Joe walked back into the house and found his sister sitting in their father's lap looking at Adam's book of sea creatures. Ben was pointing out the ones he had seen when he was a sailor and Cat was disappointed that he had never seen a whale like the one Mitch had seen. "That's because I sailed the Atlantic Ocean and those whales live in the Pacific Ocean. I did see some whales but they were nowhere near as large as the blue whale Mitch saw. I did see many dolphins and seagulls but the seagulls preferred to stay near the fishing boats. I promise I will take you to San Francisco one day. Right now, I just don't know when that will be. Now, it's almost time for bed. Starting tonight, I want you to undo your braids and brush your hair out before going to bed. Don't worry about how you're going to get your hair braided in the morning. All of us know how to braid leather and rope. We've just never done a little girl's hair before. Joe thinks he can do it and if he can't do it right and Hop Sing doesn't have time to show us, Mrs. Ingalls can do it again when you go to get Laura and Mary after breakfast. It may take us a little while to learn how to do it right, but we will learn and braid your hair for you."

Cat thought about what Ben had told her for a minute and said, "I wish we could go to San Francisco tomorrow. I really want to see dolphins and whales and seals right now. I don't want to have to wait a long time to see them. Ok. I'll take my braids out before I go to bed."

Everyone laughed at Cat when she said she wanted to see the ocean creatures right away. Ben hugged her and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. I promise you that San Francisco isn't going anywhere and there will be lots of seals and dolphins for you to see when we get there. I don't know how often people there see whales but hopefully you'll get so see one of them too. Now, it's time for you to get ready for bed. I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Ok. Can Mitch come to our picnic on Saturday? I want him to tell Laura and Mary all about the places he went and the ocean creatures he saw. Maybe Adam will let me take the book too so they can see what they look like."

"Yes, Mitch can come to our picnic on Saturday. Now go on upstairs and get ready for bed before I decide to make you stay home from the picnic."

Cat got down off her father's lap, handed Adam's book to him and walked upstairs. "Was I always in a hurry when I was nine?" asked Joe. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone that's in such a big hurry all the time."

"No son, you were not always in that big a hurry when you were a boy. Maybe it's a little girl thing. I'll ask Charles and Caroline when I see them again. Well, I'd better go and see if she's ready for bed. Joe, do you want to read with her again tonight since she's reading King Arthur?"

"Sure Pa. I'd love to if Cat wants me to."

"I'll ask her when I go upstairs in a few minutes." He walked upstairs and into Cat's bedroom where he found her in her nightclothes sitting at her dressing table, taking the braids out of her hair. He kissed her on top of her head and asked, "Would you like me to brush your hair for you?"

"Sure, if you want to."

"Alright, grab your brush, come over to your bed and I'll brush your hair for you." While Ben was brushing Cat's hair, he noticed that it was uneven in the back. "I'm going to have to ask Caroline what she does about cutting her girls' hair. Yours is all uneven in the back and should be trimmed up so it's all the same length."

"Mamma Tanner used to do that for me. She was going to do it right before my birthday but then my mother was killed and I had to come here. I wish my mother had never come back. Then I wouldn't have had to leave Dodge."

"Don't you like it here?"

"I do, but it's not the same. Except for Laura and Mary and their family, I don't know anybody here. I had a lot of friends in Dodge and the Tanners were just a short ride away from town. When I was in Dodge, I could go anywhere I wanted to as long as Uncle Matt or another adult knew where I was. Here, you act like I'm a baby and won't let me go anywhere unless an adult is with me. Who's going with me to get Laura and Mary tomorrow morning, you or Adam?"

"Nobody is going with you Sweetheart. You're going to go there by yourself. You know how to get to the Ingalls by yourself."

"You say that now but tomorrow morning, Adam will say he has to go with me because I'm a baby and can't go anywhere by myself because I might get lost. I'm surprised you and him even lets me go out to the barn and the pasture where Fury is by myself."

