Joe walked out to the pasture just as Cat finished her last arithmetic problem. At supper, Adam apologized to everyone for his words earlier and said he was going into town after they finished eating. Hoss and Joe gave each other knowing looks but didn't say anything.
"Why are you going to town tonight?" asked Cat.
"Because I have something important to do."
"Can I go with you?"
"No not tonight."
"How come?"
"Because it will be past your bedtime before I get to town and you have to go to school tomorrow."
"You like school better than I do. I'll go to town for you and you can go to school for me."
Adam laughed. "Don't forget, I still have work to do in the morning so I can't sleep late."
"I'll do your work for you. I hate going to school."
"Do you know how to set a fence post? That's what we're going to be doing tomorrow. Several fence posts are broken and need to be replaced."
"Sure. It's easy. I watched you, Joe, and Hoss do it. All you have to do is dig a hole, put the fence post in and fill up the hole."
"Ok little sister. I'll tell you what. We'll go outside after supper. The fence posts are already on the buckboard. If you can pick one of them up without any help, I'll ask Pa to let you stay home from school & help us."
"Really? You're not just funning me, are you?"
"No I'm not. Ask Pa and he'll tell you."
Ben fought to keep from laughing at Cat. "This isn't normally something I would do but since Adam asked, if you can pick up one of the fence posts, you can stay home from school tomorrow."
"Gee thanks. I can pick one up. You just wait and see."
They walked outside after supper and over to the buckboard. "Which one should I pick up?" asked Cat.
"Anyone you want to. They're all the same," replied Adam.
Cat tried to pick up a fence post but no matter how much she struggled, she was unable to do it. "That's no fair. You made it extra heavy."
"Now you know that ain't true Punkin," said Hoss. Adam had no way of knowin' which one ya was gonna try and pick up. No matter how much ya want to be, ya just ain't big enough yet to pick one of them things up."
"Don't feel bad," added Joe. "I was sixteen before I could pick one up and I could only hold it for a minute or two before Adam or Hoss had to take it from me. You may never be strong enough to pick one up and that's ok. There are plenty of other things you'll be able to do around the ranch when you get older." Before Cat could get upset he continued, "You are very good with horses. While any strong person can set a fence post, not everyone can work with horses, especially the way you do. There is a colt out there that follows you around like your puppies do. I've had Cochise since he was weaned and he doesn't follow me around the way Fury follows you around. Knowing how things are done on a ranch is important. Being able to do everything isn't. Who knows, when you're older, you may think of a better way to do something we've been doing the same way since Pa first built this ranch."
"Adam," said Ben. "If you're going to go into town, you had better get going. Otherwise, it will be three o'clock in the morning before you return home."
"You're right. Maybe I'll wait and go tomorrow evening. I can take care of my business and eat supper in town. That way I won't be riding home in the middle of the night. Besides that, somebody needs to make sure Cat goes to bed on time."
Cat became angry, walked up to Adam and kicked him as hard as she could. "You're not the boss of me. You let that nasty old witch come on the ranch and didn't even look for me until a long time after she left. All you cared about was making me do my chores and homework and tellin' me I was bad to go fishing after school. You don't love me. You just want someone to boss around now that Joe is grown up. You ain't gonna be able to boss me around because I'm going to Uncle Rip's fort in the morning." Cat drew back her leg to kick Adam again when she felt herself being picked up by a pair of strong hands.
"Alright Kitten, calm down," came Ben's soothing voice. "Adam unless I am gone and leave you in charge, it is not your place to tell your sister what to do and that includes when she is supposed to go to bed. Catherine has had a very hard day and I suspect that her head is hurting more than she's willing to admit so I am going to excuse her kicking you this time. However, as I told you earlier, you need to do something about your attitude toward her. You have been as grouchy as a bear coming out of hibernation all day. I for one am tired of it and I'm quite certain your brothers are too. Come on little one. It's getting close to your bedtime, so let's get you to the outhouse and then inside. How bad is your head hurting you?"
"Worse than when I have to do arithmetic."
"I thought you were going to tell me when it started hurting."
"I was going to but I thought it would stop."
