Chapter 6

     "Put me down, Josh!" Kate hissed quietly. Josh just smiled at her and Stempel as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

     Aaron walked toward them, "I happened to be passing by. I thought I heard one of the brides in trouble."

     "There's no trouble and no bride, Aaron. Katie and I were just reliving old times. Weren't we, Cricket?" He asked her most politely as she pursed her lips in anger. "She grew up with my brothers and I on Bridal Veil, you know."

     "No, I didn't know that."

     Kate was both angry and embarrassed. Josh was holding her like some kind of prize trout and talking to this man as though he had all the time in the world to chat. Jason had told her about Mr. Stempel. She knew that it would be in her best interest to impress the businessman with her maturity and professionalism if she wanted the paper to succeed. Being dressed in boys' clothes and held above the ground in Josh's arms was not the way she had hoped to get better acquainted with Aaron Stempel.

     "Joshua Bolt," she hissed as Aaron drew closer. Josh only continued to grin at her so, she stretched out her arm, pulled it back quickly and jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Josh gasped once before dropping her to the ground.

      Aaron stepped up in time to gallantly offer her his hand and help her up.

     "I assure you Miss Macready, not every man in Seattle behaves this way toward lovely ladies such as yourself. May I escort you back to town?"

     Kate rose with as much dignity as she could muster.

     "Thank-you, Mr. Stempel. You are very kind."

      Kate's tone became as womanly and composed, as it had been sisterly and vulnerable a few moments before. Josh noticed the sudden change with disapproval.

     Kate continued, "Joshua and I were just discussing the possibility of beginning a newspaper here in Seattle."

     "Oh, really?" He offered her his arm, which she accepted. "I've never seen a business meeting carried out in such an unusual manner."

     "Well," she grinned, "Josh always was a little unusual."

     "I've always thought so." Aaron chuckled, then gestured toward town. "Shall we?"

     Kate walked the rest of the way down the trail on Aaron's arm. She looked back just once to make a face at Josh who walked behind them with a frown. Aaron had never been one of his favorite people, and now that Kate seemed anxious to charm him, he liked him even less.

     Aaron listened attentively to Kate's ideas about the paper. His interest sparked a real excitement in her. With a man like this giving her his support, the possibility of being the editor of her own paper might be more than just a dream.

      By the time the three arrived at Lottie's, there was every indication that Kate and Aaron would become good friends. The thought of it irritated Joshua Bolt no end.

     "We'll talk more tomorrow, Miss Macready. In the afternoon?" Aaron invited.

     "I'd like that Mr. Stempel," she nodded.

     "Good! Come to my office whenever you're ready," He kissed the back of her hand. "' Til then."

      Josh stood apart from them until Aaron walked away. He then took Kate's hand and gave a melodramatic version of what the older man had done.

     "'Til then, Miss Macready,"

     Kate pulled her hand away, "What's the matter, Josh? Never seen a gentleman say good-evening to a lady before?"

     "Yes, I have and that was no gentleman, that was Aaron Stempel. Didn't Jason warn you about him?"

     "No, he didn't warn me, he told me. He mentioned that you three have had differences with him in the past..."

     "Differences!" Josh exploded, "I could tell you some stories about Aaron Stempel that would make you want to disinfect that hand of yours."

     Kate interrupted his tirade. "Please don't, Josh. Mr. Stempel seems to be a very nice man and I'd like to believe that until he should happen to prove himself otherwise. Now, let me run upstairs and change out of these clothes. I'll be down in a second. Try to get into a better mood while I'm gone."

     As Josh waited for her on the porch, Clancey strolled by on his way to the Bolt cabin.

     "Clancey!"

     "Young Bolt! I thought dinner was being served indoors this evening." He was in good spirits. Jeremy had invited him to join them that night. Josh noticed that he had spruced himself up for the occasion. The sight of Clancey all dressed up never failed to bring a smile to Josh. He soon forgot the sour mood that Aaron had created.

     "I'm waiting for Katie." Josh explained. Clancey joined him on the porch.

      "I've done that meself," he smiled. "Almost had to stay in San Francisco another day waiting for her to hear from that Chicago editor of hers."

     "You know Clancey, something about all of this confuses me. If Kate is only going to stay long enough to get a story on the brides, how can she think she has time to start a full fledged newspaper?"

