Once they reached the Ponderosa, Adam led the girls into the barn where the cart boards were laid out. "The side of the boards you see is going to be the bottom, inside, and seat so they're all going to be painted the same color. They're probably going to need at least two coats of paint. We can do the first coat now and the second after dinner. Cat, please run up to my room, go in the bottom of my chest of drawers and bring three shirts out here."
Cat ran into the house and toward the stairs when she was stopped by Ben's angry voice. "Catherine Michael Cartwright! How many times do I have to tell you not to run in the house? Now you can just go, stand in the corner for an hour and think about what you were doing and no, I don't care if your friends are here."
"But Adam told me to."
"Adam told you to run in the house?" He asked incredulously.
"Yes sir."
Knowing Cat wouldn't lie, he softened his tone. "Please tell me exactly what he said. I think you may have misunderstood something."
"He said to please run up to his room and get three shirts out of the bottom of his chest of drawers."
Ben struggled to keep from laughing and hugged Cat. "You misunderstood what he meant. He did not mean for you to run in the house. He used what we call a figure of speech. For example, if I asked one of your brothers to run to town and get something for me, do you think I would really expect him to run all the way to Virginia City?"
"No, I guess not. He'd be awfully tired when they got there."
"Exactly. Depending on what I needed him to get, I would expect that he would either ride his horse or take the buckboard. Adam was not asking you to run in the house. He was really asking you to go into his room and get three shirts. Now, walk upstairs, get the shirts and take them outside. I'm going to go and talk to him." He walked out to the barn where Adam was stirring a bucket of paint. "Adam, when you are asking your sister to get something from the house, please do not ask her to run. Remember, she takes everything we say literally and I caught her running through the house."
"I forgot about that. I'll be more careful about how I ask her to do things in the future. You didn't punish her, did you?"
"No. I started to but then she told me that you said for her to run up to your room. It would be wrong to punish her for doing something she thought she was asked to do."
When Cat returned to the barn with the shirts, Adam said, "Cat, I'm sorry I asked you to run up to my room. I forgot that you're not used to the way we sometimes talk. I promise that I will do my best to remember that in the future. There is one thing you can do to help me remember. The next time I ask you to run somewhere in the house, ask me if I really want you to run in the house. That will remind me that I'm asking you to do something you're not supposed to do. Now, I want each of you girls to put on one of these shirts. I don't want you getting your clothes all full of paint."
"There sure are a lot of boards," said Laura. "I don't know if we'll have time to paint all of them today."
"Yes, there are a lot of boards and I am going to help the three of you paint them. I ordered the wheels and axles on Wednesday so they should be here by Monday. Once they arrive, I'll take the wheels over to the blacksmith shop and ask Mr. Samuels to make the runners and locks to keep them attached to the wheels. I've also ordered a cushion for the seat." They finished putting the first coat of paint on the boards about an hour before dinner. "The three of you did a very good job painting those boards. Take those shirts off, put your jackets back on and I'll push you in the swing until dinner is ready." When they went back out to do more painting after dinner, Adam said, "We need to save a little bit of painting for Carrie."
"That's not a good idea," said Mary. "She's not very good at keeping secrets."
"She'll tell Ma and Pa what we're doing just as soon as we get home and it will ruin the surprise," added Laura.
"There's no sense in even asking her to promise not to tell because she's too little to understand," continued Mary.
"Well, maybe we'll take her along when we go to get the horse. She can help pick it out and doesn't need to know it's part of your mother's Christmas present. Once we pick out a horse, I'll get a harness for it."
While Adam and the girls were in the barn painting after dinner, Jasper and his father drove their wagon into the yard. Jasper walked into the barn and said, "Cat, Pa and I brought Penny to you. Where is the pen you made for her?"
"It's on the side of the barn. I'll show you."
"WOW!" exclaimed Jasper. "That sure is a nice pen for your pig. I've never seen a pig pen with a house in it before. I hope Penny likes it." Mr. King carried Penny over to the pen, Cat opened the gate and he carried the pig in and set her down. "I fed her this morning so you won't have to feed her until tomorrow, but we need to fill her water trough. Once it starts getting hot again, you're also going to have to put water in that shallow spot so she'll have mud to roll around in. Pigs get sunburnt easily so they roll around in the mud to keep that from happening. It also helps to keep the bugs from biting them in the summer."
