Joe was wishing that a mine shaft would just cave in beneath him and
he could disappear from sight, as he was being subjected to one of the
most humiliating experiences that he could ever recall, in all of his
sixteen years.
His family seemed to be loving every minute of being able to embarrass
him, although he suspected that Adam wanted to break away from Ben and
Hoss and stay in town, in order to spend a bit more time with Glory.*
However, their father was anxious to get them all home, as he regarded
the town as being on a level with Sodom and Gomorrah, since the gold
and silver strikes had attracted a huge influx of people, from all
walks of life. He was never happy about exposing his sons to the wild
goings on in Virginia City. Ben still found it difficult to accept
that two of those sons were now over twenty-one and quite capable of
taking care of themselves. However, he was right in thinking that the
town was a tough place, and full of people whom you wouldn't want to
meet down an alleyway, after dark.
Although Joe was keen to leave town, too, he wasn't looking forward to
going home, as he had the distinct feeling his father was going to
have plenty to say about the faux pas he'd just made. At the moment,
Ben was laughing, but he guessed that Ben's laughter would soon turn
to anger, once he got Joe on his own.
It all began when Ben had suggested that the family pay a call on
Glory, after they had concluded their business in town. She was the
saloon girl who had helped them when they'd encountered problems with
Mark Burdette, a rather unscrupulous businessman. He'd caused trouble
with the Paiutes, by shooting all the antelope in the area and selling
the meat, at extortionate prices, to the miners, who were starved of
fresh food.
Ben and his boys found Glory in the Bucket of Blood and they joined
her for a drink. When the next round was ordered, Ben insisted that
Joe had a sarsaparilla, as he only allowed the boy to have one beer.
"Aw, come on, Pa," wheedled Joe. "One more beer ain't gonna
hurt me,
and it's embarrassing when you make me drink sarsaparilla. Some of my
friends are in the saloon, and they're gonna rib me something fierce
about this, next time I see `em."
Adam and Hoss were inclined to agree with Joe, in fact they usually
did let their little brother have two beers when he went to town with
them, but they felt they couldn't argue with Ben. After all, he was
Joe's father and he had set the same rules for them, when they were
Joe's age.
"Joseph, you are only sixteen years old and I say that one beer is
enough for a boy your age. Now then, do you want a sarsaparilla, or not?"
Little Joe shook his head, and then said, crossly, "No, I don't."
"I think it might be best if you waited outside for us, Joseph,"
said
Ben, who knew his youngest well enough, to know that the boy was about
to lose his temper. Ben didn't want to cause a scene in the saloon and
so decided it would be sensible for Joe to leave.
"Fine, I don't wanna stay in here with you, anyway," said Joe,
and he
stormed out of the bar, without saying goodbye to Glory.
"I do apologise for my son, Miss Glory," said Ben. "I will
be having
some words with him, about his lack of manners, when I get him home."
"Oh that's all right, Mr Cartwright," said Glory, smiling at
Ben. "Joe
is usually a very well mannered young man; he was just a bit upset,
that's all. Don't make a big thing of it, on my account."
"That is very generous of you, Miss Glory," said Ben. "But
I have
tried to raise my boys to show the proper respect and Little Joe most
certainly didn't do that, when he charged out of here, like the seat
of his pants were on fire."
Hoss laughed and said, "Once you catch up with him, his seat is likely
ta be on fire, huh, Pa?"
Ben also laughed and said, "No, I don't think so, but his ears might
be burning, once I've delivered a lecture on good manners."
When Joe got outside, he was still seething about the way his father
had treated him.
`It's about time he realised I'm a grown man, well almost, and he
stopped treating me like a little kid,' he thought.
Mitch, Johnny and Seth came to join Joe out on the street. Seth was
inclined to tease Joe, a bit, about what had taken place in the
saloon, but Mitch and Johnny were more sympathetic.
"At least your brothers will buy you a beer when you come into town,"
said Mitch. "Pete won't buy me one, cos Pa says I can't drink until
I'm twenty one, and my big brother's too scared to disobey our father.
Thank goodness for friends like Seth, who go and buy them for me."
"I don't even have an older brother to hang around with," said
Johnny.
"And my Ma is much worse than your Pa, Joe, cos she don't think I
should drink at all, ever."
"Seems like your Pa needs to realise you ain't a kid anymore,"
said
Seth. "How about we go and visit some of the ladies along on D Street?"
Johnny and Mitch made excuses and didn't go, but Joe agreed, and the
two boys headed off for the red light district of the town.
