{"id":12918,"date":"2001-12-12T07:11:17","date_gmt":"2001-12-12T12:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12918"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:05:10","slug":"an-afterwork-conversation-by-jenny-g","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12918","title":{"rendered":"An Afterwork Conversation (by Jenny G)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 <\/strong>An unusual take on what it’s like living in the big house.<\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 K\u00a0 (1,540 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

AN AFTER WORK DISCUSSION<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An After Work Discussion<\/p>\n

By<\/p>\n

Jenny Guttridge<\/p>\n

Written as a bit of fun on May day<\/p>\n

And no prizes for guessing which season my local TV station is showing!<\/p>\n

Joe Cartwright tied his pinto horse to the hitching rail outside the house and headed for the polished front door. Not for the first time he wondered why the door was equipped with a large brass knocker but only a latch on the inside and was never, ever locked. It was just one of the mysteries that of late, had become increasingly perplexing.<\/p>\n

He slammed the door shut behind him and hung up his hat and his gun belt on the peg just the way he\u2019d been taught. His family were already gathered around the log fire that burned in the stone hearth day and night, summer and winter. Joe joined them, throwing himself into a chair, and put his feet up on the table.<\/p>\n

Ben glanced up from his newspaper “Put your feet on the floor, please, Joseph”<\/p>\n

Joe sighed and put his feet on the floor. “Pa, why is it that the people in Virginia City hate us so much?”<\/p>\n

Ben looked up again, frowning “What makes you think they hate us, son?”<\/p>\n

“Well, I just figure they have to hate us. I mean, just a couple of months ago Adam was in all that trouble when it looked like he shot that saloon girl he was all sweet on, an\u2019 all the folks in Virginia City were hammerin\u2019 on the jail house door set on lynchin\u2019 him”<\/p>\n

Ben thought back “I guess that\u2019s true”<\/p>\n

“An\u2019 then a couple o\u2019 weeks later you got all shot up stoppin\u2019 them bank robbers, and that gang rode into town all for killin\u2019 you, they all went an\u2019 hid in their houses and Hoss couldn\u2019t get no one to help \u2018ceptin\u2019 the town drunk an\u2019 he weren\u2019t no damn good!”<\/p>\n

“Wasn\u2019t any good, and please don\u2019t use cuss words in this house” Ben said, firmly.<\/p>\n

“And just this week” Joe went on “They had you an\u2019 Adam all locked up in jail and were fixin\u2019 to hang you! Even had the ropes around your necks! All on the word of that lyin\u2019 little flipperty jibbet in the blue dress what said you shot her Pa. Where were all the good people of Virginia City then? If it hadn\u2019t been for that fella what wore his gun in his pants belt they\u2019d have hung you for sure. Wasn\u2019t much Hoss\u2019n I could\u2019ve done with just a couple o\u2019 shot guns”<\/p>\n

Ben sighed at his son\u2019s use of grammar but before he could say anything about it Hoss joined in the conversation.<\/p>\n

“What Little Joe says is right, Pa. Just where are all the people in Virginia City? Ain\u2019t it supposed to be a town booming on the back o\u2019 the silver lode? When ever we ride in there them streets is always darned well empty. There\u2019s scarce even a horse or a mule or a dog or nothin\u2019”<\/p>\n

“And where are the two hundred odd hands we\u2019re supposed to have helping us run this place?” Joe went on, warming to the subject “A thousand square miles is one heck of a lot of territory and there\u2019s rarely more than just the four of us. We mend the fences and round up the cattle and chop the wood and toss the straw”<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s meant to be hay” Ben interrupted<\/p>\n

“Well it ain\u2019t, Pa. It\u2019s straw. An\u2019 if we\u2019re the boss\u2019s sons shouldn\u2019t we be more like, supervising the work instead o\u2019 doin\u2019 it all the time”<\/p>\n

“I believe in my boys learning the business from the ground up” Ben said huffily.<\/p>\n

Joe and Hoss exchanged long looks.<\/p>\n

“Talkin\u2019 \u2018bout cows, Pa” Hoss said slowly “When\u2019re we gonna get us more than those six little doggies that we bin drivin\u2019 back and forth across that same stretch o\u2019 country for the last season an\u2019 a half?”<\/p>\n

Ben sighed “Soon, son. Soon”<\/p>\n

“An\u2019 why don\u2019t we get us a staircase that goes someplace instead o\u2019 endin in a dead blank wall” Joe asked glaring at the offending steps “It\u2019s just plain dangerous climbing that ladder at the back o\u2019 the house and crawling across the roof every time we need to get to the bedrooms. \u2018Specially when one of us is hurt, or sick. An\u2019 what\u2019s gonna happen if this thing runs and runs? How\u2019re you gonna manage it when you get real old?”<\/p>\n

Ben gazed at him “I guess we\u2019ll think of something”<\/p>\n

There was a silence while the three of them thought about the possibility of a long run.<\/p>\n

Then Hoss said “Why is it I don\u2019t ever get a change o\u2019 clothes?”<\/p>\n

Ben and Joe looked at him doubtfully. Hoss\u2019s face screwed up as he tried to put what he wanted to say into words “Leastways” he went on “You three occasionally get to wear a different coloured shirt. Even if ol\u2019 Adam has been wearin\u2019 that same pair o\u2019 pants for months. Say Adam, why don\u2019t you get the wardrobe mistress to take them pants up for you, \u2019stead o\u2019 rollin\u2019 them up at the bottom all \u2019a time?”<\/p>\n

