It was nearly Easter. Mitch was very busy and drove his father, Grandpa and Uncles to madness with questions about the Easterbunny.
The boy asked one morning during breakfast, “Does the Easterbunny actually exsists?”
“Of course he exsisits. Who else brings the cloured eggs around?”, Hoss asked directly.
“People do that”, his nephew reacted.
“That’s what you think but we know better”, Little Joe said.
Now was Mitch a bit confused. He was six years old but his father and Uncles were much older and they still believed in the Easterbunny.
“Why do you believe in the Easterbunny anyway?”, Mitch wanted to know.
Adam, Hoss and Little Joe looked at each other for a moment.
Adam said then, “Everybody believes in the Easterbunny.”
“I have never believed in him”, Candy reacted.
“I don’t believe in him either. If everybody believes in him, how comes that I have never seen him?”, was the following question of Mitch.
Nobody had an answer to this. They ated silently from then on.
After breakfast the brothers with the foreman and Cody went to the herd.
“Mitch you stay by Grandpa and listens to him”, Adam said seriously to his son.
The boy nodded.
Underway Adam said with an unruly sarcasm in his voice, “We will let that little boy of mine make believe in the Easter Bunny. Let’s see if he is still ao unbelieveable what concerns the Easter Bunny.”
Hoss and Little Joe looked at each other laughing and knew they would get another adventure.
“We are gonna give Mitch a fit by the Easter Bunny and Candy too if we succeed. Hoss, you go as the hell and get your suit of the Easter Bunny. You put it on and go home dressed like that to scare the kid”, Adam continued.
Hoss smiled and said, “That will be a laugh but a run for our lives if Mitchy finds out that we have done it.”
He turned his horse chub and rode to Virginia City to collect the suit of the Easter Bunny.
Adam and Little Joe rode to the herd to do their chore.
When Hoss arrived in town he rode straight away to the sewing atelier of Mrs Green. He stopped and dismounted. After his horse was tied up he went inside.
He asked Mrs Green, “Mrs Green, do you have the suit of the Easter Bunny ready which I ordered?”
“It is ready for you. Will you take it along right away?”, she asked on her turn.
Hoss nodded and paid for the suit. Herafter he went to away to give his nephew a fit. He didn’t know that others were also up to something as the Easter Bunny.
At the Ponderosa Mitch asked, “Grandpa, may I play outside?”
“Go. But do stay around”, Ben said.
The boy nodded and went outside to play on the yard. He didn’t have to go to school because he had Easter vacation. Mitch went to play at his favourite spot near the oak because there was a lot of shadow. But when he was playing with his glove and ball suddenly the Easter Bunny appeared.
Mitch pitched the ball to the Easter Bunny and said, “Catch it then.”
The visitor caught it and threw it right away back but it was so hard that the ball hit the head of Mitch and the boy lost conciousness. Mitch fell down on the ground and the Easter Bunny took him to his shelter. The brown glove and the ball got left behind at the yard.
At the moment that Hoss rode upon the yard he didn’t see his nephew playing anywhere. When he arrived at the ranchhouse Hoss saw the glove and the ball of Mitch lying. He jumped from his horse and picked up the objects. Hereafter he went inside the ranchhouse.
He said to Ben, “Pa, I don’t want to say much but Mitchy is gone. His glove and ball were lying alone at the yard.”
“He was on the gowith that glove and ball. He knows that he may not leave the yard alone. We are gonna look for him. What are you doing here anyway?”, Ben wanted to know while they went outside.
“I collected the suit of the Easter Bunny which I had ordered for the children of the orphanage and it was Adam’s idea to give Mitchy one great fear by letting me appearat the yard as the Easter Bunny so that Mitchy would still believe in it”, Hoss explained.
Ben said laughing, “Then I wish you a lot of luck because Mitch doesn’t believe in nothing anymore. ”
They mounted on and left the yard.
Mitch woke up in a hotelroom in Virginia City. He looked confused around him and looked into the eyes of a foursome of Easter Bunnies.
“Who are you and where am I?”, he asked directly.
“We are the Easter Bunny Gang and we kidnap little children to make them believe in us”, the first Easter Bunny said.
“You don’t exsist at all”, Mitch claimed laughing.
“Shut up little one”, the second Easter Bunny said.
Mitch did keep his mouth shut but remained giggly.