     "I don't know lad. Jason was trying to come up with a reason to get her away from danger. Offering her her own paper might have been a way to sweeten the proposition."

     "Well, he sweetened it all right. Aaron's involved now, and I know for a fact that Kate doesn't quit on something until she gets what she's after. She might be a good reporter but what she plans on doing is going to take a lot of time even for someone who's done this before."

     "We'd better hope Chicago doesn't call her back too soon." Clancey mused.

     The men heard Kate coming down the stairs.

      "Let's not mention it tonight," Josh suggested.

     "My lips are sealed." Clancey promised, just as the young lady emerged from the saloon wearing her brown dress and carrying a small black bag in her right hand.

     "Captain Clancey!" Kate greeted with a smile. "Are you coming with us?"

     "I am, Miss. Even the thought of Bolt cooking couldn't keep me away."

     Kaitlyn laughed, "Is it that bad?"

     "You'll survive." Josh promised her. "What's in the bag?"

     "Presents, for later," she whispered secretively. "So, you'd better be sociable tonight, Squid."

     "I'll do my best."

     Kate linked arms with Clancey and Josh and the three of them ambled merrily across the square, around the totem pole, behind the dormitory and straight up the road to the Bolt cabin. Jeremy and Candy were waiting for them outside.

     "Hello!" Candy called. "We were getting worried about you."

     "Some of us were," Jeremy teased. "Lottie told us about your escape. Where did you find her, Josh, in a tree?"

     "Close. She was at Secret Place."

     "Secret Place?" Candy was curious.

     "You mean Jeremy's never told you about Secret Place?" Katie asked.

     "No."

     "It looks like I'm going to have to fill you in on all sorts of information from our past, Miss Pruitt. There are some things every girl ought to know before she marries one of the Bolts." Jeremy was starting to look more than a little concerned. "Why don't we take a lunch up there and I'll tell you everything."

     Candy laughed, "Sounds wonderful! Although nothing you could tell me could ever make me love Jeremy any less."

     Kate smiled, "I wouldn't even try."

     Jeremy took his fiancée by the elbow and steered her in the direction of the cabin. "I think dinner is ready."

      Josh leaned over to murmur in Kate's ear. "Didn't you make a promise to me earlier about sharing family secrets?"

     "I promised to keep Bolt family history out of the paper and I will, but I never said anything about word of mouth." Kate ducked through the door to the welcome cries of everyone inside. She very tactfully arranged to be seated away from Josh and next to Lottie, her newly adopted mentor.

     Jeremy and Josh shouldn't have worried about their lack of culinary talent. Everyone was so busy sharing stories and memories and catching up on the events in their lives that no one even noticed what was served. Kate entertained everyone with a few stories of her life in Chicago. As she spoke, Jason was again astonished by the change that had taken place in his young friend over the years. Jeremy seemed to guess what his older brother was thinking and whispered to him.

     "She doesn't seem to be as angry as I remember her."

     Jason agreed, "Something else has taken its place. A loneliness, I think."

     The conversation lulled a bit and when it did, Jason was the one to bring up a story from the past.

     "Brothers, do you remember the time Kate thought she was a marauding Indian?'

     Josh laughed heartily and Kate buried her face in her hands. Jeremy was at a loss.

     "I don't remember." Jason and Josh both laughed even harder at that. "What? Was I there?"

     Kate looked up crimson faced; "You were there, Jeremy. You were most definitely there!"

     "What happened?" Lottie asked.

     "Tell her, Kate." Jason encouraged.

     The girl hedged. "I don't remember many of the details."

     Josh exulted in the fact that Kate didn't seem to want this story made known. After the shaving mirror story that afternoon, he was anxious to get a little revenge.

     "I'll never forget it!" He exclaimed as Kate groaned. Josh turned to the others. "One winter, Jeremy, Kate and I all came down with the measles at the same time. Jeremy was four, Kate was seven, I was eight and Jason was fifteen. Our mother thought he was old enough to be trusted to watch us while she went into town for awhile to help deliver a baby. Father and Andrew had gone off hunting for a few days. They had planned to take Jason with them but, since we were all sick, they decided to leave him behind to help mother."

