a/n: To my guest reviewer: Don't worry. Cat will act like a boy except on very special days, such as her wedding. After all, even tomboys act like girls on very special days. I know I did. She'll wear a dress to dances but there will be moccasins on her feet & she'll keep wearing her hat over her sunbonnet on Sunday mornings.
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Reverend Long continued scolding Mrs. Warren as the Cartwrights drove to Paul Martin's office. Ben carried Cat inside & Hoss carried her puppies. Paul was surprised to see them and asked, "What's wrong with Cat and her puppies? They were fine in church this morning."
"Mrs. Warren let her hatred of children and animals get the best of her." Ben went on to describe the attack.
"That is terrible. One of you should go and get Roy while I examine Cat. Put her down on the bed and let me have a look at her. Alright Cat, tell me where it hurts." Cat pointed to all of the places where she was hurting, including her head. "Alright Cat, I'm going to need you to take off your dress so I can see if the whip cut you anywhere."
"My puppies. She hurt my puppies. Are they ok?" Cat got off the bed and started to run to Hoss who was holding the puppies.
"I'll look at your puppies in a minute," said Paul. "Right now, I need to look at you."
Cat was worried about her puppies and became agitated. "No! Look at my puppies first! I won't take my dress off if you don't!"
Paul looked at Ben and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright Cat. Don't get upset. I'll take a quick look at your puppies and when I'm done, that dress needs to come off so I can examine you. Hoss, please bring the puppies over here and put one of them on the table." Hoss put Lassie on the table and Paul felt her all over and then listened to her heart and lungs. Then he did the same thing with Silver Chief. Both puppies wiggled and gave him kisses. "Your puppies seem to be just fine Cat. Their hearts and lungs sound just the way they should. I can't feel any cracked or broken ribs and their wiggles and tongues work just fine. Now, please take your dress off so I can examine you." Cat looked at her father and brothers who were anxiously waiting to see how badly she was hurt and Paul realized that she wasn't used to getting undressed in front of others. "Alright you four, go out in the other room and let me examine Cat. It will be much easier to do without the four of you hovering like vultures." When they made no attempt to leave, he opened the door between the two rooms and started to shoo them out. Just then the door opened and Reverend Long walked in followed by Roy Coffee. Paul looked at the pair and said, "I want you to keep these four out of my treatment room until after I have had a chance to examine Cat. Ben, boys, I understand that you are anxious about her, but it will be much easier for me to do my job if you are not in the room with her."
Once Cat's father and brothers had left the room Paul said, "Alright Cat. It's just you and me now. I need to look at you to see how badly you're hurt so I need you to take your dress off. Depending on how badly you're hurt, you are going to at least let Hop Sing see you with only your under things or night clothes on so your cuts can be doctored. I don't want to risk having them get infected. If they do, you'll be a very sick little girl." Cat took her dress off and then sat back down on the bed in Paul's office. "This is very important. I know that you have lived with the Apaches and they are teaching you how to deal with pain, but right now, I need you to pretend that you don't want to be an Apache warrior when you grow up and tell me if you feel any pain when I push down on parts of your body, especially your ribs. If a cracked or broken rib heals improperly, it will affect your health for the rest of your life." He did a thorough exam of Cat's cuts, then felt and pressed down gently on her ribs.
"That hurts," she said after Paul pushed on one of her ribs.
"Thank you for telling me. Now, I need to push down on the rest of your ribs. Then I'm going to check the sore one more thoroughly." Paul finished his exam and said, "You've got some nasty cuts but your sore rib isn't cracked or broken. I'm going to put some ointment on your cuts to help them heal and keep them from getting infected. It's something Hop Sing makes for me, so he'll have some to use on you also. Then I'm going to wrap up your ribs to give them some support until the bruised one heals. I know that children don't like taking baths, but soaking that rib in hot water will help it heal. I want you to take it easy for the next few days to give that bruised rib time to heal. You can still ride a horse, but no trotting or galloping. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn't go faster than a walk until I see you again on Wednesday." He laughed at the face Cat made when he told her that she had to ride slow for three days. "I've seen you ride and know you like to go fast but your rib will heal sooner if you take it easy for a few days. Hop Sing probably has something to put on that rib to help it heal faster so it will only be sore for a few days."
