Summary: Sometimes certain people are overlooked until a situation arises when they can not be ignored any longer, which really was the problem with Ezra.

Rating:  G  (4,510 words)

 

The Problem with Ezra

Joseph Cartwright stepped into the room with a slight smile on his face. A smile that was an indication of the warmth in the greeting he would give their guest but a smile which froze upon his face when his eyes beheld the scene before him.

 

He glanced from one person to the next. From his father, to Roy and then onto the hapless young man upon whose shoulder the heavy hand of the law, in the form of Roy Coffee, now reclined. Joe heard, as though from a distance away, Roy’s words

 

“Come along now, son, you’d best come with me,” and the inevitable sigh which followed the words, an indication of Roy’s sorrow that such a situation had to be addressed in this manner.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

The three men turned as though only now aware of Joe’s presence. Ben sighed and raised his dark eyebrows, before lowering his head to stare down at the desk. Roy pursed his lips and then scowled as though he saw this intrusion a means to divert his modus operandi as the law, which at this present time, was being duly executed in the apparent arrest of Ezra. Ezra looked at Joe and his face lit up, his eyes shone and his lips parted in a wide generous smile

 

“Hi Joe. Have a good day, Joe?”

 

It was as much a statement of fact as a question for Ezra lacked the ability to differentiate between the two. When Joe gave him a brief smile and then nodded Ezra seemed happy enough to accept that as a form of answer. Roy looked at Joe, then at Ben, then in his usual manner led Ezra from the room,

 

“I’ll see you later, Joe?” Ezra said with the same puppy like expression on his face and Joe nodded, frowned and then turned to his father.

 

“Well, Pa? What’s going on here?”

 

“What do you think is going on here, Joseph?”

 

Joe shook his head, his lips thinned and he pulled off his hat in a gesture meant to indicate his lack of patience. He glanced over his shoulder as the door closed with a sharp click, then looked once again at his father,

 

“It looked to me as though Roy was arresting Ezra.”

 

“So? What if he were?”

 

“What do you mean?” Joe frowned and entered further into the study area of the main room.

 

“Ezra stole the pistol from my desk.” Ben said simply and gestured towards the article itself, resplendent in its box. This brought another snort of impatience from Joe who opened his mouth to speak only to be silenced by his father’s raised hand, “Roy and I came into the house and found him standing at the desk with the gun in his hand.”

 

“I don’t understand?” Joe frowned, “That doesn’t mean he was stealing it. Why jump to conclusions without knowing the facts, Pa?”

 

“Look, Joe, the lock to the desk drawer was broken. No one knew the pistol was there except members of the family.”

 

“Well, obviously Ezra knew …” Joe paused, and swallowed a gulp, realising that by his own words he was condemning his friend. He lowered his head.

 

“Did you tell him it was there? Did you tell him about it?”

 

“No, I didn’t tell him, he must have known somehow else,” the statement was made honestly, without guile, and Joe looked up at his father with his eyes anxious and concerned…

 

“Very well, but how would he have known about it? How would he? You know how impressive he is, and how he follows you around the place like your proverbial shadow. Are you sure that at sometime you never showed the pistol to him, perhaps, just for fun?” Ben emphasised the words to add to the effect, to push home the point that what had happened had to be accounted for, but the young man just shook his head. “Joe, this is the truth, isn’t it?”

 

“I swear it, Pa.”

 

Ben nodded. There was nothing else to say now; Joe would never have made such a categorical statement had there been the least vestige of doubt about it. Ben sighed, placed a heavy hand on Joe’s shoulder and looked him in the face,

 

“Look, I don’t mean to be so angry but the gun was a special gift, and to find it gone from the desk with the drawer smashed and then seeing Ezra fooling around with it …” he paused and looked into his son’s face, then smiled, “All right, Joe, off you go. Don’t worry about it any; we’ll get to the bottom of it all.”

 

“Pa?” Joe paused as he was about to leave the room, “Pa, Ezra isn’t a bad man. You do know that, don’t you?”

 

“Son, I’ve known Ezra for some years now, I know he’s not intentionally bad, but stealing isn’t a good thing, and he was in the act of stealing something important to me. I thought he was trust worthy too, but this incident has proven me wrong there as well.”

 

“I don’t know how he got to know about the gun, Pa. I never even saw him come into the house, except when we were together. But I never showed him the pistol. Never even mentioned it to him. Fact is, I mostly forget you’ve got it.”

