Joe bounded happily down the stairs to breakfast. Last night had been great. Sure, there'd been a little disturbance at the end, but after all, he hadn't got into any trouble. Maybe Pa would let him go into town every week now?

"Joseph, how many times do I have to tell you not to run in the house? Come and have your breakfast - and for goodness sake eat something for once!"

"Sorry, Pa," Joe said brightly and continued "I'm starving this morning".

He helped himself to pancakes and bacon and started to eat. The silence around the table was deafening. "Someone's in trouble," thought Joe, relieved that it wasn't him for once. Strangely enough, his brothers didn't appear to be very hungry this morning - but then, they had drunk quite a bit last night. Snickering softly, he went back to eating. There was nothing like a late night ride to work up an appetite

Ben cleared his throat and laid his napkin on the table. "Boys, there is something I need to talk to you about."

"Great, here comes another lecture", thought Adam gloomily. "Little brother's done it again: stirred up a mess of trouble and somehow come out it smelling like roses And he accuses me of being irresponsible." He shot a venomous look at Joe and was gratified to see the boy start in surprise.

Recovering quickly, Joe smiled happily at his father. "Sure Pa, what is it?"

"I received an important message last night …" Ben began.
Hoss wasn't really listening. He wished his father would lower his voice a little. He hadn't slept well last night, his head was pounding and for once he wasn't hungry. "Waste of good pancakes" he reflected, looking at his relatively untouched plate. He really didn't feel too much like eating this morning. Adam appeared to be in the same state.

Joe, however, was nodding enthusiastically at his father, curls bouncing up and down with joy and a beguiling smile on his face, begging "Can I come too? Please Pa, please! I'm old enough to be a real help now?"

Trying not to choke at this unlikely pronouncement, Hoss decided he needed to pay closer attention to what his Pa was saying before Joe got everyone into another mess.

"I'm sorry Joseph, but I be spending all my time in Sacramento on business. I'm afraid you'd be bored and have nothing to do. Anyway, you'll be needed here to help your brothers on the ranch".

"How long will you be gone Pa?" asked Adam.

"Oh, about two weeks. But I know you'll all manage just fine," replied Ben, with considerably more confidence than he actually felt. "Adam, I know I can rely on you to keep things running smoothly. Hoss, can you supervise the cattle roundup? And Joe!" His voice grew louder as he saw his youngest son slouching in his chair with a petulant expression on his face. "Sit up straight and stop sulking. You are staying right here and helping your brothers and that is an end to it. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Pa," Joe replied sadly. He hated when his father was away. There seemed to be an emptiness around the house and deep down he was always afraid that something would happen and he would never see his father again.

"One last thing Joseph, I expect you to obey both your brothers and to keep out of trouble!"

Things were beginning to look much brighter, thought Adam and sneaked a peek at Hoss, who gave a small smile in return. Joe began to have a very bad feeling indeed.

"Bye Pa! Have a good trip and come back safe." Joe flung his arms around his father's waist and hugged him tightly.

Ben smiled and ran his hand through the boy's tumbled curls. "I will, son. You mind you brothers now! And get a hair cut! You look like … "

"A Mississippi river boat gambler!" Adam and Hoss chorused. This was brilliant: Pa had given them their first small piece of revenge. Joe pouted briefly and then joined his brothers to wave farewell as the stage sped out of town.

"Well, Shortshanks, I guess we'd better get that mop of your cut before we head home, eh?"

"Aw, come on Hoss. Plenty of time for that before Pa returns," Joe protested, but to no avail. His brothers simply linked their arms through his and walked him briskly to the barbers.

"Morning, Hank. My little brother needs a haircut. Can you fit him in?"

"Sure Adam, no problem." Hank looked at Joe, who was already squirming with displeasure. "Just a trim, Joe?"

"Oh no," said Adam, before Joe could respond. "I think he needs a good short haircut this time, don't you Hoss?"

"Sure do, Adam. Don't worry Hank, he'll sit still, even if I have to hold him on my lap!"

This was dreadful. His brothers were ganging up against him and there was no-one to come to his aid. Joe looked at their set faces and realized there was no way out of this situation. With bad grace, he stalked over to the chair, sat down, crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. Hank began to cut and a shower of dark brown curls fell to the floor.

Looking at the unnaturally neat head of his youngest brother, Adam felt a pang of conscience. Poor kid. He looked even younger now. And he was so proud of his curls Then he remembered the events in the saloon and hardened his heart. "Come on Joe, let's go home".

Joe clapped his hat on and squawked in anguish. "It's too big now! How much hair did you have him cut off?" Running his hands through the short crop, he howled "You've let him scalp me."

Anxious to avoid a scene, Hoss put a large hand on Joe's shoulder and propelled him through the door.

