When Ben and Abel arrived in town for the school board meeting, Ben was dismayed to see Stuart Weaver there. The man was obnoxious, always smelled of whiskey and cheap perfume, and wore a gun everywhere, including to church. Ben had hoped he would not be at the meeting. Mr. Devlin and Mr. King greeted Ben and Abel and noticed his expression at seeing Mr. Weaver. Mr. Devlin said, "Don't worry about Stuart. Ted and I came up with a plan to get him off the school board. I did some digging and found some very interesting information."
"Good. I hope you're successful. That man has no business being on the school board. He doesn't care about the children."
"Don't worry," said Mr. King. "We will be. We'll see you inside."
Mr. Kinkaid walked up, greeted Ben and Abel and said, "I need to apologize for my son's behavior in school today. Miss Winter came out to the ranch after school and told me what happened. If I had known he was meeting Thomas before church, I would have put a stop to it. As I'm sure you can guess, Samuel isn't sitting too comfortably right now and he's restricted to the ranch with extra chores until Easter. One thing he doesn't know is that from now on, when he wants to use the necessary at church, his mother will be accompanying him. If he wants to act like a four year old child, he will be treated like one. I already paid Paul for Catherine's visit to have him take care of her eye. I did have to laugh at the differences in their injuries. That little girl of yours sure is a fighter. She gives much better than she gets."
Ben sighed. "Yes, as much as I wish it wasn't true, she is a fighter. I guess it's because of how she has spent her childhood so far. She does need to work on controlling her temper though. Even though your boy was wrong, Catherine should have let the teacher handle the problem."
"That's easy for us to say Ben. We're not young children and we have the wisdom and experience that comes with age. I don't know how old you were when you went to sea, but stop and think about it. When you were a school boy, if someone had done something to you like Samuel did to Catherine today, would you have handled it any differently? Something similar did happen to me when I was ten and I handled it the exact same way your daughter did today. As she ages, Catherine will learn to control her temper. Just be patient with her. Remember, as you have pointed out to more than one person, she has had a hard life and is trying to adjust to a different way of life than what she has known so far. After seeing them together at Christmas, I have absolutely no doubt that Marshal Dillon loves that little girl very much and she loves him too. Considering that he never married and has a demanding, dangerous job, he did a very good job raising her. However, no matter how much she was and is loved, growing up in a town jail is a far cry from growing up in a home with a family. Look at it this way. It won't be too many more years when you'll wish she was still nine and getting into fights."
"I won't have that problem because I absolutely refuse to allow her to grow up and start courting."
Mr. Kinkaid and Abel laughed. "Good luck with that Ben," replied Mr. Kinkaid. "I'm quite certain that there are many fathers in this world who have said the same thing. Now, we had better get inside before Gerald starts the meeting. You know how he likes to start on time & frowns on members being late."
"He's right," said Abel as he and Ben walked into the building. "I seem to remember a young cabin boy who was ready to fight every man on the ship who even looked at him funny. He even tried fighting a few of them when they played simple, harmless pranks on him. And yes Benjamin, even though you didn't think so at the time, hiding one of your shoes was a harmless prank."
The men went inside and sat down. Mr. Weaver saw Miss Winter and asked, "What is that shemale doing here? This meeting is for men only. We don't need or want any shemales here."
"Stuart Weaver, you are out of order! Sit down and be quiet!" demanded Mr. Miller.
Once the meeting began, Mr. Miller thanked Miss Winter for attending the meeting and asked about the students' progress.
"The only student currently failing is Annabel White. She has yet to turn in an assignment since this board excluded her from school until after Easter. The four boys who are in jail and Thomas Roberts have been submitting their assignments on time. I know that this board voted to exclude the four boys in the jail for the remainder of the school term and make them repeat the tenth grade, however, I would like for you to reconsider that decision, at least for Ronald, David, and Richard. All three of them have apologized to Catherine Cartwright twice that I know of, and promised never to hurt anyone again unless they were defending themselves or someone else. If this board agrees to allow them to return to school, I plan on informing the judge of your decision after school tomorrow and ask him to release them from jail."
Before Mr. Miller could say anything, Mr. Weaver spoke up again. "I don't know why we're wasting time educating girls. They ain't worth it. All they need to know is how to cook, clean, sew, and open their legs for men."
