Sorry this has been two years in the making! I have a few more ideas, so hopefully I won't need to take such a long hiatus. I hope I haven't lost all my readers
Good morning, everyone," Lizzie called as she hopped down the stairs and skipped into the living room
"Good morning, Lizzie," the men chorused as Ben reached out to give her a hug
"How did you sleep, honey?" Ben asked as she kissed him on the cheek
"Good, once Clomp chased away the mares," Lizzie said as she hugged each of the men in turn.
"I knew I liked that horse," Ben said with a smile.
"Why don't you run in and wish Grandpa Cyrus a good morning too, Lizzie," Adam said taking a sip of his coffee.
"Papa," Lizzie whined.
"Come on, I'll go with you," Adam said, taking another quick sip of his coffee before standing up and offering his hand to her.
"Lizzie sighed, but took his hand.
"Good morning, Grandpa Cyrus," Lizzie said quietly as they entered the room.
"Adam held her hand out in front of him, pulling Lizzie closer to the bed as Cyrus rolled over and squinted at the two of them.
"Good morning, Cyrus," Adam said cordially.
"Uh, good morning," Cyrus groaned.
"I'll go get you some coffee and breakfast," Adam said and turned toward the door.
"No, I'll join you at the table," Cyrus groaned and swung his legs over the side of the up, he immediately clutched his head in his hands and groaned again.
"What happened?" He moaned.
"Well, you had a bit too much to drink, fell off your horse and landed on your bottle, requiring stitches," Adam said dryly.
"Stitches?" Cyrus asked, looking up at Adam with bleary eyes.
"On your right side," Adam said gesturing towards the bloody shirt that Cyrus was still wearing.
"Oh," Cyrus said, pulling back his shirt and looking down at the even row of stitches that snaked down his side.
"It's starting to come back," Cyrus said, standing slowly and tucking his shirt into his half unbuttoned pants, before sitting down hard on the bed and looking for his boots. "I seem to recall having a few choices words for you."
"You did," Adam said, carrying Cyrus' boots to him and putting them on his feet despite Cyrus waving his hands to get him to stop.
"Nothing you haven't said before. Unfortunately, you said them in front of your granddaughter," Adam said with a tilt of his head towards Lizzie. "You made a pretty bad first impression on her."
"Yes, well," Cyrus said, getting to his feet. "I'll just have to work on that won't I?"
Cyrus patted Lizzie's head as he tottered out into the dining room and took a seat at the table.
"Lizzie frowned at Adam and Adam just winked at her, bowed and held his hand out to usher her in front of him.
"We need to take him as he comes, fair lady," Adam whispered as she crossed in front of him and took her seat as far away from Grandpa Cyrus as she could.
After they had all served themselves, Lizzie turned toward Adam and asked, "Papa, I saw that there was a carnival in town, can we go?"
"Oh, Lizzie, that carnival isn't one I think you would like. It isn't games and food. I think it's best that you not go," Adam said, just as a knock sounded at the door.
Lizzie opened her mouth to ask more, but Adam didn't notice as he stood to answer the door.
Mr. Cartwright, that cattle buyer you were expecting has come early. I hate to interrupt your breakfast, but he seems pretty anxious," Russ said, pointing out to the men on horses.
"No problem," Adam replied grabbing his hat and following Russ out to the men who were starting to dismount.
Lizzie clopped down the stairs at the end of the school day and waved to her friends before turning to the buggy that had her father, Uncle Hoss and Grandpa Cyrus in looked around for Blaze and when she didn't see him, she climbed up on the buggy, and into her father's lap.
"We kept Blaze and home today, so that you can get better acquainted with your Grandpa Cyrus, "Adam said giving Lizzie a serious look as he nodded and looked over his shoulder at her Grandpa Cyrus.
Lizzie frowned.
"How was your day, Lizzie?" Adam quickly asked with a smile, trying to head off any of Lizzie's complaints. "What did you learn today?"
"It was good. We are learning about the West Indies. Papa, did you know that rum is made from molasses? Have you ever had rum?"
"I have had a dram or two, Lizzie," Adam said smiling.
