Summary: Joe steals Adam’s pillow which leads to a week of unrest and trouble for the whole family!
Rating: G 3875 words

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The Pillow

The Theft:

The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when Hoss stumbled his way out into the dimly lit hallway. ‘That’s the trouble of working on a ranch, you have to be up so dadburn’d early,’ he thought as he crossed the hall to Little Joe’s door. Lately, Joe never seemed to be up on time, so it had become a morning ritual for Hoss to get up a few minutes early to allow time to wake his brother. Hoss figured it was easier that way instead of Joe getting into trouble every morning with Pa for being late.

Hoss carefully eased Little Joe’s door open and gazed into the dark room. Only a small glimmer of light was beginning to filter in through the window since the room was on the opposite side of the house from the rising sun. Hoss couldn’t figure how it was Joe wasn’t able to wake up on time. He’d been going to bed at a reasonable hour. He wasn’t out as late as he used to be gambling and doing who knows what in town.

“Joe? Joe! Time to git’up.” Hoss announced while poking Joe in the arm. Joe rolled over and groaned.

“OOhhhh too early Hoss.” Joe mumbled as he tried to roll away from his brother’s incessant poking. Hoss rolled his eyes and pulled off Joe’s blankets in a more direct effort to oust Joe out of bed.

“No! It’s cold!” whined Joe, making a sleepy attempt to grab back the blankets. Hoss sighed.

“Joe, really you have to git’up! Pa will be as mad as an angry steer if yer late this morning. We have to go into town for supplies!” he insisted. Finally, Joe sat up wearily and rubbed his head.

“I don’t understand it Hoss. I haven’t had a good night sleep in ages,” he moaned as he pulled himself out of bed, with a little help from Hoss. After seeing his brother was somewhat awake and headed in the direction of getting dressed, Hoss went back to his room to put on his boots. A few minutes later, they met in the hallway to head downstairs for breakfast.

“You awake yet li’l brother?” Hoss asked with a yawn as he watched Joe stagger out of his room. Joe yawned too.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I will be after a night’s sleep like that. I swear I woke up every 5 minutes.” The pair paused as they passed Adam’s room. The door was open and in the increasing morning light they could see a neatly made bed with no sign of Adam anywhere.

“Dadgumit! He always gets up before us.” Hoss sighed as he turned and started to continue down the hallway. Joe hesitated.

“And he even made his bed too! I don’t get it. How can anyone be awake so early and have time to make his bed neat like that!” Joe ventured slowly into Adam’s room, taking care to make sure that Adam was truly nowhere inside.

“Hey Joe? Where are you going? Ya shouldn’t go in there.” Hoss warned. He watched Joe disappear further into the room, and after one cautious glance down the stairs, he tiptoed in after him.

“Joe! What’re you doing in here anyhow? Adam’ll have yer hide!” Hoss whispered loudly. Joe had made his way over to Adam’s bed and was studying it with interest.

“Hoss? Maybe my bed is the problem, maybe there’s something wrong with it,” he wondered aloud. Hoss scratched his head.

“I dunno, that’s the bed you’ve always slept in. I s’pose the mattress could be gettin’ worn out,” he said. Joe had now turned his attention to Adam’s pillow and was poking it gently.

“No Hoss….. not the mattress” he said, excitement building in his voice, “this pillow! This pillow has to be the answer. Feel this thing!” Hoss glanced worriedly at the door then approached Adam’s bed as quietly and quickly as he could. When he reached the pillow, he poked it gently then felt it with his whole hand.

“Now that there’s a mighty fine pillow! Where’d you suppose Adam would’ve got a pillow like that?” Hoss wondered out loud, his whisper now abandoned.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to try a little experiment!” Joe said mischievously. To Hoss’ horror, Joe proceeded to grab Adam’s pillow and shake it out of its pillowcase.

“Joe? Joe! What in Sam’s hill are you doin’! If Adam catches ya…” Hoss gasped. Little Joe didn’t seem to hear him.

“Now Hoss you go downstairs and tell them I’m on my way down, I just had to make my bed.” Joe instructed, now hurrying out of the room with Adam’s stolen pillow clutched to his stomach.

“But Joe!…” Hoss called after him, but Joe was already gone from sight. Hoss winced at the thought of what Adam would do when he found out, and quickly hurried out of the room. As he descended the stairs, he could hear his father and older brother talking about the days work ahead.

“Morning Hoss!” Ben exclaimed cheerily when he saw Hoss coming down the stairs.

“Mornin’ Pa, Adam.” Hoss acknowledged, somewhat distracted. Adam smiled.

“Little Joe wouldn’t get up this morning?” he chuckled. Hoss looked uncomfortable.

