Written for the 2016 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament<\/p>\n
Summary:\u00a0 On a secret mission, adolescent Joe Cartwright tracks his best source of discovering what girls are hiding beneath their frilly drawers\u2014his brother Adam.<\/p>\n
Rating: K+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Word Count: \u00a08954<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pantalettes and Kisses and Passionate Misses<\/strong><\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright sat in the classroom of the one-room school in Virginia City, his right cheek resting in the palm of his hand, his geometry text opened flat on his desktop and a pencil lying lax in his other hand.\u00a0 His dreamy eyes saw neither.\u00a0 They were focused, instead, on a point in the aisle to his left, two places ahead of his own seat, specifically on a bit of blue ribbon laced through the bordering eyelet of a ruffled hem that graced a delicate ankle twined behind the ironwork foot of the other scholar\u2019s seat.\u00a0 The heel of that foot bobbed, almost in rhythm with the ticking clock that hung on the wall at the front of the room, but for once in his academic career, Little Joe wasn\u2019t counting each tick until either recess or, preferably, day\u2019s end set him free from the torment of education.\u00a0 Time had ceased to exist for him, and he felt content to sit there in pensive contemplation of a single ruffle and whatever went with it.<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joseph!\u201d\u00a0 A sharp voice broke his trance, although it was more likely the jerking of his answer sheet from beneath his left arm and the clatter of his pencil as it rolled onto the floor that pulled him from his romantic reverie.\u00a0 \u201cDo you mean to say that you\u2019ve solved only one problem in the last hour?\u201d demanded Miss Abigail Jones. \u00a0\u201cWhere is your mind, boy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPantalettes,\u201d he murmured, his thoughts still lingering on their previous trail.<\/p>\n Eyes narrowing, she leaned closer.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe felt a kick from behind him and heard a snicker to his right, followed by a loud announcement, \u201cHe said pantalettes, Miss Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n Girlish giggles broke out around the room; then Mitch Devlin loudly said, \u201cGet your mind out of the gutter, Pete Woodburn!\u00a0 He said no such thing.\u00a0 Tell \u2018em, Joe.\u201d\u00a0 The urgent command was accompanied by a second swift kick under the desk.<\/p>\n \u201cWell?\u201d\u00a0 Miss Jones tapped her foot impatiently.\u00a0 \u201cWhat was it you said, Little Joseph?\u00a0 It certainly sounded like pantalettes to me, though I earnestly hope I am wrong!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe gulped.\u00a0 \u201cNo, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said and just as quickly reversed himself, \u201cI mean, yes, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 I mean . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Miss Jones sighed as she was wont to do when dealing with this particular scholar.\u00a0 \u201cJust what is it you do mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI mean . . . uh . . . yes, you\u2019re wrong . . . and, no, I didn\u2019t say that.\u00a0 Of course, I didn\u2019t say that!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen what did you say?<\/p>\n \u201cI said . . . uh\u201d\u2014knowing he couldn\u2019t answer honestly without risking a suddenly scheduled meeting with his father, Little Joe said the first thing that came into his head\u2014\u201chorse frets.\u201d<\/p>\n A snort from the right, followed by an outburst of laughter rolling across the classroom greeted that response. Little Joe winced.\u00a0 Why, or why, couldn\u2019t he do this with the skill and ease of his brother Adam?\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t count the times he\u2019d heard his big brother mutter something outrageous under his breath, only to change it to something that sounded reasonable seconds later when Pa asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe, whenever he tried that stratagem, invariably landed on a second version that was no better and frequently worse than the original.<\/p>\n \u201cHorse frets?\u201d\u00a0 Abigail Jones frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWhy on earth would you say anything as utterly ridiculous as that?\u201d\u00a0 She instantly wished she had not asked, for in her experience the utterly ridiculous was this young man\u2019s stock in trade, and his explanations tended only to further befuddle her.<\/p>\n It was no different this time.\u00a0 \u201cMy\u2014uh\u2014horse frets when I\u2014uh\u2014don\u2019t see him for such long stretches.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe dawdled, floundering for words.\u00a0 Suddenly, he found them, and they began to pour out with mind-numbing rapidity.\u00a0 \u201cYou see, Miss Jones, not bein\u2019 a boy yourself, you probably got no notion of the affection a horse can feel for a fellow and how lonely he gets, just standin\u2019 and waitin\u2019 all day long for him to get out of school and hop on his back and ride out across the valley with the breeze blowin\u2019 through his mane and . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat will be enough, Little Joseph,\u201d his teacher said sternly.\u00a0 \u201cWhat you are telling me is that, instead of working your geometry problems, you\u2019ve spent the entire study hour daydreaming about your horse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell . . . yes\u2019m.\u201d\u00a0 The boy looked ashamed of himself and felt it, too, although not for the reason she reasonably assumed.\u00a0 He was, at heart, an honest person, especially when he contemplated the consequences should his father, the personification of righteous integrity, find out that he\u2019d just told, at best, a half-truth.\u00a0 He had been daydreaming, true enough, just not about Cochise.<\/p>\n She sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI should, of course, keep you after school to make certain you do this work.\u00a0 However, as I have choir rehearsal tonight, I\u2019m going to insist that you complete it while I hear the rest of the class\u2019s recitation, and I will then assign additional work for you to do tonight at home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said meekly, thrilled to get off so easily.\u00a0 Extra schoolwork was never welcome, of course, but it was better than having a note sent home to his father or being kept after school, which would also guarantee an unpleasant conversation with Pa, quite possibly conducted while lying across his lap.\u00a0 Besides, he could always appeal to Adam for help with arithmetic and get him to work one or two of the problems for him as examples, maybe more if he feigned true ignorance.\u00a0 Adam seemed to think him a near-idiot when it came to numbers, and Little Joe had taken no pains to disabuse him of the notion.\u00a0 After all, it came in right handy at times like this.<\/p>\n By the time school was dismissed for the day, he\u2019d only managed to work three more problems.\u00a0 Fearing that further contemplation of blue ribbon would lead him astray, he\u2019d fixed his eyes higher every time he\u2019d raised them from his work.\u00a0 Unfortunately, a shapely ankle was the least of Emmy Lynne\u2019s newfound attractions.\u00a0 Little Joe had known Emmaline Lynne Winters almost as long as he\u2019d been in school.\u00a0 At first, of course, she\u2019d only been a girl, and he\u2019d felt about her exactly the way he felt about all girls: he loathed them.\u00a0 Somewhere along the line he\u2019d sidled up to toleration, and then outright liking for the species, but Emmy Lynne hadn\u2019t attracted his eye or that of any other boy.\u00a0 She just wasn\u2019t ripe for the picking.<\/p>\n All that had changed this year.\u00a0 She\u2019d filled out and sprouted curves in all the right places, and even though she always wore modest, ladylike blouses without so much as a top button undone, there was no disguising the softly rounded bulges sticking out in front.