Summary: Christmas brings an unexpected guest to the Ponderosa and forces Joe Cartwright to confront his past, present and future in the form of a tiny glass bird.
\nRating G Words (4,750)
\nWritten for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar<\/p>\n
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The Glass Bird<\/p>\n
I<\/p>\n
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\u201cCan\u2019t sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Cartwright started and nearly dropped the fragile Christmas ornament he held.\u00a0\u00a0Quickly, he hid it behind his back as he turned toward his father.\u00a0\u00a0The older man was in his robe.\u00a0\u00a0His thick white hair was tousled and he looked half awake.<\/p>\n
Not surprising since it was the middle of the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cGosh, Pa.\u00a0\u00a0You scared ten years off of me!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n
His father came to his side.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHmm.\u00a0\u00a0I seem to remember a few freckles and slightly larger ears when you were nine,\u201d he said with a grin.<\/p>\n
Nineteen-year old-Joe rolled his eyes.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t remind me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The year had been eighteen-fifty-one.\u00a0\u00a0A photographer had set up a studio in Virginia City, and Pa thought it would just be the\u00a0greatest<\/i>\u00a0thing to have an image of his two little boys \u2013 well, one little and one\u00a0big<\/i>\u00a0boy \u2013 taken.\u00a0\u00a0Adam was still at college.<\/p>\n
The image was still here\u2026somewhere.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe buried in the back yard.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. McCorkle thought your ears were cute.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. McCorkle liked to pinch ears,\u201d he groused, feeling his.<\/p>\n
His father laughed and pulled him into an embrace.\u00a0\u00a0A second later Pa backed up.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNow, confess.\u00a0\u00a0What is that you have hidden behind your back?\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe\u2019s pert nose wrinkled.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWho me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat certainly\u00a0<\/i>sounds like that nine-year-old boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t that he was doing anything wrong.\u00a0\u00a0It was just, well, he didn\u2019t want to talk about what he was doing or put\u00a0why<\/i>\u00a0he was doing it into words.\u00a0\u00a0That was the reason he\u2019d come downstairs in the middle of the night \u2013 or morning, depending on how you looked at it \u2013 to do it alone.\u00a0\u00a0He knew his Pa would understand if he found he wasn\u2019t in his bed.\u00a0\u00a0Still, that was part of the problem.\u00a0\u00a0His brothers would make fun of him, but Pa was different.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d want to console him and then he\u2019d probably fall apart.<\/p>\n
His father was staring at him.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s not one of Hop Sing\u2019s special cookies that he\u2019s reserved for tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe frowned. Whoo-ee!\u00a0\u00a0He wasn\u2019t\u00a0that<\/i>\u00a0brave!\u00a0\u00a0Then he realized what his father was doing \u2013 which was giving him a way out.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got me there, Pa.\u00a0\u00a0It\u00a0sure<\/i>\u00a0is.\u201d<\/p>\n
His father gave him his \u2018stern\u2019 Ben Cartwright look; one eyebrow arched and lips pursed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOnly one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust one, sir.\u00a0\u00a0I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right then, I tell you what.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ll go into the kitchen and get that glass of milk I came down for.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa wagged a finger in his face.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBut, when I get back, young man, I expect you to show me both hands!\u201d<\/p>\n
Pa was still chuckling as he turned the corner into the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Joe blew out a sigh.\u00a0\u00a0He closed his eyes briefly, and then drew the object from behind his back.\u00a0\u00a0The older man would have known it instantly. After all, he\u2019d picked it out.\u00a0\u00a0It was a lightweight and fragile, blown-glass Christmas ornament in the shape of a bird.\u00a0\u00a0The colors were paler now than they\u2019d been when he was child.\u00a0\u00a0The bird\u2019s back was more dove-gray than blue, and the white of its belly had worn away to reveal the transparent material underneath.\u00a0\u00a0There were little patches of blush-pink on its sides.\u00a0\u00a0They hadn\u2019t changed much.\u00a0\u00a0They reminded him of her cheeks.<\/p>\n