While Paul was taking care of Cat, Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Joe were talking to Roy and Reverend Long. "Ben, I need to know what happened between Cat and Mrs. Warren. Why did she attack the child?" asked Roy.
"I don't know Roy," replied Ben. "Reverend Long and I were sitting on the church steps. He was telling me what Mrs. Warren had said about Cat and her puppies to upset her before church. Then all of a sudden we heard Cat yell for help. We rushed over to the buggy to find Cat lying on the ground and Mrs. Warren hitting her with the whip. Have you talked to Mrs. Warren yet to see what she has to say?"
"No Ben. Not yet. I wanted to talk to you, the boys, and Cat first. How is Cat?"
"I don't know. As you saw, Paul threw us out of the treatment room and won't let us back in until he's finished with her."
Roy laughed. "Now, that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you and the boys were probably in his way & hovering like a bunch of vultures waiting for a meal, would it? I've known you a long time and know what you were like when Joe got hurt and I'm positive that you're going to be much worse with Cat."
"What else do you expect me to do Roy? Joe is my baby boy and Cat is my baby girl. Of course I'm going to hover."
"I'm nineteen now and hardly a baby," protested Joe.
"Don't let Cat hear you calling her a baby," added Hoss. "She's already mad because she thinks she's being treated like one because she's not allowed to go anywhere on the ranch without an adult with her."
Just then Paul walked out of the treatment room. Ben was on his feet in an instant. "How is she? Was she hurt badly? Can I take her home with me?"
"Relax Ben. Cat has some nasty cuts from the whip and a bruised rib. Other than those things, she's fine. She's angry at me because I told her she has to take it easy for several days. No trotting or galloping on horseback and I would prefer that she not go faster than a walk. I've wrapped her ribs up to support the bruised one and used Hop Sing's ointment on the cuts. I want those cuts cleaned and treated at least twice a day. Soaking in hot water will help the rib heal faster. Yes, you can take her home with you. I'll be out to check on her on Wednesday. Roy, what are you planning on doing about Mrs. Warren? Cat is just a young child and didn't deserve to be attacked like that."
"I need to talk to Cat and find out what happened before I talk to Mrs. Warren," replied Roy. "Once I talk to Cat and Mrs. Warren, I'll know what I'm going to do. I do agree with you though. There is nothing any child could do to deserve that kind of treatment. I am going to ask around to see if anybody knows if Mrs. Warren has any family and where they are. I don't have the facilities to keep a woman in jail."
Cat walked out of the treatment room and Ben picked her up and hugged her tightly. "Owww Pa. Not so tight. That hurts."
"Ben," scolded Paul. "I just finished telling you that Cat has a bruised rib. I know that you're worried about her but hugging her that tightly is just going to hurt her. Now let Roy talk to her then take her home and feed her some of Hop Sing's good cooking. And as for you young lady, remember what I said. Take it easy until after I see you on Wednesday and tell you differently. No running and no trotting or galloping your horse. I want that bruised rib to heal and it won't if you're not nice to it. Now give me a hug and talk to Sheriff Roy."
Cat hugged Paul then sat in Ben's lap. "Cat, I need you to tell me exactly what happened after church and why Mrs. Warren hit you with her whip," said Roy.
