Two days later, Rip, Adam, Hoss and a very reluctant Cat started out for Dodge. Since Cat was riding a pony, the journey was slow but she kept her word and stayed with her uncle and cousins. She amazed them by her hunting and fishing skills and by the fact that she knew what to do with the animals and fish she killed. She was still angry with Adam for following her all over the fort, so whenever she wanted to go hunting or fishing, she asked Hoss to go with her. She ignored Adam as much as she could until after they had been on the trail for three days, Rip said, "Adam, as much as I hate to say it, if we're going to have any peace on this trip, you're going to have to apologize to Cat. She made a promise and you followed her all over the fort, acting like she was going to break that promise the first chance she got. You acted like you didn't trust her and she deeply resents that. She's not used to the adults in her life not trusting her."
"She's a four old child Rip. I shouldn't have to apologize to her."
"I know that Adam, but until you do, there will be no peace on this trip and we still have more than a week to go. I need Cat to know she can trust you to help take care of her in case there is any trouble and right now, she doesn't trust you. You treated her like a baby and that is the one thing she resents most of all. That's one reason she wanted to stay with the Apaches. They didn't treat her like a baby."
"Alright Rip. I'll talk to her when we make camp tonight."
When they made camp that evening, Cat prepared to go hunting. Before she could ask Hoss to go with her, Adam walked up to her and said, "I'd like to go hunting with you today Cat. I need to talk to you about something important."
Cat wasn't happy about Adam going hunting with her, but she just said, "Alright, you can come."
The two of them walked off together and once they were away from the camp, Adam said, "I need to apologize for the way I treated you at the fort. You made a promise and I acted like I didn't trust you enough to keep your promise. I am very sorry I acted like that and treated you like a baby. I promise I'll never do it again. You were a very little girl when your mother took you away and it's hard for me to forget that you're not a baby any more. I need you to know that you can depend on me to protect and take care of you if trouble happens. You are my cousin and I love you very much. I know that you don't remember, but you were born in my bedroom. When your mother started to give birth to you, your Pa carried her upstairs and the only room with an open door was mine, so he took her in there while I rode to town for the doctor. Maybe one day, that bedroom will be yours. It's got a great view of the mountains and the tree outside the window is perfect for climbing. Even though you were very little when you left us, we were friends and I would really like it if we could be friends again."
Cat listened to everything Adam had to say. She was very quiet and thoughtful when he finished. Finally, she spoke. "Yes, we can be friends again. You are my cousin and I don't like being mad at you. Now let's see if we can find some rabbits for supper. I wish I was big enough to kill a deer. Then we could have deer meat for supper."
"It won't be too many more years before you will be able to kill a deer. Both Hoss and I are amazed at what you have learned since you went to live with the Apaches. I am glad that we will be friends again. When you are older and come to the Ponderosa, I will teach you how to climb trees."
The pair continued their hunt and Adam won Cat's heart when he asked her to teach him how to use her bow and arrows. They were, of course, too small for him, but he made her laugh when he tried to shoot a large tree and missed. They got enough rabbits to feed everyone and made their way back to camp where Hoss and Rip had a fire going and offered to clean and cook the rabbits. After supper had been eaten, the little group prepared to go to sleep. Adam and Hoss gathered enough pine needles so their little cousin would have a soft bed to sleep on. She thanked them, hugged everyone goodnight and lay down on her bed of pine needles. Adam covered her with a blanket and a short time later, she was fast asleep.
About half way through their journey, the little family group ran into some trouble. They accidentally got between a bear cub and its mother, who was very angry and charged the group. Rip was afraid that Cat would get hurt and pulled out his gun, intending to kill the female bear, but Cat stopped him. "No, don't kill the momma bear. If you kill the momma bear, her baby will die. She is acting like my Apache mother did when she thought some of the big boys were going to hurt me."
Rip didn't want to upset his niece and risk her running off, so he put his gun away and said, "Follow me." Then he shouted at Adam and Hoss, pointed in a different direction and told them to go that way. Cat followed her uncle and when the little family group reunited, it was discovered that Hoss had been clawed by the female bear. They washed the wound with water and Rip said, "That needs to be looked at by a doctor. There should be a town nearby. We can have a doctor look at that wound and pick up some supplies at the same time."
