From the Heart

By: Lynne G.

It had not been a good month for Little Joe to say the least. He had been into a lot of mischief that just seemed to follow the boy where ever he went. He had also not been doing all of his chores which upset his father, Ben Cartwright.

Little Joe thought the chores were boring and he wanted to play with his friends and have fun. In his young mind, he thought that if he didn't do all of his chores, then his two older brothers would end up doing them.

One of the things the boy had been blamed for was leaving one of the pasture fence gate's open and around a hundred head of cattle got out and had to be rounded up, which took extra time away from other ranch jobs.

Finally after a long day of rounding up the stray cattle, Ben was in no mood to deal with his youngest son.

" But Pa..I....." was all the boy got out of his mouth before he was interrupted by his father. " Joseph, just be quiet ! You have caused more than enough trouble to last for several weeks. I just can't understand why you didn't think to close that gate. That mistake cost a lot of extra time being lost in having to round up the cattle that got out. Now get up to your room and stay there !" Ben angrily told his son.

Little Joe did what he was told to do and he went straight up to his room. " Why did Pa let me explain that I did close that dadburn gate? Why can't he believe me ?" the boy softly said to himself and his very large teddy bear, Brownie.

A couple of days later after he had finished up his chores, Little Joe saddled Tony and he grabbed his writing tablet and he rode to the lake.

Once he was at the lake, he slowly walked over to his mother's grave. After several minutes of talking to her, he stood up and walked down to the lake and sat down in the sand, opened up his tablet and with pencil in hand, he began to think of something to write to his father.

As he sat there thinking, he looked out at the crystal blue water of Lake Tahoe. He loved the different colors of blue of the cold water and it also gave him a very peaceful feeling.

With a big sigh, he began to write a letter to Ben. He just figured it would be much easier to write a letter to his father then to tell him in person to what he was truely feeling, because he knew that he would end up in tears, and he didn't want to cry in front of his father.

" Dear Pa,
" I know you are probably wonderin' why I'm writin' ya a letter instead of saying whats in my heart to ya in person. It's cuz I dun't wanna cry in front of ya. So it's much easier this way, so I hope ya dun't mind."

" I know that I get inta so much mischief and I'm really sorry 'bout that. I try so hard to be good, but I just can't help it."

" Papa, I know how proud ya are of Adam and Hoss, cuz they always do what ya ask of em and I hope that one day ya can be proud of me too."

" You are the BEST father a boy could ever have and I LOVE you more than anything else in my life. I am so proud to be yer child, yer son, and I love to tell people that ya are my Pa."

" Everything I know I've learned from you. I know Adam and Hoss have learned me things too, but you have taught me the most, and when I'm a man, I wanna be just like you Papa. "

" I'm gonna try harder Papa to be good and maybe you can be proud of me too."

" Ya have ta believe me when I say that I did close that gate. I know I did cuz I even double checked it before I left and it was closed. Maybe one of them cows opened it up. Ya never know what they'll do, cuz they ain't smart like horses are."

" Papa, if God was standin' here in front of me, I would tell him the truth, and that is that I DID close that gate."

" Did ya notice that I'm printin' this in my best printin' too, cuz ya always say ta try yer best at all times, and I do always try my very best at all times. I really do Papa and I really want ya ta know that."

" Oh Papa, I love ya so much ! I hope that ya can always fergive all my mischief. I dun't know why msichief is always after me. Heck, I dun't do nuffin' ta it ta make it come after me."

" I wanna be a good son ta ya just Adam and Hoss are. Please believe me Papa, and I hope ya dun't mind me callin ya Papa again insteada just Pa."

" If I was saying all of this ta ya in person, I would be cryin' and this way ya can't see my tears runnin' down my face right now."

" I thank God everyday that ya are my Papa, my hero, my everything ! Thank ya Papa ! I LOVE YA !!!!!!"

" Yer son,
Little Joe "

It took Little Joe several minutes to get his emotions under control. He neaty folded his letter, stood up and he slowly walked back to his mama's grave and he told her that he loved her and how much he missed her. Then he untied Tony's reins and he rode back home.

Little Joe decided to put the letter in Ben's desk drawer because he knew that the next day Ben would be doing his monthly book work and that way when he opened the desk drawer he would notice the letter laying there.

That evening as Ben and Adam were reading their new books, and Hoss and Little Joe were playing their fourth game of checkers, there was a knock at the front door.

As all eyes fell on Little Joe, the boy sighed, got up and he went to the door. As Little Joe opened the door there stood Charlie, a longtime ranch hand and foreman on the ranch.

" Hi Little Joe, is your Pa busy ?" Charlie asked as he smiled at the curly haired little boy. " Hi ya Charlie, come in. PA," the boy called out.

Ben got up and greeted his dear old friend. " What can I do for you Charlie ?" Ben asked. " Hi Ben. I thought I'd check out that gate latch in the pasture where the cattle got out, and sure enough, it was broken, so I fixed it. Just wanted to let you know," Charlie explained.

