A NEW PET
It was very quiet at the Ponderosa, homeaddres of the Cartwright
family.
Rancher Ben Cartwright was away for a short vacation with his
grandchildren,
the twins Mitch and Pam of 10. The father of the twins, Adam, was
at work
with his younger brothers Hoss and Little Joe. At leats that was
what Ben
thought. But the reality was different.
Hoss and Little Joe were busy at the herd when they saw a different
animal
walking between the cows.
“Joe, do you see what I see?”, Hoss asked amazed.
“Yeah, if you see an elephant too”, his brother said amazed.
“Then we both see an elephant walking. What do we do with it? We
can hardly
let him keep walking between the cows”, said Little Joe.
“We just take him home and say to pa when he is home again that he
just
came
walking by”, answered Hoss.
“Go ride a bike. Pa will believe us when we tell him that that s
als we hem
vertellen dat die elephant just came walking by. But alright. We
can hardly
leave him here behind”, reacted Little Joe.
So said, so done.
The elephant followed the brothers home.
“Joe, he is as tame as a lamb. We just keep him as a pet”, Hoss said
excited.
“We already have a dog, chickens and enough horses here. Pa sees us
coming”,
answered his brother.
Though Little Joe was for the idea.
“We put him in the shed”, said Hoss.
“Come little elephant”, said Little Joe said to their new pet.
Hoss opened the door of the empty shed whereafter the elephant went
inside.
Quickly they closed the door.
“We go back to the herd before someone misses us”, said Hoss.
They mounted on their horses and rode quickly back to the herd.
Totally unexpected the holiday-makers came home. Ben noticed right
away
that
there was a strange sphere at the yard. He stopped the carriage and
got
out.
“East west, home’s best”, said the rancher.
Cody, the dog of the Cartwrights, woke up and saw his playmates
again. He
ran at once to Mitch and Pam. The twins gavehim an extended
greeting. Ben
too gave the dog an extended greeting. A second later Cody ran to
the shed.
“Grandpa, that shed was open when we left?”, asked Mitch.
“Yes, thatis so. Now he is closed. Let’s see what is in it”, said
Ben.
They walked to the shed. Carefully Ben opened the door. Mitch and
Pam saw
the elephant and were rolling over the ground laughing. The
thick-skin sat
flat on his backside and looked as amazed at the Cartwrights.
“What do get now? Who had put that beast here?”, the rancher asked
amazed.
“We didn’t take him home because we were with you. Our Uncles must
have
done
it for sure”, laughed Mitch.
“Very funny”, grumbled Ben.
He walked to the stable to saddle up his horse. A moment later he
was on
his
way to the herd.
On the way he ran into his eldest son Adam.
“Adam, did you happen to put an elephant in the shed?”, Ben asked
directly.
Adam started to laugh and said, “I haven’t seen an elephant.
Perhaps that
Hoss and Joe know more about it.”
“Then I go to them. You go home to receive your children”, said the
rancher.
“Alright. Pa, before I forget it: welcome home”, Adam said
laughing.
“I had imagined a better and nicer homecoming”, his father groaned.
Both rode away from each other. Adam home and Ben to the herd.
Hoss and Little Joe saw their father coming and felt the trouble
hanging in
the air.
“He must have discovered our little pet”, Hoss chuckled.
Little Joe feared that too but said nothing. Ben stopped his horse
near his
two youngest sons and looked at them seriously.
“What is that elephant doing in my shed?!”, asked the rancher.
“We found them here at the herd. He walked around so pityful that
we
decided
to take him home. Had a nice vacation?”, Little Joe asked
light-hearted.
“We had a very nice vacation but not this homecoming. What mustn’t
your
nephew and niece think of your behaviour? You do set a bad
example”, said
Ben.
The brothers looked confused. They didn’t think of that.
“We bring him back to the herd. Then he must find his own way
back”, said
Hoss.
The brothers went back home and took their elephant back to the
herd.
“Go ahead”, said Little Joe.
The elephant was so glad to be free again that he trumpetted over
the
meadow
and stamped loud.
Hoss and Little Joe clearly had learned their lesson and never took
an
elephant home.
Heidi