"What did the board decide?" asked Roy.
"We have hired a new teacher. John Winter's younger sister Susan used to teach in Philadelphia and we asked her to teach here. I think she'll be good for the students."
"I don't envy you having to tell Miss Smith that she has been dismissed from her job."
"I don't relish having to tell her, but from what I heard at that meeting tonight, it's long past time for her to go. Also, she was told that there would be a meeting tonight and her presence was required, however, she chose not to attend the meeting. Would you believe that she told Ben that Catherine is stupid even though she's never met the child?"
Roy let out a low whistle. "Miss Smith needs to thank her lucky stars that she's a woman. If a man had said that, Adam's grandfather would have heard Ben yelling all the way in Boston and I may have had to arrest him for assault. When are you going to tell her that she no longer has a job here?"
"It's too late to do anything tonight, so I'll tell her in the morning. I wonder if she'll try and vandalize the school when I inform her that she's been dismissed."
"Why don't Clem and I join you at the school in the morning before you tell Miss Smith that she's being replaced? Then we can look it over and determine what belongs to the school and what belongs to her. I don't know the woman, but hopefully the knowledge that we have seen the school and its contents will be enough to keep her from doing anything."
"Alright Roy. What time should I meet you at the school?"
"Why don't we meet at eight o'clock? That will give us more than enough time to look over the school before you tell Miss Smith that she will no longer be teaching in Virginia City."
"Eight o'clock is fine with me. I'll see you then. Now, I had better get home and tell my wife about what was decided tonight. Good night Roy. I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night Gerald."
Ben rode home, thinking to himself that he was glad he had never told Cat about the possibility of having Caroline Ingalls teach her. He knew that she would rather be taught by her best friend's mother than to have to sit inside a schoolhouse all day. She was a lot like Joe in that respect. Adam had loved school. Hoss had been indifferent. He didn't love it, but at the same time, he didn't hate it. School was just something he had to tolerate for a while. Joseph on the other hand hated school and everything to do with it. From what Matt had told him, Catherine felt the same about school as Joe had. She skipped school many times when she was five and didn't care if she got punished for it or not. The only thing that had kept her in school was when Adam, Hoss, and Joe had told her she would not be allowed to spend school vacations on the Ponderosa if she kept skipping school. He hoped that Susan Winter would keep her interested enough to attend school so he would not have to punish her for skipping. Fighting was another thing he had to worry about. Cat had the Cartwright temper and had not learned to control it. He was reluctantly allowing her to wear her buckskins and needed to have a serious talk with her before school started. He needed to let her know in no uncertain terms that if she started any fights because she was being teased for wearing buckskins, not only would she be punished for fighting in school, she would be wearing dresses, even if it meant being punished for arguing about not wanting to wear one. He was concerned that if it came down to forcing her to wear dresses to school, she would run away and try making it to her uncle's fort in Arizona so she could be sent back to Dodge. The trail was dangerous enough for a grown man and it would be even more so for a nine year old girl. Well, there were still three and a half weeks before school would start, so he wouldn't have to pile everything on her at once. He would start tomorrow by telling Cat that there would be a new teacher in the Virginia City school and go from there.
He rode into the yard and Thaddeus came out of the bunkhouse to get his horse. "Hello Thaddeus. I haven't had much time to talk with you and your brother since we brought Cat home. How are the two of you getting along?
"We're doing fine Ben. It's good, honest work and that's what we were looking for. I'm glad to see that Miss Cat has recovered from her injuries. I've been watching her with that colt. He sure does love that little girl. It's funny to watch them. She'll walk around the pasture and Fury will walk right behind her with his head on her shoulder. I don't remember the last time I saw something that cute. I hope you're not planning to geld that colt. It would be a real shame if you did. He looks like he's got good bloodlines and should sire many fine foals."
"The thought had crossed my mind but Cat would never forgive me. I want her to ride a pony until she's grown and married with children so if she falls off, she'll be closer to the ground and won't get hurt too badly."
Thaddeus laughed. "I know how well that suggestion will go over. Please give me enough notice before you tell her so I can let everyone else know and we can get as far away from the explosion as possible."
"I'll do that. In fact, I may need to be in a different state and just yell it to her from there. I guess I'm just being an overprotective papa. She wants to ride the biggest, fastest horse in the world and I want her to ride a pony for the rest of her life."
