After sending his telegrams, Matt walked back to his office. He sat with his head in his hands and wondered what he was going to tell his niece when she got back from school.
He remembered back to when he and his two brothers had all been courting Kate Cartwright. He was the elder of the three and his father had been killed in an Indian raid when he was just a baby. His mother married Tom Masters when he was two and the man always treated him as though he was his own son, even after Rip and Michael were born. Even back then when the three of them were courting Kate, Matt was a law man and his brothers were Army officers. Rip loved the Army while Michael hated it. He planned on resigning his commission as soon as he could, even if Rip would be disappointed in him.
Matt sat thinking and remembered the day that Kate and Michael informed him and Rip that she had chosen him over his brothers and her other suitors. Then Mike had dropped a huge bombshell. He was resigning his commission in the Army to become a rancher and he was changing his last name. He wanted his children to be Cartwrights and had already talked to a lawyer about how to change his name. Matt and Rip were shocked but they hugged their brother and his new fiancée and wished them well. Six months later, Katherine and Michael Cartwright were married.
Her brother had a ranch several miles outside of Virginia City, Nevada and had given them a piece of land on which to start their own ranch. They were very happy and in late 1859, Kate announced that she was expecting what she and Michael hoped would be the first of many children. In mid June of 1860, they were at her brother, Ben's ranch to celebrate his youngest son, Joe's tenth birthday when Kate went into labor. Michael carried his wife upstairs to Ben's oldest son Adam's bedroom while Adam rode to town and brought the doctor back. Kate's labor was not easy and when the doctor finally brought her child into the world, he informed her that she should not have any more children or she could die in childbirth. So, she and Michael named their daughter after themselves with a slight twist. Instead of Katherine Michael Cartwright, they named their daughter Catherine Michael Cartwright, Cat for short. When the family was allowed into the bedroom to meet the new arrival, instead of handing the baby to her husband first, Kate handed her to her youngest nephew and asked how he liked his birthday present from her. The boy replied that next to the colt his father had given him, his little cousin was the best birthday present ever, which set everyone to laughing. Ben promised his sister and her husband that if anything should ever happen to them, he would take care of his niece.
Everyone who could came for the baby's baptism. Ben and Kate's older sister, Victoria, even put aside her jealousy of her younger sister and came for the baptism with her husband and their four children. Their mother was in poor health, so their parents were unable to attend but sent lavish gifts for their youngest granddaughter and changed their wills to include her. Matt came in from Dodge, accompanied by Kitty Russell, the owner of the Long Branch Saloon. Rip was granted a short furlough and came in from Arizona. Some of Michael's best friends, Sam Grant, Bill Sherman, Phil Sheridan, and their wives also attended the baptism and promised Kate and Michael that, if anything should happen to them and no family member could take the child, one of them would take and raise her as their own. His other best friend, Lucas McCain was unable to attend. His wife had given birth to a baby boy a few months earlier and Luke did not want to leave his wife and infant son, but they sent a blanket his wife knitted for the baby.
Although Kate protested that Cat was much too young for such things, with the help of her nephews, Michael made her a rocking horse, a doll house, and a doll carriage. Then he went to the store and bought several dolls to put in the doll house and carriage. He also made her large wooden blocks and painted the ABCs and numbers through ten on them in bright colors. The small ranch was thriving, the baby was healthy and the young family was very happy.
Unfortunately, their happiness was not to last. Abraham Lincoln was elected President, the Southern states seceded from the Union and the War Between the States began when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter. President Lincoln called for volunteers and young men from all across the country answered his call. Michael had no intentions of leaving his wife and baby daughter to fight in the war until he answered a knock at his door one day. He opened the door and in walked Sam Grant, Phil Sheridan and Bill Sherman. They had come to get him to join the Union Army. He would be commissioned a First Lieutenant and would receive his Captain's bars within a year. Michael said no. He hated Army life and did not want to leave his wife and baby daughter. The more they pressed, the more he said no until Grant uttered the four words Michael could not say no to, "Your country needs you." Michael reluctantly agreed to accept the commission and serve in the Union Army. Kate was furious and ordered the three men out of her house and told them that she never wanted to see them again as long as she lived. How dare they come into her house and coerce her husband into doing something he did not want to do? She slammed the door behind them and turned to face her husband, tears in her eyes. Grant had done the same thing at the McCain household when Lucas was also unwilling to leave his wife and baby son. Lucas' wife's reaction had been the same as Kate's.