As luck would have it, the cottage they chose to knock on belonged to
Glory. She was still in the saloon, but she'd lent her place to Mrs
Harris, the wife of the miner who'd been injured when Burdette's men
had tried to stop the miners buying beef from the Ponderosa. Her and
Glory had become friends, and Mrs Harris had confided in Glory about
the lack of privacy in the cabin she shared with her husband and her
two sons.
"Carl and I are never alone," she said. "In fact, since
he was shot,
we've hardly shared a kiss, let alone the same bed."
Glory felt for her new friend and wanted to help.
"I shall be at work until about eight tonight, so how about I do your
hair and make up, before I go, and let you borrow one of my dresses?
Then, you send a message to your husband, to come and meet you here,
and I'll go to your cabin and take care of the boys for you? When he
sees you all dressed up, I'm sure you'll be in for the best night of
your life."
Mrs Harris was delighted with the idea. She took her time getting
ready and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she didn't
recognise the person looking back at her.
`If Carl doesn't fall in love with me, all over again, then I think he
must be blind,' she thought.
Just then, there was a knock on the door and Mrs Harris assumed it was
her husband. Therefore, she was rather surprised to see Joe and
another young man standing on the threshold. She knew Joe, but it was
obvious that he didn't recognise her. Mind you, she looked nothing
like the rather drab woman he'd seen out at their cabin, so it wasn't
surprising that the boy didn't know who she was.
"Can I help you?" she said.
"Evenin' ma'am," said Joe, licking his lips, and removing his
hat.
"Erm, me and my friend here, that is, we were wondering, if we might
come in and spend some time with you, iffen you know what I mean?"
Joe then winked at her, but as he still hadn't quite mastered the art
of winking, it came out more like a blink.
"Let me get this straight, young man," said Mrs Harris, enjoying
the
opportunity to tease the boy. "You and your friend want to come in
and
spend some time with me? What kind of a woman do you take me for? Two
of you? What, at the same time? Or one after another?"
"Sorry, ma'am, my friend didn't explain himself, too well," said
Seth.
"What he meant to say was that he'd like to spend some time with you,
but if you'd like us both to come in, then that's fine by us, ain't
it, Joe?"
Joe wasn't so sure that it was, but he didn't want Seth to know that,
so he just nodded.
Mrs Harris decided that she had taken this playacting far enough, and
so she said, "Neither of you boys are going to be putting one foot
over the threshold of this cottage, or any other one, tonight. I
appear to have the advantage over you, Joe Cartwright, as I know who
you are, but you obviously don't recognise me. Allow me to introduce
myself. I'm Mrs Harris, you know, the wife of the miner who was shot
when Mr Burdette's men stole the cattle."
Joe's heart sank into his boots, as she identified herself, and he
wanted to flee, but before he could, Mrs Harris took a firm hold of
his arm.
"Are any of your family in town?" she said.
Joe saw no point in lying to her, seeing as she knew who he was.
"Yes, ma'am. Pa and my brothers are visiting with Miss Glory in the
Bucket of Blood."
"Very well, then, I think we'd better go along and explain to your
father just exactly what his youngest boy has been up to. As a parent,
I know that I would want to be kept informed about my sons."
Seth managed to make his escape, as she wasn't holding onto him, but
Joe was led into the saloon, to face the family.
Once Ben discovered what Joe had been up to, he headed outside and
they all mounted up.
"I'll take this young scamp home, ma'am, and you can rest assured
that
I will impress upon him the folly of his behaviour, this evening,"
said Ben. "I am really sorry for what happened."
"Oh, no harm done, Mr Cartwright," said Mrs Harris. "I am
rather
flattered that your son would think me desirable enough to want to
spend time with me. After all, I am old enough to be his mother."
"No offence, ma'am, but dressed like that, you sure don't look like
any Ma that I've ever known," said Hoss.
They all laughed, and it did help ease the embarrassment of the situation.
Eventually, Mrs Harris returned to Glory's cottage, to await her
husband. Adam offered to escort Glory to the Harris' cabin, and he
stayed with her while she babysat the boys.
"I'll see you at home, later, Pa," Adam said, before he left.
Ben, Hoss and Joe made their way home and Joe found himself on the
receiving end of a very long and blistering lecture on how he was to
conduct himself, when in the company of ladies.
However, he didn't get the chance to use these skills, for several
weeks, as Ben restricted him to the ranch.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
January 14th 2006
* Character in Sun Mountain Herd