\u00a0 To avoid pondering those, Little Joe had dropped his eyes to her ankles and become instantly beguiled by those pretty pantalettes and whatever might lie beneath them.\u00a0 Trying that solution in reverse had been no help whatsoever.<\/p>\n He burst from his seat as soon as Miss Jones set them free and would have run outside, but for the teacher\u2019s standing orders about how they were to exit her classroom, namely like little ladies and gentlemen, single-file, with the gents giving place to the ladies whenever they happened to reach the door at the same moment.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t afford to draw further attention to himself, so he did exactly that.\u00a0 Eventually, he was outside, but just as he started down the three steps to the ground, he felt a hand clamp on his shoulder.\u00a0 Head swiveling, he demanded, \u201cLet go, Mitch; I got to get to Cochise.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitch\u2019s grip tightened.\u00a0 \u201cYou ain\u2019t still tryin\u2019 to make that balderdash trot, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith Miss Jones, I am,\u201d he hissed.\u00a0 \u201cLet go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d Mitch said, releasing him, \u201cbut I\u2019m meeting you by the stable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all are,\u201d added Seth Pruitt from just behind Mitch.<\/p>\n Little Joe hurried to the stable and threw a saddle blanket across the back of his paint pony, quickly followed by the saddle itself.<\/p>\n \u201cHold up,\u201d Seth ordered.\u00a0 Having longer legs than Mitch, he\u2019d gotten there first, while the final member of the quartet of friends was still jogging across the schoolyard in chase of the others.\u00a0 \u201cYou got some explainin\u2019 to do, boy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t call me boy,\u201d Little Joe snapped, grabbing his bridle.\u00a0 \u201cJust \u2018cause you\u2019re a year older don\u2019t give you the right to take on airs.\u201d<\/p>\n Seth shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cFair enough, but you still owe us an explanation.\u00a0 I mean, honestly, Joe\u2014horse frets?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was as lame as a horse with a broke leg,\u201d Mitch agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo broke legs,\u201d said \u201cTuck\u201d Tucker, panting up to join the others.<\/p>\n Little Joe sighed and let the horse tackle fall limp in his hands.\u00a0 \u201cMake it three and you got it about right, but it was all I could think of.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExcept pantalettes.\u201d\u00a0 Mitch, looking up from saddling his own mount, grinned.\u00a0 \u201cYou \u2018peared to be doin\u2019 considerable thinkin\u2019 on those!\u201d<\/p>\n The other three boys all laughed, and Little Joe smiled ruefully back.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t try tellin\u2019 me you ain\u2019t never done no thinkin\u2019 on \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot in school,\u201d Mitch, the most dutiful student of the four, insisted.<\/p>\n \u201cAny particular pair of pantalettes catch your eye?\u201d Seth asked.<\/p>\n As he slid the bridle over Cochise\u2019s head, Little Joe nodded.\u00a0 In a way he\u2019d have liked to keep that information to himself, but these were, after all, his best friends.\u00a0 \u201cEmmy Lynne\u2019s,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFigured as much,\u201d Mitch said, while Tuck flushed red as the proverbial beet at the mention of a girl\u2019s underwear.<\/p>\n \u201cGood choice,\u201d Seth said, \u201cbut ain\u2019t there better parts of that lady to be eyein\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was tryin\u2019 hard not to eye those parts,\u201d Little Joe admitted, \u201cbut then I spotted the trim on her pantalettes\u2014it\u2019s real frilly\u2014and I got to wonderin\u2019 what was . . . under \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe!\u201d Tuck cried, immediately clapping a hand over his mouth and looking around furtively.\u00a0 \u201cYou can\u2019t be sayin\u2019 stuff like that . . . not in school, leastways.\u00a0 If Miss Jones was to hear . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe already heard,\u201d Mitch laughed.\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Horse frets\u2019 may be the worst substitution I ever heard, but it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA miss is as good as a mile, Hoss always says,\u201d Little Joe offered, his trademark grin flashing.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t see as there\u2019s much to wonder about, anyway,\u201d Seth said.\u00a0 \u201cI figure it\u2019s pretty much like what you got under your own drawers . . . barrin\u2019 the obvious difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Even beets couldn\u2019t match the shade of Tuck\u2019s face by this time, but Little Joe took the comment with a shrug.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s gotta be some different . . . you know, smoother . . . softer or . . . something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnless she\u2019s hairy as Hoss,\u201d Mitch snickered.\u00a0 \u201cWhich I\u2019m sure she ain\u2019t,\u201d he added quickly when Little Joe stared him down.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s your answer,\u201d Seth suggested, stroking the nose of his saddled horse. \u00a0\u201cYou got older brothers; ask \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitch, who had brothers of his own, began shaking his head with a look of disbelief at Seth, an orphan who obviously had no comprehension of the likely consequences of such a fool notion.\u00a0 Tuck, with only sisters, had nothing to offer.\u00a0 Certainly, no one expected him to have been spying on them!<\/p>\n \u201cHoss probably knows less than I do,\u201d Little Joe laughed, but sobered as he continued, \u201cAs for Adam . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t tell me he don\u2019t know!\u201d Seth snorted.<\/p>\n \u201cLike as not,\u201d Little Joe admitted, \u201cbut I ain\u2019t crazy enough to open up a conversation with him on a subject like that!\u00a0 Ain\u2019t no tellin\u2019 where that could lead . . . like straight to Pa, for instance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u201d\u00a0 Seth, who\u2019d heard Ben Cartwright raise the roof over less, yielded easily.\u00a0 Then just as quickly, he brightened like a lantern lit in a dark barn.\u00a0 \u201cSo don\u2019t ask,\u201d he said, sporting his best approximation of a lascivious leer.\u00a0 \u201cJust watch \u2018im.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWatch him?\u201d Tuck squeaked.\u00a0 \u201cYou mean . . . when he\u2019s . . . tweakin\u2019 a girl\u2019s . . .\u201d\u00a0 Unable to continue, he planted his face in his horse\u2019s side.<\/p>\n Little Joe, however, began to thoughtfully rub both sides of his chin between thumb and fingers.\u00a0 \u201cHmm.\u201d\u00a0 His animated eyes revealed the wheels turning inside his head.\u00a0 Slowly, a crafty smile spread across his face.\u00a0 \u201cYeah . . . yeah . . . that might work.\u201d\u00a0 He looked up, beaming.\u00a0 \u201cOkay, who\u2019s in?\u201d<\/p>\n Timid Tuck\u2019s head, still planted in his horse\u2019s flank, began rubbing side to side almost at once, while Seth, who was being raised by an uncle so strict he made Ben Cartwright look lax, nonetheless took only a moment to announce that he\u2019d go along.\u00a0 Mitch just looked uncomfortable, like a rabbit caught between a net on one side and a snare on the other.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t fret yourself none,\u201d Little Joe said softly.<\/p>\n Though he understood that Little Joe was telling him that their friendship would be unaffected, whatever he decided, Mitch chose to turn his response into a joke.\u00a0 \u201cFret?\u00a0 I don\u2019t fret,\u201d he said with a taunting grin.\u00a0 \u201cYour horse frets, remember?\u201d\u00a0 He vaulted onto his own roan gelding and took off, while the other three mounted and gave chase out of the schoolyard.