Goose
Chores
By
Grammagoose
Little Joe’s secret was out. It wouldn’t be
so easy sneaking out of Sheriff Coffee’s backyard jail any more. Everyone now
knew of his trips to Mrs. Bell’s pond to spend time with the geese. The day he
and his band of honking geese saved the Sheriff and his family from a gang of
desperate outlaws, his clandestine adventures were revealed. The whole town
thought of him as a hero and held him in high regard. It was quite a feat for a
mere six-year-old and Joe loved being the hero of
“Pa! I’m not a little kid anymore. I hate
goin’ home with Amanda every day after school. I can ride my pony home. Seth
rides his pony home every day. We could even ride together part of the way.
Please Pa, you’re killin’ me. Ever since I saved her from the bad guys, Amanda
won’t leave me alone or nuthin’. Please? Please? Please?” Joe fell to the wooden plank of the buckboard’s
seat in an act he felt surely resembled dying in terrible pain and agony.
Joe’s whiney voice irritated Ben
Cartwright more than usual on this cool October morning. His thoughts were on
the construction of his new saw mill and more importantly, how he was going to
finance this week’s payroll for the men working on the mill. Adam and Hoss were
not back from
Unable to ignore his young son any longer,
Ben bellowed forth a stern warning, “JOSEPH!
I do not want to hear one more word of this nonsense. You are going home
with Amanda and that is final! Without Hoss and Adam it is hard enough getting
you home from school each day without your constant complaining. Not one more
word!”
Little Joe jumped at the sound of his
name. Head bent, he muttered what was expected, “Yes sir,
“We don’t mumble, Joseph.” The wagon
rolled to a stop just outside the doors of the
Ben extended his strong arms toward his
son and Little Joe fell into his embrace. As he swung Joe to the ground his
whispered into his ear, “I love you, Little Joe.”
Joe couldn’t stay angry any longer as he
kissed his father on the cheek and whispered back, “Love you too,
The end of the school day came at last.
With cooler weather in the air, the older children were eager to get away. Hunting
and fishing were beckoning their attention. The younger children were just
eager to get home and play. But one child was not so eager. The routine was all
too familiar. Amanda babbled on about some wonderful plans she had while Joe
dragged his feet behind her.
Ever since the day Joe had led the geese
in an attack against the men who held them hostage, Amanda and Miss Mable could
not be more attentive to Little Joe’s every need.
“Would you like more pie, Joe? Hop Sing
said it was your favorite kind.” The housekeeper tousled his curls as she
walked by.
Joe ducked to avoid the assault and
thought to himself, Why is it, everyone wants to mess up my hair?
“No thanks. My stomach
is gunna’ bust.” With that, Joe let out a loud burp. He couldn’t help
but giggle and Miss Mable and Amanda looked aghast.
Joe felt pleased with himself. It was the
least he could do for all the fussing over him. He just wanted to be left
alone. Wish Amanda would get sick again, he
thought.
“Let’s go outside and pick some flowers,
Joe. We can put them in a glass and it will look real pretty.” Amanda skipped
to the door.
“Sure, ‘Manda.” Joe
dragged his feet to the door and then jumped down the steps leading into the
back yard.
“Joe, how did you get the geese inside our
yard? Show me where they got in.” Amanda was whispering.
Joe was surprised at her question. He
didn’t think Amanda even cared about the geese. “Over there, on the other side
of the yard.”
When Joe reached his secret escape route,
he was disappointed to find a new wooden slat securely nailed into place where
there once was a broken one. “Dad burn it!” Exclaimed the boy.
“Little Joe, you shouldn’t say those
words. My papa said those are bad words.” Amanda shook her finger at her
friend.
“Oh, big deal, Amanda.
My brother says that all the time. My Pa never says nuthin’. Anyway, how we
gonna’ get out of here? Your Pa musta’ fixed the fence.” Joe started feeling
along the enclosure for another loose board and Amanda followed close behind.
