Summary: A young Ben takes part in a lumberjack contest, but the consequences aren’t what he expected. Winner of the 2023 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.

Rating: K+
Word Count:  2893

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“Whatcha doing, Pa?” The little boy’s eyes were as big as saucers. “You always tell me never to cut with a knife towards yourself and now…” Incredulity made him stop.

The young man, slender but already very broad-shouldered, jumped down from the transverse log where he had been swinging a big axe right between his feet. The accusing tone of his son really stung his conscience. He wasn’t being a good role model at this moment, and yes, he wasn’t normally a man who took unnecessary risks. But fifty dollars prize money, the wages of almost 6 weeks hard work in the lumber camp, could change things.

“Oh, Adam, you’re here. Yes, it looks… But I’m training. Cutting through a log in this way is part of the lumberjack contest.”

“Of the what? But isn’t it dangerous?”

“Yes, if you’re careless, but you know me. I can handle an axe.” Ben smiled at his five year old son.

The small boy nodded, still frowning slightly.

“Come on.” The father put his arm around his son’s shoulders. Ben knew how seriously Adam took rules, and he was normally very proud of how responsible the boy was. “Look, next Sunday we’re having a lumberjack contest at the camp, showing off skills only very experienced men can do, like that underhanded chop. To cut in such a way is not for boys. You hear me?”

“Yes, Pa!” Adam answered automatically.

“The boss likes contests and he wants to celebrate the birth of his new son and heir at last, so he’s offering a fine sum of money for the overall champion lumberjack in five disciplines—and even little prizes for the three best men in each one. If I win, we could leave here and go on west much sooner than we expected.”

“So we can find our own place like you and mother planned.” The child finished his father’s thought confidently—all his life he had known they were heading for somewhere far, far away. Looking up at his father, he added. “Pa, I would be glad to travel again.” In a lower voice he went on, “It’s so boring at the widow Smith’s boarding house.”

“Yes, and if I win something, we could even buy a new book to keep you from being bored.” Ben tousled his son’s hair. “Would you like to know what the contest’s disciplines are?”

The boy nodded eagerly.

“First, cutting a standing log, then sawing through a big block of timber, then cutting through a log underhanded while standing on it, next climbing to the top of a tall pole, and finally the boom run—that is running across a series of rolling logs and back again.”

“Oh, that’s a lot, Pa.”

“Yes, and I have to practice hard, but….” Ben winked at his son. “I have a little advantage over most of the loggers. When I sailed with your grandfather I learned to climb a mast, and I can keep my balance standing on shaky things. What do you think, should I enter the competition?”

“Yes!” The boy beamed.

**********

Adam looked up at the chalkboard listing names and scores. “Benjamin Cartwright,” he mumbled. “Rank 8, after the sawing race and cutting the upright log.” The boy crossed his fingers. It was the first time he had been to the camp, which was crowded with all sorts of people come to watch the contest. There were even a few stalls with food. The grilled meat smelled very good, but it was more important to find a place from where he could see the climbing. Standing on a big barrel, he had a good view of the two bare poles. The race would be run in pairs, but it wasn’t enough just to beat your partner. There were two timekeepers with extra-good watches—with second hands, even—one of whom ran the camp and owned all the forest. They would say who was the fastest of all the climbers. Pa had explained all the contest’s rules very carefully to him.

From the fourth pair, one man was a lot faster than his opponent, and the crowd applauded loudly. The fifth and sixth pairs seemed slow—one man didn’t even reach the top. When they were down again each man pulled off the climbing gear and lay it by the pole. Now his father was tightening the spurred climbers onto his boots and testing the feel of the rope. Adam crossed his fingers again and bit his lip.

When the start command came, both men nearly ran up the smooth poles. Adam closed his eyes for a moment, but he opened them again to see that his pa was nearly at the top. He rang the bell and immediately started back down. Now his opponent had also reached the top. He wasn’t far behind; Pa was only a few yards down when the other man started his descent. Wow, was he fast—he nearly slid down the pole. Pa was being more careful, but when his father saw how fast the other man was, he also started to slide. Almost at the same time both men touched the ground, grinned at each other and shook hands. It had been a glorious match—but Pa had lost. Only by a few feet, but Pa was second! After that Adam had little interest in the other five pairs. He only noticed they mostly seemed slower and several men gave up altogether.

With the rest of the crowd Adam ran back to the chalkboard where the times and standings were posted. He hoped that at least his Pa hadn’t dropped in position, so he would still have a chance to finish fifth and earn at least a little prize money. Adam wished so desperately to leave this place and this boarding house! He couldn’t Pa tell how different it was from what widow Smith had promised, especially how bad the food was—only flour soup or watery porridge. Pa had enough sorrows without him complaining about his own troubles, but the sooner they left, the better.