“We keep him here till we got his father and Uncles here as well. Then we send Ben Cartwright a letter with the request for ransom so that he will be as poor as a churchmouse spending Easter with his sons and grandson”, Easter Bunny number 1 said.
“I don’t want to say very much but my father and Uncles are all very grownup and they can beat you easily”, Mitch said suddenly.
“Give that kid an easter egg so that he can keep that piece of mouth of his for a moment”, the boss of the gang whispered to one of the others.
Mitch got a chocolate egg which he ate right away.
“Are you having any more of your own kind?”, the young Cartwright asked.
“You will get with the whip if you say that one more time”, Easter Bunny number 3 said.
Mitch began to enjoy it to rile his hijackers.
“Do you know why you don’t see any Easter children here?”, he asked laughing.
“Why is that then?”, the curious foursome wanted to know.
Mitch answered, “Because there are no female Easter Bunnies.”
“Very funny. Are you the greatest joker at home?”, the gang leader asked.
“Most of the time, yes. But not the friendliest”, Mitvch reacted.
“Who is that then?”, Easter Bunny number 2 wanted to know.
“That is the knob of the door because it gives everybody a hand”, was the dry answer of Mitch.
It was clear that the Easter Bunny Gang had no sense of humour because except Mitch nobody laughed at the joke.
“May I have a basket with eggs too?”, the boy asked then hopeful.
He got that and at once the boy ran out of the hotelroom whereafter he threw the eggs on the ground behind him. The gang ran after him but slipped over the eggyolk. Mitch ran out of the hotel straight into the arms of deputy Clem Foster.
“Clem, there is a gang of Easter Bunnies in there and they kidnapped me from the Ponderosa”, Mitch said gasping.
“Come on because then we are gonna arrest them”, the deputy said.
They went inside the hotel and the gnag was lying all over each other cursing and scolding at each other because they had let Mitch go.
“You are under arrest”, Clem just said.
Mitch was standing by watching and laughing and the authority carrier found it also entertaining. With support of Mitch the gang got tied up and taken away to jail.
After the arrest of the Easter Bunny gang Mitch was alone again in Vriginia City. Suddenly he saw his Grandpa and Uncle coming. Ben stopped his horse, jumped from it and ran to him.
“I got kidnapped by a bunch of Easter Bunnies but I am alright. Can we go home?”, the young Cartwright asked.
“We go. You go on my horse as well”, Ben said calm.
Together they walked to Buck who was waiting with Hoss. Grandpa and grandson Cartwright mounted on and the returntrip to the Ponderosa had began. Undereway Mitch told what had happened.
Arrived at home Hoss got sent back to the herd so that Ben and Mitch were alone at home.
After lunch Hop Sing came with two packages.
“Mr Cartwright, this little one is for Mr Adam and Little Joe and the big one is for Mr Hoss”, the Chinese cook said.
Mitch looked at the packages but didn’t say anything. He would save his reaction for when the boys would get it. Ben received the packages and went away with his grandson.
Underway Mitch asked, “Grandpa, why do people actually celebrate Easter?”
“People celebrate it because the commememoration of the ressureaction of Jesus. He died three days before at the cross to forgive us from our sins”, Ben explained.
Of course Mitch didn’t understand a thing about it and asked, “How can someone who is dead become a live again?”
“That is normally not so but Jesus is the son of God and that is why he could do it”, the rancher replied.
“And which meaning does the Easter Bunny have then?”, Mitch wanted to know.
“People has made that up himself. Easter is each year in the Spring and then there is a lot of new life like lambs and flowers in our backyard where you play a lot. To celebrate that you see a lot of eggs because that is the sign of new life”, Ben told.
“I hope that those teasings of a father and Uncles of mine don’t bother me with their nice ideas around the Easter days”, Mitch said light-hearted.
“Last year you delivered them a mean trick too”, Ben remarked.
“That was only because they do it to me the previous year for letting me search for the Easter eggs”, the boy reacted.
When they arrived at the herd the three boys looked at the same time in the direction of Ben and Mitch. Adam and Little Joe had heard from Hoss what had happened to Mitch and they felt like to take that gang to task.
When Ben had dismounted he said to his three sons, “Here are your sandwiches. The big package is for Hoss and the little one is for Adam and Joe.”
“Grandpa, you say it wrong because the big one is for daddy and Uncle Joe and the small one is for Uncle Hoss”, Mitch said directly.
