Joe’s Casanova lifestyle lands him in trouble with the girls of Virginia City.\u00a0 When they decide to exact their revenge, Joe finds himself in an embarrassing predicament.<\/p>\n
Written in response to a writing challenge that provided the opening and closing sentences.<\/em><\/p>\n Rated: K+ \u00a0WC 3300<\/p>\n Sweet Revenge<\/strong><\/p>\n They all took several steps forward, stunned by what they had done.<\/p>\n \u2018Is he alive?\u2019 whispered Ginny Lobridge, her eyes round and dark in her small pale face.<\/p>\n \u2018Of course he\u2019s alive, silly!\u2019 said Sophie Mann, with more confidence than she felt.\u00a0 \u2018I think he just smacked his head on that barrel.\u00a0 You shouldn\u2019t have hit him with that plank, Rhonda.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Well, he shouldn\u2019t have struggled then, should he?\u2019 Rhonda Davies crossed her arms and looked down with a stern face at the body of Little Joe Cartwright, sprawled on his back in the straw and dust of the empty stable floor.\u00a0 \u2018Anyway, he\u2019s fine.\u00a0 Look, he\u2019s moving.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Let\u2019s just let him go.\u2019\u00a0 Ginny was looking anxious now.\u00a0 \u2018Maybe this wasn\u2019t such a good idea after all.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Ginny!\u2019 chorused the other two girls.<\/p>\n \u2018Don\u2019t you dare back out now!\u2019\u00a0 Sophie warned her, fixing her with a hard glare.\u00a0 \u2018Becky and Florrie are your friends too, aren\u2019t they?\u2019<\/p>\n Ginny glanced down at the prone body at her feet.\u00a0 She swallowed hard and nodded.<\/p>\n \u2018Well then!\u2019 said Rhonda, as if that settled everything.\u00a0 She dropped down on her knees in the dirt beside Joe and began to unknot his tie with deft hands.\u00a0 \u2018Get his gun belt and then take off his shirt, Sophie.\u2019<\/p>\n Ginny groaned.\u00a0 Sophie flicked her a warning glance, pursed her mouth and knelt down beside Rhonda.\u00a0 She whipped off Joe\u2019s gun belt and tugged unceremoniously at his shirt buttons.<\/p>\n His eyes blinked open, dazed and confused.\u00a0 \u2018What are you doing?\u00a0 Where\u2019s Becky?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018You\u2019ll see her later,\u2019 promised Rhonda, with an evil smile.\u00a0 \u2018Don\u2019t you look adorable tonight, Little Joe Cartwright? \u00a0Is this a new shirt?\u00a0 Especially for Becky?\u00a0 Or is it Florrie?\u2019<\/p>\n It was gratifying to watch the confusion in his face turn quickly to doubt, and then to fear as she helped Sophie yank the new shirt free of his shoulders.\u00a0 \u2018Hey!\u00a0 Get off me!\u00a0 What are you doing?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Hold onto him,\u2019 ordered Rhonda.\u00a0 \u2018Let\u2019s turn him over.\u00a0 Come on Ginny.\u00a0 Help.\u2019<\/p>\n Reluctantly, Ginny stepped forward to lend a hand as Rhonda and Sophie manhandled Joe, struggling now, onto his stomach.\u00a0 Rhonda stuck a knee hard into his back, ignoring his protests, and dragged his arms behind him.\u00a0 Between them, they held him down while Rhonda tied his wrists securely with his own black tie.<\/p>\n \u2018This isn\u2019t funny!\u2019\u00a0 Joe squirmed uncomfortably.\u00a0 \u2018Let me go!\u00a0 What do you think you\u2019re doing?\u2019<\/p>\n Rhonda grinned and leant her face down close to his ear.\u00a0 \u2018Revenge, Little Joe, that\u2019s what!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 I came here to meet Becky.\u00a0 She sent me a note.\u00a0 Where is she?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018She\u2019s at the dance,\u2019 Rhonda told him, \u2018where you\u2019re supposed to be.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018She told me to meet her here.\u2019<\/p>\n Rhonda\u2019s eyes gleamed wickedly.\u00a0 \u2018Yes, we know.\u2019\u00a0 She leaned back to his ear and whispered impishly.\u00a0 \u2018That\u2019s the way we planned it.\u2019<\/p>\n She could hear the note of panic rising in his voice.\u00a0 \u2018Listen, Rhonda Davies, you let me go right now, do you hear?\u00a0 What did I ever do to you?\u2019<\/p>\n Nothing<\/em>, thought Rhonda to herself, her eyes darkening.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t good enough for you, was I, Joseph Cartwright?<\/em>\u00a0 Out loud, she said, \u2018You hurt my friends.\u00a0 You dumped Ginny here, and you two-timed poor Sophie.\u00a0 And we happen to know you\u2019re already seeing Florrie Andersen, yet you still asked Becky to the dance.\u00a0 We\u2019re not going to let you mess with any more of our friends, Little Joe.\u00a0 It\u2019s about time someone taught you a lesson.