THE RUSE
Written by Lynne

Little Joe whispered to his big brother Hoss, "So are you accepting my
bet, or not?"

Hoss pondered on this question, for a few seconds, although it seemed
like hours to Joe.

"Well?" said Joe, this time a bit louder.

"Ssssshhhh," said Hoss. "Iffen Pa and Adam catch us eavesdroppin' like
this, they'll skin us alive."

"Never mind that, are ya gonna bet or not?" repeated Joe, getting
exasperated with Hoss, who was not only prevaricating, but was also
leaning rather heavily on the slighter built boy, and pressing him
into the wall.

"Okay, I'll bet with ya," said Hoss, eventually. "I reckon Adam's
gonna win this one and you reckon Pa will," and he spat into his hand,
in the time honoured fashion, and then offered his hand to Joe, who
did the same in his own hand, and then they shook on it.

"Right, so be prepared for doing all my morning chores for me, for the
next week," said Joe, grinning at Hoss. "And I'll be more than happy
to stay in bed for an extra hour, each day."

"Doncha be so quick ta count on them lie-ins, little brother," said
Hoss. "From what I'm hearin', it looks like Adam's the one in the
stronger position."

"What exactly are they arguing about, anyway?" said Joe.

"Not sure," said Hoss. "'Sides, you're the one who's bin here the
longest, so you should know."

"Not been able to make out the words, that well," said Joe. "Just
heard the yelling and thought I'd come over and see who was in
trouble." He grinned. "Makes a change that it ain't me."

"Ain't that the truth," agreed Hoss.

The youngest Cartwright son was usually the one feeling the rough edge
of their father's tongue.

"Can't remember the last time that Adam did anything to upset Pa, this
much," went on Joe.

"Me, neither," said Hoss. "Oh wait, yes I can. It was when Adam
threatened ta take the Ponderosa account away from Cass' store, when
Mr Cass refused ta serve Ed Payson." *

Joe giggled.

"Oh yeah, I remember; Pa was boiling mad, that day, wasn't he?"

"He sure was; I could see the steam comin' outta his ears," said Hoss,
also chuckling at the memory.

The two young men continued straining their ears, in order to try and
discover what the argument was about, but both Adam and their father
had quite deep voices and it wasn't easy to make out all the words.

Ben had been away on a fairly long trip to San Francisco, partly on
business and partly for pleasure. Whilst he'd been gone, Adam had been
in charge of the ranch and things hadn't gone too well, as Joe, in
particular, had been rather slack when it came to doing his chores.
When he was younger, he had been more prepared to accept Adam as his
boss, whenever Ben was away, but now, at eighteen, he wasn't so
willing to do so. He didn't really see the need for him to have a
boss, at all, not even his father, although he wouldn't say that to
Ben's face. But he did say it to Adam, and he expected Hoss to back
him up. Hoss wouldn't do so, as he never had a problem with authority,
as Joe did, and he didn't mind taking orders from either his father or
his brother. His attitude was that there had to be the ultimate boss,
on any job, and as long as he didn't have to be that boss, then he was
fine with whoever did. Being the boss meant that you not only got the
kudos when things went right, but you also took the flak when things
went wrong, and Hoss much preferred a peaceful life.

So, when Ben returned, he and Adam concocted a plan to try and shame
Joe into being a bit more responsible. The young man wasn't mean
spirited and would never want to get anyone else in trouble, because
of his laziness, and this is what the elder statesmen in the family
were hoping to tap into.

Inside the main room of the Ponderosa ranch house, Adam and Ben were
well aware that Hoss and Joe were listening; in fact they had been
banking on it.

"So, do we have our captive audience, then?" said Ben, very quietly.

"Oh yes, they are both desperate to know what's caused us to fall
out," said Adam, just as quietly. "And if I know my little brother, as
well as I think I do, he's probably already made a bet on the outcome
of our argument."

"I am sure you are right, Adam, so am not about to make any bets with
you on that likelihood," said Ben, smiling at his eldest.

"Well, as this little exercise was partly set up to try and dissuade
Joe from making so many bets, I don't think that you and I should be
betting on it, do you?" said Adam.

"No, indeed, we shouldn't be," said Ben. "Right, we have their
attention, now onto the sting."

Ben raised his voice, and made sure he enunciated his words very
clearly, so that both Hoss and Joe weren't in any doubt as to what he
was talking about.

