When he and his brothers returned home before dinner, Joe said, "I just thought of something. Cat doesn't have a bedroll."
"Well then," said Adam. ""There's only one thing to do. We'll make one for her and see if she knows what it is and what to do with it."
They walked upstairs and Hoss opened the linen closet. "How many blankets do ya want Adam?"
"Two."
"That's not enough," said Joe. "She'll never stay warm all night with only two blankets."
"I know. We can add more blankets later. I want to see if she knows what a bedroll is."
They made the bedroll and went in search of Cat. They found her running around the pasture with Fury and her puppies. "Come up to the house with us," called Joe. "We have something for you."
"What is it?"
"You'll see when we get there," replied Adam.
"I hope it isn't something dumb. Once I leave here today, I won't see Fury for a whole day and I don't want him to forget me."
"He ain't gonna ferget ya Squirt," said Hoss. "That colt loves ya an' when ya love someone, ya don't never ferget them."
On the walk to the house, Adam pulled his brothers back and said, "If she asks what to do with the bedroll, we'll roll her up inside it."
"That sounds like fun," said Joe. "I wonder how she'll react."
When they reached Cat's bedroom, Adam handed the bedroll to her. "What's that?"
"It's a bedroll," answered Hoss.
"What's it for?"
"We'll show you," replied Joe.
Adam opened the bedroll on Cat's bed then Joe picked her up, laid her across it, and began to roll her up inside it. Hop Sing had just carried a fresh pot of coffee into the great room for Ben and Abel when they heard sound of Cat's giggles and Joe's laughter and decided to see what was happening. The three of them couldn't help but laugh when they saw Cat rolled up inside the bedroll. "Need more blankets!" exclaimed Hop Sing.
"I agree," said Ben.
"You definitely need more blankets," said Abel. "Otherwise the princess will still be able to feel the pea."
Hop Sing handed two blankets to Ben and walked downstairs to answer the door. He let Laura, Mike, and Jasper in and said, "Family in Missy Cat room being silly."
The three children walked upstairs, looked at Cat rolled up inside five blankets and started laughing. "That's quite a bedroll Adam," said Mike. "Cat will definitely be warm inside of it."
"Alright boys," laughed Ben. "Cat's friends are here. Please unroll her so she can spend time with them before dinner."
"Alright boys," laughed Ben. "Cat's friends are here. Please unroll her so she can spend time with them before dinner."
Cat looked at Jasper and Mike and asked, "What am I supposed to do with the bedroll?"
"You need to roll it back up," said Jas. "But put your rain slicker inside of it first."
"Why does Cat need her rain slicker?" asked Laura. "It might snow but it's not going to rain."
"It will help keep her warmer if she puts it on top of her blankets," replied Mike. "It will also help keep her dry if it snows. Remember, the snow will melt on her warm body. Cat, what are you taking with you?"
"Just the bedroll, my bow and arrows, my knife, my twenty two, and my puppies."
"No," said Jas. "You need more than that."
"What else do I need and why?"
"You need a change of clothes and at least three extra pair of socks plus a warm hat and gloves or mittens," answered Mike.
"Why?"
"Because if the clothes you're wearing get wet, it will take them a long time to dry and you'll be very cold and you can't sleep in wet clothes and socks. It's going to get very cold tonight and your head and hands will stay warm if you're wearing a hat and gloves or mittens. Do you have anything warmer to wear on your feet than your moccasins?"
"Yes, I've got the boots my Apache mother made for me." She took a pair of boots made from rabbit pelts out of her wardrobe.
"Those are great," said Jas. "You need to wear them. Remember, you're not going to be sleeping in a nice, warm house tonight. You also need to take fish hooks and fishing line. That way if you don't kill a rabbit, you can always have fish for supper. Also, Hop Sing won't be there to fix your breakfast, so you can have fish for breakfast. Put your rain slicker on your bedroll and let's get everything ready to go. Where are your saddle bags?"
"They're downstairs on the armoire."
"You'll need them for your extra clothes, fish hooks and fishing line," said Mike.
Once Cat left the room, Jas said "She doesn't know anything about spending a night outside," I know her brothers had her rolled up like that because she didn't know what a bedroll was. I sure hope she knows more about setting up a campsite. If she doesn't, we're going to have to do it for her. Otherwise she won't survive the cold night."