Joe sniffed.<\/p>\n
Everyone knew the story.\u00a0\u00a0Pa met his mama in New Orleans and brought her to the Ponderosa.\u00a0\u00a0She loved it, but missed her home.\u00a0\u00a0The year before he was born, Pa sent all the way to New York to have a set of ornaments made for their Christmas tree.\u00a0\u00a0They represented a lot of things Mama had known in Louisiana.\u00a0\u00a0Among the fancy hats and shining gems, the glass carriages and horses, there was one bird.<\/p>\n
This one.\u00a0\u00a0A Tufted Titmouse.<\/p>\n
In spite of the tears that threatened to fall, Joe smiled.\u00a0\u00a0He didn\u2019t remember much about his mama, but he remembered she would let him sit and hold this little glass bird each Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0He swore he remembered doing it when he was just two.\u00a0\u00a0It was his favorite ornament as a child because it\u00a0was<\/i>\u00a0so small, and he loved the way its little tail lifted in the air.\u00a0\u00a0It had big round eyes that seemed to look right through you.\u00a0\u00a0When he got older \u2013 after his mama was gone \u2013 he\u2019d done some reading about the Titmouse.\u00a0\u00a0It was on account of how petite it was that it got its name.\u00a0\u00a0The original was \u2018tit mase\u2019 and it just meant \u2018small bird\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Over the years, because it was so tiny, people started saying \u2018mouse\u2019 instead.<\/p>\n
Sometimes Mama called him her little \u2018Titmouse\u2019.<\/p>\n
Joe looked toward the kitchen.\u00a0\u00a0He could hear his father noisily rattling around.\u00a0\u00a0Probably a signal that he would soon be on his way.\u00a0\u00a0After his mama died, he had made a little nest out of straw for the Titmouse to sleep in.\u00a0\u00a0Every year, he was the one to put it on the tree.\u00a0\u00a0It was a sacred moment for him, so he usually did it after everyone else was in bed.<\/p>\n
Like now.<\/p>\n
Joe reverently placed the glass bird in the nest just as his father emerged with a cough from the kitchen.\u00a0\u00a0Pa stopped beside the tree and waited.\u00a0\u00a0Joe pulled his hands out from behind his back and showed him that they were empty.\u00a0\u00a0His father nodded his head and then reached into his pocket and produced one of Hop Sing\u2019s special Christmas Day cookies that\u00a0no one<\/i>\u00a0was allowed to eat until December 25th<\/sup>\u00a0\u2013 not even Hoss.<\/p>\n Pa handed it to him and then put a finger to his lips.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cShh!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe laughed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMum\u2019s the word.\u201d<\/p>\n His father looked directly at the little Titmouse and then back at him.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYes, son.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, it is.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0They stood in silence for a moment, both lost in their thoughts, and then Pa asked, \u201cAre you coming to bed?\u201d<\/p>\n He shrugged.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not really sleepy.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s warm down here.\u00a0\u00a0I think I might read for a while.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0One of his early Christmas presents had been a copy of Charles Dickens\u2019 new novel,\u00a0Great Expectations<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0Adam gave it to him and told him to read it to the end.\u00a0\u00a0He might learn something.<\/p>\n It was a\u00a0thick<\/i>\u00a0book.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, son, but don\u2019t stay up too late.\u00a0\u00a0Tomorrow is a big day.\u201d<\/p>\n As Pa headed up the stairs, Joe understood the older man\u2019s words had to do with Christmas.<\/p>\n Neither one of them could have guessed that they would have to do with\u00a0so<\/i>\u00a0much more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n II<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Without realizing it, Joe fell asleep with the book in his hands.\u00a0\u00a0He woke up with a start and looked at the clock, noting that the hands were placed at just past three.\u00a0\u00a0As he ran a hand through his curly locks, he decided it must have been the chimes that woke him.\u00a0\u00a0Then, soft as a slipper on the stair, there came a knock at the door.\u00a0\u00a0Joe looked at the clock again.<\/p>\n Yep.\u00a0\u00a0It\u00a0was<\/i>\u00a0three in the morning.<\/p>\n Who the heck would be knocking?\u00a0\u00a0On top of that, who the\u00a0heck<\/i>\u00a0would be out in this weather?\u00a0\u00a0It had been snowing for the last few days and, while the road to town was not impassable, it was nearly impossible.\u00a0\u00a0Someone would have to be crazy to try it.<\/p>\n Or desperate.