During breakfast, Mike asked, "Joe, where can we go sledding on the Ponderosa?"

"There's a small mountain about a thirty minute ride from here that's good for sledding, but why don't you want to go to the large hill outside of town where everyone goes sledding?"

"The oldest boys have claimed it as their own and are running the other kids down and wrecking their sleds," replied Jasper. "Bobby Johnson ended up with a broken arm last week. Sheriff Coffee keeps trying to catch them, but they run off and come back as soon as he leaves."

"Even though he's not supposed to leave his ranch, Tommy has been there too," added Mike. "He's been the worst one about hurting the other kids and breaking their sleds."

"Adam, Hoss, Joe," said Andy. "It sounds like the four of us and Mitch need to make a visit to that hill, watch what those boys are doing and take them to Sheriff Coffee if we see them trying to hurt the other children. They can wait in his jail while we get their fathers."

"I agree," said Adam. "Even if we don't see him trying to hurt other children, we will still need to take Thomas to Roy or his father. He is not supposed to be off his ranch without one of his parents or older brother being with him."

"Them boys also need to make good on the sleds they wrecked," added Hoss. "They ain't cheap and most of them kids' parents don't have money to throw away to replace the sleds."

"I sure hope none of the kids got in trouble for bringing a destroyed sled home," said Joe. "Some of their fathers tend to accuse the kids of lying and punish them before knowing all of the facts."

"Unfortunately, you're right Joe," said Ben. "I've seen it happen all too often. When a family doesn't have much money and something of a child's gets destroyed, the father all too often accuses the child of being careless, punishes the child, and then later regrets his actions when he learns that the child was not lying about what happened. I wish there was a way to keep things like that from happening."

Hoss and Joe just looked at each other. They remembered how many times Joe had been unjustly punished after Adam came home from school, just because Adam said Joe had done something wrong. Ben never asked Joe about what Adam had said, he just accepted Adam's word that Joe had done something wrong and punished him for it. Of course, he was always sorry when the truth finally came out, but the damage had already been done. Since they didn't want to upset the rest of the family and possibly lose their little sister over something that had happened almost ten years ago, they didn't say anything. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they both vowed to do everything in their power to keep Cat from being treated the way Joe had been when he was ten. Rip and Matt had already threatened to nullify the adoption because of Ben's over-protectiveness and the way Adam had punished Cat when he caught her looking under the saloon door and they didn't want that to happen.

Once breakfast was finished and the table had been cleared, everyone rode out to the mountain Joe had talked about. Joshua and Thaddeus decided to join them as they wanted to see Cat use her sled for the first time also. Jasper and Mike told the girls and Mark how to use the sleds and then showed them by making a short run down the mountain side. When they made their first run, Mark, Mary, and Laura made it to the bottom with no problems but Cat misjudged her starting point and started to come too close to a bush that was full of thorns. "Cat, turn right! Now!" yelled Jasper and Mike together. She did as her friends commanded, but leaned and turned too far to the right, tipped the sled over, and landed in the snow with the sled on top of her.

Before anyone could run over to see if she was alright, she stood up, brushed the snow off, laughed and said, "That was fun except next time, I think I'll start farther away from that bush. I don't want to run my new sled into a bunch of thorns. I don't want to break it the first day I'm using it."

Ben groaned and said, "I think I just got a lot more gray hair. She almost ran into a bunch of thorns but she's only worried about damaging her sled. Isn't that girl afraid of anything?"

"I'm afraid not," laughed Matt. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you came home one day and found her sitting on the roof of the house or barn."

"You're wrong Matt," laughed Rip, joining the conversation. "There is one thing she's afraid of, not getting enough chocolate, especially chocolate cake. You know as well as I do that she would eat it for breakfast, dinner, and supper if we'd let her."

The children made several more runs on their sleds, starting from farther up the side of the mountain. After the tenth run, Cat asked, "Pa, can I climb up to the top of the mountain and slide down on my sled?"

All of the adults tried hard not to laugh. "No you may not."

"Why not?"

"Because it will take you many days to walk up to the top of that mountain. Since you don't have any food, water, or blankets with you, you will be very tired, cold, and hungry when you reach the top, if you ever do. Joe, please tell your sister what happened when you tried climbing that mountain."

