Winter Break
"Well,
how was it boys?" Pa asked as they stopped at the sleigh to get their
breath.
"Pa,
that's the most fun I've had in years. This
hill is the perfect place to sled, much better than the south slope, isn't it
Hoss?"
"Yessirree,
Adam. Come on, let's go again, only
this time, I'll give you a head start. Did
ya see how much I beat him, Joe?"
Little
Joe didn't reply, but sat there with his arms crossed and his jaw set firmly,
showing his disapproval of the current situation.
"Joseph,
I believe your brother was talking to you, Son.
I believe you owe him an answer." Ben gave his youngest son a look
that dared him to not respond.
Joe
swallowed and looked at Hoss and said, "Yeah Hoss I saw you.
I bet I could beat you
though." He looked at
his father hopefully as he said this, trying to see if he were making any
headway. His father's expression
told him that he was wasting his time, so he went back to his peeved expression.
Ben
just rolled his eyes and said "You boys go on; Joe and I will watch you
from here."
Needing
no further encouragement, Adam and Hoss went back up the hill, then rapidly down
again. In all they made several
more trips up and down the hillside until their father signaled them to come
back to the sleigh.
"I
think that's enough for now. I
think Joe has been out long enough and I could use some warming up myself.
Aren't you two ready to call it quits today?"
"Yeah
Pa, some of Hop Tseng's hot cocoa would taste mighty good right now." Hoss
said.
"I
tell you what Pa, how about we take one more quick run down the south slope and
we'll just about beat you home that way." Adam said.
"All
right, but come on in then. No use
in you two catching cold too." With
that, Adam and Hoss began their final climb back up the hillside and Ben urged
the draft horses pulling the sleigh back onto the path to the ranch house.
The horses needed little urging because they knew that a warm barn and
fresh hay awaited them. The
harnesses jingled merrily as they pulled the sleigh toward the house.
As they rode Ben again tried to get Joe into a better mood, though he
knew it was probably a hopeless cause.
"Little
Joe, as soon as Doc Martin says it is okay, I'll take you to the south slope and
you can sled as long as you like."
Instead
of making things better as he planned, that made Little Joe even madder.
His eyes flashed intensely and his jaw set as he looked at his father,
"The south slope is for babies.
I want to sled on the same hill that Hoss and Adam sledded on Pa.
I can do it just as good as they can!"
Ben
sighed, wishing he had left well enough alone, instead of adding fuel to the
fire. "Joseph that hill is too
steep for someone your age. The
south slope is plenty steep enough for you yet."
Joe
said nothing, but gave a deep sigh of exasperation at this new injustice.
"Joseph,
that is about enough of your bad temper. You'll
have plenty of time to go sledding when the Doc says you're well enough.
And you'll have plenty of time when you are older to go down the north
slope. Now you just quit being such
a sourpuss or I'll send you to bed. Is
that clear?" He looked at Joe
and Joe knew he had crossed that thin line between wearing his father down to
his way of thinking and making him mad.
"Yes,
sir, Pa. I'm sorry." Joe
smiled at his Pa, showing his contrition.
"Well
just see you don't let it happen again, Son."
Ben was quick to accept his apology, hoping to spend the rest of the
afternoon on a more pleasant note. He
put his arm around Joe and hugged him close, then pointed out some fresh tracks
by the woods and asked Joe to identify them.
By the time they reached the house, Little Joe was in a much better
humor. When they reached the house,
Ben let Joe out and sent him toward the house. Joe was met at the door by an
anxious Hop Tseng who quickly whisked him into the warmth of the house.
Ben unhitched the sleigh and took the horses into the barn to care for
them. As he worked, he heard Adam
and Hoss approaching, laughing and talking excitedly.
He was glad they had been able to enjoy the afternoon; it had been a long
time since either of them had been that carefree, especially Adam.
Despite Joe's temporary bad mood, it had been a pleasant afternoon.
Joe
was recovering from a bout with a bad cold that had made Paul Martin fearful he
would develop pneumonia. His
coughing and lung congestion and fever had them all worried, but after a couple
of weeks of rest, Dr. Martin's careful attention, and Hop Tseng's broth and
Chinese teas, he seemed to be recovering finally.
Paul had just that morning given them permission to let him outside for
the first time in three weeks, though he had cautioned Ben to watch him
carefully and make sure he didn't get over-tired or cold.
He had vetoed his participation in the sledding expedition, but had told
Ben if he kept him warm, he could go for a ride in the sleigh.
Not wanting to spoil Adam's and Hoss' fun, Ben had combined the two
events. He was inclined to overlook
some of Joe's bad temper since he knew being restricted to bed rest for two
weeks and then another week inside had been an ordeal for the normally active
seven-year old.
Hop
Tseng had checked to make sure Joe's clothes were dry and had settled him in
front of a roaring fire with a cup of steaming hot chocolate.
Hoss and Adam had changed and had just come downstairs when Ben came
inside. Soon Hop Tseng had them all
drinking hot beverages. Adam, 19, preferred coffee; but Hoss, at 13, still
preferred hot chocolate. Both Adam
and Hoss who had noticed Joe's disappointment at not being allowed to sled made
sure to include him in the conversation. They
relaxed and enjoyed the fire and the warmth of the house after the cold, biting
wind of the afternoon.
Hop
Tseng called them for dinner and they moved over to the dining table, where Hop
Tseng had made hearty beef-vegetable soup and cornbread for dinner.
Ben encouraged Joe to eat more several times, but tried to downplay it so
as not to make an issue out of it. At
least he was eating again and he thought a little more time was needed to perk
up his appetite. Joe had
never been a huge eater anyway, and his inactivity had probably compounded his
lack of appetite. Hoss and Adam
more than made up for Joe's lack of appetite, as their physical exertion had
given them voracious appetites.
Over
the next few days, Ben allowed Little Joe to accompany him or his brothers to
the barn and bunkhouse and Joe continued to improve.
Finally Doc Martin was satisfied that he was fine and told him he could
return to normal activities, within reason.
Little Joe heard only the part about returning to normal activities, but
his father heard the "within reason" and that of course raised an
inherent conflict between father and son. The
weather proved to be Ben's ally in this because the weather improved so that the
snow on the hillsides was not adequate for sledding.
The temporary reprieve in the form of warmer temperatures and sunshine
rapidly turned the hillsides to slush, making sledding impossible.
The
break in the weather was a benefit to the Cartwrights, making it easier for them
to check on the herds and make sure they had adequate feed and water.
The next several days there was a flurry of activity on the ranch;
everyone was too busy to think about the pursuit of recreational activities.
Adam and Hoss were kept busy riding to the various herds and checking to make
sure the weather breaks were in good condition, that there was sufficient
running water, and supplies of feed.
Ben
took on the job of taking fresh hay to the herds, taking Joe along with him to
help. Joe would have much preferred
to ride with Adam and Hoss, but at least he was not left at home under the close
scrutiny of Hop Tseng. He chattered
away to his father, asking questions and frequently answering them or asking
another one before Ben could think of an answer.
When they came to a stop, Joe jumped into the back of the wagon, right
along with his father, raking the hay out to the cattle.
Ben kept a close eye on him at first, trying to make sure he was really
feeling all right, but since Joe showed no signs of distress, he began to relax
and not worry excessively.
