The next morning as Adam and Cat were riding toward a good hunting spot, Mitch Harris snuck into town, found one of the hidden slingshots and hid near Mrs. Warren's house. She exited her house about fifteen minutes later and using the slingshot, Mitch hit her with two small stones. She cried out in pain and hurried in the direction she thought the stones had come from. By the time she reached the spot where Mitch had been hiding, he was already gone. A few hours later, George retrieved another hidden slingshot from its location and hit Mrs. Warren with two acorns. She took the acorns and stones from earlier to Roy's office and demanded that he arrest Cat. "How do you know that Catherine Cartwright is the one hitting you with those objects? I haven't seen any of the Cartwrights in town today."

"I know that foul creature is responsible just like it was responsible for the judge sending me to jail. That thing doesn't belong here in our town with respectable people. It should have died when it was born."

"Mrs. Warren! I am not going to waste my time sitting here and listening to you attack Ben Cartwright's daughter. It is your own fault that you had to go to court and the judge sentenced you to jail time. I seriously doubt that she knows anything about the attacks on you but I will ride out to the Ponderosa and talk to the family to see if they know anything about it."

"That thing will probably lie just like it did in court. I am going to go out to the Ponderosa and take care of it myself. When I finish with that creature, it will wish it had never been born."

"Mrs. Warren! That is enough from you! If you go out to the Ponderosa, you will be in violation of the judge's orders and I will put you back in jail. If you even so much as harm one hair on that child's head again, the judge will send you to prison and you will be dead within a month. I said I would look into the attacks on you and I will. Now go about your business and let me do my job!"

Mrs. Warren left Roy's office in a huff, slamming the door behind her and almost knocking Clem off the steps as he walked up to the boardwalk in front of the sheriff's office. "What put the bee in her bonnet this morning?"

Roy showed him the acorns and stones. "She was hit by these this morning and swears that Cat Cartwright is responsible."

"I doubt that. I haven't seen any of the Cartwrights in town this morning and if they were, Cat would be with her family, not running around attacking Mrs. Warren with stones and acorns."

"I agree, but I am going to ride out to the Ponderosa and see if Cat knows anything about the attacks. I know that babysitting Millicent Warren isn't really part of your job description but I need you to keep an eye on her while I'm gone. She threatened to ride out to the Ponderosa and deal with Cat herself and I don't need to tell you what would happen if she did."

"Knowing the Cartwrights, if Millicent Warren even attempted to hurt Cat again, there would be a war. If there were, I would side with the Cartwrights."

Roy laughed. "Between you, me, and this desk, so would I."

Clem laughed at Roy. "Sure Roy, I'll keep an eye on Mrs. Warren. What do you want me to do if she starts heading for the Ponderosa?"

"Bring her back here, put her in a cell and tell the judge. I'm going to stop and talk to him before heading out to see the Cartwrights."

Before riding out to the Ponderosa, Roy stopped at the courthouse to see if the judge was in. He wasn't in his office so Roy walked over to his house and knocked on the door. The judge answered and invited Roy in. Roy told him about the attacks on Mrs. Warren and her threat toward Cat. He said that he was going to ride out to the Ponderosa to see if Cat knew anything about the attacks on Mrs. Warren and that Clem was going to keep an eye on the woman.

When Cat and Adam reached a good location to begin their hunt, they dismounted and ground tied their horses. Cat took Lassie out of the pouch Mr. Miller had made for her while Adam took Silver Chief out of his. The two puppies ran off in search of adventure and anything they could catch. After they had walked a little ways into the woods, Adam pointed off to the left and said, I am going to go that way and see if I can get a deer. I want you to go the other way so that there won't be any danger of my accidentally shooting you like I did Joe a few years ago. Knowing that I had almost killed my brother was the worst day of my life and I don't ever want to go through that again, especially with you. We'll meet by the horses in two hours."

"How will I know when two hours are up?"

"Oh that's right. You don't know how to tell time by the sun yet. Why don't I take one of your puppies with me and then I can send him or her to get you when it's time?"

"Ok. You can take Lassie. She'll listen to you." Cat called her puppies to her and sent Lassie with Adam while she and Silver Chief went off in the other direction to hunt rabbits. About two hours later, Lassie ran up to Cat and tugged on one of her pants legs and then ran back toward the horses where Adam was waiting.

