After breakfast the next morning, Matt took Cat over to Ma Smalley's and asked her to watch the girl. Ma Smalley gladly agreed and asked Cat if she wanted to help make apple pies. Cat thought that was a great idea and readily accompanied the woman into the boarding house. Then Matt went to meet his friends at the Long Branch. He told them what had been decided at the Tanner's the day before and they all agreed that if they couldn't take Cat out there, they would find someone who could. After spending some time with his friends, he went back to his office to get some work done before taking Cat riding and showing her how to get to the Tanner's.
Cat's patience was tested again several weeks later. A trail drive came through town and Matt was busy trying to keep the trail hands from breaking up everything in town. The Long Branch was very busy so Kitty didn't have time for Cat. Quint was busy shoeing the drive's horses and Doc was busy patching up cowboys, taking care of sick people and delivering babies while Festus was out hunting for family members who depended on him to keep them fed. Cat got tired of being ignored and wanted to go out to the Tanner's. She went to Quint who told her, "Not now Cat. I'm very busy here."
Then she went to Doc but he wasn't in his office. She went over to the Long Branch and asked a cowboy to tell Kitty that she wanted her but Kitty told the cowboy to tell her that she didn't have time to play. She went looking for her uncle but he didn't even listen to what she was asking and just said, "I can't take you fishing right now Cat. Maybe tomorrow." Ma Smalley was also busy as was Burke. So, she got her pony and rode out to the Tanner farm by herself.
John was the first one to see the child riding alone on her pony. "Who is with you Cat?" he asked.
"No one."
"Why not? You promised you wouldn't come out her by yourself."
"Nobody listened to me," she replied. "I can't play now Cat, I'm busy Cat, I can't take you fishing right now Cat. Festus isn't in town and Doc wasn't in his office."
John was upset when he heard what Cat had to say. "Well, I should punish you for riding out here by yourself, but you did try to get someone to come with you. I had better send one of the boys into town to tell your uncle where you are. You can go and play with the children."
After Cat ran off to play with the Tanner children, John went in search of one of the older boys and found his namesake hard at work, stacking hay in the barn. "John, please saddle your horse, ride into town and tell the Marshal that Cat is here. He's going to be upset that she rode out here by herself, but she tried to get him to bring her, so he's got nobody but himself to blame and I will tell him that when he comes out here. At least she came here instead of going to the pond again."
When John got to town and told Matt that Cat was at his house, Matt was furious. He rode out to the Tanner's with Michael and practically flew off his horse when he saw Cat playing with some of the Tanner children. He walked over to her, grabbed her arm and told her, "You broke your promise again and rode out here without telling anybody or having anybody ride with you. When I get you back to town, you are going to get a bare bottom spanking, sit in the chair for an hour and spend the rest of the week inside. You will not be allowed to ride your pony for a week."
John walked up as Matt was scolding Cat and said, "No Marshal, you aren't going to punish her. She told me that she tried to tell you and your friends she wanted to come out here but nobody would listen to her. Did you even bother to listen to what she wanted before you told her that you couldn't take her fishing? If you had listened to her, could you have found someone to bring her out here?"
Matt admitted that he hadn't listened to his niece and he could have found someone to ride out to the Tanner's with her. "Just because Cat is only five years old, that doesn't mean that she deserves to be ignored," John said. "Cat tried to do the right thing but when nobody would listen to her, she came out here by herself. Be glad that she came here instead of going to the pond again. I think that you should leave her here until that trail drive is gone and you have time for her again. There is something else you need to think about. I know that you are a very busy man and have a very important job with a lot of responsibilities; however, being a parent is a full time job. The children's needs have to come before your own. Like it or not, that is the responsibility you accepted when you told your sister-in-law that you would take care of your niece. A five year old child needs to be watched and paid attention to all the time; especially when there is a strong possibility that child could become hurt or worse. If you can't be a parent to Cat, maybe you should send her out to live with your brother-in-law on his ranch in Nevada. Cat needs an adult in her life who can meet her needs. It's not fair to her to be cooped up alone in your small office all day while you are doing your job or spending time with your friends at the Long Branch. Children need room to run and play. They need companions their own age to play with otherwise they'll never learn how to get along with others. They need to be able to explore things so they can learn about the world they live in. Cat will be starting school in a little more than a month and will have a hard time adjusting to the change if you don't start preparing her now. Try to bring her out here at least once a week so she'll have more time to play with children her own age. That way she won't have such a hard time working and playing with the other children when she starts school."
