As Cassie thrived her father continued on his journey downwards. He lacked money because he would not work so had to steal to maintain his habit. He eventually found a job in the mines but lost it because of drunkenness. The man became the butt of jokes and disgust in the local area.

Roy visited the family from time to time to check on Cass. After a few months he arrived in the yard one freezing February day, his breath smoking the air in front of him. It had been six weeks since his last visit. The door burst open and the little girl scampered over to welcome him.

"Hello, Sheriff Coffee!"

"Hello there, Cassie! And how are you?"

"Uncle Ben got me another doll!"

"My! Does that mean you've got two dolls?"

"Yes!"

"I think your Uncle Ben's spoiling you a bit!"

"He got it because I started going to school and I didn't like it. I didn't want to go. And...and he said..." She drew herself up importantly. " 'Cassie, if you go to school for one month, if you're good and get high grades, I'll reward you.' 'Cos I was crying, you see, and said I didn't wanna go because those girls were being nasty to me again. It's only a little one but she's pretty and she sits with Francesca."

"Oh, so you called that one Francesca, too?"

"Yes, sir. That was the name of my first doll and Mama, too." Roy marveled at the chatterbox facing him. A child who had been so scared she would barely speak to strangers. "Scamp went and hit them and she got into trouble," she continued. "The nasty girls."

"So they don't bully you any more?"

"No, sir. Annette had a big bruise on her eye! Only..."

"Only what, honey?"

"Scamp got kept back by Miss Jones and made to do a whole essay saying why she mustn't hit people. It was ever so long! And I felt sorry because she did it for me and I didn't want her to get into trouble."

"Yes, that sounds like our Scamp!"

"Uncle Ben started to yell at her and said she deserved a good spanking. But I told him what they'd done to me. They tripped me up and pulled my hair. They're so horrible, Sheriff Coffee."

"They do sound like very nasty children, Cassie."

"They made me hurt my leg," she added. She pulled up her little skirt and showed him her bandaged knee.

He drew in his breath and bent to look at it. "That does look nasty, dear!"

"Scamp was ever so mad. She got Annette Deacon and punched her right in the nose! Annette ran to Miss Jones and told her and then Miss Jones told Pa. I mean, Uncle Ben."

"And Uncle Ben was cross?"

"Very cross. He said he was gonna tan her hide. Then I started crying and Little Joe started talking and telling him all about these girls and how horrible they were and how they kept hurting me. So Uncle Ben didn't let her go and play and told her she had to clean the floor and help Hop Sing. She said she'd rather have taken the hiding. Of course, I helped her," she added with a grin. Roy noticed for the first time she was developing freckles.

"Did you?"

"Yes, sir. Uncle Ben told me she had to do it on her own but I helped her anyway. Then he came back and told me off."

"He scolded you?"

"Yes, sir," she said sorrowfully. "He's never told me off before and I was scared. I started crying and he hugged me."

Roy thought she cried an awful lot and tried to repress a smile. It seemed she was not above using her girlish wiles to defuse her Uncle Ben's anger. Ben was not used to it with three strapping sons and a daughter who might as well have been a son. He moreover had a soft heart.

"Well, I have a lot to tell your Uncle Ben."

He saw Ben walking towards him, his arm outstretched. "Roy, good to see you. Cassie, honey, next time don't make a guest wait outside when it's so cold. Bring him straight in so he can get warm and then you can talk to him. OK?"

"Yes, sir, Uncle Ben."

"Good girl. Now you go and tell Hop Sing to make some coffee. He'll probably let you help."

"Yes, sir!"

She rushed off and Ben laughed, leading him into the living room. "You're frozen, Roy. Warm up in front of the fire."

"Thanks, Ben. Looks like that little girl is almost part of the furniture."

"She is. She's a blessing. A sweeter little thing you could never hope to meet. She's eager to please, kind and loving. She's always helping Hop Sing. She jumps on my bed first thing in the morning and often picks me some flowers and gives them to me at lunchtime."

