When Rip returned to the group, he told the others about the officer's threat against Cat and told them not to worry, that Cat was completely protected.

Then he changed the subject. "Now, we have other things to discuss while we're still all together. Cat will be going to Lucas' in two weeks and because I have been gone for so long and am temporarily in command, I cannot take her. She is only nine years old and Matt, Ben, and Victoria would kill me if I sent her on a stage by herself. So would you. A decision doesn't need to be made tonight, but I would like some suggestions after Cat goes to spend time with the Apaches. Also, sooner or later, she is going learn the truth about why Michael left her and Kate to rejoin an Army he hated. Kate never forgave you for taking him away from them and before she was killed, wrote a letter to Cat about your role in his rejoining the Army and gave it to Matt. It's in his safe and he's supposed to give it to Cat when she's eleven or twelve. I've been telling her about her father but not why he rejoined the Army."

"Great," moaned Grant. "Our Goddaughter is going to hate us before she's thirteen years old." Then he looked at Tom and David and asked, "What do you two think we should do? You're not related, so you can look at the situation with unbiased eyes."

"Before we can make any suggestions," said Tom, "Please give us some background on what happened. We knew that Cat's father was killed in the war but this is the first we're hearing about your involvement in his decision to leave his family."

Grant told them how Michael had been in the Army and how Rip and his brothers had all courted Cat's mother. "Michael hated the Army and when Kate chose him over his brothers, he resigned his commission, married her and moved onto the Ponderosa. When the war broke out, he had no intentions of leaving his family but Bill, Phil and I convinced him to rejoin the Army for the good of the country. That was the last time the three of us saw Kate alive. She ordered us out of her house and said she never wanted to see us again as long as she lived and would never forgive us for breaking up her family."

Tom and David whispered to each other for a few minutes and then Tom said, "You can't change the past. However, when you think Cat is ready to handle the truth, the three of you need to be the ones to tell Cat why she is growing up without her father. I would tell Matt that you intend to tell Cat the truth about why her father was in the Army and ask him to keep that letter until you have the chance to talk to her. We think that the three of you should tell her together. Otherwise, it will appear to her that the one is trying to blame the other two for what happened.

As far as getting Cat to Mr. McCain's ranch goes, with Sam's permission, we'll remain here until she returns from her time with the Apaches and escort her there. Then we will rejoin you."

"Thank you for your suggestions and offer to wait here for Cat," said Grant. "We don't need to decide anything tonight, but we will need to decide how to get her to Lucas' ranch within the next few days. Since Cat will be up early, I am going to head for bed. Rip, I'll review the troops and we'll do those promotions of yours mid morning. That will give everyone a chance to change uniforms after breakfast."

The next morning, Cat was up early. Before waking the Grants, she decided to wake Rip. Once he was awake, she woke the Shermans, the Sheridans and then the Grants. After breakfast, Rip and Sherman went to Rip's office to deal with the two rude soldiers from the night before and finish going through all the papers the major had left on his desk. Before they could send for the two officers, the second one knocked on the office door. When he entered the office, he saluted Rip and Sherman and apologized for his behavior the night before. He admitted that he had been drinking and that had affected his judgment. Then he told them about the other officer's threat and how he spent the night sleeping in a chair outside his door to ensure nothing would happen to Cat. Rip and Sheridan listened to him and then told him to wait outside while they talked.

"Well Rip, what do you think? You know this man and I respect your judgment."

"He's a good man Bill. He's young but he knows how to deal with the enlisted men. They respect him. I wouldn't want to see one lapse in judgment ruin his career."

"Alright, what do you recommend?"

"He can stand extra duty and, except for when he's on duty or eating, be confined to quarters for the remainder of the week. I won't put anything in his service record this time and hopefully nobody will ever need to. I also want him at this morning's events. Seeing you and Phil in your dress uniforms and watching others get promoted will give him something to work for."

"That sounds fair to me. I intend to let that young man know how lucky he is to have someone like you interested in his career. Now, what about the other one?"

"He's been nothing but trouble since he got here. He's friends with Major Bush and never fails to let everyone know it. I have recommended him for disciplinary action several times but nothing has been done. Once he's away from his friend, he may turn out to be a good officer."

"Alright Rip. I'll send some telegrams and find another fort to send him to. I'll find a small fort so he'll have to pull his own weight. He knew I wanted to see him right after breakfast, so I'm surprised he hasn't been here yet."

"I'm not. He seems to think that the rules don't apply to him and because of his friendship with the major, has not been held accountable for his actions."

