Cat helped the older girls make breakfast the next morning and Elizabeth had her try the dress on one more time while the boys were washing dishes. During breakfast, Cat asked "Pete, Mike, when will you be allowed to go fishing?"
The boys looked at their father who replied, "They can go fishing tomorrow. They are supposed to be restricted for two weeks. However, since you are only going to be here until the end of next week, I will let them off early because I know that you want to spend time with them before you leave. Peter, Michael, listen and listen good. As you just heard me tell Catherine, she is the only reason your restriction has been lifted. If I ever witness behavior like what I saw at the train, I will use a razor strop on your bottoms and you will not leave the yard for a month! Do you understand what I am saying?"
"Yes sir," said both boys together.
"Good, because I don't want there to be any misunderstandings. I hope I never have to follow through on that promise. I love you boys dearly and your mother and I are trying to raise you to be young gentlemen. Your behavior on Monday was anything but gentlemanly. Also think about the example you are setting for your younger brother. Eric looks up to you and you need to show him the correct way to do things and act in public. You are both going to be ten just before Thanksgiving and need to start acting like it."
Once the dishes had been washed and put away, all of the younger children went outside to play on the swing and the climbing rope. About two hours after breakfast ended, Ben rode into the yard and knocked on the door. Elizabeth opened the door and said, "Ben, this is a surprise. Please come in. The children are playing in the yard."
"Good morning Elizabeth. I hope I'm not too early."
"Ben, I have ten children, most of whom wake up early. You are definitely not too early. Breakfast has been over for two hours. Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"Yes please. A good cup of coffee would be wonderful. I rode out here because I wanted to talk to you about Catherine. You are the closest thing to a mother she has ever known and I would like to get some insights into her from you. I know so little about her and I have nobody but myself to blame."
"I'll be happy to tell you what I know about that precious child. I fell in love with her the moment I laid eyes on her as did my husband. There have been many times when I wished she was mine. Catherine is a very sweet girl and I don't think there's a mean bone in her body. She loves all animals and I wouldn't be surprised to find her curled up in a nest of skunks. All of my children adore her and, as you saw last night, she is very good at controlling Michael and Peter. They treat her like a queen and are heartbroken when she gets angry at them. Her anger at their behavior when we met the train affected them more than the punishment they got from their father. I'm sure you noticed last night that she will gladly help out when asked. This morning, she helped Rebecca and Elizabeth cook breakfast. Like the wild things she loves, Cat hates to be cooped up and made to stay inside. That's one of the reasons she kept skipping school when she was five. When she misbehaves, sometimes the most effective punishment is to put her in a corner or confine her to her room or the house. She always hated it when, as punishment, the Marshal would not let her ride her pony. She is almost always very well behaved in public. I believe that the last time she acted up in public was because she was getting her permanent teeth and not feeling well. Like all children, she will test the waters to see if you really mean what you say. Since Catherine stays here quite often, the Marshal has given us permission to discipline her as though she was one of ours. John has had to put her over his knees several times when she decided to find out if no really meant no. I'm not going to try and tell you how to raise her, but please give her time to adjust to all of the changes in her life. In the space of one short week, her world and life were turned upside down. She has no idea what to expect and is very nervous about what is going to happen to her. I do know that your sons have told her that you are very strict and a firm disciplinarian. Catherine is afraid she's going to be whipped every time she steps out of line."
"Thank you for telling me all of that Elizabeth. I knew some, but not all of what you told me. Now I know why Catherine has a concerned look in her eyes every time she thinks she's in trouble. My guess is that my youngest son, Joseph told her that last part. He was a very headstrong boy and rebelled against my authority quite often, resulting in him being punished. However, he was not always whipped when he disobeyed me. None of my sons were. Nor will Catherine be. I'm not going to say that she will never be whipped, but it will only be when all other methods have failed or if she puts herself or others in danger."
"That is fair. It's exactly how John handles things around here. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I need to call three of the children in to start fixing dinner. Since it is so close to dinner time, I do hope you will stay."
"Thank you for the invitation. I gladly accept. I'm getting tired of eating restaurant food."
Elizabeth called the younger girls in and supervised as they began preparing dinner. When it was almost done, she called Eric and told him to go, get his father and eldest brother. Then she told the rest of the children to get washed up. When Cat came in the house and saw Ben, she was afraid that she was in trouble. "I don't remember Uncle Matt telling me what time I had to be back in town."
