Cat walked out to the barn and returned a few minutes later leading Buck and Star. The three deer hides were tied to Buck's saddle horn. She walked into the house and Ben said, "Bring your bow and arrows, feathers and whatever else the Apaches have given you. Bring Silver Chief's feather too. You'll need a way to keep it on him when we get where we're going." The two of them rode out of the yard fifteen minutes later.

"Where are we going?" asked Cat.

"You'll see when we get there. What did you decide during your thinking time? How are you going to stop running in the house?"

"I couldn't think of anything. I'm always in a hurry and I always run everywhere. Ask Uncle Matt. Before she was killed, my mother said I started crawling one day and running the next. She said I always ran everywhere when we lived with Grandfather."

"You are only nine years old and should not always be in a hurry. Slow down and take time to enjoy your surroundings."

"But I have so much to do; I have to be in a hurry."

Ben laughed. "You don't have that much to do little girl. You won't even have any chores except working with Fury, brushing whichever horse you ride and helping Hop Sing clear the table until the week after next. Even then all you will be adding to what you are already doing is gathering the eggs in the morning and filling the wood box in the kitchen twice a day. You will be responsible for your schoolwork and of course, you'll spend some time helping your brothers and me with the ranch work."

Cat frowned when she was reminded about schoolwork.

"Don't frown Kitten. It's unbecoming."

"Well then quit saying bad words like school and schoolwork!"

Ben laughed long and hard. "You don't know how much you sound like Little Joe when he was your age. He hated school and everything to go with it."

"Well then, why did you make him go if he hated it so much? I hate it too and shouldn't have to go."

"You are a silly little girl. You still have a lot to learn and that is why you need to go to school. As I told you at breakfast, when you can solve those arithmetic problems I gave you without any help, you will be allowed to stay home from school. Until then, you will attend school just as your brothers did. If it makes you feel any better about it, you're not alone. There are hundreds of children all across this country that hate school and still have to attend. Besides that, I have a feeling that you are going to like Miss Winter and she is going to do her best to make it more interesting for you."

"I liked Miss Jackson, but I still didn't like school."

"Well, maybe you'll like it better with Miss Winter."

"I don't think so. I'm going to write a letter to Uncle Sam and ask him to pass a law saying kids don't have to go to school after they turn nine."

Ben laughed and gave one of her braids a playful tug. "You do that Sweetheart and let me know what he says." A little while later, he stopped his horse and said, "Put your feathers on and put Silver Chief's feather on him. We're almost at where we're going." Five minutes later, they entered Silver Hawk's village. Cat's eyes grew as big as saucers. She didn't know there were Indians living near the Ponderosa.

Ben and Cat dismounted he told her to take her puppies out of the saddle bags. Silver Hawk walked up to them and greeted Ben warmly. "Ben Cartwright my old friend. We don't see enough of each other." When he spotted Cat and her puppies, his smile got bigger and his eyes began to twinkle. "Who is this young warrior you have brought to me?"

"You are correct Silver Hawk. We do not see nearly enough of each other. This is my daughter Catherine. The family calls her Wild Cat."

"When did you take another wife?"

"I didn't. Catherine was my sister's child. My sister's husband was killed in the war and she was killed in Dodge City two months ago. I adopted my niece."

"Wild Cat… I have heard of a child by that name. Tell me child, who is your Indian father?"

"My father is Geronimo and my grandfather is Cochise. Gray Eagle also adopted me when his daughter Morning Dove married my brother Little Bear."

"I thought that's who you were. And how did one so young earn an eagle feather?"

"My grandfather gave it to me when they adopted me. I was only four and they cut my finger with a knife this big." Cat stretched out her arms to show that the knife was almost as long as a sword. Ben grew concerned but Silver Hawk just smiled and shook his head.

"You're right little one. That was a very big knife and you were very brave to let your father and grandfather cut your finger with it. Please introduce me to your puppies and tell me how one of them has earned an eagle feather when they are both so young."

