Just like any other year this year also a big fair was organized in Virginia City. The Cartwrights were looking forward to it but Mitch didn’t feel like going very much. He was the last one out of bed and so also the last one to the breakfast table.
“Mitch, what’s the matter with you today? You are really not at full speed”, Adam said a bit irritated by the dawdle of his son.
“Go without me to that year air. I stay at home with Cody”, the boy answered.
“No way. We all go and that means you too. Get on with eating”, said Adam strict.
“Everybody will look how I walk and then they will make fun of me again and laugh at too”, Mitch said fierce.
“Everybody in Virginia City knows that you are crippled and also how that happened”, Ben reacted.
“Okay. I go along but I take my glove and a ball along so I can throw over with Cody when there is nothing to do”, said Mitch reluctantly.
He ate quickly to go along then with the others.
When the Cartwrights arrived at the year fair Adam made the mistake to lose his son out of sight. Hereby Mitch wandered totally and he didn’t like it at all. He walked around meaningless and joined nothing. At a certain moment the boy ran into Ben.
“Can you entertain yourself a bit son?”, the rancher asked.
“No, I’m so bored. Are we going home?”, Mitch asked begging.
“No, not for a while. Your father and uncles are having a great time. Candy is also nowhere to be found and soon I am going to take a look at the animals. You may come with me”, Ben said .
“I want to go home”, Mitch said moaning.
He looked around him to see if he attracted some attention in which he succeeded. Ben knew that his grandson was very stubborn and always wanted to get his way.
Adam came to them and asked, “What is the matter?”
“Are we going home? I don’t like it here at all”, Mitch said moaning.
“We don’t go home just because you want it. From now on you stay with me!”, Adam said strict.
The young Cartwright was so hurt that he ran away. At least he tried to. But Adam grabbed him tightly and hit him in his face. Now Adam had really done it with Mitch. Adam took his son to a quieter place where they say down.
“Mitch, why are you so wrong-headed today? Everybody thinks it is great and you ruin it for us”, Adam said a bit more quieter.
The boy remained silently.
“Mitchell, I asked you something and then I expect an answer. Cody even listens better than you do”, said Adam strict.
Mitch looked at his father angrily and said, “Keep that animal then in my place. Pamper him because I am going away.”
The following moment he got up, threw his glove and ball down and ran away. Adam looked at him but remained sitting where he sat. Cody came to him and licked his face.
“Well Cody, the little boss has ran away. Go find him and stay with him”, Adam said to the dog.
The shepherd smelled around him an then he ran away too.
Mitch ran off the territory but didn’t know where his pony was standing. He stopped and decided to go back to his father and make it up again. Suddenly Jason Harris came up to Mitch.
“Where are we going to lam leggy”, asked Jason hatefully.
“Keep your big fat mouth, mother’s baby”, Mitch replied.
He ran back to his father but Jason ran after him. At the stand of the cakes Jason threw Mitch down and went to sit with his full weight upon him. Jason was ten times heavier than Mitch who looked like a skinny skeleton.
“Now first you apologize to me in public. Then you buy all the candy for me but from your own money. Not mine”, said Jason.
Mitch hit him hard in the face and got rescued by Cody. The dog began to lick the face of Mitch and swung his tail in Jason’s face. Suddenly the shepherd turned around and he pushed the young Harris over. Jason fell on the ground. Hereby the young Cartwright saw his chance clean to deal with him for good.
“Which cake has been baked by your mother?”, asked Mitch sneaky.
“The carrot cake. He will win”, said Jason.
“Thought not”, Mitch reacted.
“Thought so”, said Jason.
He stood up to take a long take-off and wanted to attack Mitch that way.
But the young Cartwright rolled aside just in time so that Jason ended up between the cakes. Hoss was standing by and helped his nephew up again. By the fall of Jason the whole cake stand collapsed and all cakes came upon the young Harris. Mitch saw what was happening and rolled over the ground laughing. Hoss thought it was entertaining as well and laughed too. Very soon everybody was looking at the collapsed cake stand with Jason as attraction. Of course Ben, Adam, Little Joe and Candy came to see it and they also couldn’t stop laughing. Juliet came up front and saw what had happened with her son.
