"Well, young man, just what have you got to say for yourself?"
said
Ben, looking sternly at his adopted son, Jamie.
The fifteen-year-old swallowed hard, and then licked his lips, but
still found that his mouth was too dry for him to speak. He knew his
father was angry, but somehow it seemed even worse when he could see
that both Hoss and Joe, his big brothers, were also wearing
expressions that told him he was about as popular as a wet dog at a
church social.
"I, er, I erm, I guess I messed up, a mite, Pa. I'm sorry," he
eventually managed to say, but he knew, as he did so, that it was
hardly adequate to cover the mess he was in.
"You can say that, again," said Joe, and Hoss just nodded his
head.
"Adam's only been home a few weeks and you've just almost killed him.
Some homecoming this has turned out to be."
"I didn't do it on purpose, Joe," said Jamie. "It was an
accident.
I've been looking forward to Adam getting back, just as much as you
have, even more so, maybe. After all, he's the brother I'd never met,
and I was real excited when we got that letter saying he was returning
to the Ponderosa. Why would I wanna hurt him?"
"Aw, Joe didn't mean you did it on purpose, Jamie," said Hoss,
beginning to feel sorry for the boy. "But it sure was a mite careless
of ya, wasn't it? I mean, it's not like ya ain't done that chore a
hundred times before."
"I know, but I guess my mind was on other things and it just happened,
so fast," said Jamie, looking really upset.
"And that's why the accident happened, young man," said Ben,
angrily.
"How many times have I told you that when you are working,
particularly around heavy tools and machinery, you must pay proper
attention to what you are doing? Because, if you don't, then accidents
are likely to happen, and they can be very serious ones."
"What did the doctor say about Adam's injuries, Pa?" asked Joe.
"He said that Adam was extremely lucky not to have sustained a
fractured skull and as it is, he has a nasty concussion, a headache,
and a slight case of amnesia."
"A slight case?" queried Hoss.
"Yes, he's not totally lost his memory, but he's having trouble
remembering who he is and how he was hurt," said Ben. "He could
recall
looking up at the hayloft, when the bits of hay floated down on him,
but he says he doesn't know what happened after that."
"Maybe that's just as well, because if he remembered that I hit him
with the pulley, then he'd be after my hide," said Jamie.
Joe, thinking back to when he was fifteen, and how his big brother,
Adam, was often after his hide, couldn't help but smile at this
remark. He knew that he'd told Jamie about some of the pranks he'd
pulled on Adam, when he'd been growing up, and how Adam had dealt with
him, when he'd caught him. Therefore, it was understandable that Jamie
was more than a little worried.
"And I think he'd be well within his rights if he was after your
hide," said Ben. "But it's not Adam you have to worry about, right
now, it's me. I am very cross that you could have been so careless, as
to throw that broken pulley down to the ground, without even checking
first, to see if there was anyone below you. I want you to go up to
your room, and remain there, until I come up to deal with you,
understood?"
"Yes, sir, understood, but may I just check in on Adam, before I go
to
my room?"
Ben knew that Jamie was worried about his eldest brother, and so
agreed to the boy's request.
"Very well, you may, but just for a minute, or two, then you do as
I
say, and go to your room."
"Yes, sir," and Jamie ran up the stairs, and headed for Adam's
room.
He knocked, and then hesitated, before entering, even though Adam told
him to go in.
"Erm, hi, Adam, I just wanted to see how you were getting on,"
he
said, hovering in the doorway.
"I have a lump on my head and a headache, and I'm afraid I haven't
a
clue who you are, but apart from that, I'm fine," said Adam, easing
himself into a sitting position, and wincing as he did so.
"I'm Jamie, the one who dropped the pulley on your head. I'm really
sorry about it, too. You see, I was in a bit of a bad mood, cos I had
other plans, and Pa said I had to finish all my chores before I did
anything else. So, I was rushing, and rather than take the broken
pulley down from the hayloft, using the ladder, I just threw it to the
ground, without checking, first, to see if there was anyone below me.
Unfortunately, you were, and I hit you with it. If it's any
consolation to you, Pa sent me to my room and he's likely to be up to
give me one of those `necessary talks' as Joe calls `em, real soon."
