December
2002
Sherri
P.
Tying
his horse to the post Joe quickly jumped up on the boardwalk and strolled over
to the open window at the post office.
The older man behind the counter looked up from his paperwork when he
saw a shadow cast upon his papers. “Good
evening Little Joe,” greeted the older man.
Moving some papers on the counter he commented. “You’re running a tad late this evening, I
was just beginning to close up here.”
“Sorry
Ned,” Joe explained, “my horse threw a shoe on the way, and I ended up walking
into town then” as he waved to his horse “had to get a new shoe for my horse at
the blacksmiths.”
Pushing
a few letters towards Joe, Ned turned his attention to something on the floor
as he muttered, “Got a package for ya here, hold up a
second.” Grunting a little, he finally
picked something up, dropping it on the ledge.
“Here ya go, young man.”
Stuffing
the letters in his pocket, Joe turned to see a large package on the ledge in
front of Ned. It was a square packaged covered
in brown packaging, and from where Joe stood it looked rather sturdy. Shrugging his shoulders, Joe pulled it
towards him as he looked at the writing.
It was a little smudged although the name Cartwright was clearly legible, however it was the first name that left him
guessing. A large blot of water had
smeared the name, and after numerous tries to figure out whom it was for, he
finally gave up as he glanced towards the return address. Barely able to read it, all he could decipher
was the name
“OW!!!!”
Crying
out from the pain that smarted from his booted foot, Joe hopped around on one
foot as he tried to ignore the pain in his right foot. Carefully setting his foot down, he noticed
that despite the intense pain, nothing appeared to be broken. Blowing out air from his mouth, Joe bent down
and with a firm grasp clutched the package and brought it to his shoulder as he
walked down the boardwalk to throw it in the buckboard. As he turned to toss it in the back of the
wagon, Joe slapped his hand on his forehead.
“No duh Joe, no buckboard today!” Groaning under his breath, Joe straightened
up and turned back towards the window determined to leave the bulky, weighted
package for another day’s pickup.
Dropping the package on the ledge, Joe could feel his heart move down to
his stomach as he saw that Ned had already disappeared, that the closed sign
had been flipped around and the window shut. Determined to leave the package
behind, he was ready to knock on the window, when he heard the sound of a door
closing then watched open mouthed as Ned walked off in the opposite direction
from where Joe stood. Watching the man
leave, Joe leaned his head against the wall and moaned to himself. Why couldn’t Adam have followed through with
his plans, he was the one who had originally planned on coming into town. But no, pa wanted him home to help him work
out a schedule.
As
he looked at the package sitting on the ledge on front of him, Joe shook his
head in frustration. Realizing that he
had to take this heavy monstrosity home, Joe let out a sigh as he reached out
and grabbed it, this time keeping it secure in his handhold as he walked over
to his horse. Leaning the package
against his chest, he used his free hand to untie the ties on his saddlebag as
he dropped the large package down into the deep caverns of the saddlebag. Securely tying it closed, he moved to the
front of his horse when he heard a loud thump.
Turning his head, he looked around and didn’t see anything as he pulled
on the reins and guided the horse away from the post. Taking a few steps backward, Joe felt the
back of his boots back up against something just as he felt himself tumble to
the ground on his backside. Trying desperately to grab onto something to break
his fall, he unfortunately ended up sprawled out on the ground, lying there for
a brief moment as he pursed his lips and shook his head. Sitting up, he reached down between his feet
and discovered his saddlebag had slid to the ground, thus tripping him up. Yanking hold of it, Joe stood to his feet and
stared at his horse and then down the street, as he again shook his head. The sun was quickly descending, and if he
wanted to get home before dark he’d better get a move on now.
Tossing
his saddlebags to the front of the saddle, he worked them so that they were
lodged between his horse and the saddle horn as he stepped into the stirrups
and pulled himself up. Rearranging the saddlebag so it
wouldn’t slide off while he rode, Joe began the journey home. Trying to keep his horse at a steady gait, it
seemed like every jerk and out of character gait threatened to send the
saddlebag to the ground. With one hand
firmly holding on the bag, and the reins in his other hand, he was ready to
holler out in joy when he saw the ranch house looming up in front of him.