The war raged on and shortly after New Year's Day in 1862, Kate received the news she had been dreading. Michael had been killed in battle. Lucas McCain was bringing his friend's body home for burial. Kate was now a widow and had a child to raise with no one to help her. A few days after Michael's funeral, Kate went over to her brother's house and told him to take care of her ranch because she was taking her daughter and going to stay with their father for a while. Their mother had died the previous fall; their father was not doing well and needed help. Little did she dream what the consequences of that decision would be.
Shortly after Kate moved in with her father, a man named Stephen Jacobs began calling at the house almost every evening at suppertime. Kate listened politely to his stories of living in Australia, diamond mines and strange animals but her thoughts were on the man she loved who was now buried on her brother's ranch. Several weeks later, Jacobs asked her to go for a walk with him. She declined stating that she was recently widowed and it wasn't proper for her to be seen in public with a man who wasn't married. This went on for several weeks until one night her father exploded and told her to go for a walk with Jacobs. Kate reluctantly did as her father commanded because she was afraid that his health would get worse if he kept letting his temper get the best of him. She did not enjoy the walk and made it as short as possible. It had only been two months since she buried her husband and she was still mourning his loss.
Jacobs kept showing up at supper time and Kate's father kept insisting that she go walking with him. One night several months later, Jacobs asked Kate to marry him. She said no. Her husband had only been dead four months and she wasn't ready to remarry. She reminded him that the only reason she was out walking with him was to keep her father's temper from possibly harming his health. Jacobs kept asking Kate to marry him and she kept saying no. Finally, he went over to the house one day while Kate was out with the baby and asked her father for her hand in marriage. Her father gladly agreed. During his wife's illness, he had become obsessed with power and wealth and Stephen Jacobs had both, or so he said. Kate was furious when her father told her that he had arranged for her to marry Jacobs. She told her father that it had only been four and a half months since her husband died and it wasn't proper for her to be seen with an unmarried man, let alone marry again just yet. She did not love Jacobs and would not marry a man she did not love. As expected, he threw a fit, and gave her an ultimatum. Either she married Jacobs or he would turn her out of his house with no money to support her and her child. He would also prevent her brother and sister from helping her, he would cut her child out of his will and he would find a way to keep her and her daughter from inheriting her mother's money. Kate told her father that she could always go to one of her husband's brothers but her father told her that soldiers and lawmen did not make much money and they would not be able to support their brother's wife and child. She did not want her baby to be out on the street with nowhere to live, so she reluctantly agreed to marry Jacobs.
"What about my baby?" Kate asked her father. "It takes several months for a ship to reach Australia and if Catherine gets sick on the voyage, she will probably die."
"You'll leave the child with me," he said. "I'll raise her and if she gets to be too much for me to handle, I'll send her off to live with your sister."
Kate couldn't believe what she heard her father say. He expected her to just let him raise her baby or give the baby to her sister to raise. Kate decided right then and there that she would rather be homeless than let her father or sister raise her child. She did not want her daughter growing up to think that money and power were the only things that mattered in life. Victoria had been jealous of her when they were younger and even though her sister had fallen in love with the baby at her baptism and had been supportive at Michael's funeral, Kate wasn't sure how her sister would react to being told she had to raise her sister's child as well as her own children. That night, Kate packed all of Catherine's things and early the next morning before her father awoke, she took the baby and her things, quietly left the house and went to the train station. She took the train to Wichita, Kansas and the stage to Dodge City. While in Wichita, she sent a telegram to her husband's brother Matt in Dodge, informing him that she and the baby would be there in a day.
Matt met the stage when it arrived in Dodge. He helped his sister-in-law off the stage and hugged her and the baby. "Hello Kate. It's good to see you again. How long are you staying? What's all this stuff?" he said pointing to the baby's things.
"I'm not staying Matt. I have to leave on the stage tomorrow. Father is forcing me to marry a man I don't love and go to Australia with him. I do not want my father raising my daughter, so I'm leaving her with you. She's your brother's daughter and I know that you won't let Father have her."
"Kate, I can't take Cat, no matter how much I want to. I'm a United States Marshal. I live in the jail and I'm gone a lot. Who will watch her when I'm out chasing a criminal for days on end? Where will she sleep? There's barely enough room for my bed in the little alcove, let alone a crib and eventually a cot for her."
