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Ben heaved a heartfelt sigh. “Sometimes I really regret buying Adam all

these books,” he confessed. “I feel they’ve gone to his head a little.
Actually, I think they have addled his brains, in fact.”

Hoss nodded and hoped the sun would not wreak to much havoc on his fair
skin. Already, various parts of his anatomy were turning a tender shade of
pink and even the broad brim of his hat could not shield him from the fierce
summer sun.

“It could be worse!” Joe called out, grateful that at least his feet were
decently covered by his boots. He knew the devastating effect they had on
many young ladies.

“Worse? I hardly see how anything could be worse than re-enacting the story
of Lady Godiva just because your brother had some hare-brained idea of
persuading the City Council not to raise taxes…”

“Didn’t she ride on a horse?” Joe asked.

Ben treated Joe to one of his inimitable glares - wide eyes, lowering
eyebrows and whole-hearted disdain. “I may be amenable to all manner of
things - why I even indulged Adam in his silly fantasy of building
windmills, didn’t I?” Ben snapped. “But I’m not stupid! Have you any idea
how much leather can pinch bare skin?”

Hoss cringed visibly as he imagined the effects.

Meanwhile, Adam tried to maintain an air of moral superiority, but this was
not easy, given that he was basically as naked as the day he was born.

“It’s the right thing to do!” he urged. “And that’s what we Cartwrights are
all about – we can always be counted upon to do the right thing. Why, there
isn’t a posse can be formed without at least two of us taking part!”

“I allus thought that was written into the City Ordnances?” Hoss mumbled. He
hated going away for days on end, eating bare rations of beans and tough
beef jerky. How galling to find it was actually voluntary! Why had no-one
ever explained this before?

“Put your best foot forward!” Joe said perkily, envisaging the rapturous
reception his arrival would engender among the local populace. Mind you, it
might have been prudent to warn Doc Martin in advance, so that the physician
could replenish his supplies of smelling salts. Joe was not entirely
impervious to the effect his smooth golden chest and leanly muscled loins
had on ladies. Not to mention other parts of his manly physique…

Hoss gave him a dunt on the shoulder. “That sun’s going to your brain,
Shortshanks!”

Ben surveyed all three of his sons carefully. “No, I think the sun is going
to Adam’s head – or more particularly, his hair! It’s turning quite auburn!”

Sure enough, Adam's normally dark hair had turned a decidedly ginger shade.
For one moment, the oldest Cartwright son had a sudden flash into the
future – he was far away from home, perhaps even overseas and rarely even
mentioned, while a child called Jamie was living on the Ponderosa…

“Okay – it was a dumb idea!” he bleated. “Let’s go home!”

Claire


 

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