Abel Goss set up his camera equipment and took several pictures of Cat and her puppies sitting on the beaver dam. He also took a picture of the men digging the channel to connect the two streams. When he finished, he put his camera equipment back into the wagon and returned with three photographs that he handed to Ben. "Lucas asked me to give these to your daughter."

Ben looked at the pictures. One was of Lucas, one was of Mark and the third was of both of them together with Mark standing in front of his father. "Those are very nice Abel. I am quite sure that Catherine will enjoy seeing them. I will have to buy some frames so she can hang them on one of her bedroom walls or keep them on her chest of drawers. "Lucas was right. I would like to have a family portrait done."

"I will be more than happy to do a family portrait as well as portraits of each individual family member. In fact, I will do two family portraits and two individual portraits of everyone. One with everybody in work clothes and one with everybody in dress clothes."

"Thank you Mr. Goss. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you doing that. Saturday before we leave for the dance or Sunday after church would probably be the best time to do the portraits of everyone in dress clothes. Once we get back to the house, I'll have a room made up for you and you will be welcome to stay as long as you care to."

"Thank you Mr. Cartwright. I gladly accept your offer."

"Please call me Ben."

"Alright, Ben it is. Please call me Abel. A comfortable bed and home cooked meals are pleasures I do not enjoy very often while traveling around the country. If you don't mind, I am going to wait until we get to your house before I develop these negatives. It takes time to do, especially if you want more than one print from each negative and I don't know how long we're going to be here."

"That's fine Abel. We'll find a good spot in the yard to park your wagon and you can develop your negatives whenever you want to. I am looking forward to seeing those photographs."

The men worked on digging the channel for several hours when Adam said, "Hoss, go and get Cat so she can see what we're doing. I know that Pa's watching her on that dam, but I'd feel better if she were off it."

"Shore thing Adam. I'll be back with little sister in a few minutes." Hoss walked over to where Cat was sitting on the beaver dam and said, "Come her Punkin. I need to show you somethin'."

"But Adam will hurt my beavers if I get off here."

"No he won't. I promise you that I won't let him do anything to the beavers."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Who's bigger, me or Adam?"

"You are."

"That's right and if he tries to do anything to the beavers, I'll pick him up and throw him in the lake."

"Ok. I'll come with you but if Adam tries to hurt my beavers, I'm gonna kick him in the shins."

"Little sister, if Adam tries to hurt your beavers, I'll let you wear my boots when you kick him."

Ben, Sam, and Abel stood there laughing as Hoss tried to coax his little sister of the dam. Cat sent her puppies to Hoss and then climbed off the dam and walked over to her brother.

"I sure hope she's not going to go back up on that thing," said Ben. "I'm sure the beavers did a good job building it and Cat doesn't weigh all that much, but I worry about her sitting up on it."

"You wouldn't be a very good parent if you weren't worried about it," said Abel.

Sam agreed. "Ben I've known you for a lot of years and you worry about your sons all the time. Even though I sometimes think you worry too much, that's what makes you such a good parent. It wouldn't matter if that dam was ten feet wide, you would still worry about Cat sitting on it and that just means that you love and care about her enough to want to make sure she's safe. Knowing you, you're probably going to want to go to school with her to keep the other kids from picking on her because she's adopted."

Ben laughed. "You know me too well Sam. You're right. It is tempting to go to school with her so I can keep the other children from picking on her."

Cat took Hoss' hand and they walked over to where the men were working. While they were walking, he said, "I'm sorry I got you so upset at supper last night. I wasn't really gonna take your piece of cake. If anything, I would have given you mine too. I was just tryin' to get your mind off Mrs. Warren and the trial."

"I know. You teased me like that before. I reckon I was just too tired to know what you were doin'. I'm sorry I got mad at you."

"That's alright. People get grumpy and don' think right when they're real tired. Now little sister, you've got to stop talkin' like me. You've got to start usin' proper grammar. Ifn you don't, you'll get bad grades in school and Pa will be mad at you. Also, Pa and Adam will keep correctin' your grammar until it makes you mad enough to scream and I don't want that to happen 'cause you could lose your temper and get in trouble for it. Here we are. I'll let Adam tell ya what we're doin'."

Adam looked at his sister, shook his head and sighed at the extra work she was causing. "We are digging a channel to connect the stream the beavers blocked with their dam to another stream coming out of the lake on that side." He pointed to where the other stream was coming out of the lake. "This channel is deep enough to bring water from one stream to the other but still have water in the other stream going to where it's needed. This way, the cattle will still get water and your beavers can stay where they are."