He had almost given up, as he started down
the back side of the yard. At last, he felt a wooden slate give as he pulled on
it. “Here, Amanda! Look! This one is a good one. Look, I can just pull it a
little bit and we can squeeze through the opening.”
Amanda froze in her tracks. “I don’t know,
Little Joe. I don’t think my Pa would like it if I left the back yard. And I
know your Pa told you not to go sneaking out of here, too.”
Her worried face almost made Little Joe
laugh. Then he started to think, What am I doing? This
is probably a trick. The stupid girl is trying to get me in trouble.
“Amanda, you better not tell nobody ‘bout this, ya’ hear?” He balled up his
fists and raised them in a threatening pose. “’Cause if you
do, I’ll punch you in the nose!”
Tears started to well up in Amanda’s eyes
and Joe held her in his icy stare.
“Come in children! Mr. Cartwright is here
to pick up Little Joe” Miss Mable’s melodic voice flew across the yard and
echoed against the wooden fence. The attention of both children was suddenly
diverted and they raced toward the house, each trying to be the first.
“Whoa there, Little Joe.
Slow down.” Ben admonished as his son plowed his way ahead of Amanda and into
the house. “ I guess we need to work on our manners,
Miss Mable. Sorry for Joe’s behavior.”
“Oh, Mr. Cartwright, he is usually such a
gentleman. He’s just young.” The older woman sighed.
“Well, young or not, Cartwright men treat all
ladies with respect. Good day, ma’am.” Ben tipped his hat and made his way out
the front door to find his son already in the buckboard.
“Whatever she said, it ain’t true!” Little
Joe shouted as soon as his father sat down.
Ben was confused. “She didn’t say anything, Little Joe. Was there something I should
have heard?”
Joe cringed. He had done it again,
confessed to a crime when he didn’t have to.
“Ummm. Nuthin’
Ben smiled. “Joseph, I think I remember a
few times you have cried when you didn’t like to be teased. I want you to be
nice to Amanda. Her father is doing us a big favor letting you stay there after
school and I want you to behave. Is that clear?” Ben accented his final words
with a stern look.
Joe could feel his anger rising as he
thought about what his father was saying. A favor? Havin’ to play with Amanda is a favor? I can’t wait till I grow up and
then nobody’s gonna’ do me no stupid favors!
Ben could see his son’s body tense up and
his face take on an ugly look of anger. Time
to change the subject, he thought. “ You know son,
Hop Sing is visiting his father and Adam and Hoss aren’t home. It’s just you
and me. What would you say to having dinner at the
International House tonight?”
Little Joe immediately brightened. “Really, Pa? Just you and me?” Joe
was surprised. He never got taken out to eat by himself. He was always just a
tag-a-long and his father and brother’s conversations revolved around boring
ranch stuff, like chasing cows and cuttin’ down trees. Joe contemplated, Pa said he was never
going to take me there again after what happened the last time. Just ‘cause I got too full to eat the dinner I ordered and spilled
my milk. Oh, then there was that little incident when he wouldn’t let me get
any dessert.
“Yes, son. Just you and I. I haven’t had a chance to give you a treat
for the brave action you took to save Sheriff Coffee and his family. We can eat
together and you can tell me all about those geese.” Ben frowned as he realized
the troubles of his business often kept him from enjoying his youngest. Still,
he prayed that this dinner would go better than the last one at the
International House.
Little Joe couldn’t believe his ears. Finally, I can ‘splain to Pa about those
gooses. Maybe he will listen this time.
Dinner went surprisingly well and Ben
found himself smiling and laughing more than he had in a long time. He had to
remember this, Joe could be a very entertaining
person. His son seemed to blossom when he had Ben’s undivided attention.
Another thing he had to remember was, Joe was
definitely not very happy staying with Amanda every day after school. He would
have to think about some other arrangement.
“Son, you really like the geese, don’t
you?”
“Yeah, Pa, ‘cept that ole’ mean one. He all the time
bites me in the butt. He’s real sneaky,
Joe’s serious demeanor almost made Ben
laugh out loud. He knew a thing or two about geese, himself. As a child, it was
his job to feed the family geese and he remembered being chased by the big
birds more than once. Suddenly, Ben realized he had never told Joe about his
own trials with geese.