“Huh? Ah.. well he’s up, just er…. making his bed,” he stammered, taking his place at the table. Ben looked skeptical.

“Oh? Joe never makes his bed,” he said accusingly. Hoss shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“Well… I reckon’ he decided he ought to start,” he stated, then proceeded to dig into the massive stack of flapjacks Hop Sing had just presented to him. Ben chuckled and returned to his own stack of flapjacks.

A few moments later, Little Joe came down the stairs, still looking tired, Hoss noticed, but also rather pleased with himself. Ben glanced up from his plate.

“Morning Little Joe. Glad you could join us!”

“Didn’t Hoss tell you I was making my bed? It was kind of tricky, took me a little more time that it should have. But I’ll get faster over time!” Adam looked amused.

“So what brought about this sudden inspiration?” Joe smiled slyly, taking his place at the table.

“You know older brother? You did! I was on my way down here and I glanced in your room and saw your well made bed and I thought to myself, ‘gee, I should make my bed just like that!’” Joe smirked. Adam looked doubtful.

“Well I’m willing to bet that by tomorrow, you’ll have forgotten all about it!”

Tossin’ and Turnin’ All Night:

It had been a long hard day. Adam shuffled into his room and closed the door securely behind him. He was covered with dust and small pieces of hay, and couldn’t wait to wash up and slip into his warm bed. After getting undressed and washing up the best he could, Adam sighed and pulled back the covers to his neatly made bed. He gently eased himself down under the blankets, taking care not to upset his aching muscles too much. He propped himself up against the headboard and read a few verses out of his favorite book of poetry, then it was time for sleep. Adam blew out the lamp and slipped all the way down into his snug bed.

After a few minutes of lying on his back, Adam decided to try lying on his side. There was something different. His bed felt different. No, couldn’t be, he was imagining things. After all, he was quite sore from all the heavy work he’d done with those logs all day. That had to be it. He was just sore.
He didn’t feel good on his side either. It still felt uncomfortable. Maybe his stomach? Adam rolled over onto his stomach, then his side, then his other side, then his back….. After rolling over what must have been hundreds of times during the course of and hour, Adam slowly sat up and groaned holding his side.

“What’s going on! Why can’t I sleep?” he muttered out loud. He decided maybe if he got up and walked around his room for a few minutes, he might feel better. Adam paced back and forth quietly, careful to avoid the squeaky floorboards so he wouldn’t wake his sleeping family.

A few minutes later, he returned to his bed and once again, joints aching, slipped down under the covers and rested his head on the pillow. The flat pillow. Why was it so flat? He sat up and poofed it a bit and laid his head back on it. It still seemed flat but he didn’t think much of it. He was so tired his mind was playing tricks on him. Maybe if he tried curling up in a ball? No. That’s not comfortable either. Adam sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Up And At’em Adam!:

Joe woke up exactly at 4am. He looked around. Hoss hadn’t even come in to wake him yet. He stretched and smiled. That was the best night’s sleep he’d had in weeks! He clambered out of bed and hastily got dressed. Entering the hallway, he slipped across the hall to Hoss’ room and was just about to open the door when Hoss opened it from inside. This startled both Joe and Hoss and they both let out a yelp.

“Dadgumit Joe! What are you doing out there!” Hoss exclaimed, not keeping his voice down. Then he looked confused.

“Wait.. You’re up before me. Did I sleep in?” he said horrified. Joe smiled.

“Oh no Hoss I had the best night’s sleep! I actually got up on time!” he said happily.

“On time! If anythin’ yer early!” Hoss said, smiling now too.

Just then, Adam’s door snapped open and a bedraggled looking Adam staggered out.

“What are you two doing out here yelling and carrying on! Don’t you know people are trying to SLEEP!” he snarled. Then he turned and hobbled back into his room, slamming his door behind him. Little Joe looked elated.

“Hoss!! See I was right! It was the pillow! Have you ever seen Adam like that in the morning!” Joe was almost jumping he was so excited. Hoss’ smile was fading.

“But Joe, now we have to deal with a grumpy Adam all day.. I’m not sure that yer havin’ the pillow’s worth that!” he said sadly. There were footsteps on the stairs. Ben appeared at the top and glared at them.

“What’re you two doing up here? Aren’t you coming to breakfast? And what was all that yelling about?” Joe and Hoss looked at each other guiltily.

“Oh, Adam didn’t sleep too well and yelled at us.” Joe said matter of factly. Ben looked surprised.

“He didn’t? But he always sleeps well. I hope he’s not sick.” Ben approached Adam’s door and prepared to knock.

“Oh Pa! I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Hoss warned. Ben had just pulled back his arm to make the first knock when Adam’s door flew open again. This time Adam was fully dressed but still looking terribly tired, and very grumpy.

