“A Whole Lot More”
By K.K. Shaulis

“Judgment Day,” 29 year old Adam Cartwright muttered to himself plopping his saddle unknowingly on the same spot that had just a few minutes before been the site of his cousin Josephine’s ‘necessary talk’ given by his father. He then sighed, picked up a brush and began to groom his mount. He and his younger brothers Hoss and Little Joe had just managed to catch the tail end of what had to have been one heated session in the barn judging by their father Ben’s face and the way he had dragged the little redhead past them toward the house when they had ridden into the yard.

All three Cartwright sons silently exchanged glances as to ‘what that was all about?’ but went about their business of putting their own horses away. Only when they spied the big red horse aimlessly drifting around the corral, still saddled with Josey’s English style saddle and a good bit of lather on his chest, did the reason why their father was less than gentle with their cousin became abundantly clear to Adam at least. Pa had no doubt seen the little tricks that Josey and Inferno – You don’t have to worry about his name, Adam, really! -- had managed to successfully hide from them all except him for the last few weeks.

Just yesterday in exchange for his silence, his 27 year old cousin Josey swore an oath to him that she would not engage in such daredevil activity with the horse any more. Purely by happenstance, Adam had caught sight of her antics when he was returning from checking the mail and running some other errands in Virginia City for his father. Immediately, he recognized the absolute danger she was placing herself and her horse in, given the unevenness of the terrain. However, while he considered his options as he watched her, his heart nearly stopped when he observed the jump that the two made from one rocky bank of the stream to the other side. Digging his heels into Sport’s sides, Adam pushed the stallion to a gallop and caught up with the duo before Josey set them up for another risky vault.

Josey was instantly defensive, telling him about her riding experience especially with Inferno, a champion jumper that she had acquired while in New York six months before, that she and Inferno had been a team since then and that she knew exactly what she was doing. She then swore up and down to him that she would not do anything like he had just witnessed again at the Ponderosa for the duration of her little visit. After all, she and the horse would be off to San Francisco in a few weeks and there was really no reason to worry his father about the matter.

Her sweet smile should have told Adam to follow his instincts, reveal the whole thing to his father and let the chips fall were they may. He could have kicked himself for not ... he inadvertently brushed Sport’s mane a little too vigorously causing the contrary stallion to neigh a rebuke aimed at his master.

“Sorry, boy,” Adam patted his neck and began again a little more gently this time. He continued to think of his redheaded cousin’s broken promise, however, and mulled over what her consequences should be for it before deciding that, based on what he and his brothers had observed, their father had already taken care of it. The girl certainly has a knack for stirring up trouble and a whole lot more. He sighed heavily and, after giving Sport a final stroke, joined Hoss in caring for Inferno.

**************
Josephine gingerly eased herself into the blue velvet chair by the fireplace. She grimaced but she somehow did it. At least this was a little more comfortable than the hard wooden dining room chair was. Through sheer determination, she had just managed to sit through an excruciatingly painful dinner with her male relatives. Clearing the table and helping her 17 year old cousin Joe and the Chinese cook with the dishes gave her a brief respite from her throbbing bottom. She realized that her two younger cousins no doubt knew what had happened given their chance meeting in the yard but probably did not know why. However, Adam was a different story. He knew exactly why. She had broken her promise to him about Inferno that she had just made yesterday and, based on his lack of any sort of comment to her not to mention some really dark looks that he aimed at her during dinner, he was none too pleased with her himself.

Ben who was sitting in his favorite red leather chair smoking his pipe and reading noticed her reluctance to sit but said nothing. He had lost a beloved wife because of a horse. He wasn’t going to lose a niece, too. He told her that along with a couple other things when they came inside after his sons had arrived. She then scurried off to fix her face and help Hop Sing put dinner on the table before the boys came in.

Josey smiled tentatively at her uncle, shifted her position and took a deep breath.

Ben, not wishing her to think anything but that she got what she deserved, harrumphed and went back to his newspaper.

The little redhead gulped, looked like she was going to cry and decided that she had best call it a night and go up to her room. She slowly got to her feet and headed toward the staircase.

Adam who was sitting on the settee also reading glanced over at his cousin. He was still angry with her for breaking her vow to him about Inferno and had told his father the whole story before they all sat down to eat but he couldn’t help but sympathize with Josey. On more than one occasion, he had been on the receiving end of one of his father’s punishments and he knew how really uncomfortable they could be. “Josey,” he called softly just as she put her foot on the first step. “Come over here, I want to show you this.”

“Are you talking to me now?” Josephine turned and looked at him in mock amazement.

“I just did,” Adam said matter-of-factly, a faint smile evident on his handsome face. “Come over here and I’ll show you,” he patted a place beside him.

Josey looked at him skeptically. “All right, but if this is some kind of a trick,” she crossed the great room and sat down oh so carefully beside her eldest cousin. She winced slightly.

