I basically took this plot from the Disney movie, "Freaky Friday" in case
anybody notices the similarities. But as I'm not making any money offa this, does it
really matter? Also, I of course didn't create these characters and don't own
them. Special thanks to Kelli, since it was her idea.
Be Careful What You Wish For
By Wendy
"Little Joe, it's time you stopped this foolishness. You're nearly a man now and it's
time you starting acting like one!"
Little Joe glared up into his older brother's face and raised his chin stubbornly.
The sun hadn't even risen yet and here he was getting yet another lecture from Adam. So
what if he'd just arrived home moments before and Adam had caught him sneaking in the back?
It was none of Adam's business anyway.
"You stay out of this, Adam. You aren't Pa, however much you might think you are!
Besides, you come home this late all the time."
"That's different." Adam's expression was cold, which meant he thought he was right
and nothing short of a miracle was going to make him change his mind. "I'm older then you are
and more responsible. If I had come home at this hour at your age, Pa would have given me
a whipping. He lets you get away with too much."
"Oh, is that right?" Joe asked softly and took a step closer to Adam. He clenched
his hands into fists. He wasn't mad enough to hit Adam yet, but he was close. Adam was
always so sure he was right. "And I bet, you being so perfect and all, you never stayed
out too late!"
"I was here, working, doing a man's hard work. Something you're never going to
learn." Adam's arms were crossed and he was staring down at Joe with a superior expression.
"What were you doing in town? Sneaking drinks and kisses from saloon girls?"
"That's not fair, Adam!" Joe shouted, a little hurt that Adam could dismiss him that
easily.
"No one said life is fair, Joe," Adam said so smoothly Joe wanted to knock the
smirk from his face. "If life were fair, you'd take on some adult responsibilities so I
could have it easy like you."
Easy? Adam thought he had it easy? Joe let out a short, humorless laugh.
"I wish you could see what my life is really like, Adam. Just be me for a day,
sunup to sundown, for one day!" he declared challengingly. Adam stared down at him
condescendingly.
"Same here," he answered confidently and from somewhere outside there was the
sound of a rooster crowing to welcome the sun.
Joe closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness passed over him. He put a hand to
his head to try and calm himself and took a deep breath. It must be a lack of sleep from
staying out so late. Not that he'd let Adam see how tired he was. He straightened up at
the thought and opened his eyes. Then his mouth dropped open.
He was staring back at himself.
He looks just as bewildered as I feel, he thought confusedly and blinked several
times to clear his vision. It didn't work. He was still staring over at someone who looked
a lot like him. Actually, he frowned, he was staring down at someone who looked like him. He
felt higher up. Taller.
Still slightly dizzy, he reached out a hand, his right hand he noticed, to gently poke
the other fellow in the shoulder.
"Dammit, Joe," the other man said irritably, in his voice.
"Adam?" Joe asked in a deeper, melodic tone that rumbled through his chest. His chest?
Joe looked down in confusion and saw a large man's body, dressed all in black, like Adam wore.
Suddenly it all became clear. He gulped. "Adam?" he asked again in his strange new voice. Older
brother could explain it all. He had to.
"Joe?" the other him, Adam, was asking as he looked himself over in amazement. "What
happened?"
"I think my wish came true," Joe said slowly and Adam's -his- green eyes flashed angrily.
"Then take it back!" he demanded. "I can't walk around like this."
"And why not?" Joe asked in a loud, dramatic way, and paused to admire how impressive
his new voice sounded. He'd bet he could shout clear across the Washoe with this voice. Then
he returned his attention to Adam and tried to glare down at him sternly. He could get used to
this.
The sound of Pa and Hoss getting up and going about their morning routines could
clearly be heard from upstairs. Adam looked slightly panicked.
"Take it back, Joe," he demanded again, but more softly. Joe smiled.
"No, I think it's a good idea, Adam, and obviously somebody else did too. Divine
intervention." he trailed off and laughed at the look on his brother's face. It was fun to
be the older brother. "Besides, you are one good looking fellow now," he added with a grin
and Adam raised his left fist threateningly.
"What are you two doin' down here already? Y'all as hungry as I am?" Hoss asked as he
walked down the stairs, still stamping his feet into his boots. Standing next to Hoss made him
feel like less of a giant, but he still felt tall. He felt his mouth curving into a smirk.
"They're eager for a day's work," Pa joked as he came down too. "And Joseph already
dressed?" he seemed amazed. It took Adam a long moment to respond and when he did it was
through clenched teeth.
"Yes, Pa," he said, and fingered the jacket that Joe had worn all night.
"Seems a shame. You seem so eager to work, and I was just going to send you into town
today with Hoss, while Adam and I work out in the fields."
Joe suddenly didn't feel like laughing very much. Adam grinned wickedly.
"Well, that's fine too, Pa."
"Wait just a minute," Joe tried to break in but Pa just laughed.
"Adam I know you think I should give Little Joe more work, but he's only a child. He
can make some deliveries in town and then go have some fun before he comes back here."
Joe bristled at being called a child, but he couldn't say anything in his defense,
especially now. So he let Hoss lead him towards the table. He didn't get a chance to speak
alone with Adam again before Pa dragged him outside and started discussing this year's
expected hay crop in excruciating detail.
~~~~~~
Joe was willing to bet that it wasn't hotter anywhere else in the world that it was
on the Ponderosa right now. He felt like the sun was shining down on him and him alone. He
considered stopping to rest a minute before picking up his heavy ax once again and taking another
swing at the thick log in front of him. This was the fourth log he'd had to split and it wasn't
even noon yet. They were repairing fences with the help of some hands and Pa had decided that
new fence posts were needed. Which meant new logs had to be cut and then spilt into those posts.
He grunted and swung the ax down as hard he could, splitting the wood clean in half.
