Summary:  A story for anyone who has ever wondered what goes on behind the Cartwright house.
Rating:  G  9,200 words

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Behind the House

 

 

Little Joe Cartwright lay on his back and looked up through the branches of the tree above him and noticed the fluffy white clouds that dotted the blue sky.  He pulled a piece of grass up and put it between his teeth, munching on it contentedly as he thought about the fact that he had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do. It was Sunday afternoon and church was over. Lunch had finished and all his chores were completed. It was the time of the week that Joe liked best … except for one thing … tomorrow was Monday and it would be back to school again. He sighed as he thought about it and then made a conscious effort to will the thought away.  After all, he thought, why ruin such a lovely afternoon with such thoughts?

 

He thought about getting up and going fishing, but couldn’t be bothered. After all, he had no one to go with and it really wasn’t as much fun by himself. He could usually rely on Hoss to go with him, but his brother was too caught up with that new mare to leave her this afternoon.  Adam as usual wasn’t very co-operative when he had suggested it … something about a new book to read … although for the life of him Joe couldn’t understand why anyone would choose a book over a chance to go fishing.  His father as usual was doing the accounts.  Joe knew that Pa hardly ever took time off, but lately it seemed as if he was forever working.

 

A butterfly flew past and Joe reached up to try and grab it, but it was too quick for him.  He rolled his head to one side and looked up at the house above him.  He could see Adam’s window and wondered if his brother was in his room with that book of his. Adam had one of the best rooms in the house which looked towards the back where Joe was currently lying. Hoss’ room looked to the west and his own room, like Pa’s overlooked the front yard of the house. That was handy for seeing who was riding in or out of the ranch, but Joe often wished that he could trade places with Adam.

 

The view behind the house was spectacular with the small winding creek and the little valley that was shielded from everywhere else.  Beyond it was Lake Tahoe and the everlasting pines that grew up towards the sky in every direction. Adam said that he had been given first choice of bedrooms because he was the eldest and Joe didn’t think that it was fair. It seemed that he and Hoss would have to wait until Adam moved out before they were to be privileged enough to get the same view.

 

 

——–

 

 

‘How many times have I told you to stay out of my room?’ Adam looked at his little brother in frustration as the boy poked his head out from behind the cupboard in the corner.

 

‘Lots,’ said Little Joe, grinning at his big brother as he ran over to the bed and bounced on it several times. ‘You sure got a bouncy bed Adam ain’t ya?’

 

Adam picked up the child and deposited him on the floor. ‘Don’t do that!’ he said crossly as he straightened the bedcover. ‘Now get out and leave my things alone will you?’  He pushed the boy towards the doorway with a gentle shove.

 

‘But you got intresting stuff!’ declared Little Joe. ‘I wanna visit in your room Adam!’

 

‘Well you can’t,’ said Adam as he followed him out into the hallway and closed the door firmly behind him. ‘I’ve told you before that you’re not to go in there and touch my things and I meant it.’  He stared down at the child for a moment. ‘You don’t want me to tell Pa you’ve been in there do you?’

 

Little Joe shook his head firmly as he put his hands instinctively behind his back and placed them on his small bottom.  He knew full well what would happen if his father found out that he’d been in Adam’s room again without permission and it would involve a painful behind.

 

‘Then stay out of there or I will,’ said Adam waggling his finger at the boy. He walked down the hallway and Little Joe heard him descending the stairs.  After a moment of listening to the silence he took a step back towards his brother’s room again and tentatively opened the door. He walked on over to the window and leant his elbows on the windowsill as he leant out, trying to see the ground below. ‘Adam’s lucky,’ he said out loud to no one in particular. ‘He gets to look at the creek out back.’ He put his hand up to his mouth to stifle a giggle as he saw Hop Sing come out of the kitchen down below and walk over to the outhouse.  Little Joe thought about how funny he looked from up here.  He waited until the cook closed the outhouse door behind him and then turned into the room again.

 

He had no intention of touching anything that might cause him to get into trouble, so instead he just stood and stared around him. He thought about how many books Adam had and wondered why he’d want them all. He’d snuck a look at them once and soon found them to be very boring, with no pictures in them and lots of difficult words that he had no chance of reading.  His eyes lit up as he looked over to the rolls of paper that were stacked in the corner.  Adam called them his ‘plans’, although Little Joe didn’t really know why.

 

He tiptoed over to them, picked up a small one and unrolled it. It consisted of many squiggles and lines that made no sense to him at all and he turned it around several times to see if it made any sense.  Suddenly a bird began to sing in the tree outside the window and the boy ran over to see it better. It was a Mountain Chickadee and Little Joe gazed at it transfixed for a few minutes. From this position he felt that he could almost reach out and touch it – it was so close.  He reached out his small hand and waved the roll of paper at it, but all that succeeded was causing the bird to hop to another branch

 

‘I’m not scaring ya is I little bird?’ asked the boy gently. ‘I don’t mean to. See?’ He waved the roll of paper at it again gently, but the bird at that moment flew away. Little Joe frowned and watched it as it flew up about the tree, intent on following its path.  At that moment Hop Sing banged the outhouse door down below before entering the kitchen door and slamming that as well, and it startled him.  The roll of paper dropped from his hand and rolled down the roof of the house, bouncing off the edge and into one of the rain barrels with a plop.

 

Little Joe put his hand over his mouth in dismay.  ‘Adam is gonna kill me!’ he said out loud and ran over to the doorway and down the hall.

 

‘Joseph! Stop running like that!’ called his father from his study as Little Joe hit the bottom step and kept going. ‘Where are you going in such a hurry?’

 

‘Nowhere Pa!’ called the boy as headed straight for the back door on the other side of the stairs. ‘Just out back is all.’  Ben shook his head as he heard the back door slam shut.