"That's about to change. Let's tell that one man what is going to happen to him."

Rip went to the door and told the one officer to come in. Sherman told him what his punishment would be and he was glad he was being given a second chance. When asked where his dinner companion was, he replied that the man was probably still in bed. When they dismissed him, Rip told him to be sure and change into his dress uniform before the assembly later that morning. Then they told the sergeant to take two men and bring the other man to them, even if he was still in his night clothes.

While Rip and Sherman were dealing with the two officers from the previous night, Cat went over to the stable to take care of Ginger. After grooming her, Cat decided she wanted to go for a ride, saddled and led her out of the stable. Then she mounted and headed for the main gate where the corporal stopped her.

"Where are you going Miss Cat?" he asked. "You know that you're not allowed to leave the fort alone. Even though the Apaches won't hurt you, there are other things that will. Wait right here and I'll see if I can find two men who will ride with you. If you leave the fort alone, I will tell the lieutenant and if I do that, you know he will warm your bottom good and hard."

"Oh pooh! I forgot that I'm not supposed to ride out alone. Can't you please let me go alone this one time? I won't tell anyone."

"Sure, I can let you go alone. How bad do you want the spanking you will get when you return? I believe that you are also related to the president and generals, so if you disobey the lieutenant and go riding alone, what do you think they'll do to you when you return from your ride? Also, what do you think they'll do to me for letting you ride out alone? You wouldn't have to tell anybody. The lieutenant will know just by looking at how many men are in the fort."

"There are just too many grownups telling me what to do. If Uncle Rip spanks me for riding out alone, my three Godfathers will too and then my bottom will really hurt and not even a cushion on my chair will make it easy to sit during dinner. How about if I get some of the other kids to ride out with me? Then I won't be alone."

"Miss Cat, you know the rules. Even if there were ten of you, neither you nor the other younger children are allowed to ride out of this fort without at least one adult. If I let you ride out alone, I will be busted back down to private. It took me a long time to make corporal and I'd like to make sergeant sometime soon. If I let you ride out of this fort alone, you will have children of your own before I make sergeant."

"Oh. I didn't think about that. I don't want you to get in trouble. I just want to go for a ride. Alright, I'll wait here while you try and find someone to go with me. I hate being treated like a baby. I'm nine years old now."

"Catherine Michael Cartwright, you know as well as I do that there are children on this fort older than you and they are not allowed to ride out alone either! Now, stop trying to find ways around the rules and let me find someone to ride with you. The longer you stay here arguing with me, the less time you're going to have for your ride. The president is going to review the troops at mid morning and everyone has to be in their dress uniforms, so whomever goes with you is going to have to be back in enough time to wash up and change clothes."

"Alright, I'll wait right here. I promise not to leave the fort while you're gone, not that the guards will let me."

The corporal started to look for two men to ride with Cat. When he approached the stables, two men came out leading their horses. "We saw Cat saddle up and head for the gate," one of them said. "So, we thought we'd go with her and keep her out of mischief."

"How did you stop her from riding out alone?" asked the other.

"Thank you men. I appreciate your offer. I reminded her of what the lieutenant would do to her if he caught her leaving the fort alone. I also reminded her that the president and generals would probably take a very dim view of her disobedience also. The possibility of getting not just one, but four spankings stopped her in her tracks temporarily at least. We all know from experience how much she likes to be told no."

The other two men had also known Cat since she was four and laughed. "In that case," said the first one, "we had better hurry up and get over to her before she tries to open the gates herself. Even though the guards would stop her she'll try anyway. Either that or she'll go out the side gate like she did when she was four. That little girl is bound and determined to have her own way."

They arrived at the main gate to find Cat waiting impatiently and wishing she could get past the guards to go riding. "Hi Miss Cat. The corporal says you want to go riding. We don't have a lot of time, so we'd better go now."

"Hi Pete. Hi Bob. Thank you for going riding with me."

"You're welcome. Now, let's go because we don't have a long time." The three of them left the fort for a short ride in the country surrounding it. Cat was disappointed when Bob told her they had to return to the fort and started to argue with him.

"Catherine, what do you think your uncle and Godfathers will do to you if we are late getting back to the fort? We won't get in trouble because we were taking care of you. On the other hand, you will be in very serious trouble. What do you think will happen to you if you make us late?"

"I'll get four spankings and Uncle Rip may use his belt on my bare bottom."

"Well then, what is it going to be? Are we going to go back to the fort now or are we going to keep riding and be late?"

