Summary:  The Cartwright boys are only too willing to help out the new schoolteacher.  This causes a little conflict between them, but Adam and Joe learn that you should never jump to conclusions.
Rating:  G (7,620 words)

Unwillingly to School

         Roy Coffee shifted uneasily in the red leather chair of the Cartwright ranch house, twisting his hat in his hands in some embarrassment.  “I didn’t agree with ’em but I said I’d be the one to tell you and Adam, seeing as how you couldn’t be at the School Board meetin’ this month.”

Ben Cartwright leaned back in his chair and sucked on his pipe in a futile attempt to re-ignite it then tapped it against his teeth.  “Seems there was little choice if she was the only candidate, but putting a young woman in front of that class of …,” he stopped, lost for a word that would describe the youths who had terrorized the last teacher into resigning.                                            

         “Happens most years, don’t it?   When the older boys come back after helpin’ on the farms, they don’t want to be there and most teachers sure don’t want to teach ’em.”  Roy sighed.  “Abigail was a darn good teacher and the kids took notice of her, but the last two we’ve had…well…, they ain’t bin up to much.”

Adam got up from his chair and began to pace.  “It doesn’t have to be that way, Roy.  I don’t recall any of us causing that much trouble or being violent in our last year at school, even Hoss, and he hated every minute he was there.”  He grinned at his brother who smiled back.  “It takes a good teacher and Collins wasn’t a good teacher, neither was Miss Barstow.”  He dropped a sheaf of papers on the heavy oak table.  ” Miss Morris’ references would suggest she is a very good teacher.  There’s no hint that she won’t be perfectly capable of controlling a classroom.”

“Glad you think so, Adam,” Roy replied with some relief, “Since I wired her and said you’d meet her from the stage and show her the schoolhouse, help her settle in, like.”

Adam spun around from the fireplace, a look of horror on his face. “Why me?”

“Because you’re the college boy, older brother.  Now me and Hoss we ain’t much at talking to schoolmarms but you’ll have her eating outta you’re hand in no time.”  Little Joe let loose with his infectious giggled.

Adam made a half-hearted threatening gesture at his young brother, who ducked away, still laughing.

Adam could still hear the laughter as he waited for the stage to arrive from Sacramento; both Hoss and Joe had teased him unmercifully when he had arrived at breakfast in a clean white shirt and dark jacket.  A few minutes later he was glad that he had taken the trouble as a vision of loveliness alighted from the stage.  Surely this couldn’t be the new schoolteacher!  He had been expecting a bespectacled unattractive, serious woman with her hair in a topknot.  The only passenger on the stage was a delicate blonde, with an attractive figure and sparkling blue eyes.  She was dressed in the latest fashions, her blonde curls escaping from a very fetching blue hat.  Adam estimated her to be no more than twenty-two or three and definitely worth the early morning trip to town.

“Miss Morris?” he asked, uncertainly.

The girl smiled and the smile lit up her face making her even more attractive, “Yes, indeed, you must be Mr Cartwright.” She held out at a slim, gloved hand.

Adam took it and almost copied his younger brother’s gesture of lifting it to his lips to kiss it but then corrected himself and shook it gently.  “I’m Adam Cartwright.  My father and I are on the school board.”

“Ah, you have children in the school?” she asked, politely.

Adam relinquished her hand and answered quickly, perhaps a touch too quickly.  “Oh no, I’m not married.”

The girl laughed lightly. “I’m sorry, I broke my own rules of judging people on first acquaintance but in my experience very few single men take an interest in education.”

“I’m very interested in education and so is my father, although even my youngest brother is no longer in school.”  He glanced up at the stage driver, “Sam, have Miss Morris’s luggage sent over to the school house, please.”  At the driver’s nodded acknowledgement, he took her arm to escort her along the sidewalk. “I’ve set aside today to show you the school and help you in any way I can.  The children have been enjoying an enforced holiday for the past two weeks but if it’s acceptable to you, we’ll get them back on Monday.”

She nodded. “I’d like to meet them as soon as possible, I’m looking forward to working here.  My last post was in a girls’ school back east, interesting but not very challenging,” she grinned.

Adam looked at the delicate girl by his side and raised an eyebrow, “Oh, this post is certainly challenging.  In fact you might find it a little rough.”

They continued to chat about more inconsequential things as they walked and he considered how much to tell her. She was relaxed in his company but did not divulge much about herself.  He was clearly avoiding something and, finally, she looked up at him with a smile, “Mr Cartwright, I do know why your last two teachers left.  I’m not going into this with my eyes closed.  I assure you I will do my best to provide the education the children need.”

“I’m sure you will, Miss Morris but controlling the older boys may be more than you can handle.”