Cat picked Silver Chief up and said, "This is Silver Chief. My brother Little Bear gave him to me. He earned the eagle feather because he was very brave. When Gray Eagle adopted me and cut my finger, Silver Chief attacked him. He said that only a very brave puppy would attack an Apache chief who was holding a real big knife." She put Silver Chief down and picked Lassie up. "This is Lassie. Mr. McLeod and James gave her to me last week. She and Silver Chief made friends right away."

Silver Hawk picked Silver Chief up and said, "Yes, I can tell that you are a very brave puppy. Gray Eagle was correct. Only a very brave puppy would attack a chief, especially when he had a large knife in his hand." Then he set Silver Chief down and picked Lassie up. "Although you have not been tested yet, I can tell that you are also going to be very brave." Then he picked Silver Chief up again. "When you grow up, the two of you must take care of the little girl who loves you. You must do your best to protect her from danger." Then he looked at Ben and said, "Ben Cartwright my old friend, I will also adopt your daughter and she will be my daughter too. Then she will have you, your sons and my whole village to look after her and teach her what she needs to know."

"I thought you would, although I don't know if I can stand to see my little girl hurt."

"You didn't feel that way yesterday afternoon," said Cat. "My bottom still hurts."

Ben laughed at Cat and told Silver Hawk what had happened the previous afternoon. Silver Hawk laughed also and said, "Wild Cat, I hope you learned your lesson and will stop running in the house. As your father has told you, it is very dangerous and you or someone else could become badly hurt. Now, come and meet the rest of your new family." Cat followed him and he stopped and waited for a young chief to finish speaking with someone. "Wild Cat, this is my son Standing Bear and this," he said, stooping down to pick up a boy about five years old, "is my grandson, Running Wolf. He is five years old. Standing Bear, Running Wolf, this is Ben Cartwright's daughter, Wild Cat. She is nine years old and earned an eagle feather when she was only four. She is the adopted daughter of Geronimo and the adopted granddaughter of Cochise. I also will adopt her and she will be part of our village also. Now, I must introduce her to Snow Bird. You know that your mother will be very unhappy with me if I don't." They walked over to where an older woman was sitting outside a tepee grinding some corn. Silver Hawk introduced Cat to his wife and said, "I am going to adopt her and she will be our daughter."

Snow Bird hugged Cat and said, "Welcome. I will love to have you as my daughter. I will teach you many things and your Apache mother and grandmother will be surprised at how much you know when you see them again. Benjamin Cartwright, thank you for bringing this precious child to me. You are welcome in our lodge anytime you wish to visit."

"Thank you Snow Bird. Wild Cat needs new clothing. I brought three deer hides with me. Will you please help her make more? She knows how to do it but is still young and has trouble."

"Of course I will help my new daughter. Wild Cat, get the deer hides from your father and bring them into the lodge with me."

While Cat was with Snow Bird, Ben turned to Silver Hawk and asked, "Just how big was that knife Geronimo and Cochise used on Cat?"

Silver Hawk took out his own knife and said, "They were hunting, so it was probably this big. The one Gray Eagle used may have been larger as he wanted to test her bravery. I will also test her bravery and use a large knife when I adopt her. Remember my friend, she has been through the adoption ceremony twice and knows what to expect. I already know she is brave. Any child who can look death in the eye, walk up to an Apache chief and demand to be taken for a ride on his horse is brave. Do not worry my friend. The knife will be large but the cut will be small."

Cat walked out of the teepee a few minutes later. Running Wolf ran up to her, grabbed her hand and said, "Let's play." The two children ran off, followed by Cat's puppies.

"That boy never walks," said Standing Bear's wife, Morning Star as she walked up to the others.

Ben laughed and said, "Neither does my daughter. I had to punish her yesterday afternoon for running in the house. She ran into me and I spilled hot coffee all over myself. I don't know what I'm going to do about her. We can't seem to convince her that running in the house is dangerous."

The others laughed. "We have the same problem with my grandson," said Silver Hawk. "He ran through the pony herd last week and was almost trampled. So far, we have been unsuccessful in teaching him where it is safe to run and where it is not."