"You mean you're not going to murder my beavers?"

"No little sister. You and those beavers are making us do a lot of extra work, but your beavers will not be harmed. Now, it's almost dinner time. Why don't you and Pa ride back to the house and see if Hop Sing will make sandwiches for everybody? That way we can go back to work right after dinner and it will only take us a few more hours to finish."

"How come there isn't any water in it yet?"

"Because it's very hard to dig in the mud. If we dig in the dry ground, we can make sure we don't dig too deep."

"Oh. Ok. I'll go and ask Pa about asking Hop Sing to make dinner for everybody."

Cat started to run off when Adam grabbed her, gave her a light swat and said, "No running until tomorrow Cat. You've only got half a day to go. I know that you can do it if you try hard enough. You don't want Pa to punish you for running when you've only got half a day to go, now do you?"

"No I don't, but it's hard not running."

"I understand but Paul just wants to make sure your ribs are completely healed. If you fall when you're running, you could get hurt worse and then Paul could make you go a whole month or more without running. I know you don't want that to happen, so walk even though you don't want to."

"Ok."

"I love you little sister and I'm just trying to keep you from getting hurt or getting in trouble with Pa. Now, go and talk to him about getting Hop Sing to make some dinner for all of us. Because if we have to finish this on empty stomachs, I'm going to throw you in the lake and then I'll let our brothers and all of the hands do the same thing."

Cat stuck her tongue out at her brother and dodged a pretend swat he aimed at her. Then she walked back over to Ben and told him about Adam's request for dinner to be brought out. "He said if they have to finish digging the channel without eating dinner, he's gonna throw me in the lake and he's gonna let Hoss, Joe, and all the hands do it too."

"Well, we can't have that happening, now can we? So I suggest we get our horses, ride back to the house and ask Hop Sing to make some dinner for everyone."

While they were riding back to the house, Cat said, "Pa?"

"Yes Cat?"

"Adam said a cuss word and I think he told a lie too."

Ben tried to keep a straight face but his eyes were full of laughter at his nine year old daughter trying to get her eldest brother in trouble. "I am very surprised to hear that. What word did he say?"

"It starts with d."

"I see. And how do you know it's a cuss word?"

"'Cause Uncle Matt and I were walking by the Long Branch one day and a cowboy came out and said that word. I asked Uncle Matt what it meant and he said it was a cuss word and I shouldn't say it."

"He was correct. That cowboy said a cuss word and you should not say it. However, that word can be spelled two different ways and each spelling has a different meaning. The word Adam said is spelled d-a-m and it means something that has been built to hold back water. Now the word that the cowboy used has the letter n after the m and that is a cuss word." At Cat's confused look he said, "Did Miss Jackson teach you about words that sound the same but are spelled differently, like s-t-a-r-e and s-t-a-i-r?"

"Oh yeah, now I remember. S-t-a-r-e means to look at someone for a long time and s-t-a-i-r is something you walk on to get to a different level."

"Exactly."

"Oh, so Adam didn't say a cuss word."

"No he didn't. Why do you think he might have told a lie."

"When I said he was an arkitekt, he said he was an engineer too. I said he was lying because he doesn't drive a train and he said that there are engineers that drive trains and there are engineers that build stuff like houses and bridges."

"He's telling the truth. He went to college and studied architecture and engineering. He is the kind of engineer that builds things."

"Oh."

Ben found himself laughing at the look on Cat's face when she learned that she wasn't going to be able to get Adam in trouble. "What else did he say?"

"He said he was gonna pull me off the beaver wall and set my bottom on fire. He can't do that, can he Pa?"

"No he can't. Your brothers aren't allowed to spank you yet and he knows it. I am going to have a talk with him about that, especially as you weren't doing anything wrong. Now let's go and see if we can talk Hop Sing into making sandwiches for everybody. I don't want your brothers and the hands throwing you in the lake."

"But it might be fun to play with my beavers. I need to meet them so I can name them."

Ben sighed. His little girl was just as big, if not bigger animal lover than his middle son and wanted to play with every creature she found. "Cat, those beavers are wild animals. They won't understand that you're trying to play with them and they might bite you. If that happens, you could get very sick and nobody wants that to happen. The best thing to do is watch them from the shore and stay away from any trees they're cutting down. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Why do they need to cut down more trees? They already have a house and a wall to hold the water."

