{"id":53372,"date":"2025-02-03T07:00:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=53372"},"modified":"2025-09-27T05:40:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T09:40:06","slug":"the-loft-2-by-pat-d-in-pa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=53372","title":{"rendered":"The Loft – #2 (by Pat D in PA)"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY:\u00a0 In the second of three short stories, a frustrated father, an ornery, half-grown son, and a small(ish) sentinel guarding his elder brother\u2019s privacy as he licks his wounds all<\/em> need the Cartwright barn’s hayloft to work its magic.<\/p>\n

RATING: T – for mature language (5,777 words)<\/p>\n

The Loft Series:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Loft #1<\/a>
\nThe Loft #2<\/a>
\nThe Loft #3<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

THE LOFT – #2<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPa, you can\u2019t be serious!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I sound<\/em> as though I\u2019m joking?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that’s not\u2026 You can’t … No!”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

“What<\/strong><\/em> did you just say to me?!”<\/p>\n

“I’m – I’m sorry, Pa, I apologize, but – ”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the top of the steps, two worried little brothers looked at each other as they hid just around the edge of the hallway at the top of the staircase.\u00a0 Their Pa and their eldest brother, Adam, just three months shy of his seventeenth birthday, were having a terrible argument down near Pa\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

At four and a half, Little Joe was a little in admiring awe of Adam; nobody, not even the grown-up men on the ranch, talked back to Pa like his big brother did!<\/p>\n

Eleven-year-old Hoss, on the other hand, was upset by the escalating argument downstairs.\u00a0 It always upset Hoss when there was dissension in the family\u2026 and to be frank, about the only times that happened were between Pa and Adam. Most times, Hoss believed his beloved big brother had more nerve than sense, since it seemed like he almost always argued or sassed himself right into a worse punishment than he started out with.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I’m not a little kid anymore! You can\u2019t do that!<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I can\u2019t, hm?!\u00a0 Watch<\/em> <\/strong>me!”<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Saturday’s the social and – \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be no social for you, young man! You sacrificed that<\/em> little taste of freedom when you chose to disobey and try to deceive me. I meant what I said, Adam!\u00a0 For the next two weeks, you\u2019re confined to the house and yard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut – \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo weeks! And I’m warning you, if you so much as set the toe of your boot outside of those parameters, you\u2019ll see just exactly<\/em> how serious I am!\u00a0 Oh, and one more thing, boy!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you ever<\/em><\/strong> tell me I \u2018can\u2019t\u2019!<\/em><\/strong> \u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both younger boys jumped when they felt gentle hands on their shoulders. \u201cCome, mes petits<\/em>,\u201d said Ma, softly.\u00a0 \u201cIt is not polite, the eavesdropping\u2026 you both know this.\u201d<\/p>\n

“It can’t be eavesdroppin’, Mama, when ever’one from here all the way down to the brandin’ pen could hear ’em yellin’,” Hoss responded, unhappily.<\/p>\n

Marie had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from smiling. For it was true; Adam’s temper matched his father’s and they were, truly, raising the roof down there.\u00a0 “Even so,” she said decidedly, turning both boys back down the hallway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re being unfair!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne more word out of you – one single word, Adam!<\/em><\/strong> – and I’ll turn that two weeks into a month, spent in your room!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMama, Pa\u2019s real mad,\u201d Joe confided, worriedly, taking one of her hands as they walked back toward Little Joe\u2019s room. Hoss had both of his hands jammed into his pockets as he trudged along, Marie\u2019s other hand still comfortingly on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cOui, mon petit<\/em>, this is true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn\u2019 he said Adam\u2019s gotta stay home for an awful long time,\u201d Joe shared, his eyes wide.\u00a0 \u201cThat ain\u2019t fair, is it, Mama?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair,\u201d Hoss muttered, darkly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, you think not?\u201d asked Marie, trying not to smile.\u00a0 \u201cBut, ton grand fr\u00e8re<\/em>, he has earned himself this punishment for the disobedience, did he not?\u201d she said gently.\u00a0 \u201cYou understand this, non<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Adam\u2019s a grown up, now!\u201d Hoss protested, his lower lip dangerously close to a pout.<\/p>\n