Snow Bird came out of the tepee and told Ben that Cat's pants and shirts would be ready when they returned the following week.

While the adults were talking, Running Wolf was introducing Cat to his friends. The children were impressed as they had never seen a girl wearing pants and carrying a bow and arrows. "Do you know how to use your bow and arrows?" asked Running Wolf?

"Yes. My Apache brother taught me."

"Will you show us?"

"No, they are not toys. I use them for hunting and this is not a safe place to shoot an arrow. If I miss my target, somebody could get hurt. I promised my Apache father and grandfather I would never shoot an arrow where somebody could get hurt. I would dishonor them if I did not keep my promise."

The children were disappointed but understood that Cat needed to keep her promise. They spent the next two hours playing when Standing Bear came and told them that Cat had to leave. She reluctantly walked up to Ben and said, "Can't we please stay longer? I want to keep playing with my new friends."

"I'm sorry Cat but I have a ranch to run and we have to go into town for supplies this afternoon."

"But I don't want to leave yet. I was having fun with my new friends."

"You will be able to come back and play with them another day. Right now we need to leave. Say goodbye to everyone so we can go."

"Can I come back tomorrow?"

Ben sighed. "I don't think so. There is a lot of work to do on the ranch."

"I'm almost ten. I can come back out here by myself. I don't need to have someone come with me."

"Catherine you just turned nine two months ago. That is not almost ten. Also, you have only been living on the Ponderosa for a week and do not know your way around yet. I'm sorry Kitten but you cannot ride out here by yourself yet. I promise, we will come back next week. Silver Hawk will be adopting you then and your brothers will want to be here too. Now say goodbye to your new friends. We need to go home."

"You could show me how to come out here. Then I could come out here tomorrow and play with my new friends."

"Catherine Michael Cartwright!" said Ben in a tone Cat knew meant she would be in trouble if she continued, so she reluctantly said goodbye to everybody and got her horse, mounted and rode off with her father.

While Cat was getting her horse, Silver Hawk looked at Ben and said, "Do not be too hard on her my friend. I am sure she is lonely with nobody her own age to play with on your ranch. You told me that she has been living in a city. I am quite certain there were children there for her to play with. Your sons are much older than she is and they are busy working on the ranch. It is not easy for someone to be alone when they are used to having a lot of people around them."

"I am sure you are right, but she needs to learn when to stop arguing and just do what she has been told to do."

"I agree with you. All I am saying is consider the reason she is arguing with you. I watched her face light up when the children invited her to play. If you only allow her to go places when she is with you or your sons, she will become like a flower in the winter and wither up and die."

"I will let her go places on her own after a while but I want to wait until her dogs are big enough to protect her from danger."

"Do not wait that long. They will not be big enough to protect her until they are more than a year old. Teach her how to get to places safely on her own and trust her to get there and back. I know that you want to protect her but she needs freedom too. Start with places close to the house and then go out from there. She will want to go farther, but will understand that you are teaching her a little at a time."

"Alright my friend. I will start teaching her how to get to different places on the ranch. Now we need to go. I have to go to town this afternoon.

After they left the village, Ben looked at Cat and said, "The next time you continue arguing with me when you have been told to stop several times, you will be punished. This is the only warning you will get. I do not want to punish you but I will if I have to. Did you argue with Matt?"

"Sometimes when I wanted to stay at the Tanners."

"Did he let you?"

"Only a few times because it was real late and Mamma Tanner was worried about me being sleepy and falling off my pony on the way back to Dodge."

"That makes sense. Matt wouldn't want you falling off your pony because you were very tired and neither would the Tanners. Did he scold you when you argued with him about staying at the Tanners?"

"No. Mamma Tanner did and Mr. Tanner said he'd spank me if I didn't quit."

"If you knew that arguing with adults was wrong, why did you argue with me?"

"I just wanted to play with my new friends longer. I'm going to watch how to get home so I can come back here by myself."

