Summary: I thought it would be fun to give Adam a daughter who got into as much trouble as Little Joe. This is an account of her troubles as told by her in a Journal.
Rating: PG (mention of painting with person wearing very little)
Words: 9,500
The Brandsters have included this story by this author in our project: Preserving Their Legacy. To preserve the legacy of the author, we have decided to give their work a home in the Bonanza Brand Fanfiction Library. The author will always be the owner of this work of fanfiction, and should they wish us to remove their story, we will.
Author’s Note: Thanks to Lucy for doing a beta read for me.
Trouble for a Cartwright
My Pa gave me this journal he said to keep track of my daily adventures, or as Pa calls them my “incidents”. He says that without written proof no one would believe half of the stuff I come up with. I told Pa that maybe a Cartwright a hundred years from now will read it. Pa said he hoped not, he would hate to be held responsible because I was a bad influence on some distant family member. I think I should be insulted. It’s not like anybody has ever been hurt by what I have done, not physically anyway. I hope Pa never reads this, I am guessing that at some point I will write things I won’t want him to know about.
I hear Pa yelling, it must be time to eat gotta go.
I just realized I haven’t said anything about me. I guess I should since this is my journal, and it is all about me. Besides I have lots of time to write, you see I got into a little bit of trouble a couple of days ago. Well a little bit really doesn’t describe it; I got into a whole mess of trouble. How was I supposed to know she would faint?
I am Kyler Elizabeth Cartwright and I am 10 years old, almost 10 ½ but whose counting. I am named after Pa’s mama, but she died along time ago. The only people to call me by my full name are Pa or Pop Pop, and they only use it when I am in trouble. Which in my case, can happen a lot. I go to school in Virginia City, I can’t tell my friends but I really like school. I want to go to college one day like Pa did, my friend Jack says girls can’t go to college but I’ll show him.
If you are a Cartwright who is reading this in the future, then you know that I live on the Ponderosa. I live with my Pa, Adam Cartwright, his pa Ben Cartwright (my Pop Pop), and his brothers (my Uncle Hoss, and Little Joe). Pa was born in Boston, he and Pop Pop traveled all the way from Boston to the Ponderosa when he was a little boy. Pa helped Pop Pop build the house and everything else. My Pa is the best! He helps me do all kinds of things, and is always willing to teach me stuff. Pa talks to me about the ranch, and what it takes to make it work. He said just because I am a girl, isn’t an excuse not know. He says the ranch is part my responsibility too, I may not go on cattle drives and things like that but it is important to know everything that goes on. I like it that he doesn’t expect me to play with dolls, have tea parties, and be all prissy just because I am a girl. I do have to behave like a young lady, especially when we go places like church. You know what’s funny? My Pa showing me how a young lady should act, stuff like how to sit, and walk. Uncle Hoss and Little Joe sure gave him hard time when they saw that.
Back to introducing myself to whoever may read this. Hopefully no one will read it for a very long time!
Pa’s mama died when he was born. That’s who I am named after Elizabeth. Pop Pop says I look like her and laugh like her. On the way traveling here Pop Pop got married again to my Uncle Hoss’ mama; her name was Inger. Pa said she was always happy, and willing to help anyone just like Uncle Hoss. Grandma Inger died when Pa was a little boy, and my Uncle Hoss was just a baby. My Uncle Hoss is the biggest man in the whole world, but he is not mean. He is the kindest person you will ever met. My Uncle Hoss teaches me lots of things. Like how to find my way if I would get lost, how to track, take care of animals, and how to fish. When I know I am going to be in trouble, it is Uncle Hoss I go to. He will try to smooth things over with Pa, but if I did something real bad he tells me I have to face the consequences. Uncle Hoss is always there for me when I need to talk, and try to figure things out.
Pop Pop got married again when he went to New Orleans. He met grandma Marie; she is Little Joe’s mama. Pop pop said Pa didn’t accept Marie at first, he said Pa was afraid to love her as a mama. But when Little Joe came along, all that changed. Little Joe, he’s my other uncle but he is more like a big brother. He gives me lots of good ideas for pranks (but sometimes he will act like an adult, he says there is a line that I can’t cross), and he plays with me. We are not allowed to sit next to each other at church anymore, the last time we caused to many problems. Little Joe’s mama died in a riding accident when he was 5 years old. Pa said that Pop Pop was very sad for a long time after it happened. Pa had to take care of the ranch and my uncles. Pop pop started to get better, and started to take charge again. It was then Pa went to college in Boston. After college Pa came back home to help out on the ranch.
