RELIEF FROM BOREDOM
Chapter 1
Little Joe sat slumped on the sofa, his arms crossed, blowing through his lips and making them vibrate. He looked cross.
Adam and Hoss came in from a tiring morning moving hay into the loft, via a system of pulleys which required sheer brute strength to move them. They were both exhausted and it was just before lunch.
"We'll have to wash up in a minute," said Adam.
"Yeah, and how! I'm covered in sweat and dust."
They collapsed on the two spare chairs by the fireplace. It was July so there was no need to light it. Ben saw them enter and got up from the bookwork, which he was more than happy to leave.
"You two ought to wash up."
"We just said that," said Hoss.
"Give us a chance, Pa!" Adam groaned. "We're aching all over. That's hard work, that is."
"OK. But bear in mind if you're not on time Hop Sing will blow a fuse and not feed us for a month."
"I sometimes wonder what your last slaves died of," Hoss laughed.
"Hard work and plenty of it. And less of the backchat, son." Ben winked at his middle youngster and went outside for a moment.
Joe blew out of his lips again, this time louder.
"And what's the matter with you, younger brother?" asked Adam.
"I'm bored."
"Only boring people get bored."
"OK, then, I'm boring."
"That you are not, Little Joe," said Hoss, leaning down and rubbing his weary leg muscles. "Especially when you get up to your tricks. Where's your sister?"
"She's your sister as well!"
"Alright, where's our sister?"
"Dunno."
"You two are usually joined at the hip," said Adam.
"No, we're not! We do have separate lives, you know!"
"Our little boy is peevish today."
Adam's condescension drove Little Joe crazy sometimes. "Shut up."
"Very peevish!"
"Adam, why do you act so superior all the time? You're only twelve years older than me!"
"It may as well be twenty the way you're acting. You're going on like a two-year-old having his first tantrum."
Joe had just about had enough. He hated his brother sometimes. If Adam had not been five times bigger than him and about ten times stronger, he would have punched him. Hoss lowered his head, grinning and trying not to laugh. He found it hilarious watching the calm, infuriaring Adam and the fiery Little Joe indulging in a bit of banter. Neither of them meant it, they adored each other. He knew Adam did it deliberately, just to wind Joe up. And Joe had such a temper, it never failed.
"I wish you'd shut up."
"And I wish you'd get off your backside and find something to do. Instead of moaning all day."
Pa came in, chewing his pen. "That darn paperwork! It never ends. I wish someone'd do it for me."
"You could get a secretary," said Hoss.
"I'm not wasting good money on a secretary when I can do it myself," he answered, rather illogically.
"What about Scamp?" said Adam.
"What about Scamp?"
"Well, she's good with paperwork. What's more, she loves it."
"Adam, she's far too young!"
Joe's sighs were getting louder and louder. He drummed his heels against the couch, desperately wanting attention. It worked.
"What's the matter with you?"
"I'm bored."
"Well, I'm sure we could find you something to do. Eh, Adam?"
Adam played the game. "Oh, yeah. There's loads of little jobs need doing."
"I don't mean work. I've already done my chores today, Pa," said Joe, not liking the direction the conversation was taking. "And I've got more later on."
"The devil makes work for idle hands, son. Come on, off and wash up. You too, Little Joe. You could at least wash your hands. Oh, by the way, go and find your sister and get her to wash too."
Joe searched the barn, the corral, the field beyond, but could not find her. He finally doubled back. She was behind the house, sitting cross-legged against the wall, reading a book.
"Lunch is ready."
"I'll just finish the chapter."
"No, now, Scamp. Hop Sing'll go nuts if you're late."
She sighed and banged the book shut. "Hop Sing is a mite uppity. You'd think he owned the place."
"Don't ever let the others hear you say that. You know how they feel about him."
"Oh, I love him. It's just that he bosses us around worse than Pa."
"Well, he's the one who feeds us. Got to keep in with him. Anyway what you doing back here? It took
me ages to find you."
"Only place I could get any peace. Adam and Hoss were yelling at each other, Hop Sing was muttering and Pa was moaning because he had bookwork to do. I swear he sits there thinking up chores for us."
"Yeah, he does that. Know what Hoss said to him?"
"No?"
" 'What did your last slave die of?' " She laughed uproariously. "And Pa said, 'Hard work and plenty of it.' " Her mirth increased. "Anyway, what you reading?"
He was rather jealous of her books because they took her away from him.
"Moby Dick. Captain Ahab gets his leg bitten off."
"Oh," he said, rather uninterested.
"You ought to read it." She suddenly gave a wicked smile. "Oh, I forgot, you can't, can you?"
He gave her an affectionate punch and she returned it automatically. It was their way of saying howdy. They walked around the house. He loved her but she was always teasing him about his lack of learning and his disinterest in books. She was clever and she knew it. The teasing inevitably led to more friendly punching.