"No Cat. I don't want you coming back out here by yourself just yet. You have only been home for a week and don't know your way around the ranch yet. Be patient. It won't be long before you're allowed to come out here by yourself." Cat didn't say anything but Ben could tell she was pouting. "I know that you think I'm treating you like a baby, but please believe me, I am not. You are my little girl and it is my job to keep you safe. Remember, Little Joe was born here on the Ponderosa and there were places he wasn't allowed to go alone when he was nine. Once you have been here longer and your dogs are big enough to protect you, I will allow you to go more places alone. Right now, please be patient. Tomorrow you will have a choice, you can go and play with Mary and Laura at their house, they can come to our house or you can work with your brothers. You don't have to decide right now. If you decide you want to play with Mary and Laura, we will stop there on our way back from town and ask their parents if you can spend the day there or they can spend the day with you at our house. Right now, I'll bet that Buck can beat Star to that big tree at the end of this path. The winner gets to eat a cookie before dinner." They raced and Cat won. "You cheated," teased Ben.

"How?"

"You cheated because you weigh less than a feather, so Star was hardly carrying any weight. Starting at dinner today, you have to eat as much as Hoss does so I can win the next race."

Cat laughed. "I'll explode if I eat as much as Hoss does."

"Well, I'll definitely win the next race if that happens."

Cat giggled. "You're silly Pa."

Ben pretended to growl. "Just for that, I'm going to eat your cookie. Now, let's get home. We still need to go to town this afternoon."

While Ben and Cat were riding out to the Shoshone village, Roy, Clem, and Gerald Miller were at the school taking inventory. "Ben is right," said Gerald. "There aren't many books here. I am positive that this school had a lot more books when we hired Miss Smith. That's something we'll have to talk to her about."

"She sure didn't do a very good job keeping this place clean," said Clem. "I know it's been a while since I was in school, but the school I attended was never this dirty. I'll ask around and maybe some of the women can come over and clean it up. I don't think it would be fair to ask the new teacher to do it."

"That's a great idea," said Roy. "I'll ask around and see if some of the men and older boys will do the necessary repairs and paint. Adam Cartwright studied architecture in college. Maybe the school board should ask him to look at the building and make sure it's sound. I'd really hate to see the roof come off or a wall fall down during a storm."

"Thank you both for your offers of help. If Adam doesn't come to town today, I'll ride out to the Ponderosa tomorrow and ask him. Miss Smith should be here soon. After seeing this mess and the missing books, I think at least one of us should supervise her retrieving her belongings."

Miss Smith walked into the school a few minutes later, looked at the three men and said, "What are you doing here?"

"Good morning Miss Smith," said Mr. Miller. "Why weren't you at the school board meeting last night? Also, what happened to all of the books that were in this school when you were hired to teach here?"

"I didn't feel like going, so I didn't. The brats that attend this school are stupid and don't deserve to have any books, so I took them for myself."

"I distinctly remember telling you that your attendance was mandatory. Due to the disrespect you showed the members of the school board by not attending the meeting, the numerous complaints about your lack of teaching skills, your refusal to let the younger children use the outhouse and then punishing them when they had an accident in their clothing, and the favoritism you have shown toward several students, the school board voted last night to terminate your employment. Those books were the property of the Virginia City school board and you had no right to take them. Sheriff Coffee, will you and Deputy Clem please accompany Miss Smith to her lodgings and assist her in returning the books she took? If she refuses to return them, arrest her and I'll sign the complaint as school board chairman. After you have given the books to the sheriff and his deputy, please return here and gather your belongings. When you return, you will have thirty minutes to retrieve your belongings. Also, the house you are living in belongs to the school board. You have one week to find different lodgings as we will need it for the new teacher."

"You can't do that to me. My uncle is the minister in this town and he won't let you fire me."

"Miss Smith, as you are well aware, your uncle, Reverend Jonas, left Virginia City for Oklahoma two months ago. Also, he is a very good man and I'm quite certain he would be appalled at the way you conducted yourself as the teacher of this school and stealing school board property. I have his current address and fully intend to write and inform him of the school board's decision and why. Now, if you will be so kind as to hand me your key to the school, Sheriff Coffee and Deputy Clem will escort you to your lodgings to retrieve the books you wrongfully removed from this school. I will be calling a meeting of the school board to determine if we are going to prefer charges against you for the theft."

