Summary:\u00a0 It is spring, and the winter has passed. Five-year-old Little Joe wanders off to find his mama who died a couple of months earlier. This is about the incident that is referenced by Ben to Little Joe in the episode “Between Heaven And Earth” written by Ed Adamson.<\/p>\n
Rating G<\/p>\n
Word Count: 3,184<\/p>\n
“Eagle’s Nest”<\/strong><\/p>\n Papa said it was spring, and winter was finally over.\u00a0 Mama\u2019s pots of flowers were blooming along with her rose tree.\u00a0 But Mama was not around to water them.\u00a0 Papa said Mama was in Heaven enjoying the flowers up there.\u00a0 Staring at Mama\u2019s beautiful flowers five-year-old Little Joe wished she was still here with him.\u00a0 If only he could see her again, and talk to her.\u00a0 He wished that he could reach Heaven so that they could play together again, and she could read him another bedtime story.<\/p>\n Little Joe turned and walked across the yard to the barn.\u00a0 He noticed his older brothers had already started cleaning the stalls.\u00a0 It was morning and they had all finished eating breakfast a little while ago.\u00a0 Little Joe remembered he had asked if the mountains reach Heaven, and Hoss had said that they came pretty near close.\u00a0 Adam asked him why he wanted to know and Little Joe said that he was just wondering.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t tell them that he was thinking about climbing a mountain so that he could reach Heaven and see Mama again.<\/p>\n Stepping into the barn, Little Joe watched as 17-year-old Adam, with a pitch fork in his hands, scooped hay into the nearest stall.\u00a0 Meanwhile, 11-year-old Hoss talked to one of the horses like he was trying to calm it.\u00a0 It neighed at him as if it was talking back to him.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish Mama was still here,\u201d Little Joe said to Adam.<\/p>\n Adam replied without looking, \u201cWe all do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer flowers are blooming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s not here to water them.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe watched his oldest brother continue to scoop up the hay and place it down in the stall.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I could see her again,\u201d Little Joe added.<\/p>\n Adam stopped with sadness showing in his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cListen, little buddy, we\u2019re pretty busy out here.\u00a0 Go back in the house and see if Hop Sing needs help with something.\u201d<\/p>\n For a few moments Little Joe stared at him in silence.\u00a0 He really didn\u2019t want to go back inside the house.<\/p>\n Adam laid down some more hay.\u00a0 \u201cGo!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe turned and hurried out of the barn.\u00a0 He stood in the middle of the yard and decided he didn\u2019t want to go back into the house.\u00a0 He gazed back over at Mama\u2019s flowers.\u00a0 No, Little Joe decided, he wanted to see Mama again.\u00a0 Looking up at the sky, now covered by clouds, he wondered if the mountains were tall enough to poke through those clouds and reach Heaven.\u00a0 He thought about a rocky mountain that stood beside the road that led to Virginia City.\u00a0 He remembered something about Papa saying that eagles sometimes had a nest there.\u00a0 He turned and walked down the road that led out of the yard.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Little Joe walked fast along the road that led to Virginia City.\u00a0 Through the pine trees he sometimes glimpsed the rocky mountain reaching up into the clouds.\u00a0 Next, he heard the sounds of a horse\u2019s hooves coming up the road behind him.\u00a0 Little Joe glanced back over his shoulder to see a single rider galloping his horse along.\u00a0 The rider was a young man who he didn\u2019t recognize.\u00a0 Little Joe kept walking fast.\u00a0 Shortly the rider passed by and tipped his hat at Little Joe.\u00a0 He watched as the stranger continued down the road toward Virginia City.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Adam and Hoss gazed out of the barn as a light rain started.\u00a0 They had just finished laying fresh hay in all of the stalls.<\/p>\n \u201cMore spring rain!\u201d\u00a0 Hoss exclaimed.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah\u201d.\u00a0 Adam looked over at the house as he wondered what Little Joe might be up to.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s hurry into the house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n They both dashed across the yard and into the house.\u00a0 Adam glanced around the front room for any sign of Little Joe but he did not see him.\u00a0 Where was he?<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe!\u201d \u00a0Adam called out.\u00a0 \u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n No one answered.