"You'll manage Matt. I don't have time to take her to Rip and even if I had the time to take her to Ben, I'm afraid that he would give her to Father as soon as he demanded. I know my sister would. I do not want my father raising my only child. You watch Cat. I've got to go over to the lawyer's office and have him write a paper that gives you legal custody of her. That way if my father tries to take her, he'll be breaking the law. I don't know what has happened to him, but ever since Mother got sick, all he cares about is wealth and power. I do not want my and Michael's daughter raised by someone with that kind of attitude. You and I both know that he would not want Cat raised like that either. Father will be furious, but I have to do what I think is best for my child."
"Alright Kate, I'll manage somehow. The lawyer's office is across the street, to the left of the general store." Matt took the baby and her things into his office, put her in his bed for a nap and looked at his calendar. Cat would be two in a few months, went from crawling to running and would soon be talking, so she wasn't really a baby any more. He didn't know much about raising babies or children and was going to need a lot of help. He took out a piece of paper and started writing down the names of all the women in and around Dodge who had children and could give him advice. Thirty minutes later, Kate came back with a piece of paper in her hand.
"Here's the paper Matt. The lawyer even had the judge sign it. It says that you have full custody of Cat and that she is not to be given to my father or my sister. If anything happens to me and you can't keep her, give her to Ben. If Ben can't keep her, give her to the Grants, Shermans or Sheridans. As much as I hate those three men for getting Michael killed, I know that they'll take good care of Cat and won't let Father have her. All of that's in the paper, including if you give her to Ben, he cannot give her to my father or sister. I can only hope and pray that he will honor what's written on that paper and not give into Father's demands. Where is Cat?"
"She's asleep on my bed. I think if I turn the bed in a different direction, we might fit a crib and eventually a cot in that little room. It's going to be a tight fit, but we might make it work. You look tired. Why don't you take Cat and get a hotel room? There's a family who lives on a farm not too far from town. They have a lot of children and may have a crib that I can use for a while. I'll take a ride out there while you and Cat are napping. Let me get Cat and I'll walk the two of you over to the hotel."
While Kate and Cat napped in a hotel room, Matt rode out to the Tanner farm. When he got there, Mrs. Tanner was hanging laundry out in the yard and greeted Matt when he rode up. "Hello Marshal. It's a pleasure to see you. I hope you're not out this way on business."
"Hello Elizabeth. You're looking well. How are John and the children? I'm out here on a personal errand." Matt replied as he dismounted. "My sister-in-law is in town and needs me to take care of my niece for a while. She's not quite two and I was wondering if you have an old crib that I could use for a while."
Mrs. Tanner laughed. "Cribs are one thing that are not in short supply around here Marshal. I gave birth to twins the time before last and I'm not planning to have any more babies, so I have more than enough cribs to lend you. John and I will bring one into town tomorrow morning and help you get it set up. We'll also bring you some other things you'll need for your niece."
"Thank you Elizabeth. I do need one other thing, and that is advice on how to raise a child, especially a girl. I don't know anything about raising children, including how to know why they're crying and how to change them."
"Don't worry Marshal. With ten young'ins running around the farm, I have plenty of experience and will be more than happy to help you."
"Thank you Elizabeth. I really do appreciate your help. Say hi to John and the children for me when they get in. I've got to get back to town. My sister-in-law is leaving on the stage for Wichita tomorrow and I want to spend some time with her. I haven't seen her since my brother's funeral and I don't know when I'll see her again."
"That's alright Marshal. You have good visit with your kin and John and I will see you in the morning."
Matt rode back to town and went to the hotel where he found that Kate and Cat had woken up from their nap. He went over to the livery stable where he rented a buggy and took them for a ride in the country. It was almost supper time when they returned, so while Matt returned the buggy, Kate took her daughter to their hotel room, fed and put clean clothes on her. Then Matt and Kate took Cat to Ma Smalley and asked if she would mind watching her while the two of them went to Delmonico's for supper. Ma Smalley was more than happy to watch Cat while Matt and Kate were able to spend some time together.
While they were at supper, Matt asked Kate about her comment that her father was forcing her to marry a man she didn't love. "He threatened to turn Cat and I out with nothing more than the clothes on our backs if I didn't agree to marry this man. He said that he would forbid Ben and Vicky from helping us and that neither you nor Rip earns enough to support us. It hasn't even been six months since Michael was killed and I miss him terribly. I don't trust Stephen Jacobs at all. There's something about him that seems fake. I wish I never would have left the ranch. Ben and the boys would have helped me run it. Now I don't know if I'm ever going to see my daughter again after tomorrow morning."