"Jas," scolded Mike. "Cat was raised in Dodge, not on a ranch and she's only been here three months so she doesn't know a lot about the way things are done. She's spent a lot of time with the Apaches and I don't think they use bedrolls, but they do spend a lot of time sleeping outside and I'm sure they've taught her a lot."
When Cat returned with her saddle bags, the boys taught her how to fold her clothes so they would fit inside one and have room left over. After dinner, Cat saddled Beauty while Hoss saddled Ginger for Laura. Joe tied Cat's bedroll onto her saddle and Adam checked her cinch. Hop Sing put some bacon, a frying pan, a metal plate, a fork, and a knife in the side of Cat's saddle bags that didn't have her clothes in it. "Missy Cat no have eggs but at least have bacon for breakfast. I fix big dinner for you tomorrow."
Cat hugged him. "Gee thanks Hop Sing. I love having bacon for breakfast."
"Say, that reminds me," said Jas. "Did you build a pen for Penny yet? Pa says if I don't bring her to you soon, we'll eat her when she's big enough."
"Don't you eat Penny! She's my pig. Maybe Adam, Hoss, Joe, and Pa will help me build a pen for her when I get home tomorrow."
"I think that can be arranged," said Ben. "We'll start on it after dinner tomorrow and if we don't finish it then, we can finish it after church. There's a very good spot next to the barn that has several trees to offer her shade and she'll have sunshine too."
"Thanks Pa. Somebody's going to have to teach me how to take care of Penny. I never had a pig before."
"Don't worry Squirt," said Joe. "We'll teach you what you need to know."
"Alright kids," said Ben. It's time you were on your way. Remember Cat, no farther than the lake and stay between our swimming spot and the place where your parents and Joe's mother are buried." Everyone in the family hugged Cat and then Ben picked her up and put her in her saddle.
"Pa! I don't need help getting into my saddle. I'm almost ten and that's almost grown up."
"I know Kitten but that is something I always enjoyed doing when your brothers were your age and it's something I enjoy doing with you. Now scoot. I'll see you tomorrow for dinner."
As the children rode off, Mike looked at Cat and asked, "Where do you want to make your campsite?"
"I think somewhere by the lake would be good."
"Ok," said Jas. "Why?"
"Because if I can't catch a rabbit for supper, I can always catch some fish. My Apache brother, Little Bear, taught me how to cook them over a fire." They rode along the lake shore until they came across a small clearing. "This looks like a good place to set up camp. It's close to the lake and there's enough trees to block the wind if it picks up."
"This is a good choice Cat," said Jas. "What do you want to do first?"
"I guess we should make a place to build a fire. I wonder if there are any rocks by the lake." They didn't find any rocks so Cat said, "I guess I'll just have to build my fire in the center of the clearing 'cause I don't want any sparks to start a fire." Once they gathered enough wood for a fire, the children decided to start on a lean to. "Will the three of you please help me build my lean to? I know how to make one, but I'm not very good at it."
With the four children working, it took hardly any time at all to cut all of the saplings and tree branches needed for a small lean to. "Where do you want to build it?" asked Laura.
Cat stuck one of her fingers in her mouth and held it up in the air. Then she pointed toward the lake and said, "That's where the wind is coming from so the back of it needs to face that way." Jas and Mike were impressed at how much Cat had learned from the Apaches.
Once the lean to was built, Laura asked, "What are we supposed to do next? I've never helped set up a camp site before."
"I need lots of pine needles to sleep on." There was a lot of laughter as the four of them threw pine needles on each other before making Cat's bed.
Once that was finished, Mike said, "You need a lot more wood for your fire. You have enough to cook your supper but it won't last all night and you'll get cold." When they had enough wood gathered to keep the fire going all night, Mike said, "It's time for us to go home. A few minutes before you go to bed, put at least one pair of socks by your fire to warm them up and put them on while they're still warm. You'll sleep better if you go to bed with warm feet. When you go to bed, put one blanket under you and the rest on top. Then put your rain slicker on top of all the blankets. It will keep you dry if it snows tonight." He stood Cat's saddle up under the lean to and said, "Use the bottom side of your saddle as a pillow. Don't wait too much longer before hunting because if you don't get a rabbit, you're going to need time to fish." The four children hugged and Laura, Mike, and Jasper rode back toward the ranch house. When they reached the house, they were very upset to see six saddled horses, all with bedrolls attached to the saddles, tied to the hitching rails. Mike knocked on the door and when Adam answered, he said, "You're going to spy on and help Cat. You don't want her to do well!"