 

Little Joe headed straight for the rainwater barrel and stood on his tiptoes to look into it.  It was about as high as he was, so it was no mean feat for him to check it out, but he soon discovered that the roll of paper wasn’t there.  ‘It musta sunk,’ he said out loud and bent down to pick up a stick and poke around in it.

 

‘What you do?’ said an angry voice beside him and he turned to see Hop Sing standing there waggling his finger at him. ‘Little boy not play with water!’ he said angrily. ‘Go way!’

 

‘But Hop Sing ….’

 

Hop Sing poked him on the shoulder. ‘Go way!’ he said. ‘Hop Sing hit on bottom if catch here again!  Go!’

 

Little Joe gave the man a dark look and walked away, trailing his stick behind him.  He sat down on one of the large rocks that was by the back door and put his chin in his hands as he thought about it. After a minute he stood up again, dropped the stick and walked around to the front of the house, whistling as he went.

 

 

————-

 

 

Joe looked tentatively at the water barrels that stood beside the kitchen door and wondered if the roll of paper was still at the bottom of one of them.  It had probably turned to mush after all these years, he decided.  It sure was lucky that they didn’t use that water for drinking. He wondered what the plan of Adam’s could have been and if his brother had ever missed it.  Nothing had ever been said about it to his knowledge, so he had never found it necessary to own up to losing it. He shrugged.  It was one of a few things that he had kept to himself over the years … he guessed that if Pa ever knew all the things he’d ever done he would never have made it to the age he was now.  He’d decided a lot time ago that some things were best left untold and it had saved his butt many times.

 

A noise above him made him sit up and look between the branches. It was Hop Sing, bringing out the leftover scraps from lunch and putting them on the compost pile.  Joe screwed up his nose. It was one of his many chores to keep that pile constantly turned over and it was one that he hated.  Hop Sing kept on at him all the time to attend to it and it had been a running battle between the two of them for many years.  It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that Joe was supposed to mix in manure with it from the pile behind the barn and he hated it.  That compost pile had invaded his dreams many times and not in a good way.

 

 

———-

 

 

‘Phew!’ Little Joe said as he held his nose with one hand and tried to manoeuvre the pitchfork with the other.

 

‘You won’t get very far doing it like that,’ said Hoss as he came around the corner of the house. ‘You need ta use both hands, believe me!’

 

Joe grinned at his brother. ‘I bet you’re real good at it ain’t ya Hoss?’ he said. ‘You wanna show me how it’s done?’

 

Hoss shook his head and returned the grin. ‘No thanks,’ he said. ‘You ain’t tricking me today with that one Joseph.’  He dumped the two buckets of manure he had been carrying on the top of it. ‘Mix that in,’ he instructed. ‘It’ll make it richer.’

 

Joe screwed his nose up again and looked at the mess in front of him. ‘I don’t see why I haveta do it,’ he said. ‘You and Adam should take a turn sometimes.’

 

‘We’ve had our turn little brother,’ said Hoss. ‘We done grown out of it and its your turn now. We done passed on the responsibility of it to you.’

 

 

But that ain’t fair!’ protested Little Joe. ‘I got no one to pass it on to when I’ve outgrown it.’

 

Hoss shrugged. ‘Pity bout that,’ he said. ‘One of the problems of being the youngest I guess.’ Little Joe gave him a dark look. ‘Well?’ said Hoss. ‘You gonna rake that in or not?’

 

Little Joe gave a sigh and began to rake lightly over the pile. ‘I don’t see why we gotta have this here anyway,’ he said grumpily.

 

‘You know as well as I do why,’ said Hoss in an easy voice as he sat down on a rock and watched his brother work. ‘We gotta do something with all the leftovers … and the manure makes it rich fer Hop Sing’s garden. I reckon it’s the reason why he does so well with all them vegetables of his.’

 

Joe stopped working and looked aghast at his brother. ‘Hoss!’ he said. ‘I never thought about it before …’  He looked over at the vegetable garden with an appalled look on his face.’

 

‘What?’ said Hoss.

 

‘Those vegetables that Pa says I gotta eat.  They come from …’ He indicated the messy pile of compost, ‘ … all of this!’

 

‘I reckon so,’ said Hoss. ‘Ain’t nothing wrong with that.’

 

‘What do ya mean there ain’t nothing wrong with that!’ declared Little Joe. ‘Its … its … disgusting!’

 

Hoss gave a chuckle. ‘It ain’t disgusting,’ he said. ‘We ain’t eating the manure.  It turns ta compost before Hop Sing uses it.’

 

Joe gave his brother a dark look. ‘Its still manure,’ he said. ‘I ain’t eating no more manure disguised as vegetables.’

 

‘You never eat em anyway,’ said Hoss as he stood up. ‘So no one will ever notice the difference, little brother.’  He gave his younger brother a slap on the back. ‘Now git back ta work or else Hop Sing will be after you with that broom of his.’  He gave Joe another slap on the back and his younger brother lost his balance and fell face down into the compost pile. ‘Oh … sorry Joe,’ he said, not looking at all sorry as he bent down to pull him to his feet again.

 

‘You did that on purpose!’ spluttered Little Joe. ‘Yuck!’  He began to spit onto the ground. ‘I ate manure!’

 

‘Ya did not!’ said Hoss, pushing his brother’s face back to inspect it. ‘It’s only dirt.’

 

‘It is not!’ yelled Little Joe, lashing out at Hoss and hitting him.  His bigger brother only laughed and put his hand on his head to keep him at arm’s length. ‘I ate manure and you made me!’ yelled Little Joe.

 

Hoss laughed again and hauled the boy over to the pump at the side of the kitchen door. He pumped it with one hand and pushed Joe’s head under it with the other. ‘There ya go,’ he said. ‘That’ll take the taste away.’