When they reached the town, the unlikely group got some stares but nobody bothered them. They found the doctor's office and went in. Adam offered to stay with his brother while Rip and Cat bought supplies. While they were in the store, Rip bought some peppermint candy for Cat and she thanked him. Adam and Hoss were waiting for them when they left the store. Hoss said that his wound wasn't very bad and should heal nicely.
Since it was getting late, they decided to spend the night in town. They ate supper at the restaurant and had to walk past the saloon on the way to the hotel. As they passed the saloon, some drunken cowboys started harassing them and saying bad things about Cat because she was dressed in buckskins. Rip, Adam and Hoss ignored the men until one of them tripped Cat and kicked her. Adam picked his cousin up off the ground and handed her to Rip. While he was doing that, Hoss hit the man who hurt Cat. The man's friends joined the fight, so Adam joined his brother while Rip held Cat who hugged his neck tightly, afraid of the fight and the cowboys. The sheriff arrived a few minutes later and broke up the fight, demanding to know what the fight was all about. Rip told him how the cowboys had been saying bad things about Cat and that one of them had tripped and kicked her. Upon learning that a small child had been tripped and kicked, he immediately arrested the cowboys and apologized to the small family group.
When they reached the hotel, Cat was still upset because of what had been done to her, so her uncle and cousins did their best to reassure her they would make sure nothing like that would happen to her again while they were on the way to Dodge. All three of them had to sit in the room with her before she would go to sleep. Once she was asleep, the three men decided that the best thing to do would be to buy extra supplies in the morning and avoid as many towns as possible. They didn't want to risk anything else happen to the precocious four old they loved and were escorting home. The next morning on the way to breakfast, Cat was afraid to walk past the saloon, so Adam picked her up and carried her. After breakfast, Rip and Adam went to buy more supplies while Hoss took Cat to get the horses out of the livery stable. When they got there, Cat made Hoss and the man in charge of the stable laugh over the way she hugged and kissed her pony and told him she was sorry he had to sleep in the stable instead of in her room.
The little party left that town and continued on their journey to Dodge. Although she really wanted to be back with the Apaches, Cat kept her word and stayed with her uncle and cousins. One evening they camped by a river and if it hadn't been for some quick action by Hoss, Cat would have fallen in and been swept downstream. She had been climbing on some rocks, slipped and almost ended up completely submerged. Fortunately, Hoss was with her and grabbed her just in time so all that got wet were her feet and pants legs up to the knees. He gave her a good scolding but all she said was, "That was fun!" and headed back for the rocks. Hoss picked her up and carried her away before she could get into more mischief. Everyone made sure to keep a close eye on her until she finally fell asleep so she wouldn't go back to the rocks and end up in the river.
First thing the next morning, as soon as she woke up, Cat headed right back for the rocks. This time Rip was there and stopped her before she got close to them. "Oh no you don't," he said as he picked her up. "You aren't going anywhere near those rocks or the river." Cat squirmed in his arms, but he held her tight and carried her back to their campsite. Adam and Hoss were already starting to fix breakfast when Rip and Cat got back. He put her down on her blanket and told her to stay there.
"I want to play in the water," she said as she got up and started to run off again.
Hoss grabbed her, put her on her blanket and said, "If you go to the river again, you will not be able to ride your pony any more until we get to Dodge. You will have to ride behind me on my horse." Cat pouted but stayed on her blanket because she loved riding her pony and did not want to ride behind Hoss the rest of the trip.
