Wild Cat

by flabirder

Introducing a little sister for the Cartwrights. She will be related to characters from other Westerns and have some famous Godfathers, but they will rarely be in the story. It will be necessary to show her life before she moves to the Ponderosa. Warning, spanking of minor children in some chapters. Trolls will be dealt with by the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

40. Chapter 40

When Cat and her brothers came into the house, Ben hugged her and said, "Did you have a good time working with your brothers?"

"Yes I did. I got to build a whole fence by myself and I got to jump Star over one four whole times."

"You did? Did you like building a whole fence all by yourself?"

"Yes, but it was hard. The wire didn't want to hold still and the nails didn't want to go in straight. Hoss finally had to tell the wire to hold still and Adam and Joe had to tell the nails to go in straight."

"Well, I'm glad that your brothers helped you otherwise, I would be very angry at them for making you do all of the work. Is Star a good jumper?"

"Yes he is. He's not as good as Sport but that's only because he's not as big, but he is a good jumper."

"That's good. I wouldn't want you riding a horse that wasn't a good jumper. Now, it's time to wash up for supper."

Cat started to go upstairs to the washroom when Ben called her back. "You're forgetting something Cat." She gave him a puzzled look and he said, "You forgot to put your hat where it belongs."

"Oh. Thank you. I forgot I still had it on." She hung her hat on the hat rack and went upstairs to wash up.

During supper, Ben asked, "Well boys, how is the new hand working out?"

"She tries real hard, but she's even punier than Little Joe," laughed Hoss. "She can barely pick up a hammer, let alone a roll of fence wire."

"Do you know that she didn't want to hit the nails with the hammer because she was afraid she would hurt them," teased Joe.

"I think she spent more time apologizing to the nails for hitting them than she did actually trying to pound them into the fence posts," added Adam.

Knowing she was being teased, Cat said, "Just you three wait. I'll fix you good. I'll move your hats and horses around so you won't know which one is yours."

Hoss pretended to growl. "You do that little sister and I'll switch them puppies of yours around so you won't know which one is which."

"I'll put your moccasins on the other side of your bed so you can't find them," laughed Joe.

"And I'll put your shirts where your pants go and your socks where your shirts go and your shirts where your socks go so when you get dressed in the morning, you'll get dressed all wrong," teased Adam.

"Family be silly tonight," said Hop Sing.

"You're right about that Hop Sing," said Ben. "Maybe they ate some loco weed while they were out mending fences today. Catherine, you need to finish eating or you won't get any dessert."

After supper, Cat played checkers with Joe until it was time for her to go to bed. When Ben came back downstairs after reading with her, he looked at his sons and said, "Well, it seems like your sister had quite an adventure today. She sure can tell some tall tales. I can't wait to hear her fish stories. Did she help or was she just in the way today?"

"She helped as best as she could," answered Hoss.

"We let her put the last nail in each fence post," said Joe. "She bent more nails than she actually got into the posts, but at least she tried."

"Two fence posts needed to be replaced at the last section, so Hoss put them on the ground together and Cat jumped Star over them four times," finished Adam.

"Thank you for letting your little sister help you. I don't really want my little girl mending fences. In fact, I'd like to put her up on a shelf and keep her there until she's all grown up. However some day, many years from now, the Ponderosa will be hers and it's important that she know how to do things on the ranch, including mending fences."

"Yeah," said Joe looking at his brothers. "I can just see Cat sitting on a shelf for the next ten years, can't you?"

"That'll go over real good with her," added Hoss.

"I'm willing to bet a week's worth of chores that she wouldn't stay there more than two minutes," laughed Adam.

Ben looked at his sons and laughed. "All three of you are correct, but at least give a father the option to dream. I want her to ride a pony but she wants to ride the biggest horse in the world. I'm tempted to geld Fury because I don't want her riding a stallion."