\u00a0 You may think you\u2019re God\u2019s gift to the female race, but we\u2019ve got wise to your philandering ways.\u00a0 After this evening, you\u2019re going to think twice before you double cross another girl.\u2019\u00a0 She nodded to her companions.\u00a0 \u2018I\u2019ll hold him down; you get his pants off.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018What!\u2019\u00a0 Joe\u2019s voice rose in a yelp of dismay.\u00a0 \u2018No!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you dare!\u00a0 Get off!\u2019<\/p>\n Ginny drew back in trepidation.\u00a0 \u2018I don\u2019t know, Rhonda.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Do I have to do everything myself?\u2019\u00a0 Shifting her knee out of Joe\u2019s spine, Rhonda grabbed his bound arms and tugged him hard.\u00a0 He wriggled and bucked like a roped calf, but with Sophie assisting, they got him turned over and Sophie pinned his ankles to the ground while Rhonda sat astride him and whipped off his belt with expert hands.\u00a0 Ginny, looking pale enough to faint, lost her remaining courage and ran for the door, but Rhonda, with five brothers of her own, was made of sterner stuff.<\/p>\n \u2018Rhonda, get off me!\u2019\u00a0 Joe was bellowing now like a terrified bull about to be slaughtered.<\/p>\n Rhonda grinned gleefully.\u00a0 \u2018Shout all you like, Little Joe.\u00a0 Why do you think we chose my uncle Jim\u2019s old stable?\u00a0 Because he\u2019s away and there\u2019s no one to hear you.\u2019\u00a0 She moved to help Sophie pull off Joe\u2019s boots and socks.<\/p>\n \u2018Cute toes!\u2019\u00a0 Rhonda tugged playfully at his little toe and Sophie giggled.\u00a0 Just before they tugged off his pants, they both looked into his terrified face and shared a jubilant grin.<\/p>\n \u2018Here you go, Sophie,\u2019 said Rhonda, picking up Joe\u2019s rumpled shirt from the floor and passing it to her friend.\u00a0 Sophie laid it out on top of the pants, placed Joe\u2019s footwear on top and rolled the whole bundle into a neat roll.\u00a0 Rhonda knelt down, wrapped his belt around the roll and drew it tight to fasten it all together.\u00a0 Joe, knees pulled up, eyes wide and scared like a terrified rabbit, watched in dismay from the abandoned stall into which he\u2019d flung himself the instant they\u2019d released their hold on him, cowering in a pile of musty straw.<\/p>\n \u2018Oh, Joe!\u2019 said Rhonda, shaking her head in disappointment.\u00a0 \u2018Not your usual arrogant self this evening, I see.\u00a0 What\u2019s the matter?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018You\u2019ll pay for this, Rhonda Davies!\u2019 he spat, glaring at her impotently.\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018You\u2019re gonna be in big trouble!\u2019<\/p>\n Sophie and Rhonda looked at each other again and giggled.\u00a0 \u2018Ooh,\u2019 said Sophie, \u2018we nearly forgot.\u2019\u00a0 She ran to the side of the stable and plucked something off a crate.\u00a0 It was a card, attached to a piece of string.\u00a0 She giggled and crossed back to Joe.\u00a0 He pressed himself tightly against the wall, keeping his knees jammed tight against his body and cringing like a kicked dog.\u00a0 Sophie dragged the string over his head.\u00a0 It was a tight fit and the card scraped his nose as she pulled it down around his neck.\u00a0 It came to rest on his bare knees, the word, in thick black ink letters glaring accusingly at him, upside down: \u2018Skunk!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Much as we\u2019d like to stay and chat, Joe,\u2019 said Rhonda, with a cruel smirk, \u2018we have to go now.\u00a0 Seeing as you\u2019ve got no clothes on, it wouldn\u2019t be right and proper now, would it?\u2019\u00a0 She lifted down the lamp from its hook on the wall, and Sophie took up the bundle of clothes.<\/p>\n As they reached the door, Rhonda looked back at him and sniggered.\u00a0 \u2018If you can make it, Little Joe, I\u2019m sure Becky and Florrie would just love to see you at the dance later!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Rhonda!\u00a0 Sophie!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you dare leave me here like this!\u2019<\/p>\n The stable went dark.\u00a0 The latch clicked shut.\u00a0 They were gone.\u00a0 And his clothes had gone with them.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Dang, it was cold!\u00a0 And his arms were aching from being pulled so tightly behind his back.\u00a0 That Rhonda Davies sure knew how to bind someone up good and tight!\u00a0 No amount of flexing and straining had worked loose the knots of his tie.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to remember that he told himself sourly.