Summary: This the eleventh story in the Traci series.  Adam, Hoss, and Joe get a better understanding of the kinds of problems their father faced as they were growing up.
Rating:  T
Word Count:  9,755

Traci series:
First Love, and Tragedy (by BettyHT)
A Triangle (by BettyHT)
Another Angle (By BettyHT)
A New Angle (by BettyHT)
A Trust Broken and Fixed (by BettyHT)
I Still Love You (by BettyHT)
The Black Egg (by BettyHT)
Another Guise (by BettyHT)
Runaways (by BettyHT)
A Boy and His Horse (by BettyHT)
Frogs and Other Stuff (by BettyHT)
An Island (by BettyHT)

 

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Frogs and Other Stuff

Chapter 1

Traci walked down the stairs and nearly collapsed into the chair. Ben looked over from his desk and understood her weariness. He had spent many days over the years tending to his sons when they were ill and knew it took a big physical as well as emotional toll.

“Is he any better?”

“Perhaps a little. He’s not well enough to complain though so he’s still pretty weak and miserable. The fever hasn’t gotten any higher. His throat is so sore he still can barely whisper. When he does manage to say something, he croaks so badly and then coughs that I’ve told him not to try.”

“Amy told Hoss when he picked up the children for school that Joe’s fever broke yesterday. He’s out of bed now, but still coughing, and just like Adam, his voice is very hoarse. She did say that he would be able to take the children to school and pick them up starting tomorrow.”

“I’m relieved that none of the children have gotten it. They must have caught it, whatever it is, when they were in Carson City for that horse auction. They got home and were already showing signs of being sick. I’m relieved that they were concerned enough for the children that they took our advice and quarantined in bed.”

“Well let’s keep praying that they recover well and the children stay healthy and their mothers too. And I hope Hoss stays healthy. He’s had a lot of extra work with his brothers being ill. I’m heading to the timber camps to see about getting more trees marked. I’m so glad Adam plans ahead. He had the map already set to go so I just have to get some men to work with me. I’ll be home by Friday at the latest.”

Traci liked hearing that for it gave her and Hop Sing all the time they would need to prepare for the birthday celebration for Ben. On Saturday, the whole family planned to be there to celebrate except she wasn’t sure if Adam would be ready to participate.

It was a very warm week, and that made recovering from a fever all the more difficult. It also meant the children wanted to go to the lake to swim. Hoss told them he was sorry, but there just wasn’t anyone who could supervise them. He had to work, Adam was sick, and Traci had to stay there to care for him and Hope, and Amy was still helping Joe.

“LJ, Matthew, and Eric could do it.”

“No, they can go swimming with each other, but they’re not ready to be given the responsibility of watching over the younger children yet.”

The three girls were upset by that. It seemed the boys got to do all sorts of fun things and they weren’t allowed to have fun at all by their reasoning. Paulene, Dorothy, and RoseMary started scheming. Hoss ignored all the whispering from the back of the wagon. It seemed to him that girls and women did a lot of whispering. He was used to ignoring it.

“Papa, can Paulene play at our house for a while?”

“No, today, I need to get her home. I have some other work I need to get done. Tomorrow your Uncle Joe will be driving, and I’m sure he won’t have a problem with it so just ask him.”

Only slightly disappointed, the girls realized that they had one more day to make preparations. So they whispered more about what they planned to do. The next day, Joe picked up the girls to take them to school. Matthew and LJ had ridden with him and now, with Eric, would ride to school together. Eric had not heard Joe or Adam try to talk recently and wondered at Joe’s voice.

“Uncle Joe, what happened to your voice?”

“I just got a frog in my throat. You should hear your Uncle Adam. He must have a couple of frogs in his. He sounds a whole lot worse than I do according to your Aunt Traci.”

The three boys laughed and rode off to school. The three girls stared at Joe wondering at that statement about frogs in the throat.

“Uncle Joe, you don’t really have a frog in your throat, do you?”

“I most definitely have a frog in my throat. It’s probably the worst one I’ve ever had.”

“You’ve had a frog in your throat before?”

Joe turned back to look at the girls and was amused at their horrified looks. He knew then that they thought he had a real frog in his throat so he played it up by making some frog noises before he nodded yes. The girls cringed, and Joe smiled all the way to school every now and then making a croaking noise and grinning broadly with the squeaks they made in response.

All day, the girls thought about the frog in the throat concept and couldn’t make sense out of what Joe said, but they forgot all about it when they started talking about their plans to go swimming after school that day. As expected, Joe gave his daughter permission to play at her cousins’ home, and he left her there. The girls told Jillian they were going to pick flowers in the meadow and watch for deer who liked to munch on the rich grass there. Jillian told them to stick together and be home in two hours. The three girls walked slowly together until they were out of sight and then ran to the lake. They were winded when they got there, but quickly stripped off their dresses, shoes, and stockings as well as their extra underclothing before wading into the water. Each of the girls had dressed in an extra petticoat and drawers. They planned to leave the wet ones to dry on the bushes and come back the next day to do the same thing.

The next day, they did the same thing. However, their planning had not included what to do about their wet clothing on the second day. It was Friday so they would have to work something else out. They decided to bring the clothing to the grove near Hoss’ house and hang them there so Dorothy and RoseMary could retrieve them the next day when the clothes were dry. Pleased with their solution, they happily skipped home.

