Summary:  Adam tried to get Joe out of trouble with Pa and Miss Jones, but only succeeds in making trouble for himself.
Rating:  PG  (13,470 words)

Crossing Swords

By Vicki Christian

Joe Cartwright kicked at a stone and sent clouds of dust flying around him.  He was hot, cross and totally at odds with the world.  He sat down on a boulder and allowed his pony’s reins to trail in the dust.  The little pinto snorted and moved closer to her master.

“I’m okay, Cooch.”  The boy reassured him.  “But I don’t see why we have to go to school when we could be helping out with the round up.  Adam said he was short handed.”  He gave a deep sigh, “It’s not fair.”

Joe knew that however unfair he thought it was there was no profit in wishing it was otherwise.  Pa wouldn’t budge and with him away Adam wasn’t about to do anything against his father’s orders.  “Wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t have to study this stupid Shakespeare,” he added flipping open the pages of a slim red volume in disgust.

Cochise nodded his head as if in agreement.  He’d rather be chasing steers than standing around in the dusty school corral.  Today, both boy and horse were out of luck, school was on the agenda and they had to go.

Reluctantly Joe packed away his books and sprang into the saddle again.  “Might as well get it over with, we’re gonna be in trouble anyhow, ‘cos we’re late.”  Talking to Cochise always made him feel better; at least he didn’t point out that he was late because he’d stopped to watch the growing herd down in the meadows.  No amount of dawdling would put him down there with them.  He had briefly considered riding down and trying to melt in with the hands but he knew Adam would spot him sooner or later; he and Cochise were too darn distinctive.  He’d played hooky a few days ago and his older brother had threatened that if it happened again, he’d escort him to the classroom in person.  He was just mean enough to do it too, Joe thought angrily.

A few hours later Joe was dawdling again, only this time he was reluctant to go home and face the music.  Miss Jones had kept him after school to make up for the time missed in the morning and now he was late for chores.  Mean old biddy had also given him a note for his brother.  She only wants to see him ‘cos she’s sweet on him.  Joe thought; then giggled.

His brother Hoss met him in the yard.  “You’d better have a good tale for Adam, short shanks.”

Joe grimaced.  “He mad?” he asked.

“Steamin’,” Hoss replied with a chuckle.  “It’s bin a rough day and he’s not pleased to pick up your chores.”

Joe worked on Cochise as slowly as he dared but he knew that at some point he’d have to go in and get washed up for supper.  Finally, he could delay it no longer and he slipped in through the kitchen hoping to sweet talk Hop Sing into letting him take some food up to his room.  It’d be just like Adam to send him to his room without any supper.

Unfortunately, he was unlucky.  As he entered the kitchen from the yard, Adam chose just that moment to put his head around the other door to ask Hop Sing when supper would be ready.  His eyes fell on his little brother and his eyebrows drew together giving him a forbidding expression that Joe knew only too well.

“And just where have you been?”  Adam said tightly.

Joe considered all the options and decided that since he’d have to hand over the note at some point, he’d better stick to the truth.  “I got kept after school,” he muttered, avoiding his brother’s angry glare.  “I gotta note for ya from Miss Jones.  She wants to see ya.”

The first statement increased Adam’s anger; the second sent it rising to boiling point.  He was frankly scared of the woman; not in the same way her pupils were scared but scared all the same.  Abigail Jones was hunting a husband and he had a nasty feeling he was at the top of her list of candidates.  Every encounter had to be carefully planned like a military campaign if, as he intended, he was to stay out of her clutches.  He tried to stay cool and tamped down his temper for now.

“Joe, why can’t you stay out of trouble.  I’ve got too much to do with Pa away, to run around apologising for you,” Adam said with an exasperated sigh.  “What did you do this time?”

“I was late this morning,” Joe hedged, not really wanting to say why.

“Late!”  Adam almost yelled.  “You left here in plenty of time, you even skipped some chores.  How can you have been late?”  His anger was now back full force and his dark eyes bored into his younger brother.

Joe scraped his toe on the floor, he knew Adam would insist on an answer and if he knew what was good for him it had better be the truth, but his older brother wasn’t going to like it.  “I swung by the meadows…” he muttered.

“You WHAT?”  Adam exploded.  “I told you, and I know Pa told you, that you weren’t going to miss school.   You’ve already cut classes once this week and I told you what would happen if you did it again.”

“I didn’t cut school,” Joe shot back.  “I was a few minutes late, is all.”

“Don’t answer back,” Adam snapped.  He looked his younger brother up and down making Joe squirm.  “You’ve done none of your chores today so to make up for that you can spend Saturday clearing out the tack room and tidying up in there.”  He said, finally, his stern expression allowing for no argument.  “I’ll ride in with you tomorrow and see Miss Jones about this.”  He said waving the note under his brother’s nose.

“Oh, great!”  Joe muttered under his breath.  He knew just how uncomfortable that ride and meeting would be.  Luckily for him Adam had already turned away and was heading back to the supper table.

The following morning Adam seemed in a better frame of mind and Joe felt confident enough to talk as they rode into town.  He even tried a half-hearted apology.

“I’m sorry I got you into seeing Miss Jones but you know what she’s like.”

“Yeah, I do,” Adam replied gloomily.

“It wouldn’t be so bad goin’ to school if we wasn’t readin’ these plays every afternoon.”  Joe brought up his strongest complaint with a pained expression and a sigh.  “Shakespeare’s boring.”

Adam grinned.  “It’s not boring if you understand what’s happening.  Some of the histories have enough fighting and excitement even for a bloodthirsty kid like you.”

Joe looked at him with surprise and disgust, “We never get to read any of that.”

Adam swung down from Sport as they arrived in the schoolyard and glanced at his brother.  “Maybe if you acted it instead of reading it, you’d find it more interesting.”

Joe looked at him as if he was crazy, “I ain’t acting no love scenes.”

By this time they were inside the school building and Miss Jones was advancing toward them like a ship under full sail.

“Ah Adam, how nice to see you,”  She gushed.

Joe stepped back a pace behind his brother and smirked.   Adam was trying real hard to move back too and twisting his hat in his hands nervously.

“Good Morning Miss Jones,” he said, trying to keep it formal.   “You sent me a note about Little Joe and asked me to call in.”

“Yes, yes I did.  Shall we sit down?  The children won’t be called in for a while so we can have a nice chat.   Joseph, why don’t you wait outside.”

Joe couldn’t hide the grin at Adam’s discomfort with this suggestion.

“Uh, don’t you think Joe ought to hear what you have to say, Miss Jones?   I mean, if you want me, or my father, to discipline him over something he’s done, he ought to have the chance to hear what it is,” Adam hedged, reluctant to be left alone with the spinster schoolteacher.

Abigail was obviously against the idea but couldn’t think of a way out.  “If you think that’s necessary,” she replied, disappointed.  She led the way to the front of the class and sat at her desk, indicating a chair next to it for Adam.

Adam ignored her gesture and seated himself on one of the desks at the front.  Joe slid into the chair behind it; he was enjoying this immensely and was rather glad Adam had insisted that he stay.

“Apart from his tardiness yesterday, what seems to be the problem?”  Adam asked, turning to give his brother a stern glance to quell the giggles he could hear bubbling from behind him.

Miss Jones drew herself up in her chair, this wasn’t going to be the pleasant chat she had hoped for and she cast her mind around for exactly why she was displeased with Joseph Cartwright.  The note had been a ruse to get Adam here, now she had to justify it.  She settled for her standard complaint about her pupils.  “Apart from missing school on Tuesday and being late yesterday, he has not been paying attention in class.”

“Is that all classes, Miss Jones, or one in particular?”  Adam replied, hoping she would be more specific.

“Mainly in our English literature classes; we’re studying The Bard and Joseph seems to think it is a time for fooling around,” she said haughtily.

Adam’s eyes twinkled but he tried to keep a serious expression for his brother’s benefit.  It wouldn’t do for Joe to think he was taking this lightly.  “Maybe the children would find it more interesting if they could act out the parts instead of simply reading them,” he suggested.  “I know my father and the other School Board members are keen on putting on more events for parents, perhaps you could stage a play for them.”

