Epilogue: Gone Fishin'

Ben and Lil' Joe rode up to the main house just a few minutes after teaching Cochise to single-foot. Joe gratefully dismounted and led his pony into the barn to take off his tack and give him a rubdown with clean straw, then feed and water him, putting him into his stall for the night. He was surprised to see that all the chores were done, and his father didn't take Buck into the barn, but just tied him on the top rail of the closest paddock, as he rapidly entered the house.

Joe walked inside when he finished, just in time to see Hoss and Adam gleefully leave, heading to the barn to tack their own horses up.

Confused, he asked Ben, "What's going on, Pa? Where are Adam and Hoss headed?"

Ben, sitting at his desk sorting out the paperwork from his purchases, answered, "I'd told them when we left Carson City, that if they got all the chores and their schoolwork done when we got home, we were going to wait for you to get finished with school and I would take all of you fishing. You'd been pesting about that for weeks, and this struck me as a good day to do that."

"Terrific, Pa!" Joe squealed, "I'll have Cochise ready in just a..."

"JOSEPH!" Ben interrupted, "Stop right there!" he hollered, as Little Joe had spun around towards the front door, planning to exit. "YOU aren't going anywhere, young man, except to open that Math book, and start studying the chapter you've so dismally ignored. You are utterly restricted to home and school until I say different. You'll only be doing school, church, and chores, until I am satisfied that you've learned your lessons... in more ways than one. We will discuss this more tonight after dinner, but I'm not going to let your misbehavior punish Adam and Hoss, who've looked forward to this all day long."

"But PA!" Joe started to whine, "This isn't FAIR! I don't want to just sit home while..."

"Joseph," Ben's voice took on a harsh warning edge, "I was planning to let you study up in your room lying on your stomach on your bed, or sitting in my armchair. If I hear ONE MORE WORD of complaint from you, I'm going to sit you down in the Dining Room on a wooden dining chair with NO cushion, assign your work to you, and require that you sit right there without moving until I get back. Now... what will it be, young man?"

Joe wanted to argue a lot more, but after one look at his father's face, and reflecting that he'd never won this argument in his entire life, he decided obedience was his best strategy.

"Sorry, Pa. I'll do as I'm told," he answered politely. "May I go to my room, then?"

"Yes, you may. While I'm gone, I want you to read through that chapter and try to complete the even questions at the end of the chapter, which was the first homework assignment. I will be checking them myself after dinner, so focus carefully when you compute them."

"Yes, Pa," Joe heaved a heavy sigh. It was just his luck that before he was born his father had been an expert seaman. Of all the academic subjects they studied, Math was Ben's strongest skill. He was even a fairly patient teacher, finding lots of different ways to explain things when they seemed confusing. What Ben was NOT patient with, however, was daydreaming, goofing off, or cutting up with other students. He'd taught young seamen and midshipman in his maritime career, and that required much stricter classroom demeanor than Miss Jones' school did.

"Very well, son. We'll be back for supper. Behave yourself, and I wish you were going along. We'll see you soon." Ben said, heading out the door.

"Bye, Pa. I'll miss you," Joe called after him, miserably mounting the stairs to his room with his schoolbooks under his arm. "This is going to be a VERY long month," he thought to himself.

A/N: As I pondered this epilogue, I thought about what it would be like for Ben to "tutor" Joe with his math for a month. It might make an interesting follow-up story. What do ya'll think, Gentle Readers? I enjoy the Bonanza universe, and hope you like some of these short sniglets that bounce past my mental movie screen from time to time. Please feel free to comment and/or review. Thanks for reading, hopefully enjoying! Grace to you, Gentle Reader! - Mort