Everything would have worked out well for them too except Hoss was so hot and dirty at the end of his day that he decided to ride to the lake for a cooling, cleansing swim. He stripped down and swam and relaxed until he felt much better. Hoss was looking forward to his brothers being healthy again to relieve him of some of this workload and missed having someone to swim with too. After a nice refreshing dip in the lake, he dressed and wished he had brought clean clothing with him.

On his ride back to his home, Hoss found three sets of wet girls’ underclothing hanging on bushes not too far from his house and directly in a line between his house and the lake. Remembering the girls’ request only a few days before, he knew exactly what they had done. Jillian was furious to know that her daughters had lied and engaged in dangerous activity that had been expressly told to them was completely prohibited. They had risked their lives. However the next day was planned to be a celebration of Ben’s birthday at the main house so Hoss and Jillian decided to wait one day before confronting the girls about their misbehavior. On Saturday, Hoss planned to tell Joe what they had discovered to see what he and Amy wanted to do.

Chapter 2

Saturday was another beautiful if very warm day. The whole family was at the Ponderosa to celebrate Ben’s birthday. He had arrived home the day before to find streamers and paper lanterns adorning the house and yard. Although he told Traci and Hop Sing they shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble for he knew how busy they were, they could tell how pleased he was. When he found that the whole family would be there the next day, he was even happier.

The only one missing was Adam who stayed in bed because even though his fever had finally broken the night before, he didn’t want to risk infecting anyone else especially with all the children around. He was tired too and could sleep when he wished although all the noise from the children would likely make that difficult. His brothers came up to visit with him although Hoss kept his distance coming no closer than the doorway. That’s when Hoss told Joe about the girls and the risk they had taken. Hoss admonished a very angry Joe to keep his temper under control so their father could enjoy his celebration and laid out a basic strategy for his younger brother.

“You tell Amy tonight. We can talk tomorrow after church about the proper punishment for the children. I think we should try to do the same thing so the girls know we’re working together on this.”

Joe nodded, but Adam suggested another method.

“I think you can start punishing them today without risking any trouble at Pa’s celebration.” And then Adam told them what he thought they could do.

Joe liked the idea immediately. “Just give me a few minutes out back, and I can be ready.”

Hoss wasn’t as sure. “Are you sure this will work and make the girls worry about what they did?”

Joe was confident it would work. “Hoss, we can tell them these stories Adam has told us, and you know everyone will laugh. Pa even has that story about Captain Stoddard he used to tell us when we were young. I don’t think the kids have heard that one. The boys especially are gonna love it.”

So Hoss went downstairs to tell frog stories to the children.

“Why are frogs always so happy?” None of the children had an answer for Hoss so he told them. “Cause they eat what bugs em.” The girls laughed and the boys groaned. “Hey, Pa, don’t you know a few frog stories?”

“Well, yes I do have one. Do you know that Captain Stoddard, Adam’s grandfather, had a talking frog?” At the children’s amazed looks, he continued. “Yes, when he was traveling in Asia, he came to this exotic isle. There when they were getting water and provisions, he found a talking frog. It said to him. ‘Pick me up and kiss me, and I’ll become the most gorgeous woman you have ever seen in your life.’ Captain Stoddard picked up the frog and carefully dropped him in his shirt pocket. The frog had to ask ‘why?’ and the Captain said ‘At my age, I’d rather have a talking frog than a beautiful woman.'”

The girls had expected a romantic story and groaned, but the boys laughed. Hoss picked up again with more frog stories.

“When I delivered some cattle to Texas, I got to go fishing down there with some of them cowboys. We ran out of bait and hadn’t caught a single fish. Well then we saw this cottonmouth with a frog in its mouth. One of those cowboys knew the snake couldn’t bite him with that frog in its mouth and frogs make good fish bait. So he grabbed that snake and took the frog right out of its mouth. Then he didn’t know how to let go to that snake’s head without getting bit. One of those other cowboys took out his bottle of moonshine and poured some down that snake’s throat. That snake went all glassy eyed then and the cowboy tossed him in the water. Little while later, that snake was back with two frogs in its mouth.”

Ben had never heard that one and roared with laughter joined by the rest of the family. Then Hoss started the heart of the plan.

“Yep, and your Uncle Joe has a frog in his throat. He and Adam forgot you weren’t supposed to swim in that lake at this time of year, and they went swimming to cool off before they came home last week.”

“Why shouldn’t anyone swim in the lake now?” Dorothy was intrigued but just a little worried too.

“Well there’s all sorts of frogs’ eggs floating in the water. They’re so tiny, they’re invisible. But ifn you get some of that water in your mouth or in your ears, a frog’s egg can hatch, and you get a frog in your throat.”

“Papa, you’re joshing us, aren’t you?”

Now Dorothy was very worried. The other two girls had sat up and were staring at Hoss with unusual intensity too.

“Nah, you just wait until you see your Uncle Joe and ask him. He can show ya the frog in his throat.”

Now Ben and the boys knew where this was going and waited for the girls to react. Right on cue, Joe walked around the end of the house. The girls immediately clamored for him to show them the frog in his throat, so he opened his mouth and on his tongue, was a tiny tree frog. The girls screamed and ran into the house as the boys roared with laughter. The adults smiled. Joe did love playing that trick, but they had forbidden him to use it to scare the girls when they were younger because Joe had done it to Eric when he was young, and as a little boy, he had nightmares about it for weeks.

Inside the house, the girls were standing by the window in the dining room to get enough light to look in each other’s mouths. They examined each other over and over again.

“I wonder how long it takes?”