“Well I can see the party is still going on out here! I’m glad you’re all in such great spirits this lovely morning,” he pushed by Ben and meandered his way down the stairs, clutching the railing tightly as he went. Ben looked after him for a moment then turned back to Joe and Hoss, confusion in his eyes.

“Um.. well we’d better get down to breakfast… otherwise Hop Sing won’t be very happy with us.” Joe and Hoss looked at each other sadly and headed downstairs for breakfast. Joe couldn’t help notice that as they passed his room that Adam’s bed wasn’t made. It was actually quite far from it. Sheets were hanging off the sides and the quilt was in a bundle at the foot of the bed.

“Hmph, who would’ve thought a simple pillow would make such a difference?” Joe said thoughtfully. Hoss shot him an angry glance and they headed down the stairs to start the day.

Just right:

It had been exactly one long week since Adam had last had a good night’s sleep. A very long week. Every day seemed to last forever and he had all he could do just to keep his body moving, never mind thinking too deeply about the tasks at hand. Every day it just got worse and worse. The worst incident had been a few days ago. He’d gone to town with his father for a meeting with one of the mine owners about a timber contract. They got to town a bit early so he and his father had agreed to meet at the owner’s office at 1pm. Adam decided to use his free time to get a beer so he went over to the saloon. He’d only been there a few minutes when he actually dozed off with his head between his arms on the bar! Sam the bartender didn’t have the heart to wake him up. Ben certainly hadn’t been happy when he found Adam there at 2pm, after the meeting with the mine owner. It took some fancy talking to get out of that one!

This morning he was supposed to head up to the north pasture and round up some strays that had some how managed to penetrate the fence up there. He assumed the ride might be good for him, all that fresh air. But as he walked out to the barn, a different idea came to mind. Adam knew that his Pa and brothers were heading into town for the day to get supplies and take care of some banking business. That afternoon, they would also be staying for a cattle rancher’s meeting and most likely wouldn’t be back until close to dinnertime. Because of this, the house would be empty, with the exception of Hop Sing, and an empty house meant a quiet house. Maybe he could catch up on some sleep. Now it wasn’t like Adam to skip out of work that needed to be done. No, he figured this was important enough to shun his responsibilities for the day. If he didn’t get sleep soon he was liable just to collapse somewhere and that’d be it.

After breakfast, Adam went out to the barn with his family and they all saddled their horses. After tightening the cinch on his saddle, Adam clambered up onto Sport, bid farewell to his family, and set off through the Ponderosa pine trees towards the north pasture. He didn’t go too far though. Instead he rode up to a small dense pocket of trees behind a large rock, and watched as his family took off towards town. He waited for about 15 minutes, to make sure no one would return, then he and Sport returned to the ranch house.

When Adam entered the house, Hop Sing was still busy cleaning up from breakfast, and didn’t observe Adam coming in. Taking advantage of this, Adam hurried quietly up the stairs towards his room. When he reached the top he paused and a puzzled look came over his face.

“What am I going to do?” Adam said hopelessly, “I can’t sleep in my bed at night so why would I be able to sleep there during the day?” He stood silent and still in the hallway for a moment debating what he should do. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his father’s massive bed in the room across from his. The bed was enormous, and very high off the ground. It was neatly made and an old checkered quilt was spread on top.

“Hmmm,” Adam hesitated a moment then crept into his father’s room. The bed certainly was big, perhaps it was comfortable too. Without even taking the time to remove his jacket, gun belt or boots, Adam swung himself up onto the bed and laid down, taking off his hat just before his head reached the pillow. He shifted this way and that way, and then frowned in disgust.

“Good lord! This thing is like a solid block of wood!” he exclaimed. He figured it was by far the hardest surface he’d ever laid on. It felt like he’d lain down on a giant hard brick.

“No this won’t do, this bed is too hard.” Adam pushed himself up to a sitting position, which was fairly easy since the mattress, if you could call it that, didn’t seem to have any ‘give’ at all. It was beyond his understanding how his father could sleep on such a repulsive surface night after night! He put his hat back on as he slid off the bed and returned to the hall.

Next to his father’s room was Hoss’ room. The big room’s main feature was the very long bed in the center. It wasn’t quite as wide as Ben’s bed, but was much longer. Adam remembered they had to construct it special just for Hoss. Adam chuckled. This bed wasn’t made as neatly as Ben’s, but it looked like Hoss had tried anyway. The blankets had been pulled up to make it appear as if it was made, but there were numerous lumps and the blankets were a bit crooked.

It looked to Adam like this bed might have more promise. It didn’t look nearly as firm as Ben’s, although he doubted there was another bed in the world as hard as that one. Adam shuffled into the room and laid down on the bed. He’d no sooner removed his hat and put his head on the pillow when his whole body felt like it was sinking into the abyss!

