THE WINNER
By:
Karine
After about an hour long ride in buggy we came to a yard with a ranch
house. “Welcome to the Ponderosa!” said Joe with a big smile. I wanted to laugh
but I didn’t have time because I was looking around and saw black and white
coloured pinto. I couldn’t take my eyes off of that horse. “Karen?” I heard Joe
calling my name. “Yes?” I responded. “What are you looking at with so much
interest?” “That horse looks so great!” “That’s Cochise, she’s my horse.” I
heard Joe say as he was unloading the supplies. Finally he turned around and
took my bags. “First, I’ll take your bags. Second, I’ll show you your room.
Third… Well, I have to think about the third one.” Joe grabbed my bags and
headed to the house. I noticed a large fireplace, a coffee set, a dining room
and an office corner. It was one big room. We went straight upstairs. Joe
showed me my room. “It’s beautiful.” I looked around the room. “Glad ya like
it. If you have any problems, my room is across the hallway.” Joe showed me the
door to his room. “Thank you. How much do I have to pay?” “Nothing! It’s
absolutely free!” said Joe in a surprised voice. “Thank you again. Can I look
around the garden?” “Yes, of course. Would you like anything to eat or drink?”
“No. I had few sandwitches on the way here. I’ll wait ‘til dinner.” “As long as
my brothers and pa aren’t home, I’ll show you around.” “How many brothers do
you have?” “Two. Both of them are older than me.” “That means that you’re the
youngest. Me, too. I have one older sister.” “Glad to
hear that.” Joe laughed. I had to smile too. Joe showed me around the ranch house
and around the wonderful grounds of the Ponderosa. “It’s a really big place. I
like that.” “It’s the biggest in all of
Evening arrived quickly. I heard Hop Sing, the house cook, saying
something in Chinese. I thought he was saying something about dinner being
late. A few moments later I heard two horses coming. “Joe, somebody is coming.”
I said, while I was looking out the window. “Those are my brothers. They’re
late. That’s why Hop Sing is angry.” “Oh.” A moment later two men came into the
house. “Hoss, Adam, we have visitor. Let me introduce you to Karen Leisen,”
Said Joe. I stood up. “Hello.” “These are my brothers, Hoss and Adam.” Joe
introduced them. “Hi,” said both brothers at the same time. “Didn’t pa came
home today?” asked Hoss. “No. I’ll go to town tomorrow morning. I hope he’s on
the first stage.” “You can’t,” said Adam. “You have to be in that horse show
tomorrow. Pa left the documents of the horses to you, and maybe you’ll find
something interesting for us. You’re the expert.” “Then you two are going to
town tomorrow morning.” “Alright.”
About ten minutes later we sat down at the dinner table. The food was
delicious. “I’m so full that I even can’t move,” I said after finishing the
last piece of cake. Everybody started to laugh.
The rest of the evening we talked about everything. I had to tell them
all about my life and I asked them to do the same. The clock showed that it was
well past
The next morning I woke up early. I was so excited because of the horse
show. The house was quiet, everybody was still sleeping. I went outside and
took a good breath of fresh air. Birds were singing and the sun was shining.
After a little walk I went back in where good smell of coffee greeted my nose.
Hop Sing was making breakfast. I was hungry and couldn’t wait until the others
woke up. “Good morning!” Joe greeted me with a big smile. “He has such a cute smile.”
I thought. “Mornin’ little brother. You’re up early.” Said Hoss with surprise.
“I have to be in that show, like you said yesterday. It’ll start in couple of
hours. Joe sat down and poured himself coffee. I payed close attention to every
move he made. I don’t know why. “How did you sleep?” he asked me. “Very well.
Thank you. This place is much better than a hotel.” “It’s nice to hear that.
Let’s get ready right after breakfast. Then we’ll be there right on time.” Said
Joe.
The show took place near to
Before
the competition there was an auction. Lots of beautiful horses were sold. This
time Cartwrights horses weren’t in this auction. Joe said that their horses
would be there the next day. Before the auction ended I saw an older man coming
with Joe’s brothers. “Hi, Joe,” said the older man. “Hi, pa! Nice to see you.
Why didn’t you come home yesterday?” “I had some unfinished business in San
Fransisco.” Joe nodded. “Pa, this is Karen. She’s staying with us ‘cause there
are no rooms in any hotels.” “Hello, and welcome. I’m Ben Cartwright, father of
those three boys.” “It’s nice to meet you. You have wonderful sons.” I said
while peeking at Joe for a moment. “Pa, I’m going to compete.” “Really? What
made you want to do that?” asked Ben in a surprised voice. “Karen.” I blushed.
Soon
the competition began. All ten competitiors were sitting behind the table. Joe
was one of them. They had to guess the breeds. There were ten different horses.
All of them looked great. Each horse spent five minutes in the arena. After
that, the judges checked the answers and then gave the results to the audience.