After breakfast, they continued on their journey. Cat did her best to keep her promise and stay with her family but every time she saw something interesting, she forgot about her promise and went to investigate it, causing her uncle or one of her cousins to have to bring her back. She spotted a cave and decided to explore it. However, Hoss anticipated her actions and put his horse between Cat and the cave, so she was not able to explore it. A few days later, she spotted some vines hanging from a tree. They formed a loop that resembled a rope swing. Like any four year old, Cat wanted to swing. So, Rip decided to allow his nice a few minutes of play time. He tested the vines by putting all of his weight in the loop. When it held, he made her promise not to argue when he said it was time to go. When she agreed, he put her in the loop and allowed her to swing for five minutes. Cat kept her promise and didn't argue when she was told it was time to go. The next day, she saw a hawk flying low and decided to follow it. Hoss had to chase her down and bring her back. Everyone knew that she was just being curious and not trying to run off, but there were too many things that could harm a young child, so every time she rode off and was brought back, she received a good scolding. Cat would promise not to ride off, but as soon as she saw something interesting, she was off again.
One day, near the end of the trip, Cat spotted a pack of wolves with some puppies. She forgot about her uncle and cousins and went riding off in the direction of the wolves, wanting to play with the puppies. This time it was Adam who caught her. He didn't say anything before he picked her up off her pony and put her on his horse. "This is where you will be riding for the rest of the trip," he told her after putting her on his horse. We have spent too much time chasing after you because you want to explore everything. We don't have time for your nonsense any more. Rip has a lot of work to do at the fort and Hoss and I have a lot of work to do on the Ponderosa. Matt was expecting us two days ago and is probably worried that something has happened to you."
Cat cried when Adam told her that she would no longer be allowed to ride her pony. "I wasn't running away. I just want to play with the puppies."
"Those puppies are wild animals and their parents will hurt you if you try to play with them. You are riding right where you are until we get into Dodge and give you to Matt."
Cat kept crying and hit Adam in the back. "I wish Little Joe had come instead of you. He would have let me play with the puppies."
"No, he wouldn't have. He is almost fifteen and much too smart to let you play with wolf puppies when it would get you hurt. Now, if you don't stop hitting me, I will give you a bare bottom spanking and tell Matt not to let you ride your pony for two weeks."
Cat didn't care if her cousin gave her a spanking because she was an Apache warrior and they didn't care about pain. Besides that, the pain would go away in a hurry, but the thought of not being able to ride her pony for two weeks was unbearable, so she stopped hitting Adam, but barely talked to him the rest of the trip.
With Cat riding behind Adam on his horse, they didn't have to worry about her wandering off and made better time. Late in the afternoon two days after Cat tried to play with the wolf puppies the small family group rode into Dodge.
Matt was very happy to see his niece and was not surprised to see her riding behind Adam on his horse. He took her down off Adam's horse and gave her a big hug. She hugged him back and wanted to show him her pony. After he admired her pony, she rode off to show him to Quint who spent several minutes admiring him. Matt greeted his brother and nephews warmly and suggested that they take their horses over to the livery stable and then get rooms in the Dodge House. Then, before going in search of his niece, he decided to go and talk to Ma Smalley and ask if she would feed and watch Cat so he could spend a little bit of time with his brother and nephews. Ma Smalley gladly agreed to watch the girl for him. "You just bring her on over Marshal. I'll be more than happy to look after her. She's a sweet child who has too many men folk in her life and just needs some mothering. I'll look after her and make sure that she gets a good meal, a hot bath and a warm bed. "
Matt thanked Ma Smalley and went in search of his niece. He found her over at the Blacksmith shop showing Quint how she takes care of her pony. He was amazed to see her watching and listening to him as he explained how she could do a better job of taking care of her four legged friend. Quint told her that if it was alright with Matt, she could keep her pony right there at the Blacksmith shop and maybe he would become friends with his horse. Matt said that was just fine with him.
When Cat heard her uncle's voice, she ran to him and he picked her up and gave her a big hug and she hugged him back. "I missed you when you were gone," he told her. "It was very lonely without you here and I am very happy that you are back home again. Tomorrow you can tell me all about your adventures but it's getting late and you need to eat. Ma Smalley is going to take care of you tonight because I want to spend some time with Rip. I haven't spent much time with my brother since you were a baby and that was a long time ago."
Cat thought about what her uncle said for a minute and then said, "Ok. I like Ma Smalley. She's nice and makes good cherry pie."
