Adam walked out of the barn just as Ben and Cat rode into the yard. He walked over to the hitching post, helped his sister down off his horse, and took her puppies out of her saddle bags.
"Guess what Adam."
"Let me see now, you climbed the tallest tree on the Ponderosa."
"No, not yet. Maybe tomorrow."
Ummmm, you swam all the way across Lake Tahoe and back again."
"No, not yet. I'm not strong enough yet. Maybe in a few weeks I will be, but not yet."
"Hmmmmmmm, you didn't climb the tallest tree and you didn't swim across Lake Tahoe and back again. I know. You put Buck on top of Sport and rode both horses together."
Cat giggled. "No silly. I jumped Sport over a really high mountain. It must have been at least ten miles high."
"WOW! Ten miles high. That's really high. I didn't know we had any mountains that high on the Ponderosa and I didn't know that Sport could jump that high. Once Fury's big enough to ride, I'll have to see if he can jump that high too."
"But Fury's my horse."
"Well, Sport is my horse and you just jumped him over a really high mountain, so I think it's only fair that I try the same thing with Fury when he grows up."
"I guess you're right, but you can't jump him any higher than ten miles high. I want to be the one who jumps him over a higher mountain than that."
"That's fair. I promise I won't jump him over a mountain any higher than ten miles. I hope Pa gave you permission to jump Sport over that mountain. If he didn't, I'm going to have to tickle you and throw you in the water trough."
Cat giggled. "Yes he did. He didn't think we could do it, but we showed him we could."
"Alright, as long as Pa said you could, I won't tickle you and throw you in the trough." Then he pretended to become angry with his father. "Pa, why did you tell Cat she could jump Sport over such a high mountain? He could have been hurt. She should have jumped one that was only five miles high." He picked Cat up and hugged her as all three of them had a good laugh.
"Adam, I need to speak with your brothers," said Ben. "Starting on Monday, Catherine will be responsible for taking care of Ginger. Will you please take her into the barn and show and explain everything that is involved in taking care of a horse?"
"Sure Pa. Come on Squirt. Bring our horses and I'll start showing you what you need to know. If you do a good job with Ginger and you're lucky, I'll let you take care of Sport for me."
"If I take care of Sport for you, you have to get the eggs, fill Hop Sing's wood box and do all of my schoolwork."
"That's a lot more work than just taking care of Sport."
"Yeah, but I'd be taking care of Sport and Ginger and filling Hop Sing's wood box, and getting the eggs and doing my schoolwork and you wouldn't be doing anything, so I think it's fair. I'll bet that Hoss and Little Joe will think so too."
"Yes, they would. They would even think it was more than fair if I did their work too. I've changed my mind. Leave our horses here for a few minutes. I need to teach you how to muck out a stall. First we need to go into the tack room and get a rake, shovel and broom." Cat started to try and carry all three tools at once when Adam stopped her. "No, don't try and carry all three at once. You're much too small. You'll fall and get hurt, then Pa will be angry at me. That's not the correct way to carry a rake either. If you trip, the prongs will go right into your legs. Carry it with the handle pointing down and the tines facing away from you. When you're doing any work on a ranch, your first priority has to be safety. If you watch Pa, Hoss, Joe, or myself, you'll notice that a lot of times we wear thick gloves. That's to protect our hands from getting hurt when we're working, especially when we're out mending fences. We'll get you some gloves too, but you won't be mending fences for a long time to come. You might help by handing us hammers and nails, but we'll be doing the work, not you. We won't let you do anything around here until you have been taught what to do, how to do it and worked alongside us for a while. You also won't be doing anything we feel that you're too young or small to do. Just like working the cattle today. You weren't alone with the cattle because it isn't safe. None of us will move that many cattle at once without having at least one more person with us. Now, I'm going to start mucking out Ginger's stall. Watch and see what I do and then you'll do some."
After leaving Adam and Cat, Ben walked into the house and yelled for Hoss and Joe. Joe came downstairs and Hoss walked in from the kitchen carrying several pieces of fried chicken. Ben took one look at his younger sons and started yelling at them. "WHAT IN TARNATION DO THE TWO OF YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING, SCARING YOUR LITTLE SISTER LIKE THAT?"