 

Joe spluttered under the stream of water and wriggled to get out from under it. Finally Hoss let him go and he stood up and shook himself indignantly. ‘I’m gonna tell Pa what you did!’ he declared.

 

Hoss looked at his younger brother as he stood in front of him with his hands on his hips and an indignant look on his face.  His wet hair was plastered to his head and the dirt ran in streaks down his face.  His eyes bulged and he was beginning to turn red with anger and from having his head turned upside down. ‘Go ahead little brother,’ Hoss said easily. ‘It’ll be worth it fer taking a look at you like you is.’  He sat down on the rock again and gave a hearty laugh as his younger brother strode indignantly away around the side of the house.

 

 

———–

 

 

Joe unconsciously spat onto the ground and wiped his mouth.  It seemed that he could still taste that manure anytime he thought about that day. He never could eat vegetables from Hop Sing’s garden without the memory of that moment lingering somewhere in the recesses of his mind. He’d tried to explain to Pa over the years how he couldn’t eat vegetables because of it, but the man had refused to listen and had insisted that he eat them anyway. He shuddered as he thought about it. It seemed to Joe that turning the compost pile must be the worst job on the whole ranch … apart from the outhouse.

 

His eyes wandered over to that particular small room … a small wooden structure that was at the moment situated to the west of the back door.  It had changed positions at various times that Joe could remember and he was just pleased that he was considered too young to be in charge of it when it had to be shifted.  That disgusting job had so far been left to Adam and Hoss.  At those times, the seat would be removed, the hole dug over and another one dug. Then the structure itself would be lifted up and shifted and everything would start all over again.

 

Adam said that the ground around the back of the house must be very rich with all that fertilizer, but Joe personally preferred not to think about it. It was bad enough having to go there to do his business at the best of times.  When he’d been small he’d been scared of going in there by himself and it had only been lately that he’d overcome his fear of the spiders and other creepy crawlies that inhabited it.  Thank goodness for chamber pots at night! He couldn’t imagine having to go in there without a light.

 

—————

 

 

Hop Sing stopped and listened as he heard a muffled sound coming from the direction of the outhouse. He walked over to it and listened at the door. ‘Who in there?’ he called after a moment.

 

‘Hop Sing!  It’s me … Little Joe!’ came a distressed voice from the other side of the door. ‘Get me outta here Hop Sing!’

 

Hop Sing frowned. ‘You come out!’ he yelled. ‘Little boy in there too long.’

 

‘I can’t! The door’s stuck! Help me Hop Sing!’  came the boy’s voice again.

 

Hop Sing put his hands on the door and pushed on it, but it didn’t budge. ‘Stand back!’ he yelled. ‘I try again.’  He pushed a second time, but the door was well and truly stuck. ‘You wait!’ he yelled. ‘I go get help!’

 

He walked through the back door into the kitchen and then around into the dining room. ‘Mr Cartlight! Mr Cartlight!’ he called.

 

Ben looked up from his newspaper. ‘Yes Hop Sing?  What’s the matter?’

 

‘Is little boy Mr Cartlight,’ said the man. ‘He stuck!’

 

Ben put down the paper. ‘Stuck?’ he said anxiously. ‘Stuck where?’

 

‘In outhouse,’ explained Hop Sing. ‘Door is stuck and he inside.’

 

Ben stood up and motioned to Hoss and Adam who had begun to giggle. ‘That’s enough,’ he said crossly. ‘You know how your brother hates being in there. Hoss, get a crowbar and we’ll prise it open.’  He strode over to the kitchen and then through the back door, followed by Adam. ‘Little Joe, are you in there?’ he yelled through the door.

 

‘Yes Pa,’ called a small voice. ‘The door won’t open!’

 

‘All right son … don’t worry … we’ll get it open for you.’

 

‘Hurry up Pa!’ called Little Joe. ‘It’s dark in here and the spiders will get me!’

 

‘They won’t hurt you son.  Just hold on a minute and we’ll get that door open.’

 

‘I’m scared in here Pa,’ said the little voice. ‘I wanna get out now.’

 

‘We won’t be long,’ called his father. ‘Just close your eyes and wait son.’

 

‘OK,’  they heard a small sniffling noise coming from behind the door.

 

‘Here it is Pa,’ said Hoss as he ran up behind his father. ‘I’ll do it.’ He wedged the crowbar between the outhouse door and the wall and began to push on it. ‘It ain’t budging,’ he said.

 

‘Here let me try with you,’ said Adam and he grabbed hold of it too and both brothers began to push on it.  The door began to squeak and the whole building began to lean to one side.

 

‘What are ya doing!’ called out Little Joe anxiously. ‘The outhouse is falling!’

 

‘Hoss! Adam!  Stop it!’ said their father. ‘You’ll end up breaking it apart and your brother might be hurt.’  He thought for a moment. ‘Adam,’ he said. ‘Get up on the roof and see if you can loosen some of the boards up there.  We’ll try and get him out that way.’

 

Adam nodded and Hoss gave him a leg up onto the roof. ‘There’s something trying ta get me on the roof!’ called out Little Joe in a panicky voice. ‘I can hear it up there!’ 

 

‘It’s only your brother Adam,’ yelled his father through the door. ‘Calm down Little Joe.’

 

‘I need the crowbar,’ called down Adam. ‘Hand it up to me Hoss.’  He took it as his brother handed it up to him and began to pry off one of the boards.

 

‘It’s coming in ta get me!’ called Little Joe in a panic. ‘Help me Pa!’

 

‘Joseph it’s all right,’ called his father through the door. ‘It’s only Adam.’ He could hear the child’s sobs and called up to Adam. ‘Hurry up son.  He’s beginning to panic.’

