Silence.
Nothing happened. After a few minutes Will and Serena started to realize, that they would have to do something; it was their responsibility. They hadn't thought about it before, but now it was time to act.
—Why you don't punish little boy,", Hop Sing protested while collecting the pieces of the broken cup.
—I... Well, hem, we don't know what to do", Will added, consterned.
—job not difficult", Hop Sing replied, with exasperation.
—yeah, easy for you, maybe. But... it's not easy for me... And is it a serious crime ? I don't think so... This cute little boy wouldn't be able to do anything serious", Serena answered and her voice sounded sad.
—oh yeah, Mr Jason to be cute, but he not above rules. He naughty, he has to be punished. You don't think so ? You should, Hop Sing knows that. Hop Sing has no kid, but Hop Sing laised Caltwlight's boys and othel kids... Adults not to spoil kids ol kids will be uncontlolable. He bloke thlee cups, in flont of us, as if it was a nolmal think. Not nolmal, he has no light doing that.
—I don't know what to do... I'm not a disciplinarian. I don't even know if I can give any punishment... Do I have any legitimacy to do that ? Okay, I've a lot of experience but not from the adult side... I was punished a lot when I was a kid...
—Don't say that, you weren't as bad as you seem to think", Serena told him with exasperation in her voice.
—I mean, I've never punished anybody before; can you understand that ?
—You're a minister, you're supposed to know how to do that. It's part of your job, isn't it ? Teaching people about right and wrong."
Hop Sing stopped their arguing once again; it was simple for him, the little boy had broken three cups , he had done it on purpose, somebody had to punish him...
"If Mistel Caltwlight hele, he not let do that. Now Hop Sing has not cups anymore, evelything is bloken; not good".
Mister Cartwright was in fact not at home, he had left the kids with Joan in order to be part of an important party in Carson City, Will and Serena were in charge for three days.
*********Serena came close to her husband.
« We are as bad as it's possible to be, aren't we ?, she added, suppressing a smile.
«maybe, maybe not. After all, we're in charge.
-oh, what did he do after all ? They're only cups, three cups which were property of the late aunt "whatsit", we won't make a huge fuss for three cups."
She came closer and closer and put her head on his shoulders. Will pressed her against his chest and kissed her forehead.
"I know, it's true, he didn't do anything serious, I mean, he's a sweet and innocent child. But we have to correct him..."
-We're gonna have a baby", she whispered into his ear. "Maybe we won't be able to be good parents", she burst into tears while nestling her head against him.
"We'll have the fun of raising him, caring for him, teaching him right from wrong and how to live, and…." Serena's eyes welled up again. Will put his finger over her mouth gently, and spoke softly in her ear.
"I can promise you two things, Serena."
"Yes?" Serena looked up at him intently.
"One, I will never leave you alone through this. I will be there for you, and for our child."
"Thank you, Will." Serena said, her eyes half-closed.
"And the second thing. We will be better parents than ours were to us, I'm a Cartwright, I know how my father dealt with me, but I also know how my Uncle Ben dealt with me, with patience, sternness, understanding and compassion... We have a good example here..."
Serena laughed a little at what he had said. She hugged him even more tightly, and they stayed there together, huddled together, until Hop Sing came and clapped his hand.
"Well, conglatulations, you'll take cale of baby when baby will be thele. Light now, you have to deal with little boy in the colnel, befole Hop Sing go back to China".
***************Serena dried her tears, Will took a deep breath , sighed and told Jason to sit on a chair in the corner as a punishment. The little boy stood up. Silently Will brought him back and told him to sit down again; before eyeing him sternly. Jason frowned, he didn't want to sit, he didn't want to look at the wall, he wanted to leave now, and go to play.
"No, Uncle Will. I won't sit ! I want to go to play." He sniffled and pouted, staring at his uncle rebelliously. "Not sit." Hop Sing frowned, he didn't like this attitude, but he let Uncle Will take care of it. After all he had to learn, and Jason was quite challenging. Will would be a great father if he could pass the "Jason's test", he thought before going back to the kitchen. The little boy gazed up at his Uncle, and seeing Uncle Will wearing his "angry face", decided he was ready to sit for a while, and started to stare the wall.
********At five years old, Jason was still smaller than others his age. He had passed all the other milestones and was able to carry on intelligent conversations with the people around him much better than other children his age.
He, real quiet, came to his parents, it was unusual, so Ben and Joan could tell something had been up. Ben asked him what was wrong and he hesitated a few minutes and then said "Jason sat on the chair, "time out chair", Uncle Will said" . Joan asked for more details. The little boy said
"you're going to spank me when you see what I did."