"Come in kids and let's talk. We're not going out to spy on Cat or help her. We want her to succeed. We're going out to keep her safe. You know as well as we do, the land is full of wild animals that could hurt or kill her and we don't know if she could kill a bear, even with her twenty two. I promise you that unless she gets hurt or is in danger, she won't even know we're out there. And by hurt, I don't mean a cut or scrape. I mean something serious like a possible broken bone. Now, please tell us what Cat knows about setting up a campsite."
"The Apaches taught her a lot," said Jasper. "She knows how to pick a good spot to camp and how to tell which way the wind is coming from."
"She knows how to build a fire and where to put it so the sparks won't start everything else on fire," added Laura. "She was going to put rocks around it but there weren't any by the lake."
"Cat knows how to build a lean to and to put it so the back is facing the wind. She just has trouble putting one together. She also knows that sleeping on pine needles is softer than sleeping on the hard ground, even on the grass. She didn't know about using the bottom of her saddle as a pillow, but maybe the Apaches don't do things that way." finished Mike.
"I can see that those pine needles are vicious creatures that need to be tamed," teased Abel, pulling several out of Laura's hair. "All three of you seem to have been attacked by them. Adam, Hoss, Joe, I think you should ride out immediately and protect your sister and her puppies from those vicious pine needles. I don't want my granddaughter to spend the night being attacked by them." Abel's comments made everyone laugh.
"I feel better knowing that she knows how to set up a campsite," said Ben. "Where is she camped?"
"She's in a small clearing a little more than one fourth of the way between the place where we go swimming and where her parents and Little Joe's mother are buried," replied Jasper.
"Good," said Joe. "That will make it easier to find her. We'll have to make sure we camp down wind from her so she doesn't smell our fire and food."
"That's going to be hard," said Mike. "The wind is coming off the lake."
"That's ok," said Hoss. "We'll just make sure to stay far enough away so she doesn't know we're there."
"If you're far enough away so Cat doesn't know you're there, how are you going to keep her safe?" asked Laura.
"We're going to take turns watching her all night," replied Adam. "That's why there are six of us going and why we have extra blankets in our bedrolls. Two of us will be watching her at all times. I meant it when I said we were only going to help her if she was hurt or in danger. My brothers and I could not live with ourselves if our little sister got hurt or worse because we weren't there to help her."
The Bonners arrived about thirty minutes after Laura, Mike, and Jasper left and the eight men rode off toward the lake. They easily found Cat's campsite and not finding here there, decided to check it out. They only stayed a few minutes but were impressed by what they saw. Adam, Hoss, and Joe looked at Cat's bed of pine needles and wished they had been there to play in the pine needles with their sister and her friends. "We'd better go," said Thaddeus. "If Cat comes back and finds us here, they'll probably hear her yelling all the way in Boston." Everyone chuckled at Thaddeus' statement, but knowing it was true, they left the campsite as they found it. Before riding on, they looked around and found a good spot to sit and watch Cat during the night without being seen. They backtracked for ten more minutes before finding their own place to camp. It was close enough to Cat's so they could walk to their hiding spot in a few minutes but far enough away so she wouldn't know they were there unless they got too loud. Once their campsite was ready, Joe took something out of his saddle bags, tucked it inside his jacket and said, "I'll be back shortly."
"Where are you going?" asked Adam.
"To see Cat. Don't worry. I just have something to give her."
He rode away and entered Cat's camp from a different location. Cat was skinning a rabbit when he rode in. "Why are you here Joe? Did you come to spy on me?"
He dismounted and said, "No, I would never do that to you. I'm supposed to be riding fence but I decided to bring you something." He pulled a book out from inside his jacket, handed it to Cat and said, "Since you'll only have your horse and puppies to talk to and nobody to play checkers with, I thought you might want to do some reading before it gets dark. Just please don't tell Pa or Adam I was here. You know how they feel about me not working when I'm supposed to be."
"Gee thanks Joe. I didn't even think about bringing my book with me. I promise, the only ones that will know you were here are you, me, our horses, and my puppies. Do you like my camp? Did I do a good job making it?"
"You did a great job Cat. You picked a very good spot and you've got the back of your lean to facing into the wind. If you don't mind a little help from your older brother, I'll get more firewood for you. That's one thing you can never have too much of."
"Ok. Thanks big brother."
"You're welcome little sister." By the time Joe gathered more wood for Cat, she had finished skinning the rabbits she and her puppies had caught. "I've got to get going. I'll take those skins home and stretch them for you if you'd like me to."