“First horse was an English Thoroughbred, second was an Andalucian, the third
an Arabian, the fourth a Mexican Criollo, the fifth a Tennessee Walker, the
sixth a Morgan, the seventh a Palomino,
the eighth a Friesian, the nineth a Berber and the tenth a Luciano. And now the
results: maximum points were ten. The only one who got all of them was Joseph
Cartwright. Eight points go to to Jade Parker and Frank Jones, seven points to
Thomas Black, six points to Philip Stone and Henry Crasp, five points to Mark
Hamhill, Walter Andrew, Charles Brown and George Goilen. Congradulations to all
of you. Tomorrow there will be a quiz. Good luck to you all!” In my opinion
The
next day the weather was very hot. The first thing that we went to see was the
auction. The Catwrights’ horses were there. My mouth dropped open when I heard
the prices. The most expensive horse was
a hazelnut brown mare who bought in ten thousand dollars. The beginning bid was
for fifty. A European millionare bought her. The other horses went for much
less. Joe said that their best horses were
at home. They didn’t want to sell them yet. “You got a big sum of money
today.” I said after the auction ended. “Yes, and I can’t believe it, either!”
said Ben. “It seems to me that you have best horses around.” I smiled. “Thank
you. We try. Let’s go and see how Joe is doing.” The rest of the Cartwrights
and I went to the competition area. When we arrived, the quiz had just begun.
There were ten questions about horses. One of them was about bloodlines. “Joe
showed me me his book last night.” I whispered to Hoss. “There was a chapter on
that.” “Did he read it?” Hoss asked. “Of course he did. I told him to look in every
book he has about horses.” I turned back to listen the questions. These weren’t
easy ones. About fourty-five minutes later we heard the results. Again Joe got
all ten points. He now had 20 points and he was in the lead. Thomas Black, Mark
Hamhill and Walter Andrew each got 9 points. Jade Parker and Philip Stone each
got 8 points, and all the others got seven points each. “And now,”
“Well?”
I asked Joe after we met him. “Are you going to win that stallion?” “I haven’t
played polo before. I ain’t gonna win that game.” “Yes, you will.” I argued.
“You believe it, don’t you?” asked Joe. “I have that kind of feeling” I
answered with a small smile. “Is it abot the horse?” asked Adam. “In a way.
He’s a perfect horse for a perfect ranch.” I said.
The
next thing we did was to look for something to eat. After that we went to see
the introduction of the new breeds. There were horses from
After
the fair Joe and I stayed while the other Cartwrights went home to do their
chores. They missed a lot. After they left a funny show started. At the arena
there were seven bales of hay and eight riders. I saw a small orchestra in the
corner of the arena. They were there for a reason. If the music played, the
riders rode around the bales of hay.When
the music stopped they had to jump down from their horses to the top of the bales
of hay. Tht person, who didn’t get to stand on any bales of hay lost and had to
leave. Then they took one bale of hay away. Again the music started to play and
the riders rode around. It went on until
only one bale of hay and two riders were still in the arena. The music played
longer than ever, just to keep the excitement going. People were laughing hard.
The judges made remarks that made people laugh even more. I was laughing hard
about the comment about how qualified
the riders were in this “difficult sport”, I almost fell into Joe’s lap. The
award for the winner was a new saddle.
After the show
Joe and I went home. It was near dinnertime. Mouthwatering smells came from the
kitchen. Hop Sing was making chicken. My favourite. I was the first to sit at
the table.
“I wonder where
Hoss is? He’s usually right on time when it’s dinner.” Joe wondered after
eating the last piece of potatoe. “I don’t know. He was supposed to be home two
hours ago,” said Ben. “Maybe something happened to him?” I asked. “Maybe,” Joe
answered. A few seconds later we heard a noise. We ran out. Hoss was going to
the stable leading Chubb with his right hand. “What happened?” asked Ben.
“Chubb hurt his leg and we had to walk home.” Hoss took off Chubb’s saddle. I
went closer to see the wound. It didn’t look good. “I need warm water and some
bandages.” “I’ll get it,” said Adam and left the stable. “I hope that that
bandage will last at least ‘til tomorrow morning. Then I’ll think of
something.” I looked carefully see if there was anything to remove from the
wound. Adam came back with water and bandages. I cleaned Chubb’s leg. “That
looks bad. Fortunately there isn’t anything in it. In my opinion something very
sharp made it. Something metal, I guess.” “It could be,” said Hoss. “We rode
through the forest.” “What forest was that?” asked Joe. “Our own Ponderosa pine
tree forest,” answered Hoss. Their talking sounded like small argument. I
smiled to myself. “I’m done. The first person who comes to the stable tomorrow
morning has to take a look at that leg. If the bandage is off then you’ll have
to put it back. I don’t want any dirt in there.
It will only make it worse.” All of the Cartwrights nodded. “And one
other thing. Hoss, you can’t ride him for about a week, or even more. I don’t know
how long that healing will take.” “Ok. Then I’ll have to find myself new
horse.” “You have plenty of them here. You can pick which ever one you want. I
think that we should leave Chubb alone now. He needs rest.” I checked the
bandage for the last time before leaving the barn. I patted Cochise. It felt so
good just to run my fingers through her soft fur. I didn’t want to leave but it
was late and I was tired. “Good night, Cochise!” I gave her a kiss on the
cheek. I swear I saw her smiling.