\u00a0 If ever he needed a secure fastening for anything, his string tie was better than any rope.<\/p>\n Simply getting out of the stable had caused him enough problems.\u00a0 With his hands secured, he\u2019d had only his mouth to raise the latch on the door, and he\u2019d finished up splitting his lip and cursing anyone and everyone he could think of in his frustration.\u00a0 After the girls walked out, he\u2019d stayed curled and miserable in his corner for a good ten minutes, in a near state of panic, while his mind tossed and turned over his best course of action.\u00a0 Should he stay put and hope someone came by to rescue him?\u00a0 Who would be likely to?\u00a0 Rhonda had said her uncle was away.\u00a0 The only people likely to find him, he realised, were Rhonda and her friends again, when they got tired of their little joke.<\/p>\n But would they get tired?\u00a0 Rhonda was a real hard nut.\u00a0 She\u2019d secretly terrified Joe for years.\u00a0 He remembered when she\u2019d tied Mr Durston\u2019s long johns to the school flagpole when the whispers went around town that he was having an affair with her mother.\u00a0 And how she\u2019d cut the seat out of Wille Duggan\u2019s trousers the day he beat up her youngest brother.\u00a0 Rhonda was real mean.\u00a0 Joe didn\u2019t relish the prospect of facing her again that particular evening.\u00a0 It seemed a safer bet to try and manage his own rescue and the salvation of his dignity.<\/p>\n So he crouched behind a crate in the alley between the dress shop and the bank.\u00a0 It had been a terrible trial simply to get that far in his condition.\u00a0 At least it was night.\u00a0 Once he\u2019d got out of the stable, he\u2019d been able to trace a haphazard route back into town, via the back streets, scampering furtively from cover to cover.\u00a0 There had been no sign of his horse.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t expected there to be.\u00a0 Rhonda would have made sure of that.\u00a0 Every time he saw someone moving along the street, or heard voices nearby, he\u2019d scurry for the shadows.\u00a0 Both knees stung where he\u2019d skinned them several times over and a sharp piece of glass or metal had embedded itself painfully in his bare foot.\u00a0 Every time he felt the pain stab up from his heel, he cursed Rhonda Davies with the most despicable things he could imagine.<\/p>\n This had to be the worst night of his life, he thought.\u00a0 From where he crouched, if he peered around the edge of the bank, he could clearly see the assembly room where the dance was being held.\u00a0 Light spilled out of the open doors and windows, and music drifted with irritating merriness into the street. Couples and small groups of people who had wandered out into the cool evening air were laughing and talking in loud voices to each other.<\/p>\n Joe shivered and sank down further behind his crate.\u00a0 He\u2019d headed back here to the dance because that\u2019s where his brothers were and he\u2019d no idea what else to do.\u00a0 But close as he was, he was no better off, he realised.\u00a0 If he could only free his hands!\u00a0 His brothers\u2019 horses were so close, hitched to the rail across the street.\u00a0 He pictured himself making a wild dash for one of them, and hightailing it out of town, back to the Ponderosa.\u00a0 If he rode fast enough, maybe nobody would notice his lack of clothes. Huh!\u00a0 Some hope!\u00a0\u00a0 While he was trying to scramble – armless – into the saddle, the whole town would have had time to gather and laugh at his humiliation.\u00a0 It was too terrible a scenario to contemplate.<\/p>\n So, he was going to crouch here, cold and miserable and helpless, until daylight led to his discovery, was he?\u00a0 He imagined Mrs Perry from the dress shop, stepping out of her door in the morning and finding him there.\u00a0 His face burned at the thought.\u00a0 He had to do something.<\/p>\n He sat down in the dirt and turned his back to the crate, sawing his wrists hopefully up and down along the wooden edge.\u00a0 It might take forever, but eventually\u2026<\/p>\n Just as the muscles in his arms felt like they were about to go into meltdown, he heard a voice drawing close.\u00a0 Even worse, it was a woman\u2019s voice.\u00a0 Rapidly he twisted around and huddled back down behind his crate.\u00a0 Shoot!\u00a0 Whoever it was, they were right at the end of his alleyway, and they appeared to have stopped there.\u00a0 Two people.\u00a0 The woman wasn\u2019t alone.\u00a0 There was a tall man beside her.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t stop,<\/em> he willed them fervently.\u00a0 Just keep walking.<\/em><\/p>\n They stopped.