Pa's just sent me to my room to reflect on all that has happened,
recently, and probably, cos if he hadn't done so, he would've
clobbered me. I know I've sure been skating on very thin ice, lately,
and believe me when I tell you that ain't a good idea, around my Pa.
He doesn't hold with young whippersnappers (whatever the heck one of
those is, although by the way Pa says it, I guess it would be better
if I wasn't one) behaving in such a cavalier manner. I should've had
more faith in Pa, than I did, and I'm feeling mighty mad with myself,
that I didn't.
I guess I should start at the beginning, then you'll end up knowing as
much as me, and perhaps you might be able to make a bit more sense out
of it all, than I did.
I was in the yard, a couple of days ago, chopping wood. I spend a lot
of my waking hours doing that, and judging by the state of my bed,
some mornings, I carry on trying to do it, when I am asleep, too.
Anyway, I digress (see, Adam, I did use that dictionary you put in my
stocking) As I was chopping the wood, this young lady arrived in the
yard. I didn't know her and that in itself was strange, as I pretty
much know all the girls in these parts. She was riding on a horse
rented from the livery stable, in town, but she was obviously a good
horsewoman, as she sat well in the saddle.
"Can you help me?" she said, as she dismounted.
I immediately agreed; she was beautiful and I was already half in love
with her. Oh, I know what you're thinking; how could I be in love with
someone I'd only just met? But, believe me, us Cartwrights are real
fast workers and seeing as how we live in a territory, which is very
short of women, we have to be.
"I need a place to hide from an evil man called Ben Cartwright,"
she
said, and you could've knocked me down with a feather, when she said this.
I asked her why she needed to hide from Mr Cartwright, but didn't tell
her that I was his son.
"He's out to steal my inheritance, so I have to lay low, until I reach
my birthday, in two days, then he can't touch it, or me," she said.
I explained that Ben Cartwright was a very wealthy man and had no need
to steal, to make ends meet, but she kept insisting that was his
intention and so would I help her?
Well, I suppose I should've done what Pa says I should've done, and
that was hand her over to him, and let him sort it out, but I didn't.
It wasn't often that I met someone, who was saying bad things about my
Pa. I was intrigued, and I wanted to know more. Besides, I liked the
idea of having a bit of an adventure; things were far too dull around
the place, and I was tired of chopping wood.
I offered to let her hide out at one of our line shacks and I let her
believe that I was just a hand on the ranch.
She was so grateful that she kissed me on the cheek, and this spurred
me on. I reckoned that she might be even more grateful, after I'd
hidden her for a couple of days. I saddled up Cochise and raided the
kitchen, making up a basket of fresh food for her to take with her.
As I was performing these tasks, she hovered around me, telling me to
be quick, and looking like she had the devil himself, on her coat tails.
"Hurry up, he's probably found out that I was on the stage and is,
right now, trying to track me down."
I knew that Pa and Adam had gone into town, on business, but they
hadn't said anything about meeting the stage. Hoss was working over at
the North Forty, and Hop Sing was visiting a sick cousin, so the house
and yard was deserted. I told her not to worry and that we'd be long
gone before anyone got home.
"I hope so, because your boss could be a friend of Cartwright and
might tell him that he'd seen me," she said.
I scribbled a quick note to Pa, telling him I'd gone for a ride with a
friend. I knew it would mean trouble, as the reason I was in the yard,
chopping wood, was because I was on restriction, after getting into a
fight, in town. At 16, my Pa still treats me like I'm a baby, at
times, even though I am now working full time on the ranch, but I
suppose he did have cause to be mad with me, as I'd gotten in the
fight, when I should've been working.
I was hoping that she'd tell me more about why she needed to hide out
from my Pa, as we rode out to the line shack, and she did. However, I
found it really hard to take in what she had to say.
"My mother died four months ago, and I found out that I was to inherit
some money from a distant uncle, once I reached the age of twenty one.
I had to come to Virginia City and present myself at the offices of a
lawyer, called Matthew Higgins, to claim my inheritance. But, if I
didn't show up to claim the money, on the day of my birth, then it
would go to my father and any other children he might have. After my
mother died, her sister, my aunt, told me that Ben Cartwright was my
father. She said that he was an evil man, who had refused to marry my
mother, and had abandoned her, when he found out she was having a
baby. She said that he would go to any lengths to see that I didn't
get the chance to claim the money, as he wanted it for his other
children. And so, when I got to Virginia City, I had to lie low, until
I went to the lawyer's office, on my birthday. I wandered around town
for a while, but then I heard someone say the name `Cartwright' and I
panicked. I headed for the livery stable, hired a horse, and rode out
of town, as fast as I could. I ended up in the yard of your boss'
ranch. By the way, won't he be mad that you've abandoned your work, in
order to help me?"
I told her that I was sure he would understand, but I wasn't so sure
that I did. After hearing what she had to say, it suddenly dawned on
me, that if she was telling the truth, it meant that Jenny was my half
sister. This upset me, for two reasons. One, because it meant that my
Pa'd had an affair and two, because if Jenny was my sister, then she
couldn't be my girlfriend, although that was already looking unlikely,
seeing as how she was five years older than me.
I didn't say much more, as we made our way to the line shack. I was
finding it really hard to accept that my Pa would've been so cruel, as
to get Jenny's mother pregnant, and then just abandon her.
