Peter and Michael walked into Matt's office at eight thirty the next morning, carrying a picnic basket full of food. Cat greeted her friends and said, "Uncle Ben is coming fishing with us. We need to get our horses from the stable and my fishing poles from Mr. Quint's shop."

"Why is your Pa coming fishing with us?" asked Peter.

"Because I want to spend time with Cat," came the reply from Ben. "And because I like fishing and don't get to do it enough."

"Bring your bow and arrows Cat," said Michael. "You promised to teach us how to use them and make some for us."

"No, I'm not going to bring them today. I want to spend the day fishing. "I'll teach you how to use them and try to make some for you before I leave, but I just want to fish today, so let's go." The boys started begging Cat to bring her bow and arrows, causing her to get angry with them. "I said I'm not bringing them. They're not toys. I only use them for hunting. If you're going to keep bugging me, I'm going to get mad at you. Do you want me to tell your Pa that you made me mad again? You know what he said. Now I want to go fishing. Are you going to come or are you going to go back home and tell your Pa that you made me mad at you again?"

"Please don't tell Pa we started to make you mad at us again. We won't do it again. We want to go fishing and play with your puppy. Maybe we can teach him how to fetch things," said Peter.

"Ok then. Stop asking me to bring my bow and arrows. I have to go and get my horse. Meet me over at Mr. Quint's shop so I can get my fishing poles."

The boys walked out of Matt's office, got their horse and walked over to Quint's shop to wait for Cat and Ben. Cat was going to wait for Ben when he said, "Why don't you go and get both of our horses? I'll meet you at Quint's shop in a few minutes."

"Ok. I'll get the horses and then go get my fishing poles. I'll see you in a little while."

Once Cat walked out of the office, Ben looked at Matt and said, "I can't believe how she controls those boys. They seem to listen to her better than they do their father. I think I'm going to have to keep a shotgun by the front door when she becomes a teenager and boys start taking her out."

Matt laughed. "That's not something I ever thought of worrying about. I always figured my job would keep the boys respectful. If things get too bad, you can always send her to Rip. She'll have an entire fort to look after her."

"Just what I need, an entire fort full of young men courting my daughter. No thank you. I'll just keep a loaded shotgun by the door."

"At least you know that they would be respectful. They wouldn't dare be anything else if they're courting their commanding officer's niece. You'd better go. Cat doesn't like to be kept waiting when she wants to go fishing."

Ben met Cat and the boys at Quint's shop. Cat got her fishing poles and the four of them headed for the pond. They fished until dinner time and played with Silver Chief for a while. It took a little while but they managed to teach him how to fetch. After dinner they fished a while longer. At two o'clock, Ben suggested that they fish for one more hour and then go back to town. The boys needed time to clean their fish so their family could eat and Cat needed to get her fish to Mr. Michaels at the hotel restaurant. At three o'clock, they counted their fish. Peter and Michael had caught enough so that every member of their family could have three for supper. Cat caught twenty while Ben only caught ten. "See," she teased. "I told you I was going to catch a lot more fish than you."

"Do you know what happens to little girls who catch more fish than their fathers do?"

"No, what?"

"They get tickled." Ben pulled Cat to him and tickled her for a few minutes. When they got back to town, Ben said, "Boys, please tell your mother thank you for that wonderful dinner. And thank you for letting me go fishing with you and Cat. I had a good time. Maybe we can spend one more day fishing next week. Since you caught the fish, maybe your brothers will help you clean them. I'll see you and your family at the dance tomorrow night. Cat, why don't you take the fish over to Mr. Michaels and I'll take our horses over to the livery stable."

Cat took the fish to Mr. Michaels, who was very happy to see them. "Thirty fish. That's wonderful Cat. I am going to have a lot of happy customers tonight. Let me pay you for them before I take them back to the kitchen. You have twenty five large fish, so I owe you three dollars and seventy five cents for them. You also have five smaller fish, so I owe you fifty cents for them. Altogether, I owe you four dollars and twenty five cents. No, don't tell me you didn't catch all of them. I already know that and I'm paying you for all of them anyway."

Cat found Ben and offered him the money for the fish he caught, but he told her to keep it. She walked over to the Long Branch just in time to catch Matt before he walked in the door. He picked her up, hugged her and said, "Well, I see you're back from fishing. Did you catch a lot?"

