{"id":7732,"date":"2013-08-31T14:45:51","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T18:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7732"},"modified":"2026-07-31T08:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:32:36","slug":"in-ten-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7732","title":{"rendered":"In Ten Years (by DJK)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: <\/span>Little Joe and Mitch are in a hurry to grow up.<\/p>\n

Rated: K+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Word count:\u00a01152<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Ten Years<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m twenty-one, I won\u2019t have to mind nobody ever again!\u201d Little Joe Cartwright declared as he threw himself down in a particularly thick pile of hay. His best friend Mitch followed Joe into the loft and plopped down beside him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou sure about that, Joe? I\u2019ve seen Adam do what your Pa says, and he\u2019s already twenty-three.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s \u2018cause Pa\u2019s the boss of the whole ranch. Takin\u2019 orders from the boss ain\u2019t the same as having to mind. Adam gives plenty of orders too.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he does,\u201d Mitch agreed easily, \u201cand bunches of them orders he gives to you.\u201d Mitch laughed mockingly, and Little Joe punched his friend\u2019s arm. Mitch punched back, but after a few more light blows both boys relaxed back into the supporting fodder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe sighed, \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s so bad though. I have to mind just about everybody on this ranch just \u2018cause they\u2019re my elders, and there ain\u2019t a single soul that has to mind me.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThere ain\u2019t nobody at my house that has to mind me either,\u201d Mitch commiserated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but there ain\u2019t but your ma and pa that you have to mind. I got Pa and Adam and Hop Sing and lots of hands like Old Ned and even Hoss if nobody else is around, and he takes a mind to be bossy.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe a hardly does though. At least that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just because he ain\u2019t growed into his full bossiness yet being just seventeen. He can be bossy for seventeen.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIs he bossy as Adam was when he was seventeen?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNaw, leastways I don\u2019t think so; Adam has more natural bossiness. It just ain\u2019t fair! Adam\u2019s always saying as to how Pa was harder on him about minding than he is on me, but he never thinks as how he had only Pa to mind a lot of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see as how your pa could have been much harder about minding then; he\u2019s pretty strict with you. You have to mind all of them other folks just \u2018cause he says so.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSee, that\u2019s why I can\u2019t wait until I\u2019m twenty-one and don\u2019t have to mind nobody anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMe too!\u201d came Mitch\u2019s vehement agreement, but it was followed by a deep sigh. \u201cBut that\u2019s ten whole more years, Joe. That\u2019s only one year less then we\u2019ve already been alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s lower lip slipped outward in an agreeing pout. \u201cYeah, ten whole more years.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we can stop minding some folks before that. Ya think so?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMmm, I don\u2019t know, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDoes Hoss have to mind everybody like you?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe chewed on the end of a piece of hay as he considered his answer. \u201cWell, not exactly. He can\u2019t be no ways disrespectful to anybody much older, but, well, no, he don\u2019t have to mind all the time like I do. Mainly he has to mind Pa, and, well, Pa is the onliest one he has to worry about giving him a real consequence.\u201d Little Joe\u2019s emphasis on the word real<\/em> let Mitch know exactly to what type of consequence Joe referred.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, there\u2019s lots more folks can give a real consequence to us.\u201d Mitch rolled over and stretched out on his stomach. \u201cHoss probably doesn\u2019t even really have to worry about your pa unless he did something like getting arrested or breaking a big commandment. Not with him being seventeen and so big and all.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPa don\u2019t care about big none. It ain\u2019t like Hoss would fight Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I can\u2019t see nothing like that ever happening, but still I bet he\u2019d have to do something really big to get a whipping at seventeen.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNot that big.\u201d The words slipped out of Little Joe\u2019s mouth before he considered that his brother might not want him sharing certain information with Mitch. When it did occur to Joe, he shifted nervously.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mitch could read his friend fairly well and knew that Joe suddenly wished he could take his last statement back. \u201cYou don\u2019t mean. . . how long ago?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not your business, Mitch.\u201d Little Joe gave his friend a fierce glare. Mitch ignored it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, Joe, tell. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m stupid enough to tease Hoss. It ain\u2019t nearly warm enough for getting tossed in the horse tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe shifted again, \u201cWell, umm, you got to promise not to say nothing to nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSwear it!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Raising his hand, Mitch declared, \u201cI promise not to say nothing to nobody ever.\u201d Then he spit into his palm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, okay. I\u2019d been kinda thinking like you for a while now about being too big for a tanning once ya was, well, maybe sixteen, maybe, but about three weeks ago Hoss got a tanning, so I know that ain\u2019t the way Pa thinks, and if he don\u2019t think that way with Hoss, he sure enough ain\u2019t gonna think that way with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou sure he got a tanning?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly, but I know he didn\u2019t get arrested or break no big commandment.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHoss wouldn\u2019t tell you?\u201d Mitch did not bother to inquire if Little Joe had asked his brother about the cause of the punishment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I asked Adam, but he just said Hoss forgot he was Ben Cartwright\u2019s son and Pa decided to give him a proper reminder. If it had been something like you thought I would have found out about it though; I\u2019d have seen it in Adam\u2019s face.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThen ya think your Pa\u2019s mind is set on twenty-one?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s when the law says you\u2019re a man, and men don\u2019t get tanned.\u201d Joe sighed more deeply than ever. \u201cTen years is a long time, Mitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The two boys lay in silence for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t leave now, I won\u2019t get home in time to get my chores done before supper,\u201d Mitch announced to the ceiling.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, and I\u2019m suppose to straighten up the tack room before my regular chores.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYour pa said?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNaw, Adam said. He saw Hoss chopping kindling for me when I was late yesterday and said I had to.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then there ain\u2019t nothing for it but to get her done.\u201d Mitch rose to his feet and scurried down the ladder followed by Little Joe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHow many days is there in ten years, Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe furrowed his brow and then stated, \u201cThree thousand six hundred and fifty. Course we ain\u2019t got a full ten years \u2018cause we both had are birthdays months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d Mitch\u2019s eyes lit up. \u201cI\u2019ve got four months less than you, Joe!\u201d His tone was triumphant.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe scowled at the thought but just snorted in reply. \u201cTonight, I\u2019m gonna figure exactly how many days it is until I turn twenty-one, just so I can start counting them down tomorrow! \u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright,\u00a0Mitch Devlin,\u00a0Old Ned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: Little Joe and Mitch are in a hurry to grow up.<\/p>\n

Rated: K+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Word count:\u00a01152<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":6846,"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":[23,4,1007,30,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-humor","category-joe-cartwright","category-prequels","category-challenges","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-4-id","wpcat-1007-id","wpcat-30-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ponderosa-lj.jpg?fit=640%2C475&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7732","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=7732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}