 

‘I’m doing the best I can Pa,’ called back Adam. ‘It’s stuck.  I’m going to have to …’  Suddenly there was a loud crash and he disappeared into the outhouse.  There was a scream from inside and Ben hammered against the door with his fist. ‘Adam! Joseph!’ he shouted. ‘What’s going on in there?’ 

 

There was silence for a moment and then a small trembling voice called back. ‘Adam done come in here with me Pa.’

 

‘Adam! Are you all right son?’  There was no response. ‘Little Joe!  Is your brother all right?’

 

‘He’s all right Pa,’ called back Little Joe. ‘He done broke the seat and fell in the hole but.’

 

Hoss began to laugh, but turned it into a cough as his father turned and glared at him. ‘That’s enough!’ he said. ‘Help me get your brothers out of there.’ Adam’s fall seemed to have shifted the whole building sideways and so they tried the crowbar again in the doorway. 

 

This time it swung open easily and a terrified Little Joe sprang out into his father’s arms and hugged him tightly. ‘I was scared Pa!’ he sniffed into the man’s shoulder. ‘Until Adam came in with me.’ Ben glanced into the outhouse and saw his eldest son climbing out of the hole covered with …he shuddered and preferred not to think about it. ‘Adam fell in the hole,’ giggled Little Joe in between his tears. Adam glared at his little brother.

 

‘You’d better go and clean yourself up son,’ said Ben, trying to keep a straight face.

 

‘Yeah,’ said Hoss. ‘Ya stink, older brother.’

 

Adam glared at them all and headed off towards the kitchen. ‘No go in kitchen!’ shouted Hop Sing, barring the doorway. ‘You too messy and stinky!’

 

‘Well where would you suggest I clean up then?’ asked Adam in his most superior tone. ‘The water trough?’ He looked at everyone in turn and when nothing was said he turned on his heel and strode around to the side of the house and disappeared.

 

‘I reckon we need a new outhouse now Pa,’ said Hoss as he surveyed the half-fallen structure.

 

‘I suppose so,’ replied his father.

 

‘I ain’t going in there no more,’ said Little Joe. ‘I’m gonna pee behind the trees from now on.’

 

‘Yeah?’ said Hoss. ‘What about …’

 

‘That’s enough!’ said their father angrily. ‘You’ll both use the new outhouse as soon as it’s built.’  He gave them both a meaningful look. ‘For everything! I won’t have anyone here sneaking off behind trees … do you hear me?’

 

‘Yes Pa,’ they chorused.

 

‘I get Mr Adam clean clothes,’ said Hop Sing and disappeared into the house.

 

‘Adam sure did look funny didn’t he Pa?’ said Little Joe as he swung on his father’s hand.

 

Ben looked down at his small son and his eyes twinkled. ‘He sure did,’ he agreed.

 

 

—————

 

 

Joe chuckled to himself as he recalled just how funny Adam had looked that day.  He and Hoss had used that story over and over again to the great discomfort of their older brother over the years. For someone as meticulous with his appearance as their older brother was, it was a source of great embarrassment to him and they had made sure that everyone knew about it. It had made his own fall into the manure pile seem like nothing, compared with falling into that!

 

He remembered how Pa had set to the very next day to build a new outhouse … the one that was still there now … and how in the meantime they’d all had to use behind the trees or the chamber pots after all. He giggled, remembering that next afternoon when Hoss had literally been caught with his pants down as Sheriff Coffee had come to call.  They had all thought that Pa would have sunk through the floor with embarrassment when the man had asked him gleefully if that was their new way of doing things on the Ponderosa.

 

Next to the outhouse was a door that led to the cellar.  Joe had spent many happy hours down there with his mother and, later after she died, with Hop Sing.  He also used to like to go down there by himself when he could manage to escape everyone’s notice and be by himself for a while. When he’d been small, Hop Sing would take him down there while he worked and Joe would be able to wander through the barrels and sacks that were stored down there. It seemed like a treasure trove to him at the time and even now it was a fascinating place. You never knew what you were going to find down there.

 

Hoss loved the cellar, which wasn’t surprising considering how much he loved food.  Hop Sing had always threatened to put a lock on it, but he never had.  Hoss didn’t exactly steal things from down there, but there were many times when things couldn’t be found never the less.

 

It was also very cold down there and Joe loved going down in the summer to get cool. During winter their trips down there had to be very short though or their teeth would be chattering when they came up again.  Hop Sing let his cats roam down there as well to keep it mouse free.

 

————–

 

 

‘Now you sit there and don’t move,’ said Marie as she wiggled her finger at her small son and sat him on top of a barrel. ‘Mama is just going to look for something.’

 

Little Joe sat and watched his mother as she hunted on the shelves for something, swinging his little legs and thumping his feet on the barrel. ‘Don’t do that darling,’ said Marie with a smile. ‘It’s annoying.’  Little Joe grinned at his mother and kept swinging his legs.  She shook her head and walked a few steps away to another shelf. ‘Hop Sing!’ she called. ‘Can you come down here for a minute please?’  She turned to Little Joe again and held onto his legs. ‘Keep your legs still,’ she said. ‘Mama doesn’t like that banging sound.  All right?’

 

The little boy grinned up at his mother and stuck his thumb into his mouth. ‘Hop Sing!’ called Marie.

 

‘Yes Mrs Cartlight?’ called the cook as he appeared at the top of the steps that led to the cellar. ‘What you want?’

 

‘Do you remember where we put the rice?  I want to get some of it.  Also .. I’m looking for the sack of currants we got last week.’

 

‘We use them all,’ said Hop Sing as he came down the stairs. ‘Is raisins left though. Over here.’  They walked away from Little Joe and began to look through some sacks in the far corner of the cellar.  Little Joe watched them for a few minutes and then took his thumb out of his mouth and rolled over on his tummy before letting himself down onto the ground.  With a giggle, he set off to explore the treasures that he could see around him.

