{"id":65213,"date":"2026-06-26T01:01:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T05:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=65213"},"modified":"2026-06-26T01:01:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T05:01:32","slug":"life-is-never-dull-with-little-brother-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=65213","title":{"rendered":"Life Is Never Dull With Little Brother Around"},"content":{"rendered":"

Life Is Never Dull With Little Brother Around<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph Francis Cartwright smiled to himself as he patrolled the premises. He had just thought of the perfect way to get even with his older brothers.<\/p>\n

Laughing softly, he began to gather his ammunition, scouring the ground for just the right stones\u2014not too big, not too small. In a matter of minutes, he had unearthed a dozen \u201cperfect\u201d specimens. Eyes alight with mischief, he crept under Hoss\u2019 window and pinged one of the stones off the glass. It made a beautiful sound. He waited a few seconds and threw a second, then a third. On the fourth throw, a light went on in Big Brother\u2019s room. Grinning, he hightailed it over to Adam\u2019s window. Three stones later, that room lit up, and he fled to the back and waited. Moments later, the front door opened and two sets of boots stomped towards him, one from each side of the house. When Adam\u2019s footsteps, lighter and quicker than Hoss\u2019, were almost upon him, he assumed a look of innocence.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhat are you two doing up at this time of night?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we doing up?\u201d Adam sputtered.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know dang well why we\u2019re up,\u201d Hoss growled, scowling at him.<\/p>\n

Joe looked from one to the other with a bewildered expression on his face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd don\u2019t pretend you don\u2019t know what we\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you haven\u2019t said what you\u2019re doing up, Older Brother, so how could I possibly know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss and Adam exchanged glances. Slowly, a devious smile spread across their faces.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you thinking what I\u2019m thinking?\u201d Adam asked, nodding almost imperceptibly towards the front of the house.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYep, think so,\u201d Hoss answered, and reaching out, he lifted his little brother off his feet, carried him around to the front of the house, and held him above the water trough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWait a minute,\u201d Adam cautioned.<\/p>\n

Eyebrows raised, Hoss glanced questioningly at his older brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis gun,\u201d Adam explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight,\u201d Hoss responded, and with his free hand, he removed the gun belt.<\/p>\n

Seconds later, Joe hit the water with a splash. Hoss and Adam brushed off their hands and headed towards the house. Stopping at the door, Adam turned towards his waterlogged brother. \u201cYour gun,\u201d he mocked, taking the weapon from Hoss and laying it on the rocker.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood night, Little Brother,\u201d Hoss added and disappeared into the house along with his older brother.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Grumbling dire threats against his brothers, Joe climbed out of the trough and squelched his way to the stoop. He retrieved his gun and tried the door. Locked. He knocked\u2014no answer. He knocked harder\u2014still no answer. He glared at the door. He was soaked to the skin and uncomfortable. He knocked one more time, but the house remained dark and silent. Scowling he stomped towards the barn, and strode inside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He peeled off his shirt, grabbed an old towel hanging from a hook at the back of the barn, and towelled his arms and upper body dry. He looked down at his sopping wet trousers and grimaced. \u2018Why not?\u2019 he mused, and climbed into the hayloft. He stripped off the rest of his clothes and finished drying himself off.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a warm night, and the soft breeze drifting in through the loft door felt good against his naked skin. He found a comfortable spot, stretched out, and waited for his clothes to dry. He lay back and relaxed, listening to the sounds of the night: crickets chirping, tree frogs croaking, an owl hooting, in the distance a wolf howling, and close to the barn, someone moving.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe tensed. Someone was out there, skulking around the barn. He sat up and listened, but whatever it was had stopped moving.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unobtrusively, he got to his feet and crept over to the loft door, gun in hand. He peered out into the darkness, scrutinizing the area, but nothing seemed amiss. Then something moved in the dark corner by the woodpile. He stared into the darkness, watching, waiting. Seconds later, the culprit stepped out of the shadows. It was the old barn cat, prowling about looking for mice. He lowered his gun and, chuckling softly, returned to his niche in the hay. His eyes closed, and within minutes, he drifted off.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sometimes I outdo myself<\/i>,\u2019 Mother Nature thought as she gazed down at the sleeping cowboy. She smiled softly and called out to him, at first gently and then more urgently. As her call grew stronger, Joe\u2019s eyes slowly opened. He grimaced, got up, and moseyed over to his trousers. His eyes widened in disbelief. They were missing. All his clothes, except for his boots, were missing. \u201cThey stole my clothes,\u201d he grumbled. \u201cMy doggone brothers came in and stole my clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But stolen clothes or not, when Mother Nature called, you had to answer. So he pulled on his boots and climbed down the ladder. Hurrying over to the door, he opened it a crack and took a quick look around. \u2018All clear,\u2019 he thought, and slipped out.<\/p>\n