He shared a grin of success with the hand closest to him and laid down the ax. Because the
men didn't pause to wipe the sweat off their brows, he didn't either, though it was a hot day and
his black clothing wasn't cooling him off any. He just took off his hat briefly and admired what
their hard work so far this morning had accomplished. They were finishing this section in record time.
If he kept this up, he might be able to go into town later anyway. He wanted to have some fun with
his current situation.
He wanted to go into the Bucket of Blood and have a few drinks, as well as play some poker
without getting harassed. And he definitely had some ideas about Adam's wardrobe. Older brother
didn't seem to be aware there were other colors in the world besides black. He was going to have
to find something in green in Adam's size.
Pa came riding up from the east, where he'd been checking the part of the fence further
down, and distracted Joe from his plans. Pa left Buck next to Sport - Joe grimaced thinking of Adam
on his beloved Cochise - and walked over to him slowly, nodding to the men as he did. Joe waited
anxiously for his Pa's opinion of their work.
Pa took his time looking over the new posts before finally smiling.
"Looks like a good job all around," he announced and Joe felt his chest swell proudly.
"Well, it isn't done yet, Pa," he said modestly and earned another nod of approval.
"I knew you could do it, Adam. That's why I left you in charge." Pa's next words brought him
down a bit, and he sighed.
"I think any one of us could have gotten this done, Pa."
"But not so quickly," Pa disagreed, but looked at him seriously. "But your words have reminded
me of something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, Adam. It's about Joe."
Joe tried to look cool like Adam would and raised one eyebrow.
"I've been thinking of putting Joe in charge of a small project this summer. Just
something to get his feet wet. Do you think he could handle it? I value your opinion, Adam."
"Sure I could, uh, he could, Pa. He's been waiting for this chance forever."
Pa's eyebrows rose in surprise. Two hands nearby stopped in their tracks to stare at him.
They all seemed shocked. Little Joe remembered, too late, that Adam would hardly have been so
eager to see Joe in charge. Older brother didn't think he was responsible enough to handle much more
than mucking out the stables.
"Really? You don't have any reservations about putting Little Joe in charge?" Pa apparently
felt he had to restate his question.
"Well, I have a few reservations, who wouldn't? But it's about the time the kid started
taking on some responsibility," he answered reasonably, trying to sound like Adam at his
most annoying and Pa nodded.
"I thought so. Well, what are they?"
"Just don't overwhelm him. Let him work his way to bigger projects. He's eager to
learn, Pa." He was a little surprised to see his father's eyes get slightly misty.
"Sometimes you boys fight so much I forget how much you love him, Adam. To hear you talk
now, I couldn't help remembering how patient you were when you were helping Little Joe learn to
read when he was a child. You said the same thing then."
Joe was surprised to feel his eyes get a little misty as well. He cleared his throat.
"Well, let's get back to work," he said loudly and picked up his ax again. Pa cleared
his throat roughly.
"I'll consider what you've said, Adam." Pa turned around and remounted Buck. "Adam, I
hate to ask this of you, but a problem has come up and with Hoss and Joe in town."
"What, Pa?" Joe asked, knowing before Pa even asked for anything that he was going to do
it.
"Some head got loose and wondered into the hills. If you and some men could go round them
up when you're done here."
Joe almost groaned out loud. That would take hours and he wouldn't be able to start that
until this was done. Which meant he probably wouldn't get any lunch if he wanted to finish
before dark. But there was no one else to do it.
"I'll take care of it, Pa," he accepted the new job with a determined nod. Pa reached
down from on top Buck to slap his back.
"I knew I could rely on you, Adam," he praised him and headed off. Somehow Pa's words,
while making him feel proud, also felt like a tremendous weight on his shoulders. Joe
sighed and once again felt the sun beating down on his back. Then his stomach rumbled
hungrily. He pictured Adam and Hoss having fun and drinking cool glasses of beer in town and
his grip tightened on the ax.
He cut the next log in half with one swing.
~~~~~
Adam leaned indolently against the counter while Hoss dealt with getting the payment
for the small load of timber they'd just delivered to one of Virginia's City's carpenters. He was
only giving half of his attention to the transaction. Mostly he was contemplating the current
mess he was in as result of Joe's foolish behavior. He still wasn't sure he wasn't dreaming.
A figure from the conversation around him suddenly caught his attention though and he perked up.
"That's not right," he said quietly, cutting into their talk. Hoss looked at him curiously
but the carpenter glared at him.
"I didn't know you were involved in this discussion, Little Joe," the man said snidely. Adam
scowled fiercely at the man but it had little effect. He forgot he had his little brother's baby
face. He turned to Hoss.
"The figures are wrong. He's cheating us."
"Now Hoss, you ain't gonna believe that young'un, are you?" the man asked with a worried
look.
Hoss' smile turned instantly into a frown. He grabbed the smaller man by the collar and yanked
him off his feet.
"You didn't think to mess with them figures just cuz I ain't no good with numbers, didya
now?" he asked in a low voice and the man shook his head quickly.
"I may have added wrong," he admitted with a nervous laugh and Hoss set him down.
"That's better." He nodded and looked at Adam curiously. "Thanks for your help, Joe."
"Yes thanks, Little Joe." The carpenter stared at him with hatred and Adam tipped his hat.
"Why don't you go out and play with your little friends now?" he asked and Adam had to fight the
urge to teach the crook a lesson. He decided he would go outside, but only to calm down.
He stepped outside to wait and stared at Cochise, who was tied to a hitching post near
the buckboard. That horse knew. He didn't know how, but it had definitely known something wasn't
right with its rider. It had acted strangely. But then, so had he. He wasn't sure he could handle
this for much longer.
He needed a drink.
On that thought, he headed for the Bucket of Blood. Hoss caught up with him and slapped him
on the back outside the doors.