"Gelding that colt will go over worse than trying to make her sit on a shelf," said Adam. "If she even thinks you're considering doing it, she will take her puppies, Fury, Lady, and Ginger or Star and try to make her way to Rip in Arizona so he can get her back to Dodge. I've seen her looking at the maps and I'm certain she knows how to get to Arizona."

Ben sighed, "I know son. I just want to keep her from ever getting hurt, just like I did with you boys when you were little. Unfortunately, there is no way to keep that from happening. I'm not going to geld Fury. If we're going to start raising horses instead of catching the wild ones, we'll need every stallion and brood mare we can get. Besides that, Catherine would never forgive me if I did."

The four men talked for a little while. Then Ben went to write in his journal, Adam worked on a bridle that needed mending while Hoss and Joe played checkers. When they went upstairs, Ben looked in on Cat and saw that she had kicked her covers off again. He covered her and her puppies up again, softly kissed her forehead, whispered that he loved her, closed the door and went into his own room.

After breakfast the next day, Cat rode out with Joe to look for strays while Adam and Hoss repaired more fencing. Once dinner was over, Hoss and Joe rode out to do more of the things they were supposed to have done while Ben and Adam were gone. Adam rode out to one of the lumber camps and Ben decided to work on the books. Cat asked Hop Sing for some carrots and went out to see Fury. When she was done working with him, she ran into the house and collided with her father who had just poured a fresh cup of coffee. The collision caused Ben to spill hot coffee all over himself and drop the cup. Cat was shocked at what she had done and knew she was in trouble. "I'm sorry Pa. I didn't mean to run into you."

Ben delivered a very hard swat to her bottom and said sternly, "You are in big trouble young lady! Go in the kitchen, ask Hop Sing for a rag and clean up this mess!"

Cat went into the kitchen and asked Hop Sing for a rag. "Why Missy Cat need rag?"

"I ran into Pa and spilled coffee all over him and the floor. I have to clean up the floor."

"Missy Cat very bad to run in house. You been told plenty times no run in house. Now you in big trouble and going to get spanking. Go clean floor now."

Cat took the rag from Hop Sing and went to clean up the floor. When she had finished, Ben said, "Take the rag back to Hop Sing and then come back here to me!" Cat did as she was told. Ben took her by the arm, led her into the living room and pointed to the fireplace. "Go stand in the corner by the fireplace. After I change clothes, you and I are going to have a necessary discussion in the barn."

Adam walked into the house just as his father came back downstairs. He saw his sister standing in the corner, looked at Ben and asked, "What happened?"

"She was running in the house, ran into me and spilled hot coffee all over me! When I finish with her, she's going to have a very hard time sitting down for quite a while!"

"Pa, you're too angry right now and you know it. You never punished Hoss, Joe or me when you were angry. Do you really want to do that now? Why don't you get another cup of coffee and work on the books until you calm down? Cat can stand in the corner until you're ready to take her to the barn."

"You're right son. Thank you for keeping me from making a big mistake. You did that for me quite a few times with Little Joe, now it looks like you're going to be doing with Catherine also. I can't believe how much alike those two are. How are things going up at the lumber camp?"

"Everything is going fine. If the weather continues to hold, we should be able to meet the contract deadline with a few days to spare."

"That's excellent son. I'm glad to hear it. Hopefully the weather will hold until we meet that deadline." Ben sat at his desk, trying to work on the books and dreading what he needed to do to his daughter. He had been through this many times with his sons and it never got easier. However, it was something that needed to be done. Just as her brothers had in the past, Cat needed to be taught a lesson. She got lucky this time. Hot coffee was the only thing spilled and nobody had gotten hurt. Instead of him with a cup of coffee in his hands, she could just as easily have run into Hop Sing with his hands full of hot food.

While Ben was working at his desk, Adam sat down in his chair with the book he had been reading. Cat turned around and said, "Adam is Pa going to use that big belt in the barn on my bare bottom?"