"You can go back without me. I'll be ok. The Apaches won't hurt me."

"Catherine," sighed Pete. "You know as well as we do exactly how much trouble all of us will be in if we leave you out here by yourself. We will be breaking the rules and soldiers who break the rules get in a lot of trouble and it takes a very long time for them to get promoted. I can guarantee that any punishment you might receive from your uncle and Godfathers for making us late will be much, much worse if you stay out here by yourself. Do you really want all four of them to use their belts on your bare bottom? Because you know that's exactly what will happen. Now, what is it going to be? Are we going back to the fort now or are we going to be late?"

Cat sighed. She really wanted to keep riding but she didn't want four spankings, so she said, "We're going to go back to the fort. I really want to keep riding but I don't want four spankings. Uncle Rip hits hard and since my Godfathers all have children, they probably do too."

Rip was waiting for her when they returned to the fort. "You need to go and put Ginger in the stables and change into clean clothes."

"Why do I need to change into clean clothes? I'm not in the Army. Uncle Sam doesn't care if I'm wearing clean clothes or not."

"You need to change into clean clothes because I told you to. Everyone else is wearing clean clothes and you have to also."

"But I don't want to change clothes. These aren't that dirty."

"Catherine Michael, if you continue arguing with me, I will spank you right here. Now go and put your horse in the stable and then go to your Godmothers. They are waiting for you with clean clothes."

"Alright, I'll go and change clothes but I'm not going to wear a dress."

Rip gave her a hard swat on her bottom. "You'll wear whatever your Godmothers want you to wear and if you don't stop arguing with me or if you argue with them, I will give you a bare bottom spanking. Now go and do as you were told to do!"

Cat ran off and Sheridan walked up to Rip. "What was that all about?" he laughed. "What did that sweet, innocent little child do to earn that swat?"

Rip laughed. "I'll give you sweet and innocent. If Ben hadn't already adopted her, I'd give her to you and let you deal with her stubbornness. She doesn't want to put clean clothes on and she refuses to wear a dress."

Just then they heard Cat yell loudly, "No! I'm not going to wear a dress and you can't make me!"

Rip sighed loudly. "I'm going to kill her. I told her that she was going to get a bare bottom spanking if she argued with the women and now I'm going to have to do it."

"Let me deal with her. You go and get changed and I'll take care of that wild thing. I will give her that spanking you promised. She has got to learn that she can't always have her own way and that she can't keep arguing with adults. So, I'm going to treat her just like I do mine when they start acting that way and she will be wearing that dress."

Rip went off to change uniforms and Sheridan walked into the president's quarters where he found the women struggling to get Cat to stand still long enough to get into a dress. "Catherine Michael, what is the meaning of all this fuss and arguing? You know better than to argue with adults when they tell you to do something! We're running out of time and Uncle Rip had to go and change uniforms, so I am going to do to you exactly what he said he was going to do. Remember, I have four children of my own and I know how do deal with them when they disobey or argue with adults. Now, what did Uncle Rip say he was going to do to you?"

Cat really wanted to lie but she remembered the lesson she had learned when she was five about what happens to children who tell lies. "He said he was going to give me a bare bottom spanking."

"Then that's exactly what I'm going to do." He took his belt off, sat down in a chair and said, "Come over her, pull your pants and underpants down and bend over my knees." Cat did as she was told and he brought his belt down very hard on her bare bottom.

By the time he reached three, Cat could be heard outside. "OWWWW! That hurts! Please stop Uncle Phil. Please stop." She tried wiggling free but he held her down firmly and continued until he had used his belt on her fifteen times.

It hurt worse than any spanking she had ever gotten and when he finished there were tears in her eyes. "Now, you have exactly five minutes to go in that bedroom, put on the clothes your Godmothers laid out for you, and be right back here standing in front of me. We are running out of time. If you are not standing in front of me in exactly five minutes, I will use my belt on your bare bottom again and this time will be longer and harder than the one you just got. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now go and do what I told you to do."

Once Cat had closed the bedroom door behind her, Irene faced her husband with an angry look on her face. "Philip Henry Sheridan, we had the situation under control. We had convinced our Goddaughter to wear a dress before you reached the door. She was wiggling because she was excited about Rip's surprise. Every disagreement between an adult and a child doesn't need to end with the child bottom side up across your knees. Who do you think takes care of the children, including disciplining and getting them to cooperate when they don't want to, while you, Sam, and Bill are out playing soldier? Julia, Ellen and I do, that's who. Now our Goddaughter is in tears on Rip's special day. Are you ever going to ask if I have a situation under control before you step in?"

