A Team

By Tennessee

Ben was in town talking to Shelby when Adam rode up and called, "Pa, can we talk?"

"Sure, son."

Shelby said, "See you later," and walked off.

Ben asked, "What's on your mind, son?"

Adam said, "Pa, I just went where those wild horses stay on that hill. There are some great horses there, Pa. If we work as a team we could catch a lot of them and gentle them for sale."

Ben said, "Adam, we do not have a place built to hold that many wild horses."

"I know, Pa, but we could build a pen and then catch them."

"I don't know. We have so much to do right now with the cattle and horses we already have."

"But Pa . . . "

"It will take too much time away from our regular chores. Sorry, son."

Adam was mad, and he just turned and walked away. He went back to where the wild horses were and looked at them for a long time. When he got home, he went straight to bed.

Ben went to town the next day and found Adam there trying to convince the men in town to help catch the wild horses. Ben was so man he stalked up to Adam. "I told you no, son."

"Pa . . ."

"Go home, Adam. Now."

Ben went to the store. Adam was there, but he just got what he needed and left. Ben followed him and demanded, "What has gotten into you, Adam?"

"Pa, we run a ranch, and I thought ranchers broke horses to sell."

Ben said, "They do. And we will do that soon."

Adam said, "Pa, all the good horses will be gone by then." He got on his horse and rode off.

That night at supper Ben said he was going on a cattle buying trip for a few days. Adam just ate, not saying a word. When he went outside after dinner, Hoss followed him.

"What's the matter with you, Adam?"

"If we caught some of those wild horses, we wouldn't have to rely so much on the cattle."

"So?"

Little Joe came outside then and asked his brothers what they were talking about."

"Adam wants to catch wild horses to break but Pa said no."

Little Joe grinned. "I'm with Adam. I think we oughta get some wild horses just like Paint."

Adam said, "Pa will be out of town for a few days." He gave his brothers a look.

"Yeah!" cheered Little Joe. He and Adam looked to Hoss. "C'mon, Hoss, we're a team."

Hoss said, "Pa'll be so mad at us when he comes home."

Adam said, "We'll show him we know what we're doing and we're not little anymore."

"All right," Hoss said, "count on me."

Adam got up early the next day. He remembered the Vanhuss farm. They'd broken horses there for a while but no one lived there anymore. Adam rode over to the farm. The house and barn were still standing, but the horse pens needed some work. He had brought tools from home and he spent half a day repairing the corrals. He went home. He knew he had not done his morning chores.

When he got home Ben said, "Hello Adam. You must have gotten up early to do your chores."

Adam looked at him then went to the barn to put up his horse. Hoss and Little Joe smiled at him. "We done your chores, big brother," Hoss said.

Adam said, "Thank you. Remember the old Vanhuss farm? No one has lived there in a long time. The house is okay and the barn is okay but the horse pens needed repairs. I fixed those this morning."

That night Ben said, "I'm leaving at sunrise in the morning. I'll be gone for three days."

Adam said, "We'll take care of the ranch, Pa."

Ben went to bed early. The boys went to the barn. They worked all night and even had Pa's horse ready when he came to the barn.

"You boys are up early," Ben said.

Adam replied, "We wanted to see you off."

Ben got on his horse and waved goodbye. Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe waited until Ben was out of sight and then they rode off to where the wild horses were.

Adam said, "I'll got first." He got his rope ready and set his horse to running. He tried to rope a wild mustang but missed. He tried again and then got his brothers to come to help him. They took one wild horse to the farm and then went back for more. Hoss roped one and then Adam got another one. Little Joe tried to get one, but the horse was too fast. They took the other two to the farm.

Adam said, "We got three now. That's all we can do at a time anyway."

All the horses were in one pen. Adam got one horse into its own pen and tried to ride it. The horse promptly turned around so fast that Adam flew off and landed on his bottom. Hoss and Little Joe were laughing so hard they did not see the other horses break out of the pen. Adam happened to look just in time to see the wild horses coming fast toward where he was on the ground. He jumped up. Hoss and Little Joe turned to see what we going on.

Adam ran as fast as he could, but the horses were catching Adam fast. Hoss and Little Joe yelled and made noise to the horses but they kept following Adam. When the horses got to Adam they ran so fast they hit him. He was in the air and then he hit the ground with a thud. The horses were gone.

Hoss and Little Joe ran to Adam, who coughed hard and requested some water. Adam's face was bleeding and his nose was too. Adam's arm was hurt and bleeding. Hoss took off his shirt and wrapped it around Adam's arm. Adam asked what had happened.

"The horses turned the tables on you, big brother."

Adam said, "I have to get up."

"No, Adam, you're hurt," Hoss said. "You need Hop Sing."

"No, we can't tell him. Help me to the house, Hoss."

Hoss picked up Adam and carried him to the house. Little Joe came to the room with a canteen of water. "I'm gonna get Hop Sing," he said."

"No," Adam said. But then he let out a yell and Little Joe ran fast to his horse and rode to the Ponderosa. He yelled for Hop Sing. When the front door opened, Ben walked out.

"Pa, I thought you went on a trip this morning."

"I did, but the trip was called off."

As Little Joe thought of Adam he started to cry.

"What's wrong, son?"

"Pa, you're gonna be mad at us."

Ben looked at him sternly and said, "Go on, son."

"Adam, Hoss, and I went to catch wild horses."

Ben was mad. "Where are your brothers?"

Little Joe told Ben what had happened. Ben's face was red.

"Adam's hurt, Pa."

"Where is he?"

"Back at the Vanhuss place."

Ben yelled, "You three are in a lot of trouble." Then he turned and called for Hop Sing. "Adam's hurt," he explained. "Please get what you need while I hitch the team to the wagon."

Little Joe was on his horse when Hop Sing came out of the house and Ben pulled up with the wagon. Little Joe rode beside the wagon, and Ben got the wagon moving fast. When they reached the Vanhuss farm Little Joe ran into the house. Hoss was standing next to Adam. Ben ran into the house and gave Adam and Hoss long looks.

Ben said, "Hop Sing, please look after Adam." He turned to Hoss and Joe. "You two, outside."

"How could you do this?" Ben demanded of his two youngest sons.

Hoss said, "Pa, we wanted to show you we aren't little anymore. We can break the wild horses."

"Well you succeeded in showing me just how young you still are. You are lucky Adam is not hurt any worse than he is. Go back in the house now. I want to talk to all three of you."

Ben closed the door to the house and paced in front of his sons. "I told you not to attempt to catch the wild horses. You deliberately disobeyed me. There will be no going fishing, no going to Tess's house, and extra chores for all of you for the next three weeks. Now let's go home."

Ben and Hoss helped Adam into the wagon. Adam was in bed for a few days. His face turned black and blue and he was mighty sore for a few days. Ben was in the kitchen when Adam walked in.

"You feeling well enough to be up?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, Pa. I'm sore, but I'm fine. And Pa? I'm sorry."

Ben said, "Son, you were very irresponsible. Not only did you disobey me, you invovled your brothers."

"I know, Pa. I will do my chores." Adam went to the barn and did his chores with his brothers' help.

"We sure do make a great team," Adam said.

"Yeah," Hoss said. "We catch wild horses, but then we lose 'em and you get hurt."

"And we're all three in trouble together," Little Joe said.

They all laughed. They had three weeks of extra chores and weren't allowed to go fishing or to Tess's house. But after three weeks Ben said, "You boys are off the hook now. But next time think before you do anything, and don't do it if it will be dangerous."

They all said, "We will," and then they sat down to supper.

The End