"That's understandable. I think most fathers feel that way about their little girls, even if those little girls are as wild as Miss Cat. Would you mind if I gave you one small piece of advice?"
Ben was a little surprised at this young man's words. He was five years younger than Joe. What did he know about raising children? But he was curious. "Yes you may. What is it?"
"Don't hold her reins too tight. Bill was wild like Miss Cat and our father tried to break him of it. The tighter he held the reins, the harder Bill fought him. One day Pa pulled too hard on the reins and all Hell broke loose. The next thing we knew, Pa was sitting on the floor with a broken, bloody nose and Bill had a gun in his hand, threatening to kill him. If our mother hadn't interfered, Bill would have killed our father right then and there. Bill was seventeen, Josh was ten and I was eight. We were terrified of our brother and his anger and that night we were terrified that he was going to kill both of our parents. Instead, he packed his things and left, not returning until I was thirteen and our father was dead. He forced us to ride with him, saying he would kill our mother if we didn't. We believed him because by then he had a reputation as someone who killed just because he could. With the help of neighbors, Ma kept the farm going after we left until she got sick. It took some convincing on our part, but Bill finally let us go back to the farm to take care of Ma until she died. We were supposed to rejoin him after the funeral but instead, we sold the farm and lit out for Kansas to try and put as much distance between him and us as possible. You know the rest. Now, I'm not saying that Miss Cat is going to end up like Bill if you hold her reins too tight, but she will resent it. I saw you taking her to the barn this afternoon and figured she did something to deserve that trip. And I also saw her sitting in your lap being hugged before you rode out, so I know that she knows she was forgiven for whatever she did. Our father never did that with Bill. Maybe if he had, our brother would not be the man he is today."
"Thank you for telling me that. I appreciate it. I will do my best not to hold Catherine's reins too tight. Even though she has inherited the Cartwright temper, I don't think she would resort to violence, but I could still lose her. Adam has caught her looking at the maps and she may have figured out how to get to her uncle's fort in Arizona. The trail is dangerous enough for a man and it will be triply so for a young girl traveling alone. Say, how would you and Joshua like to be on little girl escort duty in a few weeks?"
"I'd love to and I'm sure that Josh would too. What's up?"
"School will be starting three weeks from this coming Monday. Catherine has never been to Virginia City alone and I'm concerned she may get lost on her way to school. Knowing how she feels about school, getting lost may not be unintentional. So, for the first week and a half, I want someone to ride with her to make sure she knows the way. She will need to be escorted home also. The next week and a half, I want someone to ride five minutes behind her to ensure she doesn't get lost. She'll be on her own after that and if she skips school and tells me she got lost, that little girl will have a hard time sitting down for supper and she'll spend two weeks riding to school double with either myself or one of her brothers."
Thaddeus laughed long and hard at the thought of Cat deliberately losing her way to school. "Yes, I think she would try and do just that. Somehow, I don't think she would see it as lying or skipping school. Even after those first three weeks, if you'd like, I'll ride a ways behind her for the next week just to make sure she doesn't "accidentally" get lost."
"Let's see how the first three weeks go first. She'll balk about someone riding with her but she will stop complaining when I tell her that's what Lucas did with Mark when they first moved to North Fork. By the way, I have heard you are a good poker player. What are you doing with your winnings?"
"Except for the money I need for clothing and other necessary things, I'm saving it. Someday, I hope to meet the right girl, get married, buy a piece of land, and start my own ranch. I play honest games with honest people and stop playing when I lose two hands in a row. However, not everyone in the saloon is honest, so to make sure nobody steals my money, Sheriff Coffee holds it for me until I can get back to town and put it in the bank. Instead of my riding back into town on Monday or whenever I can get there, I may just ask him to put it in the bank for me."
"I don't approve of gambling, but at least you are doing something constructive with the money you win. I know that it's hard to save money when you're only earning thirty dollars a month and I applaud your determination to save your money when there are many things you could be spending it on. Well, I'd better get in the house and make sure Catherine didn't give her brothers too had a time."
"The house is still standing and I don't see any broken windows on this side, so I think it's safe to say she didn't give them too much trouble."
