By
Lynne C.
This short story takes place after the episode, Hoss and the Leprechauns.
"Are you really expecting me to believe, Roy, that these little people
successfully overpowered my three, larger than average, in Adam and
Hoss' case, that is, sons, and tied them up? And that the money here
in the back of this wagon, is the money, which they were paid for
selling our beef to the Army? Are you sure you haven't been drinking,
Roy? After all, it is close to St Patrick's Day and you are fond of
telling me that there is more than a drop of Irish blood running
through your veins."
"Roy's tellin' ya the truth, sure enough, Pa," said a rather
shamefaced Hoss. "Them little fellas are mighty sneaky, and they were
upon us afore we even knew what'd hit us, weren't they, Adam?"
Adam, Ben's eldest son, had a fondness for the colour black. Both Joe
and Hoss figured that the reason for that was because it gave him more
of a chance of fading into the background, when they were in trouble
with Pa, especially at night. Adam was also keeping his face turned
away from their father, but he could still feel Ben's chocolate brown
eyes, which almost seemed black, when he was angry, burning into the
back of his head, as their father turned to glare at him, waiting for
Adam's version of the incident.
Joe was hoping that Adam and Hoss were going to provide all the
answers to Ben's questions, before he demanded Joe to tell him about
it, as the boy knew that he was really the one to blame for them
losing the money. However, he wasn't about to admit that was the case,
and if only Adam worded his answers well enough, he might not have to.
"Well, you see Pa, it was like this," said Adam, walking over
to Ben,
and putting his arm round him. "We were on our way home, with the
money, and we stopped for a rest."
"Why did you stop for a rest, here?" said Ben, interrupting his
son.
"It's only another half hour's ride to the house. Once you were home,
you could have rested in the comfort of your own beds, not on the hard
ground."
"Joe wasn't feeling too good, were you buddy?" continued Adam,
and Joe
nodded his head, in acknowledgement of Adam's words. "So we stopped
for a while and I guess we must have fallen asleep. After all, we have
been riding since early this morning, as we were anxious to get home.
Anyway, as I said, we all fell asleep, thinking that there was no need
for one of us to stand guard, being that we were so close to the
house, and on our own land. Then these little fellas crept up on us,
and before we knew what had hit us, we were all tied up and they were
making off, with our money. Fortunately, Roy had been alerted to what
was going on and he arrived in time to prevent them getting away. He
brought them back here with him, and untied us, just as you rode up.
So, all's well that end's well, eh? Let's leave Roy and his deputies
to take the prisoners to town, and we can go on home."
Ben was a bit calmer, after listening to what Adam had to say, and he
went over to his youngest boy, and placed his large hand on Little
Joe's forehead.
"Are you all right now, son?" he said, in a conciliatory tone.
"You
don't appear to be running a fever, but where does it hurt?"
"He had an upset stomach, Pa," said Hoss, realising that Joe
was
reluctant to say anything. "He was throwin' up, pretty bad, but I
reckon he's a mite better, now, aincha, shortshanks?"
Joe nodded and said, "Yeah, I am, so don't fuss, Pa. Like Adam said,
everything's fine, now, so let's go home."
"I'm pleased to know that you're feeling better, Joseph, but before
we
go, I want a word with Roy."
Ben walked over to where Roy was standing, and said, "How did you
know
that my boys were being robbed?"
"Turns out that Professor McCarthy, after I put him on that stage
outta town, got off at the first way station and came back," said Roy.
"He went out to where these fellas are living, knowing that their
wives and children would be alone, as the men were off, working. And,
with the help of a couple of accomplices, he took them as hostages.
Then, he told these fellas that unless they stole the money from your
boys, they wouldn't see their loved ones, alive, again. So, to save
their families, they agreed to do the robbery. But one of the children
managed to escape and came into town to tell me what was going on. And
I rustled up a few deputies, freed the hostages, and then came out to
look for your boys. I ran into the little fellas, on the road, and got
them to show me where they'd left Adam, Hoss and Joe. How come you
were out here, at this time of night, Ben?"
"Oh, I was getting a bit worried, as the boys sent a wire saying
they'd be back in time for supper, so I thought I'd ride out to see if
I could meet them on the road," said Ben. "Didn't really expect
to
find they were in any trouble, but I should've known it was likely."
"Thanks a lot," said Joe, angrily. "We had a very successful
drive,
got top dollar for the cattle and we were on our way home, earlier
than expected, and yet you say you aren't surprised we were in
trouble. Nice to know how you feel about us."
"Joseph, I would remind you that you are talking to your father and
suggest that you moderate your tone, or your stomach won't be the only
part of your anatomy that is hurting," said Ben.
"Sorry, Pa," said Joe, as Adam tried to telegraph a message to
Joe to
calm down, a bit, before he said something that he might regret.
The little people apologised for what they'd done to the Cartwright
brothers.
"We're really sorry," said Timothy, their spokesman. "But
I hope you
can understand why we did it. Professor McCarthy had heard in town
that you boys were returning home, after completing a very successful
deal, and so he concocted a plan to allow him to get his hands on your
money. Thank goodness that my son managed to escape and let the
sheriff know what was going on."
"Aw, don't worry about it, Timothy," said Hoss, who had grown
quite
fond of the little people, since they'd arrived on the Ponderosa. "No
real harm done, and Roy'll make sure that Professor McCarthy stays
locked up in his jail, until the circuit judge gets into town. And
then he'll soon be on his way to the Territorial prison."
"That he will," said Roy. "I'm gonna escort these fellas
back to their
families and I would advise you Cartwrights to head for home."
"Sounds good to me," said Adam, and the others agreed.
Ben never did find out that the reason 16 year old Little Joe had been
ill, was because he'd bought a bottle of whisky from one of the
soldiers at the fort, and had been taking surreptitious swigs from it,
as the boys were riding home. Adam and Hoss knew nothing about the
whisky, until Joe had just about fallen off Cochise, and then been
very sick. One of the conditions set by Ben, before he would allow Joe
to accompany his brothers on the drive, was that the boy was not to
drink any hard liquor. He could have a beer, at the end of the drive,
but nothing more. Although Adam and Hoss were angry that Joe had
disobeyed their father, they felt he had been punished enough, by
being so ill, and so promised not to tell Ben about it. Both older
boys had done pretty much the same thing, when they were younger, and
they felt fairly confident that Joe would stay away from hard liquor,
for a good while, without having to receive a tanning from their
father, to remind him to.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
March 26th 2006