"Beavers don't just use trees to build their houses and dams, they also eat trees."

"Oh. I thought they ate fish. I was gonna go fishing and bring them lots of fish to eat."

"Sorry Kitten. Beavers eat trees. Now if you want to catch a lot of fish and bring them home, I know that your brothers would love to eat them."

"Yeah, but if I bring lots of fish home, I have to clean them and that takes a lot of time 'cause Hoss eats more than anybody else in the whole world."

Ben laughed at Cat's description of her brother's appetite as they dismounted and walked into the kitchen. Ben asked Hop Sing to make sandwiches for everybody out at the lake. "How many people?" asked Hop Sing.

Ben looked at Cat and asked, "Well Cat, how many people do we need dinner for?"

"Let's see. There are ten hands. Pete, Adam, Hoss, and Joe makes fourteen. Me, Pa, Mr. Sam, and Mr. Goss makes…" She started counting on her fingers.

"You don't need to count on your fingers Sweetheart," said Ben. "You already said that counting your brothers and Pete there are fourteen men working on the channel between the two streams. Counting you, how many more people are left?"

"Four. You, me, Mr. Sam and Mr. Goss."

"That's right so how much is four plus four?"

"Eight. Counting you and me, we need dinner for eighteen people."

"Very good. Isn't it easier if you break the arithmetic problem down into smaller pieces?"

"Yeah, it is but I still don't like arithmetic."

Ben laughed as they walked into the great room. "You don't need to like it. You just have to be able to do it when you have to. Now, we need to talk about your grammar. I don't like the fact that you are starting to talk like Hoss. You are a little girl and need to use proper grammar."

"What's wrong with the way Hoss talks? I understand everythin' he says."

"I know that Kitten but if you don't use proper grammar, you won't get good marks in school. Also, people expect girls and ladies to use proper grammar. They'll think I'm not doing a good job as your father if I allow you to use improper grammar."

"I don't care what people think. I don't need them. Instead of yelling for help, I should have acted like an Apache warrior when Mrs. Warren attacked me and hurt her bad. Maybe she would have died and then I wouldn't ever have to worry about her again. The next time she hurts me, I'm gonna show her just what an Apache warrior does when they get attacked. The kids in Silver Hawk's village were right. I was a coward but I won't be next time."

Ben was shocked to hear his nine year old daughter say that she didn't need people and that she should have hurt Mrs. Warren badly enough for the elderly lady to die. Matt had told him that Cat didn't think she needed people but he hadn't believed it until he heard her say so. He hugged Cat close and asked, "You don't really mean that you don't need people and that you wish you would have hurt Mrs. Warren badly enough for her to die, do you?"

"Yes I do. I don't need people for anything. I can hunt and fish and cook what I catch. I'm getting' better at making my own clothes and in a few years, I'll be able to kill and skin a deer. Then I really won't need nobody, just my dogs and my horse. Mrs. Warren is a mean, nasty lady and I know she'll hurt me again. If I wouldn't have been a coward, she wouldn't be able to hurt nobody ever again."

"You were not a coward. You did the right thing by calling for help. Everybody will do their best to keep Mrs. Warren from hurting you again. Please tell me, why do you think that you don't need people?"

"'Cause they hurt you or lie to you or go away and leave you or die or send you away. People do that stuff because they want to. Animals don't."

Ben hugged her tighter, knowing where her feelings were coming from. The events of the past two months and especially the last week were taking their toll on her. "Sweetheart, your father didn't want to leave you and your mother to fight in the war. It was something he felt he had to do. If he had known he would be killed, he never would have gone. Your mother didn't want to leave you and go to Australia. She left because your grandfather told her if she didn't, he would turn the two of you out on the street with nothing but the clothes on your backs and tell your Aunt Victoria and me that we weren't allowed to help you. He also told her that Uncle Matt wouldn't have been able to take care of the two of you and that unmarried Army officers weren't allowed to have any family members with them. He lied to your mother and she believed him because he was her father.

I don't know about Victoria, but I would gladly have helped the two of you and so would Matt and Rip. Your mother didn't want to die that night in Dodge. She was murdered and one day, the person who killed her will be caught. Uncle Matt didn't send you away. He wanted you to stay in Dodge with him but knew that you needed a home and a family. That's why he let me adopt you. It won't be too many more years before you start turning into a young woman. When that happens, you'll be too old to share that little room with him. He didn't want you living by yourself at Ma Smalley's. He wanted you to live with family and knew that you would be happier here than at Aunt Victoria's house in California.

