THE NAKED TRUTH
by
Lynne C.

Little Joe had no idea where he was, or what had happened to him, or
even how long he'd been in this condition. All he could say, for
certain, was that he was nursing the worst headache he'd ever had, and
he felt so hot that he expected to burst into flames at any minute.

The young man, who was only fifteen, was no stranger to illness and
had been ill, a fair few times in his life, but this was the first
time that he'd woken up, when sick, and not had a member of his family
sitting in a chair, next to his bed.

He called out for his family, but no one came. His voice wasn't much
more than a whisper, as his throat was sore and his tongue kept
sticking to the roof of his mouth.

`I don't know where I am, but maybe Pa, Adam and Hoss are close by,
but just didn't hear me, cos my voice is so weak.'

He tried again.

"Adam, Adam, Hoss, Pa, help me."

This time he was heard, and the door of the room opened. But it wasn't
any of his family who walked in, but a young girl, who was probably no
older than Joe was.

She called out, "Mama, he's awake."

A few minutes went by and then an older woman entered the room,
carrying a tin cup.

"Thought you might like a drink, boy," she said. "Sadie, help him to
sit up."

The girl did so, and soon Joe was tasting the coolest and best drink
of water he could ever remember having.

"Thanks, I really needed that," he said, and was pleased to hear that
his voice was a bit stronger, now that his throat had been lubricated
by the water. "Where am I?"

"You're in our cabin," said the older woman. "Sadie, my daughter,
found you lying on the ground, not far from here, and came and got me.
Between us, we managed to get you to the cabin, and into bed. You were
out cold, so couldn't help yourself, but seeing as you're only a
little thing; we were able to carry you."

Joe suddenly had a thought and it rather worried him.

"Do you and your daughter live here alone, ma'am?"

"At the moment we do, but my husband and my sons are on their way to
join us and should be here any day now."

Joe took a peek under the bed clothes and his worrying thought became
a fact. He wasn't wearing any clothes and there were only two women
living here.

"Which of you ladies undressed me?"

"We both did," said the older woman. "Like I said, you weren't able to
do a thing for yourself, and your clothes were muddy and dripping in
sweat, owing to the fever you were running. It was necessary to get
you out of your clothes and dry you off, and then make sure that you
didn't catch a chill, on top of the fever."

"But you two are ladies."

"Hey, he's real observant, ain't he, Mama? Yes, boy, we are women and
if you're worried about your modesty being preserved, I dealt with the
top half of you, and Mama saw to the bits of you that are below the belt."

"But your mother is a woman, too."

"Yes, of course I am, it is usual for mothers to be female."

"And I am a man, and if you removed my clothes, and dried me off, you
must have seen the bits of me that women don't have."

The older woman began to laugh and the noise made Joe's head ache even
more, but it also made him angry, as he felt she was laughing at his
manliness.

"For goodness sake, boy, I'm a married woman, and you haven't got
anything that I haven't seen before."

"Well, you might have seen your husband with no clothes on," and
Little Joe blushed at the thought. "But you've never seen me with no
clothes on, so you've never seen what I've got, before. In fact, the
only woman who has is my mother, and she died when I was five, so,
even she never saw what I've got, now."

"Don't let it bother you, son. I won't tell a soul what I've seen,
your secret's safe with me."

"What do you mean by that? What secret? There's nothing wrong with me.
I've grown up in an all male household and so I have seen other men,
naked, and I compare very well, with my father and my brothers, and
they are all a lot older than me."

"I didn't mean that there was anything wrong with you, son. I just
meant that your secret, the fact that I've gazed upon what no other
woman has yet had the pleasure to gaze upon, is safe with me. I won't
tell anyone that I undressed you, as it's obviously made you feel
embarrassed."

"I'm not embarrassed," said Joe, but his flushed cheeks gave him away.
"Well, not that much, but I really ought to be getting home. My Pa and
brothers will be worried about me. Erm, where are my clothes?"

"They're outside, on the washing line," said Sadie. "They were dirty,
from where you'd fallen off your horse, and soaked in sweat, so I
washed `em."

"You washed my clothes? My under drawers and everything?"

"Yes, I did. What's wrong with you? Why is it such a big deal that I
washed your clothes?"

"Because you are a girl and you washed my under drawers," said Joe,
realising that he sounded pretty stupid.