"Yes. I caught twenty, Uncle Ben caught ten and Pete and Mike caught thirty six altogether."

"Wow. You certainly had a good day fishing. Would you like me to get Kitty for you?"

"Yes please."

"Alright. Hang on a minute and I'll get her for you." He walked into the saloon, and said, "Kitty, you have a very short customer waiting for you outside."

"Oh. How short?" Matt showed her how tall Cat was. "Does this customer happen to have braids and pretty green eyes?"

"Oh yes. Most definitely."

"Well then, why don't you bring that little customer over to the outside door to my office? It'll be easier to talk to her in there than it is outside. Don't worry. I'll keep the inside door closed so she won't see what goes on in here."

"I wasn't worried. I'll get her and meet you at your office door in a minute." He walked back outside and told Cat. "Kitty wants me to bring you over to the outside door for her office. She said it will be easier to talk to you in her office than it is outside."

Kitty met them at the door to her office. "Thanks Matt. I'll see you inside in a few minutes. Hello Cat. Matt says you need to talk to me."

"Yes ma'am. I have more money to give you for Uncle Matt's birthday present next year. Uncle Ben and I went fishing today and Mr. Michaels paid me four dollars and twenty five cents. I also earned fifty cents running telegrams for Mr. Brown."

"That's wonderful Cat. Counting the three dollars and twenty five cents you earned for fish the other day, you now have eight dollars toward next year's gift. What do you want to get?"

"Uncle Matt really needs a new saddle but I think they cost more than a new winter coat."

"I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, you and I will go and look at catalogs and see if we can find a nice saddle that doesn't cost too much. The coat came today. I put the box upstairs in my room so that way Matt won't see it. When do you want to give it to him?"

"I guess I'll give it to him next Friday. Julie's mom and Mr. Brown are going to get married on Saturday, so I think that Friday would be the best day."

"That sounds like a very good plan. Why don't you come over here right after breakfast tomorrow? The Long Branch won't be open yet, so you can come in and I'll show the coat to you. Don't worry, I'll make sure that Matt, Ben, and Adam know that you're going to come here right after breakfast so you won't get in trouble. You wouldn't get in trouble anyway because the saloon isn't open that early but this way, we won't be taking any chances. After you see the coat, we'll go and look at those catalogs."

"Gee thanks Miss Kitty. I sure hope Uncle Matt likes it."

"It's a very nice coat and I'm sure he'll love it. Now, before you leave, I want to show you something. Do you see this little book?"

"Yes."

"This is where I write down all of the money you give me. See, I write down the date you gave it to me, how much you gave me and how much you have altogether. That way, I never have to wonder how much of your money I have."

"That's great. You're really smart."

Kitty gave her a hug and said, "Now, you need to go so I can get back to work. I'll see you at supper." Cat walked out the door, Kitty locked it behind her and went out into the saloon. "Matt, what do you think about the idea of having a farewell party for Cat next Friday? I'll keep the Long Branch closed until two or three and we can have the party here. That way, all of her friends will have a chance to say goodbye to her. Doing that might also make the transition from living here to living on the Ponderosa easier for her, especially with the knowledge that she'll be back next summer."

"That sounds like a good idea Kitty. I'll see what Ben and Adam think about it. I'll let you know at supper."

Cat walked over to Matt's office, found the dress she had worn for Rip's promotion and the material Ben had bought her in Santa Fe and took them over to Julie's house. Mrs. Richards looked at the dress Cat brought with her and said, "Yes, that is a very pretty dress. Since you only wore it once, all it needs is to be aired out and pressed."

"Well, actually I wore it twice but both times were on the same day." Cat told Julie and her mother how everyone wanted Rip to wear his dress uniform for supper but he didn't want to so he said he would only wear it if Cat wore her dress to supper. Mr. Brown had walked in just as Cat started telling the story and joined in the laughter when Cat told how the Sergeant Major had bribed her with an extra large piece of chocolate cake if she would wear the dress again.

"Well, did your uncle wear his dress uniform?" asked Mr. Brown.

"Yes he did. He had to since I said I was going to wear my dress again. He pretended to be mad at the Sergeant Major when he saw my piece of chocolate cake, but he really wasn't. My Godfathers thought they weren't going to have to wear their dress uniforms to supper, but my Godmothers made them."