It
was the third day of the horse show. The most interesting part was, of course,
the competition. Joe got his horse for the game. It was beautiful brown polo
pony. The judges introduced the rules before the competition but I didn’t
understand a thing. The game started. All of the riders were chasing the ball.
I kept my eyes on Joe. He sat in the
saddle like he was one with the horse. Joe made the first two goals. The second
team had to fight harder, and I mean it, word by word. In the second half of
the game Goilen hit Joe. “Did you see that? That creep hit Joe! I hope that he
can still ride.” I almost yelled to Hoss. “And that
was on purpose!” “You don’t have to yell. People are screaming already. We’ll
see him after the game.” I couldn’t wait ‘til the end. It was hard to watch how
Joe was suffering. I saw his face and I could tell that his leg was aching
badly. A few seconds before the game ended Goilen hit Joe again. This time in
the hip, but that didn’t matter. Joe’s team won anyway. The other members of
the Cartwright family and I were siting on the first row. I quickly jumped up
and ran to Joe. “Joe! Joe! Are you ok?” “I’m fine.” Joe got down from the
horse. He couldn’t stand on his right leg. “I saw what happened. Can you walk?”
“I’ll try. Heck. I didn’t realize that it hurt so bad.” Sit down and rest. I’ll
go and call others and then we’ll go home.” I ran to see where the other family
members were. “There you are. Joe’s leg is not in very good shape. We’d better
take him home.” Adam rushed over to see Joe. “Just a minute. I have to buy some
medicine for the horses,” said Ben. “Let me see. Is there anything
interesting?” I made quick look at the counter. “What’s that?” I pointed to a
tin can in the middle of the counter. “That’s new medicine for your horses’
wounds. Work’s very well. Two weeks and you don’t even remember where the wound
was,” said the salesman. “Alright! Hoss, I found something for Chubb’s leg. I’m
going to buy it.” “Ok. That’ll fifty cents,” said the salesman. “Thank you.” I
payed the money and turned to go back to Joe. While I was buying the medicine I
didn’t forget about him. “I’m going to try that new medicine today. If it works
then you can ride him in about a week and a half.” Hoss smiled his biggest. “I
hope so!” “Joe!” I sat next to him. “I’m sorry that it took so long. I had to buy
medicine for Chubb. How’s your leg?” “Still aching. Can we go home now? I feel
like I want to lie down for a while.” Hoss helped Joe to the buggy. Back at the
Ponderosa Adam went to fetch Doc Martin. “Too bad that it’s not winter. I think
that ice or snow would be very good for your leg right now.” I took cold water
to Joe. “Put that wet cloth on your bruises.” Joe took a piece of cloth and
dipped it into the basin, then he took it out and squeezed the water out while
I walked to the door. I checked Joe for the last time before I left. “Joe?”
“Yes.” He answered. “I think that you’ll have to take your pants off. That cold
piece of cloth doesn’t work if you have your pants on.” “Thank you for
reminding me.” “I’ll go and see Chubb. I hope that Doc comes soon.” Joe nodded
before I closed the door.
As
soon as I was in the barn I went straight to Chubb. I started to put the new
medicine to his leg when I heard Cochise horselaugh quietly. At first I thought
that she was sleeping but when I stepped out of Chubb’s stall Cochise looked at
me sadly with her big eyes. “Don’t worry, girl. He’s going to be fine. I told
him to put cold cloth on the bruises.” I caressed and hugged her. She was still
sad. I gave her an apple and a carrot.
“It’s good that he doesn’t have to ride tomorrow so he can heal.” Cochise
snorted quietly. “You can have the day off tomorrow.” I said with smile. “I
have to finish my job with Chubb’s leg. Then I’ll go and tell Joe that you’re
worried about him.” After I finished with Chubb I gave a carrot and an apple to
every horse who was at the stable. In the house I saw Doc martin, Ben and Adam
coming down from the stairs. “How is he?” I asked. “Not bad. He’ll be walking
tomorrow. He still can compete.” “That’s good to hear. I was worried about him.
Can I go and see Joe?” “Yes, of course. He’s talking with Hoss right now,” said
Ben. “Thank you.” I ran straight upstairs into Joe’s room. “Woops. Sorry. I
forgot to knock.” “That’s ok. Come here and join us,” said Joe with huge smile.
I sat at the corner of his bed. I noticed that Joe didn’t have his shirt on. He was in perfect shape. I
forced myself not to stare at him. “What were you talking about?” “About
tomorrow. I think that you should go with Cochise. They didn’t say which horses
we have to saddle up.” “If you say so. Cochise is worried about you.” “Cooch is
always worried when something happens to me.” “How’s Chubb?” asked Hoss. “He’s
fine. I put that new medicine on him that I bought today. Go and see him.” “Ok.
Thank you for helping.” “You’re welcome,” I said. “I’ll leave you two here to
talk. I’ll go and see how Chubb is doin’,”said Hoss standing up from the chair.
After Hoss left I turned back to Joe. “So. How are you feeling?” “Fine.