<\/p>\n The teenager considered waking his pa and brothers, but decided that was something that nine-year-old freckle-faced ears-large-enough-to pinch Joe Cartwright would have done.\u00a0\u00a0He was going on twenty, for gosh sakes!\u00a0\u00a0So what if his birthday was ten months away?\u00a0\u00a0He was practically a grown man.\u00a0\u00a0He could handle some lone wanderer in the dark.<\/p>\n Just in case, he grabbed the pistol out of his father\u2019s desk drawer and tucked it behind his belt before he opened the door.<\/p>\n The storm had intensified since he\u2019d been out to feed the animals and bed them down for the night. The wind rushed in and snow beat against his face.\u00a0 Through it, he could just make out the outline of the barn and some kind of a carriage in front of it.\u00a0\u00a0The horse that pulled it champed and strained at the bit, both wanting and needing<\/i>\u00a0to be fed and to find a warm place to bed down.\u00a0\u00a0Stepping onto the porch, the teenager looked from side to side, but saw no one and nothing.\u00a0\u00a0Puzzled, Joe scratched his head as he braved the wind and snow and headed for the carriage.\u00a0\u00a0He halted when he heard someone call his name.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d he replied.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cShow yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n The call came again.\u00a0\u00a0This time the wind didn\u2019t carry it away and he could tell the direction.<\/p>\n Back, the way he had come.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026Joe.\u00a0\u00a0Little Joe\u2026help me\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Every instinct bred into a son of the West kicked in.\u00a0\u00a0The gun was in his hand before he knew it.\u00a0\u00a0Like prey, ever wary of a hunter\u2019s tricks, he returned to the porch and searched it.\u00a0\u00a0Finally, he looked behind the large wooden table that had been upturned against the wall.<\/p>\n \u201cWho are you?\u201d he demanded when he saw the figure huddled behind it.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHow do you know my name?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMon Dieu<\/i>,\u201d the bedraggled creature breathed, its voice weak with exhaustion.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMon amour, aide moi\u2026.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Joe froze, not because it was blisteringly cold, but because he recognized the speaker \u2013 but it couldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n Could it?<\/p>\n \u201cEl\u2026Eloise?\u201d he stammered.\u00a0\u00a0A second later he was on his knees beside her, brushing snow from her honey-blonde hair and pallid face.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEloise?\u201d<\/p>\n A hand he knew all too well reached out to touch his arm.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMon petit Joseph<\/i>,\u201d Eloise sighed.<\/p>\n Right before she passed out.<\/p>\n Joe didn\u2019t know what to do, so stunned was he by the young Frenchwoman\u2019s sudden appearance.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d bid farewell to Eloise Villon six months before, when the grass was green and spring was in full bloom.\u00a0\u00a0That last image, of her stepping into the stage and waving goodbye, had remained with him for a long time.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d been angry at first \u2013 angry that she chose to go, and even\u00a0angrier\u00a0<\/i>that she chose to go in support of her scoundrel of a brother.\u00a0\u00a0Francois Villon had wrecked havoc in their lives, first threatening to skewer Hoss with a rapier for a supposed insult to his honor, and then stealing their mamas\u2019 portraits.\u00a0\u00a0Pa had been ready to strangle him, but brother Adam saved the day by playing a trick on Francois that taught the arrogant Frenchman a lesson.<\/p>\n Stooping, Joe placed one hand behind the unconscious woman\u2019s back and another under her knees, and then lifted her up and bore her into the house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n III<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hop Sing was gonna kill him when he got up Christmas morning.\u00a0\u00a0There was some aspic in the back of the ice box and he\u2019d rummaged for it, managing to upset tomorrow\u2019s figgy pudding in the process.\u00a0\u00a0What was left of the cake with its nuts and candied fruit was scattered all over the floor.\u00a0\u00a0He used the\u00a0\u00a0aspic to make some hot bone broth, and then brewed a pot of tea to go with it.\u00a0\u00a0Joe thought she\u2019d be awake when he returned, but Eloise hadn\u2019t moved at all.\u00a0\u00a0She was still on the settee where he\u2019d left her, covered with a blanket.\u00a0\u00a0He put the tray on the low table before the fire and sat down and looked at her.\u00a0\u00a0The Frenchwoman\u2019s skin was paler than he recalled; her face, somewhat gaunt, as if she had gone without food for a while.