\u201cAhhh, je comprends<\/em>,” she said, nodding, with a small smile, gently stroking his hair.\u00a0 \u201cHowever, I think the grown up, he obeys the rules, oui<\/em>? And he admits when he is at fault and does not try to hide the wrong doing. I think there is, perhaps, a little more of the growing up that our Adam needs to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess,\u201d Hoss murmured, troubled, to his stepmother.<\/p>\n

Little Joe, feeling a bit lost with this conversation, glanced back\u00a0 over his shoulder toward the staircase when he heard the front door shut\u2026 not quite a slam, but not far off\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be so sad, my Hoss,\u201d Marie said gently.\u00a0 \u201cYour Papa will calm down and Adam, he will calm down, and perhaps then they can finally talk together. Oui<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 She leaned over and kissed the older boy\u2019s forehead tenderly. \u00a0\u201cUntil they learn to listen to each other, very little will change, mon fils<\/em>,\u201d she said, shaking her head as she listened to the echoing silence downstairs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was a lovely, lazy, late August afternoon.\u00a0 With all of his work done, it should have been a day to enjoy fishing at the lake, or swimming in the pond.\u00a0 It could have been an afternoon in Eagle Station or Mormon Station\u00a0 or riding with his buddies. The very last place Adam Cartwright expected to find himself on a sunny, glorious summer afternoon was in the hayloft of the big barn.<\/p>\n

Adam lay sprawled on his stomach in the soft mound of hay he\u2019d built up between the line of hay bales he\u2019d constructed and the upper loft\u2019s wall, a snug little eyrie that had been his refuge many, many times over the last five or six years.\u00a0 During haying, and afterward when the hands would send the bales up to the loft to stack, Adam always made sure he worked up here on the loft platform, in order to be able to construct that little bit of a gap between bales and the loft wall, just enough of a space for him to slip behind them with a book, or his sketchbook and pencils, or sometimes nothing at all but his active imagination.\u00a0 It offered him one of the few places he could disappear to where little brothers or his father \u2013 especially <\/em><\/strong>h<\/em>is<\/em> father!<\/em> he thought bitterly \u2013 were unlikely to track him down.<\/p>\n

A couple of the hands had cottoned to what he was up to and kindly offered to make sure there was always that gap up there if they were stacking bales\u2026 especially old Slim, who was fond of the hard-working boy.\u00a0 \u201cA feller needs to know he\u2019s got a bolt hole he can retreat to,\u201d Slim had assured him way back when he was twelve, patting his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you worry none, Pug. Donnie\u2019n me… we\u2019ll make sure your place is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was where he\u2019d swigged his first whiskey a couple of years back – he\u2019d have been astounded to know that the ranch\u2019s foreman, Jake Weber, knew exactly<\/em> what was going on up there, but the old wrangler had kept his counsel and not told the boss, instead deciding to keep his own weather eye on young Adam.\u00a0 Jake found Ben Cartwright to be a top-notch boss, fair and no nonsense, and a loving, if very<\/em> firm father.\u00a0 But the old wrangler felt there were times a boy needed to have an ally, someone to kinda serve as a buffer between an inquisitive young’un and a stern pa.<\/p>\n

Not long after the barn was first built, but a whole year before construction started on the big ranch house, this place was also where a ten-year-old Adam had bitterly wept in unhappy betrayal when his father returned after months away from his boys in New Orleans… accompanied by a new wife.<\/p>\n

Once he and Marie had come to terms with each other \u2013 well, Adam sighed fairly, once he<\/em><\/strong> came to terms with himself, for Marie had never been anything but loving and courteous to him \u2013 this hideaway also became his place to come to dream. \u00a0Where he\u2019d built castles in the air, imagining countries he\u2019d visit, sketched structures he wanted to build, pondered books he’d read and maybe would even write, and pretty girls he\u2019d spark.<\/p>\n

But, more often in the last few years, it was where he\u2019d retreated to in order lick his wounds after a blistering lecture or a tanning from his father. Angry and resentful, Adam felt as though every time he tried to spread his wings just the least little bit, Pa\u2019d clamp down all the harder and put salt on his tail.\u00a0 And lately, Adam had felt that salt burn as though it had been sprinkled into an open wound.\u00a0 When is Pa gonna stop treating me like I’m ten years old?! Why is he being such a… a damn tyrant?!<\/em><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t like he meant<\/em> to make Pa so angry all the time; he surely didn\u2019t enjoy being in Pa\u2019s bad books. It seemed as though lately, every time his father would ask for an accounting of whatever had happened, the youngster would start out trying to explain. But his explanations, so carefully planned out to be calm, sensible and controlled always fell apart, somehow.\u00a0 Somewhere along the way, both father and son would become frustrated and angry.\u00a0 Inevitably, the situation seemed to prompt a sullen, surly or sarcastic comment on Adam’s part that escalated into a full-blown argument, always seeming to end with a stern scolding (or worse) on Pa’s, with Adam ending up in more trouble than when he’d started.<\/p>\n