 

‘That’s fine Hop Sing,’ said Marie after a moment. ‘Thank you.’

 

‘I take up for you,’ said the cook. ‘Put in kitchen.’  He turned with both hands full but stopped as he heard Marie’s voice behind him. ‘Hop Sing?’ she called. ‘Do you hear that noise?’

 

Hop Sing listened. ‘Is mice again,’ he said firmly. ‘I get cats down here later today.’

 

Marie nodded. ‘Good idea,’ she said. ‘Now little one, you’ve been a very …’ she stopped as she turned to the barrel where she’d left her little son sitting and noticed that it was empty. ‘Joseph!’ she called. ‘Where have you gone?’  There was no response. ‘Joseph!’ she called. ‘Where are you baby?’  Again there was no response.  Marie frowned. ‘Mama is calling you now Little Joe!’ she called. ‘Come on back to Mama now!’  Again there was silence.

 

‘He must have taken off,’ she said crossly.

 

‘Hop Sing walked towards the steps. ‘I put these in kitchen,’ he said. ‘Then I come back and help you look.

 

‘Thank you Hop Sing,’ she said as she looked behind a few barrels. ‘He’s probably hiding somewhere and thinking it’s funny. Joseph! Come out now please, mama hasn’t got time to come and find you!’

 

There was a small noise from the other end of the room and Marie turned towards it. ‘You’re over there, are you?’ she said. ‘Come on now. Come on out to Mama.’  She walked over to the other side of the cellar and looked behind the sacks in the corner, but saw no little curly head as she’d expected to.

 

‘Joseph!’ she called again. ‘Mama is getting cross with you now. Come on out!’  There was another noise from behind some barrels and she reached in to grab what she thought was the little boy.  Instead she felt something furry as it brushed against her hand. She screamed and stepped back as she saw four small mice scurry away from her. ‘Mice!’ she yelled. ‘Hop Sing!’

 

‘Mrs Cartlight?’ she turned sharply to see Hop Sing standing at the top of the stairs.

 

‘Hop Sing!’ she called. ‘There are definitely mice down here!  And I can’t find Joseph!’  her voice was tinged with panic. Hop Sing came down the stairs, carrying Little Joe on his hip.  The child’s face was covered with flour and his hair was sprinkled with it as well. ‘Where did you find him?’ she asked crossly as she took the toddler from the man.

 

‘Up in kitchen,’ he said. ‘He help himself to Hop Sing cooking.’

 

‘He must have climbed the stairs by himself,’ she said in a frustrated tone. She looked at the child on her hip who looked back up at her with a grin. ‘That was very naughty Joseph,’ she said crossly. ‘Mama was looking for you and getting worried.’

 

Little Joe grinned at his mother. ‘Look mama …mouses!’ he said, pointing behind her and clapping his hands with glee at the sight of the little creatures scurrying about.  Marie screamed and then jumped, while Little Joe giggled in her arms.

 

 

————

 

 

Joe sighed as a wave of sadness came over him as it always did when he thought about his mother. He’d only been a little boy when she’d died … not quite five years old … but he still got an ache in his heart when he thought about her.  She and Hop Sing had had a love / hate relationship, always working together and arguing at the same time …. But everyone knew that they didn’t mean anything by it.  Little Joe remembered many times when they’d put him between them in the kitchen as they cooked and he’d helped.

 

Now the kitchen was Hop Sing’s domain alone.  The Chinese cook was forever banging the back door as he came in and out of the house on his many errands and Joe listened as even now he could hear it banging again.  He looked up and saw the cook walking over to his vegetable garden which was situated a few feet away from the door. Hop Sing grew a variety of vegetables there which helped to supplement their supplies from town and it was another one of Joe’s chores to keep it weeded.  He frowned as he thought about the fact that a lot of his chores seemed to take place around the back on the house and he wondered why that was.

 

The vegetable garden was surrounded by a low fence which was designed to keep animals out of it. That included Hop Sing’s cats which roamed freely around the perimeter of the house, keeping the rat and mice population at bay.  Joe remembered the day that Adam had built the fence.  He said that he was tired of Hop Sing complaining about his vegetables being taken.  Joe smiled as he remembered how he’d helped him.

 

————–

 

 

‘Can I Adam, huh?’ the little boy entreated his brother. ‘Can I help ya Adam, huh?’

 

‘Oh all right,’ said Adam. ‘Just don’t get in the way, will you?  Sit down over there.’

 

‘What can I do Adam?  Which bit can I do? Can I use the hammer?’

 

‘Put that down!  You can hand me the nails when I ask for them okay?’

 

‘Okay.  You want one now?’

 

‘No.’

 

‘Can I use this bit of wood?  I can make a …..’

 

‘Put that down!  I need it in a minute.  Hand me a nail … Ow! … Not that way!  Look … you always hand nails this way with the pointy bit towards you okay?’

 

‘Okay.  Why?’

 

‘So you won’t stick them in people like you just did to me.’

 

‘Oh.  Do you want another one?’

 

‘No.  Move away from that!’

 

‘It’s gonna be a great fence, ain’t it Adam?’

 

‘Sure is.  Leave that alone.’

 

‘Its gonna keep them cats out fer sure, don’t ya think?’

 

‘Uh huh. Move away from that. Hand me another nail … Ow! … what did I tell you before?’

 

‘I forgot.  Hey Adam?’

 

‘Yes?’

 

‘You want me ta hammer that for ya?’

 

‘No I don’t!  Tell you what .. why don’t you go and help Hop Sing over there with the weeding?  He looks as if he could do with your help.’

 

‘Okay.  You call me iffen ya need me though, won’t ya?’

 

‘I sure will buddy.  As soon as I need you I’ll call.’

