Joseph, My Son
Chapter 11
Eleanor's pregnancy progressed smoothly as the spring also progressed. She became more content, knowing that she was carrying the first Cartwright grandchild. In fact, it had become a particular point of pride for her. Ben was very close with her sister in- law Prudence, and Eleanor knew that her child would raise her importance and his estimation of her in the Cartwright patriarch's eyes. No one else in the family was aware that the younger Mrs. Cartwright felt this jealousy of Prudence, and they would have been astonished by it. The two young women, while having different interests and backgrounds, were not at all unfriendly and there had been plenty of mutual assistance between the two over the recent months as Eleanor struggled to find her footing as a new wife and Prudence dealt with the rigors of teaching in Virginia City while living on the Ponderosa. Still, Eleanor had an unspoken need to become the "important" daughter-in-law of the family. She still chafed a bit at how the (quite well-off) Cartwrights didn't seem interested in the finer things in life. It was, she felt, her duty to lead them into the social leadership position they should rightfully possess not just in their town, but in the whole of Nevada as well. Her first child was the key to increasing her influence with Ben.
In the meanwhile, Hoss was expecting the first Clydesdale foal to be born no later than the Fourth of July to Jill. Nebbie's own foal was due by the fall and even Mitchy was showing early signs of pregnancy. He and his brothers would have to enlarge the barn again before Jill's foal was born and it probably would be a good idea to plant some more acreage with hay so that his horses and the ranch's herd had sufficient feed. Adam, in the meantime, was looking forward to the arrival of young Ted Whitman. Besides the typical ranch activities that he wanted the boy to be involved in, he thought he would also engage him in designing a new, larger, and sturdier wagon that could make the most of the Clydesdale horses' strength. They had discovered during hauling tests that the freight wagons that were typical in the area required a wider harness arrangement to accommodate the girth of these equines and prevent getting their collars and leads tangled together. They'd also seen that the strength of the horses encouraged the teamsters to overload the wagons and that caused the construction currently used to come apart, tearing the wooden frames into pieces.
Joseph continued to manage the cattle herds. The hard winter had kept the animals in the lower grazing lands longer than typical, meaning that the grass cover was getting thin, and the weaker animals were in danger. Once a week he would travel to check out the upper pastures to see if the snow cover had become thin enough to move the herds up. Each trip was an overnight away from Elly, and it increased her anxiety and loneliness. She had taken to staying overnight with Ben and Adam, returning to her own home in the morning to take care of the barn's livestock.
On one of these occasions, Ben had brought up the lying in of the first Cartwright grandchild that was only a few months away now. "Have you given any thought to having your baby here in this house? It's closer to the doctor and we've had plenty of experience with children being born here, including Joseph himself. Plus, I still have his cradle in the attic."
"I was actually thinking about staying with my mother and aunt and uncle in order to have the baby in town. Of course, it's a much longer ride to them if the baby starts to come early, but everyone says first baby's take their time arriving, so it might not be a problem. And naturally, I 'd like my mother with me…"
"Of course," replied Ben, patting Eleanor's hand reassuringly. "That's only natural, and you know this house is always available if for whatever reason the Williams's house isn't convenient at the time."
Joe was lukewarm to the idea of Elly giving birth in town. While Doc Martin would be closer, he thought staying at the Williams' house before and during the birth would increase the "fuss factor", as he put it, and put everyone more on edge than they would be otherwise. And that was hardly a good thing for a first-time mother. He also had to admit to himself that it wasn't any good for a first-time father, either.
At the same time, Clarence's parents were preparing for the birth of their own child, but with much less anxiety. They had already welcomed three children into the world, although they had lost their oldest. She had been nearly school-aged when she had caught the cholera. Clarence was looking forward to his vacation with Prudence and Hoss at the time of the birth, which would likely coincide with the Easter spring vacation. Hoss was so excited about the prospect of their little guest that he had already made a child-sized bed and some toys for the young boy. He looked forward to the boy's visit, talking about it as much as he talked about the foals their mares were carrying.
It was a sunny late Saturday afternoon in March. Working around the yard still required a jacket and gloves, but there was no more snow around their house. He walked over to where Pru was digging out turnips from her kitchen garden. She'd nearly filled a good-sized basket with the roots, and he gave her a helping hand to stand from her kneeling position.