Today, the fury Adam had felt that morning was finally – after three long hours at that blasted woodpile – beginning to slowly burn itself out and be replaced with melancholy.\u00a0 The youngster missed how it used to be, when he and his Pa could talk about anything… anything!\u00a0 He remembered when he was very small, when it was just Pa and himself traveling west, how they talked about all kinds of things.\u00a0 How Pa used to have the special, funny smile he’d get when a small Adam would say, “Pa, I got a question…”\u00a0 About the only thing that Pa had trouble talking about was Adam’s Ma, Elizabeth, and the boy understood that now.\u00a0 It was hard for Adam to talk about the things that hurt him, too.<\/p>\n

But now?\u00a0 Well, that feeling that his father heard him, that his father understood him, that they could talk about anything and everything felt farther away than the moon.<\/p>\n

All he’d wanted yesterday was the chance to just get away from the never-ending chores, and little brothers, a demanding father and just ride<\/strong><\/em>, hell-bent for leather, with his friends… clear his head a little and release the feeling of pent-up steam that the youth had been dealing with for weeks.\u00a0 Sometimes he felt like if he didn’t raise a little hell he’d explode!<\/p>\n

Any other day, he now realized, Pa’s edict that he couldn’t go off on his own until he got that woodpile cleared wouldn’t have upset him so much.\u00a0 Adam knew the rules; had known them all of his life.\u00a0 Free time came after chores, not before.\u00a0 If the boys got their work done, Pa had no problem with them having fun.<\/p>\n

But yesterday, somehow… it was like somebody else had packed their bags and moved into his head for those ten or fifteen minutes, shoving his normal good sense right into a closet and locking the door.\u00a0 One moment he was swinging his axe, mentally bemoaning that there’d be no real time left to have any fun at all if he had to wait until this woodpile was done, and then next found him angrily sinking the axe into the stump, stalking to the barn and saddling Sport.\u00a0 Once out by the stream with Ross and Cal, he thought briefly about how mad Pa’d be, but … well, the deed was done. No way to change it now…\u00a0 Besides, <\/em>he remembered thinking confidently, I can get the wood done in the morning. Pa’ll never even know…<\/em><\/p>\n

Boy, was I wrong on that<\/strong> account!<\/em>\u00a0 Adam winced as he remembered how dangerously close he’d come this morning to spending the next month staring at the four walls of his bedroom, managing to clamp his mouth shut before making an unforgivable comment just in the nick of time.\u00a0 The youngster groaned softly, screwed his eyes shut and shook his head, then unhappily rolled onto his back, staring at the barn rafters.\u00a0 For someone who’s supposed to be reasonably intelligent, Cartwright, you sure can be such an infernal idiot sometimes…<\/em><\/p>\n

Adam heard the house\u2019s front door close and tensed slightly\u2026 until he recognized the shorter, skipping gait of his baby brother approaching the barn, and relaxed \u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhatcha doin?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe studied his bigger brother, sittin\u2019 on a sawhorse outside the barn\u2019s big doors, working on plaiting something made of leather. \u201cNo, you ain\u2019t,\u201d the little fellow said, decidedly. \u201cYou are, too, doin\u2019 somethin\u2019. \u00a0You\u2019re braidin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss looked up then, and a small gap-toothed grin creased his face. \u201cWhy, so I am, Short Shanks, I guess you’re right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe smiled then, too, and cheerfully struggled to clamber up to perch beside his brother on the sawhorse. Hoss chuckled and leaned down a broad hand to offer a small bottom a bit of a boost up.<\/p>\n

