The Scent of Posies

The Scent of Posies

by Annie K Cowgirl

Rating: G


“Come on now, I ain't gonna hurtcha! Come here!”

Marie Cartwright was coming around the side of the ranch house when she spotted five-year-old Hoss. He was on his hands and knees in the dust, peering behind the steps to the back door.

“Mon cheri, what are you doing?” The little toe-headed boy spun around at her words, startled for a moment before giving her a gap-toothed smile.

“I found a kitty, Mama, but she won't come out to play with me.” He pouted a bit before turning back to the hidden animal.

“Hoss, maybe you should leave her alone for a while and then she'll decide to play later.” The child gave her a skeptical look.
Then she sweetened the deal.

“If you come help me make an apple pie, you can bring some scraps from dinner out to her after we eat.” His face brightened at the possibility of having both his favorite dessert and a new pet.

“Really?”

Wide blue eyes met green ones and Marie took her pointer finger and drew an X over her heart.

“I promise.” She replied solemnly.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the kitchen was covered in flour: the floor, the counters, the table...even her dress had not escaped unscathed. And standing in the middle of the mess was Hoss. The door opened and an unsuspecting Ben came around the corner, oblivious to the disaster that awaited him.

“Marie, Mrs. Keegan was asking after you when I went to Haro—WHAT HAPPENED HERE?”

The look on her befuddled husband's face proved to be too much for her, and she burst into a fit of giggles. Nonplussed, he glanced from his wife to his son, searching for an answer to his question. When she was finally able to control her mirth, she gasped, “We're making a pie!”

He stared at her, his face as blank as a sheet of paper.

“Oh?”

“Yes! We just didn't know the flour bag was already opened on that end--” Her sentence was again cut off by her chuckles, but by that time he had already caught on. A smile tugged at his mouth as he took in the scene before him. It looked like a rain storm had occurred in the kitchen, for everything was dusted in a shower of fine white powder.

Hoss's bottom lip began to quiver.

“I didn't know that was gonna happen, Pa!” The plaintive tone in his son's voice conquered his temporary anger and he pulled the child—flour and all—into a fierce bear hug.

“Grr! Well, young man, it looks like we'll have to toss you into the tub tonight!” Groans accompanied the dreaded statement, but the father only threw his head back and roared with laughter.

* * *

Ben and Marie made short word of cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, and they were both glad that Hop Sing was away visiting his relatives in San Francisco, otherwise they never would have heard the end of it. Once supper was on the table, Hoss flew through his food—not even asking for seconds—which received a raised eyebrow from his pa, before running outside with a few pieces of ham in his pudgy fist.

“What is he up to this time?”When the suspense became unbearable, Ben asked; he noticed Marie trying to hide her amusement behind a napkin. She set the cloth down before answering him.

“I'm afraid he's found a new pet.”

“Again?”

“Yes. It's another cat.”

* * *

Hoss had the patience of a saint. Three weeks passed since he had first found the cat, but the animal still refused to come out. Every day the boy did his assigned chores and every night he faithfully set out the scraps so that the creature could have something to eat.
But soon his patience was rewarded.

Marie was in her garden, tugging on a particularly stubborn weed, when she caught sight of Hoss racing around the house, a bundle in his hands.

“Mama! Mama! She came out! Posy came out!” He beamed at her and she grinned back until she saw what exactly it was that he held so tightly in his arms.

“Eric! Drop that animal right this minute--” But it was too late! A hissing noise filled the air right before a horrendous smell exuded from the creature's hind end. Surprised, the boy dropped it, pinching the bridge of his nose as the beast scuttled away from the two humans.

“Wait, Posy, don't go!” She caught hold of her son's arm before he could go chasing after it.

“Hoss, that is not a kitty; that is a skunk--” She started to explain, but then the boy's words struck her like a thunderbolt.

“What did you say her name was?”

“Posy, I called her Posy, cause she's pretty like flowers!” For a long moment, she could only stare, but then wordlessly she took the child by the hand and led him to the nearby creek. Hoss didn't dare look up to see if his Mama was mad at him. If he had, he would have seen that Marie Cartwright was biting her lip, desperately trying to hold in her laughter!


* * *

Marie, Adam and Hoss were already seated at the dinner table, when Ben entered the house. He removed his gun belt and hat, all the while wondering why his eldest had a clothespin on his nose. He soon found out when a terrible smell assaulted his nostrils.
“Ugh! What is that?” He waved his right hand in the air in front of his face. Marie couldn't help but glance at Hoss out of the corner of her eye before replying.

“It's Posy's perfume!”

-THE END