At his words an idea sprang into Abigail’s head and her face lit up at the prospect.   “I think that is an excellent idea, Adam.  It would be a lot of work but if you’d help me with it, I’m sure we could accomplish great things.”

Joe almost choked as his laughter could no longer be contained and he ended with a coughing fit to hide his merriment.

“I…I don’t think I’d have time to…uh… help out,” Adam stuttered  “My father’s away and…”

“Nonsense,” Miss Jones interrupted.  “Your father’s back on Sunday, he has a School Board meeting on Monday evening, I’ll ask him then.  I’m sure he’ll agree to you spending an afternoon or two here.”

Adam’s heart sank to his boots.  How could he get out of this before his father learned of the plan?  He knew Ben would be pleased for him to be involved in something like this.  It would help in his campaign to keep Joe in school and keep an eye on him and it would be helping the school become a part of the community.  Oh yes, Pa would just love it.

For the next five minutes Adam came up with excuses and Abigail countered each one until he felt his resistance wearing down.  Joe could see his brother weakening and wondered how much longer he could hold out.  Surprisingly it was Joe who was given the opportunity to drive the final nail in the coffin.

Miss Jones knew her opponent was almost ready to agree to anything to get out of the schoolroom.  She played her trump card, “I’m sure Joseph would take a much bigger part in class activities if you showed him by example how much enjoyment he can get from good literature.  Wouldn’t you, Joseph?”

Joe was startled from his thoughts and being the habit of agreeing with the schoolteacher to avoid trouble he spoke without really thinking, “Oh yes, Ma’am.”

Abigail pounced like a fox on a rabbit, “There you see, all the children will benefit from such a good example, especially your brother.  How can you refuse?”

Adam almost swore but stopped himself just in time. He sighed.  He had been caught in a trap and one of his own making and he knew it. “All right,” he said reluctantly,  “I’ll help out.  What play are you studying?”

Miss Jones smiled a triumphant smile. “Romeo and Juliet,” she said softly.  “So romantic don’t you think?”

Joe snorted and faked another coughing fit as he saw his brother’s face grow redder, whether with embarrassment or anger he couldn’t tell.

“Joseph, why don’t you go out and ring the bell for the children to come in?  I’ll see you on Tuesday afternoon then, Adam. That’s the day of our next play reading.  We can hear the children read and decide on which parts they should play.”

Adam sighed and nodded.  He followed Joe out into the yard and was just in time to hear his brother mimicking Miss Jones voice.

“Ah, Romeo…”

“Shut up,” Adam hissed.  “I’ll deal with you when you get home.  You’re gonna regret getting me into this mess.”  With that he strode across the yard and grabbed Sport’s reins.

Joe watched with some consternation as his brother mounted and rode off.  It had been fun to watch but he was sure he was going to pay for that tonight.  At least his day was likely to go more smoothly.  He was definitely in Miss Jones’ good books now.

Hoss cornered his kid brother as soon as he got home.  Joe had hardly finished unsaddling Cochise when Hoss burst into the barn and descended on him.  “What happened at school?” he demanded, his eyes wide.

Joe had been contemplating his fate at Adam’s hands and was a little startled at Hoss’s abrupt entrance.  “Whaddya mean?” he asked.

“Waal…ol’ Adam came back with a face as black as thunder and he was callin’ you somethin’ awful all mornin’, then he started in about Romeo or some such.  ‘ppears like you got him real riled little brother.”

Joe chuckled, “Oh yeah, he was riled.”  He related the events of the morning to Hoss and by the end of it both were in fits of laughter.

“Don’t you two have enough work to do?”  Adam’s sharp voice made them spin around to the barn door.  He was silhouetted against the light and every inch of his body said he was angry.  “Get your chores finished for once and don’t forget you have the tack room to work on tomorrow.”  He shot at Joe.

“I ain’t forgot,” Joe snapped back.

“And keep a civil tongue in your head when you speak to me.”  He added.

Joe ducked under his brother’s arm and headed for the door, grinning at Hoss.

Hoss winked and spoke casually, “You want me to hear you read some of that there Shakespeare tonight Joe.  I mean if you’s play actin’ it next week you want to get a good part.  Guess the part of Romeo’s already taken.”

Joe convulsed with laughter and then getting himself under control with a supreme effort, he nodded. “Yeah I bet it is, considerin’ as I ‘spect Miss Jones’ll wanna play Juliet.”

Adam looked from one to the other his frown so deep and black that Hoss thought he might explode.  “Get on with your work,” he finally got out.

Both younger brothers did as they were told but the smiles stayed in place.  Joe completed his chores and went in to supper in a lighter frame of mind knowing Hoss was ready to tease their older brother.  He wasn’t exactly afraid of what Adam might do but it always felt good to have Hoss on his side.  In fact, apart from being moody and out of sorts with them, Adam said no more.

Joe’s good humor disappeared next morning though, when he was sharply reminded that there would be no fishing or other pleasant pursuits for him today.  He would be spending a hot Saturday in the tack room.  He finished his regular chores and stood for a while in the doorway surveying the scene.  There were halters, bridles and ropes lying on the workbench, some in need of repair and all in need of coiling or cleaning.  Spare saddles had been left carelessly on the floor and the shelves full of liniment, rags, polish etc. were a mess.  Toward the back there was a stack of boxes and trunks which someone had pulled out in a search for some lost piece of equipment and had never put back.  The floor area was cluttered and filthy dirty, with paper, old tins and other debris, which needed removing.

Joe sighed.  This was no five-minute job and he debated how he could give the semblance of order without doing too much work.  Maybe, if he swept up and hung up a few things that would do it.  If he could fool Adam then he might still get a few hours with his best friend at the lake.  He worked at a moderate pace for about an hour and then stood back to survey his handiwork.  Things had been hung up but not cleaned and he had swept the floor it was certainly looking better, now if he just moved those boxes back and put all the other junk behind them it would look quite good.

He pushed the stuff that he didn’t want to tidy to the back of the small building and then began to re-stack the boxes in front of it.  As he moved the second box he heard Adam’s voice outside and in his hurry to hide the evidence of his deception he dislodged a long polished wooden box which toppled and fell with a crash.

Adam strode into the tack room at the sound and gasped as he saw what had fallen.  Joe, too, stood looking in amazement, before bending down to examine the contents more carefully.

The box had broken open at the hinges to expose a red velvet lined interior and two gleaming thin swords, each just under three feet long, with lattice worked guards, and fitted with a small leather button to protect the point.

Joe carefully reached into the box and grasped one of the handles lifting the thin sword until it came free of its slotted grip and balanced in his left hand.

Seeing his little brother holding the epee a thousand images swam before Adam’s eyes but he pushed them away as he moved forward.  “Be careful Little Joe, it’s not a toy,” he automatically admonished.

Joe looked up, his eyes alight with pleasure.  “They’re beautiful Adam, whose are they?”

Adam smiled at his brother’s expression.  “They were your mother’s, Joe,” he said softly.

Joe’s green eyes sparkled and he examined the guard more closely.  “You mean she used these?”  He asked his voice betraying his incredulity.

“Uhuh!  She was very good with them too.”  Adam gently picked up the other of the matched pair and held it across his hand, remembering.

“Why are they out here?  I mean, why ain’t I never seen them before?”  He asked.

Adam shrugged.  “I guess Pa moved them out here.  They used to be on the top of the stairs until Ross and I almost cut each other’s throats with them.  Then they were stored in the study and after your mother died I never saw them again until now.”

“You mean you used ’em too?”  Joe’s interested was fired and he wanted to know more about these weapons.

“Yup… your mother taught me after my near fatal encounter with Ross.”  Adam smiled at his younger brother.  “She persuaded Pa that being able to use them properly would avoid accidents and teach me to respect them.   Of course that was after Pa had finished a pretty stiff lecture on touching things that didn’t belong to me.”

Joe grinned.  “Was he real mad?  You know like he gets when I do something dangerous.”

Adam nodded.  “Yeah, I guess all parents get that way when they are worried.”  He gently laid down the sword in his hand and took the other from Joe.  “Big brothers get the same way,” he smiled.

