SUMMARY: \u00a0With Christmas just around the corner, Little Joe Cartwright learns exactly how far his Yankee Granite Head of a big brother will go, just how much he will do, in order to keep him safe.<\/p>\n
RATING: PG<\/p>\n
WORD COUNT: 10,301<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bonanza<\/strong><\/span> You Can Bet On It\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHow long do you think you\u2019ll be gone?\u201d asked Adam, eyeing the amount of clothing and gear his father was rolling up for his valise. Normally a spare packer – having been shipboard all those years had taught Benjamin Cartwright the art of traveling light – Adam was a tad surprised by the volume of items on the bed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here it was, just a little over a week before Christmas, and Ben was heading out to Fort Genoa, formerly a Mormon Missionary encampment and now a fully rebuilt stockade and trading post to supply pioneers heading further west to California. It was here that a meeting had been set between representatives of the Army and several local horse breeders to bid on a big Army contract to provide saddle and dray horses. When Ben had been invited to bid, he\u2019d initially planned to turn down the opportunity. But his youngest son, Joe pushed him to consider it, as the boy had certain knowledge of a herd of mares, their stallion and young stock that were currently inhabiting a sort of winter quarters in a high box canyon, protected from the worst of the winter winds and weather.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, I know it will be at least four, perhaps even five or six days,\u201d Ben admitted, ruefully, glancing back at his eldest. \u201cI really am sorry to put keeping an eye on your brothers on your shoulders so close to the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam shrugged. \u201cOh, I\u2019m not concerned about \u2026 \u201c he stopped, then scratched an ear, chuckling ruefully.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I suppose I am,\u201d he amended, thinking about trying to corral both Hoss and Joe while keeping the place going during winter weather. \u00a0\u00a0He shrugged, however, shaking his head. \u201cBut, at least the heaviest of the winter work is done until after the New Year. It\u2019s really just maintenance work now. Do you feel as though you have a good chance at the bid? Whom do you believe will be our biggest competitor?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cActually, I do. I don\u2019t think Neville Granger\u2019s going to be able to come in with as low a bid as we will. It will cost dear in terms of men\u2026 you, Bob and probably young Ed will have to break most of the horses, with Joe perhaps working with the gentlest ones after they\u2019re broken. Your salary and Joe\u2019s can be absorbed by Ponderosa Enterprises, where Nev\u2019s hands all need to be paid. I really can\u2019t think of any outfit with nearly the manpower nor the raw stock to even come to close to meeting the numbers we can likely turn in. That most recent round up of mares from the buttes was especially advantageous for us. Good bit of spotting on Joe\u2019s part.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, it was,\u201d Adam admitted, grudgingly. He had to give the kid his due.\u00a0 Joe had been so adamant that they could gather up the wild horses that he\u2019d played hooky from school for two days tracking the herd. Along with one of the ranch hands, he\u2019d managed to scout out exactly where they were, earning Adam\u2019s grudging respect. He also earned his father\u2019s ire, until Ben saw the stock and realized there were some truly sound animals in that group that could sway the Army to their side.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d just better not pull any more nonsense between now and the holiday, or he\u2019ll find himself standing up for his Christmas dinner,\u201d grunted Ben, rubbing the back of his neck in exasperation. Keeping Joe in school was becoming a full-time job and his father was heartily sick of it! He pointed a finger at his oldest son. \u201cDon\u2019t you let him get away with it again, you hear? He\u2019s only got four days left before the school holiday, so you make sure he gets there each and every day!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, short of literally hogtying him, dumping him in the back of the buckboard, and then driving to Eagle Station with him personally,\u00a0 I really can\u2019t see how I can ensure that happens,\u201d responded Adam in mild exasperation, a black eyebrow raised dubiously.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His father harrumphed, shaking his head, and gestured toward the supplies on the floor by his bureau. \u201cDo me a favor and hand me those, will you?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam followed the older man\u2019s gesture, and his other eyebrow rose in question. But he handed his father the boot black, buffing cloth and boot trees without comment. The effort to control his smirk wasn\u2019t lost on his father, however.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, yes, I know,\u201d muttered Ben, irritated at Adam\u2019s questioning look at his supplies. \u201cBut the chances are I\u2019ll need to attend church while I\u2019m there, and \u2026 well\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam chuckled, a droll expression on his face. \u201cI know, Pa,\u201d he reassured, with a grin, remembering the comely widow woman who ran the boarding house in Mormon Station that his father liked to frequent on business trips there. \u201cYou want to look your best\u2026 for the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWatch it, young man!\u201d\u00a0 But even Ben couldn\u2019t keep a stern face in this instance. He coughed and put his eyes back to the shirts and spare trousers he was packing. \u201cI should be back by the 23rd<\/sup>\u00a0at the very latest, barring any bad weather. So, God willing, I\u2019ll be home for the party Christmas Eve, more likely a day or two beforehand.