"Now you're being silly. Nobody needs to go to those places with you and nobody is going with you to get Mary and Laura in the morning. Now, who do you want to read with you tonight, me or Joe?"

"Joe because King Arthur is his favorite book."

"Alright Kitten. I'll send Adam, Hoss, and Hop Sing up to say goodnight and then Joe can come up and read with you for a little while." He kissed her on the forehead, hugged her and told her that he loved her and was very happy that she was his little girl now. He went back downstairs and Adam, Hoss, and Hop Sing all went up to say goodnight to Cat. When they came back downstairs, Joe went up picked the book up off the night table, sat down on the bed leaned back against the headboard next to his sister and put his feet up on the bed.

"Joe, your boots are on my bed. If you don't take them off, I will hide them and then you'll either have to wear your slippers or run around outside in your socks. If you run around outside in your slippers or in your socks, Hop Sing and Pa will yell at you. Also, Adam and Hoss will laugh at you and so will I."

"If you hide my boots, I can always wear my dress ones."

"Pa will yell at you if you wear your dress boots all the time. And me and Adam and Hoss will still laugh at you."

"Pa has been yelling at me ever since I was a little boy. Also, Adam and Hoss have been laughing at me just as long."

"Yes, but I haven't been laughing at you ever since you were a little boy. Also, I will hide your dress boots too. Pa will really be mad at you if I do that. I'll even hide Cochise. Then Adam and Hoss will really laugh at you."

Joe tickled his sister, "You are a little scamp. Since I don't want Pa and Hop Sing yelling at me, and Adam, Hoss, and you laughing at me, I guess I'd better take my boots off your bed before you hide them and my horse. Now we'd better get this chapter read before Pa gets angry at both of us." After they finished reading the chapter, Joe kissed and hugged his sister and said, "Remember what I told you last night. No more nightmares, ever. If you have one I will tickle you until you have an accident in your pants."

When Joe went back downstairs, Hoss asked Joe if he had fun in town while he and Adam were working. "Joe worked almost the entire time we were in town," replied Ben. "He had to load the wagon by himself. Also, except for when he went over to the freight office, your sister was supervising him at all times. He wasn't allowed to go into the saloon for a beer and had to settle for a sarsaparilla."

Adam and Hoss laughed at the thought of their nine year old sister supervising their brother. "Hey, you have no idea what it was like," complained Joe. "I had to load the wagon three times before Cat was satisfied that I had done it right. Also, she embarrassed me in front of Mitch by reminding me that I had promised not to go into the saloon. He thought it was funny that I had to do whatever my nine year old sister told me to do."

"Sorry baby brother," teased Adam. "You won't get any sympathy from us. If you had loaded the wagon correctly to begin with, little sister wouldn't have made you do it again. Also, while you were playing in town when you were supposed to be restricted to the ranch, Hoss and I were busy working. We have a ranch to run and there is a lot of work to do on it."

"I didn't ask to go to town. You know that Cat asked if I could come along and you know as well as I do that what little sister wants, little sister gets."

Ben laughed at his sons. "Alright you three. Adam and Hoss, you seem to have forgotten that Cat asked if Joe could come to town. I said he could but he had to do everything she said. Just think, if he hadn't been there, I would have been the one loading the wagon three times. I don't know about the pair of you," he said looking at Adam and Hoss, "But I'm not going to be the one to tell your sister she has no clue what she's doing and the wagon was loaded correctly the first time. What happened to the crates of things we purchased in Denver? I didn't see them after the wagon was unloaded."

"I took them up to my room," said Adam. "I wanted to go through the toys to see which ones I'm going to give her now and which ones I want to save for Christmas. I thought we could surprise her with the books and toys when she returns with Mary and Laura tomorrow morning. I'm sure all three girls will enjoy opening the crates and looking inside."