Adam needed to squeeze himself between two big men who stood blocking the chalkboard. To his delight, Pa had the second best time in climbing and was now ranked third overall. He was starting to back away when he heard one of the big men say, “They cheated, they cheated us with this time.”

“Yes, Danny, it’s not possible. I saw it with my own eyes, this Cartwright was only second and Georgie won his match, and he won it with plenty to spare!”

“Cartwright can’t have been that fast, he’s only been here three weeks and he’s never done any climbing. Him beat our brother? Can’t be. It’s a cheat, a big cheat!”

“Yeah, them and their fancy clocks. I bet they don’t really have a second hand.”

“I’ve never ever seen a clock like that. And for what is it necessary? Obviously only for cheating! First is first and second is second!”

“Let’s go, Tommy. It’s not right that this stranger…”

Their voices became suddenly too quiet for Adam to hear. The boy was puzzled, but then he saw his father coming.

“Pa, look, you’re now in third place!” The boy shouted.

“Yes, Adam, I know!”  Adam didn’t think he had ever seen such a carefree, joyful grin on his father’s face.

“Come on, son. There’s a rest break. Let’s go get some barbecue.”

Adam could only nod, his mouth was watering so.

**********

Adam could still taste the savor of the good meat when he again climbed onto his barrel to watch the underhand chopping contest.

This time his father had drawn a lot that put him in the third pair. Adam saw the two first pairs in a dreamlike haze. Standing on the block, the start, cutting, turning, again cutting, someone won. And again; and now Pa. He stood on the log, his feet wide apart, and gripped his axe, the one where Pa had engraved his name on its handle, even before he ever started work in the lumber camp. Adam had loved how neatly Pa had burned the letters into the handle. Both men lifted their axes over their heads. Now came the starting command. The other man chopped like crazy but Pa—Pa just slapped the side of his axe against the log, and almost dropped it. Some people laughed. What was it? Now Pa jumped down from his log. The other man had already cut through his timber and threw his arms in the air in triumph. And his Pa had no time at all—he was disqualified. For a moment Adam stood frozen as a block, before he ran to find his father. What had happened? Something was really, really wrong!

**********

“Wagonwheel grease, Adam. Somebody put wagonwheel grease on the handle of my axe.”

“But, Pa, that’s mean!”

“Yes, mean and very dangerous. I could have chopped off my foot. What kind of man would do such a thing to a comrade? In a logging camp, each man depends on all the others. I can’t believe it! Someone didn’t want me to have a chance to win.”

“What will you do, Pa?”

“What can I do?” Ben answered his own question. “Don’t know.”

Father and son sat down on a log. His father’s usual serious look was back on his face, Adam noticed. “Pa? I heard two men talk about cheating. They said the times were wrong and their brother George was faster than you.”

“Oh? Really? Would you recognize them?”

“I think so. They were big and called each other Danny and Tommy.”

“Dan, Tom, and George? I know them. Everybody knows them. They are the Brown brothers. Dan is the foreman here and they have at least five cousins and a lot of friends working here, too. And I’m a stranger and alone.”

“Not alone, Pa.” Adam tried to sit very straight. Pa smiled a little and put his big warm hand on Adam’s tight-clenched fist.

“You know what, son? Just because trouble comes visiting doesn’t mean you have to offer it a place to sit down. It’s better we leave this camp as soon as we can. I’ll go find the boss to resign and get my back wages.”

Pa stood up and Adam followed, just a little space behind. Pa hadn’t said he couldn’t.

**********

“Oh, Cartwright, good to see you.” The boss was a man in his thirties, wearing an expensive, dressy suit. He grabbed Ben’s hand and shook it. “I watched you in the contest, and I’d like to make you a high climber or even the foreman’s assistant. With a higher salary, of course. But what went wrong in the underhand contest?”

“Thank you for the offer, sir, but I’ll have to refuse. I would like to show you something.” Ben took out his handkerchief and wiped it over the handle of his axe, then handed it to the owner.

“Grease or oil. Looks like axle grease,” said the man after a short examination of the fabric.

“Yes,” Ben answered. “Axle grease. And because of that, I would like to stop working in this camp. It seems I’m not very welcome here. A logging camp is never a very safe place, but if you can’t trust your fellow loggers, it’s better to move on. Look, as a father yourself, you will understand me: This here is my son. He already has no mother. I don’t want an accident to me leaving him completely an orphan. And even when you can suspect who is behind them, accidents still happen.”

