The next morning began like any other Saturday morning in Seattle: Townspeople and visitors filled the square; traveling peddlers hawked their wares; children ran around mud puddles chasing and being chased by every mongrel within twenty miles of the place. Loggers and mill workers took advantage of their day off to swap yarns in front of Ben's. The brides bustled about cleaning the dormitory from top to bottom as former brides stopped to chat with them on their way to shop for their young families.

      By eight a.m., everyone in town had been told and re-told of Kate's arrival. Lottie's saloon became a magnet for a few old timers who wanted to greet their former neighbor and the many curious folks who came to see this "sister" of the Bolt brothers for themselves.

      Molly and Christopher Pruitt were the first pilgrims to enter Lottie's that day. She welcomed them with a warm smile.

      "Well, you two look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning. What's up?"

     Chris nudged his sister so she spoke for them; "We want to meet Miss Macready."

      "Oh you do, do you? And why are you so interested in Miss Macready?"

      Chris explained, "Candy told us that when she was little she was good at findin' secret places. We want her to show us where she used to hide. Candy and Jeremy know all of our spots." He rolled his eyes in disgust.

      Molly added, "I want to meet her because Candy says she's a reporter. I didn't know ladies could do that."

      Kate heard the children's comments as she bounded down the steps, "Lottie, it sounds as though these two cub reporters would like an interview."

      "These rascals are Christopher and Molly Pruitt, Candy's brother and sister. Kids, this is Miss Macready."

      Kate shook hands with them both, which made the two feel very grown-up.

      "Please call me Katie." She pulled out two chairs for them at a table near the bar. "Now, let's sit here and I'll answer any questions you care to ask."

      Lottie slipped the girl a plate of eggs, toast, jam and a cup of coffee for breakfast. Kate thanked her, then divided the toast in half, slathered both pieces with jam and handed them to the children. Molly and Chris grinned at one another. Kate may seem like an adult to most people, but they were quick to recognize a kindred spirit when they saw one.

      As Kate told the children some of her more exciting tales of life in Chicago, the little audience of two grew into a small crowd. By ten o'clock the crowd had grown so large that the usual drinking patrons had trouble making their way to the bar.

      Jason, Josh and Jeremy entered the deserted square and were puzzled by the disappearance of half the town.

      "Jeremy!" Candy called from the door of the Pruitt wing of the dormitory.

      "Good morning, Miss Pruitt." Jason greeted as Jeremy kissed his girl.

      "What's wrong?" Jeremy asked.

      "Have you seen Molly or Christopher? They've been gone since early this morning."

      A loud peal of laughter rang out from the saloon.

      "What's going on at Lottie's?" Josh asked.

      "I don't know, but I'll bet you anything that's where we'll find Molly and Chris." Jason answered. "Let's see what's going on."

      Jason led them across the square and through the throng of bodies standing just inside the door. It didn't take long for them to realize what the attraction was. There, was Kate walking cautiously across the bar.

      "...And so, I knew that if I wanted to hear the President, I would have to climb the large tree nearby and slide out across a limb until I was directly over him." The crowd reacted with murmurs of amazement.

      "Didn't anyone try to stop you?" Ben Perkins, who should have been minding the store, asked.

      "I suppose they would have if they'd seen me, but even with a new bottle of ink, my pen and a bulky pad of paper in my satchel, I could still scoot up that tree like lightning."

      "What happened next?" Molly asked, completely enthralled.

      "Well, I inched my way across the limb until I was right over the President. Everyone was so interested in hearing what the man had to say that no one noticed me. I pulled my inkbottle, pen and very thick pad of paper from my satchel as quickly as I could. I'd missed the first part of his presentation, but I thought I could impress my editor with how thoroughly I could report the second half.

      "When I had everything settled I began writing furiously. At first, I was just reporting but then I really started to listen. The President's words were so thrilling that for one second I forgot where I was. I inched a little to my left to hear him better and bumped right into the inkbottle. It catapulted over the side of the limb before I could catch it."

      The crowd gasped as one and Biddie cried out, "Mercy, you didn't hit the President, did you?"

      "I missed him by three inches," she whispered dramatically. The crowd sighed in relief. "But my ink bottle smashed against the edge of the podium and burst into a million pieces. No one had noticed me before, but now every single eye in that crowd was glued right on me."

      "Did you run away?" Chris asked. "I would have."

      Kate sat down on the edge of the bar shaking her head. "I couldn't. I was petrified with fear. The ink had drenched the President's papers and splashed every dignitary sitting in the front row, one of which happened to be my editor."

      A sympathetic groan rose from the group.

      "What did they do to you?" Molly asked.

      "Did you go to jail?" Chris wanted to know.

      "I'm sure I would have if the President hadn't seen the look of horror on my face. When everyone else began to shout and get irate, he just smiled up at me and said, 'Gentlemen, Chicago is a city of many wonders, one of which appears to be the comeliest bird of prey I have ever encountered. We in Washington can only boast of common pigeons! You are to be commended.'"

      The listeners smiled and nudged each other, happy to hear that their President was so good-natured. Kate continued.

      "He motioned for me to come down and, once I was safely on the ground, asked me what had happened. I was so nervous, I think I explained everything. The President praised my initiative but suggested I trade in my inkbottle for a pencil. Then he reached into his pocket and gave me this."