He was tempted to answer her question but instead said, "Catherine, you are being punished. You are not supposed to turn around and talk when you're in the corner. Now turn around and face the corner like Pa told you to do before you get into more trouble."

Cat couldn't believe that Adam wouldn't answer her question and tears began to fall from her eyes. Ben carried his coffee cup into the kitchen and began to talk to Hop Sing. "I know I have to punish her my friend, but I am dreading it."

"Hop Sing understand. I watch you go through same thing when sons little. You don't want to spank but you do to teach lesson. Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe all learn lesson. Now Missy Cat need learn lesson too. Go teach lesson and forgive Missy Cat like you do sons."

"Thank you old friend. I knew I could count on you for help. I had better go and do what I need to do even though I don't want to. I know that Catherine thinks I'm going to use the big belt in the barn on her bare bottom, so when we get out there, I need to tell her exactly what is going to happen and have her tell me why it is going to happen." He walked back into the living room and said, "Let's go Catherine. It is time we had our discussion in the barn." Cat wanted to run away but she walked up to where her father was waiting.

Adam watched them walk out the door, remembering all the times he and his brothers had taken that same walk with their father, wishing there was something he could do to keep it from happening, but knowing that Cat had to lean a lesson just as he and his brothers had.

Hoss and Joe rode into the yard while Ben and Cat were walking toward the barn. They saw his hand on her shoulder, her head hung low and knew what was about to happen. Like Adam, they wished there was something they could do to stop what was about to happen, but knew they couldn't. "Poor kid," said Joe.

"Yeah," said Hoss. "I wonder what happened."

"Adam or Hop Sing should be able to tell us. No matter what happened, little sister is going to need our sympathy."

They walked into the house and saw Adam sitting in his chair, reading a book. "We saw Pa takin' Cat to the barn," said Hoss. "What happened?"

"She was running in the house and ran into him, causing him to spill a cup of hot coffee all over himself."

Joe let out a whistle. "Poor kid. We may not be able to give her much sympathy because she's been warned about running in the house so many times, but at least we can put a cushion on her chair."

"Pa won't like that," said Adam. "I tried when you were little but he said that having to sit on the hard chairs was part of the punishment, however we can try."

"We can ask Hop Sing to do it. Pa won't tell him no. If he does, Hop Sing will yell at him."

"You're right Joe," said Hoss. Pa won't say nothin' if Hop Sing puts a cushion on Cat's chair, so let's go and ask him."

The three of them walked into the kitchen and talked to Hop Sing. "No worry. Hop Sing put cushion on Missy Cat chair. Yell at father if he complain and say Missy Cat no have cushion."

"Thanks Hop Sing," said Hoss. "You're the only one here who can get away with giving Cat a cushion. Pa would just make us take it off her chair."

Ben gently guided Cat into the barn, sat down on a bale of hay and had her stand in front of him. He looked up at her tear stained face and asked, "What have you been told about running in the house?"

"I can do it because I'm in a hurry," she replied hopefully.

Ben fought hard to keep from smiling. He couldn't believe how much this little girl was like another Cartwright child who had stood in that very spot many times over the years. "Catherine," he said gently.

"I'm not supposed to do it."

"Why?"

"Because it isn't safe."

"What were you doing this afternoon?"

"Running in the house."

"What happened because you were running in the house?"

"I ran into you."

"What happened because you ran into me?"

"You got coffee spilled on you."

"That's right. Do you think I liked having hot coffee spilled on me?"

"No."

"No, what?"

"No sir."

"That's right. I did not like having hot coffee spilled all over me. I want you to realize how lucky you are that I only had a cup of coffee in my hand. What do you think would have happened if you had run into Hop Sing and he had both hands full of hot food?"

"Both of us could have got hurt."

"That's right. What do you think could have happened if you had run into one of your brothers or me carrying a loaded gun?"

"The gun could have gone off and someone could have gotten hurt."

"That's right. Not only could someone have gotten hurt, someone could have been killed. Do you want someone to get hurt or killed because you were doing something that wasn't safe?"