Tomorrow morning I’ll be walking again.” “That’s good. You know, I just told
Cochise that she has the day off tomorrow. Now I have to go and tell her that
she has to work.” “After this week she’ll get plenty of free time.” “I’ll tell
her that too.” I smiled. “How long are you going to stay?” “I don’t know. I
haven’t planned anything so far.” Are
you travelling around the world or you just came to see how we live here?” “Half of the world would is more like it. I’ve been
mostly in
I went to my room
and lay down. Joe’s eyes were on my mind. It was the first time in my life that
I had such weird feelings. 15 minutes later I woke up and went to the stable.
“Coochie. Joe told me that I have to ride you tomorrow. I’m sorry.” I gave her
two carrots. “I hope that you’re not mad at me.” Cochise ran her nose over my
cheek. “Aww. You’re so sweet. As sweet as your owner. He made me feel weird
today. I looked into his eyes and a strange feeling came over me. I have never
felt like this before.” Cochise looked at me very carefully. I talked with her
for a long time. I almost missed dinner.
The
next morning when I was drinking my coffee Joe came down the stairs. He was
still limping but at least he could walk. “How are you feeling today?” I asked.
“I hope you’re feeling well.” “Thank you.” Joe sat down and poured himself
coffee. I was peeking at him again. I had to take quick look around to see if
anybody had noticed. After I ate I
quickly ranto my room. I had forgotten that I had to ride Cochise, so I changed
my clothes. Then I ran back down. “I’m ready to go.” Joe was still eating.
“You’re fast.” “I know. I’ll take another cup of coffee while you’re eating.”
“That would be nice. Pa and others went to get the horses ready.” He looked me
into my eyes. I melted again. “I think
I’m going to have a crush on him.” I
thought. I felt my hands start to shake when I lifted my cup to drink. “Whoops. Sorry. I already have a crush on
him!” I thought again. Finally we were ready to go. Cochise was outside
waiting. When she saw Joe she greeted him with her loudest whinny. “Hi, girl.
How are ya doin’?” Cochise snorted. “I missed you too.” It was so touching to see how Joe caressed Cochise as if they
were the perfect couple. I wished I had a horse that I could take care of and
tell him everything that was on my mind.
Our
way to the show was pleasant. It felt so good to sit in the saddle again. That
was the best feeling in the world. I didn’t wan’t to get down ever again, but
finally we arrived and I had to. Joe and I went to see the judges about the competition. “Hi,
“Karen, let’s go and bring Cochise into that
corral where other horses are.” “Alright.” I answered a bit nervously. Luckily
Joe didn’t notice it. On our way to where we left Cochise I checked around to
see if there was anybody I don’t want to see. Joe took Cochise’s saddle off and
put it into the buggy. After we got her into the corral we looked around to see
where the other Cartwrights were. We found them looking at new breeds. “Pa,
we’re here. I’m in the competition with Cochise,” said Joe to Ben. “That’s
good. You know exactly how to saddle her.” “With a European saddle,” finished
Joe. “Really?” Ben looked at him surprised. “They asked us which saddles we
have used. I said that I had used only our own saddles, so now I have to put a
European saddle and briddle’s on Cochise. Those European fellars have to use
our saddles,” Joe explained.
Soon
it was time for Joe’s competition. The horses were settled and ready. The
competitiors had to groom and saddle the horses as fast as possible, but it had
to be done correctly. About twenty minutes later Joe was finished. The saddle
they provided fit Cochise perfectly. We had to wait ten more minutes before the
second contestant finished. Meanwhile, the judges were examining Cochise. The
second one who finished was Walter Andrew, and the others finished even later.
I wanted to jump for joy when I heard the results. The most perfectly saddeled
horse was Cochise. Joe got a total 30 points and he was still leading. Second
place belonged to Walter Andrew who got 25 points. After the competition
something inside told me to run to Joe and hug him, and afterwards I understood
why. I saw that person whom I didn’t want to meet again, and he was talking
with george Goilen. I wanted to throw some knives in that direction but hugging
Joe calmed me down. “Are you ok?” Joe asked. “Yes, I’m fine.” I was getting
nervous again. “How is your leg?” “Fine but I feel like I have to sit down for
a while. I can’t stand for too long.” “Maybe we should go home. What do you
think?” I asked. “We don’t have to go if you want to stay here.” Said Joe. “No,
there isn’t anything else to do here today. We’ll come back tomorrow. It will
be more interesting then. After your competition there will be a funny contest
again. We could stay and watch that.” I answered.
Joe
and I took saddle off of Cochise and went back to our buggy. Ben, Hoss and Adam
came a few minutes later. “You’re here already?” asked Ben. “Yes. Where did you
get lost?” asked Joe. “We saw an old friend of mine, Ann Thompson.” Said Ben. I
put Cochise’s usual saddle on her and we started to go home.
Back
at the Ponderosa I took care of Cochise, put medicine on Chubb’s leg, and then
I walked him about half an hour. I wanted to do it myself because I hadn’t done this for a long time.
Before I went to dinner myself I fed all of the horses. their hay and oats.