The little fellow wiggled into a comfortable position and watched his older brother’s hands skillfully plait the leather strips, then looked up at the barn.\u00a0 \u201cHow come you\u2019re doin\u2019 it here, <\/em>Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged, flushing a little. \u201cJust because.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou bin here a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss smiled to himself as he worked. \u201cI have?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYup.\u00a0 Hours an\u2019 hours,\u201d Joe told him earnestly. \u201cYou was out here afore Mama maked me take a nap and you\u2019re still here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmmm… how \u2018bout that.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Up in the loft, Adam chuckled slightly despite his mood as he listened to his little brothers\u2019 conversation wafting up through the open loft doors.\u00a0 Hours and hours\u2026<\/em> Hoss would do that sometimes, sit as a guard on the barn door, to make sure Adam had some peace.\u00a0 It always astonished the older boy how acutely sensitive and aware his little brother could be of everyone\u2019s moods\u2026 everyone\u2019s needs\u2026<\/p>\n

A pity Pa isn’t,<\/em> he groused to himself, draping an arm over his eyes, not quite ready to let go of his bad mood, and yet feeling the peace of the hayloft start to wick it away despite his best efforts to hang onto it.\u00a0\u00a0Of course,<\/em> he thought grumpily, all I\u2019d have to do to get it goin\u2019 again is remember Pa sentencing me to life in prison.<\/em><\/p>\n

He closed his eyes again, then, trying to block out the image of Sarah Dayton, the pretty little redhead who\u2019d accepted his invitation to escort her to the social on Saturday.\u00a0 Now he\u2019d not only have to rescind his invitation, but likely have to admit why, and that galled the young man to no end, imagining the near-fatal wounds his pride would have to suffer.\u00a0 At his brothers\u2019 next words, he stopped, however, his eyes popping open and his ears almost swiveling to attention\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe looked up at him and got serious.\u00a0 \u201cPa\u2019s mad again,\u201d he confided in Hoss.<\/p>\n

Hoss glanced at his little brother.\u00a0 \u201cHe is?\u201d he asked, frowning. \u201cWhat fer?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Cos he can\u2019t find Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss closed his eyes in frustration.\u00a0 Dang\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cUh oh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprised, Hoss opened his eyes again and looked at Joe, and, alarmed by the expression on the little boy\u2019s face, turned to follow his gaze.<\/p>\n

Uh oh.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pa was approaching, those dark brows knitted together. \u201cHoss, have you seen your brother?\u201d\u00a0 Pa didn\u2019t sound quite as angry as he\u2019d been earlier, but he wasn\u2019t \u2018zactly bubblin\u2019 with happiness, neither.<\/p>\n

Hoss swallowed hard, then smiled brightly\u2026 too brightly.\u00a0 \u201cUm, sure thing, Pa, he\u2019s right here!\u201d Hoss nodded, gesturing toward Little Joe.<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright did a mild double-take, then offered a stern expression to his middle boy, bookended by both fists planted on his hips.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa’s warning voice managed to string out his name to last all the way into next week.\u00a0 “No, sir, Pa, I ain\u2019t seen him,\u201d Hoss answered hastily.\u00a0 Honestly, too.\u00a0\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t<\/em> seen Adam.\u00a0 He knew exactly where he was, but he hadn\u2019t actually seen<\/em><\/strong> him.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s eyes narrowed, and Hoss gulped slightly, putting his full attention back to his harness.\u00a0 His face grew first a little paler then a lot pinker as silence dragged for ten seconds\u2026 twenty\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGo on into the house to your mother, please.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glancing at his older brother sympathetically, Joe slid down off the sawhorse. \u201cYes, Pa,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 He trudged toward the ranch house, dragging his feet and glancing back periodically.\u00a0 Pa said nothing until the front door closed and the cute little fellow with big green eyes, big brown curls, and big ears was behind it, unable to hear the next bits of conversation.<\/p>\n

Hoss focused on that piece of harness in his hands as if his very life depended on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cErik.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss winced and froze, then slowly raised his eyes nervously. \u201cYes, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave… you seen… your older<\/em><\/strong>… brother.\u201d A flat, stern statement.<\/p>\n