I will never send you away either unless it is absolutely necessary. If you want to go to college when you finish school here in Virginia City, I will arrange for that to happen, but it will be your decision, not mine. When the right boy comes along and asks for your hand in marriage, I will be the proudest papa in the world and I will spoil your children rotten. If you and your husband want to live on the Ponderosa, I will give you a piece of land or you can live in your parents' house. We have kept it in good repair in the event you ever wanted to move into it. But all of that is in the future. I will never send you away unless everybody in the family is sick and then it will just be until we are well again. If that happens, you will stay with the Ingalls or the Devlins so you won't be far away. Just remember that I have loved you ever since your parents told me that your mother was going to have a baby and I will still love you even after I have gone to live in Heaven. Now, why don't you walk to the outhouse and I will check and see if Hop Sing has dinner ready for everybody?"

Cat went outside and Ben walked into the kitchen to talk to Hop Sing. "Did you hear what Cat said?"

"Yes. Missy Cat been through too much in short time. Worry about Mrs. Warren. Family upset too. Need to take day to spend as family. Go fishing and swimming. Spend time with Missy Cat. Let her know she loved by family."

"You're right of course. You almost always are. Family includes you. We'll go out to Lake Tahoe after church on Sunday and spend the entire afternoon fishing and swimming. You will come too. Cat will be upset and disappointed if you don't. I just hope that Sam and Abel will understand that we need to spend a day together as a family without anybody else there."

"Who is Abel?"

"Abel Goss is a photographer. He is a friend of Lucas McCain. Lucas sent him here because he thought I might like to have a portrait done of the whole family. I am going to have several done and you will be in them also. Abel will be staying with us for a few days." Cat walked back into the kitchen and found Ben putting sandwiches and cookies into his saddle bags. He looked at her and asked, "Will you please go out to the barn and bring another set of saddle bags in here? Mine are getting full with the food and yours are full with your puppies."

"Bring three more," said Hop Sing before Cat could walk out the door. Cat returned with three more sets of saddle bags and Hop Sing put jugs of sweet cider into each side of two of them, while Ben finished putting the food in the other one. As they were walking out the door, Hop Sing cautioned them, "Be careful going back. Do not break cider jugs."

"Don't worry Hop Sing," said Ben. "We'll be very careful. I wouldn't want to waste a single drop of your sweet cider."

Ben and Cat walked out of the house and were about to mount their horses when Hop Sing walked up to Ben and handed him a sack. Ben opened the sack looked in and smiled. It was full of tin cups. "Everybody dlink from cups, not jugs. I no want jugs broken."

"Alright Hop Sing. I'll make sure that everybody drinks from the cups. Nobody will drink from the jugs and they won't be broken."

As Ben and Cat rode out of the yard, neither one of them noticed Frank staring at Cat with hatred in his eyes. To his way of thinking, he was always being given the worst jobs on the ranch and it was all the brat's fault. He had to find a way to get rid of her. If she were gone, he reasoned, he would take her place with the family and the Cartwrights would all die one way or another and then the Ponderosa would be his to do with as he pleased. He had heard about Mrs. Warren attacking Cat after church and thought it was a shame the old lady hadn't hurt the brat enough to kill her. Those two young hands that were so infatuated with the brat needed to be eliminated also. Knowing that they and the others were all out enjoying a picnic dinner while he was stuck having to go, mend fences in the north pasture, as far away from the family as he could be sent and still be on the ranch made him hate Cat even more. He started thinking about how to get rid of her without anyone knowing he was responsible for her death. Or he had to make killing her look like an accident. Either way, the brat had to die. He just had to figure out how to do it when she was always being protected by her family and the other hands. Just then Bob came riding into the yard. "What's taking so long to get those nails? You should have been back a long time ago." He noticed Frank staring at Ben and Cat and said, "Quit worrying about what the Cartwrights are doing. We have work to do. That fence isn't going to mend itself."

"Yeah I'm coming. I got the nails. It seems all I ever do around here is mend fences. I always get the worst jobs on the ranch."