He explained he had been playing with something his parents had told him not to touch. Joan continued :
"so, you broke something ?" He opened his little hand and raised three fingers... He was absolutely convinced he was going to get a spanking. Ben watched Joan and winked. Ben's index finger sticking out of the clenched fist, palm facing the gesturer. His finger moved repeatedly towards the little boy, in a hook, as if to draw something nearer, the meaning of "come here" was clear. He came close to his father, he put his hands behind his back to protect his little bottom. Ben chuckled to himself realizing just how quickly they learned to do that. Ben surprised him by telling him how proud he and his mother were that he had come to them and had been honest. Then he gave him a big hug and told him since he had been honest, he would not spank him this time,
"but if I ever catch you doing that again I will have to. " Both of them knew, he had broken a rule, but he had had enough courage to tell them about it, so Ben thought that he had to have the credit for that.
**********Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny. The inhabitants of the Ponderosa arose and prepared themselves for church. As Joan was fastening her skirt at the back, Ben came up behind her and fastened it for her. As she reached for her blouse, he put his arms around her waist, inhaling the fresh scent of roses in her hair.
"Mmm. Your hair smells so good," he said as he buried his face in her hair. He moved her hair aside and began to kiss the back of her neck.
"Benjamin, I need to finish dressing. We'll be late for church if I don't hurry up."
However, Ben didn't stop. Instead, he turned Joan around to face him and covered her mouth with his. Thoughts of dressing dismissed, the blouse dropped to the floor and Joan arms moved up and around his neck as the kiss deepened.
Just then, Cassie decided to make her presence known with a loud cry, effectively breaking the mood. Joan had brought her in their room after she had finished feeding her and getting her ready. Joan broke away from Ben and moved towards the baby but Ben stopped Joan with his hand on her arm.
"I'll get her. You finish gettin' ready." He went over to the rug in front of the fireplace where Cassie was sitting and lifted her into his arms. He sat down on the edge of the bed to bounce her on his knee, bringing a squeal of delight from his daughter. As Joan watched the two of them, she couldn't help but feel an overpowering love swell in her heart. What did she ever do to deserve to be so blessed ?
*********After breakfast was cleared from the table, Ben went outside to hitch up the wagon. Joan grabbed Cassie, their youngest daughter, and along with Rozenee and Jason, went out to the wagon. She handed Cassie to Rozenee and then Ben helped her up onto the seat. Rozenee handed Cassie back to her ma and then settled herself in the back of the wagon with Jason. Ben climbed into the seat, picked up the reins, gave them a slap and they were off to town.
When they arrived at church, Ben hopped down and turned to help Joan and the kids out of the buggy. Jason got down from the back, and together they walked towards the church to greet the other townsfolk before service began. When Will Cartwright, the reverend, came out to let everyone know that church was starting, they all filed into the church and sat in their pews. The Reverend opened with a word of prayer and the congregation sang a hymn from their hymnals. When the song was concluded, the sermon began.
**************« Raising a child is an adventure no one can ever be fully prepared for, and that is what Reverend Will and his wife Serena will soon find out for themselves. Not to let a child walk all over you is an adult's responsibility and the parents are not alone." Ben stopped and lifted his head towards Will who had left him the place in front of the community on that Sunday Morning. Will had decided his Uncle's wise words would be perfectly appropriate to be included in the sermon he had prepared. Ben continued by telling them that children needed and sometimes might even crave limitations. He also explained what he had learnt through the years, that raising a moral child meant teaching the child to live by the Rules of the society he would have to live in. Ben made his point by saying that before a child could "treat others like you want others to treat you," he would have to learn how to empathize, to be able to think through an action before doing it and to judge how the consequences of his action would affect himself and others. He cleared his voice and concluded :
"Parents are the child's first morality teachers, but parents do have a family around to help and to keep an eye on the children. That's what Reverend Will Cartwright and his wife Serena did for our children and my wife and I would like to thank both of you for the way you handled things when you were in charge".
************Later, in the middle of September
Luke Adam was watching his auntie who was slowly walking, one hand on her back and the other hand on her stomach. Oh boy, baby again, he thought to himself. He already had to endure the presence of a young brother and of a young sister, and some young cousins... they always wanted to follow him, to be with him. His mom had told him, it was a great deal to be older, he had to be an example, and his pa had told him exactly the same. In fact it was easy for him to say that because he had always been the big brother for Uncle Hoss and Uncle Joe; but Luke-Adam had no desire to be an example for anybody and he didn't want to be kind with the youngest. He didn't care for his baby sister who could only cry and yell and eat their mom. Luke-Adam was indeed a real cow-boy, that was what he wanted to be ; and he knew how to catch calves with a rope and he even knew how to put a saddle on a pony.