"That's an excellent idea son. I can't wait to see the expression on her face, especially when she sees the toys as she's never had any of her own. I took her out to Silver Hawk's village this morning and she didn't want to leave. I noticed her carefully watching the way we came home and I'm concerned she may try and get back out there on her own. I do not want her going out there by herself just yet. If any of you catch her, give her a couple of swats, bring her to me and I'll deal with her. If I'm not home, put her in the corner and I'll take care of her when I return. I hope I'm wrong, but the way she was complaining about being treated like a baby, I'm positive she's going to try. She wants to go back to Dodge because she had a lot of friends there and was allowed to go anywhere she wanted as long as an adult knew where she was going."

"I understand that," said Hoss. "Poor little critter is lonely here. She ain't got nobody her own age to play with and you won't let her go anywhere or do anything alone. I'm sure she rode a full sized horse in Dodge but you want her to ride a pony. I'm sure one of us is going to have to take her to school all the time. Ya can't keep her penned up here at home Pa. She'll go stir crazy if she ain't allowed to do stuff on her own."

"That's exactly what I want to do is keep her here, safe at home. I don't want her getting hurt. She's just a little girl and there's no telling what could happen to her. I almost had a heart attack when she was driving the buckboard home and the horses spooked. The only reason I insisted she finish driving home is because I didn't want her to be afraid to even ride in a wagon or buggy. She is much too independent for a nine year old and I don't want anything happening to her. I wish Kate had brought her to me instead of leaving her with Matt. Then she wouldn't be so independent and wild. I told her that she was going to go to the Ingalls by herself tomorrow morning but I'm wondering if Adam or I shouldn't follow behind her just to make sure nothing happens."

"If you do that and she finds out, which she will, we'll lose her forever," said Joe. "Remember, she's got money to send telegrams to Rip, Matt, and her Godfathers if you treat her like a baby or try to break her spirit. I know that she gave the money to Roy and he will send those telegrams for her. You weren't that overprotective with us so why are you being that way with Cat?"

"I'm being overprotective with your sister because she's just a little girl and has been through too much already in her young life."

"If you feel so strongly about it, why did you take out to Silver Hawk's village this morning?" asked Adam. "You knew that once she found out there were Indians living near the Ponderosa, she would want to go there as often as possible. What did he say about her?"

"He said that if I only allow her to go places when she is with an adult, she will become like a flower in the winter and wither up and die."

"Is that what you want?" asked Joe. "Because if you don't give her more freedom, she will leave on her own. I know that Adam has seen her looking at the maps and thinks she knows how to get to Rip's fort on her own. She may even ride out to Silver Hawk's village and ask him for help getting to Rip or the Apaches. Either way, she will never be allowed to come back here. Rip and Matt will see to that. How do you think Kate would feel about you trying to keep her daughter cooped up here at home?"

While her father and brothers were talking, Cat had crept out of bed and was sitting on the top step listening to everything that was being said. She couldn't believe that her father was going to break his promise and have someone ride to the Ingalls with her. She decided that she was going to figure out how to get back to Dodge. It would take some planning because she'd have to take Fury and Lady as well as Star, her puppies and some of her clothes. It was a long way to Dodge, so she was going to need help getting there. She decided to ask Silver Hawk for help getting to the Apaches. Once she was with them, they would take her to Uncle Rip and he would take her to Uncle Matt in Dodge. Uncle Roy had her telegram money and she could always ask him to send telegrams to Uncle Matt and Uncle Rip. One of them would come and get her. Cat reasoned that it was all her mother's fault. If her mother had stayed in Australia, she wouldn't have gotten killed and then she would still be in Dodge where she was happy. She was tired of not being allowed to go anywhere or do anything by herself. When she lived in Dodge, she could go anywhere and do anything she wanted as long as an adult knew where she was and her schoolwork got done. She figured she had better go downstairs and use the outhouse before she got caught being out of bed and listening to what was being said. It had been easy to listen when she lived in Dodge. The little room she shared with Uncle Matt didn't have a door, just a blanket for a curtain and since everyone thought she was asleep, nobody talked in whispers. Cat walked downstairs followed by her puppies.