He made it to the outhouse, modesty intact, and was on his way back to the barn when his gaze locked onto the front of the house. Something was wrong, his gut insisted. He crept up to the house and took a closer look. The door was slightly ajar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Noiselessly, he stepped onto the stoop, eased the door open, and slipped inside. He froze. Voices were coming from somewhere near his father\u2019s desk. His hand reached down for his gun. \u2018Dang,\u2019 he thought, \u2018my gun is in the barn.<\/i>\u2019 His gaze travelled over the top of the credenza, and he let out a soft breath. His father\u2019s holster and gun were sitting there along with Hoss\u2019 and Adam\u2019s. He reached out, eased one of the weapons out of its holster and inched his way towards the intruders.<\/p>\n

\u201cHold it right there,\u201d he growled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both bandits shot around and froze.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlace your guns on the floor, and gently kick them over here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The two men didn\u2019t move. They stood, mouths agape, staring at the naked cowboy standing there, holding a gun on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour guns,\u201d Joe repeated.<\/p>\n

The two thieves shook their heads and slid their weapons across the floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe kicked the guns further away and fired off a shot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on down there?\u201d Ben bellowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a couple of intruders, sir,\u201d Joe shouted back. The sound of six feet hitting the floor and pounding down the hall echoed through the house, then stopped abruptly. Joe looked up. Three dumbfounded faces stared back at him. He bit the side of his lip, shrugged, and did the only thing he could think of. Head held high, he marched up to the landing, handed the gun to his father, and continued on to his bedroom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Five sets of bemused eyes followed him until he was out of sight.<\/p>\n

Hoss glanced at his father, shook his head, and descended the stairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you wanna do with these two, pa?\u201d he asked, taking custody of the two thieves.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake them into Virginia City and hand them over to Sheriff Coffee. And take Joe with you. Roy will want a statement about the break-in. And Hoss, make sure he puts some clothes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss smiled. \u2018One thing for sure,<\/i>\u2019 he thought, \u2018Life was never dull with Little Brother around.<\/i>\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

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

Life is Never Dull With Little Brother Around
\nAuthor: Joefan1<\/p>\n

Summary: A light hearted, fun (at least fun to write) story about Joe and his brothers getting even with each other.
\nFluff story<\/p>\n

Word Count:1224 Rating: PG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13332,"featured_media":65215,"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_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1007,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-joe-cartwright","category-miscellaneous","wpcat-1007-id","wpcat-1-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":42,"today_views":34},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Vengeance-00741a-1.jpeg?fit=1931%2C1415&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36426,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=36426","url_meta":{"origin":65213,"position":0},"title":"The Hayloft (by BettyHT)","author":"BettyHT","date":"February 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 In this prequel, Ben tries for a romantic interlude, but the weather and hay fever conspire against him. 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Rating = pg Word count = 2533","rel":"","context":"In "Prequel"","block_context":{"text":"Prequel","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/fishing.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19775,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=19775","url_meta":{"origin":65213,"position":5},"title":"A Hot Day, a Cold Lake, and a Bare Brother (by DJK)","author":"DJK","date":"January 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: Little Joe recounts the tale of his encounter at the lake with a not so proper lady. 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