Summary:  A young Joe begs for a new story to while away another winter’s afternoon.  Ben responds by telling how a simple request for Adam to find Hoss a new pastime rebounds on him.
Rating:  G  (9,500 words)

Snakes Alive!

Joe Cartwright pressed his nose to the window and peered out.  Snow was still falling, more slowly now, but never the less it was accumulating faster than his brothers could clear it.  Adam and Hoss, together with some of the hands, had spent the best part of the morning shoveling snow from around the house and barn.  Joe had only been permitted out on to the back porch to split kindling and gather wood.  He moved away from the window and back to the fire.  Cabin fever was beginning to get to him again.  Six days now without moving more than a few feet from the door; it was more than he could stand.

He settled himself on the hearth with his feet curled under him and surveyed the other occupants of the room.  Hoss was dozing on the settee, his snore gentle at the moment, showing that he wasn’t really in deep sleep.  If he had been really away then the snores would rattle the rafters.  Adam had pulled his chair close to the fire on the other side from Joe and was engrossed in a large tome entitled “A History of Rome.”  Joe had peeked at it earlier, it had no pictures and every page had more footnotes and strange symbols than text. He debated fetching his own book from his room, a lurid detective novel, but Pa would only complain about his choice of reading material and force him to exchange it for one of his school text books.  No, that was best kept for reading by dim candlelight late into the night when Pa was asleep.

His eyes settled on Pa and he smiled.  Pa was pretending to read his newspaper but was in fact watching him.  “Must be about time for another story, huh, Pa?”  he asked.

Ben laid down his paper and chuckled. “I was wondering when that was coming.”

“You tell ‘em real good, Pa.”  Joe decided a little flattery wouldn’t hurt. “An’ yesterday you said somethin’ about Hoss….”

There was a low chuckle from Adam’s chair. “Yeah, Pa.  It’s Hoss’ turn.  You always tell stories about me, it’s not fair.”

Ben smiled.  “Seems I’ve heard that phrase a few times in your lifetime.  Could it be that there are more stories about you than about your brother?”

“Yep, I’m the good one,” A voice rumbled from the sofa.

Adam and Joe stared at Hoss in surprise.  “Thought you was asleep,” Joe grumbled.

Ben laughed.  “Let’s not get into comparisons, you all had your moments… still do,” he added, fixing Joe with a smile.

“Go on Pa, tell us about the snakes or the bear cub.”  Joe coaxed.

Ben reached for his pipe and crossed one leg over the other as he leaned back and prepared to light the tobacco in the bowl.  “Does seem that all stories about Hoss concern livestock,” he grinned.

“His animals sure got him into enough trouble at times,”  Adam grinned.

“Mostly it was you got me in trouble, big brother,”  Hoss retaliated.

Adam sat up, most indignant. “You can’t blame me for the crazy things you did with that bear cub,” he protested.

Ben nodded at Hoss then raised an eyebrow at his eldest son and smiled  “No, but he could claim the snakes were your fault.”

“My fault!”  Adam shot back. “How were they my fault?”

Ben smiled and leaned back in his chair puffing on his pipe so that the air around him was full of faint blue smoke.  “Well, as I recall it started like this…”

*****

“Adam… Adam… come quick!”  The loud shout roused Adam from his book.

“What!”  Adam yelled back without moving.  He was comfortable here in the hayloft and he had just a few more pages to read before supper.  If he could just…

“Adam!”  the shout from his younger brother was more insistent and crashing noises came from below.

Reluctantly, the older boy rose from his hay nest and peered over the side of the hayloft to the barn floor.  Hoss was now standing against one wall clutching something in his hands while two of the barn cats circled him meowing loudly.

“What is it?”  Adam asked, a trifle sharply, anxious to get back to his book before Pa called them for chores.

“Ginger and Mouser, done caught a mouse.  I got it away from ‘em but they won’t leave us alone.”  Eight-year-old Hoss’ voice was high pitched in distress.

Adam sighed.  “Why’d you take it away from them?  They’re barn cats, they’re supposed to keep the mice and rats down.”  He slowly descended the ladder while trying to work out how to explain the facts of life, or rather death, and the food chain to his little brother.  Being thirteen – well, almost fourteen – and the oldest was such a chore.

“They was hurting it.  Lettin’ it run then jumpin’ on it again.”  Hoss was almost in tears.  “Send ‘em away, Adam.  We can make it better.”

Adam’s mouth dropped open.  “Mice are pests, Hoss.  They eat the grain and Hop Sing’s vegetables.”  He could see his words were having no effect or rather were upsetting his brother even more.  “Okay, I’ll get rid of the cats then you can let him go again,” he suggested, knowing full well that Ginger and Mouser would only take seconds to catch it again.  In that time he hoped to get Hoss out of the barn and away from the murder scene.

“No,” Hoss said, firmly.  “I’m gonna keep him.  You can make him a cage and he’ll be my pet, won’t ya?”  He said, opening his hands a crack to talk to the poor frightened creature he held there.

“It’s gonna die anyway, the cats hurt it and it’s scared,” Adam snapped back. “Give it to me, don’t be so stupid.”

“I ain’t stupid!”

“Hey, what’s this all about?”  A quiet, deep voice interrupted.

Both boys looked up to see their father standing at the barn door.

“He’s got a mouse and he wants to keep it,” Adam said in disgust.  “I told him he couldn’t.”

Ben walked slowly toward them.  “Didn’t I also hear you say something else?”

Adam shuffled his feet a little.  Why did Pa always put things that way, ‘stead of coming right out and saying it.  He knew exactly what his father meant.

“Well?”  Ben prompted.

“I didn’t mean it,” Adam grumbled.

Ben didn’t move and his eyes remained fixed on his eldest son.

“Okay, I’m sorry I called you stupid, Hoss.  You aren’t…” he turned away for a moment and muttered “…but keepin’ a mouse is.”

Ben fought back a smile.  “Let’s see him?”  He shooed the cats away and held out his hand to Hoss.

