Summary – Why is Adam in the dirt at Hoss’ feet? Hoss is not going to like the answer.
Rating – K , WC – 823
Never, Ever Mess with His…?
Hoss casually strolled up the street to meet Adam at the saloon. It had been a good day and the tune he whistled made it just that much better. As he approached the brothers’ favorite watering hole, Hoss pulled up short. The noises assaulting his ears told him there was a brawl happening inside. Hoss checked his gun and made sure his hat was on snug, then prepared to enter the fray. Before he took his next step, a dark-clad figure sailed through the swing doors, rolled over the boardwalk and came to rest on his back right at Hoss’ feet. Stunned speechless, Hoss peered down at his older brother.
Adam shook his head trying to clear it. His spinning eyes landing on his brother staring down at him. As the twisting double images coalesced into one very large brother, Adam quickly closed his eyes. Opening them slowly again, he was quite disappointed that Hoss was still there.
“Adam, whatcha ya doin’ down there?”
Adam rolled his eyes and groaned as he begrudgingly held his arm out for some assistance to get up. Hoss cheerfully obliged, hauling his now irritated brother to his feet in one smooth pull. Adam dusted himself off, checked that his gun was still in its holster, and patted his head. His hat, where was his hat? Adam spun around looking for the black Stetson, when it finally occurred to him that his beloved hat was still in the saloon.
“Um Hoss, would you mind going in to get my hat?”
Hoss screwed up his face, looked at the batwing doors, then back to Adam. Evidently his brother took a bad hit and wasn’t thinking straight.
“Uh, yeah Adam, sure. But why can’t you go fetch it yourself?”
“Once you go in there, you’ll know. Besides, if I go in, there’ll be one less Cartwright on this earth.”
Hoss gulped, took on a stern expression and pushed the doors aside. He had to know what it was that sent his strong, well-fighting brother sailing out of the saloon and not wanting to go back in and retrieve his own hat.
All grew quiet as Hoss entered the saloon. The barkeeper was resetting some tables and stopped in his task upon seeing the larger Cartwright brother.
“I don’t want no more trouble in here Hoss. You just take him an’ get out.”
Puzzled, Hoss followed Cosmos’ gaze over to the corner of the barroom. Sitting cockeyed on the floor was his youngest brother, wearing of all things, Adam’s hat, on top of his own. A frown creased Hoss’ features, as the stepped over debris to reach Joe.
“Joe, what’s the meaning of this? What happened in here?”
Joe’s head bobbed up and down before finally staying still long enough to focus on Hoss’ unhappy face. He moaned and looked sickly. Boy he was in trouble now.
Hoss decided not to wait for an answer. He yanked Joe to his feet and over his shoulder in one smooth move while catching both hats with his free hand. Pausing at the bar he dropped a wad of cash on the counter and marched out.
Hoss found Adam sitting on the edge of the boardwalk picking dust out of his nails. Joe was dropped unceremoniously at Adam’s feet.
“You two fix this now or I’m going to do more damage to the both of ya.”
Joe sheepishly handed Adam his black hat, which Adam snatched away as he rolled to his feet. He marched off down the street toward the wagon. Hoss looked between Adam and Joe, then followed. Joe sat for another moment then stood and ran off to catch his brothers.
“Hey come on now, it’s not my fault. Adam’s got to loosen up a bit, take a joke now and then.”
Adam whirled on his little brother, his eyes nearly as black as their pa’s. Joe found a very long finger very close to his face. “You never, ever mess with my hat. You hear me?”
Joe barely nodded, afraid that anything more would get him a good pounding. Hoss’s mouth dropped to the ground, then he rounded on his little brother. “Ah, Joe you didn’t…”
Looking a bit green around the gills and very sheepish, he nodded. “Yeah, I did. But Hoss I couldn’t resist. He…..”
Hoss threw up his hands and stormed away. “I don’t wanna hear it. None of it.”
He climbed up into the wagon seat beside Adam. Joe swung himself up onto the supplies in the back.
Half way home, Hoss started to chuckle, which got louder as he failed to control his mirth. Despite the icy look given him by Adam and the stony look by Joe, Hoss’ blue eyes continued to twinkle as he laughed the rest of the way home. This day just couldn’t get any better as he envisioned that story making its way around town.
Tags: Adam Cartwright, Hoss Cartwright, Joe / Little Joe Cartwright
Entertaining little scene! Thank goodness Hoss was at the right place at the right time! How would they ever survive without him?
Thank you, wx4rmk. I’m glad you enjoyed this fun story. Sometimes I wonder if there’d be two less brothers without Hoss around. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
A wonderful little look at our favorite trio of brothers. Adam and Joe are so lucky they have Hoss to sort them out! Thanks for writing and sharing!
Thanks CareBear. I’m glad you enjoyed this bit of fun with the brothers. When I saw the picture, the story came, and I had a lot of fun writing it. Yep, Joe and Adam are lucky to have Hoss, but I’m not so sure Hoss likes being in the middle of those two at times.
Sounds exactly like the Cartwrights diring one of their “moments.” Fortunately there’s Hoss to intervene, at least most of the time. Fun read.
Thank MissJudy for reading. So glad you enjoyed it. Yes, definitely one of those “moments” for them.
That was an enjoyable, fun story! I loved how Hoss checked he got everything on properly when he was about to first enter the saloon, and then Adam did the same when he flew out. I could really see them all there with how you wrote them. I’m glad Hoss found it funny in the end, because he has a lot to worry about too with trying to keep the peace between the others.
I’m glad you enjoyed this story and that you could picture the brothers so well. Thanks for that compliment, it means a lot to me to hear that and thank, too, for reading and sharing your thoughts.
nice little story. funny too
Thanks Hope. Glad you got a laugh out of it. Gotta love those brother, right?
Oh my! I’m chuckling as I picture what pa will say when he sees his oldest and youngest sons. I’ll just stand back behind Hoss, thank you!
Yep! Hoss is going to enjoy this one for a very long time, but not Pa. Thanks for reading Chavel47.
As always, Hoss is needed to keep the peace. Sometimes being the oldest sucks. And, what can you say about Little Joe. He’s Joe!
Not sure what would have happened if Hoss hadn’t been there. *smirk* Thanks for reading and commenting. Glad you enjoyed it.
I was going to say something about living life dangerously, but then again, there are consequences to one’s actions and he’s left the door WIDE open for revenge.
Well we all know one brother lives on the edge anyway. *Giggle* Thanks for reading and commenting.
Very good, thank you. Don’t think Joe will ever learn!
No Joe won’t learn but he might behave for a short time. Thanks for reading and commenting, Annie.
That was funny and very reasonable from Adam’s standpoint!
Glad you enjoyed it. Ha! Yeah Adam would be that way wouldn’t he?
Love this!
Glad you enjoyed this, Dory. Thanks for leaving your thoughts.
Cute little vignette, AC. Thanks for giving us “the rest of the story.” 🙂
Thanks JC. It’s quite rare to see Adam on the ground as Hoss seemed to think.
Fun story! Love seeing who gets the last laugh!
Thanks Hart. You never know with the brothers.
What a great twist and so funny! I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoiling it for other readers. Great one, AC1830.
Thanks PT. Glad it gave you a little laugh.
Hee! Bad idea, Joe … ?
Funny, thx as always for writing!
Does Joe ever think first, especially around older brother? As always, thanks for your comments.