"Catherine, what are you doing out of bed at this time of night?" asked Ben. "You should have been asleep a long time ago."

"I have to use the outhouse."

"Would you like ol' Hoss to carry you Punkin?"

"Sure Hoss. That would be swell."

"Alright then. You just climb up on my back and I'll carry you to where you need to go."

When Cat finished in the outhouse, she climbed back on Hoss' back and he started carrying her back to the house.

"Hoss, can I ask you something."

"Of course you can Punkin. You can always ask ol' Hoss anything at all."

"Why doesn't Pa love me?"

"What do you mean? Pa loves you a whole lot. He always has ever since your mother said she was going to have a baby."

"He doesn't act like it. He won't let me go anywhere or do anything by myself. When I was in Dodge, I could go anywhere or do anything I wanted as long as an adult knew where I was and my schoolwork got done. I used to do most of my schoolwork while I was fishing. If I needed help with my Arithmetic, I went over to Julie's house or out to the Tanners when I got done fishing. I could go swimming in the creek with the other kids and even got to use the rope swing. Pa won't let me do any of that stuff by myself. I always have to have a grown up with me and it's not fair. When I was in Dodge, I always rode a big horse when I was running telegrams for Mr. Brown and Uncle Matt never took my money away from me."

"I know Punkin. It's not that Pa don't love you. He just wants to keep you safe. He's afraid you'll get hurt and he don't want that to happen."

"I'm tired of being treated like a baby. I'm going to ask Uncle Roy to send telegrams to Uncle Matt and Uncle Rip and ask them to come and get me."

Hoss sat down in the rocking chair on the porch and put his sister in his lap. "You've only been here a week Kitten. And you are just a little bitty Kitten. You won't be a full grown Cat for a long time yet. Why don't you wait a little while longer and see if things get better? If'n they don't, I'll take you to Matt or Rip myself and maybe Little Joe will come along, but you've got to give it time. Pa's got to get used to the fact that you are more independent than he'd like you to be and you've got to get used to the way thing are done around here. You won't always have to have someone with you when you go somewhere or do something, but you've got to wait a little while. You can't say exactly how things are always going to be just by the way they've been your first week here. We've got to teach you how to get around the ranch so's you don't get lost. I know you know how to get out to Lake Tahoe and to the Ingalls by yourself, so that's two places nobody needs to go with you. I know Pa said you can't swim in Lake Tahoe unless an adult is with you and there's a good reason for that. The lake is a lot bigger and deeper than the creek you and your friends played in near Dodge. Storms blow up might quick out there and you ain't learned how to read the weather real good yet. I'll show you where there's a pond close to the house you can swim in by yourself. It's not as big as the lake, but it's a whole lot safer and you won't need to have an adult with you. I think Joe and I were twelve or thirteen before we were allowed to swim in Lake Tahoe without Adam or Pa with us, so Pa's not treating you any different then he did me and Joe when we were nine. Now it's late and you've got a full day planned for tomorrow, so's I'd better get you back to bed. I want you to promise me that you'll wait a while before having Roy send those telegrams for you."

"Ok Hoss. I'll wait for a little while but not too long."

"That's my girl. I'll talk to Pa and see if I can convince him to let you ride Star all the time instead of just when you're with one of us. Will that do for starters?"

Cat hugged him. "Thank you Hoss. Yes, it will do for now. I'm nine years old and I'm tired of Pa and Adam treating me like I'm a baby."

"Ok then. Let's get you back to bed before Pa wonders what's takin' us so long and comes lookin' for us."

