THE BUNNY WITH THE BIG HEART
By
Lynne C.

At daybreak, on Easter Sunday, Hoss stood in the woods, dressed in a
bunny costume, with a basket full of dyed, hard boiled eggs, and tried
to fathom out how he'd got suckered in, yet again, by his brothers.

`I must have sucker written on my forehead,' he thought to himself.
`No one else, in their right mind, would be out here, at this time of
the day, dressed in combinations, with bunny ears and a tail, added to
`em. Jest wait `til I git my hands on Adam and Joe.'

Hoss was a really, caring young man, and didn't have any objections to
helping out with the children at the orphanage. He was often there, in
his spare time, playing with the kids, and doing repairs to the
building. And he used his skill with wood to carve many a toy for them
to play with. But, being a bunny was taking things a bit too far, even
for someone as good-natured as Ben Cartwright's middle son.

It all started when little brother Joseph got into trouble, when he,
and a couple of his friends, broke some windows at the orphanage.

Ben was informed and ordered Joe to go and repair them, sending Hoss
along with him, to ensure that his youngest son did as he was told. He
knew that Joe was likely to try and sneak away, before completing the
work, but having Hoss there, meant he had to stay and see the job through.
Ben also told Joe to offer his services, to the principal of the
orphanage, for any other jobs that needed doing, by way of apologising
for the damage he had caused.

"You can go and work over there, anytime you have a spare hour to
kill, and that way you might learn to appreciate how lucky you are,
when you see how little those children have to call their own. Maybe
you've had things too easy, young man, and that's why you have been
failing to show any respect for other people's property. You seem to
be of the opinion that money is no object, and that if something is
broken or lost, then I will replace it, with no inconvenience to you.
Well, that is not how it is going to work. You may not have the money
to put right your mistakes, but I will make sure that you pay, in
other ways, either by taking the cost out of your hide, or by getting
you to do the work."

As they drove along in the buckboard, Joe complained to Hoss about
having to give up his Saturday afternoons, for the next few weeks, in
order to help out at the orphanage.

"It just ain't fair, Hoss," he said, for at least the fifth time,
since they left home.

"Iffen you don't stop moanin', little brother, so help me, I'm gonna
give ya somethin' ta moan about," said Hoss, after putting up with it
for far longer than most would have done. "I'm the one who should be
doin' the complainin'. I'm givin' up my Saturday, too, and I ain't the
one who's bin in trouble."

"Wasn't my idea that you had to come along," said Joe. "If you wanna
blame someone, then Pa's your man. However, it probably won't get you
very far, as he has no heart, at all. I mean, it was only a couple of
windows I busted, and it was really the fellas who live in the
orphanage, who were to blame, cos they ran inside, when we were having
a slingshot fight. Mitch and me both shot at Wes and Craig, in the
house, cos the windows were open, but they shut them, just as we
fired. And when Pa got to hear about it, not only did he bust my butt,
but he's making me give up all this spare time to do chores there, too."

"He explained why he was makin' ya do that," said Hoss. "He wants you
ta realise that you are very lucky ta have a nice home, plenty of food
in your belly, and a father and two brothers to care fer ya, and you
shouldn't take things fer granted. I already do come out and do stuff
for these kids, and it won't hurt you to do it, too, now and agin.
Now, no more complainin', cos we're almost there, and it would make
these young `uns real sad, iffen they thought you didn't wanna help
`em, and I'm not about ta let ya do that."

Joe could see that Hoss meant business, and so the twelve-year-old
made a real effort not to let his true feelings show. He helped Hoss
replace the broken panes of glass, and then set to weeding the
vegetable patch, along with some of the orphans.

As he was doing so, he heard someone crying, close by. He followed the
sound and it led him to a clump of bushes, where he found a little
girl, about five years old.

"What's the matter? Why are you crying?" said Joe, squatting down,
beside her.

It took the child a few minutes to calm down, and to be able to tell
Joe what was troubling her.

"Mrs Dawkins says the Easter Bunny might not come, this year," she
said. "She said he's bin poorly, same as Mr Dawkins has, and might not
be better, in time. But I want him to come, cos I like looking for the
eggs, and when we find `em and take `em to Mrs Dawkins, she gives us
candy. And we don't get much candy here, cos Mrs Dawkins says it costs
too much and we don't have `nough money," and the child began to cry,
again.

Joe felt very sorry for the little girl and he sat with her, for a
while, and gave her a cuddle. By the time he left her, he was
determined to do all he could to ensure that the Easter Bunny paid her
a visit.

