The Big Secret

By Tennessee

Little Joe and Sue were the best of friends, and when they’d done all their work at home, they’d meet at the lake and sometimes they’d fish and sometimes they’d have a horse race.

One day they were fishing when Sue said, "Look, Joe, there’s a boy behind that tree spying on us."

They both got up and walked over to the boy and told him their names. He didn’t say anything, he just ran away. So they went back to fishing.

"Sue," Little Joe said, "Let’s not tell anyone about the boy, ok?""Ok," she agreed.

For the next few days they did not meet because it was raining.

"Pa, can I got meet Sue?" Joe asked one afternoon. "The sun is out today so we can go fishin’."

"Ok, son," Pa said. About that time Mr. Goodman rode up with Sue.

"Hi," he said.

Sue greeted them too. "You want to go to the lake, Little Jo?" she asked.

The boys said goodbye to their pa’s and left for the lake.

Hop Sing yelled, "Wait a minute! I have food for you!" They took the dinner and said thank you and ran to the lake faster.

They had been playing at the lake for a few hours when they decided to sit down to eat. Sue saw him first and Little Joe looked. "Do you want to eat with us?" he asked the boy.

The boy ate and ate. "What’s your name?" Little Joe asked him.

He looked at them and whispered, "John." Between mouthfuls, he said, "I’m sorry I ran away the other day."

They both said that was ok.

"Are you new here?" Sue asked.

John said he was as he ate. They could tell he had not had food for several days. When he was done eating he asked, "Are you two brother and sister?"

They said no, that they were just friend.

Sue said, "We would love to be your friend, too."

John said, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes, we can."

"I ran away from home two weeks ago. This is the first good mean I’ve eaten in days. I just ate nuts and berries until now. Thank you for the food."

Little Joe asked, "Where do you live before?"

"In a house about a mile from here."

"Well, why’d you run away from home?

"I don’t want to talk about it," John said.

Joe asked, "Can we go see where you lived?"

"Why?" John asked.

"Cause we’re your friends."

When they reached the house Joe said, "This is the old Blackwood house. Nobody has lived here for a long time."

Sue said, "Our family will help you."

"No," John retorted. "You can not tell anyone about me."

They reluctantly agreed.

"We’ll bring you food though," Joe said. "And I’ll bring you some clothes.

John think them, and Joe and Sue headed home.

On the way home Sue said, "We should tell our pa’s."

"No," Little Joe said. "He needs our help. If we tell, he might run away again."

Adam and Hoss were on a trip for a few weeks so Little Joe did his chores and then went to play with Sue again. They saw John and took him food everyday. The became very good friends.

Ben and Little Joe had dinner over at the Goodmans a few days later, and Big Dan was there. He said, "A man came to town looking for his son, John. He ran away and has been gone almost a month. I guess his son was upset because his horse broke a leg and had to be put down. His pa said the boy thought he could fix the horse’s leg, but he could not. They were camped about a day from town when he ran off. You ain’t seen him, have you?"

Little Joe and Sue looked at each other as the others said no, they hadn’t seen the boy.

When dinner was over, Sue and Joe told their pa’s they were going on a ride and went to see John. They told him his pa was looking for him in town and that they knew about his horse. John had tears in his eyes. "I had my horse, Patches, since I was real little, and my pa shot her when I could have helped her."

Little Joe said, "If the horse’s leg was broke bad, you couldn’t fix her."

John said, "I miss my horse."

Sue said, ‘Your family misses you a lot."

About that time they heard a rider coming. It was Ben, and Mr. Goodman was not far behind. Little Joe and Sue went outside and waved and said, "We stopped to rest a few minutes." They rode off right after Ben and Mr. Goodman did.

As the weeks passed, they took food to John everyday. But one day, Hop Sing said, "Mr. Cartwright, there is a lot of food gone. I have not cooked it."

On their way home, Hoss and Adam passed the Blackwood house. They saw Little Joe’s and Sue’s horses out front. When they got home, they told Ben, and Ben said he’d seen them there too.

"Adam, you and Hoss watch them and see what’s going on with those two."

The next day Adam and Hoss followed Little Joe when he went to meet Sue, and then followed them to the Blackwood house. When they looked in the window, they saw them talking to a boy and giving him food. They ran back to where their horses were and rode home to tell Ben what they’d seen. Ben went to see Mr. Goodman. He told him about the missing food and what Adam and Hoss had seen.

"Ben, it could be that boy who ran away from home."

Ben said, "I could be."

That night at supper Ben said, "Oh, Adam, Hoss, there is a little boy who ran away. His pa and ma are worried about him. If you see a boy you don’t know you should take him to Big Dan. He’s helping to look for him."

He glanced at Little Joe as he finished speaking, but Joe didn’t say a word. After dinner, he quickly went to bed.

Sue’s pa talked with his family about the little boy, too. Sue’s ma said, "That is so sad. A boy alone in a new town."

Sue went to bed but could not sleep. She got up and went to her pa. "Can you and I go over to the Ponderosa? I need to talk to Little Joe before I tell you something."

They rode to the Ponderosa, and Mr. Goodman said, "Sue needs to talk to Little Joe, Ben."

Ben went to the boys’ room and told Joe that Sue wanted to see him. Sue and Little Joe went for a walk.

"We need to tell our pa’s about John," Sue said.

Little Joe nodded. "I know."

They went back into the house and Little Joe said, "Pa, we need to tell you something. We know where the boys is. We’ve been helping him. His name is John, and he is our friend."

Ben sent Hoss to town to tell Big Dan to bring the boy’s parents to the Ponderosa. Adam went to the Blackwood house to make sure the boy stayed there. "How could you two keep a secret like this?" he asked Sue and Little Joe. "You knew everyone was looking for him. How long have you been helping him?"

"About three weeks, Pa."

Mr. Goodman said, "Sometimes not telling is the same as lying. Sue, how could you keep a secret like this?"

They both said they were sorry. About then, Adam showed up with John in tow. "He tried to run when he saw me, so I thought I should bring him back here where we can make sure he doesn’t run away again."

Hoss came back with Big Dan and John’s parents. John had not said anything, but when he saw them, he ran to them and cried, "I’m sorry."

They said, "That’s ok. Are you all right, son?"

He said, "Yes, my friends helped me." He smiled at Joe and Sue.

John left with his ma and pa. They moved on the next day.

Mr. Goodman said, "Let’s go home."

Sue asked, "Am I in trouble, Pa?"

He smiled and said, "No. I’m glad you helped him. But if you ever keep a big secret like this again, you will be in trouble."

After they’d left, Ben said, "Adam and Hoss, I want to talk to your brother alone." Adam and Hoss quickly went into the bunkroom.

Ben said, "Little Joe, son, I know you thought what you were doing was right. But, son, keeping a big secret like you did can hurt a lot of people."

"But he was my friend."

"I know that. But sometimes you can help your friends by telling the truth. Not telling can lead to a lot of trouble."

Little Joe said, "I won’t keep a secret like this one again."

"Good. You can go to bed now, son."

The next day Little Joe and Sue decided they wouldn’t keep secrets from their families anymore. And they’d try to stay out of trouble, too. For a while.

The End.