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n Little Joe dropped from the tree outside his bedroom window to the welcoming earth with a soft thump.\u00a0 A low whistle greeted him, and a dark figure emerged from the shadow of the pines surrounding the Ponderosa ranch house.\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Bout time,\u201d Seth scolded.\u00a0 \u201cYour brother left more\u2019n an hour ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cHave to leave him time to fetch the girl, don\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThought you overheard him sayin\u2019 it was Miss Maisy he was takin\u2019 up to the lake,\u201d Seth said.\u00a0 \u201cLike as not, she just met him there, bein\u2019 a saloon gal and all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam treats even saloon gals like ladies,\u201d Little Joe said.\u00a0 \u201cProbably works to his favor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn gettin\u2019 their knickers down, you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe swatted his friend\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cYou best get your mind back where it belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n Seth snorted.\u00a0 \u201cI ain\u2019t the one whose mind\u2019s been taken up with pantalettes!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe clapped a hand over Seth\u2019s mouth and pulled him away from the house.\u00a0 \u201cWill you keep it down?\u201d he hissed.<\/p>\n Seth chuckled, though softly this time.\u00a0 \u201cYour pa\u2019s room is down to the other end of the house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but Hoss\u2019s is right there.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe stabbed a finger toward the window next to the one from which he\u2019d just emerged.<\/p>\n Seth snorted.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you think he\u2019s gonna hear anything over that?\u201d\u00a0 Through the open window Hoss\u2019s pronounced snore could be heard rattling the tree limbs above them.<\/p>\n Little Joe rolled his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s your horse?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTied it back a ways . . . in case Hoss wasn\u2019t snorin\u2019,\u201d Seth snickered.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s yours?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBack corral.\u00a0 Give me a minute to saddle him.\u201d\u00a0 Though it took more than a minute, Little Joe was soon back, leading a dark brown horse.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, where\u2019s your pinto?\u201d Seth asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the barn, where he\u2019s \u2018sposed to be, if anyone happens in,\u201d Little Joe said with a cocky grin.\u00a0 \u201cYou think I\u2019d pick a horse that noticeable for a secret mission?\u00a0 In this moonlight, all that white just makes him easy to spot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood thinking,\u201d Seth admitted.\u00a0 His own horse was dark, too, but only because he had no other choice.<\/p>\n Both boys walked their animals until they were well away from the house; then they mounted and galloped toward the lake.\u00a0 As they drew closer, their pace again slowed until, finally, they abandoned the horses altogether and, after tying them securely, made their way, step by stealthy step, toward a secluded cove, from which issued the soft strumming of guitar.\u00a0 Dropping to hands and knees, they crept as close as they dared and hunkered down behind a convenient cluster of manzanita bushes with a good view of a picnic blanket spread beside the foaming waves of Lake Tahoe.\u00a0 When they saw Adam lay aside the guitar and move to the girl\u2019s side, they exchanged a happy grin.\u00a0 They\u2019d arrived just in time!<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Adam, that was beautiful,\u201d sighed Maisy.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re beautiful,\u201d he said, twirling his finger through an auburn curl that rested on her shoulder.\u00a0 Unlike many of the girls at the Silver Dollar, she didn\u2019t apply color to her hair, and it retained its natural softness.\u00a0 He held it to his nose and savored the sweet smell of lavender.\u00a0 Pleased, he unwound the curl, letting his fingers slowly follow it to her slender neck.<\/p>\n Leaning into his touch, she gazed at the waves lapping the shore.\u00a0 \u201cDid you ever wish a moment could last forever?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot really,\u201d he said, stroking her soft skin.\u00a0 \u201cI prefer to let the moments flow . . . from one . . . to another . . . to another.\u201d\u00a0 With each phrase his fingers moved toward the nape of her neck.<\/p>\n She laughed lightly.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I see, but I meant the whole evening: the stars, the lake, the delightful picnic, romantic music . . . and you.\u00a0 I wish it could all go on forever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes you think it\u2019s ending?\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cCome \u2018ere.\u201d\u00a0 He pulled her face toward his and kissed her, gently at first and then more deeply.<\/p>\n Maisy moaned with pleasure, as the jaws of two wide-eyed peeping Toms dropped.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s lips moved to her neck as he lightly kissed his way down toward her bosom, his hand slowly tracing the path of his lips to the top button of her blouse.\u00a0 \u201cMore?\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, yes,\u201d she murmured eagerly, eyes closed in ecstasy, and Adam eased her down to the quilt spread for their picnic.<\/p>\n Flashing a naughty grin, Seth nudged his friend\u2019s shoulder, but Little Joe didn\u2019t return it.\u00a0 Sure, he\u2019d dreamed and drooled about what girls kept hidden beneath all the frills and ribbon, but eager as he\u2019d been to catch a glimpse of a shapely leg, his ambitions hadn\u2019t risen much above the knee, while apparently older brother\u2019s ambitions ranged a lot higher than that . . . all the way to a place of which Pa would definitely not approve. \u00a0Suddenly, Little Joe wasn\u2019t at all sure he wanted the eyeful he was about to get.\u00a0 As his brother bent over Maisy, working at something with one hand, probably her bodice buttons, Little Joe\u2019s face turned a shade of crimson that even Tuck, at his most modest, could not have rivaled.\u00a0 Then he scolded himself for acting like a kid.\u00a0 What red-blooded, American man would pass up an opportunity like this?\u00a0 The answer to that obviously being none, Little Joe hunkered down behind the manzanita and stared, mouth still hanging open, at the scene unfolding before his dazzled eyes.<\/p>\n Seth, however, frowned in frustration.\u00a0 Adam had moved into a position that blocked the youth\u2019s view of what the man was up to, and Seth could tell by the look on his friend\u2019s face that it was something worth seeing.\u00a0 He nudged Little Joe with his elbow, to signal him to move over, but the other boy remained frozen.\u00a0 Seth shoved harder.\u00a0 Little Joe still didn\u2019t budge.\u00a0 Seeing plenty of sheltering bush on the other side of his friend, Seth decided to take his viewing pleasure into his own hands.\u00a0 Stealthily he crept behind Joe, but in the dark the his toe caught the sole of Joe\u2019s upturned boot and he went sprawling into the branches of the manzanita with thunderous crackles and crunches.<\/p>\n A shrill shriek pierced Little Joe\u2019s paralysis, and even before Adam rose up, demanding, \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u00a0 Show yourself!\u201d he and Seth were off and running.\u00a0 Half-crouched, they scurried toward the sheltering shadows of the trees, Adam hot on their heels.\u00a0 Once there, they stood upright and sprinted to their horses, pulled the reins free, vaulted into their saddles and rode for their lives.\u00a0 They charged down the mountainside until they came to the parting of their ways; then, with only a wave of farewell, Seth headed for home, while Little Joe raced on to the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n Somewhere along that wild ride Little Joe figured out that Adam could not possibly catch him.