THE HORSE
Written by Lynne Coulson
Ever since Hoss had found the horse wandering on the Ponderosa,
several days earlier, he had spent most of his free time in the
barn, grooming it and talking to it. It bothered the kind-hearted
man that he hadn't been able to find out who owned the animal. He
had obviously been well looked after and was a fine looking horse,
and so it seemed strange that the owner wasn't trying to find him.
Hoss enquired at the sheriff's office, as soon as he found it, as
he
knew that
"Sorry, Hoss, I can't help ya," said
reported losing a horse and the brand ain't one I recognise, so it
can't be local. I'll put up some notices, saying a horse has been
found and see if I get any response. Iffen I do, I'll let ya know.
Are ya gonna keep him out at the Ponderosa, or shall I stable him
at
the livery?"
"I'll take him out ta the ranch,
said Hoss. "We don't know how long it's gonna take to track down
the
owner and the horse will be able to get more exercise at the ranch,
than if he stays cooped up in town."
"Fine by me, boy," said
me."
"Will do, and thanks,
Adam and Joe shared a smile, as Hoss rode into the yard, leading
the
horse.
"Hi, brother, I see you've picked up yet another stray," said
Adam.
"Yeah, Hoss, where did ya find this one?" asked Joe. "I
havta admit
it's a darn sight better looking than some of the things you bring
home with ya, and that includes some of the gals."
"Jest ya watch that mouth of yours, young `un," said Hoss,
dismounting from Chubb. "One of these days it's gonna land ya in
more trouble than even you can handle."
Adam laughed at Joe's remark, but then gave him a warning look,
that
told the boy to keep quiet, as he could see that Hoss was rather
upset.
"Joe is right, Hoss, that is a fine looking horse. Where did you
find him?"
"He was wandering near where I was working, today," said Hoss.
"I
checked out the saddlebags, but there was nothing to identify the
owner, jest a change of clothes and a couple of books. Oh, and this
picture," and he showed it to Adam.
It was of a young woman, but the boys didn't recognise her.
"I went into town and asked
horse, but they ain't, so I said we'd keep him here, until the
owner
shows up."
As the days went by, Hoss became very fond of the horse and the
feeling was mutual, as he always seemed pleased to see the young
man, and it wasn't just because of the apple or carrot that Hoss
often took him.
"If only you could talk, amigo, you'd be able to tell us who your
master is," said Hoss, as he rubbed the horse's velvety nose. "I
bet
he's missing you, sure enough, and I know you're missing him, I can
see it in your eyes."
On Sunday morning the family went to church and as they stood
outside, before the service began, they saw Mr and Mrs Baker
arrive,
in their buggy. The elderly couple were well respected in the area,
but tended to keep to them themselves, especially since Mr Baker
had
had a mild heart attack. They lived a few miles out of town and
were
only seen on Sundays and about once a month, when they visited the
general store, in order to buy their supplies.
Sitting with them was a young man, whom the Cartwrights had never
seen before.
"Pa, I wonder who that is with the Baker's?" said Hoss. "Do
ya know
if they were expectin' company?"
"I don't know, son, I can't say I recall them mentioning that
anyone
was coming to stay with them."
On seeing the Cartwrights, Mr and Mrs Baker headed their way,
bringing their guest with them, and introducing them all to him.
"Good morning Mr Cartwright, boys," said Mr Baker. "Nice to
see you
and on such a pleasant morning, too. I was wondering if you could
help us out? This may sound an odd request, but you wouldn't happen
to know who this young fella is, would you?"
"Morning, Mr Baker, ma'am," said Ben, tipping his hat to the
lady. "No, I'm sorry, I can't say I have ever seen him before."
Ben's curiosity was aroused, but he was too polite to ask any
questions, so hoped that the Baker's would enlighten him.
However, Little Joe, with the impulsiveness of youth, had no such
reservations.
"How come he's staying with you, if you don't know who he is?"
"Joseph, mind your manners," said Ben. "I apologise on
behalf of my
son, he really should know better."
"Sorry, Pa, just curious," said Joe.
"That's all right, Mr Cartwright," said Mrs Baker. "It does
seem
rather odd to have a perfect stranger living with us, and so I can
understand young Joseph being interested. This young fella turned
up
in our yard, a few days ago. He had a nasty bump on his head and
said he had no idea who he was or where he was from. We took him
inside and I cleaned and dressed the wound and gave him a bite to
eat, and then he fell asleep for nigh on a whole day. When he woke
up, he still couldn't remember anything. He offered to do some
chores, in exchange for his meals, and he has more than repaid us,
as he has proved to be a very hard worker, but he still can't
remember who he is."
"We suggested that he rode in with us, this morning, in the hope
that there might be someone in the congregation who recognises
him,"
said Mr Baker.
"Well, we don't know him, sir," said Hoss. "But we jest
might have
his horse out at our place. I found this sorrel wandering, a few
days ago, and so far, no one has claimed him. Could be that your
new
ranch hand took a tumble off the horse, was knocked out, and when
he
come to, the horse had taken off."