"Rip told her that if she argued with you, she was going to get a bare bottom spanking. We could hear her half way across the fort and Rip decided she needed to be punished for arguing with you. He needed to change into his dress uniform, so I told him I would take care of Cat."

"Did she need to be punished for arguing with us or because you and Rip were embarrassed that you could hear her half way across the fort?" Her husband didn't say anything. "That's what I thought. The two of you decided she needed to be punished because you were embarrassed. When we return to Washington, you are going to take a lot of time off from playing soldier and spend that time with me and our children so you can learn how to deal with them when they don't want to cooperate. Maybe you'll learn something besides what the Army teaches. Now, I suppose that poor child will be spending most of the afternoon standing in the corner instead of riding out to join the Apaches. Let me know when you're done with her so I can get her cleaned up before the ceremony." She walked outside, slamming the door behind her.

Cat hurried to do as she was told and was back standing in front of her Godfather with a minute to spare. "I see that you do know how to do as you're told." Then he pointed to a corner and said, "Go and stand in that corner until I tell you it is time to leave. When I tell you it is time to leave, you will have exactly five minutes to use the outhouse and rejoin us and you may not be joining the Apaches until after breakfast tomorrow. I have to see what Uncle Rip, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Sam have to say about it."

"That's not fair. I shouldn't be punished just because I didn't want to wear a dress."

"What were you told about arguing with adults? I guess you want more of what you just got. I am going to close my eyes and count to two. If you are not standing in that corner when I open my eyes, I will use my belt on your bare bottom again. Is that what you want?"

"No sir."

"Then do as you were told! One…Two…" When he opened his eyes, Cat was standing in the corner crying.

He walked outside where Sherman and Grant were standing. "What was that all about?" asked Grant.

"Our Goddaughter just got a lesson in what happens when a nine year old argues with adults too many times after being told not to. Right now, she's standing in the corner and I told her that she may not be joining the Apaches until tomorrow. I'll let you two and Rip make that decision. I do know that girl needs a firm hand. Matt was too easy on her and let her get away with too much."

"No Phil," said Rip joining the group. "Matt wasn't too easy on her. Because his job takes him away from Dodge a lot, she was left with little adult supervision for long periods of time. I do know that if he knew he was going to be gone more than a few hours or overnight, he took her out to the Tanners, but otherwise, she was left in his office with his deputy, the doctor, the blacksmith, the bartender, or Kitty to look after her. He punished her when she needed it. Why do you think she won't lie?

As far as her joining the Apaches is concerned, it will be a good lesson for her to have to stay here until after breakfast tomorrow. I'll send the sergeant, Tom and David out to the Walkers and they can tell the Apaches why Cat won't be joining them until tomorrow. They will understand and respect my decision. They do not believe in letting children disobey or talk back to adults any more than we do."

"Ben is definitely going to have his hands full with her," replied Sheridan. "If you don't have any plans for her after dinner, I've got more punishment for her. Thirty minutes of standing in the corner is not nearly enough for her to have learned her lesson. She can spend several hours facing the corner and thinking about the error of her ways."

"You had better get Cat out here Phil," said Grant. I want to start the inspection in about fifteen minutes."

Sheridan opened the door to the Grant's quarters and said, "Catherine, come here." Cat walked outside and wanted to run to Rip and be hugged but was told by Sheridan, "You have exactly five minutes to use the outhouse and return here. If you are not back here in five minutes without a good reason, you will be in more trouble after dinner. Now, go."

Cat ran off. "I see she's listening for now," said Sherman. "Too bad Kate didn't leave her with one of us or Ben. I'm not faulting Matt. He did the best he could and overall, Cat's a well behaved child. She just has a stubborn streak a mile wide and it gets the best of her from time to time. Rip, when are you going to tell her that she's not going to the Apaches today?"

"I'll tell her after dinner. If I tell her now, she'll sulk all during the inspection and promotions. Also since we'll be busy, she may sneak out the side gate. She's done that several times when she didn't get her own way. So, I'd rather wait until I know she can be supervised before telling her."

Irene joined the men outside. "I am very angry with all of you, especially Ripley and Philip. You Army men seem to think that the only way to get a child to cooperate is to whip them until they're begging you to stop. Yes, Cat argued with us, but we had the situation under control. Now, instead of enjoying watching her friends get promoted, she's going to have a hard time standing still because Philip hit her so hard."