 

“It’s not your problem, son, don’t worry.”

 

Joe nodded and left the house. But he couldn’t switch off from worrying. Ezra was a good man, a little simple in the head perhaps, but he had never done anything wrong in his life. Of that, Joe was certain. Now here he was, caught in the act of stealing one of Ben’s prize possessions.

 

It was a ball and cap pistol that had been given him by Marie and had been used by one of her ancestors during the French Revolution. It was a beautiful thing too, nestling there in its cushion of red velvet in the black leather presentation case. Ben had always kept it in the bottom drawer of his desk. No one knew of its existence except the family and special friends who would be shown it and after their ‘oohs and aaahs’ of admiration it would be locked away again.

 

Ezra. Poor simple minded Ezra. What on earth was he doing with it? How had he found it? Worse still, what had he planned to do with it?

 

He passed them as he walked to the stable. Roy and Ezra. Roy looked a little confused, and Ezra looked like he usually did, cheerful with a big grin on his face. He saw Joe and waved to him,

 

“Hi, Joe.”

 

“Ezra,” Joe replied gruffly and walked on towards the stable. Poor Ezra. He had, no doubt, already forgotten all about the gun and the scene in the study. That was the trouble with Ezra. He forgot things which made it even more of a problem now as one was left to conjecture how he had come to know about the gun in the bottom drawer of Ben’s desk.

 

…………

 

“Pa?”

 

Ben looked up to see Adam and Hoss peering down at him. He had not heard them as they had entered the house, and wondered if he had fallen asleep. He nodded and attempted to appear nonchalant, in case they had found him catnapping over his desk.

 

“What’s wrong?” he said, and smiled, looking from one to the other.

 

Hoss and Adam glanced at one another; Adam narrowed his eyes, and jerked his thumb in the direction of the door,

 

“We just saw Roy riding off with Ezra in tow,” he said quietly, “What’s happened?”

 

“Roy and I caught Ezra in here with Marie’s pistol in his hands, he was trying to steal it.”

 

“Ezra? Stealing? Hey, Pa, you been drinking that poteen agin?” Hoss attempted to joke, but he knew it would have had to be serious for Ben to allow Roy to have Ezra actually arrested,

 

“Stealing is stealing and the only way for Ezra to learn that it’s wrong is to have him disciplined like anyone else who is caught stealing.”

 

“But Ezra isn’t just anyone, is he?” Adam growled, “Pa, I think you’ve been too heavy handed in the way you’ve dealt with this matter. Getting Roy involved, having him arrested. That isn’t fair. Did Ezra explain what he was doing with the gun?”

 

“No, he just gave it back to me and gave me that stupid smile of his, as though he had done nothing wrong.”

 

“Perhaps, in his eyes, he hadn’t,” Hoss remarked, “Things aren’t the same for Ezra as they are for us.”

 

Adam looked at his father, and with a shake of the head, left the house. He walked to the stable and found Joe sitting on the top rail of Cochise’s stall, deep in concentration.

 

“Pa tell you what happened?” Joe muttered, with a slight scowl on his face and Adam nodded, “I can’t understand it, Adam. Ezra would never steal. He’s a bit simple in the head perhaps, but he would no more steal than he would lie, he just doesn’t know how.”

 

“Do you remember Ezra from years ago, Joe, when we first knew him? Oh, he was a fine lad then, and he had a good family, God fearing and hard working. Then some Bannock Indians came by with a grudge against Winnemucca and the white settlers here, and set fire to anything that happened to be in their way. That included Silas and Winnies’ home. Ezra was about ten years old then, and he was out in the woods, hunting, saw the Bannocks riding by and took cover. When he got home his parents were dead, and his home in ruins. He tried to save them.” Adam’s voice trailed away, and he looked down at his feet as he leaned against the corral fence, recalling the time when Ezra was just a normal kid running about, hunting and fishing with the other kids, Hoss and himself included.

 

“The first time I ever realised Ezra was different was when we were in town, do you recall?” Joe sighed, “It was just that part of town where the miners hang out, and someone came yelling “Fire”, because one of the shanty huts was alight. Ezra started holding his head, and screaming, and running up and down, up and down. He scared the living daylights out of me more than if the whole town were on fire.”