Silver Chief started to run after Lassie when Cat stopped him. "You caught some of these rabbits so you should carry one too. I'm sure that Adam made Lassie carry one and you wouldn't want them to think that you're too lazy to carry one, do you?" The puppy picked up a rabbit and ran off. Cat picked up the rest and joined Adam under a large tree where he had spread out a blanket and had put the sack containing their dinner on it.

"Put your rabbits with the others, come sit down and let's see what Hop Sing fixed us for dinner."

Cat sat down next to Adam, opened the sack and started pulling things out and unwrapping them. "Fried chicken, biscuits and fresh lemonade. Yummy. Let's eat. I'm hungry."

Adam laughed at his sister, handed her a cup and said, "Here, hold your cup and I'll pour some lemonade for you." After they finished eating, Adam put his arm around Cat, pulled her close, hugged her and said, "You and I need to talk about some things. I want you to know that I am very sorry I have been calling you a pest and a nuisance. I was wrong when I did that to Joe and I was wrong for doing it to you. Joe always ignored me when I did that and I thought you would too. Instead, I hurt your feelings and for that I am very sorry. I never wanted to hurt your feelings or make you feel like I didn't love you or want you around. I do love you and I do want you to stay on the Ponderosa. You were born here and I wish your mother never would have taken you away. The two of us are going to have to spend more time together so we can get to know each other better. There will be times in the future when Pa is gone and he will leave me in charge. When that happens, I will be telling you what to do. That doesn't mean I'm treating you like a baby. It just means that there are things that you will need to do and it will be my job to tell you what to do and ensure that you do it. That's the way it was and still is with Hoss and Joe. If Pa leaves me in charge, it's my job to tell them what they need to do and ensure it gets done."

"Did you say you're sorry because Pa told you to or because you wanted to?"

Adam hugged her. "I said I was sorry because I wanted to. I hurt you and I didn't mean to. Will you please forgive me?"

"Ok. I forgive you."

"Thank you, Cat. That means a lot to me. I meant what I said. You are my little sister now and I love you and want you to stay on the Ponderosa. You were born here and you belong here. We're not always going to agree on everything and there will probably be times I will have to punish you for doing something wrong, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. It will take time, but you will learn how to resolve differences with people without threatening to run away." When Cat looked at him funny, Adam said, "You learned how to work out your differences with those two boys in Dodge, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Depending on what they did, I either ignored or yelled at them. Then they stopped being dumb."

Adam laughed. "Well little sister, I can tell you that ignoring me won't work because I'll just tickle you and yelling at me will just get you in trouble with me and Pa. Joe found out the hard way that yelling at an adult is guaranteed to end up with the yeller receiving a spanking. Now, do we have enough rabbits for supper tonight?"

"I don't think so. We have eight and Hoss will probably eat all of them."

"No, he won't eat all eight rabbits. He'll probably only eat six of them," teased Adam. "That will leave two for the rest of us to share. I think we should spend more time hunting. I want to get another deer and if Hop Sing decides to make a stew with the rabbits, we can put the rest in the smoke house and keep them for another day. Don't worry, you're not going to have to clean all of them yourself. I'll help and I'll make sure that Hoss and Joe do too. Who knows, Pa may even decide to help us also. In fact, Hop Sing may insist that he help, especially because I am also going to have to take care of at least one deer. Have you ever skinned a deer before?"

"No. My Apache father and grandfather said I was too young the last time I was there but they did let me watch."

"I can understand that, but if I can get our brothers to take care of the rabbits, I'll start showing you how. Of course, you won't be expected to take care of an entire deer by yourself until you're older, but it can't hurt for you to start learning how. I promise I won't get upset with you if you make a mistake. It takes time to learn how to skin a deer properly and everybody makes mistakes when they're first learning. It's just about one o'clock now so let's hunt for about another hour and a half. That will give us enough time to get home and take care of the rabbits so they'll be ready when Hop Sing wants to start cooking supper. I'll take Lassie with me again and send her to you when it's time for us to leave."

When Cat rejoined Adam, they had two deer and twenty rabbits. "Are you sure Hoss won't eat all of these? He eats an awful lot."

