Summary: Hoot tries to teach the Cartwrights a lesson but learns more than he ever expected. This is a prequel Christmas story.
Rating: PG  Word count: 2,295

And His Heart Grew A Little Bit Larger

Everyone still called him Hoot, but his hooting and hollering days were way behind him. His wife had left only a year after their daughter had run off with a cowhand. When word had come back that his daughter had been abandoned in a small town and later died in childbirth, Hoot blamed everyone but himself. His wife though blamed him. They argued and he drank. After a few months of that, she left too not running away with anyone but simply leaving to go back east to be with her family. Hoot stopped drinking, but he never got back to smiling or talking either for that matter. He worked. He slept. He worked again. That was his life. After a busy year on the Ponderosa, Hoot was hired. He made no trouble and did his job. Yet, the men were uncomfortable with him. It was like having a ghost around or at least that was the usual way of describing him. When Marie died in a riding accident, he broke his usual silence.

“Mister Cartwright is better off without any females in the house.”

Hoot never offered condolences and actually seemed pleased at her passing if anyone could even tell if the man was pleased by anything. You could tell when he was displeased though by his eyebrows slamming down over his eyes so that it was hard to believe he could see out of the tiny slits that remained. Kicking things when he was unhappy was another unpleasant trait but he never damaged anything of value not hurt anyone or anything. Therefore no matter how uncomfortable he made the hands, there were no grounds to let him go. And in fact, he always volunteered for Saturday and Sunday extra duties for extra pay which meant the other men had more opportunities for socializing. They would head to Gold Hill camps to gamble and drink. and he would work and make more money.

“Pa, what do you think Hoot wants with all that money?”

“Adam, I don’t know, and frankly, that is none of our business.”

“But he doesn’t have a family and he doesn’t seem to have anything to spend money on so why would he want so much?”

“I’ve answered that question. Now, it’s time to finish up the Christmas decorations outside so you can get back in here to start the decorating here. You know we need to make this Christmas as normal as possible for your brothers.”

“I know, Pa. I just had to warm up a little, and I was thinking.”

Walking to his son, Ben Cartwright wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“I know. Sometimes I forget that after all that happened, you need things to be as normal as possible too. Yes, I know you are always thinking, and I hope you never stop using that fine mind of yours. Ask a question any time you have one.”

“Thanks, Pa.”

With that, Adam went back outside. At the dining table, Hoss was stringing popcorn garland while Little Joe was attempting to do the same. Ben watched them for a while. Shaking his head in disbelief at how enthusiastic and unartistic his youngest son was, he decided there was going to need to be a way to use the mess that Little Joe was making or there would be tears for sure. Hoss must have been thinking the same thing.

“Pa, I was thinking a basket of popcorn garland under the tree would look real pretty. We could put some red ribbon on it like it was where all the other garland come from.”

“Came from, and that is an excellent idea, son. It means that Little Joe’s popcorn garland is where your garland came from and decorated the tree.”

“So mine is better than Hoss’ then?”

“No, yours is not better, Little Joe. It is just as good.”

Little Joe actually looked disappointed at that, but again Hoss had an answer.

“It’s better than I could do when I was your age, so it’s better that way.”

Little Joe beamed, Hoss smiled, and Ben decided his middle son was a natural diplomat.

Outside, Adam was finishing the decorating putting pine boughs and ribbons on the porch and around the door. Hoot watched him and waited for him to finish. Earlier he had seen Adam and Ben put a stack of presents in the tool shed. As soon as Adam was done with that ladder, Hoot had plans. He was tired of this wealthy family having this holiday with all this fun based on money. If he had had more money, his daughter would not have left. If she had not left and had married a respectable young man, then his wife would not have left. It was all about money. Well, he would show them what a holiday was like when you didn’t have money. He planned to take their Christmas away from them. He was no thief. He wouldn’t steal the gifts but only hide them so they wouldn’t find them until after the holiday.

The next morning, Hoot rested on his cot in the bunkhouse with the small number of hands who stayed for the winter. They waited in anticipation for the annual Christmas bonus and the extra benefits they usually got on Christmas Day. Hoot suspected they might be disappointed. He was shocked when there was a knock on the door, and Ben Cartwright was there with envelopes and a large box.

“I have your Christmas gifts.”

The relief in the bunkhouse was palpable. One of the men spoke up right away.

“Mister Cartwright, we’re real sorry about what happened. Adam was in here earlier to ask if we had seen anyone around because all your gifts were missing. I guess we were afraid it might mean our gifts might be ‘missing’ too.”

“Nonsense. Your gifts were in the safe. Now here they are. Every envelope has a name on it. The bonus is based on the number of years you have worked with us and a little more for those who went on the trail drive this year. In the box are cookies from Hop Sing’s kitchen and two bottles from my own collection. It’s my favorite brandy so I hope you like it. Just remember it’s for sipping not gulping. For today only, the rule against liquor in the bunkhouse is out. Hop Sing will have some ham and potatoes ready for you in about an hour if you would send a couple of men to get it. I see you have your beans cooking. Grab some bread while you’re in the kitchen too. Hop Sing will show you where it is. He will have a baked apple dessert for you later today.”