"Ok. We need to carry buckets of water from the pump. I can only carry half a bucket at at time, so we need to count how many buckets we put in there so I know how early I need to get up." It took twenty buckets of water to fill the trough. "Great!" moaned Cat. "I'm going to have to get up two or three hours early to take care of Penny and do my other chores."
"I thought you didn't have any chores until January."
"I don't, but knowing Adam, I'm probably going to have to start taking care of Penny now. I can just hear him now. 'Penny is your pig. You wanted her so it's your responsibility to take care of her.' That's what my brothers did to me with Fury and Lady. Until I almost fell asleep at breakfast one morning, I had to get up more than an hour early to feed two horses, groom three of them and muck out two stalls besides doing my other chores. Pa yelled at my brothers for making me do all that before school. They've already told me that once Fury doesn't need Lady any more, I'm going to have to groom and feed him and Beauty, muck out both stalls, and do my other chores too until he's old enough to ride. Now that I have Penny to take care of too, I may have to get up three hours early."
Mr. King listened to the conversation and decided he needed to talk with Ben after church. He knew if Cat had to get up three hours early to do all of her chores, she would probably fall asleep in school. He didn't think it was right that a nine year old would have to care for two horses and a pig as well as do her other chores, especially before school in the mornings.
After supper, Adam started to take Laura and Mary home when Ben said, "One of your brothers can do that. You and Cat have a couple of songs to work on. If you take the girls home, there won't be enough time to work on the songs, for your sister to take her bath, and play checkers with Hoss and Joe before she has to be in bed."
Once Hoss left with Mary and Laura, Adam said, "Cat, please go up to my bedroom and look on my desk. You'll find the two pieces of paper Reverend Long gave me sitting on top of it. Please bring them and my guitar down here so I can start teaching those hymns to you." When Cat returned, Adam said, "I have played both songs before and know the words. Let's look at the shorter one first. As you can see, each verse is only two lines long, followed by the Gloria. Follow along while I play and sing it for you." After singing the hymn through twice, Adam told Cat to sing with him. "That was very good for the first time through. We'll do it one more time and then look at the other one. It's much longer and will require more work, which is why I wanted to start with this one." They repeated the same process for the second hymn. Cat struggled with trying to sing the first verse and chorus so Adam said, "Let's try it one line at a time. I'll play and sing the first line and then you can join me the second time." It took some time but Cat was finally able to do the first verse and chorus with no mistakes.
Before they were able to start working on the second verse, Ben said, "Cat, it's time for your bath. You can work on the hymns with Adam again tomorrow."
Cat decided that she didn't want to wear a dress to church, so she came downstairs for breakfast wearing a pair of dress pants, a dress shirt, her shoes, and one of her sunbonnets was hanging down her back. She looked so cute, Ben wished that Abel Goss was there with his camera to take her picture. When they reached the church, all of the women who had been mean to Cat before were highly upset to see the way she was dressed and decided it was their job to do something about it. They marched up to Ben and Mrs. White said, "Really Benjamin. It's high time you stopped spoiling that child and made her dress like a proper girl should be dressed. If she won't voluntarily wear dresses, you should whip her until she does. The way you allow her to dress is scandalous and needs to stop. You should get Gerald McLeod and march that girl over to his store, buy her a dress and force her to wear it!"
"Mrs. White, you do not have permission to call me by my first name and never will. Considering the fact that you taught your daughter it was alright to steal from people, you are the last person who should be criticizing me for the way I am raising my daughter." He looked at the rest of the women and continued. "All of you have been told to leave me and my family alone. Since you refuse to do that, you leave me no choice but to take action myself." He walked over to where Reverend Long was standing, talked with him for a few minutes, explained the problem and what he wanted to do about it. When the family walked into the church, almost all of the women got upset about the fact that Cat was wearing pants instead of a dress and started saying it was high time Ben took her in hand and made her dress like a girl, even if he had to use a razor strop on her bare bottom several times a day.
Reverend Long was also upset about the way the women were acting and decided to let Ben have his say. "Mr. Cartwright has requested permission to address the congregation before the service begins and I have decided to grant his request. Ben, you may address the congregation. Do you want the children to remain or should they go over to the school and play until you are finished."