\u00a0\u00a0There were little wrinkles at the corners of her lips he didn\u2019t remember<\/p>\n And, boy, did he remember those lips!<\/p>\n Joe smiled at the memory.\u00a0\u00a0While her brother, Francois, played at being the reincarnation of a French poet who had died four centuries before \u2013 driving Pa and Adam near to distraction \u2013\u00a0he<\/i>\u00a0had taken on the\u2026\u2019odious\u2019\u2026job of wooing Eloise in hopes that she would talk her brother out of running Hoss through with a sword.\u00a0\u00a0At first, it had been all about Hoss, but as he came to know the Frenchwoman, it came to be all about her.<\/p>\n Her and him.<\/p>\n He\u2019d really mourned when she left.\u00a0\u00a0Eloise\u2019s smile, the way her cute little nose turned up on the end, her broken English and the laugh that accompanied it \u2013 all of these things haunted him in a way he didn\u2019t really understand.\u00a0\u00a0He didn\u2019t think he loved her \u2013 not in a marrying kind of way, anyhow \u2013 but there was something\u2026special<\/i>\u2026there.<\/p>\n Something that tied him to her.<\/p>\n \u201cOoh\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe sat up straight on the table and leaned in. \u201cEloise?\u201d<\/p>\n Long black lashes fluttered against too-white skin.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cOoh,\u201d she said again and frowned.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t sure if he should wake his pa or his brothers.\u00a0\u00a0They wouldn\u2019t know what to do any more than he did.\u00a0\u00a0And there wouldn\u2019t be any going for a doctor.\u00a0\u00a0The storm outside was raging and had already laid down several feet of snow.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe he should wake up Hop Sing.\u00a0\u00a0The Asian man knew all about herbs and that kind of thing.<\/p>\n If she was sick\u2026.<\/p>\n Eloise opened her eyes.\u00a0\u00a0She stared at him a moment as if confused, and then smiled.\u00a0\u00a0It was a beautiful smile that lit her large dark eyes and turned his world upside-down.\u00a0\u00a0She reached out a hand and he took it, pressing it between his own as she trembled like a frightened bird.<\/p>\n \u201cEs-tu reel?\u201d<\/i>\u00a0she breathed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPeut-il \u00eatre?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Maybe he should go get Adam.\u00a0\u00a0Older brother spoke more French that he did.\u00a0\u00a0His vocabulary was pretty much limited to \u2018Hello\u2019 and \u2018How are you?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSpeak English,\u201d Joe prompted as he stroked her forehead.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re saying.\u201d<\/p>\n Eloise blinked.\u00a0\u00a0She nodded as she squeezed his hand.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cLittle Joe\u2026you\u00a0are<\/i>\u00a0real!\u201d<\/p>\n Then, she burst into tears.<\/p>\n Now, being a man who grew up in a family of men, Joe knew very little about women \u2013 other than the fact that pretty ones turned his head and made him walk into things.\u00a0\u00a0You\u2019d think since tears came to him as fast as lightning flashed, he could handle a woman crying.\u00a0\u00a0No siree!\u00a0\u00a0In fact, a woman crying \u2013 actually a woman\u00a0sobbing<\/i>\u00a0as Eloise was now \u2013 made him want to run in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n \u201cCoward,\u201d he muttered under his breath.<\/p>\n \u201cQu’est-ce que vous avez dit?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n He knew that one, because he knew what\u00a0he<\/i>\u00a0would ask her.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI said, \u2018How-are you?\u201d he lied.<\/p>\n Eloise sniffed, wrinkled her little nose, and began to cry again.<\/p>\n Joe couldn\u2019t stop her \u2013 and he\u00a0sure<\/i>\u00a0didn\u2019t want to join her.\u00a0\u00a0The only thing he could think of to do was what Pa did when he fell apart.<\/p>\n The teenager slipped onto the settee, pulled Eloise close, and held her while she cried.\u00a0\u00a0It took about five minutes \u2013 maybe ten \u2013 before her sobs turned into sniffles.\u00a0\u00a0He was really amazed that no one had come out onto the landing to see what the\u00a0heck<\/i>\u00a0was going on.\u00a0\u00a0After all, they didn\u2019t have a woman wailing away in the great room every day!\u00a0\u00a0Then again, everyone was really tired.\u00a0\u00a0Nature\u2019s signs had warned them that a big storm was coming and they\u2019d spent the last two days preparing non-stop for its advent.<\/p>\n When her \u2018sniffs\u2019 timed out to thirty to forty seconds apart, Joe said softly, \u201cEloise.\u00a0\u00a0Can you tell me what happened?\u00a0\u00a0Why are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do not\u00a0want<\/i>\u00a0me here?\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGosh, no.