"Um Pa, I can explain," said Joe.
"EXPLAIN WHAT? WHY YOU FELT IT WAS NECESSARY TO FRIGHTEN CATHERINE? THIS IS ONLY HER SECOND DAY HERE AND SHE'S TALKING ABOUT MOVING BACK TO DODGE! HOW DO YOU PLAN TO EXPLAIN THAT?"
"I wasn't planning to scare her. I just thought that she'd be less likely to get into trouble if I kind of exaggerated what kind of punishment she'd get."
Ben sighed loudly. "Son, you were well aware of the consequences of your actions but you still chose to break the rules when you were younger and you still do. You were only supposed to talk to Catherine about not skipping school, nothing else. Neither one of you were supposed to say anything to her about being allowed to punish her. Did you think I wouldn't talk to her about the consequences of breaking the rules? That brings me to another bone of contention. When Adam and I left for North Fork, I gave you a list of things I expected you to accomplish while we were gone. Everything on that list should have been finished before I got back home. Imagine my surprise when I arrived back here only to find that the two of you didn't even do half of the things on that list. Don't try and tell me you didn't have time to do the items on that list. The pair of you had enough time to spend drinking in the Bucket of Blood, so there is no reason why that list is incomplete. Therefore, for the next two weeks, the two of you are restricted to the ranch. You will complete everything on that list and do your regular chores as well as Adam and Catherine's. There will also be plenty of extra chores to keep you busy. Hoss, go out and start on the barn. I need to talk to your younger brother alone."
Joe looked down at the floor nervously. He knew exactly why his father wanted to talk to him alone and he wasn't looking forward to the outcome of that talk. Once Hoss had closed the door behind him, Ben looked at his youngest son and said, "Joseph, you know how I feel about gambling and that I have forbidden you from doing any such thing."
Joe looked down at the floor and said, "Yes sir."
"Joseph, look at me when I talk to you. Do you know how I feel about gambling?"
"Yes sir."
"THEN WHY DID I COME HOME AND LEARN THAT MY YOUNGEST SON HAS BEEN SPENDING TIME IN THE SALOON GAMBLING? HAVE I EVER ALLOWED YOU TO GAMBLE OR BET MONEY ON ANYTHING?"
"No sir."
"How much money did you win?"
"About two hundred dollars."
"Go and get it."
"But Pa, I earned that money."
"MONEY GAINED FROM GAMBLING HAS NOT BEEN EARNED! NOW GO AND GET THAT MONEY FOR ME!"
Joe went upstairs, came back downstairs and handed the money to his father. "Thank you son. I will be taking this into town tomorrow and using it to open a bank account in your sister's name. It can be the start of a college fund for her should she want to attend college when she's old enough. Now, you and I need to finish this discussion in the barn."
"But Pa, I'm nineteen now and I'm too old for that."
"As long as you live in my house, you are not too old to suffer the consequences of your actions. I have never allowed you or your brothers to gamble or bet on anything. Did you think I wouldn't find out? Now go out to the barn, tell your brothers and sister to find something else to do and wait for me."
Joe slowly walked out to the barn and told his brothers and Cat they needed to find something else to do. They walked out of the barn and Adam gave Hoss a questioning look. "It seems that little brother decided to do some gambling while you and Pa were gone."
Adam let out a low whistle. "Boy, I sure wouldn't want to be in his boots right now. Just when I thought he was starting to grow up, he goes and pulls a stunt like that. He knows how Pa feels about gambling. Did he actually think that Pa wouldn't find out? And where were you when our little brother was getting himself into trouble? Why didn't you keep him from gambling? Don't say he wouldn't leave with you because you are more than strong enough to pick him up and carry him out. You had better hope Pa doesn't think of that."
"Yeah. I'm already in enough trouble with Pa."
"How come you're in trouble Hoss?" asked Cat.
"Well you see, when Pa and Adam left to get you from Lucas', he gave me and Little Joe a list of things that needed to be done on the ranch before the three of you got back home. We didn't get many of the things on that list done and Pa is pretty sore about it. I'm gonna to go and check on that cow we brought home. You two better find something to do before Pa finds a reason to get mad at you."
