Summary:  Once again Adam is the new kid.

Rated:  K+   Word count: 1131

 

Fresh Start

 

The teacher told him that this was a fresh start. No doubt that was part of her standard speech to every new student. Words meant to provide motivation for steady effort and proper behavior. Adam Cartwright did not need such motivation. He wanted to learn, to try hard, and to make his pa proud. He wanted not another fresh start, but a chance to finish all the things he would begin at this school before it was time to go. Adam sighed. Pa was haying at a farm outside of town. They would stay until the hay was cut and stored and the workers paid. Pa had said that would take about three weeks. For three weeks he would be the new boy, and then he would be gone. Adam reminded himself that he was lucky to be able to attend school at all. If the farmer’s wife had not volunteered to care for his baby brother during the day, Adam would have had to forgo school to care for Hoss while his pa was in the fields. Adam gave the teacher a polite,” Yes, ma’am, I’m glad to be here and plan to try very hard.” It was his standard response to each new teacher’s welcome. Then he took his seat as every eye in the one-room schoolhouse watched.

 

***

Adam put his schoolbooks in the wagon that was his home and went to fetch his baby brother. Knocking on the kitchen door, he waited to be invited inside. Hearing the expected invitation, he entered and scanned the room for Hoss who was playing in the corner with the farmer’s two-year-old son. Hoss was barely one, but already bigger than the other boy.

 

“I’ve come for Hoss, ma’am. I hope he wasn’t much trouble,” Adam said to the woman shelling peas at the wooden table.

 

Mrs. Haverty shook her head. “Ain’t had a mite of trouble from that one.”

 

Hearing his brother’s voice, Hoss had pushed himself to his feet and begun toddling over to Adam. Adam met him halfway, kneeled down, and gave the little boy a hug. “So, you were a good boy, were you?”

 

Hoss cooed, “Goo bo,” and smiled.

 

Mrs. Haverty also smiled. The dark, slim seven-year-old and his sturdy blond brother made a sweet picture. “Don’t suppose you’d like some fresh bread and jam before you go, or do you think it would spoil the little one’s supper?”

 

“Nothing spoils my brother’s supper, ma’am, but you don’t have to go to no trouble,” Adam was quick to answer.

 

“No trouble, child, sit down right here.”

 

Adam seated himself and his brother at the table. Mrs. Haverty was a mighty nice woman, and they were lucky that Pa had gotten a job working on the Haverty farm. Adam had learned to appreciate people like the Havertys. Some people were just plain good and a friend to anyone who came along, and some people were just plain mean-spirited. Pa and he had met both kinds many times as they traveled west. Pa said to thank the Lord for the good and ignore the rest. Sometimes Adam wanted to do something more to the mean ones, especially the boys at school who bullied every new boy, but Pa was really strict about fighting, and Adam had learned to just avoid them. In the end, both the good and the bad were left behind when they moved on.

 

Adam thanked Mrs. Haverty and took Hoss back to their wagon. They were camping in a nice spot next to a pond in sight of the farmhouse. Pa would bring supper from the cookhouse when he returned, but Adam still had chores that needed doing. He sat Hoss down with a stern admonition to stay put and went to work.

 

***

 

Ben Cartwright leaned down and lifted his youngest into his arms. The baby smiled and hugged his neck. Ben felt some of his weariness slip away and thanked God for his baby’s sunny disposition.

 

“Adam,” Ben said turning to his eldest, “Did you have a good day at school?”

 

Adam walked over and received a hug from his pa. “Miss Parker seems like a real smart teacher, Pa. She’s got some books I ain’t, uh, haven’t seen before. She said it was real good that you read your Shakespeare book to me.”

 

Ben noticed an inner shadow darkening his son’s eyes and the fact that he had never said yes to the question. “Any problems, son?”

 

“Not really, Pa.”

 

“What not real problem did you have then, Adam?”

 

Adam leaned against his father’s leg and ducked his head. “Just the usual, Pa. Some kids testing the new boy.”

 

Ben knew he could substitute teasing for testing. He set the baby down and placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. Lifting his son’s chin, he looked into his eyes. “You know how to handle that, don’t you?”

 

“Sure, I do, Pa,” Adam replied softly, but he could not resist muttering into Ben’s leg, “I’ve had enough practice.”

 

Ben stepped back and knelt in front of the small boy, “I know you have, Adam, and sometimes you have made the wrong choice.” In a sterner tone, Ben added, “I’m sure that won’t be the case this time.”

 

“I won’t fight, Pa. I know how you feel about that,” the boy answered. This time he kept the rest of his answer only in his mind: and I know how my behind felt when I did.

 

“Well, we best eat this food while it’s still warm,” Ben said in a lighter tone as he ruffled Adam’s hair.

 

***

 

They finished supper, and Adam completed his homework. Ben put Hoss down for the night, and Adam sat beside his father as Ben read to him. Ben rarely missed this special time with his eldest for it always brought a feeling of closeness and contentment to them both.

 

“Time for bed, now,” Ben said has he closed the book.

 

Instead of rising, Adam slipped his arm around Ben’s waist and snuggled closer to his father. “Pa, please tell me about how it’s going to be when we get there, please.”

 

The pleading tone in his son’s voice told Ben that Adam needed to hear again the dream for which they reached. In his deep, rich voice, Ben once more wove a picture of the life they would have at the end of their journey. Finally, he stopped, ready to lift the child he thought had fallen asleep, but Adam looked up into Ben’s eyes. “Do you promise, Pa, that that’s the way it will be?”

 

“I promise, Adam.”

 

Adam Cartwright slept deeply that night dreaming of the time when he would have his final fresh start.