Joseph, My Son, Part 2
Chapter 2
It had been a year and a half since Joseph's first wife, Eleanor Hood had left Sacramento to marry William Parke Taylor and move with him to San Francisco. It had been a year and a half since she had last seen the son she and Joseph shared, and Andy had forgotten about her. In his mind, his Auntie Gertie was (or should be) his mother. Baba had told him that he hoped, perhaps one day, she would be his mother for real.
"When, Baba?"
"I have to ask her if she'll marry me first. She has to be my wife to be your mother," he tried to explain.
"When will you ask her to marry you, Baba?"
"I hope to ask her pretty soon, Andy."
"And then you'll get married, and she'll be my Mama for real?"
"I hope so," Joseph answered with a wistful smile.
At the same time, Eleanor was bending over a crib in San Francisco. In it lay her second child, six-month-old William Parke Taylor, junior. The senior Taylor stood just behind her.
"Willie is old enough now to leave with his nurse, your mother, and the household staff. The trip to St. Louis is important and so is your accompanying me."
"Oh, William! I just don't know. Andrew wasn't much older than Wille when his father took him."
"I thought you'd put that child out of your mind, especially after you had my son."
She picked the infant up, cradling him in her arms. "A mother can never completely forget a child. And Willie has brought back so many memories. I wonder if Andrew even remembers me."
A tear slipped from her right eye. Suddenly, she turned to her husband. "I'll go with you on one condition."
Taylor raised one eyebrow. "You wish to take the baby with us? I don't think that is a good idea. Here he is safe. There are doctors available at a moment's notice if need be. On the highways and the trains, he would be exposed to dirt and germs…"
"No, no," Eleanor cooed as she put a hand on his silk vest. "I will go if you agree to stop at the Ponderosa on our way home. I want to see Andrew again."
"Really, Eleanor! Why would you want to open old wounds again? If you remember correctly, the child hated me. And would you really want to see his father and the Cartwright family again?"
She turned away from her husband. "I could do without seeing Joseph, his father, and brothers again, but unfortunately, that's who Andrew lives with. Please, William! We'll stop for just an hour, just long enough so that I can see him once again."
"All right, all right." William Parke Taylor, Sr. stomped out of the room and slammed the door closed.
The latest cattle round up started the day after Joe and Adam's confrontation. Hoss would be staying back for a couple of days before bringing out supplies, but Ben, Adam and Little Joe would be out with the cow hands. Moving a herd of cattle was always a dirty, uncomfortable job and the worst position for a rider to take was that of "drag" at the back of herd. It was dusty and smelling hundreds of cows in front of you, even for a seasoned hand, was unpleasant at the very least. All the Cartwright men took their turn riding drag, something that earned praise from the men. A lot of owners would leave the position to others, that was if they even went on the round up at all. But Ben Cartwright wasn't like that. He'd always been willing to share in the dirty work of the ranch, and today was his turn to ride drag.
"Hey, Pa," yelled Joe. "I'll take the back for you."
"No, son. It's my turn. I've been doing round ups since before you were born. I'm not going to stop now," he chided his youngest.
"I know that Pa." Joe almost seemed to be whining. "But you don't have to take drag anymore. It's not good for your lungs."
"It's not any better for yours!" Ben retorted.
"Aw, come on! Let me do this for you. Just call it an early birthday present from me."
Ben laughed. "May I remind you that your birthday is next?"
"Yeah, so just call it my present to you on my birthday. After all, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and Mama. You go on up and ride by Adam."
A few minutes later Ben's horse sidled up to Adam's Sport. "That brother of yours! Sometimes he surprises the life out of me."
"What'd Joe do now?" asked Adam.
"He insisted that he take the drag position. Said it was his present to me for his birthday." Ben laughed. "Don't you all know that each one of you was the greatest presents I've ever received?"
Adam looked over at his father. Ben usually wasn't maudlin, and he certainly never was, although as a new father, he was beginning to understand how impossible it was at times to prevent his softer feelings from bubbling up to the surface. "Perhaps Joe is getting sentimental in his old age. He's gonna have one hell of a surprise on his birthday."