"I was twelve when I tried to climb this mountain. I started out with three canteens full of water, a knapsack full of food, my twenty two, and my bedroll. By the end of the third day, I was barely half way to the top. I spent that night where I was and started back down the next day. I guess Pa, Adam, and Hoss had been watching me, because when I finally got back down here, Adam was waiting for me. I thought he was going to tease me about not making it all the way to the top, but he surprised me and said he was proud of me for trying and getting as far as I did. You would need at least two weeks to get to the top and back down again, and you can't do it in the winter. It gets too cold at night and if a blizzard hit, you would probably be dead before we could find you. Depending on how deep the snow was, we might not be able to find you until spring, and I can guarantee you that nobody wants that to happen."

"Oh. I guess that would be kind of bad."

"It would be worse than bad," said Thaddeus, joining the conversation. "It would be terrible. I didn't pull you out of that river only to see you buried under a mountain of snow. The best thing for you to do is stay down here where your friends are."

"Ok. But I still think it would be fun to start at the top of the mountain."

"I know it would, but it just isn't safe. Maybe one day you will be able to climb that mountain, but it won't be in the winter."

"When do you think I'll be able to climb it?"

"I don't know. Maybe when you're eighteen or twenty."

"That's a long time from now."

"Yes it is, but remember, Joe was twelve when he tried climbing it and couldn't make it all the way to the top, so you're going to have to be a lot older than twelve before you try to climb all the way to the top. Now, why don't you go and play with your friends some more?"

Cat ran off to do more sledding with her friends. Ben turned to Thaddeus and said, "Thank you for telling her that she wouldn't be able to climb the mountain until she was eighteen or twenty. Knowing her, if you hadn't, she'd be out here trying just as soon as the snow melted."

"I know. That's why I said what I did. I don't want to have to rescue her from the side of a mountain."

The children had a lot of fun sledding. As Mark and the girls became more sure of what they were doing, they all decided to have some races. Mary and Mark surprised themselves when they each won a race. About an hour before dinner, Ben told the children it was time to go back to the house. After hearing a chorus of "AWWWWWWWWW", he said, "I know you children are having a lot of fun, but Hop Sing will have dinner ready in an hour. It's a thirty minute ride back to the house, horses will need to be unsaddled, the tables will need to be set and everyone will have to wash up. All of you know how upset Hop Sing gets when people are late for meals, so pick up your sleds, mount your horses and let's get back to the house before Hop Sing gets angry." After dinner, the children begged to be allowed to do more sledding, so Ben said, "You may go sledding again, but I want you back here before it gets dark. That does not mean you are riding into the yard when it gets dark. It means your horses are in the barn and being taken care of before it gets dark. Also, I want you to keep an eye on the weather and start back here the minute it looks like it's going to snow. Jasper, Michael, both of you know how fast snow flurries can turn into a blizzard. That's why it's so important that you start back here as soon as it looks like snow. Remember, it's a thirty minute ride and you may not have that long if you wait until it starts snowing before leaving the mountain. Do all of you understand what I'm telling you?"

"Yes sir," came six voices altogether. "We're supposed to be back here before dark and we're supposed to leave the mountain if it even looks like it's going to snow."

"Good. I just want to make sure all of you heard and understood what I was telling you. Go on, have a good time and be careful."

While the children were getting their hats, coats, and mittens on, Cat said, "Grownups worry about dumb things too much. It's not going to snow and we're not going to get stuck in a blizzard. The sun is shining and everyone knows it doesn't rain or snow when the sun is shining." The other five agreed with her, causing the adults to start laughing as soon as the children were out the door.

They played with their sleds for several more hours when Jasper and Mike noticed the shadows starting to get very long. "We only have time for two more runs," said Jasper. "I don't want Mr. Cartwright to get angry at us because we're late getting back to the house."

"Jas is right," said Mike. "If we're late, Mr. Cartwright might not let us go and hear Andy sing tomorrow and I sure don't want to miss that."

It was almost dark and the children still weren't in the house and Ben started getting upset. "I told those children to be back here before dark and they're still not here. They had better have a good reason for disobeying me or they won't be going anywhere tomorrow."

"They're back Pa," said Hoss. "They've been back for about fifteen minutes now. They're takin' care of their horses. You was upstairs when they rode in." When the children still weren't in the house ten minutes later, Ben decided to see what was keeping them. He walked into the barn and started laughing when he saw six children covered with hay.