Very carefully Hoss opened his hands a little, holding his thumb over the mouse to prevent escape.

“He’s hurt, son.  I don’t think it’s a kindness to keep him,” Ben tried to gently extract the mouse from Hoss’ hands.

“I can take care of him, Pa.  I’ll ask Mama for a box and some stuff to make him a bed.  He’ll get well, I know he will.”  Hoss’ looked up at his father with pleading eyes.

Ben sighed.  It was hard to refuse the little fellow, not that he was so little now.  When he looked that way he was so like his birth mother.  “I don’t know son, your mother won’t be too keen…”

Taking the hesitancy for permission, Hoss’ face lit up.  “I’ll go ask her now.  She’ll find me somethin’,” and with that he was gone.

Adam chuckled.  “I wanna be there when he shows that to Marie.”

Ben had to smile, too.  “I’ve a feeling we’ll hear her wherever we are.”

Both of them hastened their steps toward the kitchen in pursuit of Hoss; one to try to avoid the inevitable, and the other to watch the fun.

Marie was pouring hot milk into a cup when Hoss rushed in and she had to stop him with a shout of, “Hoss”, before he cannoned into her.  “Hey, not so fast.”  She smiled when he skidded to a halt.  “Where’s the fire?”

Hoss looked puzzled, “What fire?”

Marie chuckled.  “I meant you were going so fast I was sure the barn was on fire.”

Hoss shook his head.  “No, I just wanna box… please,” he added, remembering his manners as he saw his father heading across the yard.

Marie set the mug down on the table out of the reach of her smallest son who was safely tethered to his baby chair and turned her attention to Hoss.  “Now, what sort of box do we need?  What is it for?”

“For Charlie,” Hoss said eagerly, opening his hands just a fraction.

Afterwards, Marie congratulated herself on her composure; she was getting better at coping with sons.  Three years ago she would have screamed, today she merely gasped and moved back a little.  This wasn’t the first shock Hoss had given her with animals and she doubted it would be the last.  “He’s lovely, honey, but shouldn’t he be outside?”  she responded gently, hoping the boy wold remove the creature quickly.

“He’s hurt and I want to make him better,” Hoss pleaded.

Marie couldn’t resist the eyes and she nodded.  “I’ll see if Hop Sing has an old grocery box from Mr Cass.  Can you hold on to…uh, Charlie, while I look.”

Ben overheard the last few words and sighed.  If Hoss had given the mouse a name there was no hope. He smiled at his wife and whispered, “That was pretty brave for a city girl.”

Marie giggled.  “I’m learning.  Just make sure it lives in a secure cage or out in the barn, will you?”

“Hoss, if you really want to help the mouse we’ll make a cage for it but as soon as it’s well we take it out to the meadow and let it go,” Ben said gently but firmly.

Behind him, Adam sighed and rolled his eyes.

Ben insisted that, as far as possible, Sunday was a day of rest and so it had become habit on nice spring and summer Sundays for the family to spend the afternoon by the lake.  On their return from the lake Hoss went to help his father unharness the team and Adam was detailed to help Marie unload the picnic basket and blankets and supervise Little Joe.  At two, Joe could cause havoc in seconds if not watched.

Adam was so intent on following his little brother upstairs and stopping him from meddling with everything that the mouse cage wasn’t the first thing he noticed when Joe ran into Hoss’ room.  It wasn’t until Joe poked his finger into the cage that Adam saw and gulped.  The cage had tipped over from the table on to the bed and it lay on its side, its occupant was very still and beside the cage curled up and sound asleep was Mouser.

“Joe, leave it,” he said softly.

“Seep?”  Joe asked.

“Yeah, buddy, he’s asleep.”  Adam took Joe’s hand  “C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up for supper,“ he added, anxious to get his baby brother away from the dead mouse and too many questions.

Engrossed in the not inconsiderable task of washing his small, wriggling brother, Adam didn’t get a chance to stop Hoss from running to his room as soon as he entered the house.  The oldest and youngest had just finished their ablutions and were about to head through the kitchen for the table when a whirlwind hit them.

“You bin in my room and you let Mouser in,” Hoss yelled, hurling himself at Adam. “You let her kill Charlie!”

Adam tried to hold Hoss off but the stocky little boy was too angry and soon they were rolling on the floor while Joe watched, his eyes wide.

The noise brought Marie who took in the scene with one quick glance.  “Stop it, boys,” she shouted, moving to stop Adam as he got to his feet and went to retaliate for a haymaker punch Hoss had landed while he was down.  Placing herself between them she glared at both.  “What’s this all about?”

“He killed Charlie,” Hoss yelled, pushing against his stepmother’s hand to get to his older brother.  Hoss’ temper didn’t flare as often as his older brother’s but when it did he had no control over it.

Marie held him off with difficulty.  “Adam?” she queried.

“I did not.  It probably died of fright when Mouser knocked its cage over,” Adam yelled back.  “Damned mouse was half dead anyway, it…”

It was unfortunate for Adam that they were still in the wash house.  His next words were lost as he was yanked by his collar to the stone sink, and a wet soapy washcloth was pushed into his mouth.  He gagged violently and looked up into the blazing dark eyes of his father.

“Now both of you go to your rooms until you’ve cooled off,” Ben instructed, enforcing his words with a finger pointing to the backstairs.

One crying and the other still gagging from the soap, the two slunk away to nurse their wounds.

With a sad shake of his head, Ben looked at their retreating backs and then turned back to Marie.  “And I was hoping for a peaceful evening,” he sighed.

“Damn… damn…damn…”  a small singsong voice was heard.

Both parents glanced down at the curly-haired toddler in shock.  “Two whole sentences and he only manages to learn one word,” Ben groaned.

Joe’s latest craze was copying new words from Adam and this one obviously appealed to him.  Added to his limited vocabulary it was likely to be used extensively for several days until a new one came along.

