By Lynne C.
Candy was relaxing in the main room of the Ponderosa ranch house,
after a long day, rounding up strays. He still wasn't used to the
hours that he was expected to work, and was glad to finally be out of
the saddle. So much so, that when the Cartwright's asked him to
accompany them into town, for a few beers, he declined.
"I'm gonna take it easy and have an early night," he said.
Hoss and Joe tried to get him to change his mind, but Candy would not
budge, so they left him on his own. Hop Sing was visiting his cousin
in Carson City, and Ben rode in with Hoss and Joe, to enjoy a game of
chess with his old friend, Roy Coffee.
Just as Candy was about to turn in for the night, he heard a noise
out in the yard.
'Sounds like a horse,' he thought.
It was too early to be the Cartwrights and besides, he was sure that
this was only one horse, not three. He opened the door and stood on
the porch, peering out into the darkness. A man had dismounted and
was walking towards him. The man was dressed in clothes that were
identical to Candy's, but he was a much broader build and
considerably older than Candy was.
As if using one voice, they said, "Who are you?"
"The name's Candy and I live here," said Candy.
"Well, my name's Adam Cartwright and I lived here before you did,"
said Adam, for that was who it was.
"Adam Cartwright? I've heard so much about you, I expected you to
at
least arrive in a golden chariot, not on a rather broken down horse
rented from the livery stable."
"Yes, he has seen better days, hasn't he?" said Adam, looking
back at
the horse. "Can we go inside now? I'd like to see my family, it's
been a long time."
"They're not here," said Candy. "They've all gone into Virginia
City,
it's Friday night."
"So it is," said Adam. "I've been travelling for so long
that I
forgot which day it was. Oh well, I'll just wait for them, then," and
he walked into the house, with Candy following him.
Once he got inside, Adam stood in the middle of the room and took a
while to take in his surroundings. After what seemed an age to Candy,
Adam smiled, and then moved over to the dresser, next to the dining
table, and poured himself a brandy.
"Nothing much has changed," he said. "And I'm glad, as it's
just like
I imagined it, all the time I was away. I was hoping that it would
still be the same. Can I get you a drink?"
"No thanks, I've got one," said Candy, indicating the glass on
the
table, in front of the fireplace. "I wouldn't know if it was
different from when you were here, as I've only been working for your
father for about a year."
"I helped build this house and was involved with the choosing and
making of just about every piece of furniture that went into it,too,"
said Adam.
"Wish you could have come up with a better design for that settee,"
said Candy. "It's a race each night, once dinner is over, to see
who's gonna be the unlucky one who has to sit on it."
"I had nothing to do with that," said Adam. "Joe's mother
chose it.
After she died, Pa consigned it to the attic, as he hated it too, but
then it got brought down again, once we were all older, and we needed
more seats. I think it was Pa's plan to stop any of us getting to be
too idle. No one liked sitting on it, and we preferred to be outside
doing chores than being in here, ruining our backs. The only
comfortable way to use it was to lie on it, and even then only Joe
was small enough to do so."
Candy laughed. "He still does lie on it."
"And does Pa still tell him to take his feet off the furniture?"
asked Adam, also laughing.
"Yup," said Candy. "He does, and Joe still says that you
were always
allowed to put your feet on the furniture. Is that true?"
Adam nodded, still laughing. "Yes, it's true. I don't know why, but
Pa never told me off. Even Hoss wasn't allowed to, but I was."
"How long have you been in the saddle? Do you want something to eat?
Hop Sing ain't here, but I can heat up some of the stew that I had,
there's plenty left."
"Sounds good," said Adam. "I've been riding for most of
the day. I
caught the train as far as Reno and then rented the horse."
Candy went into the kitchen, but was soon back, after putting the
stew back on the stove.
"Were the family expecting you, Adam? Only they never said nothing,
and I'm sure they wouldn't have gone to town, had they known you were
arriving."
"No, it was to be a surprise," said Adam. "I found myself
fairly
close to home, well the closest I've been since I left, so I decided
to pay them a visit."
"I bet your Pa will just about bust outta his vest when he sees you,"
said Candy. "I've heard a lot about you and I know how proud he is
of
his eldest son."
"Not sure why," said Adam. "I'm the one who encouraged him
to settle
here and yet I'm the one who left."
"I think he understood why, Adam. He knew that you had a need to go
out into the world and do more than you could, if you stayed here. He
missed you, but he understood. After all, he did the same, didn't he?
First of all he went to sea and then, after you were born, he
travelled right across America and came out here. I'm sure his family
missed him, too, but they had to let him go to fulfil his dream, and
that's what you've been doing."
"Sometimes it's been more of a nightmare than a dream, but yes,
you're right, Pa did understand, but I know it still hurt him. And
what of Hoss and Joe? Do they ever talk about me? Other than to
complain that I had special treatment from Pa, when it came to where
I put my feet?"
"Oh yeah, they talk about you," said Candy. "Hoss has told
me all
about your skill with the horses and your logical mind, and Joe has
often told me what a great big brother you were, when he was little.
How you used to defend him when he was in trouble with your Pa and
how you were the only one who could comfort him, when he had
nightmares, after his mother died. I sure envied him, having two such
great, big brothers. You see I lost my Ma when I was only a shaver,
too, and my Pa and me, well, we didn't get on that well. And I didn't
have a brother or a sister to turn to. So, I headed out on my own
when I was only a kid. Since then, until ending up here, I've never
really known what it's like to have anyone looking out for me, but
your Pa and brothers have been just great. I even have my own room in
the main house, now that I'm the foreman. In fact, I have a nasty
feeling that it might be your room. I'll move out, okay?"
"Well, I'm not sure how long I will be staying, but I would like to
have my old room, if you wouldn't mind taking another one," said
Adam, rather touched by what his brothers had said about him, to
Candy.
"I'll take the room off the dining room," said Candy. "It'll
only
take me a few minutes to move my gear, I don't have much."
"Thanks, Candy," said Adam. "You go and do that and I'll
dish up that
stew."
"Good idea, won't be long," and Candy ran up the stairs to clear
his
stuff out of Adam's room.
By the time he had his things stowed away in the downstairs bedroom,
Adam had eaten a plate of stew and was enjoying his second cup of
coffee. He then said he needed to go and see to his horse, but Candy
offered to do that.
"You look like you could do with a good night's rest," said
Candy. "Why don't you turn in, and wait to see the family in the
morning?"
"I think I will," said Adam. "Thanks for seeing to the horse,
I'll
see you in the morning."
Adam headed up the stairs and was soon in his room. As he undressed,
he thought about his father and his brothers and what their likely
reaction was going to be, to seeing him again. He hoped they would be
pleased that he had come home; he was cerainly looking forward to
seeing them. He got into bed, and was soon fast asleep, worn out by
the amount of riding he had done, after such a long time.
The following morning, he heard a knock on his door, and before he
could call out, the door opened and his youngest brother entered the
room. All Joe could see of the occupant of the bad, was some dark
hair.
"Hey Candy, who owns that old nag we saw in the barn when we got home
last night? You were already in bed and so didn't like to wake ya up,
to ask ya then."
Adam sat up in the bed, and Joe just stood in the middle of the room,
as if rooted to the spot.
"Hi buddy, bet you didn't expect to see me?" said Adam.
"PA!" yelled Joe. "Pa, look who's here," and Joe ran
over to the bed
and engulfed his brother in a bear hug.
Ben and Hoss came running and as they entered the room, they too were
surprised to see Adam in the bed.
All three of them started talking at once, and Adam was unable to
answer any of them, as he was overwhelmed by their greetings.
Candy heard all the commotion and he came upstairs, but hovered on
the landing, not sure if he should intrude on such a family occasion.
But Joe soon became aware he was there, and dragged him into the
room, leaving the young man in no doubt that the Cartwrights wanted
him to join in with their happiness. Once again, Candy said a silent
prayer of thanks, for bringing him to the Ponderosa and for allowing
him to know the joy of being part of such a loving family
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
August 25th 2004