The Stagecoach Accident

By Tennessee

Ben got a letter from his brother Ed. Ed was real sick, and he asked Ben to come and see him. He lived a long ways away, and it would take Ben a long time to get there.

Adam said, "Take the stagecoach, Pa. You can rest on the way there."

Ben said, "That's a great idea, son. I will do that." He knew Adam and Hoss would be okay on their own. Ed had never seen Hoss or Little Joe, but he had met Adam when Adam was very young.

Ben said at supper that night, "I'm going to go see my brother Ed. He's real sick. I would like Little Joe to go with me if you other two boys are willing to take care of the ranch. We'll be gone for six weeks. Hop Sing will be here to help, too."

"Pa," Little Joe said, "I’ve never been on a long trip before."

Ben replied, "Yes, you have, son. When we moved from New Orleans to Eagle Station. That was a very long trip."

"Do I have to go, Pa? Can’t I stay here with Adam and Hoss?"

"No, son. Not this time. I’ll be gone for six weeks, and I don’t want to leave you that long. Besides, I think you’ll enjoy the trip."

"But, Pa –"

Ben shot him a stern look, and Little Joe didn’t say anymore.

It took Ben a few days to get ready for the trip. Little Joe was still mad and upset that Pa was treating him like a little kid and making him go. He did everything he could think of so he would not have to go, but it did not work. Ben write his brother a letter. It would take them a week on the stagecoach to get there. They would stop sometimes to let the horses rest and to eat. Ben mailed the letter four days before he left on his trip. His brother would get it the day before Ben and Little Joe arrived.

The week went by fast. Big Dan was going to stop at the Ponderosa and check on things for Ben two times a week. The night before the trip Little Joe did not eat supper or talk to anyone. Everyone else talked about the trip and had a good time. Little Joe got up and went to the barn. Ben got up and went after him.

As he entered the barn, Ben said, "Son, I know you’re mad at me. Why?"

"I ain’t a baby anymore, Pa. You act like I am."

Ben held out one arm. "Come over here, son."

Little Joe walked over and Ben put his arm around the boy’s shoulders.

"I know you’re not a baby, son. I will be gone for six weeks and that is a long time."

"But you’re not making Adam and Hoss go."

"Little Joe, your brothers are older than you are, and I need someone to look over the ranch while we’re away."

"But I could help, too."

"I know you could, son, but you’ve never met your uncle."

"Has he seen Hoss?"

"No."

"See, Pa? You’re letting Hoss stay, but he’s never met Uncle Ed."

"You’re right. I am letting Hoss stay."

"Make Hoss go, Pa."

"I need Hoss to stay here and work the ranch."

"I’ll stay here, Pa. I – "

"Joseph, that’s enough. I’m your pa and you are coming with me. That’s it." Ben went back to the house. An hour later Little Joe came inside.

That night when the boys went to bed Adam handed Joe paper and a pencil. "Little Joe, Pa needs you to keep him company. Here, you can write to us."

They got up early the next day. Ben told them about their uncle, and he had a surprise for Little Joe. "Did you know that Uncle Ed has a son? I haven’t seen Ed since Adam was very young. We got into a big fight and haven’t talked much since. With Ed sick, I think it’s time for us to try to work everything out. He is my brother, and I’d like you to meet your cousin.

Everyone went to town about an hour before the stagecoach left so they could take their time and say goodbye. Ben told Adam and Hoss to ask Big Dan if they needed any help. They said they would.

The stage was on time. Adam and Hoss said goodbye to Little Joe and Ben. Hop Sing had said goodbye at the ranch. Ben waved goodbye as the stage pulled away. Joe didn’t. He still didn’t want to go.

Joe didn’t talk to his pa for a long time. Then he thought about what his brothers told him about Pa needing him for company. "Pa?" he said. "I’m sorry I’ve been mad at you. I just wanted to stay home. I love the Ponderosa and my brothers."

"I know, son. I’ll miss them, too. But I think we’ll have a nice time with Ed and your cousin."