\u00a0 In the first place, Adam didn\u2019t have a riding horse.\u00a0 Since he\u2019d had all the picnic paraphernalia to carry, as well as a girl to pick up, he\u2019d taken the buckboard, and there was no way he could catch fast flying hooves while dragging a wagon.\u00a0 Even if he tried to ride one of the harness horses, he\u2019d be bareback on a mount not used to being ridden and not built for speed to begin with.\u00a0 With advantages like that, Little Joe knew he\u2019d be home long before Adam.<\/p>\n He still rode fast, but as soon as he reached the Ponderosa, he took time to give his mount a good rubdown and proper care.\u00a0 When it came to minimizing the consequences of misbehavior, that sort of thing went far in Pa\u2019s books, and Adam still hadn\u2019t shown up by the time Little Joe finished and tiptoed up to his room.\u00a0 \u00a0He took time to change into his nightshirt and lay his clothes out the same way he did every night.\u00a0 Then he crawled into bed, prepared to feign sleep when the inevitable doom fell upon him.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t come.\u00a0 Little Joe started to worry that something might have happened to Adam while chasing them in the dark, but then he smiled.\u00a0 No, the only thing wrong with Adam was that he was a gentleman.\u00a0 Even if Maisy was only a saloon girl, Adam wouldn\u2019t just take off and leave her, screaming alone in the dark.\u00a0 No, he\u2019d have to calm her down, and since, skilled as he obviously was, he probably couldn\u2019t do that successfully enough for them to go on with whatever he\u2019d planned, he\u2019d have to apologize, take her home and then drive that slow-going buckboard back to the Ponderosa before he could hope to rake his baby brother over the coals.\u00a0 Little Joe yawned prodigiously.\u00a0 Might as well sleep.<\/p>\n He woke with a jolt as his buttocks landed on the rough planks of his bedroom floor.\u00a0 He cried out, mostly in surprise, and then screeched in genuine fear when he saw his brother Adam looming over him, nostrils flaring, fumes from the fury within blasting from both sides.\u00a0 \u201cYou abominable little wretch!\u201d his brother was blaring.\u00a0 \u201cHow dare you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWh-what you talkin\u2019 about?\u201d Little Joe shouted loudly, hoping someone, anyone, would hear and come to his rescue.<\/p>\n Between the two of them hollering, someone\u2014actually, everyone\u2014came quickly.\u00a0 Hoss was first, his bedroom being right next door.\u00a0 Seeing Adam grab his baby brother up from the floor, he naturally pinioned his arms, which caused Adam to drop Joe and Joe to yelp as he again fell to the hard floor.\u00a0 That\u2019s when Ben burst in and demanded what the Sam Hill was going on.<\/p>\n Everyone tried to explain at once, producing nothing but a raucous cacophony.\u00a0 \u201cOne at a time!\u201d Ben bellowed.\u00a0 \u201cHoss?\u201d he asked, turning first to his most reasonable son.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t know, Pa,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cI heard this awful yellin\u2019 and come runnin\u2019 in to find big brother about to bash younger one, so I just naturally stopped him from killin\u2019 the kid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmphf,\u201d Ben grunted, but seeing nothing to criticize in his middle son\u2019s behavior, he turned next to his eldest.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, then.\u00a0 Why were you trying to kill your little brother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t,\u201d Adam declared with a glare at Hoss.\u00a0 \u201cNot that the world wouldn\u2019t be a safer place if I did!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe decided to get his two cents\u2019 worth in before Adam had time to level any accusations.\u00a0 \u201cAll I know, Pa, is older brother here yanked me out of a sound sleep and dumped me in the floor.\u00a0 It really hurt, Pa!\u201d\u00a0 He ended on a whimper, figuring it couldn\u2019t hurt to play on Pa\u2019s sympathies and tender affection for his youngest.<\/p>\n Ben Cartwright rounded on his eldest son.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d he demanded.\u00a0 \u201cDid you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI did,\u201d Adam admitted, head held high, \u201cand with good cause.\u00a0 The little wretch followed me up to the lake, where I was entertaining a young lady, and spied on . . . our picnic.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben arched a skeptical eyebrow, for Adam seemed suspiciously overwrought at having been caught in such an innocent activity.\u00a0 \u201cWell, Joseph, have you been spying on your brother\u2019s . . . picnic?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe had the out he needed.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t seen one minute of the picnic proper and, thus, could deny it with complete honesty.\u00a0 He did so at once with a fine display of righteous outrage.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you\u2019ve been here in your bed?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy paused only a moment before saying, \u201cYes, sir.\u00a0 I been asleep ever since I came up . . . until Adam drug me out of bed.\u201d\u00a0 Again, the words were the pure truth, omitting only the inconvenient detail of exactly when he\u2019d come up to bed.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd can you prove otherwise?\u201d Ben asked his oldest son.<\/p>\n Adam took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.\u00a0 The truth was, he\u2019d never gotten a good look at either of the boys he was chasing.\u00a0 He knew in his heart that they could only have been Little Joe and one of his rascally cohorts, but he had no actual proof, at least none that would stand up in the court of Justice Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 \u201cI know what I know,\u201d he said stubbornly.<\/p>\n \u201cThat isn\u2019t enough,\u201d Ben decreed.\u00a0 \u201cI would suggest that you apologize to your young brother\u2014and then everyone get back to bed!\u201d\u00a0 Without waiting to see whether his suggestion was followed, he turned on his heel and stormed from the room.<\/p>\n Little Joe grinned impishly at his older brother, folded his arms and stood waiting.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think I\u2019m going to apologize to you when I know I\u2019m right,\u201d Adam snorted, \u201cyou are sadly mistaken.\u201d\u00a0 Then, following his father\u2019s example, he left the room with long, purposeful strides.<\/p>\n Hoss, however, instead of leaving, shut the bedroom door and turned to face his little brother.\u00a0 \u201cOkay,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat\u2019d you see?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe gave his lower lip a nervous nibble.\u00a0 \u201cYou mean in my dreams?\u201d<\/p>\n Mouth puckered, Hoss moved his head from side to side.\u00a0 \u201cNope.\u00a0 I mean up at the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHoss, you heard me,\u201d Little Joe insisted, flopping down on his bed.\u00a0 \u201cI been here, sleepin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter you got back from the lake,\u201d Hoss said pointedly.\u00a0 \u201cYou may be able to pull the wool over Pa\u2019s eyes, little brother, but I know you.\u00a0 And I wanna know what you seen.\u201d\u00a0 Noting his brother\u2019s wary hesitance, he added, \u201cAw, I wouldn\u2019t tattle on you.\u00a0 Never do, do I? \u00a0And I really need to know.\u00a0 I ain\u2019t so good with the gals, Shortshanks, and I reckon I could learn a lot from watchin\u2019 Adam, but ain\u2019t no way I could ever sneak up on him.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe snickered as he pulled his bare feet up and hugged his knees.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 You sneak about as good as a herd of elephants, brother.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded grimly.