The Blessing of Tears
Adam Cartwright sat on his horse and surveyed the day's success. His thoughts strayed from his work to the upcoming cattle drive to Sacramento. Pa would tell them who would accompany him tonight after dinner.
Adam sighed. "Sometimes," he thought, "I wish I could read Pa's mind." He reached out and brushed a fly off the bill of his hat. "Who went last year?" he tried to remember.
When he couldn't remember, he wondered about who he would like to go with. "Hoss is always fun." Adam thought with a smile. "There is Joe. Two handfuls and brimming with energy. He could make the trip go by faster or much slower, depending on his mood." He shook his head. "Then there's Jeni. I know she could pull more than her weight, but the trip would be miserable. Jeni seems to harbor hatred towards me and takes every opportunity to display it." He continued thinking, hoping he was chosen to go to Sacramento.
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a loud, "Adam!"
Hoss' presence, and loud proclamation of his name, brought Adam back from thoughts of Sacramento, women, and women in Sacramento.
"What?" Adam called back to his brother.
"Time to get on home, brother." Hoss replied.
Adam rode up to join his brother and they began riding back to the house. The silent ride lasted about a minute, typical of the talkative middle brother.
"You looked miles away back there." Hoss said.
"I was thinking about the cattle drive." Adam admitted.
Hoss nodded. "I thought so. We all are. 'Specially Joe and Jeni."
Adam glanced over at Hoss. "Why 'specially' the twins?" he questioned.
"Cause they've never gone before and since they've turned 16 now they were hoping to get to go." Hoss explained.
As Hoss spoke, he turned in his saddle in response to the sound of galloping hooves.
"Hiya, fellas!" Joe yelled as he pulled up on the reins of his horse to slow him from the run it had taken to catch him up with his brothers.
"I was wondering how long civilized talk would last." Adam said, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner.
Joe grinned and ignored the sarcasm. "So, who do you think is goin' on the drive this year?" He asked. Before anyone had time to respond, another rider joined the group. This rider, unlike the previous three, was female. She was tall, lean, and, despite her auburn hair, looked like a girl version of Little Joe.
"Hey boys!" Jeni greeted as she approached her brothers.
"Howdy, little sister." Hoss smiled.
"Hola, evil twin, who is younger than me." Joe smirked.
"Buenos noches to you too, lunkhead who was born only minutes before me." Jeni replied, laughing.
"I don't get a hello?" Adam asked, feigning hurt.
"Bonjour" Jeni replied with a biting tone.
"Well, well, well, aren't we just so refined?" Adam teased, hoping she wasn't mad.
Jeni sniffed. "Well someone around here has to be."
"And we all know it must be the pants wearing, bronc-breaking, hole-digging, barn-building, fence-mending, overall disgrace to the female gender." Joe remarked smartly.
Jeni snorted under her breath. "Obviously…"
As the siblings laughed at each others' expense, they neared the house.
"All this teasing stuff is making me even hungrier." Hoss mock whined.
"Aw, Hoss." Jeni interjected. "You're just looking for an excuse to start dinner early."
"I think we are all looking for an excuse to start and end dinner early." Adam said knowingly.
They all came to a stop in front of the main barn by the house to put their horses in for the night and headed purposefully toward the house.
Hoss led the way through the door with enthusiasm. "Hop Sing!" he shouted. "I'm so hungry I could eat a room full of bears!"
"In that case, feed the rest of us first." Jeni joked then laughed at Hoss' stricken face.
"Well, Hop Sing, it seems as if you have outdone yourself once again." Adam complimented as he surveyed the evening's feast before them.
Hop Sing smiled a small smile then rattled of something in Cantonese.
"You are my hero, Hop Sing!" Hoss declared. "Even if you do speak gibberish."
"Yeah, you're great!" Joe said then hastily added. "Now let's eat. I'm starved!" Just as the words left his mouth, Joe's stomach growled loudly.
"Wow, Joe." Adam spoke sarcastically. "How long did you practice to perfect that trick?" Joe grinned and with that, dinner began.
After dinner, the Cartwright family gathered in the living room; Adam, reading Shakespeare, and Jeni, reading Dickens, sat in armchairs while Joe and Hoss played a heated game of checkers on the coffee table. Ben glanced up from the paper he was reading. All his children were staying at him. When he looked up, they all quickly went back to their tasks. Ben silently stifled a laugh. They all wanted to know who was going on the trip. He decided to have a little fun.
"Jeni?" He spoke into the silence.
Jeni looked up from her book. "Sir?"
"Joe?" Ben spoke again.
"Yes?" Joe acknowledged.
"Don't you two think it's about time you went on to bed?"
Jeni's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. She quickly recovered and responded sadly. "I guess so, Pa." She wore an expression that said all hope was gone and the world was ending, right then.
Ben could not contain his mirth any longer and burst into laughter. Jeni looked bewildered and hurt, and then it registered. "Pa!" she exclaimed. "That… that was… corrupt, evil, malicious, unchristian…" she blurted out, flustered.
The boys whooped with laughter and, secretly, relief. They thought their father had forgotten, just as Jeni had thought.
"Oh Jeni." Ben continued laughing, "I wish you could have seen the look on your face!"
"Well, I am so glad you've all had yet another laugh at my expense. It's always a pleasure." Jeni replied with mock seriousness.
Ben smiled. "Okay, all teasing aside, I'll tell you all my decision." They all looked at him eagerly, books closed and the checker game neglected. "As I thought about who should join me on the trip to Sacramento, I considered all of you thinking about who deserved it the most. I thought about the long hard winter we had and all the work we all put into surviving that terrible blizzard." Everyone nodded at the memories.
"Then it occurred to me," Ben continued, "You all deserve it equally. We haven't ever all gone on a drive together."
"YAAHOO!" Jeni shouted, jumping up and, to Joe's dismay and Hoss' relief, knocking over the checker board. "I mean…uh… continue." Jeni said, embarrassed but still smiling.
"Are you serious, Pa?" Joe asked.
At Ben's nod, Hoss grinned. "Well, you guys get to look forward to my legendary mesquite beans."
Adam laughed. "Oh yes, my favorite part." He made a face that betrayed his statement.
At that, they all began talking and planning with excitement about the upcoming trip.
Ben grinned as he listened to the chatter. "I wonder how long the enthusiasm will last." He thought knowingly.