My Pa didn’t stay on the ranch he left again. He said he wanted to travel and see the world before he got to old to do it. I know that everyone was sad that he wanted to leave, and Little Joe was mad for a long time. I am glad that he left, because if he didn’t I wouldn’t be here. Pa met my mama, Carrie, while he was spending some time in Boston visiting some old friends. He had just got back from London, and was getting ready to leave again to go to Australia when he met my mama. Her friend was marred to my pa’s friend; Pa says he was set up. He went to a dinner party, and came out wearing a ball and chain. He said he tried to run, but Ma caught him because she was faster runner. But I know he was only teasing. Pa and Mama were married not long after they met. Mama and Pa went back home to the Ponderosa; Pa said it was time for him to go back. What they didn’t know was that I made the trip with them.
I have been told that I am a lot like both of my parents. I like to learn knew things and see how they work. I guess I get that from Pa. I also like to find adventures, will try anything, and give an opinion even when no one asks for it. Pa says I get that from my Ma. Pop pop told Pa that’s not completely true.
Mama doesn’t live with us anymore. She lives in heaven with my little brother, and my grandmothers. I remember when Mama and Pa told me I was going to have a little brother or sister. I had been waiting a long time for someone to boss around, just like Little Joe bossed me around. He said the best thing about having me was there was finally someone younger than him. But I didn’t get the chance to boss my little brother. I heard the doctor tell Pa that the baby came to early and Mama had a hard time. My Pa was really sad. He wouldn’t talk to me or anyone else. All he would do is sit in his room or go to where Mama and my bother were buried. I tried to get him to be with me. I was sad too because I missed Mama very much. I told him she would sing to me every night before I went to bed, and I really missed that, but Pa would just look at me. I thought he didn’t love me anymore. Pop Pop told me that Pa needed some time, like he did when grandma Marie died. Pop pop told me that Pa still loved me very much, and that he would get better. I started to spend a lot of time with Pop Pop we would read books, go riding, and go fishing. I also learned then that Pop Pop has a very hard hand, and he doesn’t like it when you disobey him. Finally Pa started to get better, he even started to sing to me at bedtime like my Mama used to. He still gets sad and so do I.
I think I am done writing for now; I need to go see my Papa.
July 11th
I have written all about me and my family, I guess I can no go on to what caused me to have so much time to write. Still don’t see why she fainted, or why that should cause me to get into more trouble. Maybe I should’ve talked to Uncle Hoss, he would have told me it was a bad idea. Anyway this is how the whole thing got started.
I was swimming with my friends Jack, Wes, and Sarah; we were trying to come up with ideas on what we could do for the rest of summer vacation. We were already spent so much time fishing and swimming, the we were really bored and wanted something interesting to do. I think this is were we made our mistake, we should have just kept with fishing and swimming. We decided to play a joke on the town spinster, Miss Johnson, and her women’s society club. They are always telling everyone what they do wrong and how they should live their lives. She is always telling Pa that I have no chance being a proper young lady being raised by “all you men”. To teach her a lesson to stay out of every one else’s business, she became our target. Now that we had a target, we just had to come up with a plan. But I nearly didn’t get to be apart of our plan. I sorta missed up at home.
No more time to write now, I get to help Pop Pop organize papers yeah for me.
Lets see where did I leave off? Oh yeah, now I remember causing problems at home.
I have chores that I have to do every morning and evening. As soon s I have my morning chores done, I can go play with my friends but I have to be back in time for meals. I started to skip out before finishing my chores. Pa and everyone else had been leaving early and no one was there to check. All I had to do was be back before them, and Pa would never know. This worked for a little while, but then we went to Indian’s Bluff. Indian’s Bluff is a high cliff this is off limits and has been for as long as I can remember. Pa says it is too dangerous, that I could get hurt real bad playing there. We wanted to see if the legend about the Indian Maiden was true . Little Joe told me that a long time ago and Indian Maiden climbed up to wait for her intended, but he didn’t come. She stayed there waiting for him to return, never leaving. Little Joe said if you climbed up to where she waited you can hear her crying. No one has ever made it up there. Little Joe said he tried, but Pop Pop caught him and he got in a lot of trouble. We decided we would go and see about the legend. When we got there, the dares to see who would climbed up started.
Jack dared Wes to climbed up and called him a chicken.
Wes said “why should I be the one to go up, why don’t you?”
That just made Jack laugh and he told Wes “see told ya you’re a chicken.”
That made Wes mad, he pushed Jack and yelled at him “I ain’t chicken. You are!”
“Fine prove it when you climb up there. Go see if you can hear the Indian crying.”
Sarah and me looked at each other we knew what was gonna happen if we didn’t stop them. Sarah told them to knock it off that it didn’t matter. I told them we were taking enough risk just being there. When I said that Jack turned to me and said
“What’s the matter scared your pa will catch ya? I bet your chicken to go up too.”
Now I know I should have just ignored Jack, but I really hate it when someone calls me chicken. Before I knew it was telling Jack that me and Wes would climb up. Wes looked at me like I was crazy. I told him everything would be fine, and that we would show Jack that we ain’t no cowards. Looking back I realize this was an other time my big mouth bit off more than I could chew. I really got to learn to think before I speak, that would keep me out of trouble. It was getting late so we left to go home. I didn’t have a warm welcoming when I got there.
