{"id":15922,"date":"2018-01-27T19:43:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-28T00:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=15922"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:40:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:40:31","slug":"never-quote-me-the-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=15922","title":{"rendered":"Never Quote Me the Odds (by McFair_58)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 <\/strong>Ben Cartwright had thought the worst thing that could happen was that his son, Hoss, was shot in back by mistake.\u00a0 But like the other time Hoss was shot – by Red Twilight – Little Joe was in danger too.\u00a0 Joe’s brother could be dying and he’s nowhere in sight.\u00a0 \u00a0What’<\/em>s going on?<\/p>\n

Rated PG – references to drunkeness<\/p>\n

Word Count – 4406<\/p>\n

If you have ever watched the Bonanza episode, \u2018Once a Doctor\u2019, you were probably left with the same burning question I was \u2013 just where<\/em> is Little Joe?\u00a0 We see him bursting into the jail, ready to take justice into his own hands, threatening to kill the man who shot his brother in the back, and then \u2013 nothing.\u00a0 Joe is conspicuously absent at his father\u2019s side as the decision is made to operate on Hoss to save his life and, indeed during and after the operation.\u00a0 We don\u2019t see Little Joe again until the tag ending.\u00a0 Obviously weeks have passed since Hoss is healed and we are left with everyone smiling.<\/p>\n

This WHN story is my answer to the question, \u2018Where is Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Never Quote Me the Odds<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seemed he might lose two<\/em> sons today.<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright ran a shaking hand over his stubbled cheeks\u00a0 as he halted in the street outside of Rob Keefer\u2019s office.\u00a0 Beyond the door, through the anteroom, in a small space in the back, Virginia City\u2019s only doctor labored to save his son \u2013 to save Inger\u2019s boy. \u00a0He\u2019d reluctantly left Hoss and Rob a short time before in order to reach the telegraph office before it closed, so that he could let Adam know what had happened to his middle brother.\u00a0 He\u2019d liked to have been able to tell him what had happened to his youngest brother as well.<\/p>\n

Sadly, that story was still unfolding.<\/p>\n

Shortly after they got Hoss to the Doc\u2019s, Roy Coffee had come looking for him.\u00a0 The lawman told him how, earlier, Little Joe had burst into the jail fit to be tied, shouting and threatening to kill the Englishman Thomas Crippen if the law didn\u2019t convict and hang him.\u00a0 Lips pursed, pale blue eyes narrowed, Roy had explained how he\u2019d put a quick stop to what he called the \u2018boy\u2019s nonsense\u2019.\u00a0 Then, a little while later, word had come to him by one of his deputies that Little Joe was at it again.\u00a0 He was drunk as a skunk and stirring up trouble, tryin\u2019 to incite the crowd that had stormed the jail earlier and nearly carried the craven Crippen away to do it again.\u00a0 As his friend, Roy had come to warn him.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t believe it, but if he found out Little Joe was<\/em> doing any such thing, then he\u2019d have no choice but to arrest him.<\/p>\n

Ben drew a steadying breath and let it escape slowly through his nose.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t believe it either.\u00a0 He simply wouldn\u2019t<\/em> believe it.\u00a0 While it was true that Joseph\u2019s love of his brother ran deep as the ocean, it was also true that his love of justice did the same. \u00a0\u00a0Still, there were times when his youngest\u2019s high emotions overran his common sense.\u00a0 Ben frowned as he remembered another night like this.\u00a0 A night when he had feared for Hoss\u2019 life \u2013 and Joe\u2019s as well.\u00a0 The night Joseph had almost killed Red Twilight in cold blood \u2013 would<\/em> have, if not for Adam\u2019s voice of reason in his ear.<\/p>\n

Lord, how he wished Adam was here now!<\/p>\n

Ben glanced up and down the bustling street.\u00a0 He\u2019d asked around after leaving the telegraph office, hoping someone had seen his wayward boy.\u00a0 No one had.\u00a0 That fact troubled him.\u00a0 He found it hard to believe that anything could keep Joseph from his brother\u2019s side at his time of need.\u00a0 According to Doctor Keefer, Hoss\u2019 life hung by a slender thread.\u00a0 He needed to go back inside \u2013 needed to be with Inger\u2019s boy just in case…. \u00a0Ben closed his eyes, calling on that inner reserve of faith that had gotten him through the loss of three wives.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t know if it was enough to see him through the loss of even one of his three sons.<\/p>\n