Just then the front door opened and Joe walked out carrying Cat on his back and her puppies on his heels. "Hi Pa, I'm glad you're home. Little sister here had another nightmare. I wish I could keep her from having them. I sure hate seeing her all upset like that. I need to get her to the outhouse before she has an accident."
"I'll put your horse up," said Thaddeus. "This is one time Miss Cat needs an overprotective papa."
"Thank you Thaddeus." Ben walked over to where Joe was waiting for Cat to finish in the outhouse. "Thank you for taking care of your sister son. I appreciate it. Did she give you and your brothers any trouble tonight?"
"Except for beating me at checkers, she was good as gold. She didn't even complain when I told her it was time to get ready for bed. I found out why you told me to read with her tonight. Even though I don't love books the way Adam does, King Arthur was always one of my favorites."
"Yes, I thought you might enjoy reading that particular book again. Cat has had a rough day and may need some reassurance that all is well. When you take her back upstairs, why don't you put her and those two wild beasts of hers in my bed? She may sleep better if she knows I am right there. I'll have to think about it, but I may continue letting her sleep in my bed after a nightmare until they stop altogether. I remember Adam doing that with you after your mother died and it seemed to help. I still regret not being there for you when you needed me the most."
"Pa, that was fourteen years ago. I didn't understand then but I do now. You had just lost your third wife and needed to grieve. I had Adam, Hoss, and Hop Sing to take care of me. You needed to take care of you just then." Before the conversation could go any further, the outhouse door opened and Cat walked out. "Ok Monkey. Climb up on my back and I'll take you back upstairs."
Cat climbed up on Joe's back and pretended not to see Ben. "Hey, what about me? Don't I get a hug?"
Cat thought about it for a minute, smiled and said, "Nope," then reached over for a hug.
Ben hugged her and said, "Go on back up to bed. Little Joe is going to put you and your two wild beasts in my bed. I'll be up shortly to tuck you in."
"Why is Little Joe going to put me in your bed?"
"Because I asked him to. Joe, please take your sister up to bed."
Joe carried Cat into the house and upstairs to their father's room. He put her down on the bed and then went into her room and returned with her pillow. "Alright Cat, let's get you under the covers. Pa said he'd be up in a few minutes, so I'm going to leave the lamp on low. You are not allowed to have any more nightmares – ever. I mean it Cat. If you ever have another nightmare, I will tickle you until you have an accident in your pants. Then I'll go to school with you the next day and tell all of your friends that you wet the bed. You'll be a very old lady before you live that one down."
Cat giggled, hugged her brother and received a big hug in return. "If you do that, I'll hide your hat, boots, and horse. I'll put Cochise in the hayloft and you'll never find him."
"Alright Squirt. You need to get under the covers. It's late and if Pa comes up here and finds you not in bed, he'll have my hide. Remember what I said now. No more nightmares – ever. Goodnight Cat. I love you and I'm very happy that you're my little sister now."
"Goodnight Joe. I love you too."
Ben stood in the hallway just outside his bedroom, listening to his two youngest children tease each other. He couldn't believe how much alike the pair of them were, right down to their stubbornness and green eyes. He said a silent prayer thanking God for them and promising to do his best to always keep them safe. Hearing Joe say goodnight to his sister, Ben quickly tiptoed to the stairs and acted like he was just coming up when Joe exited his bedroom. "Did you get your sister in bed?"
"Yes, but I can't guarantee that she'll stay there. She was saying something about wanting to take Cochise for a midnight ride."
"Nothing either of you do or want to do surprises me. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you both had the same mother. Thank you for taking care of her. I'll see to it that she stays in bed if I have to tie her to it." Ben walked into his bedroom and sat down on the bed next to his daughter. "What's this Joe tells me about you wanting to take Cochise for a midnight ride?"
"I thought it would be fun to play Paul Revere and ride around the countryside at midnight telling everyone that the British are coming."
"There are a few problems with what you want to do. The British are our friends now and you are not allowed out of the house alone after dark unless it's to use the outhouse. In fact, I should probably send one of your brothers with you just to make sure you don't find a wild critter to bring inside as a pet after you use the outhouse. Now, enough talk. It's high time you were asleep. Give me a hug, close your eyes and go to sleep. I'll be up to go to bed in a little while and you had better be asleep by then. We have a ranch to run and you won't get much work done if you're tired." He turned the lamp down low and went downstairs.