Hoss wilted.\u00a0 He could tell Pa’s patience was hangin’ on by the thinnest thread possible. There was no way in God\u2019s green earth he was gonna deliberately stick his head into that<\/em> lion\u2019s mouth by tellin\u2019 Pa a lie.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, sir, I ain\u2019t seen him, honest\u2026 but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss watched his father begin to puff up, as though he was a dandelion about to blow fluff all over creation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam grimaced and wearily started to sit up. Well, so much for hiding out for a bit.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not gonna let poor Hoss take the heat for Pa not being able to track me down.\u00a0 <\/em>Then he stopped at his brother\u2019s next words.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hastily, Hoss set the piece of braided leather down. \u201cPlease, Pa, Adam ain\u2019t disobeyed you, honest he ain\u2019t.\u00a0 He ain\u2019t left the yard, just like you ordered,\u201d he told his father earnestly.<\/p>\n

One of Ben\u2019s dark eyebrows raised as he studied the boy in front of him.\u00a0 And then he realized\u2026 that boy’s been sitting out here for probably close to two, two and a half hours now…\u00a0<\/em> He looked at the barn door, where this small sentry had sat, guarding the battlements from invasion.\u00a0 And his heart melted a little.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see,\u201d he said, more quietly.\u00a0 Ben scratched an ear, then gestured to his boy to slide over just a little.\u00a0 \u00a0There was just enough room for the two of them to sit on that sawhorse together.<\/p>\n

Downcast, the youngster did as he was bid, worriedly peering up at his father’s face… he was heartened to see Pa didn’t look nowhere near as exasperated as he’d been a minute ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo… up in the hayloft, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam groaned to himself, softly, crossing both his arms over his face\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 kind heart quailed a little. The boy stoutly drew in a deep breath and addressing some point in front of their boots, said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cPa, he done what you said. He ain\u2019t disobeyed.\u00a0 He just\u2026 he just needed some time to hisself, is all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben smiled a little, and glancing up at the loft\u2019s open doors, considered his words carefully.\u00a0 He gazed down at the woeful demeanor of his gentle middle boy and draped a comforting arm around his shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cHoss, I know your brother\u2019s upset, but Adam wouldn’t be so unhappy right now if he\u2019d just obeyed the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

The youngster\u2019s face screwed up in thought.\u00a0 \u201cYessir, I s\u2019pose that\u2019s so, Pa, but \u2026 well, maybe you need to shift \u2018em a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben blinked.\u00a0 \u201c\u2019 Shift \u2018em?\u2019 \u201d he echoed, bewildered.\u00a0 Shift what?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI mean\u2026\u201d Hoss shrugged. \u201cI mean, the rules shouldn\u2019t be the same for Adam as what they are for Joe and me, should they?\u00a0 He\u2019s \u2018most seventeen years old.\u00a0 A man.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam couldn\u2019t help it; he shook his head with a smile.\u00a0 You never cease to amaze me, little brother\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 though his father\u2019s next words made him roll his eyes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben fought to keep his lips from quivering.\u00a0 \u201cWhile I admit Adam is more grown up than you or your baby brother, he\u2019s still a long way from being a grown man, Hoss.\u00a0 He won\u2019t legally be that for more than four years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir, I know,\u201d Hoss said, thinking how to put into words what he was feeling.\u00a0 Finally, the youngster raised his gentle blue eyes up to his father\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cBut ain\u2019t it true what Jake says \u2018bout broncs\u2026 the harder and tighter you try to rein \u2018em in, the more they\u2019re gonna buck ya?\u201d<\/p>\n

Startled, Ben opened his mouth to answer and frowned in consternation.\u00a0 He scratched an ear, thinking again about those loft doors. \u201cWell, yes, son, I suppose to a degree that\u2019s true,\u201d he admitted, considering his proud, feisty oldest son, then grimly firming his mouth.\u00a0 \u201cBut you do a good horse no favors by letting him run wild, either, Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t there some way in between to handle ‘im?\u201d asked Hoss, hopefully.\u00a0 \u201cA way that ain\u2019t gonna break the horse\u2019s spirit an\u2019 make \u2018im mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben couldn\u2019t help but smile down at his sweet-tempered middle boy.\u00a0 Bless him\u2026 ever the peace maker.<\/em>\u00a0 He gently reached out and put a hand under Hoss\u2019 chin, cupping his cheek.\u00a0 \u201cSon, I want you to pay attention to what I’m about to say, because it holds true for how I handle you and Joseph as well as that mule-stubborn older brother of yours, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss nodded solemnly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam remained still, listening intently as well\u2026 he\u2019d give a lot to understand why<\/em>\u2026 why his father was so very, very hard on him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s hard for you and your brothers to accept sometimes, but as your father, it\u2019s not my job to be your pal, or to give you whatever you want.\u00a0 One part of my job is, of course, to make sure you have a roof over your heads, food to eat, and clothes to keep you warm. \u00a0But the most important part of my job as your father involves teaching you right from wrong.\u00a0 Teaching you the value of hard work in order to achieve your goals. Teaching you how to grow up to be good, decent men, and showing you the skills you need to know… how to get on in the world and survive. Most important, it’s to teach you how to use the brains God gave you, to listen to your conscience and to make good choices. And the reason for that is\u2026well, because I\u2019m not always going to be around.”<\/p>\n