Marie bent down to her son, about to say something but Ben shook his head.  “If we make something of it, he’ll say it more,” he said, softly.  “Leave it until tomorrow and if he still remembers it, I’ll deal with it.”  He went over to the sink to wash his hands and sighed.  “I suppose I’d better go deal with those two before supper though.”

Marie put a hand on his arm. “Leave it a while,” she pleaded.  “Someone else needs to cool off too.  It won’t hurt them to miss supper.”

Hoss was about to throw himself on to his bed when he saw the cage and Charlie.  He carefully lifted the box on to the table and allowed the tears to fall unheeded.  Mouser had made herself scarce when he entered the room and slammed the door.  It wasn’t fair.  All he wanted was a pet, something of his very own.  Pa wouldn’t let him have a dog, said it wouldn’t earn its keep, whatever that meant.  Adam had lots of friends… well, Ross, anyway, and he didn’t have any except Adam and he hated him right now.

An hour passed and Hoss’ tears stopped as another more pressing feeling came over him: hunger.  Surely Ma wouldn’t let him go without supper?  No, he could hear footsteps.  That’d be Ma with something to eat.

The door opened and Pa came in, and he had no food with him and he looked stern.  Hoss’ tears began to surface again as he got to his feet.

“Well, young man, what was that fight about?”  Ben asked, fixing his young son with his deep brown eyes.

“Ad…Adam kill… killed Ch…Charlie,” Hoss stammered through his tears..

Ben walked to the table and looked at the cage.  Then he sat down on the bed and beckoned for Hoss to join him.  He put one arm around the sobbing boy and the other hand under his chin making him look up.  “I think Charlie was just too sick to get better, son.  He’s tiny and Mouser is a big cat, he was frightened.”

Hoss shuddered as he tried to stop his tears.  “Adam said… I shoulda let Mouser kill him.”

Ben hugged his son tightly.  How to explain to this soft-hearted little boy that Mouser was doing his job, that rats and mice were not welcome on a ranch or in the house?

“That’s the way the world works sometimes, son.  When we go hunting we kill deer for food,” he said softly, knowing venison was one of Hoss’ favorites “…and if a cougar threatens the cattle we go after him.  It’s nature’s way of keeping things right.”

Hoss looked up into his father’s eyes and Ben knew that whatever was coming he would have to answer truthfully with those blue eyes on him.

“You mean Mouser was gonna eat Charlie?”  he gulped.

Ben hesitated a split second then nodded.  “To Mouser he wasn’t Charlie, he was just a mouse.  And Mouser was hungry.  Ginger and Mouser and the other barn cats are meant to catch the rats and mice that eat the grain, that’s their job.  That’s why we don’t feed them too much.”  He hid a smile, knowing that Hoss did feed them when no one was around.

Hoss’ eight-year-old logic was having a hard time here.  “But if we fed them then they wouldn’t need to catch the mice.”

Again Ben nodded. “But then the mice and rats would eat the grain and the oats and there’d be nothing for the horses to eat.  The cats would still want meat, so what sort of meat would we give them?”

Hoss thought for a minute.  “They could have some of Hop Sing’s vegables and cheese…”

“They only eat meat, son.”  Ben watched as the various options flitted through his son’s mind.  “Look, how about we give Charlie a proper burial and we try to find you some other pet.”

Hoss’ slowly considered the offer.  “Like a dog, Pa?”

“No, not like a dog, maybe a …”  there his idea fell short.  Like what? A dog was an expense he couldn’t afford, and anyway it would be rewarding his son for fighting and backing down on something he’d been adamant about for years.

Hoss’ face fell.  “A rabbit then, Pa?”

Ben was beginning to wish he’d never started this conversation.  Why could his sons always tie him in knots?  “We’ll see.  But first we have to talk about this fight.”

Hoss scraped his toe on the rug.  “Yes, sir.”

“Now I want you to apologize to Adam – “ Ben began “But he started it,” Hoss protested.

Ben tilted his head on one side and regarded Hoss with a frown.  “Who hit first?”

Hoss sighed  “I did, Pa.”

“So, you will apologize to Adam in the morning…  Now, let’s get you ready for bed.”

“Bed!”  Hoss’ voice became shrill.  “I ain’t had my supper.”

“Yes, bed.  I’ll bring up some milk and sandwiches.  Maybe then you’ll remember to keep your temper in future.  Boys who fight don’t deserve supper.”

When Pa spoke in that tone, Hoss knew better than to argue.

Adam desperately tried to rinse his mouth out with the small amount of water left in his jug but no matter what he did the taste of the lye soap remained.  He threw himself on the bed in a temper.  How come he was in trouble? Hoss had started it…  He thumped his pillow and cursed again, then remembered why he had that awful taste in his mouth.  He’d been using those kinda words more often lately and he’d have to be more careful around Pa.  He sighed and rolled over on his back, placing his hands behind his head.  It wasn’t fair.  He always had to take care of his brothers and then when things went wrong, like today, it was always somehow his fault.  He jumped as the door opened and immediately got to his feet.  Pa expected respect and if it was going to help his present situation he was only too willing to oblige.

“I’ve heard your brother’s version, now I want to hear yours.”  Ben spoke quietly as he came into the room and stood facing his oldest son, hands on hips and a stern expression on his face.

“I didn’t do anything, Pa, honest,” Adam began earnestly.  “He just started punching me.”

“Did you go into his room and leave the door open?”

“Well, kinda.  Joe ran in there and I went after him but Mouser was already there. He musta been, because he was sleeping on Hoss’ bed and the cage was tipped over,”  Adam explained.  “Maybe Hoss left it open or perhaps Marie…”

“All right maybe they did but that’s no excuse for you fighting with your brother.  You’re old enough to know better.”

Adam made the mistake of rolling his eyes and answering back,  “So I just let him pound on me?”  Adam came back, outraged, then realized that silence would have served him better.

“You’re also old enough to know that I won’t stand for insolence, dumb or otherwise,” Ben responded sharply.

“Sorry, sir, but how come its always my fault?”  Adam just couldn’t leave well enough alone.

