Joe ran up the walk to Mrs. Wilson's house and knocked on the door. He waited, listening for her shuffle to the door but didn't hear anything. I guess she's sleeping late, he thought. He put the basket with Hop Sing's chicken pie at the door and decided to come back later to visit his elderly friend. He ran back down the walk, and mounted Mickey, his pony, and rode on to school.
He got there just as Miss Abigail Jones called the class to order. The morning seemed to drag, but at last it was time for the dinner break. Joe picked up his lunch pail and went to Miss Jones' desk.
"Miss Jones, may I leave the school to go see Mrs. Wilson? Hop Sing baked her a pie and I dropped it off this morning. She didn't answer my knock, and I want to be sure she got it." Joe asked.
Abigail Jones smiled at him. She had visited Mrs. Wilson herself, and knew that Joe had cleaned up her yard and asked his brother, Adam, to repair her back steps. From that time on, the Cartwright brothers had adopted the lonely old lady unofficially, and kept her home in good repair and her yard clean. "All right, Joseph, but go directly to her house and then come back here - don't stop anywhere else," she said.
Joe climbed on Mickey and rode to Mrs. Wilson's. After tying Mickey to her fence, he walked up to the front door. The basket with the pie was still there. Joe knocked again and there was no answer. He tried the door but it was locked. Joe ran around to the back of her house and climbed the steps to knock on her back door. Once again there was no answer. "Mrs. Wilson! Mrs Wilson, are you in there?" he called.
There was no answer. Joe thought for a moment. He was too short to look in the windows on the side of her house. He untied Mickey from the fence and led the pony up to the window. Climbing into the saddle, Joe pressed his face against the window and saw Mrs. Wilson lying on the floor. "Mrs. Wilson! Can you hear me? It's Joe, Joe Cartwright."
The old woman didn't move. Joe didn't waste another second. He walked Mickey out of the yard, and kicked him into a gallop to the sheriff's office. Sheriff Roy Coffee and his deputy, Clem, were eating dinner when Joe barged in. "Sheriff, you got to come with me now! There's something wrong with Mrs. Wilson, and her house is all locked up!" he shouted.
Roy stood up and grabbed his hat. "Clem, go get Dr. Martin and tell him to come to Mrs. Wilson's. Joe, I'll go check on her and you go back to school." Roy left his office and hurried towards Mrs. Wilson's house. Clem went in the opposite direction for the doctor, and Joe stood there. Miss Jones and Sheriff Coffee had both told him to return to school, but he just couldn't go without knowing how his old friend was doing. He climbed back on Mickey and rode to Mrs. Wilson's.
By the time he got there Sheriff Coffee had kicked her front door in. Joe tied Mickey to the fence again and ran inside to find the Sheriff kneeling beside her. His hat was off and his head was bowed. Joe watched him as he held her wrist, then checked her eyes, and touched her forehead. He shook his head and looked up to see the boy staring at him.
"Is she all right, sir?" Joe asked.
"I thought I told you to go back to school," Roy said. Emotion made his voice harsh, but Joe didn't notice. He came closer and looked down at her.
"Mrs. Wilson, I brought you a pie from Hop Sing." He knelt beside her and took her hand in his. It was cold and heavy, and he realized that she was dead. He held her hand and began to cry.
There was a noise behind them, and Clem and Dr. Martin came into the room. Sheriff Coffee looked up at Clem. "Take Joe out of here, Clem."
Clem reached down and put his hand on Joe's shoulder. "Come on, son, there's nothing we can do here. Let's get out of Dr. Martin's way." Joe didn't seem to hear him, so Clem knelt beside him and took Mrs. Wilson's hand from Joe's. He picked Joe up as if he were a small child and carried him outside. Joe wrapped his arms around Clem's neck and cried. Clem sat down on the edge of the porch with him and rubbed his back. In a few minutes Roy Coffee and Paul Martin came out and joined them.
Roy rubbed his face with his handkerchief and blew his nose. "Reckon I ought to get the undertaker here and go see Brother Dave about the funeral." He looked over at Joe. "He's taking it pretty hard, isn't he?"
Clem felt protective of the boy. "It's natural, isn't it, Sheriff? I mean, he and Hoss and Adam kind of took Mrs. Wilson under their wing."
"Yeah, I guess they did." He looked at Joe agian. "Why don't you take him home, Clem? I'll go down and let Miss Abigail know he's not coming back to school today and why so he won't be in trouble. Then I'll go see Brother Dave." He sighed and stood up, and Dr. Martin stood up with him. The men walked away, and Clem shifted Joe out of his lap, and stood. "Come on, boy. Let's get you home."