 

‘Hey Hop Sing … You want me ta help you?’

 

‘Hop Sing manage.’

 

‘I don’t mind. Here … I’ll pull them weeds up for ya Hop Sing.’

 

‘Leave alone!  Those not weeds … those carrots.’

 

‘Oh.  Don’t worry … I’ll put em back in.  How bout these?  Is they carrots?’

 

‘No.’

 

‘Okay … I’ll pull em up then.  Hey … they’s potatoes ain’t they?  How bout that!’

 

‘Leave alone!  You go and help Mr Adam.’

 

‘He said to help you.’

 

‘And I say help him.  Now go!’

 

‘Okay… Hey Adam?  Hop Sing said to help you, not him.’

 

‘Did he? Lucky me!’

 

‘Yeah. Lucky you.’  Little Joe grinned at the thought of helping his brother again. It was nice to be needed by so many people.

 

 

————-

 

 

The other structure the cats needed to be kept out of was the hen house which was beyond the garden. ‘Another one of my chores!’ Joe muttered under his breath.  Joe hated those hens … he always had.  In fact he couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t been a bit scared of them.  Not that he would have admitted it now though .. after all he was nearly grown up and a boy of his age shouldn’t be afraid of hens.  But there was something about the way they looked at him that made him distrustful of them. He had received a peck from them a time or two and it gave him great satisfaction when Hop Sing announced that one of them was about to take its turn on the dinner table.

 

He didn’t mind watching their demise, even though Hoss always said it was cruel and walked away when Hop Sing was chopping one of their heads off.  Joe had always argued with Hoss about the fact that it never stopped him eating a mess of fried chicken, but Hoss never seemed to equate the two. The only thing that those chickens were good for, as far as Joe could see, was when they sacrificed themselves for the dinner table … and the eggs of course … and gathering them was another one of his chores!

 

————

 

 

Little Joe eyed off the chickens as they clustered near the door of the henhouse. ‘You get away from there,’ he muttered. ‘You get away or I’m gonna make ya sorry!’  He edged over to the structure and then stopped abruptly as one of them took a step towards him. ‘I ain’t scared of you!’ he declared bravely. ‘Ya don’t frighten me!’

 

He waved his arms at the chickens and half of them walked away.  He glared at the remaining few and swung his basket at them in frustration. ‘You too!’ he shouted. ‘Go on … get!’  The chickens walked away squawking and the boy smiled proudly. ‘Told ya!’ he said. ‘I ain’t scared of you nohow!’

 

He crept warily into the henhouse and was relieved to see that there was only one hen there. He didn’t like those hens one bit and had been pecked a few times when trying to gather their eggs, so he was always a bit wary of them.

 

Little Joe would have done anything to get out of gathering the eggs each morning, but Pa said it was his responsibility and that was that.  He’d tried trading chores with Hoss, but Pa said that wasn’t allowed and that Hoss had had his turn with the chickens when he was younger.  It didn’t seem fair to Joe though … Pa was always saying that his brothers had had their turn, but the trouble was that didn’t help Joe out any.  He still had to manage the chickens and he didn’t like them one bit.

 

‘Damn chickens!’ he said out loud and then clamped his hand over his mouth as he realised what he’d said.  He looked over his shoulder as if worried that someone might be there and giggled as he realised where he was.  Of course no one could hear him… no one else had to come in here like he did.

 

He turned to the nesting boxes and began to gather the eggs, quite pleased that there seemed to be quite a few today.  He glanced at the hen who was sitting on her nest. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘You’re safe.  If that’s an egg you’re laying it can wait until tomorrow.  I ain’t gonna disturb you now.’

 

He counted the eggs in his basket and then lowered his head to get through the henhouse door again. A worried expression came onto his face as he noticed that the hens had clustered around the gate to the enclosure and were blocking his path. ‘Hey!’ he shouted. ‘Get away from there and let me get out!’

 

The hens took no notice of him, but continued to peck at their feed on the ground. ‘Hey!’ he shouted again. ‘Get away from there!’  None of the hens moved.

 

Little Joe frowned as he considered his options. He waved his arms around frantically. ‘Hey you stupid chickens!’ he called. ‘Get away from that gate!’ His words fell on deaf ears and the chickens stayed where they were. ‘I ain’t afraid of you,’ he said bravely and marched towards them.

 

At that moment a rather large black hen that Little Joe had always particularly disliked looked up at him with a beady eye. He stopped and stared at it. ‘What?’ he said finally. The chicken continued to stare at him and then took a step towards him.  Little Joe took a step backwards and found himself in a corner of the enclosure with his back against the wire fencing. ‘What?’ he said again crossly, as he stared at the chicken.

 

The large hen took another step towards him and squawked. ‘You get away from me!’ shouted Little Joe. ‘I ain’t scared of you!’  The hen took a couple more steps towards him and clucked again.  Two more hens followed her and then another one joined them. ‘You get away from me!’ shouted Little Joe anxiously. ‘I ain’t scared of you!’  He swallowed as he realised that the chickens that were squawking furiously were gradually surrounding him.

 

He held the basket in front of him to protect himself as he eyed off the circling hens. ‘You came one step closer and I’ll flatten you!’ he shouted. ‘You just see if I won’t!’  He pushed back against the wire of the fence as far away from the chickens as he could and swallowed again.

 

‘Hey Joe! Hop Sing’s waiting fer them eggs … hurry up!’ He looked up at the sound of Hoss voice.’  The chickens all scattered at the noise and he breathed a sigh of relief.

 

‘Coming!’ he called and made a run for the gate.  He hurried onto the other side and closed it firmly with a sigh.  As he stood there eying off the chickens the large black hen came close to the fence and began squawking at him. ‘I ain’t scared of you!’ he declared and then turned to hurry towards the back door.