"No Cat. When someone's head has been hurt the way yours was today, it doesn't stop hurting unless you take some medicine to make it stop. We'll see if Hop Sing has anything to make it stop hurting when we go inside. If he doesn't, I'll give you a little bit of the medicine Paul sent home for you. The medicine is really for adults so he doesn't want you to take very much of it. Have you been dizzy at all since you were hurt?"
"Only when I was doing my arithmetic. My head always hurts and spins when I see all of those numbers together."
Ben laughed and hugged her. "I'll just bet it does. Now, let's get you to the outhouse. Then we'll see if Hop Sing has anything to make your head stop hurting. After that, you and I are going to talk about your temper for a few minutes."
He started carrying Cat toward the outhouse when she said, "I can walk. You don't have to carry me."
"I know, but I want to. I haven't been able to pick any of my children up and carry them around for a long time. Unless he was sick or hurt, Joe didn't want me to carry him around after he turned ten or eleven so this is one reason I want to squish you back into being a very little girl again. If I can squish you enough to turn you into a very little girl again, I'll have a lot more time to carry you around."
Cat giggled. "You can't do that Pa. Uncle Matt and Uncle Rip have been tryin' for a long time."
"Oh they have, have they? Well maybe they're just haven't been trying hard enough." Ben hugged her tightly and then set her down in front of the outhouse. When he started to carry her back to the house, Cat protested.
"Pa put me down. I'm an Apache warrior. If you keep carrying me, everyone is going to think I'm a baby."
"And just who is everyone? Your brothers? Your puppies? The hands? Hop Sing? They already know that you are my baby girl and nothing is going to change that fact."
"I am not a baby! I'm almost ten years old and almost grown up."
Ben laughed and hugged her tightly. "Next week will be four months since your ninth birthday and that is not almost ten. Nor is it almost grown up. I will carry you around the ranch if I want to and nobody here will think that you're a baby. They will just think that I love you and enjoy carrying you. Now let's see if Hop Sing has something to make your head stop hurting then we need to sit and talk about your temper." He carried Cat into the kitchen where Hop Sing already had one of his teas ready for her.
"Missy Cat drink all of this. It not taste good but make head stop hulting. I give you milk and cookies when tea finished."
Ben set Cat down and Hop Sing handed her the cup. She drank the tea, scrunched up her nose and said, "EWWWWWWWW YUCK! That tasted worse than Uncle Matt's coffee. I think it might kill me. Why didn't you put sugar in it?"
"Tea no help head if sugar in it." Knowing Ben wanted to talk to Cat about her temper and knowing she had, in his opinion, a good reason to kick Adam, Hop Sing said, "Go sit at table in gleat room and I bling you milk and cookies. Then you get ready for bed, I change bandage and give you little bit of medicine to keep head from hurting when you sleep."
After Cat left the kitchen, Ben looked at Hop Sing and said, "I needed to talk to her about controlling her temper. I can't have her hitting or kicking Adam every time she gets angry at him."
"Missy Cat have long day, get hurt. Then number one son treat her like baby. Say she not allowed to have own mail and try to take letter. Hop Sing take cale of Missy Cat then deal with Adam after Missy Cat go to sleep. You talk tomorrow. Tonight Missy Cat have milk and cookies. Take little bit of medicine and go to sleep. Head no hurt tomorrow. Missy Cat have Little Joe temper. You not be able to tame. Maybe teach to control. She need to spend time with Hoss and Little Joe to learn how. Watching brothers maybe help more than talking. She spend time with Little Joe he not go in saloon so much."
Ben laughed. "You have a point my friend. Take Cat her milk and cookies. I need to have a talk with my eldest son about his attitude toward his sister. I had to be hard on him out of necessity when we were on the trail with the wagon train as did all of the other parents. There were wild animals, Indians, and outlaws to worry about and children wandering off to explore strange surroundings could have cost them their lives. I have explained that to Adam numerous times and I still find it hard to believe he is still upset that I spoiled Joseph some when he was a boy."
"Little Joe not really spoiled. Just allowed more freedom because you safe hele on Ponderosa when he born and have time to spend with him. Also he very small and nobody sure if he going to live when he baby. I talk with number one son too and use spoon on him if necessary."
"You go ahead and do that," laughed Ben. "He might just listen to you better than he listens to me. You swing a very mean spoon."