"Ok. Mrs. Warren said some really mean things about me and my puppies before church when Reverend Long was carrying me around and she made me cry. Reverend Long said that even though she was mean to me, God still wanted me to love her. He didn't have time to finish telling me what he was talking about before church, so we talked after church. Then Pa came up and said he and Reverend Long needed to talk about grown up stuff and asked me to wait in the buggy for him and my brothers. While I was waiting in the buggy, Mrs. Warren drove up in her buggy and wanted to know what I was doing in Pa's buggy. I told her Pa told me to wait there and I was. Then she said I wasn't a Cartwright and Pa wasn't my Pa and to get out of the buggy. She grabbed my braids and pulled me out of the buggy and started hitting me with her whip. Lassie and Silver Chief bit her but she kicked them. Then Adam, Hoss, Joe, Pa, and Reverend Long ran up and made her stop hitting me and Adam broke her whip."
"Thank you Cat." Roy wrote down everything Cat said and handed the paper to Ben to sign. "Now I have to talk to Mrs. Warren and see what she says."
"Why? Don't you believe me? I'm not lying."
"I know you're not Cat but the law says I have to talk to Mrs. Warren also. Then I'm going to go and talk to Judge Taylor to see what he says about what happened. Now give me a hug, I can't get enough of them and then take your family home and make your Pa tell Hop Sing what happened so you'll get lots of extra dessert. Remember, you need to do what Dr. Paul told you to do so that bruised rib will heal soon."
Roy got up to leave and Reverend Long said, "I'm going with you. Maybe I can convince Mrs. Warren to show some remorse for her actions. I also want to tell Judge Taylor what I saw."
"It's time we started for home also," said Ben. "Hop Sing is probably fit to be tied because we're late for dinner."
"Can I drive?" asked Cat hopefully.
Ben looked at Paul who said, "If I say no, you'll have no peace on the road home because somebody will be grumpy. Cat, you may drive half way home and no further than that. If your sore rib starts hurting you, give the reins to someone else. I am serious little girl. If you keep driving the team while your rib is hurting, it will take longer for it to heal."
"Ok. I promise if my rib starts hurting I'll let somebody else drive."
"I'm going to hold you to that promise. If your Pa tells me you acted like your rib was hurting and kept driving, I am going to give you a spanking."
"So will I," added Ben. "And I'll let each of your brothers give you two swats. We want your rib to heal quickly and as Dr. Paul said, if you drive the buggy when the rib is hurting it will take longer to heal." Cat's eyes grew big. She couldn't believe that she would get two spankings and six swats if her rib was hurting and she kept driving the buggy. "Alright, let's go home."
As they were walking out of the doctor's office, Paul asked, "Adam, may I please see you for a minute?"
"Sure Paul. I'll be out in a minute Pa." Once the rest of the family was outside, Adam asked, "What's wrong Paul? Why did you want to see me?"
"I almost forgot. You and your brothers were planning on taking Cat out to her parents' gravesites today, weren't you?"
"Yes we were. Both you and Reverend Long said we should."
"I think you should wait until after I see her again on Wednesday. She's been through enough trauma today and needs time to recover. I know that David will agree with me."
"Alright Paul. I think you're right. Cat has been through more than enough today so we'll wait to take her out to her parents' graves until you say we should. However, I think we should still go through with the demonstration we had planned."
"What were you planning to do?" Adam told him of their plans with the wood and Paul said, "Yes, definitely do that. Hopefully she'll learn from what you're showing her. I'll see you on Wednesday."
Cat sat between Ben and Adam in the front seat of the buggy. Ben drove half way back to the Ponderosa and handed the reins to Cat. She drove another quarter of the way and handed the reins to Adam saying, "My rib hurts. Will you please drive the rest of the way?"
Adam hugged his sister. "Sure Squirt. I'll drive. I'm glad you decided not to drive when your rib is hurting. You made a good choice and your rib will heal faster because of it."
"Why didn't you ask me to drive?" teased Joe. "I thought I was your favorite brother."
"'Cause you're in the back seat and I don't know if you can drive from back there."
"I could have climbed into the front seat."
"Where would you sit?"
"I would sit in your lap of course. That would be the only place I could sit."
"My lap isn't big enough."
