Trip to the Barn

"I think we better take a trip out to the barn." Jonathan said with his hands on his son's shoulders.

Andrew Garvey had admitted to cheating on multiple tests at school, with the help of Nellie Oleson of course. Andy had always been a good kid, but his parents knew that someday he would get into trouble. They just hoped that this would be the worst of it, even though they knew they were probably wrong about that. Andy nodded his head in agreement with his father's request.

Jonathan and Andy began walking to the front door of the home, when Alice stopped them. "Do you have to?"

"It's okay, ma. It'll make me feel better." Andy said to his ma with a smile on his face.

Alice smiled back at her husband and son as they walked out the door.

Jonathan led the way through the darkness of the night to the barn. He opened the wooden doors, slightly startling the horses. Andy walked next to the stalls and watched his father carefully. He felt a bit uneasy about the whole situation. Jonathan stood in front of his son, towering over the young boy with his height.

"Andrew...I'm not going to discipline you."

Andy became confused. "Why, pa? I thought you were goin' to punish me for cheating."

Jonathan shook his head. "I think you put too much pressure on yourself. I feel that punishing you like this wouldn't teach you anything."

"But pa?"

"Andrew." Jonathan set his hands back on his son's shoulders. "You're still growing up. Now I don't want to believe it, but you're going to make more mistakes in the future. And I don't feel you should be punished for this, especially since you spoke up about it."

"But pa, I want to make things right..."

Jonathan smiled. What did he do to deserve a son like this? "How 'bout you just put all your efforts into your school work from here on out?"

Andy nodded again in agreement...and relief.

Two Years Later

Andrew was finishing another essay for school on the kitchen table. Graduation was only a few weeks away. The young man had kept his grades high enough to finish school early. Ever since his mother passed away, Andy put much more focus on his schoolwork. Especially since his new school in Sleepy Eye was larger and had a more advanced curriculum than the school back in Walnut Grove.

"Andy, you up there?" The young man heard his pa calling for him from the other room.

"Yea, just finishing up some homework."

Jonathan came upstairs and saw his son working away.

"You've been writing that essay for three days now." Jonathan commented, looking over his son's shoulders.

"It's worth a big portion of my final grade. Plus, I have to show the teacher that I'm not like those other students who copy other people's work and submit it as their own." Andrew suddenly started grinning and shook his head.

"What is it?" Jonathan asked out of curiosity.

Andrew turned to his father. "You never did punish me for cheating on those tests awhile back."

Jonathan smiled, remembering that night well. "I could always punish you for it now."

Andrew stood up to put his homework away, when his father hit him on his lower back with his trusty wooden clipboard.

"Oww! What was that for?"

"If I ever catch you sneaking out to go drinking again, you might get hit harder."

Andrew smirked. "Okay, pa."