"I don't know what your problem is but mending fences isn't the worst job on the ranch. Everybody does it, including the boss' sons and they've been teaching their little sister how to do it too. Now let's get going. We've got a bunch of fence to mend before dark." As they rode toward the pasture, Bob made a mental note to tell Pete about Frank watching Cat and complaining about the work he was given to do. There was definitely something wrong with the man the way he was obsessed with the boss' family, especially Miss Cat.

Ben and Cat rode back to the small lake where the men were working. Since Cat had the jugs of cider on Beauty, Ben helped her dismount. Then he took her puppies out of her saddle bags and said, "Why don't you go and tell your brothers and the rest of the men that we brought dinner. They've been working hard so that the beavers can stay where they are and you should be the one to tell them that we have dinner for them."

Cat walked over to where everyone was working. Adam saw his sister, picked her up and asked, "Well Squirt. Did you bring any dinner for us or are we going to feed you to those beavers?"

Cat giggled. "Me and Pa brought dinner for everyone but you. I told Hop Sing that you weren't hungry."

"Why you little scamp. Do you know what I am going to do to you?"

"No, what?"

"I am going to tickle you until you wet your pants and then I am going to feed you to those beavers. I know that they usually eat wood, but maybe they might like to eat a little girl for a change." Adam put Cat over his shoulder and started tickling her as he walked toward their father.

"Adam, why do you have your sister over your shoulder and why are you tickling her?"

"The little scamp said that she told Hop Sing I wasn't hungry so he didn't pack any food for me. So I am going to tickle her until she wets her pants and then I am going to feed her to those beavers."

Ben laughed. "Well son, since Matt said that your sister won't tell a lie, you must have told her you weren't hungry. I'll ask your brothers and the hands if they heard you. If they didn't, you may feel free to feed Cat to the beavers." Cat giggled, knowing that all of the hands and her brothers would say that they heard Adam say he wasn't hungry. Joe, Hoss, Pete and the hands walked up to where Ben, Adam, Sam, and Abel were standing. "I need to know the answer to a question. Did anybody hear Adam tell his sister that he wasn't hungry?"

"I did Pa," said Hoss. "I was mighty surprised to hear older brother here say he didn't want any dinner."

"So did I Pa," said Joe. "I couldn't believe he said that since he's been digging right alongside the rest of us."

Pete and all of the hands agreed with Hoss and Joe. Ben turned to Adam, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face while his eyes were filled with laughter. "I'm sorry son, but you heard everybody. You told your sister that you were not hungry, so you may not feed her to the beavers." Adam let out an exaggerated sigh and put his sister down. Cat stuck her tongue out at her eldest brother and started to run off when she was grabbed by her father who gave her a light swat. "That's enough of that. Polite little girls don't go around sticking their tongue out at their brothers, especially in front of men who work for them. Men, there are sandwiches, cookies and sweet cider for everyone. Hop Sing doesn't want his cider jugs broken so he sent cups for everyone to drink from. Please be careful with the jugs because if one gets broken and Hop Sing yells at me, I will tell him exactly who broke the jug. Then he will yell at you and I will laugh at you because you are being scolded by Hop Sing.

"But Hop Sing won't yell at me," said Cat. "He says I'm perfect." Hoss started to eat a cookie before grabbing a sandwich and Cat said, "Hoss, you're not supposed to eat cookies before you eat your food. I'm the only one allowed to eat cookies before food because I'm special."

"An' just what makes you so special?"

"'Cause I'm the only girl."

Everyone who heard Cat's comments laughed. Ben gave one of her braids a playful tug and teased, "I am very well aware of Hop Sing's feelings toward you and that you are very special. However, if you break one of his cider jugs, he will yell at you. Then your brothers and I will laugh at you. In fact, I may tell Hop Sing to yell at you in the yard so all of the hands can laugh at you too. Then I will let Adam feed you to those beavers you were so anxious to protect. Now eat some food before everyone else eats everything and even though you are the only girl, you cannot have any cookies before you eat your food. If you get grumpy because you haven't eaten enough, I'll feed you to the beavers myself."

Cat giggled and started eating a sandwich while Ben poured a cup of cider for her. "Mmmmmm. This ish goo."

"Cat, don't talk with your mouth full," said Adam. "No one can understand you and it's not polite."

Before Cat could reply to Adam, Hoss said, "Adam's right Punkin. It just ain't polite to talk with your mouth full."

Cat glared at Adam but didn't even give Hoss a funny look. She finished chewing her food, took a sip of cider and said, "Ok Hoss. I won't."