Ben’s lips thinned and he held his temper by a thread.  Why did Adam always have to try to have the last word?  “Maybe because you are supposed to set your brothers an example.  You can do that with Hoss by finding him some other interest that doesn’t mean we have an endless stream of unsuitable animals in the house.  And while we’re on the subject of examples, if I hear you swearing again it won’t be just the soap as a punishment, is that clear?”

Adam knew he was getting off lightly and for once decided to take what was offered without further complaint.  “Yes, sir.”

Once his father had left the room he lay back and contemplated.  Find Hoss another interest… Like what?!  Hoss had no interest in anything but food and animals.

*****

“What’s a mouse gotta do with snakes?”  Joe interrupted.  “You said the story was about snakes.”

Ben laughed. “You’d be surprised how that connection came about.  Your mother always blamed me, but I can’t see how any sensible, right thinking father could expect his sons to get from finding a suitable interest to keeping snakes.  But then my sons always did have talents that surprised me.  I guess I should have known better than to set Adam a task like that.”

*****

“What ya doing?”  Adam asked Ross.  He had come over to visit and Mrs. Marquette had told him that his friend was in the storeroom.

Ross turned in surprise. “Hey, didn’t expect to see you today.  Thought you was still supposed to be doing yard chores after that little upset last week.”

Adam shook his head. “I only skipped a few chores to go fishing. Pa said a week and the week’s up.”

Ross grinned. “Actually, I think he meant today was included.  A week is seven days.”

Adam grinned, too.  “He didn’t say so before he and Marie went over to Shaughnessy’s and I’ll be back long before he is, anyhow.”

His friend shook his head.  “You sure do take chances.  What about Hoss and Joe, ain’t you minding them?”

“Nope they’ve gone too,” Adam replied, as he peered over Ross’ shoulder at the boxes on the bench.

Ross grinned “And it didn’t occur to you that the reason you was left at home was because you was restricted to the yard, huh?  ”

“Oh yeah, it occurred to me but Pa never actually said so,” Adam chuckled.  “What ya doing?”

Ross moved back a little, “Sorting out my collection of eggs.”

“Eggs?” Adam asked  “What eggs?”

“Birds’ eggs, I collect ‘em.  I got about twenty different ones now, see this is a Blue Jay.” He held up an egg for Adam’s inspection.  “Careful, they break easy now they’re blown.”

Adam frowned and gently cradled the egg in the palm of his hand.

“You put a in hole in each end and blow the egg out otherwise it goes bad, then you can keep the shells if you’re careful,”  Ross patiently explained, secretly delighted to find something he knew more about than his friend did.

Adam shrugged.  There was no accounting for the strange things people collected.  Hoss had a collection of stones and …  His brain worked overtime, an interest for Hoss, Pa had said.  This one involved animals… Well, birds and there was nothing alive for Pa to object to and it was collecting too, which was one of Hoss’ passions… maybe ….  “Can you show me how to do it?”  he asked.

Ross raised an eyebrow. Adam didn’t often admit ignorance or ask to be shown something by him, he usually knew it all.  This was too good an opportunity to miss.  “Sure, but spring’s nearly done there won’t be many eggs around now.”

Adam shrugged.  “It’s for Hoss. Pa says he needs an interest.”

Ross frowned.  “He’s kinda little to do this. I mean it takes skill and -”

“If you can do it, I can and I can do the hard stuff for him.  Pa keeps saying I should spend more time with him.  It’ll make them both happy.”

The boys spent the remainder of the afternoon practicing on chicken and duck eggs to the point where Mrs Marquette reported to her husband that the chickens must have gone off laying.

*****

“That’s still birds, not snakes,” Joe interrupted with scorn in his voice.

“Oh, Joseph, have faith.  Your brothers never went direct at anything, and when telling me about it the more involved the story the better they thought their chances of getting off lightly.”  Ben smiled at his youngest son.

*****

“So you see, Hoss, it’ll be fun.  We can go egg hunting and then I’ll blow them for you and you can make a nest box for them,” Adam explained.

Hoss frowned.  “But if you do that they won’t hatch out, will they?”

“Well, no, but we’ll only take one from each nest so the Momma bird won’t notice.”

“Huh!”  Hoss grunted  “You think Mama wouldn’t notice if we took Little Joe away?”

Adam sighed.  Why did his brother always complicate things?  “It’s not the same.”  Seeing Hoss’ disbelieving expression he did some quick thinking.  “You remember that nest we found where the Mama bird had disappeared and the eggs were cold?”

“Uh huh,” Hoss nodded.

“Well, we’ll look for others like that then the Mamas won’t matter, because the birds will have died anyway.”

Hoss was partly placated but only after Adam had explained that there was nothing they could do to save the birds and the two set off on their first expedition.

Finding abandoned nests wasn’t easy and finding ones that were different made the job even harder. It occupied Hoss for the next few weeks and each weekend after his schoolwork was done Adam would help out and soon Hoss had a box with four eggs, one chicken, one duck, one sage hen and one blue jay.  Adam had skated over the explanation when Hoss had asked if the eggs in the barn had been abandoned.  After all, one less for breakfast wasn’t gonna be missed and the hen had walked away.

One Saturday in summer Hoss was again at a loose end.  He’d tried egg hunting but apart from the chickens there were no birds’ nests around now.  Saturday was usually a time when Adam would be his companion but his older brother had other plans.  He slipped away right after chores to meet up with his friends and Hoss was left to his own devices.

He had searched everywhere but there were no nests to be found; the eggs had all hatched.  Marie saw his disappointment at the noon meal and decided to ask him to help her with an egg project of her own.  She waited until they had eaten then while she was clearing the table she made her suggestion.

“Hoss, honey, would you like to help me this afternoon?”

Hoss shrugged.  He was feeling miserable and bored since Adam had gone off with his friends.  “Whatcha gonna do?”

“Well, when I’ve put Joe down for his nap I’m going to rescue some babies.”  She said casually, watching him from the corner of her eye.  As she had anticipated he was eager to help.

