{"id":14132,"date":"2010-01-03T07:54:33","date_gmt":"2010-01-03T12:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=14132"},"modified":"2025-02-27T12:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T17:22:10","slug":"a-bucket-full-of-trouble-by-krystyna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=14132","title":{"rendered":"A Bucketful of Trouble (by Krystyna)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>: Hop Sing decides it’s time to quit! This story may be familiar to forum readers but I hope it will appeal to those newer members of Bonanzaworld who have yet to read it.<\/p>\n

Rating: \u00a0G \u00a0(1,060 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Bucketful of Trouble<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI quit!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The four Cartwrights turned to look at their irate cook and stared at him disbelievingly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou quit?\u201d Ben retorted in amazement. His black eyes widened as he stared into the face of the man he had known as a friend for so many years, \u201cYou quit?\u201d he repeated as though it was essential to repeat the question just to make sure he had heard right in the first place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat for, Hop Sing?\u201d Hoss asked with a slight tremor in his voice in case he wouldn\u2019t like the reply. He blinked his blue eyes rapidly at the thought of countless days ahead without his favourite meals being served for him by this devoted friend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, what for this time?\u201d Adam asked in the tone of voice that indicated he was bored with the whole thing and \u2018wasn\u2019t it time we just got on with breakfast\u2019?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hop Sing frowned and produced from behind his back a very dented and well used bucket.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cA bucket?\u201d Joe rolled his eyes in disbelief, \u201cYou\u2019re quitting because of a bucket?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNot \u2018a bucket\u2019\u201d Hop Sing replied with a proud tilt of the chin \u201cTHE bucket.\u201d (It wasn\u2019t for nothing he was paying Miss Jones for private Elocution lessons.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cTHE Bucket?\u201d the four men intoned as they each turned their attention upon the rather battered object that Hop Sing was holding aloft before them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOnly bucket in whole of Ponderosa\u201d Hop Sing declared, dropping it with a clang on the floor (actually on Ben\u2019s foot but it ended up on the floor eventually).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOnly bucket? Shucks, no, Hop Sing, you gotta be wrong about thet.\u201d Hoss shook his head, \u201cThere\u2019s the bucket I use in the stable.\u201d he paused as he thought of what he used the bucket for and bit his lip, \u201cYeah, there\u2019s thet bucket.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSame bucket.\u201d declared the increasingly irate cook.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s the bucket in the out-house,\u201d Adam smirked as he poured out the coffee with a determination to remain calm in a situation that was rapidly promising future chaos. \u201cIf you give that a real good scrub -\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cADAM!\u201d the other Cartwrights exclaimed in horror at the thought as they turned their eyes from the bucket to him, but he raised his eyes defiantly and was quietly vindicated when Hop Sing intoned<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSame bucket!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the same bucket – but – \u201c Hoss shook his head and leaned down to pick up the offending bucket. He looked at it closely, then nodded as he recognised it only too well, \u201cYeah, I see what you mean -\u201d he went rather red and glanced nervously at his father, \u201cIt\u2019s the same bucket.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, what about the bucket that\u2019s in the barn?\u201d Ben asked in a forced jovial kind of voice in the hope of deflecting any mental images the previous connection may have brought to the minds of his sons.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOh I – er – I forgot to bring that back from the river when I went fishing last week,\u201d Joe stated sheepishly, \u201cSorry, Hop Sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBucket from river I bling back.\u201d Hop Sing scowled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing, why can\u2019t you just make do with one bucket?\u201d Ben asked, \u201cAfter all, a bucket is – just a bucket?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNo it ain\u2019t, Pa.\u201d Hoss said quickly as he thought of the outhouse bucket and the stable bucket and what uses they were put to in the course of a day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI need more bucket. Mebbe three, mebbe foah.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFoah?\u201d Hoss frowned, \u201cAre you sure, Hop Sing?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBucket needed for well. You bloke bucket when you fell in.\u201d Hop Sing jabbed his finger at Hoss who gulped, recalling the shameful experience with a blush.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBucket needed for whitewash, outhouse need new whitewash.\u201d Hop Sing jabbed his finger at Joe who raised his eyes to heaven and shivered at the prospect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBucket needed for stable, for barn, for scullery and kitchen\u201d Hop Sing glared at Adam who merely pursed his lips and stared down at his cup of coffee. \u201cAnd need new bucket for jam.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cJam?\u201d Hoss\u2019 eyes lit up and his lips parted in a slow happy smile, \u201cDid you say you were needing buckets for jam?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPlenty bucket, plenty jam\u201d Hop Sing smiled widely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe that\u2019s what you\u2019ll get, Hop Sing\u201d Hoss declared as he pulled his chair away from the table, \u201cI\u2019ll buy you every bucket they\u2019ve got in the hardware store.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam shook his head and sighed. He looked at Hop Sing thoughtfully,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAre you still going to quit?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMebbe\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe picked up the bucket and handed it back to Hop Sing, \u201cDon\u2019t forget your bucket, Hop Sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis bucket no good. Has hole in it.\u201d Hop Sing declared gleefully and dropped it with cool contempt back onto the floor, \u201cHop Sing make foah journey from well to kitchen with water because of hole in bucket.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They watched him return to the kitchen with his head erect with pride and a smile on his face. The front door snapped shut as Hoss closed it behind him. As he hurried to the stable to saddle up Chubb visions of gleaming glass jars full of jam floated before him \u2026 there would be strawberry jam (Hop Sing had a wonderfully well tended strawberry patch), and plum jam and blueberry jam. He licked his lips as he tightened the buckle of his gun belt and pictured himself ladling jam of various varieties on to Hop Sings delectable warm fresh bread.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hop Sing watched from the kitchen window as Hoss galloped out of the stable and rounded the corner of the building to depart out of sight in a cloud of dust. He smiled and his dark eyes disappeared in the folds of his cheeks as he did so. He shuffled too and fro in the kitchen happily humming a little tune.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the main room Adam gave the offending bucket a slight nudge with his foot,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone should write a song about a hole in a bucket.\u201d he observed to no one in particular.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought someone already had,\u201d Ben observed as he raised a cup of coffee to his lips. He paused. Then he set it back onto its saucer untouched and pushed it away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The End<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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

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

Summary: Hop Sing decides it’s time to quit! This story may be familiar to forum readers but I hope it will appeal to those newer members of Bonanzaworld who have yet to read it.<\/p>\n

Rating: \u00a0G \u00a0(1,060 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":6426,"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":[23,4],"tags":[14,15,18,17,16],"class_list":["post-14132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-humor","tag-adam-cartwright","tag-ben","tag-hop-sing","tag-hoss","tag-joe","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-4-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1814,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/vsy.jpeg?fit=248%2C203&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12398,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12398","url_meta":{"origin":14132,"position":0},"title":"“What did he say?” (by Krystyna)","author":"Krystyna","date":"December 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 It pays to listen.\u00a0 After the fact, the family tries to figure out what Hop Sing said before returning to his kitchen. 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Rated: K \u00a0WC \u00a02400","rel":"","context":"In "Humor"","block_context":{"text":"Humor","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63076,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=63076","url_meta":{"origin":14132,"position":3},"title":"Part of the Family (by JoanS.)","author":"JoanS","date":"June 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Hop Sing tries to help the Cartwrights overcome the death of Marie. 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