Summary:  A tale of a young boy, a frog and the trouble they cause.
Rating:  G  (5,400 words)

Hoppy

Little Joe Cartwright sucked on the stalk of grass and stared at the blue sky through the trees as he whistled softly to himself. As he lay on his back he swung his legs lazily, wishing that he could stay here all afternoon instead of having to go back and have dinner with that stupid girl of Adam’s and her mother.  He frowned.  He didn’t know why Pa wanted him there anyway!  Adam didn’t seem to want him and he didn’t want to be there, so he felt it was rather unfair of his father to insist that he was. Joe couldn’t think of anything more boring than dressing up for dinner and trying to remember his best manners for anyone…and a girl at that!

He was sure that Hoss wasn’t looking forward to it either.  His middle brother was so shy with girls that he probably would rather have gone without dinner rather than have to sit there thinking of things to talk about and that that was saying a lot considering how much Hoss enjoyed eating. Yes sir!  It seemed to his ten-year mind that Adam was spoiling their whole day just because of him and that dumb old girl!

Joe sighed as he sat up and looked at the flowing creek in front of him.  He dabbled his bare toes in the water and giggled as he felt the cold creek water tickle them. It seemed to him that ever since Adam had returned from college he had caused problems for them all. Do this Joe, do that Joe! He never let up about how Joe should get all his chores done and how he should pay more attention in school.  No sir!  Older brother Adam certainly wasn’t his favourite person in the world by any means!

Joe squinted as he caught a movement beside him and shot a look sidewards.  He grinned to see a large green frog sitting on the grass next to him returning his stare. Joe loved frogs!  He often came down to this little creek for no other reason than to watch them and once he had raised a whole crop of tadpoles in a bucket that he had spent hours observing.  That was until they started hopping out and got into the kitchen and Hop Sing made him return them to the creek again.

He reached out a tentative hand and touched the frog. ‘Hi there feller!’ he said softly. ‘Come ta say hello have ya?’  The frog kept staring at him as if sizing him up and down. ‘You’re a nice feller ain’t ya?’ asked Joe as he continued to stroke his back.  It was amazing how the animal wasn’t moving, but seemed to welcome the boy’s touch.  ‘Ya like me hey?’ asked Joe happily. ‘How about you and me being friends then huh?’ The frog took a small jump forwards and nearly landed on Joe’s leg. ‘Hey you’re a good hopper too ain’t ya?’ said Joe. ‘I think I’ll call ya Hoppy. Do ya like that name?’

Just at that moment Joe heard a voice from up above calling him. ‘Joe! Joe!’  He slithered up to the top of the embankment and poked his tousled head over it.  His brother Hoss was standing near the back door calling to him. ‘Joe! Pa says ta come in now ta get washed up fer the company!’

‘I’m coming!’ called back Joe.  He slid down the embankment again and frowned at the frog. ‘They ain’t my company,’ he said as he pulled on his socks and boots. ‘Don’t see why I haveta get washed up!’

The frog took another jump forward and this time landed on Joe’s leg. ‘Hey ya wanna come with me huh?’ he said delightedly as he picked Hoppy up and looked at him closely. ‘Well, if ya do ya haveta behave yaself OK?’  Frog and boy stared at each other for a moment before Joe popped the animal into the jacket of his pocket.  He finished pulling on his boots and scrambled to the top of the embankment again.

‘Come on Joe!’ called Hoss again. ‘Pa’s waiting!’  The boy ran towards the back door of the house quickly with his newfound friend tucked securely in his pocket.

☺☺☺☺☺

‘Joseph keep still!’ said his father in an exasperated tone as he wet the hairbrush again and tried to slick down his son’s unruly locks.  Try as he would, the boy’s hair just wouldn’t behave itself and the curls kept springing up all over his head. ‘Well, that will have to do,’ said Ben with a sigh as he put down the hairbrush. ‘Honestly!  I don’t know how you could possibly get so dirty in the hour you had between coming home from Church and getting ready for dinner.

Joe gave his father a painful look. ‘It was easy,’ he said. ‘I was down at the creek.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t have thought a complete change of clothing was necessary after only an hour,’ said Ben severely. ‘You give Hop Sing an awful lot of washing to do you know.’  He turned his son’s head sideways to inspect his ears.

‘Ow!’ said Joe as he tried to move his father’s hand away.

‘Keep still,’ said Ben as he picked up a washcloth and cleaned his son’s ears and neck again. ‘I thought I told you to wash properly.’