"Hi Pa. We got attacked by the hay."

"I see that. I didn't realize the hay was so wild. I hope the six of you managed to tame it." The children laughed along with him, happy that he wasn't angry with them because of their hay fight.

With Cat's friends and Mark visiting, Adam had started keeping his sketch pad by his chair so he picked it up and followed his father out to the barn. When he had finished drawing the six hay covered children, he said, "Be sure to brush all of that hay off of yourselves before coming into the house. If you don't, they'll hear Hop Sing yelling in England."

"Ok Adam," said Mike. "We will. We don't want Hop Sing mad at us because of anything. He makes the best chocolate cake in the whole world and might not give us any if he's mad at us."

"Mike, I am going to tell your mother you said that," teased Adam.

"That's ok. She already knows I think Hop Sing makes the best chocolate cake in the whole world. Mitch and Joe used to tell her that all the time and now Jas, Cat, and I do."

"My ma knows too," added Jasper.

"So does ours," said Mary and Laura.

Adam shook his head and laughed. "Alright you six. You need to get cleaned up and come in the house. Supper will be ready soon." He walked back into the house and showed everyone his drawing. As he predicted, all of the visitors and his grandfather wanted a copy of it.

"We need one of them cameras like that photographer feller has," said Hoss. "Then Adam's fingers wouldn't get so worn out drawin' pictures of what little sister does."

"That would be nice," replied Adam. "However, there is one small problem with your idea. Those cameras are large and take time to set up. Whoever used it, would have to tote it around on a pack horse while following Cat everywhere she went. Remember, Abel Goss carries all of his photography things around in a wagon. Also, a person has to hold still for at least ten seconds while their photograph is being taken. Under those conditions, it would be impossible to get pictures of Cat doing things like chasing a steer back to the herd. I can sketch her on her horse and add the steer and other details in later."

During breakfast, the children debated whether to go skating or sledding again when Ben said, "I'm sorry kids, but no sledding today."

"Why not Pa?" asked Cat.

"There are two reasons. First, Mary and Laura's parents are bringing Carrie over so she can go ice skating with her sisters and it wouldn't be fair to her if they were sledding while she was trying to learn how to use her ice skates. Second, we are having an early dinner so the six of you can go and listen to Andy sing. It's a thirty minute ride to the mountain where you were sledding and only a ten minute ride to the pond."

When everyone reached the pond, the girls had trouble getting their skate laces tight enough. Cat grew frustrated and finally walked over to a tree where she sat down, put one foot against it and tried tightening the laces that way. "What are you doing?" asked Ben.

"I can't get these dumb laces tight enough so maybe I can if I do it this way."

Victoria watched Cat, Laura, and Mary struggle with their laces and said, "The children need something like a crochet hook or a woman's boot lace hook, only stronger, to help them tighten their skate laces. When we go to Carson City tomorrow, I'm going to look for both items and maybe your blacksmith can make something similar that's stronger for the children to use."

Cat continued pushing her foot against the tree as hard as she could while pulling on the skate laces when she felt herself being picked up by a strong pair of hands. "Why didn't you ask for help?" asked Heath as he carried her over to the other children. "Any one of us would have helped you."

"'Cause I have to do everything by myself."

"Now who told you that nonsense? You are only nine years old and do not have to do everything by yourself. Everybody needs help from time to time and you are no exception." He asked all of the adults and all of them said that they had not told Cat she needed to do everything by herself.

"You don't understand. I have to do everything by myself."

"The whole family just said that they never told you that, so who did?"

"Cat, are those older kids at school still telling you things like that?" asked Joe. At Heath's confused look, Joe said, "The school bullies and their friends along with some of the women have been telling Cat all kinds of nonsense. Among other things, the women told her that if her school grades weren't perfect, Pa was going to send her to an orphanage. Now Cat, who has been telling you that you have to do everything by yourself? Adam, Hoss, Pa, and I need to know so we can put a stop to it. You are part of this family and as we keep telling you, families help each other."

"Tommy and his and Billy's friends and Annabel's friends."

"Tommy is not even supposed to be talking to you. I thought we had that problem taken care of but I guess their fathers' lessons didn't sink in. I'll let Pa know about that so he can talk to Mr. Roberts and the other fathers. On Friday, Andy, Adam, Hoss, Mitch, and I are going out to the sledding hill to see if we can catch the older boys trying to break everyone else's sleds. If we catch them, we're going to take them to Roy and their fathers can pick them up at the jail."