They reached the schoolhouse and as Adam put his hand on the gate to open it for her she stopped him.  “Mr Cartwright, I’ve never found trying to control people very successful.  I prefer to gain trust and develop friendship, with those, the learning follows and you don’t need to exercise control.” She spoke softly and his concerns grew.

“When you see these boys you may change your mind,” he said firmly.

She tilted her head to one side and looked up at him.   “I try never to have preconceived ideas of what people will be like and equally I try not judge on appearances.  I always find it wiser not to jump to conclusions.   Appearances can be deceptive, wouldn’t you agree?”  With that she swept through the gate and into the house, leaving Adam gaping after her.

“Well, what’s she like?”  Joe asked.

The family was seated around the supper table and all were eager to hear Adam’s assessment of the new schoolmarm.

“Different!”  Adam replied as he filled his plate with Hop Sing’s fried chicken.

“Whaddya mean, ‘different?’ ” Hoss asked while Joe raised an eyebrow.  Adam was being “cagey about this Miss Morris and his younger brother was suspicious.

Adam ignored them both and turned to his father, “Pa, she’s gonna have problems with the boys.  I think I ought to be around for the first few days to keep an eye on things.  She’s too young to control them properly.”

Joe’s sixth sense picked up what he suspected his brother was hiding; Miss Morris was a more attractive lady then he was admitting.  “I thought you were going to be up at the logging camp all week?”  Joe queried with a slightly superior smile.  “You know no one else can handle that, but maybe, if you really think it’s necessary, I could get Dusty to take over the branding and I could spare a few hours to look after Miss Morris.”

Adam started to protest and Ben sighed.  “Boys…boys…let’s not have an argument about it, perhaps each of you could spare one day just to call by and see that everything is all right.  Hoss, since you can’t start work on the forge until you pick up those shoes from the livery stable, why don’t you go in on Monday and see what you can do to help Miss Morris when the older boys return to school?”

Now, all three began to protest.  “Aw, Pa, I ain’t the right one to help her.  I weren’t no good in school and I ain’t set foot in there since I was fifteen,”  Hoss’s protest was the loudest and most vehement.

“As I understand it, it’s your physical presence she requires, not your academic skills.”  Ben countered.  “And on that basis you are the best qualified.  Little Joe and Adam can go in later in the week if you think it’s necessary.  We do have a ranch to run.”  He saw Adam and Joe starting to open their mouths again. “It’s decided and that’s an end to it.”

Joe sat back in a sulk.  He was convinced Adam was stuck on the new teacher and he wanted to get a look at her himself.  Adam’s mood wasn’t much better. He had been planning a few pleasant days in Sarah’s company.  Sarah, that’s what she had told him to call her, but he hadn’t got much further than first name terms and a beginning of a friendship.  He settled back grumpily.  He didn’t want his little brother anywhere near her but he guessed it was okay for Hoss to be there.  He’d protect her from the bullies.

On Monday morning Hoss left the ranch like a man facing death, his own!  He had hated school, hated the lessons, which he found hard to understand and hated the teasing that went with his size.  As he drove he thought back to those unhappy years and the nearer he got to the school yard the younger he became until the cheerful, adult Hoss was replaced with a sullen fifteen-year-old version.

He took the buckboard down to the livery stable and asked Lafe to have it ready and loaded by mid afternoon then reluctantly made his way up town to the school.  He walked through the children gathered in the schoolyard to push open the door.

He removed his hat but kept his eyes down until a soft voice spoke.  “Can I help you?”

Hoss looked up into the bluest eyes he had ever seen and stuttered,  “Yes’m…I’m…I’m Hoss Cartwright…”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Mr Cartwright, but what can I do for you?  School is about to start.”  She smiled, and Hoss blushed a deep shade of red and stuttered even more.

“My…uh… brother…uh…Adam…well, he thought, maybe, you could use some help…uh, with the boys from…the…uh farms.”

She tidied the books in front of her and started down the aisle to the door.  “Well, that’s very kind of him but I think I can handle it.”

Hoss twisted his hat nervously in his hands.  “I dunno, Ma’am.  Some o’ them are man-sized and you’re…well you’re just a little thing.  Maybe I better stick around for a while, anyhow.”

She had reached up and was pulling on the bell-rope.  “Please yourself, Mr Cartwright, but please take a chair at the back of the room and try not to be too obvious.”  She looked him up and down and grinned.  “I guess that’s not easy for someone your size.”

Hoss looked bashful again.  “I’ll do my best, Ma’am.”

The children filed in and took their places the older boys noisily vying for seats at the back and eyeing Hoss with some interest.

Miss Morris waited until the noise began to subside and then took up her place by her desk.  “Good morning,” she started and there was a slight murmur of a response from the girls and a few of the smaller boys.  “My name is Miss Morris and I’m your new teacher.”  There was a slight giggle from the back of the class which she ignored.  She called the names that were written in her book and took a moment to look up each time to see who answered.  When she had finished she came forward and perched herself on the edge of her desk.