\u00a0 He squeezed his eyes shut and cringed. They had come from the dance, that much was apparent from the woman\u2019s conversation.\u00a0 She was giggling and flirting.\u00a0 Oh no, please,<\/em> he thought as he watched them turn into the shelter of the alley. They were less than six foot from where he cowered, standing close, face to face.\u00a0 Joe watched as the man leaned his head down to kiss the girl.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ll walk you home,\u2019 said the man and Joe\u2019s heart leapt.\u00a0 Not because it seemed the couple weren\u2019t about to linger, but because he knew that voice almost as well as he knew his own.<\/p>\n \u2018Adam!\u2019<\/p>\n He saw his brother\u2019s head come up.\u00a0 It was too dark to see the expression on his face, but he was definitely looking around, wondering where the urgent whisper had come from.\u00a0 Joe hissed again.\u00a0 \u2018Adam!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Joe?\u00a0 Where are you?\u2019\u00a0 Adam took a couple of cautious steps further into the alleyway.\u00a0 \u2018Is that you?\u00a0 Where are you?\u00a0 I can\u2019t see you.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Here.\u2019<\/p>\n Adam stopped.\u00a0 He peered down in the darkness.\u00a0 \u2018What are you doing down there?\u00a0 You all right?\u2019<\/p>\n The girl with Adam was right behind him.\u00a0 Joe could see her peering round his brother\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 He hunkered down further.\u00a0 \u2018No, not really.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got a bit of a problem.\u00a0 I need to speak to you.\u00a0 Privately.\u2019<\/p>\n Adam was straining his eyes through the darkness.\u00a0 He was so close, Joe could see the outlines of his face.\u00a0 Adam reached out a hand.\u00a0 It closed on Joe\u2019s bare knee.\u00a0 Joe felt him hesitate, then he looked back at his companion.\u00a0 \u2018I\u2019ll meet you back inside in a minute, Alex.\u2019\u00a0 He waited for the girl to reach the street before he turned back to his brother. \u2018Joe, where are your pants?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Someone stole my clothes.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Stole your clothes?\u00a0 What do you mean? \u00a0Who stole your clothes?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Some girls.\u00a0 Look, I\u2019ll tell you about it later.\u00a0 Right now, I need your help.\u2019<\/p>\n He heard the sound before he registered what it meant.\u00a0 The blood rushed hot into his face.\u00a0 Adam was laughing.<\/p>\n \u2018Adam, quit it!\u00a0 It\u2019s not funny!\u2019<\/p>\n Adam kept on chuckling.\u00a0 \u2018Isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 It\u2019s fairly amusing from where I\u2019m standing.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Are you gonna help me or not?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Well, what did they do with your clothes after they stole them?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t know!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Do you want to tell me why<\/em> they took your clothes?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Actually, Adam, just at this moment, I don\u2019t!\u2019<\/p>\n He heard Adam laughing again.\u00a0 He took a deep breath and tried to contain his temper.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t do to have a scene right now.<\/p>\n \u2018All right.\u00a0 Wait there.\u00a0 I\u2019ll see what I can do.\u2019<\/p>\n It seemed like an eternity before Adam reappeared.\u00a0 This time he wasn\u2019t alone.\u00a0 Hoss was at his shoulder.\u00a0 Joe could almost hear the grin on Hoss\u2019s face.<\/p>\n \u2018Adam says you\u2019re in some sorta trouble, little brother.\u00a0 Here, I done brought you this.\u2019\u00a0 He thrust a bundle at Joe.<\/p>\n \u2018Hoss, you need to untie me first.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Untie you!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Yes, darn you!\u00a0 Untie me!\u2019\u00a0 Joe jumped to his feet and turned his back so Hoss could see how his hands were bound.\u00a0 \u2018Will you stop laughing, Adam?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Yeah, Adam,\u2019 said Hoss giggling.\u00a0 \u2018Stop laughing.\u00a0 It ain\u2019t funny.\u00a0 Dadburnit, Joe!\u00a0 I can\u2019t see these knots in the dark.\u00a0 You\u2019d best step out into the street where we can get a bit more light.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Just get your knife out, Hoss, will you?\u2019\u00a0 He rubbed at his chafed wrists as his arms finally came free.<\/p>\n \u2018Hey, Joe, ain\u2019t this your tie?\u00a0 They tied you up with your own tie?