Summary: While serving\u00a0a self-imposed sentence in the barn on Christmas Eve, Little Joe learns a lesson in the forgiveness that lies at the heart of Christmas.
\nWritten for day 20 of the 2021 Advent Calendar.
\nRating: G
\nWord Count: 1903<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bonanza <\/p>\n A Peculiar Penance<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Through the open barn door, Little Joe Cartwright could hear muffled strains of music from inside the house.\u00a0\u00a0He spared a small, self-sympathizing sigh at the sound he couldn\u2019t be part of, even though he knew he\u2019d brought it on himself.\u00a0\u00a0Walking to the most familiar stall, he stroked his pinto friend\u2019s muzzle and wondered aloud, \u201cWhy is it I always pick right before Christmas to mess up, huh, Cooch?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He wasn\u2019t a little kid anymore, so he wasn\u2019t worried about finding switches in his stocking.\u00a0\u00a0Pa wasn\u2019t that mean, but he could sure lecture a fellow hard enough to make him wish for switches, instead, and Little Joe was feeling hard put to remember a Christmas when he hadn\u2019t earned one of those lectures.\u00a0\u00a0This one was no exception.<\/p>\n Cochise shook his head, as if to say he didn\u2019t understand it, either, and that notion brought a small chuckle from the sixteen-year-old.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAt least, you\u2019re gonna get a treat,\u201d Little Joe said, as he opened a sack filled with apple wedges and fed one to the horse.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d begged enough from Hop Sing for all the other horses, too, at least the ones in the barn, but the best one in the world would get the first piece\u2014well, pieces, \u2018cause Cochise was also destined for the lion\u2019s share.<\/p>\n He took an apple wedge for himself before moving on to the other horses in the barn, as he wondered whether there\u2019d be any cookies left inside by the time the annual Christmas Eve party was over.\u00a0\u00a0Pa hadn\u2019t said he couldn\u2019t come in, of course, as long as he did his assigned punishment chore first, but he didn\u2019t feel very welcome there, especially by a certain older brother.<\/p>\n Adam had good reason to bear him a grudge, although Little Joe had only intended to perturb his brother, take him down a peg.\u00a0\u00a0Adam deserved that much for being bossy and critical and every other kind of bothersome only he could concoct!\u00a0\u00a0However, the simple prank had gone woefully wrong.\u00a0\u00a0All he\u2019d done was poise a bucket of pig swill atop the barn door, so the smelly contents would cascade down on Mr. Full-of-Himself, and it had worked like a charm.\u00a0\u00a0What Little Joe hadn\u2019t foreseen was that the muck would temporarily blind Adam or that he\u2019d stumble around the barn, knock over a pitchfork left where it shouldn\u2019t have been (by Joe, of course, but purely by accident, not part of the prank) and then stumble over it and fall directly onto the upturned prongs.\u00a0\u00a0Three of them went straight through his calf; the fourth only scratched a long groove on the surface of his leg.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d yelled a bunch of epithets that Pa wouldn\u2019t have approved of, but fortunately, Little Joe didn\u2019t hear every name his brother called him as he raced into the house for help.<\/p>\n He moved to the stall that held his brother\u2019s horse and offered Sport a wedge of apple and then another, a sort of peace offering he so far hadn\u2019t been able to give Adam directly.\u00a0\u00a0Little Joe couldn\u2019t really blame his older brother for being angry.\u00a0\u00a0His innocent prank (okay, probably not so innocent) had cost Adam kind of dear.\u00a0\u00a0Considering the pig swill and traces of manure and hay stuck to the pitchfork, infection had been inevitable, and they were lucky that Doc Martin, who knew better than most how to handle such things, had been available.\u00a0\u00a0So, gangrene hadn\u2019t set in, and Adam wasn\u2019t gonna lose his leg or anything drastic like that, but missing out on the dancing that went with the music pouring out from the house was nigh onto tragic.\u00a0\u00a0At least, it would have been to Joe, which might be why he was sentencing himself to missing it tonight.\u00a0\u00a0If Adam couldn\u2019t, he shouldn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0Seemed like plain justice to him and, he was positive, to Adam, too.