Marie led Hoss to the barn where one of her prized hens was sitting forlornly in the hay, her feathers beginning to fall out and her head drooping.  “She wants some babies but her eggs aren’t hatching and she won’t leave them.”  Marie explained. “I think they must have gotten too cold one night.”

“Does that mean the chicks died?”  Hoss asked sadly.

“I think they might have, Hoss, so we are going to find her another family.”  Marie gathered the old hen into her arms.  “Two nights ago the coyotes got into Mrs Whittaker’s hen house and killed some of her chickens and she had one hen sitting on a clutch of eggs that were almost ready to hatch.  She managed to rescue some of the eggs and keep them warm and I offered her this little lady to finish the job that way she can replace her lost birds.”

Hoss nodded.  “We gonna take her to Mrs Whittaker’s?”

Marie had been busy filling a box with hay and she carefully settled the hen inside with a couple of the eggs to keep her quiet.  “Yes, can you carry the box for me and put it in the buckboard.”

Proudly Hoss picked up the box and with little steps and great concentration walked over to the harnessed buckboard.  All through the drive he held the box tightly and stroked the slightly agitated hen, telling her she would soon have some babies. Marie smiled; his tender heart couldn’t bear the thought of the hen being upset.  Martha Whittaker had set the eggs in a hay filled box right beside her big kitchen stove and covered the box with more hay and a blanket.  When Hoss carried the hen in she carefully lifted the covers and felt the eggs.

“They’re still nice and warm and I think a couple are almost ready to hatch,” she explained to Hoss.  She smiled up at Marie.  “I can’t thank you enough for the hen, none of mine that survived are broody and, though I tried, none would take to the eggs.”

The old hen seemed to settle almost immediately and Hoss grinned up at his stepmother.  “She likes them.”

“I think so,” Mrs. Whittaker smiled.  “Now, how about some milk and cookies for all your hard work?”

Hoss didn’t need a second invitation but while he enjoyed his snack he began to wonder about the eggs.  “Mama, if the eggs are kept warm will they hatch even if the Mama goes away?”

Not seeing any harm in the question, Marie nodded.  “Usually they will, but it’s better if there is another hen to take over.  Baby chicks are a lot of work if you have to feed them and care for them.”  She suddenly thought she knew what was coming and waited for the request to have some chicks of his own.

“Oh,”  Hoss pondered a moment.  “Adam said if the Mama goes away the babies die.”

“I suppose in the wild they would but with our hens we usually notice if the eggs are being left.”  She smiled.  “Now we’d better get home before your father thinks we’ve abandoned him especially as your little brother will be waking from his nap about now.”

Hoss was thoughtful on the journey home.  If he could find some eggs where the mother had only just left them, he could hatch them out himself.  He often came across the eggs of Prairie Hens and he’d sometimes gathered them for Hop Sing to cook but now he knew they could hatch he intended to find some to keep as pets.  Maybe he could even start his own flock of chickens from the wild ones.  Several weeks passed but no matter how hard he hunted no eggs appeared for Hoss to hatch.

One Saturday evening in early September when the two younger boys were in bed and Marie was sewing while the men folk played a game of checkers, Ben tried his usual ploy of encouraging Adam to talk about his day.  As usual it was like pulling teeth; the boy never seemed to want to share.

“So what did you do today?”  Ben asked his oldest son.

Adam glanced up from under dark lashes to see what expression his father was wearing.  Was there a hidden motive behind the question? But Ben’s face was clear and smiling.  “Nuthin’ much.  We went to the stream and checked on the beaver but they weren’t at home and then we just talked and stuff.”

Ben smiled, at least he seemed more open and relaxed this evening.  Just lately there had been times when he’d clammed up tight when questioned and Ben suspected that things were going on that he wouldn’t meet with parental approval.  “It’s the stuff that I want to hear about before I hear from the neighbors or Jake.”

Adam chuckled.  “We didn’t do anything you’ll hear about, honest.  We watched Jake with those two mares.  He’s got them working real good together, says they’ll be a matched pair for the buckboard.  He got a bit of a scare when one of ‘em nearly stepped on a snake.”

“A snake in the yard?”  Marie exclaimed.  “What sort of snake?”

Adam shrugged.  “I don’t know, not seen one like it before and Jake didn’t see it, so he didn’t know, either.”

Ben put out a hand and patted his wife’s knee.  “If Adam didn’t know what it was then it wasn’t a rattler, he’s seen them often enough.  What color was it, son?”

Adam screwed up his eyes thoughtfully  “Didn’t see it too clear but it was pretty, sort of striped with red and black and yellow.”

Ben shook his head.  “I’ve never seen one like that.  Are you sure?”

Adam nodded.  “Yeah. I didn’t get a good look at its head but its body was striped.  The bands went around it and it was about two feet long, maybe a bit less.”

“I’ve seen a snake like that in New Orleans.  We call it a Kingsnake, a Scarlet King snake, I think.  It’s harmless.”  Marie spoke with a certain amount of relief.

Ben agreed  “We get king snakes around here but they are just black and yellow. I’ve never seen one with red bands, they must be rare here.”

“Well, at least if it’s harmless we don’t need to worry about Joe finding it.  He’s fascinated by worms right now and he’d just see it as a big worm.”  Marie laughed.

Adam chuckled  “Some worm.  At least he wouldn’t try to eat it.”

Ben and Adam returned to the game of checkers but something was nagging at the back of Ben’s mind.  He’d ask José about the snake tomorrow. José had lived around here for more years than the rest of them.

Hoss was bored.  The summer vacation was almost over and he wasn’t looking forward to going back to school.  He wandered around the yard and then decided to go and watch the beaver.  He was about halfway to the stream when he spotted a ground squirrel and gave chase.  By the time he admitted he wasn’t going to catch it he had wandered well away from the yard and into the sandy area below the foothills at the rear of the house.  He shrugged his shoulders and started the long walk back.  He kept his eyes open for other interesting animals and managed to capture a small lizard that had been peacefully sunning itself on a rock.  As he gently put the lizard in his pocket he noticed a disturbed area of soil and three eggs peeping out of the sand.

