At the Judge's office in town Ben was having a heated argument with him. "Why did you send Catherine's will to Amelia and how did you get your hands on it?" Ben demanded.
"Calm down Ben I was told to send Amelia Catherine's will and I was told not to tell anyone who I got it from" said the Judge.
"Well you're not gonna tell anyone because you're gonna tell me right now who gave you those instructions!" shouted Ben.
"Ben the will was kept a secret and when a young woman came here yesterday and showed me it. She demanded that I enforced it and I did" explained the Judge.
"Who?" asked Ben in a demanding tone. "A woman name Martha" said the Judge. The expression on Ben's face stiffens with anger. "She claim to be Catherine's sister?" said the judge wondering if Ben knew her.
"Is the will real and legal?" asked Ben. "It appears to be Ben" said the Judge.
"Now what would happen if I don't let Martha take Amelia away?" Ben asked. "Well Ben I'm afraid that Martha can take you into court for custody of Amelia" responded the Judge.
"Is that legal? Can she do that?" asked Ben. "There's no law that says she can't especially when Catherine's will state that Martha is caretaker of Amelia" said the Judge.
At the ranch I was feeding the baby piglets in the yard when my Aunt Martha walks over to me. "I wouldn't become too attach with those piglets if I were you" she warned me.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked her confuse. I knew at that instant that she was up to something and it was gonna be good.
"I'm afraid you won't be living on the Ponderosa much longer. Your father is gonna send you away to live with me" Martha said.
I was horrified was my father really gonna make me live with this awful witch? The thought of it was too much for me to bear as I was about to cry as I lashed out to her that it wasn't true.
She tells me that it is and says she has proof. She hand me a document paper that had my mother's name on it. It was her will in testimony.
As I read it I was becoming even more horrified that my mother would want this for me. I look up at her and could see the pleasure of making me suffer was evident on her face.
"Why are you trying to tear me away from my father for?" I asked her. "To put it simply my very young naïve niece your father is unfit to take care of you and you should be raise by a woman who knows what she is doing" she says to me.
She walks away feeling satisfy with herself. I try to put everything she said to the back of my mind but I was so upset and needed to run away and cry.
After I finish feeding the piglets I dashed desperately for the barn and I stop dead in my tracks when I saw Hoss there. God I didn't want him to see that I was about to cry and I really didn't want to talk to him about what Martha had said.
Hoss was cleaning the stalls when he turns his head and looks at me. I could see the confusion on his face and I knew he was wondering what was bothering me.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked me. I really don't want to push him away but I can't talk about it right now. I look up at him and smiled. "I just want to be by myself for awhile Hoss" I said.
Hoss nods and but I could see the disappointed look on his face so I put my hand on his arm. "Thanks for your concern Hoss I really appreciate it but I think I need to figure it out for myself but if I do need to talk about anything I know I can count on you to be there when I do and I love ya".
Hoss smiles at me and tells me that he loves me. I hug him and I walk out of the barn with Sapphire mounted on her and rode out of the yard.
Moments later Ben arrives home and tells the boys about what the Judge had told him. "I can't believe she would stoop this low and use Catherine's will to take Amelia away from us. Amelia belongs here with us not with that woman" Joe said furiously.
"Are you sure there ain't nothing we can do Pa?" Hoss asked. Ben shakes his head "I wish there was Hoss" he said.
"Speaking of Amelia where is she?" asked Ben curiously. "She rode out of here not to long before you came home Pa" Hoss said. "She seemed upset about something but wouldn't tell me about it".
"Do you boys know if Martha had said any of this to her?" Ben asked them fearing that Martha had said something to Amelia to purposely upset her.
The boys look at each other they didn't know. "We aren't sure Pa" said Joe.
Later that night it was getting close to suppertime and Amelia wasn't home yet. "I think you should go out and look for her Ben" insisted Martha.
"I wouldn't worry Martha Amelia can take care of herself" assured Adam. "This isn't normal behavior for a little girl such as Amelia to go out in the late of night by herself. What if someone grabs her or she gets attack by a wild animal?" demanded Martha.
"Martha will you calm down my daughter can take care of herself" said Ben calmly. "I don't know how you can be so calm about this Ben it's like you don't care about your own daughter" accused Martha coldly.
"Now just a minute Martha I love my daughter and I have faith in her" declared Ben. Not wanting the conversation to continue further Adam gets up and walks over to the door.
"I'll go find her Pa don't worry I'll take care of her" Adam assured. Ben nods his head and Adam grabs his gun and coat then walks out of the house.