\u00a0 \u201cSo, you gonna scooch over and tell me what you seen . . . or am I gonna have to pound you?\u201d<\/p>\n Not in the least intimidated, Little Joe shrugged and scooted over to make room for Hoss on the bed.\u00a0 Their heads bent together conspiratorially, and the younger boy whispered every detail of Adam\u2019s romantic maneuverings into Hoss\u2019s eager ears.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, did it work?\u201d Hoss whispered back when Little Joe finally finished.<\/p>\n \u201cWork?\u201d Little Joe all but squeaked.\u00a0 \u201cI mean to tell you it worked!\u00a0 That little gal was\u2014she was\u201d\u2014he struggled to remember the right word from Miss Abigail\u2019s vocabulary list of week before last and sported a near-wicked grin when he came up with it\u2014\u201cpassionate.\u00a0 I\u2019m tellin\u2019 you, she was plumb passionate for older brother!\u201d<\/p>\n Then, into the wee hours of the morning, the two youngest Cartwrights discussed how they might best apply Adam\u2019s strategies to their own romantic urges until they finally nodded off and slept the rest of the night, side by side.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n Little Joe spent the next week pondering how to proceed with his pantalettes project.\u00a0 After all, the very first principle he and Hoss had gleaned from their examination of Adam\u2019s techniques was to take things slow and easy, the way he had with Maisy\u2019s buttons, so careful planning was obviously the first step.\u00a0 Once he was ready to begin his campaign, he still moved slowly.\u00a0 On Monday he wandered past where Emmy Lynne was chatting with her girl friends during recess and offered only a shy, \u201cHi, Emmy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHi there, Little Joe,\u201d she replied, while he ran off in response to the other girls\u2019 titters.<\/p>\n But at the lunch break he did the same thing, and his \u201cHi, Emmy\u201d was again met with \u201cHi there, Little Joe.\u201d\u00a0 So it went for two more days at each recess or noontime break.\u00a0 Then, when he stopped by at noon on Thursday, he held out a sugar cookie and said, \u201cYou want one?\u00a0 Hop Sing always packs too many for just me.\u201d<\/p>\n Emmy took it and said, \u201cThank you\u201d with a smile.\u00a0 By the next day he\u2019d summoned up the courage to suggest that they share lunches, again using Hop Sing\u2019s excess as an excuse.\u00a0 Emmy immediately deserted her girl friends and started to walk away with him.<\/p>\n A sing-song \u201cJoe and Emmy, sittin\u2019 in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,\u201d followed them until Emmy turned around and glared the girls into silence.\u00a0 Then she took Little Joe by the hand and led him around the back of the stable, where she pointed out that they could have both shade and privacy.\u00a0 Both were hard to come by in the barren schoolyard.<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds good,\u201d Little Joe said.\u00a0 He looked at the dusty ground and sighed.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll get your pretty . . . dress all dirty,\u201d he said.\u00a0 He\u2019d almost said pantalettes and thanked his lucky stars that hadn\u2019t slipped out!<\/p>\n Emmy just laughed.\u00a0 \u201cIt does every day.\u00a0 This is Virginia City, not some grassy Ponderosa meadow.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe nodded in commiseration.\u00a0 Still, the packed earth of the schoolyard offered nothing better, so he just sat down, legs crossed in Indian fashion.\u00a0 \u201cI wish it were,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, maybe it can be . . . sometime,\u201d Emmy returned as she, too, sat down and opened her lunch pail.\u00a0 \u201cShall we go halves?\u201d she suggested.\u00a0 \u201cI have ham biscuits and apple hand pies.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe beamed.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, that sounds great!\u201d\u00a0 He opened his own pail and shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m afraid you\u2019re getting the worst of the bargain.\u00a0 It\u2019s just beef sandwiches and oatmeal cookies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll go beautifully together,\u201d she said, adding with a touch of daring, \u201csame as us?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely same as us,\u201d he chimed in.\u00a0 With encouragement like this, he\u2019d be peeking beneath those pretty pantalettes any day now!<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n The weekend interrupted Little Joe\u2019s progress, but he put the time to good use.\u00a0 He and Hoss had quickly determined that neither of them had the musical prowess to strum a guitar, even if they could sneak it out of Adam\u2019s room without his noticing.\u00a0 Little Joe had received a harmonica for his last birthday, but so far he hadn\u2019t been able to coax much out of it except air.\u00a0 He and Hoss had both been stumped on how to set the right mood without music until Hoss had a flash of insight.\u00a0 \u201cHey, ain\u2019t poetry sort of like music without the tune?\u201d he posed.<\/p>\n \u201cSort of,\u201d Little Joe admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s your answer, then,\u201d Hoss insisted.\u00a0 \u201cPick you out somethin\u2019 real lovey and learn it off, so\u2019s you can speak it when the time\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmm,\u201d Little Joe mused.\u00a0 He hated memorizing and reciting any kind of piece for school, but it just might be worth it this time.\u00a0 \u201cOkay, but where\u2019m I gonna find the right sort of poem?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAsk\u201d\u2014he\u2019d started to say Adam, but one look from Little Joe reminded him that his little brother wasn\u2019t exactly in his older brother\u2019s good graces\u2014\u201cPa?\u201d he finished.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, Hoss,\u201d Little Joe said with a shake of his head.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s been a powerful long time since Pa did any sparkin\u2019 . . . with or without poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but he knows lots.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there\u2019s plenty he don\u2019t know . . . and that I don\u2019t aim for him to know!\u201d Little Joe sputtered.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019ll want to know why and . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTell him it\u2019s for school,\u201d Hoss interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cCome on now, Joseph, you should\u2019ve thought of that one on your own!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe grinned.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I sure should have.\u00a0 You\u2019re gettin\u2019 better at connivin\u2019, brother!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss scrubbed Joe\u2019s kinky curls with his wide palm.\u00a0 \u201cI learned from the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday morning seemed the best time to put that plan into operation, so armed with his best sad-puppy look, Little Joe approached his father.\u00a0 \u201cPa, I need help with a school assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben, who was waging war with the month-end bookwork, looked up absently.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m kind of busy, son, so I won\u2019t be much use to you until I finish here.\u00a0 Besides, your brother Adam is the scholar in the family; I suggest you ask him.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe let his lower lip quiver.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t, Pa.\u00a0 He\u2019s still mad.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben sighed as he laid his pen aside.\u00a0 \u201cWhat have you done now, Joseph?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe looked offended.\u00a0 \u201cNothin\u2019, Pa!\u00a0 He\u2019s still holdin\u2019 a grudge, \u2018cause he thinks I spied on him and\u201d\u2014he almost slipped and mentioned Maisy\u2019s name, which an innocent boy, of course, would not know\u2014\u201cand whoever he was with that night.