Guiding
his horse into the barn, he was more than relieved to hand over the reins to
one of the hands, as he pulled off the saddlebag from his horse and slung it
over his shoulder, staggering a bit from the unexpected weight across his body. Walking into the house, he was surprised not
to see anyone around, although he could smell the aroma of supper being
prepared in the kitchen. Briefly
forgetting about the saddlebag on his shoulder, the thought of food propelled
him up the stairs and into his room to get cleaned up for supper.
Entering
his room, he tossed the cumbersome saddlebag to the bed, and began to untie his
gun belt when he noticed how warm and stale the room was. Tossing his gun belt on the bed, Joe walked
over to the window and pushed it open, deeply breathing the cool air that
rushed in. Moving away from the window,
he walked over to his water basin and tossed some water into his face when he
heard a sliding sound next to him.
Bam!
Jumping,
Joe turned around, and saw that the window slammed shut on its own. Wanting the cool, fresh air, Joe shook his
hands dry as he went back over to the window and again pushed it open. Watching
at the speed of the window as it came flying back down, Joe had just enough
time to remove his fingers from the potential chopping block as the window
slammed shut. Feeling the brief swish of
cool air, Joe looked around his room for something, anything, to prop up his
window. Reaching over to his desk, he
grabbed a pencil and as he shoved the window back open, then gently set it down
on the top of the pencil. Standing still
for a moment, Joe watched the window and the pencil. Pleased with his quick
thinking, he walked over to his bed and pushed aside his saddlebag when he
remembered the package that was inside.
Using both hands, he brought the bag towards him as he undid the flap
and pulled the package out. Studying the
package once more, Joe tried to read the blurry writing before he finally gave
up. Hearing a cracking sound, with a
puzzled expression Joe looked up just in time to watch the pencil crack in half
and fly through the room, as the window once again slammed shut.
Muttering
an expletive under his breath, Joe looked around the room for something sturdy
enough to hold his window open when his eyes rested on the package on his
bed. Perfect, he thought to himself as a
grin overtook his face. Picking it up,
he once again studied the name on the package before ripping the brown paper
wrapping off of it. Overcome by a smell
of rum, Joe studied the brown lump in his lap as he sat looking, puzzled by
what it was. Breathing in deeply, he
welcomed the smell as he began to wonder if perhaps this was some sort of new
aroma maker that he had overheard some of the women talking about in town. Scratching the back of his head, he glanced
over to the window. Poking at some of
the colors that seemed to populate in the growth, Joe walked back over to the
window with the opened package in his hand.
With one hand on the brown lump he used his other hand to push the
window back up. Feeling the cool air
rush in, he leaned against the window as he steadied the brown lump in the
window then watched it shudder briefly as the window slammed down upon it. Taking another whiff in the air, Joe couldn’t
help but grin to himself, as he lay down on his bed. This was pretty good stuff, he thought, as
the breeze stirred up the rum smell in his room. Slowly he could feel his eyelids become
heavier and heavier as he drifted off to sleep.
********************
“Evening pa.”
“Hi
Adam, did you talk with the hands?”
Sliding
the coat off his shoulder, Adam dropped it on the back of the chair as he
walked over to where Ben sat on the settee.
Moving to the chair opposite, Adam settled in to sit as he answered
Ben’s question. “Yes sir. There was no surprise there, they were happy
to receive a Christmas bonus this year.”
“Good,
good,” Ben nodded as he listened to Adam’s reply.
“I
noticed that Joe is back, did I get a package in today’s mail?”
Glancing
up from his book, Ben laid it aside as he looked towards his desk. Shaking his
head, he replied, “I didn’t see any mail when I was over there earlier. Either
there was none, or Joe forgot to bring it.”
Groaning,
Adam replied, “If there was any mail, who knows where it is now!”
“Adam,”
Ben complained, “not now please.”
“What? I’m waiting on a package that I expected to
arrive by today at the latest,” Adam replied, a touch of exasperation in his
voice. Stalking over to the front door,
he grabbed his coat from the chair just as Hop Sing came out of the kitchen.
“Supper
ready Mr. Ben,” announced the cook, “Call son’s, we eat now.”
“I’ll
go out and get Hoss, pa.”
Nodding,
Ben laid his book aside then pushed himself from the settee and walked towards
the stairs. Before he could even make it to the first step to call out to his
youngest son, Joe came flying around the corner and
down the steps.