<\/p>\n Adam sure hadn\u2019t thought much of Pa\u2019s assigned punishment: feed the horses from the time it happened clean through to New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s all?\u201d Adam had demanded in the first flush of pain and fury.<\/p>\n \u201cTrust me, son; it\u2019ll be enough,\u201d Ben had said and calmly gone on washing out the wound, but the exasperated whoosh of air that gusted out of older brother said he didn\u2019t agree.<\/p>\n Frankly, neither did Little Joe.\u00a0\u00a0Just feed the horses for ten days?\u00a0\u00a0He liked working with horses!\u00a0\u00a0He figured something like cleaning the outhouses in the middle of a snowstorm was more what he deserved.\u00a0\u00a0That punishment had seemed like getting off scot-free, at least until tonight, when he\u2019d had to feed not only the family\u2019s mounts, but those of all the guests who had arrived for the party, too.\u00a0\u00a0Ordinarily, he and his brothers worked together on that chore and it went fast.\u00a0\u00a0Tonight, it meant that Adam wasn\u2019t the only one missing out on the dancing, but in a way, that made Little Joe feel better.<\/p>\n That realization hit about the time he\u2019d finished the chore and could have gone back in to the music and the dancing (hopefully with pretty Marjorie Landers).\u00a0\u00a0That was also about the time the \u201cif Adam couldn\u2019t, I shouldn\u2019t\u201d philosophy hit, so he\u2019d sentenced himself to a night in the barn with the horses, instead of any lovely ladies.\u00a0\u00a0And about the time he\u2019d gone to the kitchen for the apples, too.\u00a0\u00a0Might as well give the horses a merry Christmas, if he wasn\u2019t gonna have one himself.\u00a0\u00a0After all, they hadn\u2019t hurt Adam, unless you counted supplying the manure on that pitchfork that had infected his leg and kept him from dancing away the hours \u2018til Christmas morn.\u00a0\u00a0Now there was nothing left to do in the barn, and the hours were likely to stretch out as long for him as they did for . . .<\/p>\n The longest sigh yet surfaced as he pictured poor, pitiful Adam with nothing to do but sit and watch the others dance around him.\u00a0\u00a0Having a few apple wedges left, Little Joe decided, maybe, it would be all right if he consoled himself with the remains of the horses\u2019 treats, in lieu of all the sugary ones inside.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d only consumed one, however, when he heard footsteps crunching through the snow toward the entrance to the barn and, looking up, he saw his brother Hoss come in, hugging himself in his coatless cold.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Shortshanks,\u201d Hoss said, rubbing his hands up and down his arms.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhat you doin\u2019 out here?\u201d<\/p>\n Since Hoss already knew about his assignment to feed the horses, Little Joe gave the only other answer he could think of, \u201cEatin\u2019 apples.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss chuckled.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s heaps better things to eat inside, little brother.\u00a0\u00a0Ain\u2019t you through with the horses yet?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I\u2019m through.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Another sigh escaped, squelched at the last second.<\/p>\n Hoss was the kind of man who could catch the slightest sign of a troubled spirit, especially in his little brother, and with Joe it usually didn\u2019t pay not to give it heed.\u00a0\u00a0Plumb terrible stuff could happen if he didn\u2019t, and he wasn\u2019t about to deal with plumb terrible on the night before Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhat is it, punkin?\u201d he asked, sitting down on a tackle box next to the one his little brother occupied.<\/p>\n If it had been Pa or, worse yet, Adam, Little Joe would have said, \u201cNothing\u201d and hoped to get away with it.\u00a0\u00a0However, this was Hoss, his best friend and confidante through all the sometimes-turbulent days of his boyhood, so it all poured out, freer and freer as he went along: the merriment of plotting revenge, which turned into horror when Adam was hurt, which led to shame and then to pity and, finally, to the self-imposed sentence that was somehow supposed to make up for it all in the eyes of angels above, though never, of course, in the eyes of Adam himself.<\/p>\n Hoss took it all in and then, taking a wedge of apple from his little brother\u2019s hand, said, \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest load of manure I\u2019ve ever heard.