"Come on Cat," said Adam putting his arm around her shoulders. "We've still got a few more hours before our supper company arrives. Let's see if we can get Hop Sing to give us a snack."
"Little Joe's in big trouble, isn't he?"
"Yes he is. Pa doesn't like gambling and has never allowed us to do it."
"Yeah, Uncle Matt says that gambling is bad. He says he wishes he could make it against the law in Dodge but he can't. He says that there's nothing wrong with playing cards but gambling is bad. He let Miss Kitty teach me how to play poker, but we don't play for money. We play in Uncle Matt's office. Sometimes, Doc or Festus or Mr. Quint or Uncle Matt play with us. Miss Kitty always brings some bags of peanuts and we play for peanuts. When we're all done playing, the peanuts get divvied up between everyone and if there are any left over, the winner gets to pick who gets them. Uncle Matt says that's not gambling because nobody loses and everybody shares the peanuts. When I win, I always give him the extra peanuts."
Adam laughed and hugged Cat. "That's a good way to do it. What do you do with the extra peanuts if Matt isn't in town?"
"I give them to whoever wants them. If nobody wants them, then I get to eat them. I like peanuts. They're good. They're not as good as Hop Sing's chocolate cake, nothing is that good, but they are good."
Adam laughed and said, "You are a silly little girl. Let's go and start taking your things out of the trunk and put them away. I'll help you so it won't take as long to do it."
On his way out to the barn, Ben stopped to talk to Adam and Cat. "How did Cat do with learning how to clean out a stall?"
"She's picking things up fast Pa. She did a good job. It takes time to learn to do it properly, but she did pretty good for the first time."
"That's good. Cat, I'm proud of you for trying to do the things Adam is showing you. Neither of you will need to worry about your chores for at least the next two weeks. Your brothers will be doing them for you."
"Alright Pa," said Adam. "I'm going to help Cat start taking her things out of the trunk and put them away. That way the trunk will be empty in case I want to ship her somewhere far away, like Boston."
Ben laughed. "Adam, do you have any idea how much the freight charges will be on that trunk if you pack your sister in it and ship her to Boston?"
"Not as much as they would be if I packed Little Joe and Hoss in it." That comment got laughs from Cat and Ben.
While they were talking, Cat started looking around. "Where are my puppies? I haven't seen them since we got back from our ride. I hope Hoss didn't get hungry and eat them."
"Don't worry Cat," laughed Ben. "Hoss didn't eat your puppies. I think they're in the kitchen being spoiled by Hop Sing."
"I'm glad that Hoss didn't eat my puppies. I would be really, really mad at him if he did."
Adam and Ben both laughed at the expression on Cat's face. "Go on you two. Find Cat's puppies and start getting Cat's things put away," said Ben. "Remember, our supper company will be here around four. I've got to finish my discussion with Joseph."
"Why do you need to talk to Little Joe in the barn?" asked Cat.
"Ask Adam. He'll explain it to you." Ben walked toward the barn.
Adam sighed. His father should be explaining this to Cat, not him. "Little Joe is in very big trouble and Pa's going to have what he calls a necessary discussion with him. Sometimes, it means Pa's going to give one of us a spanking. In this case, it means that he is going to use his belt on Joe's bare bottom."
"Oh. You and Hoss never got in trouble, did you?"
"Yes, we got in plenty of trouble with Pa when we were much younger and we suffered the consequences of our actions as will you. Now let's go, get a snack and start unpacking your trunk before Pa gets angry at us." They walked into the kitchen where they found Hop Sing throwing meat scraps to the puppies while he was preparing supper.
"Don't give them too much Hop Sing," said Cat. "I don't want them to get fat."
"Puppies too skinny like Number One Son, Number Three Son, and Missy Cat. Father too skinny too. Need to eat more and get big like Hoss."
Both Adam and Cat burst out laughing at Hop Sing's proclamation. "It's still several hours until supper," said Adam. "May we please have a snack?"
"Yes. Have snack but not spoil supper. Go there and make sandwich but not mess." He pointed to a small table.