Little Joe smiled. "I guess I might be kinda glad you made me come."

The stage stopped at another town, and two people got on, a man and a boy. Joe asked them their names. The man was John and the boy was Dill.

Ben said, "I’m Ben Cartwright, and this is my son, Little Joe. Nice to meet you."

The men talked about their families, and the boys talked about fishing, and Joe talked about his brothers and the Ponderosa. They rode for hours and hours. Little Joe wished he could get out and walk.

The stagecoach stopped at a station for the night. They ate quickly and went to sleep. They got up at dawn and were on their way again.

It started to rain hard, and the stage went slow. The boys slept off and on, and the men talked. The rain brought colder weather, and Ben took off his coat and put it over Little Joe.

They stopped to water the horses as often as they could, and then quickly were on their way again. The next night they had to camp out because there was no stagecoach station nearby.

The next day they ate, cleaned up the camp, and headed out again. Dill slept a lot, and John said, "I think Dill might be sick. He has a fever."

Ben said, "I guess he got wet in the rain and it gave him a cold."

Little Joe read the book Adam had given him. As they rode, Joe thought often about the Ponderosa and his brothers. He got out his paper and pencil and wrote a letter to them about their trip so far and how he wished he was home riding his horse.

Dill’s illness grew worse. He slept most of the time. Little Joe’s legs hurt from riding. For the next two days they rode so much that everyone was sore and tired. Dill cried a lot. They were all tired of camping out, but there was no other choice.

The next day they finally reached another town. John and Dill were getting off there. John asked Little Joe if he wanted him to mail his letter, and Joe thanked him and handed him the envelope. When the stagecoach stopped, they all got out and had dinner. Ben and Little Joe got back on the stagecoach soon after. They still had two more days of riding ahead of them.

Finally they arrived in a more populated part of the country, and the next day they arrived at the town where Ed lived. Ben and Little Joe got off the stage and got their bags and looked around. A young man walked up.

"You Ben Cartwright?"

"Yes."

"I’m Will. Uncle Ben, Pa’s in bed. He’s real sick."

Ben motioned to Little Joe. "Will, this is one of your cousins. Little Joe, this is Will. You’re older than I thought, Will. You must be about Hoss’s age."

"I reckon so, Mr. Cartwright. Are you ready to go? I got a buggy over here." He led them across the street. "Pa cut his leg bad on a bear trap. It’s infected, and he can’t put any weight on his leg, so he never gets out of bed. He has a real high fever, and the doctor gave him some pills. We have to clean his leg three times a day."

Will took them to his house and they went in. "You can put your things down here. Pa’s room is this way."

As Will opened the door, Ben saw Ed. He smiled.

"Hello, brother."

"Good to see you, Ed. This is my youngest son, Joseph. Little Joe, this is your uncle Ed."

"Hello, sir," Joe said.

"Hello, Little Joe. You can call me Uncle Ed. Sir sounds like I’m an old man."

Will said, "C’mon, Little Joe. I’ll show you where you’ll sleep."

After the boys left the room, Ben sat in a chair by Ed’s bed. Ed turned to him. "I was sorry to hear about Marie’s death."

Ben said, "It took me a long time to get over it, but I had to move on with my life without her. My sons needed me."

"How are the other two? Adam and Hoss?"

"They’re well. Growing into fine young men."

Upstairs, Will and Little Joe got to know each other. Little Joe told will about his brothers and the Ponderosa. Will said, "It sounds beautiful. I would love to see the Ponderosa sometime."

"Maybe you could come for a visit."

"Maybe. If our pa’s get along."

Ben and Ed were talking about their fight and how to fix things between them. The first few days of the visit, Ben and Ed managed to be civil to each other. Ben and Little Joe spent their spare time helping Will with the housework.

Adam and Hoss got Little Joe’s letter, and they missed him a lot. The work on the Ponderosa was hard, but everything was going well.

After a week at Uncle Ed’s, Little Joe wrote his brothers another letter and told them about their uncle and Will. Will mailed the letter in town the next day.