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m happy as a clam to see you.\u00a0\u00a0But what you did was dangerous; coming out here in a carriage in the middle of a\u00a0\u00a0storm. You could have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n A strange look crossed the beautiful Frenchwoman\u2019s face before she buried it in his side.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt is no less than I deserve!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u00a0\u00a0Come on now.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t talk like that,\u201d Joe protested as he felt the linen of his nightshirt turn to mush.<\/p>\n She sat up abruptly and declared.\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u201cBut it is\u00a0true!\u00a0\u00a0<\/i>There is nothing for me now!\u00a0\u00a0I am\u2026inutile!<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0Useless!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you\u2019re not.\u00a0\u00a0What about that crazy brother of yours?\u00a0\u00a0He needs you.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe thought she was pale before.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d been wrong.\u00a0\u00a0The remaining color drained out of Eloise\u2019s face.<\/p>\n \u201cFrancois?\u00a0\u00a0Francois is\u2026est morte!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s brows peaked toward the chestnut curls brushing his forehead.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s what?<\/p>\n \u201cDead!\u201d she proclaimed.<\/p>\n Right before the tears started falling again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n IV<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cEr\u2026Joe.\u00a0\u00a0Hey, Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n A shake of his shoulder brought Joe abruptly out of the deep sleep he\u2019d finally fallen into.\u00a0\u00a0He woke with a start and went to sit up, but found he couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n That was because there was a young woman stretched clean across him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou think maybe you ought to\u2026tidy up a bit before Pa comes down?\u201d Adam asked.<\/p>\n Eloise\u2019s blonde head was on his chest.\u00a0\u00a0The pins in her hair had let loose during the night and her golden curls were spiraling all around him.\u00a0\u00a0The only way he\u2019d been able to get her to stop crying the night before was to lay down on the settee beside her.\u00a0\u00a0It was kind of a tight fit and they got\u2026well\u2026kind of<\/i>\u00a0tangled up.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is, unless you want to spend Christmas in the woodshed.\u201d<\/p>\n With that comment, Adam headed for the dining room.<\/p>\n Joe turned his head just enough to look at the clock.\u00a0\u00a0He got a crick in his neck for the trouble, but managed to see the hands.\u00a0\u00a0It was nearly 6:00!\u00a0\u00a0Good gosh, Pa would be down any minute!\u00a0\u00a0The teenager glanced at Eloise again and couldn\u2019t help noting the smile on her lips.\u00a0\u00a0Of course, nothing had happened, but from the way things looked\u2026.<\/p>\n He was dead.<\/p>\n \u201cGood morning, Joseph!\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s about time to rise and shine?\u201d Pa asked cheerily as he came down the stairs, straightening his tie.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAfter all, it\u2019s Christmas!\u201d the older man added as he passed the settee and headed for the breakfast table.<\/p>\n Joe blinked.<\/p>\n What?<\/p>\n \u201cMornin\u2019, Little Joe!\u00a0\u00a0Rough night?\u201d Hoss asked on\u00a0his\u00a0<\/i>way through.<\/p>\n Joe pinched himself.<\/p>\n It hurt.<\/p>\n Nope.\u00a0\u00a0Not\u00a0<\/i>dreaming.<\/p>\n It was Hoss\u2019 voice that finally woke Eloise up.\u00a0\u00a0She raised her head, blinked sleep from her eyes, smiled when she saw him –\u00a0and planted one on his lips.<\/p>\n This time his neck almost broke.\u00a0\u00a0Joe craned to look at the table \u2013 at his father and brothers \u2013 and waited for the explosion.<\/p>\n Instead, they started laughing.<\/p>\n \u201cBonjour<\/i>!\u201d Eloise called out happily as she sat up and started fussing with her hair.<\/p>\n Apparently, you could\u00a0<\/i>feel pain when you were asleep.<\/p>\n He\u00a0had\u00a0<\/i>to be dreaming.<\/p>\n His father rose from the table and came to stand beside the settee.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s a room ready for you upstairs, young lady.\u00a0\u00a0I expect you to sleep there tonight.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa\u2019s eyes moved to him.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAlone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOui<\/i>, Mister Ben!\u201d she replied, and then merrily skipped up the stairs as if the night before had never happened.<\/p>\n Joe was frowning hard enough to give himself a headache.