Adam looked up from his book “Just leave me out o\u2019 this, will ya?”<\/p>\n

“We leave you out of it most o\u2019 the time, big brother” Joe said “Most o\u2019 the time you don\u2019t have more than three words to say, and some times you don\u2019t even show up at all”<\/p>\n

Adam glared hard at him and went back to his book.<\/p>\n

Hoss took up where he\u2019d left off “Well, anyway” he grumbled on “How come is it that I don\u2019t ever get no new duds to wear”<\/p>\n

Adam glanced up again “At least you don\u2019t have to wear this damned thing all the time” he said, looking heavenward.<\/p>\n

Ben and Joe and Hoss gazed at him. There didn\u2019t seem to be any answer to that.<\/p>\n

“Perhaps” Ben said reasonably “The fact that we don\u2019t get to change clothes too often accounts for the lack of ladies in our lives”<\/p>\n

Joe sighed “They certainly never seem to hang around long, Pa. They either get sick an\u2019 die, or they get shot an\u2019 die or they just plain disappear”<\/p>\n

“That goes for most o\u2019 the people we meet \u2018round here” Hoss added “Here one week, gone the next. Even all them folks Pa keeps givin\u2019 chunks o\u2019 the ranch to. Hey, Pa, why do you keep givin\u2019 chunks o\u2019 the ranch away”<\/p>\n

“Because I have to appear generous and open handed, and we have to finish off every week making the customers feel good”<\/p>\n

“Why\u2019s that, Pa?”<\/p>\n

Adam gave up the attempt to read and closed his book with a snap. “Because, brother dear, The sponsors like a nicely rounded tale to make folks feel good when the show comes to an end”<\/p>\n

“Then why don\u2019t they get us some decent story lines so that we could really make the folks satisfied with what they\u2019ve seen?” Hoss asked, showing, for once, amazing insight.<\/p>\n

Adam sighed and started to tick points off on his fingers “Firstly the story lines are restricted by the intelligence of the average viewer. You make them too complicated, the lower end of the audience isn\u2019t going to follow them and they\u2019ll switch off. The sponsor isn\u2019t going to like that. Secondly, we get just forty five minutes, with several breaks for commercials, to tell the whole story, along with Pa\u2019s moralizin\u2019 an\u2019 Joe\u2019s hotheadedness an\u2019 your dumbness an\u2019 my …yes, well. That doesn\u2019t give much scope for depth of plot or character development, now does it? Thirdly, this show, like every other, suffers from an acute shortage of money. That\u2019s why there are few people, and few cattle and no new clothes. We\u2019re lucky to get a guest star most weeks, even if they do get all the best lines”<\/p>\n

“And what about the girls, Adam? Why don\u2019t we never get to keep no girls?”<\/p>\n

“Because the females in the audience like us to stay single, so that they can imagine becoming romantically attached”<\/p>\n

There was another pause while they all considered the possibilities<\/p>\n

“Something I\u2019d like to know” Ben said, fixing his eldest with a steely eye “How come you\u2019re my son, when I\u2019m only twelve years older than you are”<\/p>\n

Adam returned the look “You ain\u2019t supposed to ask them things, Pa”<\/p>\n

Hoss looked at his brother with starry eyed amazement “Gee, Adam, you are clever to think o\u2019 all them things”<\/p>\n

Ben looked fondly round at his family “Well boys, look at it this way. It doesn\u2019t much matter what happens to you, you know you\u2019re not going to be allowed to die, and even if you insist on leaving the show you\u2019ll just get sent away to sea. And if you get beaten up or shot or lose the love of your life, you know that everything will be just fine inside a week, ready for the next episode”.<\/p>\n

The Cartwright boys exchanged meaningful looks. Joe sighed “Just as you say, Pa. Just as you say”<\/p>\n

Potters Bar 2000<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags: Adam Cartwright, Ben Cartwright, Hoss Cartwright, Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 An unusual take on what it’s like living in the big house.<\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 K\u00a0 (1,540 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9737,"featured_media":9859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor","wpcat-4-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1074,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/feature-2.jpg?fit=338%2C338&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14630,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=14630","url_meta":{"origin":12918,"position":0},"title":"When Spring Comes Again (by Foreverfree)","author":"Foreverfree","date":"August 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0Two years ago, the girl Joe Cartwright loved moved away and married another man without an explanation or even a goodbye. 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Rating and Reader Alerts:\u00a0 PG, mild language Words:\u00a0 22,856 Cartwright Romance Series, links to stories included within.","rel":"","context":"In "Adam Cartwright"","block_context":{"text":"Adam Cartwright","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=1005"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Preserving-Their-Legacy.png?fit=732%2C477&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Preserving-Their-Legacy.png?fit=732%2C477&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Preserving-Their-Legacy.png?fit=732%2C477&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Preserving-Their-Legacy.png?fit=732%2C477&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47133,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=47133","url_meta":{"origin":12918,"position":4},"title":"Cartwright Romance #7 – Jenny, My Love (by Emmy)","author":"Preserving Their Legacy Author","date":"December 31, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"Story Summary:\u00a0 \u00a0 This story centers on Joe and Jenny Cartwright and takes place about a year after Annie My Love. 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