Father's Day

By Jess Cartwright

Little Joe sat in the back of the school room. Actually, it was only a small area set aside from the Trading Post, but still, it served the same purpose. He listened attentively to Ruth Orowitz, who had generously offered her services until a new, permanent teacher could be found.

As Little Joe furiously scribbled an assignment on a piece of tablet paper, the rest of the class dispersed. He looked back at the assignment as Ruth joined her husband at the front of the store.

"IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT FATHER'S DAY WHAT WOULD IT BE?" it said in big block letters at the top of his page.

Little Joe picked up his belongings and exited the Post to meet Adam at the livery.

"How was school?" Adam said, putting back a pair of saddle bags.

"It was OK." Little Joe said as he kicked his feet at the ground.

"Just OK?" They began to walk out of the livery.

"We have to write a paper about Father's Day." Adam stopped and looked over at him. "I don't know what to write."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something."

"I guess." Little Joe paused and looked up at his brother.

"I thought you needed those saddle bags."

"I do," Adam explained. "Just seems that everytime I go in there, Jack raises the price."

"Why don't you ask Pa to loan you the money?"

"Because I don't like to owe people., Little Joe."

"Even Pa?"

"Especially Pa."

Joe was a bit confused. "But your saddle bags are almost worn clean through."

"They're just gonna have to last until I have enough money to pay for them."

The boys mounted their horses and rode back to the Ponderosa. Little Joe thought silently the entire way back about what he would write for his paper. He really didn't know. Everything seemed to be perfect. How could you change something that didn't need changing?

Adam and Joe reached the house, dismounted and hitched up their horses. They noticed Ben standing by the front door with a stranger. Ben and the man extended their hands and shook as the boys walked up to Ben.

"Who was that, Pa?" Little Joe asked as the man rode off.

"His name is Ezra Cornell(1)," Ben said. "He wants to set up a meeting with the town council."

"What for?" Adam asked.

"Mr. Cornell is a businessman. He wants to run a telegraph line through Eagle Station."

"I've read about the use of the telegraph. They have set up lines in New York and Washington. It's supposed to be a great advance in communication."

"Do you think were gonna get one of these telethings here, Pa?" Little Joe asked.

"I don't know, son," Ben explained. "It all depends on what the rest of the council decides. The town still owes a lot of money from when we built the town hall."

Little Joe looked over at Adam. "Oh, maybe that's why Mr. Wolf's prices always go up when you go in to buy them saddlebags."

"I doubt that, Little Joe." He paused. "Don't you have a paper to work on?"

"Yeah, I know," Little Joe complained. "But what am I gonna write?"

Adam shrugged his shoulders. "You have until Monday. You think of something." Adam turned to Ben. "I've still got some work to do in the South Pasture. I'll be home for supper." Ben nodded and Adam remounted his horse and rode off.

"I have a lot of work to do myself if I'm gonna get those logs split by tomorrow," Ben said.

"I'm just gonna sit out here for a while," said Little Joe.

"Just make sure you get that homework done."

"Yes, sir." Ben walked towards the barn and Little Joe took a seat on the bench. Not a moment had passed when Hoss came riding up to the ranch.

"Pa," he said as he approached his father. Little Joe just sat at the house listening. Hoss dismounted. "Are you busy?"

Without missing a beat, Ben answered, "No, why?"

"Well, I need your advice. Ya see, it's Tess' birthday tomorrow and I was fixin' on buyin' her somethin' pretty. I saved up enough money to buy one of them dresses from Mrs. Orowitz."

"Well, what's the problem?"

"Ya see, there are two different dresses and she really likes `em both. I was wonderin' if you could help me pick one out."

Ben thought a moment. "Of course," he said. "I have some business to tend to in town anyway." Ben looked towards the house and Little Joe. "Joseph!" he called to his son, who had been listening to the entire conversation. "Do you want to go to town?"

"I'll just stay here, Pa." Little Joe called back.

"Be sure to tell Adam where we went when he comes home."

"Yes, sir." As Ben and Hoss mounted their horses and rode off, Little Joe leaned over, grabbed his paper tablet and began writing.

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Little Joe sat in the back of the wagon as it pulled into town on Saturday morning. He still carried around his writing tablet. As the wagon pulled over in front of the town hall, Little Joe jumped out of the back. Adam and Hoss dismounted their horses.

"I want you boys to keep an eye on Little Joe," Ben said to Adam and Hoss. They nodded. "And Joseph, you mind your brothers."

"Yes, sir," Little Joe said.