\u201cMister Cartwright?\u201d a soft voice asked from beside him.<\/p>\n

He turned to find Allie Lou, Doc Keefer\u2019s assistant standing by him.\u00a0 \u00a0With a tip of his hat, Ben acknowledged the pretty blonde.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllie.\u00a0 Is everything all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just heard, Mister Cartwright,\u201d the forthright woman said, a tremble in her voice.\u00a0 \u201cHow is Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben winced with the pain of having to speak the words.\u00a0 \u201cNot good, Allie.\u00a0 Not good at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI came as quickly as I could to assist the doctor.\u201d\u00a0 She looked slightly puzzled. \u00a0\u201cI was afraid, since you were outside….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to send a telegram to Adam, to tell him…well….\u00a0 As to Hoss, he\u2019s holding his own for the moment.\u201d\u00a0 With a sigh, the rancher added softly, \u201cIf you want to know the truth, it\u2019s Joseph I\u2019m the most worried about right now.\u00a0 He\u2019s missing and the boy can be so rash….\u201d<\/p>\n

Allie patted his arm as she offered him a sympathetic smile.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s your<\/em> son, Mister Cartwright.\u00a0 I know Little Joe must be half out of his mind with worry, but he wouldn\u2019t do anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the blonde woman moved toward the doctor\u2019s office, Ben came to a decision.\u00a0 He turned his feet away from Doc Keefer\u2019s and toward the saloon.\u00a0 He found it hard to believe, but the only thing he could think was that the deputy\u2019s report had been right, at least in part.\u00a0 Joseph had<\/em> gone to there to numb himself into accepting Roy\u2019s forced inaction.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to consider the other possibilities \u2013 that Little Joe actually was attempting to raise a lynch mob or \u2013 and this fear was much more real than the first one \u2013 that Marie\u2019s boy had fueled his fire with liquor and done something rash; that Joe was lying somewhere, in an alley or back street, hurt or worse.\u00a0 Rage was Joseph\u2019s balm just as it had been his mother\u2019s.\u00a0 It came and went with the swiftness of a violent storm, most often leaving a glorious sunset in its wake.<\/p>\n

A fact that did nothing <\/em>to lessen the destruction it wrecked before ceasing.<\/p>\n

Drawing a deep breath, Ben stepped onto the boardwalk and went into the saloon.\u00a0 A quick circuit of the main room showed him his youngest was not there.\u00a0 In answer to his rather pointed questions, one of the Bucket\u2019s girls finally confirmed the fact that Joseph had been there earlier, but only stayed a few minutes. \u00a0He\u2019d bought a bottle of whiskey and then disappeared into the night.<\/p>\n

Discouraged, Ben stepped out of the smoke, noise, and chaos, and back onto the boardwalk.\u00a0 Once in the street, he again looked both ways.<\/p>\n

Nothing.<\/p>\n

Joseph had simply vanished.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the shadows of the alley behind the saloon, Little Joe\u2019s bleary green eyes followed his father\u2019s figure as the older man made his way back to Doc Keefer\u2019s office.\u00a0 He watched until, bent and suddenly aged, Ben Cartwright closed the door behind him and his impressive shadow moved behind the window glass, headed for the back room where his middle son lay dying.<\/p>\n

Hoss<\/em> was dying.<\/p>\n

Joe sniffed and ran the back of his coat sleeve across his eyes, striking away tears that turned his skin raw and red. \u00a0He wanted to walk across that street as well, to go into that room and be with his brother, but he couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 He just…<\/p>\n

Couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoward!\u201d Joe snarled, speaking the truth no one else would.\u00a0 \u201cGutless, yellow-bellied coward!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was what he was.\u00a0 He knew it.\u00a0 Deep down he knew he was spineless.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he tried to pretend he was just the opposite \u2013 why he went off like a half-cocked gun, exploding like a bullet from the barrel, ready to take on anything and everything he was afraid of before <\/em>he could remember to be afraid.<\/p>\n