"Cat, that is a day you and your uncle will remember for the rest of your lives," said Mr. Brown. "It was a very special day for him and you got to be part of it. When you grow up and get married, you will be able to tell your children about it."

"Mrs. Richards, are you going to have time to make two dresses for me before your wedding? Don't you have to make dresses for Julie and you?"

"Don't worry about it Cat. Making dresses for you and Julie hardly takes any time at all. I'll have more than enough time to make four dresses. Now, go and spend some time with your Pa and brother. The whole idea behind them spending two weeks here with you is so that they can get to know you better. You also need to get to know them better, so go and spend some time with them. We'll see you at the dance tomorrow night."

Cat walked down to Matt's office where she found Ben and Adam talking to him. She walked in the door and said, "Adam, I'm going to steal Sport. I love Ginger, but I want to ride a different horse for a while. Besides that, I want to see how high he can jump."

"You can ride Sport if you want to Cat, however, if you jump him over anything higher than two feet, I will warm your backside for you. I mean it Catherine. You are not to jump him over any fences or fallen trees."

"AWWWW. You're no fun Adam."

"Sorry little sister, but you have been told a lot of times that jumping your horse over fences is not safe. I meant what I said, if you jump him over any fences, you will have a hard time sitting down at supper. In fact, I think I'll ride Ginger and go for a ride with you. That way I know you won't jump any fences."

"You can go for a ride with me if you want to. I was going to teach Sport how to fly but since you're being so mean, I'm just going to teach Fury how to fly." Cat walked out the door, followed by her puppy and Adam.

Ben watched her walk out the door and said, "I don't know how you've done it Matt. She has been with you for almost eight years and your hair isn't gray. We haven't even been here a week and I'm getting more gray hairs. She's wilder than Little Joe ever was."

Matt laughed. "I guess it's because I know what to expect from her. She had no intention of jumping Sport over fences. She just said that to get a rise out of Adam and she succeeded. You are going to have your hands full with her. I predict that she and Adam will be butting heads a lot."

Ben laughed and said, "You know, this is all your fault for losing her when she was four."

"No," laughed Matt. "It's all your fault for having a sister as wild as Kate was. Besides that, I didn't lose Cat, Rip did."

"That's right; blame your brother when he isn't here to defend himself. You sound like my sons. Are you sure Cat's not going to jump Sport over any fences?"

"No she won't. Knowing her though, I'm sure she'll find something a little bigger than two feet for him to jump, just to irritate Adam."

Ben laughed. "He's not going to like that at all."

"Well, your eldest son had better develop a sense of humor. Cat will say she's going to do something she's not supposed to do, just to get a reaction. She will push until she's just inches over her boundaries. Sometimes, she'll go farther than that, just to see what will happen."

"Just what I need, a high spirited girl disrupting my nice, quiet, peaceful household."

Matt laughed loud and long. "Ben, your household hasn't been either quiet or peaceful since Little Joe learned how to walk and talk."

"Alright Matt. You win. I don't know how I'm going to survive raising my sister's daughter until she marries. Maybe I should leave her here with you."

"You'll survive. Joe was just as headstrong as Cat and you're still alive. No, you're not leaving her here with me. You wanted her, you've got her. She needs a home and a family. I can't give her either of those things."

While Ben and Matt were talking, Cat was doing everything in her power to drive Adam crazy. She walked Sport out of town and then urged him into a gallop and jumped over everything she saw that was shorter than three feet tall. Just as she reached the limit of what he would tolerate, she turned Sport around and said, "Race you back to town. I'll even give you a head start."

Adam sighed and said, "Little sister, I am going to kill you when I catch you."

"No you won't. Uncle Matt and your Pa will get mad at you."

"He's your Pa now and I think maybe he needs to warm your backside for what you have been doing since we left town."

"I haven't jumped a single fence and everything I did jump was smaller than three feet. I used to jump Spot over a lot of the things I jumped Sport over today. Now, are you going to race me or not? I said I'd even give you a head start."

"No Cat, I am not going to race you. We are going to walk back to town together."

"You can walk back if you want to. Sport and I want to run." She urged Sport into a gallop and took off toward town, leaving Adam behind.

"I'm going to kill her," he said to Ginger and urged the horse into a gallop to catch up with Cat.