"It looks big enough to me. What do you think Hoss?"
"I agree little brother. Why I do believe that little sister's lap is big enough for me to sit in."
Cat laughed. "You would break my lap if you sat in it Hoss. So would Little Joe."
"I'm not that big," complained Hoss. "By the way Short Shanks, what makes you so all fired up shore that you're little sister's favorite brother?"
"Yes, I was wondering that myself," said Adam. "How about it baby brother? What makes you so sure that you're Cat's favorite brother?"
"That's easy. She was born on my birthday and her mother gave her to me as a birthday present, so I have to be her favorite brother. Short Shanks, baby brother…I'm nineteen now and too old to be called Short Shanks and I haven't been a baby in a lot of years," complained Joe. Ben laughed to himself, knowing that his sons' teasing was designed to keep Cat's mind off of what had happened in town.
Adam drove the buggy into the yard and Hop Sing came out of the house and started scolding the family. "Why you so late? Hop Sing leady to throw dinnel in trash and go back to China." Then he saw the cuts on Cat's face and demanded, "What happend to Missy Cat? Why you let somebody hult her? You no take good cale of Missy Cat. Hop Sing go back to China and take Missy Cat with him!"
"Catherine is not badly hurt. Let's eat dinner so she can change clothes and I will tell you what happened. She has some cuts you will need to use your ointment on. Dr. Martin did ask me to ask you to make more for him when you have time. She also has a bruised rib that the doctor wants to keep wrapped up for a few days to give it time to heal. He seems to think that soaking it in hot water will help the healing process and that you might have something to help it heal. Right now though, Catherine needs to eat."
"Hop Sing keep dinner walm. Evelybody go sit at table." For dessert Hop Sing served cherry pie with ice cream and gave Cat a large piece. "Chocolate cake for suppel desselt," he said in response to the question Cat was about to ask. "Hop Sing save vely large piece for Missy Cat."
"You make the best cherry pie Hop Sing. It's almost as good as your chocolate cake."
"Almost as good?" asked Ben.
"Nothing is as good as Hop Sing's chocolate cake," replied Cat, causing her family to laugh.
Once everybody had finished eating, they went upstairs to change out of their church clothes. Ben walked back downstairs and into the kitchen where he told Hop Sing what had happened to Cat. "Mrs. Wallen vely bad woman. Hurt Missy Cat. Hop Sing get Tong to kill her."
"No Hop Sing. We all feel the way you do but we have to let the law take care of Mrs. Warren. Killing her won't solve anything. All it will do is get people into a lot of trouble with the law. Sheriff Coffee is going to take my complaint to the judge. Judge Taylor is a good man. He will do what is right. Now, we're going to try and teach Catherine how dangerous it is to run in the house with loaded weapons in it. Don't be alarmed if you hear gunfire. Adam got four pieces of wood from the lumber yard today. Each piece of wood is a different thickness and each one of us is going to fire a bullet into each piece of wood from different distances. I'm hoping she pays attention and stops running in the house. I don't want to punish her but I will if I have to. It is much too dangerous for her to run in the house and I have got to find a way to stop her. Oh yes, Dr. Martin said that Cat is not to run at all until he tells her differently. If you see her running, feel free to use your wooden spoon on her bottom and put her in the corner. She has got to give that rib time to heal."
"Hop Sing take good cale of Missy Cat if she run anywhere."
Cat walked into the kitchen and said, "I'm going to go out and play with Fury for a while. Then I want to go for a ride. Will you please saddle Beauty for me since I'm not supposed to do anything to hurt my rib?"
"We'll all go for a ride in a little while. First, your brothers and I have something we need to show you. They should be ready for us." They walked out into the great room just as Adam walked into the door. "Is everything ready son?"
"Yes it is. I was just coming to get you and Cat."
"Alright then. Let's go and see if our little plan works." Adam and Ben took their guns off the armoire as they started for the door.
