Summary: This story takes place the evening after Adam’s first day filling in for Miss Scott in the episode Right is the Fourth R. While that story took a very serious turn, I thought it might be fun to examine how Adam would deal with the antics of youngsters after living in a household of adults for so many years. After facing a day of student illness, crazy questions, a black eye and a crush by a young student, Adam has to confess some shortcomings and learn a few lessons from his family.

Rating:  K+  3,700

 

A Little Home Schooling

 

The early dusk of autumn was already settling in as Ben pushed through the door and hurriedly disposed of his gun, hat and jacket. “Adam?” he hollered in greeting when he didn’t see his eldest son. Sport was in the barn when he’d settled Buck in for the night, so he knew Adam was already home, and was anxious to hear about his first day teaching in Virginia City.

 

“Up here, Pa,” wafted down from the upper floor.

 

Ben made his way to Adam’s room, finding him with his chair tipped back—feet resting on the corner of his weathered desk.

 

“What’re you doing?” Ben strode across the room and rested his hands on the black-shirted shoulders while peering over to see what Adam was looking at.

 

“Checking notebooks, Pa. I had the students do some arithmetic problems and writing exercises so I can figure out where their skill levels lie.”

 

“That seems wise,” Ben offered and then asked, “How did it go today?”

 

Adam’s right brow rose and his mouth twitched as a possible answer was readied, but he finally just sighed.

 

“Rough day?”

 

“More like puzzling.”

 

“How so, son?”

 

“Well, aside from breaking up the two fights at recess, re-braiding Millie’s hair when it kept falling in her face so she couldn’t see her slate, wiping runny noses and sending Jarvis Johnson home after he emptied his stomach onto his desk in one horrendous eruption… there were the other things.”

 

“Such as?”

 

Adam sighed again as he thought about releasing the information that was weighing on his mind. He wondered if his father could understand, but decided he needed to solicit another adult’s point of view. “There’s one girl, Emily, who got teary-eyed, and lowered her head if I so much as looked at her. Pa, I didn’t do anything to make her afraid of me, yet she seemed terrified!” A moment later, Adam clarified. “Well, maybe one thing. But that couldn’t be enough to affect her actions for the whole day.”

 

Ben’s voice was wary. “What one thing?”

 

Adam turned to face his father. Ben inhaled sharply as he saw the nasty red mark on his son’s right cheek. “Who hit you?” *

 

“No one hit me, Pa. It was an accident—with that same girl. I was doing attendance; calling out names so I could attach a face to each one, and had called Emily Mills at least three times with no response. Emily is the daughter of Martin Mills—you know, the lawyer who’s done some deed work for us?” Adam saw his father nod. “Even though I knew Emily, I wanted her to acknowledge her name just as the rest of the class was doing. But as I walked toward her desk, I realized that she was hunched forward—much as Jarvis was just prior to being sick—and feared she was ill as well. When I got to her, I leaned over to ask if she needed help.” The bruise under Adam’s eye glowed as a blush flooded his face. “I obviously startled her, but got a glimpse of the hearts she was drawing with the initials, EM and AC—just before she covered the page with her hands and whipped her body into an upright position. The back of her head connected squarely with my face. Pa, I swear it sounded like an axe hitting a piece of hard deadwood.” Adam sighed again as he touched the tender area on his cheek. “Luckily it hurt me a whole lot more than her.”

 

Ben suppressed a grin as he asked, “What did you say?”

 

“I didn’t say anything, although I think I probably was stunned for a minute. I’ve been hit by Hoss and it didn’t hurt that much: it must have connected just right. After that I quietly told her that since she appeared to be well, she might wish to pay better attention.”

 

Ben inspected the bruise more thoroughly and pronounced, “That’s probably gonna turn black and blue, son.”

 

“Oh, good,” Adam replied sardonically. “A continuous reminder of my ineptitude.”

 

Ben’s mouth took on a curl of appreciation for Adam’s dilemma. “Oh, things will get better, Adam.” After a moment he added, “Do you remember Mary Shaw? She acted like that around you.”

 

Adam’s eyes grew large while his jaw dropped. “We were both ten years old, Pa, and as I recall she wanted me to marry her. There’s no way a twelve-year-old girl is thinking that way about me.” Adam’s face became stern as he shook his head from side to side. “That just makes no sense!”