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He chomped down on the fruit while he waited for Little Joe to digest his words.\u00a0\u00a0It usually worked better than saying more.<\/p>\n Now, had Adam told him he was full of manure, fireworks would have immediately flared, but, again, this was Hoss and, therefore, it had to be considered.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHow so?\u201d Little Joe asked and took another apple wedge himself.<\/p>\n \u201cYou done your punishment,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s all that Pa expects.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Seeing his brother start to object, he held up a big palm to silence him.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIf you\u2019re thinkin\u2019 Adam bears you a grudge, you\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAw, Hoss\u201d was all Little Joe got out, but the palm came up again.<\/p>\n \u201cWho do you think sent me out to check on you?\u201d Hoss demanded, some firmness getting into his voice.<\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing?\u201d Little Joe suggested weakly.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The single word was drawn out in a voice that grew low and as close to censorious as Hoss ever got with the boy.<\/p>\n \u201cNot Adam,\u201d Little Joe insisted.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d known all along who Hoss meant, but it didn\u2019t seem possible, not after all the trouble he\u2019d caused.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, Adam!\u00a0\u00a0He ain\u2019t the one holdin\u2019 a grudge; you are.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Then Hoss became flustered and at a loss for words, though he stammered some out.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThat ain\u2019t exactly what I meant.\u00a0\u00a0It ain\u2019t a grudge you\u2019re hangin\u2019 onto, more like\u201d\u2014again words failed him.<\/p>\n \u201cGuilt?\u201d his little brother supplied.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Hoss said, relieved.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s the one . . . and there ain\u2019t no need.\u00a0\u00a0Doggone it, Joe, it\u2019s Christmas and you\u2019re brothers.\u00a0\u00a0If peace on earth, good will to men is meant for anyone, it ought to be brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOught to be,\u201d Little Joe conceded.<\/p>\n \u201cThen let it be,\u201d Hoss pressed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAdam ain\u2019t mad no more, I promise you, so there ain\u2019t no need for you to be feelin\u2019 what you are, either.\u00a0\u00a0Let it go, Little Joe, and let\u2019s get back inside, where it\u2019s warm and where there\u2019s still plenty of good food and Pa\u2019s once-a-year wassail.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He tapped his little brother\u2019s ribs with a comradely elbow.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAnd pretty girls to dance with.\u00a0\u00a0They been askin\u2019 for you, too.\u201d<\/p>\n That did it.\u00a0\u00a0As the picture of sashaying around the festive room with Marjorie Landers in his arms slid into Little Joe\u2019s mind, he stood up.\u00a0\u00a0Hoss did, too, and with an arm wrapped around the younger boy\u2019s scrawny shoulders, headed back to the house.\u00a0\u00a0The door opened on a scene filled with light and music and laughter, but after hanging his jacket on the rack over the credenza, Little Joe hesitated.\u00a0\u00a0He chanced a nervous glance toward the blue chair, where Adam had been condemned to spend the evening, but older brother didn\u2019t look like a condemned man.\u00a0\u00a0He looked like a man getting solicitous attention from half a dozen pretty girls\u2014and unfortunately, from old-maid schoolmarm, Abigail Jones, too.\u00a0\u00a0Even taking that into account, however, older brother looked like he was enjoying himself.<\/p>\n Just then, Adam looked up and gave him a smile and a nod, and in that instant Little Joe knew he was forgiven.\u00a0\u00a0Words could wait.\u00a0\u00a0For now, peace reigned over the Ponderosa, joy had returned to their world, and there were lovely ladies to dance with.<\/p>\n The End<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Character:\u00a0 Little Joe<\/p>\n Activity:\u00a0 Feeding the horses<\/p>\n Link to Day 21 of the Bonanza Brand 2021 Advent Calendar:\u00a0 Song of the Bells by SJR Cartwright<\/p>\n
\n~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~
\n* Day 20 *<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n