LITTLE JOE RUNS AWAY
During afternoon recess, Mitch Devlin asked Little Joe Cartwright if he wanted to join him along with Seth Pruitt, and Dave Mitchelle at the cave to make thier plans for fishing on Saturday afternoon. "I don't think I can make it guys", seven year old Little Joe told his friends. " Why not?" asked Mitch, who was Little Joe's best friend. Mitch was about 10 months older than Little Joe. " Pa told me to come straight home after school to get my chores done. He won't be to pleased if I don't get home on time," Little Joe softly said. " Oh come on Joe. Ya won't be that late," Seth told his young friend. Both Seth and Dave were three years older than Little Joe. " OK, maybe just for a little while," the younger boy said, with a small smile on his face.
As Little Joe rode into the yard of the Ponderosa, he was met by his very angry father, Ben Cartwright. " WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ? DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO COME STRAIGHT HOME AFTER SCHOOL ?" Ben angrily asked his son as he stood there with his hands on his hips.
" I'm
sorry
" I want you to LISTEN to what I have to say, NOW ! YOU DO YOUR CHORES NOW ! THEN GO UP TO YOUR ROOM AND STAY THERE ! THEN WE WILL HAVE A LITTLE DISCUSSION ! NOW GET BUSY !" ordered Ben
Little Joe slowly led his horse, Bear into the barn, as tears ran down his face. After he had Bear unsaddled, rubbed down, fed and watered, he started his barn chores. After finishing his barn chores, he chopped the pile of wood that was waiting for him. Once he had it all chopped and all the wood boxes filled up, he headed straight for his room.
He got into his nightshirt and no sooner had he changed into it, when Ben entered the room. Little Joe immediately stood up and he put his hands behind his back.
Ben sat down on the bed and began to angrily talk to his nervous son. " I just can't figure out why you continually ignore what I ask of you. You have certain reponsibilities to do and orders to follow, which you don't seem to care about. As long as you continue to ignore what I ask you, we will continue to have these little discussions."
Ben grabbed the boys' arm and pulled him across his lap and he spanked the boy hard several times. When he finished, he stood his crying and trembling child up. Ben didn't say anything to the boy, as he got up from the bed and walked out the door. Little Joe laid down on his bed-on his stomach and he cried into his pillow.
The next day at school while the students were studying their spelling words, which they also had to write three sentences, using each of the spelling words, Miss Jones sat at her desk going over some history questions that would be on the history test that next day.
One of the older boys, sixteen year old James Nelson, who sat in the back of the class, suddenly threw a couple of rocks which hit the blackboard.
Miss Jones jumped up and looked at the blackboard, then at the floor where she saw the two rocks laying there. She looked at the students, who were looking at her. " WHO IS THE PERSON WHO THREW THESE ROCKS?" she shouted. No one said anything. For some reason, Miss Jones looked down at Little Joe who was looking at the paper he had been working on.
" LITTLE JOSEPH ! yelled Miss Jones. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS ?" Little Joe looked up at her with a shocked look on his face, and he said, " I didn't do that ma'am." " Don't you lie to me Little Joe. You did this and you know you did," yelled Miss Jones. " I didn't do it. I swear I didn't !" pleaded the boy." Go stand in the corner-NOW !"" Miss Jones loudly told him. The little boy got up and slowly walked over to the corner to stand. He just couldn't believe that he was getting blamed for something he didn't do. The tears slowly ran down his face.
Miss Jones made him stay after school that day. When it was finally time for him to go home, Miss Jones handed him a note for his father. He kept pleading his innocents to Miss Jones, but she wouldn't listen to him.
Ben was fit to be tied at his son again. He just couldn't believe THAT boy was late coming home AGAIN. Little Joe's two older brothers were also upset at their little brother, because they knew they would have to do his chores for him. " Adam, Hoss, I hate to ask you this, but could both of you do your little brother's chores tonight, please ?" asked Ben. " Sure Pa," said Adam, as he and Hoss headed out the door.
Two hours later, Little Joe rode into the yard. " Boy little brother, you really did it this time. Can't you EVER do what Pa tells you?" said Adam. Hoss just stood there shaking his head.
" JOSEPH FRANCIS CARTWRIGHT-GET IN HERE THIS INSTANT !!" yelled Ben. He was so upset with his son, that all he did was yell at the now crying child. When he read the note from Miss Jones, he couldn't believe it. " Pa, I didn't do it. I didn't do it," cried the boy.