"What are you talking about Irene? What did Phil do to Cat?" asked Rip. "He was only supposed to give her a spanking. A few well placed swats would have worked just fine."

"He used his heavy belt on her bare bottom fifteen times very hard. The two of you decided she needed to be punished, not for arguing about her clothes, but because you were embarrassed she could be heard half way across the fort."

"Phil, why on Earth did you do that? I was not going to use my belt on her. I was just going to give her several swats. I don't know what your children are like but Cat should not have been treated that way. She has been punished enough and will not be spending the afternoon standing in the corner. I am going to ask her if she'll wait until tomorrow before going out to the Apaches, but I will not force her to stay here."

Before Sheridan could answer Rip, Grant said, "We'll have to continue this discussion later. Cat is almost back here, the ladies need to get her cleaned up, and I want to get the inspection over and done with so I can do the promotions."

Cat came running back to the group. Rip picked her up, hugged her and teased, "You're not my little Wild Cat. Where are you hiding her? My little Wild Cat doesn't wear pretty dresses. She wears buckskins. Ladies, where have you hidden my niece?"

Cat laughed and hugged her uncle back. "You're silly Uncle Rip. It's me. I was going to wear my buckskins but my Godmothers said I should surprise everyone and wear a dress. That was before Uncle Phil came in and used his belt real hard on my bare bottom."

"I know Kitten. He wasn't supposed to do that. Right now, you need to go with your Godmothers and get cleaned up. I want you to stay with them until we're finished with the inspection and everything else. Since I'm in charge right now, I have to be with the men and Uncle Bill and Uncle Phil have to be with Uncle Sam. If you have any questions about what happens today, save them until everything is done and I'll answer them for you."

"Ok Uncle Rip. I'll stay with my Godmothers." Rip hugged her again, set her down, gave one of her pigtails a playful tug and sent her on her way.

The inspection went off with no problems and all of Cat's Godfathers were impressed by the men. Then Grant told the men one of the things he enjoyed most was promoting them and there were going to be several promotions. The sergeant who let the President's party in the gate was promoted to sergeant major and the corporal who wouldn't let Cat ride out alone was promoted to sergeant. After all the promotions for the men at the fort were finished, Grant called Tom and David up and promoted them to corporal. Cat was so excited she wanted to run over and hug her friends but she stayed with her Godmothers.

Then Grant pulled out his big surprise. "As all of you know, Major Bush is being recalled to Washington for reassignment. Now, I know that you're all wondering who your next commanding officer is going to be. Lieutenant Masters is a fine officer with an exemplary record. However, we cannot have a Lieutenant as the commanding officer of a fort, so effective immediately, Lieutenant Masters is promoted to the rank of major." Sheridan and Sherman were going to put his new shoulder boards on his uniform shirt when Grant stopped them. "Normally, when an officer is promoted, if he is married, his wife puts his new shoulder boards on his uniform. However, Major Masters is not married, so we're going to do things a little differently today. Cat, come here please." She ran over to where her uncle and Godfathers were standing. "How would you like to put Uncle Rip's new shoulder boards on his shirt?"

"Oh yes please. Can I really?"

"Yes, you may."

"How am I going to do it? Uncle Rip is tall and I can't reach his shoulders."

Grant took her by the hand and led her over to the stairs. "Alright Kitten. Climb up on my shoulders. You'll be able to reach then." To the amusement of everyone Cat climbed up on the President's shoulders and they walked back over to Rip.

"How do I get the old ones off and the new ones on?"

"Do you see that button right there? Unbutton it and pull the old ones off." Cat did as she was told and then Grant handed her one of the new ones. Since she wasn't familiar with Army insignia, she put the first one on backwards. Everyone, including the men in ranks had a good laugh. "Oops. My fault. I forgot to tell you which end was the front. Turn it around the other way. There you go. We'll make an Army officer out of you yet." When Cat had put both shoulder boards on Rip, Grant said, "Gentlemen, it is my honor to present your new Commanding Officer to you. Major Ripley Masters." Everyone cheered. "Now, I know everyone wants to congratulate everyone who was promoted, so I have decided that dinner is going to be served outside today. As this is a day of celebration, both the officer's and enlisted messes will be combined for supper. Feel free to change out of your dress uniforms. Now, will one of my generals or my new major please get this monkey off my shoulders? I think that my neck is several inches longer from the way she's been pulling on my head. Rip you need to dismiss the troops."

Rip dismissed the troops and then walked over to Grant. "Come and ride on my shoulders for a while Cat. I think your Uncle Sam is getting tired of you twisting his neck."