Ben called her over to him and put her in his lap. "Don't worry Cat. You're not in trouble. I rode out here to talk to Mrs. Tanner. I needed to ask her what I'm supposed to do with the stubborn, headstrong girl I seem to have inherited."
"What did she say?"
"She said to do this…" He proceeded to start tickling her.
While Cat helped clear the table after dinner, Ben talked to John and Elizabeth more about Cat. After the table had been cleared, Ben said, "Cat, I need to go back to town. Do you want to ride with me?"
Cat was torn. She wanted to stay at the Tanner's but she had already been there more than twenty four hours, so she said, "Yes, I guess I had better go back to town. I don't want Uncle Matt to get mad at me because I stayed here too long. Pete, Mike, what time are we going to go fishing tomorrow?"
"We'll probably come to town around eight thirty," said Michael.
"That's great. We'll be able to spend almost the whole day fishing."
"I'll pack something for the boys to bring for dinner so you won't have to go back to town and get some," said Elizabeth.
"Gee thanks and thanks for letting me spend the night here. I had fun."
"You're welcome Cat. We always enjoy having you here and will miss you when you leave next week. Remember what we talked about yesterday. What happened to your mother was not your fault, so stop blaming yourself for it."
"I'll try, but it's hard."
"I know it's hard, but I told you the truth. What happened was not your fault. Your Pa used to be a sea captain. Ask him about ships and if he thinks you would have been happy on such a long voyage."
"Ok. I will. Maybe some day I will get to see a sailing ship."
"Maybe you will. Now give me a hug and say goodbye to everyone. Mary, I finished Cat's dress this morning. Will you please bring it out of my room?" Mary brought the dress out and handed it to her mother. "I agree with my daughters. This dress is perfect for you. It matches your pretty green eyes. We'll see you at the dance on Saturday."
Cat said goodbye to everyone and walked outside to where John Jr. was saddling Ginger for her. She thanked him and put her dress over the front of the saddle before mounting. Once she was mounted, he handed her Silver Chief and her saddlebags.
Ben thanked Elizabeth again for the meal and shook hands with John. As Ben was starting to walk out the door, John said, "Ben, why don't you go fishing with Cat tomorrow? Even though the boys will be there too, it will give you time to get to know her a little better before you go back to Nevada next week."
"That's an excellent idea," said Elizabeth. "I'll pack enough food for you too. Don't worry about the boys. They'll be well behaved tomorrow. The three children may do some wrestling, but the boys won't give you any problems."
"You're right John. The purpose behind this trip to Dodge was so Adam and I could get to know Catherine better. Spending the day fishing with her will help. Besides that, I like fishing but don't get nearly enough time to do it. On the way back to town, I'll ask if she'd mind if I went fishing with her and the boys. I think that will be better than telling her I'm going to go fishing with her. Thank you again for dinner and telling me about my new daughter. I'll see you on Saturday."
On the way back to Dodge, Ben said, "Adam and I had a talk with your teacher yesterday. We met her briefly the day before yesterday but she was busy and it was getting late, so we had a talk with her yesterday. Miss Jackson had a lot of nice things to say about you and said she will miss you very much. She would like you to go and see her before we leave next week. She gave us your grades and I am very pleased with them. You did very well in almost all of your subjects and even your Arithmetic grade wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
"That's because the Tanners and Julie help me with my Arithmetic. I won't be getting any more good grades in it now that I'm not going to be living here anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because there won't be anybody to help me."
"What makes you say that? Adam and I will be there to help you."
"No, you won't. The Ponderosa is a big ranch and you and Adam are always going to be busy with ranch work. And because you've got this dumb rule that I have to ask permission before I go anywhere, even if I do find someone to help me with my Arithmetic, I won't be able to go there to get help. I'll never even be able to leave the yard except for school because nobody will ever be around for me to ask if I can go anywhere. I know that the teacher won't help me. Mary said she's mean and never helps anybody except her favorites. Laura said that she won't even let the little kids use the outhouse except at recess and dinner and she whips them if they can't hold it. I don't want to go to school in Virginia City. I want to go to school here. If you try and make me go to school with that teacher, I won't go and I don't care how many whippings I get. I don't need to go to school anyway. I can read, write, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. That's all I need to know. Once Fury is old enough, I'll either go to Uncle Matt or the Apaches."