"Where do you think you're going, Shortshanks?" he asked with amusement. Adam
wasn't in the mood for this nonsense. He rolled his eyes and walked on in. The he smoothly
approached the bar and asked for a shot of whiskey.
The bartender looked at him like he was crazy and then started to laugh.
"Well now, Little Joe, you know I'm not allowed to serve you drinks. Your brother
Adam would have my guts for garters if I even thought of it. Why don't you have a nice sarsaparilla
instead," he suggested and held out the bottle. Adam looked at it with distaste.
"I'll have a whiskey," he said again, and tried to stare down the annoying man. He just
laughed again. The drunk at a nearby table who had looked like he was asleep joined in.
"You're a little young for that, sonny. Why doncha just have some milk?" he asked with a grin
and several other customers smiled. Adam felt his cheeks go red.
"I tried to tell ya it wouldn't do no good for you to come in here, Joe," Hoss commented
and took a sip of his drink. "Why doncha go sit down or go outside. I'll be out shortly."
"Yeah, go on now, Little Joe." The bartender pitched in again. Adam stubbornly sat down
at a table to wait for Hoss to finish. He just wanted to go home and wait for this day to end.
The drunk suddenly let out a long, slow whistle and Adam turned to see why. An
ncredibly beautiful woman in a low-cut red dress was walking coolly into the room. He'd seen her
type before, but there was something about look in her eyes that caught his attention and made him
feel a sort of a way down shiver. He stared deep into her eyes as she approached and she stared back.
She walked slowly up to him and then looked him up and down.
"You're a cute kid," she said at last, in a nice clear voice the whole room could hear. "But I
think you're a little young to be looking at a woman like that. Why don't you come see me when you're
older?"
Adam blinked, suddenly remembering his situation when the room erupted into laughter. He felt
himself blush again and hated it. He raised his chin and stared at her.
"I think you're a little old for me anyway," he said coldly and she scowled, suddenly looking much
less attractive.
"Pete!" she yelled to the large man who kept order in the place and he came running. "Get this
kid out of here!" she jerked her head towards the door and before Adam could do anything, the man picked
him up by the seat of his pants and tossed him into the street. He could hear their laughter fading away
as he picked himself up and dusted himself off.
"Hey Joe!" someone with a young, high pitched voice called out and he remembered to look up
just as Mitch Devlin and several other boys he didn't recognize came running up. Oddly enough, they
didn't ask what had happened to him; they seemed to already know. "Wanna come with us? Walter here
got some whiskey from his brother and we're going over to drink it in his dad's barn."
Adam raised his eyebrows and looked disapprovingly into their young faces. Then he looked
back towards the saloon resentfully, from which laughter could still be heard. And he still wanted
a drink.
"Sure," he agreed and followed them to Walter's father's barn.
~~~~~
Joe got down off of Sport with a groan. He was bone-tired and the muscles in his arms were already
starting to stiffen up. He was going to be sore tomorrow. He grinned suddenly. Well, Adam would be sore
tomorrow. He should be fine. This cheered him up at bit and he started to rub down the horse with a happy
whistle, ignoring the suspicious looks Adam's horse had been giving him all day.
Once he finished, he gave the animal one last pat and walked slowly towards the house. He wanted
some food and then a bath and then several hours of rest, preferably in a horizontal position. He guessed
though that if he was lucky he might get the first two. From the way Pa had been hinting about paperwork
earlier, he thought he might have to suffer the last few hours until sunset behind a desk trying to make
sense of a bunch of numbers. He'd had to give up the idea of going to town after working to get a calf out
of a mud hole for hours and then encountering an angry skunk on the way back to the house. He just wanted
the day to end.
He walked in the front door and got a good whiff of the roast Hop Sing was preparing for supper.
It smelled wonderful. Like heaven with gravy. He took a step further into the house, anticipating his
first good meal today and stopped short at the sight of Pa sitting in his favorite chair, staring off
into space. He looked worried.
"Pa?" he asked curiously as he removed Adam's hat and hung it up. Pa looked up at him
distractedly.
Oh, hello, Adam," Pa responded and then frowned. "Get your work done?"
Joe nodded and tried to figure out what could be worrying his father so much.
"I knew you would." Pa smiled briefly. "You didn't see Little Joe on your way back, did you?"
Joe shook his head, deciding this was better than trying to explain the truth. Then he realized
what Pa was really saying.
"Joe's not back yet?" Joe asked, confusing himself for a moment. "What about Hoss?"
"Hoss came back talking about Joseph being angry at getting thrown out of a saloon and
wandering off. He couldn't find him after that and figured he came home. Only he's not here."
Joe would have grinned at the thought of Adam getting thrown out of a bar, but Pa was
staring at him with dark, worried eyes. He cleared his throat.
"I think Joe can take care of himself," he tried but Pa waved his hand.
"A father can't help worrying, especially about Joe. He's so hot-tempered." He stared off into
space, obviously concerned about his youngest son. Joe felt that weight on his shoulders again. He
put his hat back on.
"I'll go get him, Pa," he promised and took one last whiff of the roast he might not be getting for
some time.
"Thank you, son. Don't be too hard on him," Pa suddenly seemed more worried about this.
"He'll get what's coming to him," Joe answered back with a scowl. Adam better have a good
reason for keeping him from his well-deserved rest. He had better things to do than chase around town
after a brother who should know better. When he found the fool, they were going to have a little talk.
~~~~~
Adam should have known better. It was something he kept telling himself as he stood in front of Pa's
desk, listening to a lecture. He had a feeling it was going to go on for some time and he deserved every
word of it. They weren't many people who had acted with less sense than he had today. He didn't know what
had come over him.
One minute he'd been getting thrown out of the Bucket of Blood, the next minute he'd run off to
sneak a drink in a dirty barn like a dumb kid. And that was only the beginning; he winced at the memory.