 

“It happens all the time, son, and doesn’t have to make sense. It’s a matter of the heart, not of the brain. Haven’t you ever noticed Emily at her father’s office? She always blushes and acts shy when you’re around. And since Emily is not usually a shy child around people, I suspect she has a bit of hero worship affecting her; and you’re the hero.” Ben let that sink in for a moment. By now he was biting his inner lips to keep from laughing outright. “So the initials in her heart were EM and AC? Hmm. Wonder what that might stand for?”

 

“I figure its Emily Mills and Aaron Campbell; although he’s younger than she is, so it could be someone else.”

 

Ben couldn’t contain his laughter this time. “Or, possibly, Emily Mills and Adam Cartwright?”

 

A sideways glance through narrowed eyes and a tight-lipped hiss met the father’s laughter. “There is no way that’s possible.”

 

“Oh, it’s possible all right. But just give her time, son. She’ll get over it as she comes to know you as her teacher.” Ben continued to smile as he moved from the subject of young love. “Anything else happen of interest?”

 

Adam responded by running his hands through his hair. “Pa, I don’t think I’m good with kids.”

 

“Why do you say that, Adam? You’ve always been good around children. I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t get along just fine with these.”

 

“I do fine when it’s just me and one child, and it’s not that I don’t get along with this group of them, exactly… It’s more that… I don’t even know how to explain it.”

 

“Just tell me what happened. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is.”

 

“I introduced myself today and told them why Miss Scott was out. Then I went through the assignments we’ll cover while she’s away, and finally asked if there were any questions.” Adam’s face took on a pained expression while his voice rose by half an octave. “Pa! You wouldn’t believe what they asked. I made the mistake of hanging my gun on the coat rack, so the first question was, ‘Have you shot or killed anyone with your gun?’ That just opened the floodgates for the rest of it: ‘How big is your ranch?’ ‘Is it true that the Cartwrights shoot anyone who trespasses on the Ponderosa?’ ‘Did your family really kill a whole tribe of Indians to get your land?’ ‘Are the Cartwrights richer than the king of England like my pa says?’ ‘Is Little Joe the fastest draw in the territory like they heard?’ ‘Is Hoss really a giant?’ And of course, one young woman asked if I was married.” Another deep sigh escaped as a shiver washed over Adam’s shoulders. “Pa it took nearly an hour to get back on track and by then it was time for recess!”  Adam’s head dropped dejectedly: “I don’t think I can do this.”

 

Ben wanted desperately to ask Adam how he had answered those questions, but decided against it as he realized that his son apparently had not found them as amusing as he did. His thoughts about how to respond were interrupted by Joe and Hoss entering the room. An idea struck the father as he watched the two younger brothers jabbering on about their day and waited while the wind settled out of their sails before asking them to sit on Adam’s bed so he could speak to them.

 

“As long as you three are together, I’d like to talk about the work that will need to get done yet before winter. Adam will be busy for two weeks yet, but then you three will need to move quickly before bad weather hits. We have stock to bring down from the ridge, there’s still fence work undone, and we need to bring in the last loads of hay.” A pause. “Any questions?”

 

Hoss immediately asked, “Can we eat soon? Hop Sing says supper’s ready and I’m starving.”

 

As Hoss finished, Little Joe asked about Adam’s day and without waiting for an answer, posed a question about the family’s intentions for attending the harvest party the coming weekend, and finally asked if they’d heard the latest about old Jeb’s young wife running off with one of his trail hands.

 

Ben wore a knowing smile as he looked toward Adam and saw light dawning there. “Might you boys have any questions about the chores we need to finish?”

 

“Well, sure, Pa.” Little Joe’s voice was incredulous. “Why didn’t you just ask us that?”  He then began noting his concerns as to whom would do which task, how many men it would take to accomplish them, and what amount of time his father thought each would entail.

 

Hoss offered some suggestions about manpower and asked about a few other chores his father hadn’t mentioned.

 

After Ben dealt with those concerns he sent the two younger sons downstairs. “Why don’t you two let Hop Sing know we’ll be along in a minute. I just need to finish up a few things with Adam.”

 

When the room cleared, Adam gave his father a wry smile. “You are a sly dog, pa. I guess I can always learn something from you.”

 

“Adam, I know that if I had told just you about the work needing to be done, and then asked if you had any questions, you would have immediately barraged me with all the appropriate things your brothers came up with after a little prodding. You have a very organized way of approaching any task, and are not easily swayed away from that subject. But as you know from experience, your brothers need more direction to keep their minds attentive. It’s just the way each of your minds work through a problem. Chances are, your classroom has more kids in it like Hoss and Joe than like you.”