"Thank you Hop Sing," said Cat as she hugged him and was hugged in return.
They ate their sandwiches and walked upstairs to Cat's room. Cat opened her trunk, started taking things out and put them on the bed. "Where am I supposed to put my things? I never had my own bedroom before."
"That's why I'm here to help you. Hang your dresses, shirts and pants in the wardrobe. Your winter coat, hat and mittens go in there too. Everything else goes in the chest of drawers." Cat had no idea what Adam was talking about and looked at him like he was insane. He saw the look on her face and realized that she had no idea what he was talking about. All of her belongings had been kept in crates under her bed in Matt's office. "Here, I'll help you. Watch me and then you'll know what to do." He took one of her dresses out of the trunk, shook it out, put it on a hanger and hung it in the wardrobe. He did the same thing with a pair of her pants and one of her shirts. Then he took an empty hanger out of the wardrobe and handed it to her along with one of her dresses. Cat shook the dress out but had trouble figuring out how to put it on the hanger. He showed her again and this time she was able to do it.
"This is dumb. Why can't I just keep everything the way I had it in Dodge? Everything was right under my bed where I could get to it when I needed it."
"Because this is the way people live in houses," came Ben's voice from the doorway. "When people live in houses, they keep their clothes in chests of drawers and wardrobes, not in crates under the bed. Adam, thank you for helping your sister. You can go and tease your youngest brother about getting himself into that kind of trouble and I'll finish helping Cat. Alright Kitten, let's see how much you still have to put away." He looked in the trunk and said, "Well, you're off to a good start. I'll help you and we'll be done before our company arrives for supper. I'll shake out your clothes that need to be hung in the wardrobe and you can put them away." It took a little bit of time but Ben and Cat got all of her clothes put away. He was surprised at her lack of underclothes and socks. He also noticed that some of the clothes she was putting away appeared to be too small for her and made a mental note to talk to Caroline Ingalls about those things. When he pulled Cat's winter coat out of the trunk, he thought it looked small, so he said, "Cat, try this on before you hang it up. I want to see if you need a new one." As he suspected, the coat was too small. "Yes, that's what I thought. It's too small for you. We'll have to get you a new one before winter starts. You'll probably need a new hat and mittens too. I can't have my little girl riding around the ranch in a hat, coat, and mittens that are too small. You're liable to catch cold and get sick and nobody wants that to happen."
The shelf at the top of the wardrobe was too high for Cat to reach, so she tried jumping up a few times to put her hat and mittens on it. Ben watched her and laughed as she got frustrated and said, "Dumb ol' shelf. What dumb person put it so high nobody can reach it? I ain't gonna put my hat and mittens on it. They can go on the floor."
"Don't worry about it Kitten," laughed Ben. Just put them in one of the drawers. You have got to be the silliest little girl I've ever known. If you can't reach to put something where it belongs, don't worry about it. Just put it where you can reach. I'm not going to scold you for putting things where you can reach them. I just expect you to keep your room neat. Now, go and wash up. Our company will be here soon and you don't want to greet them with a dirty face." Ben went back downstairs, sat in his chair and started reading the book lying on the table next to the chair.
Cat washed up and then started looking at her room trying to decide if that's how she really wanted it. She thought about moving her desk under the other window but decided to leave it under the window looking toward Lake Tahoe. She didn't want to have to climb over her desk if she wanted to use the tree growing near the other window to get out of the room when she wasn't supposed to leave it. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Ben opened it and invited the Ingalls family inside. He walked over to the stairs and called, "Catherine, I need you to come down here. Our company is here."
Cat started to run down the hall and stairs when she felt Hoss' hand on her shoulder. "You need to slow down before you get in trouble. If Pa catches you runnin' in the house, you'll be in big trouble. Now, let's go and say hi to our company." They walked down the stairs with Hoss keeping his hand on Cat's shoulder."
"Hoss, why are you holding on to your sister?" asked Ben.
"Because she was thinkin' of runnin' down the stairs and I figured I'd better keep her from doing what she was thinking about."
"Thank you for looking after your sister. Catherine, I think you and I are going to have to have another talk about you running in the house, especially down the stairs. It just isn't safe. Now go and say hello to our company."
