Rubber Ducks

Joe Cartwright was having his birthday within 3 weeks. Normally he was pleased with this but not this year. The reason for this was that he had found his old rubber duck of years ago. Of course Joe kept this hidden from his family. At least the youngest Cartwright son tried that. But of course this plan failed.

On a morning Mitch (the son of Adam Cartwright) asked, “Has that rubber duck been yours?”

Adam grabbed the duck, looked at it and answered, “No, he is from your uncle Joe. Your youngest uncle always played with it in the bath until he was 6. Apparently he has found it again.”

Adam was the oldest brother of Joe.

“Daddy, I do know a very nice birthday present for uncle Joe”, Mitch said while he went into the bath.

“Not another duck with it?”, Adam asked carefully.

“So many rubber ducks as uncle Joe becomes”, answered his son.

“How many rubber ducks must we have then?”, asked Adam.

He knew that Mitch had trouble with calculating and helped him this way.

“Uncle Joe becomes 39 so we need 38 rubber ducks”, said Mitch.

“Why 38?”, Adam asked amazed.

“He already has this one so then he must get only 38. But he doesn’t know that we know this. So…”, the boy explained.

He looked at his father meaningful and laughing.

Adam knew enough, sighed deep and answered, “Just arrange it with grandpa and uncle Hoss. Your mother needs me now badly.”

The mother of Mitch was Sally Baxton married to Adam and expected with him twins in November. With grandpa and uncle Hoss Adam meant his father Ben Cartwright and younger brother Hoss. They all lived together at the Ponderosa ranch.

“Alright”, said Mitch.

A bit later on Mitch found Mitch Ben and Hoss in the office.

“Exactly the gentlemen I must have”, said the youngest Cartwright.

Ben and Hoss looked at each other amazed and worried.

“This morning daddy and I saw an old rubber duck who told us had he is so pathetic and lonely. Daddy said that he was of uncle Joe. I know a very nice and original present for uncle Joe: 38 rubber ducks”, said Mitch.

“Mitch, I thought that you said: 38 rubber ducks?”, Ben asked for the security.

The boy nodded. Hoss put a hand on the forehead of his nephew to feel if he didn’t have a fever.

“Pa, he has no fever. I also heard him saying 38 rubber ducks”, said Hoss.

“Well Hoss, then there is nothing else to do than to buy 38 ducks”, said Ben.

“Big and little ducks”, said Mitch.

“Hoss, you are going to look in Carson City. Mitch and I are going to look for them in Virginia City”, said Ben.

“Shall I put it into the newspaper: Ben Cartwright, owner of the Ponderosa Ranch, is looking for 38 rubber ducks?”, Hoss asked laughing.

“If you do that I put your name also under it”, said his father.

“Pa, I haven’t said anything”, Hoss said smiling.

Ben looked at him with a distrusting look.

“Grandpa, I thought that we were going on a duck hunt, weren’t we?”, Mitch asked then.

This was the rescue for Hoss because they went away.

Hoss drove to Carson City where he ran into his girlfriend Betsy Kent by coincidence.

“Hello Hoss. Nice to see you again. What are you doing here in Carson City?”, asked Betsy.

“Hello Grape. Little Joe is having a birthday in a fortnight. Now that nephew of mine came up with the idea to give Little Joe 38 rubber ducks for his birthday. Pa is with Mitchy to Virginia City and I got sent to here by pa”, answered Hoss.

Hoss always called Betsy Grape and his nephew Mitchy.

“Nice and original present. I help you looking for rubber ducks”, Betsy offered spontaneous.

Hoss didn’t mind this of course at all. Betsy knew exactly which shops they had to have.

At the end of the afternoon Hoss and Betsy had 2 foldable crates full with 2 rubber ducks in different sizes.

“I am curious about how it went with pa and Mitchy”, Hoss said smiling.

“I think well. Shall I go with you to the ranch?”, asked Betsy.

“Yes please. You now that you are always welcome”, Hoss said now a bit shy.

They got into the car of Hoss and drove to the ranch. Hoss put the rubber ducks in his room. The rubber ducks got counted and it were 18.