"No silly girl," laughed Adam. "Hoss may eat a lot but even he can't eat twenty rabbits."

"Ok. If you're sure."

"I'm sure Squirt. Now help me get this pack horse loaded."

While Adam and Cat were hunting, Roy was making the long ride out to the Ponderosa. He knocked on the door and Ben answered. "Well hello Roy. It's good to see you. What brings you out here on a Saturday?"

"I need to talk with Cat. Is she around?"

"No, she and Adam left to go hunting right after breakfast. Why do you need her? She hasn't done anything wrong has she?"

"Someone hit Mrs. Warren with some stones and acorns earlier, most likely with a slingshot."

"Surely you don't think that Catherine had anything to do with that, do you? As far as I know, unless Joe gave her his old one, she doesn't even have a slingshot. Also, even if she did have one, Adam would not allow her to ride into town alone. She meets up with Michael Devlin and rides to school with him in the mornings."

"No, I don't but Millicent does. I was hoping that Cat would have some idea who did it. It has to be kids. Millicent isn't very well liked, but I can't picture an adult doing that to her."

"Neither can I. However, when Catherine and Adam return home, I will ask her if she knows anything about the attacks. Dinner is ready. Why don't you have something to eat before heading back to town?"

"Thank you. I was hoping you'd ask. I think I had better warn you that Millicent threatened to come out here and deal with Cat herself even though she has no proof that Cat is the one who attacked her. She's blaming Cat for the judge putting her in jail so I wouldn't put it past her to come riding out here and try to hurt Cat. She's not interested in the truth, just in hurting Cat. I could find a hundred people who would swear on a Bible that Cat had nothing to do with the attacks and Millicent would still blame her. I kind of wish the judge would have sent her to prison instead of just putting her in my jail for a couple of weeks. That woman complains more than anyone I know."

"I'm warning you now Roy. If that woman comes out here and tries to hurt my daughter, the results will not be good for her. With the exception of one, there isn't a man on this ranch who wouldn't do whatever they have to in order to keep Cat from getting hurt again. Millicent won't be badly hurt but she will be returned to town trussed up like a Christmas goose. I do not want that woman on the Ponderosa for any reason at all. It's a good thing Catherine isn't here right now because I don't want her to hear what I'm about to tell you. I don't know who is attacking Millicent Warren but I hope you don't try too hard to find them. That woman deserves everything she gets. Attacking an innocent child and then blaming that same child for her misfortune…outrageous! She needs a caretaker."

"I understand how you feel Ben. However, I have a job to do and it includes protecting Millicent Warren. I have been attempting to contact her family. So far, I haven't been able to find anyone who is willing to take her. I'm not giving up. Hopefully I will find a relative who will take her, preferably very far away from here."

"From your lips to God's ears."

"Well, thanks for dinner. Hop Sing. That was outstanding as usual. I declare, when I decide to retire, I'm going to move in here just so I can eat your cooking every day. I've got to get back to town before the good people decide to replace me with my deputy. If they do that, I'll have to learn how to become a ranch hand so I can move in here and eat Hop Sing's cooking all the time."

Ben and Hop Sing laughed at Roy. "You do that Roy. If you can learn how to be a ranch hand, I'll hire you. I'll talk to Cat when she and Adam return home but I don't think she knows anything."

"Thanks Ben. I know she's not responsible for the attacks. If she were, she would be using her bow and arrows, not a slingshot."

"You're probably right Roy. I hope it never comes to that, but I won't stop my daughter from defending herself. Don't worry, I won't let Cat start anything. I don't think she would anyway. Joe said he had a long talk with her about taking revenge on someone who hurt you."

"I'm not worried about the littlest Cartwright. She may be wild but she ain't the type to hurt someone on purpose unless they hurt her first. Now if she goes and starts a fight in the Bucket of Blood next week, I will begin to worry. I'll see you in church tomorrow."