"'Necessary talks'?" said Adam, obviously completely in the dark,
as
to what Jamie meant.
The boy sat down on the edge of Adam's bed, to explain.
"Joe told me that when he was my age, if he was in trouble with Pa,
he
always knew that he was in for a tanning, when Pa said they would be
having a `necessary talk'. He said that Pa used to say it to you and
Hoss, too."
"Pa?" said Adam. "Do you and I share the same father? What
I mean is,
are we brothers?"
"Well, yes we are, but not blood brothers, like you, Hoss and Joe.
Your father adopted me, cos my parents are both dead, and I came here,
with Dusty, when I was a rainmaker."
Adam looked even more confused, as Jamie was talking to him, and the
boy could see this, so he took some time to explain his background, in
more detail. He completely forgot that Ben had sent him to his room,
until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around and said, "Oh, hi Pa, I was just explaining to Adam
how I came to be part of the family, as he couldn't remember."
"And you obviously couldn't remember that I told you to go to your
room," said Ben.
"Oh, I do remember, Pa, but I just wanted to help Adam out. I thought
it might jog his memory if I sat and told him about how I was
travelling with Dusty and how we came here, when there was a drought,
and we got it to rain, using my father's book." *
"Maybe it would help, but you were sent to your room, as a punishment,
and I am not in the habit of allowing my sons to disregard a direct
order, so get going, now," said Ben, and Jamie did as he was told.
"He seems a nice enough lad," said Adam. "He told me he
was the one
who dropped the pulley on my head, but he needn't have confessed,
because I didn't know it was him. He also told me that you adopted
him, so that makes us brothers, along with two more, one called Hoss,
is it? And Joe."
"He is a good lad, most of the time," said Ben. "And yes,
I have
adopted him, so that does make him your brother. Hoss and Joe are also
your brothers, but they are my natural sons, as you are."
"Why is one of them called Hoss?"
"Because you insisted he was," said Ben. ** "Hoss' mother
was from
Sweden, and she had a brother called Gunnar. Some mountain men gave
him the nickname of Hoss, and they told him it meant big, friendly
man, where they came from. Gunnar told you that if you ever had a
brother, you should call him that, so when your baby brother was born,
you wanted us to call him Hoss. Inger, his mother, chose Erik, after
her father, but you always called him Hoss, and, eventually, we all did."
"His mother? Wasn't she my mother, too?" said Adam.
"No, son, she wasn't, well, not your biological mother, but she was
the first woman you called Ma, as your own mother, Elizabeth, died on
the day you were born."
"Is Inger, Joe's mother?"
"No, because, unfortunately, Inger was killed, as we made our way
west. Joe's mother was the second woman whom you called Ma, and she
was a wonderful mother to all three of you boys. She was killed in a
riding accident, just before Joe was five, and I've raised you on my
own, since then."
"I wish I could remember all these people," said Adam, and he
rubbed
at his temples, as the effort of trying to regain his memory was
making his head hurt, even more.
"Don't worry, son," said Ben, patting Adam on the arm. "Paul
said that
it should only be a temporary memory loss. All you need to do is rest
for a few days and things should start coming back to you."
"Who's Paul?"
"That's Paul Martin, our family doctor. He was just here, checking
you
over."
"Oh yeah, so he was. I don't think he introduced himself, but then
I
suppose he assumed I knew him, if he's our regular doctor."
"He delivered Joe, so you could say he was a familiar figure out here
on the Ponderosa," said Ben.
"The Ponderosa?"
"That's the name of our ranch," explained Ben. "But don't
try and fill
your head up with too much information, all at once. You get some
rest, now, and maybe later on, we can talk some more. I best go deal
with Jamie. It's not right to leave the boy fretting about what I have
planned for him."
"He said he was expecting a `necessary talk' and then he had to
explain to me what that was," said Adam. "I know it's not my place
to
tell you how to raise the boy, but he really didn't mean to hurt me,
so I don't think he deserves a tanning."
