" THE NOT SO NICE NEIGHBOR "
By Lynne G.
It had been a very busy week for the Cartwright family. There had
been many repairs that had to be done on the ranch, especially to the fences.
The winter storms had been bad that winter. Many tree's had been
blown down, and they all had been taken to the saw mill..
Little Joe Cartwright the youngest son of Ben Cartwright had been in a
lot of mischief lately again. Nothing bad-just boyish
mischief. At 11 years old, he couldn't wait to be grown up and out
of school. He hated school, and he figured that he had already learned
enough. He wanted to work full time at the Ponderosa at his two older
brothers, Adam and Hoss.
On this particular day, he and Ben were the only ones at home.
Hoss and Adam were busy around the Ponderosa, and Hop Sing had gone into
Ben was busy doing paper work at his desk, while Little Joe was busy
chopping wood. " I've chopped enough wood to last a year" the boy
said to himself. He was getting rather tired, since he had been chopping
wood for about 4 hours now.
He looked up when he heard the sound of a horse coming into the
yard. It was Tom Weston, a neighbor, who wasn't very friendly at all, and
had never really been very friendly from day one.
" Hi Mr. Weston" said Little Joe. " Is your
father home?" asked Tom angrily. " Yes sir, he's in the
house. You can go in and see him if you'd like to" suggested the boy.
" NO, I'll see him out here if you don't mind" yelled Tom.
" Y..Yes sir, I'll go get him for ya" said the boy as he headed towards the front
door Tom sat there on his horse and waited.
" Pa, Mr .Weston wants to see ya outside, and he's real upset about somethin'"
Little Joe told his father. " I wonder what he wants?" Ben said
to his son. The boy shook his head.
" Hi Tom, what brings you you
here?" asked Ben, with a smile on his face. " Cartwright,
do you know that half a dozen of your cattle are on my land, and they broke
down a section of one of my fences?" Tom yelled. " Tom, I'm
really sorry about that, and no I didn't know that. They must have got
scared during the thunder storm last night. We will get the cattle back
and fix your fence" Ben told Tom. " I want those cattle rounded
up NOW, or I'll shoot em" Tom said very angrily.
"Pa, I'll go and get em"
offered Little Joe. " I don't know son, do you think you can handle
them?" Ben asked his son. " Pa, I can handle em. I have done that before ya
know" said the boy proudly. " Oh, all right son, you go with
Tom then" said a very concerned Ben. " I'll go and get my horse
Mr. Weston, and you can show me where the cattle are" the said the boy as
he headed towards the barn. Then Tom and Little Joe rode out of the
yard. Ben stood there and watched them leave.
Little Joe tried to talk to Tom as they rode, but Tom told the boy to be
quiet. So Little Joe did as he was told. He was feeling kind of
nervous now.
They stopped riding and Tom pointed to the cattle and said "There
they are, and see the broken fence too" Tom angrily told the boy.
" I'm really sorry Mr. Weston. I'll get em
out of here now" said the boy. " Not so fast boy. I want
your Pa to pay me for the damage to my fence. I'll have my hands fix the
fence. You get your cattle out of here, then you tell your Pa that I want
$300 for the damage. You bring the money over to my house. Do You
understand me boy?" Tom said very loud. " Y...Yes sir. I'll
get you your money as soon as I get the cattle back and check our fence"
Little Joe told Tom.
Tom Weston had never liked the Cartwrights or
any of his neighbors, even though Ben had helped Tom build his house and barn
when the Weston's bought the land 20 years ago.
The Weston ranch was small, and it boarded a tiny area of the Ponderosa
to the west. Tom was very jealous of the
Cartwrights, and everything they owned. The
Weston ranch had maybe 30 head of cattle and ten hired hands. Two of the
hands were the Andrew brothers Clint and Stan, and they were just as mean as
Tom himself. Tom's wife, Nell, was a very sweet lady who was afraid of
her husband.
Little Joe had finally got all the cattle back into their pasture.
He had noticed that two of the fence rails had been knocked down, so he put
them back into place. Then he headed home to tell Ben that the cattle
were back in the pasture, and that he had fixed the fence too. Then he
only told his father that Tom Weston wanted $300 for the damage to his
fence.