Since Adam had been grumpy all day and Cat had just kicked him, Hop Sing had a feeling that he would be upset so he carried his spoon along with Cat's milk and cookies. He carried Cat's snack into the great room and set it down on the table in front of her. Adam looked at his sister and complained, "I don't believe what I'm seeing. She just kicked me and is being rewarded with milk and cookies when she should have had her bottom blistered."
Hop Sing turned and hit Adam with his spoon. "You no be mean to Missy Cat. You be grouchy all day. Hop Sing fix headache medicine and you drink it. Maybe then you stop being grouchy. You and I talk after Missy Cat go to bed." Cat finished her snack and carried her plate and glass into the kitchen. When she returned to the great room, Hop Sing said, "It close to you bedtime. Go get ready for bed then I change bandage and give you different herb tea to keep head from hurting while you sleep. This one not taste so bad as other one." He walked back into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a glass he handed to Adam. "You be grouchy all day and mean to little sister. You must have headache. Drink this. Make headache go away. We talk later." Adam frowned as he took the glass from Hop Sing. He did have a headache but that was only part of the reason for his bad mood. He needed to spend some time in town away from the stress and responsibilities of helping his father run the ranch every day.
Cat came back downstairs in her nightgown and slippers. She walked up to Hop Sing and asked, "You're not going to hurt me are you?"
"No. I just going to change bandage. I change again in morning before breakfast. Go sit on floor by table." Cat sat down and Hop Sing took the bandage off her head.
"How bad is it?" asked a worried Ben.
"Look see. Very small. Maybe one inch long. Only four small stitches. Not big like other one."
"What other one?" asked Cat. "I never hurt my head before."
"Yes you did Sweetheart," said Ben. "It happened when you got hurt after your mother died. You don't remember because you were unconscious when Joshua and Thaddeus found you. Dr. Adams told me that you had a big cut on your head that he had to put stitches in. He took them out before you left Dodge with Matt and Kitty to come here. You were a very sick little girl and he gave you medicine to make you sleep which is why you don't remember him taking the stitches out. Kitty said that you slept almost the entire trip here."
"Oh. Am I going to have a big scar?"
"Maybe from old one," said Hop Sing. "Not from new one. Time will tell. Hair hide so nobody see."
Ben chuckled. Cat wanted to be an Apache warrior but she was still a little girl and worried about her appearance. "Ok Cat. It's bedtime. Say goodnight and Joe will be up to read with you in a few minutes."
Cat went upstairs and began putting her buckskins and other clothes she thought she'd need into a carpet bag. As far as she was concerned, Adam didn't love her and he didn't want her there and she wasn't going to stay where someone didn't want her, even if they were family. She would get up early in the morning and leave before everyone else was awake. She knew how to hide her horse's tracks so nobody could follow her and make her go back. She was almost done packing when Joe walked into her room. "What's going on Cat? Why are you packing?"
"Because Adam hates me and doesn't want me here. I can't stay where someone hates me or doesn't want me so I'm leaving. I don't belong here. I belong in Dodge. Uncle Matt loves me and loves me and so does Uncle Rip. They don't treat me like I'm a baby and say I'm lying when I get mail. And they don't tell me I'm a pest and a nuisance like Adam does. The last time Uncle Matt told me to do my homework was after I skipped school when I was five. Adam tells me every day. And he let that nasty old witch come here and try to hurt me and he didn't care if she scared me, he just wanted to tell me I was bad for goin' fishing after school and I needed to do my homework and chores."
Joe sighed. He was going to kill Adam even if he was his brother. "Alright squirt. Put your bag away. You're not going anywhere. I'm going downstairs to let Pa and Hoss know what Adam has been doing to you. I don't know what his problem is but I do know he loves you, even if he doesn't always act like it. You stay here and I'll be back in a little while to read with you before you go to bed." He walked downstairs and hit Adam as hard as he could. "What is wrong with you? Everybody in this family is trying to make Cat feel like part of the family and you are undoing everything we have been doing. She's upstairs packing because she thinks you don't love her or want her here."
"Joseph, you know I don't approve of you boys fighting," scolded Ben. "What are you talking about? Why is your sister packing?"
