No Time

By Tennessee

Adam and Hoss were busy on the ranch and didn't have time to spend with Little Joe. He was young and could not do the work they could do, but he could not understand why they had no time for him. Hop Sing was busy too. So one day after his chores were done and everyone was busy and did not want to spend time with him, Joe got Paint and his puppy and rode off. If they did not have time for him, he had no time for them. He had his horse and his puppy and that was all he needed.

As he rode, he started crying. He was sad, hurt, and mad all at the same time. He would show them. He would stay gone all day and let them miss him and worry about him. He went to an old cabin in the woods. He took some cookies and bread with him. He made it to the cabin, tied up Paint, and went into the cabin with his puppy. There was a spring right beside the cabin and after he ate his cookies, he went to the spring for a drink. Then he played with his puppy.

Things were busy at the ranch. Part of the fence had fallen down and they had to catch several horses and fix the fence. Hop sing went to town. Ruth was sick and he wanted to care for her. Ben and the boys didn't even stop for lunch. They had to get the fence fixed before nightfall. They had been so busy that they didn't even miss Little Joe.

Little Joe and his puppy went back into the cabin. There was an old bed along one wall. Little Joe's eyes got heavy and he fell asleep. He slept for hours, and when he work up and looked out the window, he realized no one had come looking for him. His family hadn't missed him at all.

He started to cry. He had some bread left and ate it. And then he sat on the bed and cried some more.

Ben and the boys got the fence complete and the horses back inside it. Hop Sing returned from town. They were all still outside when Tess rode up and said, "Our cattle are gone. All of them. Ma fell and hurt her arm."

Ben said, "We'll saddle our horses. Hop Sing, you'd better come too."

And they rode off without thinking of anything but helping the Greens find their cattle. When they got to the Green ranch, the ranch hands were all standing outside looking at something. Ben and the boys stopped to see what it was. They found a trail of blood.

Little Joe woke up cold. It was still light out. He saw his puppy sleeping in a corner. When Little Joe moved, the puppy woke up and barked. Joe began to cry again. Nobody had come to get him. "It's just me and you, Scout. My family doesn't need me. I can't do a lot of hard ranch work and they can. It's just you and me and Paint now."

He crawled off the bed and went to the spring for a drink. He tripped over a big rock and fell, hurting his feet. He made it back to the cabin, but his feet were hurting so bad, he could only sit on the floor.

Ben and Adam followed the blood to where it stopped. Several cows were on the ground. Someone or something had killed them. They heard and noise and Ben looked to see where it had come from. He saw a large wolf in the bushes, got his gun, and shot it.

Hoss and Tess didn't find anything. The ranch hands found a few more cows that were hurt, but most of the cows were all right. They were all trying to hide on the far side of the field. There was a big hole in the cattle fence. Adam and Ben went back to tell everyone about the wolf.

Hop Sing, Tess, and Hoss were outside talking where Ben and Adam rode up. "How is Maggie?" Ben asked.

Hop Sing said, "She be fine in a few days."

"Pa," Hoss said, "we didn't find anything."

"We did," said Adam. "It was a big wolf that was taking down the cows. It got about ten of them.

"Oh no," moaned Tess.

"We took care of it," assured Ben.

The ranch hands gathered and Ben told them about the wolf and the dead cattle. Then he looked to his boys and said they'd better head home. Tess thanked them as they rode off.

When they got home, it was dark. Hoss said, "Pa, we left Little Joe home alone all this time."

Ben's eyes got big and he looked around for his youngest son. "I haven't seen your brother in hours, have you?"

Ben ran into the house, yelling Joe's name. Adam, Hoss, and Hop Sing came in behind him. They couldn't find Joe. Ben went outside and yelled for him. There was no answer.

"Hoss, take the horses to the barn. Hop Sing, you look around the house."

Ben checked the outhouse and the barn.

"I can't find his puppy either, Pa," Adam said.

"Pa!" Hoss yelled from the barn. "Joe's horse is gone."

They yelled Joe's name all the louder.

"Pa, what are you going to do?" Adam asked. "It'll be dark soon."

"I know, son. Get your horse."

Little Joe was on the floor holding his puppy. His feet hurt so much. He tired to get back on the bed again but couldn’t. Then he thought about his pa and his brothers. He made up his mind to try to make it to Paint. He tried but yelled in pain. He did manage to make it to the bed.

Ben and his brothers were looking everywhere for him. They yelled Joe's name over and over.

"Pa, we need to find him," said Hoss. "It's getting cold."

"I know, son. I know."

Adam said, "Oh, that's it."

Hoss looked at him. "What?"

"I think I know where Joe is. The old cabin. It's not far from here. Joe's gone there before. He and I stopped there one time when it was raining."

"Where is this cabin?" Ben asked.

Adam motioned and they rode quickly.

"There's Paint!" Hoss yelled as they approached the cabin.

Ben jumped off his horses and opened the cabin's door. The puppy started to back but stopped when it saw Ben. Little Joe saw his father. "Pa, my feet hurt. They hurt so bad, Pa."

Ben looked at Joe's feet. "They'll be ok in a few days, son."

"What happened?" Adam asked. "Did you come here to play?"

"No one had time for me so I took off," Joe admitted. "Nobody let's me do anything."

"Joseph," Ben said, holding his son. "We have a lot of hard work to do to keep the ranch going. It takes up a lot of time. I'm sorry you feel we don't have time for you. We love you, son. We try to spend as much time with you as we can. But there will be times when other things come first. We'll always love you."

Little Joe smiled and said, "Ok, Pa."

Adam said, "Little Joe, it takes all four of us to run the ranch."

Hoss said, "Yeah, if we didn't have you, we'd have more work than we could do. Good thing we've got you."

Little Joe said, "So I do help?"

They laughed and said yes.

"Yes, yes you do, son," Ben said. "Now let's get you home." Ben put Joe's boots on the boy's feet and helped him to his horse.

"Don't forget the puppy," Joe said.

Adam scooped up the little dog. "I got him, little brother."

When they got home, Hop Sing looked at Joe's feet. "Mr. Cartwright, his feet will be sore for a while but he will be fine."

They all ate supper and went to bed. Little Joe was happy to be home and with his family. He knew now that they loved him and needed him.

The End