".my son, fighting in the street!" Pa was roaring and Adam looked up briefly into his red face
before returning his gaze to his feet. It hadn't been much of a fight really. Joe had exaggerated when
he'd told the story to Pa. "Well?" Pa demanded and Adam looked up blankly.
"Pa wants to hear your version, Little Joe," Hoss told him quietly and Adam spoke quickly before Pa's
face got any redder.
"Well, I went off with Mi.some friends," he remembered the childhood rule not to name names
just in time, " and we just sat around talking, in a barn, until we got bored and left." They'd also been
sipping from a flask in the barn, but Adam decided to omit this detail. He was hoping they wouldn't notice
that he reeked of cheap whiskey. The skunk smell coming from Joe was pretty strong. "Then." he trailed off,
trying to think up a reasonable explanation for happened next. To be honest, he wasn't really sure what
had happened.
He hadn't consumed much whiskey, but it was strong and he'd forgotten that he had a much
smaller body at the moment. After several mouthfuls, he'd started to get dizzy and slightly sick. So
when Mitch, who'd looked equally ill, had suggested they leave and go for a walk, he'd been happy
to agree. So happy in fact, that he was pretty sure he'd started singing "Get along home Cindy, Cindy."
"Well, we got bored and walked around town for a while, until we met up with this girl."
"This girl?" Little Joe asked. Adam looked up and saw himself, standing next to Pa with
crossed arms and a superior expression. He glared at himself briefly out of his one good eye and then
nodded shakily.
"This girl, I forget her name. Cute little kid though, I think she liked me," he confessed this
with a smile for Joe that made him scowl. He obviously knew which girl he was talking about.
"Get to the point!" Pa yelled and he jumped.
"Well, she started talking to me and one of the guys with me said something rude to her. So I
had to defend her honor, Pa," he explained and watched a vein in his father's forehead start to throb. I
t had made sense at the time. And he'd won, except for his swollen eye where the other kid had
got in a good hit.
"And that's why you were fighting in the street," Pa asked softly, barely containing his rage.
"Yes, the first time," he answered unwisely, then bit his tongue. "Well, the second time was
with Joe, uh, Adam." He looked angrily at Joe, who'd humiliated him by yelling at him in the middle of
town and dragged him back home, practically by the scruff of his neck. He had never done anything
nearly that bad to Joe, whatever Joe said.
Pa moved his gaze to his eldest son, who suddenly was no longer smiling.
"I'll deal with you later, Adam. Right now I need to deal with Joseph."
Adam swallowed dryly. How much longer until sunset?
"I try to make allowances for your age, Joseph, but perhaps your brother Adam is right. Perhaps
I am too easy on you. Some might say you're too old for a spanking but at this moment I disagree with
them. Get over here!" His last words were another roar. Adam stared at him in shock.
"You can't be serious!" It was the wrong thing to say. Pa reached over, grabbed him by the
collar, and pulled him over to his side of the desk and onto his lap. And then suddenly, thankfully,
that strange dizziness came over him again. The sun must have set!
~~~~~
Joe looked down at the floor with a groan as he realized what had happened. The sun had set
and he was about to get a whipping for something he hadn't even done! He tensed as he felt Pa raise his
hand and closed his eyes.
"Wait a minute, Pa," Adam spoke up and Joe opened his eyes. He barely even noticed the pain
radiating from his left eye. He twisted his head around to look up at his oldest brother in confusion.
Adam wasn't going to make it worse, was he? "I don't think you should punish Joe like this," he said
and Joe blinked.
"You don't?" Pa seemed amazed, but he lowered his hand.
"I've well, I know I've been hard on Joe, but I think, well, I may have been, wrong."
The room was silent. The words were almost unprecedented coming from his hardheaded brother.
The shock must be the reason Pa hadn't yelled at him for interfering. Then again, Joe had learned today
how much Pa valued Adam's opinion. He supposed that it should be valued; Adam did work hard.
"What exactly are you trying to say, Adam?"
"I mean spanking Joe is punishing him as a child. I think you should punish him the way you would
Hoss or me. He's nearly a man now. His actions were childish, but we've been treating him like a child.
Take it from me, you treat someone like a kid and that's exactly how they act." Adam smiled as if he found
something funny, then he looked down into Joe's eyes and winked. Joe found himself grinning back at their
shared secret.
Pa seemed to be considering his words. Finally, he nodded.
"And what do you suggest as punishment then, Adam?"
"Maybe Joe could work with me for a while?" he said thoughtfully. Thinking of his one day of Adam's
work, Little Joe groaned, but it was a half-hearted groan at best. He looked up at Adam in amazement.
"Don't think I won't work you hard, little brother." Adam warned but Joe just nodded. "But if you do well
enough, maybe you and I could go visit the Bucket of Blood and I'll buy you a drink." Adam suddenly seemed
to get a good whiff of the skunk smell all over his clothes. His eyes started to water a bit.
"Now, just a minute." Pa interrupted but stopped when an angry Hop Sing burst into the room.
"Roast all ruined. Cartlights take too long. No want to eat. Roast dry up!"
Hoss took his eyes from the rare sight of his two brothers getting along to stare at their cook in
horror.
"Dry up?" he repeated loudly and looked to Pa to solve the problem.
"Now Hop Sing, I'm sure you're overreacting. It's not ruined." Pa tried to calm him down. He helped
Little Joe off his lap and stood up.
"It's ruined! You cook now? You tell Hop Sing how to cook? I work all day. You say roast be
ready tonight! I have ready tonight and you no eat! I work all day!" Hop Sing waved a finger at
each of them.
"Now, Hop Sing. We worked all day too."
"My job hard and you no appreciate!" he ranted. "I wish you could be in my shoes for one day!"
"No, don't!" Joe and Adam shouted together and everyone turned to look at them in surprise.
"Be careful what you wish for," Adam said and let out a relieved breath.
"Yeah, you just might get it," Joe finished for him and they shared a grin.