When they reached the livery stable, Cat could see how angry Adam was, so she left Sport with Louie and ran to Matt's office. She ran in the door and before Ben or Matt could scold her for running inside, she said, "Help. Adam wants to kill me." The two men exchanged amused looks and started laughing quietly.

Ben stretched his arms out and said, "Come here and sit in my lap. Tell me what happened and I'll protect you from Adam." He took his daughter in his arms and pulled her into his lap.

Before Cat could say anything, Adam walked in the door. "I'm going to kill her!" he said angrily. "When I finish with her, she's not going to be able to sit down for a week!" Ben held Cat tightly. He and Matt started laughing, making Adam even angrier. "I don't see what's so funny!"

"You are son," laughed his father. "What did Cat do that's got you so riled?" Adam proceeded to tell them all about what Cat did on their ride, causing them to laugh even harder. "You were right Matt. Adam, your problem is that you've forgotten what it's like to be nine years old. Cat had no intentions of ever jumping Sport over fences. Everything she did today was to get a reaction out of you and she succeeded. I've lost count of the number of times you and your brothers did the same thing to me and each other over the years."

"Adam, I highly suggest you find your sense of humor," laughed Matt. "You're going to need it now that our little Wild Cat is going to be living on the Ponderosa with you. There are days when she is one hundred percent mischief. If you allow yourself to get riled up and angry every time she does something like today, you will be miserable."

Adam ignored his father and uncle and reached for Cat, intending to give her a sound spanking. "No Adam," said Ben. "Catherine did nothing wrong today. She got you all riled up but so did Hoss and Joe when they were her age. You also got me riled up many times when you were a boy. The only time you boys were punished for your mischief was when you put yourselves or someone else in danger. How high was the highest thing she jumped Sport over today?"

"About two and a half feet. I distinctly told her she was not to jump over anything higher than two feet. Then when I told her to walk Sport back to town, she decided to run him."

"Adam, the reason she jumped objects higher than two feet is because you told her she could only jump objects that were two feet high," said Matt. "She has jumped many of those same objects on Spot many times. Cat, did you try and jump any fences?"

"No Uncle Matt. I wasn't going to. I just said that to make Adam mad and get him to go riding with me."

"Why didn't you just ask him?" asked Ben.

"Because that wouldn't have been as much fun. Little Joe said it's fun to make Adam mad and he's right. It is fun."

Adam felt his temper start to rise again and said, "I'm going to wring her neck, just like I should have done with Little Joe when he was a boy."

"No you're not son," laughed Ben. "I wouldn't let you do it to Joe and I won't let you do it to your sister. You're just going to have to learn to live with her teasing you just the way Joe used to. Just think, now you've got three younger siblings to drive you crazy."

Adam sighed. "Just what I need is three of them. Hoss isn't too bad, but Joe and Cat together are going to be impossible."

Ben and Matt laughed and Ben said, "It's not going to be that bad son. Try and remember what it was like to be nine years old and try to remember what your brothers were like when they were nine. Right now, it's suppertime. Cat, you need to go and wash up. Don't worry; Adam isn't going to do anything to you."

After Cat washed up, Matt said, "Cat, why don't you go and see if Doc is ready to go to super? The two of you can meet us over at Delmonico's." Cat walked out of Matt's office followed by Silver Chief. "Ben, I sent Cat on ahead because I need to talk to you about something. Kitty wants to know how you would feel about her having a farewell party for Cat next Friday. It will give her and her friends time to say goodbye to each other and it might make the transition to life on the Ponderosa a little easier for her."

"I don't have a problem with that," said Ben. "Where is the party going to be held at?"

"In the Long Branch. Kitty will keep it closed until after the party has ended. We've held all of Cat's birthday parties there. We also have the Christmas party for the children at the orphanage there."

"That's fine. What time is Kitty planning the party for?"

"I'm not sure. We can ask her at supper. She'll be meeting us at Delmonico's shortly. Anyway, we had better get over there before Cat talks Doc and Kitty into letting her order chocolate cake for supper."

During supper, Kitty told Cat about the party she was planning for her the following Friday and reminded her that they were going shopping the next morning. After supper, Ben and Cat read another chapter in the book. Then he hugged and kissed her goodnight, put Silver Chief next to her, tucked them in and blew out the lamp.