Luke-Adam ! LUKE-ADAM CARTWRIGHT ! Come here !" Francesca'voice boomed in the whole house. Once again he had thrown his brother out of the room and the youngest was protesting loudly. Luke-Adam sighed, took his hat and went down. His mother was waiting for him :
" Now, Luke-Adam, what happened?"
"He started it! I was trying to get dressed and Benji kept getting in my…" He said angrily.
"Ma, he pushed me…and I wasn't in his way. He started it!" Benji cut in.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
The boys started to argue. Francesca was quickly losing her patience. "Boys!"
They both stopped and looked at their mother. She was staring hard at them. They knew that look and averted their eyes.
"I don't care who started it. Both of you know better. If I catch you two fighting again you'll be in big trouble, with me and with your pa. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Benji said quickly. Luke-Adam just stared back defiantly.
"Luke, I didn't hear you." She said in a voice that demanded an answer. Luke-Adam dropped his eyes.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Good. Now, go on, you have chores to do... They're will be done quickly, as you're full with energy.
Young Benji was a five-year-old boy and his brown hair was the same as Luke-Adam's, both of them had malicious eyes sparkling with enthousiasm. Luke-Adam had special emerald eyes, that weren't present in the family's genealogy.
**********Doing chores was a tradition in many families, and the Cartwright children had to learn responsibility. After all chores were part of life on the Ponderosa and they had to do their share.
Benji and Luke-Adam went down and walked towards the door which had been opened by their mom. First they collected the eggs, which they did very carefully, it was an important job and they didn't want the eggs to be busted. They had their own ritual, Luke-Adam used to open the gate on the chicken pen, Benji was right behind him and both of them could come in. Then they pushed the chicken with a broom so they could go further and collect the eggs. And then Luke-Adam used to close the gate, because he didn't want the chicken be lost out of the pen. Then they used to put some water into the little trunks in the pony's box, while the ponys weren't there. Then they had to water the garden and rake out the stalls and put some fresh hay and grain into the feed bins.
Luke-Adam and his brother came close to the corral where Peter, Hank's son was working. Hank and he were very good with horses, they were responsible for all that concerned horses. Luke-Adam and Benji had already seen some neighbours borrowing some horses for a few weeks. When a mare had to be served, there was no better choice than a Cartwright stallion. As he saw the boys approaching Peter said hello to both of them :
-Hi kids, how are you ? Chores finished ?
-Yes sir, I help Luke, we cleaned the box", Benji told him happily.
- Did you ? Really ?", Peter asked, turning towards Luke-Adam.
The little boy had already climbed onto a fence, he was sitting there and responded with an exasperated tone of voice :
- Yeah, we did it, and I was kind with him. Pa told me to be kind, Ma told me to be kind, grandpa told me to be kind, I've only been kind, I wish I could learn how to break horses, so I wouldn't have to be kind."
Peter bit his lip to keep himself from laughing, so he decided to turn his head. .
- Young brothers are not easy to be with, are they ?
- You're telling me", Luke-Adam sighed. "Mom is always tired because of the baby. And now Aunt Leslie is gonna have a baby too. Another one. I'm sick of babies".
"Best not let your parents catch you saying that", he whispered and frowned. "I'm not sure they would like that kind of conversation." The boy rolled his eyes.
"Well, I don't think they're unreasonable when they expect their children to be kind and respectful. If you think your parents are strict.."
He didn't finish his sentence but he whistled under his breath.
"Alright I'm heading into town for groceries and to buy that baby calf, goodbye boys, and Luke, you mind your ma, ok ?"
Luke-Adam nodded. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Once again adults were joining up against him. That was so unfair.
********The day after, lunch was over.
Adam, before going back to work, decided he would read a short story for Benji. Luke-Adam grabbed his black cowboy hat and walked to the door. He was about to open it.
"Where are you going ?" his mom asked.
He sighed and looked at her.
"Sorry, Ma'am, May I go outside?"
"Alright, but be careful" she replied.
Peter was tending to the horses at the horses were exercised and groomed every morning. Peter was one of the ranch hands who worked the land, doing odd jobs around the ranch : Mending fences, shovelling stalls, harvesting the crops. And in exchange, Adam had provided him with a small house on his property, so that he could live with his family.
It was a sunny autumn day. The air was warm. The days were filled with winter preparations. Luke-Adam could hear Pete's axe hitting the chopping block. The little boy didn't have school so he could help at the ranch. Peter was splitting firewood down by the barn - one of the regular chores, necessary to life on the farm.