Ben ignored Cat's last comments and said, "This is the first I've heard of these problems with Miss Smith. I was just elected to the school board and I promise you I will look into this as soon as we get home again. I know that Mary isn't one to exaggerate, so I'll talk to her and see what I can find out. In the meantime, school doesn't start for several months yet and if it's ok with you, I would like to go fishing with you and your friends tomorrow."
"Why do you want to go fishing with me?"
"Because you are my daughter and I want to spend time with you. Also, I like fishing and don't get to do it often enough."
"Ok. You can come fishing with me but I don't know if Mr. Michaels is going to pay me for your fish too."
"That's ok. I just want to go fishing because it's fun and I want to spend time with you. Now that you are going to be a very important part of my life all the time, I need to spend time getting to know you and spending a day fishing is a good way to do that. Now, I'll bet a licorice stick that Buck can beat Ginger back to town."
"You're on," laughed Cat. "Come on Ginger. I know you're faster than that old bag of bones Uncle Ben's riding." She urged her horse into a full gallop and headed for town as fast as Ginger could go with Ben hot on her heels urging his horse to go faster.
Cat easily won the race. "The only reason you won is because you hardly weigh more than a feather. Next time we race, I'm going to add fifty pounds of weight to your saddle and then we'll see who wins," teased Ben. "Let's take care of our horses and then we'll get that licorice I promised you."
Matt met them at the stable and asked, "What was that all about?"
"Remind me to never race with someone who hardly weighs more than a feather. Don't you ever feed that child?"
Matt laughed. "Believe it or not, Cat seems to always be eating. She'll easily put away an order of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast and then ask for more eggs and bacon. Her dinner pails were always over full but when she got back to the office after school, she acted like she hadn't eaten in a week. I asked Doc about her appetite and he said that there was nothing wrong with her."
"I'll tell that to Hop Sing. He insists that child is too thin. Well, we've got to go over to the general store. I owe her a licorice stick."
Cat walked out of the stable and said, "I need to put my dress in Uncle Matt's office before we go and get licorice."
She started to run over to Matt's office when she heard his warning voice behind her. "Catherine Michael. You're running where you're not supposed to again. This is your last warning. The next time I catch you, you will be standing in the corner behind my desk."
"That's not fair. I'm in a hurry. I'm only going to be here for another week and I have a lot to do."
"Yes, I know that you're only going to be here for another week, but that's not important. What's important is your safety as well as the safety of everyone else in town. Running when you're inside or on the boardwalk is not safe. If you want to run, go outside of town where there aren't a lot of people and run, but do not run in town. I don't want to have this discussion with you again. Now walk over and put your dress in my office."
Cat let out a big sigh and said, "Come on Chief. Let's go put my dress away. I have got to hurry up and turn ten so I can take Uncle Sam's job. Then I'm going to make a rule so grown-ups can't always tell kids what to do. What do you think buddy? Chocolate cake for supper, no Arithmetic, grown ups can't always tell kids to do…what other rules should I make? I know, all puppies have to sleep in the house and they get to sleep in kids' beds. What do you think of that one Chief? No more sleeping in barns for puppies." She picked the puppy up and he licked her face.
Matt and Ben laughed at Cat's comments. "Who is going to tell her that she can't become president until she's thirty five?" laughed Matt.
"Not me," laughed Ben. "You raised her, you tell her."
"Oh no. I'm not going to tell her. You adopted her, you tell her."
"We'll let Adam tell her."
"Let Adam tell Cat what?" asked Adam walking up to his father and Matt.
"Matt and I have decided that you get to be the one to tell her that she can't become president until she's thirty five. You already know that she plans on taking Sam's job when she becomes ten. Besides chocolate cake for supper and no more Arithmetic, she has decided that adults won't be allowed to tell children what to do and puppies will have to sleep in children's beds."
Adam laughed loudly. "I wonder what other laws she's going to come up with before all is said and done. Sorry Pa, Matt. I'm not going to be the one to burst her bubble. I think it's cute. Who knows, if the president had been my Godfather, I may have thought about taking his job and passing some of those same laws when I was ten."
Cat came back a few minutes later and said, "Ok. I'm ready. Let's go to the store."
