"Just you wait until I get my hands on those boys of mine," said
Ben,
shouting at the top of his voice, and slamming his fist down on Roy's
desk.
"Now then, Ben, don't be too hasty. I know I was mad, when I told
you
what'd bin going on, but I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation fer
what they've done."
Roy was already beginning to regret what he'd said to Ben, when the
owner of the Ponderosa had arrived in his office.
Ben was due to meet his sons at the International House hotel, for
lunch, after attending a meeting at the Cattleman's Association.
However, when he arrived at the hotel, it was to be told that the boys
hadn't got there, yet. So, Ben went over to have a word with the
sheriff and his friend, Roy Coffee, while waiting for the boys to
return from the pasture, where they had been checking on the stock and
the state of the fencing. He was hoping to catch up on the latest news
in the town, but wasn't happy about what Roy told him.
"Your boys were in town, earlier, Ben, but they've left again. Never
said nothing about meeting you, but then I reckon they were in too
much of an all fired rush to even give you a second thought."
"Why did they leave? They all had errands to run in town and that's
why we'd arranged to meet up for lunch, once my meeting was over.
Didn't they even leave me a note?"
"Not with me, they didn't," said Roy. "But then I'm the
last person
they'd wanna communicate with, seeing as how they were being accused
of robbery."
Ben was a bit calmer, now, and said, "Come on, Roy, you know my boys.
You've known `em since Little Joe was a baby. They wouldn't be
involved in stealing anything."
"And that's jest what I said to the Widow Pettigrew when she came
in
here, and stood jest where you are now, screaming at the top of her
voice that she'd bin robbed. Took me plumb near an hour ta calm her
down, enough, ta find out what was missing. Then she said it was her
prize rooster and best laying hen what she was planning ta enter in
the Fourth of July celebrations, this coming weekend. And you could've
knocked me down with a feather when she said that it was your young
'un that took `em."
"Well, maybe Little Joe might have done something like this, for a
dare," said Ben. "You know that he and the Widow Pettigrew don't
always see eye to eye, but why would Adam and Hoss be involved, too?"
"That's what I was fixin' ta tell you, afore you nearly brought my
roof down, with your hollering and banging. Adam and Hoss were looking
fer Joe and they got as far as my office. But the Widow Pettigrew was
still here, when they arrived, and she started yelling that I should
arrest `em, as they were bound to be in cahoots with Little Joe. As
soon as they heard what she said he'd done, they hightailed outta
here, like the devil himself was on their coat tails, and that's the
last I seen of `em."
"So, it's sounding like it was Little Joe who took the hen and rooster
and Adam and Hoss have gone after him," said Ben. "Well, that's
not as
bad as I first feared. Let's hope that the boys catch up with their
little brother, before he gets into any more trouble."
Adam and Hoss did manage to catch up with Joe, quite quickly, as the
15-year-old was not able to travel that fast, with a rooster and a hen
slung over his saddle.
"What in tarnation are you playin' at, shortshanks?" said Hoss,
reining in his horse, alongside Little Joe, who had stopped in order
to gain a tighter grip on the poultry.
"Is this the reason why you wanted to come into town with us?"
said
Adam, bringing Sport to a halt, the other side of Joe. "You told us
that you had an errand to run, not that you were about to commit
chicken napping."
"Yeah, what's the big idea?" said Hoss. "Pa'll be waitin'
fer us, at
the International, and I'm plumb starved after a morning of chasin'
dumb cattle. Now I'm out here chasin' dumb little brothers, instead."
"You'd better have a good explanation, Joe, or else, so help me, I'm
going to be turning you over my knee," said Adam. "I promised
Pa I'd
keep a close eye on you, and the minute my back is turned, you are up
to your neck in trouble. And you won't be the only one, as Pa's bound
to place part of the blame on me, when he hears about this. I hate it
when you're on summer break from school, as I'm always expected to
look out for you."
"If you'd give me the chance, I'd explain what it's all about,"
said
Joe. "I ain't no chicken thief, but that Widow Pettigrew sure is."
Joe
blushed and looked down at the ground, as he continued. "You see, I've
made friends with a girl at school, her name's Sally, and she's real
nice. Her ma's dead and she lives out on the old Walker place, with
her Pa, and he's a mean one, Adam. He's either too drunk or too lazy
to work and poor Sally never has enough food or any decent clothes to
wear. I often share my lunch with her, cos Hop Sing always gives me
too much, and I gave her a couple of pairs of my pants and some shirts
I'd grown out of. They're no good for school, but at least she can do
her chores in them, and keep her only dress clean for school. Anyway,
when she got home, the other day, she discovered that someone had
stolen her best laying hen and her rooster. She manages to make a bit
of money selling the eggs to Mr Cass, and so without them, she's lost
her income. Also, she was gonna enter them in contest at the Fourth of
July celebrations. The first prize was a $10 voucher to spend in Mr
Cass' store and she could sure use the supplies, which she could buy
with that. I discovered that it was the Widow Pettigrew who had stolen
them, so I told Sally I was gonna steal `em back for her. After I left
you in town, I went out to the widow's place and grabbed `em. She saw
me, and ran after me, but I can run faster than she can, so I got
away. So, now, all I havta to do, is return them to Sally, then we can
go and meet Pa. There's no need to tell him, is there, Adam?" And Joe
gave his brother one of his best puppy dog looks.