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a question,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His father crossed his arms.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAsk it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou aren\u2019t mad.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Joe shook his head to clear it.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI mean, how\u00a0come<\/i>\u00a0you aren\u2019t mad?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause, dear brother,\u201d Adam said as he joined them, \u201cyou are such a sound sleeper that you failed to hear Pa come down the stairs at four this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd\u00a0<\/i>missed the lengthy conversation that I had with Miss Villon.\u00a0\u00a0A conversation in which \u2013 mind you \u2013 I made it perfectly clear that she was to go upstairs to the guest room\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Joe looked at the rumpled blanket \u2013 and at his rumpled cloths.\u00a0\u00a0Then he looked around the room.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis isn\u2019t upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it isn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0I checked the guest room before I came down to speak to Hop Sing this morning and found it empty.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa wagged a finger.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis one time \u2013\u00a0just\u00a0<\/i>this one time, mind you, young man, I will excuse such behavior under my roof.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, sir,\u201d Joe said, sitting up.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cCan you tell me\u00a0why<\/i>, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEloise told Pa about her brother.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked at Adam.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThen I didn\u2019t dream that part?\u00a0\u00a0Francois\u00a0is<\/i>\u00a0dead?\u201d<\/p>\n The older man nodded.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHung.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs he wanted to be,\u201d older brother added with a sigh.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt seems you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0<\/i>teach an old poet new tricks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen?\u201d Joe asked.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout a month after they left here.\u00a0\u00a0Late May or early June.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I was writing to her then!\u201d he protested.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cShe didn\u2019t say anything about it.\u00a0\u00a0Eloise told me the last time she wrote that she\u2019d met a nice man and was thinking about marrying him, and that Francois approved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen was that?\u201d Pa asked.<\/p>\n He wrinkled his brow thinking.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSeptember, maybe. When she\u00a0stopped<\/i>\u00a0writing, I figured it was because she got married and her husband would be jealous.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa and Adam\u2019s stern faces told him differently.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNo?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0\u00a0Sadly, Francois died, and he died without funds,\u201d Pa replied, his tone softening.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEloise had no recourse but to\u2026find an occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn San Francisco?\u201d Joe asked, horrified.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, son.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m sure you know what that means.\u201d<\/p>\n He did.<\/p>\n Joe put his head in his hands.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGosh, Pa, I should have made her stay.\u00a0\u00a0I should have married her.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t see it, but his father nodded to his brothers and they both quietly exited the room.\u00a0\u00a0When he looked up, they were alone.<\/p>\n Pa sat on the edge of the table.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cJoseph, do you love Eloise?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEnough to marry her?\u00a0\u00a0To spend your\u00a0whole<\/i>\u00a0life with her?\u201d<\/p>\n He shrugged.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI think so.\u00a0\u00a0I mean, she\u2019s pretty and funny and,\u201d Joe smiled, \u201ca real good kisser.\u201d<\/p>\n His father sighed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAnd do you think that\u2019s what gets a man and woman through the hard times?\u00a0\u00a0A woman being a \u2018real good kisser\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, sir.