As Adam went out of the ranch, he caught sight of his son in the distance being lectured by Peter. The young rascal was standing up to him, crossing his little arms over his little waistcoat and trying to stare back defiantly at the adult. Peter looked at him sternly.
"Who do you think you're trying to intimidate, short shanks !»
«How could you do such a thing ? Is that how you obey adults? I'm very disappointed in you. I told you "No riding a pony on your own. So you wait until I'm looking the other way to get on the pony's back. And not only do you get on the pony's back but you have to try doing acrobatics, you could have broken your neck, foolhardy boy", Peter added before sending him to the ranch with three kicks on his backside, making the dust rise from his trousers. His eyes filled with tears and he began to cry, the child looked shocked and walked off without a murmur. He stopped dead as he saw his daddy coming towards him. Adam had had no intention of interferring as Peter had handled things. Something must have happened, he had witnessed the scene but hadn't been able to hear what had been said. Adam drew his son to him and told him :
"Oh yeah, young boy, you've just had your bottom smacked..." Adam's voice was firm, just a little bit sharp, slightly ironical, but he had never sounded rude nor insensitive. He wouldn't have been able to be like that.
"What have you done ?"
He was really wondering what had happened for such a dusting of his son's backside by Peter to be called for.
-Well... I've"
Luke-Adam sighed but he had had no doubt that it would finish like that, he was just surprised that it had happened so quickly. He was resigned to face the music. This time he was in big trouble and he was going to get it. His father's voice was booming in the air.
"You're not going to like it, pa... But you've seen, I've already been punished". Luke-Adam's famous malicious look! Adam couldn't count the number of times his rascal of a son had tried to get round him with his poppy dog eyes expressive remorses and regrets. The little boy didn't even realize that his rakish air was only making things worse for him.
"That's for me to decide, young man. Now tell me what you've done".
A few minutes later Luke-Adam found himself being lifted off the ground. And Adam went back inside the house, with his son under his arm , holding him with a firm hand. For the moment they were just the two of them; Francesca and the kids had gone to pick up leaves in the forest. Adam was walking briskly, well decided to settle this problem as quickly as possible. He had to at least finish what Peter had begun. Luke-Adam was wriggling, moaning, protesting, trying to escape, to free himself. He tried as a last resort to soften his father, maybe he would be able to win him over.
"Dad, wait, something's gonna to fall out from my pocket", but Adam ignored his son's protests.
"But Pa, wait. It's my marble, my very own lucky marble. I need it... Really"
"Don't talk to me about marbles, you've perhaps lost yours but you're not going to make me lose mine, young man. It's too late to call on your good fairy; you're going to have a good hiding instead. And don't worry, if your lucky marble is gonna fall out from your pocket, I'll catch it between my knees, as I'm gonna to put you on my knees too, little rogue..."
"pa, please, don't. Please, be inguldent..."
Adam stopped, he was close to the settee where he had decided to go to deliver the spanking.
"In... what?".
-Inguldent, that's when people are forgiving... You don't know what that means ? "
Adam felt like laughing but he managed to keep his face serious and severe. He didn't want his son to think that he had managed to amuse him.
-First of all, the word is indulgent, secondly I know perfectly well what the word means, and thirdly I've no intention of being indulgent. Not after what you've just done. End of the discussion".
-But I haven't done anything, Pa, I just tried, but Uncle Peter, he saw me straight away.
-oh, he did? So, don't worry, I won't do anything to you, I'm just going to try to warm your bottom..."
-I don't see what the difference is", he protested trying to avoid his father's fist.
-I'm pleased to hear you say that; so, after all you see that I was right. I'm fed up with your cheap jokes; you're gonna to have a spanking and that's all there is to it."
Adam had just sat down on the setter , having already turned his son upside down onto his lap. His hand was just going down onto his son's backside when...
«ADAM, ADAM... QUICK... »
Adam was suddenly brought to a stop by the sound of a booming voice, somebody was panicking. He pushed away his son, who fell onto his bottom in amazement. Adam stepped to one side so as not to walk on his fingers and went in his father's direction.
« Pa, what's the matter? Why on earth were you shouting like that ?
- It's because... Adam; It's horrible ! Rozenee, Amelia, they're...»
***********a little later
Francesca looked at Joan and at her father-in-law quizzically. Hop Sing was there too with the children.
« What are you trying to say ?" she asked putting her tray down on the table.
- This …. This telegram ! »
Francesca raised her eyebrows, looking worried. She tore the telegram out of her father-in-law's hand, she read it and became pale.