After breakfast, Cat went over to the Long Branch, knocked on the doors and waited for Kitty to answer. They went over to the saddle and harness shop and looked at the catalog of saddles. Cat found a fancy one that she really liked but Kitty told her that was for things like horse shows back east and not for the kind of work Matt did. Cat found another one she liked that wasn't too plain but it wasn't too fancy either. Kitty thought Matt might like that one, so Cat looked at the price. "Forty dollars! Gee Miss Kitty, I'll never be able to buy that. The Ponderosa is so far from town that Uncle Ben will never let me have a job like I do here. I'll earn some more money before we leave next week, but it won't be enough to buy that saddle. I don't know if I'll be able to earn enough next summer when I'm here and I don't know if Jarrod will let me have any more of the money from my grandparents."

"Don't worry about it right now Cat. We'll figure something out next summer. You can always get a saddle that isn't quite as expensive. I know they're not as pretty, but Matt won't care if the saddle is plain because you gave it to him. Now, just in case you can't earn enough money for a saddle, why don't we look in some catalogs at the general store? Maybe you'll see something in one of them that you like. Also, don't be afraid to ask your Pa and brothers for suggestions. They may have some good ideas for you."

They spent the next hour shopping and then Kitty had to go and get ready to open the saloon, so Cat walked over to see if Quint needed any help. He didn't need any help right then but he told her to bring Ginger over so he could check her shoes. Cat did as she was told and Quint said that the horse needed new shoes. "Go find your Pa and tell him I said your horse needs new shoes. I don't want to put them on unless he says to." Cat found Ben who said to tell Quint to put new shoes on Ginger and he would pay him later. After shoeing the horse, Quint looked at Cat's moccasins and said, "Your horse isn't the only one who needs new shoes. I've probably got some here that are your size." He began looking through his shop and found a set of small horseshoes. "Here, these look to be about the right size. Let's try them and see how much work I have to do on them." Cat giggled as he held a horseshoe up to the bottom of her right foot.

Ben and Adam walked in while Quint was measuring the horseshoes on Cat's foot. "That's a great idea Quint," said Ben. "She won't go through her moccasins so fast and I know it's probably going to be impossible to get her into regular shoes. However, there's just one small problem. How will she take them off at night? I don't allow my children to wear their shoes to bed."

"Well, you could pull the nails every night and then put them back in the morning."

"That's true, but it's a lot of work and it's hard to get her to hold still. I'm probably going to have to tie her to the church pew on Sundays and her desk on school days to keep her from getting out of them all the time."

"No you won't," said Cat. "Because I'm not going to go to school or church. They're boring. Besides that, I've already learned everything I need to know, so I don't need to go to them."

All three men laughed at Cat's pronouncement. "I'm not so sure about that Cat," said Quint. "I heard you say that you want to take President Grant's job when you turn ten. I know for a fact that a nine year old does not know enough Arithmetic to become president, so you're going to need to go to school until you do take his job. I don't think your Godfather is going to give his job to someone who doesn't know enough Arithmetic."

All three men laughed as Cat made a sour face as though she had just bitten into a lemon. "That's not fair. When I take Uncle Sam's job, I'm going to make a rule that kids don't have to go to school once they know how to read, write, add, subtract, multiply, and divide. That's all anyone needs to know."

Quint gave one of Cat's pigtails a playful tug. "You do that. In the mean time, if you don't go to school, I won't let you help me when you're here next summer. Now, let's get you fitted for these shoes. I guess you'll have to wear them sideways so part of your foot won't be walking on the ground." He put the shoe sideways on Cat's foot and said, "Well, what do you think Ben? Will that work?"

"They look a little big to me. I think she needs a smaller size and we can keep those for when she grows into them, which probably won't take too long."

"That's the smallest set I have, so I guess we'll just have to settle for some deer hide I've got in the back." He walked in the back, brought out the deer hide and had Cat stand on it without her moccasins on. After tracing her feet, he said, "Go and play now. I'll have these finished for you before the dance."

Cat thanked Quint and Ben asked what she was planning on doing that day.

"I thought I'd take Ginger and Sport and see if I can teach them to jump over really big trees."

"Oh, how big?"

"As big as some of the trees on the Ponderosa. If I can teach them to jump trees that big, I should be able to teach Fury how to fly."