Ben saw a cow and her calf heading off toward some bushes and went to urge them back. When he returned he came back to Adam's side.
"Is the saddle done?"
"Yeah Pa. I've got in in my barn and it's a real beauty. The tooling is nothing short of magnificent. Biedermann did an outstanding job. It's worth more than the $175 he charged us."
"Excellent," replied Ben while scanning the herd for more wandering animals. "I've got everything squared away with Hop Sing. Has Gertie had a chance to talk to Hoss yet?"
"I don't know. They've both been pretty busy, but while Joe's out with us would be a perfect time."
"Well, if Hoss can't go around and invite everyone, Prudence can do it. She knows everyone quite well by now, including our business associates. I'm not worried," the head of the clan declared.
It was mid-afternoon the next day, when Gertie arrived back home in her buggy after making house calls. It was quiet at the house; no children calling loudly for her and running out of the house. They must still be napping she thought. She got down from the buggy and went to release her horse from the traces when Hoss and his foreman Peter Torkelson trotted up.
"Here, Miss Gertie. I'll take care of that," said Peter.
"Thank you. I need to speak to Hoss, so it's much appreciated."
Hoss put a large hand on Gertie's shoulder. "What's the matter, sweetheart?" he asked in concern.
"Let's go to the corral fence," she replied. Hoss understood. Gertie was the smallest of the Whitman sisters at barely five foot and two inches. Trying to look Hoss in the face was a strain since he was significantly more than a foot taller than she was. Gertie had once even stood on a kitchen chair so that she didn't have to bend her neck enough to cause her to become dizzy while talking to him. Out of doors, if they didn't sit on a bench to talk, she'd go over to one of the fences and hop up onto the top rail and Hoss would stand beside her, one arm around her waist to make sure she didn't fall backwards. "I need to talk to you about what I need you to do for Joseph's surprise party."
"Sure thing, Gertie. What do you want me to do?
"You're in charge of inviting everyone; friends, extended family and business associates too."
"Of course. Just one thing…do we gotta get dressed up for the party?"
Gertie laughed. Hoss looked quite good when he made an effort to be presentable, but he hated it, especially the string tie. But her sister always cajoled him into it. "Yes, you do! This party is a big deal and important to me. Promise you'll cooperate?"
"Aw, Gertie, you know I will. I was just joshing with you." When Hoss looked at you with those big, blue, contrite eyes, there was no way to be upset with him.
"I know, Hoss. Thank you."
She put a hand on one cheek and kissed him on the other, just as Joe rode hard into the yard on Cochise.
"What the…?" Joe stopped himself before he could say anything else, remembering the encounter of the other day. He quickly dismounted and threw his horse's reins over the corral fence. He sauntered up to his brother and Gertie who both looked surprised. Joe wasn't expected back from the cattle drive.
"Hey, Joseph! Everything alright on the drive?" Hoss asked.
"Yes," replied his brother tightly. "I just thought that since we're still pretty close to home, I'd come back and spend the night with Andy." He turned to Gertie. "I'd like to know why I seem to keep finding you kissing my brothers?"
"Joseph, it's just a friendly kiss on the cheek! A thank you for a favor Hoss will do for me. And do you think I would try to seduce my sisters' husbands? There is absolutely no reason for you to be jealous. I thought you were going to try to control your temper better. You don't seem to be succeeding." She jumped down to the ground. "I'll go get Andy for you."
Joe passed a hand across his face. "I've never seen her cold and angry like that. I think I really blew it this time, Hoss."
His big brother looked down at him. "Maybe. Time will tell." He took a breath. "I'll be heading out to the camp tomorrow with the next batch of supplies. I can leave early and travel with you. I 'spect you'd want to talk about things."
"Maybe," was Joe's only reply.
Suddenly two small children ran out of the back door. "Baba!" yelled Andy, launching himself into his father's arms. He was closely followed by his cousin Inger who hugged Joe's knee, crowing, "Unkil Doe!"