"I really wish there was a way I could help you stay here Kate, but I just can't. Rip is an officer and he will be able to take care of you and Cat. All you have to do is go to him. You are a grown woman. Stop being afraid of your father's temper tantrums and live your own life. As you said, it hasn't even been six months since Michael was killed. You have no business being in public with an unmarried man, let alone getting remarried. You are my brother's wife and I will always love you but you need to stand up to your father. Don't go back to St. Louis. I'll wire Rip and tell him that you and Cat will be there in a week. He loves you too and will be more than happy to take you and his niece in. I know that traveling is difficult because of the war, but there are Union soldiers on every train in case of a Confederate attack, so you will be safe. You have all of Cat's things here, you know how to sew and you can make more clothes for yourself. The only reason you have to go back to St. Louis is that you are afraid of your father."
"No Matt, I'm afraid that his temper will do more harm to his health. Mother hasn't been gone that long and his health has declined since she died."
"That's what he wants you to think Kate. He's having the temper tantrums to scare you into doing what he wants. Your father will probably outlive all of us. Now, do the right thing, take Cat and go to Rip. He loves you and Cat just as much as I do and Michael did."
"I can't Matt. Don't you see, if I disappear with my daughter, it will kill my father."
"Haven't you been listening to a word I said? Your father is pretending to have attacks after his temper tantrums to get you to do what he wants you to. You are a grown woman. Stop acting like a little child who's afraid of her father. Take your daughter and go to my brother."
"I'm sorry Matt. I just can't take the risk that you're wrong. I have to go back to St. Louis in the morning."
Matt just sighed and shook his head. "Alright Kate, if that's what you want to do. I just know that you're making a huge mistake."
After they finished eating, Matt and Kate walked over to Ma Smalley's and picked up Cat. Matt walked them back to the Dodge House and saw them safely to their room. He hugged his niece and sister-in-law and told them that he would see them in the morning for breakfast.
Not long after breakfast the next morning, the Tanners arrived in town with a wagon loaded with things for Cat. While John and Matt rearranged his room and set up the crib, Kate and Elizabeth played with Cat and talked. Elizabeth asked Kate why she was leaving her baby with Matt and Kate told her what she had told Matt. Elizabeth told her basically the same thing Matt had the night before, that her father was pretending to have attacks after his temper tantrums in order to get Kate to do what he wanted her too, but Kate refused to listen and kept insisting her father's attacks were real.
After Matt and John got Matt's room arranged and the crib set up, John brought in another large object from his wagon. It was square, about four feet on each side, had a bottom, a leg at each corner as well as one on each side and in the middle. It also had small slats between the bottom and top rails. Matt and Kate both looked at it in amazement and finally Matt asked, "What is that thing John? I've never seen anything like it before in my life."
"It's a little invention of mine Marshal. I call it a baby corral. Elizabeth was having a hard time keeping up with the twins and trying to look after the baby at the same time. When she was taking care of the baby, the twins would run outside and get into all kinds of mischief. One day Peter got into the pig pen while Michael almost got stomped by one of the horses. The older children were off at school and couldn't help their mother, so, I built this thing. Elizabeth is able to put the baby down for a nap in it while watching the twins play outside or keep the twins corralled while she is taking care of the baby. I figure with your niece already running, you'll need a way to keep her corralled when you can't be in your office to watch her. Living on a farm is dangerous enough for little ones that age but there are even more dangers for them here in town and I know you can't be in two places at once, so this will keep the little one safe. Just don't keep her in it all the time. Little ones need room to run and walk so their leg muscles grow strong."
"This little one doesn't walk Mr. Tanner. She went from crawling to running and hasn't stopped since. My brother's middle son has taken to calling her Wild Cat. He says that she's as wild as the West Texas wind and harder to tame, which makes me surprised that my father wants her. She'll get into everything if she isn't watched every moment she's awake. Last week, the bottom drawer in my father's china cabinet was left open. Cat managed to get up onto it and was attempting to climb the china cabinet when the cook caught her. Matt is going to have his hands full with his niece," laughed Kate.
"Thank you John. I appreciate all of your help. Your baby corral will be perfect for keeping Cat safe when I'm busy or out of the office," said Matt.
Kate was moved to tears by the Tanner's kindness and generosity. She tried to thank them but they wouldn't have it.
"You just take care of yourself," Elizabeth said. "And remember what the Marshal and I told you about your father. It's not too late to change your mind about going back to him and stay here. We'll find a way for you to support yourself and your daughter."
