This is the first of a four-story series called, A Circle of Family – The Book of Joseph. This story along with the Books of Benjamin, Hoss, and Adam, have Elizabeth's Bible as their uniting factor – following the precious book from its near destruction in the first of the series to its return to Adam while he's away at college in the last. The stories are a prequel to canon with the boys at ages 17, 11 and 5, and takes place just before Adam leaves for school and ends in his sophomore year when he finally receives his mother's Bible back again. Each story is complete, and can be read alone or as part of the series.

As a teaser:

The Book of Joseph – Deals with Adam's loss of something he holds dear to him at the hands of his youngest brother.

The Book of Ben – While Ben looks over Adam's newly restored Bible, he finds a passage that brings back a fun family memory from a time shortly after he'd come back from New Orleans with Marie.

The Book of Hoss – A day of managing the household on his own leaves Hoss tired and cranky. He begins to realize how much Adam had done for the family and decides doesn't like it that his brother is gone. His anger spills over in a letter that he later realizes will hurt Adam deeply.

The Book of Adam – The young college student is adjusting to his life away from his family when he receives his Bible along with letters from his family. The note from Hoss leaves him reeling and considering what he has to do next.

The Book of Joseph

Hoss found his little brother still hiding inside the trunk of a hollowed out pine that had toppled some years earlier during a snowstorm. He'd discovered him there earlier and was now was back now to relay a demand from their father. "Come on in Little Joe. Pa says you gotta come to supper."

"I ain't goin' near the house until Adam leaves for col…for col…for school, Hoss."

"Aw, come on, Joe. You can't disobey Pa, and he won't let Adam do nothin' to ya. B'sides, Adam don't leave for college for another four days, so you can't hide out here that long."

"I think I have to, Hoss. He's gonna kill me. Ain't no doubt 'bout that."

Hoss knew that Adam had been lethally mad, but he also knew that the anger had cooled a bit after Hop Sing had offered to help. He couldn't blame his older brother though. Little Joe always had a fascination for the illustrations in Adam's Bible: the one that had been Elizabeth's. It was one of the few tokens Adam had of his mother, and now it seemed ruined.

Hoss had been a witness to Adam finding the precious treasure on a bench by the barn early that morning after a search of the house had failed to produce the missing book. The middle brother had no doubt about who had taken it out there the day before, probably hoping to look at the beautiful drawings of Moses floating in a basket among the reeds and Baby Jesus sitting on Mary's lap, one last time before Adam packed it for school. But Hoss also knew how easily his five-year-old brother could be distracted: this time forgetting the precious book was outside as he went on to other diversions. It still might not have been such an awful lapse except there'd been a light rain during the night that had soaked the leather cover and caused the fragile pages to stick together at the edges.

Joe's eyes were flooding as he peered out of his lair and tried to explain his transgression to Hoss. "I didn't mean to forget it outside, Hoss. I really didn't." The tears began to roll as he sobbed, "I'm so sorry!"

"Maybe you should be sayin' that to Adam, 'stead of me, Joe. It weren't my Bible."

The tears continued. "I can't face him, Hoss. He was so…"

"Mad? He has a right to be mad. But you've seen Adam mad before, and he'll get over it like he always does."

"Not mad, Hoss," the little boy said in a whisper. "He looked…so sad." Joe wore an anguished expression as he tried to explain. "I didn't so much mind him yellin', but I ain't hardly ever seen Adam cry. It was awful, Hoss. I can't never make up for that."

Hoss shivered as he remembered walking with Adam while he held the ruined Bible in his open palms like a bird with a broken wing. As they'd neared the house, Adam had yelled for Little Joe to show himself and explain. Their pa had exited the house at hearing the commotion, and on seeing what his oldest son was holding, had joined in the demand for Joe's presence. Hoss had cringed at the tone of his father's voice, and knew what his little brother was going to face for bypassing household rules. In this case, Joe knew he couldn't take anything that belonged to someone else without asking first, but Hoss suspected that since Adam wasn't around to ask at the moment Joe wanted to see the book, he took it anyway, figuring he'd use it and return it with no one being the wiser.

The trio of older Cartwrights had gone inside the house then, and while they'd waited for Joseph Francis to show himself, Hoss had noticed a shadow of movement, and had seen Joe slip deeper behind the protection of the blanket that hung over the rail at the top of the stairs. The middle son was torn between his loyalty to his father and older brother, and his protectiveness toward the youngest of them, and had made the decision not to expose Joe's hiding place. Hoss knew that Little Joe would face strong discipline at some point, but he'd thought maybe it would be best if the anger in the room settled a bit before that happened.