‘I did,’ said Joe.

‘Not good enough,’ said Ben giving him a swat on the side of his head. ‘Not for company anyway.’

‘They’re not my company,’ said Joe in a sulky tone. ‘Don’t see why I haveta wash anyhow.’

Ben pointed a finger at him. ‘Because I told you to!’ he said angrily. ‘They’re your brother Adam’s company and you’ll behave yourself young man.  Do you understand me?’

‘Yes sir,’ said Joe with a frown.

‘Now get downstairs and sit in the living room,’ said his father. ‘I don’t want you to move a muscle until our guests arrive. What are you doing?’

‘Nothing Pa,’ said Joe as he reached for his jacket. ‘I’m just hanging this up.’  He put his hand into the pocket and drew out Hoppy furtively.  The way he figured it, the frog might be the only decent company he got all afternoon. He transferred him quickly into the pocket of his pants without his father noticing.

‘Get!’ said Ben. ‘Go on!’

Joe scampered out of the bedroom and down the stairs quickly.  He sat on the sofa next to an equally glum Hoss and waited in silence. The two brothers looked at each other, their faces saying everything that each other needed to know about their thoughts. ‘I sure ain’t looking forward ta this,’ said Hoss.

‘Me neither,’ declared Joe. ‘Who is this girl anyways?’

‘Madeleine Smith,’ said Hoss. ‘Adam’s gone on her.’

‘Adam’s gone on every girl he meets,’ said Joe. ‘Don’t know why he likes girls so much.’

‘Well, he’s gonna be real mad iffen ya cause any trouble this time,’ said Hoss.

‘What do ya mean this time? I ain’t caused any trouble before!’

Hoss snorted. ‘Ya cause trouble every time we have company!’ he declared. ‘Ya don’t even know ya’re doing it half the time.’

Joe glared at his brother and punched him on the arm. ‘Joseph!’ said his father as he reached the bottom of the stairs. ‘Behave yourself!’

‘If he doesn’t, I’ll give it to him!’ said Adam, glaring at him from behind his father.

Joe glared at his oldest brother and then smirked. ‘Oooh!  Look at Adam Hoss!  Ain’t he fancy?  Who ya trying to impress Adam?’

Adam glared at his little brother. ‘You were just told to behave yourself!’ he said angrily.

‘Are ya gonna kiss that Madeleine when she comes?’ asked Joe unabashed. He put his hand up and kissed the back of it noisily. ‘Like this?’

Adam looked at his father pleadingly. ‘Pa!’ he said. ‘Does he have to be here?  Can’t he eat in the kitchen?’

‘Joseph behave yourself!’ said his father angrily. ‘If you cause any trouble today for your brother, you’ll answer to me for it.  Understood?’

Joe lowered his head. ‘Yes Pa,’ he said quietly.  He waited for the man to move away, then put his head up and poked out his tongue at Adam who continued to glare at him.  Hoss looked quite amused at the whole interchange.

‘They’re here,’ said Ben as he glanced out of the study window. Adam leapt to the front door and ran out.  Ben pointed at Hoss and Joe on the sofa. ‘Don’t you two get up from there!  Understood?’

‘Yes Pa,’ they both chorused innocently and watched their father leave the room as well.  Joe grinned at Hoss and kissed the back of his hand several more times as he rolled his eyes and giggled.  Hoss grinned back at him, but then turned his expression into a serious one as their father re-entered the room followed by Adam and two ladies.  Both boys stood up.

‘Boys, this is Mrs Smith and her daughter Madeleine,’ said Ben as he indicated the two women behind him. He motioned for Hoss to come forward. ‘This is my middle boy Eric and this,’ he beckoned to Joe, ‘is the youngest Joseph.  Say hello to the ladies boys.’

‘Hello,’ they chorused in their politest tones.

‘Hello there,’ said Mrs Smith with a big smile. ‘You’re very grown up Hoss.’  Hoss grinned at her. ‘And Joseph here is quite the little man, aren’t you dear?’  She reached over and pinched Joe on the cheek.  He took a step back and scowled at her. If there was one thing he hated above all others, it was being pinched on the cheek by old ladies.

Ben cleared his throat. ‘Well, please sit down,’ he said politely. Adam jumped forward, escorted Madeleine to the sofa and sat next to her.  Ben seated Mrs Smith in an easy chair and took one himself, leaving Hoss and Joe to stand to the side.