"Who usually washes your clothes? I bet you don't wash them yourself."

"No, I don't, Hop Sing does, or his father. They aren't washed by a girl."

"Well, they have been, now, and I expect they will survive the shock,"
said Sadie, rather sarcastically. "And don't worry, I have washed my
father's clothes and my brothers, too, so I am aware of what boys have
on, under their pants."

"Yes, I understand that, but once again, you fail to grasp the fact
that although you have washed your father's clothes and your brothers'
clothes, you have never washed my clothes, before, and it makes me
feel odd, like I've been taken advantage of, in some weird way."

"I think you're just weird, period," said Sadie, causing her mother to
look, angrily, at her. "What were you doing, anyway, riding around,
late at night, when you were obviously running a fever?"

"I've been confined to bed, these past few days, with a bad cold, and
I am not the world's best patient, in fact I think it is fair to say I
am the world's worst patient. I hate having to stay in bed and I kept
pleading with my Pa to allow me to get up and at least go and visit
with Cochise, my horse, or maybe just go for a short ride, but Pa
wouldn't let me. So, I waited until they were all in bed and for Hoss,
who was staying in my room, to fall asleep, and then I sneaked out,
intending to go for that ride and be back in my bed, before anyone
noticed. But I guess I was sicker than I thought, as I suddenly came
over all dizzy, and must've fallen off. Cochise is probably back at
our barn, by now, so I would imagine that Pa and my brothers are out
looking for me."

"Oh, so you are just a bad boy, who decided to disobey his father, and
has now found out that Papa knew best, after all, are you?" said
Sadie's mother, who was called Ruth.

"Yeah, I guess I am," said Joe, coming to the conclusion that it
wasn't worth arguing with either of these women.

"Well, as soon as your clothes are dry, we will get the team hitched
up to the wagon, and take you home to your family, young man," said
Ruth. "And if your father is anything like my husband, I am sure that
he will know just how to deal with you, for taking off, like you did."

Joe slid down, further in the bed, at the thought of what his Pa was
likely to do to him.

"Would you mind if I got some sleep, before you take me home, ma'am?
As once my Pa gets his hands on me, I don't think I'll be able to
sleep, for a while."

Ruth was rather concerned, as Joe had suddenly gone very pale, and so
she readily agreed to him sleeping.

"Come on Sadie, the boy needs to rest," and they both left the room.

Joe did manage to get some sleep and he woke up, several hours later,
feeling a lot better. Well, that was until he realised what had woken
him. It was the sound of his father's voice, coming from the next room.

As Joe had predicted, Cochise went back to the barn, and Hoss found
him, still with his saddle on, when he went outside to saddle up his
own horse in order to go and search for his brother.

Hoss woke up, about an hour before sunrise, and noticed, immediately,
that Joe was missing from his bed. He lay where he was, for a few
minutes, hoping that his little brother was using the outhouse, but
when Joe failed to return, Hoss was soon dressed and heading for the
barn. When he found Cochise, fully tacked, but without Joe, he
returned to the house, to report what he'd found, to Ben.

"I swear that boy wants to send me to an early grave," said Ben. "I
only suggested that he spent a few days resting, because he was so
ill, and now he's out there, on foot, and possibly injured. Saddle up
the horses and we'll go and look for him. Cochise's hoof prints are
quite distinctive, so, hopefully, we will be able to backtrack and
find him, fairly easily."

It proved to be the case and Ben, Adam and Hoss were soon at the place
where Cochise and Joe had parted company. They scouted around the
area, and Hoss found the tracks made by the two women, as they half
dragged, half carried Joe, back to their cabin.

They were soon knocking on Ruth's door, and when she opened it, she
found three large, anxious men, standing on the porch.

"Good morning ma'am," said Ben, tipping his hat. "The name's Ben
Cartwright and I own the spread adjacent to yours. I was wondering if
you had seen a young boy wandering about on your land, as I am looking
for my son."

Ben felt Hoss tugging at the sleeve of his coat, and, at first he
ignored it, as he was waiting on the lady's reply.

"Pa, look over there, ain't those Joe's clothes hangin' on that there
clothes line?"

Instead of remonstrating with Hoss, for interrupting him, Ben followed
his son's line of vision, and then patted him on the back.

"They certainly are, son. Those are my son's clothes, so I assume that
he must be here, ma'am?"