 

 

 

————-

 

 

Joe chuckled as he remembered his many battles with the chickens.  Even now his eyes narrowed as he looked over in their direction and he felt a sense of dread when he thought about going into their enclosure.  It had taken him years to convince his father that he was too old to collect the eggs anymore and the man had finally agreed.  Now Hop Sing did it himself and Joe was more than pleased every time he ate an egg to think that he was beyond the battles in that enclosure.  He’d told everyone he didn’t like collecting the eggs because he was too big to do it, but he suspected that they all knew the real reason no matter what he said.  Whatever they thought though, Joe was only too pleased not to have to do it any more.

 

A sudden movement made him look over to the washing line and he noticed the clean washing gently swaying in the breeze.  He smiled as he remembered the many times he’d lain like this in the grass over there while Hop Sing pegged the washing out.  His job had been to hand the man the wooden pegs when he wasn’t pretending that they were soldiers and waging great battles with them in the grass. Hop Sing was always going mad at him for losing them and made Joe hunt around for them on his hands and knees in the grass when he ran out as he usually did.

 

Hop Sing was always complaining about washdays and Little Joe could understand why.  It was a lot of work for the man on top of everything he had to do and the washing seemed to go forever.  Pa had bought all the latest modern conveniences for the man to make his job easier, but even with the mangle and the clothes-horses, Hop Sing still complained. Little Joe loved sitting by the washtub in the washhouse and stirring the clothes with a long stick that Hop Sing would give him.  Many times they would bring the tubs outside on a fine days and wash near the lines so that they didn’t have to carry the heavy wet articles of clothing so far. Joe always enjoyed that time they spent together.

 

 

————

 

 

‘Bang! Bang!’ The little boy pushed two more of his wooden peg soldiers down into the grass and watched in satisfaction as they lay there silently. ‘I killed two more!’ he informed Hop Sing.

 

‘More peg,’ said the man and Joe reached up and handed him another couple.

 

‘These ones are gonna look for em over here,’ he said grabbing two more pegs. ‘They won’t find em but cause they got shot behind this big rock.’  He moved the two pegs behind a small stone. ‘See Hop Sing?’

 

‘Yes.  More peg,’ said the man.

 

‘Hey Hop Sing?’ Little Joe stood up and poked his face under a sheet that the man was hanging on the line.

 

‘Yes?’

 

‘Can I stir some more? My arms isn’t hurting now no more.’

 

‘Yes.’

 

Little Joe ran over to the large tub and began to stir the clothes around and around, watching as they swirling in the water. ‘How come ya got just the white stuff in here?’ he asked.

 

‘So colours not run,’ said Hop Sing, reaching for more pegs. ‘Is better that way.’

 

‘Mmm.  Is that how your cousin in town does it too?’

 

‘Yes. Have many tubs for many clothes.’

 

Little Joe nodded. Hop Sing had taken him once to visit his cousin’s Chinese laundry in town and he’d been fascinated by the amount of clothing that had been dealt with there.  He had ended up hiding in one of the large hampers and having his bottom smacked soundly when they’d finally found him, but it had still been a day to remember.

 

‘Can we go and visit there again one day Hop Sing?’ he asked as he continued to stir.

 

‘One day,’ said Hop Sing. ‘When little boy decide to behave.’

 

Little Joe frowned momentarily. ‘Can we put more of that powder stuff in now to make more of them bubbles?’ he asked hopefully.

 

‘No.  Enough in there already,’ Hop Sing informed him.

 

‘Just a bit?’  Little Joe loved to watch the bubbles froth and rise up from the tub.

 

‘No!’ Leave alone.’

 

Little Joe frowned as he continued to stir, first in one direction and then in another. ‘I get more peg,’ Hop Sing informed him. ‘You no move.’

 

‘Okay,’ Little Joe happily stirred the washing, humming to himself as Hop Sing disappeared into the washhouse that was on the other side of the kitchen towards the front of the house.  He hesitated for a moment and then reached down and picked up a small handful of the white powder that he knew made the bubbles.  With a quick glance at the washhouse he threw it into the water and watched in satisfaction as more bubbles began to appear.

 

Little Joe giggled as he tried to catch some of the bubbles as they rose up from the water. As they subsided he put more of the powder into the water and repeated the process several times. He giggled each time delightedly and then put his hand over his mouth as he saw Hop Sing coming out of the washhouse with a handful of pegs.

 

‘What you do?’ asked Hop Sing suspiciously as he looked at the giggling boy.

 

‘Nothing Hop Sing,’ said Little Joe innocently. ‘I just like the stirring is all.’  He gave the man one of his most charming smiles and Hop Sing grunted as he went back to pegging the washing up.  Little Joe giggled again and he watched the murky water swirl around and around and began to hum to himself again.

 

 

————

 

 

Joe giggled.  Hop Sing never could work out why they went through so much of that powder and Joe was never willing to enlighten him. He looked over to the washhouse and wondered for a moment if Hop Sing had ever worked it out for himself, for as soon as Little Joe had grown too big to be interested in soap bubbles the powder must have lasted a much longer time.

 

He wondered where Hop Sing was this afternoon.  Probably in his room, he decided.  Sunday was his day off and when he wasn’t in town visiting one of his many relations he seemed to stick close to his room.  Joe didn’t know what he did in there, for none of the Cartwrights ever went in there much. Hop Sing had made it fairly clear that they hadn’t been welcome and they all respected his domain.

 

Joe’s view of the back door was obscured from this angle by the huge rock that was situated only feet from the perimeter of the house. Joe smiled as he remembered the many happy hours he’d played there as a little boy.  That rock and the smaller ones around it had been a mountain, a fort, a ship, anything that his fertile imagination wanted it to be and he had played there for countless hours over the years.  When he had been smaller Hop Sing allowed him to play there because he could watch him while he did his work in the kitchen and outside.