Adam and Cat returned home from hunting several hours after Roy left. Hop Sing looked at the results of their hunt and decided to make a stew with the rabbits. He told them to bring half of the rabbits into the kitchen after they were cleaned and to put the rest in the smokehouse. Then he went into the great room and told Hoss and Joe to go and help Adam and Cat. They complained loudly about how hard they had worked all day and since their brother and sister had done the hunting, it was up to them to take care of their catch. Hop Sing stormed into the kitchen, returned with his wooden spoon and said, "Mr. Hoss, Mr. Joe no help clean rabbits and deer, they no eat supper tonight!"

"Awww Hop Sing," complained Hoss. "Me and Joe done been mendin' fences all day. Adam and Cat ain't been doing nothin' but huntin'. They can clean what they killed."

Hop Sing smacked Hoss on the leg with his spoon. "No help Missy Cat and Mr. Adam, no eat supper!"

Ben decided to intervene before Hop Sing got angry. "Hoss, Joseph, go and help your sister and brother. They have a lot of game to clean and if they don't get help, supper will be delayed by at least an hour. Remember, your sister isn't used to cleaning enough food to feed six people."

Not knowing his father and Hop Sing were right behind him, Joe looked at all of the rabbits and said, "I don't know why Hoss and I have to help do this when we spent the day mending fences and all the two of you did was hunt. Why did you get so many rabbits? There's only six of us and Hoss isn't going to eat that many." Cat burst into tears and ran into her father who scooped her up in his arms and hugged her while Hop Sing hit Joe in the bottom with his spoon five times. "Owwww! Hop Sing stop. What did you do that for?"

"Little Joe bad boy. Make Missy Cat cry. Hop Sing use wooden spoon on Little Joe bottom. Pop, pop, pop!"

"Joseph, how many times did you provide a meal for this family when you were nine years old?" demanded Ben. "I'll tell you how many. Absolutely none. You didn't provide any because you weren't allowed to handle a weapon until you were twelve. Your brother and sister didn't have to bring home enough meat to feed the family. They could have just gotten enough to fix their own meal but they decided to get enough for everybody and instead of thanking her, you have the nerve to scold your nine year old sister for providing enough meat to feed the entire family. Because you are so ungrateful and whined about having to help your little sister, you and Hoss can take care of all twenty rabbits, including stretching the skins so they dry properly. You need to ask Hop Sing how many he wants to cook tonight and then put the rest in the smokehouse. Joseph, because you decided to upset your sister, beginning tomorrow, you can do her chores, including mucking out Beauty's stall, feeding and grooming him for the next two weeks. I had planned on helping with the rabbits but I'm going to help Adam with the deer instead. I highly recommend the pair of you get busy. I do not want supper served late tonight because of you. Come on Cat. Let's go and tell Adam that he's skinning the deer all wrong."

Ben carried Cat over to where Adam was starting to skin one of the deer and set her down. She watched him for a minute and said, "Pa said to tell you that you're doing that all wrong."

"Oh, I am, am I? Well Scamp. I'll show you just what I do with a Wild Cat." He put his knife down, picked up the sheath, grabbed hold of Cat, put her on the ground and pretended to skin her. "You start down here at the feet. First you pull the moccasins of and tickle the feet. Once you do that, you start removing the hide at the ankles. Then when you get up to the middle, you tickle it some more. When you get up to the armpits, you tickle it even more." He followed his words by tickling his sister. Then he said, "Here you go Pa. One perfectly skinned Wild Cat."

"No son. I'm afraid you didn't do a thorough job. This skinned Cat needs to be tickled more. You work on the deer and I'll work on tickling the Cat."

After a few minutes of being tickled by her brother and father, Cat cried out. "Stop Please! I'm going to wet my pants."

Adam stuck his tongue out at his sister and teased, "Well Pa. What do you think? Should we let the Cat go or keep tickling it to see if it wets its pants?"

"I would say to keep tickling it but I don't want to feel Hop Sing's spoon because I caused it to wet its pants."

"I suppose you're right. That spoon sure does hurt. Go on Squirt. Run to the outhouse and then get your knife. You're supposed to be learning how to do this." Once the deer were ready to be put in the smokehouse, Adam said, "Come on Squirt. You can hold the smokehouse door open while I put this deer in it and then you can hold it open again when I put the other one in."

"Ok. I'll close the door and lock you in the smokehouse. That would be fun."