Matt said that Cat could stay at the Tanner's until the trail drive left town. He also told John that he would give serious thought to what he said. When he got back to town, he met his friends at the Long Branch and told them what Cat had done and why. He also told them what John had said about being a parent to her. "I've been telling you that ever since Rip brought her back!" said Doc. "You don't spend nearly enough time with her. She gets bored, does something wrong and you overreact. Why don't you hire Festus to be your deputy? That will take some of the weight of your job off your shoulders and give you more time to spend with Cat. I can guarantee you that if you don't start spending more time with her now when she's little, you won't be able to handle her when she gets older and she may even end up in trouble with the law."
"I hadn't thought about that Doc. Alright, when Festus gets back from his hunting trip, I'll ask him to be my deputy. That will give me more time to spend with Cat. John is right; she doesn't get to spend enough time playing with children her own age. There aren't any in town, so she's either on her own all day or surrounded by adults."
Cat spent the next three days with the Tanners and found herself wishing she could live there all the time. She played dolls with the Tanner girls and had wrestling matches with the boys, which were supervised by the old children to make sure they didn't turn into fights, even winning a few. She helped Elizabeth prepare meals by putting vegetables into a pot of water, learned how to set the table for meals and helped clear the table by carrying her dishes to the sink. All of the younger Tanner children got to take turns riding Spot. Even three year old Eric took a turn while being held by his father. John made a target on one of the barn doors and allowed Cat to show off her skill with her bow and arrows. He told her she could shoot ten arrows and everyone was impressed and praised her when she got six of them inside the target. The only trouble that occurred happened when Cat saw Peter heading for the pig pen. She ran and got his father who stopped him and told him to go, sit on a step. He was angry at her for telling his father and pushed her with both hands as he walked by. Peter was her friend, but Cat didn't like being pushed by anybody, so she pushed him back. John was only a few steps behind his son and kept the shoving match from turning into a fight. He gave Peter a swat on his bottom as a reminder of what would happen if he kept going to the pig pen, and told the boy that because he had pushed Cat, he was going to have to sit on the step for ten minutes and when he was done, he was going to have to apologize to her.
"I'm getting very attached to that little girl," Elizabeth told John after the children were in bed on the second night. "I wish we could keep her here with us instead of sending her back to Dodge."
John hugged his wife. "I understand Dear. I feel the same way that you do. I wish that the Marshal would let us adopt her, but she is the only child on his side of the family and the youngest on his sister-in-law's side of the family. So, the best we can do is to be surrogate parents to her and convince the Marshal to let her come out here often, especially once she starts school. She'll need help with her school work and he may not be able to help her with everything. I think I have convinced him how necessary it is that she spends time with children her own age, so hopefully we'll get to see a lot more of her."
When Matt came to get his niece and take her back to Dodge with him, she didn't want to go. Her time with the Tanners was the first time she could remember being with a family and she liked it. She didn't want to go back to living in her uncle's office and sleeping on a cot next to his. She liked having a real bedroom, even if she had to share it. Since most of her meals were eaten at the hotel restaurant or Delmonico's, Cat really enjoyed the home cooked meals. Most of all, she enjoyed having "brothers and sisters" to play with. So, when her uncle told her it was time to go back to town, she started crying and said, "No! I don't want to. I want to stay here! You can't make me go and I'm not going to!"
Matt started to lose his temper when John said, "Let's go outside while Elizabeth talks to Cat. I'd like to talk to you about a few things while Elizabeth gets her settled down." Matt decided to let Elizabeth deal with his niece for the time being and went outside with John.