"Why are you going to the store?"
"I was foolish enough to challenge her to a race on the way back from the Tanner's and she won. So, I have to buy licorice for her."
"Well, as long as you're buying, I'll get some too. What about you Matt? Pa's buying. Do you want some licorice?"
"I don't mind if I do. I haven't had any in quite a while and since your Pa is buying, right now seems like the perfect time to have some."
Ben laughed. "Alright, alright, I get the hint. Let's go." Then he gave one of Cat's braids a playful tug and teased, "And as for you young lady, starting with supper tonight, I am ordering double portions of everything for you and the next time we race, I am going to put a fifty pound sack of grain in your saddle. Then maybe I'll stand a chance of winning."
"No you won't. When Fury grows up, he's going to be the fastest horse in the world. I'm going to teach him how to fly as soon as I figure out how to. And I'm not going to eat double portions of anything but chocolate cake. I don't want to get as big as Hoss, no matter how much Hop Sing wants me to."
As they were leaving the store, Mr. Brown walked up to them and asked Cat to take a telegram out west of town. This time she made sure no adults were around before jumping Ginger over the fence gates. After she jumped the last one, Silver Chief whined from the saddle bag he was riding in. "Don't worry Chief. I'm being careful. I won't jump the gates on the way back to town. I don't want to risk getting caught and ending up with a very sore bottom. Not only that, if Uncle Matt punishes me for jumping fences, he might not let me go fishing with Pete and Mike tomorrow and he might not let me go to the dance on Saturday. I guess I'd better not jump any more fences until after the dance. I really want to go fishing tomorrow and I really want to go to the dance on Saturday and I sure don't want a sore bottom.
Part way back to town, Cat was very glad she decided not to jump fences when Festus came riding up to her. "Howdy Cat. I see that yore using the gates instead of jumping fences. I shore am proud of you and Matthew will be too. In fact, when we get back to town, I'll buy you a sarsaparilla and I'll see if I can talk yer Pa into letting you have an extre piece of chocolate cake after supper."
"Gee thanks Festus. That sure is swell of you. I haven't had a sarsaparilla in a long time."
"Yore welcome Cat. Now, I'm not going to race you into town because I know ol' Ruth here can't keep up with that there horse of yours, but I'll ride with you."
"That's ok Festus. We raced Uncle Ben back to town from the Tanner's earlier and we ran all the way out to the Stewart farm with a telegram, so I'm going to walk Ginger back to town. I don't want to take a chance that she'll get hurt from running too much."
"That's mighty good thinking. You shore are growing up little one. There was a time not so long ago when you would have run your pony almost until he dropped."
"That was a long time ago Festus. I was just a little kid then. I'm almost grown up. After all, I turned nine on my last birthday."
"Well, so you did. Next thing you know, some boy will be asking your Pa for yore hand in marriage. Maybe it will be one of them there Tanner twins you're friends with."
"I'm not going to marry Pete or Mike, Festus. They're my friends. Girls don't marry their friends."
"Oh, they don't?"
"No, girls don't marry their friends. They marry boys they don't know. Just like Paul Mitchell is going to marry a girl he met in college."
"Well, don't you think they might be friends now?"
"I suppose they are now. I suppose you would want to make sure you like a person before you marry them. I wish my grandfather hadn't made my mother marry that awful man. Then I wouldn't have had to grow up without her and she might still be alive."
"I do too little one. Yore mother was a very nice lady and she deserved better than what she got. Well, we're back in town. Let's take care of yore horse and Ruth and then we'll tell Matthew what a good girl you are." Once they took Ginger and Ruth to the livery stable, Festus said, "Climb up here on my back and let me give you a ride before you get so's big I can't carry you."
"I can walk Festus."
"I know that young'in, but I want to carry you."
"Ok. I like it when you carry me. It's fun. I remember when you used to carry me all over town when I was little. I kind of wish I wasn't moving to the Ponderosa. I love Uncle Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe, but this is my home and I'm going to miss everybody."
"Now don't you fret. It's not like yore leaving forever. You'll be here every summer and we'll have lots of fun. The two of us will spend some time hunting and fishing when you're here and we'll have lots of fun."
"I hope so."