When I was finishing I saw Joe standing at the door. “I came to call you for
dinner.” “Is it that late already?” I asked with a surprised voice. “Yes.” Joe
answered. “And why are you doing things that you don’t have to?” “Because I
like to do them. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve been in a
stable like that. I only visited a few stables in
That
night I couldn’t sleep. I was very sleepy when I sat at the table. “You don’t
feel well, do you?” asked Joe. “I’m fine. Just
couldn’t sleep,” I said. “Take an extra cup of coffee then,” sugested
Adam. “Better not. More coffee, more sleepy.” I answered. Everybody laughed. I
yawned. “A good ride right now will wake me up.” “You can have Cochise today.
I’ll let you do some training with her. I don’t want to put too much weight on that
leg. It was aching when I woke up.” Said Joe. “Thank you.” I took some
breakfast onto my plate. After eating I ran to the stable. I gave a quick hug
to Cochise and went to see Chubb’s leg. It was healing well. Then I went to
saddle Cochise. Soon we were on our way to the show. When we arrived I didn’t
have a good feeling inside. It was about that man again whom I didn’t want to
see. I tried to stay as close to Joe or other Cartwrights as possible. The
first thing that we went to see was the auction. Ben bought a very beautiful
black Tennesse Walker mare. After the auction it was time for the competition.
When Joe had to go to listen to the judges’ instructions, the rest of the
Cartwrights and I went to search out the best place to sit. On our way to the grandstand
I saw that man again. I think he noticed me. I kept as close to the Cartwrights
as possible. When we found a place I sat between Hoss and Adam because I was a
bit frightened. I was glad when the competition began. I wanted to see Joe.
This time he and rest of the contestantas had to drive buggies. First they had
to hitch up the horses. Driving the buggy wasn’t an easy thing to do. There
were obstacles in the arena. The fastest driver won. Judges kept time. It was
very interesting to watch. Joe had the most perfect performance. He got 40
points, that was maximum. After the fifth event I ran to Joe and hugged him.
“You’re so good. I told you that you would win. I’ll tell you later why I’m
hugging you so.” “I have all the time in the world for you.” Said Joe. I didn’t
want to let go of his embrace but I had to. We decided to go to eat. While the
others ate big pieces of steak, and Hoss even had two, I had a salad because
weather was too hot to eat such fatty food.
When we were
finished with our meal we went to see the funny contest. Luckily we got the
same places as before, but now, instead of Adam sitting next to me, Joe was. To
my horror I saw that man again. He was sitting two rows in front of me. This
time he definitely saw me. I shifted closer to Joe. Joe looked at me like there
was something bothering me. “Are you alright?” “I’ll tell you later, at home.”
I could tell that my voice seemed nervous but I couldn’t do anything about it.
Joe took my hand in his, and I felt more secure. The contest began. There were
two rows of poles. Each rider had to make a circle around each post. They had
to carry a spoon with an egg on it while they were riding. If they dropped the
egg, they had to take a new egg and start over. It was funny to watch how they
tried to keep the egg on the spoon. The team that called themselves as “The
Wild West Drunkards” dropped most of their eggs. The second team “The Too
Hungry Cowboys” did better, in fact, they won. The price was ten chickens for
each rider on the team. After the contest we decided to go home. I was still
holding Joe’s hand. I couldn’t let go because I was too scared, too frightened
to meet that man again. Luckily I didn’t see him. The Cartwrights understood
and we didn’t spend any more time there.
Back at the Ponderosa I quickly took care of Cochise and went to my
room to lie down. I fell asleep. Joe woke me up before dinner. “You said that
you wanted to talk about something?” asked Joe after we finished eating. “Yes,
I do.” I said. “I’m asking for your protection. Yesterday at the show I saw a
man whom I don’t want to meet up with.” “Why didn’t you tell us that
yesterday?” asked Joe. “I didn’t know that he would show up today, too.” I
answered. “But why don’t you want to see him?” asked Ben. “Because I have met
him before and it wasn’t a pleasant meeting,” I answered. Four worried faces
were looking at me. “When I was in
We sat on the
settee to drink coffee and to eat all that cookie
mountain that Hop Sing made for us. “McWhell returned two days later. He hadn’t
changed his mind. He payed for the horses that he chose first, but then he
started again with the same story that he had two days earlier. Again Mr.
Duncan and I had to explain him that those horses weren’t for sale.” “Let me
guess. He didn’t listen,” interrupted Adam. “You’re right, he didn’t.” I
answered. “He was a menace. I had never seen that kind of person before. He
started to yell. He wanted to know why their family horses were in the same
stable as the horses that they were selling. Mr. Duncan tried to explain that
the new stable wasn’t ready yet. McWhell left. He was very angry. Late that
night I was in the stable because one of the horses had hurt himself. The last
thing I remembered was that that I came out of the stall. The next thing I
remembered was that that I woke up in pain. I was aching all over. First thing
that I asked was if King Thor, their horse, was ok. Mrs. Duncan said that he
was fine. Then I asked what happened. Mrs. Duncan said that I was attacked. I
didn’t have any broken bones but I had lot of bruises. One of them is still on
my right shoulder and it goes down the middle of the back. I think that it’s
going to stay there forever.” “Does it ache sometimes?” asked Joe with a
concerned look on his face. He was sitting next to me. I saw his eyes were
filled with worry. I wanted to give him a kiss but I didn’t, because everybody
was watching. “No. First few weeks it
felt bad but then all the pain went away.” “Did you find out who attacked you?”