\u00a0\u00a0I know there\u2019s more to it than that.\u201d<\/p>\n The older man stared hard at him for a moment, and then rose and crossed to the Christmas tree.\u00a0\u00a0When he returned, he held out his hand.\u00a0\u00a0The glass bird was in it.<\/p>\n Joe looked at it, and then at his pa with a question in his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought this for your mother the first year we were married.\u00a0\u00a0Do you know why?\u201d<\/p>\n The teenager stared at the little dove-gray, blush, and white glass bird in his father\u2019s hand.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou told me she was homesick.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, and that\u00a0was<\/i>\u00a0a part of it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa\u2019s finger brushed the feathers that covered the little bird\u2019s head.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTell me, Joseph.\u00a0\u00a0What do you know about the Tufted Titmouse?\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph.<\/p>\n They were in\u00a0deep<\/i>\u00a0waters here.<\/p>\n The teenager thought a moment. \u201cThey like just about every kind of tree; ones with leaves and ones without.\u00a0\u00a0They like to squeeze into holes to keep warm, or sometimes crawl into crevices in rocks.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Joe smiled.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey have a funny little voice.\u00a0\u00a0Their call sounds like \u2018peter, peter, peter\u2019<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n He scratched his head.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey eat bugs and seeds.\u00a0\u00a0And they\u2019re cute?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s more than that.\u00a0\u00a0For one thing, the Titmouse lives for a very short time.\u00a0\u00a0Usually no more than one, or one and a half years.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a fragile creature, just like this little glass bird.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0His father paused as if reliving a memory.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYour mother left me just before Christmas the year before you were born.\u00a0\u00a0She was going back to New Orleans.\u201d<\/p>\n This was news to him.<\/p>\n \u201cGosh, Pa. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben turned the glass bird over in his fingers and then held it out to him.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTouch it.\u201d<\/p>\n He did.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow does it feel?\u00a0\u00a0Fragile, or strong?\u201d<\/p>\n The bird was made of blown glass that was smooth and unforgiving under his fingers.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPretty strong.\u201d<\/p>\n His father nodded. Then he closed his fingers around it, cutting the precious object off from his sight.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhat would happen if I applied pressure?\u00a0\u00a0Would it survive?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s hand shot out.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPa, don\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n The older man opened his fingers, revealing the intact Titmouse.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0The memories this little bird holds are\u00a0far\u00a0<\/i>too precious.\u00a0\u00a0Your mother was the same, Joseph.\u00a0\u00a0Strong but fragile, just like this little bird.\u00a0\u00a0It took very little to devastate her.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa met his gaze.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou know what people say about her?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was instantly hot.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s not true!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it\u2019s not,\u201d his father replied.\u00a0\u00a0Then he went on, his tone rueful.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSome of the gossip Marie brought on herself.\u00a0\u00a0It wasn\u2019t her fault, but she was used to the big city \u2013 not Hangtown or Dry Diggings.\u00a0\u00a0The women in the settlement thought she was haughty; that she looked down on them.\u00a0\u00a0The opposite was true.\u00a0\u00a0Your mother had a hard time accepting herself.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa reached out to touch his face.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cJust like you sometimes have a hard time accepting yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe frowned.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhy are you telling me this, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u00a0\u00a0Because I see a lot of your mother in Eloise.\u00a0\u00a0I just want you to make sure that you love the young lady for herself, and not for the feelings she arouses in you.