"Elizabeth and I have been talking and we'd like it a lot if Cat came out here more often. We really enjoy having her here and she's not much trouble at all. She listens about as well as any five year old does and is quick to understand when you explain to her why things have to be done a certain way. She did get into a shoving match with Peter but he started it. He was upset that she told me he was going to play in the pig pen, I still don't understand that boy's fascination with the pig pen, and he pushed her. She pushed him back and I stopped it before it went any further. Peter sat on the step for a while, apologized to Cat, they hugged and went back to playing. School will be starting in a little more than a month and Cat will probably need help with her school work. If you and your friends can't help her, Elizabeth and I would like you to bring her out here so we can help her. Michael and Peter will be our eighth and ninth children that we've put through school and what we don't know, the older children do."
While Matt and John were talking, Elizabeth was trying to calm Cat down. The girl was crying because she didn't want to go back to Dodge. She wanted to stay with the Tanners and be part of their family. "Cat, I know that you want to stay here, but you need to go back to town with your uncle. He loves you very much and is doing the best he can to take care of you. He doesn't like having to live in his office but he has to because of his job. Maybe one day he will be able to buy a small house for the two of you but right now, he has to live in his office, which means you do too. He is your father's brother and your mother wants you to live with him until she comes back for you. Mr. Tanner is talking to him right now about letting you come here a little more often. You will be starting school soon and will need help with your school work and we will be able to help you. That is one thing Mr. Tanner is talking to your uncle about. But we need you to be a big girl, dry your tears and go back to town with your uncle. He won't let you come back out here if you have a temper tantrum every time you have to go back to town with him. Also, if you keep having temper tantrums, he's going to think you're too much of a baby to ride your pony and I know how much you like riding your pony.
Cat thought about what Elizabeth said. She loved being at the Tanner's just as much as she loved riding Spot. "Alright, I'll go back to town with Uncle Matt."
Elizabeth hugged her. "That's my girl. Now, let's get your face washed and see if we can't convince your uncle to stay for supper."
Elizabeth went outside to talk to her husband and Matt. "Marshal, why don't you and Cat stay for supper? It'll be ready in about fifteen minutes. That child doesn't get enough home cooked meals and neither do you."
Matt couldn't argue with Elizabeth because he knew she was right, so he agreed to stay for supper.
Elizabeth called the rest of the children and told them it was time to get ready for supper. It didn't take long before all faces and hands were washed and the girls began to set the table. "Cat, would you please help the girls set the table?" Elizabeth asked. Matt watched, amazed as his niece took a plate and set it on the table in front of a chair. She did that until there was a plate in front of every chair. "Thank you Cat. You were a big help. Alright everybody, it's time for supper." As soon as she finished speaking all eleven children were seated at the table.
Once supper was finished and the table cleared, Matt thanked the Tanners for supper and told Cat it was time to go. She got her things and left without arguing.
The next day, it was obvious to Cat that nothing was going to change. After breakfast, she was left alone to wander the streets of Dodge looking for something to do or someone to play with. She went over to the Blacksmith's shop and watched Quint work for a while but quickly tired of that and went looking for something else to do. Matt, Doc and Kitty were in the Long Branch but Cat wasn't allowed to go in when it was open. Festus hadn't come back to town yet, so there was nobody who wanted to pay attention to the girl. Matt found her around noon and they ate dinner. Then he went back to his office to do some work. He did find some time to read to her, which she enjoyed, but then he went back to work and Cat was left to entertain herself until supper.
This went on for two more days. Finally on the third day, Cat decided that her uncle really didn't want her but the Tanners did, so she was going to go and live with them. She got the bags out from under her bed and put her things in them. Then she walked out the front door of the Marshal's office and down the street to the Blacksmith's shop. Quint wasn't there, so she did the best she could to put Spot's saddle on him by climbing up on a crate. She didn't know how to tighten the cinch the right way, so she just wrapped the loose end around the cinch ring until only a little bit was left. Then she climbed up on the crate again and looped the strings from her bags of things around the saddle horn. Once that was done, she got her fishing pole and bow and quiver of arrows, climbed back up on the crate, mounted Spot and calmly rode out of the shop and right down the middle of Front Street. Nobody paid any attention to the five year old child riding a pony with all of her belongings tied to the saddle horn, down the main street in town and out into the countryside.