Everyone at the meeting became very upset with Mr. Weaver, several fathers threatened to break both of his arms and legs, while a few others suggested that lynching was too good for him. Mr. Miller called the meeting to order again and said, "Stuart Weaver, you are out of order again! Your comments are not welcome. Either sit down and be quiet or I will have you removed from this meeting! Except for you, who spends his days in the saloons, everyone here works hard all day and would like to go home and spend time with their families! Your outbursts are inappropriate and contribute absolutely nothing constructive to this meeting. I will not tolerate them! I meant what I said. One more outburst and I will have you removed from this meeting!
Miss Winter, I apologize for the comments that were made by Mr. Weaver. Now, why do you want those three boys to return to school?"
"The judge put them in jail to teach them a lesson about consequences for their actions. I have been going over to the jail after school every day to see if they need any help with their assignments and each one of them has expressed remorse for his actions several times. I believe that they have learned the lesson the judge was trying to teach them. It is my understanding that Thomas and William will be leaving for their respective military schools after Easter, so with the ringleaders gone, I am confident that they will keep their promises. Those boys need a good education if they're going to become productive members of society and requiring them to repeat the tenth grade could embarrass them and cause them to leave school and get into more trouble with the law. All three of them are bright students who were making high grades before they let themselves get talked into doing the wrong thing. It is my understanding that before the incident with Catherine, Richard had been talking to Dr. Martin about the possibility of attending college and studying either medicine or animal husbandry. I would hate to see those plans terminated due to one bad decision, as I believe that young man would make an excellent doctor or veterinarian."
The school board members talked and voted. When they were done, Mr. Miller said, "Miss Winter, you would have made an excellent lawyer. You pleaded your clients' case very well and the school board has voted to allow them to return to school. I will go and talk to the judge in the morning, tell him of our decision, and ask him to release Richard, David, and Ronald. Is there anything else we need to know?"
"Thank you for agreeing to let those boys return to school. I have been looking at the almanac and this area is due for a blizzard any day now. Once that happens, as you know, the students on the outlying farms and ranches will be unable to get to school for quite a while. Therefore, tomorrow, I will be sending eight weeks worth of assignments home with those students. Parents, I want to stress that those assignments are only to be completed at home if the children are unable to attend school due to the weather or illness. Otherwise, they will be done in class. Also, I would like this board to add more books to the school library. The students enjoy being able to take them home to read."
"Are you planning to send grades home this week?"
"No I am not. The students received their grades just before Thanksgiving, so it has barely been a month since then and that is not enough time for a complete assessment of their progress. I will send grades home in early March."
The board meeting continued and they voted to buy more books for the school library. When Mr. Miller asked if there was any new business, before Abel could speak up, Mr. Devlin said, "I move that Stuart Weaver be removed from this board effective immediately."
Mr. King seconded the motion and Mr. Miller asked Mr. Devlin why he made the motion."
"There are several reasons. First, he has nothing positive to contribute to this board, especially in light of his comments about Miss Winter and educating girls in general. He has voted against everything positive we have tried to do for the students. He voted against terminating Miss Smith's employment as the teacher and hiring Miss Winter. He voted against inspecting the school building for damages, repairing it, and replacing the ruined desks. He voted against expanding the school library twice now and also voted against allowing Ronald, Richard, and David to return to school. Second and most importantly though, he is not an official member of this board."
"What do you mean that he's not an official member of this board?" asked Ben.
"Exactly what I said. I looked at the ballots for the last two elections and he was not on them as a candidate. I also looked at the minutes from the last two years' meetings and he was not appointed to fill a vacancy. Therefore, he is not an official member of this board and should not be acting as one and voting on things that concern the school."
Mr. King spoke up. "Another thing to consider is that he is not a good roll model for our children. Do we really want a man who spends all day, every day drinking and gambling in the saloons making decisions that affect our children? Here we are at a school board meeting, he reeks of whiskey and cheap perfume and is the only one wearing a gun. Shouldn't school board members be people that our children can respect? I believe they should be. I shouldn't have to explain to my eleven year old son why someone who spends all of his time in the saloons is a member of the school board."
Mr. Weaver got to his feet and started yelling. "You have no business judging me for what I do during the day. Look at Cartwright. He adopted a …."
