Summary: There’s bear tracks on the Ponderosa.
Rating: G 865 words
Bear Tracks
**Bear Tracks**
As Ben sat checking the ledgers, his youngest son sat in the kitchen with Hop Sing. The faithful servant was busy making cookies for Santa and six-year-old Little Joe was busy observing.
“Hop Sing! Dey gotta be new! Not dem sugar cookies!” The young boy complained.
“What Li’le Joe want. Hop Sing do best. Why boy complain?”
“Well… Mama said we’d make new ones this year.” Joe quickly rubbed at the tears that wanted to roll down his face.
The cook walked over to the distraught child and rubbed his back. “No need li’le boy cry. Hop Sing have new recipe called bear tracks.”
Little Joe looked the older man, “Bear tracks?”
“Yes. Li’le boy go tell father.” Hop Sing turned to get the ingredients for the new cookies, “Hop Sing need to make these now. No need to be bothered.”
“Okay Hop Sing.” The happy boy jumped down from the counter and ran into the family room looking for his father. “Pa! Pa! Bear tracks, we got bear tracks!”
“Bear tracks! Did you say bear tracks?” The Joe nodded his head. “Where in tarnation are these bear tracks!” Ben Cartwright bellowed from his desk.
“I can’t show ‘em to ya. Hop Sing needs ta be left alone.”
“Why would he need to be left alone with bear tracks?”
“Just cause.”
He was getting nowhere with the boy, “Take me to the bear tracks son.”
“But Pa…” Little Joe whined.
“Son.”
“Yessir.”
Joe took his father’s hand and slowly lead his father to the kitchen. He stopped right before entering and hung his head. Ben kneeled down next to his son and turned Joe to face him.
“Son, What’s wrong? If there are bear tracks, it is necessary that I see them.”
Joe looked up at his father with tears in his eyes, “Pa? Don’t cha always tell me ta listen ta people that are older ‘en me?”
“Yes son, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“Hop Sing told me not ta bother ‘em.”
“Son, I think he’ll understand.”
Ben picked up his son and walked into the kitchen to find Hop Sing putting cookies in the oven. With his back to the father and son, he didn’t realize that it was Ben and Joe in the the kitchen. Assuming that it was just the little trouble maker, he whirled around wielding a wooden spoon.
“What Hop Sing say? Li’le-” Seeing that it was his employer he set the spoon in the nearest bowl and bowed, “What Mista Cart’light need? Hop Sing busy with bear tracks.”
“I’m sorry that we started you Hop Sing, but I was wondering where these bear tracks were exactly?”
“In oven. Where else?” The cook turned back to the batter and started to mix more ingredients into the mixture, not seeing the confused look on the elder Cartwright’s face.
“Oven. Why in he world would there be bear tracks in the oven?” He whispered under his breath. Setting his son down on the table, he grabbed a rag and opened the oven. Not expecting to see anything other than food, he wasn’t surprised to find cookies in the oven. “Hop Sing, these are cookies.”
“Cookies have name. Name bear tracks. Cookies shape of bear claw. That why name bear tracks.”
“I’m sorry Hop Sing. Joseph led me to believe that they were bear tracks made by a bear! We’ll leave you alone now to make the cookies.”
Joe jumped down from the table and ran into the family room. When Ben got in there, he saw his son looking up at the angel on the top of the tree.
“Are you okay son?”
Joe turned around to see his father looking at the angel, too. “I miss Mama.”
“I do, too, son. Does your mother have something to do with the cookies Hop Sing is making?”
“Yeah. Last year she said we would make different cookies…” The young boy was unable to hold back the tears this time and Ben pulled him into an embrace. “This is the first without her.”
“It is Joe, but you have to remember that she is still with us.”
“What do ya mean? Ya said she was in Heaven with God, Jesus, Adam’s mom, and Hoss’s mama.”
“Joseph, I meant that she was here.” He pointed to his son’s heart. “She’s in your heart and as long as you love and remember her she will always be with us.”
“So as long as I love her she’ll be here with us?”
“That’s absolutely right.”
“Okay. I’m gonna love her forever and never let her go away!”
“That’s good son. I’m going love her, too. You know what son? I see a lot of her everyday, in you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re like her in many ways.”
“Oh. Is that good?”
“Yes! It is very good!”
“I like being like Mama.”
“You should. She was a very wonderful woman. She would want us to have a merry Christmas and remember her without tears, so why don’t we wipe away these tears and see if Hop Sing has any cookies for us?”
“Okay Pa. I love you.”
“I love you too son.”
Click here for the 2018 Advent Calendar – Day 23 – Antique Tile by Lizabeth
What a cute Pa and Little Joe story. Loved this. Thanks
Of course Little Joe knew all along what he was talking about. It’s funny how things can be misconstrued, especially interacting with kids. Besides that, woe to any bear who tracks up Hop Sing’s kitchen! Sweet story, thanks for sharing. 🙂
I have nieces and nephews that are around that age, so I’ve had to get used to the slurred speech of a young child!
Oh Ben, jumping to conclusions! Little Joe didn’t state that, he simply stated there were Bear Tracks, and when you asked he told you where they were located. 🙂
But I’m glad Ben took the time with him afterwards, it was a precious scene.
Thanks for sharing!
Ben should realize that his son is only 6!
You have to imagine how hard it was for Little Joe when his mother died, so adding that in when I wasn’t going to, I think, gave it more meaning. Thank you for commenting!
This was a really sweet way to remember Marie and see the family starting to heal while giving us a good giggle at the beginning with Ben’s misunderstanding.
I read bear tracks and thought “This would be funny if Ben misunderstood!”
I wasn’t originally going to put in the part of Marie, but it didn’t seem “complete” without it. I you know what I mean? Thank you for your thoughts!