Joe spent the afternoon doing barn chores. He tidied the tack room, cleaned and polished livery and then mucked out the horses. Finally, he started to groom his beloved Cochise, talking him as he worked the curry comb in long, sweeping strokes over the horse's coat. He felt extremely sorry for himself.

"It's not fair Cooch. They all treat me like a little kid. '.Do this Little Joe. Do that Little Joe. Don't be a nuisance Little Joe. They never ask me how I feel about things - oh no. I can't even have my hair how I want it." He grabbed a stable rubber and began to move it over Cochise, polishing the gleaming coat to a high shine and continued to pour out his heart. "Maybe if I was bigger, they'd listen to me. And, all right, I'm small but do they have to keep rubbing it in? All I ever get is 'Little Joe', 'little buddy', 'Shortshanks' or 'baby brother! Lord, I hate when they call me that." Tears started into his eyes as he considered all the injustices he suffered.

"Joe! Are you cussing in there?" Adam's voice boomed from the barn doors.

"No Adam," Joe lied, quickly wiping away a stray tear.

"Come on into the house. It's supper time"

Joe thought the table looked very empty without his father sitting there. Hop Sing had prepared fired chicken and gravy, with mashed potatoes and sweetcorn, but Joe didn't really feel hungry.

"C'mon Shortshanks. You've got to eat more than that!" pleaded Hoss. "You need to put some meat on these little bird bones of yours!"

Joe didn't respond, but continued to push his food moodily around his plate. Hop Sing came through from kitchen, saw what the boy was doing and swatted him on the back of his head with a tea towel. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Lil' boy need to eat more to grow up big and strong!"

"Great," thought Joe "All I need now is for Adam to start telling me how little and puny I am and I'll have the full set." He waited, but all Adam said was "Well, maybe you'll feel like some apple pie later on."

In truth, Adam was feeling sorry for Joe. He knew how much the boy adored his father and thought he must be feeling pretty low. No sense in trying to force the kid to eat if he wasn't hungry.

The rest of the evening passed off peaceably, with Adam and Hoss playing chess, while Joe lay sprawled across a chair. "What are you reading, Joe?" Hoss asked curiously. It was strange to see Joe sit still for so long.

"Oh, it's pretty good. Real scary in parts too. It's called Frankenstein and there's a monster in it and everything."

Adam looked worried. He'd read the book too and wondered if it was entirely suitable for an impressionable youngster. But he was reluctant to spoil the pleasant atmosphere and turned back to the game. A while later, he looked across and saw Joe was sound asleep, the book across his chest. Moving quietly, he laid the book on the table and whispered to Hoss, "He's dead to the world. No point in waking him up now. I'll get him upstairs and into bed."

Hoss nodded in agreement. They both knew that once Joe was asleep, he stayed asleep and would be incredibly grumpy if woken up. Adam bent down and lifted the sleeping boy gently into his arms, Joe's head resting trustingly on his shoulder. As he walked upstairs, he remembered all the times he had done this before, starting with the tiny baby he could hold in one arm and felt strangely protective towards Joe. Then he shook his head. Of course he felt protective. This was his baby brother and no matter how old Joe was, he would always look out for him.

Adam laid Joe down on the bed, undressed him and pulled on a nightshirt, all without waking him up. Goodness, the boy was thin. Maybe he should be stricter about getting him eat? "Night, Little Joe, sweet dreams.". Adam turned the lamp down low, and dropped a kiss on Joe's forehead. It was strange to see him lying there without a curl drooping forward.

A blood curdling scream ripped through the house. Without thinking, Adam leapt out of bed and ran into Joe's room to find him sitting bolt upright in bed, his eyes wide and unseeing. He gathered the boy into his arms and held him close, crooning gently and stroking his back. "Ssh, ssh. It's okay now, Everything's okay now. You're safe and I'm with you. Big brother's got you. Everything's all right." Eventually, Joe calmed down enough to go back to sleep and Adam returned wearily to his own bed.

The next morning, Joe woke up in a black mood after his disturbed night. He was embarrassed to recall how he had wept on his brother's chest. Even worse, he couldn't remember going to bed, which meant that someone had carried him like a baby and taken all his clothes off. So much for his privacy.!

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm fine Hoss," said Joe testily and took a small spoon of scrambled eggs.

"Come on little buddy, you need to eat more than that now" began Adam in a concerned voice, but was interrupted as Joe turned around and yelled rudely "I know you don't think so but I am old enough to know how hungry I am and how much I want to eat? Just leave me alone and stop treating me like a baby."

"Well, Joseph, when you begin to act your age, let us know and we'll treat you accordingly. But if you're going to pick at your food and be rude then you'd better stay here and keep your sour mood to yourself." Joe glowered at Adam, who ignored him and continued "there's a whole pile of wood needs chopping, so begin on that. Hoss and I are riding up to the north pasture, but we'll be back for lunch."

"Fine."

"Good."

And so the battle lines were drawn.