Everything except the one thing he was the most <\/em>afraid of.<\/p>\n

Death.<\/p>\n

Little Joe Cartwright looked again toward the doctor\u2019s office, and then at the bottle in his hand.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t have any courage of his own.<\/p>\n

He was sure as hell<\/em> hoping he would find it in the amber liquid it held.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Roy Coffee sighed as he walked the boardwalk and passed Doc Keefer\u2019s office on his late night rounds.\u00a0 A real battle was ragin\u2019 behind them doors \u2013 one a gun and a badge couldn\u2019t win.\u00a0 He\u2019d been surprised when he\u2019d checked in earlier to find Little Joe was still missin\u2019.\u00a0 There weren\u2019t no two brothers closer on the face of God\u2019s earth than Little Joe and Hoss Cartwright.\u00a0 You might of said them two boys were stitched together at the hip.\u00a0 Hijinks or trouble, when you found one of them, the other was there \u2013 though he had to admit more often than not it was Little Joe what got Hoss into water hot enough to scald them both.\u00a0 There was somethin\u2019 about that youngest boy of Ben\u2019s.\u00a0 He\u2019d never met anyone as able to charm the socks off of a man.<\/p>\n

No, that weren\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

There\u2019d been Joe\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

Roy sighed deeply as he stepped off the boards and headed for the alley behind the saloon.\u00a0 He remembered the day Ben Cartwright had arrived in Eagle Station with his new bride.\u00a0 He\u2019d been a wet behind the ears deputy then, green as they came even though he shoulda know\u2019d better since he was a sight older than most who was learnin\u2019 how to represent the law.\u00a0 He knew who Ben Cartwright was, but they weren\u2019t friends yet.\u00a0 Ben had come to Eagle Station a few years back totin\u2019 two young\u2019uns with him, one of them little more than a weaned pup.\u00a0 He\u2019d heard the man had lost two women before and was surprised he\u2019d found the courage to keep on tryin\u2019.\u00a0 Ben was one of Eagle Station\u2019s most eligible bachelors and soon as that pretty little thing he\u2019d married in New Orleans stepped off the stage, well, them women who\u2019d set their eye on him went green.\u00a0 Rumors started flyin\u2019, includin\u2019 one that Marie de Marigny Cartwright was some kind of voodoo woman and she\u2019d \u00a0bewitched him.<\/p>\n

Roy shook his head.\u00a0 Rumor or not, that last<\/em> part were true.<\/p>\n

As he continued to walk his beat, the lawman chuckled.\u00a0 That Marie….\u00a0 He was pretty sure at first Ben didn\u2019t have a clue what he\u2019d got on his hands.\u00a0 He remembered right well the first time he\u2019d gone out to the house to talk to the rancher after he\u2019d returned.\u00a0 Ben Cartwright had been\u00a0 backin\u2019 out of the kitchen door, his hands raised.<\/p>\n

A second or two later a cook pot near took his horse between the eyes.<\/p>\n

Prouder than a roadrunner with a fresh caught rattler, that was Marie Cartwright.\u00a0 Wilder than a turpentined cat and always kickin\u2019 like a bay steer.\u00a0\u00a0 Roy halted.\u00a0 He shifted a wooden barrel and looked behind it.\u00a0 Satisfied that it was just a ratty old she-cat, he moved on.\u00a0 Truth to tell, Ben\u2019s wife had her quite a temper.\u00a0 Still, she\u2019d tamed a bit when her boy was born.\u00a0 Motherhood suited her.\u00a0 One of the prettiest sights in all of Eagle Station had been that pretty little woman with her sweet face and golden curls, hangin\u2019 on Ben Cartwright\u2019s arm and cradlin\u2019 that curly-headed little youngster against her breast.<\/p>\n

Laughter had gone before them, and joy remained long after they were gone.<\/p>\n

