Summary: A Tiny WHN for “A House Divided”\u00a0 Surely, the brothers had more to say to one another than what we heard at the lake.\u00a0 Perhaps just three little words?<\/p>\n
Rating: K<\/p>\n
Word Count: 705<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Three Little Words<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTell me one thing, Joe,\u201d Adam requested as they rode away from the lake that had held his fixed gaze for so many thoughtful hours.\u00a0 \u201cDid Pa send you after me?\u201d<\/p>\n For a moment Little Joe looked offended.\u00a0 Then his countenance cleared and he said simply, \u201cNope . . . my idea.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam smiled, pleased.\u00a0 Just three little words, but they conveyed more of what he needed to hear than that whole blathering speech Joe had made at the lake, some nonsense about not being able to stay up late setting poorly with him if his older brother was leaving home.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s smile took on a wry quality as he asked, \u201cJust in the mood for a moonlight ride, hmm?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe grinned back at him.\u00a0 \u201cSomething like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cSince when are you given to laconic speech?\u201d\u00a0 The blathering at the lake was more like Joe\u2019s normal rambling way with words.<\/p>\n \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou must have talked yourself out at the lake,\u201d Adam amplified, \u201cbut if all I\u2019m going to get out of you all the way home is three-word replies, I do hope they will include the three words dearest to a big brother\u2019s heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe looked genuinely confused.\u00a0 After a moment\u2019s thought he cocked his head and hesitantly suggested, \u201cI love you?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam couldn\u2019t hold back the surprised laughter that came rippling up his throat.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m gratified,\u201d he said when he regained control, \u201calthough that did sound more like a question than a statement.\u00a0 I thought you reserved that sort of sentiment for things in frilly skirts and pink hair ribbons.\u00a0 I scarcely qualify.\u201d<\/p>\n Not sure whether to wince or grin, Little Joe shrugged, instead.\u00a0 \u201cWrong three words?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot the ones I had in mind,\u201d Adam conceded.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat three words?\u201d Joe demanded.\u00a0 \u201cBothersome big brother\u201d were the three that came to mind, but he\u2019d lay odds those weren\u2019t the ones in Adam\u2019s head!<\/p>\n \u201cAh, the words guaranteed to warm any big brother\u2019s heart,\u201d Adam said, dramatically placing his palm above the organ he\u2019d mentioned.\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Adam, you were right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Joe gave him a sour smile and said pointedly, \u201cThat\u2019s four words.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNames don\u2019t count,\u201d Adam stated, adding with poetic flair, \u201c\u2018What\u2019s in a name? \u00a0That which we call a rose by any other name would\u2014\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eloquent groan cut him off.\u00a0 \u201cPlease, no Shakespeare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, no Shakespeare,\u201d Adam agreed with a conciliatory chuckle.\u00a0 The last thing he wanted was to stir up more friction with his younger brother.<\/p>\n They rode along in silence for a while.\u00a0 Then Little Joe said softly, \u201cYou were right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0 It took Adam a moment to make the connection; then he said gently, \u201cJoe, I was teasing.\u00a0 You don\u2019t really have to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, but . . .\u201d\u00a0 Joe thoughtfully bit his lower lip and went on.\u00a0 \u201cYou were right, Adam . . . about Kyle.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t who I thought he was at all.\u201d<\/p>\n In the darkness Adam couldn\u2019t see the pain in his brother\u2019s eyes, but he could hear the disillusionment in his voice.\u00a0 \u201cNo, he wasn\u2019t,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m glad you realized that in time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad, too.\u201d\u00a0 Embarrassed by the emotion choking in his throat, Little Joe switched subjects with lightning speed.\u00a0 \u201cHey, Adam, I got three more words for you.\u201d\u00a0 He waited until Adam\u2019s eyes were fixed quizzically on his face, and then he said with a puckish grin, \u201cPink hair ribbons\u2014I think you\u2019d look mighty fetchin\u2019 in \u2018em.\u201d\u00a0 Kicking his heels against Cochise\u2019s flank, he took off.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d look better on you, you little imp!\u201d Adam yelled, but he refused to give chase.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t about to race his brother down a dark forest trail, and he knew that if he didn\u2019t follow, Joe would soon return.\u00a0 Keeping Sport to an easy walk, he whispered the three little words he probably wouldn\u2019t be able to say when his brother came back: \u201cI love you, too, kid.\u201d\u00a0 The extra words didn\u2019t count; only the love did, and love would bring them home.\u00a0 Going home together\u2014the best three words of all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The End<\/p>\n \u00a9 March, 2007<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0JAM,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: A Tiny WHN for “A House Divided”\u00a0 Surely, the brothers had more to say to one another than what we heard at the lake.\u00a0 Perhaps just three little words?<\/p>\n Rating: K<\/p>\n Word Count: 705<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":18247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whn","wpcat-13-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/3littlewords.jpg?fit=312%2C162&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}