 

————

 

 

‘Hey look at me Hop Sing … I’m climbing a mountain!’  The little boy waved to the cook who was weeding the vegetable garden.

 

‘Not go too high!’ shouted Hop Sing. ‘You fall!’

 

‘I won’t fall!’ shouted back Little Joe.  He scrambled up a few more steps and looked down at the cook. ‘I can see great from up here!’ he shouted. Hop Sing waved at him and continued to work. Little Joe scrambled up a few more steps and then sat down to view the scene below him.  From up this high he could see the roof of the back porch that sheltered the kitchen door and he could also see the top of the outhouse roof. ‘I’m high!’ he called out.

 

‘You too high!’ called back Hop Sing. ‘Little boy come down now!’

 

Little Joe frowned. ‘I ain’t no little boy!’ he declared. ‘I can climb as high as I want!’  He turned and began to scramble upwards again, but his foot spilled and he found himself slipping backwards instead. ‘Ow!’ he said as he felt his hands graze as they slid down the rock.

 

Hop Sing looked up and frowned. ‘I tell you get down!’ he shouted.

 

‘I am coming down,’ called back Little Joe. ‘Only I didn’t mean to.’  He tried to get a firm grip with his feet, but couldn’t, so he clung to the rock instead with his stinging hands. He looked down at his feet and searched for somewhere where he could get a firm hold with them, but saw nothing. Trying not to panic, he looked over at Hop Sing. ‘Help!’ he called. ‘I can’t get down Hop Sing!’

 

Hop Sing shook his head and walked over to the rock.  He reached up and grabbed hold of the boy’s feet. ‘Come down,’ he said. ‘I hold on.’

 

‘I can’t!’ said Little Joe, beginning to really panic now. ‘I’m stuck up here.’  He looked down anxiously at Hop Sing.

 

‘I hold,’ repeated Hop Sing. ‘Is no need be afraid.’

 

Little Joe took a deep breath and began to climb down again.  Hop Sing tried to hang onto the little feet as they clambered towards him, but Little Joe kicked him inadvertently in the face and he stepped away from him instinctively. At that moment Little Joe’s foot slipped and he tumbled down from the rock and hit the ground face down with a thud.

‘Ow!’ he said as he sat up and held onto his head.

 

Hop Sing looked at the child as he rubbed his own face where Little Joe had kicked him. There was blood streaming down behind the boy’s hand and dripping into his eye. ‘What you do?’ he asked anxiously and pulled the boy’s hand away to examine it.  The small forehead had a gash across it near the hairline. ‘Is not bad,’ he said.

 

‘There’s blood!’ said Little Joe in a panic.

 

‘Is just a bit,’ said Hop Sing, trying to soothe the boy, although to be honest he felt a bit panicked at the sight of it himself. ‘We wipe up.’  He pulled a cloth from his pocket and began to wipe the child’s face with it. ‘There,’ he said. ‘Nearly stopped now.’

 

‘Is it all right?’ asked Little Joe anxiously. ‘It hurts!’

 

‘Little boy lucky bottom no hurt too!’ said Hop Sing crossly. Now that he had assured himself that the child was all right he was beginning to be angry with him for his actions. ‘Hop Sing spank little boy if climb up there again!’

 

Little Joe glared at the man. ‘I done told ya Hop Sing!’ he said. ‘I ain’t a little boy no more!’

 

They glared at each other for a minute, then Hop Sing waggled his finger at the child. ‘You no climb rock no more!’ he said. ‘Understand?’

 

‘Yes,’ said Little Joe grumpily and folded his arms in front of him.  He watched as the man walked away from him and then looked up at the rock again. They both knew that given half a chance he’d be up there again.

 

 

————–

 

 

Joe fingered the small scar on his forehead as he remembered back to that day.  It was a reminder of his fall, but it had never stopped him from climbing the rock again. That rock had been one of his favourite places to play as a child and over the years it had become easier and easier for him to scale it.  It had seemed so big in those days, yet now that he was nearly grown it seemed just an average-sized rock.  It was strange how things seemed to change as you got older … and sometimes not always for the better.

 

He remembered back to the time when he’d been just a small boy and behind the house had been a big part of his world. Everything out here had seemed so exciting to him then … and so challenging. It was a shame in a way that it couldn’t have stayed that way … but the bigger world had called him out to it and he had left his favourite places here behind him.

 

‘Joe?’

 

He looked up as he heard his father’s voice calling him from the back door. ‘I’m over here Pa!’ he called.

 

Ben Cartwright walked over to where his son was lying in the grass and looked down at him. ‘What are you doing out here?’ he asked.

 

‘Nothing,’ said Joe with a grin. ‘Just thinking.’

 

Ben nodded. ‘I wondered if you might like to go fishing.’

 

Joe sat up quickly. ‘Really?’ he said. ‘I mean … you don’t have to work or anything?’

 

‘Well I always have work to do,’ replied his father. ‘But I got to thinking … I think its about time I relaxed for once and enjoyed myself. How about it?’

 

Joe grinned at him. ‘That’d be great,’ he said enthusiastically as he got to his feet. ‘I reckon it’s good to stop for a while. It’ll do you good Pa.’

 

Ben put his arm around his son’s shoulder. ‘I’m sure it will,’ he agreed. ‘Time is too valuable to waste on work all the time isn’t it? Before we know it, time slips away from us and we’ve wasted it on things that aren’t important.’

 

Joe nodded thoughtfully. ‘Yeah,’ he said after a moment. ‘I guess it does.’  As father and son headed back towards the house together, Joe stopped and looked back over his shoulder. As his father walked ahead of him through the doorway, he could almost hear the laughter of a small boy in the wind as he stood there and he smiled before following his father inside.

 

 

The End