"Joe," said Heath. "Why don't you tell your father what those kids are saying to Cat and I'll tighten her skate laces for her? I'm sure the other girls' family will be here soon and all of the children will want to be on the ice."

The rest of the Ingalls family arrived a few minutes later and Charles helped Carrie put her skates on. Knowing that Mark, Mary, Laura, and Cat were still too wobbly on their skates to help Carrie, Jasper and Mike helped her learn to use hers. They each took one of her hands and skated around the pond with her between them. Then they had her skate by herself close to the bank without them holding her. She fell and started to cry so Jasper said, "You were here on Monday watching Cat, your sisters, and Mark. They fell a lot and they didn't cry. Now, if they didn't cry, why would a big girl like you cry because you fell down. You're not hurt. Look, Cat just fell again and so did Laura. They're laughing, not crying, so why don't you get up and try again? Everybody falls a lot when they're learning to skate. I know Mike and I did." Carrie stopped crying and Jasper helped her get up and she started skating again.

Carrie started getting tired about an hour later so Charles and Caroline took her home. The older children skated for a while longer when Ben said, "Alright kids. That's enough for today." Before the children could complain, he continued, "Remember, we're having dinner early so you can go and hear Andy sing."

While they were eating, Cat asked, "Pa, are you going to town today?"

"Yes I am. Why?"

"Good." Cat got up and started running for the stairs. She ran about four steps and remembered she promised Andy that she'd stop running in the house so she stopped and walked up to her room, took a letter off her desk and took it to her father. "Will you please mail this for me when you go to town?"

Ben looked at the envelope and noticed it was addressed to 'Uncle Sam Grant, The White House, Washington DC'. "Of course I'll mail it for you Sweetheart. You could have waited until after dinner to give it to me."

"I know, but I was afraid I'd forget."

He hugged her and said, "Silly girl, even if you forgot to give it to me today, we could have mailed it tomorrow. I want you to know that I am very proud of you. I saw that you started running toward the stairs but stopped before being told. That shows me that you are trying hard to keep your promise and that makes me very happy. Now you need to finish your dinner so you can leave for town."

As Andy and the children were getting ready to leave for town, he said, "Adam, get your guitar and come with us. You play very well, so you can play and sing along with me."

Adam groaned. He had been looking forward to a quiet afternoon at home with just his brothers for company. "You play just fine and don't need me along."

"Oh come on Adam. All you were going to do is spend the afternoon with your nose in a book. Come and help me entertain the children. They'll love hearing you play and sing along with me."

"Pleeeeeeeeease Adam," came six voices.

"I think you're outnumbered son," laughed Ben. "I suggest you surrender."

"Oh alright. Andy, the next time you come for a visit, I'm running away and taking my books with me. I had planned on spending the afternoon reading one of the books Cat gave me for Christmas, not entertaining children. I already played and sang at their school Christmas party." Everyone laughed at the thought of Adam running away from home. He picked Cat up, put her over his shoulder and said, "Do you know what happens to little sisters who laugh at their oldest brother? They get dumped in the trough, that's what happens."

"You don't have time for that," said Andy. "It's noon now and I told the children I'd start singing at two. Please get your guitar and let's go. Hoss, Joe, would one of you please saddle Adam's horse for him? I don't want him using that as an excuse not to go." Adam sighed and went upstairs to get his guitar, coat, and gloves.

"That's an excellent idea," said Ben. "Hoss, Joe, while one of you is saddling Adam's horse, would the other one please hitch a team to the surrey so everyone else can go to town?"

While Hoss and Joe were saddling Sport and hitching a team to the surrey, Matt and Rip went upstairs to the room they were sharing. When they returned, Rip was carrying his uniform and Matt had his badge in one of his hands. Ben gave them a questioning look and Rip said, "Mr. Roberts thought the boys might be more intimidated and pay attention to what we were saying if I was wearing my uniform and Matt had his badge on. Sheriff Coffee agreed. The doctor said I could change clothes in his office. Tell me something. Was Adam really going to put Cat in the water trough?"