Ben pulled the boy upstairs and tanned him hard and long with his belt. " JOSEPH, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU," shouted Ben as he left the room-slamming the door behind him. For the second night in a row, the boy didn't have any dinner.
Several days later just as Little Joe left school for the day, it started to pour down with a cold rain, and a strong wind blowing. About a mile or so from the school house, Little Joe felt Bear take a funny step, so he jumped down from the horse to check over his leg, and hoof. He noticed that Bear had thrown a shoe. He looked around and found the shoe, which he put in his saddle bag. He knew better than to ride a horse with only three shoes.
" Oh Bear, don't worry boy, I ain't gonna ride ya, ya know. Looks like we gotta long walk home in this awful weather. We won't walk too fast, that way you won't hurt yerself." So the boy and his horse started their very long walk home in the pouring cold rain.
" WHERE IS THAT BOY? He should have been home almost two hours ago. JUST WAIT TIL HE GETS HOME!" shouted Ben. " Pa, maybe he is still at school because of this storm, or he might have taken shelter until the storm slows down a bit," Adam said. " I don't think that boy would think about that Adam," Ben loudly told Adam. " NO, he's probably just defying me again !" shouted Ben
About two hours later, a totally drenched and shivering Little Joe and Bear slowly walked into the barn. The boy was also exhausted.
Little Joe quickly unsaddled Bear, rubbed him down, fed and watered him. Then he went back outside with a bucket and he pumped some water into the bucket and returned to the barn. He washed each of Bear's hooves and dried them. He knew that mud can cause hoof rot if left on the bottom of the hoof. He also washed the shoe that had come off.
Hoss looked out the window behind Ben's desk and said," Pa, Little Joe must be home, cos there is light in the barn. Let me go and talk to him before he comes into the house." " Pa, Hoss is right, and it will give you a chance to calm down a bit," Adam said to Ben. Ben just nodded at him. Hoss put on his rain gear and ran out to the barn.
When Hoss reached the barn and went inside, he saw his soaked little brother talking to Bear. " Hey Short Shanks, where have ya been?" asked Hoss. " Hi Hoss, sorry I'm so late, but Bear threw a shoe, so we had to walk home," said a very tired Little Joe as he held up the shoe so Hoss could see it. " When did this happen" asked Hoss. " About a mile from school," said the shivering boy. " You walked all that way from there? You must be freezing and tired little brother," Hoss said. " I am Hoss. Is Pa mad at me ?" asked the boy as he sneezed. " Yup, he sure is. Why don't ya go into the house and get out of those wet clothes now before ya catch yer death," Hoss told his brother. " OK Hoss, oh, I washed Bear's hooves, dried em and I washed that shoe too. he told Hoss. " Good boy, Short Shanks. I'll put the shoe back on fer ya. Now go and get out those wet clothes," Hoss told the boy as he gave him a hug. " Thanks Hoss."
" JUST AS I FIGURED ! YOU WERE OUT IN THE STORM ! GET UP TO YOUR ROOM NOW !!" shouted Ben. Little Joe ran up to his room, followed by Ben.
Once Little Joe was dry and into his nightshirt, he was tanned again by Ben. " YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THIS FAMILY ! I NEVER HAD THIS MUCH TROUBLE FROM YOUR BROTHERS, WHILE THEY WERE GROWING UP ! YOU WILL STAY IN THIS ROOM ALL WEEKEND !! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME YOUNG MAN ?" yelled Ben. " Yes...s..sir," the child said softly. Ben stormed out of the room-slamming the door as hard as he could. Little Joe threw himself down on his bed and cried. That was the second night in a row that he hadn't been given any dinner. In fact the child hadn't eaten anything for a couple of days, as he was too upset to eat.
When he finished crying, he made his decision to run away. He got off his bed, went to the closet and took out his carpet bag. He put in some clothes, along with his comb, family photos and Brownie, his bear.
Very early that next morning while his family slept, the sad little boy climbed out his window and headed for the barn. He checked to see if Hoss had put Bear's shoe back on him, and he saw that the shoe was indeed back on, so he quickly saddled Bear, filled his canteen, put his carpet bag on his saddle horn, and double checked to see if he had his bedroll with him. He quietly led Bear out of the barn, closed the barn door, got on Bear with Brownie in front of him on the saddle, with tears in his eyes, he slowly rode out of the yard. He had now wished that he hadn't left a note for his family on his bed.