Joe sat down on one of the boxes and looked up at his brother,  “Tell me about her, Adam.  Tell me how she taught you to sword fight an all…,” Joe begged.

“It’s called fencing, Joe and it’s a sport as well as a way of fighting.  I don’t think your mother ever used one of these in anger.”

“But they fight duels with ’em in New Orleans and in France don’t they?”  Joe asked.

Adam nodded, “Yes, these are used by duellists and they are a formidable weapon.”  He picked up the epee again and held it out in front of him for a moment before sitting down beside his brother.  His mind went back to that summer day when he had first held one of these in his hand.

*****

“Well if you ain’t allowed out of the yard there ain’t much we can do, is there?”  Ross Marquette complained.  “How come you gotta go and get your Pa mad at you on the last Saturday of the vacation.”

Adam sat on the stairs and looked down at his friend.  “I didn’t plan it that way,” he objected.  “How was I to know he was gonna come by the diggings last week when Smoky was teaching me how to wash out the gold.”

Ross laughed. “It wasn’t you panning for gold that got him mad.  You was supposed to be churning butter and splitting kindlin’, that’s what got him mad.”

Adam shrugged.  “Not much I can do about it, at least he only gave me a few extra chores and we still got the afternoon.”

Ross picked up the poker from the fireplace and twirled it like a baton.  “Yeah, but that ain’t no good if there’s nothin’ to do.  Where is your Pa anyhow?”

Adam rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “He’s taken Hoss and Little Joe down to the pond to sail a boat he made for them and Marie’s gone over to visit the Hammonds with some preserves or something.”

Ross’s eyes travelled over the room looking for inspiration.  “Hey, what are those?”

Adam followed his friend’s gaze.  “Oh, them, they’re Marie’s, swords.  Epees I think she calls ’em.”

Ross put down the poker and moved to the stairs, pushing past Adam who watched him walk up to the top and pause in front of the crossed swords.   “You mean like they fought duels with in olden days?”

Adam nodded.  “Yeah, I guess they still do, leastways Marie says they do.”

Ross reached up and fingered the sword blade.  “I saw a play once in St Louis where two fellas fought with swords but they was bigger than this.”

Adam got to his feet and leaned back against the stair rail.  “Broad swords, that’s what they used in Europe in battles years ago.”

Ross grunted.  He was used to Adam showing off his knowledge.  His friend always had his head stuck in a book of some sort.

Ross lifted down one of the swords and tried it for balance making a lunge at Adam as he had seen the men do in the play. 

Adam frowned and moved back,  “Hey, careful.  I don’t think we ought to touch them.  Marie might not like it.”

Ross raised an eyebrow,  “Since when did you care what she thought?  C’mon, it’ll be a bit of fun.  There’s nuthin’ else to do.  We could practice with ’em.”  He bowed to his buddy.  “I challenge you to a duel.”

Adam shook his head,  “No, Ross.  I’m in enough trouble already.”

Ross shrugged. “Your Pa’s out and so’s Marie, no one’s gonna know… but of course, if you’re too chicken…”

The words were like a match to gunpowder as Ross had known they would be.   

“I ain’t scared,”  Adam yelled back.

“C’mon then, prove it.”  Ross taunted, dancing back along the hallway, the epee flashing in front of him.

Without a second thought Adam raced up the remaining stairs and took the second epee from its resting-place, following Ross and fencing with him as they went.  For several minutes the blades flashed and crashed into each other in a haphazard fashion as the boys made an attempt at a sword fight.  Both were quick on their feet and with good reflexes, blocking and parrying each other successfully and no damage was done.  After an early advantage, where, using the surprise element Adam managed to make Ross retreat along the hallway the roles reversed and Ross pushed Adam back toward the stairs.

Whether it was the sound of the door opening or pure chance, they would never know, but as Adam reached the top step he missed his footing.  He reached out with his left hand to grab the rail and only succeeded in grabbing Ross’s jacket.  Both boys fell backwards down the stairs; Adam ending up on the half landing with Ross on top of him.  

Marie stood in the doorway for a second surprised at the noise of both boys tumbling down the stairs.  She waited for them to get up and when they did she screamed.  Ross was clutching his cheek and blood was seeping through his fingers and Adam was drained of all color and blood flowed freely from his wrist, drenching his blue shirt and black pants. 

Marie rushed across to her stepson. “What have you done?” she asked, her voice shaky as she noted the amount of blood on his clothes in such a short time.  She reached out and took his wrist and droplets of blood fell on her pale lemon dress making a bright pattern.

“Ow…it hurts,” Adam complained as she examined the deep gash.

“Keep still,” Marie admonished, pressing hard just above the wound.  “Ross are you badly hurt?” she asked, never taking her eyes from Adam’s wrist where the flow of blood was now slowing.

“I don’t think so Ma’am,”  Ross replied moving his hand experimentally and then examining his cheek in the mirror by the door.  “I gotta cut but it ain’t bleeding much.”

“Go get me some clean towels from the washroom and see if you can find Hop Sing.”    

It took Marie several minutes to staunch the flow of blood enough to bind Adam’s wrist and even then she watched the snowy white bandage anxiously to see if it was staining.  Meanwhile Hop Sing had been found and he had helped Ross to clean up and made some of his herbal tea to calm both Adam and Marie.   Adam was lying back on the sofa, his face pale but otherwise he seemed none the worse for his accident.

Marie was now sufficiently recovered to start asking questions, much to her stepson’s distress.  He knew this wasn’t going to be easily explained away.

“What on earth were you doing?” she started.

  Ross bit his lip and looked at the white face of his friend.  “It was my fault Ma’am.  I took one of your swords down and started fooling around with it.  Adam didn’t want me too and he tried to stop me.”

Marie raised an eyebrow, “Stop you, how? By running you through with an epee?”  She turned her stern expression on her stepson.  “They are not toys to be played with, they are weapons, just like your father’s guns, and equally deadly.  You should not have touched them.”

“We’re sorry, Marie…uh Ma’am.  We were bored with nothing to do and…”  His voice trailed away as he realised it was the wrong thing to say.

Marie shook her head.  Boys!  She supposed it was something she had to get used to with three of them around the house, but she sincerely hoped her baby son would not grow up to try to emulate his older brother.  She worried enough about her stepsons, it was much worse with Little Joe; he was so precious to her.  “Well, don’t touch them again,” she sighed.  “Ross I think you’d better go home.  I want Adam to rest his arm so that the bleeding doesn’t start again.”  She looked anxiously at the boy,  “Are you all right to ride home alone?”

Ross nodded and slowly got to his feet.  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.  It’s only a scratch.”  He grinned, “Doubt I’ll even have a scar to impress the girls.  If I do, maybe I could tell them it’s a duelling scar.”

Marie frowned as both boys laughed.  “Go on with you.  It’s no laughing matter.  I ought to give you both a hiding.”

Ross retreated backwards toward the door, in case she tried to fulfil her threat.  “Bye Adam, bye Mrs Cartwright.  See ya in school Monday, Adam.”  He said as he backed nervously out of the door.

Adam was left with his stepmother. He looked as pathetic as he could and stared at the blanket covering him, the fingers of his uninjured right hand plucking at the crocheted flowers on the blanket.  He looked up nervously as Marie perched herself beside him.  “You gonna tell Pa, what we were doing?” he asked.

Marie gently touched his bandaged wrist, “I think he may ask, don’t you?”

Adam nodded. “I guess it is kinda hard to hide.”

Marie reached out and brushed his black hair from his forehead.  “Didn’t you realise how dangerous they were?  Many men have been killed with the sword, some even while they practised.”   She looked thoughtful for a moment.  “They fascinate you is that not so?   You wish to find out so much.  Would you like to learn how to fence?”

Adam’s eyes lit up.  “Oh yes!  Would you teach me?”

Marie smiled.  “Not so fast, ma petit, your father has to agree.  He may not wish for you to learn.”  She pointed to his wrist.  “He may say you do not deserve to be indulged.”