" HE WHAT ?" Ben yelled as his son reported that
he needed to give $300 to Mr. Weston. " Pa, isn't that a lot of
money for a small section of fence that got knocked down?" the boy
asked. " Yes it is, but I don't want to argue with Weston. You
give him the money"as he handed the money to his
son. " Little Joe, as soon as you give him the money, I want you to come
straight home before Weston starts any trouble. Now off with you, and
son, please be careful" Ben said to his son. " I will
As Little Joe rode over to the Weston ranch, he was getting nervous,and he was afraid of Tom Weston.
When he got to the ranch, he got off his horse. He saw Mrs. Weston
standing on the front proch. She smiled when
she saw Little Joe. Mrs. Weston was friendly with the Cartwrights,
and she especially liked Little Joe. " Hi Mrs. Weston. How are
you doing?" he asked. " Hi Little Joe, its wonderful to
see you again. I'm doing fine honey. How are you?" she asked.
" I'm fine ma'am. " What brings you here honey?" she asked
the boy. " I came to see Mr. Weston" he told her. "
Would you like some lemonade Little Joe?" Nell asked him. " Oh,
no thank you ma'am. I need to see Mr. Weston, and then head back
home" the boy said. " He's in the barn honey. You take
care of yourself now honey, and be sure to say "hello" to your father
and brothers for me" said said with a big smile
on her face. " I sure will. It was good to see you again Mrs.
Weston" he said to her as he walked his horse to the barn.
When he reached the barn he said," Mr. Weston, are you in
there?" "Yes Cartwright, come in" said Tom. When the
boy got into the barn, there stood Tom Weston and Clint and Stan. "
Mr. Weston, here is your money. I'm really sorry about the cattle and
your fence. I got the cattle back into their pasture and I fixed our
fence too" Little Joe told Tom.
"Just make sure that doesn't happen again, boy. NOW, get off
my property and don't you or any of your family EVER set foot on my property
again. If I EVER catch any of you Cartwrights
on my land, we will kill you! Got that boy?" Tom yelled at
Little Joe. " Y...Yes sir. S..Sorry
sir" said a very scared boy as he got on his horse and rode out of the
yard. As he rode towards home, he thought "poor Mrs. Weston. She is
so nice. I feel so sorry for her married to a nasty man like Tom
Weston."
Tom asked Clint and Stan to follow Little Joe, but to stay far enough
behind him so he can't see them. " When the boy gets back on the
Ponderosa, shoot him and make sure he is dead. I HATE those Cartwrights. We start by killing that boy, then one
by one the rest of em too" Tom told Clint and
Stan with a big smile on his face.
After Clint and Stan left to follow Little Joe, Tom walked over to Nell
and he yelled " WHY WERE YOU SO NICE TO THAT BOY?" " Tom,
you had no right to be so mean to the boy or his family. Have you forgot
that they helped us when we bought our land?
Ben and Adam and the other neighbors helped you build our house and
barn. Ben even gave you some cattle to get started with" Nell said
to him. " SO WHAT!!!!!!!" " Those Cartwrights are so high and might. DON'T YOU EVER
TALK TO THEM AGAIN" Tom screamed at her. " I can talk to who
ever I want to. The Cartwrights are my friends
as are the other neighbors too. They are all very nice and very hard
working people. They will also help anyone who needs help too. So
DON"T you tell me WHO I can talk to or not to talk too" Nell yelled
at Tom. Tom slapped her hard across the face and she fell down. She had
tears in her eyes as she looked up at Tom. " YOU JUST SHUT UP
WOMAN.. DO YOU HEAR ME?" Tom yelled at her as he walked back to the
barn.
On his way home, Little Joe decided to give a final check to the fence
he had repaired earlier just to make sure the cattle had not knocked it down
again, so he headed off to the pasture.
Clint and Stan were still following him. When they saw the boy
stop to check the fence, Clint got out his rifle, aimed at the boy and he
pulled the trigger. As the bullet hit Little Joe in the back, he
fell over into a world of darkness.
Clint and Stan waited to see if anyone was around. When they
figured it was safe, they rode down to the still form of Little Joe. They
got off their horses to check to see if the boy was dead. Clint felt the
boys' wrist feeling for a pulse. He smiled and told his brother that the boy
was dead. They got back on their horses and rode off to tell Tom the good
news.
