Adam and the Wild Horse

By Tennessee

Adam was working on the ranch and thinking about how Pa often treated him like a boy and not a man. He knew in time his pa would treat him like a man, but he was getting tired of waiting. He had an idea to show Pa he was a man and not a boy. Adam knew where some wild horses were, and he planned to catch one and break it to ride on his own.

One day after he did his chores he rode to where the wild horses were. He stayed quiet, waiting for them to come. It reminded him of when the wild horses had run past and Paint fell down and they put ropes around him. Tess then showed Little Joe how to gentle him. Little Joe talked about it a lot. And Adam was ready to use what he had learned.

When he heard the horses running he waited until they were close and picked out the one he wanted. Adam got his rope around the horse he wanted and the horse jumped, causing Adam to fall off his own horse. The wild horse was so mad it started to jump, and it kicked Adam on the leg and on the arm. Adam tried to move but could not. He was on the ground and he covered his head. The horse took off. Adam was in pain. He saw his horse and knew this was his only chance to get it. He tried but still couldn’t move.

Adam yelled for help, but no one was there. His horse moved a little closer and he got a hold of it. He knew it would hurt to pull himself up but he had to get somewhere for help. He got up and let out a yell in pain. He made it on his horse. He was getting dizzy and so much pain that every time he moved he yelled out involuntarily.

Hoss and Little Joe were headed back to the Ponderosa when Little Joe said, "Is that Adam? He’s riding real slow."

"Too slow," said Hoss. "Let’s go." And they got their horses to running.

Adam fell off his horse and passed out. Hoss made it to Adam first and could tell Adam’s leg and arm were hurt. He yelled to Little Joe, "Go get Pa! Adam is hurt. Hurry."

Joe rode as fast as he could. He saw Ben coming out of the barn. "Pa! Pa!"

Ben knew something was wrong by the tone of Joe’s voice. "Slow down, son. What’s wrong?"

"Adam is hurt, Pa. He can’t ride. We need the wagon."

Ben yelled, "Hop Sing! Adam is hurt. Get fresh water and clean rags."

They all rode in the wagon. Ben saw Adam on the ground. He got the horses to run faster. He jumped off the wagon and ran to Adam. "Adam, son, open your eyes."

Adam opened his eyes for a moment. "A wild horse . . ." He fell into unconsciousness again.

Hop Sing cut Adam’s pants and shirt and saw three wounds. He put ointment on the wounds and wrapped them with clean rags. Hoss and Ben put Adam in the wagon.

When they got home, Adam had a high fever and Hop Sing told Hoss to collect bark from an aspirin tree. Hoss knew where to find it, and Hop Sing boiled it and gave it to Adam. Hop Sing also had some herbs his friends from California had sent him and he made medicine to rub on Adam’s cuts. They were real red.

Hop Sing looked in his father’s medicine book and stayed up all night putting hot rags on Adam’s cuts and giving him tea to help with the pain. It took all night but finally Adam’s fever went down and his wounds looked better.

Adam opened his eyes. "Hop Sing, what happened?"

"You got hurt but you will be fine with rest."

Ben came in and saw Adam was up and talking.

Hop Sing said, "I’ll go get you some soup. You need to eat."

"Thank you, Hop Sing."

Ben said, "Well, you look better son. Want to tell me what happened."

"I feel like a horse kicked me," Adam joked. "I was trying to catch a wild horse to break. I wanted to show you I was a man."

Ben sat on Adam’s bed. "Son, catching a wild horse doesn’t make you a man. When you do something foolhardy like trying to catch a wild horse by yourself, I think you’re still very much a boy. Now eat and get some rest son."

Adam was in bed for a week, and when he got up he was sore, but his wounds were almost healed. A week later he was doing all his chores. He never tried to catch a wild horse without help again.

The End