Ben jumped to his feet. "Don't say it Weaver! Because if you do, I guarantee that you will have to be carried out of this meeting!"
Mr. Weaver reached for his gun, but Mr. Samuels grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard. Before anything else could happen, Roy walked in with his gun in his hand and said, "Get his gun Alex. He's under arrest.
You are not the only people who have been wondering how he can spend all day drinking and gambling in the saloons, spending a lot of money, but never work. I did some checking and discovered that he doesn't have a bank account he's getting his money from. I remembered reading about a Wells Fargo robbery in Wyoming several years ago where two men were killed. That robbery happened a few weeks before Weaver turned up in Virginia City. I have been trying to follow him for quite a while now, and finally succeeded this morning. He rode out to an abandoned mine several miles outside of town and after he left it, I went in and found four sets of saddle bags full of money. I took some of the bills and wired Wells Fargo for a list of serial numbers on the bills from the robbery. The ones I took were on that list, so Clem and I went back out to that mine and checked the rest of the bills. Every last one of them was on that list and the money is now in my office safe. I also got a description of the robbers and although he's gained some weight, Weaver here fits the description of one of them exactly. A pair of federal marshals will be here by the middle of next week to take him and the money back to Cheyenne where he'll stand trial for robbery and murder. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, but I had to get those boys in my jail back to their parents and let the judge know what was going on. I didn't want the boys anywhere near a man accused of robbery and murder. Alex, since you've got hold of him, would you mind bringing him to my jail?"
When Mr. Samuels returned to the meeting, Mr. Miller said, "Now that we've had our excitement for the evening, is there any other new business this board needs to know about."
Once the laughter at Mr. Miller's statement about the evening's excitement died down, Abel stood up and was asked what he needed the board to consider.
"I have decided to move her permanently and will be returning to Boston in the spring to dispose of my belongings that neither Adam nor I want and to close up my house. I want to take Catherine with me and that means she'll be out of school for almost two months. Besides showing her around Boston, I plan on taking her to Lexington, Concord, Philadelphia, Washington, and Cambridge of course to see Harvard where Adam went to school. Time permitting, I would also like to take her to Williamsburg and Yorktown. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for her. I wanted to ask you if you would permit her to be out of school that long. It goes without saying that Adam and I will be helping her with her lessons so she won't fall behind."
Since Mr. Simmons and his family had moved to Virginia City just before Cat's mother was killed, he was not familiar with Adam and Abel's histories. Nor did he pay attention to Abel's statement about Adam having attended Harvard. "I don't see how an old man and a rancher's son can help a child in the fourth grade with their school work. Between the two of them, they probably don't know much more than a second grade student knows."
Ben started to say something but Mr. Devlin interrupted him. "I am quite certain that a retired sea captain and a man who graduated from Harvard University at the top of his class are more than capable of helping a fourth grade student with her work. Adam helped both his brother Joe and my older son Mitch with their school work when he returned from Boston and both of them graduated last year with high marks. Believe it or not, ranching requires a lot of mathematics. Among other things, we need to know how many cattle a pasture will feed and how much hay and salt we need for them in the winter. I'm sure I speak for all of the ranchers and farmers here when I say that you are more than welcome to look at our books to see what goes into keeping our places going."
Mr. Simmons turned red at Mr. Devlin's comments and mumbled an apology.
"When do you plan on leaving and returning?" asked Mr. King.
"Weather permitting, I am planning to leave on February twentieth and return no later than April eighth. It is a ten day trip from Carson City to Boston. While it may not take me long to dispose of my belongings that neither Adam nor I want, taking Catherine to the places I mentioned will take some time. She loves history and I am certain she will enjoy seeing the places where our country was founded. I am hoping that the USS Constitution will be in Boston Harbor while we are there so Catherine can see her also. With her love of adventure, it will probably be all Adam and I can do to keep his sister from climbing the ship's rigging."
Everyone in the room who knew Cat laughed at Abel's last statement.
"Ben, Catherine is your daughter. What is your position on your father-in-law's request?"
"I think it's a wonderful idea. As Abel said, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for Cat and I think she'll learn a lot while enjoying herself at the same time. She'll love the idea of going to Boston but will be upset when she learns that she'll be missing the roundup, branding, and start of the trail drive. I'm also hoping that once she sees Harvard, she'll become interested in attending college when she graduates from the Virginia City school."