"I'm not prepared to put up with the slackness that's gone on around
here, any longer. And I hold you responsible, Adam, as you were the
one I left in charge, when I went away. As in most businesses, the
boss gets rewarded if things are going well, but he also has to pay
the price, when things go wrong. Since I've got back, I've noticed
that quite a lot of the chores that I expected to be done, while I was
away, haven't been completed. It's just not good enough, son, and you
are going to have to pay for the fact that you have been unable to
keep the men working, as they should have been."

"It's not my fault, Pa," said Adam. "You have three sons, and if the
men are told they can take time off, to go fishing, by one of those
sons, then they are going to think it's all right to do just that.
Especially, if the son in question, is also out at the lake, trying to
hook into a large bass."

"That is no excuse, Adam," boomed out Ben's voice. "You were the son
in charge, not Joseph, and the men knew that. Even if he decided to
take time off, the men shouldn't have followed him."

"I think that you underestimate the persuasive powers of that youngest
son of yours, Pa," said Adam. "And I don't know why you do, as he's
used those powers on you, often enough."

"Maybe he has, but we are talking about your capabilities as a leader,
now, not mine. Time has been lost, especially on those horses that we
needed to have broken, in order to fulfil the Army contract. So, if
they are not all ready by the end of next week, the money we lose will
come out of your pocket, Adam. And the same applies to the lumber
contract, too," yelled Ben

In a quieter tone, Ben continued.

"When Joe went up there, he was supposed to be working, not taking
some girl for a picnic. Oh yes, I got told about that one, as soon as
I got off the stage. I presume that you knew about it?"

It was obvious from the look on Adam's face that he did know about it.
He replied, also using a quieter tone to his voice.

"Yes, I did, and I took him to task about it, but you know what he's
like, Pa? It's in one ear and out the other. When he was younger, I
was able to impress upon his backside, the error of his ways, if he
stepped out of line, but he's too old for a tanning, now."

"Yes, he is, and there are times, believe me, when I wish that wasn't
the case, as it was easier, then, to deal with his mischief," said
Ben. "But he says he wants to be treated like any other hand on this
ranch and so if he doesn't do his work, then he shouldn't get paid. If
he's kept short of money, and can't take out his girlfriends, he'll
soon see that doing his chores is a better option than wasting a lot
of time and energy trying to weasel out of doing them."

"Pa, that is grossly unfair," yelled Adam, getting back into
character. "Joe messes up and I have to carry the can."

"Well, that's what being the boss is all about," replied Ben, sternly.

Outside, Hoss turned to look at Joe, his face showing his disapproval
of what Joe had done.

"I done told ya you'd gone too fer, little brother. When Pa ain't
here, you're s'posed ta mind Adam, cos he's in charge. And now you've
landed him in a mess of trouble with Pa. I hope you're satisfied."

Joe's first reaction had been to laugh at the plight that Adam was in,
but Hoss' words pricked his conscience, as he knew they were the truth.

"I'm real sorry, Hoss," he said. "I never meant to get Adam into
trouble, honest I didn't. Look, if I work extra hard, between now and
the end of the week, I reckon we can make the deadline for the lumber
contract and for the Army horses. What do you think?"

"Well, I guess we might jest make it," said Hoss, still a bit
doubtful. "Tell ya what, you work with Adam, on the horses, and I'll
take over at the lumber site, and then we might jest make it and be
able ta save Adam a mess of money."

"Thanks, Hoss," said Joe, giving his brother a hug. "I knew I could
rely on you. And to prove how grateful I am, I won't hold you to that
bet we made. I mean, Pa did win the argument, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess he did, sure enough," said Hoss. "Thanks, little brother."

So, for the rest of the week, Joe worked harder than he had ever done
in his young life and, by Friday, they were able to fulfil both contracts.

Ben and Adam never did tell Joe about their plan to get him to be more
responsible for his actions. However, Adam did confide in Hoss and the
young man, although a bit put out, at first, ended up having to admit
that it had worked, extremely well.

"He'll sure think twice about goofin' off, the next time Pa goes away,
iffen he's thinkin' your pocket book is gonna suffer," said Hoss.

Adam nodded.

"And it was nice to find out that despite our occasional differences,
he does think enough of me to not want that to happen, because of
something he did."

"Well, in this case, it would've been cos of somethin' he hadn't
done," corrected Hoss.

"True," said Adam. "And now that the week is over and all the work is
caught up, I think it's about time that you and I took our little
brother to town, for a nice, cool beer."

"That sounds like a much better way ta spend your money, big brother,
than on penalties fer not fulfilling contracts."

"It certainly does," said Adam, and they rounded up Joe, and headed
for town.

THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
August 2nd 2008

* The episode Broken Ballad

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