It’s time to go, pa is letting me go to town with him to pick up supplies.
July 12th
Okay back to why I almost didn’t get to be apart of our prank.
When I got home I saw that all the horses in their stall, and that my chores had been done. Not a good thing. I went ahead and saw to my horse, Knight, being sure to take extra time. I was already late; a few more minutes wouldn’t make it any worse for me. I finally got up the courage to go into the house and face Pa. I am not afraid of Pa, he is not mean or anything. I just don’t like it when he is mad, and I am the one who made him mad.
It didn’t take long for Pa’s wrath to come. As soon as I opened the door, I heard Pa say “You’re late Kyler Elizabeth.
I looked at Pa sadly “Yes sir, I’m sorry”
Pa gave me a look that made me nervous and said “Hop sing told me this is not the first time you have been late, I also noticed that your chores from this morning were not finished. Am I going to have to guess that this was not the first time you skipped out on your chores or are you going to tell me?”
That was a direct question, and direct questions can cause a lot of problems for me. I can’t lie that only makes things worse, but being honest also can get a kid into trouble. So I came up with the idea not to say anything, that didn’t go over real well with Pa. It only succeeded in making him angrier, and he had to repeat himself “Young lady, I asked you a question and I want an answer. This was not the first time you skipped out on your chores is it?”
I knew I was gonna have to answer him I took a deep breath, and backed up a step and answered, “No sir, it’s not the first time.”
Pa was able to guess what I had been up to “You would leave before finishing, making sure to get back in time to do all you chores so I would not find out.”
This time I didn’t say anything there was no need. I was hoping Pa wouldn’t find out where I had been going. I knew I would be in trouble, how much I wasn’t for sure yet. I had the possibilities of restriction, necessary talk and extra chores. I was praying that since this was my first offense I wouldn’t have to worry about the fist two. Pa doesn’t spank me very often, he usually makes me do some chore that I really hate. But when he thinks I need a “necessary talk” (that’s what it is called in my family), he does a real good job.
Pa told me that I took advantage of him not being, and that he was disappointed in me. He said he should be able to leave knowing that I will complete all my responsibilities. When Pa said he was disappointed, I wanted to cry. I love Pa very much, and want to make him proud. I told him I was sorry, and that I wouldn’t do it again. He said he forgave me, but if it happened again I will have more than just extra chores to worry about.
I was relieved that all I was gonna have to do was extra chores. It has always amazed me that the same hand the takes care of me, and shows me love everyday, is the same one that lets me know when I have done something Pa doesn’t approve of.
July 13h
I kept my word to Pa, and did all my chores and even the extra ones plus made sure I was home on time. I did go to Indian Bluff again, it turned out not to be a real good idea for more than one reason.
The first reason is that me and Wes nearly killed our selves trying to climb up that stupid hill. We didn’t even make it half way up when some rocks gave away and we slipped down the side. I looked like a mess, my clothes were all tore up, and I scraped up my knees and arms. Wes looked as bad as I did, we decided to put of climbing Indian’s Bluff for now.
Sarah and Jack came running over to us asking if we were okay, and what we were going to do about our cuts and our clothes. I figured if I could get home in time, I could change my clothes, and hide the ones I tore. Wes said he liked that idea and he would try it to. Sarah did have to ask about our cuts, and how we were gonna hide those. I told her I would just tell Pa I fell, I think I sounded confident I when said it.
Pa did see my cuts and asked what I happen. I told him that I fell down, but that I was fine and not to worry. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. I was lucky and Pa didn’t ask what I was doing when I got hurt. Pa helped me clean up my scrapes, and told me to be more careful next time. The other reason trying to climb up the hill turned out to be a bad idea comes later.
Hop Sing’s yelling for me, it must be time for my bath gotta go.
Okay so that was whole Indian’s Bluff adventure, after that we moved on to bigger and better things. We moved on to Miss Johnson and the women’s society club. It was while we were swimming that Jack mentioned how much fun it would be to play a joke on Miss Johnson and all the other ladies. We all agreed, Wes asked what we should do. Jack told him “How should I know? Kyler always comes up with the ideas.” At the time I took that as a compliment, but now I’m not so sure. Sarah decided to pipe in and said “yeah but her ideas always get us into trouble” I told her that I never forced any of them to go along with what I come up with. I said that she was always willing, and not to be blame me for getting into trouble. She said she was making sure we all knew what we were going to get ourselves into.
Wes and Jack wanted to know what I had come up with, and were a little put out that I was still thinking on it. It was fun thinking about what we could do to Miss Johnson, but I hadn’t decided on what would be the perfect prank. I told them that what ever we did it needed to do it at the bizarre the women’s society was having next week. That way there would be more people there to witness her embarrassment. They liked that idea, but kept pestering me about what we could do. I finally got fed up with being put on the spot like that and yelled “I’m still thinking give me a chance will ya? Don’t worry I’ll come up with somethin’.” I realized that it was getting late and told them I needed to get home or else pa would have my hide for being late. All the way home I thought about what we could do, I knew it had to be unique and just for her. It had to be something the whole town would remember for many years to come.