 

“Thanks, pa. I get it. If I want good answers, I should ask direct questions.”          “I’m glad to know that you’re still learning a little from me, son. Let’s go eat before Hoss forgets there’re four for dinner and eats enough for three.” Ben chuckled. “See, now there’s an arithmetic problem for you to use tomorrow.”

 

Ben watched as his eldest gathered his papers into an organized system to await his return. “Adam, you’ll be a fine teacher.”

 

“I’m not so sure, pa. But at least I’ve got a few lessons under my belt for tomorrow.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“Never lean directly over a child who has their head down.”

 

Both men laughed, but the wry tone in Adam’s voice left Ben still sensing that his son was feeling less than sure of his talents.  “Adam, you may think that you don’t relate well to children, but you’re wrong. Think about it. Most of your life has been spent teaching two younger brothers. When I couldn’t be there, I relied on you to teach the boys what they needed to know. I trusted that you’d do it right, and my trust was sound. You were a natural teacher and made them learn by doing. When you go back tomorrow, just remember how good it made you feel when those two finally understood what you were showing them, and took off on their own. I think that’s the true point in teaching—not recognition for your abilities by anyone else, but the joy of watching others use what you’ve taught them.”

 

“Thanks again, pa.” Adam upper lip twitched as he thought back to some information he was given by one student who stayed after class. “You know, pa, I did pick up one very useful piece of information today.”

 

“Oh – Besides how to avoid a black eye and keeping your gun in your desk? Sounds like it was a banner day then.”

 

“Remember I told you that Jarvis Johnson threw up?” Adam noted that Ben wore a sick expression but encouraged him to continue. “Well, his brother stayed after to tell me that Jarvis makes himself do that whenever he wants, and uses the ‘talent’ to get out of school or anything else he doesn’t want to do. He’s tired of Jarvis getting away with it and figured that a ‘guy teacher’ ought to be able to do something about it.”

 

“Interesting information. So just what does the ‘guy teacher’ mean to do about it?”

 

“First off, I’ve already moved his things to the front row of seats so I can see him better if he tries it. Secondly, I’ll be letting him know that should it happen again, he’ll clean it up himself, just before he takes his place right next to me at the front of the room. That way he can solve every class arithmetic problem for a week without having to walk too far to the board.”

 

Hoss and Little Joe heard laughter as they waited at the table for the missing family members to join them. “Hey,” Hoss hollered out to the duo standing at the top of the stairs. “Some of us Cartwrights have worked hard all day and need to eat before the food gets cold or I die from starvation.”

 

“I think we’ve covered everything we needed to, right, pa?” Adam turned toward his father with a sly smile.

 

“Probably so, Adam, but do you have any questions?”

 

Hoss and Joe sat staring at each other as Ben and Adam laughed conspiratorially while heading down the steps. Hoss directed a quiet comment across the table, “Joe, does it seem those two speak a language all their own sometimes? And we ain’t got any idea what they’re talking about?”

 

“Ya got that right, Hoss.” Joe just shook his head as he looked at the two who were nearing the table. Narrowing his eyes menacingly, he added, “Worst part is, I know they’re talkin’ about us, but I can’t prove it.”

 

Ben assumed his position at the head of the table, directing his comment to the two younger sons. “Well, I don’t know what you two are waiting for, let’s eat.”

 

After a simple thanks to God for the day, and their gathering once again as a family, they began to fill their plates from the bowls they were passing. While Adam had artfully kept his face in the shadows when his brothers had been in his room earlier, there was no way to hide it now. Little Joe whistled as he got a good look at Adam while handing him the plate of bread. “Hey, older brother, that’s some shiner. Don’t tell me you let some ten year old deck you?”

 

Joe’s giggling was met with a stern stare and caustic, “Joe, you might want to stop right there. It’s been a long day and my patience is thin as a cat’s whisker.”

 

The giggling continued into braying, as Joe tried to get Adam to tell them how it happened. “C’mon, Adam, you gotta tell us how you got smacked in a room full of kids! Or did you get fresh with one of the mothers when they came to pick little Johnny up from school?”

 

It only took a simple, “That’ll be enough, Joseph,” from the head of the table to quiet the laughing and restore order.

 

Since Hoss had initiated the passing of the food, his plate was the first filled, and he was soon poised to dig in. “What was so funny with you and Adam, Pa? Sounds like it was something particularly entertainin’.”

 

Ben looked over at Adam and replied, “Just teaching the teacher, Hoss.”