Hoss bent down to examine them further.  They didn’t look like Prairie Hen eggs but they were warm and there was no bird anywhere about, in fact he hadn’t seen a bird since he had left the yard.  He hesitated for only a moment.  He hadn’t collected any new eggs for ages and his attempt to hatch Prairie Hen eggs had failed.  Maybe these would work better.  He gathered the three small eggs into his handkerchief.  It was a bit grubby but it made a soft bed for them and then placed it inside his hat and carried them gently home.

Once he got home he looked for a warm place to put them.  By the fire would be good but it was still warm enough that Hop Sing didn’t light the it until late evening and often not then. By the cook stove would be good but Hop Sing was in the kitchen when Hoss entered. The boy sidled around the table keeping his eyes on the Chinese cook.

Hop Sing watched.  A batch of newly baked cookies were cooling by the window and the little cook suspected that they were the attraction.  For once Hoss was only vaguely aware of the sugary treat nearby.  His main objective was to find a good place for his eggs.  There was a blanket by the stove but it was in full view. Adam’s winter coat was thrown carelessly over a chair but Hoss couldn’t see how that would help.  Footsteps in the hallway made him panic a little and he retreated to the corner by the stove and prepared for his secret  to be discovered and be forced to give up his eggs.  As he sat down on the stool behind him, he felt a box at his back: Mama’s sewing box.  It wasn’t ideal but it would do for now.  Mama wouldn’t open it until after supper at least and he’d have time to think of something better by then.  He lifted the lid and gently slid the handkerchief, with its precious cargo, inside.

“Hoss, are you trying to steal cookies?”  Mama’s voice came to him from the doorway.  “You’ll spoil your dinner.”

Hoss shook his head.  He didn’t know why she said that, he had never spoiled his supper in his life, no matter how many cookies he’d eaten.  “No, Ma’am.  I was… just… I was just checkin’ what’s for supper.”

Marie smiled.  “Nothing, until you’ve washed up.  Your hands are black.  Now, go along with you and tell Adam supper’s nearly ready.  He’s on the porch with Little Joe.”

Hoss went to fetch his brothers.  He debated telling Adam about the eggs but Adam would only tell Pa.  But he did want to know what sort of birds were going to hatch so he tried to think of a way to ask without telling anything.

As the two older boys washed and Little Joe splashed water everywhere he carefully phrased his question.  “Adam, what kinda birds lay eggs on the ground?”

Adam spluttered as he splashed water over his face and then cleaned off the dirt with a towel.  “Game birds mostly.  Why?”

Hoss ignored the question and offered another of his own.  “What’s a game bird?”

Adam threw the now grubby towel on to the washstand.  “Birds you can eat, like ptarmigan, wild duck, sage hen, that sort of thing.”  Adam leaned back against the wall and surveyed his younger brother; something was going on here, he was sure of it.  Hoss never was any good at hiding things.

“Kinda like chickens, huh?  So if’n we had some of these game birds it’d be like keeping chickens and we could eat them?  Pa’d like that.”  Hoss was trying hard to justify his eggs, so that when they hatched everyone would say how clever he was.

Adam shook his head.  “They’re wild.  They’d fly away.  You can’t keep them.”  He moved closer to his brother.  “They can’t be kept as pets, Hoss.”

“I weren’t goin’ to,” Hoss protested, thus telling Adam all he needed to know.

“Where you got these eggs?”  Adam sighed.

Again Hoss ignored the main question. “I found ‘em and the Mama had gone but they was still warm.  I thought maybe we could hatch ‘em.”

“Yes, but where did you put them?”  Adam’s voice showed traces of exasperation.

Hoss stared at his boots.  “In Mama’s sewing box by the cook stove… I had to hide ‘em quick and it’s warm there.”

“Yeah, and so will your ears be when she finds them,” Adam said, sharply, then seeing his brother’s crestfallen expression he softened.  “Okay, we’ll rescue them after supper and find a better place, but just ‘til I can decide what to do with them.”

Unfortunately the best-laid plans don’t always work out, and neither Adam nor Hoss was able to get into the kitchen alone after supper.  Hop Sing had decided that the evening was the best time to scrub the floor and he refused to allow anyone past the door once the dishes were done.

“What we gonna do?” Hoss whispered when the two boys were eventually dispatched to get ready for bed.

“Nothing.”  Adam replied.  “Marie won’t go out there until morning either and she sure won’t sew before breakfast.  We’ll have plenty of time after to move them. Hop Sing always goes out in his garden in the mornings.”

Reassured that his eggs were safe and warm for the night, Hoss allowed himself to be chased into his bed.

Summer mornings always came far too early for Ben Cartwright, but he wasn’t a man to complain about hard work and while his sons were still brushing the sleep from their eyes he was out in the barn starting the chores.

He worked alongside José and Jake for a while then remembered the snake.  “Oh, Adam told me about the snake in the corral yesterday,” he said to Jake. “Hope it didn’t cause too much trouble.”

Jake shook his head.  “Not too much, boss.  Spooked the horse a bit, is all.”

“Marie was worried it might be a rattler but Adam said he’d never seen one like it before.  We think it was probably a king snake, but it was unusual,” Ben continued.

“How different, boss?”  José asked in a conversational tone.

“Well, Adam said it was red, yellow and black and the ones I’ve seen are usually just yellow and black.”  Ben was surprised to see José jerk upright and drop his pitchfork.

“Did Adam say how the bands touched?”  he demanded.

Ben was taken aback at the harsh tone. “No, does it matter?”

José nodded.  “It matter, Señor.  ‘Red to black, friend of Jack.  Red touch yellow, kill a fellow’,”  José recited.

“What?” both Jake and Ben queried, looking at the segundo with raised eyebrows.  José didn’t often quote poetry or whatever it was and certainly not in English.