"No. He was just teasing her. If it was warmer and they didn't have to go to town, he would have, but it's too cold outside for that now."

Adam came back downstairs with his guitar. While he was putting his coat on, he looked at the children and said, "I am going to throw the six of you into the lake when we get home. I had a nice, quiet afternoon planned and could have talked Andy out of wanting me to go along today. Since the six of you decided to spoil my afternoon of reading, you are either going to be thrown in the lake or I will bury you under two mountains full of snow."

The children laughed and Jasper said, "You'll have to catch us first and we can run lots faster than you can. You're too old and slow to catch us."

"Hoss and Joe came back into the house just then and Joe said, "Everyone's horse is saddled and the surrey is ready to go." Then he decided to tease Adam. "Enjoy your quiet afternoon of reading older brother." He laughed and ducked quickly as his brother reached to slap him alongside his head.

"You know baby brother that I can still pick you up and throw you in Lake Tahoe just as easily as I can these six monsters."

"You haven't been able to catch me since before you went away to college and I can still outrun you."

"That's what you think. If Andy, the children, and I didn't need to leave now, I would show you what I can still do to you." The children laughed at Adam and Joe teasing each other.

While the rest of the family was waiting in the surrey, Ben looked at Hoss and Joe and said, "I want the two of you to make sure the cattle have enough hay. You haven't been out to the lower pastures in two days, so they're probably almost out. Take a sled load with you so you have some with you and will only need to come back here if you need more. Joseph, that does not mean you are going to take it easy while Hoss does all of the work. It will take both of you working to get the cattle fed before dark and rest assured, I will be riding out to the pastures today if there's enough daylight left when we return home. Otherwise, I will be going out there tomorrow before we go to Carson City and those cattle had better have food. If they don't, you will be doing extra chores for a long time to come. I am quite certain that your brother and sister will enjoy not having any for a while."

Joe started to complain about having to work while Adam went to town. "Joseph, if you'd like, I can assign you extra chores right now. Your sister hasn't had to do hers since before Thanksgiving and I'm positive she won't mind not having to do them for several more months. Even though they didn't have to, Catherine and her friends have been setting and clearing the tables as well as helping Hop Sing bring food out of the kitchen while neither you nor Hoss have even offered to help them. Andy is a guest and even he has been helping them. In fact, everybody except the two of you has been helping at meal times so I don't want to hear you complaining about having to feed the cattle!" When both Hoss and Joe stayed seated on the settee, he said, "Don't just sit there. Get up, get your coats on, hitch a team to the sled, fill it with hay and do as you were told! The hay won't take itself out to the cattle!" Realizing their father intended to stay at the ranch until they did what he had instructed them to do, they reluctantly put their hats, coats, gloves, and guns on and went out to the barn. Ben apologized to the family for the delay, got in the surrey and everyone headed for town.

When they reached Virginia City, Ben stopped at the post office to mail Cat's letter before stopping at Paul's office so Rip could change into his uniform. Then they went over to Roy's office to confront the boys. Tommy and his father were already there as were Mr. Davis, Ron, Richie, and Davy's fathers. Roy unlocked the cells and told the boys to come out. Billy had no intention of doing as he was told, so his father walked into the cell, pulled him up off the cot and marched him out into Roy's office to face Cat's family. Ben introduced Matt, Rip, Jarrod, and Heath to the boys, who were quite intimidated when they saw Rip in his uniform and Matt wearing his badge but Tommy and Billy decided to act like they weren't.

When asked why they had done the things they had done to Cat, they gave the exact same responses they had given every other time they were asked. "Why did my son need your permission to let his sister ride his horse?" asked Ben.

"Everyone knows that brat isn't your daughter Mr. Cartwright," said Billy.

"Yeah," said Tommy. "She's just some bastard you found and took in."

The family and the boys' fathers saw red. Matt picked Tommy up by the front of his shirt with both hands, put his back against the wall and said, "You are lucky that you're just a boy! The last person who said that about my niece was unconscious for several hours and missing two teeth when I finished with him! My and Major Masters brother was married to Mr. Cartwright's sister for almost two years before Catherine was born! She has always been and will always be a Cartwright! All your words are doing is convincing me that you may end up in prison before too many more years have passed." When Matt put him back down, Tommy's eyes were as big as saucers and his face was white. He looked at his friends and father for help but nobody moved.