‘This is a beautiful house Mr Cartwright!’ exclaimed Mrs Smith. ‘Truly beautiful!’

‘Thank you,’ said Ben with a smile.  He gave Joe a meaningful look as he noticed his son hopping from one foot to the other. If he had known the real reason for this he would have given him more than a meaningful look, however. Hoppy was getting restless, having been in the boy’s pants pocket for a good ten minutes and was trying to escape.  In doing so, he was tickling Joe on the upper thigh.

Joe tried to steady himself and took a step away from the group. Hoss looked at him sideways. ‘Keep still!’ he whispered as Hop Sing came into the room with a tray of drinks.  The grownups were all engrossed in a boring conversation, which didn’t interest Joe in the slightest, and he found himself more and more concerned with how to keep Hoppy still.

Suddenly he heard his name. ‘Huh?’ he said.

‘I asked you if you were all right dear,’ asked Mrs Smith anxiously.

Joe looked up to see everyone’s eyes upon him. ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ he mumbled. Adam gave him a warning look. ‘I’m just…’ Joe stopped as Hoppy gave an exceptionally large wriggle and Joe tried to stop a full-fledged giggle. ‘I’m just…’  He hopped from one foot to the other and clutched at the front of his pants.

‘Joseph if you need to go outside then please do it!’ said his father, trying to keep the anger out of his voice and looking embarrassed. Joe turned and fled outside, slamming the front door in his haste.

☺☺☺☺☺

As soon as he got outside, Joe reaching into the pocket of his pants and pulled out his frog. ‘Whatcha go and do that for?’ he said angrily. ‘Now they all think I needed to pee!’

Hoppy croaked back at him as if to apologise and Joe smiled. ‘Aw that’s OK,’ he said. ‘You couldn’t help it could ya?  Musta been a bit cramped in there.  Here!  Have a hop around for a bit.’’ He put the frog on the ground and watched as the animal took a couple of jumps.

‘Feel better?’ he said as he picked him up again. ‘Maybe I’d better find you a place ta stay while we eat huh? Otherwise, Pa will have my hide.’  He looked around for a place to store his friend and spied just the thing by the side of the kitchen door.  It was a metal bucket and just cried out as the perfect spot for a homeless frog.  As Joe scampered towards it with Hoppy in his hand, he was suddenly pulled to one side by his ear. ‘Ow!’ he said and looked up to see Hop Sing standing there with a cross expression on his face.

Hop Sing waved an arm at him, while keeping a firm grasp on his ear with the other hand. ‘What little boy do?’ he said angrily. ‘Everyone waiting inside for eat! Papa angry enough without little boy make more angry!’  He pulled Joe inside the kitchen and glared at him. ‘Hurry in!’ he said, gesturing to the dining room.

Joe backed up against a bench, Hoppy still in his hand which was now behind his back.  As Hop Sing turned to picked up a platter of meat, he searched around frantically for somewhere to put the frog where he would remain safe and lifted up the closest thing that was available.  It was a large dish covered with a silver top and Joe managed to slide the frog underneath it without Hop Sing noticing. ‘I’m going!’ he said, relieved to have found just the spot for his friend.

Joe scampered ahead of Hop Sing down the short passageway that led to the dining room and slid into his place next to his father. He kept his head down, figuring that it was the safest thing to do considering the look he got from his father when he entered the room. For the next half hour, he tried to remain as unobtrusive as possible while the adults around him carried on their boring conversation.  He didn’t speak, apart from the pleases and thanks yous that were necessary when he was passed a plate of food.

By the time the coffee was being poured, Joe was bored senseless and itched to get away from all the boring talk around him.  He tried to catch Hoss’ attention, but his brother was still engrossed in making sure that every platter on the table was empty.  Adam of course was still making those goo-goo eyes at ugly Madeleine and his father was politely engaging Mrs Smith in some boring talk of his own. So it was that no one saw the expression of horror on Joe’s face when Hop Sing entered the room bearing a large plate with a silver cover. ‘Dessert!’ he announced as Joe’s face went pale with the thought of just what they might be having for their last course.

He watched with trepidation as Hop Sing removed the cover proudly and a large green frog made a leap for freedom across the table and landed right on Madeleine’s bosom.  The girl shrieked loudly and tried to shake it off, but Adam got there before her and reached out to catch the slimy green visitor.  Unfortunately, just as he did so, Hoppy jumped once more and all Adam succeeded in grabbing was an ample handful of Madeleine’s breasts.

