The Fight

By Tennessee

Ben and the boys were working on the ranch. After dinner Ben told the boys he needed to go to town and asked them to work on the new fence while he was gone. Ben went to town and the boys went to work.

Adam kept telling Hoss what to do, and Hoss was getting mad. He said, "Stop telling me what to do. You’re not my pa; you’re my brother."

Little Joe looked at them as they were talking.

Adam said, "When Pa is in town I’m in charge."

"Who said?" demanded Hoss.

"I did," Adam argued.

"I’m bigger’n you so I’m in charge."

"You are not."

"Stop it!" Joe cried. "You know Pa says we ain’t supposed to fight each other."

His brothers both gave him a dirty look.

"Stay out of this, Joe." Adam knocked Hoss’ hat off, and Hoss was so mad his face turned red.

"You’re askin’ for it, Adam."

And before Adam could say anything he was on the ground. He jumped up and rammed into Hoss with all his strength. Hoss hit him back.

As Little Joe watched they kept on fighting. Little Joe yelled for them to stop. But they were too mad to stop. Hoss got Adam pinned on the ground and yelled, "Who’s the biggest now?" But Adam managed to get loose and Adam said, "I’m still older than you."

Hoss yelled, "Just because you’re the oldest doesn’t mean you get to boss me around."

Little Joe knew he had to do something to stop his brothers from fighting. He needed Hop Sing. He ran to the house as fast as he could. He fell three times, and his legs got cut and were bleeding by the time he made it to the house. He opened the front door and yelled for Hop Sing.

"I’m back here cutting wood," Hop Sing answered. When he saw Little Joe, he dropped the axe and ran to the boy. "Did you fall off your horse?"

"No," Little Joe panted, "it’s Adam and Hoss."

"Are they hurt?"

"No . . . well, I don’t know. They’re fighting each other. We gotta stop ‘em. Let’s go."

"Little Joe, your legs are cut and bleeding."

Little Joe looked down and saw the rips in his pants legs. "C’mon, Hop Sing. They are hurting each other real bad."

Hop Sing knew by the look on Joe’s face that they needed to hurry.

By the time Little Joe and Hop Sing reached Adam and Hoss, Hoss’ nose was bleeding and he and Adam had black eyes. Hop Sing tried to get between them, but they knocked him down. Little Joe ran to Hop Sing to help him.

Ben was riding back from town then, and he heard Little Joe yell, "Please stop!"

Ben got his horse to running, and as he got closer he couldn’t believe his eyes. When they didn’t respond, he took his rifle and shot up in the air. He was so mad when he reached his sons. He yelled, "What is going on here?!"

Adam and Hoss looked and him and Ben repeated his question.

Adam said, "I told Hoss to do something and he got mad and starting a fight."

"That’s not true, Pa!" Hoss said. "Adam is always telling me what to do and today he went to far."

Ben then looked at Little Joe and saw his injured legs. "What happened, son?"

"I fell when I was running to get Hop Sing to break them up. And Adam and Hoss knocked Hop Sing down when he tried to break them up."

"Are you all right, Hop Sing?" Ben asked.

"I’m find, Mr. Cartwright. I’ll take Little Joe home and care for the cuts on his legs."

Little Joe said, "Pa, Adam and Hoss both wanted to be the boss while you were in town and that’s what started the fight."

"Thanks for telling me, Joseph," Ben said. "Now, go with Hop Sing."

After his youngest son and Hop Sing had left, Ben looked at Adam and Hoss. "I have no idea what has gotten into the two of you lately. But it stops now. You are brothers, and brothers take up for each other and love each other. The kind of fighting I’ve seen today – I never want to see it again. You are acting like you are Little Joe’s age."

"But Pa -" Hoss started.

"I don’t want to hear it." Ben took both boys by the ear and turned them around. "If you’re not big enough to say you’re wrong, you aren’t as grown up as I thought you were. Go to the house and clean up. We will talk more later."

Adam and Hoss walked real slow to the house. Ben rode behind them. When they got home, Little Joe and Hop Sing were at the table talking. Adam and Hoss went to their room to clean up. Ben asked how Little Joe’s legs were and Joe said they were fine.

When Ben heard the bedroom door open, he looked up and watched Adam come and sit down. Soon Hoss came to the table, as well.

Ben said, "Now, all four of us are going to talk. Adam, you are my oldest son and big brother to Hoss and Joe. But you should never act like the boss of them. And Hoss, you are bigger than Adam but his will always be your big brother and sometimes I need to leave him in charge when I am going to be gone. Little Joe, you have two big brothers to watch over you. I need you to do what they say because they know what is safe and what is not. Do you all understand me?"

The boys said yes, they did.

"And I’m older than all of you and I’m in charge as the head of the family. But when I’m not here, Adam is in charge. And if Adam and I aren’t here, Hoss is in charge."

Little Joe said, "And if you and Adam and Hoss are all gone, I’m the head of the family."

Everyone started to laugh. Hoss said, "I’m real sorry, Adam."

Adam said, "I’m sorry too, brother."

And they both looked at Joe. "We’re sorry you got hurt, Little Joe."

Adam sighed. "I’m so sore."

"Me too," Hoss said. "My whole face hurts."

Little Joe said, "You said mean things to each other."

Ben turned to him. "Sometimes when we’re mad, we say thing we don’t mean." He turned to his oldest sons. "For the next two weeks you two will do my chores and Little Joe’s chores. And I expect both of you to write a two-hundred-word paper about each other and this family. And you two had better not hit each other ever again. We’ve got two hours until dark. Why don’t you go get a start on cutting the wood for this week. I think you two need to spend some time together."

Adam and Hoss looked at each other. They knew they were getting off easy. Pa hated to see his sons fighting. They got up and went to cut wood. Ben and Little Joe watched out the window. Adam and Hoss got to laughing and talking and having a great time.

That night both of them fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. For the next two weeks they spent all their time doing chores together and they became very close.

One night Ben said, "You see, boys, brothers can work through anything as long as they talk it out and don’t fight."

Adam said, "We know what you mean now, Pa."

Little Joe came in about that time and Adam and Hoss smiled at him.

Adam said, "Hoss and I were thinking of taking a ride to the lake."

Little Joe looked at them eagerly.

"Well, get ready, little brother," Hoss said. "We’re waiting on you."

Little Joe smiled. "Wanna come, Pa?"

"Not this time. You boys have a good time."

Little Joe said, "I’m ready."

Adam and Hoss jumped up and they were off.

Ben watched at the door as they rode off. The boys had a great time riding and spending time together. That night they were all happy and fell asleep thinking about their day and their family.

The End