Then came that day.\u00a0 That God awful day when one of the Ponderosa hands came ridin\u2019 into town lathered up as his horse, huntin\u2019 the doctor.\u00a0 He\u2019d been talkin\u2019 to the Doc at the time.\u00a0 The older man \u00a0listened, his head bobbin\u2019 up and down, lettin\u2019 out a \u2018hmm\u2019 here and there and a few \u2018I sees\u2019 as the hand explained what had happened.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take the Doc by surprise.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t taken him by surprise either.\u00a0 The candle that burns the brightest, burns out the quickest.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019d known that about Marie and worried what would happen to Ben when the day came.\u00a0 He dang well suspected it about Little Joe too.\u00a0 The boy was too much like his mama.\u00a0 Roy shook his head.\u00a0 It was a cruel thing and he\u2019d tried to stop it, but there were people in town runnin\u2019 bets on just how long the boy would live, with the odds bein\u2019 he wouldn\u2019t make twenty.<\/p>\n

Shakin\u2019 his head again, Roy Coffee continued his journey into the alley.\u00a0 It was one of them places where he took his time, keepin\u2019 both an ear and an eye out to the long shadows that filled it.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t like shadows much.\u00a0 There was somethin\u2019 unsettlin\u2019 about them.\u00a0 They was kind of like those dark swells on the ocean.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen them as a young man when he\u2019d done some wanderin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Every sailor knew you had to look for what was underneath.<\/p>\n

With two fingers, the older man unhooked the strap on his holster; his hand lingering near the weapon it cradled.\u00a0 No sense in takin\u2019 chances.\u00a0 You never knew \u2013<\/p>\n

Roy halted. \u00a0He\u2019d heard somethin\u2019.\u00a0 Somethin\u2019….\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Some one.<\/em><\/p>\n

They was cryin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Squintin\u2019 into the light that gleamed like the devil\u2019s eyes at the end of the alley, Roy tried to locate whoever it was, was makin\u2019 the sound.\u00a0 They was sobbin\u2019 like their heart done broke.\u00a0 He was still walkin\u2019, still lookin\u2019, when he near took a tumble and ended up flat-out disgraced on the ground.\u00a0 The only thing that stopped him was them rough tan boots.\u00a0 The light done caught on their toes. \u00a0As his eyes adjusted, Roy made out the rest of the feller who was attached to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, Little Joe, what are you doin\u2019 sittin\u2019 here in the dark?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t you be with your Pa and brother?\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy didn\u2019t look up.\u00a0 He was starin\u2019 at his fingers.\u00a0 They was wrapped around the neck of a\u00a0 whiskey bottle.<\/p>\n

A near empty one.<\/p>\n

Kneeling, Roy reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder.\u00a0 It \u2018bout tore him apart to feel how hard the boy was shakin\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe?\u201d he tried again.<\/p>\n

Finally, the boy looked up.\u00a0 Them great big, wide green eyes of his were near black as his pa\u2019s.\u00a0 Tears filled \u2018em, makin\u2019 them gleam like a cougar\u2019s in the dark.\u00a0 Little Joe drew a breath.\u00a0 Two words shuddered out with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI…can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy shifted.\u00a0 He was too old to crouch for long.\u00a0 Comin\u2019 to a quick decision, he shoved aside some filth and sat beside the boy.<\/p>\n

After a minute, he asked, \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just…can\u2019t!\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s fingers clutched the bottle, his knuckles gone white.<\/p>\n

Roy knew what the boy was afraid of \u2013 that he\u2019d tell him he was his friend and he needed to tell him all about it.\u00a0 That he\u2019d force him to face whatever demons had driven him to buy that whiskey.<\/p>\n

Instead he asked, makin\u2019 conversation, \u201cAnythin\u2019 left for me in that bottle?\u201d<\/p>\n