"She's come on leaps and bounds even since the last time I was here. She seems to be very happy."

"I think she is."

"You've done great work with her, Ben. She's come out of herself. When I think of the terrified, broken little creature who arrived her last October..."

"She needed security and love. I think she's got a crush on Joe."

"Well, he's a very good-looking boy!"

"I don't think it's got much to do with his looks, Roy. He protects her, guides her, shows her how to play. Do you know she didn't even know how to play when she got here?"

"Poor little thing. Where is Joe and the others?"

"Work still has to be done, Roy. Hoss and Adam are out looking for injured or sick animals. The twins are in the barn, cleaning and seeing to the horses. They're probably freezing, they're due back soon. I was out much of the morning collecting firewood."

"And Cassie? Does she ever do any of the outside chores?"

"No, Hop Sing is teaching her how to cook. She's so tiny. She's so sweet, you should see her. He puts a little smock apron on her."

After a few minutes, the men were ensconced in the fireside chairs. "I heard she had some trouble at school?"

"Those damn girls! Excuse my language, Roy, but they're vicious. Someone should smack their bottoms for them. You know Scamp socked one of them in the nose?"

"Yes, I had heard," Roy smiled.

"Of course she was wrong. I was ready to punish her but when I heard what they'd been doing..."

"Well, they say the only way to beat a bully is to become a bully yourself."

"Well, I don't want Scamp to be a bully."

"I don't think there's much chance of that, Ben."

Cassie bounced in like a jack-in-the-box. "The coffee won't be long, Uncle Ben. I helped Hop Sing." She bounced into his lap.

"Clever girl."

"You've come to see Uncle Ben. 'Cos you're his friend, aren't you?"

"That's right, Cassie. I have some news for him."

"What's that?"

"Cassie, don't be nosey!"

"Sorry, Uncle Ben."

"Little Miss Inquisitive, that's what you are."

"What's that mean?"

"It means you're nosey. And nosey people get their noses chopped off." He made a scissoring action with his fingers on her nose and she chortled. "Now, off with you," he added, patting her behind. "Go help Hop Sing bring it in."

"Yes, sir!"

Roy smiled as he watched her go. "I say it again, you have done wonders with that child. Which is why you might not be happy with what I've got to say."

Ben's heart missed a beat. "Why? What's happened?"

"Her father's been shot."

"He's been what?!"

"He was stealing again. It was inevitable really. He accosted a woman and tried to take her purse. Right in the main street, if you please! It was late, around dinner-time. The lady had been with her husband – he's a fella who works in the mine. She'd brought him some pie but he wanted a drink so he told her to go home and he'd be along shortly. Sullivan saw her moving the buckboard, jumped on and tried to take her little bag on the seat next to her. There was a struggle, she screamed and hit him with her whip. The men rushed out and her husband shot him."

"Was he alright?"

"He was fine. The doctor said the bullet had grazed his arm. Sullivan was lucky. I told him in this part of the country men do not go around assaulting men's wives."

"No, indeed."

"Then I put him in a cell. To be honest, I'd been waiting for a chance to nail him and this gave me a perfect excuse. After all, it's not the first time he's stolen to feed that disgusting habit of his, only now I had proof. He is going nuts, gasping for a drink – any drink – and I am enjoying every minute."

"It's not like you to be vindictive, Roy."

"In this case I think I may be excused. I will never forgive him for hurting that child."

"I could not agree more."

"The magistrate will be arriving before the weekend. He'll deal with Sullivan but..."

Again the missing heartbeat. Ben's voice was very low. "But what, Roy?"

"He's also going to deal with Cassie's case. It's been a long time but it took months to find Sullivan's kin. You would never believe it but he's from a very respectable family. His parents – the child's grandparents – are a nice couple in San Francisco. Grandfather's a banker, you know."

Ben quickly turned away. He could feel a burning behind his eyes. "Really," he answered woodenly.