"That sounds very likely," said Mr Baker. "Do you think that
you
might have been injured in that way?"
"I dunno, but it might be a good idea if I took a look at the
horse," said the young man, who looked to be about the same age as
Hoss, in his early twenties. "If it is mine, then maybe I will
recognise him."
"It's time for the service now, so we'd better go in," said
Ben. "But why don't you all come out to the Ponderosa with us,
after
church, and then we can see if your mystery guest and our mystery
horse know each other?"
"Thanks, Mr Cartwright," said Mrs Baker. "We will take you
up on
your kind invitation."
No one else came forward to say that they knew who the young man
was, and so after the service, the two families made their way to
the Ponderosa.
The young man was very quiet on the ride out to the ranch. Hoss
asked to join the Baker's in their wagon and tried to engage him in
conversation.
"Your saddle was still on the horse. I took the liberty of looking
through the saddlebags, in the hopes of finding out who the owner
was."
"And did you find anything?" asked the young man.
"Nothing with a name on," said Hoss. "But there is a picture
of a
very pretty girl, could be your sweetheart?"
"Could be, but I don't recall iffen I had a sweetheart."
As soon as they arrived at the ranch, Hoss was anxious to take the
young man to meet the horse.
Mr and Mrs Baker accepted Ben's offer to go inside and have a cup
of
coffee and left the younger members of the family to go to the
barn.
Adam and Joe saw to the team and Hoss led the young man to the
stall, in which the sorrel had taken up residence.
"Here he is," said Hoss. "Ain't he a beauty?"
Hoss watched as the young man moved closer to the stall, and hoped
that he would see a glimmer of recognition appear on the man's
face.
However, before he even got close enough to be able to pet the
horse, the animal became quite agitated and began whinnying. The
young man reached out and gently rubbed the horse's nose, a gesture
that soon calmed him down.
"I dunno iffen you remember him, but he sure as heck remembers
you,"
said Hoss, who was becoming quite emotional at the sight of the
animal, who was now relaxed and obviously enjoying all the
attention. "That's the calmest he's bin since he got here."
"I do know him," said the young man. "But I can't recall his
name.
May I see the saddle and the saddlebags, please?"
Hoss pointed to where they were and the young man checked them out.
"There's initials carved on the saddlebags," he said.
"Wonder if KW
is me?"
"Have a look at the picture," said Joe, joining them, now that
he'd
finished grooming the horses. "She's a real pretty gal and if she
ain't your sweetheart, I'd really like to meet her."
"Shush, shortshanks," said Hoss, frowning at his little brother.
The young man reached into the saddlebags and withdrew the picture.
"Ginny," he said, in a voice so soft that the others had a job to
make out what he said.
"Great, so you do know her," said Hoss, patting the young man on
the
back. "I was really hopin' that ya would."
The young man stood staring at the picture and as he did so, he
felt
like a heavy curtain was slowly being removed from his memory,
gradually revealing a little bit more of his life, as the folds of
the material, fell away.
He tried to explain what he experiencing, to the boys, and he
likened it to the way you would take off a tarpaulin, which was
covering supplies in the back of a wagon, or to the way a stage
curtain would rise, at the start of a play.
"Things are starting to come back to me," he said, after a
while. "My horse is called Blaze, because of the mark on his
muzzle."
At the mention of his name, the horse looked up and whinnied at his
master, making them all laugh.
"I was on my way to
married and I was supposed to be starting a new job at a ranch
called the Circle J. I hope they've kept the job open for me and
Ginny's still in
ago."
"You can go into town and send word to the ranch and to Ginny,"
said
Adam. "I'm sure once they hear what happened to you, all will be
well."
"That's a good idea and I'd like to go straightway, if that's all
right with you? I wanna put Ginny out of her misery as quickly as I
can. Oh, and I now know my name, it's Kyle Watson."
"Howdy, Kyle," said Hoss, shaking hands with the young man.
"We can
go jest as soon as we've saddled up Chubb and Blaze."
"I'm gonna go tell Pa and Mr and Mrs Baker, the good news," said
Joe, and he ran over to the house.
Hoss and Kyle waited in town until they received replies to their
telegrams. Ginny was still in
to hear from Kyle. Mr Jordan, the owner of the Circle J informed
him
that he wasn't due to start work, until the following day, and so
as
long as he arrived as quickly as he could, the job would still be
waiting for him.
They returned to the Ponderosa and gave the good news to Mr and Mrs
Baker, and to Ben, Adam and Joe.
"I'm so glad that I still have a job, as Mr
getting married and he's offered me and Ginny a place to live. It's
only a two roomed shack, but at least it's a start," said Kyle.
"We didn't have much more when we first settled out here," said
Ben. "I'd like to wish you and Ginny all the best, Kyle."
"Thank you very much, Mr Cartwright," said Kyle. "And thank
you, Mr
and Mrs Baker, for taking me in, like you did, and you, Hoss, for
looking after Blaze as well as you have. You sure are mighty fine
folks and I would be honoured if you'd come to my wedding."
Both families accepted the invitation and, a few weeks later, they
travelled to
Kyle's best man.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne