Adam Wants a Pistol

By Tennessee

Adam did everything he could think of to show his pa that he was old enough to have a pistol. But Ben always said it was too early, and Adam would respond, "When you were my age, you already had a pistol."

Finally Ben got mad and said, "Adam, we've talked and talked about this. I'm not buying you a pistol right now and that's it. When I think you are old enough, I will get you one."

Adam stormed around the house for a week. He wouldn't talk to Ben.

Hoss tried to talk to his big brother. "Adam, Pa loves you . . . "

"Stay out of this, Hoss," Adam shot back.

After a week of silence, Adam stopped doing his work and went fishing.

"What's going on with you, son?" Ben asked one night.

Adam said, "Pa, you act like I'm so little. If I'm too little for a pistol then maybe I'm too little to do all my work. I'm leaving the Ponderosa, Pa. I'm going on a trip by myself."

"No you're not, Adam," Ben said.

Adam glared at him then stomped out of the room. He waited until everyone was asleep and then snuck out, leaving a note that read, "I need to think. I'm a man, and you need to start acting like I'm a man, not a boy. Adam."

When they saw that he was gone, Little Joe and Hoss went to find Adam. They rode all day. When they finally found him, he had a pistol and was shooting at a target he'd rigged on a tree. He didn't see his brothers and he took a shot. Then he heard Joe yell, "Hoss!"

Adam ran to his brothers and saw Hoss in the ground. The bullet had hit Hoss in the leg, and it was bleeding badly. Adam took his shirt off and wrapped it around Hoss' leg. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," he kept saying.

"It hurts real bad," Hoss says.

Little Joe knew Hoss needed help. He got on Paint and rode fast until he got to the Ponderosa. "Pa! Hop Sing!"

Hop Sing came out on the porch. "Your father go to town," he said.

"Adam shot Hoss, and Hoss' leg is bleeding bad."

Hop Sing said, "Get the wagon ready. I'll get what I need."

Little Joe hooked the team to the wagon. Hop Sing drove the wagon and Little Joe rode Paint. They were going as fast as they could. Tess saw them and rode up to see what was wrong. "Hoss needs you," Little Joe said.

Tess tied her horse to the wagon and rode with Hop Sing. Little Joe directed them to where he and Hoss had found Adam. Tess ran to Hoss.

Hop Sing looked to Adam. "We need to get the bleeding stopped and get him home. You've done a good job here." He checked where the bullet went in and came out. Luckily, no bones were broken. He made sure the bleeding was stopped, and then he, Adam, Tess, and Little Joe got Hoss into the wagon.

Adam stayed by Hoss's bed. "Will he be all right?" he asked Hop Sing.

"Yes. He'll need a lot of rest and time to heal, but he'll be fine."

Ben got home and could quickly tell that something was wrong. He saw Adam's sad expression.

Adam looked at his boots. "Pa, I, uh, I got that old pistol of yours. I was shooting at a target and I didn't know Hoss was behind it. The bullet hit Hoss on the leg."

Ben ran to Hoss' side. He looked at his sleeping son and then glared at Adam. He was so mad that he could barely speak. "Adam, I told you you were too young for a pistol."

"I would never hurt Hoss intentionally," Adam said. "He's my brother and I love him."

When Ben saw how much Adam was hurting, he relented. He rested a hand on Adam's right shoulder. "I know, son. It was an accident."

Tears ran down Adam's cheeks.

"Adam, where is the pistol now?"

"On the wagon, Pa."

Ben went to the wagon and got the gun and put it back where he kept it. "You are becoming a man, Adam, but you're not there yet. It takes time. You've had to grow up fast."

Tess stayed at Hoss' bedside until almost dark. "I hate to leave him," she said when she had to go.

"He'll be fine," Ben assured.

Adam stayed up all night watching Hoss sleep. Hoss' began to run a fever, and Hop Sing put a cool cloth on Hoss' forehead. Ben stayed up all night too. By daybreak, Hoss' fever was down and he woke and asked for something to eat.

As Hoss was eating, Adam said, "I'm sorry, brother. I didn't mean to shoot you."

"I know," Hoss said. "It was an accident, Adam. We shoulda yelled to let you know we was there. You wouldn't have shot then."

Hoss was in bed for a week. His leg was weak when he got out of bed, but he soon healed and was his old self.

Adam still wanted to carry a pistol but he decided he could wait for one. One day he would be a man in his pa's eyes and Pa would buy him a pistol and teach him to shoot it. It would be a good day because he would know then that Pa thought of him as a man.

The End