“Joe, did you know that when I was a boy,
I had to take care of a whole gaggle of geese and…….” For awhile, Ben
entertained Little Joe with his own
goose stories.
The next morning came much too soon for
both Cartwrights. Ben sometimes wished that Joe didn’t have to go to school. It
was hard work for everyone to get him there every day on time and to assure his
safe return every night. Joe’s mother, Marie had planned to home school Joe
when Hoss stopped his formal education. She was going to keep the boy at home
until he was old enough to get to the
“Pa, don’t forget your promise. You’re
gonna’ talk to Mrs. Bell ‘bout her gaggle, right?”
Little
Joe held his father’s hands and eyes before darting into the school building.
“ I haven’t
forgotten, I always keep my promises.
In fact, I plan to go there right now, before I get too busy.” Ben smiled and
climbed back on Buck. “Bye Joe, be good.”
“Sure,
Ben spent the morning taking care of
family business instead of Ponderosa business. His first stop was to visit his
old friend, Roy Coffee. He explained Joe’s problem and
“Well, for what do I owe this pleasure?
Two of
Ben spoke first. “ Carol,
it is so good to see you again. We’d love to have some coffee.” He shot a quick
glance over to
“How have those wonderful geese of yours
been?”
“Well, it served them right! The nerve of
those terrible men! Breaking into your house and tying up you and Mabel and
sweet little Amanda. Why, I hope they never get out of jail again!” Mrs. Bell
seldom became upset, but the memory of those awful men just made her angry.
Ben cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Carol.
My son, Joseph, is so very fond of the geese.”
Mrs. Bell quieted down and smiled sweetly.
“Oh yes, your son. He is such a beautiful child. I
have never seen a child more lovely. His smile and sparkling green eyes make
him a very handsome young man. Many girls will have their hearts broken by that
youngster. Mark my word on that, Ben Cartwright!”
“Well, that is yet to be seen. But right
now, I was wondering if you could use a little help around here. Some help that
a boy like Joseph could provide. Perhaps he could clean out the barn or rake
the yard or do some other chores. It would be for a short while, after school,
one or two afternoons per week. Now, you wouldn’t have to pay him anything. I
would take care of that in his allowance. I’m asking this as a favor to me and
to Little Joe.” Ben suddenly felt a
little awkward, trying to “sell” his son.
However, Ben was encouraged by Mrs. Bell’s
reaction. She broke into the biggest smile he had ever seen on the widow’s
face. “Oh, Ben. I think that is a wonderful idea! I
get so lonely sometimes. I would love to have a child to share some time with
me. And there are some things he could do to help me. I hate to admit it, but
the bones are getting older and some chores get harder every day.”
“That’s great. How would Tuesday and
Thursday afternoons sound? Now, remember, if he gives you any trouble at all,
just treat him as your own. A good swat to the bottom never hurt any child. And
if for some reason, you don’t think it is working out, just let me know.” Ben
was glad once again, to have some help with caring for his child. He sighed and
said to himself, “I guess it is true, it takes a
village to raise a child.”
“What was that, Ben?” Sheriff Coffee
asked.
“Oh, nothing,
“Now, Carol, listen up. Little Joe comes
home with Amanda after school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, do you think you
could come to the house and pick him up? At least until he knows how to get
over to your place.” Roy Coffee paused as he placed his cup and saucer on the
table.
Ben laughed and exclaimed, “It seems my
son already knows how to get to Carol’s house!”
“Ben, I know that. But I think he should
take the lane between our houses, not escape through the back yard.”
Ben raised his hands in defense. “Of course,
“I can’t wait, Ben. Tomorrow is Thursday.
Let’s start then!” Mrs. Bell rose to carry the coffee cups to the kitchen, but
turned around to say, “You gentlemen are welcome anytime. Please stop by more often.”
Ben chuckled. “I guess I will be stopping
by every Tuesday and Thursday.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Ben.”
