{"id":7625,"date":"2014-02-20T12:40:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T17:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7625"},"modified":"2026-07-31T08:27:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:27:06","slug":"birthdays-and-anniversaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7625","title":{"rendered":"Birthdays and Anniversaries (by DJK)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: <\/span>A birthday and an anniversary bring memories.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 T\u00a0\u00a0 Word count:\u00a0<\/span>541<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Birthdays and Anniversaries<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAny idea what\u2019s got Candy in such a black mood the past few days?\u201d Hoss asked his younger brother as he watched the retreating back of their foreman.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNot a clue.\u201d Joe Cartwright\u2019s gaze followed his brother\u2019s. \u201cHe\u2019s been keeping to himself, but he does seem to have a burr under his saddle. I don\u2019t know whether to try talking to him or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMight be worth a try.\u201d Hoss wiped the sweat from his forehead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cUmm, maybe.\u201d Joe took his hat from his head.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNow\u2019s as good as time as any,\u201d Hoss urged.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe ran his hand through his hair. \u201cYeah, I guess he might as well bite my head off for asking as for anything else.\u201d Joe headed briskly after Candy Canaday and found him sitting on the bench nailed to the back of the barn. Without asking for an invitation, he sat down beside his friend.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBest way to get something out of your craw is to start talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Candy did not even flick his gaze in Joe\u2019s direction. \u201cNothing to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe sighed. \u201cFolks are always saying I\u2019m a good talker, but I thought you knew me well enough to know I can be a good listener too.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Candy snorted softly. \u201cLet it go, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cEven if I do, you aren\u2019t gonna have any peace. Hoss\u2019ll have his try, and if he can\u2019t get it out of you, there\u2019s always Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Candy turned, stared at his friend, and shook his head. \u201cGive it a day or two, and let it pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re sure it\u2019ll pass?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe raised his right eyebrow imitating a look often used by his Pa and elder brother.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Candy rolled his eyes. \u201cIt\u2019s just a bad time of year for me, is all. I\u2019m sorry if I\u2019ve been taking it out on everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2019s it a bad time?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBad memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d Joe knew about days of the year that brought dark memories. \u201cStill, talking can help sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAll right!\u201d It came out as an exclamation of exasperation. \u201cWish me happy birthday, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s your birthday!\u201d Surprise caused Joe to straighten with a jerk. It had never occurred to any of the Cartwrights to ask Candy the day of his birth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe gave him a puzzled look. \u201cYou\u2019re not worried about getting old, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I told you, this time of year brings some bad memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYour birthday?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Candy\u2019s voice became soft and flat. \u201cOn my tenth birthday I waited for my father to get back from patrol. He\u2019d been teasing me before he left about the wonderful birthday present he was going to give me. I waited all day and most of the night before I fell asleep sitting at the window. I waited the next day too. It was about supper time when the major came and gave me the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe news?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMy father had been killed. I never did find out what he\u2019d planned to give me.\u201d Candy stood quickly. \u201cIt\u2019ll pass, Joe. It always does.\u201d Candy strode off leaving Joe seated with a gaping mouth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHis birthday. . .\u201d Joe muttered shaking his head slowly. Then he rose and walked slowly back to tell Hoss.<\/p>\n

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

Summary: A birthday and an anniversary bring memories.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0 T\u00a0\u00a0 Word count:\u00a0541<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":11546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","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":[1046,23,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-candy-canaday","category-drama","category-short-stories","wpcat-1046-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-8-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\/2015\/08\/7.jpg?fit=400%2C500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7625","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\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}