“I’d like to get to know you all better but perhaps we’ll start with the older pupils today.  I’m a city girl so I don’t know much about farming and ranching.  I do know that some of the older boys have been working to bring in a harvest and have had to miss some school.”  She pointed at one of the oldest boys, “Perhaps you’d like to come to the front and tell the class what you’ve been doing over the summer. It will give me an idea of how hard you’ve all been working to help your families.  Abraham, isn’t it?”

Hoss was amazed that she knew the boy’s name and that she had somehow singled out the ringleader of the group.

The boy got lazily to his feet and grinned at his friends, this one was gonna be easy.  “Me name’s Abe,” he said arrogantly, “Abe Dutfield, and my Pa owns a pretty big hog farm, north o’ the town.”

She nodded and indicated he should go on.  With much loud encouragement from his friends Abe told how he helped with the hogs, showing much delight in explaining in detail how a hog was butchered and making the smaller girls squeal at the description.  There was no interruption from Miss Morris and Hoss wondered if he ought to say something but her manner suggested she knew what she was doing.  When Abe stopped talking she came to stand beside him, looking tiny against his hulking frame.  “Thank you Abe that was very interesting, but how does your father know how much to feed them?  You said the more they weighed the more dollars they were worth but how do you work out if the feed cost is worth the price you get for them?”

Without realizing it, Abe launched into a calculation of weights and feed costs and selling prices.  Sarah wrote it all down on the blackboard, and when he had finished she began to show the children how, by feeding the hogs more or less, the profit could change.  The morning passed in a mathematics lesson without any of the children realizing they were learning and with the older boys fully participating, if a little vociferously, in how to make more money from hogs.

At recess Hoss joined Sarah on the steps as she watched the children.  “That was a mighty clever trick Ma’am,” he grinned.  “I’d shore like to stay and see how you twist the history around.”

She laughed.  “I haven’t worked that one out yet, we might have to stick with profits for a while and maybe hog farming.”  She became more serious.  “I needed to start with something they knew about and were good at.  It’s always easier to hold someone’s attention when they are interested in the subject.”  Looking him up and down appraisingly, she smiled, “Perhaps you could talk to them about the Ponderosa operations. It must take a lot of knowledge to run something so vast.  Sheriff Coffee was telling me how extensive and varied your holdings are last night.”

Hoss shook his head. “You want my brother Adam for that, he’s the one with the book learnin’.  I just came in to see you were all right with them boys.”

She shook her head.  “Those boys need someone to look up to, someone who can talk to them as a friend and not preach at them.  I think you are more likely to do that than your brother, even if he does have a college education.”  She smiled up at him.  “In fact I think a college education could be a handicap with those boys.”

“Well, Hoss, how did Miss Morris manage on her first day?”  Ben asked and both Adam and Joe leaned forward eagerly to listen.

Hoss smirked at Adam.  “Weeell… considerin’ she’s tiny and pretty and delicate she managed just fine.  I guess looks can be deceivin’… huh, Adam?”

Joe glared at his older brother. He had known that there was more to his offer to help than a desire to protect some old schoolmarm.

Adam grunted “I didn’t say she couldn’t manage teaching.”

“Pa, she wants me to go in and talk to them kids about the work we do here on the ranch. Would that be all right with you?  It’d just be for an afternoon or so now and again.”

Joe let loose with his distinctive cackle, forcing out, “You…oh my…she wants you…to teach school,” between more giggles.

Adam visibly bristled.  “I guess she meant me. I could explain what it takes to run a big operation like the Ponderosa,” he suggested.

Hoss shook his head.  “Nope, she asked me.  She wants me to talk about the work we do not the business stuff and she said she wanted some one who wouldn’t…uh…preach at ’em.”

“PREACH!”  Adam almost yelled.

Hoss nodded firmly.  “Yeah,” Hoss nodded with another smirk, “that’s what Miss Sarah said, preach.”

Hoss with some         Joe’s laughter was now at both brothers.  “I think I’d better go to school tomorrow and see what this new school teacher is like.  I think she needs to get to know ME before she makes any rash decisions,” he chuckled.

Ben shook his head and concentrated on his supper.  This was one situation in which he’d prefer not to be involved.

Joe didn’t make it into the schoolhouse until Thursday, by which time Hoss had attended twice more and Adam had sneaked in a quick visit the day before.  Joe had plans, and he dressed carefully in order to give himself the best advantage.  He arrived about fifteen minutes before the children were due to start and introduced himself.  Hoss was right she sure was pretty.