"Ben," laughed Mr. Devlin. "Are you talking about the same child who is always thinking of ways to get out of going to school, thinks it should be held outside, and should have nothing to do with mathematics? She was at my house this morning complaining about how mean you were to tell her all of the work she'd have to do around the ranch if she didn't go to school. That was quite clever of you."
Ben laughed. "Yes Dan. That's the same child. What is it that they say? Hope springs eternal. I can always hope that she'll change her mind about school sometime in the next nine years."
"Miss Winter, do you have any objections to Catherine Cartwright missing that much school?" asked Mr. Miller.
"No, not for something like what Captain Stoddard has planned. Catherine will learn a lot about the history of our country and get all of the help she needs with her assignments. As Captain Stoddard and Mr. Cartwright said, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for her and I would hate to see her miss out on it. Since I doubt many of the other students will have a similar opportunity, I am going to give Catherine an additional assignment. I would like her to keep a journal of her travels and give a presentation on them to the class when she returns. I'll write that assignment on a separate piece of paper and give it to her when I give her the next eight weeks' assignments."
The school board voted to allow Cat to miss school so she could go to Boston with Adam and his grandfather. After Abel was informed of their decision, Ben said, "I must ask that everyone here please refrain from discussing the trip with anyone who could possibly tell Catherine. I don't plan on telling her that she will be going with Adam and Abel until a day or two before the trip. In fact, I am not even going to say anything to her about Adam and Abel going to Boston because she'll want to go and that will just lead to a big argument from her about how school is ruining her life. Those of you with children know how excited they get about special things and I do not want to have to take the trip away from her because she gets so excited that she stops paying attention in school."
"I know how to get her to pay attention. Just make every arithmetic lesson about chocolate and there won't be any problems," joked Mr. King. "How about it Miss Winter? Can you do that? Something like two and three eighths chocolate cakes times four and one half chocolate cakes. Cat might stop hating arithmetic if it was all about chocolate."
"I don't think that's such a good idea," laughed Susan. "Catherine would want Hop Sing to come to school and make enough chocolate cakes for each lesson and I would have a school full of very full children who wouldn't eat their supper if they ate all of that cake. Not to mention how busy Dr. Martin would be treating all of the belly aches the children would get from eating too much chocolate cake."
Everyone at the meeting started laughing at Mr. King's suggestion and Susan's response.
When the meeting ended, Ben gave the note from George McLeod to Reverend Long who asked if he could keep the note and said he was going to call a meeting of the church elders for right after the Sunday service. "Yes, you may keep the note. I don't need it. George just wrote it so I would know what happened and so the women could be held accountable if Cat got sick"
"Thank you Ben. I fully intend to ask the church elders to exclude those three women from Sunday services until Easter. I have talked with them repeatedly and they ignore everything I say. So, it's time to take more drastic measures. I hope Cat doesn't get sick because she had to wait out in the cold this morning."
"Thank you. I do too. She's been through so much in the last six months, the last thing she needs is to get sick. If you'll excuse me, I need to get going. Abel is waiting for me and I need to talk to Ted and Dan."
"Of course Ben. I need to get home to Joanne too. I will see you on Sunday. Give Cat a hug for me and Joanne."
Ben saw Mr. King and Mr. Devlin getting ready to leave and called, "Ted, Dan, wait a minute please. I need to talk to you for a minute." The two men walked up to Ben and Mr. King asked, "What's up Ben?"
"I was thinking, since we're due for a blizzard any day now, this could be the last time the children will be able to do any ice skating or sledding for a while. Why don't you let the boys come over after school tomorrow and spend the weekend? If Abel doesn't mind, we can go home with you now and pick up their skates, sleds, and extra clothes in case we get a blizzard while they're at the Ponderosa. They'll have their school books and assignments for the next eight weeks with them, so if we do get hit with a blizzard, Adam will be able to help them with their school work. Laura and Mary are still at the ranch so I'll ride over and talk to Charles and Caroline in the morning."
"That's fine with me Ben," answered Mr. King. "Betsy and I will enjoy the privacy. Jasper is growing up and respects our privacy now, but there was a time..."