"Yes, she does make good cherry pie. Maybe she made some today and you will be able to have a piece if you eat all of your supper. Let's go and get some clean clothes for you before we go over to her house." After getting some clean clothes for Cat, Matt took her over to Ma Smalley's. "Thank you again for watching her tonight Ma. I haven't seen my brother since Cat was a baby, so I'm going to enjoy spending some time with him. I also haven't seen my nephews in almost a year and it will be nice to spend some time with them also. I can't wait to hear what the three of them have to tell me about Cat's adventures since she disappeared almost a year ago."
"There's no need to thank me Marshal. I'll gladly look after this little one for you anytime you need me to. Now, you go and spend time with your brother and nephews and let me get this young lady fed, bathed and into bed." Cat took Ma Smalley's hand and willingly went with her into the house.
Matt watched as his niece took Ma Smalley's hand and didn't put up a fuss she was led into the house. He wondered aloud, "Now why doesn't she act like that with the family?" He didn't see Doc standing there until he spoke.
"Why doesn't who act like what with the family?"
"Hi Doc. Cat. I'm wondering why she always puts up a fuss when a family member tells her to do something but not when somebody else does."
"That's easy. Children usually always behave better with others than they do with their own families. Children enjoy visiting others and know that if they misbehave, they won't be allowed to go back. They also know that their families won't turn them out if they misbehave or start testing limits. Cat's almost five and she's a very bright child. Sometimes, instead of just telling her what to do or what not to do, tell her why you want her to do it or why you don't want her to do it. For example, if you tell her not to ride out of town alone on her pony, tell her it's because she could get lost or hurt and that would make you very sad. She'll understand and will be less likely to go riding off alone. Go and talk to the Tanners. With ten children, I know they'll be able to give you some good advice on how to get Cat to cooperate a bit more."
"Thanks Doc. I appreciate the advice. It always helps to look at a problem through somebody else's eyes. I'll ride out and talk to the Tanners first thing in the morning. Right now, I want to spend some time with my brother. We haven't seen much of each other in too many years. I haven't seen my nephews in almost a year and will enjoy spending some time with them also. I can't wait to hear about their adventures in getting Cat back here."
"I can't wait to hear those stories. Go and enjoy spending time with your family. I'll look forward to hearing your stories about Cat's adventures tomorrow. I'm sure Kitty will want to hear them too."
Matt met his brother and nephews for supper at Delmonico's where he was warmly greeted by all three. During supper, Rip told him about Cat's adventures with the Apaches and took turns with Hoss and Adam telling him about their adventures on the way to Dodge. By the time they finished, Matt was laughing so hard there were tears coming out of his eyes. "I can tell that I am going to have my hands full with Cat. I don't suppose I could convince the three of you to stay here and help me raise her, could I? Rip, you could ride out to Fort Dodge in the morning and request a transfer. Adam, Hoss, I'm sure that your father could spare you from the ranch for, oh, say, the next fifteen years."
Rip spoke first. "Matt, you're my brother and I love you and I love our niece. I would love to stay here; however, I'm needed in Arizona. I've been gone for two weeks and taking the stage, it will be another week before I'm back at the fort. I don't even want to think of the mountain of paperwork that will be waiting for me."
"Sorry Matt. Hoss and I can't stay either. There's a lot of work to be done on the Ponderosa and Pa needs our help with it. Also, don't forget, we have a little brother who's almost as wild as Cat is. Joe is always getting into one kind of mischief or another and needs our help getting out of it before he gets in too much trouble with Pa."
"I knew you wouldn't be able to stay, but I had to ask anyway. If Cat wasn't going to be starting school in the fall, I would send her to Rip for four months and then to the Ponderosa for another four months and I would have her for four months too. That way we could all have her for a small part of the year. Oh well, she'll be starting school in several months and hopefully, that will keep her out of mischief for a little while."
Adam, Hoss and Rip all had a good laugh at Matt's last remark. "Good luck with that brother. Hoss is right. Our niece is as wild as the West Texas wind and harder to tame. She is very strong willed and had a mind of her own. Once it's made up, stopping her from doing something foolish is difficult."