As they left the house,
Ben shook his head in dismay, “Now
“Sure, Ben. I
believe ya.’”
The next day, Little Joe was actually
anxious to get up and go to school. It was the father who kept lagging behind.
As Ben dropped him off at school, he reminded Joe to be good and as usual, Joe
replied with his intention to do just that.
However, this school day seemed extra long
to the young child. Two times he was warned to stop fooling around and Miss Knackenhorst gave him
only one more chance before keeping him after school. Joe prayed he could
follow the rules and his teacher wisely gave him some active chores to keep him
out of trouble. Finally, the hands on the clock pointed to
“Do you think I could come with you, Little
Joe? I would like to see the geese, too.” Amanda called to her friend as she
ran after him on the way to her house.
“No way, ‘manda. I gotta’ do real man work. Girls can’t be in my way. ‘Sides, you
might get hurt.” Joe shouted back at the girl pursuing him.
Mrs. Bell was there to greet the children
and soon she and Joe were on their way to the goose farm.
“Little Joe, I am so happy to have you
come visit me. I hope we can have fun together. My little boy is all grown up
now and he lives far away in
“You have a little boy, Mrs. Bell? Joe
asked.
“Yes, but he isn’t little anymore. In
fact, he has two children. One of his children is the same age as you.” Replied Mrs. Bell.
“Does he got boys or girls?”
“He has both. But his boy is your age and
his name is Nicholas. I’ll show you a picture of him when we get inside.” Mrs.
Bell thought wistfully of her grandchildren.
Joe and Mrs. Bell spent some time munching
on cookies and looking at pictures. Finally, she suggested they go outside and
visit the geese.
Joe was excited. This was what he was
waiting for. He tried hard not to run and used his best manners. Mrs. Bell had
given him a bag of old bread to feed the geese. As he got nearer to the pond he
began to recognize the individual animals.
“There’s Baby, my goose. And that one I
call Boggle.” He pointed to the big
white goose who had pinched his bottom more than once.
“That is a very good name for him, Joe. He
makes a sound like “boggle-boggle”, doesn’t he? Throw some bread out.” The
older woman smiled, she was pleased that someone had given her geese names. “Do
you have names for the others?”
“Yep. The little
one I call Precious. That one with the feather falling
out, I call that one –Pal Goose .The one with a funny looking nose is Beaky.
And that one is Charger and the one over there is Venus .
I think the one on the ground is Princess and I don’t have a name for that
one.” He pointed to another small goose, waddling up the bank of the pond. “How
do you know if a goose is a girl or boy?”
Joe backed up some as the huge feathered creatures became interested in
his bag of food. The geese came closer and closer and started honking loudly.
“Joe, throw out some more bread. If you
don’t, they will snatch that bag out of your hands and get their own
bread.” Mrs. Bell was aware of Joe’s
trepidation. “A boy goose is usually larger than a girl goose and their necks
are thicker. And the boy goose will stand guard over the girl goose.”
Joe fumbled with the bag until he had
pulled out all the bread slices. He threw them as far away as possible, keeping
the large birds at bay. “I’m not afraid of them, you know. They just get pushy and
I think they might bite my fingers when they grab the bread.”
“I understand, Joe. I feel the same way.
Their beaks are very strong and I suspect they could break your fingers if they
were so inclined.” Mrs. Bell put her arm around Joe’s thin shoulders and pulled
him into an embrace. “Now, why don’t I show you one of the chores I want you to
do.”
“Okay!” Joe had chores at home every day.
But being at someone else’s house, made the chores seem
more important. He felt this was a very grown-up thing to do. He couldn’t wait
to tell Hoss and Adam.
Every night, Mrs. Bell put her geese in
the barn to sleep. It was safer there, as bobcats, dogs and fox could not find
them. But the hay they slept on needed replaced several times per week and food
and water dishes needed cleaned and filled. Joe knew how to rake hay. He often
helped Hoss clean out his own barn. So, he set right to work.