Adam scowled then re-arranged his expression into a more pleasant one as he heard his father’s voice in the yard.  Marie got to her feet to greet her husband and a moment later two boys cannoned into the room ahead of their father. The smaller of the two hurled himself at his older brother and hugged. 

Hoss came around to the sofa more slowly “The boat sails real good, Adam.  You shoulda seen it,” he announced.  “Hey, what you done to your arm?”

Marie reached out a hand and tried to restrain her son.  “Little Joe be careful, Adam’s hurting.”  She lifted the little boy away.

Joe stood at the side of the sofa and stared at the bandage, which had a small smudged red stain beginning to show.   “What dat?” he asked, in awe.

Adam glanced at his stepmother.  “I just cut myself, Little Joe.  It’s not bad.”

Ben leaned over the back of the sofa and saw the bandage and the stain and glanced up at his wife, his expression questioning.

Marie touched Hoss lightly on the shoulder.  “Why don’t you take Little Joe and see if Hop Sing has milk and cookies for you,” she suggested.

Hoss immediately turned away and took Joe’s hand.  Joe was more reluctant but he allowed himself to be dragged away.

“Well?”  Ben queried.  “Is one of you going to tell me how this happened?”  The question seemed mild enough but both his wife and son knew there was no point in trying to prevaricate.

Marie glanced at Adam, a look which said it would be better if you told him.

Adam rubbed his ear. “You see Pa, Ross and I were duelling with Marie’s swords and we slipped and fell down the stairs.  I guess I must have fallen on one of the swords and it cut my wrist.”

Ben stared at him then looked at Marie who gave a very Gallic shrug.  “Did Marie say you could touch them?”

Adam shook his head, “No, sir.  She was out.”

“Then what made you think you could take something that wasn’t yours?   You know better.” 

“Yes, sir,” Adam muttered, keeping his eyes down.

“Look at me,”  Ben ordered.

Marie edged away; she could feel a lecture coming on.  “I’ll go and see what the boys are doing and check on supper,” she murmured, but neither her husband nor stepson heard her.  

When she returned with two very clean boys it was to find the swords packed in the sword case and a subdued and still pale Adam sitting back on the sofa.  Ben had moved to his own chair and was smoking his pipe but he reached down to lift Joe on to his knee.  He indicated the sword case. 

“I think it might be wiser to keep those packed away for a few years until inquisitive small boys are old enough to understand they are dangerous and not to be played with.”   He said glaring at Adam, who cringed at being referred to as a small boy as if he was Joe’s age.

Marie raised her eyebrows but nodded, now was not the time to suggest she taught Adam to use the epee properly.

Later that night she stood at the window of their bedroom and tried to work out the best way to broach the subject of fencing lessons for Adam.  Ben came up behind her and put his arms around her.  “Dare I ask what you’re thinking?” he said with a smile and a hug.

She continued to stare out of the window, seeing their reflection in the glass, but she did lean back against him.  “I was thinking about the boys…”

He gently turned her towards him, “And one boy in particular?” he asked, his eyebrow raised.  “He seemed fine when I came up to say goodnight.”

Marie smiled, “No, not his wrist.  It was a deep gash but I checked it and it had stopped bleeding.  I was thinking that maybe I could teach him to handle an epee.”

Ben raised an eyebrow quizzically. 

She saw the look and grinned.  “If he knew how to use it he wouldn’t hurt himself.”

Ben gave a wry smile.  “If he had learned to obey he wouldn’t have touched them at all,” he responded.

Marie grunted.  “And the sun won’t rise tomorrow.  Boys are curious and our eldest son more than most.  If I’d shown him how dangerous they were he wouldn’t have touched them.  I hung them up as though they were an ornament, it’s as much my fault as his.”

Ben snorted.  “Don’t you think you are taking this campaign to win him over a little too far?”

Marie pulled out of his grasp.  “Is that what you think it is, a campaign?”

“Well isn’t it?  You’ve come a long way but you indulge him far too much.”

“And you don’t indulge him enough,” she retorted.  “He’s fourteen not twenty four.  You treat him like a child then expect him to act like an adult.”

Ben drew himself up and became defensive. “I expect him to show respect to both of us and I expect him to obey,” he said brusquely.

Marie reached out a hand and touched his cheek.  “Would it be so hard to show how much you care and how proud you are of him.” she said softly.

Ben grunted.  “Of course I’m proud of him.”

“Then tell him, show him.  Give him a chance to be good.”  She sighed.  “You are both so stubborn.  Let go and give each other a hug, it won’t hurt either of you.”  She allowed her words to hang in the air as Ben turned away from her.

“All right, you can teach him.  But he’d better take it seriously, no fooling around,”  Ben said grudgingly.

Marie stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Yes, sir,”  she replied with a grin.

Once Adam had been told that Ben had agreed to the fencing lessons, he found it difficult to contain his impatience.  However, it was simply not possible for him to persuade Marie to hurry things.  First she sat him down and told him a little of the history of the sword, emphasising that it was weapon and although light and slim the epee could kill.   Eventually she allowed him to handle one of the swords, showing him the triangular cross section, which made it a thrusting weapon, not a cutting one.

“It sure cut me.”  Adam protested, examining the thin scar still visible on his wrist.

Marie smiled.  “I think that is because the button came free and Ross’s sword ran along your wrist when he fell on top of you, it was the point that cut you.  It is important to keep these buttons in place when you are practising.”

Adam examined the sword again and then made a lunge with it, making Marie laugh. 

“If you do that in combat you will probably be impaled on your opponent’s sword.”  She moved around behind him and showed him how to move.  “You are off balance.  Balance is the most important thing to learn.  You must be ready to move away again quickly.  If your opponent parries your attack you must be ready to avoid any riposte he makes.”

Slowly Adam found the moves becoming easier and when she thought he had the measure of the weapon and the balance, Marie took up the other epee.  First she showed him the etiquette of a duel then allowed him to cross swords with her and taking each action very slowly she led him through the basic moves.

 After a few weeks of practice they were having more serious encounters but Marie still restricted him to certain moves and kept things light.

“Why can’t we have a proper bout, Marie?”  Adam asked one afternoon.  “I want to see if I can beat you.”

Marie pointed to the extra jacket and the gloves they both wore.  “You may think we are protected but if one of us was to slip we could injure each other very badly.  We have no face masks and no real padding.”  She smiled.  “And how do you propose to show you have won?  Unless you disarm me, you would have to kill me to do that.”  Her expression softened as she saw his chagrin at her statement.   “When you practice with your rifle you become good, no?”

He nodded.

“It is the same with the sword.  You have become a good swordsman, you do not have to kill a man or… a stepmother to prove it,” she smiled.  “Soon your father will teach you how to handle a pistol.  You will fire at cans and think you are a good shot.  I hope it never happens, but someday you may fire in anger at another man.  Your skills will help you but they will not prepare you for the difference, a can does not shoot back.  It is the same with the sword you can never practice for that moment.  What you can do is understand the consequences of your actions and learn to handle situations so that you only face death when there is no other way out.   Remember Adam, your enemy can kill you too, it is a sobering thought, is it not?”

*****

Adam glanced across at his younger brother who had been listening intently.  “So you see Joe, they aren’t something to be treated lightly.”

Joe nodded impatiently, “But willya teach me?”

“I’ll give you the same answer your mother gave me,” he chuckled.  “The same one she’d probably give you if she were here now.   Ask Pa.”

Joe glowered at his brother.   “He’ll say no.  He’ll be mad I touched the box and when you tell him about school an’ all, he’ll say no.”

Adam frowned for a moment.  “Of course if you were to do the extra chores I gave you… properly.”  He waved a hand at the hidden rubbish.  “Then I’d say that particular crime was paid for, wouldn’t you?  You know Pa never holds things over you once the debt is paid.  As for touching the box, you can say quite truthfully it fell open while you were clearing up in here.  He doesn’t have to know the chore was a punishment.”

“You ain’t gonna say nothin’?  Joe’s mouth dropped open.  “Not even after I got you into helpin’ Miss Jones.”

Adam grinned.  “I’m saving that one for when I want a favor from you!”  He jabbed his finger into his little brother’s chest.   “But you’ve given me an idea, one that might benefit us both…”

“What?”  Joe asked, puzzled.

