory. A lot of people were jealous of
her. Men were jealous of Pa, having such a lovely wife, and women were
jealous of her beauty. People were curious about her, as they knew
she'd been married to Jean, and it seemed to those that didn't know
the full story, that she had rushed into marrying Pa, very quickly,
after losing her husband. Jealousy and ignorance breeds contempt and
she had to work hard to be accepted and liked. Some people never fully
accepted her, and they always felt that there was something unsavoury
in her past, just because she didn't conform to what they thought she
should be. But there wasn't anything bad in her, she was a wonderful
wife and mother and we all loved her very much. So, whatever Mr
Williams was trying to infer, we know that it isn't true and so it
doesn't matter what he said, does it?"
"No, Adam, it doesn't, and thanks for coming to find me and for
explaining things, like you have. I guess we'd better head for home,
before Pa comes looking for us. He's bound to be fretting about where
I am."
"Pa was happy to let me come and get you, Joe. He was angry with you
for going off with Melissa and for kissing her, but he knew you hadn't
forced her; he knows his sons better than that. However, you are
right, we should be heading back, as poor old Hoss will be doing all
the evening chores on his own."
"In that case, I think we should stay here, a bit longer," said
Joe,
grinning rather wickedly, at Adam.
"What a good idea, little buddy," said Adam, grinning back at Joe.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
November 16th 2005