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe blushed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPa\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n His father laughed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNot\u00a0that\u00a0<\/i>kind of feelings.\u00a0\u00a0I mean the feeling of\u2026safety, perhaps?\u00a0\u00a0Or maybe, unconditional acceptance?\u00a0\u00a0All of you boys missed a lot.\u00a0\u00a0A mother teaches you who you are.\u00a0\u00a0She makes her nest a home for her chicks; a place where they know they will always be accepted and loved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what does a father do?\u201d<\/p>\n His pa brushed the hair back from his forehead and then cupped his cheek with his hand.<\/p>\n \u201cHe teaches them to fly.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n V<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eloise spent the next week with them.\u00a0\u00a0Then, like it sometimes happened, there was a sudden thaw and the Virginia City road became passable again.\u00a0\u00a0Joe came down on New Year\u2019s Day to find a note on his plate, telling him she was gone.\u00a0\u00a0Eloise said she was going back to France.\u00a0\u00a0He didn\u2019t believe it until Adam told him Pa had paid her passage.\u00a0\u00a0That made him mad for a while, but he realized in time that his father knew best.\u00a0\u00a0The two of them \u2013 Eloise and him \u2013 they spent a lot of time together during that week.\u00a0\u00a0The old feelings he\u2019d had for her were still there, but they were tempered by the older man\u2019s words.\u00a0\u00a0There was a hole in his heart that would never heal.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019d tried to fill it with Eloise, but that had been unfair to both of them.<\/p>\n It was where his mama belonged.<\/p>\n It was about a week after that, near Twelfth Night, when his father knocked on his door and asked to come in.\u00a0\u00a0They chatted about nothing for a while, and then the older man pulled out a small wooden box.\u00a0\u00a0When he opened it, Joe saw that the little glass Tufted Titmouse was inside.\u00a0\u00a0Pa usually packed it safely away with the other Christmas ornaments.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen your mother left me, I knew I had to find a way to tell her how much I loved her.\u00a0\u00a0I know your brothers told you that this was one of the many ornaments I ordered from New York that year, but that\u2019s not the truth.\u00a0\u00a0I found this little glass bird in a small shop in Pomona.\u00a0\u00a0I gave it to her\u00a0before\u00a0<\/i>Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow come?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMarie had gone to stay with a friend who owned a dress shop in that town.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa smiled.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhen your mother saw me, she slammed the door in my face.\u00a0\u00a0Her friend, Helena, talked her into seeing me and I gave her this.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m sure you wonder why.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u00a0sure<\/i>\u00a0did.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is one other characteristic of this little bird I didn\u2019t mention before.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Pa touched the tiny head and sighed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Tufted Titmouse mates for life, no matter how short or long that life may be.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0His father held the box out to him.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s yours, son.\u00a0\u00a0It always has been.\u00a0\u00a0Watch over this little glass bird with care, and when you find a woman that you can\u2019t live without, give it to her as a promise of your undying love.\u201d<\/p>\n With that his father leaned in and kissed him on the head.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGoodnight, Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNight, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe sat for some time with the open box on his lap, and then rose and went to his dresser and placed it beside the image of his mother.\u00a0\u00a0After that, he returned to his bed, sat on the edge, and had a good cry.\u00a0\u00a0He loved Eloise, but not as much as he loved that little glass bird.<\/p>\n It was part and parcel of his heart.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n END<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Character I chose: Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n Item given: Glass bird<\/p>\n Second character received: Eloise Villon<\/p>\n <\/p>\n WHL for The Frenchman<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Link to the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar – Day 3 – Mayhem, It’s all Part of the Ponderosa (by BluewindFarm)<\/a><\/p>\n