\u00a0 You remember.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben closed his eyes and exhaled in exasperation.\u00a0 Why on earth had he sired three sons?\u00a0 Surely, girls would have been easier.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s not still stewing over that!\u00a0 It\u2019s been two weeks!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe didn\u2019t even have to feign fear.\u00a0 It was a natural reaction to his father\u2019s raised voice, and since it worked to his advantage, he didn\u2019t try to disguise his trembling.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m scared of him, Pa,\u201d he said for added effect.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we can\u2019t have that!\u201d\u00a0 As he burst up, Ben thrust his chair back so forcefully that it hit the wall behind him.\u00a0 He stormed outside, shouting, \u201cAdam!\u201d<\/p>\n Fearing he\u2019d gone too far, Little Joe hung back behind the porch pillar as his father stomped toward the barn.<\/p>\n Adam came out and stood in the barn doorway, not backing away when his father came to a halt right in front of his nose.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAm I to understand that you are holding some sort of grudge against your youngest brother?\u201d Ben demanded.<\/p>\n \u201cWho says so?\u201d Adam demanded right back.\u00a0 \u201cHim?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe says he\u2019s afraid to ask you for help with his schoolwork,\u201d Ben said hotly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure you don\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I don\u2019t want that,\u201d Adam said quickly, although the look he shot toward Little Joe was just short of murderous.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, then,\u201d Ben said.\u00a0 He\u2019d expected argument and counter accusations, but Adam\u2019s easy acquiescence left him with nothing to say.\u00a0 \u201cWell, then . . . Joseph!\u00a0 Come tell your brother what you need, and let\u2019s have no more of this nonsense.\u201d\u00a0 He stalked back into the house, slamming the door with a vigor he would not have countenanced from any of his sons.<\/p>\n Adam folded his arms and leaned against the barn wall.\u00a0 \u201cWell, are you going to get over here and tell me what this latest falderal is about or are you going to cower there like a craven?\u201d<\/p>\n Frankly, Little Joe would have preferred the second alternative, but he needed help. \u00a0Since Pa had proven unfit for the task, that left only Adam.\u00a0 He approached his older brother at a snail\u2019s pace that had Adam unconsciously copying his father\u2019s exasperated exhale of mere minutes earlier.\u00a0 \u201cNow, what is it you need help with?\u201d he asked with a greater show of kindness and patience than Little Joe had expected.<\/p>\n \u201cUh . . . well . . . I . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cSometime this morning, please.\u00a0 I do have work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, Adam,\u201d Little Joe said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just hard to explain, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, and I\u2019m not likely to at this rate,\u201d Adam said crisply.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, okay.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe patted the air in a calming gesture.\u00a0 \u201cI got to memorize this poem, see?\u00a0 Only I don\u2019t know which one to pick, and you\u2019re the one with all the poetry books, so I thought . . .\u201d\u00a0 He spread his hands in hopeless appeal.<\/p>\n \u201cYou thought I could pick for you?\u201d\u00a0 Adam chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cConsidering my current attitude toward you, little boy, it\u2019s likely to be the longest, hardest piece I can think of.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no,\u201d Little Joe rushed to say.\u00a0 \u201cMiss Jones specifically<\/em> said it shouldn\u2019t be long.\u00a0 It\u2019s just gotta be . . . well . . . real lovey-dovey stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam arched an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cShe expressed it that way?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe used different words,\u201d Little Joe hastily corrected, \u201cbut that\u2019s what she meant.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shook his head in bewilderment.\u00a0 \u201cA love poem.\u00a0 Why on earth . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Miss Jones,\u201d Little Joe pointed out.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d Adam sighed.\u00a0 Even if he hadn\u2019t heard enough complaints from both Hoss and Little Joe on the subject of Miss Abigail Jones\u2019 delight in all tales romantic, his own conversations with her had revealed her absolute absorption with the likes of Romeo and Juliet and Sir Walter Raleigh.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I\u2019d suggest one of Shakespeare\u2019s sonnets, then.\u00a0 They\u2019re not long, but should be romantic enough even for Miss Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds perfect,\u201d Little Joe said enthusiastically.\u00a0 \u201cCan you get me one?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGet it yourself,\u201d Adam said coolly.\u00a0 \u201cThird shelf, toward the middle.\u201d\u00a0 He started to move back into the barn, but hesitated long enough to ask, \u201cYou\u2019re not really afraid of me, are you, Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe quickly calculated his options. \u00a0The fear ploy might prove useful in the future.\u00a0 However, he\u2019d already told so many lies that his conscience was beginning to prickle painfully, and in this case the plain truth would probably suffice.\u00a0 \u201cOnly when you\u2019re mad at me,\u201d he said, his hesitance only heightening the perception of candor.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you needn\u2019t be; I\u2019m not an ogre,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cBut no more spying.\u201d He tapped his long index finger against the boy\u2019s chest once for each of the final three words.\u00a0 Then he spun on his heel and headed into the barn, leaving Little Joe struck silent.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n Memorizing a Shakespearean sonnet turned out to be harder work than Little Joe had imagined.\u00a0 \u201cAin\u2019t there some simpler poem I could learn?\u201d he whined at supper that night after struggling for hours with Sonnet 43.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t help that he\u2019d worn himself out, just picking that one from the way-too-many Shakespeare had written.\u00a0 He\u2019d read, at least, a hundred lines that day, and almost none of them made sense.\u00a0 In fact, all most of them did was make him wonder why Shakespeare, if\u2019n he was as smart as folks said, couldn\u2019t learn to write in plain English, instead of spouting fancy gibberish like \u201cWhen in dead night thy fair imperfect shade through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay.\u201d\u00a0 Still, even that made more sense than most of the other sonnets, and he\u2019d kind of been able to picture what the poem meant.\u00a0 Near as he could figure, it was about a man dreaming about his girl, and he thought Emmy Lynne might feel downright accommodating to a man who spent his nights dreaming about her.\u00a0 That would make it all worthwhile . . . or so he kept telling himself, every time he struggled (yet again) to remember the words.<\/p>\n By Monday morning he still didn\u2019t have them down pat enough to recite the sonnet to the girl, so he just kept right on meeting her for lunch.\u00a0 That day he trotted over to the stable as soon as they were released from the classroom, having told Emmy Lynne at recess that he\u2019d meet her at \u201cour spot.\u201d<\/p>\n When he arrived behind the stable with a quilt over his arm, Emmy clapped her hands.\u00a0 \u201cOh, Little Joe, how thoughtful you are!