 

Little Joe moaned pitifully.** “Not again! I had enough of that when Miss Scott was here yesterday, and I can’t handle any more of it. Let’s just eat and not say a word about teachers, teaching, pupils or anything even close to those words. Deal?”

 

“Sounds fine to me.” Adam grinned at his younger brother and asked for the potatoes. “I better takes some of those before Hoss goes in for seconds.”

 

Hoss sent Adam a reproaching glare and then softened to a chuckle. ”Yer jest lucky there’s anything left here after making me wait so long. I was contemplatin’ eatin’ it all to teach you what happens when you inconvenience a hungry man.”

 

Joe laid his fork down as he leaned across the table toward Hoss. “There’s that word again. I thought we agreed we weren’t going to use that word.”

 

“Sorry Joe. It jest slipped out.” Hoss raised his fork and knife in submission, promising, “It won’t happen again.”

 

Looking pleased, Joe blurted out, “Well just see that it doesn’t, or I’ll have to teach you a lesson the hard way.”

 

The others looked up in unison and then toward Joe, who realizing what he’d said, began to laugh. “Well, I guess that’ll teach me to keep my mouth shut.”

 

Ben added, “Well as long as it teaches you something, then it was worth it.”

 

Hoss pointed toward Joe with his laden fork. “Hey, when it comes to Joe, the only way he can learn some lessons is when he teaches himself.”

 

With a wink, Adam adopted a serious pose with a hand on his chin as he added, “So then, as regards our youngest brother; if we assume that Joe can best learn from himself, then he must teach himself to be taught…and therefore teaches the teacher to teach the pupil—who is actually the teacher.”

 

“Huh?” came Hoss’ reply while chewing on a piece of ham.

 

Ben offered. “I think that’s correct, son.”

 

Joe, now laughing so hard he could barely speak, hollered, “Enough! I get it. I give up. All I’m gonna say is pass the beans.”

 

“Is that how you ask for something, Joseph?” Ben asked with a twinkle in his eye. “I thought I taught you better than that.”

 

Another groan from Joe was met by snickering from the brothers. “Go ahead, laugh you two, but remember, I can run and punch faster than either of you when I’m riled up good.”

 

“All right boys. We’d best settle down before this turns into a real fight…” Ben looked towards Adam with a devilish grin, “…and your older brother ends up with a second black eye to match the first one.”

 

The friendly stings and jabs continued through the meal with talk finally turning to the work of the ranch. Finished eating, Adam declared he was off to correct papers and would see them in the morning. Pausing on the way up, he watched as his brothers continued talking with their father about the chores for the coming week and understood what his father had told him earlier—that the best part of teaching was not the credit you get for having done it, but the wonder of seeing others use what you’ve given them. His brothers had their personal strengths and weaknesses like everyone, but they had each become intuitive and intelligent men, and he found great satisfaction in that. Smiling with more confidence than he had a few hours earlier, he mused that perhaps the teaching could go better than he expected.

 

Resuming a stretched out position at his desk, he cracked open the next notebook from the pile. Finding the jagged edges of a missing page, he realized that he had Emily’s book and that she must have removed the incriminating page with the hearts. Written neatly at the top of the next page was a note. “Dear Mr. Cartwright, I am sorry for hurting you today. Please accept my apology. You are a very nice man and I think you’ll be a wonderful teacher. Sincerely, Emily.”

 

Adam walked to his washstand to inspect the bruise in the mirror. Fortunately, it was fading to pink instead of turning the hues his father had predicted. Yes, indeed, he thought, it’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

The end

*Adam didn’t have a noticeable bruise until later in the show after being beaten up, but if you watch his face (as I always, always, do) – many times you will notice that if he’s warm or the shadows catch right, there’s area on his upper right cheekbone, extending to the side of his face, that seems darker; almost like a bruise. It’s actually on both sides, but more noticeable on the right. And yes, I spend too much time observing Adam’s face. But anyway, that’s what I’m using as my reference. I noticed it as he spoke to Barbara about initiating the history course, so it works for my story. Luckily it didn’t turn black and blue as his father predicted!

** In case it’s been awhile since you’ve watched Right if the 4th R, here’s a link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YboxPfQJNs         I’m not creating a link for some reason, but you can copy this into your address bar and it will connect.   The section that’s the basis for Joe’s misery at the dinner table starts at about the 6:10 count of the video. If you do watch this, my Emily character is seen at 3:30 walking right in front of Miss Scott and in the school as Adam walks past her. She’s the blond in the green dress in the center – 3 seats from the front.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.