"Because Adam has led her to believe that he doesn't love her or want her here. Besides accusing her of lying about the letter she got in the mail, he's still calling her a pest and a nuisance. Cat also says that every day when she gets home from school, he tells her to do her chores and homework. He's treating her the same way he treated me when he came home from college and I would have left too except, unlike Cat, I didn't have anywhere to go. Kate and Michael probably would have just brought me back here."
After listening to Joe talk about how Adam was making their sister feel, Hoss decided he had held his temper long enough and also hit his older brother. "I done held my temper long enough. The way you treated Joe when you come home from college and the way yore treating Cat now is just plain wrong. Ifn ya didn't want Cat here, why didn't ya say somethin' while you and Pa was still in Dodge? Ya took that poor little gal away from everything she's ever known and brung her out her to act like ya don't want her around. It's only been four months since her Ma was killed and instead of helpin' her, you're makin' her feel even worse. I don't know why ya always gotta push someone who's smaller than you around but I'm tired of watchin' ya do it and if ya keep doin' it to Cat, that wallop I just gave ya is gonna feel like a love tap when I get finished with ya!"
"Alright! That's enough from all three of you! Joseph, go upstairs and read with your sister. She has to get up for school in the morning. Hoss, find something to do. Adam, I want to talk with you outside."
Joe started for the stairs when Adam stopped him. "Wait a minute Joe. I need to go and talk to Cat. Don't worry, I'm not going to scold her or anything like that. I never meant to make her feel unloved or unwanted and I need to apologize to her."
Adam walked upstairs and entered Cat's bedroom. She looked at him and said, "Oh, it's you. Now what are you going to tell me to do that doesn't need telling? I'm waiting for Joe to come and read with me. That's why my lamp is still turned up and I'm not asleep yet."
Adam was stung by the fact that Cat thought he was there to scold her and realized how unfair he had been to her. "I'm not here to scold you because you aren't asleep yet. I need to talk to you."
"What do you want to talk to me about? Didn't I do something the way you think I should do it? Was I supposed to let Annabel hurt me more or do you want me to leave for Uncle Rip's fort tonight?"
"No Cat. That's not what I want to talk to you about." He sat down on her bed and said, "Come and sit beside me so we can talk. Don't worry, I'm not going to swat or scold you, I just need to talk to you." Cat reluctantly got out from under the covers and sat next to Adam, not quite trusting him. He hugged her and said, "I owe you an apology. I never meant to make you feel unloved or unwanted. The fact is I love you very much and I want you to be my little sister. We're not always going to agree or get along with each other. That's completely normal, but it doesn't mean I don't love you or want you here. I did not invite Mrs. Warren to come here on Friday. I had been trying to make her leave for a long time when you got home. Nobody in this family has ever invited her to come here for anything and she has been told many times not to come here. But she thinks she doesn't have to live by the rules and comes here anyway even if she hasn't been invited.
I need to explain why I have been treating you the way I have. I'm not trying to say what I have been doing is right, because it isn't but I need you to try and understand. I seem to have fallen back into some bad habits I had before you were born. When I went away to college in Boston, Joe was a little boy. He had just turned six and I treated him like the little boy he was. When I came home, he was almost ten but I still thought of him as being five and kept treating him that way. I had been gone for almost four years and didn't want to accept the fact that my baby brother was growing up. So I treated him like he was five and accused Pa of spoiling him and letting him run wild. Joe was wild but a lot of what I saw as wildness was just him doing things a ten year old would do. Unfortunately, you are so much like him, I find myself treating you the same way I treated him. I am very sorry that I have been doing that and I promise to try and stop. Will you please forgive me?"
"I don't know. I have to think about it for a while."
"Ok. When do you think you'll know?"
"I don't know. Maybe when I'm twelve or thirteen. I have to see if you're going to keep your promise or not. It might take that long or even longer to find out."
"You little scamp. You're not supposed to make someone wait three or four years to see if you're going to forgive them. When I get done tickling you, you're going to have to move into the outhouse." He began to tickle Cat and continued for a few seconds after she told him to stop or she was going to wet herself.
Finally she cried, "Stop. Ok. You win. I forgive you."
Adam picked Cat up, put her over his shoulder, called her puppies and carried her downstairs. Ben looked at them and asked, "What was that all about?"
"I asked her to forgive me and she said she had to think about it and would let me know when she was twelve or thirteen."