The saddle wasn't very tight and Cat knew if it fell off, she would not be able to put it back on the pony, so she rode him at a walk instead of running the way she wanted to. She kept looking back, hoping that someone had missed her and was looking for her, but she didn't see anyone. So, she kept riding toward the Tanner farm. It took her more than an hour to reach the farm and when she did, John Jr. saw her, called his parents and led Spot into the yard. Once they were in the yard, he lifted her down off the saddle. "What are you doing here Cat?" he asked. "Who brought you here and why do you have all of your things with you?" His parents came out of the house just in time to hear Cat's reply.
"Nobody brought me here. Nobody wants me, so I am going to live here now. I looked all the way here but nobody looked for me. I rode slow so Uncle Matt could find me but he didn't even look." There were tears in the girl's eyes as she said those last words. She told John Jr. and his parents about being left on her own for the last three days and said that she never wanted to go back to Dodge because her uncle didn't love or want her.
Elizabeth hugged the girl and looked at her son. "John, would you please take Cat's things up to the girls' room and take care of her pony? Would you also please ride into town and tell the Marshal where she's at? Your father and I need to talk to her and she's not going to like what we have to say." The young man said that he would do the things his mother asked him to and his parents took Cat into the house.
"Cat, you disobeyed again. You were told that you were not to ride out here by yourself, but you did," said John. "Could you have asked someone who was going into the Long Branch to get your uncle for you?" Cat replied that she could have. "Then, why didn't you? I am sure that any cowboy would have gotten him for you. Because you disobeyed, you are going to have to be punished. You are not my child, so I can't spank you even though you deserve one. However, you are going to sit in a chair for ten minutes and you will have to stay in the house until your uncle gets here to take you back to Dodge. I will tell him that I have already punished you so he will not spank you, but he will probably take your pony away from you for a while. What you did was wrong and I will not ask him to not take Spot away from you."
"We love you Cat, but you have to stay with your uncle," said Elizabeth. "You cannot come riding out here by yourself and you know that. You have been told many times before that it is not safe for you to ride out here all by yourself. We would be very sad and so would your uncle if something bad happened to you. Now, go with Mr. Tanner and sit in the chair. Then you can go and play in the girls' room."
Cat wasn't happy, but accepted her punishment and sat quietly in the chair for ten minutes, worrying the entire time about how long she would have to go before being allowed to ride her pony again. Then she was allowed to go upstairs and play with the girls.
Matt didn't even notice that his niece was missing until it was almost suppertime. He thought that maybe she had decided to take a nap but she wasn't in her bed. Then he went looking for her all over town, but couldn't find her anywhere. Everybody he asked said that they had not seen her. He went over to Quint's shop and found that her pony, bow, arrows and fishing pole were gone and assumed that she had gone back to the pond alone. He walked back over to his office and untied his horse from the rail, vowing that this time Cat was going to get a spanking she would not soon forget. He also decided to give her pony away so that she could not go off on her own again. Matt was just about to mount his horse when John Tanner Jr. came riding up.
"Hello Marshal," he said. My parents asked me to come and tell you that Cat is out at our house. She rode out there with all of her things, intending to stay there. I'll let my parents tell you the rest of the story when you get there."
"Thank you John. I have been searching for her for almost an hour now and am plenty worried about her. I am tired of her just riding off on her own whenever she feels like it. This time she is going to get a spanking that she won't forget anytime soon and I am going to give her pony away. That way she won't be able to ride off alone whenever she wants to."
John said nothing but planned on telling his parents what Matt was planning to do. He didn't think it was right for Matt to give Cat's pony away just because she had ridden off on her own again. To his way of thinking, if Matt would spend more time with his niece, she wouldn't want to ride off alone, looking for a new place to live. It wasn't her fault that she was only five, there were no other children her age in town and none of the adults wanted to spend any time with her. He remembered what it was like when he was five and his mother gave birth to his sister. All of a sudden, nobody had any time for him, so he had done things similar to what Cat was doing. The Marshal was making the same mistakes his parents had made back then and they were trying to help him adjust to having to care for a young child. He rode on ahead so he could get home and talk to his parents before Matt got there.