It took a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYou…wanna drink?\u201d Joe asked, slurring his words slightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeems to me you done had enough,\u201d he said quietly, reaching out.\u00a0 \u201cBest you let me finish it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The curly-haired man hesitated and then handed it to him.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s coffin varnish,\u201d he admitted.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t have any money….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCouldn\u2019t afford you a good one, eh?\u201d\u00a0 Roy took a swig and spit it back out.\u00a0 Joe wasn\u2019t kiddin\u2019!\u00a0 Wipin\u2019 the fumes from his whiskers, he demanded, \u201cYou tryin\u2019 to kill yourself, boy?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a pause.\u00a0 Then Joe Cartwright said somethin\u2019 that startled him like he\u2019d stepped on a raw egg.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy bit his lip, scowlin\u2019 not only at the taste of the rotgut that lingered there but at the boy himself.\u00a0 He wanted to tell Little Joe to stop feelin\u2019 sorry for himself and to get up off his hind end and march over to that doctor\u2019s office and go support his pa the way his pa always supported him.<\/p>\n

Somethin\u2019 stopped him.<\/p>\n

Maybe it was that memory of Marie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright returned to the chair beside his son\u2019s bed.\u00a0 He\u2019d been looking out the window of the office, hoping against hope to see his youngest headed his way.\u00a0 He\u2019d been worried what he would say to Hoss if he regained consciousness and found his little brother was not there.\u00a0 Almost as worried as he was about what he<\/em> would say when Joseph did show up.\u00a0 He\u2019d passed from concern to anger to a kind of disbelief while he waited for Dr. Mundy to gather what he needed and prepare to operate on Hoss.\u00a0 Mundy was ready to begin now.<\/p>\n

Now.<\/em><\/p>\n

The rancher closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window frame.\u00a0 If Joseph didn\u2019t show up and his brother died without him being able to say goodbye….<\/p>\n

His youngest had been such a happy child.\u00a0 Prone to fits of passion as much as laughter, it was true, but seldom brooding or sad.\u00a0 It had been his delight to stand outside of the boy\u2019s bedroom and listen to Little Joe and his mother giggle, their joy bubbling over like champagne bubbles suddenly released from a bottle.\u00a0 He and his son had been laughing that day.\u00a0 They\u2019d been sitting on the porch waiting for Marie\u2019s return.\u00a0 He had Joseph on his knee and was bouncing him, pretending the boy was on a runaway horse.<\/p>\n

Ben sucked in air as the image of his beautiful wife riding pell-mell into the yard flashed before his eyes.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t been able to shield the boy.\u00a0 Joseph had watched his mother fall, seen the horse \u2013 all sixteen hundred pounds of it \u2013 crash down on her diminutive frame.\u00a0 The four-year old boy he held heard the single shriek she let out, and \u2013 even worse \u2013 the silence that followed.\u00a0 He\u2019d known Marie was dead before he checked.\u00a0 There was no way she could have survived. \u00a0It was actually a blessing that it had been so quick.\u00a0 She would have suffered so.<\/p>\n

Like her son suffered.<\/p>\n

It was then Little Joe\u2019s nightmares had begun.\u00a0 His son said little about them.\u00a0 Sometimes he stood at the end of his bed as Joseph fought a battle visible only to him, trying to understand.\u00a0 Something pursued him.\u00a0 \u00a0Something Little Joe could not outrun.<\/p>\n

He was sure it was the memory of that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cMister Cartwright?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Allie Lou, just like before.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctor Mundy is operating.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Roy sat beside Little Joe Cartwright, listenin\u2019 to his uneven breathin\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Now that he thought about it, it seemed to him that, maybe \u2013 just maybe<\/em> \u2013the boy did have one of them death wishes people talked about.\u00a0 Little Joe was always takin\u2019 risks, always pushin too hard; runnin\u2019 too fast and flyin\u2019 too high.\u00a0 Or maybe it wasn\u2019t a death wish.<\/p>\n