"That would be great. Thanks Joe."
"It's my pleasure Cat. Adam, Hoss, and I would do almost anything for you. Now, as much as I want to stay here with you, I need to go. Give me a hug and remember to send one of your puppies for help if you need it."
Ben was in the yard when Joe rode in. "What are you doing here son?"
"I took Cat's book to her and brought her rabbit skins home to stretch. I told her I was supposed to be riding fence. I figured with nobody to talk to except her puppies or to play checkers with, she might want to do some reading before it gets dark. You know as well as I do how lonely it gets when you're out there by yourself."
"Give me the rabbit skins. I'll take care of them so you can get back to your brothers and the others."
When Joe rode back into the place where he, his brothers, and the others were going to spend the night, Adam demanded, "Where were you and what took you so long?"
"I told you, I went to see Cat. I did something you didn't even think about doing. I took her book to her. She's out here all alone with nobody to talk to but her puppies and no one to play checkers with, so I thought she'd like her book. I also took her rabbit skins home to stretch."
Adam started getting upset at being teased by Joe for not thinking about Cat's book when Hoss put a hand on his shoulder and said, "You got no call to get mad at Joe 'cause he thought about somethin' you didn't. Besides that, ifn it had been you that rode into her camp, she probably woulda been real mad at ya and accused you of spying on her and not wanting her to succeed. Then you woulda undone everythin' ya've done to regain her trust since ya whipped her in Roy's office that Friday night. Remember, she may have forgiven you for that but she still don't trust ya the way she should."
"You're right Hoss. I'm sorry I got upset with you Joe. Now, who's going to take first watch tonight?"
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I want to see how Cat reacts when Frank and Jeff take her food and her horse," said Thaddeus. The men talked and decided that all of them would watch when Frank and Jeff walked into Cat's camp.
After Joe left, Cat looked at her puppies and asked, "Do you want your rabbits raw or cooked?" Both puppies woofed and Cat said, "Ok, cooked it is. I'm glad Little Bear showed me how to cook them over a fire." She found a stick long enough to cook two rabbits at once and said, "I'm cooking yours now. When they're done, I'll cook mine. I wish I would have thought to ask Hop Sing for some biscuits. I wonder if he put any in my saddle bags." She rummaged through the things Hop Sing packed, pulled out a towel wrapped around some things and opened it. "Look!" she exclaimed. "Hop Sing thinks of everything. He sent me four biscuits and four chocolate cookies. I'll have two of each for supper and the rest for breakfast. Joe brought my book to me. I'll read to you while our supper is cooking because it will probably be too dark by the time we're done eating."
While Cat was reading to her puppies and cooking dinner, Thaddeus crept up to a place where he could see what she was doing. He walked back to the rest of the men and said, "That is one lucky little girl. Hop Sing packed four biscuits and four chocolate cookies for her. I sure would have loved to share them with her."
"Maybe we should take her cookies and biscuits when we take her rabbit and horse," said Jeff.
"No," said Adam. "Don't go through her saddle bags and take anything that's in them. Her puppies are almost full grown and you could get hurt if they attack you, which they will if they think you're going to hurt Cat. Besides that, Hop Sing knows about this plan. If Cat tells him you took her cookies and biscuits, he will become very upset and may let your names out in his anger. Also, be sure not to hurt those puppies. Pa made Cat take her twenty two and extra ammunition and he taught her to shoot. Your extra clothes will keep arrows from going in too deep but they won't stop bullets."
"I hate ta say it," said Hoss, "But ifn little sister tries using that rifle, one of us is gonna have to step in and stop her. She's only nine and should not be pointin' a gun at anything besides a can."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said Pete. "If it does, Joe should be the one to go in. He can always say he rode out to see if she needed anything before going to bed. It's going to be dark soon. We need to eat so we can go out and keep an eye on our little Wild Cat."
Cat finished cooking the rabbits for her puppies and slid them off the stick and onto some pine branches she had put down. "They're hot, so give them a few minutes to cool off before eating. I don't want you to burn your mouths." It was almost dark when Cat finished eating her food. She took her plate, fork, and knife down to the lake to wash them. "I wonder what I should do with the food I didn't eat," she said to her puppies. "I don't think I should leave it here because a wild animal might come in here to eat it. Do you two have any ideas?"