Ben started laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Your statement reminded me of Joe once he learned to walk and open doors. Marie and I had to lock our bedroom door if we wanted any privacy with that boy around. Closed doors didn't bother him at all. If he wanted us, he would find something, usually some of Adam's books, to stand on and open the door. Scolding him and telling him no did nothing at all to stop him."
Mr. Devlin laughed. "It sounds like all small boys are the same. I had the same problem with my two. Yes, Michael can spend the weekend at the Ponderosa. Mitch would tell you to keep him. He wouldn't mean it any more than Adam meant it when he told me I could keep Joe when he spent the night with Mitch, but he would still say it just to annoy his brother. The difference is that Michael wouldn't care. He would give anything to be allowed to move to the Ponderosa."
"So would Jasper," added Mr. King.
"Cat would love it if I were to add both of those boys as well as Mary and Laura to my family. She spent a lot of time with the Tanner family in Dodge and they treated her like family, but it's not the same as having a family."
"We'd better get going," said Mr. Devlin. "Gerald wants to lock up so he can go home and the three of us have a long trip back to our ranches."
When Ben walked up to where Abel was waiting for him, Abel said, "I take it we are going to stop and get sleds, ice skates, and church clothes on our way home."
Ben laughed. "How did you guess?"
"Because it's what you should be doing. I too have been looking at the almanac and this could be the last weekend the children will have for sledding and ice skating for a while. Cat would never forgive you if she couldn't spend the weekend playing with her friends."
"Once we get a blizzard, depending on how much more snow we get, if Cat can talk her brothers into taking shovels and cleaning the snow off the ice, she'll be able to go ice skating, but no more sledding will be done until the threat of more blizzards has passed. Since she doesn't know how to read the weather yet, I'll insist that she take Joe with her when she goes skating. I don't want to take a chance on her getting caught out in a storm."
"It might not be a bad idea for someone to build a lean-to out at the pond and put a lot of firewood next to it. That way if a storm does blow up and they can't get home right away, they'll at least have shelter and a fire."
"That's an excellent idea Abel. I'll talk to the boys when we get home and see if one or two of them will do that for their sister."
During the drive home, Abel said, "I am concerned that some of the men at the meeting tonight will talk to their wives about Cat missing school to go to Boston and that their children will eavesdrop on the conversation and tell her. I am going to talk to her in the morning and tell her that Adam and I will be going to Boston sometime in the not too distant future and that I plan on taking her with us. If she asks when, I'm going to tell her that I'm not sure, but it will probably be at the end of the summer, before school starts again. That way if one or more of the children start saying how it's not fair that she's going to miss school, she can tell them that she won't be going until the summer."
"That's an excellent idea Abel. It probably wouldn't hurt to have her tell Susan if some of the students do start bothering her about it. That way Susan can let the parents know that their children were eavesdropping on private conversations, because I'm certain that among others, Seth and Jackson Winter do spend a lot of time eavesdropping on their parents. There have been several occasions where one or both of them said something they would only have known if they had been listening to their parents talking."
When they reached the Ponderosa, Joshua offered to take care of the buggy and horse. He also said he would put the boys' sleds and skates in the tack room with Cat's. After he and Abel entered the house and took their coats off, Ben went into the kitchen to talk to Hop Sing. "I've invited Jasper and Michael to spend the weekend here. This could be the last opportunity the children have for sledding and skating for quite some time."
"Little boys and little girls always welcome. Make Missy Cat vely happy. She no have nightmares when friends hele."
"I never thought about it, but you are correct. Cat hasn't had a nightmare since everyone arrived before Christmas. I hope she doesn't go back to having them once her friends go home."
"Hop Sing hope so too. I no like it when Missy Cat have nightmares. Have herbs for many things but nothing to stop nightmares."
After talking with Hop Sing, Ben returned to the great room and talked to his sons. "The school board voted to allow Cat to miss school so she can go to Boston with Abel and Adam. Please do not say anything to her about it. Abel is planning on talking to her in the morning. Jasper and Michael will be spending the weekend here. This may be the last opportunity the children have for sledding and ice skating for quite a while. Abel made an excellent suggestion and I would like at least one of you to take care of it. He suggested that someone build a lean-to at the pond and stack firewood next to it. That way if it starts snowing hard while the children are skating, they'll have a place to wait for the weather to clear."