By the time Matt reached the Tanner's, John had been home long enough to tell his parents what Matt had planned for his niece. Matt got off his horse and tied it to the rail in front of the house. John Sr. was on the front porch to greet him when he arrived. "Hello Marshal. I guess you've come to take Cat back to town with you. Before you do, you, Elizabeth and I need to talk. John told us what your plans are for Cat and if you carry through with them, you will lose her forever."
"I am through playing games with her John. It's time I taught her who's in charge and what the consequences are going to be for disobeying."
"Come into the house, sit down, have some coffee and talk with Elizabeth and I. We have been in your shoes and are trying to help keep you from making the same mistakes we did."
Matt was in a hurry to take Cat back to Dodge, but since the Tanners had more experience raising children than he did, he decided to go and talk with them.
"Hello Marshal," said Elizabeth as Matt walked into the kitchen. "Please sit down. I've made a fresh pot of coffee and it will be done in a few minutes. Have you eaten any supper?"
Matt admitted that he hadn't eaten, so Elizabeth fixed a plate of food for him and put the coffee pot on the table. She and John waited until after he had finished his food before talking to him.
"John told us what your plans for Cat were," said Elizabeth. "If you follow through with them, you will lose that little girl forever. We made the same mistake with John when he was five and almost lost him."
"How long was Cat gone before you noticed she was missing? How much time have you spent with her since she left here three days ago?" John asked. "Now, compare that with how much time you have spent in the Long Branch with your friends. If you spent more time with your friends than your niece, you need to change that. Do you know that she rode out here slowly, looking back over her shoulder the entire time, hoping that you were coming to get her?"
"I gave birth to Rebecca when John was five," said Elizabeth. "He went from being the center of attention to being almost totally ignored. Oh, he was fed, bathed and dressed, but other than that, he was left to his own devices because we were focused on the baby and so was everyone who came to visit. Very few people even bothered to say hello to him."
John continued the story. "One day, he got tired of being ignored and decided to find somewhere else to live, just as Cat did today. He packed all of his things and rode off on his pony. We didn't notice that he was missing until suppertime. I searched for him all night and didn't find him until almost noon the next day. Something had spooked his pony in the dark and he was thrown. He landed in the river and was swept away downstream. I thought he was dead when I found him. Thankfully he was still alive, but just barely."
"I couldn't believe the condition he was in when John brought him home. I nursed him night and day for three days before we were certain he would live. We realized how wrong we had been to ignore him in favor of the baby and vowed right then and there it would never happen again. We are trying to keep you from making the same mistake we did."
"I punished Cat when she got here. She is not my child, so I didn't spank her even though she deserved it. However, she had to sit in a chair for ten minutes and was not allowed to play outside. I told her that I would ask you not to spank her but that you would probably take her pony away for several days. Cat is a very intelligent, clever child. If you give her pony away, you will lose her forever. She has already proven that she can adapt to the Indian's lifestyle and if you give Spot away, one day when you are not looking, Cat will run away and may go to live with the Arapahos until she can figure out how to get back to Arizona. How will you explain that to the rest of her family?"
"We know that you were ill prepared to take on a child when Cat's mother showed up with her and we have been trying to help you," said Elizabeth. "If you can't take care of Cat the way she needs to be taken care of, please leave her here with us and we will take care of her until she is old enough to go, live with her uncle in Nevada or her mother comes back for her. We finished supper a while ago and the younger children, including Cat, are already in bed. Why don't you leave her here with us tonight and come back for her after breakfast in the morning. That will give you time to think about what you have heard tonight. We know that you love Cat and want the best for her, but you have some decisions to make. We know that sometimes your job will interfere with the time you need to spend with her and if the three of us explain it to her, she will understand. But, as we have told you before, young children need to know that they are loved. They need to be hugged and kissed and told that they are loved many times a day. You need to decide which is more important to you, your brother's daughter or your friends."