"Adam, put me down. I gotta go real bad."
"Son, you had better either put your sister down or take her to the outhouse before both of you have to change clothes."
Hoss and Joe waited until Adam had walked outside with Cat before they started laughing at their brother. "Oh that is precious," laughed Joe. "Cat making Adam wait until she is twelve or thirteen before telling him if she forgives him or not. I wish I would have thought about doing that when I was a boy and he apologized for being mean to me, and didn't meant it."
"Yeah. That is pretty durn funny," added Hoss. "But him ticklin' her to make her say she forgives him was wrong and I aim to let him know. Ya can't force someone to forgive ya for wrongin' them."
Ben laughed along with his sons. "Yes, that was precious. I think that your sister is going to give Adam a good run for his money until she's grown up and may even keep doing it then. I do agree with you Hoss and intend to talk to him about it. Forcing someone to forgive you is wrong and Adam should know better." When Adam came back into the house with Cat, Ben said, "Joe, please go upstairs and read with your sister. It's past her bedtime and she has to get up for school in the morning. Adam, once I get your sister tucked in and her lamp out, you and I are going to sit outside and talk for a while." When Ben went upstairs to say goodnight to Cat, he asked, "Why did you tell Adam you were going to wait three or four years before telling him if you were going to forgive him for the way he's been acting toward you?"
"Because I want to wait and see if he's tellin' the truth. He asked me to forgive him before but he's still doin' the same stuff and treating me like a baby. He's still callin' me a pest and a nuisance and tellin' me to do my chores and homework when I get home from school. I'm not five. I'm almost ten and that means I'm almost grown up. The last time Uncle Matt told me to do my homework was after me and Pete and Mike skipped school when we were five. I don't know why he hates me but he does and I ain't stayin' here with him."
"That's not the way it works Kitten. When somebody asks you to forgive them, you are supposed to do it right away and not wait to see if they're going to keep their word. Adam doesn't hate you. He loves you very much. I don't know what his problem is but I plan on having a long talk with him. I do know one thing though and he's not going to be happy about it but Adam will be doing your chores until Monday. You can go fishing after school on Friday if you want to but don't forget we're having company for supper on Saturday, so you and Joe need to go hunting on Saturday after breakfast. One more thing. You are also not leaving here to go back to Dodge. This is your home and it's where you belong. You will spend next summer in Dodge but it is much too dangerous for you to even attempt to go to Rip's fort in Arizona by yourself. Now you need to get some sleep. You have had a long day and you need rest if your head is going to heal properly."
Ben walked downstairs and told Adam to go outside with him. "Now, I want to know exactly what your problem is. Why are you still calling your sister a pest and a nuisance and why are you still telling her to do her chores and homework every day? You promised to stop doing those things but you still are. She is nine not five and knows what she needs to do. She has only been here two months and you have managed to convince her that you don't love her or want her here. This is not the first time we have discussed these things but it will be the last. I do not want to wake one morning and find Catherine gone. The trail is dangerous enough for a lone man and it is even more dangerous for a lone child, even one who thinks she can take care of herself."
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I did have a headache but it wasn't that bad. Maybe I just need to take a day off."
"That's fine. You will be doing most of Catherine's chores for the rest of the week. She will still take care of Fury. Except for doing them, you may have tomorrow and Friday off."
"Are you serious? You want me to do a nine year old child's chores?"
"Not only do I expect you to do them, I am going to have your sister check to see that they have been done correctly. I am hoping that spending four days doing Catherine's chores with her checking to see if they have been done correctly, will give you an idea of how you have been making her feel. You are my oldest son and I have to know I can depend on you to take care of her if anything should happen to me. You won't be able to take care of her if she doesn't trust you. Oh and one more thing that I shouldn't need to tell you. Tickling or otherwise forcing someone to say they forgive you is wrong. Have I ever forced you or your brothers to forgive each other for somehow wronging each other?"
"No you haven't."
"Then why did you force Cat? She wanted to make you sweat a little and worry if you were forgiven or not. She probably would have told you in the morning that she had forgiven you. I hope that someday you will marry and have children. Think about how Cat feels and how your children will feel if you force them to forgive each other. Forgiveness has to be freely given or it doesn't mean a thing. Once you have done your sister's chores in the morning, you will have the rest of the day off tomorrow and Friday. Just remember to fill Hop Sing's wood box so he has plenty of time to cook supper and you will have to groom and feed Beauty when Cat returns home from school. Since we are having company for supper on Saturday, the entire family will help clean all of the game Joe and Cat bring home. It wouldn't be fair to expect a nine year old to catch and clean enough food to feed eleven people."