"No."

"No, what?"

"No sir."

"How would you feel if someone had gotten hurt or killed because you were running in the house?"

"Really bad."

"How do you think your brothers and I would feel if someone had been hurt or killed because you were running in the house?"

"Really bad."

"That's right, which is why we are out her right now. You have been warned many times about running in the house and yet you still do it and today you caused me to spill hot coffee on myself. So now, it's time to move beyond warnings." Cat looked at the large belt hanging from a nearby nail with tears running down her face. "I am not going to use that belt on your bare bottom. That is for when you do something illegal, extremely dangerous or have been punished for the same thing many times. However, you are going to get a spanking. This is not something I want to do. It is something I have to do to teach you a lesson. I truly hope and pray that this will be the last time I will have to punish you like this because it hurts me just as much, if not more than it hurts you. Now let's get this over and done with." Ben gently pulled Cat over his knees and delivered a very hard smack to her bottom. Even though the Apaches had been teaching her how to deal with pain and she thought she was very brave, that smack hurt worse than any punishment she had ever received, including when one of her Godfathers had used his belt on her two months earlier. Cat let out a loud gasp and struggled to get free. Ben held her firmly in place and delivered four more smacks just as hard as the first one. When he finished, he helped Cat to her feet, pulled her close and held her as the tears and silent sobs soaked the shoulder of his shirt. Once she had finished crying, he reassured her that all was forgiven and that she was very much loved. They walked back to the house and once they were inside Ben said, "I want you to go up to your room and stay there until suppertime. You need to think about what you did that caused you to get a spanking and what you can do differently in the future. Supper will be early tonight because I have to go to town for the school board meeting." After Cat went upstairs, Ben sat down to talk with his sons. "You three have no idea how much I hate having to do that. I hated it when you were younger and I still hate it now. I sent your sister up to her room to think about what she did to earn a spanking and what she can do differently in the future."

Joe laughed. "I can tell you what she'll say about the future."

"What?"

"She'll say that she needs to make sure nobody is around when she's running in the house."

"You're probably right son. I can't believe how much the two of you are alike. She tried to tell me I said it was alright for her to run in the house because she's in a hurry."

"Yep," laughed Hoss. "That sounds exactly like Little Joe. Maybe it's 'cause they were born on the same day and he got to hold her right after she was born. Some of Joe rubbed off on Cat."

"Don't forget," said Adam. "Kate was pretty wild too. I think I remember Pa saying that she could talk herself out of being punished a lot of the time, so maybe Cat's picking up some of her mother's behaviors too."

The four of them sat there talking for a while when Hop Sing said that supper was almost ready. "You three get washed up and I'll get your sister." Ben walked upstairs and found Cat sound asleep on her stomach. He sat down next to her and rubbed her back until she woke up. "It's time to get up Kitten. Supper is almost ready. You need to wash up and come downstairs."

Cat rolled over, stretched, yawned and sat up. "My bottom hurts bad. Uncle Matt never hit me that hard."

Ben hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry Kitten, but your bottom is going to hurt for a while. A spanking doesn't do any good unless it hurts. The idea is to teach you a lesson that you won't forget. Now, wash up and come down for supper." Ben walked downstairs and saw a cushion on Cat's chair. "WHY IS THAT CUSHION ON CATHERINE'S CHAIR? YOU KNOW MY RULE ABOUT NO CUSHIONS RIGHT AFTER A SPANKING. WHICH ONE OF YOU THREE PUT IT THERE?"

Hop Sing heard Ben yelling about the cushion and yelled at Ben, "HOP SING PUT CUSHION ON MISSY CAT CHAIR. YOU NO TELL ME NO PUT CUSHION ON MISSY CAT CHAIR. I FIX BIG SUPPER AND SHE NO EAT IF SHE BOTTOM HURTS! HOP SING GET ANGLY IF MISSY CAT NO EAT! I GO BACK TO CHINA AND TAKE MISSY CAT WITH ME!" and stormed back into the kitchen.