She told me that her mother had married a nice man called Bill
Saunders, and he'd raised her, as if she was his own child. He'd died
when she was fifteen and she still missed him. I could understand
that, as my Ma's been dead for over ten years and I still miss her.
By the time I had Jenny settled in, I was beginning to hate Pa, almost
as much as Jenny hated him. How could he have just walked away from a
woman, who was carrying his child, and now be trying to stop her from
claiming her inheritance? I know I should have had more faith in Pa,
but Jenny was so upset and it was obvious that she felt she was
telling me the truth about the man I had always loved and respected.
I really didn't want to go back home, but I knew I would have to, so I
said `goodbye' to Jenny and promised to return the next day, with some
more fresh food.
"Thank you so much, Joe," she said. "It is really kind of
you to go to
all this trouble for a stranger. I can only assume that you, too, must
have some knowledge of this monster and must know what he is capable
of doing, so that is why you want to help me."
I didn't dispute her words, as I wanted to have things out with Pa,
before I said any more to Jenny.
But when I got home, Pa was waiting for me, and he was about to bust
out of his vest, as I'd broken my restriction. He gave me one of his
famous lectures and extended my restriction to include the following
week end, warning me that I wasn't too big to get my britches warmed,
if I didn't start doing as I was told.
I was already mad with him, over Jenny, and having him yell at me only
made me madder, so I wasn't in a fit state to discuss Jenny's claim
that he was her father, with him. I just kept that information to
myself and went to bed, as soon as I could, after supper.
For the next couple of days, I tried to keep out of Pa's way, as much
as I could, and I managed to sneak out to the line shack, when he
wasn't around, and take Jenny some food.
I promised I would escort her into town, on her birthday, and make
sure she got to the lawyer's office, safely.
"Thank you, Joe," she said, as I took my leave of her, the night
before her birthday. "I really don't know how I would've got through
these past few days, without a friend like you. I was really
frightened that Mr Cartwright might try and kill me, to make sure he
got the money, instead of me."
Even though I was angry with Pa, I couldn't let her think that about
him, and I told her that I was sure he wouldn't stoop that low.
"Well my aunt seemed to think he could," said Jenny.
I then asked her why her aunt hadn't travelled with her, and she said
it was because Cartwright knew her aunt, but didn't know what Jenny
looked like, so wouldn't be certain that she was his daughter, if she
just turned up in town, alone.
It all sounded very plausible (blame that dictionary, again) as it
must have done to Jenny, too, when her aunt told her the story. But,
it did turn out to be just that, a story, and one I should have been
able to see through, much sooner than I did.
I am rather ashamed of myself, as I sit here, in my room, and recount
all of this to you good people. As if my father would've done the
dirty on Jenny's mother and, as if, even if he had, he would've tried
to stop her claiming her inheritance? I must've been having a
brainstorm, believing any of it, but I don't blame Jenny, as she'd
been taken in, too.
When we arrived at the lawyer's office, on the morning of Jenny's
twenty-first birthday, her aunt and my Pa were there, too. This meant
I was in big trouble, again, as I was supposed to have been riding
fence with Adam, but I'd given him the slip and gone to collect Jenny
from the line shack, instead.
It turns out that Jenny's aunt had known my Pa, a long time ago. She'd
been hoping to become the third Mrs Ben Cartwright, but Pa hadn't
returned her love and he'd let her down, as gently as he could.
Jenny's Ma and Pa were about to get married and Clara, the aunt, felt
like she was destined to be an old maid. There had been a lot of
rivalry between the two sisters and when Clara failed to find a
husband, she became very bitter and started to really hate Pa for not
wanting to marry her. It wasn't true about Pa being Jenny's Pa, but
Clara told the lie, because she wanted to cause embarrassment to Pa
and his family. She was also hoping that Jenny might do him some harm,
thinking he was the father who had abandoned her, before her birth,
and was now out to steal her money.
Of course, I didn't know all this, until after I'd made a complete
fool of myself, and shouted some rather rude remarks at my father, in
the lawyer's office. Jenny's aunt was delighted to see that her plan
was working and that Pa and I were at loggerheads, but it didn't take
Pa long to convince me that the story was a lie, and I'm pleased to
say that Jenny believed him, as well.
Pa was angry that I should have shown such little trust in him, and
that is why I am now sitting in my room, thinking about what I did,
before he comes in to talk things over with me.
(Later) Well, Pa came to see me, and it wasn't as bad as I feared it
would be. He said that he understood how I'd been taken in by what
Jenny had told me, as she was so certain she was telling me the truth.
She'd apologised to Pa and begged him not to be too hard on me.
"Joe really thought he was looking out for me, Mr Cartwright, and
I
was totally convinced, from what my aunt had said, that you were my
father and you didn't care about me. It must have been hard for Joe to
hear me say all those bad things about you, no wonder he got a bit
confused."
Considering all that I'd done, Pa was pretty lenient on me. I'll be
spending a lot more time in the company of the woodpile, over the next
week, but I can't really complain, too much.
Jenny collected her inheritance and decided to open a dress store in
Sacramento. She couldn't bring herself to completely forgive her aunt,
but I think they will eventually resolve their differences. After all,
that's what families should do, shouldn't they?
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
January 8th 2006