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam glanced his way. \u201cJoe would never forgive you if you didn\u2019t,\u201d he said, with a smile, handing him the five pairs of rolled socks and drawers from the pile on the bed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben sighed. \u201cI know,\u201d he said, softly, and raised his eyes to his eldest. \u201cI\u2019ll do my level best, but you know how important -\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam nodded, patting the air. \u201cPa, I know exactly how important this contract could be, and Joe\u2019s not a child. He\u2019s fifteen. He\u2019ll understand, even if \u2026 well, if something happens and -\u201d But he couldn\u2019t finish.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou hold that party anyway,\u201d ordered Ben, sternly, putting a hand on his eldest\u2019s shoulder and gazing into the young man\u2019s hazel eyes. \u201cDon\u2019t let business get in the way of our usual family gathering, all right? And make sure those brothers of yours get to services come Christmas morning. No nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI will, sir, of course,\u201d nodded Adam, praying for a timely snowstorm. \u201cDon\u2019t you worry.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d sighed Ben, strapping shut his valise, and buckling his saddlebags. \u201cI\u2019d best go break the news to your younger brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBetter you than me,\u201d muttered Adam under his breath, imagining the uproar Pa\u2019s news would evoke.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, I just said \u2018 I agree,\u2019 Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~-o0o-~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lugging the large woven laundry basket upstairs, Hop Sing mentally made lists of what last-minute supplies would be needed for holiday feast in three days\u2019 time. Boss had invited the honorable Doctor Martin and his wife, Isaac Roop (widowed about five years after Ben himself), and Sheriff Coffee to join them for dinner on the night before their Christian holiday. These good family friends had been part of the celebrations of the Cartwrights for several years, some since before Marie Cartwright had died, and all indications were that the weather should hold. Hop Sing kept a mental tally of what he knew was in his pantry and compared it with that which he knew he would need to pick up this afternoon from Eagle Station when he drove the wagon in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hop Sing mechanically opened each of the boys\u2019 bedroom doors and retrieved their laundry. He was pleased to note that, as always, Mr. Adam\u2019s room was neat as a pin, and that Mr. Hoss had his things ready for him by his bureau. To his pleasure, even Mr. Little Joe had done what was expected of him and had his dirty clothes in the basket next to his armoire.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As he bore his load back downstairs to the washhouse, Hop Sing pondered the wisdom of making a large charlotte russe for dessert this year or sticking with the family\u2019s usual favorite, mincemeat pie.\u00a0Perhaps both this time? Missy Cartwright had loved charlotte russe, as did Mr. Adam, though the Boss always insisted on this \u2018mince\u2019 of fruit and nuts for a pie. Strange customs, these…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the washroom, Hop Sing set the white items to soak in water and lye, and began sorting the more soiled items to be washed, and noting what needed mending. He never bothered to check Mr. Adam\u2019s trousers, as he was always careful to empty his pockets. He\u2019d do a cursory check of the Boss and Mr. Hoss\u2019 pants, but without fail turned Mr. Little Joe\u2019s pockets inside out. Thankfully, he\u2019d reached an age when it was unlikely to find rodents or worms in them any longer. Hop Sing shuddered to remember some of the plunder he\u2019d unexpectedly unearthed in years gone by.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As he mechanically thought through what would be needed at the trading post, he turned the pockets out on Joseph\u2019s school clothes, and stopped his ruminations as a hook and fishing line, and a folded piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Frowning, he leaned down and picked up the paper, setting both the fish hook and line to the side. Hop Sing recognized that type of paper. He thought a moment, remembering: \u00a0Boss had left for Mormon Station the day before Little Joe\u2019s final week at school before the holiday. And yet this note, a note from his teacher, was dated the Friday before then. The Chinese man recognized the stationery Miss Jones used. That meant the boy had not given the note to his father before he left. That didn\u2019t bode well.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Frowning, he studied the note, and his frown deepened as he read. The side door opened and Joe, himself, came in lugging an armful of logs and a bucket of kindling for the washhouse fire.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHey, Hop Sing!\u201d he greeted, a big smile on his face. \u201cD\u2019ya want more kindling than this for in here? Or should I just bring it into -\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eyes caught the sheet of stationery Hop Sing held up, his expression inexorable, and the boy\u2019s face fell.\u00a0Uh oh\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat this?\u201d demanded the Chinese man, setting aside the pile of mending and stalking over to the youngster, shaking the letter under Joe\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cUh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt letter from Missy Jones! You play hooky! Number One Son hear about this, him warm Number Three Son\u2019s britches!\u201d declared Hop Sing. \u201cYou velly naughty boy!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNow, Hop Sing, don\u2019t go gettin\u2019 all hot an\u2019 bothered,\u201d protested Joe, trying \u2013 unsuccessfully \u2013 to calm the Chinaman down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou no tell Hop Sing calm down, him tell\u00a0you!