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t have my best girl dustin\u2019 herself all up, can I?\u201d he asked with a smile.<\/p>\n She helped him spread the quilt, and then they sat on it and opened their lunch pails, as usual.\u00a0 Once the food was divvied up to their satisfaction, she asked, \u201cAm I?\u00a0 Your best girl, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell . . . sure,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t see me sharin\u2019 my lunch with anyone else, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI enjoy our picnics, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Me, too.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe was surprised to find that he really meant it.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t started this with the best of intentions, but he was coming to feel a strong liking for Emmy Lynne that went beyond curiosity about what she was hiding underneath those frilly pantalettes.\u00a0 Maybe it was all that memory work on Sonnet 43, but he\u2019d actually started to dream about her at night.<\/p>\n Emmy gazed demurely downward.\u00a0 \u201cI still wish we could have one in a meadow on the Ponderosa, instead of here, nice as you\u2019ve made our spot today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have to do that.\u201d\u00a0 He sighed, though, and when she looked at him quizzically, he said, \u201cSorry.\u00a0 That would be great, of course, and we\u2019ll do it.\u00a0 I was just wishin\u2019 I could spread you a quilt up at the lake for a moonlight picnic.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s so beautiful there . . . almost as beautiful as you.\u201d\u00a0 That seemed like something Adam might say to Maisy, and somehow the moment felt right for tryin\u2019 out some fancy words of his own.\u00a0 \u201cI know it\u2019s impossible,\u201d he said quickly, \u201cbut I sure wish we could.\u201d<\/p>\n Emmy set her sandwich down.\u00a0 \u201cWhy can\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe stared at her.\u00a0 \u201cUh . . . moon only comes out at night?\u201d<\/p>\n She laughed.\u00a0 \u201cAre you afraid of the dark, Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, of course not,\u201d he sputtered, \u201cbut . . . I mean . . . your folks wouldn\u2019t let you . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood gracious, no!\u201d she exclaimed.\u00a0 Then she lowered her voice.\u00a0 \u201cBut they wouldn\u2019t have to know.\u201d<\/p>\n His smile slowly widened into a grin.\u00a0 Was it possible that Emmy Lynne was really a girl after his own heart?\u00a0 \u201cYou mean you\u2019d sneak out to meet me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d even bring the picnic basket,\u201d she said with a conspiratorial wink.<\/p>\n \u201cFriday night?\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n \u201cSaturday,\u201d she countered.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019ll give me all day to bake something special.\u201d<\/p>\n When Miss Jones rang the bell to signal the end of lunch, the two of them practically floated, hand in hand, back into the classroom.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n Little Joe shivered in anticipation as he saw Emmy Lynne riding toward their designated meeting spot.\u00a0 She\u2019d done it!\u00a0 She\u2019d actually ridden out to meet him in the dark of night.\u00a0 \u201cYou have any trouble getting away?\u201d he asked when she reined in the bay beside his pinto.<\/p>\n She giggled.\u00a0 \u201cIf I had, I wouldn\u2019t be here.\u00a0 You?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNah, I\u2019m used to this.\u201d\u00a0 Then he flushed.\u00a0 \u201cSneaking out, I mean, not meeting girls.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019m glad of that,\u201d she laughed.\u00a0 \u201cMy first time for either\u2014sneaking out or meeting a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou did great,\u201d Little Joe praised, \u201cand toting a basket, too.\u00a0 How\u2019d you ever get that out of the house?\u201d<\/p>\n She only waved a careless hand and said, \u201cNothing to it.\u00a0 Baking the strawberry tarts without raisin\u2019 questions was harder.\u201d\u00a0 She leaned close and whispered, \u201cThey look sort of special.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re sort of special,\u201d he whispered back.\u00a0 \u201cReady to ride up to the lake?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yes!\u201d<\/p>\n They rode at an easy lope up into the hills surrounding Lake Tahoe to a spot Little Joe had selected earlier.\u00a0 He\u2019d gone to some pains to pick just the right place.\u00a0 He wanted it to be scenic, of course, but his main consideration was to locate their picnic far from any place older brother Adam might choose to spark Maisy or some other girl.\u00a0 This being Saturday night, there was always a chance that he might be doing exactly that, and the last thing Little Joe wanted was to cross paths with Adam.\u00a0 He\u2019d tried to worm out his older brother\u2019s plans for the evening at supper, but when Adam had said, \u201cSince when do you care?\u201d he\u2019d been smart enough to shrug it off as unimportant.<\/p>\n He spread the quilt close to the lapping waves; then Emmy set out the food she\u2019d brought, including the heart-shaped strawberry tarts.\u00a0 No wonder she\u2019d said they\u2019d been harder than sneaking out!\u00a0 She would have had to bake those incriminating hearts right under her mother\u2019s nose.\u00a0 Curious as he was about how she\u2019d explained them away, Little Joe didn\u2019t ask.\u00a0 That was something they could discuss at school; tonight was reserved for greater things.<\/p>\n After eating their fill they lay back on the quilt, propped up on their elbows, facing the lake.\u00a0 Emmy sighed in deep contentment.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s everything you said, Little Joe.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen Lake Tahoe in daylight, and it was beautiful then, but like this . . . the waves shimmering all silvery in the moonlight . . . so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe sat up and smiled at her in surprise.\u00a0 \u201cEmmy Lynne, that\u2019s pure poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n She just laughed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m no poet,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, I never thought you cared much for poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s been growin\u2019 on me some, these last few days,\u201d he said with a darting glance at her face, \u201con account of I\u2019ve been tryin\u2019 to learn off a piece . . . for you.\u201d<\/p>\n It was Emmy\u2019s turn to sit up, surprised and pleased.\u00a0 \u201cFor me?\u00a0 You\u2019ve been learning a poem for me?\u00a0 Can I hear it?\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cSure, but don\u2019t expect too much.\u00a0 I still stumble some.\u201d\u00a0 He took a deep breath and tried to still the trembling of his mind.\u00a0 Then he began to speak:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,<\/p>\n For all the day they view things unrespected;<\/p>\n But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,<\/p>\n And darkly bright are bright in dark directed;<\/p>\n Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright,<\/p>\n How would thy shadow\u2019s form form happy show<\/p>\n To the clear day with thy much clearer light,<\/p>\n When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Emmy\u2019s face had been growing more puzzled with each line until, finally, she could take no more.\u00a0 \u201cMy, you must\u2019ve worked hard on that!\u00a0 That\u2019s harder to understand than any poetry I ever read.\u00a0 Or, maybe, I\u2019m just stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo such thing!\u201d Little Joe cried in quick defense.\u00a0 \u201cI gotta confess, Shakespeare makes me feel the same way, but I been spendin\u2019 so much time with this sonnet that I understand it better than I did, and it makes me think of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow?\u201d she asked, looking intently into his face.<\/p>\n He suddenly found the toes of his boots fascinating.