“I don’t know. I wonder if there’s a cure?”

“How can we ask without telling them we were naughty?”

“Yes, Papa told us not to swim in the lake, and we did it anyway, and now we gots frogs eggs in us.”

Hop Sing had overheard the stories that were told, and heard the girls talking when they rushed inside. He knew then exactly what they had done and why they were so worried. He walked out into the dining room to address the girls.

“Hop Sing hear girls talk. Only one cure. Must keep mouth shut. Only open eat and drink. Otherwise fresh air help frog egg hatch.”

“Oh, thank you, Hop Sing.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you.”

Hop Sing raised his finger to his lips and the girls immediately clamped their hands over their mouths that were suddenly squeezed shut. Hop Sing smiled and walked back into the kitchen as the girls went back outside. Everyone was surprised at how quiet the girls were the rest of the day although they ate and drank at dinner, but didn’t complain about anything nor did they look scared any more.

On Sunday at church, the girls were quiet and their fathers were relieved not to have to discipline them in church in front of their friends and neighbors. The girls in fact had never been this well behaved in church where they usually couldn’t stay quiet. It seemed they were praying too which was unusual for the three girls who usually had a difficult time staying focused in church.

Chapter 3

After church, Hoss and Joe and their wives talked and agreed that their daughters would get extra chores helping their mothers for a week, would not be allowed to play outdoors, and would have to write an apology to their mothers for doing such a dangerous act. Both men had told their wives the night before what they had found out about the girls swimming in the lake, and they had worked out what they thought were acceptable punishments that were finalized when they were able to talk to the others. Neither father was comfortable in spanking a girl so they hoped the girls would not challenge them on these punishments and force them into an unpleasant decision.

Confronting their daughters at home, Hoss and Jillian were dismayed to have Dorothy argue with them.

“It’s not fair. The boys always get to have fun. They’re trusted to do the right thing. But you never trust me.”

“You are much younger. The boys are two, three, and four years older than you.” Jillian was going to try logic.

“And I’ll always be younger. Will you use that to forever tell me I can’t do things? Eric was doing a lot more by the time he was seven than what you let me do. He was riding a horse and everything. You even let him swim in the lake with those frogs’ eggs in there!” Suddenly Dorothy remembered Hop Sing’s advice and clamped her mouth shut tight again.

Hoss had just known that story would come back at him. “Ah, honey, that frogs’ eggs story is just a tall tale. There aren’t frogs’ eggs that will grow in your throat.”

Jillian tried to help. “Saying someone has a frog in their throat is just a way of saying their voice is very hoarse and sounds a little like a frog.”

The eyes on both Dorothy and RoseMary got very big. Almost as a chorus, they responded. “Papa, you lied to us!”

“Girls, your father did not lie to you. He told you a tall tale to make you feel bad about what you did. If you recall, it was while the men were telling all sorts of stories. You don’t really believe that Captain Stoddard had a talking frog, now do you?”

RoseMary was very upset. “That was a lie too?”

“Honey, now Papa didn’t lie to you. I was just joshing with ya and telling stories.”

Dorothy also had an accusation to make. “But I asked if you were joshing us, and you said you weren’t.”

“Honey, we was just kidding around. No harm done.”

Jillian had wondered whether telling them the frogs’ eggs story was a good idea when she found out what the brothers had told their daughters. It was exactly the kind of thing men might do, and it was funny. But she had worried about how their daughters would react, and this conversation supported her point of view. She didn’t have to wonder too long about other ramifications once Dorothy asked her next question.

“So, what about that story you told about how Aunt Traci had a baby. You said a stork delivered the baby, but why did her belly get so big, and then it was smaller when the baby came?”

“Oh, Hoss, I believe I have lunch to prepare. You can handle this one with the girls.” With a big grin, Jillian headed to the kitchen highly amused at the panicked look on her husband’s face. Well she was thinking that he had opened this can of worms himself so he could handle it on his own too. She could hear them talking while she was working in the kitchen and smiled in sympathy at the next question from the girls. She knew exactly where this was headed.

Dorothy was very smart and now she was on a roll. “She really did have that baby in her belly, didn’t she?”

Hoss had to nod.

“Well, how did it get in there?”

“Ah, I think that’s the kind of thing a mother talks to her daughters about.”

From the kitchen, Jillian chimed in. “No, not at all. You’re doing fine. Keep going.”

“Yes, Papa, I want to know too. How does babies get inside mamas? Hey, was we in Mama’s belly too?”

“Yes, RoseMary, you both were. Now when a man and a woman love each other and get married, they kiss, and do stuff, and then the baby is in there.”

RoseMary thought for just a short time. “Don’t you and Mama kiss and do stuff any more? Ifn you did, we could have a baby just like Aunt Traci had a baby, but Hope is getting big now and are they gonna kiss and do stuff and have another baby?”

“Ah, I think you need to ask your Aunt Traci and Uncle Adam that. And you can ask your Mama about us having another baby too.”

“Can we ask her now?”

“Well, RoseMary, I think that is a wonderful idea.” Hoss smiled and decided it was time to go outside and do some chores that needed to be done.

Before Jillian had a chance to stop Hoss, he was outside and the girls were in the kitchen so she had to do something quickly. “You girls have extra chores to do. First RoseMary wash your hands and then you may set the table as you usually do. While she is doing that, Dorothy go to the garden and pick the beans. Lunch will be ready by the time you’re finished, and wash your hands when you are done with the beans.”

