The Wearing of the Green (and Red)
by
K.K. Shaulis
“We can’t thank you enough for donating all this corned beef for the St. Patrick’s Day social, Mr. Cartwright,” Timothy smiled broadly at Ben Cartwright as his middle son Hoss effortlessly loaded the large barrel of cured meat into the back of the little green wagon.
“It’s for a worthy cause,” Ben told the five little men. “After all, the orphans deserve to have a bigger place to live.”
“True, the old place is a tiny little bit too small,” Joseph, Ben’s youngest, opined, then quickly added, “No offense intended,” when he realized that Timothy and the others might be insulted by his off-the-cuff remark.
“Not even ‘a tiny little bit,’” Timothy winked at Joe. “In fact, the five
of us have always thought it was way too small and that’s really something
for us,” he laughed as did the others.
“Are you sure you have enough beef?” Adam, Ben’s oldest, spoke up as he
put another barrel in little wagon.
“It’s probably more than we need but,” the little man thought a second, “Father Smith did say that we could use some extra vegetables…” he barely had the words out of his mouth before Ben bellowed toward the house
“Hop Sing!!!!!”
“Yes, Mis-tah Cartwright?” the Chinese cook who had just set foot on the front porch jumped at the sound of his employer’s voice.
“Sorry, Hop Sing,” Ben adjusted his volume appropriately. “Do we have any extra potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, you know, that we could donate?” Ben had learned in the past not to make any promises about the family’s provisions – especially given his middle son’s appetite -- without first consulting with the feisty little man.
“We have plenty,” Hop Sing nodded smiling. “Mistah Hoss could help, please?”
“Sure thing,” Hoss moved quickly to follow Hop Sing inside.
“Now,” Ben turned back to the five little men. “I don’t believe any of us
has had the pleasure of meeting Father Smith since we’ve been staying pretty
close to home with the snow and rain and all…”
“That’s for darn sure,” Joe grumbled rolling his eyes and Adam laughed leaning against the little wagon.
Ben cleared his throat in such a way that his sons knew he wasn’t happy with Joe’s grumbling or Adam’s laughter. “So why don’t you tell us about Father Smith. Like where did he come from?” he again addressed Timothy and the others.
All five grinned but once more Timothy spoke for all of them, “About all we know is that Father Jonathan Smith arrived out of the blue last week to help out Father O’Brien. He looked at the situation with the orphanage and immediately started to work. He’s just truly amazing.”
“He must be,” Adam remarked. “Jonas Walker dropped by the other day and told us a few things about what’s going on in town. I believe that he even mentioned something about a parade for tomorrow before the social.”
“Ah, yes, Father Smith’s really working hard…getting all the organizations to work together and involving all of the children. Well, you can see he talked us into getting back into our costumes again,” he plucked at the front of his old McCarthy’s Leprechaun outfit. “And he’s got the whole town actually draped in green. Why, he’s even managed to unloosen the purse strings of some of our less than generous citizens with his wit and his charm. You know,” Timothy stopped to study Joe critically. “He looks an awful lot like you, Litle Joe.”
“Must be a pretty good looking guy, then,” Joe said smugly while Adam did an eye-roll this time. “I’ll definitely have to look him up.”
“Well, Joe,” Timothy reached down to pick up the reins of the little horse that was hitched to the wagon. “It seems that he is definitely interested in meeting you, too. You see, he’s had some really interesting encounters with some of the girls in town who think he’s you,” Timothy tried not to laugh. “In fact, he asked us to tell you he’d like to speak to you and your father about ‘the girls.’”
“I can just imagine,” Adam slapped Joe on the back while Ben gave him a look that clearly meant that his father would also like to speak to him about ‘the girls.’
Joe suddenly didn’t feel too well.
“Well, thanks again for the food,” Timothy grinned at Hoss who had just reappeared with two large sacks full of vegetables and dropped them into the back of the wagon beside the barrels. “Remember we’re asking everyone to wear something green tomorrow for the parade,” he then clucked to the little horse.
“I don’t think that that’s going to be a problem for one of us,” Adam smirked as the four Cartwrights watched the five little men drive off into the darkness. “Baby brother here is already looking just a bit green around the gills.”
“And he’ll be a whole lot greener and maybe even a little redder when I finish speaking to him about ‘the girls,’” Ben growled taking Joe by the arm and steering him toward the barn.
“Well,” Adam draped his arm across Hoss’s back when their relatives disappeared, “What’s say you and I find something green to wear for tomorrow? After all, unlike our baby brother, we don’t have the luck of the Irish on our side.”
“I hate to disagree with you, Adam,” Hoss likewise put his arm around his brother, “But I don’t think he does either at the moment.”
They both paused to listen to their father’s booming voice coming from the barn and cringed slightly.
“Too bad Christmas is nine months away,” Hoss joked referring to their father’s statement.
“Sure and begorrah, who would have thought that a fella could get into trouble for looking like a priest?” Adam laughed attempting an Irish brogue and shook his head.
“God only knows,” Hoss smiled but in actuality he was correct in his statement. The two looked at each other, laughed and headed inside.
THE END
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The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in New York City in 1766. The author
gratefully acknowledges David Dortort for his creation of Bonanza in general
and the Cartwrights and Hop Sing in particular. The author likewise acknowledges
Michael Landon for his creation of Highway to Heaven and his portrayal of
Jonathan Smith, a most perfect angel. The author does not claim ownership
of any of the aforementioned characters, just the story. © March 25,
2006. This story is not intended to infringe on any known copyrights. ALL
INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.