I thought about asking Little Joe for some advice, but decided against it. I thought he might tell me I was crossing that line he has. Looking back I think I should’ve went ahead and talked to him, because maybe he would’ve told me not to do it. Then just maybe I wouldn’t have had to sleep on my stomach like I did.
Speaking of laying in bed, I better put this away I’m supposed to be a sleep.
July 14th
And so my story continues…
When I got home that day I took care of my horse and did my chores. I went into the house to get ready for dinner. I needed to get washed up and change my clothes. Pop Pop is very strict about being presentable at the table. I reminded myself that I needed to be extra careful not to say too much and give anything away. I heard Pa and everyone else come in while I was finishing up. When I was done I went downstairs to wait for them to get ready.
It didn’t take my Uncle Hoss long before he was coming down the steps. He smiled when he saw me and asked me about my day. Wanted to know if I knew how much longer until we ate, Uncle Hoss said he was “plum starved to death.” I laughed because Uncle Hoss is always plum starved. Then Little Joe came down to eat. He asked me if I got into any trouble today and I said “nope, you?” Little Joe said he didn’t but tomorrow is a new day.
Pa and Pop Pop finally came downstairs and it was time to eat. Just like church me and Little Joe can’t sit next to each other, Pa says we feed into each other too much. I’m not really sure what he means by that. During dinner my family will talk about our day, what needs to be done the next day, and things like that. I was glad to just listen and not be apart of any talking, if I didn’t talk then I couldn’t give anything away. But just like every other night Pa asked, “How was your day sweetheart?”
I told him “Oh, you know, it was just a normal day.”
Then pa wanted to know if we did anything special, or anything he needed to know about, I just said “no” and left it at that. But Pa wouldn’t stop there, no he had to keep on “What did you do?” I told him we did the normal stuff swim, fish, make plans things like that. After I said that I knew I opened myself up for more questions, Pa didn’t disappoint me either he asked more. “What kind of things did you talk about? What kind of plans did you make?”
I tried to be real careful answering those questions. Too much information was deadly and not enough would cause suspicion. I picked my words very carefully, but I made the mistake of loosing eye contact. I said we talked about what we could do for the rest of the summer, it was nothing much. I think Pa would have believed me had I not looked down at my plate while I was talking to him. He raised his eyebrow up like he always does when he questions what I’m doing. Pa said he hoped none of my plans would include something he would disapprove of.
I didn’t know if I was supposed to answer him or not. Thankfully I didn’t have to Little Joe started to talk taking the focus off of me. I know I must have had a look of relief on my face, because Little Joe looked at me and winked. Little Joe told Pa that a kid could never have any fun, because Pa disapproves of just about everything. Little Joe’s comment worked everyone forgot about me, and started in on him.
Well time for bed, I’ll have to write more tomorrow.
July 15th
The more I write the closer I get to the unhappy ending.
That night after dinner I played checkers with Uncle Hoss, when our game was over I went to sit on pa’s lap. I do this every night before I go to bed, I’ve been doin’ it since Mama died. I love to lay my head on his chest and listen to him read to me, it helps me fall asleep. After a while Pa told me it was time for bed, I got up told everyone goodnight and went up to my room. Just as I finished saying my prayers and was getting into bed, Little Joe came into my room.
“All right what do you have planned?”
I gave him my best innocent look and said, “What do you mean Uncle Joe?” He knew I was up to something for sure then; I never call him Uncle Joe.
Little Joe told me “look you can’t fool me and you almost didn’t fool your Pa. I can tell you have got something planned that you don’t want Adam to know about, I probably don’t want to know either. What ever it is you need to do a better job answering questions or he’ll find out before you know it. Trust me I know from experience, Adam or Pa have a way of getting you to say something without you even knowing it. All I want to know is are you planning something dangerous?”
I assured Joe that nothing dangerous was going on, and thanked him for the advice. Just as Joe was walking out Pa walked in. Pa looked at both of us trying to figure out what we had been talking about. If I would have been paying attention, I would have seen that my pa knew I was up to something.
Pa asked me what story I wanted him to tell me, I asked for him to tell me about coming west. I didn’t get to hear the end of the story, because I fell asleep. But that’s okay since it’s not real hard to figure out.
The next morning Pa came in to wake me up. I don’t like to get up in the mornings, I haven’t figured out why I have to get up so early all the time. It doesn’t take me long to get dressed, and do my chores. All that time I spend eating breakfast and waiting to leave for school or other places could be spent sleeping. I explained all this to Pa told him how much longer I could stay in bed. He didn’t even give it any thought; he just laughed at me and said I was worse than Joe.
