One of Those Days?

By Hope

Note: I whipped up this little story to appease my favorite e-publisher, Sel. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks to David Dortort for creating those wonderful Cartwrights. All of the usual fan fiction disclaimers apply.

It had been a bad day all around for Adam. It started off at the crack of dawn when he had to get up early and help his father out on the range. He felt Pa tugging on his arm to roust him without waking up his younger brothers and Adam got startled and came up too quickly, forgetting about the bunk beds.

"Ow!"

"Shhhhhh!" his father admonished him.

Hoss kept snoring away but Little Joe woke up, cranky and complaining and Ben Cartwright gave his eldest son one of his 'looks'. Adam knew right then and there that his day wasn't going to be pleasant.

Of course it had to rain that day, too. A light, drizzly rain harassed Adam mercilessly and that, coupled with the muddy ground he was supposed to be setting fenceposts in, made the going slow and aggravating. Adam wondered why this chore couldn't have waited for a more favorable day but he didn't feel like tempting fate by questioning his father's judgment - not the way the day was going so far.

They finished around noontime and father and son headed home. The horses seemed as disgusted as Adam was and hung their heads low as they were urged on back to the barn.

After getting the horses settled, Ben and Adam headed to the house. They paused by the bucket of water and towels Hop Sing had left on the porch for them and washed up before entering the house. Adam wished for a nice hot bath right about then but he knew that idea was pointless as there were still more chores to be done after lunch.

Ben opened the front door and, as they both walked in, Adam looked around. There they sat, nice and dry, rested and happy, his two younger brothers. 'It figures,' he thought to himself. He did happen to catch Joe's furtive movement when the door first opened and eyed his little brother as he came over closer to the settee where Little Joe was seated.

Oh, the innocent look the youngest Cartwright could summon on a moment's notice! But Adam wasn't fooled for a second.

Meanwhile, Ben had removed his coat and hat and set them down, and was now keeping a wary eye on the situation. Hop Sing kept himself busy preparing the food, and Hoss sat on a chair next to the settee, chewing on an apple and trying to stay clear of any trouble.

"Let's have it," Adam ordered, holding his hand out to Little Joe.

Little Joe shrugged and looked up at his older brother. "What?"

"Don't gimme that. I saw you put it in your pocket."

Little Joe leaned back and folded his arms in front of his
chest. "Don't know what yer talkin' about."

Adam grabbed Joe's collar and started pulling him up to a standing position.

"Pa!" Little Joe cried.

"Adam!" Ben said, hurrying over. "Put him down. Now!"

"Pa, he..." Adam attempted to explain while still hanging onto his brother.

"I don't want to hear it! Put him down!"

Adam stared at Pa for a few moments, then reluctantly released the collar. Little Joe fell back on the settee.

"Pa!" Joe whined.

Hoss tried to remain invisible to stay out of the fray.

"You know better than that, Adam," his father reminded him.

"Yeah!" added Little Joe.

"Keep quiet, Joseph!" Ben warned.

"He's been in my stuff again, Pa! He's got the watch." Adam was referring to the pocket watch given to him on his 21st birthday. It had been his great-grandfather's watch.

Ben looked down at Little Joe. "Is that true?"

Little Joe knew he was cornered. He hesitated for a short while, but knew there was no escaping. "I just borrowed it, Pa."

"Without asking?"

"I wasn't hurtin' it. Jus' wanted to look at it."

Ben fixed a stern gaze on the boy and held out his hand. Adam stood by, furious. Little Joe was reluctant but finally set the watch in his father's hand. Then he folded his arms across his chest again. "I wasn't hurtin' it."

"You know not to touch my things!" Adam harshly reminded him.

"It's over now, Adam. Just let it go. All right?" his father gently pleaded. He was too tired to be dealing with this right now.

"Over?! He steals my things and that's it? I'm just supposed to forget about it?!"

Hoss cringed in the background, knowing what this was going to lead to.

Little Joe had a smirk on his face because he knew Adam was heading for trouble.

"Adam," Ben again pleaded. "I said it's over. You got the watch back. Now let's have a nice peaceful lunch, okay?"

Adam just stood there, seething.