"Blaming someone else because you are facing consequences for your actions is never right," said Rip. "Neither is being a bully and beating up on children younger and smaller than yourself. Two of you forced our niece to go to town in the middle of the night and look under the saloon door, got caught and were punished for it. You were wrong to do that and you are wrong to blame Catherine because you are facing consequences for your actions. She didn't make you become bullies. Nobody did. That was your decision and yours alone and it is your fault and nobody else's that you were caught and are being punished."

"I am the family lawyer," said Jarrod. "Catherine is my cousin. You should be thanking your lucky stars that I was not here the day four of you decided to try and kill her. I guarantee if I had been, you would be in prison, not here in the Virginia City jail and spending Christmas with your families. Ben, when these boys are released, wire me immediately if they do anything to hurt Cat and I will be on the next train from California. I will go to court and ask the judge to impose the maximum sentence on them. I guarantee you boys that your punishment won't be as light as it is now."

"You boys should also be thankful that our brother Nick isn't here with us," added Heath. "He loves Cat just as much as the rest of the family does and I don't know if Matt, Rip, Ben, Jarrod, and myself would be able to keep him from killing you with his bare hands. He's very protective of the younger family members and gets very angry when someone tries to or actually hurts one of them. Remember that because I can guarantee you that if we get another telegram from Ben telling us that one or more of you has done something to hurt our little cousin, he and I will both be on that train with Jarrod and we will not be happy at all, and I don't even want to think about what Adam, Hoss, and Joe will do to you before the three of us get here!"

"There is one other very important thing you boys need to know," added Victoria. "My niece has some very powerful Godfathers who will not hesitate to throw their weight behind any sentencing recommendation Jarrod will give the judge should you do anything to hurt Catherine again. President Grant and Generals Sherman and Sheridan love their Goddaughter very much and will be extremely unhappy with you if you ever do anything to hurt her again."

"You're lying," said Billy. "They're very important people and wouldn't want anything to do with some stupid orphan Mr. Cartwright found."

"Young man, you don't know how wrong you are," replied Lucas. "Catherine's father and I were best friends and President Grant and Generals Sheridan and Sherman were Michael's and my friends and they are still my friends. Both generals have visited my son and I on our ranch and all three of them were at my ranch last summer as well as being here for Catherine's mother's funeral. Ben, why don't you see if you can get that letter you dropped off at the Post Office on the way here? I doubt that these boys will believe what they see with their own eyes, but maybe reading the addresses will convince them that we know what we're talking about."

"I don't care what that envelope says," replied Billy. "It won't prove anything. Mrs. Warren says she's just a foundling and doesn't belong here with us."

Mr. Davis grabbed his son by the back of his collar and said, "When were you talking to Mrs. Warren? You have been told more times than I can count to stay away from her and that goes back to when you were ten so don't blame Catherine Cartwright."

"She comes to the school at recess and dinner and talks to us. She tells us all kinds of stuff about that stupid kid. Mrs. Warren says she's not a Cartwright and Mr. Cartwright shouldn't be letting her live on the Ponderosa. She says the kid should be sent to an orphanage or a work home."

"You just landed in a lot more trouble than you already are and so I believe is Mrs. Warren. I was in court the day she was ordered to stay away from the Cartwrights and going to the school is not staying away from them. The judge told you boys that Catherine was Mr. Cartwright's niece and he adopted her when she was orphaned, which makes her his daughter. Ben, if you or any of your family want to use their belt on William, go right ahead. You have my permission. When we finish here, I will go home and return with my razor strop. William, it is my sincere hope that while you and Thomas are in military school, you will learn to take responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming others for them. I hope and pray that you will grow up to be the man your mother and I want you to be, because neither one of us wants to see you sent to prison or be hung for committing a crime."

"Whipping him even more won't do any good Bill," said Ben. "Why don't you take William to see the judge tomorrow and see what he has to say? Who knows, he might even lengthen his sentence so he's stuck in Roy's cells until Easter. Being here, away from his friends for an extra month and a half might make more of an impression on him than another whipping, especially as both he and Thomas will be going to their respective military schools to take their placement exams right after Easter. Depending on the results of those exams, the superintendents may want the boys to report early for extra tutoring. Since Richard, Ronald, and David have apologized and promised not to hurt anyone again, I see no need for them to see the judge again."