With that decision made, Hoss had looked back toward his older brother, and watched in absolute misery as Adam—struggling to hide his sorrow—had turned away and doubled over in silent tears over his loss. It had shaken him to his bones when his brother had drawn a ragged breath and released it in a quiet keening moan. Hoss had seen Adam's tears at Marie's grave, but he'd assumed that with as controlled as his older brother seemed, any other crying was done privately, if at all.

Hoss had only speculated at what was actually tearing his brother's heart apart at that moment, but he'd figured it was a whole lot more than just a wet Bible. Neither Adam nor he had known their mothers, and the few remembrances they had left of them meant so much. Yet Hoss knew that there were times when no earthly thing could fill the hollow feeling that took over his mind and heart when he thought about Inger. He figured that maybe Adam felt a little like he had lost his mother all over again when he found the ruined book.

It had been a huge relief for Hoss when Pa had moved to comfort his grieving brother, holding Adam's shoulders as he spoke too quietly for Hoss to hear. Then the two had gone into the kitchen to speak with Hop Sing.

When Hoss had looked to the steps again, his little brother had gone, and he hadn't been sure whether Joe had seen Adam's grief. Now he knew that he had, and he felt great sorrow for both of his brothers, fearing this wound between them might never heal.

Pa had eventually found Little Joe and talked to him with both words and his hand, but then the child had disappeared until Hoss spotted him inside the tree trunk. Hoss was still thinking about the day's events as a shadow fell across both younger boys.

"It's time for supper and Pa wants you both inside…now."

Adam gave Hoss a gentle push toward the house, saying he'd bring Little Joe inside in a minute. When they were alone he asked, "Why are you hiding out here, Joe?" He reached to lift the little boy's chin, inspecting the tear-stained, dirty face. "Looks like maybe we need to stop and wash up quick before heading inside."

"I'm not goin' in," Little Joe steeled himself and pulled back from Adam's hand.

"It's over, Joe. I'm not mad anymore. I just want us to have a nice supper tonight. We don't have many left before I leave, you know."

Little Joe tried to make amends. "I'm sorry Adam. I didn't know the Bible was irsurapable."

Adam's brows knit together as he tried to make sense of what Little Joe meant. "Oh," he chuckled. "You must have heard me say it was irreplaceable. Do you know what that means?"

"I asked Hoss. He said it means it can't be replaced. But Cass's store has lots of Bibles, Adam, so that ain't even true. You could replace it for maybe ten cents."

Adam sat on the solid edge of the tree stump and pulled the child onto his lap. "Irreplaceable means that there isn't anything else like it, Joe. There are lots of other Bibles, but none of them belonged to my mother. That's what makes it irreplaceable for me. Do you understand?"

Joe's head nodded up and down. "I'm sorry Adam. I forgot I had it outside, and I shouldn't 'a taken it without asking." Wiggling around to see Adam's face, Joe reached up to touch his cheeks with his small, dirty hands and looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry you were so sad, and I'm sorry your Bible got broken."

A smile played at the corner of Adam's lips. "It's okay, Joe. Hop Sing has a cousin who knows a lot about paper and he thinks he can fix it."

The young boy's body relaxed as he leaned back against his brother, and they sat together in silence.

"Adam, Joe; time for supper…" Ben stood at the door calling to his sons. He could just barely see the two sitting together in the gathering dusk, and stepped back into the house, unwilling to interrupt whatever moment was occurring between them.

"Sounds like Pa wants us in." But Adam made no move to rise and Joe stayed put. "You know Joe, there's something else that's irreplaceable."

"What?"

"You."

"Nah." The little boy said incredulously as he turned to see his brother's face. "I'm not irsurapable. I'm a kid."

Adam shook his head while rolling his eyes. "Okay, maybe you're not, but I know something you are."

"What?"

"Ticklish!" Adam found Little Joe's most vulnerable spot just below his left armpit and began to tickle him until Joe was giggling so hard he could barely breathe. Adam knew he wasn't tickling his little brother enough to account for the hysterics, but then he realized that he was giggling just as hard as Joe. It felt so good to release the tensions of the day and offer forgiveness that Adam just held onto his brother as they continued laughing together. Joe finally squirmed away and ran toward the house, hollering back for Adam to "catch him" if he wasn't too old and slow to do it. Watching him go, Adam sighed. "Brothers! What will I ever do without them?" A lopsided gin created a dimple on his left cheek as he thought about his upcoming trip to Boston. "But then again, I'm sure looking forward to finding out!"

The End