After the four men finished supper, they went over to the Long Branch where they soon had Kitty and Doc laughing at Cat's adventures. "You sure are going to have your hands full Matt," laughed Kitty. "I'll help as much as I can."
"I'll help when I can too," said Doc. "Don't forget what I told you about riding out and asking the Tanners for advice." They all sat in the Long Branch talking for a while when Matt said it was getting late and he had to make his rounds. Rip, Adam and Hoss also said that they needed to get some sleep and start making travel plans to go home, so they said goodnight to Kitty and Doc and went over to the Dodge House where they enjoyed a good night's sleep without having to worry about what mischief Cat was going to get into while they were sleeping.
The next morning Matt picked Cat up from Ma Smalley who told him that she had been as good as gold. Since they had both already eaten breakfast, they walked back to Matt's office where he picked his niece up and sat her on the table. "I'm going to say something very important to you and I want you to listen to me Cat. I know that you love your pony and like to ride him a lot, but I need you to promise me that you will never ride him out of town unless an adult is with you. If you go riding off alone, you could get lost or hurt and that would make me very sad. I love you very much and do not want to lose you. Will you promise me that you won't go riding off alone?"
Cat thought about what her uncle had just asked her and said, "Yes, I promise."
Matt hugged her and said, "Thank you. I don't want to have to spend every day worrying that something bad is going to happen to you. Now, I need to ride out and talk to Mr. and Mrs. Tanner. Would you like to come along?"
"Yes. I like playing with the Tanners. They are fun." Cat jumped up and was so excited she would have fallen off the table if Matt hadn't caught her. As soon as he set her on the floor, she was running out the door. "I'm getting my pony," she called as she ran toward the Blacksmith shop. She got her pony and went back to Matt's office where she got her bow and arrows out from under her bed. Matt told her that he wanted to see how well she could shoot with them before he let her carry them everywhere with her. Surprisingly, she did not argue but put them back under her bed.
Before leaving town, Matt talked to Cat and said, "I need you to stay with me and not ride way ahead. You don't know how to get to the Tanner's house and you could get lost. I will tell you when it's ok for you to ride ahead and how far." Cat promised to stay with him and they rode out of town. Cat kept her word and stayed with her uncle who gave her permission to ride ahead several times. About thirty minutes after leaving Dodge, the two of them rode into the Tanner's yard.
Several of the Tanner children were playing in the yard when Matt and Cat rode in and one of them ran into the house to tell their parents they had company. Elizabeth and John came outside and greeted their guests warmly. They made a big fuss over Cat's pony and invited Matt in for coffee. "Cat can stay out here and play with the children," Elizabeth said. "Cat, you stay and play with the children. Don't wander off and listen to Betsy. She's the eldest and will help you if you need help."
The three adults went into the house. "What brings you out this way Marshal?" asked John.
"I need advice on how to handle Cat and get her to mind," replied Matt. He then proceeded to tell them everything that had happened since Cat disappeared in Arizona. At the end of his story, both Elizabeth and John burst out laughing.
"Yes, I can see that you are going to have your hands full," said Elizabeth. "We'll be more than happy to help all that we can. What have you done so far?"
Matt told her about how he got Cat to promise not to ride off alone and to stay with him on the ride out to their house.
"You've made a good start," said John. Sometimes you have to tell small children why you want them to do something. If they can see the reason why, they're more likely to cooperate.
"Allowing her to ride ahead on the way here was also a good idea," chimed in Elizabeth. "You showed her that you could be trusted to keep your word if she kept hers. You don't always have to tell her why you want her to do something but with little ones like that, you're going to find yourself explaining why or why not more than you ever dreamed you would."
"Remember, the older she gets, the more she's going to understand why she should or shouldn't do something, but for right now, you may have to spend a lot of time explaining the obvious," said John.
"I'm not sure I understand what you mean John," said Matt.
"Young children of Cat's age don't always understand obvious things," said John. "For example, she wants to ride her pony but it's pouring rain outside, so you tell her no. She's going to want to know why, so you'll need to tell her that she can't ride her pony because it's raining and if she and her pony get soaking wet, they'll get sick. She won't like it, but she'll understand."