asked Ben. “When I asked this from Mrs. Duncan she was quiet. She only said
that their horses were stolen. I said to her that it must have been McWhell
because he was the only one who wanted those horses.” “Then why isn’t that man
in jail?” asked Joe. “He bought the law off,” I answered. “Did the
In the morning I
woke up early, but not as early as Joe. He was already out grooming Cochise.
“You’re up early.” I said. “Yes. I couldn’t sleep.” “You’re nervous about the
competition, aren’t you?” Joe nodded nervously. I couldn’t resist and kissed
his cheek. “What was that for?” Joe asked me with smile. “To make you less
nervous,” I answered. “Then it worked. Thank you.” Joe gave me a kiss on the
cheek, very close to my lips. I gasped. Nobody had ever done that to me before.
We talked for a long time. The smell of morning coffee made us go in. Joe
didn’t eat much because of his nervousness. “Joe, pleas eat. It’s for your own
good. It’s much harder for you to ride on an empty stomach.” I said. “You’re nervous?”
asked Ben. Joe nodded. The rest of us were finished and Joe was still eating.
When Joe finished
we were ready to go. The weather was hot but not as hot as a few days earlier.
There were a lot of people in the show area. The most interesting part was, of
course, the competition. Joe and I went to change the saddles. I gave him some
advice about the exercises. “Weird saddle.” “Don’t worry. You’re sitting there
like you’ve been riding with that saddle your whole life.” I said. “What if I’m
doing something wrong?” asked Joe. “You can’t do anything wrong if you know all
exercises in the right order, by heart,” I answered. Finally it was Joe’s turn.
My mouth almost dropped open when I saw him riding in the arena. Cochise amazed
me, too. They gave the most perfect performance I have ever seen. The way
Cochise moved made me want to sit in the saddle and do the same things with
her. It’s not an everyday thing when a cowboy’s horse moves like he was trained
in European riding school. “You have a
very talented son,” I said to Ben. “Sometimes he surprises me, too,” said Ben.
“And of course, Cochise does, too.” After Joe’s performance there was an
intermission as he was the last one to competite. “You two were great!” “Thank
you. That wasn’t so hard. My leg started to ache.” “That’s not good. Come down
from the saddle and sit down. You must rest your leg.” I said. Joe climbed
down. I took Cochise’s reins in my hand and sat next to Joe. We sat there a few
minutes quietly listening to what the judges said. Suddenly I grabbed Joe’s
hand because McWhell had come close to us. “What’s wrong? Is it that man
again?” asked Joe while holding my hand. I nodded. “He’s my worst nightmare.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let him hurt you.” “Thank you.” I leaned my head on Joe’s
shoulder. “I want him to go away. My wound starts to ache every time I see that
man.” Cochise put her head on my shoulder. “You two are like angels, protecting
me from the bad guys,” I said. “Thanks. I wonder why McWhell is talking with
George Goilen?” said Joe. “What?” I looked around to see the men. “Now I know
why Goilen hit you. He’s on the same side as McWhell, who wants to win the
horse.” “You mean that McWhell hired Goilen to win the game?” “Yes, something
like that.” Finally it was time to continue with the competition.
Joe went to see
the obstacles at the arena because he had to know which order he had to jump
them in. The order of the performers was drawn.
Joe was sixth. First four
obstacles that Joe and Cochise jumped, were ok, fifth fell. The next three
didn’t fall, but the last two obstacles did. I had only one thought after Joe
finished his leg. “Here go his points,” said Adam. “Try to ride when your leg
hurts,” I said. “I don’t think that you’ll manage. Joe overcame himself at
least ten times.” “It doesn’t look so hard.” “Believe me, it is. Back in
A few minutes
passed. People were getting nervous. Finally, fifteen minutes later the judges
started to announce the results. Because Joe didn’t have a clear round in show
jumping, he got 30 points. That was third place. Jade Parker got 40 points, he
had one fallen obstacle. George Goilen got 50 points, he had a clear round in
show jumping and his dressage was good, too, but not as good as Joe’s. In that
competition show jumping was more important than dressage. But in my
calculations Joe was still leading. He had 130 points. Goilen was the second,
he had 109 points. The last event decides who wins. The winner would get 50
points and a horse.
After the
competition we decided to leave. Joe’s leg was aching and the others had their
own chores to do. I tied Cochise to the buggy. Her working day was over. I
didn’t want to tire her back.
After the dinner I went to the stall to put the medicine on Chubb’s
leg. I found out that I wasn’t the only one there. Joe had gotten there before
me. “You’re here so late? I thought that you went to sleep.” “No. I just came
to see Cochise. She looks happy, even if she’s tired. I asked her if we’re
going to win tomorrow and she nodded. I don’t know if it’s about that black
stallion or she just want’s to prove herself.” “I think both reasons are
acceptable,” I laughed. I noticed that Chubb’s wounds were healing nicely.