“My, you Cartwrights certainly do take an interest in education.”  Miss Morris commented with a smile.  “Were you this eager as a pupil, Little Joe?”

“Oh sure, Ma’am, and it’s just Joe.”

Sarah smiled.  “Oh, I’m sorry, I was sure your brothers said they called you ‘Little Joe.’ ”

“Yeah, they would,” Joe muttered.

“Well, since you’re here you’d better take a seat at the back.  Perhaps you can help out this morning.  We are studying history and I thought I’d try to interest the children by talking about battles.  Were you good at history when you were at school?”

Joe looked up startled and began twisting his hat in his hands, “Oh sure, my best subject,” he lied.  As Joe took a seat at the back he wondered how Miss Jones would have viewed that remark and hoped Miss Morris wouldn’t call him on it.

At the end of the morning Joe was fidgeting.  Miss Morris sure didn’t need him here; she handled the class just fine.  He wanted to complete his mission and be on his way.  Miss Morris gave more interesting history lessons than Miss Jones, but despite her more obvious attractions he still couldn’t get interested in battles that happened before he was born.  As the last child left for recess he heaved himself from his seat, wondering how on earth Hoss ever managed to fit into one these days, and headed for the front of the class.

Miss Morris had her back to him and he carefully turned on his most charming smile before he spoke.  “That was a mighty fine lesson,” he said.  “You handle the children real well.”

“Thank you, Lit…uh ,Joe.”  Sarah dusted off her hands and turned to face him,  “Have you seen enough to report back to your father?”

Joe blushed.  “I wasn’t here to report back, just to see that you were okay.”  She was making him feel most uncomfortable and he didn’t like it.

“Yes, it seems as though the whole family is very concerned about me. I wonder why?”

Joe coughed into his hand.  “I’m sure Pa and Adam didn’t want to make you feel you were being watched. And Hoss…, well, he just wanted to make sure those boys didn’t cause trouble.”

“And you?”  Sarah smiled.

“Oh, I enjoyed listening to your lesson but you can’t spend your whole life in this classroom. You need to meet the other folks in town.  I thought maybe this weekend I could show you around, we could go to the dance and I could drive you up to the lake on Sunday.”  Joe said, eagerly.

“Are there a lot of people at the lake on Sundays?”  Sarah asked, her lips twitching.

“Uh…huh… not exactly but you gotta relax sometime.”  This wasn’t going as well as he’d planned.

“Thank you for asking, Joe, but I already have an escort for the dance and plans for Sunday after church.”

Joe’s mouth almost dropped open but he caught himself just in time.  Damn Adam all to hell, he’d been here yesterday and must have asked her then.  “Well, some other time then,” he managed to reply in a hoarse whisper as he backed out of the door.

Ben Cartwright leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee as he tried very hard to avoid getting involved in the argument he could see brewing.  Joe had been in a bad mood all day.  In fact, it had started right after he got back from town yesterday.  Ben had pulled him up on it a couple of times when his youngest son had over-stepped the mark with him, but he hoped he could stay clear of this disagreement between his sons.  Both Adam and Joe were getting ready to go to the dance in town and getting in each other’s way.  At first Adam had been relatively calm in the face of Joe’s obvious attempts to start a fight but in the last few minutes his temper had begun to rise too.  Ben sighed.  Adam had been in a strange mood since Thursday too.  It really was tiring trying to keep up with them.  Why couldn’t they be more like Hoss?  His middle son had cheerfully gone off to town to run several errands and had made no complaint that he wouldn’t have time to get back home before going to the dance.

Finally, the two of them were ready and Ben gave a massive sigh of relief as he heard the door slam and then moments later the sound of retreating hoof beats.  He poured himself a brandy and settled back to enjoy an evening of peace and quiet and an early night.  He was awakened from a deep sleep some hours later by the sound of raised voices.  Heaving himself up in his bed, he listened.  It wasn’t hard; none of the participants were making much effort to be quiet.

“Sneaky, that’s what I call it,” he heard his oldest son complain.

“He planned it right from the start,” Joe’s angry high-pitched voice replied.

“Telling her tales about me, saying I was too busy, I bet,” Adam again.

“Yeah, and he wouldn’t even let us get one dance with her.  He hung on to her all evening.”  Joe yelled.

Ben heard the front door open and closed noisily.

“Shhh…you’ll wake Pa,” came Adam’s voice, none too quietly.

“Ain’t you two stopped complaining yet?”  Hoss joined in the conversation sounding just a little aggrieved.

Ben heard the sound of furniture being pushed aside then Joe again. “What did you tell her?”

“Nuthin’, little brother, I didn’t tell her nuthin’ about you two, and you watch who yur pushin’.”  Hoss’ voice again more aggressively this time.

Ben sighed.  Sleep was impossible and it sounded as though a fight might be brewing below.  He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and reached for his robe.

