The Cartwright Brothers

By Tennessee

Adam was running the Ponderosa. His pa was sick in bed so Adam made sure all the work was done on the ranch. He cut wood, he fixed the barn door, and he fixed a fence the horses had knocked down. He was busy all day and did not eat dinner. He just worked on. He loved the Ponderosa, and he knew that with his pa sick in bed it was up to him to do all the work.

Hoss and Little Joe were in school all day. They helped when they got home.

One day Hoss and Little Joe were two hours late coming home. Adam worked and watched for his brothers. When they rode up he stomped toward them. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

They laughed. "Yeah. So what? We were having fun."

"You two have work to do here," Adam said.

"Pa lets us stay in town some days if we get all our chores done in the morning before school," Hoss said.

"Well, I'm in charge now," Adam said.

"Un uh," Little Joe said.

"Be quiet, Little Joe," Adam said.

"Hey, leave him alone. You ain't Pa."

Adam pushed Hoss. Hoss pushed him back. "You two won't eat until you clean the barn and take care of your horses," Adam said.

"You can't tell us what to do," said Little Joe.

"Yeah, you ain't Pa, Adam," Hoss said again.

"I mean it," Adam retorted.

"Oh shut up, Adam. Stop tryin' to act like Pa."

Adam grabbed Hoss' arm and Hoss said, "Turn me loose right now, big brother."

"No," Adam said and all of the sudden they were on the ground hitting each other.

"Stop!" Little Joe yelled. He hated it when his brothers fought. "Stop it!"

Ben heard Little Joe yelling. He got up and put on his robe and made his way onto the porch. Ben had a bad cold and was not feeling well but he grew angry when he saw Adam and Hoss on the ground. The longer he watched them the madder he got.

Ben yelled, "Both of you stop. Now!"

They got up but they were still pushing at each other. Ben got between them and grabbed their arms. "I said to stop and I mean it. What's going on here?"

Hoss answered, "Pa you said we could stay in town since we got all our chores done. When we got home, Adam was all mad at us. He said we couldn't eat supper 'til we did what he said." He told Pa what Adam had said they had to do.

"Pa," Adam said, "with you sick they needed to be here to help with the work."

Ben pointed to the house. "You two get inside. You too, Joseph."

They all went inside and Ben sat down at the table. "I don't want you boys fighting. You are brothers and you love each other and help each other. I will not put up with fighting, is that clear?"

They all nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Now," Ben continued, "I did say these two could stay in town. You should have asked me before you scolded them. Who started the fight?"

"Adam did," Little Joe put in. "He pushed Hoss and Hoss pushed back."

Ben looked at his two oldest sons. "You two acted as if you are younger than Little Joe. No more fighting or you'll be in big trouble. Adam, if you need their help, please ask them nicely. Don't boss them. And you two will help Adam with the chores when he needs it, because I said so, not Adam."

The boys nodded again. The smiled at each other's frazzled appearances.

"I'm sorry," Adam said to Hoss.

"I'm sorry too, Adam."

Ben said, "You are the Cartwright brothers. That's something special. Treat each other like brothers."

Ben was in bed for four more days, but the boys helped one another and got all the work done.

One night at supper Ben said, "You boys helped each other run the Ponderosa. That's what the Cartwrights do."

"Yes, Pa," the boys said. They all smiled.

The End