"Why are you taking your guns?" asked Cat.
"You'll see in just a few minutes," answered Adam.
They walked through the woods away from the house until they came to a clearing. Once they reached the other side of the clearing, Cat noticed four pieces of wood, three of which had been nailed to trees. The fourth piece was too thick to nail to a tree, so it sat on a large upended log against a tree. "What are those pieces of wood for?" asked Cat. "They're too small to make anything with."
"We think that one reason you won't stop running in the house is because you don't realize how dangerous loaded weapons are," answered Joe. "The rifles are up on the wall but our pistols are always on the armoire, on our bodies, or in our hands. We're going to use these pieces of wood to show you how dangerous a loaded pistol is."
"Each of us is gonna to fire one bullet into each piece of wood from different distances away from it," added Hoss. "When we're done, we want ya to look at the wood and imagine if you was standing there instead of a piece of wood."
Adam took a bullet out of his gun belt and handed it to Cat. "This is a forty-five caliber bullet. Feel how heavy it is. Press the tip of it into the palm of your hand as hard as you can. Close your eyes while you're doing it and imagine that bullet tearing into you at a high rate of speed. All of us have been shot at least once and it hurts worse than anything you could imagine. It hurts so bad, it would make what Mrs. Warren did to you today feel like she had used a piece of string instead of a buggy whip. I'm going to show you where to stand. It is very important that you do not come any closer until all of us have fired one shot into all four pieces of wood. The last thing in the world we want to do is hurt you. Once we're finished, we'll take the wood off the trees and you will be able to see what the bullets did to it." He took Cat to the far side of the clearing and told her to stay there and walked back to join his father and brothers.
Joe stood about five yards away from the first piece of wood and fired into it. Adam stood about twenty five yards away and fired. Hoss stood about fifty yards away and Ben stood about one hundred yards away and fired. Even though she was quite a distance from where her father and brothers were standing, the noise from the weapons bothered Cat, so she covered both ears with her hands. When they were finished, Hoss walked over to where Cat was waiting, squatted down, and said, "Climb up on my shoulders and I'll give you a ride back to everyone else." Cat was more than happy to ride on her older brother's shoulders so she climbed up and he took her back to the rest of the family. When they reached the family, Joe and Adam had finished taking the wood down from the trees and Ben helped Cat down from Hoss' shoulders.
Adam handed Cat the thinnest piece of wood and Ben said, "Take a good look at that piece of wood." He pointed to each of the holes and told her which one of them had made it. "Little Joe was so close, the bullet may have gone all the way through the tree. Let's walk over and look." The tree was not very big around and Joe's bullet had gone through the tree and lodged in the tree behind it. Cat couldn't believe what she was seeing. Ben did the same thing with the other three pieces of wood. When he handed her the thickest one he said, "Look at how thick this piece of wood is. Here is the hole from my bullet. What do you notice about it?"
"It goes all the way through."
"Yes it does and I was standing farthest away from it. In fact, I was standing about as far away as you can and still be accurate with your shot. Now, even though that piece of wood isn't as thick as a human being, it is solid. People are not solid. Feel how soft your arms are. A bullet would have an easier time going through you than it did those pieces of wood. If it hit an artery, you could bleed to death before anyone could get you to a doctor. If it went into your heart, you would die right away. If it went into one of your lungs, only a miracle could keep you alive. I truly hope and pray that what we have done here today will keep you from running in the house. I love you and so do your brothers. We don't want anything to happen to you because you were running in the house. That is why your punishment for running in the house will be so severe. It's not because I'm being mean. It's because I love you and want to keep you safe. We're going to keep those pieces of wood so you can look at them from time to time and think about what could happen to you if you were running in the house, one of us was carrying a loaded gun, and you accidentally got shot. Now, let's go back to the house and see if Hop Sing has a snack for us. Then we'll all go for a ride."