Hoss took his hand off Cat's shoulder and she walked down the stairs. She couldn't believe her eyes when she looked toward the door and saw her friends standing there with their parents. The three girls squealed, ran toward each other hugged and began talking all at once. "Catherine," said Ben. Don't you think you should say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls and Carrie too?"
"Oh yeah. Sorry." Cat walked over to Charles, Caroline, and Carrie and said hello to them. They hugged her and welcomed her home.
Just then, Joe walked into the house, trying not to show how bad he was hurting from the whipping he had received, followed by Cat's puppies. "Look," said Carrie. "Cat's got puppies."
Cat picked Lassie up and introduced her to the Ingalls. "This is Lassie. Mr. McLeod's brother gave her to me." She handed the puppy to Mary, picked up Silver Chief and said, "This is Silver Chief. My Apache brother, Little Bear gave him to me." Cat handed Silver Chief to Laura. Both puppies decided that the girls' faces were dirty and began washing them, causing the girls to giggle.
"Cat," said Ben. "Why don't you show your new bedroom to the Ingalls? I'm sure they'd love to see it."
"Ok. I was going to do that in a few minutes. I wanted to show Fury to them first."
Ben laughed. "Alright Sweetheart. Go and introduce your colt to everyone. I know that the girls are going to want to see him." Ben decided to walk out with them and talk to Charles and Caroline on the way. "Caroline, I need some help with Catherine's clothing. We got everything put away out of her trunk today and it appears to me that many of the clothes are too small for her. She also doesn't seem to have enough underclothes or socks. When you go and look at her room, would you please look in her chest of drawers and wardrobe and give me your opinion? Charles, I went to town this morning and spoke with Gerald Miller he is going to contact the other school board members and schedule a meeting, probably for next week. I'll let you know when the meeting will be so you can attend if you want to."
"Mr. Cartwright," said Caroline, "I will be more than happy to look at Cat's clothing to see what she needs and which items may be too small. She won't want to try clothing on right now, so I'll pick another day to come over and have her try her clothes on."
"Why don't you and the girls come over tomorrow? Cat can try her things on and we can all go to town and buy her what she needs."
"That's an excellent idea," said Charles. "I'm sure that the girls would enjoy spending the day together."
"Great. I'll send one of the boys over to pick you up in the morning. I wonder what they're arguing about over there." He pointed to where his sons were standing under a tree, having a heated discussion. Ben walked over to them and asked, "Why are the three of you arguing? We have company and that is very rude. The three of you know better than that."
"We're not arguing Pa," said Adam. "We're having a difference of opinion as to the best place to hang a swing for Cat. Joe and Hoss think we should hang it in the tree by her bedroom window, but I think it's too close to the house. I think we should use this one. It's got a good, sturdy limb and it's far enough away from the hitching rail, house, barn, and other trees so she won't bump into anything."
Hoss and Joe looked at the tree they were standing under and Joe said, "I hate to admit it, but Adam is right. Just once I would like him to be wrong about something like this."
His father and brothers laughed. "That's never going to happen little brother. I'm always right about things like this. I'm surprised you haven't learned that by now. Why don't you and Hoss go and get the rope and swing? We may as well hang it up now so the girls can use it before it gets dark."
Ben shook his head and rejoined Charles and Caroline as they walked to the pasture to see Cat's colt. "They were having a difference of opinion about where to hang a swing for Cat. Much to his brothers' frustration, Adam was right again." They reached the pasture where Fury was already being hugged, kissed, and petted by all four girls. "I have a feeling that my house is going to be occupied by more than just one little girl from now on. I have discovered that puppies and foals are little girl magnets."
Charles and Caroline laughed. "We'll make sure that they don't make pests of themselves," said Charles.
"They are welcome here any time. It will be good for Catherine to have girls her own age to play with and I'm hoping that your girls will have a calming influence on her. I can't begin to tell you how much I wish Kate had brought her to me instead of taking her to Matt. She wouldn't be so wild if I had raised her. Don't get me wrong. Matt did the best he could and he had a lot of help, but his job took him out of town so much that he didn't have the time to spend with her that I would have had."