"What's a dram?" Lizzie asked. "Is that like a glass?"
"No, it's just a small amount, just a splash: like your grandpa pours when he has sherry. You don't need a lot and you're supposed to sip it slowly and enjoy it," Adam explained.
"I swore off rum, myself," Cyrus chimed in. "I don't much cotton to alcohol that is brought to America because of slavers trading."
"Cyrus," Adam said with warning in his voice, shaking his head.
"What's a slaver?" Lizzie asked, seeing her father shake his head. She glanced back and forth between her father and her grandfather.
"Well, Lizzie" Cyrus said, leaning back and staring off into space. "Here's something I'll bet your teacher didn't tell you about the West slave ships bring slaves from Africa to the West Indies and trade them for rum, molasses and sugar, which they then sell to places like England and America."
"Cyrus, that's quite enough," Adam growled. "Let's head to the blacksmith, Hoss."
Cyrus came out of his reverie as the buggy started and noticed the horrified look on Lizzie's face.
"They trade people for rum?" She asked Adam as a tear came to her eye.
Hoss stopped the horses and rubbed Lizzie's back, "People do all sorts of bad things, Lizzie."
"Yes, Lizzie," Adam sighed, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to catch Lizzie's tears. "They did trade people for rum, but that ended when the slaves began to rebel and the British thought it was too expensive to keep soldiers in the West Indies to stop the rebellions. As is often the case, it was about money and the British bankers stopped investing in sugar cane plantations and invested in things like railroads instead. President Jefferson kept America out of it by ordering the embargo of 1807 which kept American ships in port. Because sugar wasn't coming to America, Americans began drinking American whiskey. So, your Grandpa Cyrus is talking about things that happened way back when Mr. Jefferson was president, not now. That doesn't mean it was right when it was happening. People shouldn't be treated as objects. That's why we fought the Civil War."
Lizzie dabbed at her eyes and nodded.
"Now, you climb in back and we'll head off to the blacksmith," Adam said as he kissed her head and helped her over the seat, giving Cyrus a glare.
Cyrus made an embarrassed noise in his throat as Lizzie climbed to the back seat of the buggy and Hoss started the horses up. She looked at him with a bit of accusation in her eyes.
History was never my best subject," Cyrus mumbled as he crossed his arms and looked off to the side.
"Clearly," Adam said, turning to face the front of the buggy.
"Why don't you two stay here get to know each other?" Adam said when they arrived at the blacksmith and he climbed down. "How about you tell Lizzie about what her mother was like as a little girl?"
Cyrus nodded and looked off into space as he thought.
"Well, what should I tell you about her?" Cyrus said crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back as Lizzie looked at him expectantly.
"She was always curious about things" Cyrus said, looking over at Lizzie who was leaning forward with shining eyes. "She wanted to go and see how things were done in different places and figure out how things worked. She like meeting new and different people."
"I have an idea, let's go to the carnival, your mama would have loved that" Cyrus said with a sharp look in his eye, he took her hand.
"But, Papa said no," Lizzie said, even as she turned her eyes towards the gate.
"Your papa doesn't need to know and we will be back in plenty of time," Cyrus said, with a smile. "Come on!"
Lizzie felt the butterflies start, but nodded and followed him into the gate, glancing around to be sure her father wasn't around as Cyrus paid the entrance fee.
"Where do you want to start?"
"Lizzie looked around at the various tents and then back up at Cyrus."I don't know," she said.
"Let's go see the fat lady, they're usually jolly," Cyrus said, turning toward a tent that had a large woman painted on it with a huge bow on top of her head.
As they headed into the tent, Lizzie looked around at all the people laughing and then she saw a very large woman up front laughing and trading insults with the people in the audience.
"I don't think I like this, Grandpa Cyrus," Lizzie said grabbing his hand and pulling on it. "They're being mean to her."
"Ah, it's all in fun, Lizzie," Cyrus said, but allowed himself to be pulled from the tent.
"Let's go see the Siamese twins then," Cyrus said. Lizzie glanced into a tent flap that opened near her and saw a young boy hurling himself at the bars of a cage and growling at the crowd gathered around the cage. The flap fell and she read "The Wild Boy" on the side of the tent. Lizzie plastered herself to her grandpa's side as they went into a tent with a two men in tuxedos on it. Cyrus pulled her to a seat and she saw two men running laps around a small track matching stride for stride.
"Do you see the Siamese twins, Lizzie?" Cyrus laughed. "They were born attached at the chest."
"Lizzie shifted her eyes to the front as the two men leaned apart showing the band that attached them to each quickly covered her eyes.
"I want to go, Grandpa," Lizzie begged. "We need to get back to the buggy."
"Please," she pleaded when he didn't stand up right away. She pulled at his hand, and finally got him up on his feet.
"Lizzie, it's just for fun," Cyrus said as they left the tent. "Look there's even a lady with a beard."
"Please, Grandpa. I don't like it!" Lizzie was getting frantic as a dwarf dressed as a clown came at her.
"All right," he sighed, leading her towards the exit and back to the buggy.
"Come on, there's nothing to be afraid of. It's just people who are different. Don't you want to be like your mama and enjoy things that are different?"
Lizzie nodded, but curled up into a corner of the buggy seat and tried to get the images of all those people out of her head. She couldn't believe her mother would have liked seeing those things. She also knew she couldn't ask her papa because then he would know she had gone to the carnival.
When Hoss and Adam returned to the buggy, Lizzie forced all the images out of her mind and set to chattering about all the other things she had learned that day. Doing her best to keep her father from knowing anything was wrong. Adam frowned and looked at Hoss who just shrugged his shoulders at Lizzie's chatter. When they arrived at the Ponderosa Lizzie abruptly stopped talking and ran into the house.
"All right, Cyrus, what was that about?" Adam asked turning in his seat.
"What?" Cyrus asked, shaking his head.
"That is not how Lizzie is. She likes conversation, not monologue. What happened while we were in the blacksmith's shop?"
"Nothing, Adam," Cyrus said, getting out of the buggy.
Adam climbed out after him, planning on going to find Lizzie, but Russ flagged him down with questions about ranch business and by the time he went into the house, Lizzie was nowhere to be found. Adam then took up the search seriously and began asking everyone he ran into if they had seen Lizzie.
"I think I saw her climb up into the loft, Mr. Cartwright," Shorty said, as he tugged a bag of grain into the barn. "She likes to go up there and read and she had a book with her." Shorty shrugged as Adam climbed the ladder to the loft. Adam looked around and didn't see her, until he saw a bit of red peeking out from behind a hay bale.
"Hello, Lizzie," Adam said, taking a seat on a hay bale across from her.
"Hello, Papa," Lizzie said pulling her legs to her chest and circling her arms around them.
"I see you've been reading," He gestured towards to book with the bunny on the front of it. "I remember that book. I used to read it to you when you were younger."
"Yes, Papa," Lizzie said quietly.
Adam reached out and picked up the book and began turning the pages. "As I recall," he said, "It is about a little girl bunny who does something naughty and isn't brave enough to tell her papa bunny about it. Am I remembering that correctly?"
"Yes, sir," Lizzie said softly.
"As I also recall, her papa eventually finds out about what she's done wrong and even though he's angry and punishes her, in the end, the little girl bunny realizes he loves her."
Lizzie stared at her hands and nodded.
"So, are you up here reading this book because you find yourself in the same boat as that little girl bunny?" Adam asked, holding out the book to Lizzie.
Tears started to track down Lizzie's cheeks.
"Tell me what you did, honey," Adam commanded firmly.
"I went to the carnival with Grandpa Cyrus," Lizzie whispered.
"After I distinctly told you not to?" Adam said angrily.
"I had to…" Lizzie started.
"You did not have to," Adam said, as he frowned and stood up.
"But Grandpa Cyrus…"Lizzie whined.
"In the house and up to your room, now," Adam thundered. "I will not have you blame your disobedience on someone else."
Lizzie scurried past Adam, flew down the ladder and ran into the house with Adam on her heels.
The door slammed open as Lizzie pushed on it causing Ben and Cyrus who were sharing coffee to look up suddenly.
"Lizzie you know better than to slam into the house that way," Ben chided.
"Lizzie go to your room. I want to discuss a few things with your Grandpa Cyrus," Adam said, putting his hands on his hips. "I'll be upstairs in a little while to talk to you."
"Papa, no," Lizzie whined.
"You want to deal with this here, we'll deal with this here," Adam said angrily and taking Lizzie's arm, he simultaneously pulled her towards the dining room chair and spun it in place.
"Papa, no," Lizzie cried.
"Then go to your room," Adam said angrily, letting go of her arm.
Lizzie nodded and ran up the stairs.
Adam watched Lizzie run up the stairs and when he heard the door close, he turned angry eyes towards Cyrus.
"I want you to be in my daughter's life, Cyrus, but I will not abide you encouraging her to disobey me. If you find that impossible to do, I suggest you find a room at the hotel because you are no longer welcome here," Adam said in a deadly serious voice.
"Adam, I didn't mean to have an innocent trip to the carnival turn into this uproar. You're overreacting."
Ben put down his coffee cup angrily and watched the interplay between Adam and Cyrus.
"You were present, were you not, when I told Lizzie she was not to go to the carnival?" Adam asked angrily and took a step towards his father-in-law.
"I was, but…"Cyrus said in an equally angry voice.
"Then I will repeat," Adam interrupted in an even quieter voice, "I will not have you encouraging Lizzie to disobey me. She is my daughter and I will raise her as I see fit and regardless of how you may feel about my decisions, if you are unable to support them, then you will not be allowed in her life."
He turned away and walked heavily towards the staircase.
"Adam," Ben said.
"I got this, Pa," Adam said as he climbed the stairs.
"You encouraged Lizzie to disobey her father and go to the carnival?" Ben demanded.
"I didn't think it would matter. Lizzie wanted to go and I wanted to take her," Cyrus tried to explain. "Adam seems very angry. What do you think he'll do?"
"You tell me, Cyrus, if your Sarah had intentionally disobeyed you and gone somewhere you had told her not to go, would you have been angry? What would you have done?"
"But it was my fault," Cyrus said worriedly, getting to his feet. "I encouraged her. I need to go up there and talk to him. I should have known Adam would be unreasonable and severe with his daughter when I suggested it. I knew he hadn't changed."
"Are you saying you used Lizzie as a pawn to to to to" Ben angrily stuttered, "to see if Adam had changed?" Ben exploded. "You used an innocent little girl in your vendetta against her father?"
"That's not how it was," Cyrus argued.
"Then tell me how it was, Cyrus," Ben thundered.
"I don't know. I need a drink," Cyrus said heading towards his bedroom. "I'll have a drink and then go and try to explain to Adam what happened.
"Don't make this worse than it already is, Cyrus. You put Adam and Lizzie in a very difficult spot and now you need to just let it play out."
"Adam opened the door and came into Lizzie's room.
"Come over here," Adam said angrily as he took a seat in the desk chair.
"Papa, you're scaring me," Lizzie said as she got up and put the bed between her and her father. "Aren't we going to talk?"
Adam took a huge breath and tamped down the angry feelings he had before he spoke.
"Are you scared or are you nervous?" Adam asked quietly. "Do you have butterflies?"
"Big ones," Lizzie said nodding.
"Robin sized or eagle sized?" Adam asked. He winked at her when she looked up at him.
"Robin," Lizzie said with a tentative smile.
"Then I think you need to turn around and face the corner until they're back to butterfly size and I will sit over here and get a hold of myself too," Adam said as he held out his finger and made a twirling motion.
Lizzie nodded worriedly and turned to the corner while Adam took a big breath and tried to get into the state of mind he needed to be in to talk to Lizzie. As he sat and thought, he pretty quickly realized that he was angrier with Cyrus than he was with Lizzie.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Lizzie, and I'm not going to spank you," Adam said tiredly.
"Ah, stay in the corner, I may not be going to spank you, but I am still angry with you," he said as Lizzie turned around quickly with a surprised look on her face.
"You look surprised, why?" Adam asked, sitting back in his chair.
"Because of downstairs," Lizzie said and hung her head.
"Because I was naughty going to the carnival and downstairs you were just going to spank me without talking first," she said with just the slightest hint of accusation in her voice.
Adam hesitated a moment before replying. He sighed and resisted the urge to pull her into a hug. He had let the Cartwright temper get the best of him, but she had disobeyed him, he reminded himself. He needed to focus on that and arm her for the next time Cyrus tried to convince her to do something wrong to get back at him. Adam was sure there would be a next time.
"I won't disagree with you about being naughty. When I tell you no, Lizzie, I expect you to mind me. You know that."
"Yes, Sir," Lizzie said and started to cry.
Adam took a deep breath and said, "I'm not going to spank you because as far as the carnival goes, I think you were led astray by your Grandpa Cyrus. Do you know what that means?"
"No, Papa," Lizzie said, shaking her head and glancing over her shoulder at him.
"It means that you knew what I wanted from you, didn't you?"
"Yes, Sir," Lizzie whispered.
"And what was that?"
"Not to go to the carnival," Lizzie replied and hung her head.
"But your Grandpa Cyrus was right there encouraging you to go, so it was hard to make the right decision, wasn't it?"
"Yes, Papa," Lizzie said with some relief and nodded her head vigorously.
"I know," Adam sighed and scrubbed his face with his hand. "That makes me very angry with your Grandpa and I am even angrier with him than I am with you. That's why downstairs happened. I'm sorry I scared you and made you think I would spank you without talking first."
Lizzie took a big breath and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes with the backs of her hands.
"Are the robins back to butterfly size?" Adam asked quietly.
Lizzie nodded.
"Good, then come over here and talk to me how you ended up at the carnival," Adam said holding out his arms as he shifted to the rocking chair.
"Oh, Papa," Lizzie said sadly. "I'm sorry. It was my fault. Grandpa saw me looking at the carnival and asked me if I wanted to go."
"You're right, you should have said no, but your Grandpa should not have asked you. He knew as well as you did that I didn't want you to go, so do not let him off the hook."
"I did say no," Lizzie said, ducking her head and picking at a fingernail.
"You said no? I don't understand," Adam said with a frown.
"I said no, but…"Lizzie took a deep breath before plunging on, "I said no, but Grandpa Cyrus said you didn't have to know."
The last few words came out as a whisper.
"What?" Adam said angrily and put Lizzie on her feet. "Young lady, when I tell you not to do something, I mean it, and it is not all right as long as I don't find out about it."
"I know, Papa," Lizzie said timidly. "I just didn't know what to do."
Adam nodded, pulled her into a hug and growled before saying, "I know, Lizzie."
Adam took a deep breath and pulled her back into her lap.
"So, tell me what you thought of the carnival."
"Oh, Papa, it was awful," Lizzie said as a tear coursed down her cheek. "There were people there who were stuck to each other and a wild boy in a cage and this woman with a beard and some woman they called the Fat Lady and this scary little man dressed like a clown."
"Remember me telling you that the carnival wasn't one I thought you would enjoy?"
Lizzie nodded.
"I wasn't trying to ruin your fun. I just didn't think you needed to see a place like that," Adam said, stroking the tangles out of Lizzie's hair.
"It made me sad, Papa. It was scary. I thought it was rude to stare, but you're supposed to stare. Everybody was staring. I don't understand why they want people to stare at them," Lizzie said, cuddling up to her father's chest.
"Well, Honey, I think that those people probably can't get normal jobs because of the way they look and the women probably can't find husbands, so they have to find a way to make money and the carnival is a legal way to do that."
"But the lady with the beard could have shaved it off, couldn't she?"
"I suppose so, but beards grow back and maybe it's embarrassing for her to worry about it when she's with a man. Maybe it's easier to not shave it and just show herself to strangers," Adam sighed.
"What about the boy in the cage? Do you think his papa put him in there?" Lizzie asked as she started to pick at the buttons on Adam's shirt.
"Maybe he doesn't have a papa, Lizzie. Or maybe he does have a papa and he is only pretending to be wild." Adam said, putting his hand over Lizzie's to stop her from plucking at his buttons and started rocking.
"Would you ever do that, Papa?" Lizzie asked leaning back so she could look at his face.
"You mean put you in a cage and have you pretend to be wild?" Adam asked seriously.
"Yes, if we had to make money?"
"I'd like to say no, Lizzie, but if it was the only way that we could make money to eat, I might have to ask you to pretend like that, but it would make me really sad," Adam answered.
"They rocked quietly for a while before Adam put Lizzie on her feet.
"Lizzie, I am the one you need to mind no matter what. You know that right?" He said, taking her hands.
"Yes, Papa," Lizzie said nodding.
"But Grandpa Cyrus encouraged you to disobey me?" Adam raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, Papa," Lizzie said looking down.
"So, I think you need to practice saying no, when you know how I want you to behave," Adam said firmly, "and I am going to give you a chance to practice that."
"Yes, Sir," Lizzie said looking down at her hand. "How?"
"No matter who asks you what happened up here. You're not to tell them." Adam said firmly.
"What do you mean?" Lizzie asked looking up at him.
"If anyone: your Grandpa Ben, your Grandpa Cyrus, your Uncle Hoss, your Uncle Joe or even Hop Sing asks you about how I punished you, you aren't to tell them. I expect you to politely refuse to answer."
"But how?"
"That young lady, is up to you, but if I hear you told, you will be in trouble with me. Do you understand me?" Adam said firmly.
"Yes, Papa." Lizzie nodded.
Adam squeezed her hands reassuringly.
"But I thought I was supposed to mind adults," Lizzie whispered.
"You are, honey, when an adult you trust asks you to do something I do want you to mind. But when they ask you to do something I have specifically told you not to do. I expect you to say no and stick to your guns," Adam said firmly. "Do you remember what I told you about conscience and butterflies when Paul asked you to cheat?"
Lizzie nodded.
"Remember those butterflies? What were they telling you?"
"That if I'm doing the right thing, I won't feel the butterflies."
"Exactly right, honey," Adam said kissing her cheek. "So, were there butterflies when Grandpa Cyrus talked you into going to the carnival?'
"Yes," Lizzie said and stroked her stomach.
"So, what should you have done?"
"Said no and stuck to my guns," Lizzie said firmly.
"And I'll bet those butterflies would have flown away," Adam said, fluttering his hands off to the side. "I am not telling you to be defiant and say no to adults. I am saying that when you feel butterflies and know that you are being asked to do something of which I wouldn't approve, I want you to say no."
Lizzie looked up at him and nodded.
"Any other questions?"
"No, Papa," Lizzie said.
"All right, head downstairs and get to your chores," Adam said standing up.
"Can't I stay up here?" Lizzie said worriedly.
"No," he said and cupped her face. "I really want you to practice this, Lizzie. I really want you to learn how to say no politely and make it stick. You aren't going to get any practice up here without anyone around."
Lizzie nodded and headed towards the door. She gave him one last sad look and together they walked down the stairs.
"Are you all right, Lizzie?" Cyrus said jumping to his feet.
"Yes, Grandpa Cyrus," Lizzie said moving as quickly towards the door as she could.
"What happened? Did your papa punish you?" He asked following her and glaring at Adam.
"Lizzie," Adam said firmly. "Answer your Grandpa's question – truthfully and politely."
"Umm, Umm," Lizzie dithered. "Papa asked me not to say. Sorry Grandpa Cyrus."
Lizzie glanced up at him quickly.
"I have to go and feed the animals. Sorry," Lizzie quickly left the room, practically running outside.
"What did you do to her?" Cyrus asked ferociously turning on Adam.
"She got what she had coming, Cyrus. And for your part in this drama, you are getting what you have coming to you."
"And, what, exactly, is that, Adam?" Cyrus asked angrily.
"Not knowing how I punished that little girl for something you got her into," Adam said smugly.
Ben sat back in his chair and smiled to himself.
"Well played, Adam," he whispered to himself. "Well played."