A couple of hours later Ben looked at the grandfather clock and he
wondered were Little Joe was. A couple of minutes later he heard horses
coming in the yard, so he opened the front door to see who was there.
Adam and Hoss were getting off their horses, " Hi boys-did you
happen to see Little Joe on your way home?" Ben asked his two ildewr sons. "
Ben told Adam and Hoss about what happened with the cattle and the
fences, and at how upset Tom was. When Ben finished telling his sons the
story, Adam said " let's go over there and ask Weston where Little Joe
is" " I don't think that is a very good idea boys."
said Ben. "But Pa, we need to know if Little Joe made it back over
there." said a worried Adam. " OK Adam, you and Hoss go over
there, but be careful and for heaven sakes, don't start anything with
Weston. I'll wait here in case Little Joe comes back." said Ben.
Adam and Hoss got back on their horses and headed over to the Weston
ranch.
Tom, Clint and Stan headed off to
Adam and Hoss arrived at the Weston's, and got off their horses.
They went up on the proch and knocked on the
door. Nell opened the door, and smiled when she saw Adam and Hoss.
" Why Adam, Hoss, it is so nice to see you both" she said.
" Hi Mrs. Weston. How are you?" they asked. " I'm
fine" she told them. " We stopped by to see if Little Joe was
here." Adam asked. " Yes he was Adam a few hours ago. He
wanted to see Tom about something. He's such a sweet boy. Don't
tell he hasn't got home yet?" sounding concerned now. " No he
hasn't showed up yet, and Pa's getting worried about him." Adam told
her. " He said he was heading home after he left here." said
Nell. " Thank you Mrs. Weston. I'm sure that little brother of
ours will turn up sooner or later." Hoss said. " Bye Mrs.
Weston" they said. "Bye boys" she said. They got on
their horses and rode towards the Ponderosa. " Hoss, did you see the
bruises on her face?" asked Adam. " Yes I did Adam. Do ya think Mr. Weston did that to her?" asked
Hoss. " Yes, I think he did. He does beat her up from time to
time. That poor woman." Adam sadly said.
"Adam, stop a minute. We already came this way, and didn't
see anything of Little Joe. Do ya think he
might have gone back to the west pasture to double check that fence?" Hoss
asked. " You could be right Hoss. Let's go see if he's
there." said Adam.
As they got close to the pasture they saw their little brother's horse
standing there next to their baby brother who was laying on the ground not
moving at all. They raced over to their little brother, who was laying on
his stomach with blood all over his back. " OH MY GOD" yelled
Adam as he jumped off his horse, Sport and he and Hoss kneeled next to
their little brother. Adam felt the boys' neck for a pulse, and he found
a weak one. " He's alive Hoss, but barely" Adam said.
They gently turned the boy over onto his back. " Little Joe, wake up
punkin please. Open yer
eyes baby" cried Hoss. " Hoss he feels so cold and he is so
pale" Adam softly said.
Hoss very gently picked up his little brother, and carried him over to
his horse, Chubb, and he put the boy in the saddle. Adam held him in
place while Hoss got on behind his little brother. Adam tied the boys
horses' reins onto Chubbs saddle horn, then Adam jump
up on his horse and raced off to
As Hoss rode into the yard of the Ponderosa, he yelled for Ben.
Ben hearing Hoss yelling for him, ran out the door. His heart skipped a
beat when he saw his baby son laying limp in front of Hoss.
" Hoss, MY GOD, what happened to Little Joe?" yelled Ben as he
ran over to Hoss and Little Joe. Hoss got off Chubb, and softly said,
" He's been shot in the back Pa, and he's in bad shape" Hoss said
crying.
Hoss gently took the unconscious boy off Chubb and he ran into the house
with the boy in his arms. Ben ran after his sons, and yelling for Hop
Sing. " Why you yell?" asked Hop Sing as he came out of the ktichen. " Oh, NO, what happen to Little
Joe?" he asked. " He's been shot Hop Sing, please get some hot
water and towels fast." Ben said to Hop Sing.
Hoss laid his little brother on his bed-on his stomach. Ben and
Hoss took the boys' shirt off to get a better look at the bullet wound.
" Hoss, where did you find him?" asked Ben. " Down at the
west pasture. Adam wentt to get Dr.
Martin" Hoss told Ben.