 

“Fancy remembering that, Joe, you were only about four then.” Adam pulled a bridle from the hook on the wall and began to polish it with a rag, “You see, Joe, for months Ezra kept going back to the ruins of his home looking for Silas and Winnie. He’d scrabble about until his fingers were raw, and he’d cry like a baby for them. Utter misery and despair sent him into a brain fever, and when he survived it, he was as he is today.”

 

“But he seems happy. I mean, even now, he’s happy. He thinks Roy’s going to take him home for breakfast.”

 

Adam nodded and polished the bridle until it shone. He couldn’t get his head around the way Ben had acted. Surely the old pistol wasn’t so important? Surely this was a time for mercy not judgement? He sighed deeply, and his brow creased as he reconsidered the matter. Then he looked at Hoss,

 

“It’s your turn.” he said quietly, and his words drifted into a sigh yet again.

 

“What?” Hoss looked at his brother in surprise and his blue eyes opened to their widest,

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Pa. It’s your turn to go in and reason with him or, at least, to find out why he came down so heavily on Ezra.” Joe said rather more impatiently than he intended, especially when he saw the crestfallen expression on Hoss’ face.

 

“Shucks, do I have to?” Hoss asked, looking from Joe to Adam, who just pouted and shrugged, although he kept his eyes on Hoss’ face with a penetrating stare that Hoss found really intimidating.

 

“Pa talks to you more easily when he’s riled,” Joe explained, regretting having said anything about Ben being riled as Hoss’ mouth dropped open, “Well, you know how to get him to open up and relax.”

 

“S’right,” Adam nodded, “You’re the right man for the job, and that’s a fact.”

 

“You sure?” Hoss asked, pleased at the compliment and forgetting that he had to face his father.

 

Adam and Joe both nodded emphatically. Hoss smiled and walked towards Chubb, and stretched out his hand to take down the bridle,

 

“What’re you doing?” Joe cried, his voice rather shrill.

 

“I’m going to the west side to check on the timber.”

 

“No, no, no.” Joe protested, “You said you’d go in and talk to Pa, remember?” and he put out his hands as though he were prepared to physically stop Hoss from moving any further.

 

“Well,” Hoss frowned, “If I recall right, it was you and Adam said I was going in to talk to Pa. I thought I’d just go for a little ride first.” he smiled at them pleasantly, and then pushed Joe to one side in the way a diner brushes aside a fly from their bowl of soup.

 

“Hoss,” Adam stepped forward, “This matter of Ezra can’t wait, you know.”

 

“Yeah, Roy’s got him arrested and locked up. The poor guy must be scared stiff.” Joe cried, his eyes looking at his big brother pleadingly.

 

Hoss sighed and shook his head, then put down the bridle,

 

“All right, if you insist.” he muttered, and after giving Chubb a gentle caress as he passed the stall, Hoss returned to the house.

 

…………

 

“Back already?” Ben observed as his son entered the house and closed the door with a bang.

 

“Yeah, I didn’t git to go anyplace. Adam and Joe said it was my turn to come in and talk to you, Pa.”

 

“Oh, really?” Ben’s dark eyes darkened, Hoss stepped back and ran his tongue over his lips nervously, “What about?”

 

“Not what … who, to be exact” Hoss perched himself on the edge of the desk and frowned, “It’s about Ezra.”

 

“Of course,” Ben sighed, and shook his head, “It would have to be, wouldn’t it?”

 

For a moment Ben said nothing and Hoss wondered whether or not he was going to get a word out of him. Ben’s temper could be unpredictable, but he knew that were his father to boiling there would have been shouting and yelling, as Joe had experienced, by now. He decided to wait out the time and was duly rewarded for his patience.

 

“I’ve been thinking about Ezra, and I remembered how he came to know about the pistol. You see,” Ben said quietly, looking intently into the blue eyes of his second son, “Ezra’s family came and settled on a claim close by, well, you know all that, of course, and you also know what happened to the family. Ezra was not at home that day the Indians raided the settlements. You were very young, Hoss, perhaps you don’t recall what Ezra was like in those days?”

 

“Not really,” Hoss admitted, “he seemed a likeable kid, if I remember rightly. He was, I mean, he is about my age, but I don’t recall him getting any schooling .”

 

“His parents were very reclusive, and taught him at home. Quite Puritanical in fact. A number of people disagreed with how strict they were with Ezra, but he seemed happy enough, a little wild perhaps, but always cheery.”