"The children may remain here. It's high time they learned how some of the so called adults in this congregation have been acting toward my daughter. I am sick and tired of all of the old hens in this congregation attacking my daughter, telling me how to raise her, and how to make her dress. You attacked her here at the church over lies told by a pair of boys and caused her to run away. You told her lies about what I expected from my children regarding their school grades, and caused her to run away a second time. Today, you attacked me over the way I allow her to dress and said I should whip her with a razor strop several times a day until she agrees to wear a dress all the time. I have read the Bible from cover to cover many times and don't ever remember seeing anything saying how people are supposed to dress. However, just in case I missed it, Reverend Long, is there anything in the Bible that tells people what kind of clothes to wear?"
"No Ben, there isn't. Jesus tells people not to worry about what they're going to wear or eat, but there isn't a single verse that tells people how to dress. All of the women in this congregation are more worried about man's rules than about God's laws and they seem to have forgotten the Golden Rule. Mattie Smith, since some of the grownups have forgotten the Golden Rule, would you please tell them what it says?"
The seven year old stood up and recited, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."1
"That was excellent Mattie. Thank you very much. I think it's high time the church elders discussed the way some of the women have been treating Catherine Cartwright and what to do about it. I for one am tired of the Sunday service being interrupted because a bunch of women have decided that they don't want her to attend this church or to be a part of this community."
Because Mrs. King woke up with a headache, the family decided not to attend church, so Mr. King didn't get a chance to talk to Ben about Cat and Jasper's conversation.
While Cat was talking with her friends after church, Ben talked to his sons and said, "I'm going to take seventy five head of cattle to Winnemucca this afternoon and I think I'll take your sister with me. It's about time the two of them met."
"That's a lot of cattle for just you and Cat," said Joe. "She's not that good at working with cattle yet."
"We'll manage. It's not like we're going on a long drive. Besides that, her puppies are about eight months old now and from what I've seen, they're pretty good at working with the cattle. Also, judging from those clouds over the mountains, we're going to get more snow before long. Winnemucca and his tribe will need those cattle if they're going to survive the winter. Your sister isn't used to riding in deep snow, so since there's only a few inches of it right now, this is the best time for us to go. The three of you can help round them up and get them started in the right direction. Adam, do you want me to tell the chief that you and the girls will be going to see him about buying a horse next weekend?"
"Yes please. I appreciate that. When we get home, I'll give you one of my drawings to take so he'll know what we need the horse for." After dinner, Ben told Cat to change into her buckskins and bring her coat, winter hat, and gloves downstairs.
"I don't have any winter gloves. I just have the mittens my Apache mother made for me."
"Why don't you take more rabbit skins to Mr. Miller tomorrow and ask him to make a pair of winter gloves for you? It's going to be hard for you to hold your horse's reins with mittens on. Right now, I need you to change clothes. You and I are going to take some cattle to someone you need to meet. Bring Silver Chief's feather with you too." Cat started to ask where they were going and who they were going to see but Ben stopped her. "Don't worry about that right now. Get your clothes changed or I'll leave you here and take Joe instead." The threat worked. Cat walked upstairs as fast as she could, changed clothes, grabbed her hat, mittens, and coat, and walked back downstairs.
"Why did I need to bring my coat? My jacket is warm."
"We're going up to the mountains and it's colder there than it is here. You can wear your cowboy hat on top of your winter hat if you want to, but I want your ears covered. Bring your bow and arrows too. Your brothers are going to help us round up the cattle and get them started in the right direction, but you and I are taking them the rest of the way."
Cat wasn't used to helping move cattle, so keeping the cattle together wasn't easy but with help from her puppies, she and Ben managed to keep all seventy five head together until they reached Chief Winnemucca's village. The chief was very happy to see Ben and the cattle. When Ben introduced Cat to him, he asked, "When did you take another wife? I am surprised she allows her daughter to dress like an Indian."
"I did not marry again. Catherine is my sister's daughter. She was orphaned in June and I adopted her. Cat, say hello to Chief Winnemucca."
"I am honored to meet the great Chief Winnemucca," she said in Apache. "I have heard my Apache father and grandfather speak of you several times."
