Summary: Written for “Hop Sing’s Chinese New Year Challenge 2026,” honoring the year of the Fire Horse.
\nRating: G\/K
\nWord Count: 1,350<\/p>\n
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Author’s note:\u00a0 If I’ve butchered the Chinese, someone PLEASE let me know so it can be fixed? Thanks!<\/p>\n
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Ti\u0101ny\u00ec<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hop Sing finished the supper dishes, and sighed as he set the plates away, hesitating a moment as he noted the one plate that hadn\u2019t needed washing in more than two weeks now.\u00a0 Sadly, the Chinese man squeezed shut his eyes to breathe through the pain of his grief.\u00a0 Marie Cartwright and he had been allies; allies in the work of keeping the Cartwright men safe, fed, and cared for.<\/p>\n He firmed his lower lip from trembling.\u00a0 Well, then.\u00a0 So be it.\u00a0 Now it was his job alone.\u00a0 For her sake, he would do his best.<\/p>\n He squared his shoulders and glanced around his domain, making sure everything was spotless and ship-shape for morning, and hung his dishtowel over the wash bucket he used to scrub dishes.<\/p>\n Straightening his tunic, Hop Sing entered the dining room and scanned to be sure he\u2019d tidied all of that area as well, making sure the two younger boys had brought in everything from the table.\u00a0 Most of the plates had been half full, he\u2019d noticed.\u00a0 No one, not even young Mistah Hoss, had totally recovered his appetite yet.\u00a0 The Boss barely ate.\u00a0 Barely slept.\u00a0 Barely took notice of the world around him.<\/p>\n Three times.\u00a0 Three times this good man had lived through pain of this intensity.<\/em>\u00a0 Hop Sing shook his head sadly.\u00a0 How many times must a man suffer such a loss before he has fulfilled his destiny to balance his y\u012bngu<\/strong><\/em>\u01d2 b\u00e0oy\u00ecng?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> Hop Sing could not help but feel the Boss must be helping to provide justice for the actions of many, not just of his own. Such a good, decent man who lived with j\u012bd\u00e9<\/em> in mind, living a good, virtuous life in order to accumulate good fortune and honor, should not have to suffer so. He must be assisting in erasing the z\u00e0oni\u00e8 <\/em>of others, trying to mitigate the pain their life choices and behavior had caused.<\/p>\n Hop Sing came to himself as he felt a cold breeze around his feet and frowned.\u00a0 Coming around the corner of the dining room, he noted the great room was empty, but the front door was nearly wide open, shifting on its hinges back and forth in a light wind from the out of doors.<\/p>\n As he headed for the door to shut it, he suddenly realized: no one was home tonight but the little ones.\u00a0 Hoss was always careful about closing doors, since he\u2019d learned young that the Boss didn\u2019t like Numbah Two Son\u2019s constant entourage of animals following him into the house.\u00a0 But the littlest one\u2026<\/p>\n Glancing around himself again, Hop Sing noted the banked fire in the great hearth, and closed his eyes listening a moment.\u00a0 Sure enough; there were the stentorian snores of Benjamin Cartwright\u2019s middle son.\u00a0 Even at the young age of eleven, that child\u2019s snoring was prodigious!<\/p>\n So\u2026 Little Joe, then.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Quickly, the houseman hurried onto the porch, squinting into the darkness.\u00a0 It was now past nine o\u2019clock, long beyond the five-year-old\u2019s bedtime.\u00a0 But in the two weeks since Missy\u2019s death, the child had struggled to rest.\u00a0 In daylight hours, the child would come to Hop Sing, or to his next older brother for comfort.\u00a0 At night, all was different.\u00a0 Usually, it was the bed of Numbah One Son that the child crawled into.\u00a0 The terrible pain of the father was too hard for the little one to bear when his own was so fiery and fierce.\u00a0 Numbah One Son\u2019s calm, protective energy soothed the child. Reassured him and anchored his terrible thoughts to keep away the dreams.<\/p>\n But Numbah One Son was out tonight, gone on a night ride to try to calm his own troubled thoughts. Mistah Ben\u2026 Hop Sing shook his head sadly.\u00a0 Likely up at the gravesite, again.\u00a0 So much molten pain in this family\u2019s suffering of the loss of Missy.<\/p>\n Hop Sing stood on the porch, listening, wishing the Moon was full so that he could better see.\u00a0 But he soon heard it.\u00a0 The soft sobbing.\u00a0 And, as he\u2019d expected, by the corral.<\/p>\n Quietly, the Chinese man walked toward the child, standing there shivering in nightshirt and his boots, not wishing to frighten him.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe,\u201d he called very softly, \u201cwhy you out here alone?\u201d<\/p>\n He received no answer, until, once beside the child, the little boy turned and buried himself in the apron of the houseman.\u00a0 Sighing sadly, the houseman squatted, drawing the little one into his arms and cuddled him close, whispering comforting words in his own language.<\/p>\n Finally, the worst of the storm seemed to pass and Hop Sing smoothed the curls back from the child\u2019s forehead, smiling tenderly at him.