Summary:\u00a0 This was written for Michael Landon’s 83rd birthday.\u00a0 He may be gone, but he will never be forgotten!\u00a0 Joe and Hoss have a discussion.<\/p>\n
Word count: 1216<\/p>\n
Rated: G<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Little Bit of Heaven<\/strong><\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright halted at the top of the rise.\u00a0 He pulled his tan hat off of his head and ran a hand through his chestnut curls, shoving them off his forehead, before replacing the hat at a jaunty angle.\u00a0 With his eyes squinted against the late October sun, he started down the hill.\u00a0 He\u2019d noted middle brother sitting on the top rail of a section of weathered fence at the bottom of it.<\/p>\n The way the rail was bowed, it kind of looked like the fence was frowning.<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d the curly-haired man shouted.\u00a0 When Hoss made no reply, he tried again.\u00a0 \u201cHey, you big galoot!\u00a0 You sure know how to wear a feller out. \u00a0Seems like I walked most of the day looking for you.\u201d\u00a0 When his brother still <\/em>failed to respond, Joe grew concerned.\u00a0 \u201cHey, Hoss!\u201d he called again as he came near the fence.\u00a0 \u201cYou okay?\u201d<\/p>\n The wind must have shifted or something.\u00a0 At least, this time Hoss heard him.\u00a0 His brother turned and looked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Little Joe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Joe was at the fence by this time.\u00a0 He leaned against it and studied his brother.\u00a0 Hoss didn\u2019t look like Hoss.\u00a0 He looked like Adam \u2013 all serious and sober.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Joe asked.<\/p>\n The big man pursed his lips, drew in a breath, and then let it out slowly.\u00a0 \u201cNothin\u2019,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI just been thinkin\u2019, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe climbed onto the fence rail and parked his bottom on it, careful to do so on the opposite side of the post.\u00a0 He looked out the way Hoss had been looking.\u00a0 What he saw what he always<\/em> saw \u2013 a breathtaking landscape of towering pines cast against the brown branches of lesser trees, with tall white-capped mountain peaks behind.\u00a0 The grassy lawn that lay before them was covered in pinecones and nettles, and dotted here and there with crimson and golden leaves.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou ever think about Heaven, Little Joe?\u201d Hoss asked as shifted his perch on the rail.<\/p>\n Joe wrinkled his nose.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhatever got you to thinking about that?\u201d<\/p>\n His brother shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cAin\u2019t sure.\u00a0 Maybe the time of year, what with everythin\u2019 dyin\u2019, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe reached out and punched his brother.\u00a0 \u201cYou and me aren\u2019t.\u00a0 At least, I\u2019m not anytime soon.\u201d\u00a0 He paused, suddenly concerned.\u00a0 \u201cYou ain\u2019t planning on it, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Jo-seph, a man don\u2019t have to be plannin\u2019 <\/em>on dyin\u2019 to consider what Heaven\u2019s like.\u201d<\/p>\n He frowned and then shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI guess you got a point.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, what do you think it\u2019s like?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss rolled his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cHeaven!\u201d<\/p>\n He hadn\u2019t really given it a lot of thought.\u00a0 Dying and moving on wasn\u2019t really one of his favorite subjects.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, the preacher says there\u2019s lots of clouds and harps.\u00a0 You know, all kinds of people playing harps and singing all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cThe Good Book says there ain\u2019t no tears in Heaven and everythin\u2019 there is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen there must not be any harps.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother looked at him sideways.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m serious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo am I!.\u201d\u00a0 Joe snorted.\u00a0 \u201cI hate harp music!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss shook his head as he slipped off the rail.\u00a0 He took a few steps and stopped, looking out over the field before them. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou know, Joe, I can\u2019t think of anythin\u2019 prettier than what I got right here.\u00a0 You s\u2019pose Heaven looks like the Ponderosa?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe had held on as Hoss dismounted, sure the \u2018reaction\u2019 to that \u2018action\u2019 would knock him right off.\u00a0\u00a0 When it didn\u2019t, he let out a little sigh and jumped down on his own.\u00a0 Walking to his giant of a brother\u2019s side, he looked up at him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re really serious, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss rammed his hands into his pockets.