" Thank you Charlie. I had no idea that it was broken. That would explain how the cattle got out and wandered away," Ben replied as he knew that he needed to apologize to his youngest son.

" See you tomorrow Ben. Good night everyone," Charlie said as he left. " Good night Charlie and thank you so much !" Ben said.

Ben walked over to Little Joe and he noticed that the boy was looking at the floor.

" Joseph, I am so very sorry I didn't believe you when you told me that you did close that gate. I never should have blamed you. I am so sorry son," Ben explained.

Little Joe didn't say anything as he got up and ran up the stairs to his room. He didn't know what to think, but he did feel extremely hurt that he wasn't believed in the first place.

Ben felt very bad as he watched the emotion play out on his young son's face, and he didn't blame the boy for feeling hurt.

" I guess I can't blame him for being upset with me. I should have believed him in the first place or even checked out that gate latch myself," Ben sadly told Adam and Hoss.

" Pa, we both felt the same way you did that it was Little Joe's fault," Adam added and both he and Hoss felt bad too.

That next morning at breakfast, Little Joe acted as if everything was back to normal. He talked to his family, but inside he was hurting. He didn't eat much of his breakfast either.

Ben could tell that his son still hadn't forgiven him, so he knew that as soon as his young son came home from school that day, then he would have a talk with him and he hoped that then the boy would forgive him.

After his sons had left for the day, Ben walked over to his desk with a fresh cup of coffee in his hand. It would be a long day of book work and lots of fresh coffee.

With a big sigh, Ben sat down, and he sat his cup on the desk. " Well, I guess I had better get started if I want to get this done today," Ben said to himself with another long deep sigh.

As soon as he opened the desk drawer he saw the neaty folded letter laying there with " Papa " written on it. " What in the world ...?" Ben thought as he picked up the letter.

By the time he had finished reading the letter, he had tears running down his face. He read the letter several times.

" Oh Little Joe, I love you so much sweetheart," he softly said. He had even noticed some tear stains on the letter as well and that made the letter even more emotional for him. He had gently touched each tear stain on the letter too.

He knew that his youngest boy had written the letter from his heart, and he wished that his baby boy was there so he could give him a big hug and tell him just how much he loved him.

The day seemed to drag on for Ben. He was very anxious for Little Joe to come home from school as he badly needed the little boy in his arms.

Ben was trying so hard to concentrate on his bookwork, but he couldn't. All he could think about was the letter from Little Joe.

All day at school, Little Joe wondered if Ben had found his letter and if he had, what did he think of it. He loved his Pa so much that it hurt. He also wondered what would happen when he got home from school.

After the school day was over, which seemed like a week to Little Joe, he decided to stop at his mama's grave for a few minutes before facing his father. For some reason the boy wanted to feel closer to to his mama that afternoon.

As Little Joe sat by Maire's grave, he didn't hear Ben ride up. For some also, Ben needed to feel closer to Marie that afternoon too.

Ben's heart skipped a beat when he saw Little Joe sitting there next to Marie's headstone, and all he wanted to do was to hold his son. Deep inside his heart he had hoped that the boy would be there, and he thanked God that he was there.

As soon as Ben stood behind his son, he softly said, " Little Joe." The startled boy quickly stood up and looked up at Ben, and he soon found himself gathered up in Ben's loving arms.

" Oh Little Joe, I love you so much baby. That was such a beautiful letter that you wrote to me. I could feel all the love you felt as you wrote it," Ben softly said as he kissed the top of the boy's head, and he could feel his son's trembling body knowing that the boy was crying, as he was too.

" Sweetheart, I forgive you and I am so very sorry that I didn't believe you about the gate. I know you don't lie son. I can't tell you how proud I am of you in everything you do. Well, maybe not in all your mischief, but I am very proud of you son. Besides, you wouldn't be my Little Joe if you were perfectly good at all times. Don't tell anyone, but I like most of your mischief."

" You are a good boy and a very caring boy too. You are always thinking of ours before yourself, and that too makes me feel so proud of you, and your brothers are also extremely proud of you too."

" I know that you do try your best at everything you do, and I thank you for that. Son, I will treasure that letter for the rest of my life," Ben finished explaining.

Little Joe looked up at Ben again through his tears and he softly said, " I love ya too Pa. I knew if I told ya in person everything I wrote in that letter, I woulda cried and I didn't want ya ta see me cryin'."

" Little Joe, I could tell from your letter that you wrote from your heart and that meant so much to me. As I said before, I am very proud to have you for my little boy and I thank God everyday that you are my son," Ben told his son.

As Ben put Little Joe back on the ground, he smiled and suggested, " How about we go home now or Hop Sing won't be happy if we are late for dinner." " Nope dun't want him upset Pa," Little Joe chuckled.

" I love you Pa !" the boy delcared. " And I love you too sweetheart !" Ben replied.

The two happy Cartwrights headed home to a wonderful dinner lovingly made by Hop Sing.

The End

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