"Well, you certainly did end up with a better crop than I could have imagined last fall. Maybe next year, however, you can grow a few other things as well? I never thought I'd say this, Pru honey, but I think I'm tired of turnips – mashed, fried, in stews, with potatoes – I can't say I've ever eaten so much of them!"
She laughed as he threw an arm around her. "I'm sorry, but there wasn't much time to plant anything this summer and few other seeds to get a hold of. Don't worry. In just a few weeks it will be warm enough for the spring seeds. I'll plant plenty of peas, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and anything else your heart desires."
"Well, what my heart desires right now, is you," Hoss said as he swept her up into his arms. Instead of carrying her into the house, however, he frowned. "You've lost some weight," he said with concern in his voice. "I think you're working too hard between school and the house."
"Oh, Eric. It's nothing. You're right. The food is getting monotonous, but once we start getting some variety, I'll be eating better. Now, what were you saying about desire?" she asked before she nuzzled her way past his jacket collar and shirt to his collarbone below.
"Think it's too soon to start thinking about having our own kids?" he quietly asked her.
"I think we'd better wait one more month. Any sooner and I might be showing before the end of the school year," she answered.
"More of that danged tea and counting days!" he answered unhappily as he carried her into the house.
XXXXX
The weeks went by quickly and before they knew it, Hoss had Clarence in the buckboard between him and Prudence with her horse tied to the rear and they clip-clopped their way to their spread. Before they could even introduce the boy to his room, he made a beeline to the pond by their house, scaring the birds who were there. Prudence looked tenderly at her husband and the youngster. Eric was going to be a fine, fine father when the time came. He just intuitively knew how to be with children. Of course, he would claim that he was still pretty much a child himself, but she knew better. He might still hold onto that wonder of things that children had, but it was his gentleness that made youngsters so trusting of him and one of the things she loved most about him. But he wasn't childish in any way at all.
"Now, you see here, if you rush up to an animal, it's gonna frighten them, so's best to take your time. Let them pick up your scent. They'll decide on their own if you're OK to take a chance on or not. Now there's a den of beavers down at that end of the pond," the big man said pointing at the far end of the water, "It's too late to try to find them now, but tomorrow we can try to see if we can find 'em. But" he emphasized, "we're gonna have to be real, real quiet. Think you can try?"
"Oh, yes! I can try real hard!"
"That's real good. Now are you ready to see your room?"
Clarence was stunned at the prospect of having a room all to himself for the next few days. He cautiously tried out the bed, his eyes asking, "is this all for me?"
"'Course it is, big guy!" said Hoss with a laugh as he patted the boy on the shoulder.
To reassure the boy, just in case he might be frightened of sleeping alone, Prudence said, "Our room is right next door. We can leave the lamp low for you if you like."
"And we've got some toys for you. Even a stuffed doll for you if you want to take it to bed with you," Hoss added.
For once Clarence had nothing to say.
XXXXX
Hoss's idea about being able to see the three Cartwright houses and setting up a signal system had intrigued Adam. Everyone had agreed it was a good idea. A private telegraph system would be best of course, but that required a license from the telegraph company, and the company was still considering it. Ben wondered whether it might end up being used for gossiping at the day's end instead of being used for emergencies, in which case it would become a distraction and a nuisance. Someone would also have to be standing by all the time to know if there was a message. He also agreed that a lantern system would be useless during the day, or at night if someone wasn't constantly on guard. It was Hop Sing who suggested using heavy bells. They would be loud enough to be heard the long distances, were useful night and day, wouldn't require learning a code or getting permission from the telegraph company and needed only a good pull on a rope to summon assistance. Joseph was especially keen on the idea, and it wasn't long before each house had a good-sized bell hung by its porch. There were only two times that the bell was to be used; to signal that everything was alright after a storm, the bells would be rung according to the number assigned to the house; the Ponderosa's main house was number one; Hoss and Prudence were number two, and Joe and Eleanor were number three. A distress call was simple. Whoever needed assistance would ring their bell continually for at least a minute, which could be repeated as necessary.