Sam was amused at the different ways Cat reacted to her brothers both telling her the same thing. "Ben, I think Adam is going to have his hands full with Cat. She reacts to him the same way Joe used to."

"I think you're right Sam. I'll have to watch how she reacts to him. I don't mind disagreements. They happen all the time and teasing among siblings is common. However I will not tolerate Catherine being disrespectful to Adam."

"Just be patient with her my friend. Remember, she's still learning how to live with a family."

"Don't worry Sam. All I've seen so far is some teasing & angry looks at being corrected for not using proper grammar and just now for talking with her mouth full. Adam is always correcting her grammar and just like Joe, Cat hates it when Adam corrects her grammar."

"I don't know that I've ever met a child who enjoyed having their grammar corrected. I know my brothers and I didn't."

"You're right about that Sam. I'm sure that Abel will agree with us. No child likes having their grammar corrected, especially by an older sibling."

Everyone finished eating and the men went back to work. They worked for several more hours until there were only about five feet to go when Adam told everyone to stop working. He walked up to Cat, handed her a shovel and said, "You are the cause of all this work, so it's time you did some yourself. Get your gloves and finish digging the rest of the channel." Cat just looked at him so he said, "You caused all of this extra work and haven't done anything all day except watch the rest of us. So it's time for you to do some work. Now get your gloves and come with me."

Cat looked at Ben with questioning in her eyes and he replied, "Go ahead, get your gloves and go with Adam. This ranch will be yours someday and you need to start learning what it takes to run it. All of these men, including your brothers have been out here working all day because you wanted to save the beavers. So, it's only fitting that you do a little bit of the work yourself."

Cat got her gloves from her saddle bags and walked over to where Adam was waiting for her. He pointed to where the other stream exited the lake. "We've dug this channel from all the way over there to right here. All you have to do is dig this last five feet. I know that you're still pretty small and not used to ranch work so just do the best you can. If it gets to be too much for you or your ribs start hurting, one of us will help you but you need to try." Cat took the shovel from Adam and started digging. When she started digging too deep, Adam said "Whoa little sister. Not quite so deep. You're not digging for worms. Just did as deep as everyone else did."

Cat started digging again. When her puppies saw what she was doing, they started digging too. Dirt started flying everywhere, causing everyone to move so they wouldn't be hit by the flying dirt. Knowing that Cat was just as stubborn as Joe and wouldn't quit even if she was too tired to keep digging, Adam kept a careful eye on her. The dirt was very hard and digging through it was difficult. After digging about two feet, Cat saw that her puppies were doing a better job than she was so she put her shovel down, got down on her knees and started digging with her hands. Everyone laughed and Ben shook his head in amazement. She dug for a few more minutes when a pair of hands grabbed her around her waist, lifted her up and set her down on her feet. "Alright little sister," said Adam. "You've done enough digging for now. I'll finish the rest for you. Hop Sing is right. You are too small and need to start eating more. I think you're smaller than Joe was when he was nine. We've also got to start strengthening those muscles. Otherwise, you'll never be able to help with the ranch work." Adam picked up the shovel and made short work of the remaining distance to the dry stream. Once he had connected the channel to the dry stream, Adam picked Cat up and carried her to where they had started digging the channel. He set her down and said, tuck your pants legs inside your boots. That way they won't get wet when you dig this little bit open. It's not very deep so the water won't go inside your boots."

Cat sat down and tucked her pants legs inside of her boots. Then she picked up her shovel and dug out the little bit of dirt between the stream and channel, allowing the water to flow freely. Cat started jumping up and down in the water. "Look Adam," she cried excitedly. "It's working. Water is going through it."

"Yes I see that," he replied with an amused look on his face." Come out of the water before you slip and get soaking wet. Pa'll have my hide if you do."

Cat walked out of the channel and was picked up by her brother. "I can walk Adam."

"I know that, but it will be faster if I carry you. I want to see how the water is flowing into the other stream and I don't want you running to keep up with me."

Abel had taken his camera back out of the wagon and set it up pointing toward where Adam had taken Cat. As they were walking back and got close to him he said, "Stop a minute please Adam. I want to take a picture of you holding your sister like that. You may think she's a pest now, but one day you will look at that picture with fond memories of today. Some day you will show that picture to her children and tell them about the day a nine year old girl caused extra work for fourteen men and by doing so, saved the life of some beavers."