Since it was almost dark, Frank and Jeff put on their extra clothing and their coats. After they put their gun belts back on, Joshua said, "Hey, empty those guns before you go anywhere. We don't want to take a chance on Cat or her puppies accidentally getting shot. Mr. Cartwright will kill all of us if anything happens to that little girl or her puppies."
Once it was completely dark, the Bonners walked into Cat's camp. "See Tex, I told ya I smelled food," said Jeff.
"I should have known better than to doubt you Red," said Frank.
"Who are you and why are you here?" asked Cat. "You're on the Ponderosa and since I don't know you, that means you're trespassing. You need to leave before my brothers get here." Lassie and Silver Chief got up and started growling at the men.
"It don't matter who we are kid," said Frank. "What matters is that you've got food and we're taking it." He pulled his gun out, pointed it at Silver Chief and growled, "If you want them mutts to live, you'd better call them off. Killing them won't bother me at all. Neither will killing you and your brothers if they show up."
Cat called her puppies to her and watched as Jeff took her leftover supper and shared it with his brother. Once they finished, Jeff looked at Beauty and said, "Say Tex, I'm tired of walking. That's a nice lookin' horse. We should take it. The kid can't do anything to us and if she tries, we'll kill her and her mutts."
"You do come up with some good ideas Red and that's one of your better ones," replied Frank. "Keep the kid covered while I grab the bridle."
"Take the saddle too," said Jeff.
"It's too small and we won't be able to ride double with it." Frank took the bridle and put it on Beauty before removing his halter. "Thanks for the meal and the horse kid. Maybe we'll see you again sometime. Now you just be a good little kid and sit there for a while."
"You can't take him! He's mine and I won't let you have him!" exclaimed Cat.
"Just what do ya think you're gonna do to stop us?" laughed Jeff. "Either one of us could throw you in that lake without breakin' a sweat and we got guns so just sit down, shut up and be a good kid."
Adam, Hoss, Joe, and the others were having great difficulty keeping from laughing while Frank and Jeff took Cat's supper and started to lead her horse off. Cat became angry, grabbed her bow and several arrows and shot at the men. Both men ended up with arrows in their bottoms and shoulders. "I told you he's my horse and you can't have him! Now leave him alone and go away!"
"Well what do you know?" said Frank. "The little brat has claws. We'll just have to teach her a lesson in manners. Hand me that rope out of our saddle bags and keep them mutts covered. I don't want them sneaking up on us." He took the rope from his brother and limped over to Cat where he tied her hands behind her & also tied her feet together. Then he proceeded to tie her puppies up too. He took her bow, arrows, and twenty two and said, "You're lucky kid. We could have killed you for that but because we've got full bellies now, we're going to let you live. If you work hard at it, you might get those ropes undone before midnight. I'm going to put your toys out there where you're going to have to look for them. Don't try following us because we won't be as nice if you do and your family could find you face down in the lake."
"You just wait!" exclaimed Cat. "I'm going to get you and make you pay for stealing my horse if it's the last thing I do!"
The men just laughed at her and walked out of her camp, leading her horse. Once they were out of sight, they pulled the arrows out of their bodies and put them in Cat's quiver. Then Jeff put them on the ground along with the rifle. "I sure am glad Adam told us to wear extra clothes," he said to his brother. That kid's a good shot and those arrows hurt."
"You're right about that. We could have been hurt badly if we didn't have the extra clothes on. Let's get our horses, take off these extra clothes and head for home. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to shave and take a bath. I'm tired of looking like a town drunk."
"I couldn't agree more. Tomorrow, we can figure out how to get this horse back to the Cartwrights."
As Frank and Jeff left, the remaining six men, watched, amused, as Cat struggled to untie herself. "This is never happening to me again," she told her puppies. "From now on, I'm carrying my knife where I can get to it all the time, even to school. I'll bet that even Tommy and Billy will leave me alone when they see it and I tell them I'm not afraid to use it to protect myself against them. I'll take it to church too. Those nasty old witches won't dare bother me then. Maybe I'll take my bow, arrows and rifle too. Then I know nobody will ever be mean to me again." Adam, Hoss, and Joe became concerned about Cat carrying her weapons to church and school and whispered to each other that they had to find a way to prevent that from happening.