“Aw c’mon,” Adam’s voice rose in anger, “You expect us to believe that?  Joe’s right, you must have said something.”

There was a slight sound from above followed by a cough.

Suddenly all three heads turned toward the stairs.

“Boys, it’s almost two in the morning, time for sleep not arguments.”  Ben spoke quietly but his meaning was clear. “Whatever it is can wait.”

Joe started toward his father then changed his mind.  Adam turned away and rubbed his nose, waiting for one of the others to speak. Hoss shrugged and headed for the stairs.

“Dunno what all the fuss is about,” he said. “Bed sounds mighty good to me.”

“I hope you can’t sleep,”  Joe yelled at him.

“Joseph!”  Ben cautioned

“But Pa, you don’t know what he did…”

“No, and I don’t want to, especially at this hour.  Now get to bed.  And if one of you dares to so much as yawn once at the breakfast table…” He left the threat hanging in the air as he turned and stomped back up to his room.

Hoss followed and Joe turned to his older brother. “Dunno why Pa’s so mad,” he grumbled.

“Probably because he’s tired,” Adam yawned heading for the staircase.

Joe was left alone in the great room, tired and disgruntled at the way the evening had turned out.  Sarah was so lively and beautiful.  He couldn’t believe she would choose Hoss over him, or even over Adam come to that.  He had been so sure Adam was his rival that he had never even considered Hoss.  He’d find a way to get back at Hoss that was for certain.

Ben sat at the breakfast table with a puzzled expression on his face.  Adam was often quiet in the mornings but Joe was usually sparring with one or other of his brothers or teasing Hoss.  This morning only Hoss seemed his usual self.  It must have something to do with last night’s argument.  He resolved not to try to determine the cause it would only lead to a re-hash of some old grievance and he preferred to start the day with everyone co-operating.

“Hoss, did you remember to tell Jim Shannon that the horses were ready for him to collect?”  Ben asked.

“Sure did, Pa.  He said he’d be out this morning.  I figured that since all my work is caught up, I’d give him a hand with ‘em,” Hoss replied through a mouthful of ham.

Ben frowned at that but nodded.

“The horses are my responsibility,” Joe snapped.  “If anyone’s taking them into town with Jim, it’s me.”

Adam picked up his coffee cup and retreated behind it.  He could see trouble brewing and he wanted no part of it.  He was fairly philosophical about losing Sarah to Hoss, there were plenty of girls in town and Hoss had more trouble than either he or Joe when it came to escorting a lady.  She was pretty and would be good company but he didn’t intend to fight over it.  He’d had his moan last night and now it was forgotten.

“Joseph!”  Ben warned.

“He wants another trip to town,”  Joe complained.  “He went yesterday and the day before.  In fact he’s been in town most of the week.  His work’s caught up because I did it.”

Joe’s temper was rising and he didn’t heed the warning looks from his older brother or the mounting anger on his father’s face.

“You did some of it?”  Adam muttered, his aggrieved feelings returning at the way Hoss had missed out on some dirty jobs this week.

“Hoss has covered your chores more than once. It won’t hurt you to return the favor.”  Ben pushed back his chair.  “And as for doing extra chores, it might help if you finished your own.  I seem to remember asking you to get some new supplies up to the line shack on the Truckee over a week ago and they are still sitting in the store room.”

“I was gonna ask Charlie to do it.”  Joe became defensive because he had forgotten all about it.

“Charlie is entitled to Saturday afternoons off, so you’ll do it yourself and you’ll do it today,” Ben said, sternly.  “Perhaps driving the buckboard instead of riding as though you are on a race track will give you time to think and cool off a little.”

Adam raised an eyebrow.  Joe always dug holes for himself and frequently fell into them.  If he’d kept his mouth shut he wouldn’t have been stuck with a job that would take the best part of the day.

“Do you understand, Joseph?  I want that done today.” Ben added, making his orders crystal clear.

Joe held back the sigh that had been about to escape and would surely have led to another lecture, “Yes, sir.”

Ben nodded and leaned back in his chair to finish his morning coffee, satisfied that he had made his point.  Whatever it was between Hoss and Joe they would have to sort out for themselves.

An hour later Joe was in the yard muttering dire threats under his breath as he harnessed the team.  He hadn’t thought of a way to get even with Hoss yet, but he would.  So far his only revenge had been completely fortuitous.  Another of his chores, that had been neglected, had been to repair the wheel on the buggy and he had a sneaking suspicion that Hoss planned to use it this weekend, well, he’d just have to repair it before he went out tomorrow.  Joe was now certain that Sarah’s Sunday date was with Hoss.

Adam saw the mutinous expression on his little brother’s face and decided that he’d better intervene before Joe got himself into real trouble.  “Hey, buddy, want a hand?”