Anyway Pa came in to wake me up I didn’t want to get out of bed yet so I rolled over with my back to him. Let me tell you that was not a smart move! With my back to Pa I exposed my weak spot, and Pa took advantage of it. All of a sudden my backside was stinging, and I was wide a wake. I turned over and asked Pa “what was that for? I was getting’ up” Pa started to laugh at me and said, “sure you were. You better get up now or I will be forced to give you more that just one.” Now I don’t know about you but that all the warning I need, so I got up and said, “yes sir Pa. I wouldn’t want you to over use your arm. I know you hurt it last week when you were branding, I would hate to be the reason you injured you arm again. In fact I would be willing to pass on any ‘necessary talks’ just to help you out.” Now for some reason Pa started to laugh. I don’t think I’ll ever understand grown ups. Pa told me thanks, and that he was glad to know I was willing to make such a huge sacrifice. I don’t think he meant what he said, because his voice sounded like mine when he tells me not to get smart mouthed.
So anyway, I finished getting dressed and ready. I went to go do my chores and then eat some breakfast. I still hadn’t come up with an idea yet; all I knew is it had to be something that would mortify all those women, especially Miss Johnson. But what could that be? Then suddenly it hit me and I started to laugh, what a moment of inspiration. I couldn’t wait to tell Wes, Jack, and Sarah I knew they would love my idea. The only problem I could see getting in our way was finding what we would need. It was not something you could ask for without causing some suspicion. Boy I wish you could’ve seen the look on their faces when I told them my idea, to say they were shocked doesn’t even describe it.
I bet you want to know what my idea was, well your just gonna have to wait. I have to go see what extra chores Pa has planned for tomorrow.
Okay so I need to tell you about my idea.
I had to come up with something that would send Miss Johnson and all the other ladies into a hissy. And one thing that was sure to do that you ask? What else but pictures. Not just any pictures either, but ones that so off some skin. Not a whole lot of it just enough to bother them, which wouldn’t take a lot. The only thing was were to find these pictures, like I said we couldn’t just go ask for them.
Imagine our surprise when Wes spoke up and said he knew were we could get pictures like that. Jack asked were, me and Sarah wanted to know also. Wes said that his older brother came back from San Francisco with a book full of all kinds of paintings. He said his ma had fit when she saw it, told him to get rid of it before the younger ones saw it. Wes said from what he heard his ma tell his pa, some of the people in the painting didn’t have much on.
I asked Wes if he could get this book without his brother or parents finding out. Wes said he could, and that he would bring it for us to look at on Monday. Things were starting to fall into place. We now had a target, a location, and an idea. Now all we needed was a plan to put it into action. The plan was not too hard to come up with. There was going to be auctions at the bizarre lots of people were donating items to be sold. We figured we could put the painting in with the items to be sold and no one would be the wiser, but we had to make sure no one saw us do it. So once again everyone turned to me to come up with an idea. I told them that it would take some time to come up with something. I had to go home to eat lunch and then help Hop Sing finish up some chores. I told them I would see them at church the next day, and that hopefully I would have a plan.
I thought about how we could get the painting in with the rest of the stuff to be sold. I though about it so much that I wasn’t paying attention, and dropped the sheet I was supposed to be hanging up. This didn’t make Hop Sing too happy. As soon as he saw it he yelled “What you doing? You supposed to be helping not making more work. You pay better attention, or I get wooden spoon to help you.” I promised Hop Sing that I would do a better job and pay attention to what I doing. Hop Sing doesn’t like it when my pa punishes me; he tells my pa I ‘m only a little girl learning from my mistakes. But if I do something to make Hop Sing mad, he has no problems punishing me.
I made sure to do everything Hop Sing asked without getting into any more trouble. When I was finally done I headed out to the barn, to go sit in the hayloft. When I need to think about stuff or just be alone I’ll go to the hayloft, it’s the best place to think and not be bothered. When I was walking out the door Hop Sing asked “Where little missy going?” I told him that I was only going to the barn. He said that I couldn’t because I needed to take my bath and get ready for dinner. I didn’t want to take a bath yet I had some serious thinking to do so I decided to wine and beg, “Please Hop Sing, I just want to go to the barn. Please, I want stay long honest.” Hop Sing put a stop to that pretty quick, he said I sounded like a baby, and I needed to be a big girl and do what he said. I tell ya that baby thing really got me. So I went to take my bath, besides if I caused too much of a fuss Hop Sing would tell pa and I didn’t want that.
It was while I was taking my bath that I came up with the idea of how we would get our painting in with the rest of the stuff to be auctioned. The problem was that we would have to go to town without permission, and we had to make sure no one saw us. I couldn’t ask Pa it would be to easy for him to figure out that I was up t something.
I finished my bath and went to get ready for dinner. On Saturday’s I eat in my sleeping clothes with church the next day I go to be earlier than normal. I don’t mind because after dinner I sit on Pa’s lap while he’s reading and fall asleep.