\u00a0 \u201cYou tell Hop Sing what wrong, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n Mournfully, the reddened, swollen eyes gazed into the man\u2019s black ones with a pain so huge for a little one to bear.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026 I wanna hate him\u2026 but I can\u2019t,\u201d the child whispered. “An’ I don’t know why! Makes me mad!” But the child looked more upset than angry, Hop Sing thought, perplexed.\u00a0 Was it his own limited English? Or was this something the child was having trouble articulating?<\/p>\n \u201cHate no good. Hate who?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026Sable.\u201d<\/p>\n With a sudden pang, the man understood.<\/p>\n As though both heads were tethered to the proud stallion walking restlessly around the corral, Hop Sing’s and Little Joe\u2019s eyes turned to the dark sorrel with the three white socks and the white blaze alone in the corral.<\/p>\n Sable.<\/p>\n Missy\u2019s horse.<\/p>\n The horse who had slid and stumbled in the mud as Missy Cahtlight galloped into the yard.\u00a0 Who had awkwardly but safely got to his feet afterward\u2026 and whose rider had not.<\/p>\n \u201cAh.\u201d\u00a0 Hop Sing hesitated, then reached down and picked up the child.\u00a0 Automatically, the little boy\u2019s legs wrapped around his waist. \u201cWhy you wish hate horse?\u201d asked the man, gently, knowing full well the answer.<\/p>\n \u201cHe killed my Mama!\u201d the boy cried angrily, his green eyes flaring with emotion.<\/p>\n \u201cYou sure?\u201d asked Hop Sing, calmly.<\/p>\n Confused, the child\u2019s anger grew. \u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing nodded, thinking.\u00a0 \u201cSo\u2026 wet ground no matter?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe blinked.\u00a0 And frowned.\u00a0 He looked at the Chinese man.<\/p>\n \u201cRide too fast on bad ground no matter?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou sayin\u2019 it was her own fault?\u201d demanded the boy, hotly.<\/p>\n Hop Sing pursed his lips, carefully choosing his words.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing say\u2026 no fault.\u00a0 Is \u00a0ti\u0101ny\u00ec<\/em>.\u201d At the child\u2019s confused look, the man struggled to think of how to explain.\u00a0 \u201cTi\u0101ny\u00ec. <\/em>Fate. Is fate. Not fault. Fate.\u201d Again, he used the hand not holding the child to smooth back the curls.\u00a0 \u201cHonorable motha love Sable velly much. Sable love her. Not hate. Love.\u00a0 Fall no matter.\u00a0 Love matter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut if he hadn\u2019t\u2019a thrown her \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n Firmly, Hop Sing shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo. Could fall down stair.\u00a0 Could drown in river.\u00a0 Could get velly sick.\u00a0 No matter.\u00a0 If Missy fall down stair, you hate stair and never use again?\u00a0 If drown in river, nevah drink water again?\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head firmly. \u201cNo. Is ti\u0101ny\u00ec<\/em>. She no want you hate Sable. Not hate any <\/em><\/strong>horse. She want you love.\u00a0Jus’ be careful, more careful than Missy.\u201d<\/p>\n Troubled, the child tiredly rested his head on Hop Sing\u2019s shoulder, staring into the corral at the stallion. Hop Sing knew the thought of hating a horse, any<\/strong> <\/em>horse, would undo this child completely.\u00a0 He prayed he had found the right words to help.<\/p>\n \u201cHe looks sad,\u201d the child whispered, finally.<\/p>\n Hop Sing nodded. \u201cIs true. He miss honorable Missy, too.\u00a0 Missy his friend.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright drew in a shuddering breath, and let it out, deflating a bit.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll bring him a carrot.\u201d\u00a0 Sleepy now, he raised his head to look blearily into the Chinese man\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 \u201cWill you give me one, Hop Sing?\u201d<\/p>\n The man smiled and nodded. \u201cWe do tomorrow. Now bedtime.\u00a0 Fatha be angry you not asleep, angry at little boy. Angry at Hop Sing!\u00a0 Not good.\u00a0 We do, tomorrow. Yes?\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing was pleased to see the little boy smile sleepily as he nodded.<\/p>\n His heart aching for the little one, Hop Sing cuddled him close and walked back to the house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fin\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: Written for “Hop Sing’s Chinese New Year Challenge 2026,” honoring the year of the Fire Horse.
\nRating: G\/K
\nWord Count: 1,350<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12518,"featured_media":15256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1010,1007,30,8,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hop-sing","category-joe-cartwright","category-prequels","category-short-stories","category-challenges","wpcat-1010-id","wpcat-1007-id","wpcat-30-id","wpcat-8-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/vlcsnap-error737.png?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12518"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}