"You have no right to do this to me. I'll burn this school down with everybody in it before I see another person take my place."

"Miss Smith, I highly recommend you stop this nonsense now," said Roy. "You are acting like a spoiled child. The school board was completely within its rights to terminate your employment. Mr. Miller is the chairman of that board and it is his job to retrieve the key and other materials belonging to the school from you. Also, you have just threatened to commit not one, but two crimes, so after you give me and Clem the books you took and retrieve your belongings, I will be taking you to jail and we'll just see what the judge wants to do about your threats. The people in this town love their children and will not be happy to hear that you just threatened to kill all of them. Neither will your uncle. Now, give Mr. Miller the key to the school. Rather than making two trips to your house, gather your belongings now and you can take them with you. As Mr. Miller stated earlier, you have thirty minutes to do just that, so I recommend you begin because I am timing your thirty minutes as of right now. We have already taken inventory of everything in this building, so do not add to your offenses by taking more things that do not belong to you."

Miss Smith reluctantly gave the school key to Mr. Miller and gathered up her belongings. Roy and Clem escorted her to her house and helped her carry the books back to the school. "Now that your things are gone and the books have been returned, you need to come with us," said Roy.

"Where are you taking me to?"

"We are going to go and talk to Judge Taylor and see how he wants to handle the problem. Mr. Miller has already stated that the school board will be pressing charges against you, so I need to see what the judge wants to do with you until your hearing."

"I'm not going anywhere with you and you can't make me."

"Miss Smith," said Roy. "I am getting extremely tired of hearing you say what you are and are not going to do. I am the sheriff in this town and you are coming with me if I have to carry you! After Judge Taylor decides what to do with you, I will be sending a telegram to your uncle, letting him know about you stealing from the school and the threats you made. Something tells me that he will not be happy with you. Now stop arguing with me and let's go!"

Miss Smith accompanied Roy and Clem over to the courthouse and into Judge Taylor's office. "Hello Roy, Celm. What is Miss Smith doing with you? Based on the school board's decision last night, I would think she would be packing and looking for someplace else to live."

"We have a problem with her Judge," answered Roy. "It seems that she stole a lot of books from the school and when Gerald Miller informed her of the school board's decision, she threatened to burn down the school with all of the children and the new teacher in it. Gerald is going to prefer charges against her."

"I see. Well, what do you have to say for yourself Miss Smith? You are being charged with two very serious crimes. Roy, have you telegraphed her uncle yet to inform him of what his niece has done?"

"Not yet. Gerald, Clem and I just discovered the theft of the books this morning and Miss Smith just made her threats about an hour ago."

"Well Miss Smith, I'm waiting to hear what you have to say."

Miss Smith didn't say anything.

"Roy, why don't you go and send your telegram? Clem and I can keep an eye on Miss Smith until you return with a reply." Roy sent his telegram and returned a little while later with the reply and handed it to the judge. "Well Miss Smith, your uncle states he will be here in three days and you are to be packed and ready to leave with him when he arrives. He further states that if you are not here when he arrives, he will find you, bring you back and recommend I sentence you to time in prison for stealing and the threats you made. So, there you have it. You have three days in which to pack all of your belongings and prepare to leave with your uncle. Just to make sure you follow instructions and do not leave town, starting right now, I am going to require you to report here to me every morning at eight o'clock and to Sheriff Coffee every afternoon at four o'clock. If you fail to report to myself and Sheriff Coffee, I will have him put you in jail until your uncle arrives. Now, go and start packing and remember, you must report to Sheriff Coffee at four o'clock! If Sheriff Coffee isn't in his office at four o'clock, you may report to Deputy Clem." After Miss Smith left the judge's office, he told Roy and Clem that Reverend Jonas said he would explain everything when he reached Virginia City.

After Roy and Clem left the judge's office, Clem turned to Roy and asked, "Do you think she'll do as the judge said and show up at the office at four o'clock?"