"Yes, he is," said Ruth. "I am Ruth Simpson, and we have only just
moved in. I have my daughter, Sadie, with me, and my husband and boys
are joining us shortly, as they have been prospecting. We found your
son, lying on the ground, unconscious, last night, so we brought him
back here and put him to bed. He's awake, now, and was planning on
returning home, as soon as his clothes were dry. Sadie washed them, as
he'd fallen in some mud, and they were rather dirty. We were going to
hitch up our wagon and drive him home, later this morning."

"May I come in and see my son, ma'am?" asked Ben.

"Of course you may, Mr Cartwright. Would you and your sons like some
coffee and cookies? Sadie's just made some."

"That sounds real fine, ma'am," said Hoss, and the three of them were
soon inside.

Ben was more anxious to see Joe, than to drink coffee and so, as soon
as they went in, he said, "Where is my son?"

"He's through that door, in my sons' bedroom," said Ruth. "I get the
feeling that young Joseph gives you more cause to worry than these
other two boys of yours, put together?"

"You are not wrong there, ma'am," said Ben. "I sincerely hope he has
behaved himself while he's been with you?"

"Well, he's not that good at being a patient, is he?" said Ruth,
diplomatically.

"No, and that is what has caused all this trouble. He's been poorly
and the doctor said he had to stay in bed for at least three days and
then he could get up, but not leave the house for a couple more days,
but he wanted to be out on his horse, after less than three days. I
said `no', and the next thing I find is that he's sneaked off. His
horse came back, without him, and that's when we started looking for
him. I have a few things to say to that young man and I don't think
he's going to be too pleased to hear them, excuse me."

Ben went into the bedroom and there was Joe, lying in the bed, looking
like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

"Hi, Pa," he said.

"Don't you `hi, Pa' me, young man. What on earth were you thinking of,
taking off, like that?"

"I'm sorry, Pa, but I was going crazy, being confined to my bed; you
know how much I hate it?"

"Yes, son, I do know that you hate it, but surely what has happened to
you, since you left that bed, must have made you see that it was right
of us to keep you confined? You have been very ill, close to
pneumonia, and you have probably delayed your recovery, by several
days, going out, at night, in the cold air."

Joe groaned.

"Oh no, does that mean more days stuck indoors, without being able to
ride Cochise?"

"Yes, it does, although by the time I've finished with you, I have a
feeling that riding will have lost its appeal."

Joe looked up at his father's face and didn't like what he could see.

"You can't mean that you're gonna give me a tanning, Pa? I'm a sick
boy, remember?"

"Oh, you are, are you? I thought you said you were better, now. Mrs
Simpson says we can use her wagon, to take you home, so I think we may
as well get your punishment over with, right now."

"But Pa, I'm naked under these covers."

"In that case, the tanning will make more impression, won't it?"

Mrs Simpson, Sadie, Adam and Hoss were all only too aware of what was
going on in the bedroom, as Joe had never taken a tanning, quietly,
but none of them mentioned it, when, later on, Joe, now dressed,
again, appeared in the main room of the cabin.

"Thank you for looking after me, ma'am," he said, to Ruth. "I'm sorry
if I was a nuisance to you."

"That's all right, Joe," said Ruth, who had taken quite a liking to
the boy. "Maybe you and your family can call by and visit, another
time, and you can meet my boys, and my husband?"

"That would be nice, ma'am," said Joe. "And I'd like to see you again,
too, Sadie."

"And I'd like to see you, Joe, and this time with your clothes on,"
said Sadie, smiling at him.

Joe blushed, but said nothing.

As they made their way home, with Joe lying down, in the back of the
wagon, both Adam and Hoss quizzed him about what Sadie had said, and
Joe knew that they were likely to tease him, for some time to come.

"Aw, it wasn't as bad as it sounded," he said. "Mrs Simpson undressed
me and Sadie washed my clothes, is all. Every time Sadie was in the
room, I was under the covers, but I was just a bit embarrassed by
being in that situation, in the company of women."

Adam thought to himself that, in a couple of years time, Joe would
probably enjoy being in such a predicament, but didn't say so, as he
didn't think that their father would approve.

Joe did have to spend another couple of days in bed, but he was soon
well, again, and back to his normal, irrepressible self.

THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
June 20th 2007

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