Joe looked up in surprise.  “Why? What d’you want?” he said, belligerently.

Adam held up a hand. “Hey, cool off, I’m not Hoss.  I didn’t do anything. I’m free today and I was offering to help.”

Joe immediately looked apologetic, “Sorry Adam, I guess I’m just a mite riled up.”

“Yeah, you sure are.  It won’t do any good, you know?  You only got stuck with this because you didn’t keep quiet.”  Adam grinned. “Look, I’ll give you a hand and we’ll get this job done by mid afternoon then the Cartwright brothers will hit town together.”

Joe relaxed a little and his sunny disposition righted itself.  “Sure, there must be two pretty girls waiting for such handsome company.  Of course I get first pick and no leading me astray.”

Adam slapped his brother on the back, “I claim first, privilege of age and I’ve never led anyone astray in my life.”

Both of them turned back to the work in hand chuckling and Adam was pleased to see that Joe ignored Hoss walking across to the corral.  He had a certain sympathy with his younger brother, the horses were his responsibility and it must be galling to have Hoss take over when the sale was complete.

By the time the supplies were delivered to the line shack and they had changed for the trip to town, there was no sign of Hoss.  Adam hoped it stayed that way, despite his best efforts Joe had continued to work on plans to wreak revenge.  Once in town Adam steered Joe towards the Silver Dollar, avoiding the rougher Bucket of Blood and staying well clear of any restaurants in case Hoss was escorting Sarah to dinner.  He sat his younger brother down at a corner table and ordered two beers.

Joe grinned.  “Mighty generous all of a sudden, aren’t you older brother?”

“All designed to keep you out of trouble, little brother.”  He set his beer down and chuckled.  “Story of my life… keep little brothers out of trouble.”

Joe giggled and looked around the room.  No poker games appeared to be in progress and the only girls were part of a crowd gathered around a table in the opposite corner.  “Looks like all the action is over there.”  He reached out a hand and stopped a girl passing by with a tray of beer.  “Edie, what’s happening over there?”

The girl expertly balanced the tray on one hand and waved in the direction of the crowd.  “Arm wrestling,” she answered.  “Some guy’s taking on your brother, best of three.”

Adam raised an eyebrow, “Seems we were wrong, he hasn’t sneaked off to see Sarah after all.”  He turned to the girl,  “Sounds like some big bets being placed.”

Edie chuckled.  “Best bet is between ‘em, winner gets to spend the evening with his choice of the girls and loser buys the drinks and…”  she giggled and shrugged.

“This I gotta see,” Adam chuckled.  “No one can beat Hoss unless he let’s ‘em.”

Joe giggled.  “If he has to choose a girl to uh…spend the uh…evening with, he could well let ‘em.  He’d be too embarrassed to choose if he won.”

Both boys pushed back their chairs and taking their beer with them sauntered over to join the crowd.  Hoss was seated on the far side of the table locked in combat with a man almost as big as himself.

“What’s the score?” Adam asked.

“One apiece,” replied a burly miner to his right.

Hoss didn’t even look up at his brothers’ approach, there were too many people in the crowd for him to realize they were there watching.  The muscles in his arm bulged and his face was wet with perspiration.  Adam’s boast that no one could beat Hoss was being put to the test.

Adam nudged Joe.  “He’s gonna do it. Which one do you think he’ll choose as his prize?”

“Oh, he don’t have to choose Mister, I’m the prize,” said a lilting voice at his elbow.

Joe and Adam both turned to look into the startling blue eyes of one of the prettiest girls either of them had ever seen.  At that moment there was a gasp and a bang as Hoss’ opponent gave up the fight and let his arm fall to the table.

“Looks like I got my man for the night, and he’s sure is strong and handsome.”  The girl pushed by Adam to get to Hoss’ side.

Joe almost choked on his beer.  “Hoss!  Handsome!”  The girl needed help, he concluded.

Adam sadly shook his head as he returned to their table and waved at one of the girls to bring him a bottle of whisky.  Joe joined him then raised an eyebrow at the bottle and two glasses which were set on the table; “You sure about this, older brother?  I thought you were supposed to keep me out of trouble.”

Adam shook his head again. “Somewhere I’ve been doing something wrong,” he said morosely.  “First he walks off with a pretty schoolteacher… I mean, he had to be dragged to school when we were kids.  Now he wins the prettiest girl in town for the night!  How?”

Joe poured himself a large whisky and then contemplated the amber liquid before tossing it back in one swallow.