"You know Squirt, it would be just as easy for me to put you on a shelf in there and leave you to cook for a while as it is for me to put these two deer in there. In fact I may just do that for a while and since it's Saturday and you have to take a bath anyway, I'm going to throw you in the trough after I let you cook a while."

"You had better let me see if Hop Sing has enough hot water ready for your sister's bath before you put her in the trough," said Ben. I don't want her sitting at the table in soaking wet clothes and she should have a bath before putting clean ones on."

"Alright Pa, I'll let you check with Hop Sing before little sister goes in the trough but I am going to let her cook in the smokehouse for a little while."

"Alright son but not for too long. We don't want our Wild Cat to get overcooked."

Adam carried Cat into the smokehouse, sat her down on a shelf and said, "Now just sit there and cook while I get the deer in here." He walked out of the smokehouse, making sure the door was propped open. Once the deer were hung in the smokehouse, he put more wood on the fire, picked Cat up, put her over his shoulder, exited the smokehouse, and closed and locked the door with Cat giggling the entire time. Ben was waiting for them when they left the smokehouse and Adam said, "The Cat is cooked but it's a little too hot. I need to cool it down before we eat it."

Ben laughed. "Go ahead son. When you're finished, take your Cat into the bathhouse. She can take her bath before supper. I'll put clean clothes in there momentarily."

After supper, Ben carried his gun over to the table in the great room to clean it. Cat watched him take it apart and asked, "Why are you doing that?"

"I have to take it apart to clean it. A dirty gun is very dangerous. They have been known to explode and kill the person using it."

"Oh. I wish you didn't use a gun. I wish nobody did. Then my mama and daddy would still be alive."

"I know Kitten. I wish nobody used guns either but out here, they are necessary. A rattlesnake bite can kill a human or animal before help arrives. Cougars will not only attack other animals, they will also attack humans. Unless a wolf is mad or starving, it won't normally attack a human, but coyotes will attack children and wounded animals. Also, you wouldn't want a horse or cow with a broken leg to suffer, would you?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. If a horse or cow breaks a leg, we have to use a gun to keep it from suffering. Another thing we need guns for is to protect our livestock and property from rustlers and thieves. Rustlers and thieves are too lazy to work for what they want, so they steal from others and will try to kill anyone who tries to stop them. If everybody would live by God's laws, we would only need guns to protect ourselves from wild animals and to keep animals from suffering."

"I still don't like guns."

"I know Sweetheart and that's ok. However, I am going to teach you how to use a rifle. I know you don't like guns and have your bow and arrows and when they get bigger, your puppies will defend you, but there may come a time when you need a weapon in a hurry and a gun is closer than your bow and arrows. You don't have to carry it with you the way your brothers and I do, but I want you to know how to use it if you have to. Even Hop Sing knows how to use a rifle."

"He does?"

"Yes he does. When you live as far away from town as we do, it's important that everyone knows how to defend themselves. In fact, I may start teaching you about the rifle after church tomorrow. Don't worry, you won't be firing it for some time yet. There are safety rules you will need to learn and you will also need to learn how to properly care for it before you will fire it."

"Oh, ok."

"I almost forgot. Roy Coffee was out here earlier. It seems that one or more children are using slingshots to attack Mrs. Warren. Do you know who could be doing that?"

"That's great. I wish I did. I would thank them and hug them for doing that because you won't let me do anything to her. She is a mean, nasty old witch and deserves to have bad things happen to her."

"You shouldn't talk that way about people. Do you remember what Reverend Long said to you?"

"I don't care. She is mean and nasty. She threatened me with her whip yesterday when I was getting the mail. If Mike and some grownups hadn't been there, I think she would have got out of her buggy and hit me with it again."

"Why didn't you tell me about that yesterday? I would have said something about it to Roy."

"Because Adam was busy being mean to me and I was mad at him then and didn't think about Mrs. Warren."

"From now on, I want you to tell me when anybody, especially an adult, threatens you. When I see Roy at church tomorrow, I'll tell him about what Mrs. Warren did on Friday."

When he went upstairs to read with Cat before she went to bed, Joe apologized for making her cry earlier. She forgave him and he reminded her that she would not have to do her chores until two weeks from Monday.