“Ahh!” Adam cried. The mattress was so soft and airy that he was sure he was going to disappear into the middle of it and never be seen again. Adam struggled to sit up but it was no easy task being as tired as he was and that the mattress being as soft as it was sucking him down into it. Finally, he succeeded in getting to a sitting position and tumbled off the bed before it could try to eat him again.

“That bed is too soft!” he grumbled as he picked himself up off the dusty floor. Placing his hat back on his head, he crossed the hall to Joe’s room. Joe’s bed was a standard sized bed. It was not neatly made at all, and it was obvious he hadn’t even tried. His quilt went one way while his sheets went another. Adam smiled at the thought of the conversation they’d had last week about Joe trying to make his bed everyday. Adam approached the bed skeptically and took a moment to try and realign the sheets. Once he got them into a more acceptable position he removed his hat and laid down on the bed.

“Ahh this is just right…” he said with a deep sigh, putting his head on the pillow.

“Oh! Now that’s a pillow…. actually it’s kind of… familiar..” then before he could ponder that thought any further, he was asleep. Fast asleep.

Someone in my bed!:

The sun was starting to set when Ben, Hoss and Little Joe returned to the ranch house. Hoss’ stomach was rumbling with hunger.

“I wonder what Hop Sing’s made for dinner. I hope it’s pork chops.” Hoss said hopefully.

“Well let’s take care of the horses then we can go find out!” Ben suggested. The three dismounted and led their horses into the barn.

“Well Sport’s already here so I guess Adam’s back,” Joe pointed out.

“Good. I’m anxious to hear how he made out in the north pasture today.” Ben said as he lifted his saddle off Buck.

After taking care of the horses, they walked across the yard and entered the ranch house. Hop Sing had the table set and was beginning to set out some of the food.

“It sure smell’s good Hop Sing!” Hoss commented, sniffing the air heavily to see if he could identify what the main course was going to be.

“Hello Hop Sing. Where’s Adam at?” Ben asked, taking off his hat and jacket. Hop Sing looked confused.

“I not see Mr. Adam since he left this morning.”

“But his horse is in the stable.” Joe said, confused. Ben looked at the hat rack.

“Well his hat isn’t here, so maybe he’s still outside somewhere. Let’s go upstairs and get washed up, maybe he’ll be back in a moment,” he suggested. The three climbed the stairs and had just started down the hall to their rooms when Ben let out a cry.

“Look at my bed! Someone’s been sleeping in my bed!” Ben hurried into his room and stared in disbelief at his once neat bed now rumpled and in disarray.

“Well that’s odd Pa, who’d sleep in your bed?” Joe asked, amused. Ben gave him an irritated look and proceeded to straighten out his blankets. Suddenly, Hoss cried out from his room. Ben and Joe hurried next door to his room.

“Dadburnit! Somebody’s been sleepin’ my bed too Pa.” Hoss said, looking confused. Joe shook his head.

“Hoss your bed doesn’t look any different. You never make it neatly.” Hoss looked insulted.

“Now little brother I make it some. Just not all flat like Pa or Adam’s. But I didn’t leave the blankets all bunched up like that!” Hoss explained while trying hopelessly to flatten out his blankets. Joe sighed and went back to the hall to enter his room and stopped dead in his tracks with a gasp.

“What’s wrong Joe?” Ben asked turning to look at him.

“Well, Pa, there IS somebody sleeping in my bed,” he said, pointing across the hall into his room. Ben, Hoss and Joe all stood in Joe’s doorway and stared at Joe’s bed, where a happy Adam was sleeping soundly. Hoss smiled.

“Look at that. Adam was so tired he didn’ even take off his jacket, gun er nothin’, and he’s still holding his hat!” Hoss chuckled. Ben looked puzzled.

“But why on your bed Joe?” he asked. A guilty look came across Joe’s face. Hoss gave a look of warning to Joe.

“I reckon’ it’s gotta be his pillow Joe, you should give it back to ‘im now.” Hoss commanded. Joe looked horror struck.

“But I….” he started, when Ben interrupted.

“You took? Joseph you took Adam’s pillow?!” he asked, anger starting to creep into his voice.

“Well Pa I….” Joe was starting again, when Adam suddenly rolled over in his sleep and they could see a very content smile on his face.

“Aww look at that. He’s so peaceful and happy.” Hoss said happily. “That’s sure some pillow alright. I gotta get me one of those.” Joe shot Hoss and angry look and Ben continued with his reprimand to Joe.

But Adam didn’t hear any of it. He was sound asleep with pleasant dreams for the first time in a week, and he wasn’t planning on moving any time soon!

The End