All three men laughed. Adam picked his sister up and carried her out of Quint's shop while Ben led Ginger out. "You are a silly girl," said Adam. "I don't know of a single animal that can jump over a tree that high. Deer can jump high, but they can't jump that high. I've got an idea. Why don't Pa and I get our horses? Then the three of us can go for a ride."

"I guess that would be ok. Now, which horse am I going to ride today? Maybe I'll ride Sport and Ginger at the same time."

Adam tickled Cat and asked, "How are you going to do that silly girl? You would have to put Ginger on top of Sport or Sport on top of Ginger and I don't think either of them would like that very much."

"Oh. I didn't think of that. Maybe I can ride them side by side."

"Catherine Michael Cartwright, you have got to be the silliest little girl I've ever met. I don't know how I'm going to survive with you being my little sister because I think you are going to drive me crazy. Now, make up your mind which horse you're going to ride or I'll make you ride behind me on Sport and we won't be doing any jumping."

"I guess I'll ride Ginger. She loves me. I hope she doesn't get mad when Fury is old enough for me to ride because I'll be riding him all the time then."

"I don't think she'll get upset Cat. Ginger is a very sweet horse and as long as you pay attention to her and ride her sometimes, she'll be fine. Maybe we'll even find a stallion for her to marry and then she can have babies. If she has babies, she won't have time to be upset that you're not riding her any more."

"Oh ok."

Ben said nothing and just watched to see what Cat's reaction would be to Adam saying she was silly. He relaxed when she didn't appear to mind. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with the headstrong girl he had adopted, but he knew that he loved her and wanted her to be part of his family. They walked over to the livery stable, saddled Ginger, got Sport and Buck and spent the morning riding. Ben was amazed at how easily Cat jumped Ginger over objects three feet tall and shorter. He looked at Adam and said, "She rides like she was born in the saddle. I'm just not sure about letting her ride a stallion. I'm wondering if we should geld Fury."

"I don't think we need to worry Pa. That colt loves Cat and follows her around like her puppy does. She wants to train him herself. Joe, Hoss, and I have all agreed that one of us will be there to guide her and we won't let her ride him if we don't think it's safe. Thaddeus, Joshua, Pete and some of the other hands have also agreed to help. I have a feeling that Cat, her dog and horse are going to be best friends and that Silver Chief and Fury are going to protect her when necessary. After all, look at what the puppy did at the Apache wedding when he was only eight weeks old. Not many eight week old puppies would attack a grown man in defense of a child, but he did. Besides that, I don't think Cat would ever forgive you if you gelded Fury. Don't forget, Nick Barkley is supposed to be bringing a filly for him. He's got good blood lines and if we're going to start raising our own horses instead of catching the wild ones, we're going to need more stallions."

"Alright Adam. I'll wait and see what happens when Fury grows up before deciding if I'm going to geld him or not. Right now, I have to figure out how to keep your sister and her horse on the ground. That girl loves jumping things. I swear, I'm getting more gray hairs just watching her."

Cat had found a fallen tree that was about four feet high. Knowing she'd be in trouble if she jumped Ginger over it, she dismounted, climbed on top of the tree, jumped off and called, "Come on Ginger. I know you can jump it." The horse easily cleared the tree and Cat remounted. The three Cartwrights rode until almost dinner time.

After dinner, Cat walked down to Julie's house to get her dress for the dance that night. Mrs. Richards looked at Cat's hair and said, "Why don't you let me rebraid your hair while you're here? That way it will look nice for the dance tonight. Julie, please go and get your hairbrush for me." After Cat's hair had been rebraided, the two girls played for several hours. Then Mrs. Richards called them in, tied the ribbons at the end of Cat's braids, gave her the dress she would be wearing and told her it was time to join her family for supper.

When Cat returned to Matt's office, Quint was waiting for her with a new pair of moccasins. He had made them with fringe on them and tied colorful beads on the fringe. When she tried them on, they were a little bit long. "I made them a little bit long so you won't outgrow them too fast."

Cat hugged him and said, "I really like them. Thank you for making them for me."

Quint hugged her back and said, "You're welcome Cat. I enjoyed doing it. Now, you had better go and get dressed. I know a couple of young boys who are counting on you dancing with them tonight." Cat changed clothes and everyone walked over to the meeting hall where the dance was being held.