“How’s his leg?” asked Joe. “It’s healing well. That new medicine works.” I
answered. “You’re great, you know.” “Thanks.” “You’ve been helping so much. I
don’t know how to thank you.” At the same moment Cochise hit Joe’s back with her
head so we fell down into the hay. “Sorry. I didn’t know what got into… her...”
Joe looked into my eyes. I felt butterflies in my stomach. After looking into
each other eyes a long time I found out that he was on top of me. I felt Joe’s
face coming closer to mine. Soon we were so close that our lips met. I melted.
The feeling was something that I had never felt before. I wrapped my arms
around his neck so the feeling would never end, but the air between us was
ending and we had to stop. After standing up I looked into Joe’s green eyes
again. My whole body insisted me to go closer and kiss him again.
“You already
thanked me,” I said after finishing the kiss. Joe was speechless. He just
looked at me. Instead of waiting for his answer I gave him another kiss.
It
was the last day of the show. I woke up early to put the medicine on
Chubb’s leg and to check if Cochise was fine, because the last event was
the race. After finishing the task I went to eat some breakfast. I was
surprised by seeing only Joe sitting at the table. “Where are the others?”
“Sleeping,” answered Joe. “I don’t know what Adam and Hoss did but pa sneaked
out last night. He went on a date with Ellen.” “How do you know that?” I asked.
“I was closing my window when I saw Pa heading into the stable. And where else
he could go this time of the night with flowers and a bottle of wine?” Joe
answered. I laughed. We finished our breakfast alone together. “I think that
I’ll have to go and wake them,” said Joe after we groomed Cochise and cleaned
her saddle and drank a cup of coffee. “And how do you do that?” I asked. “I
think I’ll have to do that cold water trick again that I did few years
ago,”answered Joe. “Did it work?” I asked while going into the kichen. “Yes, it
did. They said words I’d never heard before.” “Was it that bad?” I couldn’t
hold my laugh back. Joe nodded sheeplishly. I laughed even more. Joe took three
mugs and filled them with ice cold water. I took one mug and we went upstairs.
Our first victim was Hoss. “Just in case anything should go wrong…” I kissed
Joe. We started to laugh like little kids. “Give me the other mug and go in,” I
said after we finished laughing. “And leave the door open. Then you can run out
fast.” “Ok.” Joe took deep breath and went in. A few seconds later he came back
laughing. “YOU LITTLE…!!!” were all the words we could understand. The rest of
it was in a strange language. “He’s speaking that weird language again,” said
Joe. I nodded. “And now door number two.” It was Adam’s room. Joe went in and
quickly ran back out. We heard a scream and a lot of words that weren’t in the
English language. Joe and I laughed hysterically. “Ok. One more. That’s the
hardest one,” said Joe. The last door was Ben’s. “If I don’t come out alive…”
Joe kissed me and walked in. I laughed. Moments later he was out again. “Let’s
go.” He took my hand and we ran back downstairs. “JOSEPH!!!” It was very strong voice that came from the last door we
visited. “Phew! At least they’re all up,” said Joe. “What happened last time
after you woke them up?” I asked. They started to chase me. Luckily Cochise was
saddled.” “You’re good, Joe, you’re really good,” was all I could say because I
was laughing so hard. Joe was too. We had so much fun that we even didn’t
notice the three angry men coming in our direction. “Can you share the fun with
us?” asked Ben very seriously. “You already did,” said Joe trying to calm down.
“you three made unforgettable faces.” “My apologizes but I couldn’t hold myself
back when I heard your funny language,” I explained. Ben, Adam and Hoss looked
me and Joe like we were little kids who had done something bad. “What?” Joe
looked his family with questioning face. “Look what time it is. We have to go
soon and you aren’t even dressed yet.” “Alright. We’ll be ready soon to go. And, son, don’t do that again, ok?” improled Ben.
“Only if next time you promise to wake up right in time,” demanded Joe. “We’ll
do our best, Joseph,” answered Ben. The trio went to change their clothes since
they were wearing their dressing gowns.
After
waiting everybody was ready to go. Again Cochise was tied to the buggy because
I didn’t want to tire her and I told Joe
not to move his leg too much. When we arrived, the whole place was
overcrowded. But in that crowd I saw McWhell, I grabbed Joe’s hand and stayed
so close to him as possible. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “It’s that …thing
again.” Joe put hand around my waist. “Don’t worry. He wont do a thing to you.
My family and I will protect you.” I kissed him. Joe had to go to see the
judges. I went with him.
More
than a half an hour passed before someone came to tell us that the competitors
were coming closer to the finish. I was holding my breath because the only
thing that I wanted was for Joe and Cochise to be fine and finish the race. We
waited a few more minutes before we saw the first riders. I saw Joe and Cochise
leading but Goilen was right behind them. I stood up as some other people did
who wanted to see better. The finish came closer and closer and my heart
started to beat faster and faster.