José looked up.  “Old saying, children learn to tell snakes apart.”  Seeing their puzzled faces he explained.  “King snake have red and yellow bands with black in between.  Coral snake have red, yellow and black bands, red next to yellow, no black in between.”

“Corals? “ Jake almost yelled.  “I seen them in Arizona, they can kill a man.”  He shook his head.  “We don’t get ‘em up here, can’t be one of those.  Gotta be a King.”

José wasn’t so sure.  “Red King snake not here, either.”

“We’d better be safe and hunt it down. I don’t want anyone bitten. ” Ben looked up as Adam and Hoss came into the barn and said their ‘good mornings.’   “That snake you saw yesterday, son.  How was it marked?”

Adam shrugged.  “I told you, red, yellow and black.”

José took Adam by the arm. “Like that?  One ring after another?  Or were there black bands between each ring?”

Adam was a little nervous at the segundo’s tone.  “Uh, I’m not sure.  Just bands one after another, I think,” he replied.

“Think hard, Adam.  The yellow and red were touching, yes?”

“Uh huh, I think so. Yes, I’m sure it had red then yellow then black, then the same again.”

José’s next question was interrupted by a scream from the kitchen.  The three men took off at a run with the boys at their heels.  The sight that greeted them would have been funny if the previous conversation had not taken place.

Hop Sing was standing by the stove as if rooted to the spot and across from him Marie was advancing on Little Joe, her tone coaxing.  “Put it down, sweetie, put it on the floor,” she begged.

“Worm…”  Joe grinned, holding out his hand where a seven inch long ‘worm’ squirmed in the palm.  The two-year-old was delighted with the effect his discovery had had on his mother, he’d never heard anyone scream that loud.

Ben didn’t hesitate or try to negotiate.  One look at the red, yellow and black bands on Joe’s ‘worm’ and he knocked it from his son’s hand and stamped on it hard.  Then he grabbed the terrified toddler and began looking for puncture marks. There were none and he sighed in relief.

“Where did he get it?”  he demanded of a tearful Marie, as Joe’s screams began to rival his mother’s from a few moments ago.

“It was in my sewing box,”  she said, trying to control her racing heart.  “I opened it to get out some thread to mend the strap on his pants and he grabbed one and said ‘worm’. I knew it wa…”

“There are more?”  Ben shot out before she could finish.  At her startled look he tried to calm himself  “You said he grabbed one, are there others?”

“Uh, yes, two or three I think.  I slammed the lid shut when I saw they weren’t worms.”   Marie cuddled her son and tried to quiet his shrieks, which were slowly being replaced by sobbing and hiccuping noises.

Ben grabbed up the sewing box and pushing passed his two older sons, who stood wide eyed in the doorway he went into the yard with José and Jake hot on his heels.

Half an hour later, a relative calm had descended on the Ponderosa.  The baby snakes had been dealt with and José and Jake had gone in search of the mother but without much hope of success.  Hop Sing had gone back to preparing the evening meal but with one eye open for snakes.  Joe had calmed down and Marie was almost back to normal too, only Hoss wore a worried frown.  He didn’t understand what was happening. Where were his eggs?  Had Pa thrown them out with the worms?

Adam’s brain was working overtime.  There had to be a connection between Hoss’ birds’ eggs and the snakes.  He knew some snakes laid eggs but they were harmless, then he recalled the conversation in the yard and his heart sank. He didn’t know how, but he had a nasty feeling that this was going to rebound on him in some way.

Ben beckoned to his two older sons.  “Come here.”  He indicated a spot in front of where he was now sitting at the kitchen table.  He watched them approach, Hoss with a worried frown and Adam with downcast eyes.  Oh yes, they knew something about this!

Ben eyed them up and down for a moment.  “Do either of you know how those snakes got into the sewing box?” he asked, bluntly.

Hoss immediately shook his head and Ben looked to his oldest son. Adam stared at his boots for a second too long and Ben began to lose patience.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you and answer my question,” his tone becoming sharper.

Adam lifted his head and looked up through dark lashes  “I’m not sure, but…”

“But what?”  Ben demanded.  “You either know or you don’t.”

Adam threw a sympathetic look at Hoss  “They might have been eggs.”

“Eggs!”  Ben almost yelled.

“Yes, sir. You see Hoss put some birds’ eggs in the box to keep warm.  He wanted to hatch them. Well, if they were…” Adam stumbled, he didn’t know how to explain his growing suspicions.

Ben’s eyes widened as he saw where Adam was going.  “You’re telling me that Hoss brought some eggs into the house and you think they might have been snake eggs?”

Adam nodded.

Hoss’ mouth dropped open: his eggs were birds’ eggs.  Snakes didn’t lay eggs, only birds had eggs.  “They was birds’ eggs, Pa and you throwed ‘em out,” he protested.

Ben beckoned Hoss closer and nervously his son obeyed.  “What were the eggs like, son?”

Hoss shrugged. “Just eggs, like the ones I bin c’llectin’.”

“Where did you find them?”  Ben’s tone was more gentle now.

“They was out by the old branding corral at back of the house,” Hoss turned to point.

“Were they in a nest or on the ground?”  Ben continued.

“Sort of in the sand, Pa.  They wasn’t covered much and there was no birds around,” Hoss explained.

“No, but I bet there was a snake,” Ben said, half under his breath.

Feeling braver now that Pa appeared to have calmed down, Adam decided to add to the explanation.  “Hoss told me about them and I was going to move them after breakfast.”

“You knew about them and didn’t tell me?”  Ben exploded all over again.

Adam took an involuntary step back.  He should have kept his mouth shut. He might have known it would be all his fault.  “I didn’t know they were snake eggs, he just said eggs,” he tried to justify himself before Pa got any angrier.