Adam, Hoss, and Joe could not contain their laughter. Ben scowled at his sons and asked, "Which one of you put Hop Sing up to it?" All three of them gave him innocent looks.

"You know how Hop Sing feels about Cat," said Hoss. "This is the second time he's threatened to go back to China and take her with him and she has only been home six days. He's probably going to spoil her rotten."

Ben admitted that his sons were right. Cat came downstairs, saw the cushion on her chair and thanked her brothers. "Don't thank us Cat," said Joe. "If one of us had put it there, Pa would have made us take it off. Thank Hop Sing. He put it there."

Hop Sing brought the food to the table and Cat said, "Thank you for the cushion Hop Sing. I'm glad you put it there because my bottom hurts bad."

Hop Sing hugged her and said, "Missy Cat welcome but no lun in house anymore. Hop Sing see Missy Cat run in house, he use big spoon on you bottom. Now eat lots. Hop Sing make chocolate cake for dessert but you no get any unless you eat lots of food."

During supper, Ben asked, "Catherine, did you think about what you can do differently in the future to avoid being punished like you were today?"

"Yes. I need to make sure nobody is around when I'm running through the house."

Her brothers and Hop Sing burst out laughing. It was all Ben could do to keep from laughing along with them. "Little Joe was right Pa," laughed Hoss. "That's exactly what he said she would say. Them two are a lot alike" Ben just sighed. Raising this little girl wasn't going to be as easy as he thought it would be. She was too much like her mother and his youngest son.

After supper, Ben looked at his watch and said, "I need to leave for the school board meeting in just a few minutes. Catherine, I want you to listen to your brothers and go to bed when they tell you to. Joe can read with you tonight because I won't be home until late." He picked up his hat and gun, looked at Cat and said, "Why don't you walk outside with me for a minute?" They walked outside, Ben sat down in the rocking chair on the porch and pulled Cat into his lap. He hugged her and said, "I just want to make sure that you know how much I love you and I'm very happy that you're my little girl now. The fact that you got into trouble and were punished for it doesn't lessen my love for you. I will love you and worry about you long after I have gone to live in Heaven. Now, why don't you run over to the barn and see if you can find a horse for me to ride?"

Cat ran over to the barn and asked Pete if he would please saddle Buck for her father. Then she ran back to the porch and said, "I'm sorry Pa, but there aren't any horses in the barn. They left a note saying that they were running away because they weren't getting enough chocolate cake."

Ben burst out laughing and hugged her. "You little scamp. I'll bet that they did just that. Well, I guess I'll have to ride Fury to town, although I must admit, I'm going to look awful silly riding a two month old colt. Why don't you go and look again? Maybe one of the horses is hiding somewhere in the barn."

Cat ran to the barn and returned, leading Buck. "I found him hiding in the hayloft. He says that if he doesn't get more chocolate cake, he's going to run away with the others. All of the horses want chocolate cake for breakfast, dinner, and supper. So do I."

Ben laughed, picked Cat up, hugged her and carried her into the house. He carried her into the living room, looked at his sons and said, "I have a present for the three of you. Which one of you wants to take her?"

"I'll take her Pa," said Hoss. "She ain't no trouble at all."

"Alright Hoss. Here you go. Catherine, if you can keep your brothers out of trouble, you may have another piece of chocolate cake before bed. I'll go and tell Hop Sing. Then I have to get to town for that meeting." Ben walked into the kitchen, talked to Hop Sing and returned to the living room. He hugged Cat again and reminded her that she had to keep her brothers out of trouble in order to earn the extra piece of cake.

When he reached Virginia City, Ben found Roy Coffee and Paul Martin talking outside the meeting house. He dismounted and greeted his friends. "Where is my favorite Cartwright?" asked Roy.

"She's at home with her brothers and a very sore bottom."