"Did you hear what I said, Son? Just calm down and forget about it." Ben placed his hand on Adam's shoulder to try and get him to relax. "Little Joe won't do it again." Ben gave Joe a warning look while he said this. Adam jerked away and headed to the front door.

"Adam?"

Adam ignored his father and opened the door.

"Adam! Lunch is ready."

Adam looked back for a moment. "I just lost my appetite, Pa."

Ben watched as his eldest hurried outside. He gave a heavy sigh, started toward the table, and looked toward his other sons. "Come on, Boys. Eat your lunch while it's still warm."

Hoss got up and walked over to join his father. Hop Sing shook his head at the recent events, then turned back toward the food he was preparing. Little Joe came to the table, once again wearing a smirk on his face.

Adam was out in the barn, tired and angry and just plain fed up. He paced back and forth for awhile to try and get himself calmed, then stopped and rested his arms on Beauty's stall. Beauty saw her master and came up to the front of her stall to be next to him. Adam sighed, reached out to pet her head and closed his eyes. This was the one friend he knew he could count on.

Sometimes he wished he could just take Beauty and go riding off as far as they could go - maybe as far as California and the Pacific Ocean. No more little brothers harassing him, no more fence posts, no more cattle, no more rules, no more responsibilities! Just Beauty and him going wherever the wind blew them.

Today might just be the right day to go...

"Adam?"

Pa's voice brought Adam back to Earth. With a long sigh and one last pat to Beauty's head, Adam turned to face him.

"Adam, it's been a rough day."

Adam acknowledged this statement with a faint nod.

I know you're tired, Son, and I'm tired, and the day isn't even over yet..."

Adam leaned one arm against the stall and rested his head on his hand. He didn't know where this was leading but he wasn't in the mood for a lecture. Ben picked up on this and searched his soul for the right words.

"I'm going to deal with Little Joe but it's going to be later, after things have calmed down some."

Adam looked at him, and Ben could tell he was disgusted with the direction this discussion was headed.

"Adam, you know I wasn't just going to let that go by."

His son looked away.

"Look at me, Son." Ben waited for Adam to respond but he made no move. So Ben repeated himself. "Look at me."

Adam slowly turned toward his father.

"What do you want me to say, Pa?"

"I just want you to understand that I care about how you feel."

Adam gave a short, disgusted laugh.

"Yeah, sure."

Beauty nudged up closer to Adam and he reached out to pet her head once again. Ben noticed the unhappiness in his son's eyes. He reached out toward Beauty also, as if to bridge the gap between him and his son. Then he again looked toward Adam.

"Son?"

Adam hesitantly glanced over at his father.

Ben began. "I've been wanting you to help me get things done quickly around here for a reason."

Adam looked stubbornly yet questioningly at him.

"I'll wager you thought your old man was a little tetched in the head to be out planting fence posts in this weather."

Adam gave a half-chuckle and nodded once.

"I wanted to get it done now," Ben paused, then added, "while you were still around."

This got Adam's attention. He was a little shocked at this information. "What do you mean, Pa?"

Ben studied him as if wondering whether to proceed. "I had wanted to wait for a better time to tell you."

Adam cocked an eyebrow, waiting impatiently for his father to finish. "Tell me what?"

"Your grandfather had invested a little money before he died. That investment turned out to be mildly profitable. I got word of it recently." There was another pause as Adam again waited for his father to continue.

"He wanted you to have the money, Adam - to go to college."

Ben smiled at his son and waited for this information to sink in.

It took a few moments for all of this to register in Adam's brain, but then he was stunned at the news. His lifelong dream coming true at last!

"College?"

"That's right, Son. You can go now."

"College?!--I, uh--don't know--I..."

"He wanted you to have the money," Ben reassured him.

Adam stepped back, gave a short laugh, and shook his head in amazement. "I can go now?"

"That's right," his father assured him, smiling.

"I can go to college?"

Ben nodded and beamed at his son's good fortune.

Adam laughed again. And he smiled, perhaps the most joyous smile of his life.

His pa came forward to embrace him and Adam couldn't remember a more meaningful embrace ever exchanged between the two of them.

He glanced over at Beauty for a brief moment as his father held him tightly. And Adam knew at that moment he would never feel the need to escape from his life again.

THE END.