     "They gave me my grandfather's hunting knife to pacify me." Jason recalled.

     "Anyway," Josh continued. "After all the adults had been gone for a day, we got to be a handful I guess, so Jason took off to try out his new knife the next afternoon."

     "You left them alone?" Candy turned on Jason in shock.

     "No, I left Josh in charge," he explained.

     Josh handed Lottie some cider. "Yes, he did. Jason had never left me in charge of anyone or anything before so I wanted to do a good job for him."

     Kate turned to Jeremy. "He bossed us around all afternoon. I remember that much."

     "I did more than that," Josh protested. "I made you lunch and read you stories."

     Jason filled in; "He read them stories from the penny dreadfuls he had stashed under his bed!"

     "It was all I had at the time! You wouldn't let me get near your books." Josh said in his defense.

     "Well, for goodness sakes, what happened?" Candy asked.

     Josh sighed, "I learned never to leave an imaginative seven year old and an obliging four year old alone after telling them a penny dreadful story."

     Kate knew what was coming next, "I'd better tell the rest of this! Josh left the cabin to go to the necessary. While he was gone, Jeremy and I decided to act out one of the stories and play pioneer and Indian. I got to be the Indian."

     Jeremy gasped, "Now, I remember!" He turned on Kate. "You tied me to a chair didn't you?"

     "How else could I get you to hold still?" she asked matter-of-factly.

     "Why did he have to hold still?" Candy whispered, almost afraid to ask.

     Josh jumped in. "All I know is, when I opened the door, I saw Jeremy tied to the chair, crying his eyes out and there was Kate, standing over him with our mother's shears in one hand and a fistful of brown hair in the other. Then I noticed these clumps of little boy hair all over the cabin floor."

      Everyone groaned. Candy ran her fingers through the thick brown mane she knew and loved.

     Kate shrugged with a wicked grin, "I thought I'd done a pretty authentic job of scalping."

     "Oh, you did." Jason agreed. "It took six months for Jeremy's hair to grow back to normal."

     Lottie laughed, "I'll bet your folks were thrilled with all of this."

     "If I remember correctly," Jason stretched. "I lost my hunting knife ' til spring thaw, Josh's penny dreadfuls were confiscated permanently and little Miss Sacajawea here couldn't sit down for a week at least."

     "And I made sure I was never alone in a room with her again." Jeremy added with finality. The room rocked with laughter.

     "It was the first and last haircut I ever gave." Kate said as she got up from the table and searched for the whereabouts of the little bag she'd brought in.

     "But it wasn't the last time you got yourself or one of us into trouble." Jason teased.

     "She told me that she became a reporter because it's the one job that will pay her to be in the middle of trouble." Josh informed him.

     "Only I don't start the trouble anymore, I just report it." Kate clarified.

     Josh whispered to Jeremy, "That remains to be seen."

     Katie found the bag and announced, "Our fathers never came back from their travels without bringing back presents for all of us. After being gone for ten years, I wanted to bring back something extra special."

     Kate handed Candy and Lottie two bottles of Jean Bolt's favorite cologne. The women were surprised, but she explained, "Once I saw you both in the Captain's tintype, I just knew we'd get along. So, in between recesses at the trial I went out looking for the cologne that Jeremy's mother used to wear."

     "Thank-you, Katie." Candy said.

     "Captain Clancey, all I had to give you was a harmonica that once belonged to General Grant. I won it in a bet with one of the men on the paper. I'd like you to have it."

     "Ah, darlin', what a thoughtful thing to do." Clancey took it from her and blew gently into it. A chord filled the air and he laughed. "From what I've heard of Grant, this harmonica has seen the insides of many of the best saloons east of the Mississippi. Thank-you, lass."

     Kate moved over to Jason and placed a pipe in his hand made from whalebone. "Papa told me that you were to have this and no one else. He wanted it to be a way of saying thank-you for the way you had helped us."

     Jason stood up and gave her a hug. "Thank-you, Cricket."

     Kate turned to Josh and laid a silver pocket watch in his hand. The young man recognized the watch as having been Andrew's. He also remembered how much he had cherished it.

      Josh shook his head, handing it back to Kate. "I can't take this, Kate. You keep it and give it to your son someday."