"One other thing," said Elizabeth. "Since she's so headstrong, be prepared for her to do something like try and ride her pony in the rain, even though you told her not to. Be firm but fair. In the case of wanting to ride her pony in the rain, tell her that she'll be able to ride him on a day when it's not raining. She won't like not being able to ride right then and there, but she'll have something to look forward to when it's not raining."
Matt stayed at the Tanner's, talking to them and getting advice on how to raise his niece for about an hour while Cat played with the Tanner children. "Thank you very much for the help. I really appreciate it. I'd love to stay and talk longer but my brother and nephews are leaving tomorrow morning and I really want to spend some time with them. I haven't seen much of my brother since Cat was a baby and I don't know when I'll see him again."
"It was our pleasure Marshal," said Elizabeth. "You and Cat are welcome here anytime. Don't forget, if you're going to be gone for more than one night, bring Cat out here. We'll be more than happy to look after her. Also, it's good for her to have children her own age to play with and our children really seem to enjoy playing with her."
The three adults walked outside and Matt told Cat that it was time to go. She was unhappy and didn't want to but he reminded her that Rip, Adam and Hoss were leaving the next day and waned to spend more time with her. Cat had forgotten all about her uncle and cousins while she was playing with the Tanner children, but as soon as she was reminded, she ran, got on her pony and followed Matt out of the yard.
When they arrived back in town, Matt let Cat go over to the Blacksmith's shop while he met his brother and nephews at the Long Branch. Matt asked them how they wanted to spend their last day in Dodge. Everybody had their own opinion of what they wanted to do when Hoss suggested a picnic near a pond they had seen when they rode into town. Cat could do some fishing and show off her skills with her bow and arrows and Matt could invite Kitty if he wanted to. Everyone thought a picnic was a nice, relaxing way to spend a day and Matt asked Kitty if she would like to join them. Kitty said that she would gladly join them and suggested that since he was half Indian, Quint should come along to supervise Cat with her bow and arrows. She said that Quint would be the best person to teach Cat how to use them safely and when they should be used. Cat would also be less likely to rebel if Quint told her not to carry them around town. The men all agreed that Kitty had a great idea. Kitty said she would talk to Ma Smalley about food for the picnic and Matt said he would talk to Quint about coming too. They all agreed to meet in a hour to leave for the picnic.
After Kitty and Matt left, Hoss reminded Adam and Rip of something they had all forgotten. "We're leaving tomorrow and won't be here for Cat's birthday the week after next. We should spend some time shopping and see if we can find something she'll like. Also, Little Joe's birthday is on the same day as Cat's and we won't have much time for shopping when we get back to Virginia City. We should see if we can find something for him while we're here."
"That's a great idea Hoss. We've been so busy trying to keep our little cousin out of mischief that I forgot about her and Joe's birthdays. Maybe we could give them to each other and let Matt raise both of them," joked Adam.
"Your father and Matt would kill you if you did that, laughed Rip. "My brother is going to have his hands full with Cat as is. If Joe is as wild as you say he is, the pair of them together will drive him crazy. Besides that, just think of how boring things would be on the Ponderosa without your little brother to liven them up. Matt and I have talked, and if your father agrees, starting next year, Cat will be spending part of the summer with you on the ranch."
"Oh no!" said Adam in mock horror. "Both Cat and Joe together on the ranch? The Ponderosa will never be the same. We'll have to drain the lakes and fill in the wells or Cat will have us all soaking wet from pulling her out all the time."