She wandered with her parasol to Mitch said venomous, “You have caused this of course again.”
Mitch didn’t know what to say so that Juliet hit him with the strike of her parasol to his head. Hoss captured her second hit and broke the thing in two.
“How dare you to break my new and expensive parasol? What are you such a clumsy punk”, Juliet scold angry.
She picked up her son and walked away from the others. Adam came closer and checked the head wound of Mitch.
“It is nothing”, the boy said brave.
“It is bleeding like hell anyway. We go to the First Aid tent”, his father said.
Little Joe remarked dry, “Miss Harris is surely no lady.”
“How do you mean?”, asked Candy.
“Well, a lady doesn’t scold but she does, she even calls Hoss a punk”, Little Joe explained.
“She mustn’t praise him so much because she insults all the other punks”, Candy said roaring with laughter.
The two lads had to run for their life because Hoss almost came after them.
During the walk Mitch confessed, “Daddy, I am sorry but I am so bored here.”
“What do you mean?”, asked Adam amazed.
“I can join in nothing because I am or too little or too young or lame”, the boy explained.
“First we let you get you treatment and then we go and look together everywhere”, Adam promised.
Arrived at the tent of the First Aid Adam asked, “Paul, Mitch has had a bang with the parasol of Juliet Harris. Would you like to stitch the wound?”
Paul Martin looked at the head wound of Mitch and said, “Mitch, just sit down for a minute.”
The boy did that and the doctor stitched the wound.
“So, you can go again”, said Paul to Mitch.
Adam said, “Thanks. Come kid.”
They left the stand again and went together with Cody to watch all the stands.
At a certain moment father and son Cartwright came at a stand where kids could throw balls.
“Daddy, may I go once?”, Mitch asked.
Adam looked questionable at his boy and asked, “Are you sure about that?”
Mitch nodded.
Adam sighted deeply and said, “Alright.”
“Would this boy like to give it a try?”, asked Jed Larson, the man at the ball stand.
Mitch nodded. Adam paid and Mitch got the balls.
“You must try to throw a pile of cans with these three balls. No one has succeeded so far”, said Jed laughing.
“Then you don’t know my son yet.”, Adam grinned.
“Okay. We make this deal: if your son does not succeed you get your money back. And if he succeeds in this wooden bat is for him”, said Jed.
“That’s a deal”, Adam said self-confidant.
Mitch grabbed the first ball and threw the first pile of cans down. Hereby all cans which were standing up fell down. With the second ball got the second pile got thrown down too. Mitch did with the third ball the same thing but then with the third pile. Jed grabbed gruff the bat and gave it to Adam.
“Cartwright, here you have the bat. Now piss off please”, Jed gowned growl.
Adam said smiling, “Jed, have a nice day. Let’s go Mitch, Cody.”
“Is it mine?”, Mitch asked excited.
“You won him fair and square”, his father said.
By evening time Mitch had become so tired that he had fallen asleep at Adam’s lap.
Ben walked towards them and said whispering, “He did seem to have a great day after all.”
“He had thrown all the cans upside down at the ball stand and won a new wooden bat. Jed was even angry at him. I really wouldn’t know why”, Adam told smiling.
“Must you still ask that?”, asked Ben with frowning eyebrows.
“No, actually not”, said Adam with smiling eyes.
“I thought so either”, was Ben’s comment.
Hoss, Little Joe and Candy came to them as well and saw the deeply sleeping Mitch.
“A day like this is a bit too long for a little one like him”, Adam said when he saw the others looking.
“Shall we go home because I’m powerful hungry? It is a pity that the election for the most delicious cake didn’t pull through because I had really looked forward to it”, Hoss said.
“If the election did pull through you would be hungry for a hot meal of Hop Sing anyway”, Little Joe said teasing.
Everybody laughed. Ben took over Mitch so that Adam could get up. They walked to the horses and the carriage where Ben, Mitch and Cody went in. In an easy pace the Cartwrights and Candy rode home. In spite of a bad start it was a had been a great day for everyone.