Maybe it was just a wish that he could outrun death.<\/p>\n

The lawman rolled his eyes over so he was lookin\u2019 at the boy.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s head was back and his eyes were closed.\u00a0 A sheen of sweat covered him like a horse what had been rode too hard. Any minute, if he guessed it right, the boy was gonna be sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinkin\u2019 about your mama,\u201d Roy said, out of the blue.<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s body went rigid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas you thinkin\u2019 about her too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI…\u201d Joe paused.\u00a0 \u201cWhy do you….\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhy in hell<\/em> would…\u201d\u00a0 He swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cWhy would I…be thinkin\u2019 \u2018bout…my ma?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, she\u2019s dead, ain\u2019t she? \u00a0Seems to me right soon Hoss just might be dead too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy\u2019s jaw tightened and his chin jutted out.\u00a0 Those dark green eyes flashed with anger.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you…say that!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you…dare…<\/em>say that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re afraid of bein\u2019 there, ain\u2019t you, Little Joe?\u201d\u00a0 Roy waited a heartbeat before finishing.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re afraid you\u2019re gonna see Hoss die just like you saw your mama die.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a moment Little Joe looked like one of them deer caught in a hunter\u2019s sights.\u00a0 Then the tears came, streamin\u2019 down his face in a flood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI….\u00a0 No!\u00a0 …yes.\u00a0 I…can\u2019t….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what, Little Joe, there\u2019s only one thing I can think of would be worse than bein\u2019 there to see your brother die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe looked so like that little boy Roy remembered, staring up at him through a tangle of brown curls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Roy took hold of the boy\u2019s arm and squeezed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot <\/em>bein\u2019 there.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoss had pulled through with Doctor Mundy\u2019s help.\u00a0 Once the Englishman had decided to operate, his hands had flown like quicksilver, doing what was needed.\u00a0 Along with saving Hoss\u2019 life, it seemed the physician had regained his confidence.\u00a0 When they walked out of the operating room, leaving Allie Lou behind to tend to Hoss\u2019s recovery, the Englishman had spoken to him of resuming his practice before heading over to consult with Doctor Keefer.\u00a0 He\u2019d watched the tall lean man go and then turned back to the window, to see if there was any sign of his missing son.\u00a0 When he got there, fear caused his heart to skip a beat.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t Joe but Roy Coffee who was headed toward the doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

When Roy arrived he asked after Hoss and then, after assuring him that he had no bad news where Little Joe was concerned, went to clean up.\u00a0 The lawman looked the worse for wear and, curiously, smelled of both whiskey and vomit.\u00a0 All Ben could think as he waited for his old friend\u2019s return was that the sheriff had had to rescue some drunk.<\/p>\n

Little did he suspect that drunk would turn out to be his own son.<\/p>\n

Less than ten minutes later he was standing outside of one of Roy\u2019s cells staring down at his wayward child.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s clothing was filthy.\u00a0 The seat of his pants was black with…something. \u00a0His green coat was ruined.\u00a0 His hair \u2013 it was getting too long again \u2013 was a snarled mess of dark curls matted with debris and God alone knew what else.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be too hard on him, Ben,\u201d the lawman said.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe\u2019s bein\u2019 hard enough on himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d he countered, his fingers gripping the bars.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph\u2019s brother could have died and he went out and got himself drunk!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow hold your horses.\u00a0 Little Joe didn\u2019t get<\/em> himself drunk, Ben.\u00a0 He just sorta ended up that way, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben glared at him.\u00a0 Those black eyes, he swore, they could melt steel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just exactly what does that<\/em> mean!?\u201d the rancher demanded.<\/p>\n

Roy hesitated, then said it anyway \u2013 softly, not with a big stick.\u00a0 \u201cSort of like how you just ended up ridin\u2019 off and leavin\u2019 all your responsibilities behind, includin\u2019 those boys, when Marie died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben flinched. \u00a0\u201cThis has nothing to do with Marie\u2019s death!\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNow, Ben, I always figured you as a sight smarter man than I am.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you see?\u00a0 It\u2019s got everythin\u2019<\/em> to do with Marie\u2019s dyin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

His friend looked puzzled.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s eyes shot to Little Joe, layin\u2019 all curled up like that little lost boy he still was, and then back to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand….\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy rocked back on his heels.\u00a0 \u201cWell, let\u2019s say you saw somethin\u2019 once that was the worst thing you could ever see, or at least you thought it was, and then there it was starin\u2019 you in the face again like a rattler waitin\u2019 to strike.\u00a0 As I see it, a man\u2019s got two choices when trouble comes callin\u2019.\u00a0 You face it or you run.\u00a0 Neither choice is right or wrong.\u00a0 They\u2019re just choices.\u201d\u00a0 The lawman pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cSeems to me you<\/em> chose that second one once upon a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The look out of Ben\u2019s eyes softened.\u00a0\u00a0 The rancher closed them briefly and then reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Roy,\u201d he said, his voice near breakin\u2019.\u00a0 \u201cThank you for being there for my boy when I couldn\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy shrugged. \u201cShucks, Ben, I didn\u2019t do nothin\u2019. The boy\u2019d already come around to the fact that he had to face his fears.\u201d\u00a0 The lawman chuckled. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s just a shame it was after a full bottle of the most gosh-darned awful corn squeezin\u2019s I ever tasted!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben sniffed and frowned.\u00a0 \u201cI take it Little Joe got sick?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