Joe
asked everyday if he could go out with Adam and Hoss, and finally when they had
come home for lunch, Hoss decided to try to help him out with Ben.
"Hey,
Pa, Adam is going to be spending the afternoon working on the books with you,
ain't he?" Hoss asked, innocently.
"Yes,
Hoss, I told you, he and I need to get that bid for the Army ready by next week
and I thought this would be a good afternoon to do it, since the herds are all
in good shape. Why do you
ask?"
"Well
I just remembered I have one more place to check.
Remember that small herd of range cattle over behind Hopper's Creek?
It ain't too far and won't take but about an hour.
I was wondering if I could take Joe along to help me."
Ben knew he had been set up at that moment. Joe had immediately got a pleading look in his eyes and was watching his father, smiling in anticipation. Ben looked at Hoss and made a slight frown, just enough to let him know that he knew he had been had, then he winked.
"Well, Hoss, I don't know. I
don't mind, but you'd have to ask Little Joe if he wanted to go with you."
"Yes
Hoss, I'll go with you!" Joe shouted, so excited he was jumping up and down
in his chair.
"Well,
if you promise to go straight there and come straight back, I think that will be
fine, then Sons."
Ben
and Adam exchanged a smile when they saw Joe's wink at Hoss.
So it had been a setup, but it had been Joe's idea, not Hoss'.
They both knew very well that although Joe was younger than Hoss, Joe was
able to persuade Hoss to do just about anything he wanted him to.
Ben
and Adam had worked for a couple of hours when Ben got up to get a cup of
coffee. As he walked past the
grandfather clock he noticed the time and became a little uneasy because Hoss
and Joe weren't back yet. He opened
the door and looked to see if he saw them.
Adam, seeing his father's actions and interpreting them precisely, joined
Ben at the door.
"Pa,
it takes a good hour to get there and a good hour to get back.
If Hoss had to do any kind of repair to the fence or shelter, it would
take a little longer than 2 hours, you know."
"Oh,
yes I guess you're right, Adam. But
listen. Seems like the wind is
getting up, doesn't it?"
Adam
listened for a few moments, then walked out further onto the porch and looked up
at the sky. "Whew, Pa, look at
those clouds." He pointed to clouds behind the ranch house.
"Looks like our good weather is coming to an end soon.
Looks like a good snow storm coming up."
Immediately
Ben's slight uneasiness increased several notches.
He was about to suggest that they go look for Hoss and Joe when they
heard the sound of approaching horses. They
were both relieved when they saw Hoss and Joe riding into the Ponderosa ranch
yard. Then they laughed when they
realized that Joe was talking to Hoss a mile-a-minute and Hoss was listening, as
if enthralled by every word.
Ben
and Adam walked over to greet them and Ben reached up and took Little Joe down
from his horse and gave him a bear hug, resulting in a giggle from his son.
Then Ben said "You two better get inside and get warmed up.
Looks like a big storm coming up!"
"Yeah
Pa, that's why we came on back as fast as we could.
Looks like it's gonna be a whopper!"
Two
ranch hands from the bunkhouse materialized and took the horses and the four
Cartwrights went inside. The
daylight faded quickly that afternoon and by 5 PM, it was as dark as midnight
outside. The wind was howling and
the first snow began to fall. The
snow was wet and heavy and the temperature seemed to drop with every snowflake
that fell.
Inside
the ranch house though, it was warm and cozy with a roaring fire and the
pot-bellied stove both burning. Hop
Tseng also lit fires in each of the bedroom upstairs so that the rooms would be
warm by bedtime. After having a hot
meal, the Cartwrights settled in for a relaxing evening, knowing that they had
prepared the herds as much as possible and there was nothing for them to do now
until the storm was over.
Hoss
and Little Joe played several games of checkers, with Hoss pretending to think
every move was going to outsmart Little Joe and Little Joe giggling delightedly
with every move. Little Joe won the
games by 3 to 1. At about 10 PM,
Ben realized the time and said, "Joseph, it's way past your bedtime.
Get on upstairs and I'll be right there."
"Papa,
how about reading a story down here so Hoss and Adam can hear too?" Joe
pleaded; knowing this would give him a short reprieve from leaving the rest of
them. He hated to go upstairs
before they did, because he knew he missed out on important things then.
"Well,
I guess that will be all right, since none of us are going to be getting outside
tomorrow. There's no need to get up
early. Pick out a book and I'll
read." Joe went over to the
shelf of books and spent a deliberate amount of time selecting just the right
book. Finally after Ben's
admonition to hurry up or forget it and go on to bed, Little Joe brought
Ben
began to read with Joe sitting in his lap.
By the end of the second page, Joe was drowsy.
By the end of the third page, he was out like a light.
Because it was so warm and cozy and Adam and Hoss were listening, Ben
continued to read until he finished chapter one.
Then he quietly closed the book and looked over at Adam and Hoss.
Hoss was sound asleep and Adam was drowsy, too.
Ben laughed and woke them both up to go to bed.
While Ben carried Joe up to bed, Adam locked all the doors.
He took a quick look at the storm before he locked the door and saw that
the snow was falling fast and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon.
There was already an accumulation of 12 or more inches.
Adam
banked the fire and went upstairs. He
stopped at the door to Little Joe's room and watched his father as he gently
kissed Little Joe good night and covered him up, tucking the blankets in tightly
on both sides. When Ben came to the
door, he laughed and said, "That'll last for 10 minutes at best."
Ben laughed with him and said, "Yeah I will have to get up several
times tonight to cover him up. No
wonder he gets so sick with a cold. But
Hop Tseng has his room toasty and that fire should last most of the night.
I'll build it back up when it starts to die down."
"Yeah,
he wrestles with those covers all night. The
little rascal."
Ben
put his arm around Adam and said, "Good
night, Son. See you in the
morning."
Adam
continued on to his bedroom, Ben stopped in Hoss' room to tell him good night.
Hoss was asleep and under the covers, snoring slightly already.
Ben said, "Good night, Son. Sleep
well." and then hurried to his own room to get into bed.
True
to his word, Ben had gotten up several times that night to make sure Joe was
warm enough and sure enough, each time he did, he found the bed covers on the
floor or all twisted around. He
kept the fire going and added wood as necessary to keep the room warm.
Each time he was up he looked to see if the snow had stopped, but each
time the snow was still falling heavily. He
arose just before dawn and built up the fires in all the bedrooms and then
headed downstairs for a cup of coffee.
As
expected, Hop Tseng was up with a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the fires
burning brightly. Ben gratefully
accepted the mug of coffee when Hop Tseng handed it to him.
He and Hop Tseng observed the snow together, noting how high the snow had
accumulated all ready, with no sign of letting up anytime soon. The
ropes that they had placed much earlier in the year for such an event were
barely evident under the snow. Each
year before the first snows, they placed sturdy guide ropes from the kitchen
door to the barn in case they needed to go check on the livestock.
Fortunately there were 6 men in the bunkhouse and they had the
responsibility for seeing after the livestock since they had direct access to
the barn. But the ropes were there
in case of emergency so they wouldn't get lost in the snow.
Ben
sat in the dining room to drink his coffee, while Hop Tseng went about his
duties. "Hop Tseng, I thought
we'd let the boys sleep in this morning, since they can't get out anyway."
Hop
Tseng nodded his agreement, though he didn't speak.