\u00a0 Then Hop Sing walked in from the kitchen.<\/p>\n \u201cHave you seen Little Joe?\u201d\u00a0 Adam asked Hop Sing.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t hear him come into house,\u201d Hop Sing replied.\u00a0 \u201cThe last I saw him I looked out window and saw him walking to barn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI told him to go back into the house.\u201d<\/p>\n Where had his youngest brother gone?\u00a0 Adam always felt very responsible for both his brothers.\u00a0 Their mothers were both gone now just like his own was.\u00a0 He\u2019d felt accountable from the moment Hoss\u2019 mother had put her baby into his arms.\u00a0 He watched her die in Pa\u2019s arms just a few minutes later.\u00a0 He had also witnessed Little Joe\u2019s mother fall from her horse as she rode very fast into the yard like she\u2019d always done.\u00a0 She died later that night.\u00a0 That was about a couple of months ago.<\/p>\n Ever since Mama had died, Little Joe had talked about her seemingly nonstop.\u00a0 Adam sensed that both of his brothers missed Marie, who Adam had come to know as Mama.\u00a0 She was the only mother that his brothers had ever known.\u00a0 There were times when he noticed them brooding in silence, like they were thinking about her.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to find him!\u201d\u00a0 Hoss exclaimed as worry showed in his big blue eyes.<\/p>\n Adam felt himself jerked back to the present.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s look around inside the house first.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam and Hoss looked in all the rooms, both upstairs and downstairs.\u00a0 They searched in every closet, cabinet and under every bed.\u00a0 But they could not find Little Joe.\u00a0 They even searched around inside the barn and the bunkhouse.\u00a0 They called out his name over and over again everywhere they looked.\u00a0 Adam and Hoss still found no sign of their little brother.<\/p>\n Adam started to feel dread as the rain continued.\u00a0 He realized that Little Joe must have wandered off, to only God knew where, and the rain was washing away any tracks that Little Joe may have made.<\/p>\n \u201cHe couldn\u2019t have gone far,\u201d Hoss said, as if to comfort Adam.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe\u2019s just a little kid.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry, Adam.\u00a0 We\u2019ll find him.\u201d\u00a0 Yet the worry was still in his eyes.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Little Joe sat in the shelter of a boulder at the foot of the rocky mountain.\u00a0 He had just reached the mountain when it had started to rain.\u00a0 He shivered, watching the rain slowly come to a stop.\u00a0 After several minutes he peeked up from under the rock to see a few patches of blue sky between the dark clouds.\u00a0 He waited a while longer before he stepped out and started to climb up the mountain.<\/p>\n \u201cMama!\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe called as he climbed.\u00a0 \u201cMama!\u201d<\/p>\n But she did not answer.\u00a0 His voice echoed around him and off into the distance when he called.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Hoss stared at the gravestone on Mama\u2019s grave; feeling tears in his eyes.\u00a0 Her grave was on a ridge which overlooked Lake Tahoe.\u00a0 He noticed that some white starflowers had started to bloom nearby.\u00a0 He knew that Mama would like that.\u00a0 If only she could be there to see it was spring and the wildflowers had started to bloom.<\/p>\n After it had stopped raining, Hoss and Adam had ridden their horses over there hoping they would find Little Joe.\u00a0 But they still had not found him.\u00a0 He had to be somewhere.\u00a0 Where could he have gone?<\/p>\n Hoss thought about how he still missed Mama.\u00a0 She was the only mother that he had ever known.\u00a0 He never knew his own mother just like Adam had never known his own mother.\u00a0 Hoss was glad that Little Joe had gotten to know his own mother; at least for a few years.\u00a0 Now his little brother was missing.<\/p>\n \u201cI was hoping we would find our little brother here, or on the way here.\u201d\u00a0 Adam looked around.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Adam,\u201d Hoss replied.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll find him.\u201d\u00a0 He really wanted to believe that.<\/p>\n \u201cI know you keep saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut, I just know we will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t look forward to telling Pa that we\u2019ve lost him.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n \u201cMama!\u00a0 Mama!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe continued to call out to Mama as he climbed ever upwards.\u00a0 But his calls only echoed, and she still did not reply.