His friend nodded.\u00a0 \u201cGood.\u00a0 Maybe it will make him think twice about doing the same thing the next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sound brought their attention back to the young man in question.\u00a0 Joe was sitting up and he was about as green as his eyes.\u00a0 Little Joe was starin\u2019 at his father like he was lookin\u2019 at a hangman\u2019s noose.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa….\u201d<\/p>\n

Before he could say any more, Roy stepped in.\u00a0 \u201cI told your Pa how I found you layin\u2019 in that alley sick as a dog. \u00a0Next time you stop by the Bucket of Blood, Little Joe, you be sure to tell them to feed you somethin\u2019 from the counter instead of the privy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe looked at him confused. \u00a0Then his eyes filled with tears and gratitude.\u00a0 A moment later he asked, \u201cHoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou brother looks better than you do,\u201d Ben said, his tone stern.\u00a0 \u201cWhat have I told you about drinking too much, young man?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s energetic eyebrows did a dance. \u201c…not to?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere ain\u2019t no charges, Ben.\u00a0 Seems to me the boy\u2019s been punished enough,\u201d Roy said as he stepped aside to let the rancher into the cell.\u00a0 \u201cLooks to me like he\u2019s been beat like a rug and hung out to air.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, Joe.\u00a0 Your brother will be asking for both of us,\u201d Ben said as he helped Little Joe to his feet.\u00a0\u00a0 As the older man put a hand around his son\u2019s waist, he added, sniffing again, \u201cHowever, before you see Hoss I think a bath might be in order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe caught his father\u2019s wrist.\u00a0 They was always touchin\u2019 them too, like they had to make sure the other one was real.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Pa. \u00a0I should have…been there.\u00a0 I….\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s eyes shot to him and then returned to his son.\u00a0 \u201cWe all make choices, some of them better than others.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve learned something, then it was worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the pair brushed past him, Joe\u2019s hand shot out, gripping his sleeve briefly.\u00a0 It shone out of his eyes, what that boy had learned about himself, about those who loved him, and most of all about that thing that made him run too hard and ride too fast and fly too high.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t runnin\u2019 from <\/em>somethin\u2019 after all, but toward<\/em> it.<\/p>\n

Next time he caught them people gamblin\u2019 on Little Joe\u2019s chances of dyin\u2019 before he was twenty, he was gonna place a bet.\u00a0 Odds were, he\u2019d come out with more money than one of them cattle barons or mine owners.<\/p>\n

He was gonna place his money on ninety-five.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Drunk,\u00a0ESJ,\u00a0Family,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright,\u00a0Marie Cartwright,\u00a0Roy Coffee<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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

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

Summary: Ben Cartwright had thought the worst thing that could happen was that his son, Hoss, was shot in back by mistake.\u00a0 But like the other time Hoss was shot – by Red Twilight – Little Joe was in danger too.\u00a0 His brother could be dying and Joe is nowhere in sight.\u00a0 \u00a0What’s going on?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rated PG – references to drunkeness<\/p>\n

Word Count – 4406<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10058,"featured_media":30512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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":""},"categories":[23,61,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-missing-scene","category-whn","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-61-id","wpcat-13-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":3296,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/img20170618_21305786-scaled.jpg?fit=2020%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28365,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=28365","url_meta":{"origin":15922,"position":0},"title":"Being Hoss (by AC1830)","author":"AC1830","date":"April 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary - In a brotherly moment Little Joe receives some wisdom from his middle brother. 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