Three hours later his family got up for breakfast. Hoss had then told Ben what Little Joe had told him in the barn about Bear throwing a shoe and that they had to walk home from school. Ben suddenly felt guilty about not letting his little son explain why he was so late getting home. " Hoss, please would you go and get your little brother for breakfast?" asked Ben. " Sure Pa," said Hoss as he got up from his chair. " That was a long walk for the boy in that storm," said Ben. " No wonder he looked like a drowned rat when he came into the house," Adam said.
Hoss knocked on his brothers' door, but when no answer came back, he went in the room and saw that it was empty. Then he saw the note on the bed, and his heart skipped a beat.
When Hoss got down stairs, he handed the note to Ben, and he said," Pa, I think Little Joe ran away, and he took Brownie with him too. After Ben read the note, he looked at his two other sons and said, "he did run away. He says we'd be better off without him." Ben had tears in his eyes now, as did Adam and Hoss.
There was knock on the door, so Ben went to see who was there at this time of morning. When he opened the door, there stood James Nelson with his father, Will. " Mr Cartwright, I want to tell you that I was the one who threw the rocks at the blackboard in school the other day. Little Joe had nothing to do with it," James told Ben. " Thank you for telling me this James," said Ben. " I'm sorry too Ben," said Will. With that said, James and Will left. Ben was now feeling even more guilty at not believing his own son. " There are so many things I need to apologize to Little Joe for, and he's not even here. I drove that little boy away from us," Ben sadly said.
Little Joe
rode towards
Ben, Adam, Hoss and several of their ranch hands rode out of the yard and started to look for Little Joe. They tried to follow Bear's tracks, but with the heavy rains from the night before, the tracks were almost impossible to follow.
Finally Little Joe spotted a small ranch off to his right. He stopped Bear, and looked down at the ranch for a couple of minutes. The boy and his horse were very tired, since they had been riding for several hours. Little Joe finally urged Bear towards the ranch. He was also very nervous at not knowing what to expect.
When he reached the front of the ranch house, he got off Bear and tied him up with Brownie sitting in the saddle. He walked up to the door and knocked and waited to see if anyone was home.
Suddenly the front door opened and there stood a a man about 50 years old. The man smiled at the small boy standing there. " What can I do for you son?" asked Sam Carlson. " Excuse me sir, but I was wondering if you could use some help on your ranch? I'm a good worker sir," the boy said softly. Sam looked down again at the boy, and said, " Yes, we could use some help son. Do you live around here?" Sam asked him. " No sir. I don't. Thank you for letting me work for ya.. Ya won't be sorry. Sir, is it alright if'n I water my horse please?" asked Little Joe. " Sure son-by the way, what is your name?" asked Sam. Little Joe had to think fast of a name-not wanting to use his own name. " Um, my name is Bobby Wright sir, and my horse is named Bear. " Very good Bobby. Go and water Bear, then I will show you which stall you can put him in." said Sam as he put his arm around Little Joe while they walked over to the water trough. After Bear had a nice long drink, Little Joe led him into the barn and into the stall Sam said he could use. He laid his bag and Brownie on a bale of hay. " I like your bear Bobby. You two are dressed alike, aren't you?" asked Sam. " Yes sir, we sure are," said Little Joe.
Little Joe unsaddled Bear, gave him a good rub down, while Sam put some food and water in the stall for the horse. " I see you know how to take good care of your horse Bobby," Sam pointed out. " Yes sir. My Pa taught me the right way to care for horses," the boy said sadly.
" Come on Bobby get your carpet bag and Brownie and we'll go into the house for lunch." Sam told the boy. " Thank you sir. Sir, can I live in the barn?" asked Little Joe. " No Bobby. We have lots of room in the house, and besides my wife Emily won't hear of you living in the barn. Are you hungry son?" asked Sam. " Yes sir. I haven't had anything to eat for a couple of days now." said Little Joe. " My goodness, you must be starving?" said Sam. " Yes, sir I am," said Little Joe.
" Emily, this is Bobby Wright and his bear Brownie, and he will be working for us. This poor boy hasn't had anything to eat for a couple of days," Sam told Emily. " Hi ma'am. " Hi Bobby. It is very nice to meet you and Brownie. He's a wonderful looking bear. I love the way the both of you are dressed alike. It is so sweet," said Emily. " Thank you ma'am.