"I'm sorry, Ben. I know how much you've come to love that little girl."

"We all have." His voice was strangled.

"Uncle Ben! Here's the coffee!"

"Ah, that's good! Up you come, then."

"What's wrong, Papa? I mean, Uncle Ben?"

Ben smiled at Roy although his face had lost color. "She forgets sometimes. Calls me Papa." He jiggled her up and down as Hop Sing poured the coffee. "Now you go and sit over there like a good girl. Let Uncle Ben and Sheriff Coffee have their drink."

"Yes, sir." She obediently sat on the couch. After a few moments she asked, "May I get my dolls, Uncle Ben?"

"Of course you may, Cass. You don't have to ask permission for that."

She fetched them and thrust the little figure at Roy. "Here's my new doll, Sheriff."

"Oh, how pretty she is! Almost as pretty as you!"

"Oh, she's prettier."

"That's not true!"

"I called her Maria, after Scamp. She said it'd get confusing if I called her Marie because she was called Marie and so was her Mama. So I added an 'a' to it."

"That was nice of you."

"Well, I like her!"

"And how are your letters going, Cassie?"

"They're very hard but Miss Jones writes them on the blackboard and we copy them."

"What about your figures?"

"Oh, they're much harder. But Little Joe and Scamp help me."

"She's very bright for five." Ben spoke with pride but there was a sadness in his voice that had not been there before. "Just like the twins were."

"L'il Joe and Scamp are very clever. I hope I'll be as clever as them when I grow up."

"I'm sure you will be, honey," said Ben.

She occupied herself in dressing and undressing Francesca and Maria and combing their hair. Then she got on the floor and walked them up and down as the men chatted.

"Scamp doesn't like dolls!" she suddenly announced, à propos of nothing.

"Cassie, darling, Sheriff Coffee was speaking. You don't interrupt people when they're speaking."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Ben."

"Cass, I want you to wrap up very warm and go over to the barn. Tell Joe and Scamp to play with you for a while. I know it's cold but you can play tag for a while. It's just that Sheriff Coffee's got something very important and private to tell me. Tell the twins that. Just for ten or fifteen minutes and then you can come in again and get warm. OK?"

"Yes, sir."

She put the dolls on the table, Ben helped her into her things and she trotted out of the door.

"My word, I have never seen such an obedient child!"

"Yes, she is."

"And she's never naughty?"

"I've only scolded her once since she's been here."

"Yes," Roy smiled, "when she helped Scamp."

"I wasn't really that angry, she was only trying to help. And she's grown very fond of Scamp. Named her doll after her."

There was a silence.

"Ben, it might come to nothing yet. Mr Burgh and I have got to meet them, talk to them."

"I always knew she wouldn't be here forever, Roy." Ben sighed. "I have four children of my own. It's just...I've never had anyone like her before. Three boys and then there was Scamp. As much as I adore my daughter, there was never a shred of a little girl about her. Half the time I was trying to keep her and Little Joe apart, the other half I was scolding her for being so naughty."

"Hoss told me once that he named her Scamp before her first birthday. And it was so apt the name stuck."

"That's right. My wife, Marie, was none too pleased. But she had to admit it suited her."

"Ah, Ben..."

"We will miss her so much. I tried to stop myself from loving her...from getting too attached. But it was impossible. I thought a ranch would be no place for such a dainty little girl. But she fitted right in...I don't know how Little Joe's going to react. Or Cassie herself, come to that. I think she has come to love us."

"I know she has."

"Even Hop Sing has a soft spot for her. She's his little helper, you know."

"As I said, nothing's decided yet. Best not to tell them yet."

"No. But you said they were a nice couple?"

"Yes. How they came to have such a good-for-nothing son I shall never know."

"It happens. And Sullivan?"

"He'll be going away for a year or two, I expect. At least. Juries don't take kindly to men robbing women around here."

"No, they don't."

Shortly afterwards the children came rushing in and Roy took his leave. Ben said good-bye with a heavy heart.