“Hi pa!” Joe greeted as he slid to a stop
before his father. Suddenly, he
remembered the letters that were in his pocket.
“Oh sorry pa, I got the mail here.”
Patting his jacket, he reached into his pocket and pulled them out,
handing them to Ben, “Sorry, forgot I put them in my pocket.”
Nodding,
Ben tried to look stern as he looked through the mail, but all attempts were
lost when he looked up into the smiling face of his son. “Supper is ready,” Ben said, as he threw his
arm around his son’s shoulders, “Let’s go see what we’re having tonight.”
********************
“Challenge
you to a game of checkers, little brother,” Hoss said
as he moved over towards the fireplace.
Tossing a log into the fire, he grabbed the board and checker pieces as
Joe came and sat down on the edge of the settee. Pulling a chair closer to the table, they
arranged the checker pieces and began their competition.
Adam
watching the intensity that Hoss and Joe were
spending with the game motioned over to Ben.
“I have an idea of what to get those two for Christmas, but I need your
opinion first.”
Nodding,
Ben motioned towards the front door, grabbing his coat as he followed his son
outside.
Never
hearing the door open or close, Joe felt a sudden draft of air as he looked up
from the board. Not seeing anything, he
shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to the game. Grinning slightly, Joe smirked as he watched Hoss leave one of his pieces open for jumping. Just as he reached down to jump the piece, a
commotion upstairs followed by the sound of a window slamming, then a yelp outdoors caused him to unexpectedly drop his
checker piece. Jumping up, he heard a fluency of Chinese spouting loudly
upstairs. Moving towards the stairs Joe
never even paid attention to anything else, until he ran full force into Hoss.
“Ooof!”
Falling
to the ground, both men lay stunned on the floor next to the staircase. Rubbing his head, Joe watched sheepishly as Hoss stood up from the floor wiping the dust from his
pants. Grinning, they stood there
looking up the staircase just as the front door swung open. Turning, they watched as Ben entered the room
rubbing his head, closely followed by Adam carrying something in his hand.
“Hey, how did my window stopper end up outside?” Joe asked as
he recognized the lump in Adam’s hand.
Before
Adam could form a reply, Hop Sing came flying down the
stairs, and through bits and pieces of Chinese and English they tried to fit
together what happened upstairs. “Brown
thing stuck in window. Cold room leetle Joe, not keep window open. Brown thing jump out window
and fall. Hear yell, window slam
and nearly eat fingers.” Looking a bit
crestfallen, Hop Sing glanced around the room before he stomped off to his
kitchen domain, all the while muttering about flying brown lumps.
Grinning,
Joe quickly stopped when he saw Ben rubbing his head, suddenly remembering when
the same thing had fallen on his foot.
Swallowing hard, he dared a glance over at Adam and almost wished he
hadn’t. Thunder filled his face, as his
eyes became dark coals of fire as they glared at him. Watching as his older brother laid the brown
lump on the side of the table, flicking off pieces of leaves and branches from
the brown lump, Joe stood quietly while watching the process.
“You
don’t have to be careful with that thing,” Joe spoke up, “it’s as hard as a
rock.”
Grunting,
Ben glanced over at Joe before he went over to his chair, where he sat
massaging his head.
“When
did it arrive? And why didn’t you deliver it to me?” Adam asked venomously
while trying his best to keep his temper under control.
“Just
got here today, but there was no name on it,” Joe explained. “Just the name Cartwright. It felt like a rock, and being as I needed
something to prop my window open with I used it.” Not taking the cues from Adam’s growing
anger, Joe continued, “Is that thing an aroma maker? I heard the ladies in town talking about
one.”
Growling,
Adam grabbed Joe by the arm just as Ben spoke up. “Let go of your brother Adam, it’s obvious he
didn’t know.”
“Didn’t
know what?” Joe asked, as puzzlement
covered his face.
Spitting
his answer out, Adam replied, “That is a fruitcake!”
“Oh,”
Joe answered a bit stupefied with his answer.
“Oh! You’re supposed to eat that
thing? Personally I think all that it is
good for is propping open windows or knocking someone out.” Watching as the fruitcake lost its balance on
the table, he could hear the thud as it landed on the
floor.
With
a roar coming from his mouth, Adam lunged towards Joe. “Why didn’t you leave it on the desk for
pa? Ever think that someone might have
been expecting a package?” Then with a
look of belated realization, he looked towards the table and moaned when he saw
his fruitcake, split open on the floor.