Ben wondered what was taking Hoss and Cat so long. He got up out of his chair and opened the front door. When he saw Hoss in the rocking chair with Cat in his lap, he decided to wait for Hoss to tell him what was going on, so he quietly closed the door and went back to his chair. Hoss carried his sister back into the house and upstairs to her bedroom. He put her puppies in bed with her and said, "It won't be much longer and these two will be able to get in bed without any help. Goodnight Punkin. I promise, I will talk to Pa about what you told me when I go back downstairs. I can't promise that he'll listen to me but I will talk to him. Now, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I know Joe has told you. You are not allowed to have any more nightmares, ever. Ifn you do, I'm gonna hold you down while he tickles you and you have an accident in your pants. So no more nightmares ever."

"Ok Hoss. Thanks."

"You're welcome Kitten. Now get some sleep or you'll be too tired to play with your friends tomorrow."

"What's wrong with your sister?" asked Ben when Hoss went back downstairs.

"She wanted to know why you don't love her."

"What do you mean?"

"Just what I said. Cat doesn't think you love her and wants to go back to Dodge. She was planning on having Roy send telegrams to Matt and Rip."

"Why would she feel that way? She knows I love her. I tell her several times a day how much I love her."

"She thinks you don't love her because you're being so overprotective. You won't let her go anywhere or do anything by herself. She told me that when she was in Dodge, she could go anywhere and do anything she wanted to as long as an adult knew where she was and her schoolwork got done. She used to do most of her schoolwork while she was fishing and if she needed help with Arithmetic, she got the help when she got back from fishing. She rides a full sized horse in Dodge but you want her to ride a pony. Cat is nine years old and she feels like you think she's a baby and are treating her like one. I explained why she's not allowed to go swimming in Lake Tahoe alone and promised to show her the pond she can swim in. I also promised her that I was going to talk to you about letting her ride Star or another horse all the time, not just when one of us is with her." Ben frowned at Hoss' statements about letting her swim alone in the pond and ride a full sized horse all the time. "I also promised her that if things don't get better for her after a few weeks, I'll take her to Dodge myself."

"What do you mean you told her you'd take her back to Dodge yourself?!" Demanded Ben.

"I want to see her happy, even if it's in Dodge. She ain't happy here 'cause she's lonely and you won't let her do nothin' on her own. She's convinced that either you or Adam are either going to go with or follow her when she goes to get Laura and Mary in the morning."

"Hoss is right Pa." said Joe. "Cat is not a typical little girl. She's learned to do things for herself because of the way she was raised. She spent almost a year living with the Apaches and knows how to do things most nine year olds, especially girls don't know how to do. You took her out to Silver Hawk's village and then told her she couldn't go back unless one of us was with her. When are any of us going to have time to take her out there and let her stay there all day? I know she's only been here a week, but we've got to start showing her how to get places on her own or she'll either have Roy send those telegrams or she'll try and get to Rip or Matt on her own."

"I know that you boys are right but that doesn't make me want to protect her and keep her safe here at home any less. She's been hurt so much already first with Kate just leaving her with Matt and not even bothering to write to her, and then coming back and getting killed with Cat standing right next to her. I was all set to start giving her more freedom when the team ran away with her this afternoon. Now all I want to do is hold her close and protect her from ever getting hurt. Silver Hawk is planning on adopting her next Tuesday and now I'm not even sure I want to let him go through with it because he is going to use a large knife to cut her finger."

"How big of a cut is he going to make?" asked Adam. "Somehow I don't think Cat's going to be worried about it since she's been through the adoption ceremony twice already. Think about this question and see if you can answer it. If Kate had brought Cat here instead of to Matt and Grandfather came here and demanded you give her to him, would you have said no to your father?"

"It's going to be a small cut and I know that your sister isn't a bit worried about it. I'm just being overprotective. That's the same question Charles Ingalls asked me and the answer is I don't know and I do know that's why Kate took her to Matt instead of bring her here. She just couldn't depend on me to say no to our father."