But Kate insisted that she had to go back to her father before one of his attacks killed him. All too soon, the stage to Wichita arrived and Kate had to go. She hugged the Tanners and Matt and said a tearful goodbye to her daughter and got on the stage.
After the stage left, Elizabeth told Matt to bring Cat out to their farm and they would watch her whenever he had to go out of town for more than a few hours. "I've got ten young'ins running around the farm so one more won't matter at all. The oldest girls are old enough now to help with their younger brothers and sisters and will be able to help with your niece. Besides that, nobody in town really has the room or time to take care of her."
"Thank you Elizabeth. I appreciate the offer and will take you up on it. It will make me worry less if I know that Cat is being well taken care of while I'm away."
As she expected, when she returned to St. Louis, her father was livid that she had gone somewhere and taken the baby without his knowledge or permission. "Where in the blazes were you and where is your child?" he demanded.
"She is somewhere safe, where you can't touch her. I made sure that you will never have her, no matter how many people you bribe. The only reason I came back myself is because I was worried about your health."
"How dare you disobey me like that!" he shouted. "I told you I would raise the child myself!"
"I'm sorry Father but you're not the man who raised me. That man is dead and gone. He died when Mother got sick and was replaced by a man who only cares about wealth and power. I do not want my and Michael's daughter being raised by someone like that, so she is with someone who will love her as their own, teach her right from wrong and raise her to be a kind, thoughtful person like Mother was."
All her father could say to that was, "You need to start packing. Your wedding is the day after tomorrow. There's a traveling preacher passing through and I paid him to perform the ceremony. None of the others would do it because they said you haven't even been widowed for a full year. You and Jacobs will be leaving for Australia the day after you are married. And don't you worry, I will find my granddaughter. I will get her back, no matter what it takes and I will raise her right. She will be raised in all of the proper social circles and when she's old enough, I'll arrange a proper marriage for her."
Kate was speechless. The judge in Dodge had assured her that the paper he signed for her would assure that her father would not get her daughter and no amount of money could change that. She could only hope and pray that he was right. Two days later, Kate and Stephen Jacobs were married and left for Australia the day after that.
About two months later, Kate's father was out for an evening walk when he came across an old friend. "Hello Joe. It's been a while since we've seen each other. I haven't seen your daughter out with her baby lately. I hope that they're not ill."
"No David, they're not ill. I married Kate off to Stephen Jacobs two months ago. They're on their way back to Australia and I'm still trying to find out who she gave the baby to."
"Have you lost your mind Joe? I thought you knew about Jacobs. You just sent your daughter off to her death. Jacobs is a con man. He does have a diamond mine but it's not that good and his partner gets most of the money, so he marries rich women. Once he gets control of their money, they disappear, never to be seen or heard from again. As soon as he goes through all of their money, he finds another rich woman to marry. Your daughter is his fifth wife. The other four are all presumed to be dead. I can't believe that you fell for his charm and good looks. I don't know what provisions you've made for your daughter and granddaughter, but you need to make absolutely certain that Jacobs cannot get his hands on any money they might have coming to them. Your granddaughter is only a baby now, so he's not interested in her, but once she's old enough to inherit from your wife's and eventually your estate, he will become interested in the child and force her to sign everything over to him. Once she does, he will not need her any longer and she will disappear."
"Oh my God! What have I done to my baby girl David? Ever since my wife took ill, I have been obsessed with power and wealth. I let that obsession blind me to the truth and now I have lost my youngest child and my youngest grandchild forever."
At learning what he had done to Kate, her father seemed to age ten years all at once. The next day he went to his lawyer's office and rewrote his will to state that if his youngest grandchild, Catherine Michael Cartwright, were to be removed from the country by her mother or Stephen Jacobs, she would not inherit any of his money and her portion would be split equally between his other grandchildren. Before leaving the lawyer's office, he instructed him to send a copy of the will to his eldest grandson, Jarrod Barkley, who was the family lawyer. When he got back home, he wrote a letter to Kate begging her to forgive him and to come back home. He would have the marriage annulled and she would be free to live her life as she wanted to live it. He mailed the letter and spent the next several years hoping and praying that his daughter would come back to him. He died two years after forcing Kate to marry Stephen Jacobs, a sad, broken old man who deeply regretted what he had done to his youngest daughter and her child. He could only hope and pray that the child was safe and in a loving home.