"Hello, kids. Thank you for such a splendid welcome." Joe gave Andy a big kiss on the cheek and then bent down to give Inger one as well. Gertie had disappeared, but Prudence came out of the house, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel.
"Joseph! What a surprise!" she said.
"Yeah, well we were going to camp pretty close, so I decided to come back and take my big boy back to the house to spend the night with me."
"You'll do no such thing! Hop Sing is with the chuck wagon and if you try to cook in his kitchen, he'll have your hide, no matter how well you clean up after yourselves," said Hoss's wife.
"I guess you're right," Joe answered somewhat sheepishly.
"Besides, I can smell that stew that Pru made," stated Hoss. "And it sure smells good. You know we always have enough to go 'round. Anyway, Andy's things are already here, and we got plenty more room. You go and wash up, brother. I'll go take care of Cochise."
Everyone sat down to dinner, but there was a chill around the table. Gertie was clearly ignoring Joe, and he was confused and perplexed. Prudence and Hoss tried to make conversation, but the silence of the other two adults stifled the atmosphere. Only the two children were happy. Andy sat next to his father on a chair with a big book on it. Inger was sitting on Hoss's knee, and he was feeding her from his own plate.
"Too bad Hop-Hop didn't make an apple pie for us," sighed Andy. "Hop-Hop" was what he and Inger called Hop Sing.
"Now, Andy, you know Hop Sing had a lot of things to do to get ready for round up," Hoss reminded his nephew. "Auntie Pru makes a pretty good apple pie, you know."
"Yeah, but I like Hop-Hop's better."
"Hop-Hop! Hop-Hop!" crowed Inger from her father's knee.
For the first time all afternoon, Joe smiled as he turned to his sister-in-law. "Please don't take offence. Andy here is a connoisseur of apple pie, you know."
"None taken," she replied as she winked back at Joe.
Early the next morning the two Cartwright brothers made ready to leave. Joseph tied Cochise and Chubb to the back of the big wagon that two of Hoss's Clydesdales would be pulling. He turned back to the porch where two women and two children waited to say goodbye. First he spoke to his child: "Now son, listen and mind your auntie's. I'll be gone with Uncle Hoss for ten days. You can count to ten, can't you?"
"Yes, Sir! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten!" Andy said proudly.
"Then you can count off each day I'm away and on the tenth day, I'll be home."
"Promise?" the little boy asked.
"Promise," Joe confirmed smiling. The smile faded as he turned to Gertie. "I hope you'll count off the days for me too, Gertie. I'm going to spend the time thinking of how I can be a better man. For you." Her face had a slight sad expression around the eyes. She took a breath and then nodded. Joe looked down at his feet before he turned away. Why did he fly into jealousy so easily? He knew in his heart of hearts that neither of his brothers had any interest in Gertie beyond that of devoted brothers-in-law. And Gertie viewed them in the same way. She was beyond happy that her sisters had found love and contentment with Adam and Hoss.
He mounted the wagon, sitting next to his brother. Hoss set the team in motion. The animals pulled the load without difficulty, their strides easy and smooth.
"These horses are a wonder," Joe commented to Hoss. "You'd think they only had to pull and empty buggy."
"Yeah, Joe. They like to work, too, and they're so even-tempered. Hardly ever seen them scared by silly little things that upset most other horses. You could take a lesson from them, Short Shanks."
It had been a long time since Hoss had called him that. Since before his marriage to Eleanor. It set him to thinking and it was almost a half an hour before he spoke again. "Hoss, you know, I think I'm beginning to understand why I've been acting the way I have around Gertie."
"Yeah?" prompted his older brother.
"I lost Eleanor because she wanted something and ultimately someone different than me. I guess I'm afraid that Gertie will want something else as well. She's so young, too young to really know what kind of person she'll be in five, ten years. I'm afraid she'll grow away from me."
Hoss stopped the wagon and faced his brother. "Joseph, do you know what kind of person you'll be in five or ten years? None of us does. Marriage…life…it's all one day at a time. You know that don't you?"