“Never you mind.  I need to think on it, but make sure I’m around when you ask Pa about the swords.   I have an idea that might make him say yes and help get me out of hot water.”   He stood up and looked pointedly at Joe and then at the pile of boxes and the things half hidden behind them.  “You’ve still got some work to do and don’t try to deceive me again,” he said sternly.  “Even if you get finished you are NOT going over to the Devlin’s, it’s too late.”

Joe grimaced but started to work then turned and made a face at his brother’s retreating back.

Ben arrived home tired from his business trip and although he listened to all that had been happening, Joe knew this was not the time to broach the subject of the swords.  The first real opportunity arose at breakfast on Monday morning.  Ben and Adam were discussing the work for the day while Hoss and Joe concentrated on the ham and eggs Hop Sing had put in front of them.

“Oh, I almost forgot, I won’t be able to stay with you while you finish the tallying,” Ben said as he leaned back to drink his second cup of coffee.  “I have a school board meeting tonight and I’d better be there as I missed the last one or Mr Macdonald will be asking for me to be replaced.”  He looked at his youngest son.  “I hope you’ve been behaving yourself, young man.”

Joe scowled.  “Pa, why can’t I leave school?  You’re always saying you need more help.”

“That’s maybe true, but you are not leaving school,” Ben replied firmly.

“I could still learn stuff at home.  Adam could teach me.”  Joe pleaded.

Ben almost choked on his coffee.  “Since when have you become an advocate of learning from your brother?”  He asked, cocking an eyebrow at Adam.

Joe shrugged.  “Well he could teach me some stuff, like working with the herd and …” He stopped and glanced at his older brother.  “Pa…see I found these swords in the tack room and Adam said he could teach me to use them.”

Ben’s expression changed from one of mild amusement to a frown.  “What were you doing looking into things that you have no business to touch?”  He said sternly.

Uh oh…Joe winced, that had been a bad move.

Adam scratched an ear.  “He was tidying the tack room for me, Pa.”  He interrupted before Joe could react.  “The box was among the things he moved to the back to sweep up.”

Ben’s eyebrow lifted slightly.  Adam’s explanation had told him that Joe was being punished for something.  He would never willingly do extra chores, unless they involved horses and not the harness either.  However, that was not the point.  It was over and done with as far as Adam was concerned so he’d not question them further on that.

“Would it be okay, if I showed him how to a handle them safely?”  Adam asked.  “I mean boys will be boys and it would be better to avoid accidents.”  He smiled.

Ben grunted.  “Well you boys certainly have enough of those.  I don’t see that learning how to use a sword will be of much use to him.  He’s never likely to need to use one,” Ben muttered.  “Why do you want to learn Joe, is it just to fool around?”

Joe could see a ‘no’ coming and was about to respond in his usual aggressive fashion when Adam interrupted.

“He might get to use it right away.  I was talking with Miss Jones and we thought it would be a good idea to put on a Shakespeare play for the school anniversary celebrations next month.  I offered to help out.”

Ben raised an eyebrow and hid a smile.  This told him more than he wanted to know.  Adam volunteering to help Abigail was even more absurd than Joe wanting his brother to help him with lessons.  So, he chuckled; Joe had got into trouble at school, hence the extra chores, and somehow in the ensuing visit Adam had been trapped into helping Abigail.  This he had to see.

“All right, but…” he looked at his youngest son,  “It’s to be done properly.  You will do exactly as your brother tells you.  The first sign of an argument or any unsafe practices or fooling around and the lessons stop.”

Adam’s smile was relieved, Joe’s frankly jubilant.  He hadn’t expected it to be that easy.

If Marie had thought Adam an impatient pupil, then Joe was ten times worse.  Several times during their first session on Monday evening Adam threatened to call off the lesson unless his little brother obeyed instructions.   Hoss watched for a time but he couldn’t understand the attraction of dancing around with a silly sword and eventually the novelty of seeing Joe try to curb his enthusiasm wore off and he went inside to see if there was any pie left over from supper.

Ben’s school board meeting proved most interesting as he learned more about the play.  Abigail had certainly taken the idea to heart and was now planning a great production, not a simple school play.  She cornered Ben after the meeting to tell him more. He found himself trying to think of excuses for going home but she was persistent.

“Of course I will coach the child who is chosen to play Juliet and I’m sure I can rely on Adam to do the same for whoever is chosen for Romeo.”  You can see how educational it will be.

Ben nodded.  He did see, only too well.  Poor Adam.  He hid a smile and tried to appear to be listening as she ran through the way she hoped to rehearse.

“Adam and I can read the roles and the children will be able to see where the emphasis should be and how to enter into the character.  I’m so pleased Adam has volunteered to help…”

“Oh, yes, he’s quite keen on teaching the boys to use a sword so that it looks realistic.”  Ben interrupted.

Abigail sighed.  “I suppose we’ll have to allow the sword fights to stay but it really is a romance with star-crossed lovers, not a battle.”

Ben almost choked.  What he wouldn’t give to see these rehearsals.  “I must be going, Abigail.  I’m sure the play will be a great success.”  He had to get away or he would laugh and that would be most inappropriate.

Ben stood up and tried to straighten the kinks in his back.  He had been bent over a fire all morning with a branding iron in his hand and it felt good to feel the cool breeze for a moment.  Hoss and Adam had been cutting out calves and now he saw them both riding toward him.  He handed the branding iron to one of the hands and walked out to meet them.  They could all do with a coffee he decided, so he waited by the chuck wagon for his sons to join him.

He handed tin mugs of hot, thick, black coffee to his sons and waited until they both took their first sips.  “It seems to be coming along fine,” he said waving his hand in the direction of the assembled herd.  “We’ve had a good year and if we can get a decent price at the railhead and then nurse the others through the winter we should come out well ahead.”  He glanced at Adam then continued, “I was thinking maybe you should spend more time on the logging operation next year, Adam.  There is plenty of business out there but we never seem to have the time to go out and bid for it.”

Adam shrugged.  “There are only so many hours in the day and the cattle take up most of mine, not to mention the new breeding program we want to introduce so that we can provide horses for the army on a regular basis instead of catch as catch can.”  He sighed.  “I’d like to make a bigger investment in the mines too.  It’s right in our back yard and if we had our own mine we could operate at much lower costs than the other mine owners because of our timber interests.”

Ben acknowledged the truth of the first statement but then smiled at the second.  Just lately Adam had become restless and Ben knew he was itching to use his engineering skills in a mining venture.  So far he had vetoed it as too risky but Adam was pushing him hard to re-consider. “Of course if Hoss took over the cattle operation that would leave you more time for the business side,” he said casually.

Both Adam and Hoss looked up at him in amazement.

“Hoss!”  Adam exclaimed as if the idea was preposterous, “But he’s only…”

Ben held up a hand to stop him, “He’s twenty-one next month and more than capable of handling the cattle operation without you,” Ben replied.  “Aren’t you, son?” He turned to Hoss who was still staring open mouthed at his father.

“Uh… well, I guess I could,” Hoss said slowly a broad smile spreading across his face.  “If’n you think I can, Pa,” he added a little nervously.

“But, Pa…”  Adam began to protest.

“Hadn’t you better be heading into town?  Miss Jones is expecting you and it wouldn’t do to set a bad example by being late,” Ben interrupted.   “Hoss and I can manage just fine here.”

Adam grunted in frustration; much as he wanted more time for his own pet projects, it galled him to think his younger brother could manage without him.  He banged down his coffee cup and pulled on his gloves, muttering under his breath.

After he had ridden off, Hoss turned back to his father.  “Pa, I’m real pleased you think I can do this but I don’t wanna upset Adam.  It’s always bin his job and well…”  He tailed off, his excitement at being given a responsibility of his own fighting with his sense of loyalty to his older brother.

Ben slapped him on the back. “Of course you can do it and it’s only been Adam’s job for just over two years.  Are you forgetting we handled it just fine when he was away,” he chuckled.  “Don’t tell me you don’t want the job?  You campaigned hard enough to leave school to learn how to do it.”