Hoss’ face grew troubled at this.\u00a0 He’d lost his own Mama, and Adam had lost two.\u00a0 They both knew full well it was true enough that sometimes boys had to grow up without a Ma or a Pa.<\/p>\n

“As you grow older, you and your brothers will have to face challenging situations, or some mighty strong temptations, and will have to make choices without me being around to help\u2026 and also without me there to get you out of trouble when you make the wrong decisions.”\u00a0 Ben sighed, then, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees.\u00a0 Memories of his own foolish boyhood mistakes, some damned near disastrous but for the grace of God or the intervention of a wise adult, swam through his mind.\u00a0 “It\u2019s so easy to make a mistake, son, so very, very easy to make a wrong choice that could haunt you for the rest of your life.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the reason why I\u2026 well, why I set the rules I do and why I enforce them.”<\/p>\n

A quick side-eyed peek at Hoss’ slightly extended lower lip made it clear that the boy wasn’t yet convinced that his beloved big brother wasn’t currently being cruelly abused by his brutal father, Ben realized with a small smile.\u00a0 And if I was a betting man, I’d be willing to wager the lower lip on that face up in the hayloft is jutting out just as far…<\/em><\/p>\n

“No matter what you might believe, I don\u2019t come down hard on you three when you\u2019ve done wrong because I enjoy it, or because I like to make you unhappy.\u00a0 I do it to teach you that bad choices have consequences. So that when I\u2019m not around, you\u2019ll have learned to make the right<\/em> choices without having me over your shoulder.”<\/p>\n

Hoss listened, frowning at that one.<\/p>\n

Ben smiled a little at his expression.\u00a0 It made him wonder what battles may have been waged recently between the good and bad angels resting on the boy’s shoulders.\u00a0 The man also sensed the frustration his boy was feeling; Hoss adored his older brother.\u00a0 And most of the time – when he has his head screwed on straight, anyway!<\/em> the father thought grimly – Adam was a fine boy, an exemplary son and a truly wonderful big brother.\u00a0 Ben knew it upset Hoss at those times when, as a father, he needed to enforce the rules or mete out necessary penalties for misbehavior.\u00a0 Ben raised his eyes slightly, glancing again toward the loft doors, and firmed his lips, continuing.<\/p>\n

“See, Hoss, I’d rather have you boys mad at me<\/em> for a bit than to see you have to face much bigger trouble, outside the family.\u00a0 That’s my job. I can handle your anger when I have to take away your freedom for bit or saddle you with some extra chores to keep you out of mischief.”<\/p>\n

Ben shifted slightly on the sawhorse and gazed down at his boy, tapping Hoss gently on the knee, making him look up, his blue eyes wide. “Or on those occasions when I have to\u00a0<\/strong>get your attention by seeing to it that every time you try to sit down for a day or two you’re reminded in no uncertain terms of the penalty for poor choices.”<\/p>\n

Pa tipped his head meaningfully, raising an eyebrow, but Hoss could see those dark eyes were smiling.\u00a0 Hoss ducked his head a little, blushing, and smiled a little bashfully, too.<\/p>\n

Ben chuckled then, ruffling his hair and finally putting his arm once more over the boy’s shoulders, giving him a little hug.\u00a0 “The goal is for you boys to learn that the consequence suffered isn’t worth repeating the mistake. Understand?”<\/p>\n