Matt promised that he would give serious thought to what he had been told. He thanked Elizabeth for the food and coffee and said he would leave Cat there and come back for her after breakfast. As he rode back to Dodge, he spent a great deal of time thinking about what John and Elizabeth had said to him. When he got back to town, he saw that the lamps were on in Doc's office, meaning he was in there, so Matt decided to talk to him about what the Tanners had told him. Doc listened as Matt told him everything that Elizabeth and John had told him. "They're right Matt. If you don't start paying more attention to Cat, you're going to lose her. How long did it take you to notice that she was missing?" Matt admitted that he hadn't noticed his nice missing until almost suppertime. "That means she was missing for half a day before you noticed she was gone. She'll be starting school in a few weeks and then you'll have more time for yourself during the day. In the mean time, spend more time with that child before you lose her."
"The problem is that I don't know what to do with her Doc. I don't know how to entertain a five year old child. I've only had to deal with a few children and they were older children who had gotten into some mischief and I kept them in my office until their parents came for them."
"Take her riding Matt. She loves to go fishing also. Take her fishing. Remember, she spent almost a year living with the Apaches. She prefers to do things like hunting and fishing rather than playing with dolls. Take her out to the pond and let her practice shooting arrows at trees. Take her with you when you walk around town during the day and let her look in a different shop every day. Spend time reading to her. Take her out to the Tanner's one day a week. She needs to spend time playing with children her own age. Let her spend a day helping Ma Smalley bake. She enjoys helping Ma and Ma enjoys looking after her. I know that you have work to do, but you need to spend a lot more time with her. Otherwise, you're going to wake up one morning and she will be gone. Cat will become more independent as she grows older, but right now, she needs as much of your attention as you can give her. Trust me, things will get easier. Starting next summer she'll spend two weeks with the Apaches and the rest of the summer with her Uncle Ben on his ranch. But right now, she needs as much attention as you can give her. Talk to John and Elizabeth when you go out there in the morning. Ask them for suggestions on what to do with her."
"Thanks Doc. I appreciate the suggestions on what to do with Cat. I know she doesn't believe it, and it's my fault, but I really do love her. I'm going to make my rounds and go to bed. I have to go and get her from the Tanners after breakfast. She won't be happy, but I'm not going to let her ride her pony back to town. She can ride on my horse with me."
"I agree. A few days of not being allowed to ride her pony won't kill her but they will remind her that there are consequences for misbehavior. Now, go and get some sleep."
The next morning, Matt rode out to the Tanner's to pick up his niece. He talked to Elizabeth and John for a little while and told them the same thing he had told Doc, that he didn't know what to do with Cat to keep her occupied. They said the same things that Doc had said, take her riding and fishing and let her shoot arrows at trees. John showed him the target he had made on the barn door for Cat to shoot arrows at. Matt told them that as soon as Festus returned to town, he would ask him to be his deputy so he could spend more time with Cat. He also said that he would not spank Cat, but she would not be allowed to ride her pony for three days. Both John and Elizabeth agreed with his decision.
After they finished talking, Elizabeth went upstairs to where the girls were playing and told Cat to get her things because her uncle was there to take her back to Dodge. Cat didn't want to go but she knew that the Tanners would be angry with her if she put up a fuss, so she did as she was told. When she got downstairs, Matt picked her up and hugged her. He told her he was sorry for ignoring her He also told her that he would not spank her for riding out to the Tanner's alone but starting today, she would not be allowed to ride her pony for three days. Cat didn't think that was fair, but she didn't dare argue or the Tanner's would be angry with her and her uncle might take Spot away from her for longer than three days.
For the rest of the summer, Matt did his best to spend as much time with Cat as he could. Festus agreed to be his deputy and that gave him more time to spend with Cat. He read to her and took her riding and fishing and let her shoot arrows at trees. He took her with him when he walked around town during the day and let her explore a different store each day. He also took her out to the Tanner's in time for supper on Fridays and let her stay there until after supper on Sunday. She also spent one day a week helping Ma Smalley with her baking. Now that her uncle was paying attention to her, Cat did not run away again that summer.