Ed’s leg was doing better, but he still could not get out of bed. Ed was so mad that he couldn’t do anything for himself.

Ben and Joe had been at Ed’s house for two weeks when Will brought a letter from town. Little Joe took it and ran into the house. He found Pa in Ed’s room. "Pa! We got a letter from Adam!"

Ben opened it and read what Adam had wrote. "He says that they miss us but everything is just fine at the Ponderosa. It’s not the same without us there."

Little Joe said, "I miss them Pa."

Ben smiled. "Me too, son."

Ed’s leg slowly improved. Finally the doctor said he could try putting some weight on it. He walked around a little and then went outside and sat in a chair.

One night after Ben and Joe had been at Ed’s house for three weeks, Ben sat down to have a talk with his brother. "Ed," he began, "you’re my brother and I love you. Why don’t we forget about our past disagreements and just love each other?"

Ed said, "I agree, brother."

Little Joe enjoyed the time with Ed and Will, but he wanted to go home. "One more week," he thought to himself. "Then we’ll go home."

Joe thought the week would never pass. It went so slowly. The night before they were to leave, he wrote a letter telling his brothers they’d be home in one week and asking them to please bring Paint to town because Joe missed him.

Early the next day they went to town and got on the stagecoach. Ed was all better and he and Ben were no longer fighting. Will said goodbye to Little Joe and Ben, and so did Ed.

Ben said, "Brother, come and visit us at the Ponderosa."

Ed said, "I will, Ben. Soon."

Little Joe handed Will his letter. "Will, would you mail this for me? It will get to Adam and Hoss the day befroe we get home."

They waved goodbye from the stage as it pulled out of town. They had company on the stage: a woman and her two little girls. The woman introduced herself as Lucy and the girls as May and Ann.

"Hello. My name is Ben, and this is my son, Little Joe."

They rode all day, and they camped out that night. The next day was real pretty and again they camped out. On the third day it rained all day. It stopped that night, but it was too wet to camp out, so the driver stopped the stage and they slept inside. It was a hard night for everyone.

The driver told them they needed to stop in the next town to have a wheel checked out. The small town had a hotel. It took all day for the wheel to be repaired so they ate and spent time at the hotel.

Lucy and the girls always smiled, and Joe liked them. When they were back on the stagecoach, Joe asked his pa, "Why are we going this way? I thought we’d go home the same way we came."

Ben smiled. "No, son, there are different stage routes. Everything is fine."

"But what about the horses? We have not stopped to water them much."

"The driver waters them when they need it, Joe."

They rode and rode and ate bread and butter for dinner. That night they had to camp out again.

The next day they awoke before daylight and set off. Ben kept looking at the wheel. It was making a cracking and popping noise. Lucy heard it, too, and she looked at Ben with concern in her eyes.

The rain started again, a hard, fast rain accompanied by wind. The driver kept going. He had the horses going way too fast. There was a snake in the road, and when the horses saw the snake, they jumped sideways and broke loose. The stage was loose! It went off a hill and turned over. The doors popped open and Ben fell out. When the stage finally landed everyone was piled in a heap in one corner. Lucy tried to get up, but she hurt too much to move. May’s arm was pinned under the stage. Ann had hurt her leg but was otherwise okay. Little Joe’s head was bleeding, and he was frantic when he couldn’t find his pa.

"Pa! Pa, where are you?"

Ben yelled, "Out here, son! Are you injured?"

"I’m okay. My head hurts. Where are you?"

"I’m trapped under the stage, son. Can you climb out the window?"

Joe managed to slip out the stage’s window. He told Ben that the girls were hurt. Just then, Ann climbed out the window. Lucy yelled from inside, "We’re just a few miles from town. We need someone to go get help!"

Little Joe and Ann looked at each other. "I love you, Ma!" Ann yelled.

Ben smiled at them. "You two will be fine. Just follow the stage road into town."

Ann and Little Joe walked a long time. Ann’s leg began to ache, and Joe’s head still throbbed. When they could walk no more, Ann began to cry. "I can’t walk anymore."