“Hey Adam! Look at that,” Joe exclaimed, as he
stared in wonder at the fruitcake. “It does break!”
“Why
you……!”
Grabbing
hold of Joe, Adam put his brother in a neck hold as Ben hollered at them from
his chair. “Adam, leave your brother
alone. Joseph!”
Ignoring
the commotion going on with the rest of the family, Hoss
was intrigued by the comment that there was food in the room. Going over to where the fruitcake lay
upturned and split open on the floor, he leaned over and began to pickup the
pieces, laying them on a plate on the table.
Pulling a chair out from the table, Hoss
reached over and filled a cup with coffee as he settled down in the chair
across from the fruitcake. Picking up a
piece, he sniffed at it as a big grin covered his face. Rum. He distinctly smelled rum.
Arguing
with Joe, Adam still had him in a neck hold when suddenly he let him go
remembering his cake. Looking over to
where it had landed, he had a puzzled expression on his face as he tried to
figure out what happened to it. Almost
as an afterthought, Adam questioned, “Hoss?”
Turning
around at the table, Hoss faced his brother, “Yes
Adam?”
“Have
you seen my fruitcake?”
Taking
another swallow of coffee, Hoss finished off his bite
as he pushed himself from the table.
“Yes sir, if that was the one that was on the floor. It was deeeeelicious!”
“Delicious?” Puzzlement spread across Adam’s face as he
watched Hoss move away from the table. There on the table, lay the crumbs from his
coveted fruitcake. Sagging against the
settee, Adam just shook his head as he looked at the remains of his cake, and
muttered with a sigh, “My fruitcake.”
Hearing
that, Joe couldn’t help but pipe up, “It sure was a good smelling one too. Had I known it was edible I would have never
put it in my window.” Glancing over at
Adam, Joe suddenly knew that he had said too much when he saw his brother glowering
at him. Taking a few steps backwards, he
ran to the door yanking it open as when felt the heavy steps of his brother on
his tail.
Watching
as they ran outdoors, Ben pulled himself up from the
chair still rubbing his head as he went over and pushed the door open. Walking over to where Hoss
stood next to the table, Ben dabbed his fingers into the plate picking up a few
crumbs to put in his mouth.
Clearing
his throat, Hoss turned to Ben, “You know pa, I guess I should have told Adam that this here fruitcake was
mine.”
“Yours?”
“Yes
sir, Adam told me about liking fruitcakes and then Betsy Sue told me that her
aunt made fruitcakes. So she told me she
was gonna ask her aunt who lived in
“Then…”
Nodding
his head, Hoss continued, “His fruitcake is sitting
in the barn in my saddlebag. That darn
thing was so heavy, that when I unsaddled my horse I forgot all about bringing
it inside last week.”
Grinning,
Ben stood up and walked over to the front door.
Opening it he looked outside and saw Adam in the process of pinning Joe
down next to the water trough. Calling over
to Hoss, Ben suggested, “Hoss,
I think you’d better get that fruitcake before Joe ends up taking an unintended
bath in the water trough.” Glancing over
at his son, he continued, “Instead of one brother upset, you’ll have two.”
Jumping
up from the chair, Hoss slapped Ben on the back. “Thanks pa.”
“No
problem son,” Ben replied, as he stood in the doorway watching as Hoss ambled over to where Adam had Joe pinned. Watching the by-play between the three of
them, Ben had to shake his head at the behavior of the three of them. Hoss was helping
Joe up from the ground and dusting off his pants, while grabbing Adam by the
shoulder and giving him a friendly clasp. Smiling to himself, Ben thought of
how the many times that they seemed to get on each other’s nerves, but more
times than not it was love that always brought them back together. Christmas was the season for giving, and Ben
continued to smile as he thought of all the gifts that his boys could give him. It was the scene in front of him, of their
obvious love and friendship for one another.
Grinning as he turned away, Ben couldn’t help but think of today’s
incident and knew he would be laughing about it for weeks to come. A great story to tell over the Christmas
meal, Ben thought as he turned to go inside, subconsciously rubbing his head
when he recalled the sight of that fruitcake as it came flying through the air
before colliding with his head. My boys,
he muttered as he shook his head and entered into the house.