Everyone stared in horror as Hoppy jumped right into the middle of Mrs Smith’s coffee cup and splattered the drink everywhere before disappearing under the table with another huge jump.  Little Joe immediately slid down from his chair and crawled across the floor towards his friend, scooping him up in his hands and sitting crouched down low while he waited for the inevitable yells from above.

Sure enough, it took less than a fraction of a second before he heard his father’s voice thundering down upon him. ‘Joseph!’ Ben yelled. ‘Get up here this instant!’

Joe crawled to the other side of the table and emerged as far away from his father as was possible.  He gulped to see Madeleine standing clutching her chest which displayed a large red mark much the shape of his oldest brother’s hand.  Adam stood next to her holding his cheek which bore a similar mark just the size of Madeleine’s hand.  Mrs Smith was staring open-mouthed at the two of them, while Hoss was quietly scooping out the remainder of the dessert which hadn’t been trampled by Hoppy before anyone could stop him.  Hop Sing was waving his arms around while uttering a string of Chinese phrases and his face was all red.  But it was his father’s expression which made Joe take a step backwards and clutch Hoppy to his chest defensively.

Ben pointed at his youngest son, words failing him for a moment. ‘You!’ he yelled. ‘You … get that frog out of here … now!’  He advanced upon Joe who took another step backwards and clutched Hoppy even tighter to his chest.

‘But Pa …’ he began.

‘Not another word Joseph!’ spluttered Ben. ‘Get it out now!’

Joe turned and fled from the room taking Hoppy with him, leaving a scene of chaos behind him.

☺☺☺☺☺

Joe sat miserably on the edge of the water trough and stared at Hoppy in his hand. ‘Weren’t your fault feller,’ he said consolingly. ‘You couldn’t help jumping away like ya did.’ He stroked the frog gently and was rewarded by a large croak from the animal.  He smiled. ‘Yeah, well you ain’t the one gonna get it for this are ya?’  He worried about how quiet it had gone inside the house, which was certainly a bad sign as far as he was concerned.

Suddenly the front door was flung open and Mrs Smith and Madeleine emerged, followed by his father, Adam and Hoss.  Mrs Smith’s face was a mask of pure anger and Madeleine had obviously been crying because her eyes were as red as the mark which was still obvious on her chest. Ben was trying to placate the women. ‘I am so sorry Mrs Smith,’ he said anxiously. ‘I assure you the boy will be punished.’

The woman kept walking with her head high. ‘I would hope so Mr Cartwright!’ she said angrily. ‘Come Madeleine, we are leaving!’

Joe stood up and backed away from the adults as they approached him. Ben glared at him furiously. ‘I told you to get rid of that frog!’ he said. ‘Now drop it!’

Joe gulped and let go of Hoppy, who took a few jumps away from the group of people. Adam followed Madeleine to the buggy, trying to make amends. ‘Madeleine, I so sorry!’ he said desperately. ‘Please listen to me!’

‘You keep away from my daughter young man! Don’t you touch her!’ said Mrs Smith as she climbed up into her buggy. ‘You’ve done enough groping for one day! Come along Madeleine!’

Madeleine made to follow her mother up into the buggy, but unfortunately Hoppy took that very moment to jump towards the buggy which startled the horse that was tied to it.  He stepped out of the frog’s way, taking the buggy a good two feet forward and Madeleine missed her footing and ended up falling on her backside in a small pile of manure that was on the ground next to her. ‘Madeleine!’ said Adam, reaching forward to pick her up.

‘Get your hands off me!’ she shouted angrily as she picked herself up and surveyed the back of her skirt which was liberally smeared with horse manure. ‘Don’t you touch me Adam Cartwright! I’ve had enough of you and …’  she glared at Joe who was bending down stuffing Hoppy in his jacket pocket where he would be safe, ‘you and your family!’  With a parting slap across Adam’s other cheek, she got into the buggy and the two women rode off.

Adam turned to face Joe, his look one to make the boy instantly put his hands over his backside and run across the yard towards the kitchen. ‘Get back here!’ called Adam, his voice trembling with anger. ‘Get back here you!’

Ben stepped forward and held onto his son’s shoulders. ‘Steady on son,’ he said. ‘I’ll deal with him.’

Adam tried to shake himself free of his father’s grasp. ‘I’ll kill him!’ he yelled. ‘Let me at him! He’s dead!’

Ben continued to hold onto his oldest son. ‘Joseph get into the house!’ he yelled. ‘Straight to your bedroom young man!’