They walked back to the house and found that Hop Sing had fresh cookies waiting for them. Once everyone had finished their snack Ben said, "We're all going to go for a ride. Boys, would one of you please saddle Beauty for your sister? I don't want to risk causing further injury to her rib. Cat, please go and tell Hop Sing that we may be late for supper." Adam, Hoss, and Joe walked out to the barn and saddled the horses. Joe walked back into the house and told his father that the horses were saddled. Then he walked upstairs and got Cat's saddle bags. "Thank you son. Let's go Cat."
"Can I bring my bow and arrows?"
"Yes you may. However, when I tell you that you can use them, if it hurts your rib to pull the bowstring, I do not want you to use them." They walked outside and Cat started to mount Beauty when she felt herself being picked up. She recognized Hoss' big hands around her waist and giggled as he put her in the saddle. Joe had already put her saddle bags on Beauty and once Cat was in the saddle, he and Adam put a puppy in each side. They started walking their horses and Ben said, "Catherine, I want you to pay attention to how to get to where we are going. You are going to tell us how to get back home." Cat was surprised to hear her father's words but watched very carefully as they rode toward their destination.
Adam rode up next to his father and asked, "Where are we going?"
"To Silver Hawk's village," came the reply. "I thought spending some time there would take Cat's mind off what happened for a little while. Also, I want to ask him when he is planning on adopting her."
After the Cartwrights left town, Paul, Roy, and Reverend Long walked over to Mrs. Warren's house to talk with her. They tried reasoning with her and to get her to apologize to Cat, but she kept insisting that she had done nothing wrong, that Cat was not a Cartwright and should be in an orphanage or better yet, a work house. Finally Roy said, "Ben Cartwright has filed a complaint against you for the way you treated his daughter. I had hoped to resolve this without involving Judge Taylor, but you give me no choice. I hate to disturb him on a Sunday but I need to know what he wants to do about this problem. I have a feeling that he's going to want to hold a trial. If he does, you are going to be in a lot of trouble and all of your money won't buy you out of it." The three men said goodbye to Mrs. Warren and walked over to the judge's house. The judge's wife answered their knock. "Good afternoon Sally. Is your husband in? I hate to disturb him on a Sunday, but this is extremely important."
"Good afternoon Roy, Paul, Reverend Long. Yes, Richard is in. Whatever you want to speak with him about must be very important if all three of you are here. Please come in and I'll tell him that you're here." She returned a few minutes later and escorted her husband's visitors into the sitting room.
Judge Taylor welcomed his guests and asked, "What brings the three of you over here on a Sunday afternoon? Sally said it was very important."
"Yes it is," said Roy and proceeded to tell the Taylors what Mrs. Warren had done to Cat. "The three of us just came from her house and tried to reason with her and get her to apologize to Cat but she keeps insisting that Cat is not a Cartwright and belongs in an orphanage or workhouse. She also keeps referring to Cat as 'it' rather than 'she' or 'her' and says that Cat's puppies should have been drowned when they were born."
"I knew that Millicent didn't like children and animals," said Mrs. Taylor, "But I never expected her to do something like that. How is the child? I hope she wasn't hurt badly."
"No she wasn't," replied Paul. "Ben, David, and the Cartwright boys were able to stop Mrs. Warren before she was able to hurt Cat too badly."
"Did Ben sign a complaint?" asked the judge.
"Yes he did," replied Roy. "I have it right here." He handed the paper to the judge who read it over and handed it back to Roy.
"Thank you Roy. Please take this over to the prosecutor's office tomorrow morning and tell him I want to hold a trial before the end of the week. I want to try and stop that woman before she seriously injures the Cartwright girl or another child. You may also want to stop back at Mrs. Warren's house and tell her that she is going to need to hire a lawyer. You're also going to need to find a jury but don't tell them what the case is all about. I don't want their minds made up before the trial even begins. Paul, just how badly injured was Catherine?"