The chief just looked at her. "Cat," said Ben. "He doesn't speak Apache. You need to speak to him in English."
Cat repeated herself in English and apologized. "I am sorry. I didn't know that all tribes didn't speak Apache." The chief asked who her Apache father and grandfather were and she told him. He also admired her puppies and asked how Silver Chief had earned an eagle feather. Cat told him about the puppy attacking Morning Dove's father when he adopted her and Winnemucca agreed that Silver Chief was a very brave puppy."
They talked for a while and Ben told the chief that Adam, Cat, Laura, Mary, and Carrie would be riding up there next weekend to buy a horse. Ben showed Winnemucca the drawing Adam had made and explained about Caroline being pregnant and still having a five year old to look after. He told the chief that the older girls came up with the idea of the cart to make it easier for their mother to go to town with Carrie now, and Carrie and the baby after it was born. The chief was impressed with the girls' thoughtfulness and said he would have several horses for them to choose from. Before leaving, Ben told Cat he would bring her back in the spring after most of the snow had melted. On the way back to the house, he told her that they would be taking more cattle to Silver Hawk's village the following week.
Even though she wasn't supposed to have any chores until January, Cat fully expected to be told that she was responsible for taking care of her pig. So, when she went to bed, she was very surprised that none of her brothers told her that she was responsible for taking care of Penny. She figured that they didn't say anything because Ben, Abel, and Hop Sing would have yelled at them, so she assumed that one of her brothers would wake her up in the morning to care for the pig. She was pleasantly surprised when she was allowed to sleep.
Before going to school, Cat took four more rabbit skins over to Mr. Miller and asked him to make some winter gloves for her. "Pa says it's hard to ride a horse or do ranch work with mittens. I didn't have any problems when I rode yesterday, but Pa says I need gloves. I just don't understand grownups. They say kids need stuff they don't need and then say they don't need stuff that they do need."
Mr. Miller laughed. "Don't worry about it Cat. You'll do the same thing when you grow up and have children. Now, let me trace your hands so you're not late for school."
While Cat was in school, Adam picked up the wheels and axles for Caroline's cart. He took the wheels over to the blacksmith shop gave Mr. Samuels the wheels, showed him the drawing and asked, "Are you able to make runners like skis to fit these wheels? As you can see in my drawing, each runner has two upright pieces and a lock on it. That way the wheels don't have to be removed in order to use the runners."
Mr. Samuels looked at the drawing and asked, "Can you draw that runner and lock bigger so I have a better idea of what you need me to do?"
"If you've got a piece of paper and a pencil, I'll be more than happy to do that for you."
Adam drew a larger picture of the runner, another one of the lock, and another one of the entire assembly. Mr. Samuels studied them for a few minutes and said, "Yes, I can make those, but it's going to take me two weeks or more to do four of them. I'll work on them when I'm not busy shoeing horses. When do you need them?"
"I need them before Christmas. They're part of a Christmas gift from the Ingalls girls to their mother."
"Alright. I'll start on them right away. I wouldn't want to disappoint those little girls. With any luck, I'll have two of them finished by Sunday."
"Thank you Alex. I really appreciate it. How much do you estimate it will cost to make all four?"
"Ten dollars should cover the cost of the materials. Since these are a Christmas gift for Mrs. Ingalls, I'll do the work for free. She's a very nice lady and those girls are very sweet to think of such a nice gift for her."
"That is very kind of you. I'll be sure and tell the girls so they can thank you themselves. I'm supplying all of the materials and they are doing most of the work. My brothers and I are going to have to do some of it for them, but they are doing the lion's share. Wait until you see how they decided to paint the cart."
"I can't wait to see the finished product. Well, let me get started on this because I do want to get at least two of the runners finished by Sunday."
Adam asked for another piece of paper, wrote a note to Mary and Laura and walked over to the school where the children were just going to recess. He decided to give the note to Susan Winter before hugging his sister and walked into the school. Susan looked up from the papers she was grading and said, "Hello Adam. What can I do for you today?"
"Hello Susan. Would you please give this note to Mary Ingalls at the end of the day? Thank you very much. How is my little sister doing?"