Joe needed no further instructions and hurried to obey his father.  One look at Adam’s face was enough to make him sure that he wasn’t safe out here at the moment. As he ran through the open doorway, he could still hear his brother’s yells from the yard out side.

‘Let me at him Pa!  I’m going to kill him!  Let me go!’

Joe sprinted up the stairs and closed his bedroom door behind him.

☺☺☺☺☺

Joe sniffled once more and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket.  His recent encounter with his father had not been a pleasant one and had turned out to be rather painful to say the least.  He rubbed his sore bottom as he knelt by his bed and felt very sorry for himself. After all, it wasn’t his fault if Hoppy had jumped right at the wrong moment!  Pa had told him to put the frog down and he had only been obeying instructions!

He wondered what his father would say if he knew that Hoppy was at this very moment in the bottom drawer of Joe’s dresser. He made a face as he decided that it was probably best if he didn’t think about that. But what else was he supposed to do with him?  He couldn’t have left him out there to be trampled on by the horse and given Adam’s current mood he was just as likely to have thrown the frog against the wall of the barn.  No, Joe decided, the way he looked at it he had saved the frog’s life by bringing him upstairs the way he had.  Tomorrow morning before school he would let him go when everything had calmed down again.

He gave his sore bottom another rub as he considered just how long it might be before things did settle down again.  He was grateful that his Pa hadn’t let Adam near him and he suspected that it would be quite some time before his older brother would be safe to go near again.  Stupid old girl! The way Joe saw it, Adam should be thanking him for getting rid of her. Any girl who carried on like she did about one little frog wasn’t worthwhile knowing about in his mind.

He scrunched up his face as he thought about his older brother. It was all Adam’s fault, he decided. If it hadn’t been for him and that dumb old girl of his, Joe wouldn’t be in trouble in the first place.  He’d probably right this minute be down by the creek enjoying the afternoon with Hoppy and not up here with a sore bottom. He frowned as he considered his brother and all the problems he’d brought with him since he’d returned from college a few months ago.

Him and Hoss and Pa had had a nice quiet life during the time Adam had been away.  They hadn’t had to put up with any old girls and their mothers hanging around The Ponderosa in that time!  But now that older brother was around Joe had to put up with his bossing and his girls and … a grin spread across the boy’s face as a thought occurred to him.  He’d show that Adam!  He show him just what happens to brothers who poke their noses into his business.

He reached over and pulled open the bottom drawer of his dresser and picked up Hoppy. ‘Hiya feller!’ he said as he stroked the frog. ‘Had a hard day ain’t ya?  Never mind…I’m gonna give you a nice warm place to stay for a while where you can have a good sleep.  you’ll like that…won’t ya?’

Joe stood up and walked across the room, the frog still in his hand.  Carefully he opened his bedroom door and peeked out into the hallway, pleased to see that there was no one around.  As quietly as he could, he crept across to his brother Adam’s room and entered it. He went quickly over to his brother’s bed, pulled back the covers and placed Hoppy at the bottom of the bed before replacing the covers once more.  With a cheeky grin, he went back the way he had come, giggling to himself. ‘That’ll teach ya older brother!’ he said softly. ‘Ya can’t mess with Joe Cartwright and get away with it!’ He left the room as silently as he had entered it.

☺☺☺☺☺

Ben sat wearily in front of the fireplace and sighed as he puffed on his pipe.  It had been a very difficult day and one that he would rather forget when all was said and done. After the fiasco at dinner, he had spent the afternoon picking up the pieces with everyone around him and he was well and truly sick of the whole incident by now.

Not that he blamed Adam for being so angry with his brother, for he felt that the boy had every right to be.  At one stage Ben thought he wouldn’t be able to convince his eldest son to leave the disciplining of Joseph to himself and it took all his strength to hold the young man away from his brother. He shook his head. Poor Adam. He had really been ready to do damage to his brother and considering how long he had been trying to get Madeleine Smith interested in him, Ben wasn’t surprised. He stifled a laugh as he remembered the look on Mrs Smith’s face at the sight of Adam’s hand groping her daughter’s breast, but stopped himself as he then switched his thoughts to Adam’s discomfort.  Yes, the boy had every right to want to kill his brother.

Then there had been Hop Sing and his anger at his ruined dessert.  The cook had taken special pains to make sure that everything had been just right for Adam’s guests and he certainly hadn’t appreciated his dessert being ruined in that way.  He too had been ready to kill Joseph and was even now banging pots and pans around the kitchen and muttering about going back to China as he usually did when he was upset.  Ben had borne the brunt of his anger as well.

