Harvest Festival (by ljlover2001)

Summary: Written in response to the October challenge, to write a story using the words, leaves, Indian, summer,  smoke, frost.

Joe soon begins to regret a hasty decision  Rated: K (1,835 words)

Harvest Festival

Little Joe shivered and as was often the case, began to regret his earlier, hasty decision. Leaving the house and going for a ride had seemed like a good idea, when he left, but now he was not so sure.

‘Should’ve thought it through, a bit better, Joe,’ he admonished himself, as he rubbed his hands together, and watched as his words caused smoke clouds to form, in the frosty air. ‘At least I should’ve stopped long enough to get my jacket.’

It had been a beautiful day, one of those early October days that the words Indian summer had been invented for. Riding home from school, Joe hadn’t needed his jacket, but by the time he left the house, it was dark and a lot colder.

As he rode through the wooded area, behind the house, Cochise’s hooves stirred up the leaves on the ground, making a rather eerie, rustling sound.

‘If I was nearer to ‘em, I guess I could’ve made myself a bed outta those leaves, but up here, by the lake, there are none, so I’ll havta make do with my saddle blanket,’ thought Joe. ‘I sure as heck ain’t gonna go back home, just to have Adam picking on me, all the while, and Pa not saying one word ta back me up. And Hoss was just as bad; he was laughing, too, even though he did try to hide it from me.’

Joe thought back to what had caused him to leave the house, in such a rush, and as he did so, he prepared a place on the ground, on which to sleep. Even with the saddle blanket, he knew that by the morning, his clothes would be damp, as once the sun rose it would melt the frost on the ground and the wetness would seep through even the thick saddle blanket.

When he got home from school, earlier that day, the only inhabitant of the house was Hop Sing, so he was the first to witness Little Joe’s anger and bear the brunt of it.

“Why you slam door when you come in, Little Joe? Father be very cross, if he here.”

“Well, he ain’t here, and I feel like slamming the door,” yelled Joe, and he went back to the door, opened it, and then slammed it again.

“Why you yell, all the time?” shouted Hop Sing. “Hop Sing fetch wooden spoon, give little boy spanking, you carry on yell like that.”

“Cos I’m in a bad mood,” replied Joe, heading for the staircase.

Hop Sing could tell that Joe was upset, so tried a different approach.

“Little boy come in kitchen. Hop Sing have cookies and hot chocolate ready for Little Joe, after long ride from school. Tell Hop Sing what’s matter.”

“I ain’t hungry and nothing’s the matter,” replied Joe, and he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Before Hop Sing had the chance to speculate any further, Adam and Hoss arrived home.

“Hop Sing, where’s Joe?” asked Adam, as soon as the cook appeared in the main room.

“Little Joe in room, him sad about something,” said Hop Sing.

“Well, he’s going to be sad about something else, if he doesn’t get down here and take care of his horse. Pa will be back soon and Joe knows as well as the rest of us do, how mad it makes Pa if we don’t take care of our mount, before we come into the house.”

Adam went to the foot of the stairs and called out Joe’s name.

“Joe, get down here, NOW!” he yelled.

The 15 year old came to the top of the staircase and glared down at his oldest brother.

“What d’ya want?” he muttered.

“I want you, down here, at the double, taking care of your horse,” said Adam, sternly. “That’s what I want, and what you should have done, as soon as you got home.”

“Don’t wanna,” replied Joe, turning away from the stairs. “You do it,” and he prepared to walk back to his room.

“Joe, if I have to come up there and make you tend to your horse, it will be a much more unpleasant experience for you, than if you come down, by yourself. Pa will be home, real soon, and I am sure you don’t want him knowing about you neglecting Cochise, do you?”

“No, I don’t, but I bet you’re gonna just love telling him,” said Joe, but he did begin to make his way down the stairs.

“If you do the chores you are supposed to do, then there is no need to say anything to Pa,” said Adam.

“Come on, little brother,” said Hoss, grabbing Joe in a headlock, and ruffling his hair. “I’ve some chores ta do in the barn, so while I’m doin’ ‘em, and you’re takin’ care of Cochise, ya kin tell ole Hoss what’s rilin’ ya.”

The two brothers headed to the barn and both began their chores. As Joe groomed Cochise, he did calm down, a bit, and he told Hoss what had upset him.

“Ole Jonesy,” he began, but after getting a rather stern stare from Hoss, he started again.

“Miss Jones wants us to do a Harvest Festival at school,” explained Joe.

“No need ta git riled ‘bout that, Little Joe.”

“Not if it was just an ordinary festival, no, there isn’t, but she wants us all to dress up as fruits and vegetables. It’s just plain stupid.”

It took a couple of moments for Hoss to digest this information, and then, try as he might, he could not contain his laughter.