"I don't know Clem, but I sure hope she does. I really don't want to have to put a woman in one of the cells. I will if I have to, but I sure don't want to."

Before Clem could answer, they saw a couple of teenage boys having a fight in the middle of the street. "I wonder what's gotten into those two again. I tell you Roy, I'm getting real tired of breaking up fights between that pair. This is the third one this week and it's only Wednesday. I think it's time we let them cool their heels in a cell and wait for their fathers to deal with them."

"I agree. Those two are almost grown and it's long past time for them to stop settling their differences with their fists." They walked over and broke up the fight. Roy yelled at the boys and took them to the jail while Clem rode out of town to get their fathers. Clem returned about an hour later with both men and two unhappy seventeen year old boys rode home with their fathers.

When Cat and Ben returned to the house, they walked into the kitchen and Ben asked Hop Sing to give her a cookie. He handed her a cookie and said, "Dinner be leady soon. Why Missy Cat get cookie now?"

"We had a race and Cat won. I said that the winner could have a cookie before dinner. If she weighed more, I would be the one getting the cookie, not her. Starting now, I want her to eat as much as Hoss does at each meal. Then I'll win the next race."

Hop Sing laughed. "Mister Ben silly today. Missy Cat need to eat more but she get sick if she eat like Hoss." He sliced the bread, put the stew in a serving bowl and said, "Dinner ready. Go sit down at table."

While they were eating, Ben said, "Boys, after dinner, will one of you please hitch up the buckboard. I need to go to town for supplies and hopefully the things we purchased in Denver will have arrived. You can show Cat how to hitch a team up while you're at it."

"Can Little Joe come with us?" asked Cat.

"Well now, that all depends. Can you keep him out of trouble while we're in town?"

Cat giggled. "I'll try. Little Joe, if you come with us, you have to promise me you won't go into the saloon because Hoss says you get into a lot of fights when you go in there and I'm not big enough to help you."

Adam and Hoss burst out laughing. "I guess she told you little brother," laughed Hoss.

"She certainly did," replied Adam. "Well baby brother, what's it going to be? Are you going to stay out of the saloon if you go to town? Like Cat said, she's not big enough to drag you out of the saloon if you get into trouble and we're going to be busy here."

Joe glared at his brothers and said, "Alright Cat. I'll go with you and I won't go into the saloon."

"Good. I'm glad. I want you to come with us but I don't want you to get into any trouble. When we're done eating, I'll teach you how to hitch a team up to the buckboard."

Ben and Hop Sing laughed quietly and gave each other amused looks as Hoss and Adam teased their brother.

After dinner, Joe and Cat went out to the barn and he started showing her how to hitch a team up to the buckboard. She tried to put the harness on one of the horses but became frustrated when it got tangled up. "Don't worry Cat. It takes time to learn how to harness a horse correctly. I can't remember how many tries it took me until I got it right. The important thing is that you tried. Pa doesn't expect us to get everything right all the time, but he does expect us to try. As he likes to say, if you don't try to do something, you will never learn how to do anything."

There wasn't room for three people on the buckboard seat, so Joe was going to take Cochise. "I'll ride Buck and you ride on the wagon with your sister," said Ben. "That way you won't be tempted to break your promise to her. You can let her drive. She needs help turning the team around. Otherwise, she does a pretty good job." When they reached town, Ben asked Joe to go over to the freight office and see if the packages from Denver had arrived yet while he and Cat went into the feed store. Joe went to the freight office while Ben, Cat and her puppies walked into the feed store. Ben introduced Cat to Mr. Winter.

He came out from behind the counter and greeted Cat. "Hello Catherine. It's nice to meet you. Are those your puppies?"

"Hello Mr. Winter. Yes, they are my puppies. The collie is Lassie and the other one is Silver Chief."

Mr. Winter got down on his knees and petted both puppies. When he stood up he asked, "What can I do for you today Ben?" Ben told him what he wanted and he began putting bags of feed on the counter. He looked at Cat and teased, "Are you going to carry these out to your wagon, or are your puppies going to carry them?"

