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The House Jack built<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n Little Joe poked his left boot into the snow, murmuring: \u201cThere must be ashes, a lot of ashes. Last week the old cabin burned down by lightning.\u201d The boy looked around, grabbed a broken branch and poked more intensely, but he only dug out more and more pristine white snow.<\/p>\n \u201cHey Shortshanks, what-cha doing?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe turned, startled from his brother\u2019s voice. \u201cI, I, I\u2019m searching for something.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss put back his head than looked around. \u201cI remember this place; there was an old cabin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, six months ago I found this place. It was when I was so angry with Miss Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYa were angry with her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOr maybe she was, with me. But it wasn\u2019t me. She didn\u2019t believe me and gave me that note for Pa. And I knew\u2026guessed he wouldn\u2019t believe me, too, that I hadn\u2019t broken the windowpane of the new schoolhouse during recess. So, I rode through the forest a while, and then found the small house at the clearing. It seemed abandoned, the door was open and so I went in. The furniture was old, but not very dusty and it didn\u2019t smell moldy. The air was fresh and I liked it inside, so I sat down on the rocker.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI remember that rocker.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shot a puzzled glare to his older brother but continued, \u201cAfter a while I knew how I could tell Pa all about the window, and yes, in the end he believed me.<\/p>\n \u201cLast week I came back here but the house was burned down and then I remembered the thunderstorm. It had to be a lightening stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss looked confused, \u201cJoe, that lightening stroke must have been more than six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s nonsense, Hoss, I was in this little house last summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss lifted his hat and scratched the back of his head. \u201cJoe, it\u2019s mysterious. And there is something else: I hadn\u2019t thought about this house for ages, but in the morning I had the strong feeling I had ta come to this place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou had? Me, too, Hoss.\u201c The boy\u2019s eyes grew wide in disbelieve and narrowed then. \u201cIt was like an order\u2026or maybe more an urgent invitation.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded.<\/p>\n At that moment a familiar black form with a yellow jacket approached with long strides. \u201cWhat are you doing at this place, younger brothers? Did you know there used to be a cabin here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure, we knew it,\u201d Hoss and Joe answered in unison.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impossible. You couldn\u2019t; it burned down more than twelve years ago, a short time after your birth, Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I do!\u201d Hoss insisted vehemently. \u201cI found shelter here when I came in a rain storm almost six years ago. The door was open, I went in, and in the fire place there was a stack of logs\u2014and even matches lay on the mantel. First I hesitated, but then I thought, when the owner returns he might be happy if the fire was just burning and the cabin was warm. In the shine of the fire I was aware that the house must be left. I sat in the rocker\u2026and I thought a lot\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbout what, younger brother? Six years ago you must have been twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbout you and me and Joe. And Pa and Ma. You\u2019d just left for Boston, and I had to come to terms with it.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s face showed his discomfort, \u201cSorry, Hoss. I knew it was hard for you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was alright, Adam. I felt it before, but after the time here in the house – I thought I was in here for hours and wondered if Pa would be angry, but when I returned he hadn\u2019t even realized I was missing. I knew then it was right for you and also for me. And I enjoyed my new life as the oldest. But then ya came back\u2026\u201d Hoss boxed Adam lightly into the ribs, \u201cand now I\u2019m a poor middle boy again.\u201d Hoss grinned until the snowball from his older brother\u2019s hand hit him unexpectedly.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, you wait, Adam,\u201d Hoss grabbed for snow.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Adam,\u201d Little Joe piped up, letting drop the snow from his hands and deciding it wouldn\u2019t be wise to interfere in a snowball fight of his older brothers, because he would be the one who ended up with snow in his collar. \u201cWhy are you here? Did you, too, have the feeling you had to come?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I had.\u201d Adam turned abruptly to Joe, and Hoss threw the snowball in his hand against a tree.<\/p>\n \u201cS\u2019mething\u2019s very strange here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I saw the house Adam, I was in it. Were you in the old cabin, too; was there a rocker?\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cI was in it, and yes there was a rocker. It was just before your birth, Joe. I was very angry in that time, and lonely,\u201d Adam\u2019s voice became a whisper. \u201cI was about to run away.\u201d Then he turned away from his brothers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat had happened?\u201d Joe gazed the back of his oldest brother in disbelief.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a foolish boy then, nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss stood behind Adam and squeezed his shoulder, \u201cPlease, tell us, Adam. I remember how unhappy you were but didn’t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded slowly, and then faced Little Joe. \u201cIt\u2019s maybe unbelievable for you, Joe, but back then I had big difficulties with your mother\u2026and with Pa. It seemed for me they were happier without me and my memories about my mother\u2026I mean your mother, Hoss. So I ran away. But I knew I couldn\u2019t survive in the wilderness without a shelter\u2026so I thought I could live here in the cabin. I had found it a short time ago. So I came here. I used an indirect way and thought I had my traces well hidden. But when I awake the next morning Pa sat in the rocker, and you know what I thought would happen. But Pa only smiled. Then we talked a long time about Mama Inger, how we met her and what a great time we had together as a family, and then Pa told me that we could be a family again and eventually I could believe him. And we were, Joe\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Arriving hoof beats made the Cartwright boys looking around.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Pa, we are here,\u201d Little Joe cried in the direction of the arriving person.<\/p>\n \u201cBoys, what are you doing here, where the house Jack built used to stand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all felt an urge to come here, and my younger brothers seem to know the cabin. They could even describe the furniture, Pa. But that can\u2019t be, since the cabin burned down a few months after Joe\u2019s birth, didn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Adam, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, do you remember Jack? How about you, Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n Both shook their head.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was our second year here, he was not too big, with long wavy hair, and he was with us in our old cabin at Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh yes, now I remember him. For me he was friendly and kind of peaceful,\u201d Adam said.<\/p>\n \u201cI met him in Eagle Station,\u201d Ben Cartwright declared. \u201cHe was broken down, and I helped him, like others had helped me. And so I bought a claim next to mine for him, and he built a small house. Later he left with a new wife for San Francisco, and gave me back that claim. I would have paid for it, but he said he was still deep in my debt. And someday he would pay me back.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe, Adam, and Hoss looked at each other. \u201cMaybe he did,\u201d Adam mumbled. \u201cDon\u2019t know how, but it seemed he helped each of us\u2026\u201d His brothers nodded, then Hoss\u2019s gaze focused on a small fir.<\/p>\n \u201cPa, in the first place I was out for a Christmas tree. Look at this beautiful fir. It\u2019s smaller than we normally use in the big hall, but it\u2019s so well grown and pretty\u201d, Hoss said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are right. It seems perfect, son.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt has the size of the Christmas trees, we had in our old cabin, Pa,\u201d Adam whispered to his father. \u201cAnd it has grown at the space, where the old rocker in the cabin stood.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben nodded. \u201cDon\u2019t chop it down, Hoss, dig it up. We can keep it in a tub over Christmas and plant it in front of the house next spring.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Pa\u201d, all three sons chorused, and each Cartwright had the feeling they would bring an old friend to the ranch house.<\/p>\n
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