<\/em>\u00a0You lie to honorable father!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI did not!\u201d protested Joe, hotly, dropping the logs by the kitchen hearth, and setting down the bucket with a\u00a0clang!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou no tell! Same as lie,\u201d scolded the Chinese man, again waving the letter under Joe\u2019s nose. \u201cYou know this! Yes?!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Glaring, Joe saw that this wasn\u2019t one of Hop Sing\u2019s blusters; this was \u2018for real.\u2019\u00a0 He sighed, deflated a bit, and scratched his head, pushing his hat a little further back. \u201cWell, I -\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo, \u2018well!\u2019\u00a0Is<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0lie!\u201d Hop Sing, for the life of him, couldn\u2019t recall the English phrase Mr. Adam used to name this transgression but knew it had been placed at Number Three Son\u2019s feet more than once. The boy was slowly learning that a falsehood didn\u2019t have to be spoken to have been perpetrated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The boy sighed, caught. \u201cYes,\u201d grunted Joe, shamed faced.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hop Sing nodded sternly. \u201cSo\u2026 why then Hop Sing not tell Numbah One Son? You disobey! Boss be angry. Numbah One Son be angry.\u00a0Hop Sing\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>angry! All because small boy not speak truth!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe winced.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing, it ain\u2019t that I wasn\u2019t gonna tell him, it\u2019s just\u2026 well, I didn\u2019t want Pa to worry before he left,\u201d he murmured, peering up at the cook under a fringe of dark lashes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hop Sing raised an eyebrow in an uncanny resemblance to Adam\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBoy do as Hop Sing say,\u201d he ordered, sternly. \u201cBoy bring note to Numbah One Son. No more foolishment!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut -\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo more foolishment!!!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The gargantuan sigh that emitted from the wiry boy\u2019s frame could have shifted the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Hop Sing nodded firmly, glaring, and handed the boy the note. Unhappily, Joe took the note and sighed. \u201cYes, sir,\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hop Sing studied him, knowing this boy better than he knew himself. He remembered many conversations with the Boss\u2019 late wife about this young one. \u201cYou good boy when try,\u201d he said, grudgingly. \u201cMissy Cahtlight know you well. Teach Hop Sing to watch you. To know when plan naughty things.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Embarrassed, Joe glanced up, guiltily, at the man, then flushed in discomfort, eyes dropping once more to his boots. \u201cI don\u2019t really mean to be bad, Hop Sing, truly I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sighing, Hop Sing shook his head. \u201cHop Sing know this. Boy get\u2026 get carry away.\u201d\u00a0 The man rubbed the back of his neck. \u201cYou promise\u2026 you no do again?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eyes came up, hope making him suddenly have more life. \u00a0He opened his mouth but clamped it shut once more when Hop Sing raised a finger.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing no take more foolishment! No lie! You no lie to Hop Sing\u2019s face while honorable fatha gone and Numbah One Son in charge!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His black eyes held the boy\u2019s emerald-green ones, relentless. Joe had never lied directly to his face. Never, in all his fifteen years. There was just something in those eyes, in that face, that made it impossible for the boy to bear false witness to him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His shoulders drooping, Joe nodded. \u201cYes, Hop Sing,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYes, what?\u201d demanded the Chinese man, adamant for compliance. \u201cYou\u00a0say!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rolling his eyes for a moment, then firming his lips and respectfully gazing at the man, Joe voiced his promise. \u201cI promise not to lie to your face while Pa is away and Adam\u2019s in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hop Sing frowned, realizing there were countless ways Joseph Cartwright could get around the loopholes in that promise. He irritably snapped a couple of sentences in Chinese, then gestured toward the bucket. \u201cPut kindling in bin, neat.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sighing, Joe bent over pouring the kindling into the wood bin for that purpose beside the fireplace and then straightened yelping in surprise and pain when he felt the incredibly fast and sharply painful connection of Hop Sing\u2019s wooden spoon – twice! – to his posterior.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He looked reproachfully at the houseman as he rubbed at the sting in his hind end, but the Chinese man stared him down. \u201cFor say lie to honorable fatha,\u201d the man sternly intoned. He harrumphed and gestured at the note, and peered at the boy, now far more subdued and penitent. \u201cHop Sing\u2026 Hop Sing no tell Numbah One Son. But you be good boy!\u201d\u00a0 he warned, waving the spoon under the boy\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe nodded emphatically, wincing as the sting continued to burn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Hop Sing stalked toward the sideboard in the dining room to set the table Joe sighed, and winced again, rubbing his backside.\u00a0Doggone, but he\u2019s downright lethal with that spoon!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Glumly he pondered his options.