Cat giggled. "I think Lassie and Silver Chief said they were going to carry the bags."

"I don't know if they can or not. These bags are a lot bigger than they are. Maybe you should help them."

Cat looked at the bags of feed and her puppies and said, "I guess I could help them. They probably wouldn't mind." She walked over to the counter and tried to pick up a bag and was surprised it wasn't heavy. Mr. Winter and Ben laughed at the expression on her face. She put the bag down on the floor and discovered it wasn't completely closed when she looked inside, she found that it was filled with feathers. "I didn't know that horses ate feathers," she laughed. I guess I'll start feeding them to Fury. Then he really will be able to fly when he grows up."

Joe had walked into the feed store, heard what Cat said, picked her up and put her over his shoulder. "I didn't know that horses ate little girls," he teased. She'll barely make two meals for that black colt out in the pasture. Oh well, I guess I'll put her in the wagon under the bags of feed." He pretended to start carrying her out of the store.

"No son," said Ben. "She's so little; you'll have to put her on top of the bags of feed. Otherwise she'll be squashed flat and we won't be able to feed her to that colt." Joe set Cat down and picked up a bag of feed. "Cat, why don't you watch Joe and make sure he loads the wagon right. After all, we wouldn't want Adam and Hoss to tease him about loading it wrong."

"Alright Pa," giggled Cat. "I'll watch him."

"You're going to do more than watch me Squirt. You can help me carry these bags." Cat giggled more as Joe picked up a bag of feed and pretended to put it on her head.

"Those two really get along well," remarked Mr. Winter.

"Yes they do. Catherine was born on Joe's tenth birthday and they've always been close. When she was five, she decided that school was something to be avoided at all costs, so she kept skipping. Her uncle punished her but it didn't do any good. The only thing that made her go to school was when Joe told her that she wouldn't be allowed to spend school holidays on the Ponderosa."

"How are you going to get her to attend school here?"

"She has already been told her that if she skips school, she won't be allowed to spend her summers in Dodge. Also, Joe told her that part of the punishment for skipping school was having to ride to and from school double with me or one of her brothers. I don't know of a nine year old who would want to be seen riding double with their Pa or one of their brothers."

Mr. Winter laughed. "I didn't care much for school myself and skipped quite a few times. I do believe that the threat of having to ride there double with my Pa or older brother would have kept me from skipping. I can't wait for Susan to meet your daughter. The two of them are a lot alike. Even though she loves teaching, she also hated going to school. She always did well on her lessons but would rather have been anywhere other than inside of a schoolhouse."

"Why don't you and your family, including your sister come to supper on the Ponderosa Friday night? That way she can learn something about the wild child I inherited."

"She can't be that wild."

"Don't bet on it. She's only been home a week and if I didn't know better, I would swear that Catherine and Joseph both had the same mother."

Mr. Winter laughed. "I'm sure you're exaggerating about that sweet little girl. What time should we be there on Friday?"

"Wait until you get to know her. Hoss nicknamed her Wild Cat when she was about a year old. He said that she is as wild as the West Texas wind and harder to tame. My sister said that one day, my father's cook caught her trying to climb up the china cabinet and she wasn't even two yet. Why don't you come around four thirty or five o'clock. Hop Sing likes to serve supper at six, so that will give you time to relax from the long drive out to the ranch and get to know Catherine a little better. Oh yes, before I forget. Be prepared to thoroughly admire her colt. She's very proud of him, thinks he's wonderful and expects everyone else to also."

While they were talking, Joe and Cat walked back into the store. "Pa, may I have a little bit of money?" asked Joe. "I forgot to bring some with me."

"What do you need it for?"

"Well, I was going to get a beer, but my best girl here is too short to go into the saloon, so I thought I would get us each a bottle of sarsaparilla."

Ben handed him some money and said, "You may as well buy your best girl some candy and peanuts while you're at it. Remember son, you can't just buy a drink for a girl. You have to buy her something to eat also."

"I'll remember that. Thanks for the money. Come on Cat. Let's go and see what kind of mischief we can get into."