      Kate pulled a plain yellow pencil from her dress pocket. A silence swept over the room as everyone beheld this singular piece of wood and lead.

      "So everything ended happily ever after?" Jason asked from the back corner of the room. Kate hadn't realized he was there and blushed.

      "Not exactly."

      Josh was enjoying Kate's very public moment of truth. "What happened next?"

      "Well, my editor wasn't thrilled at being baptized in black ink by a rookie reporter. He couldn't fire me after what the President had said, but the next day in his office he 'explained' to me in no uncertain terms, that my job was to report the news and not instigate it. I was assigned to the society section for the next four months."

      "You must have hated that," Lottie chuckled.

      "It was awfully tedious...except for one little incident with the mayor's wife."

      The group looked up in anticipation of another tale, but Kate's voice was wearing thin and she had other tasks to accomplish that day.

      "But we all have things to do I'm sure." The crowd reluctantly agreed and slowly dispersed. Many of them paused on their way out to shake Katie's hand and welcome her to Seattle.

      Jason grinned at Josh. "And you were worried about her not feeling at home."

      Josh headed for Kate as soon as the last well wisher had departed.

      "What's next, Kate? Are you planning to take your act on the road?"

      Jason joined the teasing. "We turn our backs on you for a few hours and look what happens."

      "Molly and Chris asked about my work," she smiled, hopping down from the bar. Lottie slid a lemonade over to the girl who had been speaking nonstop for hours.

     "Don't scold her, boys. Business has never been this good on a Saturday morning. As far as I'm concerned, Kate can tell her stories in here any time she wants."

      "I thought that's what the newspaper was for." Jeremy commented wryly as he sent Molly and Chris back to their waiting sister.

      "You're right, Jeremy and that's why I need to get myself over to Mr. Stempel's office." Her eyes sparkled with excitement; "We're going to put together a list of the equipment we'll need to get started. Aaron's very interested in this project, Jason, and with his connections, we might be in business sooner than we thought."

     "Cricket, you realize that any plans for a paper need to be approved by the town council before you can get started." Jason warned.

     "Oh, of course! Aaron and I discussed that yesterday on our walk back to Seattle. The first step is to draft a proposal for the council. We'll need to have it ready by the end of the month, since that's when they meet. Once they agree, we can start planning a way to finance everything. I should be able to recruit and train reporters by early July."

      Kate finished off her lemonade, thanked Lottie, collected her things and scurried out the door with a wave to the Bolts. Her energy and high spirits made Jason laugh.

      "That girl could charm the bees out of their hive if she put her mind to it. Sounds like she's already got Aaron Stempel wrapped around her finger. A beer, Lottie, and then we have work to do."

     "Coming right up." Lottie filled the glass to the brim. " I hope Katie doesn't get so involved with Aaron that she forgets about the party tonight."

     "Aaron." Josh murmured flatly from his seat at the table.

     "What was that, Josh?" Jeremy asked leaning up against the bar.

     "Katie called Stempel, Aaron." Josh said with a frown.

     "Why shouldn't she? That's his name." Jason asked sitting next to him with his beer.

     "Among others." Jeremy grinned joining them.

     "Don't you see what's happening?" Josh began. His sudden seriousness made Jason pay closer attention.

     "I guess I don't, Josh. Why don't you explain?"

     "You know Stempel as well as I do. He won't be happy until he owns this town, right?"

      "That's been his way." Jeremy nodded. "So?"

     "So, what better way to run things than to be certain that your opinions influence what is and is not printed in our only newspaper."

      Jeremy shook his head. "Josh, I don't think that he's out to influence anyone."

     "Did you see Cricket just now? She's known the man less than a day and she's already calling him 'Aaron' and telling us what 'they' are going to do. It's not Stempel who's wrapped around Kate's finger, Jason."

     The logger viewed his younger brother with interest. "You might be right, Josh, but before we jump to conclusions, let's give things a little more time. Right now we can't accuse Aaron of anything other than trying to help Kate get started."

     Josh pushed himself away from the table. "All right, but don't be surprised if a little civil war starts over this paper and Kate finds herself stuck right in the middle."

     Jeremy and Jason shared bewildered looks between them as Josh headed for the door.

     "I'm going up to camp to check on the supplies. Lottie, I'll be back in time to help set up things for tonight."

     Lottie sighed as she watched him leave. "Do you think he's right, Jason?"

     "I hope not, Lottie. We Bolts are going to be too busy with this new contract to battle with Stempel."

     "I don't think we have to worry, Jason," Jeremy said. "If Stempel is trying to manipulate things he's going to have a real struggle on his hands."

     "Why is that, brother?" Jason asked.

      "Kate never did anything just because someone told her to. If Stempel tries to influence her, I think he'll wish he hadn't."

     Jason and Lottie smiled at the thought of Katie telling Aaron what's what.

     "You're probably right, Jeremy, but let's all keep an eye on Katie just the same. Aaron can be persuasive when he wants to be."

     The three agreed to be watch out for "Hurricane Kate" as Clancey was fond of calling her. It wouldn't be easy, but until she became acquainted with the politics of Seattle's citizens it was necessary.