Hop Sing entered the room with hot water and towels. "Thanks
Hop Sing" said Ben. The three of
them began to clean the wound and the boys' back.
After the wound and the boy's back were cleaned up, Ben put several
towels over the wound and they gently turned the boy onto his back. They got
him undressed, and into bed. They covered him with several blankets and
quilts to keep him warm.
" Little Joe, can you hear me sweetheart? Joseph, please baby
open your eyes." Ben pleaded to his little son. There was no
response from the boy. Ben felt his son's forehead for fever, and he
found that the boy did have a fever now. " He has a fever" Ben
said softly. Hop Sing brought in some cold water and more towels.
Ben got a towel wet and he laid it on the boy's forehead.
Adam and Dr. Paul Martin walked into the room. " Oh Paul, I'm
so glad your here" said Ben. " Ben, Adam told me about finding
the boy. Has he awaken at all?" Paul asked. " No he has not, and he now has a fever
too Paul." said a very worried Ben.
Hop Sing, you stay here with me. Ben, I want you, Adam and Hoss to
wait down stairs, while I examine the boy.
Hop Sing and Paul slowly turned Little Joe over onto his stomach so Paul
could get a good look at the bullet wound. " Hop Sing, is there
anymore hot water on the stove?" asked Paul. " Yes, there
is" said Hop Sing. Paul handed him a scalpel and tweezers to boil in
the water.
It took Paul over two hours to find and remove the bullet from Little
Joe's back. After the bullet was removed, Paul carefully cleaned the
entire area, before stitching up the wound. Paul then took the boys temp
again. He was pleased that it hadn't gone up at all. The boy had
lost a lot of blood, and he was very weak. He seemed to be resting well also.
Paul gave Hop Sing instructions as what to do for Little Joe. " Hop
Sing take good care of Little Joe" said Hop Sing. " I know the
boy is in good hands. I need to go down stairs and talk with Ben and the
boys now" Paul told Hop Sing.
As Paul came down the stair, he was met by three very worried men'
" Paul, how is Little Joe?" asked Ben. " Ben, Adam, Hoss,
Little Joe is a very lucky little boy. The boy has lost a lot of
blood. He's very weak. That bullet was in very deep, and it took a
while to find it. He should fine, providing no infestion
sets in. His temp hasn't gone up at all. I've given Hop Sing
instructions for the boy You all need to keep him quiet, and in
bed. Give him lots of fluids, and broth for the next few days. I have
left pain medication for him too. I'll be back in the morning. If
he takes a turn for the worse, just send for me. Do you have any idea who
would shoot a little boy?" asked Paul. " No Paul I can't"
said Ben softly
As Ben walked with Paul out the door, sheriff Roy Coffee rode up.
" Howdy Ben, Paul. How's is Little
Joe? "
Little Joe slept through the night. The next morning as he slowly
opened his eyes, he saw his father sitting next to his bed. " Hi
Pa" the boy weakly said. Ben opened eyes and looked at his young
son, and he said, "good morning sleeping beauty. How do you feel
sweetheart?" " I'm a little tired and sore" said the
boy. " We need to get some broth into you. Do you feel like
having a little bit now?" Ben asked his son. Ben felt the boys forehead for
fever. He was still warm, but the fever still hadn't got any
higher. " I'm kinda hungry Pa" said
the boy. Ben got a big smile on his face. No sooner had Little Joe
finished saying that, then Hop Sing came in the room with a bowl of broth
for the boy. " Mr. Cartlight, you go down
and eat bleakfast with other sons. I feed
Little Joe" Hop Sing told Ben. " OK, Hop Sing I
will. Little Joe, I want you to eat all that broth now for Hop Sing"
Ben told his son. The boy nodded at his father. " Hop
Sing will make sure number three son eat all of broth, Mr. Cartlight'
said Hop Sing.
Later that day,
shot my little boy in jail" Ben said to
By that next afternoon, Tom, Clint and Stan returned to the saloon to
continue their drinking. Several hours later, all three men were totally
drunk. They started to brag at how easy it was to kill a Cartwright, espeically the youngest Cartwright. Bruno-the
bartender, and good friend of the Cartwrights,
overheard what the men were saying, and it got very upset at what they were
talking about. He montioned for Stella, one of
the saloon girls to come over to the bar for a minute. He asked her if
she heard what the men were talking about and she told him " yes" had
had heard what they were saying. Bruno
told her to go and get sheriff Coffee right away, which she did.