"I'll do it," said Hoss. "I enjoy doin' stuff for little sister and seein' the smile on her face and in her eyes when she sees what's been done. She shore will be surprised when she sees the lean-to I'm gonna build her."
"Speaking of little sister," said Joe. "She and her friends built a good lean-to out at the mountain where they go sledding, but I think we should build something better for them."
"What's do you have in mind son?" asked Ben.
"I was thinking about a large line shack. One that's big enough for six children and two dogs, something similar to a small cabin with a small barn attached. A door could be put between the shack and barn so the children could take care of their horses during a blizzard. If a pump was put in the shack or barn, they would have access to water for themselves and their horses. After all, the way I see it, at least five of them are going to be sledding for at least the next five or six years. I'm not sure about Mary, but Cat, Laura, and the boys will be, so the lean-to would have to be rebuilt every winter while a line shack or cabin wouldn't."
"That's an excellent idea Joe," said Adam. "I'll work on designing something big enough for Cat and her friends. Once I have it designed, we can build next spring and stock it before the first snowfall."
"Adam is correct Joe," said Abel. "That is an outstanding suggestion. A small cabin would be much better than the lean-to for the children to wait out a snowstorm or blizzard. It seems to me that a good, strong wind could destroy a lean-to, but a cabin would be safer and warmer."
Ben and Hoss were also impressed with Joe's suggestion and told him so.
"Adam, besides teaching your sister how to play the guitar, I would like you to work on helping her learn to draw better," said Ben. "Susan is giving her an extra assignment to complete while on the trip to Boston. She has to keep a journal of her travels and I thought if she could draw better, she could draw pictures of the places she visits."
"Sure. I can do that. I'll work with her for a little while after dinner on Sunday."
Before breakfast the next morning, Abel sat in Ben's chair and called the girls to him. He pulled Cat into his lap hugged her, and said, "Last night, some of the men were listening in on a conversation between myself, Benjamin, Mr. King, Mr. Devlin, Miss Winter, and Mr. Miller. I am concerned that if they tell their wives what we talked about and if their children eavesdrop on the conversation, those children may tease you about what was said. They may say that Adam and I are going to Boston but you will be staying here or they may say that you will get to miss a lot of school to go to Boston with us. Adam and I will be going to Boston and you will be coming with us. However, that will not be happening right now. Going to Boston right now would mean that you would have to miss more than a month of school and that is not going to happen. Your education is too important for you to miss that much school. We will probably be going to Boston at the end of the summer, after you spend time with your uncles. If any of the children tease you about what I just said, I want you to promise me that instead of arguing with them, you will tell your teacher so she can tell their parents about them eavesdropping on their private conversations. Arguments can lead to fights and those will get you into trouble, so don't argue, just tell your teacher about the teasing."
"Ok Grandpa. I'll tell Miss Susan, but it would be more fun to fight the other kids."
Abel sighed. "Yes my little Wild Cat. I know you'd rather fight the other children but that's not the right way to handle things. If I find out that you fought another child who was teasing you, you will not go to Boston with Adam and me."
"That's not fair. It's better to fight than be a snitch. 'Cause if you're a snitch, nobody wants to be around you but if you fight and win, everyone wants to be around you."
"If any of the other kids tease you and we're not right there, tell us and we'll tell Miss Susan," said Mary. "Then you won't get in trouble for fighting and the other kids won't know who told on them."
"You can tell Mike and Jasper too," added Laura. "They'll tell Miss Susan."
"Ok. I won't start any fights, but if somebody does something to me, they'll wish they'd never been born."
"No Little One," replied Abel gently. "Fighting to defend yourself is fine, but deliberately trying to hurt another person badly during a fight is not the right thing to do. What do you think your uncles would say if they learned that you decided to hurt someone very badly during a fight when you didn't need to?"
"I guess they'd be mad at me."
"Yes, they would be angry at you, and you would deserve it. You are very young and there are many things you need to learn. I am certain that your brothers have been in fights at one time or another. When you get home from school, ask them if they try to hurt the other person on purpose or if they're just trying to do what they can to defend themselves."
Hop Sing called everyone to breakfast before the conversation could continue.