Hop Tseng retained a mysterious air about him in regards to his
relationship with the family. He
did not engage in conversation with them frequently, though he always made his
opinions known quite clearly. He
had a habit of lapsing into Mandarin when he was upset, though the tone of his
voice left little room for doubt if he were unhappy. Little Joe was the only one
who seemed willing to stand up to him and he frequently "spoke" back
to him, though Ben thought it was just imitation on his part.
He and Ben had developed a peaceful and comfortable routine over the
years. Ben, the inveterate early
riser, frequently had a cup of coffee in the mornings, seated at the kitchen
table while Hop Tseng made breakfast for the family.
The fierce storm still raging outside made that house all the more cozy
and inviting this morning.
Soon
Ben heard someone coming down the stairs and he went to welcome Adam.
Adam was always the second to rise, with Hoss right behind him.
Joseph would generally be in bed until someone went to wake him up. This
was a task frequently relegated to Hoss since he seemed to have better success
at it. Hoss was so sweet and
good-natured that it was hard for someone to get angry with him and he was
seldom affected by Joe's ill-tempered barbs since he knew he was just grouchy
and didn't really mean to be insulting.
Since
there were no chores to do that morning, Ben and Adam and Hoss decided to have
their breakfast and just let sleeping bears lie this morning.
It was 10:00 AM before Little Joe
came down stairs, dressed but his shirttail still out and he was wearing socks
and carrying his boots. He was
surprised to see that everyone was in the living room.
Ben and Adam were playing a game of chess and Hoss was watching.
They looked up and smiled when they saw him coming downstairs.
"Hey
Short Shanks. It's about time you
got up. It's almost lunch
time." Hoss said.
"Morning,
Son. Did you catch up on your
sleep this morning?" Pa said smiling.
Little
Joe was still rubbing his eyes, trying to shake the sleep out of his system as
he came downstairs. He felt sort of
foggy, the way one gets from sleeping too much.
He walked over to Ben and climbed up in his lap.
Ben welcomed him and pulled him tight; this was becoming more and more
infrequent as Little Joe grew older. Soon
Hop Tseng came into the great room and brought Joe breakfast on a tray, which he
put on the big coffee table. While
Joe ate his breakfast, the family chatted and enjoyed something they had very
little of usually, time with nothing to do.
The
rest of that day was spent trying to entertain each other and trying to
entertain an active 7 year old who was spoiling for adventure.
By mid-afternoon, Ben realized that the rest of the family and Joe were
on a collision course. Adam had
read to him; Hoss had played checkers with him and even played with some of his
tin soldiers, but Ben could see that even Hoss was tired of trying to entertain
Joe. Joe wasn't exactly
misbehaving; he was just too active for inside the house.
Ben was looking for some thing to serve as an outlet for his high energy
when he remembered the books and toys that he had bought Joe the last time he
went to San Francisco. He often
picked up things for the boys when he was on business trips since the selection
in Virginia City was not always satisfactory.
Ben
sent Joe to the kitchen on an errand and then quickly got up and went into the
storage closet under the stairs and brought out the package.
When Joe came back he called him over and said, "Hey Joe come look
what I have for you!"
Joe
excitedly took the bag and began looking through it.
There were two brightly colored mechanical toys.
One of them was a monkey and when you put a coin in the monkey's cap, the
monkey turned his hat, allowing the coin to fall into a bank.
There was one item in the bag that none of them recognized.
It was a round wooden disk, with string wound around the middle of it.
All of these items held Joe's interest momentarily, but he was mesmerized
when he came to a book in the bag. This
surprised both his brothers and his father.
The book was a book about horses and on the cover was a black and white
pinto. Joe looked at the horse and
then at his Pa and said, "That's the horse I want Papa.
That one right there. That
is the bestest horse I ever saw." He
spent much of the afternoon staring at the horse on the cover and reading with
either his Pa or his brothers about the pinto pony.
They each pointed out other handsome horses, but Little Joe maintained
his assertion that the black and white horse on the front was the horse for him.
Later
that afternoon, when Joe had finally become bored with the book about horses, he
sorted through the other items. He
played briefly with the mechanical toys, getting change from his brothers to put
in the monkey bank. After he
had demonstrated the action of the monkey to Hoss, using Hoss' money, Hoss said,
"Hey wait a minute Joe, give me my money back!"
Joe smiled at him and said, "Hoss I can't take away the monkey's
money. Why that'd be cheatin'!"
Little Joe gave his brother a mischievous grin and Hoss pretended to be
put out with him, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away.
Next
Joe picked up the disk and turned it all around, trying to figure out what to do
with it. As he did this, the string
came loose so he unwound it, expecting something to happen, but all it did was
wind up in a heap on the floor.
"Pa
what's this thing good for?" Adam
and Hoss were watching too, just as perplexed as Little Joe was.
Ben
said, "Hmm, Son, I'll have to think about that.
The man at the toy store said it was the toy all the boys in San
Francisco are playing with. He
called it a jou-jou or something like that. You hold the string in your hand and
the disc rolls up the string." He
took hold of the string with the disc dangling at the other end, but the disk
just dangled.
Just
then Hop Tseng came into the great room bringing coffee and hot chocolate for
the Cartwrights. Hop Tseng smiled
when he saw the toy in Joe's hand and said, "When you get disc, Little
Joe?"
"You
mean this, Hop Tseng?" and held out the disc.
"What's it s'posed to do, Hop Tseng?"
"Boys
and girls play with this in China for long time."
"How
do you play with it, Hop Tseng?"
Hop
Tseng skillfully wound the string around the tube holding the two sides of the
round disk together. He then wound
the end of the string around his finger and began to make the disk climb up and
down the string, and then he wrapped it around his other hand and began to
demonstrate even more elaborate tricks. All
the Cartwrights were fascinated as Hop Tseng demonstrated his prowess with the
toy. Finally he showed Little Joe
how to wind the toy up just right and how to do the basic movement.
"You
keep practice and Hop Tseng will show you more tricks later.
Hop Tseng must get back to kitchen."
Little
Joe and his brothers took turns practicing with the toy for the rest of the
afternoon. Ben was satisfied to
leave the playing to them, though he did cheer them on.
The
bag of toys was just the diversion Ben had hoped it would be and they made it
through the rest of the day with no major temper tantrums.
The storm seemed to be abating as the long day turned into evening.
Ben decreed an early bedtime and since everyone was bored anyway, no one
objected strongly.
"I
think the storm is winding down and we will see what the yard looks like
tomorrow. We'd better go on to bed,
we'll have to dig our way to the barn tomorrow, boys."
So
a long winter day had passed peacefully on the Ponderosa and Little Joe had
discovered his favorite horse. For
a bedtime story, he insisted that Ben read to him the details about the pinto
pony on the cover of the book. He
drifted off to sleep as his father read to him, dreaming of black and white
horses and bright colored toys and snow-covered mountains.
Ben
Cartwright was out of bed even earlier than usual because he wanted to see the
effects of the storm. He welcomed
Hop Tseng when he brought a cup of strong black coffee to his bedroom.
He went to the small balcony of his second floor bedroom to get a good
look at the snow. He was not
surprised at the sight of the yard; judging by the permanent measuring stick
painted on the side of the barn, there were at least 6 feet of snow, not
counting the snow drifts. Although
they had taken every precaution to protect the herd prior to the snowfall, he
knew they had to get to the herd now to see what needed to be done.