Hoss looked out over the large herd and his face creased into a frown.  “I ain’t gotta boss the drive, have I, Pa?”

Ben smiled.  “I think we’ll leave that for this year, but I do want you to take over the operations on the ranch.  I’ve spoken to Jose and he’s willing to give you as much support as you need to start with…”

This was all too much for Hoss to take on board. “You mean Adam won’t have nuthin’ to do with the herd?”

Ben smiled again. “He’ll be helping out and no doubt he’ll expect to be consulted on major decisions as I will, but the responsibility will be yours.  Adam will have enough on his hands with the lumber contracts and the horses for the army.  No doubt he will start pushing me to invest in mining too. ”

After a few more minutes of conversation Hoss moved off to his herd, his mind in a whirl.  He was the boss, that’s what Pa had said. Boy, Adam wasn’t gonna like it one bit.

Adam rode into town in a foul temper.  He didn’t want to be doing this and now Pa had heaped further indignity on him by replacing him with his younger brother.  Hoss would never manage the herd on his own, he was still a kid.  He conveniently forgot that he had been ‘still a kid’  and a good few years younger than Hoss, when he had run the ranch almost single-handed after his stepmother’s death.  By the time he arrived at the schoolhouse he had cooled a little but he still felt like a man facing a death sentence.

Miss Jones was effusive in her greeting and Adam realised he had made the mistake of arriving while the children were still at the lunchtime recess.  He had no option but to follow her into an empty classroom.  He stood awkwardly beside her desk and glanced nervously around him, hoping that he only had a few minutes before the children returned.

“Oh, Adam, it’s so good of you to give up your valuable time to help the school.  I know the children will appreciate it,” Abigail gushed.

Adam rather doubted it but he smiled dutifully.

“Working together on such a worthy project will be so rewarding for me.”

Here Adam felt more confident that she was right.  He wasn’t so sure for himself though.   “I’m sure we can put on a successful production,” he muttered.  He was anything but sure, knowing that the boys would be hard to convince especially with his young brother as a leading light.

Miss Jones picked up her well-worn copy of Shakespeare and opened it to a marked passage.  “I thought we’d start with a few of the more famous speeches first,”  she suggested.  “You and I will read the parts and show the children how beautiful the words and the sentiments expressed can be; how much emotion can be shown through words…”  She handed the opened book to Adam.  “This passage would be a good starting point, don’t you think?”

Adam looked down and gulped.  “Uh…perhaps something more lively for the boys,” he tried tentatively.  “After all most young boys aren’t into love scenes and we do want them to participate in the class.”

Miss Jones shook her head.  “Once they see how beautifully you read Romeo, I’m sure they will understand it so much better.”

Adam sighed.  He could see she wasn’t to be side tracked that easily, but he tried again.  “I thought this afternoon was for choosing the players, for that we need the children to read, not us.”

“Yes, but they need to know how it should be performed,” she persisted.

Adam gave up and subsided into a grumpy silence as the children filed back in.  As Joe passed him he grinned and winked.  Adam glared at his younger brother, daring him to make any comment.  Miss Jones introduced him and then proceeded to explain to the children a little about the play and the proposal to perform it for their parents.  Her announcement was met with enthusiasm from the girls and groans of protest from the boys.

Joe nudged his best friend Mitch and grinned, “Wanna play Romeo?” he whispered.

Mitch chuckled.  “Thought Miss Jones had already cast that part,” he whispered back.

Miss Jones didn’t hear the words but she did see the whispering and she glared at both boys, but she didn’t want to antagonise Adam by yelling at his younger brother. So far things were going her way.  When she called for volunteers for the part of Juliet, several of the girls raised their hands.  However, the reaction to her request for boys to play Romeo fell on deaf ears.

Joe had been flipping idly through the book and Mitch leaned over to him. “You ain’t readin’ it are you?” he whispered in disgust.

“Nah,” Joe whispered back, his eye on Miss Jones.  “I’m lookin’ to see which parts is the shortest.  Miss Jones’ll make me take a part so she can keep Adam around and I wanna volunteer for somethin’ that don’t take much learnin’.”

He opened the book about halfway through and pointed at a passage.  “Adam says there’s a sword fight in here someplace and he’s gonna teach me to use my Ma’s swords.”

Mitch’s eyes lit up, “Find the bit where it says about it,” he ordered.  “Maybe we could get them parts and do it together.”

Miss Jones couldn’t put up with the whispering any longer and she advanced toward the desk Mitch and Joe shared.  “What are you two whispering about?” she demanded.

Joe looked up, his expression innocent.  “We were just reading a few bits Miss Jones.  So as we’d know which parts we wanted to take,” he explained.

Abigail tutted, not sure she believed him but ever hopeful that her most difficult pupil was at last taking an interest in her beloved Shakespeare.  She returned to the front of the class and picked up her copy of the play.   “Mr Cartwright and I will read a short passage to show you how it should be performed and then we’ll ask each of you to read for a part.”

Adam was now getting hot and bothered, this was the part he had been dreading, knowing full well that Abigail would choose one of the more romantic speeches.  He took a deep breath and studiously avoided looking in the direction of his young brother.  He wasn’t disappointed.  For the next half an hour he struggled manfully through two readings with Abigail blatantly overacting.  Only once did his composure falter.  He suddenly thought of the teenage lovers they were reading and had difficulty imagining Abigail Jones as a sweet fourteen-year-old, at the same moment he caught Joe and Mitch sniggering and he had to fake a cough to cover his laughter.

Finally, a pretty blonde girl with ringlets, was chosen as Juliet and as no offers for Romeo were forthcoming, Miss Jones made all the older boys including Joe and Mitch read for the part.  Joe deliberately made as many mistakes as he could. There was no way he was going to play Romeo to Carrie Bell’s Juliet.  She was just plain dumb as far as he was concerned, never up for any fun and always telling tales, teacher’s pet.

A lanky boy called George was finally selected once he had been assured that he did not have to kiss Juliet.  Then Miss Jones did the casting of the other players, and with a bit of prompting from Adam, Joe and Mitch were selected for Mercutio and Tybalt.

Joe, not trusting his older brother, immediately began to scan the play for the size of his part.  Finding the relevant passages he nudged his friend.  “We don’t have nuthin’ to say after about halfway through,” Joe grinned.

Mitch, who had been reading, nodded, “That’s ‘cos I get to kill you.”

Joe bristled at this information; he didn’t like the idea of losing a sword fight to Mitch.  “Hey, swap parts,” he suggested.

Mitch shook his head, “Miss Jones won’t let us, anyhow, I think I get killed in the next bit.”  He flipped over a couple of pages.  “There’s still a lot to learn even if we do get killed halfway through,” he complained.

Joe accosted Adam in the wash house before supper and complained bitterly about the size of his part.  “Didya have to get her to give me so much stuff to learn?”

Adam grinned. “Poetic justice for getting me into this mess,” he teased.  “Besides, you wanted to learn to use a sword and Pa wouldn’t have given in so easily if it hadn’t been for the play. Get Mitch to fix it with his Pa for us all to get together Saturday afternoon and we’ll have a practice session.”

Joe nodded, in a happier frame of mind once the exciting part of the whole exercise was being discussed. “Yeah, it will be good to run through some of the moves for the play.”

Adam grimaced and threw a towel at his brother, “Poor choice of words little brother.  I’d rather no one got ‘run through’, if you can manage that.”

Joe chuckled and hung up the towel and the two went in to supper together.  Hoss was already seated anxious for his brothers to join him so that Hop Sing would serve the stew he had been able to smell all the way from the north pasture.

“Pa said, not to wait for him, Hop Sing,” Hoss pleaded.  “He said he was gonna talk to Jake and he’d be a while.”

Hop Sing shook his head, “Boss, not be long, you wait.”  And he padded back to his kitchen.

Hoss sighed and settled back to wait, contenting himself with two thick slices of bread to assuage his hunger until Hop Sing relented or his father came in.  “How was the play actin’?”  He asked when Adam and Joe had pulled out their chairs and seated themselves.