\u2019<\/p>\n It was a pathetic joke and it didn\u2019t make Joe laugh at all, but it creased over Hoss and Adam.<\/p>\n \u2018Here, give me that!\u2019 Joe snatched the bundle of cloth that Hoss had offered him earlier.\u00a0 \u2018What is this?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s a tablecloth, brother.\u00a0 It was all we could lay our hands on at such short notice.\u00a0 As it was, we had to whip it out from under the punchbowl.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018A tablecloth!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018A right purdy one though, with daisies round the hem.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Well, thanks, fellas!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Here,\u2019 said Adam, more kindly. \u2018Have my vest.\u00a0 Hey, what\u2019s this card round your neck?\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018How am I supposed to ride home in a tablecloth?\u2019 Joe moaned.<\/p>\n \u2018You could kinda wrap it round your middle then pull it back through your legs.\u00a0 Like Hop Sing said the workers do in the paddy fields in China,\u2019 suggested Hoss.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s called \u201cgirding your loins\u201d,\u2019 Adam informed him, and let out another helpless splutter of amusement.<\/p>\n \u2018And where do you boys think you\u2019re going with my tablecloth?\u2019\u00a0 The sharp female voice from the head of the alley made them all jump in surprise.\u00a0 Frantically, Joe hauled the cloth around his middle.<\/p>\n \u2018Ah, Mrs Hawkins,\u2019 said Hoss.\u00a0 \u2018It\u2019s\u2026 er\u2026it\u2019s an emergency.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Hoss Cartwright, you give it straight back to me right now.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what you boys think you\u2019re playing at but\u2026oh!\u2019<\/p>\n Widow Hawkins\u2019 exclamation ended abruptly in a loud shriek of horror.\u00a0 It startled the three men in the alley, and worse, it brought several concerned people running from the direction of the dance.<\/p>\n \u2018Little Joe Cartwright, what are you doing with my tablecloth?\u00a0 This is an outrage!\u00a0 Somebody call the sheriff!\u2019<\/p>\n Joe looked desperate.\u00a0 \u2018No, please, Mrs Hawkins.\u00a0 Don\u2019t call the sheriff!\u00a0 I\u2019ll give it back just as soon as\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n A small crowd had started to gather at the top of the alley.\u00a0 Joe could hear the laughter, the gasps of shocked delight.\u00a0 Adam took his arm.\u00a0 \u2018Come on, little brother.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s all over.\u00a0 Might as well face up to it now.\u2019<\/p>\n Afterwards Joe wondered if it all might have been slightly less humiliating if Hoss had stolen a checkered tablecloth rather than one with an edging of scalloped lace and pink embroidered daisies.\u00a0 Also, he wasn\u2019t sure if he imagined it, but it seemed that there were more people at the dance that Saturday night than at any time in the whole history of Virginia City, and they all turned out on the street to enjoy the impromptu entertainment.\u00a0 Worst of all, there was Becky O\u2019Toole and Florrie Andersen, in a gleeful little cluster with Rhonda and Sophie and Ginny, all with huge grins splitting their faces as they wallowed in their triumph.<\/p>\n \u2018Really, Little Joe,\u2019 said Becky, running her pretty blue eyes over him and pursing her perfect rosebud of a mouth in apparent disapproval, \u2018you shouldn\u2019t have gone to all this trouble for me.\u2019<\/p>\n Florrie, with her honey-coloured curls tumbling in glossy waves over her soft white shoulders, wrinkled her turned up button of a nose.\u00a0 \u2018Or me!\u2019\u00a0 The two girls exchanged looks of apparent innocence.\u00a0 \u2018Exactly which one of us were<\/em> you planning to see here tonight, Little Joe?\u2019<\/p>\n Despite the heat radiating from his scarlet face, there were goosebumps over Little Joe\u2019s chest beneath the oversized vest Adam had lent him.\u00a0 He felt his brother\u2019s stern eyes boring into the top of his head.<\/p>\n \u2018Well, Skunk?\u2019 said Adam.\u00a0 \u2018Want to explain?\u2019<\/p>\n Joe cleared his throat.\u00a0 He shrugged and stared hard at the ground.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say anything at all but his lips moved as if he were chewing the words he was holding back.<\/p>\n The End<\/em><\/p>\n *******<\/p>\n Thanks for reading.\u00a0 If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review, however short.\u00a0 I’m always pleased to receive comments via PM too.<\/em><\/p>\n