Dorothy was ready for that one. “Mama, is it right to work picking those beans on the Lord’s day? Grandpa says we shouldn’t do unnecessary work on Sundays.”

“Those beans will be too ripe by tomorrow. They need to be picked today. What does Grandpa say about wasting the Lord’s bounty? For talking back, you may spend the afternoon in your room reading the Bible and thinking about ways to improve your behavior.”

“Yes, Mama.” Dorothy knew when she was defeated. This was going to be a miserable day and she didn’t want to make it any worse than she already had.

“RoseMary may sit in the parlor and read the book she was assigned in school and has not read yet according to her teacher.”

RoseMary rushed to wash her hands and do her task before additional penalties could be added on. She silently set the table being careful to place everything exactly where it belonged as this was not a day to irritate her mother.

When lunch was ready, Jillian called Hoss and Eric to the table. The girls were already sitting silently in their spots. Hoss had to wonder how Jillian had quieted them. From the look on her face, it had not been a pleasant conversation so he thought he would wait until she was ready to tell him what had happened. Eric asked if he could go fishing after lunch, and Hoss looked at Jillian hoping she would be agreeable to that. He would like fish for dinner and hoped he could go with his son. He asked if Jillian had anything special for him to do or if she thought it would be all right for him to go with their son. Jillian smiled.

“Of course, Papa, and I think I’ll join the two of you. It’s a beautiful day. The girls can do the dishes and then the other things they have been told to do. I would love to enjoy the day with you and our son so we can have fish for dinner.”

That got slight groans from the two girls who quickly stifled their objections after one look from their mother. They had talked about the possibility that they might get caught swimming in the lake, but thought the fun they had had would have been worth the punishment they would receive, but now realized that had been a terrible miscalculation. Both wondered how Paulene was doing at her house with Joe and Amy.

Unlike Adam who in principle did not like spanking and Hoss who couldn’t hurt another person without an exceptionally great reason, Joe would use spanking even of a girl when he was pushed enough, and Paulene had pushed a lot. Paulene had been assigned extra chores and was restricted to the house for a week just like Dorothy and RoseMary. Unfortunately, Paulene had her father’s temper and impulsivity. She had immediately and strenuously objected. Joe had leaned her over his knee and given her a spanking. The result was an angry, sullen girl who was thinking of what she could do because she felt she had been treated so unfairly. Nothing good ever came from thinking like that, but she didn’t know that yet. Like her father, she needed to learn by experience and sometimes repeated experience.

Chapter 4

The ride to school on Monday was very quiet. The girls did some whispering, but Paulene was very afraid that her father might hear something so she kept most of her plan to herself. She would tell the other two when they got to school. As soon as her father left, she started.

“I’m going to kiss a boy today.”

Dorothy and RoseMary were shocked. “Why?”

“Well if you and a boy kiss, then he has to marry you and have children. If you’re married, you don’t have to live with your Ma and Pa, and they can’t tell you what to do, and they can’t punish you either. You get to have your own house and a horse to ride. I want one as pretty as Aunt Traci has.”

“Dorothy, we should kiss some boys too!”

“RoseMary, don’t be silly. You’re too young.”

“I’m almost as old as you.”

“Paulene is older than both of us. Let’s see if it works for her first.” Dorothy wasn’t happy at all with how their last plan had worked out. She was beginning to see that one had to plan much further ahead than a day or two, and one should also consider how others might react. She wasn’t quite sure how to do those things yet, but she was working on it.

RoseMary thought it was all a great idea though. “Who you gonna kiss so he’s got to marry you?”

“I’m not quite sure yet. Bill Bolding’s family has a lot of money but they live in town. He doesn’t have a horse, but he’s very cute. Nate Thompson isn’t as cute but he rides his horse to school every day and he’s only a year older than me.”

“Oh kiss him! Kiss him! Will you have a big wedding? Can I be in your wedding please? I just know Ma will make me a pretty dress.”

“RoseMary, we don’t even know if this is going to work. Paulene, are you sure your parents are going to let you get married? You’re awful young to get married. That Turner girl just got married, and my Mama said she’s too young to be married, and she’s sixteen years old already. You’re only seven.”

“I’m almost eight. Well, they might think I’m too young, but once we kiss, it won’t matter. We’ll have to get married.”

“And how do you know that?” Dorothy was trying to be the voice of reason in this group but didn’t know that much about this topic.

“Cause I heard Ma and Pa talking. Ma said that Turner girl was too young to get married.”

“Aha, that’s just what I told you my Ma said.”

“Yeah, but Pa said that boy took liberties with her, and she’s gonna have a baby so they got to get married.”

“If you kiss Nate Thompson, does that mean you’re gonna have a baby. Our Pa says that ifn a man and a woman get married and kiss and do stuff, then they gets to have a baby. You’re kinda small to have a baby don’t you think?” Now even RoseMary was starting to have some doubts about this plan.

“I think he has to kiss you back, and that’s when you have the baby.”

“What if he kisses you back then?”

“Well, then I guess I have to have a baby. Babies are really cute though. It would be fun to have a baby.”

“Dorothy and I watched Aunt Traci feeding Hope one day. Hope was sucking on these things you got right here.” RoseMary pointed to both sides of her chest.

“Why would she do that?” Paulene was intrigued. She had never seen that in detail. Aunt Traci usually had a towel or small blanket over Hope when she had seen her nursing her baby.

“Aunt Traci told us she’s got milk in there for the baby.”

“How does milk get in those?”