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t she hear him?\u00a0 Why didn\u2019t she answer?<\/p>\n \u201cMama!\u00a0 Mama!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe started to feel scared as he saw how far up he was.\u00a0 The top of the mountain was almost in the clouds.\u00a0 But Heaven had to be right in the clouds, right?\u00a0 Or right above them?<\/p>\n \u201cMama!\u00a0 Mama!\u201d<\/p>\n Mama still did not answer.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Adam and Hoss rode their horses along the fence line, until they spotted Pa and some ranch hands working on a section of the fence.\u00a0 Adam noticed that they appeared to be wet as if they had been caught in the earlier rain.\u00a0 He took a deep breath as they rode over to their pa.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you boys doing here?\u201d\u00a0 Pa looked up.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you have work to do?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam swallowed hard and answered, \u201cPa, we\u2019ve lost Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean you\u2019ve lost Little Joe?\u201d\u00a0 Pa\u2019s face darkened, as if from growing fear and worry.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss and I were working in the barn.\u00a0 Little Joe came out there and I told him to go back into the house.\u00a0 That\u2019s the last time we saw him.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked all over for him and we couldn\u2019t find him.\u00a0 We even went out to Mama\u2019s grave and he wasn\u2019t there either.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you boys have an argument or something?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you last see him before or after the rain?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was before the rain.\u00a0 It was raining when we discovered he wasn\u2019t in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just a little boy.\u201d\u00a0 Pa looked around.\u00a0 \u201cWhere on earth could he have gone?\u201d\u00a0 His dark eyes started to show tears.<\/p>\n Hoss replied, \u201cWe\u2019ll find him, Pa.\u00a0 I know we will.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sensed that Hoss wasn\u2019t really that sure.\u00a0 His blue eyes were already shiny; as if with tears.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n \u201cMama!\u00a0 Mama!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe sat leaning against a rock near the top of the mountain.\u00a0 From time to time he called for Mama.\u00a0 His calls still echoed and Mama still did not answer.\u00a0 He felt very scared when he looked down and saw how far away the ground was.\u00a0 He shook every time he thought about climbing back down.<\/p>\n It started to become dark and Little Joe knew he had missed both lunch and dinner.\u00a0 His tummy had already started to growl.\u00a0 Did his papa and brothers wonder where he was?\u00a0 Was he in trouble?<\/p>\n Little Joe started to cry.\u00a0 He wished he had told his brothers or Hop Sing where he was going.\u00a0 Now no one would ever find him, and Mama still hadn\u2019t answered his calls.<\/p>\n \u201cMama!\u00a0 Mama!\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n It was already nighttime as Adam stared up into the sky.\u00a0 The clouds had cleared away to reveal the hundreds of stars that covered the sky; almost like silver dust in a man\u2019s hands.\u00a0 He remembered when he was about four-years-old, he started asking Pa about his mother.\u00a0 Pa told him that she had died after he was born and that she was in Heaven, always watching over him.\u00a0 Pa told him the same thing after Inger, Hoss\u2019 mother, had died.\u00a0 She was watching over him and Hoss.\u00a0 Now Marie was gone too.\u00a0 Adam thought about her watching over her little boy and his big brothers.\u00a0 Was she looking down from Heaven and seeing where Little Joe was right now?\u00a0 Where had he wandered off to?<\/p>\n Hundreds of people now searched all over and around the ranch.\u00a0 They came from neighboring farms and ranches; even from Virginia City.\u00a0 Glowing lanterns could be seen all around and voices everywhere called out for Little Joe.\u00a0 Adam, Hoss, and Pa rode around checking on the different searches.\u00a0 They also called out for Little Joe, but no little boy\u2019s voice answered.\u00a0 They were now on the road that led out of the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s getting pretty late, Mr. Cartwright,\u201d one of the searchers told Pa.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s also pretty hard to see in the dark.\u00a0 Do you suppose we should all turn in, and come back in the morning when it\u2019s light?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf people want to go home, that\u2019s fine,\u201d Pa replied.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to keep looking for my son.