     Kate refused, "Papa said that Jason would have his father's watch and you were to have his. He always thought of you as the son that he hoped my little brother would have been. You were very special to him, Josh. He was thinking of you before he died and wishing he could have had one last discussion with you." Kate whispered the last few words. "Please, take it."

     Josh did take it from her saying, "He gave us these things to be sure you came back to us. Seeing you here is almost the same as having him back too."

     Jeremy looked carefully at the small wooden figure of a dog, which Kate handed him. She smiled as he turned it around in the palm of his hand.

     "When Papa was getting weaker, he realized that his pipe and his watch were the only things of value he had to give. One afternoon he began whittling away with an energy I didn't think he had. He worked for three days. When he was finished he showed this to me and told me it was for you. He said you'd had a dog just like it when you were small and you loved her more than anything."

     "You named her Silly. You were no more than two at the time " Jason said fondly.

     "What ever happened to her?" Jeremy asked.

     "You were out playing one day when a bear came out of the woods and headed straight for you. Silly held her off long enough for father to scoop you from the ground and get you into the cabin. He raced back with the gun but it was too late to save the dog."

     Jeremy viewed the little carving with a greater tenderness. "Thank-you for bringing this to me, Katie. I'll never part with it."

     "I'm glad I finally got here to deliver these things to you," she smiled.

     Jason moved to the sideboard. "You're not the only one who has presents to give. We have one for you."

     Jason opened a drawer and withdrew a large brown envelope. He handed it to Josh, who passed it to Jeremy who presented it to Kate with a smile.

     "What's this?" She wondered. Turning it over, she saw her father's name written in Jonathan Bolt's strong hand.

     "Open it, honey." Lottie prodded softly.

     Jeremy grinned as Kate obeyed, "It's a good thing you and Josh were so late getting here. It gave Jason and I a chance to dig this up out of the attic."

     Kate withdrew a yellowed legal document. The word "Deed" was printed across the top. Kate's hands trembled as she skimmed the rest of the writing.

     "I don't understand. Papa told me he had sold our land to you, Jason. His name is here but Uncle Jonathan's isn't."

     Jason explained, "We never took possession of it. The four of us agreed that we would care for it until Andrew or you or your descendants ever returned to Seattle. It isn't more than eighty acres but it is prime land and it's yours."

     Kate shook her head. "I want to buy it back from you, Jason. I can't just take it."

     Jeremy placed his hand on her shoulder. "Listen to us a minute, Cricket. This is our father's last gift to you. Now, are you going to take it or should we hand it over to the British?"

     Kate laughed suddenly at the threat, "And have our parents waiting for us on the other side with switches in hand? I'll accept your gift and thank-you." She kissed each brother tenderly on the cheek.

     Clancey pounded his hand on the table with glee. "This calls for a rip-roaring party."

     "You're right, Clancey." Jason agreed. "It's not every day the Bolts gain a sister and land a major contract."

     "Aaron thought he had trouble taking your mountain away before, just imagine what fear the four of you will strike in that mercenary little heart of his." Lottie laughed.

     "Tomorrow night, at Lottie's?" Josh suggested.

     "If that is acceptable to you." Jason turned to the saloon owner.

     "More than acceptable." Lottie smiled. "If you'll all help set things up."

     Everyone agreed to chip in as much as he or she could to make this "Welcome Home/Celebrate the Contract" party something spectacular.

      Lottie caught sight of both Katie and Jason trying to smother yawns.

     "I think it's time for our travelers to get some sleep. It's getting late."

     The little group said goodnight. Jeremy walked Candy back to the dormitory and Clancey saw Lottie and Kate safely to the saloon.

      As Josh shut the cabin door behind them, he turned to his brother.

     "Do you think Kate could be happy living in Seattle, Jason? Chicago and San Francisco have so much more to offer a girl like her."

     "Well, we'll all do our best to make her feel at home now that she's come back to us." Jason stretched out on his bed, grateful that it didn't sway beneath him like his bunk on the Seamus.

     Josh sighed. "I just wish I knew exactly which girl has come home."

     The young man placed Andrew's gleaming pocket watch into the top drawer of the sideboard. As he let it slip from his fingers, he had the oddest feeling that Andrew Macready had entrusted him with more than just one of his prized possessions.

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