“Aunt Traci says God puts it in mamas so they can feed their babies.”

Paulene was realizing that RoseMary knew more about these things than she did. Dorothy hadn’t said anything for a while. She appeared to be thinking deeply about something. Finally Dorothy had something to say.

“Paulene, are you sure you want to do this? It seems like there’s a lot that could happen. Why would you want to take such risks?”

And suddenly the reason for the action once again became the all-consuming thought for Paulene. She would be free of her parents’ unfair discipline and would be able to have a horse.

“I just gotta do it. I think I’ll kiss him right as we leave school today. Pa might even be here by then, and he’ll see it. Then he’ll know what I have to do, and he won’t be able to do nothing about it. I’ll be married right off and nobody can tell me what to do.”

So Paulene was set in her plan, and by the end of the lunch recess, all the girls knew. All the teacher knew was there was an inordinate amount of giggling going on especially when Nate Thompson was called on to read. He stood at the front of the room causing all the girls in the room to start giggling immediately. The teacher surreptitiously glanced at his fly to be sure it was closed, and it was. Then she wondered if Nate had done something with one of the girls that had caused this reaction, but realizing he was only eight years old, she doubted that was the case either. She was mystified as to the cause of the girls’ strange behavior. When the clock struck three in the afternoon and nothing had happened, the teacher was relieved. Something was going to happen. Of that, she was sure, but now she could relax because it would not happen in the schoolroom so it would not be her problem.

Outside, a number of parents waited in carriages and on wagons for their children to be dismissed. Joe was waiting to give the Cartwright girls a ride home. He was not completely recovered from his respiratory infection and was on light duty until he was. Therefore he got to be a spectator for the great kissing controversy and witnessed his daughter starting it all.

As Paulene left the schoolhouse, she ran to catch up to Nate Thompson calling his name to get him to slow down. As he did and turned, Paulene kissed him and told him that now he had to marry her. Nate stood in shock but probably no more than Joe was. Then Molly Mason ran up to Matthew and kissed him saying that now they would have to marry. Several other girls kissed boys they liked and made the same announcement. Maggie Neustatder kissed Eric several times but made no demands.

“What’s going on? And why didn’t you tell me I had to marry you like all these other crazy girls are doing?”

“Oh they have this crazy idea that if you kiss a boy, he has to marry you.”

“And you don’t?”

“Of course not. I just wanted to kiss you.”

So Eric kissed her back, but quickly mounted up to ride home when he saw her father approaching. Eric was thinking he had his first girlfriend. He certainly had his first kiss now. He looked at the two other boys. LJ was smiling at him, but Matthew looked like he was in shock.

“Matthew, you do know that getting kissed by a girl doesn’t mean you have to marry her, don’t you?”

“Oh, good. Thank you. I was worried that it might be some strange custom out here in the West with which I was unfamiliar.”

At the school, Dorothy and RoseMary sat in the wagon and waited for all of the commotion to die down. A very red-faced Mr. Thompson was yelling at Uncle Joe who was looking very angry himself. Then they heard their uncle say he was sorry, and that Paulene would be properly disciplined. Dorothy looked at RoseMary and nodded her head as she smiled. Just as she suspected, kissing a boy did not mean they had to marry you, and in fact made fathers and mothers very upset if the parents in this schoolyard were any indication. Uncle Joe came and plopped Paulene into the wagon sitting her down on her butt very hard. Paulene already had tears in her eyes, and then fear was added to the growing emotional turmoil in her. The other two girls didn’t dare say anything that might incur their uncle’s wrath because they had never seen him this angry. It was a silent ride to their home, and when their mother came out to greet them, she only got a perfunctory greeting from Uncle Joe and then he left.

“What was that all about?”

So Dorothy and RoseMary told their mother all about what Paulene had planned and done as well as explaining her reasons. Jillian smiled. She had heard stories from Hoss and Adam about Joe’s harebrained schemes. He was getting payback. She couldn’t wait to have the girls share this tale with their father. She was chuckling as she thought about it then, and each time she thought about it later, she would chuckle again. Hoss rode in soon after, and Adam was with him. Hoss and Jillian hoped that they could add a room to their house, and Adam was supposed to come by to take some measurements. It was perfect. The girls could tell both of them about Paulene’s antics. The family was going to have a lot of fun with this.

Chapter 5

When Joe arrived at his house, he ordered Paulene to go to her room. Amy could see how angry he was and wanted to know what had brought that on. Joe couldn’t sit and paced back and forth across the kitchen as his wife cleaned up some green beans for dinner. She waited as Joe sputtered out the story bit by bit. He was angry, embarrassed, and worried at the same time.

Based on what Paulene had said, Joe knew that she had concocted this scheme to avoid being punished for her bad actions. She was seven years old and had the audacity to try to tell her parents what to do. She thought she was smarter than both of them. She was deceitful, rebellious, and disrespectful. All of that made Joe very angry.

Paulene’s scheme had made Joe the target of angry parents and there had been little he could do except apologize for his daughter and promise to discipline her for the trouble she had caused. Joe hated apologizing even when he was the one at fault so it was doubly difficult to do it for his daughter who had been so defiant. In addition, Joe knew that his brothers were going to be merciless with this story. He would have to suffer through their torment as well. It was all so terribly embarrassing.

Finally, Joe was worried. Hoss didn’t seem to have nearly the trouble with his two daughters as Joe did with his one. He was worried about what kind of trouble Paulene would get into when she was older if they didn’t get her to curb her impulsive and emotional behavior now.