"Yes, you can. We got to make it for my pa and your ma and sister." He helped Ann stand. They walked for another hour and then Little Joe saw a house. "Look! We made it."

Ann said, "This is my hometown. My pa is a blacksmith here."

They walked as fast as they could. "Pa!" Ann yelled. He knew something was wrong, and he ran to her. She poured out the story of the accident, and her pa went to get help. Ann and Little Joe were so exhausted, they both passed out.

The town’s doctor ran to the children and took Joe and Ann into his office.

Ann’s pa and another man rode out to the accident site. They saw the stage driver laying several paces away from the overturned stagecoach. The driver told them to help the others and they ran down the hill.

"Where are you hurt?" Ann’s father called.

"My arm’s stuck," said May.

"My legs are pinned under the seat," said Lucy.

He saw Ben under the stage. "Mister, where are you hurt?"

There was no answer. Ben had passed out.

The two men managed to free the three victims. They took them and the stagecoach driver to town. Amazingly, May’s arm was not broken, just bruised. Lucy’s legs were cut up but no broken. Ben was hurt the worst. He arms and legs had been cut severely. He had not yet regained consciousness. Both he and Little Joe were still asleep.

Ann’s pa went back to the stagecoach to see if he could find something to help them get in touch with the family of the man and boy who were hurt. He found a book on the ground. It had an address in it. He sent a telegram to Adam Cartwright.

Adam and Hoss went to town to wait for the stagecoach. Hop Sing was fixing a special dinner to welcome Ben and Joe home. When they got to town, Tess ran to Adam. "You got a telegram." She handed it to him. Adam opened it and as he read it he looked at Hoss. Hoss knew something was wrong.

"It’s Pa and Little Joe," Adam said. "They’ve been in an accident. It says here that they are hurt bad." Tears filled his eyes. "We need to get to them."

Adam asked Big Dan to go with them. "Tess, will you tell Hop Sing what happened."

"Yes," she said as she mounted her horse.

Big Dan and the boys rode as fast as they could. They camped out that night, but Adam and Hoss couldn’t sleep. "You reckon they’ll be all right, Adam?" Hoss asked.

"I don’t know, Hoss."

Big Dan woke up. "You two want to keep riding? The moon’s bright enough that we’ll be able to see."

Adam and Hoss nodded. They reached the town the next day. They stopped at the blacksmith shop and found the man who had sent the telegram.

Adam introduced himself.

"I’m Al," said the blacksmith. "My wife and two daughters were the ones in the stage with your father and brother."

"How are they?"

"They’ll be fine."

"Can we see our pa and Little Joe now?"

Ben and Little Joe were in the same room. Hoss had tears in his eyes as he approached them. So did Adam.

"Doctor, these two fellas are Adam and Hoss Cartwright," Al said.

Adam and Hoss sat with Ben and Joe all that day. In the evening, Little Joe stirred. "Where – where am I?"

Adam grinned. "You’re all right, Little Joe. You were in an accident."

"Oh, yeah. I remember. Where’s Pa? Is he okay?"

Then they heard Ben say, "Joe? Where’s Little Joe?"

Adam and Hoss ran to their father. "Pa! You’re awake!"

"I’m right here, Pa," said Little Joe.

"You two stay still," said Adam. "Get some rest so we can take you back to the Ponderosa."

Ben and Joe fell back asleep. Al asked Hoss and Adam to come to his house, and they went. Ann told them how Little Joe had kept her going. "Without him, I wouldn’t have made it," she said.

They had a supper that Lucy had prepared. Adam and Hoss were anxious to get back to Pa and Little Joe.

It was a week before Ben and Joe could safely be moved. By the end of the week, they were feeling much better. They thanked Al, Lucy, the girls, and the doctor. The borrowed some horses to ride back to the ranch. Joe was in a hurry to get home. Once they were home, he ran to the barn to see Paint.

Hop Sing had their special dinner ready.

"It sure is great to be home," Joe said at dinner. They were all glad to be home.

The End