“Yessir, Pa.” Hoss bit his lip, thinking, and nodded, then bravely tried one final salvo. \u201cBut\u2026 well, di’n’t ya tell Mama that makin\u2019 mistakes is how we learn?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben nearly groaned to himself.\u00a0 Judas Priest,<\/em> and I thought Adam<\/strong> was the debater of these three!<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0Choosing his words carefully, Ben nodded at his middle boy, meeting his earnest gaze.\u00a0 \u201cYes, that\u2019s true. But we only learn from our mistakes when we have to face the consequences of having made them, not if we try to avoid being caught.\u201d He tipped his head to the side and gestured toward the open loft doors above them. \u201cYou know what your brother did to earn this, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir,\u201d Hoss said uneasily, feeling a little disloyal, guiltily hoping his brother understood that he had to answer Pa honestly.\u00a0 \u201cYou told \u2018im to finish up his chores before he went out with his friends, and he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm… that\u2019s partially right. The key phrase in there is \u2018and he didn\u2019t.’ \u201d<\/p>\n

“But, Pa, he was<\/em> workin’ at gettin’ ’em done this mornin’, and – ”<\/p>\n

“Now, hold it right there, Erik,\u201d Ben said sternly. “You know perfectly well that isn\u2019t an accurate description of what happened this morning.”<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned down at the ground at his feet, having an idea of what was coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour older brother not only disobeyed me; he tried to cover it up.\u00a0 He gambled \u2013 unsuccessfully, I might add… ”<\/p>\n

Hoss glanced up at Pa, who was looking at him seriously, one of his eyebrows raised… ain’t much gets by Pa<\/em>, Hoss thought, glumly.<\/p>\n

Pa continued, “…he gambled that I wouldn’t know he hadn’t done as he was told and tried to rush though those chores this morning so that he wouldn’t have to admit his wrongdoing to me.\u00a0 You see the difference, there, don’t you, and what Adam did wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss thought for a moment.\u00a0 A part of him thought it seemed more like self-preservation than wrongdoing, but he was pretty sure Pa didn\u2019t feel that way\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss?\u00a0 Answer me, son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss sighed; Pa wasn\u2019t gonna let it go.\u00a0 \u201cWell\u2026 I guess, if he did<\/em> try to cover it up it was kinda like a lie\u2026 mebbe.\u201d Uneasily, the boy picked at a loose thread in the side seam of his pants.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot ‘kinda like,’ Hoss.\u00a0 It was<\/em><\/strong> a lie,” Ben said firmly.\u00a0 “Now, if he had just come to me this morning, admitted that he\u2019d done wrong, apologized and said he’d do his best to make it right, he wouldn’t be in nearly as bad a fix as he’s in now.\u00a0 You know full well the consequences for lying in this family, don\u2019t you.”\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a question, that last sentence.<\/p>\n

Hoss winced. I sure do…<\/em>Hoss was sure he’d never<\/em> forget that tanning.<\/p>\n

Ben nodded, seeing his boy\u2019s expression and squeezed his shoulders.\u00a0 “That’s right. And Adam knows it, too.\u00a0 This time, though, he calculated the odds and banked on not getting caught.\u00a0 Unfortunately, he lost that gamble and now he has to accept the consequences… and frankly, he’s getting off lightly since in this instance my belt never left my waist.”<\/p>\n

And<\/em>, thought the man sternly, remembering their argument that morning, the only<\/strong> reason it didn’t is because that pig-headed elder brother of yours wasn’t so addle-brained as to dare tell me a bold-faced lie right to my face; he did own up to his misbehavior without a lot of prompting.\u00a0 As it was, that smart mouth of his still<\/strong> came perilously close to earning him the tanning of his young life…\u00a0 <\/em>But Ben shook himself and put his mind back to the lesson at hand.<\/p>\n

“Hoss.” Ben leaned over, and his dark eyes looked meaningfully into his middle son’s wide blue ones, so much like his mother, Inger’s. “I want to always feel proud of my boys\u2026 to know all three of my sons are honest, decent young men, not liars or deceivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam frowned as his father\u2019s calm and yet serious words wafted up to the loft from below.\u00a0 Troubled, the sixteen-year-old stared up at the barn ceiling, his fingers laced behind his head as he thought all this through. He sighed, closing his eyes, his natural sense of justice finally kicking in.<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, hell<\/em>\u2026\u201d he muttered, the anger and resentment he\u2019d been nursing finally shifting into remorse and shame.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About ten minutes later, Adam heard the barn doors squeal open and slow footsteps head toward the loft ladder.\u00a0 The ladder squeaked under the weight of the big man coming up, and Adam swallowed a lump in his throat.\u00a0 Here it comes\u2026 “Punishment, Chapter Two…”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAdam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slowly the young man sat up behind the hay bales, sighed and got to his feet.\u00a0 Feeling at once foolish, frustrated, and a little ashamed, the youngster forced himself to turn and respectfully face his father, dusting the hay off himself and doing his level best not to mutter.\u00a0 \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright tipped his head to the side, hearing his middle boy\u2019s question again\u2026 …Ain\u2019t there some way in between to handle ‘im?<\/em><\/p>\n