After a while, Joe stopped to rest his
head on the rake handle. To nobody in particular, he said, “Golly, this is hard
work. I wish Hoss was here. He could do this real quick and then I could sit on
that pile of hay over there. My arms hurt.”
“I ‘spect
that’s just what you would do, too.”
Joe was startled. He thought he was all
alone. Turning around, his mouth flew open, “HOSS!” The rake went flying as a small bundle of boy
flew across the barn and into the waiting arms of a large friendly boy. Hoss
lifted Joe off the floor and spun him around in the air.
“I sure missed you, Shortshanks.” Hoss
beamed. He was Joe’s bigger brother, but also his best friend. Hoss just turned
13, and had already become the size of a grown man. But as large as he was, he
had a gentleness and kindness that made him liked by all he met.
“I didn’t know you was
home. Is Adam here, too?” Joe could hardly contain himself as he jumped up and
down.
In answer to his question, a dark-haired
young man peered around the barn door. “You looking
for me, Little Buddy?”
Joe ran to his oldest brother and Adam
lifted him into a warm embrace. With Joe’s arms and legs wrapped tightly around
his middle, Adam smiled and chuckled, “And I missed you, too.”
Just then, Ben entered the barn. “Your
brothers just got home, Little Joe. And the first thing they wanted to do was
find you. I told them you were working.”
“That’s okay,
“Hold on there, little boy.” Ben turned
him around to face the interior of the barn. “I think you have been given a job
to do. Cartwright men do not leave jobs half done.”
Joe pouted. “But Papa.
I wanna’ be with Adam and Hoss.”
Ben looked to his older sons and they both
winked back.
“Tell you what, Joe, if you help, we can get
this job done real fast.” Ben gave Joe a
light tap on the bottom and sent him back to work. Unable to stay upset, Joe
was soon laughing and chattering as he picked up the rake for Hoss and began
gathering the food and water bowls with Adam. In no time at all, the barn was
made fresh and tidy. The geese would have a nice clean place to spend the
night.
Everyone settled into the new routine. On
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Joe would be picked up at the Coffee’s house.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, his family would find him at Mrs. Bell’s place. The
days Joe loved most were Tuesdays and Thursdays. He lived for those days. Mrs.
Bell treated him like a big person and told funny stories about her son and the
geese. After awhile, Joe began calling her, “Grammagoose”.
The friendship came as no surprise to Ben
Cartwright. His son never knew his grandmother or grandfather and missed having
a relationship with an older woman. At the ranch, there were several older men
that Joe could adopt as a grandfather, but no women.
“Come on Joe, let’s go. It’s getting
colder by the minute. I already told Mrs. Bell that I’m getting you.”
“Wait, Adam, I just gotta put some corn in
one more bowl.” Joe struggled with the large grain feed bag, but finally
managed to fill the bowl.
Adam stood at the door and fought the urge
to just take the grain bag and finish Joe’s chores for him. He and his father
had talked about how impressed they were with his little brother’s serious
approach to his “goose chores”. He certainly took them more seriously than his
chores at home. Even if it was difficult to wait and watch, Adam let Joe finish
his work.
“How come you’re here so early, Adam? I
didn’t even get a chance to feed the geese some bread.” Joe brushed his hands
on his pants and walked towards his big brother.
“The wind is kicking up pretty bad. It’s
coming straight down out of the Sierras and it is fierce. Probably bringing
snow with it. See the black clouds? I want to get us both home and in front of
a warm fire as soon as possible.” Adam easily swung Joe up onto his horse,
Sport, and then climbed up behind him.
“Adam, let’s go really fast on Sport,
okay?” Joe loved to ride fast, but seldom got a chance.
“Pa would get angry, Joe. We’ll just
canter along.” But Adam’s words were soon forgotten as the weather quickly
deteriorated. “Don’t tell Pa, but I want to get home quick, It’s
freezing!” Adam gave Sport the signal and off they shot.
Joe laughed with delight. “I won’t never tell!” For Joe, the thrill of flying across the
ground blocked any sensation of cold. He could not be happier.