"Of course we will. Now, let's go, tell Matthew and your Pa how good you were and then we'll get that sarsaparilla." Festus walked over to Matt's office with Cat on his back. Ben and Adam were in there talking with him and all three of them looked up when the door opened.
"What's going on?" asked Matt. "Did she get into mischief again?"
"Now Matthew, you know darn well that I wouldn't be toting this here young'in on my back ifn she were in trouble. Nope. I've come to tell you how good she was. I seen her coming back from taking a telegram out yonder and watched her. This here little girl got down off her horse and walked through every single gate until she got back to the road. Now that I done tell you how good she was, I'm fixin' to buy her a sarsaparilla. And, ifn she eats all of her supper, she gets two pieces of chocolate cake for dessert."
"Festus, you are going to spoil my daughter," said Ben.
"Nonsense. I ain't gonna do no such thing. She's a sweet little girl and she deserves good things. She ain't gonna get spoiled from having a few extra sweets. I done been doing it for years now and she ain't spoiled yet. Come on Cat, we'll leave them to their own stuff and we'll get our sarsaparilla and maybe some maple candy also."
After Cat and Festus left, Matt said, "I agree with Festus Ben. Catherine is not a child who gets spoiled easily. She is always grateful for little extra things like Festus is doing for her today. She has been punished many times for jumping fences, so it's good to reward her for doing the right thing. She'll remember the sarsaparilla, maple candy and extra chocolate cake and might just think twice the next time she's tempted to jump fences."
Cat walked back into Matt's office a little while later. "The sarsaparilla and maple candy sure were good. I wouldn't mind having them every day. I've got to take my dress for the dance down to Julie's. Her Ma thinks she may have some hair ribbons that will go with it." Cat started to run down the boardwalk, dodging in an out of people until she spotted Doc walking down the stairs from his office. Knowing he would tell Matt that she had been running on the boardwalk, she started walking. "That was another close one Chief. If Doc had seen me running on the boardwalk, he would have told Uncle Matt and I'd be in big trouble. I've been awfully lucky today and my luck could end, so I'd better walk for right now. I'd rather run, it's more fun, but I don't want to get into trouble." Cat walked the rest of the way to Julie's house with her dress.
Julie opened the door and invited her friend inside. Her mother told Cat to put the dress on so she could see how it looked and said, "Yes, Elizabeth was right. That dress does match your pretty green eyes. She did a very good job altering it to fit you too. I have some material that matches it. Bring the dress to me after the dance and I'll add more material to the inside and bottom. That way, you won't outgrow it too soon and you'll be able to wear it again for a while. I do have some hair ribbons that match it. You are going to look very cute at the dance. Now, change back into your other clothes. Leave the dress with me. I'll press it and give it back to you tomorrow. Supper will be ready soon. Would you like to stay and eat with Julie and me? Mr. Brown will also be joining us for supper."
"Thank you for the hair ribbons and pressing my dress. I have to go and ask Uncle Matt if I can eat supper here."
"That's fine. Why don't you and Julie walk down to his office and ask permission? Oh and Cat…"
"Yes ma'am?"
"You need to start asking Mr. Cartwright's permission too. He's your Pa now and it's only right to ask him also."
"I guess you're right. What I've been doing is asking Uncle Matt and he asks Uncle Ben."
"I understand. However if he's in the Marshal's office, you need to ask him. I realize that you're not used to having a Pa and brothers, but you have to start thinking of your Uncle Ben as your Pa. It will be easier once you're living on his ranch, but right now, start trying to think of him as your Pa."
"I do try but I don't remember he's my Pa now until after I call him Uncle Ben."
"That's ok. The important thing is that you're trying. One day you will wake up and it will seem like he's always been your Pa. Now you and Julie go and ask if you can stay to supper."
The two girls walked down to Matt's office where they found Ben inside alone. "Where is Uncle Matt?" asked Cat.
"He had to do an errand and will be back shortly. What do you need?"
"Julie's Ma invited me to supper. Can I please go?"
"Well now, that depends."
"What does it depend on?"
"It depends on whether or not you have a hug for me and if you promise not to catch more fish than me tomorrow."
Both girls laughed. "I might have a hug here for you somewhere, but I'm not going to promise to catch less fish than you. I'm going to catch a lot more fish than you."
"Well, you had at least better find that hug or you're going to be an awfully hungry little girl."