"How did the meeting go?" asked Adam. "What did you decide about that teacher?"
"The meeting was long and sometimes very noisy. However, we did manage to hire a new teacher for the next school term. John Winter's younger sister, Susan will be teaching the children when school resumes. She has a lot of very good ideas and I think your sister will like her. One thing I noticed when I was at the school on Friday is that there aren't many books for the children to read. There are several bookcases but only one has books in it. I recommended that Miss Winter inventory the books that are there and make recommendations for others to add. I also noticed that some of the desks and bookcases are in need of repair. Maybe I'll go to town tomorrow and talk to Gerald about inspecting the building to make sure nothing else needs repair. Before I do that, I'm planning on taking your sister out to Silver Hawk's village. It's time they met each other and she needs more buckskins. I'll take her out to meet Winnemucca next week."
"Why don't you invite John Winter and his family to supper one night soon?" suggested Hoss. "That way his sister will have a chance to meet Cat and learn her background before school starts."
"That's a good idea," said Joe. "This will give Miss Winter a heads up for any trouble that will happen. I know some of those kids, especially the boys will tease Cat because she's adopted and wearing buckskins. Tommy Roberts and Billy Davis are trouble. They are bullies and will pick on the little kids just because they can. They're six years older than Cat and have been known to push girls down the stairs and into the mud. Mitch, Davy, Paul, and I did our best to keep them away from the girls and little kids but those two are still at the school while my friends and I aren't. I'm afraid to think of what they might try and do to Cat and how she'll react. You've already told us she has the Cartwright temper and doesn't control it very well. Each of those boys outweighs her by at least ten pounds and she could be seriously hurt if she takes them on."
Ben sighed. The last thing he needed was his daughter getting hurt by two bullies. "That's a good idea. I'll go ask Hop Sing what night would be best for him. We've got the picnic by the lake on Saturday, so I don't know if he'll want to make a large meal on Friday." Ben walked into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later. "Well, he says to invite them for Friday. I tried convincing him to come on the picnic with us but he keeps saying no."
"I know an easy way to get him to say yes to the picnic," said Joe. "Have Cat ask him. He never says no to her."
"You've got a point son. I'll have your sister ask him at breakfast. Why don't you three head up to bed? I'm going to write in my journal and I'll be up shortly." He walked over to his desk opened a drawer, took his journal out, thought about the past several days and started writing. 'What a difference a day makes. The night before last, Catherine called me Pa and this afternoon I had to punish her for running in the house. She ran into me and I spilled hot coffee all over myself. Spanking that little girl hurt me more than when I have had to spank my sons. I never wanted to punish them and was hoping I would never have to punish my daughter. I don't know how I am going to get through to her and convince her of how dangerous it is for her to run in the house. I had Joseph roll a ball down the stairs to show Catherine what could happen to her but she still thinks that she can't get hurt. When I asked her what she could do differently in the future, she said to make sure nobody was around when she was running through the house. That girl is so much like my youngest son, if I didn't know better; I would think that they had the same mother.
We had a meeting of the school board tonight and it got pretty raucous for a little while. Despite having received numerous complaints about the teacher, Miss Prudence Smith, he announced that he saw no reason to hire a different teacher. If it hadn't been for Reverend Long, I suspect the meeting would still be going on with fathers yelling at Gerald. In the end, we decided to hire John Winter's younger sister, Susan. She has some unique ideas about teaching and I think she will be good for Catherine and the other children. Now I have to convince Catherine of the importance of attending school. I think her problem is being made to sit still longer than fifteen minutes, more than it is actually attending school. Even though she was very well behaved in church on Sunday, I saw her starting to wiggle as the service dragged on. I truly hope that Reverend Long does not get any more long winded than he was on Sunday or I suspect that quite a few children, Catherine included, will be in trouble when the service is over.