Joe giggled.  “It’d be a whole lot better if Miss Jones played Juliet to Adam’s Romeo.  They put real feelin’ into it.”

Hoss chuckled.  “I just bet they do.”  He glanced at Adam to see his reaction.

Adam wagged a finger under his younger brother’s nose.  “Be careful, Joe, or I might suggest that you play Romeo.  George isn’t too keen and I know Miss Jones would make the swap if I asked her nicely.”

Joe scowled. “I got nearly as much to learn anyhow,” he complained.  “At least we get to use the swords, that’s the only good part.  The rest of it is dumb.”

Ben had entered the room as Joe spoke and he tossed his hat on the side and moved over to the table.  “The idea is for you to acquire an appreciation of Shakespeare not spend your time on swordplay.”  He admonished.  “I’d better hear that you are taking this seriously or permission to use your mother’s epees or even learn about them will be withdrawn.”  He added sternly.

Hop Sing was placing plates of food on the table and Joe merely nodded and kept his eyes down to his own plate.

“Did you hear me, Joseph?”  Ben asked, his eyes on his son.

“Yes, sir,” Joe mumbled with none too good a grace.

Saturday afternoon saw Adam and the two boys set up for a practice.  Both were wearing extra padding in the form of two jackets and each had gloves for protection.  Adam had chosen a spot behind the house where he hoped they wouldn’t be disturbed, but within fifteen minutes Hoss had strolled around to watch.

For the first half-hour Adam didn’t allow the two boys to engage each other.  If he wanted to demonstrate a move he allowed them to take turns as his adversary.  Most of the first lesson was taken up with learning how to get the right balance and how to block your opponent.   After almost an hour Joe was bored.  He had mastered everything Adam had told him but he wanted to do more than defend.

“Hey, c’mon Adam. Why can’t me and Mitch have a real fight?” he complained.

Adam frowned. “It’s too soon, you might hurt each other.”

Joe held up the sword and pointed to the leather buttons, “How can we?  ‘Sides, we’re good at it,” he boasted.

“Yeah, go on let ’em, Adam,” called a voice from the sidelines and Adam turned to see that Cal and Danny Devlin had joined the audience and a few ranch hands were drifting that way too.

Adam raised an eyebrow at Cal, “You sure your Pa would approve?”  He asked.

Cal grinned.  “He ain’t here and nor’s yours.  Let the kids have a go.”

Adam glanced at Hoss who shrugged his shoulders, as if to say it’s on your head, not mine.

“We’ll be real careful, Adam,”  Mitch added his plea.

Adam sighed.  If he still said no, he’d be in a minority of one, and unpopular as usual.  Why was it always up to him to be the responsible one?  He frowned at Caleb, he was the oldest too, why couldn’t he see sense?  He shrugged.  “Okay, but be careful and if I tell you to stop you do it, right?”

Both boys nodded impatiently.  They moved back and held the epees at the salute, both giggling at the formality of it.

“Cut it ou,” Adam commanded, not realising how funny his words sound to the audience.  “Take it seriously, or I’ll take the swords away.”

“Yes, sir!”  Joe replied giving a small bow and giggling even harder.

Hoss frowned at his little brother.  Adam wouldn’t take much more of this and Joe had better behave or there would be a different sort of fight.

The two crossed swords and the engagement began.  It was a little ungainly and ragged at times but Adam had to admit that the boys must have listen to most of his instructions.   They were evenly matched to begin with, both being a little cautious and defending more than attacking.  However, it wasn’t long before Joe’s natural exuberance could be contained no longer and he tried more adventurous moves.  Once or twice Adam thought he should intervene but Mitch was defending well and it didn’t seem necessary.  He had just decided that the battle was getting a little too heated when Joe caught Mitch unawares and the sword flew from the boy’s hand.  In the excitement of the moment Joe failed to stop his lunge forward and the point of the sword jabbed into Mitch’s shoulder.  The force of the blow against the padding made the sword spring back and flick upwards delivering a glancing blow to Mitch’s cheek.

Adam leapt forward and grabbed Joe’s arm but it was too late, a two-inch long red weal was already showing on Mitch’s cheek.  There was no blood but the stinging pain made Mitch wince and cry out.

Cal moved forward quickly and prised his brother’s fingers away to see the damage.  “Looks nasty but it ain’t cut,” he commented, not particularly worried now that he could see the extent of the wound.

“I’m real sorry, Mitch,” Joe said, moving along side his friend to examine the result of his impetuosity.

“I told, you to be careful,” Adam snapped, his nerves frayed.  He wrenched the sword from Joe’s grasp and bent to retrieve the one that had fallen.

“Hey, calm down, buddy,” Cal said placatingly.  “Mitch’s fine, there’s no harm done.  We done worse to each other a time or two.”

Adam straightened up and began putting the epees back in their box.  “Oh, sure, calm down.  And who’s gonna be the one in trouble, not you that’s for sure.  You always duck out of being responsible for the kids.”

Cal bridled at the remark, “Now wait a minute…”  He yelled, pushing Adam in the chest.

“Who you callin’ kids,” Joe shouted, launching himself at his older brother.

Adam gave Joe a shove that sent him sprawling then readied himself to respond to the attack from Caleb.

Danny glanced at Hoss and the two heaved a sigh together.  “You wanna stop ’em or shall I?”  Danny asked.

Hoss shrugged. “Take one each?”  He suggested.

With consummate ease the two placid brothers stepped up between the combatants and held them apart.

“Cool off,” Hoss ordered as Cal struggled against Danny’s grip and Adam tried to shrug off his brother.  When Hoss thought Adam was in control of himself again he slowly released him.

Adam brushed himself down and scowled at both his brother and Caleb.  “We’ll pack up and get back to the chores,” he growled.  “I can’t teach with an audience.”

Joe shrugged and looked at Mitch, there was no persuading Adam when he was in that mood.   “When can we practice again?”  He asked, keeping his voice quiet and respectful.

“I don’t know,” Adam snapped back, bending to collect the swords.

“Miss Jones wants us to be real good for the performance and she won’t…, ”  Joe began.

“I didn’t want to get into this in the first place, Adam replied unreasonably since he had suggested it.  “I can back out anytime, and I will if you keep complaining.”

Now it was Joe’s turn to scowl. “I didn’t ask you to,” he muttered under his breath.  “All I wanted was to get out of Shakespeare… it’s your fault you got stuck with Miss Jones.”

Luckily Adam had turned as was striding back toward then house with the sword case under his arm and he didn’t hear his younger brother.

Cal gave a nervous laugh, “I’d like to see him get out of it, now Jonesy has got her hooks into him.”

Hoss nodded thoughtfully, “Mebbe that’s the problem.  Bein’ around her is makin’ him nervous and bad tempered.  Sorry, we made things worse Joe, but I wouldn’t push him.  You know he gets.”

Joe grunted and nodded. It would take a while for Adam to cool off but if they left him alone, he’d probably come around.

And so it proved.  Within a couple of days Adam had suggested another practice and this time both Joe and Mitch were careful not to mention it to anyone.  Without the audience things went much more smoothly.  Joe seemed to have a natural flare for fencing and Mitch could hold his own and put on a reasonable performance, certainly enough to make the staged fight look convincing.

Miss Jones tolerated the scene but spent most of her time trying to inveigle Adam into rehearsing the love scenes with her.   She took great delight in forcing Adam to play Romeo to her Juliet, to show Carrie and George how it should be done.  It got so frequent that at one point Carrie felt brave enough to interrupt.

“I know how to do it, Miss Jones.  You don’t have to keep showing me.  Mama says I speak the part real good.”

Adam hid a grin, but Abigail merely frowned and replied, “Your mother is hardly a critic of the arts Carrie.”

“I think Carrie is very good and I’m sure she would improve even more if she was allowed to do it her way for a while.  She’d be more comfortable with the part if she felt it was a little more true to her own character.”  Adam helped out and Carrie threw him a grateful glance.  Miss Jones was getting on her nerves.