The herd would need fresh hay and grain and they would need to break up
ice off the water to make sure the cattle could drink.
First of all, they had to dig their way out.
He could see that was going to take all three of them working together to
get that done.
He
went to wake Adam and Hoss but was not surprised to meet Adam in the hallway.
"I
already woke Hoss, Pa. He'll be out
in a minute. Do you want me to wake
up the squirt?" Adam had a cheeky grin on his face as he asked this last
question.
Ben
hesitated only briefly, then replied with an answering smile, "No, Adam,
let's don't unnecessarily complicate things.
Let him sleep as long as possible."
Ben
and Adam both felt guilty about this because they both knew that Little Joe
loved snow and would want to be out in it as soon as possible.
But they also knew that the snow was higher than he was right now and his
efforts to help shovel the snow would be more of a hindrance than help.
Much better to get as much of it done as possible before he was up.
Ben and Adam and Hoss ate a quick breakfast of biscuits and ham and hot
coffee and got right down to work. Ben
and Adam started to shovel a pathway to the barn while Hoss began to shovel
towards the woodpile, since both were essential.
Ben periodically stopped Adam to listen for sounds of the ranch hands,
who he expected to be shoveling from the opposite side.
Finally they heard them and they began to communicate their whereabouts,
hoping to meet in the middle.
The
frequent shouts right below his window eventually filtered into Little Joe's
dreams and he woke up. For just a
moment he lay in the bed, trying to figure out what the sound was.
When it finally came through to him, he jumped up and ran to the window.
Seeing the snow and his father and brothers out shoveling, he hurriedly
ran down the stairs and out the front door.
"Pa.
Pa! Wait for me.
I wanta help!"
About
the time Ben saw him and turned to go to him, Hop Tseng came rushing from behind
and grabbed him up, fussing in Chinese. Ben
shook his head and told Adam, "Can you and Hoss finish this up?
I think we're almost to the middle and I'll go in to help with Little
Joe."
Adam
laughed and said, "Sure Pa. For
a minute there I was afraid you were gonna ask me
to go help with Joe and let you finish here."
Ben
said, "Hmmm, too bad I didn't think of that sooner."
He headed back to the house where Hop Tseng was headed with the
wriggling, barefooted, pajama-clad boy in his arms.
"Well
good morning Joseph!" he said, taking hold of Little Joe from Hop Tseng.
"Pa,
why didn't you get me up? I can
help shovel. That's the most snow
I've ever seen, Pa." He said excitedly as his father carried him upstairs.
Ben sat him on the bed and began to lay out clothes for him to wear
starting with warm woolen long johns and thick socks, dressing him in layers of
shirts and pants. Little Joe complained about the woolens, saying they made him
itch, but when his father told him he couldn't go outside without them, he
acquiesced. When he was finally
satisfied, Little Joe looked about twice his normal size.
However he was so glad to be finally dressed that he didn't stop to
complain, but went running downstairs and was just at the front door when his
father's voice stopped him.
"Joseph!
You have to eat breakfast first."
Little
Joe let out a loud sigh, but knowing that never once had his father let him get
outside without eating breakfast, he decided to just try to get it over with as
quickly as possible. He ran to the
dining room table, calling Hop Tseng as he ran.
Hop Tseng met him with a bowl of piping hot oatmeal and a mug of cold
milk. Ben sat down at the table and
Hop Tseng poured him a fresh cup of coffee.
About this time, Adam and Hoss came in and said they had the paths
finished. They all sat down for a
warm-up while Little Joe ate his breakfast.
Hoss joined him in a bowl of oatmeal since he had worked up an appetite
doing all that shoveling.
When
Joe had eaten enough to satisfy his father, and Hoss had eaten two helpings of
oatmeal, they went back outside. Ben
asked Adam and Hoss to check with hands and make sure the stock were cared for,
while he and Little Joe filled Hop Tseng's woodbin.
Ben would carefully load 3 logs into Little Joe's outstretched arms and
then he would load up seven or eight logs and take them to the woodbin.
After a few trips, they had the woodbin fully replenished.
"Pa,
can we play some now?" Little
Joe asked, bouncing up and down in his excitement.
Joe's face was red with the cold and with the excitement, his eyes were
sparkling green with gold flecks dancing in them, and his curly hair sticking
out from under his cap framed his head like a halo.
Ben
laughed and said, "And what would you like to play, Joseph?
The snow is too high yet for making snow angels."
Joe
paused to consider his options, then pulling his left hand from behind his back,
pelted Ben with a snowball.
"Why
you……." Ben said, laughing and bent over to make his own snowball.
In the meantime, Joe landed another well-aimed snowball.
Adam and Hoss heard the whooping and hollering and came running, knowing
what was going on. Little Joe got
Hoss right on the leg with a snowball and then Adam landed one on Ben.
And the fight was on. Soon
the ranch hands came out and they were all involved in a giant snowball fight.
The Cartwrights took on the ranch hands with the water trough for a
shield and the ranch hands used a wagon for their battle station.
After thirty minutes of this activity, everyone was ready to surrender,
except Little Joe, who was proclaimed by all the others to be the "best
snowball maker of them all."
The
rest of that day was spent indoors again, despite Little Joe's pleadings; there
were no more snowball wars that day. Ben
read the chapter on pinto ponies to Joe again and Joe practiced with the disc
again, getting much better at it. He
tried to teach Hoss but Hoss decided his fingers were just too big to make it
work. "That's ok Hoss,
you can make a lasso better'n me" Little Joe consoled him.
Since
no more snow fell that day, and the wind died down a little, Ben and Adam
discussed the possibilities of getting out to check the herds tomorrow after
Hoss and Joe had been sent to bed.
"I
think we can probably get to all of 'em except the high places, Pa.
And those have the most shelter anyway. " Adam opined.
"Yes,
Son. It's the low places where we need to put out some new hay and grain and
check the stock. Well, we'll give
it a try tomorrow."
"Why
don't you and I each take half the hands and I'll take the two south pastures
and you take the east ones?"
"Yeah
that's a good idea. We'll leave
Hoss and Joe here; it may be too rough for Hoss and I know it's too rough for
Little Joe."
"How's
Hoss gonna like that, Pa?" Adam was concerned that Hoss would feel like he
was being left behind just to baby-sit Little Joe.
"Oh,
I'll give them plenty to do here, Adam. They
can do the barn chores since the hands will be with us."
And
that is what they did the next morning. Hoss
accepted the decision gracefully, because he wasn't really all that fond of cold
weather anyway and at least at home they could go in to warm up as often as they
liked. Little Joe, on the other
hand, loved cold weather and he was downright insulted to be left behind.
In fact, he came very very close to getting a tanning over the tantrum he
pitched when he heard the plans for the day.
Hoss, always the peace maker, saved him from that by suggesting that
after they got the barn chores done, they could have another snowball fight.
Completing
all the barn chores by themselves took Hoss and Joe most of the day.
Hop Tseng called them inside periodically for hot chocolate and to check
that they weren't getting wet. Hoss
was always too glad to come in when called; Joe fussed but once inside, seemed
revitalized by the warm fire and hot soup and beverages Hop Tseng gave them.
In the afternoon, he prepared hot herbal tea and gave it to them in the
traditional Chinese teacups. Neither
of them particularly liked the hot spicy tea, but they liked the idea of
drinking a real grownup beverage, so they pretended to like it.