He talked to some of the older children and found out that Mr Dawkins
and the Easter Bunny were one and the same.

"Lucy's right when she says he's not likely to come," said Frank, who
was the same age as Joe. "Mr Dawkins broke his leg, a while back, and
he's still laid up in bed, so he's not gonna be able to put on his
rabbit costume and hide the eggs."

"Isn't there someone else at the orphanage who could do it?" asked
Joe, as he was deeply affected by Lucy's distress, and wanted to try
and bring a smile back to her face.

"Nope, there isn't, cos Mr Dawkins is the only male member of staff,"
said Frank.

That was when Little Joe hit on the idea of getting one of his
brothers to play the part of the Easter Bunny.

He went to see Mrs Dawkins and asked if he could have the costume.

"I reckon I can find someone to be the Easter Bunny for you, ma'am,"
said Joe. "So I'll need the outfit."

"That will be wonderful, if you can, Little Joe," said Mrs Dawkins.
"Very well, I will let you take the costume, but please return it, as
my husband will need it for next year."

Mrs Dawkins wrapped the outfit up in brown paper, as she didn't want
any of the children seeing it, and Joe stowed it away in the
buckboard, without telling Hoss what he was planning.

When the boys returned to the ranch, that evening, Joe waited until
they had eaten supper, before broaching the subject.

"I wanna thank you, Pa, for making me go and work over at the
orphanage. You're right, I have been pretty selfish, and I'm real
sorry about that."

"I'm pleased to hear you say so, Joseph," said Ben, smiling at his
youngest son. "It's gratifying to know that you have learned something
from your punishment."

"I got talking to this little girl and she was crying, cos she doesn't
think the Easter Bunny will be coming this year. And she's right, cos
Mr Dawkins always dresses up as a rabbit and hides the eggs, but he's
laid up with a broken leg and so can't do it. So Mrs Dawkins has told
the kids that the Easter Bunny is ill, and might not come, and poor
little Lucy is breaking her heart over it."

"Aww, the poor little thing," said Hoss. "Surely someone else can do it?"

"That's what I said, but Mrs Dawkins said there wasn't anyone else, so
I said that either you or Adam would do it."

Both Adam and Hoss looked horrified at the prospect, but Ben thought
it was a great idea.

"That was a lovely suggestion," he said. "And I'm sure that your
brothers would be delighted to bring a smile back to Lucy's face,
wouldn't you, boys?"

"Erm, well, of course we would," said Adam. "But as we both can't do
it, I think we should use the tried and tested method to decide which
of us will have the honour, don't you, Pa?"

"Sounds good to me," said Ben, and he went to fetch two matches.

Hoss went with him, to make sure the matches were exactly the same
size, and while they were gone, Adam quickly dipped his fingers in a
glass of water * that was on the table, winking at Joe, as he did so.
Both he and Joe usually did this, whenever the three boys were
deciding on who was going to have to do a chore, which none of them
liked doing.

Ben returned and handed one match each, to Adam and Hoss. He then lit
them, and, inevitably, Adam's match burnt at a slower rate, owing to
the fact that his fingers were damp. Therefore, Hoss was the loser, as
he was the first one to throw away his match, before it burnt his
fingers. This always happened and Hoss was certain that Adam cheated,
but he had no way of proving it.

"Dadburnit, do I havta be a rabbit, Pa?" he said. "I'll be the
laughin' stock of Virginia City. Cain't I jest hide the eggs, without
dressing up?"

"Now then Hoss, surely you can take a bit of ribbing, for the sake of
bringing a smile to a little girl's face?" said Ben. "I've just
finished telling Little Joe that he should be prepared to make a few
sacrifices, for the sake of others, and there's no reason why that
shouldn't apply to you, too."

"And you told me that, as well, Hoss," said Joe. "How I shouldn't moan
about giving up my Saturday afternoons to help those less fortunate
than me. And you're only being asked to do it on one day, not every week."

Adam said nothing, just gave his brother a sympathetic pat on the
back, and walked away, looking very much like a cat, who'd made off
with the cream.

So, those were the circumstances that led up to Hoss being out in the
woods, early on Easter Sunday, dressed as a rather over sized rabbit.
And although he was cross that both his brothers had set him up to do
it, he really didn't mind, especially when he heard how happy the
children were, when they found out that the Easter Bunny was able to
pay them a visit, after all.

THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne
April 16th 2006

*As seen in the episode The Auld Sod

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