He smiled a little broader this time, gently hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to a lying position on her side, her head resting on the red pillow that he had repositioned for that very purpose. “Takes the pressure off your problem,” he leaned over to whisper into her ear. “Years of experience,” he added handing her his book when she gave him a questioning look. “My eyes are tired. I thought the least you can do for me is read to me a bit,” he said loud enough for his father to hear.

Ben closed his paper enough so he could look over at the two of them. He smiled to himself. No matter what the difficulties between them were, they usually found a way of reconciling their differences eventually. Probably because they always had a common enemy over the years: him, he decided and went back to reading his paper.

Josey frowned up at Adam, sighed heavily and turned the book over in her hand so she could read the title. “An engineering text?”

“You can’t judge a book by its cover,” he smirked. “Anyway, It does wonders to relax you,” he leaned back, put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

“I’ll bet,” she rolled her eyes and yawned.

“You see,” he also yawned. “Proceed.”

“Okay, here goes,” she yawned again and began.

Adam slipped into sleep after only two pages and Josey made it through another one before she drifted off herself.

Ben finally realized one half hour later that the two were awfully quiet and glanced over to see that they were both sleeping. He put down his paper, got to his feet, picked up two blankets and smiling gently covered them both. He retrieved the engineering text from his niece, read its title and yawned. “No wonder,” he put the volume down on the table a little louder than he intended.

Adam stirred slightly, opened his eyes and yawned. “Oh, hi, Pa,” he glanced over at the grandfather’s clock. “I guess we fell asleep,” he looked down at Josey and brushed a stray auburn curl away from her eye.

She moved a bit but did not wake up.

“I can’t imagine why,” Ben sat down on the coffee table in front of his oldest and picked up the book again. “I almost dozed off reading the title.”

“Good old Murphy on Hydraulics,’ ” Adam pushed his blanket to the side and stretched. “It’s always been better than a sleeping powder at putting me to sleep and Josey needed to sleep.”

His father raised his eyebrow, telegraphing the question as to ‘why Josey needed to sleep.’

In response, Adam took a breath and looked Ben straight in the eye. “I myself would rather be in a barroom brawl than have one of your necessary little talks.”

Ben raised both eyebrows this time and asked his question out loud. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Adam cleared his throat softly. “Well, Pa, I felt just as sore with both and needed to rest but I always seemed to get more sympathy when my injuries showed,” he smiled faintly, then noticing his father’s stricken expression, he quickly added, “For the record, Pa, Josey did deserve it probably more than both of us would ever know.” He patted Ben’s knee reassuringly.

His father nodded in agreement. “You’re right, of course. How about you, son? Are you still angry with her about the horse?”

Adam looked down at her shaking his head. “The little brat does aggravate me to no end at times,” he admitted, “She broke her promise to me, rode the horse recklessly I’m sure and all that but I love her. I just can’t stay angry at her too long any more but don’t tell her that.”

“Cousin love or something else?” Ben thought he would press the issue. For the last few times when Josey came to visit, he noticed a certain spark between the pair. He hadn’t said anything since they both considered themselves to be cousins even though they really knew they were not. Josey was actually his brother’s step-daughter. Of course, she was all of six and Adam was eight when they met so it was much easier to just introduce the two to each other as cousins with no detailed explanations.

“I’m not quite sure any more, Pa,” he tried to straighten another of her red curls with no success. “I’ve known a lot of girls and women and I pretty much know what I want in one. Josey’s got it all and a whole lot more. It’s ‘the whole lot more’ I’m concerned about.”

“She’s always been a handful,” Ben agreed finally putting the book back down on the table. “So much like her mother and so much like all of you boys’ mothers.”

This time Adam’s eyebrows shot up in a question.

“Yes,” Ben chuckled, “Your mothers all had ‘a whole lot more’ as you put it. Don’t think that all this gray hair came from Indians, rustlers and you boys. A good bit of it came from their escapades and contrariness.”

“Hmmm…’A whole lot more,’ huh?” Adam mulled this over in his head.

“I guess it might have been ‘a whole lot more’ that attracted me to them in the first place,” Ben glanced down at his still sleeping niece. “They were all very beautiful and intelligent, of course, and very giving. Compassionate and caring. Fiercely loyal too but also not afraid to tell me when I was wrong. But it was that ‘whole lot more’ in all of them that kept me on my toes… Made me laugh…Tried my patience…Tested my resolve… Made my life real interesting and very full, too,” he shifted his gaze back to Adam again.

“And you dealt with them and their ‘whole lot more’ how, Pa?” Adam asked innocently.

Ben’s mouth twisted into several positions until it finally decided that an easy smile was the most appropriate one. “Oh, it depended on the situation, of course. I did always try to use logic and understanding and patience a …”

“Logic? Understanding? Patience?” Adam looked skeptically at his father wondering who he was describing. “What about Marie and the Cattlemen’s Association dinner?”

Ben’s expression changed dramatically as did his tone. “…She behaved outrageously at that dinner in my opinion. Drinking way too much and flirting with every man in general and Sam Stevens in particular.”

“You were jealous…?” Adam was amazed. He sank back on the settee and crossed his arms over his chest. “I never realized…”

“We argued all the way home…” Ben ignored Adam’s comments. “Then about half a mile from the house, the skies opened up. And…um…well…um…” he started to hesitate, trying to find just the right words to explain what had happened.

“I remember,” Adam grinned enjoying his father’s reaction. “It was pouring harder than I ever saw it in my whole life and then you…”

“I couldn’t get the top up on the carriage…” Ben told him flatly and gave him a perturbed look. “Any way we weren’t that far from h…”

“It worked perfectly fine the day before when we went to see the Johnsons,” Adam sniggered interrupting his disclaimer. “You know, I can still remember how shocked I was when Marie came dragging in here, soaked to the gills and then all the mud on her backsid…..”

“It was an accident,” his father insisted. “She slipped out of my hands and went…”

“That isn’t what she said,” Adam was really enjoying this. “She said you deliberately let her fall on her derriere…”

“Why, Adam,” Ben tried to look wounded but the twinkle in his eye betrayed him. “How could you ever think that I would do that to her on purpose?”

“Well, Pa, she sure did. I think that was when I learned my first curse word in French,” Adam smirked rolling his eyes. “But for some reason, I thought there was something about her dress that upset you before…that’s right. Marie had a really…er…,” he fought to choose the right word so as not to sound inappropriate, “Shall we say, a daringly low cut neckline and a see-through bodice…?” he stopped abruptly as a realization hit him. “You didn’t want her to wear that dress to that dinner!” he looked accusingly at his father.

“And she never wore it again after that night,” Ben then crossed his arms over his chest and grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

“That’s because it was totally ruined!” Adam shook his head in disbelief. “You did do it on purpose!”

Ben didn’t respond to his eldest’s accusation. “You know, she didn’t talk to me for a week after that. And,” he added slowly getting to his feet, “I slept in the guest room that night and the night after that and the night after that.”

“So, Pa?” Adam cleared his throat. “Did you use logic, understanding or patience on that occasion?”

Ben took a deep breath and smiled. “Ingenuity, my boy. When a woman has ‘a whole lot more,’ ingenuity often works the best,” Ben indicated Josey with a nod of his head.

“I don’t think Josey would agree with you that what you did to her was all that ingenuous, Pa, “Adam observed looking down at the little redhead again.

“Well, son, do you think that she’s going to be able to do any more little stunts with that horse of hers in the near future, given your vast experience with my necessary little talks?” Ben laughed, clapping Adam on the shoulder.

Adam thought for a moment. “Ingenuous,” he agreed nodding his head. He then slowly pulled the cover from Josey and stooped to pick her up in his arms. “I think it’s time to get Josey and her ‘whole lot more’ up to bed now. Come on, brat,” he whispered to her softly when she began to stir.

“You know, Adam,” Ben put his hand on arm to stop him. “You just demonstrated that you know how to handle ‘a whole lot more’ in a woman, too.’”

Adam gave him a quizzical look.

“Murphy on Hydraulics?” Ben smirked and looked down at his sleeping niece that Adam held in his arms.

Adam grinned and nodded. “I’ll be back down in a couple minutes, Pa,” he said carrying her over to the staircase.

Ben thoughtfully watched his oldest climb the steps with his little cousin until they disappeared from his sight. Some day he hoped his sons would all realize that even though it did take a little more logic, understanding, patience and ingenuity, it’s the ‘whole lot more’ that they ought to be looking for in a woman, too.

”I always did, my loves,” he whispered softly. He then picked up Murphy on Hydraulics from where Adam left it lay and chuckled to himself. Let’s see how far I get, he moved to sit down in his red leather chair once more. He opened the text and, within the first five pages, the book did its magic again.

Adam smiled broadly as he reached the landing on the staircase five minutes later. “Works like a charm,” he said to himself retrieving the book from his sleeping father and stretching out to his full six foot plus length on the settee. He fully intended to check out the chapter on the “effects of less pressure on the efficiency of operation” but found himself considering the value of “a whole lot more” instead in the book and in his cousin. Maybe there was something to it after all, he concluded yawning closing the book and closing his eyes. After all, it worked for his Pa.

THE END
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Many thanks to David Dortort for his creation of Bonanza in general and the Cartwrights, Hop Sing and the Ponderosa in particular. The author does not claim ownership of any of the aforementioned characters, just the story. Josephine Marie Cartwright © December, 2004 is a copyrighted character belonging to the author. © April 12, 2006, ALL INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.

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