“Ya mean she wants ya ta be a potato, or an apple?”

“Yeah, that’s just what I mean, and I ain’t doing it,” said Joe, firmly.

Hoss was still chuckling, when they returned to the house, and the story was recounted, first to Adam and then to Ben, when he got home.

“If that’s what your teacher wants you to do, then that’s what you will be doing,” was Adam’s response, although he did, privately, think it was a rather strange plan.

“Well, I admit that the idea is an unusual one,” said Ben. “But if it is what your teacher wants you to do, then I’m afraid you don’t have any choice, son.”

“Yes, I do,” replied Joe. “I just won’t go to school on the day of the festival.”

“Oh yes, you will, young man,” said Ben. “You are not missing school, just because you don’t want to do something. All the other children will be dressing up, too, so you won’t be the only one.”

“I’m not going, and you can’t make me,” shouted Joe, and he ran up the stairs, again.

Ben made no immediate attempt to go after him and so Adam said, “I hope you are not going to let him get away with that? If I had spoken to you in that way, you would have hauled me out to the barn and tanned my hide.”

“No, I am not going to let your brother get away with it, but I am going to give him a few minutes to calm down and think about what he’s just said. Once he’s calmer, I think he will realise that he has no choice, but to do as Miss Jones wants him to. And he will also begin to regret raising his voice to me.”

“He’d be regretting that, a lot sooner, if you gave him the hiding he deserves,” said Adam. “When Hoss and I got back from work, he was already throwing his weight around, and having a tantrum. You let him get away with far too much, Pa.”

“Aww, Adam, ya know Joe, speaks afore he thinks,” said Hoss, ever anxious to maintain peace between the brothers. “He’ll already be feelin’ bad ‘bout what he said.”

Although Adam wasn’t shouting, Joe could hear what his brother was saying and knew that he was going to be in for an uncomfortable time, once his father did react to his behaviour. Joe was already regretting what he’d said, as he knew that Ben could very easily make him go to school.

It was at this point that Joe decided to leave the house and go for a ride.

‘Maybe by the time I get back, everyone will have calmed down, a bit,’ he thought.

So, he headed down the back stairs, collected Cochise and was soon on his way.

Joe finished unsaddling his horse, talking to him, as he did so.

“Sorry you’re not in your nice, warm stall, Cooch, but I just feel it’s for the best I don’t go back home, tonight. If it’s any consolation to you, at least you had your supper before we left; I didn’t.”

As he was talking to his horse, Joe didn’t hear someone coming up behind him, and so was rather surprised to suddenly feel a large coat being wrapped around his slender frame.

He turned, to find his father standing there.

“I went up to your room, to fetch you for supper, and found you gone,” said Ben. “Somehow I guessed you might be up here, close to your mother’s grave.”

“I guess I am rather predictable,” said Joe. “And I guess when you went up to my room you weren’t only going to fetch me for supper, were you?”

“No, Joseph, I wasn’t. I was going to reprimand you over the way you spoke to me, and to make you see that sometimes we have to do things that we don’t want to do. It’s called respecting your elders, and building character.”

“And me running off ain’t made you change your mind on those things, has it, Pa?”

“No, son, it hasn’t.”

It was really too cold to be spending the night under the stars, and so Joe was, in some ways, glad his father had come looking for him. And by the time father and son headed for home, at least one part of Joe’s anatomy was feeling a lot warmer!

Little Joe was a carrot in the school’s Harvest festival, but it wasn’t as bad as he feared. As Ben had said, everyone was dressed up, so none of his friends teased him, as they all looked as silly as each other.

For several weeks afterwards, Joe found a carrot in his lunch pail, put there by his brothers, but he didn’t make a fuss, as Cochise enjoyed the treat and even Joe, eventually, could see the funny side of the situation.

 

THE END

Little Joe forever

Lynne

October 4th 2010

 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Author: ljlover2001

I am 56 years old and live in the UK. I have been a fan of the show since first seeing it at the age of 6.I joined my first Bonanza group, online, in 2000 and wrote my first story the same year.I have three children, two girls called Erin and Amy and a boy called Joe (can you guess which Cartwright is my favourite?) I also have two gorgeous grandsons called Wilson and Devon.I have attended two of the conventions in Tahoe, plus many Bonanza gatherings here in the UK and have made many good friends through my love of the show.I also love joining in the brand's chats, but they are usually too late for me - boo hoo! Little Joe forever Lynne

4 thoughts on “Harvest Festival (by ljlover2001)

  1. Thanks for the review. Well, big brothers are supposed to tease you, aren’t they?
    Poor Joe, though. Having to dress up as a carrot. I think Miss Jones sometimes got some rather fanciful ideas
    Little Joe forever
    Lynne

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