They
finally got finished with all the chores for morning and evening by about 4 PM,
and true to his word, Hoss challenged Joe to a snow ball fight.
They each claimed their battle station and began to lay in a good supply
of snowballs. They had each
accumulated a fair amount of snowballs when right in the middle of the
battlefield between their two stations; the first group of hands, led by Adam
came riding up. Without even
speaking to each other, they both started pelting the arriving men with
snowballs, laughing and shrieking as they caught them completely off-guard.
One
of them caught Adam right on the nape of the neck, and under ordinary
circumstances, it probably wouldn't have bothered him, but he was tired, cold,
wet, and hungry. He yelled, jumped off his horse and handed the reins to one of
the hands, who went on into the barn.
Adam reached down and scooped up a double handful of snow and made a
giant snowball and went looking for the culprit who had hit him.
Unfortunately the culprit was Little Joe and he was the first person Adam
saw. Adam threw the snowball at him
and the weight of it knocked his brother off-balance and he fell into the snow,
going almost completely out of sight.
Adam's
eyes widened in alarm and he ran to his baby brother and pulled him out, afraid
that he had hurt him. When he
pulled him over, Little Joe took his arm and wiped the snow off his face.
When Adam saw that he was unharmed, he hugged him tightly.
Little Joe, laughing by this time, took the opportunity to put a handful
of snow down Adam's back. Adam
shrieked again and put Little Joe down to get the snow out of his shirt, then he
started off chasing Little Joe, saying "Now you've gone and made me mad.
I'm gonna get you now." But
they were both laughing so hard they could hardly run.
All
of a sudden, Joe flopped down in the snow and started to spread his arms and
legs back and forth in the snow as far as he could.
Then he stood up and said, "Look Hoss, Look Adam.
I made an angel." Hoss
and Adam, laughing, flopped down in the snow and began to make snow angels too.
It was just then that Ben Cartwright and his crew came riding into the
courtyard. The other hands rode on
into the barn, but Ben Cartwright sat there on his horse for a few minutes,
watching his sons playing in the snow. He
watched the three playing for a few more minutes, then he said loudly,
"Well if you three boys are through playing now, I'd like to get inside and
get warm."
That
night at dinner the Cartwrights discussed what they had found during their long
day of checking. Unfortunately the
storm had done considerable damage and the next few days would be busy ones as
they got all the stock back in good shape and ready for the next onslaught of
bad weather. Winter was for the
most part a time to get everything in readiness for a storm, waiting out a
storm, then getting ready for the next one.
Very little ranching could go on during the long winter months and
sometimes they were actually snowed in for several days at a time.
Those were some of the most peaceful times they had.
"Pa
did you check on that little jersey herd over in Rim Canyon?" Hoss asked at
dinnertime. "No, I didn't have
time. Adam did you check it by any
chance?"
Adam
shook his head, indicating that he hadn't either.
"We'd better check it tomorrow though, Hoss. I plumb forgot about
it."
"Pa
it ain't too far over there and the trail is good. How
'bout if I just take a wagon with some hay and tools over there and I can check
on 'em and take care of any minor damage? It
won't take too long."
Ben
considered this and after thinking about all the other work they had to do and
deciding that the risks were minimal, he agreed to this.
"What
about me Pa? Can I go with Hoss on
the wagon? Please Pa?" Joe
turned a pleading look on his father.
Ben
took no time to consider this request.
"No,
Joseph. It's too cold and too rough out there and you wouldn't be able to help.
You'll have to stay home and entertain yourself in the morning.
Hoss should be home by lunchtime. Then
you and he can keep each other company doing the barn chores."
Joe's
expression immediately clouded over and he burst out "It ain't fair Pa.
Just 'cause I'm the youngest, I have to stay at home all the time.
It ain't fair." The
more he talked the louder he became.
Ben
attempted to calm him down. "Now
Joseph, you can find…."
He
was interrupted by a loud outburst by Joe again; "It's not fair.
I never get to do anything 'cept watch or stay home. You never let me do
anything fun. You always let Adam
and H…….."
His
outburst was cut short at that point by his father. Ben had come around to Joe's
chair and picked him up out of the chair. He
placed him on the floor and with a solid swat to his backside, directed him to
his room. "You go get ready
for bed, young man and if I hear one more word out of you, I'll give you a
spanking."
Joe
turned around to smart off one more time, but fortunately he saw his father's
face before he said anything. He
knew that if he said one more syllable, his Pa would quickly carry out his
threat. Instead he turned and ran
up to his room, willing himself not to cry until he got to his room.
Once inside with the door closed behind him, he sprawled on his bed and
cried at all the injustices of being the youngest.
Downstairs
Adam and Hoss shared a look of empathy for both their little brother and their
Pa. For a few moments no one spoke.
Ben broke the silence finally; "I wonder how many more times we will
hear that before Joseph is grown?" Adam
laughed and said, "Well Pa I don't know but I remember hearing it many
times from Hoss, too."
Hoss
pretended to be offended, making an innocent face.
"Was I really ever that loud
Pa?"
"No,
Son, no one was ever that loud, though you both
had your growing pains." They
all three chuckled at this.
Ben
finished drinking his coffee and eating the hot apple pie Hop Tseng had made for
dessert and then said, "I'm going to go up and get Joe to bed.
I'll see you boys in a few minutes."
When he reached Joe's room, he knocked softly and entered the room at the
same time. He was glad to see that
Joe had calmed down. He was lying
on his side, sucking his left thumb and twisting his hair with his right hand,
still snuffling, but no longer sobbing. He
smiled at the sight of the habit of twisting his hair, something he inherited
from his mother. In fact, he had
inherited his soft curly brown hair from his mother.
Ben could still see her playing with Joe's hair when he was a toddler.
"Joseph?
I came to help you get ready for bed.
Let's get on your pajamas and then I'll read you a story.
I don't suppose we could read a different one than the pinto story, could
we?" He talked to Joe as if
nothing had happened. Ben
Cartwright believed in discipline, but once punishment was over, it was over;
and he didn't dwell on it. His
approach was successful and he was rewarded by a mischievous smile.
Joe jumped up and got his pajamas and Ben helped him get into them.
Then he reached over to his dresser and said, "Here's the story I
want you to read me, Pa," and handed Ben the horse book.
The book fell open to the page with the pinto information on it.
Ben lifted Joe into bed, plumped up his pillow, covered him up, and
hugged him tight and began to read the story.
"Pinto horses are an American……"
Just
as he finished the story and was tightening the covers one last time, he heard
Little Joe whisper, "I'm sorry I was bad, Pa."
Ben
knelt down and smoothed Little Joe's curls off his forehead and said,
"Thanks, Son. It's all right
now. Go to sleep."
"'Night
Pa. I love you."
"Good
night, Son. I love you too."
Ben's voice almost broke as he said this, so full of love for the little
boy who was already asleep.
The
next morning, Ben, Adam, and Hoss again ate breakfast early, letting Little Joe
sleep. Ben figured the longer he
slept, the quieter Hop Tseng's morning would be and he didn't look want to have
a confrontation with Little Joe this morning.
He smiled to himself when he was making that decision---he knew there
would be plenty of opportunities for confrontations with his head-strong little
boy in the coming years. Little Joe
had already shown himself to have a quick temper and a stubborn-ness second to
no one he'd ever met before.