\u00a0 \u201cSure am.\u201d<\/p>\n The sun was setting.\u00a0 It hung like a ball of fire behind the mountain peaks, casting them into silhouette.\u00a0 As he stood there, watching the daily miracle, Joe considered what it might be like to see it from the other side.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mama\u2019s in Heaven,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 My mama is too.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss\u2019s lips curled in a bit of a smile.\u00a0 \u201cYou think they\u2019re sittin\u2019 on one of them there clouds together?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe looked up.\u00a0 \u201cI think so.\u00a0 I feel Mama sometimes, looking down at me.\u00a0 I\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope she\u2019s proud.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother turned toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cI know she is, Little Joe.\u00a0 She\u2019s right proud.\u00a0 You\u2019re a good man.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe blushed the color of the waning sun.\u00a0 \u201cAh, cut it out\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it\u2019s true.\u00a0 I done been watchin\u2019 you grow up for more than twenty years now and I know what you are.\u201d<\/p>\n The curly-haired man swallowed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd what am I?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I ain\u2019t gonna say you don\u2019t have your faults.\u00a0 You got yourself one heck of a temper.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you do tend to fly off the handle quick as a rattler on a spit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow, wait <\/em>a minute\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, well, little brother, you sure enough know how to get out of work when you\u2019ve a mind to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you said I was a good \u2018man\u2019!\u00a0 You make me sound like a kid!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss lifted his hand.\u00a0 \u201cYou are a kid, Joe.\u00a0 You\u2019ll always be a kid to me, but you\u2019re more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe had his arms crossed. \u00a0He was tapping his toe. \u00a0\u201cYeah?\u00a0 What more?!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou got yourself a heart big as the Nevada territory, and that\u2019s not an easy thing for a man to have.\u00a0 You feel things deeply, Jo-seph.\u00a0 Just about as deep as those mountain shadows comin\u2019 our way.\u00a0 There\u2019s times I worry that deep feelin\u2019s gonna swallow you whole, but it\u2019s who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n His toe had stopped, but he was still frowning.\u00a0 \u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t stand for no nonsense.\u00a0 A man better be what he says or you\u2019ll do somethin\u2019 about it.\u00a0 You got yourself what some call \u2018a high sense of justice\u2019.\u00a0 You don\u2019t abide no wrongs and won\u2019t let \u2018em stand.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss smiled.\u00a0 \u201cGuess that explains why I spend most of my days haulin\u2019 your skinny little hiney out of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy hiney isn\u2019t skinny!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss laughed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd last of all, Little Joe\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLast of all, you\u2019re determined.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t nothin\u2019 or no one gonna stop you once you made up your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about handsome?\u201d he groused.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t say anything about my devilish good looks.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss let out a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s on account of I ain\u2019t<\/em> two things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat <\/em>two things?\u201d<\/p>\n He cuffed him on the head.\u00a0 \u201cA woman \u2013 and blind!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d<\/p>\n Middle brother cast one last look at the darkening sky and said, \u201cLooks like the day\u2019s about done.\u00a0 It\u2019s high time you and me got home.\u00a0 Hop Sing ain\u2019t gonna hold supper and I\u2019m mighty hungry!\u201d<\/p>\n As Hoss walked past him and started up the hill, Joe called out.\u00a0 \u201cHey.\u00a0 I just realized something.\u00a0 You and I were talking about Heaven.\u00a0 How\u2019d we ended up talking about me?\u201d<\/p>\n The \u00a0sun\u2019s dying rays struck his brother\u2019s broad form as he turned back to look at him.\u00a0 He was smiling.<\/p>\n \u201cI forgot to mention one other thing you ain\u2019t, little brother, and that\u2019s too bright.\u00a0 You and Heaven.\u00a0 Seems to me, Jo-seph, they\u2019re one and the same.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags: brothers, Family, Hoss Cartwright, Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n