“What’s’a matter older brother? You worried you’re losing your charm or sumthin’?”  Hoss chuckled as he passed with the blonde on his arm and a smug smile on his face.  “You’re in the wrong company for lessons, too.”  He added, nodding at Joe.  It wasn’t often Hoss had the upper hand and he was going to milk it for all it was worth.  Seeing Adam and Joe without girls last night and then again tonight was giving him more pleasure than he’d had in ages.  They were always teasing him and it felt good to get his own back once in a while.   “See ya in church, boys,” he grinned as he made his way through the crowd to a table in an alcove.

“That does it!”  Joe growled.  “I’m gonna make him pay…”

Adam shook his head.  “With the way his luck is running, ten to one you’ll be the one who pays.”

Joe still hadn’t thought up any revenge by the time they assembled for church next morning.  In fact neither he nor Adam had done much thinking they were both too busy fighting the after effects of a bottle of whisky.   Ben was not amused and made sure they both knew it.

“If either one of you fall asleep during the sermon, I’ll…”  Ben threatened, then glaring at them both he nodded toward Hoss, who was standing holding out Buck’s reins.  “Hoss managed to have an enjoyable evening in town without getting drunk. Why couldn’t you?”  He growled, looking at Joe.  Then swinging toward his eldest son he added, “And you’re supposed to set him an example.”

Joe stared hard at the ground hoping Pa would soon forget all about their transgressions, while Adam tugged at his ear in an embarrassed gesture.

Hoss couldn’t keep his face straight and his smile went from ear to ear.  Usually this sort of lecture was directed at him when Joe led him astray.  Life sure was good right now.  This afternoon he planned to polish up the buggy and take Miss Sarah up to the lake for a picnic.  What more could a man want? A beautiful view, pleasant company and food.

“Joseph, please sit down and stop that pacing,” Ben ordered.

“But Pa, Hoss shoulda been back by now,” Joe whined.  Some seven hours earlier Joe had been in the kitchen when he heard the front door bang and moments later the buggy head out of the yard.  There was no way Hoss could have had time to repair the wheel and Joe had been too late to stop him.  It was now almost nine and there was no sign of Hoss or the buggy.

Adam gave a derisive laugh.  “Why should he?  How often have you taken a pretty girl out on a Sunday afternoon and not arrived back before midnight?”

“Yeah, but this is different,” Joe protested waving his hands in Adam’s direction.  He didn’t want to explain what he had, or rather hadn’t done, in front of Pa.

Adam took his meaning and at first smirked at Joe’s guilty expression; then he too became worried.  “Hey, maybe we should check it out, Pa.  I mean, it’s not like Hoss to be this late with a work day ahead.”

Ben looked from one son to the other and frowned.  Something was going on here that he wasn’t a party to and wasn’t meant to be.  He ran several possible scenarios through his head and settled for the most obvious.  “I think Hoss is big enough to take care of himself,” he said slowly.  “And no, you will not sneak up on your brother and tease or embarrass him.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t do that,” Joe exclaimed in surprise.  “That’s not why…” his voice tailed off as he anticipated the next question.  He didn’t have long to wait.

“And just why do you need to look for him then?”  Ben asked.

Joe stuttered and flushed a deep pink, “Oh, nothin’, Pa.  I was just worried, is all.”

Ben grunted, not at all convinced, “You just sit yourself down and stop worrying about Hoss.  I’m sure he’s fine.”

A few minutes later there was the sound of a buggy in the yard.  “There you are.  Like I said, he’s fine.”  Ben settled back with his pipe but kept his eyes on Joe.

Joe kept his eyes on the door; he wanted warning of Hoss’ mood.  If that wheel had come off then the best place for him to be was near the stairs or the kitchen door.

The front door swung open and then slammed shut behind Hoss, making Ben wince.  It was a wonder that door and its hinges had survived for so long.

Hoss grinned as all eyes were on him.  “Whatcha all lookin’ at?”

Ben smiled. “Joe was worried about you.  He thought you were a mite late coming home.”

Hoss nodded and turned slowly to fix his little brother with a glare.  “You was worried, huh, little brother? Now just why would that be?”

Joe shrugged and started backing toward the stairs.  “Huh, n…no reason…Hoss, just worried about ya.”  He put up his hands as if to fend off an attack.

Adam watched the whole proceedings with a smirk on his face, while Ben looked from one to the other, trying to figure out what was going on.

Hoss took two strides to reach his younger brother and caught his arm, holding it loosely but firmly enough so that when Joe tried to slip away he could tightened his grip, making his brother wince.  “Worried ‘cos you knew that buggy was gonna lose a wheel, maybe?”

Joe swallowed, hard. Hoss looked pretty mad.  “Lose a wheel?  Now why would I think that?”

Dawn suddenly broke for Ben and he reacted angrily.  “Because you were supposed to fix it last week,” he said, coming to his feet and advancing on his sons.  “Hoss, are you telling me that Joe neglected to do the work and didn’t tell you that the buggy was unsafe?”