“Where’s Adam? He usually helps bring the gifts and hands them out.”

“I set all three of my sons to the task of coming up with gifts for each other that do not cost money. We didn’t always have money especially when Adam was young and even when he and Hoss were young boys here and we lived in a cabin. They know what it’s like to have a Christmas without expensive gifts, and this year, Little Joe will learn about that too.”

“Still, we’re sorry about that.”

“Thank you, and Merry Christmas!”

Inside the house, it took a few more hours for the boys to be ready. Hoss kept asking for more time until finally, Ben said it was enough. He came down with a pillowcase of lumpy objects. Little Joe had a stack of papers, and Adam sat with no visible items. Little Joe got to go first. He handed out the drawings he had made for each of them. For his father, he drew a large horse with a small horse next to it. His father sat on the large horse. Of course, the only way you could tell it was Ben Cartwright was the color of the vest and the hat he was wearing. Smiling he had only one comment.

“So when your horse makes another horse, you can give the little one to me.”

For Hoss, Little Joe had drawn pictures of every bird and animal he could.

“Adam and Hop Sing helped me. I had trouble figuring out how to draw some of them and how big to make them.”

For Adam, there was only one item on the paper. It was a giant heart. Adam looked at his little brother wondering what it meant. Little Joe pointed at the large heart, and inside there was the outline of a smaller heart. Guessing what it meant, Adam wrapped his arms around his little brother.

“I love you too, Little Joe. And I will never forget it as long as I have this drawing.”

Hoss was next. His gift to Little Joe got less of a joyous reaction than he had hoped at first.

“It’s just sticks!”

“I carved them all to be the same. I learned how to play a game called pick up sticks from some of them Germans who came through on that wagon train this fall. I figured we could play it together. Maybe we could even get good at it and then play Adam and Pa.”

“And we could beat them!”

“Maybe.”

With a grin, Hoss moved on to hand gifts to Adam and to his father. Each got four pieces of wood engraved with pine trees and mountains. Looking at them carefully, it was Adam who guessed correctly.

“It’s a picture frame.”

“Yeah, I didn’t have time to fit it all together, but they match up just right so with a little work and a picture, I’ll put them together for you.”

Then it was Adam’s turn. He turned to his father first.

“My skills don’t translate well into gifts that can be made in a couple of hours. However, I have some gifts that I can give this winter.”

He turned to Hoss next.

“For Hoss, I will teach him what you taught me about tying flies, and then in the spring, I will take him fishing. We’ll camp by the river near the house here for his first camping trip.

He turned to Little Joe last after a wink for his father.

“And Pa, just for you, my gift to Little Joe is that we will take Little Joe with us. We’ll need something to do in the evening, so this winter, I will teach Little Joe how to play checkers too. That’s it. That’s all I have to give.”

The two youngest Cartwrights began hooting and hollering as they were jumping up and down and then patting Adam on the back for his gift.

“That ain’t all you got to give, Adam. We ain’t had our snowball fight yet. Little Joe is old enough to join in this year, ain’t he? Me and him against you? How does that sound?”

“That sounds like a challenge. Let’s go.”

Hoot’s pocket was full of cash which he had no intention of spending and his belly was full of good food. In his hand was a glass of fine brandy. What he saw though made him almost drop that brandy. The three Cartwright sons came outside all smiles and acted as if they were happy. They began constructing walls of snow and then began making snowballs. In only a short time, a snowball fight began that continued until the two younger brothers stormed Adam’s wall, breached it, and took him down into the snow. By then, Ben Cartwright was standing on his porch laughing and apparently telling the three to come back inside. Other men in the bunkhouse had been watching, laughing, and commenting. Now they added that it was probably time for them to get ready to have dinner together.

“But how can they be so happy? They don’t have any presents?”

“Hoot, you just don’t get it, do you? It ain’t money that makes a family. They really love each other and want to be together. Through thick and thin, they’re there for each other. Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories for you.”

For a time then, Hoot sat on his bunk thinking before he stood, donned his coat and hat, and prepared to leave.

“Where you going?”

“I got something I need to do.”

After a visit to the hayloft, Hoot stood at the door to the house and knocked. He had never lacked courage but needed all he had for this moment. When the door opened, and Ben Cartwright stood there, he simply handed him the bundle of presents he had hidden.

“I didn’t like that you had so much that I didn’t. I didn’t steal them. I hid them. Here they all are. I’ll pack my things now. I know you don’t want me here no more.”

All three sons had come to stand with their father. Adam put a hand on Ben’s shoulder and then Hoss did the same. Little Joe couldn’t reach so he leaned up against his father’s side.

All three boys let their father know they backed whatever decision he made.

“Hoot, come on in. We’re having dinner soon. I’ll have Hop Sing set an extra place. I imagine it’s been a long time since you had a good family dinner.”

“I don’t deserve this.”

“Everyone deserves forgiveness when they ask for it and are sorry. Everyone deserves love especially on this day. Come on in. You’re letting in a lot of cold air standing there.”

And Hoot’s heart grew a little bit larger that day and kept on growing.

*****Of course, a great thank you to Dr. Seuss for the inspiration and for the idea from the Grinch story that I adapted to Hoot and Bonanza.