The End
anybody notices the similarities. But as I'm not making any money offa this, does it
really matter? Also, I of course didn't create these characters and don't own
them. Special thanks to Kelli, since it was her idea.
Be Careful What You Wish For
By Wendy
"Little Joe, it's time you stopped this foolishness. You're nearly a man now and it's
time you starting acting like one!"
Little Joe glared up into his older brother's face and raised his chin stubbornly.
The sun hadn't even risen yet and here he was getting yet another lecture from Adam. So
what if he'd just arrived home moments before and Adam had caught him sneaking in the back?
It was none of Adam's business anyway.
"You stay out of this, Adam. You aren't Pa, however much you might think you are!
Besides, you come home this late all the time."
"That's different." Adam's expression was cold, which meant he thought he was right
and nothing short of a miracle was going to make him change his mind. "I'm older then you are
and more responsible. If I had come home at this hour at your age, Pa would have given me
a whipping. He lets you get away with too much."
"Oh, is that right?" Joe asked softly and took a step closer to Adam. He clenched
his hands into fists. He wasn't mad enough to hit Adam yet, but he was close. Adam was
always so sure he was right. "And I bet, you being so perfect and all, you never stayed
out too late!"
"I was here, working, doing a man's hard work. Something you're never going to
learn." Adam's arms were crossed and he was staring down at Joe with a superior expression.
"What were you doing in town? Sneaking drinks and kisses from saloon girls?"
"That's not fair, Adam!" Joe shouted, a little hurt that Adam could dismiss him that
easily.
"No one said life is fair, Joe," Adam said so smoothly Joe wanted to knock the
smirk from his face. "If life were fair, you'd take on some adult responsibilities so I
could have it easy like you."
Easy? Adam thought he had it easy? Joe let out a short, humorless laugh.
"I wish you could see what my life is really like, Adam. Just be me for a day,
sunup to sundown, for one day!" he declared challengingly. Adam stared down at him
condescendingly.
"Same here," he answered confidently and from somewhere outside there was the
sound of a rooster crowing to welcome the sun.
Joe closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness passed over him. He put a hand to
his head to try and calm himself and took a deep breath. It must be a lack of sleep from
staying out so late. Not that he'd let Adam see how tired he was. He straightened up at
the thought and opened his eyes. Then his mouth dropped open.
He was staring back at himself.
He looks just as bewildered as I feel, he thought confusedly and blinked several
times to clear his vision. It didn't work. He was still staring over at someone who looked
a lot like him. Actually, he frowned, he was staring down at someone who looked like him. He
felt higher up. Taller.
Still slightly dizzy, he reached out a hand, his right hand he noticed, to gently poke
the other fellow in the shoulder.
"Dammit, Joe," the other man said irritably, in his voice.
"Adam?" Joe asked in a deeper, melodic tone that rumbled through his chest. His chest?
Joe looked down in confusion and saw a large man's body, dressed all in black, like Adam wore.
Suddenly it all became clear. He gulped. "Adam?" he asked again in his strange new voice. Older
brother could explain it all. He had to.
"Joe?" the other him, Adam, was asking as he looked himself over in amazement. "What
happened?"
"I think my wish came true," Joe said slowly and Adam's -his- green eyes flashed angrily.
"Then take it back!" he demanded. "I can't walk around like this."
"And why not?" Joe asked in a loud, dramatic way, and paused to admire how impressive
his new voice sounded. He'd bet he could shout clear across the Washoe with this voice. Then
he returned his attention to Adam and tried to glare down at him sternly. He could get used to
this.
The sound of Pa and Hoss getting up and going about their morning routines could
clearly be heard from upstairs. Adam looked slightly panicked.
"Take it back, Joe," he demanded again, but more softly. Joe smiled.
"No, I think it's a good idea, Adam, and obviously somebody else did too. Divine
intervention." he trailed off and laughed at the look on his brother's face. It was fun to
be the older brother. "Besides, you are one good looking fellow now," he added with a grin
and Adam raised his left fist threateningly.
"What are you two doin' down here already? Y'all as hungry as I am?" Hoss asked as he
walked down the stairs, still stamping his feet into his boots. Standing next to Hoss made him
feel like less of a giant, but he still felt tall. He felt his mouth curving into a smirk.
"They're eager for a day's work," Pa joked as he came down too. "And Joseph already
dressed?" he seemed amazed. It took Adam a long moment to respond and when he did it was
through clenched teeth.
"Yes, Pa," he said, and fingered the jacket that Joe had worn all night.
"Seems a shame. You seem so eager to work, and I was just going to send you into town
today with Hoss, while Adam and I work out in the fields."
Joe suddenly didn't feel like laughing very much. Adam grinned wickedly.
"Well, that's fine too, Pa."
"Wait just a minute," Joe tried to break in but Pa just laughed.
"Adam I know you think I should give Little Joe more work, but he's only a child. He
can make some deliveries in town and then go have some fun before he comes back here."
Joe bristled at being called a child, but he couldn't say anything in his defense,
especially now. So he let Hoss lead him towards the table. He didn't get a chance to speak
alone with Adam again before Pa dragged him outside and started discussing this year's
expected hay crop in excruciating detail.
~~~~~~
Joe was willing to bet that it wasn't hotter anywhere else in the world that it was
on the Ponderosa right now. He felt like the sun was shining down on him and him alone. He
considered stopping to rest a minute before picking up his heavy ax once again and taking another
swing at the thick log in front of him. This was the fourth log he'd had to split and it wasn't
even noon yet. They were repairing fences with the help of some hands and Pa had decided that
new fence posts were needed. Which meant new logs had to be cut and then spilt into those posts.
He grunted and swung the ax down as hard he could, splitting the wood clean in half.