Both Rip and Hoss laughed at Adam's comments. "We'd better get going if we're going to do any shopping. We're going to need time to hide Cat's gifts before we see her," said Hoss. His brother and uncle agreed so the three of them left the Long Branch to go shopping. Hoss bought a pretty blanket for Cat to put on her pony. Rip bought a dress he thought his niece would look beautiful in for a special occasion and Adam bought her a fancy bridle for her pony. Then Hoss and Adam spent some time shopping for birthday gifts to give Little Joe for his birthday. When all of the presents were wrapped and the three of them were heading back to the hotel, Hoss said, "We're leaving tomorrow and not going to be here for Cat's birthday. Why don't we let her open her gifts at the picnic?" Adam and Rip thought that was a very good idea and went over to see what Matt would have to say about it. Matt said that he couldn't think of any reason why they couldn't give Cat her gifts from them at the party, so the packages were put under a blanket in the back of the buggy Matt was going to use to take Kitty to the picnic in.
A little while later, Cat, her uncles and cousins as well as Kitty and Quint started out for the pond where they were going to have the picnic. Kitty got Cat to help her put the blanket on the ground and the picnic baskets on the blanket. After that, everybody watched as Quint had Cat show off her skills with her bow and arrows. She shot four arrows and two of them hit the target he had set up. "Considering that she's not quite five yet, Cat is showing very good skill," he told the others. "The Apaches did a good job of teaching her. She is patient and doesn't hurry when she's shooting. Accuracy will come with practice and age."
Then he sat down on a rock near Cat and told her, "This is very important. I do not want you to carry your bow and arrows around town with you. You are still very young and somebody might try to take them away from you and you could get hurt. I will set up a place in back of my shop where you can practice, but only when an adult is with you. If an adult is with you, nobody will bother you and try to take your bow and arrows away from you. In fact, why don't you leave them with me at my shop and I will take very good care of them for you until you are a little older? When you come over, if I am not busy, I will take you out back and let you practice. When Matt says I can, I will also take you hunting. Will you promise me that you will not carry your bow and arrows around town but leave them with me instead?"
Cat was sad because she wanted to carry her bow and arrows with her everywhere, but Quint did promise to take care of them and take her hunting, so she promised to let him keep them for her. Matt was very relieved and thanked Kitty for suggesting that they include Quint in the picnic. After promising Quint that he could keep her bow and arrows for her, Cat decided that she wanted to go fishing, grabbed a can of worms and her fishing pole and headed for the pond. There were enough fishing poles so everybody else, including Kitty went with Cat and did some fishing. Cat wanted to keep all of the fish they caught but Kitty reminded her that they had brought a big picnic lunch with them and that there was no need to keep all of the fish. It took some convincing but Cat agreed to let all of the fish go.
After everyone had their fill of the food they brought, Rip, Adam and Hoss gave Cat her birthday gifts. Her eyes got as big as saucers when she saw the pretty blanket for her pony from Hoss and the fancy bridle from Adam. She wasn't as thrilled with the dress from Rip but he told her, "I know that you are an Apache warrior, but you are still a cute little girl. This dress is for a special occasion and you will look very pretty in it. When I saw it, I knew it was perfect for you because it is the same color green as your eyes are. Let's take the dress, walk down to the pond and hold it up on you. Then you can see how pretty you will look in it. When we get back to town, we will find a looking glass and then you can see just how it matches your eyes."
Everybody followed as Cat picked up her dress and walked down to the pond with Rip. Kitty held the dress on her and told her to look in the water. Although she really wanted to be an Apache warrior, Cat was still a little girl and when she saw the dress held up on her, she decided that she liked it just as much as the blanket and bridle. She hugged her uncle and cousins and thanked them for the birthday gifts.
It was starting to get late, so Kitty suggested that they start packing up their picnic before it got dark outside. Everyone helped and soon the picnic area was as clean as it was when they got there. By the time they got back to Dodge and took everything out of the buggy, it was almost time for Cat to go to bed. Everyone hugged her and told her goodnight and she thanked Rip, Adam and Hoss for her birthday gifts again. She was so tired that she didn't complain when Matt picked her up and carried her into her bed and it wasn't long before she was sound asleep. Since his brother and nephews were leaving in the morning, as soon as Cat was asleep, Matt walked over to the Long Branch to enjoy spending a little more time with them. The four of them sat and talked for a little while and then Rip, Adam and Hoss said goodnight and walked over to the hotel. The next morning, a very sad Cat hugged her uncle and cousins goodbye as they got on the stage and started for home.