Cat pretended to search Matt's office for the hug and said, "I can't find it here anywhere. Maybe I left it at Julie's house. I'll look while I'm there and give it to you later if I find it." She started to walk out the door then turned around ran back to her father and gave him a big hug.
"You little stinker," he teased. "You had it all the time and just pretended that you couldn't find it. Just for that, you need to be tickled." Ben tickled Cat for a minute. Then he hugged her and said, "Go on and have supper at Julie's house. Enjoy yourself but don't eat too much dessert. Maybe you should use the outhouse before you go over there."
"That's alright Mr. Cartwright," said Julie. "We have a water closet in our house. Thank you for saying Cat could eat supper with us. I'm going to miss her when she goes to live with you."
"You're welcome Julie. Catherine will be spending summers here, so you'll still get to spend time with her. Now, you girls had better go. You're going to want to eat your supper while it's still hot. Adam, Matt or I will come and walk you back here after supper."
"You don't need to do that Mr. Cartwright. Mr. Brown will be eating supper with us and he'll walk Cat back here."
"That's fine. You girls run along now. Enjoy your supper and have a good time. Cat, I'll see you later."
On the way back to Julie's house, Cat asked, "Is Mr. Brown going to be your new Pa?"
"I don't know. I hope so, because he's awfully nice."
"That would be great if he is. Then we would both have new Pas."
The girls arrived at Julie's house and found Mr. Brown setting the table. "We'll do that Mr. Brown," said Julie.
"Nonsense. I started the job, so I'll finish it. Your Ma was kind enough to invite me for supper and I enjoy helping. I'll finish setting the table. You girls go and play until supper is ready."
"Thank you Mr. Brown," said both girls together.
"Let's go outside Cat," said Julie. "Mr. Brown hung a swing from the big tree in the yard. We can play on it until Ma calls us for supper." The girls went out and played on the swing until they were called for supper. When they got in the house, they were surprised to see candles and a bowl of flowers sitting on the table.
After supper, Julie's mother said, "Julie, I have some wonderful news for you. As you know, Mr. Brown and I have been courting for a while now. Today, he asked me to marry him and I accepted. The three of us are going to be a family now." Julie jumped up, hugged her mother and then hugged Mr. Brown.
"When are you going to get married?" asked Julie.
"Well," said her mother. "We talked about it and we want Cat at the wedding, so we're going to get married next week, on Saturday."
"I won't be able to be there," said Cat sadly. "Uncle Ben and Adam want to leave on Friday."
"Don't you worry about that," said Mr. Brown. "I already talked to your Pa and he has agreed to stay for the wedding and leave on the Sunday afternoon train."
"That's great. I've never been to a church wedding. Are they fun?"
"Oh yes," said Julie's mother. "They're lots of fun. After the ceremony is finished, there will be a big party. We'll have food and cake. There will be dancing too. You'll really like it. Oh and Julie, Mr. Brown and I talked. We want you to be part of our wedding ceremony. The three of us will each have a small candle and we'll use those to light a big candle to mean that we're a family."
"That really sounds nice," said Cat. "I guess I could wear the dress I wore the day Uncle Rip got promoted. My Godmothers bought it for me and it's pretty."
"I'm sure it is dear. Why don't you bring it over here when you get back from fishing tomorrow? I'll look at it and see if it needs anything besides pressing. Now, I think this calls for a celebration." She walked into the kitchen and returned with a large chocolate cake. The girls played checkers for a while after supper, then Mr. Brown walked Cat back to Matt's office.
"Goodnight Mr. Brown. Thank for walking me back to Uncle Matt's office. I sure am glad you and Julie's Ma are getting married. Julie really likes you."
"I'm very glad of that Cat because I like Julie and her Ma a while lot too. Goodnight. Have fun fishing tomorrow."
Cat walked into Matt's office, hugged him and said, "Guess what Uncle Matt. Julie's Ma and Mr. Brown are going to get married. Isn't that swell?"
"Yes Cat, that is wonderful news. They've been courting for a while now and I'm very happy that they're going to get married. Now, it's time for you to get ready for bed. Hop on my back and I'll give you a ride to the outhouse." When they returned, Ben was in Matt's office. Cat got ready for bed then she and Ben read two chapters before he kissed and hugged her goodnight, tucked her in and blew out the lamp.