During dinner my family talked all about their day, what needed to be done, all that kind of stuff. I really wasn’t paying much attention to them; I was in my own world thinking how we could get into town unnoticed, so I didn’t hear Pop Pop when he asked me about my day. I was brought out of my thoughts with Uncle Hoss’ and Little Joe’s laughing. I looked at them trying to figure out what was so funny, but then I looked at Pa whatever it was he didn’t think it was funny. I asked Pa “what did I do know? I wasn’t even talking.” Pa told me “no but your grandfather has been trying to get your attention for the last 5 minutes, and you have yet acknowledge him.”
Being caught in deep thought can cause me a lot of problems. Someone will start to ask what it was that was keeping me so preoccupied. Since I didn’t want them to ask any questions, I decided to try and distract them.
“I’m sorry Pop Pop I didn’t mean to be rude”
Pop pop looked at me like he knew I was trying to hide something (now I know were Pa gets it) “That’s all right I just asked about how your day was. But I would be more interested in knowing what had you so distracted.”
I thought long and hard before I answered him, if I could just satisfy them with telling about my day then I wouldn’t have to try to come up with a reason why I was day dreaming. So I told them all about Jack trying to do a flip off a rock and landing flat on his belly. I made it sound worse than it really was, hoping Pa and Pop Pop would go off on lecturing me on not doing dangerous stunts. It worked because they spent the next 15 going over what is acceptable and what isn’t. They also reminded me that just because someone else is doing something, doesn’t mean that I should follow. I promised that I would not do any thing dangerous, and to think for myself.
After dinner I went to sit on Pa’s lap before bed. I would be really embarrassed if any one saw me on Pa’s lap. After all I do have an image to keep up. But I love spending this time with him; it is very special to me. He will either read me a story or just talk to Pop Pop, Uncle Hoss and Little Joe, it doesn’t matter. If I lay my head down and listen to him, I will always fall asleep.
I guess your gonna have to wait to see how we get into town.
July 16th
So now I’ll explain how we got into town, which in the end added to my problems.
The next morning Little Joe woke me up for church. I actually got up and dressed with no arguments this time. I think I was really excited to get to church and talk to my friends about getting the painting into town. When we got to church, I had a hard time sitting still. I wanted it to be over so I could go see Wes, Sarah, and Jack. I kept squirming around in my sit waiting for Reverend Richmond to be finished. Pa put his hand on my leg; this is his way of warning me to be still and stop. The second time he did it he squeezed my leg, this is his way of saying I am out of chances. Next time he will take me out of church, which never fairs to well for me so I try to make sure that doesn’t happen very often.
Finally church was over and I could go find my friends. I found them over by the hitching post, so I ran over to see to talk. The first thing Wes and Jack asked as soon as I got there was if I came up with a plan. I smiled at them and told them I did. My idea was for us to sneak into town Monday night after our families go to bed. It shouldn’t take too long to get there and back, at least that’s what I was hoping. Sarah said she wouldn’t be able to go; her grandma was visiting and was sleeping in her room. She said it would be too hard for her to sneak out. I asked Wes and Jack it they would could do it both said yes, that it would be no problem since Wes is staying at Jack’s on Monday. This was going to be perfect! We made plans t met at the swimming whole on Monday Jack was going to bring his brother’s book for us to look at.
It appears that I have come to the part that starts my down hill fall into doom. For any future Cartwright’s who may read this, you have to see that this was just to good to pass up. I mean this prank was calling to me, it was meant to be right? Come on how perfect can you get, they were already having the auction we were just donating to it that’s all. To bad Pa didn’t see it that way then maybe sitting wouldn’t have been painful for so long. You know some girls at school said that their pa’s don’t give them tannings. They said their pa’s don’t think a girl should be spanked. I talked to Pa about hoping that he would see their point. He didn’t oh well it was worth a try.
Only a couple of more entries should end this tail. I’ll give you a little hint, things started off real bad.
July 17th
You would not believe what it took take pull off this prank. We had to do a lot of sneaking, planning, and conniving to make it work. Looking back I realize I should’ve known we wouldn’t get away with it. I always have a way of convincing myself that this time I’ll be able to pull it off and not get caught. But it never works out that way Pa has a way of finding out. When will I ever learn?
Okay back to the story.
Monday things started out going as planned. We met at the swimming whole and Wes brought his brother’s book. We picked out the perfect painting not real bad, but bad enough to cause a stir. It wasn’t a large painting; we put a cover over it so it would be a surprise. We spent the rest of the day swimming and talking about what we had planned for the next day. Before heading home for the day me, Wes, and Jack made plans to meet later that night so we could take the painting into town. This is were things start to go wrong.