\u201d\u00a0 He turned to Adam and Hoss.\u00a0 \u201cIf you boys want to go back home and get some sleep that will be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam answered, \u201cNo, Pa.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to keep looking.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss added, \u201cMe too.\u201d<\/p>\n Then a group of four people on horses rode up towards them.<\/p>\n \u201cIs Ben Cartwright here!?!\u201d\u00a0 One of the riders yelled.<\/p>\n Adam recognized the rider\u2019s voice as that of Virginia City\u2019s sheriff, George Stewart.<\/p>\n Pa yelled back, \u201cI\u2019m over here, sheriff!\u201d<\/p>\n The riders rode over to them.\u00a0 Adam recognized three of the riders as the sheriff, a deputy and a businessman from town.\u00a0 The fourth man was a young man he had not seen before.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, Mr. Cartwright,\u201d Sheriff Stewart said.\u00a0 \u201cI have a gentleman here who may have seen your little boy this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere!\u201d Pa asked.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Cartwright, I\u2019m Richard Walton,\u201d the stranger informed him.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m here visiting family.\u00a0 I just found out that there\u2019s been a search going on for a little boy.\u00a0 This morning, when I was riding into town I saw a little boy walking alone.\u00a0 I\u2019m wondering if that may have been your son.\u201d<\/p>\n Pa questioned, \u201cWhat did he look like?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, he looked to be about four or five.\u00a0 He was a real cute little kid with sort of blonde or light-brown curly hair.\u201d\u00a0 He paused for a moment, like he was trying to remember more details.\u00a0 \u201cThis was before the rain came through this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you talk to him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I tipped my hat to him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you remember exactly where you saw him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n They all followed Mr. Walton to the road that led to Virginia City.\u00a0 He showed them the spot where he thought he had seen Little Joe walking along.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was he doing all the way out here?\u201d\u00a0 Pa looked around in the darkness.\u00a0 \u201cWhere on earth did he think he was going?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam trotted his horse on up ahead, as he tried to figure out what his youngest brother was possibly thinking that morning.\u00a0 He wished he would have picked up clues at breakfast time, or even when Little Joe had come out to the barn.\u00a0 Where could he possibly be?\u00a0 Then Adam noticed the black silhouette of Eagle\u2019s Nest Mountain against the starry sky.\u00a0 That was it!\u00a0 He remembered Little Joe asking if the mountains reach Heaven.\u00a0 He also remembered him saying he wanted to see Mama again.<\/p>\n \u201cPa!\u201d\u00a0 Adam called back.\u00a0 \u201cI think I know where he may have gone!\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Little Joe shivered in the darkness; he felt all alone.\u00a0 He looked up at the stars and felt very lost.\u00a0 He knew no one would ever find him.\u00a0 Little Joe had stopped calling for Mama.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t answered all day.<\/p>\n He heard distant horses\u2019 hooves.\u00a0 He\u2019d heard them going by at various times throughout the day, but this time it sounded like they stopped at the mountain.<\/p>\n Then Papa\u2019s distant voice yelled up to him, \u201cJ-o-o-o-s-e-e-e-ph!\u201d<\/p>\n His voice echoed around the sides of the mountain.\u00a0 Little Joe felt excited and relieved that \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Papa was there.<\/p>\n He screamed back, \u201cPapa!\u201d<\/p>\n His voice also echoed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m up here!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere up there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m near the top!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStay there!\u00a0 I\u2019m coming up to you!\u201d<\/p>\n They called back and forth to each other for several minutes.\u00a0 Papa\u2019s voice slowly sounded closer and closer.\u00a0 It was hard for Little Joe to figure out how close he was because of all of the echoing.\u00a0 It felt like forever before Papa finally reached him.<\/p>\n Papa hugged him close and kissed him on top of the head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m so glad to see you, son!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Papa.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe hugged Papa back and felt a wool blanket, that seemed to be hanging over Papa\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, what are you doing all the way up here?