He shared a grin of success with the hand closest to him and laid down the ax. Because the
men didn't pause to wipe the sweat off their brows, he didn't either, though it was a hot day and
his black clothing wasn't cooling him off any. He just took off his hat briefly and admired what
their hard work so far this morning had accomplished. They were finishing this section in record time.
If he kept this up, he might be able to go into town later anyway. He wanted to have some fun with
his current situation.
He wanted to go into the Bucket of Blood and have a few drinks, as well as play some poker
without getting harassed. And he definitely had some ideas about Adam's wardrobe. Older brother
didn't seem to be aware there were other colors in the world besides black. He was going to have
to find something in green in Adam's size.
Pa came riding up from the east, where he'd been checking the part of the fence further
down, and distracted Joe from his plans. Pa left Buck next to Sport - Joe grimaced thinking of Adam
on his beloved Cochise - and walked over to him slowly, nodding to the men as he did. Joe waited
anxiously for his Pa's opinion of their work.
Pa took his time looking over the new posts before finally smiling.
"Looks like a good job all around," he announced and Joe felt his chest swell proudly.
"Well, it isn't done yet, Pa," he said modestly and earned another nod of approval.
"I knew you could do it, Adam. That's why I left you in charge." Pa's next words brought him
down a bit, and he sighed.
"I think any one of us could have gotten this done, Pa."
"But not so quickly," Pa disagreed, but looked at him seriously. "But your words have reminded
me of something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, Adam. It's about Joe."
Joe tried to look cool like Adam would and raised one eyebrow.
"I've been thinking of putting Joe in charge of a small project this summer. Just
something to get his feet wet. Do you think he could handle it? I value your opinion, Adam."
"Sure I could, uh, he could, Pa. He's been waiting for this chance forever."
Pa's eyebrows rose in surprise. Two hands nearby stopped in their tracks to stare at him.
They all seemed shocked. Little Joe remembered, too late, that Adam would hardly have been so
eager to see Joe in charge. Older brother didn't think he was responsible enough to handle much more
than mucking out the stables.
"Really? You don't have any reservations about putting Little Joe in charge?" Pa apparently
felt he had to restate his question.
"Well, I have a few reservations, who wouldn't? But it's about the time the kid started
taking on some responsibility," he answered reasonably, trying to sound like Adam at his
most annoying and Pa nodded.
"I thought so. Well, what are they?"
"Just don't overwhelm him. Let him work his way to bigger projects. He's eager to
learn, Pa." He was a little surprised to see his father's eyes get slightly misty.
"Sometimes you boys fight so much I forget how much you love him, Adam. To hear you talk
now, I couldn't help remembering how patient you were when you were helping Little Joe learn to
read when he was a child. You said the same thing then."
Joe was surprised to feel his eyes get a little misty as well. He cleared his throat.
"Well, let's get back to work," he said loudly and picked up his ax again. Pa cleared
his throat roughly.
"I'll consider what you've said, Adam." Pa turned around and remounted Buck. "Adam, I
hate to ask this of you, but a problem has come up and with Hoss and Joe in town."
"What, Pa?" Joe asked, knowing before Pa even asked for anything that he was going to do
it.
"Some head got loose and wondered into the hills. If you and some men could go round them
up when you're done here."
Joe almost groaned out loud. That would take hours and he wouldn't be able to start that
until this was done. Which meant he probably wouldn't get any lunch if he wanted to finish
before dark. But there was no one else to do it.
"I'll take care of it, Pa," he accepted the new job with a determined nod. Pa reached
down from on top Buck to slap his back.
"I knew I could rely on you, Adam," he praised him and headed off. Somehow Pa's words,
while making him feel proud, also felt like a tremendous weight on his shoulders. Joe
sighed and once again felt the sun beating down on his back. Then his stomach rumbled
hungrily. He pictured Adam and Hoss having fun and drinking cool glasses of beer in town and
his grip tightened on the ax.
He cut the next log in half with one swing.
~~~~~
Adam leaned indolently against the counter while Hoss dealt with getting the payment
for the small load of timber they'd just delivered to one of Virginia's City's carpenters. He was
only giving half of his attention to the transaction. Mostly he was contemplating the current
mess he was in as result of Joe's foolish behavior. He still wasn't sure he wasn't dreaming.
A figure from the conversation around him suddenly caught his attention though and he perked up.
"That's not right," he said quietly, cutting into their talk. Hoss looked at him curiously
but the carpenter glared at him.
"I didn't know you were involved in this discussion, Little Joe," the man said snidely. Adam
scowled fiercely at the man but it had little effect. He forgot he had his little brother's baby
face. He turned to Hoss.
"The figures are wrong. He's cheating us."
"Now Hoss, you ain't gonna believe that young'un, are you?" the man asked with a worried
look.
Hoss' smile turned instantly into a frown. He grabbed the smaller man by the collar and yanked
him off his feet.
"You didn't think to mess with them figures just cuz I ain't no good with numbers, didya
now?" he asked in a low voice and the man shook his head quickly.
"I may have added wrong," he admitted with a nervous laugh and Hoss set him down.
"That's better." He nodded and looked at Adam curiously. "Thanks for your help, Joe."
"Yes thanks, Little Joe." The carpenter stared at him with hatred and Adam tipped his hat.
"Why don't you go out and play with your little friends now?" he asked and Adam had to fight the
urge to teach the crook a lesson. He decided he would go outside, but only to calm down.
He stepped outside to wait and stared at Cochise, who was tied to a hitching post near
the buckboard. That horse knew. He didn't know how, but it had definitely known something wasn't
right with its rider. It had acted strangely. But then, so had he. He wasn't sure he could handle
this for much longer.
He needed a drink.
On that thought, he headed for the Bucket of Blood. Hoss caught up with him and slapped him
on the back outside the doors.
"Where do you think you're going, Shortshanks?" he asked with amusement. Adam
wasn't in the mood for this nonsense. He rolled his eyes and walked on in. The he smoothly
approached the bar and asked for a shot of whiskey.