Joe looked at his wife when he finished talking, and she was smiling.

“How can you be smiling? After everything I said, you think it’s funny?”

Amy set the beans on the table and stood to stand next to Joe.

“Who better to understand our daughter than her father?”

“Why me?”

“Joe, I knew you for many years. We were in school together. You were impulsive, quick to anger, always looking for fun, scheming for ways to avoid work, and one of the most lovable people I ever knew. Paulene is so much like you at that age, it is frightening sometimes and yet so reassuring to know what kind of person she can grow to be.”

“If that’s true, what can I do?”

“What worked best when you were disobedient? Think about the methods your father used with you, and decide what had the greatest impact. That’s what we should do with Paulene.”

Sitting down then, Joe was quiet. He looked at Amy after a few minutes. “I am so lucky to have married you. I’ll take care of this.”

Walking upstairs to Paulene’s room, Joe got a little bit of his good humor back, but he put a stern visage on his face when he knocked on his daughter’s door. She told him to come in and he opened the door to find her red-eyed but standing defiantly waiting for him.

“Sit down Paulene. We have some serious business to discuss. Now that you’re getting married, you will have to stop going to school. No one who is married goes to school. You will need to spend all your spare time sewing your trousseau. I’m sure your mother and your aunts will help you learn how to sew.”

“What’s a trousseau?”

“That’s the fancy stuff a woman brings to her husband’s new home. You know, fancy bed linens and lacy things. Your mother will help you. I know you will have a horse to care for at your husband’s family ranch so each morning you will muck out stalls in the stable with LJ to learn how to properly care for horses. Your ma will teach you how to make butter and cheese. Oh yes, you will have to start milking the two cows we have so you know how to do that. The rest of your day, you can work with Mama in the kitchen learning to cook and bake. Husbands expect that their wives can do that very well. Oh and you will have to learn to garden and take care of the chickens too. Perhaps you can start collecting the eggs tomorrow. There’s a lot to do to be a woman instead of a girl. Now do you have any questions?”

Sitting suddenly, Paulene had lost all the swagger and defiance. On the bed, she sat still and shocked. She had never thought about all of those things. Looking up at her father, she had to say what was truly in her heart.

“Pa, I don’t want to be married. I just want to be seven years old and go to school and be a girl.”

“Oh, so you want to be my daughter and do as I say?”

Recognizing the trap and unable to avoid it, Paulene had to agree. “Yes, Pa.”

“Very well. And do you know what the punishment is for a daughter in this family is willfully defiant and disrespectful to her parents? And what happens to a daughter who deceives her parents? What happens when that daughter does not accept her punishment for her bad behavior and tries to avoid it by creating even more trouble?”

By that point, Paulene had tears sliding down her cheeks. She was nodding yes and her lower lip was quivering as she knew what was coming next. At dinner, she was silent and didn’t squirm even though her behind was quite uncomfortable despite the pillow her mother allowed her to use to pad the wooden chair. She had apologies to write and homework to do which kept her busy until bedtime. The next morning, Dorothy and RoseMary wanted to know what happened.

“I think you know what happened.” And Paulene was quiet for the rest of the ride.

Meanwhile the boys were riding in together as they did every morning. They were talking and laughing about what had happened the day before. LJ and Matthew were just a bit jealous of Eric for getting his first real kiss, and having a girlfriend although neither was sure they wanted either of those yet. It just rankled a little that Eric had something they didn’t have. Then they began talking about their mothers’ birthdays which were all in the late fall. They each hoped to get something special.

“I have about two dollars.” Eric regretted now buying himself that new jackknife when he already had one, but it had that carving of an eagle on it, and he had been unable to resist.

“I’ve got five and a half dollars.” LJ had not spent like Eric but like Eric, he didn’t have much of an income either.

“I’ve got about fifty dollars.” Matthew’s statement had the other two speechless with their mouths hanging open.

“How did you get that much money?” was the question both boys asked.

“Well I was in the bunkhouse one day, and the men asked if I wanted to play pool. I said I didn’t know how. They said for a dollar wager, I could play. I had a dollar and wanted to play so I did. I beat the man I was playing against so then I had two dollars. They got mad and said I lied. I said I did not. I had never played pool but I had played billiards and that they were remarkably similar in technique. So they forgave me, and asked me to try again against their best player. There were more wagers and they gave me three to one odds. I won so then I had six dollars. It really is a fun way to get money. Well, by the end of that afternoon, I had eighteen dollars. Whenever the men want me to play, I do and bet with them. I win most of the time but lose some too. That’s what makes wagering so intriguing. I try to work out the mathematical likelihood of making money with my play and my wagers.”

“Darn, but you make the most complicated stuff sound so easy. Is wagering just your fancy way of saying you’re betting?”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Could you bet our money and make more for us?”

“I should think so. It will take a while. For some reason, the men only do this wagering on random nights. I don’t understand the logic of it.”

“Don’t you get in trouble with your pa for gambling?”

Suddenly it dawned on Matthew that the nights were not random at all. “Papa and Grandpa are never there when the men want me to play pool with them.” He had assumed all along that they were being nice to him by entertaining him when the men in his family were gone. Now he suspected there was something more sinister at work. “I’m beginning to think that perhaps I should not be doing it at all.”

“Probably not, but how about you do it just maybe one more time so we can have enough money to get our mamas something good for their birthdays?”