On the way to school the next morning, Cat told Mike how Adam kept bossing her around and treating her like a baby. "Gosh. I'm sorry to hear that he's treating you the way Mitch says he treated Joe. What are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I know how to get to my uncle's fort in Arizona, but I'm pretty sure he'll be real mad at me if I go there alone. What do you think I should do?"
"We need to figure out how to make him go away."
"I tried trading him for you and Jas but your Pa said no and so did Jas'. Mr. Ingalls won't trade him for Laura either. I gotta figure out how to make Adam go away. I'm tired of being treated like a baby. It won't be that much longer until I'm ten and that's almost grown up." The pair rode in silence for a few minutes when Cat exclaimed, "I know what to do. I'll sell him to the person who will pay me the most. But how do I let people know he's for sale?"
"That's easy. We'll put an ad in the paper. Let's hurry and get Jas. He can help us write something and we can take it to Mr. DeQuille before school. If he puts it in today's paper, you can have your sale after school tomorrow."
"That's a great idea. Let's hurry."
They urged their horses into a gallop and it wasn't long before they caught up with Jasper. "How come you two are in such a hurry to get to school?"
"We're not," answered Mike. "We need your help with something before school."
"It's not something that's going to get me in trouble is it?"
"No, nothing like that. Adam has been treating Cat like a baby and she's tired of it. She tried trading him for us and Laura but our parents and Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls wouldn't go for it, so she has decided to sell him to the person who will pay the most. We need your help to write an ad so we can put it in the paper. If Mr. DeQuille puts it in today's paper, Cat can have her sale tomorrow."
"Ok. I'll help you write the ad. Cat, what do you want to say?"
"I don't know. Something about selling a Yankee Granite head. He's bossy but he is a hard worker."
"Alright. Give me a minute to think of something." He thought for a few minutes, then took his tablet out of his saddle bags and began writing. "I'm done. See what you think."
Cat took the tablet from Jasper and read, "For sale to the highest bidder. One Yankee Granite Head. He's kind of bossy but he's a very hard worker. The sale will be held after school on Friday. See Cat Cartwright at the school on Friday afternoon. That's great Jas. I really like it. Thanks for the help. We gotta hurry and get this to Mr. DeQuille so we're not late for school."
The three children hurried to town and stopped at the newspaper office and entered. Dan looked up from his work and said, "Hello children. What can I do for you this morning?"
Cat handed him the paper and said, "Good morning Mr. DeQuille. Would you please put this in the paper for me? I have some money saved up and can pay for it when I come to school tomorrow."
Dan read the ad and tried very hard not to laugh. "Well children, I don't know if I have room to put it in today's paper. If I don't have room in today's paper, I'll make the date of your sale the school day after I put your ad in the paper. Now the three of you had better get going before you're late for school. I know what will happen if Miss Winter sends a note home saying you were late and I don't want to see such fine young people get into trouble." After the children were well away from the newspaper office, Dan burst out laughing. Then he walked over to the café hoping to find Roy still eating breakfast. He spotted Roy and sat down with him. "Good morning Roy. If Ben Cartwright comes to town today, please ask him to come and see me. I've got something he might be interested in reading. It seems that his oldest and youngest are butting heads and Cat's only been living on the Ponderosa for two months. I wish Sam Clemens was still in town to read this. He would enjoy it." He handed the ad to Roy who read it and started laughing.
"Oh, that is too funny. I hope Ben will find it as funny as we do. Do me a favor and print a copy of it for me. I want to keep it with the article Sam wrote to go with the pictures that photographer made of Cat. When she's all grown up, we can look at them and remember what she was like when she was a girl."
"I'm sure Ben will think it's funny and want copies for the family so I'll print copies for you and Paul at the same time. I doubt that Ben will mind."
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a/n: I want to thank my Beta, C. , for the idea of having Cat try and sell Adam to the highest bidder since trying to trade him for her friends didn't work.