The bartender looked at him like he was crazy and then started to laugh.
"Well now, Little Joe, you know I'm not allowed to serve you drinks. Your brother
Adam would have my guts for garters if I even thought of it. Why don't you have a nice sarsaparilla
instead," he suggested and held out the bottle. Adam looked at it with distaste.
"I'll have a whiskey," he said again, and tried to stare down the annoying man. He just
laughed again. The drunk at a nearby table who had looked like he was asleep joined in.
"You're a little young for that, sonny. Why doncha just have some milk?" he asked with a grin
and several other customers smiled. Adam felt his cheeks go red.
"I tried to tell ya it wouldn't do no good for you to come in here, Joe," Hoss commented
and took a sip of his drink. "Why doncha go sit down or go outside. I'll be out shortly."
"Yeah, go on now, Little Joe." The bartender pitched in again. Adam stubbornly sat down
at a table to wait for Hoss to finish. He just wanted to go home and wait for this day to end.
The drunk suddenly let out a long, slow whistle and Adam turned to see why. An
ncredibly beautiful woman in a low-cut red dress was walking coolly into the room. He'd seen her
type before, but there was something about look in her eyes that caught his attention and made him
feel a sort of a way down shiver. He stared deep into her eyes as she approached and she stared back.
She walked slowly up to him and then looked him up and down.
"You're a cute kid," she said at last, in a nice clear voice the whole room could hear. "But I
think you're a little young to be looking at a woman like that. Why don't you come see me when you're
older?"
Adam blinked, suddenly remembering his situation when the room erupted into laughter. He felt
himself blush again and hated it. He raised his chin and stared at her.
"I think you're a little old for me anyway," he said coldly and she scowled, suddenly looking much
less attractive.
"Pete!" she yelled to the large man who kept order in the place and he came running. "Get this
kid out of here!" she jerked her head towards the door and before Adam could do anything, the man picked
him up by the seat of his pants and tossed him into the street. He could hear their laughter fading away
as he picked himself up and dusted himself off.
"Hey Joe!" someone with a young, high pitched voice called out and he remembered to look up
just as Mitch Devlin and several other boys he didn't recognize came running up. Oddly enough, they
didn't ask what had happened to him; they seemed to already know. "Wanna come with us? Walter here
got some whiskey from his brother and we're going over to drink it in his dad's barn."
Adam raised his eyebrows and looked disapprovingly into their young faces. Then he looked
back towards the saloon resentfully, from which laughter could still be heard. And he still wanted
a drink.
"Sure," he agreed and followed them to Walter's father's barn.
~~~~~
Joe got down off of Sport with a groan. He was bone-tired and the muscles in his arms were already
starting to stiffen up. He was going to be sore tomorrow. He grinned suddenly. Well, Adam would be sore
tomorrow. He should be fine. This cheered him up at bit and he started to rub down the horse with a happy
whistle, ignoring the suspicious looks Adam's horse had been giving him all day.
Once he finished, he gave the animal one last pat and walked slowly towards the house. He wanted
some food and then a bath and then several hours of rest, preferably in a horizontal position. He guessed
though that if he was lucky he might get the first two. From the way Pa had been hinting about paperwork
earlier, he thought he might have to suffer the last few hours until sunset behind a desk trying to make
sense of a bunch of numbers. He'd had to give up the idea of going to town after working to get a calf out
of a mud hole for hours and then encountering an angry skunk on the way back to the house. He just wanted
the day to end.
He walked in the front door and got a good whiff of the roast Hop Sing was preparing for supper.
It smelled wonderful. Like heaven with gravy. He took a step further into the house, anticipating his
first good meal today and stopped short at the sight of Pa sitting in his favorite chair, staring off
into space. He looked worried.
"Pa?" he asked curiously as he removed Adam's hat and hung it up. Pa looked up at him
distractedly.
Oh, hello, Adam," Pa responded and then frowned. "Get your work done?"
Joe nodded and tried to figure out what could be worrying his father so much.
"I knew you would." Pa smiled briefly. "You didn't see Little Joe on your way back, did you?"
Joe shook his head, deciding this was better than trying to explain the truth. Then he realized
what Pa was really saying.
"Joe's not back yet?" Joe asked, confusing himself for a moment. "What about Hoss?"
"Hoss came back talking about Joseph being angry at getting thrown out of a saloon and
wandering off. He couldn't find him after that and figured he came home. Only he's not here."
Joe would have grinned at the thought of Adam getting thrown out of a bar, but Pa was
staring at him with dark, worried eyes. He cleared his throat.
"I think Joe can take care of himself," he tried but Pa waved his hand.
"A father can't help worrying, especially about Joe. He's so hot-tempered." He stared off into
space, obviously concerned about his youngest son. Joe felt that weight on his shoulders again. He
put his hat back on.
"I'll go get him, Pa," he promised and took one last whiff of the roast he might not be getting for
some time.
"Thank you, son. Don't be too hard on him," Pa suddenly seemed more worried about this.
"He'll get what's coming to him," Joe answered back with a scowl. Adam better have a good
reason for keeping him from his well-deserved rest. He had better things to do than chase around town
after a brother who should know better. When he found the fool, they were going to have a little talk.
~~~~~
Adam should have known better. It was something he kept telling himself as he stood in front of Pa's
desk, listening to a lecture. He had a feeling it was going to go on for some time and he deserved every
word of it. They weren't many people who had acted with less sense than he had today. He didn't know what
had come over him.
One minute he'd been getting thrown out of the Bucket of Blood, the next minute he'd run off to
sneak a drink in a dirty barn like a dumb kid. And that was only the beginning; he winced at the memory.