It was late into November and Thanksgiving
was just a few days away. Joe arrived at Mrs. Bell’s as usual, it was a
Tuesday. He squinted his eyes as he approached the
neat little house. He thought he saw Grammagoose
sitting on the front porch, but he wasn’t sure. Whoever it was, they had a
rifle aimed and ready to fire. As he got closer, Joe realized it was Grammagoose and she was pointing her
gun at a large man with a coonskin hat. Joe stopped to watch.
“You better get your ornery hide off of my
property right now, Patten Hoad! You’re not going to touch one feather off my
bird’s backs. These geese aren’t for sale and they aren’t for takin’, either.
Now get out of here or I will blow your head right off that ugly neck of
yours!” Mrs. Bell kept her rifle aimed.
Joe couldn’t believe it. He had never heard
Grammagoose even talk loud, let alone get so angry. And he didn’t know she
owned a gun. He decided to hide behind a tree and watch for awhile.
“Now come on, Widow
Bell. You can’t mean that. Why them gooses of yours is the fattest,
tastiest birds I ever done seen. You gotta share em, ma’am.” Patten Hoad took
another step forward.
His words and action caused Grammagoose to
stand up and take better aim. As she peered down the barrel of her rifle, she
shouted once more. “I’m not telling you again, Patten Hoad. Now
git out of here!”
Patten took another step forward.
Grammagoose fired her rifle.
Luckily, for Patten, it missed. But it did
give him a reason to pause. Maybe this
old lady really means it.
Joe’s heart jumped at the sound of the
rifle going off. He had to think of something and quick! He then got an evil
grin, “If that Hoad guy wants gooses, I’ll give him gooses.”
Grammagoose was shaking. She hardly ever
fired her guns and the sound produced was frightfully loud. She was truly
scared as she knew she would never have the resolve to actually kill someone.
She had to shoot bobcats on occasion and once she even shot a fox. It was hard
to do, but the animals had taken prey on her beloved geese and she had no choice.
But shoot a human being? That was different.
Patten took a deep breath. Maybe he could
bluff his way into the yard. “Gee, Mrs. Bell. I didn’t know ya’ was so attached
to them there critters. I can see they’s like kin to ya’ and us Hoads know ‘bout
kin. Yessiree, we love our kin.”
Carol Bell paused and relaxed her stand
just a little. “Glad you understand, Hoad, now get back!”
“Maybe I could just look a little bit
closer at them there birds. Liked to see what’s so ‘special ‘bout ‘em.” Patten took off his hat and tried to look sincerely
contrite.
Holding her gun on the ugly man, Carol
Bell considered what he had said. It just didn’t make sense. Why would he want
to just look at her geese? “Look here, Patten. There is no earthly reason for
you to look at my geese. Now just back right out of that gate, get on your
horse and leave me alone!”
Meanwhile, Joe had gone, undetected, down
to the pond. All the geese were gathered in a tight huddle as they floated on
the water. The sound of the rifle going off had scared them. They knew the
sound of a rifle blast could mean only one thing, danger. Danger was usually in
the form of fox, bobcats, and dogs. They began to mutter when they saw Little
Joe. “Wah-wah-wah-wah.”
“Quiet, guys. We
got trouble. There’s some bad guy by the name of Patten Hoad up at the house.
Grammagoose has her rifle pointed at him and he won’t go away. I think he wants
to eat one of you for Thanksgiving. Think we can chase him off?” Joe spoke
quietly and seriously to the gaggle of geese.
The biggest one began to swim toward the
shore. Joe became a little worried. This was Boggle and either the goose was
going to help him or bite him on the butt. He hated getting his butt bit. To
Joe’s relief, he did not seem inclined to attack. Instead, he walked up the
bank of the pond and started toward the house. Then, like little soldiers, the
others followed. It was a comical sight as nine white geese waddled single file
behind their goosey leader. Over the grassy knoll, through the flower beds and
up the drive they walked.
“Wait for me, guys!” shouted Little Joe as
he ran to catch up. He felt powerful and proud. Once again, he was going to be
a hero.