Ben
and Adam again took out the crews to care for the herds.
Each team had one wagon loaded with supplies and lunches that Hop Tseng
had prepared. Hoss took a
wagon also and headed to Rim Canyon. He
didn't take a lunch, figuring to be home by 1:00 PM for lunch.
Hop Tseng had thoughtfully included a morning snack; however, for Hoss's
appetite was substantial. Hop Tseng
felt that Hoss was the only Cartwright who showed proper respect and
appreciation for his good cooking, so he made sure to keep Hoss well-fed.
"Hop
Tseng, just keep Little Joe as busy as you can in the house.
I'm leaving Sam to do the morning barn chores.
If Joe gets too stir-crazy, you can let him play in the barn for a little
while. Hoss'll be back as soon as
he can."
"You
go. Hop Tseng keep eye on Little Joe."
With
that, the older Cartwrights left the ranch, heading to their respective jobs.
The temperature was extremely cold this early in the morning.
Ben reckoned it was somewhere in single digit numbers; the wind made it
seem even colder. The weather was
showing no sign of warming up; in fact if anything, it seemed colder today than
yesterday. "or maybe I'm just
getting too old for this kind of work" he chided himself.
The snow had packed down into a solid firm covering and in areas that
were undisturbed, the view was breathtakingly beautiful.
No matter how cold it was, the view was well worth it to Ben Cartwright.
He
and Adam and Hoss reached their destinations and began their work.
Hoss was glad he had thought of this herd, the snow shelter in the canyon
had been blown over and the hay and grain left earlier had been covered by snow.
Hoss set about uprighting and repairing the shed and then spreading out
new hay and grain.
When
Little Joe was waking up, Hop Tseng was in his room, getting his clothes out for
him. He smiled at Hop Tseng
who returned his smile and then helped him brush his teeth and get dressed in
front of the fire. Hop Tseng
dressed him warmly and then they went downstairs for breakfast.
Since there was no one except Little Joe, Hop Tseng gave him breakfast in
the kitchen. This was something
that Hop Tseng did for no one else in the family; he didn't share his kitchen
with anyone---except Little Joe. As
Little Joe ate, Hop Tseng worked in the kitchen. They kept up a good
conversation, spoken sometimes in English and sometimes in Mandarin.
Joe was the only member of the family who spoke Chinese and he was also
the only one to know that Hop Tseng both spoke and understood English much
better than he pretended to. But
this was their unspoken secret.
After
he finished breakfast, Hop Tseng told Joe stories of his homeland for a while.
At about 10:00 AM, Hop Tseng asked Little Joe if he would go gather some
eggs so he could make sugar cookies. Little
Joe readily agreed since sugar cookies were his favorite cookie, or at least for
that day, anyway. He liked
them best when he could help make them, because Hop Tseng would color the sugar
and let him decorate them. They
just tasted better that way.
Hop
Tseng made Joe put on his warmest coat, his gloves, and a hat before he could go
to the barn. When attired
warmly enough to suit Hop Tseng, Little Joe grabbed the egg basket and went out
the back door to go toward the chicken house, which was to one side of the barn.
He stopped on the threshold and looked around, wishing he could play in
the snow and enjoying the cold, crisp air.
He liked the way it made his lungs burn just a little bit as he breathed
and he loved the way he could see his breath when he breathed out.
He headed on toward the barn, sliding purposely in places where there was
ice on the ground. When he got to
the barn he started toward the chicken house, but he detoured by the horses,
giving each one a sugar cube he had brought from the house.
He patted them and then continued to the chickens.
He stopped at the stall where Lily, Hop Tseng's milk cow was watching him
with her big brown eyes. He laughed
and said, "I didn't forget you Lily" and held out his hand to let her
eat a handful of sweet oats from his hand.
Again he headed toward the chicken house and started talking to the
chickens when he heard someone calling out faintly.
He stopped and looked around and didn't see anyone.
"Hello?" he said, and then waited for an answer.
"Help me, Little Joe" he heard, coming from the bunk house.
He went over to see who it was and was shocked by the sight of a trail of
blood heading toward the bunkhouse. He
recovered and ran in to find who was bleeding.
One
of the hands, Sam was lying on a bunkhouse bed, bleeding from a wound in his
side. "Sam!
What happened?"
"Little
Joe I didn't mean to startle you, but I got to have some help.
I done got stuck with a pitchfork. Can
you help me get in the house so Hop Tseng can fix me up?"
"Sure
Sam, I can help you. I'll go get
Hop Tseng and bring him to you, though."
With that, Little Joe turned and ran to the house, calling Hop Tseng as
loudly as he could. Hop Tseng came
running out and Little Joe grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the
bunkhouse and Sam. When Hop Tseng
saw Sam and heard that he had tripped and while trying to keep from falling had
lurched into the pitchfork, right through his abdomen, he knew he was going to
have to have hot water and close observation until they could get Doc Martin to
the ranch.
"Can
you walk if Little Joe and I help you?" he asked the man.
"Yeah
it ain't that bad, Hop Tseng. Danged
fool thing for a grown man to do." He fussed at himself.
With
Hop Tseng's and Little Joe's help, they managed to get Sam into the house,
covered with a blanket to prevent him from getting much colder.
Since he had been injured for almost three hours, the fire in the
bunkhouse had burned almost completely out and the bunkhouse had been very cold.
When they reached the house, Hop Tseng directed him to his own bedroom
next to the kitchen. Little
Joe was right behind them. Hop
Tseng noticed Joe staring at the blood and decided that was not a good thing for
him to see. He made Sam as
comfortable as possible, covered him up and taking Little Joe with him, went to
the kitchen and put on some water to boil.
He then got out some clean white strips from his own "medicine
cabinet" and added a bottle of antiseptic, some healing ointments, and a
bottle of whiskey. When the water
boiled, he said to Little Joe, "We
will need to keep fire going. Will
you bring wood to fill woodbin?" he
figured they could always use wood and that would keep Little Joe occupied while
he cleaned and bandaged the wounds.
"Sure,
Hop Tseng." Joe replied and went out the back door to do just that.
But when he got to the woodbin, it was already full.
Sam had already filled the woodbin before his accident.
He then decided to go on and get the eggs, since he was out and he didn't
want to see what Hop Tseng was doing, anyway.
He went on into the barn and found his egg basket and went into the
chicken house to start collecting eggs. He
talked to them and collected 10 eggs. He
even reached under Miss Prissy and got an egg.
He couldn't wait to tell that to Hoss, because Hoss was afraid of Miss
Prissy since she attacked him one time. Everyone
had tried to reassure Hoss that it was just because she thought he was
endangering her chicks, but Hoss was determined to steer clear of Miss Prissy.
After
collecting the eggs, he headed back toward the door of the barn, but gave the
barn one last look to see if there was anything that needed to be done that he
could do. He was almost out
of the barn door when his eyes caught on the sleds---three of them, all stored
on the barn wall. One old one, red
in color but with spots where the paint was gone.
Another one that was not as old as the first one, but wasn't shiny any
more and then one that looked brand new. It
was, in fact his brand new sled that he had gotten for Christmas.
He'd not even had a chance to use it yet.
His thoughts went back to when he had had to sit in the sleigh with his
father and watch Adam and Hoss have all the fun.