 

“That hasn’t changed much then, he still is,” Hoss smiled and nodded to himself as though the thought pleased him.

 

“Ezra had the habit of just arriving at people’s houses. He didn’t seem to realise closed doors meant knocking on them first to find out if anyone was home. It was the day the Bannocks came and burned down his home and killed his family that we found him here. I’d been cleaning the pistol so it was not in the drawer. I recall day dreaming a little, wondering who exactly had owned it and how and where it had been used when I heard a crash from the kitchen. I hurried in to see what had happened and there was Marie, as white as a sheet picking up the remains of a broken plate from the floor. She had not seen or heard Ezra, but upon turning, there he was -” Ben gave a shrug, and shook his head. “He was not odd then, as he is now, he just hadn’t been taught that you couldn’t go into people’s houses and scare the living daylights out of them. He helped Marie collect up the pieces and apologised very politely. He was, in actuality, a very pleasant boy. Then he wandered into the study area and by the time I had placated Marie and returned to the study he was playing with the pistol.”

 

“Were you angry with him, Pa?”

 

“No, of course not. I showed him how it was primed and how the ball had to go into the barrel. We had quite a discussion about it, and he was asking very intelligent questions. Then he said he had to go home, apologised again to Marie for being the cause of the broken plate, and said if she gave him the pieces he would repair it for her.” Ben sighed heavily, “I dread to think of the misery, the despair, he must have felt when he found what was left of his home. For a long time he would go back like a dog searching for his lost master, and he’d claw at the dirt until his hands bled. Poor child.”

 

“But, Pa, all that doesn’t explain why you got so angry with him today and had him arrested.”

 

“No, I guess it doesn’t. I wasn’t angry with him, Hoss. I was worried for him. He came here to find Joe, seems he has a fondness for Joe as you know, and because no one was here, he just wandered in. For some reason, in his mind, he must have gone back to that day when he was here and his parents were killed. He went into the kitchen and then came into the study. He forced open the drawer and took the gun from the case. When I found him he was talking wild nonsense, distressed beyond measure. Thankfully, Roy was with me, and we both tried to reason with him, but when he gets these strange fits it’s very hard to control him. I think, in a way, he can’t forgive himself for surviving, can’t understand why his parents had to leave him behind.”

 

“But-” Hoss began, but Ben just smiled and stopped him with a gesture of the hand,

 

“You’re wondering what happened next? Joe came in when Roy was taking Ezra, and jumped to the conclusion that the lad was under arrest. He has been apprehended, in a way,” and here Ben smiled, “But not as you seem to think. Yes, I was angry, but not with Ezra, but at the assumption of you three turnip heads that I had had the boy arrested.”

 

“How did you know Ezra had been in the kitchen, Pa?” Hoss asked, frowning slightly now.

 

“Because there was a broken plate on the floor” Ben said quietly and once again he sighed before putting his arm across Hoss’ shoulders affectionately, “Perhaps one day we’ll understand how the mind really works and why it prompts us to do the things we do, but, it seems to me that when Ezra came here, he began to replicate the situation as it had been then. Maybe Hop Sing had broken the plate and overlooked picking it up or maybe Ezra broke a plate because a plate was broken that day, then he came in here, and took the gun. What would he have done next but to have returned to his home. Can you imagine if he had gone back there now? Roy and I had to break that pattern before he did that, Hoss. It wouldn’t have been fair for the lad to go through all the confusion and fear he’d have felt going to those ruins now.”

 

“Trust Joe to get things wrong,” Hoss muttered and stuck his hands in his pockets and hunched his back.

 

“It wasn’t entirely Joe’s fault,” Ben said, “There was a lot of yelling and shouting going on at the time, he had every reason to assume what he did, I just wish he had waited for an explanation before telling you both that I had got Ezra arrested.” he smiled, chuckled a little and shook his head. “You boys will be the death of me yet.”

 

He was still chuckling to himself as Hoss left the house to join his brothers in the stable.

 

……………

 

The subject of Ezra was not raised again in front of Ben. Each one of his sons felt somewhat ashamed of being so quick to jump to the wrong conclusion on the basis of what Joe had seen. Ben, in turn, did not wish to comment on the subject and was grateful that nothing more was mentioned. If he had just one wish it may have been that things had been dealt with differently, but no one had the power to turn back the clock.

 

Joe rode into town a few days later and after doing the Ponderosa chores decided to call in and see Roy to find out any news about Ezra that Roy could tell him.