"Except for arithmetic, her grades are excellent. Her arithmetic grade is good but she is really struggling with fractions. Even though they've already done several pages, neither she nor Laura seem to be able to grasp the concept of adding fractions with unlike denominators. They should be adding mixed numbers with unlike denominators but I don't want to start them on that until they completely understand adding fractions with unlike denominators."
"I'll spend some time working with her and hopefully that will help. How is her behavior?"
"Thank you for saying you would work with her. The class is having an arithmetic test on Thursday and I'm concerned that Laura and Cat will not do well on it. Her behavior is outstanding. Except for when she's answering a question or she and Laura are working together, she never says a word. I have caught her gazing out the window but that doesn't happen all the time, mostly during arithmetic tests. It's like she's hoping to find the answers written on one of the trees. She also tries very hard to stay away from Annabel, Thomas and William but they always seem to find a way to try and get her to start a fight, which she tries her best to avoid."
"I thought that Richard was supposed to be keeping an eye on his brother and William."
"He does the best he can but sometimes the boys run off in different directions. When that happens, he goes after his brother, which is what he's supposed to do. Reverend Long tries to come over at recess and dinner time to keep an eye on Annabel but he has things he needs to do also."
"I understand. I know that you're doing the best you can with those three and my family and I appreciate all of your efforts to keep them from harming Cat. I'll let you get back to grading your papers. I'm going to find my sister and give her a hug before I head back to the Ponderosa." He walked outside and looked for Cat. He saw Annabel walk up behind her and shove her as hard as she could. He grabbed her by a wrist and said, "Annabel, you have been told many times to stay away from my sister, but you refuse to do as you are told. I am taking you in to your teacher and if she wants me to, I am going to go and get your father." He led Annabel into the school and said, "Miss Winter, I just witnessed Annabel shove Catherine very hard. Would you like me to get her father?"
"Yes please. If you don't mind, would you also get Reverend Long and Mr. Miller? I'm afraid I have no choice but to ask the school board to exclude Annabel from school until after Christmas vacation, possibly longer. I had better write out her lessons. Even though she won't be in school, she is still responsible for the work she will miss. Annabel, go stand in the corner until your father, Reverend Long, and Mr. Miller arrive. Your behavior is totally unacceptable and you do not deserve the privilege of learning and playing with the other children."
Adam told Mr. White, Reverend Long, and Mr. Miller that Susan Winter needed them at the school and why. Then he walked back to the school, found Cat, picked her up and hugged her. "Hi Squirt."
"Hi Adam. Thanks for making Annabel leave me alone. How come you're here?"
"You're welcome. I am here because I picked up the axles and wheels for Caroline's cart. I took the wheels over to the blacksmith shop. Mr. Samuels said he was going to start working on the runners and locks right away and hoped to have at least two of them done by Sunday."
"That's good. When are we going to paint the rest of it and get the horse?"
"We'll paint the rest of it on Saturday and if we have to, we'll finish it next Saturday. It's going to take longer to paint the sides and back because of how Mary and Laura want it done. I'll talk to Pa and Hop Sing and invite the Ingalls over for Sunday dinner. Charles and Caroline can visit with Pa and Grandfather while we go and get the horse. I talked to your teacher about your grades. She says you're having a lot of trouble with fractions so after you finish the rest of your homework, I'll help you with your arithmetic. After we get your homework done, I am going to give you one long division or multiplication problem to solve. That way you won't forget what you have learned so far. I have to go and talk with Mr. White, Mr. Miller, Reverend Long, and Miss Winter about what I saw Annabel do to you. Then I need to head back to the ranch. There's a lot of work to be done before the snow gets deep."
"I could come home with you and help with the work."
"I don't think so little sister. Pa would kill me if I allowed you to do that. Your education is much too important. Pa, Hoss, Joe, the hands, and I can take care of what needs to be done. Your job is to pay attention to your teacher and get good grades."
"Doing ranch work is more fun."
"That may be, but you still have to stay in school. Now I have to go and talk with Mr. Miller, Mr. White, Reverend Long, and Miss Winter. Go play with your friends and I'll say goodbye before I head home."
Adam told Reverend Long, Mr. Miller, and Mr. White what Annabel had done to Cat. "I have tried my best to help her," said Reverend Long. "However, she insists on blaming Catherine for all of her problems even though she brought them on herself by stealing."