Clarence was just tall enough to jump up and grab the rope of bell #2. Fortunately, he had only let it ring once before Hoss ran out. Joe was at home that morning and wondered why his father announced that everything was normal at the big house, while Adam went to double check if someone had come up onto the porch to ring their bell. When he saw no one about, he remembered about Clarence's visit and but two and two together.
"Good thing that Hoss and Pru are both used to active families," he thought to himself smiling his wry smile. "From what I've heard of that boy, he's going to get himself into everything."
Hoss had swept the boy up in his arms. "Remember what we told you yesterday? The bell is rung only when there is an emergency or to let the rest of the folks on the Ponderosa that everything is alright, OK?"
"Did I do anything wrong, Mr. Hoss? I didn't mean to. I just wanted to hear what the bell sounded like."
"Well, it didn't hurt nothing, this time. But we told you it wasn't for playing with. Can you remember that?"
"I'll try, Mr. Hoss. I'll really try."
"OK, then. If you're finished with your breakfast, we can try to go quietly to the beavers."
"I'm finished, I'm finished!" Clarence practically shouted in joy. "In fact, can I bring them the last bit of bacon I didn't eat?"
"Beavers don't eat bacon. They like leaves and such. But you can bring along that biscuit you didn't want. They might eat that, that's if the birds don't get it first. We can also bring along some pieces of turnip for the rabbits that are down there. We've got plenty of turnip," he said with a laugh.
The two of them gathered up the supplies and went looking for the rabbits, birds and beavers, as if they were father and son.
XXXXX
A week later, Joseph decided that it was time to drive the cattle herd up to the higher pastures. As in previous years, it was an undertaking that required all the men of the Ponderosa, including Hop Sing for the chuck wagon. Eleanor was still months away from giving birth, so her husband had no qualms about leaving her up on their hill by herself. Prudence was down below, only an hour's ride away and they'd all be back after a week or so.
There was still more than two months of school left for Prudence and with Hoss gone on with the others on the cattle drive, it meant getting up before dawn to care for the livestock and getting the Clydesdales into their large corral, then getting them all back into the barn when she returned. Dinner more often than not was some eggs, buttered bread, and a big glass of milk before she fell into bed. She was so thankful when Saturday rolled around. She had to do the wash, churn the butter, and take care of all the usual barn chores as well, but at least she could sleep until sun up.
She was enjoying a blissful dream when a bell seemed to intrude upon her. It took a moment to become fully awake and for her to realize that there truly was a bell being rung for at least a moment. And the only one who could be ringing it was Eleanor.
Prudence threw on her clothes, stopping only to ring her bell twice, to let her sister-in-law that she was on her way. She wished that Chubb was available; he was much faster than her own Polly, but she was going to have to make do. She threw the blanket and saddle on her own horse and galloped away. The young mare seemed to understand that there was something important happening and traveled as swiftly as she ever had. It took an hour to travel the track up the mountain to Eleanor, leaving Prudence to wonder what she would be able to do if her sister-in-law was ill, injured or losing her baby.
Up on the trail with the cattle, the men were already at work. It was a dusty, dirty business, either behind the herd or off to the sides, running done cows and steers that seemed to want to go astray and urging them back into the center of the cattle. Even Hop Sing with the chuck wagon way to the rear had to endure the blowing dust and the smell from the cow patties. The whole enterprise took a surprising amount of thought; where the leaders of the herd seemed to be going and urging them in the right direction, keeping an eye on the animals intent on peeling off and those that followed them, making sure the calves were close by their mothers, watching for the weaker animals and any that got injured, and of course, knowing where all the men on the drive were. Most of the daylight hours were spent in the saddle, keeping keenly alert. Neither Hoss nor Joe had the luxury of thinking and missing their wives until they were able place their bedrolls on the ground. For Ben's middle son, his thoughts tended to concern that Pru would over-exert herself taking care of both their spread and the school. His youngest worried about Elly in general. It was the first time in their married life that he'd been away for more than a night, the first time help was so far away. He would have worried under any circumstances, but with their baby due in a little more than six weeks, he worried more.
It was Adam who put his arms around both of his brothers. "Don't be concerned. Their both strong women and they have each other. You'll see, you'll get home and enjoy a very, very happy reunion with them. Now go, get some rest. I'll wake you up when it's your turn for the watch." He gave both of them a good shake, and then pushed them toward where they'd bedded down next to each other.