\u00a0Well, no matter what, I can\u2019t lie to Hop Sing. I just can\u2019t. I gave my word. And like Pa says, a man ain\u2019t nothin\u2019 without his word and his good name. So, I\u2019m gonna have to figure out how to pull this off without that.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And suddenly, he brightened.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0wouldn\u2019t lie.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He\u2019d get Hoss to do it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~-o0o-~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNope, I ain\u2019t gonna do it, Little Joe.\u201d Hoss\u2019 blue eyes were narrowed into irritated slits as he glared at his little brother.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAw, Hoss, c\u2019mon!\u201d begged Joe, gripping the taller young man\u2019s sleeve. \u201cIt ain\u2019t like it\u2019s forever, it\u2019s just one day.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOne day, my Aunt Tillie!\u201d blustered Hoss. \u201cYou ain\u2019t\u00a0been<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to school but one day \u2013 one day, mind! \u2013 since Pa\u2019s been gone! And it ain\u2019t like there\u2019s a whole week left to account for!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe winced. That was true. He\u2019d skipped day before yesterday, unbeknownst to Adam. Hoss knew, only having been in town that afternoon and spotted the boy talking animatedly with an itinerant peddler \u00a0off to the side of Dutch Pete\u2019s. \u201cBut you know I gotta find some way to earn enough cash to get Pa his Christmas present! You won\u2019t lend it to me, so -\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt ain\u2019t that I\u00a0won\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0lend it to ya, an\u2019 you know it! It\u2019s that I ain\u2019t\u00a0got<\/em>\u00a0none left to lend, little brother! I already done bought my gifts, unlike some people I know who always wait until the very last minute!\u201d argued Hoss, shaking his head. \u201cAn\u2019 this ain\u2019t nothin\u2019 little. You\u2019re askin\u2019 me to lie for ya, Joseph, and I jest plain ain\u2019t gonna do it!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe rolled his eyes.\u00a0He sure picks the most inconvenient times to get all big brothery\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just this last day before the winter vacation, Hoss! You\u00a0know\u00a0<\/em>nothin\u2019 really gets done today! We\u2019ll only be singin\u2019 dumb songs, and cleanin\u2019 the blackboard, and cleaning the erasers, and makin\u2019 sure books are tidy, and slates and slate pencils are accounted for,\u201d groaned Joe. He flung his arms up. \u201cShe\u2019s gonna make us read some goopy, romantic nonsense, like she always does before a holiday! Hoss, c\u2019mon, please?! Take pity on a brother!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hoss almost groaned himself, considering what he knew of Miss Abigail, and thought how Joe\u2019s estimation was probably spot on. Ever since Miss Abigail Jones had been hired to teach in a thrown-together building beside the trading post in Eagle Station two years back, all the Cartwrights had heard was the never-ending moaning and groaning of their youngest member, grousing about the unfair leaning toward romance and chivalry that this new female teacher embraced so whole-heartedly in plays and literature.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trying a different tack, Hoss turned on his little brother. \u201cWhy ain\u2019t you asked Adam for a loan?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joe rolled his eyes. \u201cYou\u2019re kidding, right? Old Pinchpenny Cartwright?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAw, Joe, you know he\u2019d -\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe said no.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hoss stopped, abruptly, his eyes widening. \u201cReally?\u201d Hoss was surprised. Normally Adam was their \u2018friend in need.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cReally!\u201d snapped back Joe, not bothering to mention that it had been the third or fourth time in the last two months he\u2019d \u201cborrowed\u201d money from Adam, money that was yet to be repaid.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNot a chance, younger brother,\u201d Adam had said breezily, as he replaced the pen in Pa\u2019s pen holder and carefully blotted the ledger to make sure the ink was dry. \u201cI am not a bank.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cJust a loan?\u201d wheedled Joe.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam chuckled and eyed the boy sitting on the edge of their father\u2019s desk with a slight pout on his handsome face.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what you said four weeks ago, and again ten days ago. Dream on, sweet prince.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut I have to get something nice for Pa for Christmas!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cShould have thought of that before.\u201d Adam rose to his feet, closing the ledger with a sharp snap and firmly nudging the youngster off the edge of the big mahogany desk. \u201cExcuse me, please.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWell, I know I should have, but it just creeped up on me, surprising-like\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cReally,\u201d commented Adam dryly as he reshelved the ledger behind the desk in his father\u2019s usual place, then turned back to his baby brother, eyebrow raised and shaking his head, clicking his tongue in an exaggerated tsk! tsk! \u201cThey moved Christmas from December 25th again?\u00a0 Those dastardly calendar makers\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cBut doggone it, Adam, you\u2019re my\u00a0<\/em>brother<\/em><\/strong>!\u201d complained Joe, desperate now, all but stomping his booted foot.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cKey phrase in there being \u2018brother.\u2019\u00a0 Not \u2018bank.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~
\n<\/strong><\/span>Day 1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n