" Sheriff Coffee" she said as she opened the door to his
office. Clem stood up and asked her what she wanted sheriff Coffee
for. She told him about what Tom, Clint and Stan were saying over
at the saloon. " Stella, are you sure?" asked Clem.
" Yes I'm Clem. I heard them. Everyone in the saloon heard
them too" she told Clem. About that time Sheriff Coffee walked
in, and Clem and Stella told him what Stella had just told him.
The three of them walked back over to the saloon. Tom, Clint and
Stan had by now, passed out totally drunk. "
Bill Anderson helped Roy and Clem take Tom, Clint and Stan over to the
jail. " Thanks Bill for your help" said
Dr. Martin was very happy that Little Joe's fever had not gone up at
all. Paul, he is still in some pain though" said Ben. "I
know Ben, and he will be for several more days. The wound is starting to heal
nicely too. Thank God there is no sign of infection. Keep getting
him to eat broth at least through tomorrow. Then he can start to have
solid food again. Make sure he also keeps getting a lot of bed
rest. I'll leave some more pain medication for him. Give it to him every
6 hours. That will help him rest better too. I think he is going to
be just fine now. He will start to feel better in a few more days"
Paul told the Cartwrights. " Thank you
Paul" said Ben. " He is a very lucky boy, Ben" said Paul
as he looked down at the sleeping child.
When they got back down stairs, there was a knock at the door. Adam went
to open the door. " Hi
THANK YOU SO MUCH PAUL AND ROY" said Ben
The next day, Little Joe felt just a little better, but he was still
very tired. Adam and Hoss were with their little brother, while Ben was
at his desk. There was a knock on the door, and when Benopened
the door, he saw Nell Weston standing there. " Hi Nell, how nice to
see" said Ben. " Hi Ben. Its nice to see you too"
she said. " Please, Nell come in" Ben said to her. "
Thank you Ben. How is Little Joe? Ben, I'm so sorry that he
was shot" Nell said softly. " Please Nell, sit down. Little Joe
is going to be fine. He is very weak, and a little sore, but he is doing
good" Ben told her. " Would you like some coffee Nell?"asked Ben. " Yes Ben, that would be
nice, but can I see Little Joe first please?' she asked. " Sure,
come with me" Ben said. They went up to the boys' room.
Adam and Hoss looked up and smiled at Mrs. Weston. " Hi, Mrs.
Weston" they both said. " Hi boys" she answered back to
them. " Is Little Joe awake Adam?"
asked Ben. "Hi Pa, I'm awake" he said
softly. " You have a visitor sweetheart" said Ben.
" Hi Mrs. Weston" said the boy. " Hi Little Joe. How
are you feeling honey?" she asked. Ben, Adam and Hoss left the room
and went down stairs. " I'm OK ma'am" he said. Nell sat
down , and she took hold of the boys hand. " Little Joe, I'm so very
sorry that you got hurt. I'm so sorry that Tom, Clint and Stan did this
to you honey. I never thought they could have done something like that.
I feel so bad" Nell told the boy. She had tears in her eyes.
" Mrs. Weston, please don't feel bad. You had notin'
to do with what happend. Please don't be
sad. I'm gonna be fine. I feel better
today" he told her.
" Honey, I'm just so thankful that
you are going to fine. When I heard that Tom, Clint and Stan had tried to
kill you, I just couldn't believe it. I have decided to leave Tom and go
back to
A couple of hours later, Ben walked into his sons room with a tray that
had a bowl of broth, a slice of bread, and a glass of milk on it.
" Here son, I want you to eat this and drink your milk too" said
Ben. "Thanks Pa, but I'm not really that hungry" said Little
Joe. " Just eat what you can then" said Ben with a smile on his
face. " Pa, please stay here with me" asked the boy.
" I'd be happy to sweetheart. Now at least try to eat
something. It will keep Hop Sing from getting upset" Ben told
him. " OK
A month later, Tom Weston, Clint and Stan Andrew were all found guilty
of attempted murder, and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Little Joe recovered from his rifle shot wound, and was soon back at
school, doing his chores and getting into mischief again too.
THE END