“We still must have 20”, said Hoss.

Betsy said laughing, “We give Joe so many rubber ducks that he will and can’t see them never again. I will help Hop Sing with baking a cake in the shape of a rubber duck.”

Hop Sing was the loyal Chinese cook of the Cartwright family.

Then Hoss asked the for him important questions, “Sweet Betsy Kent, would you like to stay with me for good and come live here as well?”

“Hoss Cartwright, my answer to both your questions is yes”, said the young woman.

A kiss sealed the love between them.

Meanwhile Ben and Mitch were on a rubber duck hunt in Virginia City. They were in luck because the rubber ducks had just come to a discount store.

“Grandpa, they knew that we were going on a duck hunt”, said Mitch.

“We just take all of them”, answered Ben.

Mitch grabbed each rubber duck and put them into the trolley. To his joy he also saw a rubber duck in baseball style. This one went into it as well. Ben paid for the rubber ducks where after the purchases got brought to the car.

Mitch asked, “Grandpa, will we have enough rubber ducks now?”

“Boy, we can never have enough. You know that uncle Joe is always as 1^st in the swimming pool. So just before we go to bed you and Cody fill the swimming pool with rubber ducks”, answered Ben.

“So on duck hunting again”, Mitch said smiling.

“No Mitch. On rubber duck hunting”, the rancher corrected his grandson.

When the Cartwrights left Virginia City there was no single rubber duck for sale anymore. The whole trunk of the Mercedes of Ben Cartwright was lying full with rubber ducks in different kinds and sizes.

It was the evening of October 30.

Everyone was busy with the last preparations for the birthday of Joe. Mitch kept himself busy with the rubber ducks. He got support of his dog Cody.

“Cody, I throw the duck to you and you head it into the water. Understood?”, asked the boy.

Cody barked. The pitching game began.

When they had finished playing the couple went inside.

“We have a bad announcement for you”, Mitch said with a serious face.

Adam looked at his son and asked, “What is the announcement?”

“The announcement which we have to announce is that the announcement is that our swimming pool is totally taken over by a herd of rubber ducks. And they quack very loud”, answered Mitch.

Now all grownups looked at him.

Mitch explained, “All rubber ducks are lying in the swimming pool.”

Everyone went to take a look and the rubber ducks fought for a spot in the water.

“Well done lad. Now off to bed you”, said Adam.

“Goodnight everyone”, Mitch said with reluctance.

“Goodnight son”, said the others.

Mitch went to his room and slept not much later. The grownups followed in the later evening hours his example.

The following morning Joe got up early non-suspecting to have a lovely dive into the swimming pool. He arrived at the swimming pool and didn’t know what he saw.

“What has happened here for goodness sake?”, he asked out loud.

A whole lot of rubber ducks stared at him as they wanted to say, “What are you doing here. We live here now.”

Then Joe heard a familiar voice asking behind him, “Uncle Joe, may you not enter the pool of your ducks?”

The youngest Cartwright brother turned around and saw his nephew standing.

“Uncle Joe, happy birthday. You get all these rubber ducks from all of us”, said Mitch.

“Thanks son”, said Joe.

“Who the last in the swimming pool is becomes a rubber duck”, said Mitch.

He was as 1^st into the swimming pool. His uncle followed at once. Quite soon the rubber ducks flew all around.

During breakfast Joe got to hear everything about the amount of rubber ducks in the swimming pool.

“I had better kept that old duck hidden from you”, he sighed.

Hoss reacted with, “Then we would have found it anyway.”

“My uncle becomes 39 and he still plays with rubber ducks. No wonder that he still isn’t married”, Mitch said dry.

“Joseph, what are you going to do with those ducks?”, asked Ben.

“I don’t know that yet”, answered Joe.

“You must feed them each day though”, said Adam.

Everyone laughed.

Then Sally came with a solution, “Why don’t you put the little ducks on shelves in your room and the big ones can then stay in the swimming pool.”

“We do that. But tomorrow. Today we celebrate my birthday in the company of the rubber ducks”, said Joe.

It became indeed an unforgettable birthday for Joe and he never received a rubber duck anymore for his birthday or Christmas.