Hoss nodded.  “Wheel came loose halfway down to Sand Harbor.  We was lucky that I managed to stop it before we lost it altogether.”

Joe took in his father’s angry countenance and the ever tightening grip on his arm and tried desperately to think of a way out of his dilemma.  “I tried to tell you, but you were gone before I got out into the yard,” he pleaded, wriggling his arm in an effort to release it.

“If you’d done the work when you were told to, there would have been no need to tell him.  Honestly, Joseph, it’s about time you followed orders.  Your brother and Miss Sarah could have been badly hurt.”

“I was gonna do it today, “Joe lied.  “I didn’t get the time and you were gone before I could tell you.”

Ben was moving back to his chair and it looked as though the storm was over from that quarter for now.   Joe was pretty sure that some unpleasant task would come his way in the near future though.  His sons might be too old for a tanning now, but Pa could still make sure they knew of his displeasure in other subtle ways, like a week clearing ditches or mending fences.  He looked up at Hoss and winced, that problem was still unsolved.

“You didn’t tell me, ‘cos you wanted it to come loose.  Ain’t that the truth, little brother?  You wanted to spoil my day out.  Couldn’t be you’re jealous, now could it?”  Hoss intoned, while still gripping Joe’s arm.

“Who, me?”  Joe replied as innocently as he could manage considering the pain in his arm.  “Why would I be jealous?  I was just tryin’ to look out for your interests.  I mean, Bessie Sue wouldn’t like you seeing another girl.”

Adam grinned and picked up the newspaper to hide his expression.  Joe sure was having to work hard to weasel out of this one and it didn’t look as though Hoss was falling for it.

Hoss snorted.  “She wouldn’t take too kindly to me bein’  killed neither.  Anyhow I don’t need no one to look out for me, Bessie Sue knows all about Miss Sarah.” And with that he gave Joe a final shake and released him.  “You can apologize to Miss Sarah tomorrow; she’s invited us all to supper at her place to celebrate, kinda.”  He pushed his way past Joe and headed upstairs with all three occupants of the room below staring up after him.

Joe recovered first.  “You don’t think…”

Adam snapped his jaw shut and raised an eyebrow.  “Think what?”

“Boys, let’s not speculate,” Ben said, slowly, as he gazed after his middle son.  “And anyway, why should it be so unlikely?”

Adam and Joe both shook their heads.

“We could ask him,” Adam suggested as he and Joe waited in the yard for Hoss and Ben to emerge.

“How you gonna word it?”  Joe asked with a grin, “Something like, ‘Hey, Hoss, You marryin’ Miss Sarah?’  You think that would do it?”

Adam snorted.  “Fine, so it wasn’t one of my brightest ideas, but I’d sure like to know.”

“We won’t have long to wait, here he comes now with Pa and he looks pretty smart.  You think he’s told Pa?” Joe tried his most innocent expression as Hoss approached.

“If he did Pa isn’t saying,” Adam whispered back.  “I guess we’ll just have to wait until dinner.”

Hoss drove the surrey and made no attempt to enlighten them as they rode in fact he spent most of the trip talking about logging.  Adam and Joe sat behind him and exchanged puzzled glances.

At Sarah’s house, Hoss ushered them up the path and knocked.  Sarah herself opened the door and giving Hoss a warm hug and the rest of the family a smile, she showed them into the main room.  The table was set for dinner with places for six, Adam counted then nudged Joe. Joe shrugged.  He had no idea who the sixth person might be.

Adam was about to ask, when a tall, fair-haired man entered the room.  He wasn’t quite as big as Hoss, but not far from it.  His sandy fair hair fell over his forehead and Adam had a feeling he’d seen him some place before but couldn’t quite place where.  Then he remembered; the fella in the saloon!

The man held out a hand to Ben. “Mr Cartwright, I can’t thank you and your sons enough for looking after Sarah, particularly Hoss.  He’s been so kind.”   Then seeing Ben’s puzzled expression he explained further.  “I’m Matthew Anderson, Sarah’s fiancé.  Didn’t Hoss tell you?”

“Fiancé!” Adam and Joe exclaimed.

Three sets of eyes swiveled toward Hoss.

Hoss beamed back at them.  “Didn’t I tell you fellas… why, I coulda sworn I-”

“NO, you didn’t,” Adam replied, while Joe glared at his brother.

“Shucks… Musta slipped my mind, what with finding a nice piece of land for a house and looking out for Sarah, keeping other fellas away from her an’ all, until Matt got here,” he chuckled.

Sarah looked at the dumb stricken expressions on the faces of Adam and Joe, suddenly understanding, she laughed.  “Didn’t I tell you when I first met you not to jump to conclusions, Adam?”

The End

May 2002