Goilen
was next to Joe. Cochise was doing her best because she wanted to show her
owner that she could win, and she did it. Cochise was faster than Goilen’s
horse. As soon as Cochise and Joe crossed the finish line I ran to them. I
hugged Cochise so hard as possible while Joe climbed down. When I finished with
the horse I wrapped my hands around Joe’s neck and kissed him so that we were
both breathless. “You did it,” I said after catching my breath. “No. It was
Cochise who did all of it. I only had to sit in the saddle,” smiled Joe. I gave
Cochise a hug. “Thank you, girl. You’re the greatest.” Joe patted Cochise to
her neck. “You just earned yourself a free week.” A few moments later the rest
of the family and Ellen arrived. They congratulated
Joe and patted Cochise. I heard the judges announcing the winners but most of
the people didn’t listen to them because they were making so much noise. Soon
there was a big crowd of people around us. Everybody wanted to congratulate
Joe. Everybody, that is, except Goilen, whom I didn’t see with the other
competitors. Instead of him, an even worse person showed up. I took Joe’s right
hand in mine. McWhell first looked at me like he never had known me. “Well
done, sir,” he shook Joe’s hand. “Thank you,” answered Joe holding my hand
tighter. “You have a very good horse, Mr. Cartwright;” McWhell said. “Yes, she
is,” answered Joe. “So, it’s a mare? Have you ever had her bred? She seems a
suitable for racing horses,” asked McWhell. “No, I haven’t, and I’m not going
to because she’s meant for working, not for breeding,” answered Joe with a
little bit raised voice. I knew what that meant. Joe told me that Cochise
couldn’t bear any colts; he said that they had tried twice but nothing came of
it. “Well, it was nice to talk with you, I hope that we meet at the dance
tonight,” said McWhell, raising his hat. He walked over to where Goilen was.
“What a disgusting person,” said Joe. “Now you understand why no one likes
him,” I said. “Yeah,” answered Joe. “Do you think that he wanted to get Cochise
for himself?” “Of course that’s what he wanted! Did you see how he looked at
her? I wanted to take your gun and make few new holes in him,” I answered. “Who
was that man?” asked Ben. “It was that McWhell, the man Karen has told us
about,” answered Joe. “He definitely ain’t a good one,” remarked Hoss. The others nodded. “Let’s go home and have a
little rest and then we’ll come back when the party begins. Do you all agree
with me?” asked Joe. “Sure. Let’s go. Cochise is tired and your leg needs some
rest before you do any dancing,” I answered. “You’re so caring.” Joe gave me a
quick kiss on the cheek. I wanted to melt right away because his touch was so
soft and warm.
The evening
arrived. It was very hard for me to put that dark green dress on that I bought
from
When
we arrived, music was playing and alot
of people were already there. “You two find yourself something to do while we
go and look for our dates,” said Adam to me and Joe. “Alright, we will,”
answered Joe. “It seems that they haven’t started yet since no one is dancing,”
I said after we looked around. “There’s still some time before they start,” Joe
answered. We met a few people Joe knew. About ten minutes later we heard the
introduction and the mayor of
“I can see my pa
and Ellen next to the stage. Go and stay with them. I hope that I can come
right back,” said Joe while going to the stage. I gave him a quick kiss. I went
to stand next to Ellen and Ben. “Hi, Ellen. You found a very good place to
watch from,” I said. “Hi. It wasn’t easy to get it but we wanted to see the
ceremony from the best place,” answered Ellen. I smiled. The mayor started to
talk again, “Here they are, Walter Andrew, George Goilen and Joe Cartwright!”
People was clapping their hands and whistling loudly. “It’s time to award the prizes,”
continued the mayor, “Walter, you got third place. That means that you have won
free services in our livery stable in
As soon as the
ceremony was over and Joe came back to us I kissed him. I was so happy that Joe
won. “I just couldn’t find a better way to congratulate you,” I said. Joe just
smiled. Again we heard mayor talking. “Dear folks, I know that you want to do
now. The first dance is for the winner. Music, please!” Everyone made a big
circle around Joe and me. “Come on. We’d better start dancing,” said Joe,
taking my hand and leading me to the centre of the circle. “I know, but I have
a little problem, “I answered, “I’m not a good dancer. I have never danced
before.” “That’s ok, I’ll teach you,” Joe whispered. The music was already
playing. Joe gave me instructions while we were dancing, I felt little bit
clumsy. “You’re doing fine, my dear,” said Joe after everyone else had joined
us on the dance floor. “But I still have a lot to learn” I answered. During the
second dance I noticed Ellen and Ben. “Joe, how long has your pa been dating
Ellen?” “Not very long. Actually it’s their first official date,” said Joe. “Well,
I wanted to ask you when the wedding is,” I joked. Joe and I started to laugh.
The evening was
perfect. Most of the time Joe and I were dancing. If we weren’t dancing then we
were enjoying a drink or just sitting down for a rest. I was surprised that Joe
didn’t complain about his leg that I was so worried about. That made me happy.
It’s a full moon.
Joe and I are sitting at the
The End.