"I have an idea," said Hoss. "But first, you have to start easing up on Cat by letting her ride a bigger horse than Ginger and let her go swimming in the pond by herself. She's a good horsewoman. I read that letter from Julia Grant and shore was impressed at how good a rider little sister is when her horse got spooked by a rattler and she didn't panic but instead slowly brought the horse to a stop. There ain't many people who can do that without hurting their horse or themself. She ain't real good at knowing what time it is without a clock or watch, so someone will have to go and get her when it's time. We're going to have to start teaching her how to know how to tell time by the sun. Otherwise when she's out by herself, she may not start for home until almost dark."

"Alright Hoss. Starting tomorrow, Catherine can ride Star for a while. Then we'll see about a bigger horse. Maybe by the time Fury is old enough to ride, I won't want to be so overprotective of her. What is your idea?"

"Cat keeps saying that the Apaches taught her how to track real good and how to hide and not be found. I say we put her to the test on Friday. One of us will ride out and hide somewhere on the ranch and Cat will try to find him. We'll give the person hiding an hour's head start to make it fair. Then we'll let Cat do the hiding and we'll try to track her. If she wins both parts of the game, you show her how to get out to Silver Hawk's village on her own, let her go there alone, and all of us start showing her how to get different places on the ranch. If she wins one part of the game, we just start showing her how to get to more places on the ranch by herself. If she doesn't win either part of the game, you start easing up on her slow like and start by just teaching her places that are close by the house. Adam, Joe, what do you two think? Will it work?"

"I think it's an excellent idea," said Adam. "She can't say we're treating her like a baby if we do that and it will prove to her that you do have some trust in her abilities."

"That's a great idea Hoss," said Joe. "I'm sure Cat will enjoy showing off some of the skills the Apaches taught her."

"The only thing is Pa," said Hoss. "You have to let her go and hide on her own. Nobody can go with her because it will be too easy to track one of our horses. Each of our horses has a special mark on his right rear shoe to make it easier to find the horse if he gets stolen or the rider if something happens to him. Cat doesn't know that so she won't know what to look for."

"That sounds like a good idea and I'm tempted to go along with it," said Ben. "But when she's off on her own, how will she know when it's time to come home? I don't want her out past suppertime. There are too many dangers for a nine year old alone at night."

"I done got that figured out too Pa. We give her a watch and tell her if she ain't been found three hours after starting out, she needs to come home. Also, to be fair, she needs to stay in the house when one of us hides so she can't see what direction he took off in and we need to do the same when she hides. One more thing is Cat keeps her puppies with her. They may be young, but one of them can git help if she needs it, but they can't help her with tracking."

"Alright son. I'll go along with your idea although I'd like to wait one more week just to give us time to show her a little more of the ranch. I won't follow her in the morning when she goes to get Mary and Laura either. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if she wants to go and invite Mitch to the picnic before she goes to the Ingalls."

"That's easy Pa," said Joe. "Let her go. I'll draw her a map so she won't get lost."

"Alright. You three win. I'll try to stop wanting to be so overprotective but it won't be easy. I want to wrap your sister in cotton wool and treat her like a China doll."

Adam, Hoss, and Joe burst out laughing. "Yeah, like that's going to go over well," laughed Joe. "She's too much like her mother to stand for that."

"I know son. My sister was wild and her daughter is even wilder. I guess I'm going to have to accept that Catherine will never be a typical little girl. I don't have to like it, but I do have to learn to accept it."

"Why don't you ride out to the Ingalls after the girls come back here tomorrow morning?" asked Adam. "Then you can ask their advice about how to keep Cat safe without being overprotective. If you wait until the girls get here, Cat won't think you're following her. You don't even have to say where you're going, just that you have some errands to do and will be back before dinner."

"Alright Adam. I'll ride out and ask Charles and Caroline what to do about our little Wild Cat. Now, I suggest we all get some sleep. We're going to be entertaining three little girls all day tomorrow. I'm going to write in my journal for a little while and I'll see you in the morning."