"I don't understand why she is blaming Catherine when she started stealing a long time ago," said Susan. "However, I do not want her in my classroom until her behavior improves. It isn't fair to the other students to constantly have their learning interrupted by Annabel. She even has the audacity to accuse Catherine of looking at Laura's arithmetic tests when she can clearly see that the fourth grade problems are written on the side board and both Catherine and Laura must look across the room to see them. Since Catherine sits to Laura's left, she has to look across Laura's desk in order to see the problems. Don't worry, Catherine isn't cheating. Although she and Laura sometimes miss the same problems, they usually have different answers. As I told Adam earlier, I frequently catch her gazing out the window during arithmetic tests as though she's hoping to find the answers written on the trees." All four men laughed at the thought of a student hoping their test answers would be written on trees.
"Do you want me to speak to her about that?" asked Adam.
"No, that isn't necessary. If staring at the trees helps her concentrate on her test, that's fine with me. Since we're working with fractions, maybe she's trying to visualize the trees as being broken down into different parts. As long as they're not cheating or disturbing the class, my students may do whatever they feel is necessary to answer the problems. Mr. White, here are Annabel's assignments until Christmas break. The same rules apply as last time, however, if she continues to misbehave to the point of being excluded from school, this will be the last time I give her three quarters credit for assignments submitted on time. There will be an arithmetic test on Thursday so somebody will need to supervise her to ensure that she does not cheat. I will write out the problems and give them to whoever will be supervising her on Thursday morning. I do not want her back in my classroom until after the school board meets and decides what to do."
"I would like all three of you and Catherine to be at the school board meeting on Thursday," said Mr. Miller. "Miss Winter is right. It isn't fair to the other students to constantly have their learning disrupted by one student. Adam, I know Ben won't be happy about your sister being out that late, but I want her to tell the school board everything Annabel has done to her at school."
After the men and Annabel left, Susan decided to give the children a little more recess time while she gathered her thoughts and prepared for the next lessons. Adam found Cat, picked her up, hugged her and said, "You won't have any problems with Annabel for the rest of the week. Her father took her home and she's not allowed to return until the school board decides what to do. I am proud of you for not hitting her when she shoved you and I'll make sure Pa knows too. I've got to go home now and you need to pay attention to your lessons. Miss Winter said you're going to have an arithmetic test on Thursday."
"I hate arithmetic."
"I know but you still need to do it."
"Will you take my test for me?"
"I'm going to tell you the same thing I did the last time you asked me that question. No I won't. The test is to see how much you have learned so it won't do any good if someone else takes it for you. There's the bell. Pay attention to your lessons so you will get good grades. I'll see you at home this afternoon." He hugged her one more time and said, "Never forget that I love you very much. So do Pa, Hop Sing, Grandfather, Hoss, and Joe."
"I love you too but I'm still mad at you."
"That's alright. You can be angry at me if you want to. Have you forgiven me yet?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
Adam laughed. "Ok Squirt. I'll accept that answer for now. You had better scoot so your teacher doesn't get angry at me for keeping you out here." He gave one of her braids a playful tug and sent her on her way back into the school.
Ben met Cat in the yard when she got home from school. "Cat, I don't want you sitting out in the pasture and reading to Fury until it warms up in the spring. It's gotten too cold outside and I don't want you getting sick. You may read in the barn this week but I want you to do the rest of your homework in the house. Beginning next week, until I tell you that you can read in the pasture again, you will need to do all of your homework in the house."
After Cat finished her other homework, Adam helped her with her arithmetic. Once all of her homework was done, he wrote a long division problem on a piece of paper. He watched, but didn't say anything as Cat solved it. "Ok. Now check your answer."
"It's not right."
"Look at the division problem and tell me why."
"I don't know."
"You're still not keeping your numbers under each other where they belong. Get your ruler while I rewrite the problem. Do you remember what Joe showed you to do with long division problems?"
"Yes. He said to draw lines between all of the numbers."
"Good. That's what I want you to do from now on until you remember to keep the numbers where they belong. Miss Winter won't mind. She wants you to get the problems right."
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1. Matthew 7:12 Matthew-Chapter-7/#12