" Bobby, please dear sit down and something to eat," said Emily. "Thank you ma'am."
" Tell me Bobby, do you have a family?" asked Sam. " Yes I do, but they didn't want me no more. They said I was a disgrace to the family," Little Joe quietly told them. They saw how sad the boy looked when he answered their questions. " My mama died about two years ago, and I really miss her," he told them. Sam and Emily felt very sorry for this little boy.
" Bobby, how old are you honey?" asked Emily. " I'm seven ma'am. said the boy.
" Come with me and I will show you to your room," said Emily. Little Joe and Sam followed Emily to one of the many bedrooms in the house.
" How do you like this room Bobby?" asked Emily. " I like it ma'am. Thank you," said Little Joe. " You can put your clothes in the closet," said Emily as she opened the closet door, and hung up the boys' shirts. They watched Little Joe put Brownie on the bed, and that made them smile. Emily told him to put the rest of his clothes in the dresser drawer. Little Joe then set up the photos of his family. Sam and Emily noticed the photos, but didn't say anything about them, but they notice that the boy had tears in his eyes. Emily wanted to hold the child so much, but she didn't.
Little Joe worked hard at the chores Sam gave him that day, and he was happy when it was time for bed. " Sleep well honey," they both said. " Thank you. Goodnight." said the boy.
"Oh Sam, that poor little boy. How could his family not want him? He is so sweet, and a good worker too." said Emily. " I know Emily. I can't understand it either. He is such a cute little boy too. We need to come up with some names for him to call us, instead of sir and ma'am," said Sam. " How about aunt Emily and uncle Sam?" suggested Emily. " That's a good idea, honey," said Sam.
Over the next several weeks, Little Joe worked hard for Sam and Emily. He was really missing his family, especially Hoss. Sam and Emily could hear him crying at night, which broke their hearts.
Ben, Adam
and Hoss had looked everywhere for Little Joe, but the boy was nowhere to be
found, and that was breaking their hearts. Ben had many " missing child " posters made up with a sketch of
Little Joe on them. The posters had been sent all over the
Sam went
into
As it was
going into the second month of Little Joe's running away, his family sent out
more posters. These new posters went to
Sam and Emily loved to hear Little Joe tell them about wanting a black and white pinto when he got bigger. Sam decided to make a carved horse for the boy. He would paint it black and white. Sam loved to carve. It had been a hobby of his since he was a young boy.
One day Sam said he had a surprise for the boy, and he handed him the carved black and white pinto horse. Little Joe was so excited with the horse that he gave Sam and Emily both a hug and kiss and he thanked them. They loved the look on the boy's face at the gift. His eyes were so big and bright, and he seemed so happy, which made them feel happy too.
One day
while Sam had gone into
Both Sam and Emily loved this little boy, and even though they both wanted him to continue to live with them, they knew that he belonged with his family.
Later that afternoon, Lance rode to the Ponderosa with Sam's telegram. Ben, Adam and Hoss had just returned home for the afternoon, when they heard a knock at the door.Ben walked over to the door, opened it and saw Lance standing there. " Mr. Cartwright, I gotta telegram for ya," said Lance. " Thank you Lance. Why don't you come in and I'll see if I need to send back a reply.
As Ben read the telegram, his kees became weak and he had to hold on to his chair. " It's about Little Joe and where he is. Thank God," cried Ben. Both Adam and Hoss got tears in their eyes and they also thanked God. Ben wrote out a message for reply, and handed it to Lance. " Thank you Lance," said a very relieved Ben. " please let me know if you get a reply back Lance," Ben also said. Ben let Adam and Hoss read the telegram too. Hop Sing was so happy at the news about Little Joe that he hurried back out to the kitchen to plan a special dinner for the boy once he was back home. He had missed Little Joe so much as did the rest of the family. Their prayers had been answered.
That
evening came the reply. They would leave early the next morning and meet
Sam at the sheriff's office in
Morning
couldn't come fast enough for the Cartwrights.
They arrived in
" I can't tell you how much we have missed him. We looked everywhere for him, and sent posters out everywhere too. We love that little boy more than life it's self. Does he know we are coming for him?" asked Ben. " No, we haven't told him. We didn't want the child to run away before you got here. Are you ready to see him?" asked Sam with a big smile on his face. " Yes, let's go," said Adam.