He studied his firstborn, forcing himself to truly look <\/i>at him and was startled to not see the boy he fully expected to see, but instead a sturdy, strong, almost-a-man standing there before him, so tall, with such broad shoulders. He needs a shave<\/em>, Ben thought, in surprise and wonder, as he gazed at the youngster’s lean, handsome face wearing such a wary expression.\u00a0 Ben heaved a sad, inward sigh, mourning the loss all parents feel when they finally face the fact that their baby is truly gone and someone new has taken their place. While Adam would always be his<\/em><\/strong> child, he couldn’t be called a child any longer.<\/p>\n

Ben realized he had to be honest with himself; Hoss was right, too.\u00a0 Like it or not, it was time for him to face the fact that he had to make some changes.\u00a0 He had to learn how to provide any necessary discipline for a young man, now, not for a boy.\u00a0 To find ways to step back and let Adam, as safely as possible, make his mistakes and navigate resolving the issues himself, without his father holding his hand. Ben knew he could never compromise when it came to telling the truth; the unpleasant bit of discipline he\u2019d handed down this morning would stand, and he was willing to shoulder the brunt of Adam\u2019s anger and resentment until the boy accepted his own role in bringing it on himself.\u00a0 But perhaps when it came to some of the other rules for his oldest, it was<\/em> time to loosen his tight hold on the reins… to \u2018shift \u2018em a little,\u2019 as his wise middle son had pointed out.<\/p>\n

Making sure to keep his expression mild, Ben glanced at the couple of hay bales resting just to the side of the loft doors, a gentle, comfortable late afternoon breeze wafting in and ruffling the grain on their surfaces.\u00a0 He nodded at Adam and gestured to them, seating himself on one, sitting up straight, hands on his knees.\u00a0 \u201cSo… do you think you and I might be able to talk to each other without either one of us losing our tempers?\u201d Ben asked, gently, tipping his head to one side, looking up at his oldest son.<\/p>\n

Adam chewed on his lower lip and sat down, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees.\u00a0 He studied his clasped hands for a moment, then with his head still lowered, he sighed and peered up at his father through his thick, dark lashes.\u00a0 \u201cYes, sir, I think so,\u201d he agreed at last, his voice soft.\u00a0 And the young man pulled in a deep breath, closing his eyes a moment.\u00a0 Then, as if he’d made a decision of some kind, he squared his shoulders and gazed respectfully into his father’s eyes for the first time in a long, long time, humbly adding, “At least… I’d like to try, Pa.”<\/p>\n

Ben smiled at him warmly. He was so happy to see once again the spirit of the boy he’d missed so much these last difficult weeks of growing pains shining out from this newly minted young man before him.\u00a0 Ben wasn’t so foolish as to think they wouldn’t have to go through more of these moments in the days to come; God knows he’d given Captain Stoddard fits on board the Wanderer<\/em> until he understood himself, who he was as a man. He and Adam were both stubborn Cartwrights, after all, and they were both …well, men of conviction<\/em>, he thought to himself with an inward grin.\u00a0 But he felt greatly heartened that they’d eventually figure it out. They’d be all right as long as the son he’d known and loved for sixteen years kept shining back at him from those beautiful dark hazel eyes… Elizabeth’s eyes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Outside, Hoss nodded and smiled to himself, and picking up his piece of harness, decided that Pa and Adam could probably take it from here without him.\u00a0 He headed inside to look for a few well-deserved cookies.<\/p>\n

~-oo0oo-~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY:\u00a0 In the second of three short stories, a frustrated father, an ornery, half-grown son, and a small(ish) sentinel guarding his elder brother\u2019s privacy as he licks his wounds all need the Cartwright barn’s hayloft to work its magic.<\/p>\n

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