Summary:  Ben has to accept that his youngest is growing up.  His older sons help him and Little Joe make that transition with one very important lesson that Little Joe has to learn from Adam and Hoss.

Rating = PG  WC = 1153

Sharp Draw

Standing behind his desk, Ben Cartwright stared intently out the window behind his desk. There was nothing to see that was a problem, but his heart was racing at the sight nevertheless. His youngest son, Joseph, was being taught how to draw by his eldest son, Adam, who was showing Joe how to draw and slide his finger onto the trigger as he brought the gun up. Joe had wanted to put his finger on the trigger as he first gripped the pistol, but he had been told that was a great way to shoot yourself in the foot or leg. Instead he needed to practice this seamless way Adam drew and had his finger firmly on the trigger only as he leveled his pistol at his target.

That was also part of the lesson: how to pull fast enough to beat your opponent but be able to stop the momentum when the gun was level. Adam told Joe he was learning how to be a ‘smart draw’ or a ‘sharp draw’ but not an overrated ‘fast draw’. Joe was practicing with an unloaded pistol because of all the risks in learning to draw but kept trying to draw faster and faster even as Adam continually and patiently advised him to control his draw. Adam told him each time that a smart draw that left you in a position to make an accurate shot was better than a faster draw that might lead to a wild shot. In a contest where a fraction of a second could mean the difference between lying bloody in the dirt or standing over your fallen opponent, Adam’s instructions were crucial to Joe being a sharp draw and being able to survive a deadly challenge.

Yet, Joe was only fifteen years old and his father hated the idea that he might have to face such a challenge so soon. But on the day before, Adam and Joe had been accosted by outlaws. Adam had handed over the money he was carrying rather than put his unarmed little brother at risk. Ben had praised Adam’s decision when he apologized for losing the money, but then Adam had said that at fifteen, he had already shot a man, and that at fifteen, Hoss had worn a pistol rig anytime he left the house. Both Adam and Hoss had openly wondered if their father, in an effort to protect his baby son, was actually endangering him. Both of them were well aware that Adam and Joe had been lucky that the men didn’t want their horses and their gear. Ben had acquiesced to their logical argument and the result was what he was watching.

Through the window, Ben could hear Joe being impatient and wanting live ammunition. Quietly but firmly, Adam told him he wasn’t ready. Joe would scowl but that was lost as soon as he began practicing his draw again. Soon, Ben knew they would take Joe behind the barn and give him ammunition so he could fire at a line of bottles or cans on a fence rail. Then they would have him try to do the draw and shoot. Speed and accuracy would be emphasized because both of his older sons knew how crucial those skills could be. Over the next week or two, these lessons would be repeated frequently. Joe would be impatient, but he knew that their father had said he would only get to wear the pistol rig when Adam and Hoss agreed that he was readty. Ben had to wonder how long it would be before Joe was tested by a man with a gun. He remembered how Adam had been changed with that first test of him as a man. He had gotten colder, harder to read, and even more serious. He had been remorseful over taking a life, but also wanted to be sure next time that he would be better. Ben heard him tell Joe to keep his shoulders down to keep his arm and back muscles relaxed and loose so that he could draw rapidly. He told him to control his breathing so it wouldn’t throw off his aim when he pulled the trigger. He told him to keep the gun level, keep his eyes wide open to see all around him, and to listen behind him for any unusual sounds. It was too much for the teenager to learn in one day, but Ben knew Adam would keep pushing until Joe could handle himself well. Adam would be persistent and would repeat the lessons over and over while accepting Joe’s complaints and excuses because he would do anything to help keep his brothers safe. More than his younger brothers, Adam knew how the skills he was teaching could someday save their lives and protect their home. He took the responsibility very seriously. Any life Joe might take in the future was partly on him, and he knew that. It made every moment of every one of these lessons into a serious look at the future.

Just behind Adam and to his left, Hoss reinforced everything Adam said in the lesson. Joe would accept what Adam had to say but looked to Hoss for confirmation of each thing so Hoss schooled his expression to be just as serious as Adam’s and didn’t let any of Joe’s enthusiasm or his own pride in how well Joe was doing cause even the hint of a smile. That might make his younger brother think that the lesson wasn’t as deadly serious as it was. Hoss had just turned twenty-one and had yet to shoot a man, but he knew as well as Ben knew that in this dangerous land, that could change. Ben often wondered how such an act would affect his gentle, kind-hearted middle son, but knew that sooner or later, when one of them was in danger or there was a threat that must be faced, Hoss would do what he and Adam had already been forced to do and take a life.

So Ben stood at the window and watched his youngest son taking a big step toward becoming a man. Occasionally he noted how Adam or Hoss would look back at the window nodding almost imperceptibly to acknowledge his concern and reassure him that he had made the right decision and that they were taking special care in instructing Joe. He knew he had made the right decision, but that did not lessen the pain in his heart that his sons had to do this to be safe. Innocence had to be sacrificed for safety in this hard and beautiful land where he had chosen to build his dream.

Tags:  Adam Cartwright, Ben Cartwright, Hoss Cartwright, Joe / Little Joe Cartwright