After church the next day, Ben told Roy what Cat had told him about Mrs. Warren on Friday. Roy said he would do his best to keep an eye on the woman when Cat was in town. Then he had a chance to talk with Susan Winter about Cat's arithmetic. "I wanted to talk with you about Catherine. She tells me that you are starting to make the students solve arithmetic problems on the board. She is very self conscious about that and told me that she started several fights with students who teased her about making a mistake. I was hoping you could make an exception for her and allow her to solve problems on her slate instead of on the board."

"I'm sorry Ben, but I can't make an exception for one student. If I did, then the rest of the students would expect the same treatment. However, since there are only two fourth grade students, I can have both Laura and Cat solve problems on the board at the same time. That should help her to feel less self conscious. I know exactly which students will laugh at her for making a mistake because I have already punished them several times for laughing at other students younger than themselves. When I have the girls solve arithmetic problems on the board, I will be standing by those students' desks and they will not laugh at either Laura or Cat if I am standing right by them."

"Thank you. I know that will help to relieve some of her anxiety."

"You are welcome. Cat is a very good student. Allowing her and Laura to work together is helping both of them. Cat's arithmetic skills are improving and Laura will be ready for the fifth grade reader before Halloween."

After dinner, Ben took two rifles out of the gun cabinet and after making sure they were unloaded, handed them to Cat. "Which one do you think you are going to learn to use?"

She held up the full sized rifle and said, "This one because it's too big and a hundred times too heavy for me to use so I won't have to learn how to use it."

"Nice try little one. As I told you last night, I want you to know how to use one if the need ever arises. It is important that you know how to defend yourself if you ever have to." He reloaded the full sized rifle and put both of them away. "Come and sit down with me and let's talk about some safety rules. The first rule about handling any gun is to always assume it's loaded. You already know that every gun in this house is always loaded unless it's being cleaned. If you find a gun lying around somewhere and assume it's loaded, you will be much more careful with it than you would be if you acted like it was unloaded. Before I tell you what the second rule is, I want to ask you something. Have you ever pointed your bow and an arrow at someone?"

"No, but I thought about it a bunch of times."

"Oh? Would you please tell me about those times?

"Sometimes when I was mad at Mark Hansen for being so mean, I would lay in bed at night and wonder what it would be like to shoot him in the bottom with an arrow. I even dreamed about it sometimes too. In my dreams, when I was finished, he looked like a big old tom turkey with his tail feathers open."

The entire family laughed at Cat's answer. "Well, there's nothing wrong with wondering what it would be like as long as you don't actually shoot him. That brings us to rule number two. Never, ever point a gun at someone unless you intend to use it. You already know that guns are not toys and what they can do. If you point a gun at someone without intending to use it, you are just playing with it and someone could get hurt or killed. Don't use it unless you absolutely have to but you must be prepared to use it if you have to. Your life and the lives of others may depend on it. Now what is rule number one?"

"Always pretend a gun is loaded."

"No Cat, not pretend. Assume, presume, think…Actually I think suppose would be a good word for you to use. If you see a gun lying around just think to yourself, that gun is loaded. Why should you do that?"

"'Cause ifn you act like it's not loaded, you could use it like a toy and someone could get hurt or killed."

"That's right but I wish you would use correct grammar. Why should you keep your gun clean?"

"Dirty guns are dangerous. They could x'lode and whoever is using it could get hurt or killed."

"Very good but the word is explode. What is rule number two?"

"Don't point a gun at anyone unless ya plan on using' it."

Ben rolled his eyes and sighed. "Miss Winter is definitely going to have to work on your grammar. Your answer is correct. Why do we have that rule?"

"' Cause ifn ya point a gun at someone without plannin' ta use it, you're just playin' around and ya could accidentally shoot it and hurt someone."

"That is correct. Should you always shoot a gun if you're pointing it at someone?"

"No. Ya could accidentally shoot someone who ain't got a gun and sometimes just pointing a gun at someone will make them behave or go away."

"That is very good. That's enough for today. I know you're not happy about having to learn about guns but as I told you, it is important to learn how to use one in case you ever have to. I truly hope you never need to use a gun but I don't want you to get hurt if you ever have to. Now, if you think you can find some horses for us, we'll go for a ride."