The night of the performance drew nearer and Miss Jones became more agitated, what had started as a way of spending time with Adam Cartwright had now become a test of her ability as a teacher.  Her nervousness was infectious and an hour before the curtain was due to go up, the principal characters were all for backing out altogether.  Only Mitch and Joe were enjoying themselves, both anticipating the fun of the sword fights at least they were happy until Miss Jones produced the costumes.

“I ain’t wearin’ that!”  Joe yelled.

Mitch echoed his sentiments, and George tried to hide behind the improvised wings.

“Oh yes you are,” Miss Jones responded angrily.

Joe looked appealingly at his older brother, “Tell her Adam, I don’t gotta wear that.  Everyone will laugh at us.”

Adam grinned.  Revenge was sweet.  Joe had got him into this and now he was enjoying the sight of his little brother embarrassed for a change. “It’s the correct costume for the period, Joe.  It wouldn’t be right if you didn’t wear it.  It gives the play atmosphere,” he chuckled.

Miss Jones nodded and brought forward a trunk of clothes similar to the ones she held out to Joe.  Carrie was delighted with her dress and held it against her to twirl around and show it off.  The other items were handed out until only one set remained.

“Where is Stevie?”  Miss Jones asked, glancing around the classroom.

“He’s sick, Miss Jones.  I don’t think he’s comin’,” George volunteered.

Miss Jones gave an exasperated sigh.  “Then we are a servant short and no one to take the part.”  Her eyes lit up.  “It’s a small part and Stevie is one of our uh… larger students, maybe…”  She settled a hand on Adam’s arm.  “You know the play so well, I’m sure you could do it.”

Adam gasped.  “ME!!   You want me to appear in this… this uh play.”  He couldn’t think of a suitable word to describe the fiasco that had been the rehearsal only yesterday.

She smiled sweetly at him.  “We wouldn’t want to let the children down, would we?”

“Oh yes, we would,” he muttered under his breath.  “I could speak the lines from the side.”  He suggested as a compromise.

Joe giggled.  “Oh that wouldn’t be right, would it Miss Jones?  I mean, without all the players in costume we’d lose the atmosphere.”

Adam glared at his younger brother but Joe simply smiled back.  Miss Jones had a smile on her face to as she contemplated the mental picture of Adam in doublet and hose.   She held out the costume to Adam who almost snatched it from her hand and grumbled all the way to the back room set aside as the boys changing room.

Slowly parents and friends were filing into the classroom to find seats where ever they could in the cramped conditions.  The front of the room was cleared and curtains hung to provide a background.  Like the original Shakespeare performances the stage set was minimal, more because of lack of space and funds than for authenticity.

As the room filled Mitch leaned over and whispered to his friend, “It’s okay for you, I have to go on before you.  They’re gonna laugh at me.”

Joe pulled his shirt down over the rather baggy hose and nodded.  “They’re gonna laugh at the play anyway.”  Then brightening a little he indicated his older brother who was trying to hide at the back of the little room.  “At least Adam makes his entrance before me too.”  He chuckled.  “Stevie was a bit smaller than older brother and that costume looks mighty uncomfortable.”  Both boys collapsed into a fit of giggles as Miss Jones approached Adam obviously admiring his figure in the very close fitting costume.

“If everyone is ready then I’ll go out and announce the play,” she said looking around at her pupils.

The opening of Act 1 was as Adam had expected.  Neither of the two characters could remember their lines and there was much prompting from Abigail.  They were not helped by the muffled sniggering from the audience as both boys tried to adjust costumes and avoid looking at family and friends.  The play lifted a little when other characters joined them, particularly a bright boy called Henry who was playing Montague and making a passable job of it.

Mitch’s entrance caused muffled laughter from his brothers and he missed his line because he was busy glaring at Danny and Cal.  At Adam’s entrance the laughter ceased to be muffled and became quite loud.  Glares from George Devlin and Ben Cartwright stilled it and Cal, Danny and Hoss all subsided into grinning silence.  Ben and George exchanged wry smiles as the play continued, lurching from one crisis to the next.

By the time Joe had to make his entrance the audience had become enthralled with the startling performance of Carrie.  From the time she first spoke she stamped her authority in the play and as if in answer the other children rose to the occasion.  Joe had been worried about walking out in front of everyone but he too couldn’t help being carried along by the young Juliet’s enthusiasm.  Even his long speech, which he had been dreading, passed without a hitch

When off stage Adam admired the girl’s skill and charm, she had single-handedly taken a farce and made it drama.  By Act two Juliet was a star and both audience and fellow actors were hanging on her every word.  George’s mediocre performance at rehearsal seemed to lift as he responded to her and when they were alone on stage it was almost as if the audience no longer existed.

With the audience held spellbound the sword fight became tense and exciting and both Mitch and Joe enjoyed every minute of it, their costumes forgotten.  The limited space made it difficult to display their considerable talents learned at Adam’s hand but the audience seemed to enter the spirit of the fight, with much jeering and cheering.  Adam considered that Joe made rather hard work of his injuries, overacting for all he was worth but nevertheless it all went well.

For the remainder of the performance Joe and Mitch watched from the side of the room, neither now self-conscious about their costume and both riveted to the action on stage.

The end of the play brought rapturous applause from the audience and proud parents stood to show their appreciation.  Miss Jones accepted the accolades that were heaped on her and even allowed Carrie and George a little of the praise.  Adam tried to hide away but Ben sought him out.

“Much better than I expected,” he acknowledged.  “You told us it was going to be dreadful but that young lady has the makings of a great actress.”

Adam grunted.  “Once Abigail couldn’t interfere she improved,” he admitted.

Hoss grinned and looked his brother up and down.  “We wasn’t expectin’ you to be in it.  It’s bin a while since you was in school.”

“Stevie took sick.  I just filled in a small part.”

“Yeah, real fetchin’ outfit that,”  Hoss grinned.

Adam glared at him, “One more word and I’ll…”

Hoss held up a hand, “Here comes Miss Abigail, seems she likes you dressed that way.  She’s real taken with ya.”

Adam tried to duck away but she had seen him.  “Oh, Adam…”

Ben and Hoss waited outside the schoolhouse for Joe and Adam to emerge. It seemed to be taking an inordinately long time for them to change clothes.  Finally Joe appeared with Mitch.

“Where’s your brother?”   Ben asked, looking over Joe’s shoulder.

Mitch and Joe rolled their eyes and then collapsed in helpless laughter.  Ben waited with a scowl on his face.  “Well…?”  He asked again when they were more in control.

“Miss Jones…”  Joe spluttered.  “Miss Jones is cooking him dinner.”

Ben tried hard to hide the smile.  “Well, that’s very nice of her.”

“Adam don’t think so,”  Joe giggled.  “He tried awful hard to get out of it but she was real pushy and he’d a’ had to be pretty rude to refuse.”

Mitch nudged his buddy, “From the look he gave you, he’s gonna blame you for the rest of his life.”

Joe looked hurt.  “I can’t help it, if she finds him irresistible, now can I?” and both boys went off into gales of laughter again.  “He sure did look funny in them tights.”

Ben grunted.  “You’d better not let him hear you say that.”  Then he smiled at his youngest son, but your right, he sure did.” And the whole family chuckled.

Ben stood back and admired his handiwork.  Yes, they looked good there.  The two swords gleamed as he looked at them.  Crossed over one another and adorning the wall by the grandfather clock in the great room, they seemed to be in their rightful place.  He had hidden things away too long, not just things but feelings too. It was time for more laughter in their lives.  It still hurt to remember how cruelly she had been taken from him, but life had moved on and his son needed to know about her and see more of her things around the place.  He was growing into a fine young man and…,  his thoughts were interrupted as the door banged open and the object of his reminiscences shot across the room to the stairs.  He was about to call the boy back and tell him to walk more slowly when a second whirlwind entered.

“Where is he?  Where is the little varmint?”  Hoss yelled, as he entered the room his hair on end and his face flushed with exertion.  Seeing Joe he head for the stairs and both clattered along the hallway.  Joe making into his room and slamming the door before Hoss could get to him.

Adam followed his brother in at a more sedate pace, and stood with his arms folded, gazing at the ceiling and chuckling.

Ben shook his head and returned to his desk.  Would they ever grow up?

The End

2001