“Alright, alright.” Ben waved a hand to show he understood and wanted them both to calm down.  “Hoss come with me and show me where you found them.  Adam clean that up,” he pointed to the squashed remains of the baby snake.  “Then take care of Little Joe and give Marie a chance to get over the shock.”  He smiled at his wife and patted her hand.  “It’ll be alright. We’ll find the snake.”

By the time Hoss and Ben returned, breakfast was on the table and Adam was helping Little Joe to feed himself by cutting things into small bites.  Not much food was being consumed though, Joe was still trying to find out where his worms had gone and why papa had squished one of them.

Adam and Marie both looked anxiously at Ben as he came to the table.

“Did you find it?”  Marie asked, as she began to fill her husband’s plate with food.

He shook his head.  “No, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.  We’ll just have to be extra careful, especially in the brush.  José says they are mostly active at night.  During the day they bask on a rock or the sand in clear sight.  If you boys see any snake, you are not to touch it, do you understand?”

“But gopher snakes and the ordinary king snakes aren’t poisonous,” Adam objected.  “I can tell the difference.”

“You didn’t know this one when you saw it!” Ben replied, his temper beginning to surface again in his anxiety.

“Only ‘cos I ain’t never seen one before. It’s not – ”

“Don’t argue with me.”  Ben fixed his oldest son with a look, which told him to say no more.  “And Hoss, no more egg collecting unless I’m with you, is that understood?”

Hoss nodded. “Yes, sir. I don’t wanna do it no more anyhow.”  The whole thing had shaken him, especially seeing his father kill the baby snake right in front of him.  No matter that it was deadly, Hoss couldn’t bear to see a living thing hurt.

Marie did not allow the boys to stray from the front porch all day, much to their consternation.  She worried every time Joe was out of sight. And tempers became frayed more than once.  Eventually, she seemed to calm down and but only after Ben set the boys to doing chores with him and Joe was occupied playing with his blocks at her feet.

After the younger boys were in bed, Ben and Adam settled with books and Marie fidgeted.

“What’s the matter?”  Ben asked.  “You’re not still worried about the snake, are you?”

“No, not really.  I’m just lost for something to do.  I usually sew in the evenings and you’ve left my sewing box in the barn,” she smiled.

“I could fetch it for you,” Adam offered, starting to get to his feet.

“NO!”  Marie spoke quickly and loudly. “I don’t want you going out there in the dark.”

Ben grinned and winked at Adam.  “We can’t be prisoners in the house every night.  That snake is probably miles away in the hills.  Go on, son, just be careful where you are walking.”

“No, it’s alright, I’ll do something else.” Marie picked up an old newspaper.  “It will be good to have an evening off from boys’ socks and torn shirts.”

Adam grinned at his father. “Well, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Marie said with feeling.

Adam chuckled.  “Hoss sure does find some unlikely pets.”

Ben laughed, too,  “Yes, he sure does.  I wonder what it will be next?”

“How can you both take it so lightly? Joe could have been killed and Hoss, too,” Marie scolded.

“I doubt the babies have enough venom to kill even a child and Hoss wouldn’t have touched the eggs if there had been a snake nearby,” Ben reassured her.

“You don’t know that,” she snapped.

“C’mon, honey.  In a few days we’ll all laugh about this,” Ben coaxed. “It’s all part of living out here and having boys in the house.”

“Well, I won’t, not in a few days or ever.  How can you let the boys be in such danger?” she retorted and hid behind her newspaper.

Ben gently pushed her paper down and looked at her. “There are dangers everywhere.  I seem to recall a girl telling me that when she was about Adam’s age she and her friends used to throw meat into the swamp to watch the alligators and water moccasins swim in to the bank.”

Adam’s eyes opened wide and he looked at his stepmother with a new admiration.

Marie pursed her lips. “You aren’t supposed to remember that now.”

“Did you, really?”  Adam asked in awe.

“Now, see what you’ve started?”  Then she laughed.  “Alright, they are no worse than we were at their age.  But you keep those stories to yourself or I might have to tell a few about a boy from Boston.”

*****

By the time Ben finished, Joe was as much in awe as Adam had been.  “Did Mama really do that?” he asked.

“So she told me,” Ben smiled.  “But don’t let it give you ideas.  I’m sure her parents knew nothing about it or if they did she was punished,”

“We never did find that snake,” Adam said.  “I guess with all of us tramping around it decided to make itself scarce.  I wonder how it got all the way up here?”

“Got on the Stage, maybe,” Joe giggled.

“Not such a stupid idea, little brother.  There weren’t no Stage in them days but it probably crawled into someone’s pack or into some supplies and got loaded on to a wagon,” Hoss suggested.  “Anyhow, it was a while afore I collected any more eggs.”

Adam snorted. “It was weeks before Marie would let us out of the house without a lecture and poor Little Joe got carried everywhere for ages.  It’s a wonder he still remembered how to walk.”

Ben nodded.  “Yes, I think we’d had the first snow before she felt safe again.”

Adam grinned at Hoss. “It’s a good thing we never told her about the rattler we found in the cemetery in Johntown a few weeks later.”

Hoss chuckled.  “You mean the one you blew to bits with the old shotgun?”

Adam’s eyes flicked to his father and waited.

“You what!”  Ben exploded, predictably.  “Why didn’t I hear about it?”

Adam shook his head. “You don’t think we’d have told you, do you?  I was thirteen. I’m not sure it was wise even now and I’m twenty-five.”

“How many other things didn’t I hear about?”  Ben grunted.

“Oh, you’d be surprised, Pa.  You’d be surprised,” Adam grinned and winked at his brothers.

*****

As I live in England my knowledge of venomous snakes is limited to our own Adder, so my information comes from websites.  I have used some licence, in that I very much doubt that the Coral Snake would have strayed as far north as Carson Valley as it is native to Arizona.  I needed a venomous snake that laid eggs, and this is the only one in the USA.  It also fitted the other criteria and could be confused with the Scarlet King Snake of the southern states or the King Snake that is native to Nevada.  So forgive me for my wandering snake.  I’ve given the best explanation I could come up with… or, rather, Hoss has!

Vicki