Adam, Hoss and Little Joe looked at each other questionable and Mitch gave Ben a quick wink which the rancher understood.
“Mitch says it right. I am sorry Hoss but you will have to do it with less sandwiches this time”, Ben said with a pokerface while he gave the packages to his sons.
He mounted on his horse again and rode home again with his grandson.
Adam, Hoss and Little Joe looked at the wrappings but found no names on the paper.
“That little lad is up to something with us if you ask me”, Adam said during their break.
“Yes, but what? You know that pa is standing behind him when we tease him”, Little Joe remarked.
Adam nodded and replied smiling, “Still we are gonna scare him with Hoss as the Easter Bunny. Tomorrow it is Easter and when he is in bed tonight you go as the Easter Bunny pay him a visit to warn him that when he teases us one more time he will get an adventure.”
Hoss and Little Joe were rolling over the ground laughing.
During dinnertime Adam, Hoss and Little Joe were very corny but they didn’t say why. Mitch was also very busy but he was that always when there was something going on around the house.
Ben said, “I hope that you are tomorrow morning a bit quiter or other wise you won’t get any of you no eggs from the Easter Bunny for breakfast.”
“I don’t want to have them because I know that they come from chickens and not from the Easter Bunny. They are just people dressed up as Easter Bunnies”, Mitch remarked dry.
“Kid, you go to bed after dinner and tomorrow you surely will get something from us for your Easter”, Adam said.
“Okay”, Mitch said.
In the evening Mitch was put to bed at the usual time when Hoss came into the ranchhouse dressed up as the Easterbunny. Ben and Candy looked amazed but didn’t say anything. Hoss just went upstairs. Adam and Little Joe were away because they had nothing to do with it like they said.
Hoss knocked at the door of the bedroom of his nephew and went then inside.
“Mitchell Jonathan Cartwright, I have heard that you don’t believe in me at all. That’s why I have come in person to prove to you that I actually do exisist”, Hoss said.
Mitch went to sit and looked at the Easter Bunny. Then the boy burst into laughing.
“I know for sure that it is you Uncle Hoss! You walk like you always walk and your voice is the same so you can’t make fool me. Goodnight!”, Mitch said screaming with laughter.
Hoss noticed that Mitch really didn’t believe it and rushed downstairs. Like there been a little tornado had taken place in the Cartwright household that way Hoss ran out of the house. Ben put his book down and Candy the paper and they went to the bedroom of the youngest Cartwright.
“Mitch, what is the matter?”, the rancher asked amazed.
“Daddy and his brothers tried to trick me by letting Uncle Hoss dressed up as the Easter Bunny appear in my room. That was no success at all”, Mitch said still laughing.
The rancher went to sit on the bed sand Candy was rolling on the floor laughing.
Ben said whispering, “I know how we do it. Tomorrow morning you go and get the coloured eggs and you put them at our plates. When they find out that they have none they will stop with their jokes. Goodnight son.”
“Same to you Grandpa, Candy”, Mitch said while he went to lie again.
“Goodnight Mitch”, the foreman said.
Adam and Little Joe waited near a few trees for the return of their brother.
“Adam, there he comes”, Little Joe said.
“And?”, the eldest Cartwright boy asked..
“That little boy of yours really doesn’t believe in the Easterbunny. He recognized me right away and to make it even worse he began to laugh at me”, Hoss said groaning.
His brothers couldn’t stop laughing anymore. Now Hoss became even angrier than he already was.
It was Easter Day. Hop Sing had set the breakfasttable very festively. Mitch had put the coloured eggs near his plate and those of Ben and Candy.
When Adam, Hoss and Little Joe came downstairs they saw that they hadn’t got any eggs.
Hoss asked his father, “Pa, I really feel like eating an egg this morning. Why didn’t we get one and you, Mitchy and Candy did?”
“Because you don’t deserve them. How dare you to give a little boy a fit by appearing as the Easter Bunny late in the evening in his bedroom while you know that he needs the sleep so badly?”, Ben asked strict but teasing.
“He teases us also so much”, Little Joe reacted excited.
“Joe is right”, Adam said.
Then Mitch asked from the stairs, “You are not eating your own kind, are you?”
“Mitch, we will do it never again if you never do it to us again”, Adam said on behalf of his brothers.
Mitch nodded but he had laughing eyes so that Adam knew more than enough. Still it became a jolly Easter despite all teasings of the Cartwrights and Candy to each other.