Patten Hoad was getting impatient. His family
was hungry and he promised a goose for Thanksgiving dinner. As far as he was
concerned, not eating the widow
Mrs. Bell stood her ground, but her arms
shook with fatigue from holding the heavy rifle.
All of a sudden, a loud noise could be
heard coming from the side of the house. It sounded like an army of screaming
wild cats. The geese started to run faster and as they picked up speed, the
smaller ones began to fly into the air. The squawking and flapping of wings was
deafening to the ears.
Patten Hoad didn’t stand a chance. All at
once he was attacked on all sides as a swarm of beaks and pounding wings caused
him to fall to the ground. Still, the birds kept up the assault, beating the
poor man senseless.
Carol Bell watched from the porch in
silent disbelief. Her gentle and loving geese were attacking a grown man and winning.
As grateful as she was for their help, she feared for the man’s life. Then she
saw Little Joe. He was jumping and running around the pile of man and birds,
yelling at the top of his lungs, “Get em guys! Get em!
Finally, Carol was able to gain some
composure. She had to stop her deadly geese before they were accused of murder.
She ran to the boy and grabbed him by the collar. “Joseph, that’s enough! Call
the geese. Tell them to stop! I think they have done their job.”
Joe was so caught up in urging the geese
on, he forgot about Mrs. Bell. He then realized that the man on the ground no
longer looked like a threat. “Okay, guys, that’s enough. Let that man get up.”
At once, the geese stopped their honking
and pinching. They began to mill about and noticing the nice thick grass under
their feet, used their beaks to pull shoots of tasty greenery instead of their
enemy.
As they calmed down, Patten Hoad began to
moan. “Ohhhh, I got sore spots all over my body. Them’s
killer geese. Lady, you got little devils livin’ in your pond. Them ain’t ordinary critters.”
“That’s right, Hoad. Now get out of here
and don’t you ever come back!” Mrs.
Bell waved her rifle at the man.
“Don’t you worry none,
lady. Ain’t no way you could drag me back here!” With that, Patten Hoad grabbed
his hat and dashed down the road and out of sight.
“Whew, that was close. That Hoad guy was
the ugliest mean man I ever saw!” Joe ran to Grammagoose’s side and took hold
of her hand.
Sighing heavily, Mrs. Bell squeezed Joe’s
hand tightly and they turned to watch their gaggle of geese march back down to
the pond. Their heads were held high and their fat bottoms waddled to and fro.
Nobody would have guessed the fury that could be unleashed in the gentle birds.
“Little Joe, let’s go inside and have some
cookies and milk. I think we deserve a treat.”
“Yeah!”
Latter that night, after all the
excitement had died down, Ben was tucking his brave little son into bed. Joe looked
to his father with innocent puppy eyes. “Pa, I saved the gooses lives today,
didn’t I?”
“Yes, son. You
probably did.” Ben smoothed the covers over his son.
“And maybe I even saved Grammagoose’s
life, didn’t I ?” Joe blinked his thick dark lashes.
“Quite possibly, son.”
Ben smiled once more.
“And I did a brave, grown-up thing, didn’t
I?” Joe kept his most innocent face focused on his father.
“Well, son. That
is something we will have to talk more about.” Ben was wondering where all of
this was leading.
“Then, Pa, how come I
can’t ride my own pony to school? I can take care of myself.”
Joe
started to get up on his elbow to further drive his reasoning across to his
stubborn father.
“JOSEPH! Stop right now. That issue has
been settled long ago and nothing that happened today is going to change it.
Now you just settle down and go to sleep.” With that, Ben pushed Joe back onto
the bed and tucked the blankets tighter around his shoulders.
As Ben got up to leave, he heard once
again, the pleading sound of his son’s voice, “Pa?”
Ben was ready to explode. He turned
around, prepared to give another lecture, when his son yawned and said, “Pa, I
love you.”
Ben closed his eyes and sighed heavily.
Smiling, he bent to kiss Joe on the forehead and whispered in his ear, “I love
you too, son.”
The End