"It could have been a lot worse Judge. She has some cuts, a bruised rib and her head hurts from where Mrs. Warren pulled her out of the buggy by her hair."
"I'm very glad that she wasn't hurt badly. She's a cute little girl. I'll bet she's giving Ben a run for his money."
"Well, as you know, Hoss calls her 'Wild Cat', so that should tell you what she's like. But Ben and the boys adore her and Hop Sing acts as though she's his daughter and spoils her whenever he can. Right now, Ben is at his wits end trying to get her to stop running in the house. She doesn't seem to understand how dangerous it is."
"Yes, that is a dangerous thing for a young child to do. I sure hope Ben can get her to stop before she gets seriously hurt."
"I'm sure he will. Cat may have a sore bottom for a while but Ben will eventually get her to stop running in the house. Well, we've taken up enough of your time on a Sunday afternoon. I'll talk to the prosecutor tomorrow morning and get a jury together as soon as I know when the trial is going to be."
The three men left the Taylor's home and started to go their separate ways when Reverend Long asked, "Why don't the two of you come to dinner? I know you haven't eaten since breakfast and Joanne always makes more than enough food in case we have company."
"I don't know about Paul," said Roy, "But I gladly accept. 'Bout the only time I get a home cooked meal is when I invite myself to supper at the Ponderosa."
"I accept also," said Paul. "Like Roy, I don't get too many good home cooked meals. My cooking efforts leave a lot to be desired."
Reverend Long laughed. "It's settled then. Let's go and tell Joanne that we'll be having company for dinner." The three men walked over to the parsonage where Paul and Roy enjoyed an excellent home cooked meal.
After they finished dinner, Roy said, "Joanne, thank you for that wonderful meal. I haven't eaten that well since the last time I was at the Ponderosa. Well, I'd better be going. I still have to stop by Mrs. Warren's house and tell her that she has to get a lawyer."
"I'll go with you," said Paul.
"So will I," said Reverend Long. "It will be better if the three of us tell her. Judging from her attitude earlier, she will be indignant at the fact that Ben filed a complaint and the judge wants to hold a trial. I will need to tell her that she went against the laws of God and man by abusing that child and she needs to be held accountable for her actions."
The three men walked over to Mrs. Warren's house and told her what the judge had said. As predicted, she was indignant about the fact that Ben had filed a complaint and the judge wanted to hold a trial. She said, "I did nothing wrong. It's all that brat's fault. If it hadn't been sitting in the Cartwright's buggy, I wouldn't have had to discipline it. Benjamin had no business filing a complaint and Judge Taylor has no business holding a trial."
"No Mrs. Warren," said Reverend Long. "You were in the wrong. Catherine was doing exactly as she had been instructed to do. You had no business pulling her out of the buggy by her hair and using that whip on her. No child deserves to be treated that way. Did you even bother to listen to my sermon this morning? You have gone against the laws of God and man and need to be held accountable for your actions."
"That brat is not Benjamin Cartwright's daughter and had no business being in his buggy."
Paul spoke up. "Mrs. Warren, everybody in Virginia City knows that Ben Cartwright adopted his niece after her mother was murdered. You are very fortunate that Catherine wasn't seriously hurt. Ben and the boys love that little girl very much and there is no telling what they would have done had you seriously injured her."
Mrs. Warren kept insisting that she had done nothing wrong and the whole incident was Cat's fault. The men gave up trying to talk to her and Roy said, "You need to get a lawyer. The trial will be later this week. Believe me, if I had the facilities to keep a woman in jail, that is where you would be until the trial. Let me know when you hire a lawyer and whom it is so I can let him know when the trial will be scheduled for. Do not leave town before the trial. Good day Mrs. Warren." The three men left Mrs. Warren's house and went their separate ways wishing they would have had better luck getting her to admit what she had done was wrong and to apologize to Cat.
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a/n: I found information on the maximum effective distance of a .45 caliber bullet at testing-practical-45-colt-accuracy-100-yards/
