My Brother, My Enemy

Chapter Seven

DISCLAIMER: Hmmm, let's see. Do I own Bonanza? (thinks hard) Ummm... NO! I'm not even CLOSE to owning them! But if I did, I would SO release DVDs by season like Little House on the Prairie instead of just a couple of randomly-chosen episodes at a time. If anyone would care to start a petition asking Paramount to donate the Bonanza rights to The Almighty Panamint, please feel free to review saying so. Thank you, have a nice day! ;-D

"Please, Pa?" Hoss begged for the millionth time that day. He knew he must sound as annoying as Little Joe, but he just had to convince Pa! "Why not? Joe's been takin' real good care o' him fer the past few weeks. Please?"

"Hoss, I said no. You know I don't approve of animals in the house. Besides, Hop Sing would have a fit."

Hoss hated doing anything that would make Hop Sing mad, because he always threatened to go back to China when he was mad. But he also wanted his brother to be happy, so he continued.

"Pa, jist look at the little feller. Ain't he cute? Can ya really blame Joe for wantin' a pup like this 'un?" Hoss held the black dog up for Ben to see. The dog looked at Ben with huge, sad, puppy-dog eyes which reminded him all too much of the look Little Joe gave him whenever he was in trouble or when he wanted something. And when Joe looked at him like that, he could never ignore his son for long.

Ben gave a loud, long sigh and announced, "I think Joe would like to see you—and his dog."

Hoss whooped in delight and hurried up the stairs with the dog in his arms.

When he reached Joe's bedroom door, he knocked and, without even waiting for "Come in", barged straight into the room. He found Adam and Joe talking on the bed with big smiles on their faces.

"Hey…" Joe began as he saw Hoss come into his room without permission.

"Never mind that," Hoss interrupted. He held up the dog and said, "Guess who I found follerin' us back home and who Pa said you could keep?"

Joe's eyes lit up in delight and he took the puppy from Hoss' hands. "Really? You convinced Pa to let us keep him?"

Hoss nodded happily.

"Wow, thanks a lot, Hoss! You're the best!" Joe beamed. Hoss blushed as Joe stroked the little dog.

"So now that he's definitely yours, what are you going to call him?" asked Adam.

Joe thought for a minute, then shrugged and admitted, "I don't know."

"How about Spot?" suggested Hoss.

"He doesn't have any spots. He's just black," Joe said, rolling his eyes.

Joe was so deep in thought that he didn't notice when Adam whispered something to Hoss with a sneaky look on his face. Hoss was hard-put to keep from laughing right out loud when he agreed to Adam's idea.

"How about Tickles?" Hoss said.

Joe gave him a revolted look. "Tickles!" he repeated. "What kind of a name is that?"

"It may not be a good name," said Adam. "But it's a very good idea. Come here, you…"

Before Joe could stop them, both his brothers were practically on top of him, tickling like crazy.

"Hey, stop!" Joe yelped between giggles. He started to wriggle, trying to escape his brothers' fingers, but there was no way out for Little Joe.

"Let me up! Hoss…! Adam…! Stop it!" Joe squealed again. "I'll call Pa if ya don't!"

Adam and Hoss just tickled faster.

"Pa!" called Joe, gasping for breath. "Pa, come quick! They're… they're trying to kill me!"

Before any of them knew it, Ben was standing in the doorway, watching in amusement.

"Make 'em stop!" Joe commanded. "They're gonna tickle me to death!"

"Oh, now we wouldn't want that, would we?" Hoss said, turning to Adam.

"Nope," Adam agreed. "I mean, I wouldn't care—maybe we could have some peace and quiet around here for a change. But Pa would be absolutely furious if we killed a little boy—especially his own son…"

"Just STOP!" demanded Joe. But no matter how serious he tried to sound, he couldn't stop giggling.

Finally, Adam and Hoss straightened up and let their brother breathe.

Joe just lay on the bed for a minute, panting hard. When he had caught his breath, he propped himself up on his elbows, glowered viciously at his brothers and said, "I hope your fingers are sore in the morning."

Adam and Hoss just laughed, and Joe couldn't help but join in.

When the laughter died down, Ben handed Joe his dog, who had managed to escape the tickling.

"I think you scared him," Ben informed his three sons. "He was sitting there in the corner, as still as a rock."

"Hey, I've got it!" Joe cried, taking the little black dog from Ben's hands. "We could call him Rocky. After all, he's black like a rock, and he said he was as still as a rock, too."

"Too bad he isn't as silent as a rock," Adam grumbled good-naturedly.

Joe ignored his older brother and asked, "So can we call him Rocky?"

"Why not?" said Ben, smiling at Joe. Joe smiled back and started to pet Rocky. He grinned as the dog gave his fingers a lick, and Joe could have sworn that Rocky grinned back.

The End

EPILOGUE:

The Cartwrights never did find out who was poaching on their land that fateful day in June. But they were all sort of glad that whoever it was had been poaching, because it led two of the family members to a much better understanding of each other and had given them all a lesson in forgiveness, love and understanding.

Me: That's it, people! All's well that ends well!

Dick: Except for you.

Me: Um... why?

Dick: Because now Adam and Joe are finished with their target practice and are coming after you. In person. With really big guns.

Me: (sweating) But it had a happy ending, didn't it?

Dick: Yeah, but they're still pretty miffed about HOW you GOT to the happy ending.

Me: (runs away)

Dick: (sigh)

Reviewer Replies

bonanza-fan-Yup, that's why. Little Joe is feeling much better now, and he says thank you for thinking of him. He really appreciated that little bit of consideration.

lgbabyblu-Panamint told me not to answer that on the grounds that it might incriminate her (whatever that means). And chocolate cake with peaches and whipped cream sounds pretty good right about now...