WHO BROKE THE FENCE?
By
Lynne C.
"Well, whether you want to believe it or not, that's what happened,"
said Adam, holding court in the bunkhouse, on a wintry Christmas Eve.
"I don't believe it," stated Joe, looking over at the ranch hands,
and
hoping that at least one of them would take his side.
However, none of them spoke up; maybe thinking it was wise not to get
into an argument, when it was one Cartwright against another.
Eventually, Charlie, the oldest hand on the ranch, said, "If Adam
said
it happened, then it must've done. Your brother is not in the habit of
telling tall tales."
"Yes, he is," retorted Joe. "He was always making up things
just to
scare me, when I was little."
Charlie chuckled at the memory. He could recall several occasions when
he'd had to step in and calm Little Joe down, after Adam, when
babysitting, had told the little boy a scary story.
"Yes, I guess he did, sometimes, but I mean he doesn't do it about
something as important as the ranch."
"No, I suppose not," said Joe, grudgingly. "But I still
find it hard
to imagine that my big brother saw Santa and his sleigh charging
across the Ponderosa."
"I told you, it was Rudolph, who was the main culprit," said
Adam. "He
was in such an all fired rush that he clipped part of the fence with
his hooves and then the others did the same thing and quite a lot of
it fell down. So, that's why I've come back to ask for some help in
fixing it. I know it's almost Christmas Day, but if enough of us go,
then we can all be back in time to enjoy the day."
Charlie then took command of the situation.
"Come on, fellas, it won't take us that long. And I'll buy a drink,
in
the Bucket of Blood, for every man who offers to help."
Several of the hands agreed to go with Adam, and Joe decided to tag
along, as he was curious to see if Santa and the reindeer had left any
evidence of their visit. He was still very sceptical about his big
brother's story, as to how the fence had become damaged.
"Before we leave, go and tell Pa what we're doing, will you, Joe?"
said Adam.
"Okay, I will," and Joe ran over to the house, to do his brother's
bidding.
Ben's reaction to what Joe had to say, was as incredulous as Joe's had
been, when Adam told him what he'd seen.
"I'm coming with you, son," said Ben, just as Hoss arrived from
the
kitchen. "I need to see this for myself."
When he heard where Ben and his brothers were going, Hoss said he was
going to accompany them, too.
The four Cartwrights, along with three ranch hands, rode out to the
spot where the fence was down.
"Well, whether it was Santa, or not, someone's made a real mess of
this fence," said Charlie, checking it out.
Joe got down off his horse and began peering at the ground.
"What are you looking for, little brother?" asked Adam.
"Reindeer hoof prints, of course," replied Joe. "And I can't see any."
"There's been more snow since it happened, shortshanks, so I reckon
they've bin wiped out," said Hoss.
"I guess so," said Joe, disappointed that he couldn't positively
disprove Adam's story.
Charlie soon got the men organised and they started on the repairs. As
Adam had predicted, it didn't take long for them to do the job.
Just as they were putting the broken pieces of wood and the tools back
into the buckboard, Joe's sharp ears picked up a strange sound.
"Can you guys hear what I can hear?" he said.
Hoss stopped what he was doing and listened.
"Bells, I can hear bells," he finally said.
Joe nodded.
"Yeah, that's what I can hear, too."
All the men looked over in the direction from which the bells could be
heard, and were totally amazed to see a sleigh coming into view. It
was being driven by a man wearing a red cloak, and was drawn by a team
of reindeer.
"Just came back to apologise about the fence and to see if you needed
some help from my elves, to fix it," said the man, once he brought
the
sleigh to a halt, next to the buckboard. "Officially, they have
finished for the year, but I am sure I could get them to help, once
they knew what had happened. I think our load was displaced during our
flight, and poor Rudolph was knocked off course, slightly, as he came
into land. Considering how far we travel, in one night, it's very rare
that we have an accident."
"No real harm done," said Ben, once he recovered from the shock
of
seeing Santa Claus sitting in a sleigh right next to him. "We've
already repaired it."
"Oh well, in that case, we'll be on our way," said the man. "As
you
probably know, we do have an awful lot of travelling to do, so as long
as all is well, here, we'll carry on."
"Yes, all is well," said Ben. "And thank you for coming
back to check
on things."
"You're very welcome," said the man. "Good bye," and
with a cheery
wave and then a flick of the reins, the sleigh suddenly flew across
the snowy field and soon disappeared into the dark sky.
Everyone stood around, not quite able to believe what they had just
seen, and Joe muttered, under his breath, `Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer,
Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen,' as the reindeer faded
from sight.
Joe broke the spell by speaking out loud.
"Okay, big brother, you win. It was Santa and his sleigh that ruined
our fence. I'm sorry that I ever doubted you."
Adam smiled at Joe and threw his arm around his young brother's shoulders.
"That's all right, Joe, I don't think I would have believed you,
either, if you'd come home and told me such a tale. Come on, it's cold
out here, let's get home."
"Sounds like a good idea, brother," said Joe. "We need to
get to bed,
so that Santa can deliver our gifts and move on to the next place on
his list."
Adam laughed.
"Yes, we don't want to hold up his deliveries, or else he might end
up
having another accident, in his haste to get everything done in time."
Merry Christmas Everyone
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
December 2008