\u201d\u00a0 Papa asked as he took the blanket and wrapped it around Little Joe.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve all been worried about you and looking for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe replied, \u201cI just want to see Mama again.\u00a0 I thought a mountain would be tall enough to reach Heaven so that I can see her.\u201d<\/p>\n Silence followed for a few moments while Papa continued to hold Little Joe close.<\/p>\n Then Papa pointed to the sky.\u00a0 \u201cDo you see those stars up there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cSomewhere beyond those stars is where Heaven is.\u00a0 That\u2019s where your mother is.\u00a0 Even though we can\u2019t see her, she can see us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow can she see us when she\u2019s so far away?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cListen, you are very young, there are a lot of things that you\u2019re not able to understand yet, but when you\u2019re older, you will.\u00a0 Just believe what I am telling you.\u00a0 Your mother is watching you from up there and she will always be watching over you.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe thought about that for a few moments, until Adam\u2019s distant voice called, \u201cPa!\u00a0 Did you find him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes!\u201d\u00a0 Papa called back down.\u00a0 \u201cI found him!\u00a0 We\u2019ll be down in a little bit!\u201d<\/p>\n More echoes followed.<\/p>\n Papa turned back to Little Joe.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, we had better get you down from here and home where it\u2019s warm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Little Joe replied.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m scared.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re scared of what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGoing down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, Joseph.\u00a0 I want you to close your eyes tight and don\u2019t open them until I tell you to.\u00a0 Do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Papa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPut your arms around my neck real tight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe closed his eyes, wrapped his arms tight around Papa\u2019s neck and buried his face in his shoulder.\u00a0 Then, he felt Papa climbing down as he held one arm around him.\u00a0 After several minutes of the climb Little Joe heard horses\u2019 hooves trailing off into the distance.\u00a0 A few minutes later he felt Papa walking instead of climbing.\u00a0 Papa hugged him close again.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, son, you can open your eyes now,\u201d \u00a0Papa said.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re finally off the mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe opened his eyes to see Adam and Hoss standing there.<\/p>\n \u201cYou had us all worried, little buddy,\u201d Adam told him.<\/p>\n Hoss added, \u201cHey, short shanks.\u00a0 When I said the mountains come close to Heaven I didn\u2019t mean they really do.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe replied, \u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n Papa questioned, \u201cWhere did the sheriff, Mr. Walton and the others go?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey went to tell everyone that Little Joe\u2019s been found,\u201d Adam answered.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right. \u00a0That\u2019s fine.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get your little brother home where he can be warm and have something to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Pa.\u201d\u00a0 Adam reached out his arms.\u00a0 \u201cHere, I\u2019ll take him on my horse.\u00a0 You\u2019re probably tired from all that climbing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam took Little Joe in his arms and carried him over to his horse.\u00a0 Then he stopped and looked up at the sky.\u00a0 Little Joe looked up too.\u00a0 The hundreds of tiny flashing stars seemed like a large crowd of people watching.<\/p>\n \u201cMama\u2019s up there,\u201d Little Joe said.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s watching us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I know,\u201d Adam replied.\u00a0 \u201cThey all are.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags: Little Joe Cartwright; Adam Cartwright; Ben Cartwright; Hoss Cartwright; Family<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Author’s Note:\u00a0 I originally wrote this story back in 2001. I entered it in a Bonanza writing contest, and I didn’t win. In 2018 I came back to it and rewrote it for a challenge on Bonanza Boomers.<\/p>\n
\n