"It ain't fair." He thought to himself.
"It ain't fair." He
said out loud. He was now running
his fingers along the smooth blue sled, shiny and unblemished---just waiting for
someone to ride down a hill on. He
put the egg basket down and before he knew what he was doing, he had the sled
down from its place on the wall. He
didn't even hesitate once he had it down---he headed towards the hill he had
watched Adam and Hoss fly down.
Little
Joe hurried toward the hill, unconsciously getting out of view of the house as
soon as possible. The cold air was
exhilarating; he was the member of the family who most enjoyed cold weather and
snow. The view around him was truly
beautiful; the ground was covered in a thick blanket of snow and the trees were
covered with snow and ice. Although
slightly gray, there was enough light to make the ice hanging on the trees
sparkle. The gray or black trees
stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding snow.
The evergreen trees looked even greener with snow on the branches and
surrounding ground.
The
natural beauty of the scenery kept his attention away from such mundane thoughts
as disobedience and punishment during the trek to the hilltop.
He did have a flickering moment of guilt just before he reached the top
of the hill, but then when he reached the top and looked down, all he could
remember was how exciting it had looked when Adam and Hoss had raced down the
hillside. With the thoughts of the
excitement crowding out any other thoughts, he positioned the sled and climbed
in. Leaning forward and holding
onto the rope, he pushed off the hillside.
The new sled, sluggish at first due to its newness, gathered speed
quickly and he was soon flying down the hillside at breakneck speed, laughing
with delight. Guiding the sled was
a little tricky but since there was nothing in the way, it didn't really matter.
In no time at all, he reached the end of the hillside and lost speed,
stopping just before a copse of evergreen trees.
His eyes were bright with merriment, and his face was flushed with
excitement---he grabbed the sled and headed to the top of the hillside again,
all the while reliving the exhilaration of the previous trip.
The second and third trip down were essentially the same; he did get a
little better at guiding the sled, though it was still difficult to manage at
the velocity at which he was soaring down the hill.
He
was headed back up the hill for the fourth trip down.
He was breathing hard, his nose was red and when he breathed in, the cold
air seemed to burn clear down to his lungs.
It took him longer to get to the top of the hillside because his legs
were tired and pulling the sled was harder because his arms were tired and sore;
he was squinting to keep out the glare from the blindingly white landscape.
An older person may have recognized the feeling of fatigue and rested a
bit; but he was only 7 and he didn't stop long enough to decipher the messages
his body was sending him. All he
could think about was getting to the top and going down again.
By
this ride, the sled was fully broken in and was as slick as possible.
Joe started in exactly the same spot as on his previous trips, which made
the snow more slippery too. He
pushed off, leaning forward to gain momentum and lightly holding the guide rope.
He was about 1/4 to 1/2 of the way down the hillside when he saw, just a
few feet directly in front of him, a snowshoe rabbit.
The rabbit was big and the same color as the snow except for the tips of
its ears, which were black. Had it
not been for the black ears, Little Joe probably wouldn't have even seen him.
But he did see him, and he reacted instinctively, snatching the guide
rope to the right in order to avoid the rabbit.
The sled was going much too fast and his arms were much too tired and he
was not skillful enough to safely guide the sled around the rabbit.
When he snatched on the guide rope, the sled turned almost completely
horizontal and the accumulated momentum propelled the sled and its occupant in a
rapid tumble down the hillside. After
what seemed like an eternity of flying, tumbling, and crashing into the hillside
and the sled, Little Joe landed with a plop into the soft snow.
The sled landed a few feet away from him--perfectly upright, perfectly
vertical. Little Joe's last thoughts before he lost consciousness from the blow
to his head from the sled and the shock of the cold was if the rabbit was okay.
The snowshoe rabbit hearing the noise had nonchalantly hopped away to a quieter
place.
Hop
Tseng was kept busy at the ranch, washing, bandaging, and stopping the bleeding
of Sam's wound. There were 4
puncture wounds from the pitchfork; two of them looked serious.
He had to hold pressure on them to stop the bleeding. Finally he was able
to apply a tight pressure dressing to stop the bleeding.
He thought that no vital organs had been punctured; however and if he
could get the bleeding stopped and prevent infection, Sam would recover. When he
finally felt he had the bleeding under control and could leave, he went into the
kitchen to put on some broth and to check on Little Joe.
It was only then that he realized he had been tied up with Sam for over
an hour--almost two hours and that he hadn't seen nor heard Little Joe since.
He
quickly ran upstairs and checked Joe's room and the other rooms upstairs and
checked the downstairs and found no trace of him. He
peeked in at Sam and saw that he was dozing comfortably for the time being, then
he donned a heavy coat and went outside to the barn, calling him as he went.
No response. He quickly
checked the bunkhouse, the chicken coop, and the stalls in the barn---still no
sight of him. As his eyes
swept the barn, he saw the egg basket and hurried over to it---it was then that
he noticed the missing sled. He
looked all around and then he saw the marks in the snow of the sled being
dragged from the back of the barn, headed toward the hills.
He
was putting on snowshoes to go after Little Joe, his heart constricted when he
heard horses coming into the yard. It
was Adam and his crew. Adam
was talking to the men, giving them instructions when Hop Tseng ran to him.
Adam knew right away that there was something wrong.
Hop Tseng began talking to him rapidly, in Mandarin, his most comfortable
language. Adam jumped off his horse
and said "Slow down, Hop Tseng. Tell
me what's wrong. In English,
please."
Hop
Tseng took a deep breath and said as slowly and clearly as he could,
"Mr. Sam fall on pitchfork, get hurt."
Adam breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, although he was
concerned for Sam, he had thought that it was Little Joe in trouble.
"How bad is it Hop Tseng? I
can go get Doc Martin for you…."
"NO
is Little Joe." Hop Tseng started to explain.
"What
about Little Joe?" Adam interrupted.
"While
Hop Tseng busy with Mr. Sam, Little Joe not come in.
Hop Tseng find sled missing. Think
Little Joe go sled down hillside alone."
With
that, Adam clearly understood what happened.
Hop Tseng had been tied up with Sam, leaving Little Joe unsupervised---an
open invitation for trouble. Adam
paused only a moment in deciding what to do.
His options were to go alone and find Joe or to alert his father and Hoss.
If Little Joe were fine, that would mean that they lost half a day of
working time for no good reason, but if Little Joe were hurt……"Mark,
you ride up and find Pa and tell him what's happened.
Tell him I've gone looking for Joe.
Bren, you ride into town and get the Doc, we'll need him for Sam anyway.
And John, you ride out and tell Hoss.
When you find him, let him ride the horse back and you finish up what he
is doing and bring the wagon back. Go
now."
Adam
quickly saddled a draft horse so that he could save time by going through some
of the higher snow rather than sticking to the safer trails.
He headed to the hillside where they had sledded earlier, knowing that
that is where he would find Little Joe. He
arrived at the hillside in less than 15 minutes, and looked at the South slope,
there was no trace that any sledding had occurred there.
His heart was in his throat as he rode the horse around the base of the
hill to get to the other side. He
knew he would find his little brother there, but he was afraid of what shape he
would be in. He came around the
hillside and quickly scanned the base, and saw that Little Joe had indeed been
sledding there. He went to a place
where he could see clear to the top and his eyes quickly found what he was
looking for. His first sight was of
the sled, sitting there as if just waiting for someone to get back in.