"I'm pleased to know that you weren't exactly stealing, Joe, but in
the eyes of the law, I fear it may still be counted, as such," said
Adam, pulling on his ear, a sure sign that he was worried. "As to Pa
finding out, I expect he already knows, as the Widow was in Roy's
office, when we left, and she was screaming so loud, I expect the
whole town could hear her. Are you sure these are Sally's birds? I
mean, one rooster and hen looks much like any other."
Adam was not a fan of poultry and so never got that close to the
chickens on the ranch.
"Sally and me were walking past the widow's, yesterday, and she
pointed them out to me," said Joe. "She's raised them from being
chicks, they're like pets to her and she knew they were hers. Now, let
me be on my way, or else Pa's gonna be getting mad at us, for being so
late."
"Never mind about Pa being mad, I'm jest about ready to throw a hissy,
iffen we don't get back to town and get something ta eat, soon," said
Hoss.
"I think the best thing to do is to go and fetch Sally and take her
and the birds, back to town," said Adam. "Then we can get all
the
interested parties together, and sort this out."
Joe agreed and so they rode out to the old Walker place and collected
the girl. When Adam asked where her father was, she told him he was in
town.
"He had some money in his pocket, so he's probably in the Bucket of
Blood," said Sally. "I'll come with you, Mr Cartwright, but those
are
definitely my birds. Widow Pettigrew's the thief, not Little Joe. He
was just helping me out, as he knows how much they mean to me."
When they reached town, Adam and Hoss escorted Joe, Sally and the
birds over to the sheriff's office, where they found their father and
Roy about to leave, to look for them.
"I am very relieved to see you boys, and the stolen birds," said
Ben.
"Joseph, what in the world possessed you to steal them? I know that
your relationship with the widow is not of the best, but to steal from
her, is a pretty low trick. I hope you have a very good explanation
for all of this, young man, or else you and I will be taking a trip to
the barn, when we get home."
Between Sally, Joe and Adam, Ben and Roy soon found out why Joe had
taken the birds. As they were explaining, Hoss went and fetched the
Widow Pettigrew from her house.
"Oh, you've found my babies," she said, as soon as she arrived
in
Roy's office. "And why isn't that young ruffian locked up, Sheriff?
I've already told you that he is the one who stole my birds."
"Joe's not in jail, cos you're the thief, not him," said Sally.
"Those
are my birds, not yours, and I am entering them in the contest at the
Fourth of July celebrations, on Saturday."
"They may have been your birds, at one time, young lady, but they
are
mine now," said Widow Pettigrew. "Your father brought them over
to me,
only the other day, and I bought them off him. See, I have a bill of
sale, to prove it," and she showed the sheriff the piece of paper she
was holding in her hand.
"But they weren't his to sell," said Sally, nearly in tears.
"My
Grandpa, my Mama's father, who lives over Genoa way, gave `em to me,
as a present for my last birthday. If you want, you can go and ask
him. My Pa had no right to sell them."
Mrs Pettigrew said that she had bought the birds in good faith and
that they were hers, but Roy, being the thorough lawman he was,
insisted on going to talk to Sally's grandfather, before making a
decision. He discovered that Sally was telling the truth and that she
was the owner of all of the poultry on the farm.
Her father was ordered to pay back the money he had taken from Mrs
Pettigrew, for the birds.
When Sally's grandfather found out how badly her father was treating
her, he offered the girl a home with him, and Sally was happy to go.
Her father raised no objection to this, and he soon left the area, for
places unknown.
Ben was pleased that Joe had wanted to help a friend, but advised his
young son, not to try and take the law into his own hands, in future.
"The widow would have been well within her rights to shoot you, son,
when she caught you stealing her stock," said Ben. "After all,
she did
think that the birds belonged to her. If you ever find yourself in
that kind of situation, again, please come to me, or one of your
brothers, or go and talk to Roy about it, first, okay?"
"Okay, Pa," said Joe, relieved that his family were no longer
angry
with him.
The Fourth of July celebrations were a great success and Sally's birds
took the first prize. As her grandfather was now taking care of her,
she didn't need to use the voucher to buy food, and so she shared it
with Little Joe, and they both had a gift from the store.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
February 22nd 2006