It took almost an hour but Cat finally managed to free herself and her puppies. She put more wood on her fire, found a long stick that looked like it might make a good torch and stuck one end in the fire. Once it was burning, she said, "Come on, let's look for my bow, arrows, and rifle and see if we can find any tracks. If we do, we'll follow them in the morning and see if we can find where those men are hiding. If I can find them, I'll make sure they never steal from me or anyone else ever again. I won't kill them but when I'm finished, they'll wish they were dead." It took about fifteen minutes before Cat found her weapons, and then she started looking for tracks. Finding none, she said, "Let's head back to camp. We'll look for tracks in the morning when we can see. When we go to the Apaches this summer, I'm going to ask Little Bear to teach me how to track at night. Then nobody will ever get away with stealing from me again." Once Cat returned to her camp, she took two pair of socks, her hat and mittens out of her saddle bags and put them by the fire to warm up. She unrolled her bedroll and then got an idea. After taking the rain slicker off the blankets, she rolled them up again and set the bedroll by the fire to warm up. Once the blankets were warm, she unrolled them onto the pine needles, opened them up, and put her rain slicker on top of them. Then she put her warm socks, hat, and mittens on and added more wood to the fire. "I think that will last all night," she told her puppies. "Wake me up if it starts to go out and I'll put more wood on it. Come on, let's go to bed. The sun will wake us up early."
"Doesn't she look cozy?" whispered Joshua as they watched Cat and her puppies get into the bedroll. "Everybody should have a pair of dogs to help keep them warm on cold nights. Now we need to figure out who's going to take what watch." They talked quietly for a few minutes and decided that Joshua and Pete would take the first watch, Joe and Hoss would take the second, and Adam and Thaddeus would take the third watch. After retrieving their blankets and some hot coffee, Joshua and Pete settled down to keep an eye on Cat for the next two hours. Just before Joe and Hoss ended their watch, Lassie woke Cat to put more wood on the fire. She put most of the remaining wood on it and went back to bed.
When Cat awoke in the morning, she discovered an inch of snow on the ground. "I wish it hadn't snowed," she told her puppies. "Now I'm not going to be able to find any tracks from the men who stole Beauty. We may as well stay in bed a little longer and see if it warms up. If it doesn't, I may not be able to find any worms and I don't know if the fish bite when it's this cold. If I can't get any fish, we'll have to hunt rabbits again." She looked at her fire and seeing that it was still going strong, snuggled back under her blankets and fell asleep for several more hours. When Cat got up, she tried digging for worms but the ground was too hard. "Well, I guess we're going to have to hunt for rabbits again because I can't get any worms and we need more than bacon, biscuits and cookies for breakfast. Let's get more firewood and then we'll hunt."
After she and her puppies finished breakfast, Cat started packing up her campsite. She picked up her saddle and said, "I'm not strong enough to carry this all the way home. I'll have to make a travois and put the saddle on it. I'm sure glad my Apache father showed me how to make one when I was seven." Cat kept one blanket out of her bedroll, put dirt on her fire and poured both canteens of water on it, refilled and emptied them on it again, and refilled them again. She built a travois, put her saddle and saddle bags on it, disassembled her lean to and started for home. While she was walking, her travois suddenly got very heavy. She turned around and saw her puppies laying on it and got upset with them. "Hey come on you two. You're heavy and I can't pull you all the way home. Come on now, quit being lazy and walk with me." Lassie and Silver Chief reluctantly got off the travois and Cat praised them.
Cat was still a long way from the house around eleven. Ben looked at his sons and said, "It's time for you to go and get your sister. It's a long walk from the lake to here and it will be late before she gets home. I don't have to tell you how angry Hop Sing will be if she misses two meals because she has to walk all the way home. I don't want to listen to him yelling all day and half the night and I also do not want to worry about your nine year old sister walking home from the lake."
The three brothers rode out in search of their sister and found her less than a third of the way home. They dismounted, hugged her and asked where her horse was. "Two bad men came into my camp and stole my food and Beauty, and tied me and my puppies up. I tried to track them but I couldn't find any tracks last night and the snow covered everything up before it got light."
"Let's get you home," said Hoss. "Pa is plenty worried 'cause yore not home yet an' Hop Sing's got a big dinner waitin' for us and I'm hungry."
"Hoss is right," said Joe. "Pa's been pacing all morning. If we don't get you home soon, he's going to wear a hole in my mother's rug. Who do you want to ride with?"
"I'm tired from walking so far. I'm going to ride on the travois and sleep." All three brothers laughed. Adam positioned the saddle so Cat could use it as a pillow, tied the travois to Joe's stirrups, covered Cat with her bedroll, and everyone started for home. Seeing Cat on the travois, her puppies decided to ride home too.