His thoughts drifted to the small boy upstairs and he shook his head as he thought about just how much trouble he had caused in one short afternoon.  It was beyond him how one child could cause so much mischief and it wasn’t as if it was an unusual occurrence.  It seemed that every time he turned around his youngest son was in some sort of trouble and Ben just didn’t know how to cope with the boy at times like this.

He had given his son a very stern talking too of course and the usual tanning, but he was beginning to wonder if such measures did any good at all.  Joseph was just incorrigible and Ben sighed again as he wondered what the boy would have in store for him next.  One thing was for sure, he’d have to keep his eldest and his youngest sons away from each other for the next few days, or the youngest one might not ever have the chance to do anything ever again.

Ben sighed as he stood up and stretched wearily. ‘I’m getting too old for this!’ he said out loud and began to climb the stairs. He was desperately looking forward to his bed this night.

As was his usual custom, he checked in on each of his sons on his way down the hall.  Hoss was sleeping on his back, snoring soundly.  Ben smiled at the sight of his middle son.  Nothing every seemed to worry Hoss and the boy had accepted the day’s events with his usual calmness.  He had been the only one at supper who had shown much of an appetite and had polished off the remains of the dinner, including the leftover dessert that the frog hadn’t squashed. Ben and Adam had watched him, amazed.  Joseph of course hadn’t been allowed to the supper table, but had been given a tray in his room.

Next, he checked on the culprit in question and wasn’t surprised to see his youngest son totally uncovered with arms and legs sprawled all over the bed.  Ben shook his head as he bent to straighten the boy up and re-cover him again.  He patted the unruly hair and studied the child in the bed for a few moments. Why was it that this child always looked so angelic in repose, but caused so much mischief when awake? It was a mystery to Ben.

As he continued down the hallway, he saw a light from under Adam’s door and assumed that his eldest was once again reading in bed.  He put his head around the doorway and smiled to see his eldest son asleep on his back with a book on his chest. Ben moved over quietly and picked the book up.  Just as he was placing it on the dresser a movement caught his eye and he glanced across to see the cover distinctly moving around the area of his son’s upper thigh.

Ben blinked a couple of times, flushed a deep red and coughed quietly with embarrassment as he watch the covers continue to wriggle.  He felt his gaze fixated against his will on the object in question as his son’s body seemed to take on a life of its own and the covers swayed back and forth with rhythmic consistency. He swallowed as he backed away.  After all it was only a natural occurrence and he didn’t know why he should be embarrassed, but in spite of him he couldn’t help but be.  He glanced at Adam’s face and noticed the faint smile that lingered there and supposed the boy was dreaming about his girl.  He quickly turned and left the room, wishing that he hadn’t entered it in the first place.

Under the covers Hoppy was desperately trying to escape from his confinement and was wriggling one way and then the other to find a way out.  Adam’s smile grew wider as the frog tickled him in a very delicate spot.

☺☺☺☺☺

Joe stared mournfully at Hoppy and then glanced up at his father who stood beside him with his arms folded. ‘Hurry up,’ said the man threateningly. ‘Do it now!’ After the day he had had yesterday, not to mention getting up at the crack of dawn today after hearing the yells coming from Adam’s room when he had found the blasted frog sharing a bed with him this morning, he was in no mood to tolerate any more nonsense from this youngest son of his.

Joe gave the frog one last mournful look and dropped him into the creek. Hoppy surfaced for a moment and stared at the boy before flipping his legs and swimming away.  Joe turned to his father, his hands instinctively covering his backside.

Ben pointed up the embankment. ‘Now get!’ he said angrily.  He pulled his son by the arm up the slope as he spoke. ‘And don’t forget young man I’ll be picking you up from school this afternoon and taking you over to Mrs Smith’s house to apologize!’ There was the sound of a large hand making contact with a small bottom as Ben marched his son towards the back door.

‘Yes Pa. Ow!’

‘And you’ll get straight home to do those extra chores after that!’

‘Yes Pa. Ow!’

‘And if I ever catch you in your brother’s room again, you’ll get more of the same!’

‘Yes Pa. Ow!’

‘Now get in there and put your jacket on!’

‘Yes Pa!’ Ow!’

The sound of the back door slamming blocked any further noises from the boy and his father. In the creek a large green frog swam lazily away.

The End