Catherine is settling into ranch life nicely and is doing her best to help her brothers. She is also growing used to being teased by them and is learning to give as good as she gets. I enjoy hearing my three sons banter with their sister and know that there isn't anything they wouldn't do to keep her safe. Tomorrow I will take her to the Shoshone village and introduce her to Chief Silver Hawk. Next week, I will take her to the Paiute village and introduce her to Chief Winnemucca. I need to do it now before she finds out there are Indians living near the Ponderosa and attempts to find them herself. She had another nightmare tonight while I was out. I dearly wish that there was some way known to man to prevent them.' He put his journal away, blew out the lamp and went upstairs to find his daughter in his bed, sandwiched between her puppies. He picked Lassie up and moved her next to Silver Chief. "Sorry girl, but I'm afraid I would squish you in the middle of the night. It's only for tonight and tomorrow all of you will be back in your own bed. But tonight, my little girl needs me." He kissed the sleeping child on the forehead, whispered that he loved her, climbed into bed and blew out the lamp. A little while later, he felt her snuggle up against him and knew he had made the right decision to let her spend the rest of the night in his bed.
At breakfast, Ben announced, "Catherine, we hired a new teacher last night at the school board meeting. She is Mr. Winter's sister and very nice. I think you will like her."
"But why do I need to go to school? I already know everything. Miss Jackson taught me how to read, write, add, subtract, and multiply. Miss Winter ain't gonna be able to teach me anything else."
Her brothers and Hop Sing waited for the explosion they knew was sure to come but instead Ben just laughed. "Well for one thing, your grammar definitely needs work. You should say 'isn't going to' instead of 'ain't gonna'. There are other things you need to know also. Adam, would you please bring me a piece of paper and a pencil from my desk?" Adam did as he was asked and Ben spent a few minutes writing. When he was finished, he handed the paper to Cat. "If you can answer these arithmetic problems without any help, I will let you stay home from school."
Cat looked at the paper and read, "If a hayloft is forty feet long, ten feet wide and twelve feet high and a bale of hay is forty inches long, eighteen inches wide and eighteen inches high, how many bales of hay will be needed to completely fill the loft? How many bales of hay will be needed to fill a hayloft that is forty five feet long, fifteen feet wide and fifteen feet high?" Cat scratched her head and read what was written next. "A rancher has twenty five horses. Each horse eats two slash three bales of hay and one slash three pounds of grain a day, how much hay and grain will the rancher need to feed his horses for a year?" Cat sighed, scowled and continued reading. "A rancher has three hundred head of cattle. How many pastures will he need if he only puts twenty five head in each one?" The scowl on Cat's face got bigger. Adam, Hoss, Joe, and Hop Sing could hardly contain their laughter at the expression on Cat's face as she kept reading. "A water tank holds five hundred gallons of water. How many times will a three gallon bucket need to be filled and emptied into it before it is full?" Joe started giggling and Cat shot him a dirty look and kicked him before she continued reading. "A fifty pound sack of grain costs four dollars and thirty five cents. How much will fifteen sacks cost? If one hundred pounds of grain will fill three buckets, how much grain does each bucket contain?" Cat couldn't believe what she had just finished reading. She sighed deeply and gave her father a dirty look. "That's not fair. I hate arithmetic and it hates me! I don't even know what that two slash three means."
Her brothers and Hop Sing could no longer contain their laughter. "Pa's got you sis," laughed Joe. "He pulled that same trick on me when I was your age and I couldn't answer the problems without help either. That's why I got stuck going to school until I was eighteen."
"You will never know everything Cat," said Ben.
"But you, Adam, Hoss, Little Joe, and Hop Sing do."
The entire family had a good laugh at Cat's statement. "No Sweetheart. We don't know everything. Nobody does. For example, Mr. Miller knows all about saddles, harnesses and other leather products but he doesn't know how to run a ranch. Right now, I am learning how to raise a little girl and your brothers are learning how to raise a little sister. You need all kinds of things I didn't even know about until you moved in here and I have to learn what those are."
"I still don't want to go to school. Everyone here can teach me what I really need to know. School is boring and I hate being stuck inside. The stuff you wrote on that paper is dumb. I don't need to know it."
"I know that you don't want to go to school," laughed Ben. "Neither did Little Joe. Being stuck inside all day isn't fun but the things I wrote on that paper are important and you do need to know them. This ranch will be yours some day. That's why I am having you work with your brothers to learn how to take care of it. How will you know how much hay and grain to buy if you don't know how much your animals eat every month? If you don't know how much hay will fill the hayloft, you may order too little or too much. You need to know how much your feed will cost so you can pay the feed bill. There are many other things I could have included on that paper. Horses need shoes, saddles, bridles, blankets, halters, and lead ropes. All of those things cost money. You need to know how much it will cost to replace things that break or wear out. You were out helping your brothers fix fences yesterday. You need to know how much fencing and fence posts you need for each pasture and how much they cost."