\u00a0 \u201cWell, it\u2019s about this fellow\u2014Shakespeare, I guess\u2014who don\u2019t pay much attention to things in the daylight, but when he\u2019s asleep, he dreams about his girl . . . like I dream about you.\u201d\u00a0 A quick glance her direction, and then his attention snapped back to his boot tops.<\/p>\n She leaned closer.\u00a0 \u201cDo you, Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell . . . yeah.\u201d\u00a0 He felt sort of shy about admitting that, and it had only been a couple of times, after all, but he could see at once that she liked the idea of a fellow spending his nights dreaming of her.\u00a0 \u201cAnyway, the rest of the poem says . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, forget the poem,\u201d she said, closing the short distance that now lay between them, and pressing her lips against his, she kissed him with all the passionate intensity that he\u2019d seen only in his dreams or between Maisy and Adam on their blanket by the lake.\u00a0 No, forget that.\u00a0 When it came to passion, Maisy had nothing on Emmy Lynne!\u00a0 Not quite knowing how it happened, he suddenly found himself flat on his back, staring up into her shining blue eyes and feeling her fingers poking at the buttons on his shirt.\u00a0 She worked one loose and slipped her hand inside the opening to slide her fingers over his smooth and now shivering chest.<\/p>\n \u201cWh-what are you\u201d\u2014 her lips silenced his protest as she loosened another button\u00a0 and reached further inside his shirt.\u00a0 Blood rushing to his cheeks, Little Joe grasped her by both shoulders and held her at arms\u2019 length.\u00a0 \u201cNow, look,\u201d he sputtered.\u00a0 \u201cThis ain\u2019t the way this is \u2018sposed to work.\u00a0 You\u2019re not \u2018sposed to mess with my buttons; I\u2019m \u2018sposed to mess with yours!\u201d<\/p>\n She flounced back from him.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe Cartwright!\u00a0 What kind of girl do you think I am?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know!\u201d Little Joe cried, sitting up abruptly.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, I think you\u2019re a nice girl, a real nice girl, but on the other hand, nice girls don\u2019t mess with a man\u2019s buttons.\u00a0 It\u2019s the man\u2019s job to do that!\u201d\u00a0 Flustered, he fumbled to refasten his shirt.\u00a0 \u201cNot that I\u2019d\u2019ve done that to you, on account of I respect you too much.\u00a0 All I wanted was one tiny little peek under your pantalettes, not\u201d\u2014realizing he\u2019d said too much, he buried his face in his hands.\u00a0 When, oh when would he learn not to blurt out every fool thing that passed through his head?<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019m not dropping my pantalettes for you or any other boy!\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course not!\u201d he said, the shock on his face genuine.\u00a0 \u201cI figured on pushin\u2019 \u2018em up a ways, but not the other direction, I promise!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you\u2019d better not,\u201d she said, staring at the hands now clasped tight in her lap.\u00a0 \u201cLook, Little Joe, I reckon, maybe, the both of us got a mite carried away, what with all the moonlight and poetry and all.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think either one of us is ready to go much further, so I think I\u2019d best get on home before we get carried away again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be mad,\u201d he pleaded.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t mean anything bad toward you, honest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t, either,\u201d she said, hurriedly packing up the remains of the picnic.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll ride you home,\u201d he said as they both stood.<\/p>\n She laid a palm to her burning cheek.\u00a0 \u201cI can make it just fine on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n Not knowing what else to say, Little Joe watched her mount her horse and ride away.\u00a0 Then, his face long as a mule\u2019s, he folded up the quilt and walked toward his horse.<\/p>\n Satisfied that the innocence of youth had been preserved, a figure clad all in black slid away from the scene.\u00a0 He moved doubled over, both to conceal his six-foot height and to contain the belly laugh that threatened to burst.\u00a0 Not until he was well on his way back to the Ponderosa did the man release it in sheer satisfaction of retribution achieved with potential blackmail possibilities held in reserve.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n Little Joe set out for school Monday morning, as miserable as he\u2019d ever felt in his life, although the Sunday before had run a close second.\u00a0 He\u2019d moped at the breakfast table, barely glancing up from his nearly untouched plate of bacon and eggs.\u00a0 Whenever he had, he\u2019d caught Adam looking at him with a knowing smirk, although that was probably his imagination, Joe told himself, since there was no way possible that his older brother could have known what was bothering him.\u00a0 He\u2019d gone to church after an unsuccessful attempt to plead an upset stomach and kept his eyes glued on the preacher, lest they stray to a certain bonnet on the other side of the aisle or, worse yet, to anybody\u2019s pantalettes.<\/p>\n Throughout the morning he tried to focus on his arithmetic, but he made so many mistakes that Miss Jones kept him in at recess to redo the assignment.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t even mind, since being kept in meant that he could put off what was bound to happen out in the schoolyard.\u00a0 As the clock\u2019s hands moved closer to high noon, however, he felt himself sinking into that Slough of Despond he\u2019d read about in Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>.\u00a0 Soon everyone would know that he and Emmy Lynne were no longer together.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t blame her, of course; he\u2019d acted like a fool kid, shying away from taking all she was offering and, worse yet, blurting out his own childish intentions.\u00a0 He would miss their lunch times together, though; he hadn\u2019t realized how much until he\u2019d lost them.<\/p>\n The clock showed one minute short of the dreaded hour when he heard a hiss to his left and, despite all previous efforts to keep his eyes to himself, automatically looked that direction.\u00a0 He kept his eyes studiously on Emmy\u2019s face,\u00a0 however, until she pointedly looked toward the floor, inviting his attention downward.\u00a0 He tried to ignore that invitation, but curiosity proved too strong and he let his gaze drop.\u00a0 Her hand moved down at the same time, and he stared, agog, as she untied the bow of the blue ribbon around the bottom of her right pantalette leg and slowly pulled it from its eyelet lacing.<\/p>\n Like a calf shying away from a hot branding iron, Little Joe flinched back from that enticing sight just as Miss Jones dismissed everyone for lunch.\u00a0 They all lined up, as usual, and though it wasn\u2019t Little Joe\u2019s doing, somehow he ended up directly behind Emmy Lynne.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t take his eyes off the blue ribbon she dangled behind her back.\u00a0 He saw it slowly float to the floor and quickly bent to scoop it up, just as the line moved forward.\u00a0 Weaving it in and out of his fingers, he dawdled his way down the school steps.\u00a0 By the time he looked up, Emmy Lynne had disappeared.\u00a0 Then he smiled.\u00a0 He knew where she\u2019d be.\u00a0 Hurrying into the stable, he removed the quilt he\u2019d never unpacked from his moonlight excursion and scampered eagerly around the back of the building, where he found her sitting, pantalettes hiked up to her knees.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The End<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Words drawn:\u00a0 passionate, buckboard, lake, poem, pantalettes<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags:\u00a0 Abigail Jones,\u00a0Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n