We were nearly caught trying to put the painting in with the stuff to be auctioned. Sheriff Coffee came walking down the street, I guess to check on the stuff and almost saw us. What I didn’t know is he did, but at the time he wasn’t for sure. That’s not all Wes’ pa caught him and Jack sneaking back in. Wes was able to convince his pa they were just out for a late night walk. He let them off with a warning not to leave again. I should’ve seen then that things were not going to turn out as planned. Well one thing turned like we expected, the painting did send all the women into a tizzy. It’s what happened afterwards that turned out different.
I was able to get out of the house and back in without being caught. But when Uncle Hoss came in to wake me up, I was really tired and didn’t want to get out of bed. Uncle Hoss reminded me about going to the bizarre, I suddenly was very motivated to get up. Though I did pretend like I didn’t want to go, couldn’t act to excited.
When we got into town I asked Pa if I could go find my friends. He told me I could, but to make sure I behaved. I started to look for Wes, Jack, and Sarah I found them down by the stables. Sarah asked how everything went, we told her we put it in with the other paintings to be auctioned off. Wes told us about him and Jack getting caught. We walked over to the auction when it was getting ready to start. We stayed back so we could see everyone’s face when they unveiled our donation.
While we were waiting Sheriff Coffee walked past us. He gave me this look like he was trying to remember something but couldn’t figure out what it was. That’s when I knew that he had saw us, but was still trying guess if it was really us or not. I should have run then while I had the chance.
It finally was time to auction the paintings we were having a hard time keeping ourselves under control. They had to auction off four paintings before they finally came to ours. As soon as the cover was removed it all began. There was a loud gasp, then an other, and an other. One lady said “well I never” what she never done I’m not sure. The men and kids started to laugh. I could hear Uncle Hoss and Little Joe over everyone. Things were going just as we planned, we were feeling very good about ourselves. But that all changed very quickly.
Miss Johnson was confused about what had the women all upset, and everyone else was laughing. She turned around to see what they were pointing at, and that’s when it all came apart. When Miss Johnson saw the painting she let out the loudest shriek I have ever heard, and then she fainted straight to the ground. Only we didn’t know fainted, we thought she up and died on us right there. I know that at that point all the color went out of my face.
Wes wanted to know if they would hang kids, he looked like he was about to loose what ever was in his stomach. I kept thinking how nice Mexico sounded right about then. Pa and Doc Martin went to check on Miss Johnson. As Doc Martin was looking her over, pa looked at me; and at that time I knew I was dead. I don’t know how he knew it was me, but he did. I suggested that we slowly walk away, but we didn’t get a chance to make our escape. Sheriff Coffee put an end to it. He grab me by the back of my neck and said “I thought I saw you in town last night but then I told myself no that can’t be Kyler Cartwright, she’s home in bed.” I tried to say something but the Sheriff wouldn’t let me. He said I know you had something to do with that painting, figured it out when I saw your faces when Miss Johnson fainted. “You mean she just fainted” but that was all I got to ask. The Sheriff took us to his jail to wait for our parents. “Just wait until I tell your pa’s what you done” he told us. I said my Pa has already figure it out.
We waited for what seemed like forever for our fathers to come get us. We had enough time to come up with a hundred different ways our pa’s were gonna kill us. I knew my pa would use the slow and painful method, making sure I had lots of time to think about what I did. About an hour later the executioners (our pa’s) showed up. We could hear them yelling and making all kinds of threats, the scary thing was all the threats were being made toward us.
One by one each of my friends left to go home with their father’s. It was not a pretty sight when their pa got a hold of them; there was a lot of begging and pleading going on. Imagine my surprise when they started to sell me out, said the whole thing was my idea. Can you believe that?! My own friends leaving me out in the cold alone like that. And that’s just what I was alone, very alone.
July 18th
Pa is a crafty fellow. Let me tell you what he did to me. Pa made sure I was the last to go. I knew he was doing that so there would be no witness, that way he could kill me right they’re in the cell. My stomach was doing all kinds of flip-flops I felt like I could get sick any minute. I knew for sure that if Pa left me their much longer I would die. He always makes me wait before he punishes me. Why do parents do that, don’t they know waiting is the worse part? The longer I waited the I thought of how Pa was goona kill me. Finally Pa came back for me, and when I saw him I wished he hadn’t.
Pa gave me this stop you dead in your tracks stare. The one that says just wait until I get my hands on you. He went to open the cell door I started to back up as far away from him as I could, eventually I hit the wall and could go no further. He was still glaring at me when he came inside, he very calmly said “it would appear that you and your friends made a donation to the auction. I had no idea you were so interested in art, maybe we should go visit a museum sometime.” I tell ya this is not what I was expecting. Pa was really calm, and it really scared me. He was smiling, not yelling. No questions about the painting and all the havoc it caused.