With some help from Sheridan and Sherman, Cat was safely transferred to Rip's shoulders. "Am I going to be able to go to the Apaches today Uncle Rip?"

"You can if you want to. Or you can spend the rest of the day here and go after breakfast tomorrow. Uncle Sam wants to meet your Apache family and I think the celebration for everyone getting promoted is going to last a long time."

"Ok. If Uncle Sam wants to meet my Apache family, I'll wait until after breakfast tomorrow."

"Good because I don't get to spend enough time with you and that's one of my favorite things to do. Maybe in a few years, I can get Uncle Sam to transfer me to the fort near Virginia City or to Fort Dodge."

"I would like that. I'll go tell him he has to."

"Slow down there little one. If that happens, it's not going to be for a while. I was just put in charge here and have a lot of work to do, so you'll probably be eleven or twelve before it happens. Now, let's see if we can find Tom and David. I know you're going to want to hug their necks."

They found Tom and David who congratulated Rip on his promotion and he congratulated them on theirs. Then Tom said, "Have you seen Cat at all today? We've searched the whole fort but can't find a little girl in buckskins anywhere. I hope she didn't wander out of the fort last night and get lost."

Cat giggled and hugged Tom's neck and then did the same thing to David. "I don't know Major," said David. That child on top of your shoulders looks like Cat and hugs like Cat but it can't possibly be her. Everyone knows that Cat would rather play in a nest of rattlesnakes than wear a dress."

Just then Grant walked up, congratulated Tom, David and Rip on their promotions and also started teasing Cat about wearing a dress. Rip decided that she had been teased enough and walked back over to the Grant's quarters so she could change clothes. After she changed, she walked over to Rip's quarters and knocked on the door. He opened it and she saw that he was packing his things. "Why are you packing Uncle Rip? Are you going on a trip?"

"No Cat, I'm not going anywhere. Since I'm in charge now, I need to move into the Commanding Officer's quarters. They're bigger and there's even an extra bedroom for when you come to visit me. You can help me pack and move later. I'm sure you're hungry so let's go and get some dinner. Hop on my back and I'll carry you."

"You don't have to carry me. I can walk."

"Yes I know but I like carrying you. It's fun. You're growing so fast, it won't be many more years before I won't be able to carry you. If there was a way, I'd keep you from growing up. Now, let's go and get some food."

They walked over to where the food was being served. Rip helped Cat down from his back and they got some food. She was angry with Sheridan so she spent the rest of the afternoon talking with the soldiers and avoiding her Godfather. He knew she was avoiding him and watched for a chance to talk to her. He saw her talking to Tom and David, snuck up behind her, picked her up and carried her over to the stairs. Then he sat her down and said, "We need to talk."

"I'm mad at you and don't want to talk to you."

"I know Kitten but we need to talk. I need to apologize to you. I shouldn't have used my belt on your bare bottom before asking your Godmothers if you needed to be punished before I did anything. Uncle Rip said he was going to spank you and I decided to use my belt instead of my hand. I am very sorry that I did that. If it makes you feel better, Your Godmothers, Uncle Rip, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Sam all yelled at me."

"They did?"

"Yes they did. Aunt Irene is very angry with me. She even called me by my full name and you know what that means."

"It means you're in big trouble. Is she going to spank you?"

"I don't know. She's very angry, so she might. Now, am I forgiven?"

Cat turned her back on him and pretended to think so he took matters into his own hands and started tickling her. "Yes, I forgive you," she laughed and hugged him.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me. Now, let's go and help Uncle Rip move." They walked over to Rip's quarters and helped him move his belongings to his new quarters.

"Look Cat," he said. "There's even a bedroom for you. Would you like to sleep in here tonight instead of with Uncle Sam and Aunt Julia?"

"Oh can I really? Yes please. I want to."

"Go, get your things and put them in your room," said Rip. When Cat returned he said, "I've got to go over to my office and deal with all of those papers on the desk. Do try and stay out of mischief and try not to drive your Godparents too crazy."

"I can help you with your papers Uncle Rip."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to put them in the stove and burn them."

Both Rip and Sheridan had a good laugh. "You can't put the papers in the stove Cat," said Rip. "They're very important and I need to read them. Some of them may go in the stove but a lot of them have to be filed. Now, I'm going to go over to my office and work for a little while. Why don't you go with Uncle Phil and see if you can keep him from getting into more trouble than he's already in with Aunt Irene? I'll see you at supper."