The boss’s eyes narrowed. “You think you know who did that to you?”

“Yes, sir, but I have no proof.”

“Please, tell me.”

“My son heard the Brown brothers complaining that my climb was timed faster than George Brown’s. They assumed there was some kind of cheating with the clocks. Sir, I worked as a sailor from my fourteenth year on. I know to get up a mast.” Ben smiled sardonically. “But as I said, I have no proof that they did this to my axe. Best just to take it as a sign to move on. All I need is the wages I’m owed.”

“Well, it’s your decision, Cartwright. But I think I need to have a talk with the Brown brothers. It was I myself who timed the race, and they knew that. How dare they imply I’d do anything unsportsmanlike? Me – who studied in England! I won’t be called a cheat by any man!” The man called to the treasurer and asked what Ben was owed, then opened his wallet. “Here, these are your back wages, plus five dollars for being the second best climber, and here is your entry fee back, because it wasn’t your fault you couldn’t finish the contest, whoever sabotaged you. Good luck with your future!” He shook Ben’s hand again very seriously and then vanished in the crowd.

**********

“Pa?”

“Yes?” Ben Cartwright clucked his tongue to encourage the horse pulling their small wagon.

“Pa, I heard once a man say, ‘It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge’. That is how I feel. We could be rich by now, couldn’t we?”

“Not rich, but maybe a little more comfortable, yes. But I will find a new job in the next settlement, don’t worry.”

“Why did the bad men win? It’s so unfair! Nobody punished them.”

“Oh, Adam, before you can punish somebody you must have proof they did something wrong. We didn’t. We didn’t even have the power to demand an investigation.”

Father and son settled further into the wagon’s seat, each absorbed in his own thoughts. After a few moments Adam glanced behind him and cried out, “Pa! Look, black smoke!”

Ben reined the horse in sharply. “That’s from the direction of the lumber camp. Looks like it’s on fire!” For a moment he thought about turning back, but they were already half a day’s journey away. A glance at the sky also told him that rain was in the air. There was nothing to do but go on with their journey. When the skies opened, they stopped under a wide-spreading tree, so their horse and wagon wouldn’t become too wet. Wet canvas needed time to dry out again, and it smelled terrible.

**********

“Pa, may I have a pork chop?” Adam asked his father, sitting on a pillow at the table of the small restaurant.

“Yes, now that I have the new job here, you may choose what you like,” Ben answered.

“But please, don’t read during dinner.”

“I’m just looking at the cover. I won’t open the new book, Pa,” the boy mumbled.

“Adam, put it away, please.”

At that moment a stagecoach driver came in asking for a big cool beer.

“Howdy Jim, prompt as always,” the host greeted him. “What’s new in the world?”

“This and that…they had a fire at young Mr. Johnson’s lumber camp. Started a-purpose, people were saying. There’d been something like a fair at the camp and afterwards young Mr. Johnson fired three of his men—three brothers. Later on, they snuck back to stir up trouble. If it hadn’t been for the old foreman and some of the men from old Mr. Johnson’s days, the brothers and their crowd might even have killed him. It seemed that from the time he took over from his father, young Mr. Johnson trusted all the wrong people. Lucky thing some rain helped put out the fire and nothing much was burned.”

“What happened to the brothers and their helpers?” asked the innkeeper.

“One is dead, the others are in jail. I think they will have a long time in prison.”

Father and son looked at each other.

“Pa, do you think it happened because they cheated you?”

“No, not really, Adam. What we told the boss made him angry because the Browns assumed he was as crooked as they were. That made him finally start asking those brothers some questions. Questions he should have asked them much sooner, before he gave them so much power in his camp. You know it’s always the boss’s responsibility to watch over his workers. Like master, like man.”

“But Mr. Johnson isn’t bad, Pa!”

“Not bad, no—but lazy. He didn’t pay enough attention to his business. Even as a stranger, I had heard grumbles about the Browns and their nasty ways, men saying the old foreman had run the camp better. If you don’t look after your crew, the worst men always seem to take over. When we have our own land, our own house, our own forest, we will do better! What do you think about that?”

“Our own forest? I like that!” The thought made Adam grin, but he knew once he was big enough to matter, he wanted even more to help make sure that bad men never won!

***The End***

A/N:   Written for Bonanza Brand’s 2023 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament. The words/phrases dealt to me were:

wagon wheel grease
“Just because trouble comes visiting doesn’t mean you have to offer it a place to sit down”
lumberjack contest
fire
“It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge”