My Brother, My Enemy
Chapter Three
DISCLAIMER: Note to all lawyers who actually read this thing--I don't own them. Don't sue me or you will squeeze about thirty cents out of me, tops.
Adam knew that they had all gotten off very easy the previous night. He didn't know whether it was because of Joe's puppy-dog expressions or because Pa wanted to make sure that Joe could sit in his seat on the first day of school, but either way, the tanning had been prevented thanks to little brother. The only punishment they had received was a two-week restriction to the ranch. Adam would rather be restricted than tanned any day.
Joe had left for school unusually early that morning because he hadn't eaten any breakfast. Nobody was sure whether it was nerves or because he was still mad at Adam. The only person who knew was Joe, and he most definitely was talking.
It was Hoss' turn to muck out the stalls, the boys' least favorite chore. They often wondered why Pa never took a turn at it and left his three sons to fight over who had to do the mucking that day instead. However, none of them had the nerve to ask their father such a question—not even Joe.
But today, Hoss was very glad that he had been mucking out the stalls.
Right in the middle of the dreaded chore, Hoss thought he had seen something in the empty stall of Starlight. He trotted over to the stall and peered inside. There, sleeping on the fresh hay in the very corner was a little black puppy. Its fur was all matted and knotted, sort of like Joe's hair when he forgets to comb it, thought Hoss.
Hoss slowly approached the small dog, but he wasn't quiet enough. The dog jerked awake with a start and whined as he saw Hoss looming nearer and nearer.
"Shhhhh, it's alright, pup. I ain't gonna hurt ya none," said Hoss softly. He carefully held the tiny pup in his hands and stroked it with two fingers. The little dog seemed to like that and its eyes were soon half-closed again. Unfortunately…
"Aren't you supposed to be mucking out the stalls?" asked a rather loud voice from the doorway. The pup woke again with a soft howl and a whimper. Adam trotted towards Hoss suspiciously.
"What do you have there in your hands, brother?" Adam said.
"Hands?" repeated Hoss nervously. "What hands?"
"Your hands," Adam replied. Hoss finally relented and opened his cupped hands to reveal the black puppy.
"Hoss, if you're caught with that little guy, not only are we going to be restricted for life, we'll never sit down again either. Just because Pa let us off with a warning this time doesn't mean we're allowed to do the same kind of thing again," Adam told him. "So what are you going to do with him?"
Hoss thought a moment, and then came up with an idea. "I got it," he said. "I'm gonna give 'im ta Joe as a birthday present."
"You're going to WHAT!" yelled Adam.
"Not in front o' Pa, o' course," Hoss added quickly. "Besides, it might help ta brighten his mood a bit."
"Oh, sure, more secrets and more lies. That's gonna get us in real good by Christmas," Adam muttered.
The two heard Little Joe riding into the yard after a day at school. Hoss dumped the dog into Adam's arms and raced out to greet his brother. Adam groaned, thinking about how Pa would react if he caught his oldest, so-called most responsible son breaking the rules two days after being lectured on them.
Adam stuck the pup under some hay in the hayloft and hurried out the door.
When he came out, he didn't like what he saw.
There was Hoss, helping a rather stiff Little Joe down from his saddle. Adam couldn't see his youngest brother's face, but he had the basic idea of what had happened.
"Alright, Joe, what is it this time?" Adam groaned.
Joe looked up at him and glared. That was when Adam noticed the black eye, the bloody nose, the split lip and the way Joe was favoring his right leg.
"I got into another fight," Joe said flatly. He took Starlight by the reins and prepared to lead her into the stable, but Adam grabbed the reins as well and said, "Why?"
"Is it any of your business?" Joe snapped. He tugged on the reins again, but Adam still didn't let go. He felt a little sorry for poor Starlight, being tugged back and forth like that, but it didn't stop him from continuing his questioning.
"I asked you a question, and I expect an answer," Adam said. He ignored the 'back down' signals that Hoss was frantically giving him.
"I said, none of your business!" Joe repeated hotly. He gave the reins a final yank and Adam let go. Adam and Hoss watched their brother hurry to the stable.
"I hope he don't find that pup. By the way, whaddya do with 'im?" asked Hoss.
"I put him—"
"Hey! Who's this?" they heard Joe exclaim from the stable.
"I think he found him," Hoss mumbled, shooting Adam a glare. Both brothers went in after Joe and found him sitting on the floor stroking the black fur and smiling for the first time in weeks.
"Aw, dadburnit, Shortshanks, I wanted ta save that for yer birthday," complained Hoss.
"He's so cute!" Joe said. The puppy looked up into his new master's hazel-green eyes and wagged his tail. Joe giggled as the pup licked his nose. "Thanks for the thought, Hoss. I love him!"
Hoss' face turned a little pink as he knelt down beside Joe.
"Whatcha gonna call 'im, little brother?" asked Hoss.
"I dunno yet," Joe replied.
Adam saw that Joe was in a good mood for the first time in weeks. He knew that this was his chance to really, truly apologize. But there was one thing that stopped him: the fact that this puppy was not allowed in the house without Pa's permission, which he most certainly had not given. How would Joe react when Adam told him that? Not very well, probably. But he had to chance it before the three of them got into any more trouble.
"Pa doesn't know about it yet," Adam said.
Joe gave Adam another scowl. "In that case, I'm definitely keeping him, and you can't stop me!"
Joe stood up and marched triumphantly to the house, holding the pup close to his chest.
Very bad move, Adam. Of COURSE Joe would want to do exactly what you say not to! Very, very bad move…
It seemed like déjà vu over the next few weeks: Joe was raising a canine without Pa's permission and both his brothers knew about it yet were not lifting a finger to stop it. And even if they had tried to banish the newest addition to the Cartwright family, Joe would have put up a huge fuss. That would have gotten someone's attention in no time at all, and that was the last thing Adam wanted, especially after the wolf pup incident.
Joe, on the other hand, thought having the new puppy was great. The aching he had felt in his heart after discovering the wolf pups were gone was not so strong now, although it still hurt to think that he and Adam were still at odds. It hurt even more to think that his long-admired oldest brother had had the nerve to lie to get his way.
Joe came home from school one day to see Hoss playing with the pup out in the yard.
"Are you sure that's smart?" Little Joe asked. "What if Pa sees you?"
"He won't," Hoss assured him. "Pa an' Adam went up to the north pasture fer the afternoon."
"Why didn't you go with them?" Joe continued as he began to lead Starlight to the barn.
"'Cause I had things ta do here. Besides, someone had ta keep an eye on this little rascal," Hoss answered. The puppy jumped up around Hoss' legs, trying to get at his hands to lick them affectionately. Joe hurriedly stabled his pony so he could get in on the fun before he had to do homework.
"Ya still haven't named the little feller, have ya?" asked Hoss.
"No. I haven't been able to think of anything good," Joe admitted as he allowed the black dog to lick his face. It tickled and Joe laughed.
"Well, dontcha go an' leave the poor pup nameless forever, ya hear?" Hoss said.
"Yeah, I hear," Joe replied, imitating Hoss' accent. He did a pretty good job at it too. Hoss frowned and pretended to look annoyed, much to his little brother's amusement.
"So, any more o' them annoyin' school assignments, brother?" Hoss inquired as he watched Joe playing with the pup.
"No, but ol' Miss Jones finally graded our "What I Did during Summer Vacation" reports," Joe told him. "I wrote that went fishing with you an' Pa a lot and that I'm still mad at you for dropping out of school and abandoning me and stuff like that," Joe added, shooting a mock glare at Hoss.
"Whaddya git?" Hoss said, ignoring the glare.
"An F," Joe said. Hoss stared at him and Joe laughed. "'F' for 'Fantastic', that is," Joe giggled. "She said it was well-written and a good way to start off the school year. And she's mad at you for dropping out, too."
"Jist between you an' me, I don't really care what that ol' sourpuss thinks," Hoss stated.
Joe laughed even harder. "I'm gonna tell Pa you said that," he chortled. Joe picked up his dog and made a break for the house to escape Hoss' attacks.
"JOE!" Hoss shouted. "GIT YER ORNERY HIDE BACK HERE RIGHT NOW! Dadburnit…"
Dick: Joe doesn't like to be called 'Shortshanks', you know. He told me so.
Me: Hey, Hoss called him that, not me.
Dick: You wrote it...
Me: Watch it, or I'll actually start working on that Batman story of mine and YOU WON'T LIKE IT AT ALL! Lots of Robin-torture... XD
Dick: Well, it's not like you're gonna kill me or anything.
Me: No, but Bruce comes close...
Dick: HEY!
Me: Bwahahahaha...
Reviewer Replies
pkw--You're welcome :) Here is the third part for your reading pleasure.
Dick: You kill Bruce and I kill you!
Me: Not if I use my laptop to attack you with dozens and dozens of tribbles!
Dick: Cheater!
Me: Let's just say this is revenge for when you stole my TV set in the middle of "Jurassic Park"...