"Ben," said Charles, "That was many years ago. You cannot dwell on the past. Your sister did what she thought was right. Look deep into yourself and answer this question. Would you have said no to your father when he showed up on your doorstep, demanding that you give your sister's daughter to him? Matt did a very good job raising Cat. For the most part, she is polite and well behaved. I know that she will not always be, but she is a child and as we all know, part of childhood is making mistakes and paying for them. Even my Mary gets into trouble occasionally. You did an excellent job raising your sons. You know that there will be days when Catherine is angelic and other days when she is mischief personified. Just keep telling and showing her how much you love her. There is one thing you do need to know about girls. Besides the obvious differences between boys and girls, girls get their feelings hurt easily. I know that your sons like to tease each other and that they will tease Cat. Pay attention to her facial expressions and you will know what to do. Now, I had better go and admire that colt before I hurt her feelings because I have a feeling that she is going to be at my house just as much as my daughters are going to be here. And, as we have told you, she is welcome at our house anytime."
After everyone had admired Fury, Ben suggested that Cat show her new bedroom to the Ingalls. The girls loved Cat's bedroom and admired the doll house and other things her father had made for her. "Cat, may I please look in your chest of drawers and wardrobe?" asked Caroline.
"Sure, but why do you want to look in them?"
"Because I'm a mother and mothers like to make sure that children have all of the things they need."
"Oh. Ok. You can look in them if you want to."
"Thank you Cat." Caroline looked at Cat's clothes and said, "Some of your clothes look like they're too small for you and you need some underclothes and socks. Why don't the girls and I come over tomorrow? Then you can try on the clothes that appear to be too small and we can go to town and buy the things you need."
"That would be nice. Thank you."
"There is one more thing I need to talk to you about. I know that when you were in Dodge, there were several women you could go to when you needed advice about things a girl needs to know. I have already talked to your Pa and you may come to me whenever you need a mother's advice. That means anything you aren't comfortable talking to your Pa or brothers about. Just as your Pa has said that Laura and Mary are welcome here anytime, you are welcome in our house anytime."
Cat hugged her and said, "Thank you very much. When I was in Dodge, I could talk to Mamma Tanner, Miss Kitty, Julie's Ma, and Ma Smalley. I didn't know what I was going to do here."
Caroline hugged her back. "Well now you know. As little girls grow up, there are things that they need to learn from their mothers and I will teach those things to you when I teach them to my daughters. Now, why don't you girls play up here for a while and we'll let you know when supper is ready. "Also, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe are working on something for you outside. I'm sure that they'll let you know when they're finished."
Charles and Caroline left the girls in Cat's room and walked back downstairs. "You and the boys did a great job on Cat's bedroom," said Charles. I have a feeling that my girls are going to want to move into it along with Cat."
Ben laughed. "I don't know what I'm going to do with one daughter, let alone three or four, but your girls are welcome here anytime, as are you. Did Cat give you any problems with looking at her clothes?"
"No," said Caroline. "She was curious why I wanted to and I simply told her that I'm a mother and that's something mothers do. As you suspected, she does not have enough socks and underclothes and some of her things do appear to be too small. She agreed to let me come over with the girls tomorrow and try her clothes on. We'll let her decide what to do with the clothes that are too small, but I'm going to suggest that she give them to an orphanage. That's what I plan to do with Carrie's things when she outgrows them. When Mary outgrows her things, they are passed down to Laura and then they are passed down to Carrie. Cat doesn't have a younger sister to pass her things down to and that's why I'm going to suggest she give them to an orphanage."
"That's a great idea. I'll tell her that's what we're going to do with her clothes that are too small."
"No Ben," said Charles. "Let it be Cat's decision. It will be better that way."
"Alright, I'll let Caroline make her suggestion and Catherine can decide what she wants to do."
Cat's brothers finished hanging the swing and Hoss stood in it to make sure the limb it was attached to would hold. Adam walked in the house and upstairs to Cat's room. "Come on outside girls. Joe, Hoss, and I have a surprise for you."
The four girls walked downstairs and toward the door. "Where are you girls going?" asked Ben.