 

He pushed open the door to the sheriff’s office and looked around. The big office was unusually tidy, and the coffee pot was sending out welcoming smells of well ground coffee beans. Roy emerged from the area where the cells were, and looked up to see Joe standing there, holding his hat in his hands and gazing around like some star struck kid.

 

“Good thing there ain’t no flies buzzing around,” he remarked, “Else you’d be choking on more than one the way your mouth is so wide open.”

 

Joe grinned, and stepped up to the desk, dropping his hat onto the neatly arranged desk.

 

“Well, Roy, I was just thinking how good that coffee smelled, and how tidy this place looked.” he tilted his chair back and raised his eyebrows, “How come the transformation?”

 

“Oh, I got me a janitor.”

 

“A whatta?”

 

“A janitor. Leastways that’s what Miss Jones calls him. Hey, Ezra…” he yelled, and almost immediately Ezra appeared from (and Joe’s heart sunk) the cell block. He looked at Joe and a wide grin spread across his face.

 

“Hi, thar, Joe. See what I’ve done? I’m working for Mr Roy now. I’m doing work here, and I work for Mr Swenson at the Hardware store. Do you want a cup of coffee, Joe?” his eyes beamed with the light of self respect and pride to such an extent that Joe felt a lump in his throat, and could only nod, look at Roy, and note with pleasure the pride on Roy’s face as well.

 

The coffee was served promptly and tasted as good as it had smelled. Ezra put the pot back on the stove and looked at the clock,

 

“I have to go now,” he said quickly, in that strange not quite right way of his, “I have to go and help Miss Jones clean the school house. Good bye, Joe.” and he turned to Roy, “Good bye Mr Roy.”

 

“Good bye, Ezra,” Roy said and smiled, receiving one of Ezra’s wide smiles in return.

 

The door closed behind him, and Joe looked at Roy with questions in his eyes, and Roy smiled and nodded,

 

“Miss Jones suggested we tried to make Ezra feel useful around the place. She thought it would give him some self respect back if he had some responsibilities. Guess she was right. Fridays he goes and helps her clean the school house and then goes back to her place for supper. Mr and Mrs Cooper who run the Gents Outfitters are thinking of taking him in and keeping an eye on him.”

 

Joe nodded, and held his cup of coffee in his hands and thought of the sadnesses that had been Ezra’s lot in life. In comparison his own life had been one of many blessings, for which he was truly grateful.

 

“My one wish for Ezra is that he would have had some happiness in life, Roy. I think he must be well on the way now to finding some.”

 

“I guess so, Joe.” Roy replied, “I hope so. He deserves every chance in life, and I hope he gets them.”

 

Joe said nothing to that, but drank his coffee, and thought of the bright smile on Ezra’s face and the light that now shone in his eyes. It was pleasant just to sit there, cradling his cup of coffee between his hands and watching Roy thumbing through some ‘Wanted’ posters, and thinking about Ezra. Sunlight streamed through the windows and every so often he became aware of Roy mumbling to himself as he read out the details on the posters. Joe smiled slightly to himself as he remembered the scene in Ben’s study the morning they had found Ezra with that old gun. Well, it had all turned out for the best after all and he put down his cup, stood up and stretched to get the kinks out of his back.

 

“Going now, are you?” Roy muttered without looking up from the papers in his hand.

 

“Yeah,” Joe grinned, “Pa will be more than pleased to hear about Ezra, so will Adam and Hoss. Glad you didn’t arrest him, Roy.” and he laughed a little but Roy did not, he just nodded and pursed his lips so that the bristles of his moustaches struck out above his upper lip like those of a walrus,

 

“Oh he was happy enough to bed down in the cells. I just didn’t lock the door that was all.”

 

“I guess we should have helped him out a lot sooner, is that what you’re saying?” Joe picked up his hat, the laughter had faded now, and a concerned look settled upon his face.

 

“Yep.” Roy looked up at Joe and nodded, “I guess we shoulda helped out a heap sooner, Joe. Weren’t fair that Ezra had to be the victim of what had happened to his folks for so long.”

 

Joe opened his mouth to protest but then closed it. Sometimes it was just too easy to overlook the victims, to plead ignorance of their plight. Sometimes there were just too many innocents expecting too much from too few. He nodded and placed his hat upon his head. At least now, he comforted himself, the problem of Ezra had been resolved.

 

The End