Ben chuckled and said, "Well you might not remember that you have
two
brothers, but you haven't forgotten how to plead for leniency, for a
younger sibling. You used to say the same sort of thing, when Hoss or
Joe were in trouble. And don't worry, I'm not going to give him a
tanning, but I am going to give him a lecture on being more
responsible. I'll leave you to take a nap and I'll come and see you
when it's getting close to supper time."
Ben went along the corridor, knocked on Jamie's door, and entered the
room, before the boy had a chance to reply to the knock.
"I hope you've used this time to think about what you did, young man,
and how irresponsible it was," said Ben. "Just because you were
anxious to get your chores finished, as soon as you could, you failed
to take proper care, when disposing of that pulley, and by doing so,
you have injured Adam."
"I've been thinking about nothing else, but that, Pa, since I came
up
here. I really am sorry that I hurt Adam and I wish I could turn back
the clock and do things differently, but I can't. I did go and
apologise to him, and he was real nice about it."
"Yes, he was, and he's even been defending you to me, saying that
it
was an accident, and there isn't any need for me to give you a tanning."
"Oh, I agree with Adam, Pa, there really isn't any need. I do know
that what I did was very wrong and I will try not to make the same
mistake, again. And I'll be happy to do all of Adam's chores, until
he's fully recovered."
"Mmm, well, if that is the case, and you have learnt something from
this, then I will grant Adam's request," said Ben. "And doing
Adam's
chores seems only fair, seeing as you are the one responsible for him
being laid up. Okay, no tanning, just the extra chores."
"Thank you, Pa," said Jamie, breathing a huge sigh of relief.
"May I
go and sit with Adam, now?"
"Adam is taking a nap, so you can go and get started on his chores,"
said Ben. "You can sit with him, after supper, until bedtime, if you
want. He might want you to read to him; it will depend on whether he
still has a headache, or not. Off you go, then."
Jamie apologised, again, to Ben, before leaving his room, and Ben sent
him on his way, with a sharp swat to his backside.
"Take a bit more care over what you're doing, from now on, understood?"
"Understood, Pa," said Jamie, as he ran down the stairs.
When Adam woke up from his nap, his headache had gone and he was
feeling a lot better. However, he still couldn't remember very much.
Joe went and sat with him, for a while, and, typically, tried to fool
his brother into thinking that he owed Joe some money.
"I really don't recall borrowing any money off you, Joe," said
Adam.
"In fact, the whole idea of me owing you something just seems totally
foreign to me. Of course, as I am suffering with amnesia, I suppose
you could be telling me the truth, but something just doesn't sit
right, with the concept of me owing you money."
Joe began to laugh, and his distinct giggle was so infectious that
Adam soon joined in.
"I was only joshing you, Adam," he said, as soon as he was able
to
speak. "You're right, the whole idea of you owing me money, is hard
to
swallow, although it did happen, once," and Joe related the story of
how Adam and Hoss borrowed money off their little brother, to pay for
a thoroughbred racehorse. ***
Hoss joined Adam and Joe, once he was through with his chores, for the
day, and he, too, did his best to try and help Adam regain his memory.
"I kinda know what you're goin' through, Adam, cos it happened ta
me,
once, and I almost ended up bein' adopted by a Dutch couple and goin'
off to a new life in Michigan, bein' called Hendrick." ****
Adam didn't know what Hoss was referring to, so the big man filled his
brother in with the details.
"I got my memory back when Pa broke the glass on my Ma's picture,
as
the same thing happened when I was bein' robbed, and that's when I
lost my memory."
"So, if we drop another pulley on Adam's head, as long as we don't
kill him, he should start remembering things, again," said Joe.
"I think I'd prefer it if you didn't put that theory to the test,"
said Adam, looking rather worried.
"It's okay, brother, I wasn't really planning to," said Joe.
As it was, it took several days, but, eventually, Adam's memory began
to return, and he didn't suffer any long-term effects from the
accident. No one was more relieved than Jamie, who became very fond of
his eldest brother, and was grateful that Adam was able to pass on so
much of his vast knowledge to his new little brother.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
January 20th 2006
* A Matter of Faith
** Inger, My Love and Journey Remembered
*** The Hayburner
**** A Stranger Passed This Way