Then Pa said, “come on sweetheart lets go on home.” There was something about the sound of his voice that made me panic. It was like he was the spider I was the fly, and he was trying to coax me into his web. I knew once I was in that web there would be no getting out. Pa told Sheriff Coffee that we were going home. The ride home was long and silent. Uncle Hoss, Little Joe, and Pop Pop had left for home a while ago. I rode double with Pa on pop Pops’ horse. I just knew that some where along the way Pa would stop and put me out of my misery, but he didn’t. I could tell he was mad though, usually when I ride double with him he lets me lean back against him. This time he was stiff, and held on to me really tight. When we got home Pa told me to go sit on the sofa and wait for him there. When I got into the house Pop Pop, Uncle Hoss, and Little Joe were all there. Pop pop gave me a look of disapproval, Uncle looked at me with sympathy, and Little Joe smiled and winked at me.
I sat on the sofa and waited for Pa like he asked me to, as soon as he walked into the house it started. When Pa said my full name I knew I was in deep. “Kyler Elizabeth Cartwright, just what in the he…heck were you thinking?” I didn’t have a chance to say anything, because Hop Sing walked in carrying the clothes I had hidden when I fell down Indian’s Bluff. Now not only did I have Pa yelling at me Hop Sing had joined in. Boy was he mad, he wanted to know how I could tear my clothes up like that, that he wasn’t gonna fix them, and that I should take better care of my stuff. One look at my face and Pa could tell that I had done something I wasn’t supposed to.
Pa said it was obvious that we had more than just today incident in town to discuss. I didn’t say anything to him, and found the floor very interesting all of a sudden. This did not make Pa too happy and he yelled “young lady I asked you a question I want an answer, and I expect you to look at me when I am talking to you. Now do we have more to talk about than just what happen in town today?” This would be the second reason why climbing up Indian’s Bluff turned out to be a very bad idea. I answered Pa “yes sir we do” I made sure to say sir it is very important to add that when you are in trouble. Pa wanted to know how my clothes ended up like they did, I didn’t have to answer he figured it out all on his own. He took a guess that me being hurt last week had something to do with my clothes. Once again I answered “yes sir”.
I had to tell Pa all about going to Indian’s Bluff, how the dares started, Wes and I climbing, and then falling down the side. When I was done, Pa’s face was red as an apple, and the vein in his forehead was sticking out. I’m not for sure, but I think he had steam coming out of his ears. Pa started to yell “you WHAT?! You tried to climb Indian Bluff? You know it’s off limits, and you put yourself in more danger by trying to climb it. What were you thinking?” I didn’t answer that question because I knew Pa wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t have to, as Pa answered for me “no that’s it you weren’t thinking.”
Pa went back to asking questions about the auction, I was for sure that my life was about to come to an end. Pa wanted to know when the plans started, why we picked Miss Johnson, who’s idea it was, who came up with the idea to use the painting, and how we got it there. He made me answer each question, let me tell you I had a hard time most of the words got caught in my throat. I thought his head was gonna explode when I told him how we snuck into town at night, that most of it was my idea, and we used Wes’ brother’s book without asking. All he did for the longest time after I told him everything was look down at the floor shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. I waited for him to say something, when he didn’t I asked “are….are you….gonna um….punish me?”
Then Pa really scared me when he started to laugh, “Am I going to punish you? Do you really need to ask that? Go upstairs we will finish our talk in your room.” I looked at Pop Pop for help he gave none. Uncle Hoss gave me a sad look, Little Joe looked like he was trying not to laugh. I went to my room and waited for Pa.
July 19th
Pa sure had a LOT to talk about that night! All I have to say is that it wasn’t my ears doing the listening. Boy Pa sure can get his point across when he has a mind to. That was one “point” that stayed with me for a while.
In addition to my “talk” I also have extra chores to do. I never knew there was so much stuff that could be found for me to do. I have to clean the barn, the tack room, polish furniture, and help Hop Sing with whatever he needs and he comes up with some REALLY dirty jobs. I’ll be 30 before I can leave the yard alone.
Oh yeah when Little Joe and Pa came home from town today, Little Joe was laughing and Pa was real mad. Little Joe said that while they were there some men came up to Pa said they wanted to met the father of the kid who was able to render Miss Johnson speechless. They said I was a miracle worker and wanted to thank me. Little Joe said the women yelled at Pa, told him I needed to shipped off to a boarding school. The kids wanted to know if the rumor was true, and he up a killed me.
Well that brings me up to today. I’m still restricted and doing extra chores. Pa says he wants to keep me busy I’m less likely to get into trouble that way. I only see Wes, Jack, and Sarah at church I haven’t much of a chance to talk to them. But that will change soon, school starts before too long. At least then I will be able to leave the yard and talk to my friends. Maybe we can come up with some ways to make school more exciting this year!
Boy I hope Pa doesn’t read this!
Looks like Adam got his own little female Joe. This was kind of fun to read. Two Cartwright have trrouble following them everywhere. Thanks
This was one of my favorite stories I’ve read in a long time! Loved the journal style and reading about a fun and adventurous young Cartwright. She certainly livens up the ranch!