“I guess so, but I can make no promises. I don’t know when they will ask me to play again either.” At their hangdog looks, Matthew had to relent. “I’ll do my very best though.”

All smiles then, LJ and Eric rode on either side of Matthew to school. The boys began to talk about what they could buy their mothers. It was an interesting discussion as boys tried their best to understand what a woman would like. It wasn’t easy for them to imagine, but they had a long list of possibilities with the three of them working together. All would have worked out very well for them except that Adam had to tease Joe just a little about what Paulene had done.

“Well, maybe you oughta look closer to home and see what your children are up to.”

Knowing that Joe was referring to Matthew, Adam couldn’t think of anything that he had done on a par with Paulene’s shenanigans. Seeing Adam’s obvious ignorance of his son’s gambling, Joe just had to fill him in enough.

“I hear Matthew is quite the pool shark. Must have learned a few tricks from his father on how to bank those balls.”

Adam still had no idea what Joe was talking about, but he was determined to find out. As Adam rode toward home, Joe started to feel a little badly. He had snitched on Matthew in order to get even with Adam. That would not sit well with the rest of the family especially Matthew when they found out. This week just wasn’t going well.

There were going to be even more people mad at Joe than he realized. When Adam talked to the hands, they admitted what had been happening. When he talked to their father about what had been happening, they agreed on some new rules for pool table use in the bunkhouse including only men could play and no betting. The men had known the risk when they included Matthew but were quite perturbed when they found out it was Joe who had let the cat out of the bag. They felt sorry for Matthew because they knew that when he got home, he would pay an even steeper price for they had seen how angry Adam was.

After Adam explained to Traci, she just smiled.

“How can you be so calm when you find out our son is a gambler?”

“Oh, and who taught him to play? Who taught him about probabilities in betting? Now I know you said it was just a fun way to study mathematical equations, but now you have the result. He is his father’s son. He uses his wits to get ahead.”

“So you would just let it go?”

“Oh no, not at all. I don’t want an eight-year-old gambler son. I just want you to think about what would have stopped you at that age if you had done something like this.”

So on that Saturday, Matthew went to town with his father. He had been surprised that nothing had been said about his pool playing and his wagering. On the way to town, that ended.

“So I hear you are quite good with a pool cue.”

Matthew looked at this father in alarm until he saw that he was not looking angry. He nodded affirmatively to his father’s look.

“Well, I would like to see you in action. I’ll finish my errands and then we can go to the best pool hall in town. You can show me how you play.”

Matthew wasn’t so sure about this, but it was his father’s idea so he was willing to try. In the first game at the pool hall, he learned that everyone who played, wagered. He looked at his father who nodded and smiled. Matthew made the two-dollar bet and won. He looked at his father and grinned then. The man he was playing against grumbled a bit and asked for a chance to win his money back. Matthew played again and won. Then the man asked him for odds and a bigger bet. Matthew gave him two to one and bet ten dollars and won. The man increased his demands. Matthew gave him three to one and bet twenty dollars. The man broke and then ran the table. Matthew never got a chance to even make a single move. The man picked up all of Matthew’s money, nodded at Adam, and walked to the bar to order a drink.

“I guess it’s time to go home.”

Matthew frowned at his father wondering if he had asked the man to do that. Finally he asked him outright.

“No, but I suspected immediately what he would do. I don’t think you’re ready to play a man’s game, do you?”

Matthew shook his head. Tears threatened to fall.

“What were you going to do with the money?”

“I wanted to get Mama a really nice birthday present.”

“There are better ways of getting money to do that. I’ll make a list of jobs on the ranch that you can do, and I’ll set a wage for each one. They will not be your normal chores, but other things that we need done. Is that fair?”

“Yes, Papa, but I lost Eric’s money and LJ’s too. They asked me to wager their money.”

“I’ll talk to their fathers. I think they will be willing to do the same thing. If you boys don’t have enough by the birthdays, I’ll loan money to make up the difference.”

“Thank you, Papa. And I’m sorry. I didn’t really think about it being wrong until I realized that they only asked me to play when you and Grandpa were gone.”

“It’s all right. Lesson learned?”

Father and son rode home then, and chatted about what Traci would like for her birthday.

Chapter 6

On Saturday after chores were completed, LJ, Eric, and Matthew had permission to go to the lake to fish or even to swim if it was warm enough. They were to stay together regardless of what they chose to do, and to be home by dinner. The boys had a great time walking in the water, skipping stones, and climbing the rocks. There was a cave they wanted to explore but didn’t want any of their fathers angry at them so they decided to ask Joe if he would go with them and explore. He was the most daring of the fathers as far as adventures like that so they thought to see if LJ could talk him into it for the next Saturday. As they climbed down from the rocks to head to their horses, they found a dead rattlesnake. It looked like an eagle or other large bird had killed it but lost it in the crevice between the rocks.

“Oh, I know what we could do with this. My Pa told me how he scared Uncle Adam and Uncle Hoss with one of these. He tied a string to the rattles, and then he coiled the snake up and hid in the hayloft. When Uncle Adam and Uncle Hoss came in the stable, he pulled the string and rattled the rattles.”

“Then what happened?” Eric was hooked.

“He said Uncle Adam drew and shot it which scared their horses, and they had to run after them and bring them back. By the time they got back, Uncle Joe had untied the string and left the shot-up snake laying there.”

“Didn’t they ever catch him out?” Eric was also worried about Uncle Adam finding out because everyone knew to respect his temper.