Emily had kept Little Joe busy all morning with her. Like Sam, she would really miss the boy very much. They had been making cookies all morning. Little Joe loved to help make cookies. He always helped Hop Sing make cookies too. He and Emily had a fun time together.
While they were still busy in the kitchen, Sam, Ben, Adam and Hoss walked into the house. " You wait here, and I'll send Little Joe to you," said Sam. " Thank you Sam," said Ben.
The Cartwrights were so excited, and they were also very nervous at not knowing what Little Joe would do when he saw them.
Sam walked into the kitchen just as Emily had taken the last of the cookies out of the oven. " It sure smells good in here," said Sam as he ran his fingers through Little Joe's thick curly hair. " Hi uncle Sam. I helped aunt Emily make cookies," said the boy with the big bright green eyes. " Hi sweetheart. Bobby, aunt Emily and me need a couple of minutes to talk about something in town. Could you please wait in the livingroom for me?" asked Sam. " Yes uncle Sam," said Little Joe as he headed out of the ktichen and into the livingroom.
He suddenly stopped when he saw Ben, Adam and Hoss standing there with big smiles on their faces. He wasn't too sure what to do. So he just stood and looked at them.
" Oh, Little Joe, baby", said a teary eyed Ben as he walked up to his baby and put his arms around the child and held him for dear life. " Sweetheart, we have missed you so much. Oh precious, I can't believe we have you back again. I love you so much baby," cried Ben as he kissed the top of the child's head. By now Little Joe was crying as were Adam and Hoss. " Hey little buddy," Adam said as too kissed his baby brother. " Short Shanks, I've been sick with worry boy. I love ya so much punkin. We need ya ta come back home with us. Please, punkin, come home again. We all need ya so much baby," cried Hoss.
Ben continued to hold his little son, and kept kissing him. He could feel the boy trembling the whole time he was holding him. Ben picked him up and carried him to a chair and sat down still holding the boy. Adam and Hoss gathered next to the chair, and they got down on their knees so they could touch their little brother.
About 30 minutes later, Sam and Emily came out of the kitchen, and they smiled at the happy sight in front of them. They knew how much this preicous child was loved by his family. " Ben, Adam, Hoss, this is my wife, Emily," said Sam. Adam and Hoss stood up and they both said," So nice to meet you ma'am. Thank you for taking care our of baby brother. You can't imagin how much we have missed him. He is our world, and our life." Ben also thanked her, while still holding his little boy.
" Lunch is ready," said Emily. As they all gathered around the table for lunch, Ben said grace and thanked God, Sam and Emily for taking such wonderful care of Little Joe.
After lunch as the Cartwrights were getting ready to leave, Ben invited them to come to the Ponderosa any time they wanted, and they promised they would.
While Adam and Hoss saddled Bear, and put Little Joe's carpet bag on the saddle with Brownie, Little Joe, Sam and Emily said their sad 'good bye's'. Little Joe was sad to leave them, but he was also very excited about going home again. After lots of hugs, kisses and tears, the Cartwrights were on their way home.
On their way home, Ben told Little Joe that James had told Miss Jones that he was the one who threw the rocks at the blackboard, and that he and his father had come out to the Ponderosa to tell them the same thing, and at how sorry he was that Little Joe got the blame. James was punished for what he had done.
Miss Jones wanted to see Little Joe so she could apologize to him for blamming him for throwing the rocks. Ben also apologized to his son for being angry at him for the punishment he had received for that, and for not listening to him about why he was so late coming home during the rain storm.
Towards evening, four very tired and happy Cartwrights rode into the yard. Hop Sing ran out to meet them. " Oh, Little Joe, WELCOME HOME !" shouted Hop Sing as he ran over to Little Joe and he picked him up gave him a big hug and kiss. " Hi Hop Sing !" shouted the boy. Hop Sing had made all of Little Joe's favorite foods for dinner.
Dinner was a very happy event that night.
When it was time for bed, Little Joe put his carved pinto on his dresser, next to his family photos. Everytime he looked at the carved horse he thought of Sam and Emily.
As soon as he got into bed, with Brownie, and his head hit his pillow, he fell right to sleep. His family just stood there watching him sleep. They didn't want to leave his bedside. They all thanked God again for the safe return of the most precious member of the family, Little Joe.
THE END