He got down off his horse and headed toward the sled, all the while
scanning the area around the sled for sign of Little Joe.
He would have missed it had it not been for the bright coat and his dark
hair, in such contrast to the white snow.
From
the moment of seeing his little brother lying half-buried by the snow until the
time he reached him and felt the faint pulse in his neck, Adam didn't breathe.
He let out a breath and again was faced with a dilemma--how to get Little
Joe home. He knew there was a risk
of moving him quickly, but he also knew that he had to get him home and warm
quickly. He quickly decided that
getting him warm was of more importance than not moving him.
He turned his brother over as carefully as possible and picked him up,
trying not to move him more than necessary.
He could tell that he had a broken leg and a huge bump on his head.
He could only hope that there were no other injuries, especially to his
back or internal organs. He used
his own scarf to tie around the broken leg, wrapping it to his other leg as a
splint. Anything else would have to
wait until he had him home.
Getting
on the horse presented another problem, but Adam was able to manage it somehow,
though when asked how he did it later, he couldn't answer.
The ride back to the Ponderosa took a little longer than it took for him
to get to the hill, as he was trying to keep the jarring and movement to a
minimum. He kept a close eye on
Little Joe; but Joe neither moved nor made a sound during the ride. When he
finally got to the yard of the ranch, Hop Tseng and several of the other hands
were there to help him get him down from the horse.
Hop
Tseng had prepared Joe's room, not knowing what to expect.
He had the temperature of the room as warm as possible and the bed covers
pulled down and warming stones ready to be inserted into cases and slipped under
the covers. Hop Tseng took over as
soon as Adam had gotten him into the room.
"You go get changed. Hop
Tseng get him warm." Adam left
reluctantly; he hadn't noticed how cold and wet he had gotten going up and down
that hillside, but he was shivering visibly.
Hop
Tseng sat in the chair right beside the bed, holding Joe carefully and removed
his wet clothes and boots and wrapped him in a warm blanket.
As the heated blanket began to cool off, Hop Tseng carefully placed Joe
in his own bed, covered with a mountain of blankets and comforters and then he
put the warming stones in around him. He
was careful not to move the broken leg any more than necessary.
Since Little Joe had not moved nor made any sign of waking up, he didn't
bother to put a splint on the leg at that point.
Adam
hurried back into the room as soon as he had changed clothes. As soon as Adam
came back in, Hop Tseng said, "I go bring warm broth.
Must get Little Joe warm inside-out and outside-in."
Adam stood by Joe's bed; the only part of him visible was his head.
Remembering something he had read about the head being where a lot of
body heat was lost, he pulled a knit cap out of a dresser drawer, held it in
front of the fire to get it warm, then put it carefully on Joe's head.
The sight of the gaily-colored toboggan hat on Joe's dark curls, compared
to his white sheets and gray face looked incongruous to Adam.
Just
then he heard horses come riding into the yard and a few seconds later, he heard
footsteps running up the stairs. He
turned to see his father come running into the room and go directly to his Joe's
bed. He glanced briefly at Adam and
said, "Where'd you find him, Son?"
"About
3/4 way down the North slope, Pa." Looks
like he had tumbled from just near the top.
He was just lying there, half-buried in the snow.
He hasn't moved nor made a sound since I found him."
"Can
you tell how bad he is hurt?"
"Well
he's got quite a lump under that bruise on the side of his head and his left leg
is broken. That's all I could tell
for sure. But he was nearly frozen
Pa. Hop Tseng had the room hot and
he's got every blanket we have on top of him I think and he's got bed stones
around him, but he's still so cold, Pa."
Just
then Hop Tseng entered with a bowl of steaming broth and said, "Must get
him to take, warm up from inside-outside and outside-inside best way."
"You're
right Hop Tseng. Here I can give it
to him."
"I'll
help you, Pa."
Ben
reached his left arm around behind Joe's neck and shoulders and held him
slightly upright with his arms. Adam
carefully opened Joe's mouth with one hand and spooned the broth slowly into
Little Joe, closing his mouth until he swallowed after every spoonful.
As they did this, Hop Tseng replaced all the warming stones with reheated
ones and removed cold blankets and replaced them with warm ones and stoked the
fire higher. Within a few minutes,
the men had sweat streaming down their faces.
They
heard a lone horse come riding into the yard, followed by the door opening and
slamming and heavy footsteps up the staircase.
"Hoss" they said simultaneously.
Hoss
burst into the room and ran to the bedside.
"How is he, Pa?" he asked with tears in his eyes.
"What'd he go and do a fool thing like that for, anyhow?"
Hop
Tseng spoke up, "Is Hop Tseng fault. I
take care of Mr. Sam and not watch Little Joe.
Now he hurt bad. Is all Hop
Tseng fault."
Ben
left Joe's bedside and put his arm around Hop Tseng, an unaccustomed gesture for
the two of them. "Hop Tseng,
now you know it isn't your fault. You
had to take care of Sam or he would have bled to death from what the boys told
me. Little Joe was being---well he
was just being Little Joe." He
gave the diminutive man a final squeeze then said,
"Now is there anything else we can do 'til the Doc gets here, Hop
Tseng?"
Hop
Tseng gave a brief nod and said somewhat huskily, "I bring more broth.
Keep stones and bed covers warm. Warm
inside-outside and warm outside-inside is best way."
With that he turned and went to the kitchen.
The three Cartwrights spoke little while they waited and watched over the
still form on the bed. Hoss said,
"Why's that hat on his head?" Adam
told him the theory about heat being lost through the head. After thinking about
that for a few moments, he said "Well I can see that in the winter time,
Adam. But then it don't make sense
in the summer time." Ben and
Adam shared a glance at each other and Adam shrugged and said,
"Well it can't hurt anyway."
Hop
Tseng came and they gave him more warmed broth, this time a little warmer than
before. Gradually they saw his
color improve. Although still
whitish-gray, it was less blue than it had been.
They still had seen no movement. They
were encouraged that his pulse was stronger and steadier now though.
After what seemed like an interminable period of time, they heard two
horses riding into the yard below.
Hoss
was the first to the window and he said, "It's
the Doc, Pa. I'll go get him."
He turned and ran down the stairs and was back quickly with Paul Martin
in tow. Paul came quickly to the
bedside and began to assess the situation as he spoke, "I thought I was
coming out here to see Sam. Shoulda
known better." He was
attempting to lighten the mood of the four people watching over the little boy
with the cap jauntily on his head lying still and pale in the bed.
He did get a short chuckle and a grin out of Adam and Hoss, but Ben
retained his serious expression, anxiously waiting for Paul to perform some
miracle and bring back the lively, mischievous boy he had left in bed that
morning.
Paul cleared the room of everyone except Hop Tseng so he could do a thorough examination. With Hop Tseng's assistance, he re-set the leg fracture. Rather than splinting the leg with the fracture as he had done in the past, he decided to try a new technique he had just learned about at a medical conference at Johns Hopkins. Hop Tseng, under his direction cut a white sheet into long inch-wide strips, as he mixed some white powder he had in his medical bag with warm water, making a thick paste. Then as Hop Tseng wound the strips of cloth around the leg, Doctor Martin applied the thick white paste. Carefully they continued, covering the fractured area as well as the area below the knee and including the foot. Hop Tseng understood