“He said Uncle Hoss thought the snake looked a ‘mite peculiar’, but Uncle Adam grabbed a shovel and carried it outside and buried it. He said Uncle Joe told them about it when he was all growed up and laughed at them. They didn’t like that at all, but I think it’s really funny.”

“Well and good, but on whom could we play such a prank? We know about it, we can’t play it on the girls, and our fathers would be very upset if we tried it on them.” Matthew was ever the practical one.

The boys were quiet as they walked to the horses. They were thinking. LJ came up with an idea first. “Let’s put it in the necessary at school. We can tie a string to it and run it out through the little window in the back. Then when someone goes inside and closes the door, we pull the string and rattle the rattles. It’s dark enough in there so that they won’t be able to see it’s dead.”

“What if one of the girls or the little kids goes in there first?” Matthew was looking for the drawbacks.

“We could put a cloth over it that would come off when we pulled the string. That way no one would see it until we wanted them to.” LJ was liking the plan more and more.

“LJ, I think there are too many variables in your plan.”

“Matthew, what the heck does that mean?”

“It means that too many things could go wrong. I don’t think we ought to do this. In fact, I don’t want to do anything with it at all.”

“All right, but it would be all right to take it to school to show the other boys right and tell them what we thought about doing with it? That ought to get some laughs at least.”

Matthew thought about that and couldn’t think of any reasons not to show off the rattles and tell the other boys of the fantasy plan.

“As long as we don’t actually do the steps in the plan but only explain them to the others, I see no potential ramifications to that.”

LJ packed the snake into his saddlebags with Eric’s help. The three rode together to Eric’s house and then LJ and Matthew rode toward their homes with LJ splitting off a short distance before the main house to go to his. On Monday morning as the boys rode to school, LJ gave Matthew one more chance to authorize the prank. Matthew declined and decided it would be prudent to stay as far away from the two as he could.

As LJ and Eric showed the snakeskin and rattles, they told all the older boys about the plan they had worked out but wouldn’t do. Unfortunately, the other boys didn’t agree with Matthews warning, grabbed the snake and got it into the necessary and covered it up as well as running a string from the rattles up through the windows and outside. Then they ran and hid behind the necessary waiting for a victim. They saw Elaine, one of the older girls, heading their way and ducked down. When they heard the door to the necessary close, they pulled the string several times making the rattles rattle. What they heard next shocked them. The schoolteacher screamed and then yelled bloody murder and burst from the necessary with her drawers down around her ankles. The children were still outside the school, and they roared with laughter. LJ and Eric ran as fast as they could to get as far away from the necessary as they could and hoped to circle around to the schoolyard to blend in with the crowd.

As the teacher pulled up her drawers, Matthew ran to the necessary to remove the dead snake. As he did so, the teacher roared his name in unrestrained fierce anger.

“Matthew Cartwright, how dare you. You march into that schoolhouse right this moment.”

“But, ma’am, I didn’t . . . ”

“Don’t you dare speak to me. You will march in that schoolhouse this minute, or I will drag you in there.”

“Ma’am, I just wish to explain that I …”

“He didn’t do it, ma’am, I did.” LJ stepped forward to admit his guilt.

“It wasn’t Matthew. I did it too.” Eric followed quickly.

“Me too.”

“And me.”

Almost all of the children admitted to doing it. Many thought they were protecting Matthew. He was always so nice to all of them and so helpful, they couldn’t let him take the punishment. The teacher stood there perplexed. She could hardly punish all of the children for what one or two had done. On the other hand, all of the children except the guilty ones were lying.

In the schoolhouse, the teacher wrote a list of spelling words on the board when they were all inside. It was the longest list any of them had ever seen. It was honesty, truthfulness, respect, honor, and a host of other words describing attributes that parents and teachers wanted the children to learn. There were ten of the simplest ones for the youngest, and the total went up by ten for each age until the oldest students had a total of one hundred words to learn by Friday. In addition, there was an essay assignment to use all of the words in an essay. That essay was due by the end of the week and had to be signed by a parent who had read it. All of them would read their essays on Friday to the class. The older students would be expected to help the younger ones. As expected, there was a lot of discussion among the students during the morning recess and during lunch. LJ and Eric went in early after their lunch and asked to speak with the teacher. They had notes to bring home to their parents after that. After lunch, the teacher reduced the spelling list by half, but the essay assignment stood although of course there were now half the list of words to use so that would be less too. The teacher explained her reasons to the class.

“Some students decided to play a prank. Other student knew about it and did nothing. Others claimed to have participated in order to protect the guilty, and that is dishonest. Almost all laughed at someone who was embarrassed and humiliated. No one can be proud of what they did out there today. That’s it. School is dismissed.”

Matthew stood up and applauded. LJ and Eric and then most of the students stood and applauded. Finally all of the students participated in a standing ovation for their teacher. She earned a lot of respect for her actions this day, and the students wanted her to know they were in fact sorry for what had happened.

That evening, LJ and Eric admitted to their parents what they had done. They didn’t think it was funny any more. They were assigned extra chores at home, and were restricted from any trip to the lake for two weeks. They accepted the punishment for they had finally understood that pranks that hurt someone were not funny. Even though they had not carried out the prank, their actions had led to it happening so it was being an accessory.

Their parents weren’t happy with what had happened, but they were pleased that the boys seemed to have learned from the experience. They knew time would tell if the lesson held. There of course would be more such lessons, but each step of the way, the youngsters were growing up to be Cartwrights.

 

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