Cat sighed. "It's not fair. I don't want to go to school but if I have to, I'd rather go to school in Dodge. Nobody there will tease me about being adopted or wearing buckskins. I will pound the stuffing out of the first person who teases me about wearing buckskins and I don't care how big they are!"
"Dodge is entirely too far away for you to live here and go to school there. If someone teases you, I want you to tell Miss Winter. Do not start fights. You can defend yourself, but you cannot start fights. My rule is the same as Matt's. We talked about this on Saturday after we left the Ingalls. Now, after you help Hop Sing clear the table go and work with Fury but don't stay out there too long. You and I are going for a ride and I don't want to start too late because we need to go to town also."
Hop Sing gave Cat some carrots for Fury and she ran out to the pasture to spend some time training him. After working with him for a little while, she ran back to the house and started to run inside when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "You just got a spanking for doing that yesterday," said Joe. "Do you want another one already? I can guarantee you it will be worse than what you got yesterday. You have no idea what's on the other side of that door. You know that we keep our guns loaded. What if Pa is carrying his over to the great room table to clean it and you run into him, causing it to go off? Even if the bullet doesn't hit anybody, I can guarantee you that you will feel that big belt hanging in the barn on your bare bottom. Is that what you want?"
"No."
"Then open the door slowly and walk inside. In fact, I'm going to take you to Pa and see what he has to say about you starting to run in the house the day after you got a spanking for the same thing."
"Please don't Joe. I don't want another spanking. My bottom still hurts from yesterday."
"You should have thought about that before you decided to run into the house. Now let's go."
They walked over to Ben's desk with Joe's hand on Cat's shoulder. Ben looked up from his work and asked, "What's going on son?"
"I just caught little sister starting to run into the house. After what happened yesterday, I thought you should know about it."
"Thank you Joe. Well Catherine, were you starting to run into the house?"
"Yes sir."
"Didn't we just have a discussion about that in the barn yesterday?"
"Yes sir."
"Do you want to have another one? I can guarantee it will be worse than yesterday."
"No sir."
"Well son, she's your prisoner. What do you want to do with her?"
Joe thought a minute and said, "She wasn't running in the house yet when I stopped her, so I don't think she needs to go out to the barn this time. I know that you've got somewhere to go and you were planning on taking her with you. I think that she needs some thinking time. It worked for me sometimes when I was here age. She can stand in the corner until you're ready to leave and can spend that time thinking about what she's doing and how to stop. I told her that the next time she might not be so lucky. Someone could be carrying a gun over to the table to clean it when she runs into them. I sure don't want to see that happen."
"I agree, your sister needs some thinking time. Catherine, go stand in the corner by the fireplace until I'm ready to leave."
"But I didn't run in the house."
"You were going to if Joe hadn't stopped you, weren't you?"
"Yes sir."
"Then thank him for stopping you and go stand in the corner."
Cat stomped her foot. "But that's not fair. I didn't run in the house yet."
Ben sighed. "Catherine Michael! Joseph just stopped you from doing something potentially dangerous that you were punished for yesterday. This is to try and keep it from happening again. Now stop arguing with me and do what you were told before I take you out to the barn for another necessary discussion that I do not want to have."
Cat knew she was on the losing end of the argument and said, "Yes sir. Thank you for keeping me from runnin' in the house Joe. I'll go stand in the corner like you said, but it still ain't fair."
"I know it doesn't seem fair Sweetheart, but it's the only way I can think of to make you stop and think about what you're doing before you or someone else gets hurt or worse. You're not being punished. I'm sending you to the corner to think about what you are doing and how you can stop. It's called thinking time and I used it with Joe a lot when he was your age. You won't have anything to distract you so you can think. I don't want to see you or anyone else get hurt or worse because you won't stop running in the house. Now go, stand in the corner by the fireplace. You have fifteen minutes to think about how you can stop running in the house."
Fifteen minutes later, Ben walked into the living room and said, "Catherine, go, get our horses and those three deer hides. Then come back in here and I'll tell you what you need to bring. We'll talk about what you were thinking about while we ride.