Paul and Roy pretended to be shocked at Ben's words. "What did you do to that sweet, innocent little girl and why?" asked Paul. "We all know that she would never, ever get into any kind of mischief."

Ben told them what Cat had done and how he had punished her. Both men feigned indignation and Roy asked, "Paul, you're the doctor here. What can we do to keep that from happening again? That child should never be punished for anything. We both know that Cat is a sweet, well behaved child who would never run in the house. Ben must have spilled the coffee on himself."

"Well, as her doctor, I will prescribe a healthy dose of chocolate cake to be taken daily. You're the sheriff. You could always take her away from him and raise her yourself."

Ben laughed at his friends. "You two are incorrigible. If you can get Cat away from Hop Sing and her brothers, you can have her. I predict that you'll bring her back home within three days. Well, Gerald is here. I'd better go inside for the meeting."

Ben and Paul walked into the meeting house, which was overflowing with concerned parents. After Mr. Miller called the meeting to order and Reverend Long said a prayer, Mr. Miller said, "The purpose behind this meeting is to discuss whether or not to continue employing Miss Prudence Smith as the teacher in the Virginia City school. Even though there were some complaints made by parents, this board decided to keep her as the teacher out of respect to Reverend Jonas because she is his niece. With only three weeks until the start of the new school term, I see no reason to change teachers at this point in time. We can hardly be expected to locate a suitable teacher in such a short amount of time."

The meeting erupted in chaos with many fathers shouting at Mr. Miller. He tried to bring the meeting back to order but was unsuccessful until Reverend Long stood up. "Although I only arrived in Virginia City seven days ago, I was invited to attend this meeting to give my insights. Keeping a poor teacher in their position because they are related to someone is harmful to the children that person has been hired to teach. When you are attempting to decide whether or not to retain somebody in a position of authority, you must consider their performance and ask yourself which is more important, not angering that person and their relatives by keeping them or preventing the irreparable harm they could bring to the people they have authority over by dismissing them. Reverend Jonas is gone, so the excuse for keeping Miss Smith as your teacher no longer exists. If, as I have heard it said, she is a poor teacher, you owe it to those children to replace her. If she is a good teacher, then by all means leave her in the position."

He sat down and Ben stood up. Mr. Miller gave him permission to speak. "As many of you know, my younger sister was murdered this past June, leaving her young daughter orphaned. I have adopted my niece and she is now living with me and my sons on the Ponderosa. I took Catherine's books to the school on Friday to ask Miss Smith if they were the same ones being used here. Miss Smith has never met my daughter, so you can imagine my outrage when she said that Catherine was stupid and so were most of the students in the school. Catherine is by no means stupid. She struggles with arithmetic and like many nine year olds, she struggles with grammar. Other than that, she is an excellent student and even her arithmetic and grammar scores were better than average. If Miss Smith is retained as the teacher in the Virginia City school, Catherine will not be attending school here."

"Where will she attend school Ben?" asked Mr. Mitchell.

Since Charles Ingalls wasn't at the meeting, Ben decided not to say anything about Caroline offering to teach Cat. Instead he said, "Adam is perfectly capable of teaching his sister. Catherine won't like being taught by her brother, but I will do whatever I have to do to see that she gets a good education. Before you ask, no, Adam will not teach your children also. He'll have his hands full with his sister and I will still need him to help on the ranch."

Ben sat down and other parents stood up to complain about the way Miss Smith had treated their children. The parents of the younger children related how the children were not allowed to use the outhouse and were punished if they had an accident in their pants. Paul Martin stood up and said, "As a doctor, that alarms me. Children can get sick from not being able to relieve themselves or being made to wear wet, soiled clothing for more than a few minutes. Refusal to let a child use the outhouse should disqualify any person from being a teacher anywhere." Other parents stood up and told how their children were expected to complete assignments with no instruction on how to do them and were given low grades when the assignments were wrong.