"Adam said that he, Little Joe, and Hoss have a surprise in the yard and we're going to see what it is," answered Cat.
"Well then, by all means go and see what the surprise is. In fact, I think that Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls and I will join you." Everyone walked out into the yard and the four girls squealed with delight when they were shown the swing.
"Did you boys test that swing to make sure the limb is going to hold?" asked Ben.
"Yes we did," replied Adam. Hoss stood in it and jumped up and down. We've got it on a good strong limb. If it will hold Hoss jumping up and down, it will hold little girls. Now, which girl is going to go first?"
Laura, Mary, and Cat whispered for a minute. Then Mary picked Carrie up and put her on the swing. Joe pushed Carrie for a while, then stopped the swing and said, "Ok. Who's next?"
"Mary is," said Cat. "She's the oldest." After Mary took her turn, Joe again asked who was next. "Laura is, because she's company." After Laura finished her turn, Joe pretended to ignore his sister and sat down on the swing and was immediately attacked by Mary, Laura, and Carrie who tried to push him off the swing.
"That will teach you to ignore our little sister," said Adam. "I think you had better get off that swing before the girls decide to hurt you. Also, if you don't, either Hoss or I will throw you in the trough, which means you'll be late for supper and Hop Sing will yell at you. Also, if you are late for supper, Pa will yell at you."
"You win. I give up. Pa already yelled at me enough today and I don't need him doing it again. Come on Cat, take your turn because it's almost supper time." Knowing that Joe was still hurting from the whipping he had received earlier, Hoss swatted his younger brother on the seat of his pants when he stood up. Joe yelped and gave his brother a dirty look. Adam and Hoss just laughed at him.
Cat no sooner finished her turn on the swing when Hop Sing came outside and yelled, "Suppel almost leady. Everybody go to table."
"Girls, time to wash up for supper," said Ben. "The four of you can use the wash room outside the back door. One of you boys can use that wash room also." Cat took her puppies into the kitchen and told them they would have to eat there because there was company. Then she joined her friends and Hoss at the washroom.
Everyone washed up and sat down at the table. Instead of being seated between Adam and Joe, Cat was allowed to sit between Laura and Mary. Hop Sing brought the food to the table and said, "Plenty food. Everybody eat lots. Little girls too skinny. Need to eat lots and get big like Hoss."
All four girls giggled and Mary said, "We're girls Hop Sing. We're not supposed to be big. If we get too big, no man will want to marry us when we grow up."
"Hop Sing no care! Little girls need get big like Hoss!"
Everyone had a good laugh at Hop Sing's proclamation. "You won't win that argument Mary and may as well give up trying. I've been hearing that argument about Adam and Joe for many years now."
Once again, Hop Sing had made all of Cat's favorite foods and everyone feasted on steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, spinach, and biscuits. Laura, Mary, and Cat all had second helpings of potatoes with gravy, corn and biscuits. Carrie even had a second biscuit. Dessert was chocolate cake. All four girls looked at it and said, "Yummy. Chocolate cake is my favorite food."
After supper, everyone took their coffee and milk into the living room. Cat set her milk down and walked upstairs. She entered Adam's bedroom and got his guitar. She started to run back to the stairs and, realizing that she'd be in really big trouble if she fell and broke it because she was running, stopped and walked. She carried the guitar back downstairs, handed it to Adam and said, "Adam, play something please."
He took the guitar, gave one of Cat's braids a playful tug and said, "What would you like me to play?"
"I don't know. I just want you to play for us please."
"Alright. Give me a minute and I'll think of something."
Adam played his guitar and the four girls sang and danced for nearly an hour. After the tired girls sat down, Charles said, "It's time we headed for home. Ben, thank you for inviting us and Hop Sing thank you for a delicious supper. We had a wonderful time and look forward to doing this again sometime soon."
"You're very welcome. I'll talk to Hop Sing and if he doesn't object, we'll plan on doing this once a month. I'll send one of the boys over to pick up Caroline and the girls tomorrow morning. Have a safe trip home." Mary, Laura, and Carrie said goodbye to everyone and kissed and hugged Cat's puppies one more time. Then the Ingalls' got in their wagon and started for home.