".my son, fighting in the street!" Pa was roaring and Adam looked up briefly into his red face
before returning his gaze to his feet. It hadn't been much of a fight really. Joe had exaggerated when
he'd told the story to Pa. "Well?" Pa demanded and Adam looked up blankly.
"Pa wants to hear your version, Little Joe," Hoss told him quietly and Adam spoke quickly before Pa's
face got any redder.
"Well, I went off with Mi.some friends," he remembered the childhood rule not to name names
just in time, " and we just sat around talking, in a barn, until we got bored and left." They'd also been
sipping from a flask in the barn, but Adam decided to omit this detail. He was hoping they wouldn't notice
that he reeked of cheap whiskey. The skunk smell coming from Joe was pretty strong. "Then." he trailed off,
trying to think up a reasonable explanation for happened next. To be honest, he wasn't really sure what
had happened.
He hadn't consumed much whiskey, but it was strong and he'd forgotten that he had a much
smaller body at the moment. After several mouthfuls, he'd started to get dizzy and slightly sick. So
when Mitch, who'd looked equally ill, had suggested they leave and go for a walk, he'd been happy
to agree. So happy in fact, that he was pretty sure he'd started singing "Get along home Cindy, Cindy."
"Well, we got bored and walked around town for a while, until we met up with this girl."
"This girl?" Little Joe asked. Adam looked up and saw himself, standing next to Pa with
crossed arms and a superior expression. He glared at himself briefly out of his one good eye and then
nodded shakily.
"This girl, I forget her name. Cute little kid though, I think she liked me," he confessed this
with a smile for Joe that made him scowl. He obviously knew which girl he was talking about.
"Get to the point!" Pa yelled and he jumped.
"Well, she started talking to me and one of the guys with me said something rude to her. So I
had to defend her honor, Pa," he explained and watched a vein in his father's forehead start to throb. I
t had made sense at the time. And he'd won, except for his swollen eye where the other kid had
got in a good hit.
"And that's why you were fighting in the street," Pa asked softly, barely containing his rage.
"Yes, the first time," he answered unwisely, then bit his tongue. "Well, the second time was
with Joe, uh, Adam." He looked angrily at Joe, who'd humiliated him by yelling at him in the middle of
town and dragged him back home, practically by the scruff of his neck. He had never done anything
nearly that bad to Joe, whatever Joe said.
Pa moved his gaze to his eldest son, who suddenly was no longer smiling.
"I'll deal with you later, Adam. Right now I need to deal with Joseph."
Adam swallowed dryly. How much longer until sunset?
"I try to make allowances for your age, Joseph, but perhaps your brother Adam is right. Perhaps
I am too easy on you. Some might say you're too old for a spanking but at this moment I disagree with
them. Get over here!" His last words were another roar. Adam stared at him in shock.
"You can't be serious!" It was the wrong thing to say. Pa reached over, grabbed him by the
collar, and pulled him over to his side of the desk and onto his lap. And then suddenly, thankfully,
that strange dizziness came over him again. The sun must have set!
~~~~~
Joe looked down at the floor with a groan as he realized what had happened. The sun had set
and he was about to get a whipping for something he hadn't even done! He tensed as he felt Pa raise his
hand and closed his eyes.
"Wait a minute, Pa," Adam spoke up and Joe opened his eyes. He barely even noticed the pain
radiating from his left eye. He twisted his head around to look up at his oldest brother in confusion.
Adam wasn't going to make it worse, was he? "I don't think you should punish Joe like this," he said
and Joe blinked.
"You don't?" Pa seemed amazed, but he lowered his hand.
"I've well, I know I've been hard on Joe, but I think, well, I may have been, wrong."
The room was silent. The words were almost unprecedented coming from his hardheaded brother.
The shock must be the reason Pa hadn't yelled at him for interfering. Then again, Joe had learned today
how much Pa valued Adam's opinion. He supposed that it should be valued; Adam did work hard.
"What exactly are you trying to say, Adam?"
"I mean spanking Joe is punishing him as a child. I think you should punish him the way you would
Hoss or me. He's nearly a man now. His actions were childish, but we've been treating him like a child.
Take it from me, you treat someone like a kid and that's exactly how they act." Adam smiled as if he found
something funny, then he looked down into Joe's eyes and winked. Joe found himself grinning back at their
shared secret.
Pa seemed to be considering his words. Finally, he nodded.
"And what do you suggest as punishment then, Adam?"
"Maybe Joe could work with me for a while?" he said thoughtfully. Thinking of his one day of Adam's
work, Little Joe groaned, but it was a half-hearted groan at best. He looked up at Adam in amazement.
"Don't think I won't work you hard, little brother." Adam warned but Joe just nodded. "But if you do well
enough, maybe you and I could go visit the Bucket of Blood and I'll buy you a drink." Adam suddenly seemed
to get a good whiff of the skunk smell all over his clothes. His eyes started to water a bit.
"Now, just a minute." Pa interrupted but stopped when an angry Hop Sing burst into the room.
"Roast all ruined. Cartlights take too long. No want to eat. Roast dry up!"
Hoss took his eyes from the rare sight of his two brothers getting along to stare at their cook in
horror.
"Dry up?" he repeated loudly and looked to Pa to solve the problem.
"Now Hop Sing, I'm sure you're overreacting. It's not ruined." Pa tried to calm him down. He helped
Little Joe off his lap and stood up.
"It's ruined! You cook now? You tell Hop Sing how to cook? I work all day. You say roast be
ready tonight! I have ready tonight and you no eat! I work all day!" Hop Sing waved a finger at
each of them.
"Now, Hop Sing. We worked all day too."
"My job hard and you no appreciate!" he ranted. "I wish you could be in my shoes for one day!"
"No, don't!" Joe and Adam shouted together and everyone turned to look at them in surprise.
"Be careful what you wish for," Adam said and let out a relieved breath.
"Yeah, you just might get it," Joe finished for him and they shared a grin.
The End