"The meeting won't be too long," Ben said. Adam turned towards the livery and Hoss and Little Joe headed for the Trading Post.

"Adam!" Ben called to him. His eldest son stopped and turned. Ben approached him, his fist clenched. "You did good work in the pasture yesterday, son." Ben put his hand into Adam's passing to him what was inside.

Adam opened up his hand. "Five dollars? Pa, I can't accept this."

He tried to return the money, but Ben pushed back his hand.

"You need new saddlebags, Adam. I've seen yours. You're lucky you haven't lost anything yet. You worked hard, go buy the bags."

"But what about Jack?"

"There shouldn't be a problem. I had a nice talk with Mr. Wolf yesterday. He'll sell you the bags."

There was a faint smile on Adam's face. "Thanks , Pa. Thanks a lot." Ben turned back towards the town hall as Adam proceeded to the livery.

Hoss and Little Joe entered the Trading Post. Inside, Tess stood at the counter. Hoss approached her as Little Joe took his tablet and jotted something down.

"Happy Birthday, Tess." Hoss said as he came up behind her.

"Oh, Hoss," she said. "I didn't think you'd remember."

"You only reminded me everyday." They smiled. "I got ya a present."

"Hoss, you didn't have to."

"It's in the wagon, come on I'll show ya." Hoss walked outside with Tess leaving Little Joe inside the Post. Little Joe walked over to the window and looked out, watching as Tess unwrapped the dress that Hoss had bought her. He watched as she held the dress up to her and then gave Hoss a big hug. Little Joe then took his tablet and started scribbling again.

As the time went by, Little Joe went page by page. He had finally thought of what he would change for Father's Day. He had found a comfortable place in the corner of the Trading Post and had just sat down. Nobody bothered him and he just wrote.

"Ruth," Little Joe heard his father's voice. "Have you seen Joseph?" Little Joe gathered his things and walked over to his father.

"I was just sittin' over there doin' my homework like ya asked."

"Well," Ben said. "We better get going home. We've still got a lot of work to do."

Ben and Joe exited the Post and got back onto the wagon. Adam and Hoss were already waiting as they headed towards home.

"What did the council decide, Pa?" Adam asked.

"Mr. Cornell made a good case." Ben explained. "The telegraph lines will make receiving messages faster than normal mail. They could be very useful in case of emergency. We also had to look at how much it was going to cost the town."

"So what did you decide?" Joe asked popping his head up from the back of the wagon.

"It going to take a little while, but the vote was unanimous to let Cornell run the wire through Eagle Station."

Joe looked over at Adam. "What's that `unanimals' mean?"

"Unanimous, Joe," he laughed. "It means that everyone agreed."

"That's good then." Adam nodded the family finished the ride back to the ranch.

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The classroom filled on Monday morning. The students couldn't wait to read their papers. Little Joe took out his writing tablet and set it on his desk. He waited patiently as he listened to the other papers.

Most students changed what they would give their fathers, and new plow, a good riding horse. Still, Little Joe waited for his turn to come.

Upon hearing his name, Little Joe stood, his tablet in hand. He walked up to the front of the room and began to read the paper that had taken so much thought an planning. Perhaps it would change some of the other children's minds about how they would change Father's Day.

My Pa

by Joseph Cartwright

age 12

My Pa is a rancher and he owns a big ranch, The Ponderosa. Me and my brothers helped to name it. At first I didn't know what I would change about Father's Day, cuz my Pa is a great guy. But then I decided that if I could change anything about Father's Day, I would take it away. I don't think there should be only one day that we show our Pas how much we love them. They show us everyday that they love us.

How come we can't show him everyday too? Our Pas are always helping us out when we need help. He does everything to make us happy. He gives us the extra money we need to buy a new pair of saddle bags when ours are worn clean through and makes sure that we aren't taken advantage of. He doesn't even expect you to pay him back. He's always there when we need advice about something, and it doesn't matter what he's doing. He'll put it all down to help, even if it means working extra long the next day. And he finds time to help out in town making decisions that will help everybody's family. So that's why I think that there shouldn't be a Father's day. It should be Father's Year, every year. Cuz our Pas do so much for us. We need more than one day to thank them.

(1) Ezra Cornell (1807-1874), was an American businessman as well as a philanthropist. He helped to establish the Western Union Telegraph Company and became one of the leading builders of telegraph systems. Cornell was responsible for inventing a machine that helped solve Samuel Morse's problem of cable laying for his first telegraph line. In his later years, Cornell devoted his time and money to education. He is most remembered for helping to found Cornell University.