After listening to what everyone had said, Mr. Miller knew that Miss Smith needed to be replaced as the teacher in the Virginia City school. He asked for a motion and Mr. Winter stood up and said, "I move that we remove Miss Prudence Smith as the teacher in the Virginia City school. Mr. Harris seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.

"We have voted to hire a new teacher for our school," said Mr. Miller. "However, we only have three weeks in which to hire one. Does anybody have any suggestions on how we can find a new teacher in that short amount of time?"

"Mr. Winter said, "I have an idea. My younger sister, Susan has recently moved in with me and my family. She taught school in Philadelphia but after our mother died, she came to live with me. She is betrothed to a man in San Francisco and they plan to marry next spring. If you would like to meet her and talk with her, I can go to my house and bring her back here. It will take me about fifteen minutes to walk home and return with Susan. Mr. Miller told him to go and get his sister. He returned about twenty minutes later with a well dressed young woman in her twenties.

Mr. Winter introduced his sister to the school board members and she said, "It is a pleasure to meet you gentlemen. John tells me that you are in need of a teacher for your school. I would be more than happy to fill that position for you. I loved teaching when I was in Philadelphia and wasn't looking forward to giving it up before I marry next spring." The school board members asked her some questions, which she answered to their satisfaction. "I do need to warn you that I use some unconventional teaching methods. I have found that the older students are more likely to pay attention to the lessons and earn better grades if they are involved in the lessons. For example, you can expect to see them going around town measuring things when we start working on geometry."

"Why would they need to measure things?" asked Ben.

"By measuring things, they can determine things like the area, volume, circumference, diameter and radius. They can determine the height of an object by measuring its shadow and comparing it to the height and shadow length of something they are already familiar with, such as themselves. Knowing the dimensions of a hayloft and a bale of hay will enable them to determine how many bales of hay will be needed to completely fill the hayloft. Measuring actual objects, including buildings, is a much better way of learning than just measuring drawings on paper. It gives the children a chance to see how mathematics can be used in real life. For history, they can use string and pegs to mark out the Mayflower so they can see exactly how small it was and how crowded the passengers were. If I can get the dimensions of current ships, the students can mark one out and compare the Mayflower with a current ship. I also intend for them to use old newspapers as well as talk with people who have lived here since the town got started to report on the history of the town and its people. Although I am to be married next spring, I will not be leaving Virginia City. My husband to be has decided to keep his business holdings in San Francisco while living here. Therefore, should you decide to offer the position to me, when you find a teacher for the next term, if that person becomes ill or injured, I will be available to fill in until that person returns to the school."

"Thank you Miss Winter," said Mr. Miller. "If you would be kind enough to wait here, the school board members will step into the next room to discuss what you have told us. I have a feeling it won't take us long to reach a decision." The school board members walked into the next room closed the door and voted unanimously to ask Miss Susan Winter to teach the children of Virginia City. They walked back into the large part of the meeting hall and Mr. Miller said, "Miss Winter, it is our pleasure to offer you the position of teacher in the Virginia City school. We are looking forward to having you teach our children. Now, before I adjourn this meeting, are there any other topics we need to address?"

"Yes," said Ben. "That school needs a good coat of paint, inside and out. Also, I noticed that some of the desks and bookcases are in need of repair. I would also like to see us add more books to the school library. Perhaps Miss Winter can inventory the books we already have and recommend some to add."

"Alright Ben, we'll see to it that the school gets painted prior to the start of the term. I'll ask some of the men who are skilled at carpentry to look at the desks and bookcases and repair them if possible and make new ones if they can't be repaired. Miss Winter, if you would kindly meet me at the school tomorrow afternoon at one, I will give you the key to the school. Then you can look around and let me know what things you think our school needs. If there is no further business for this board, I hereby declare this meeting adjourned. Thank you everyone for attending. Please use caution when returning home." Once everyone had left, Mr. Miller blew out the lamps, locked the door, and took the key back to Roy.