When Jason and Jeremy returned home that evening they found Joshua outside the cabin furiously chopping wood in the moonlight.

     "Evening, brother." Jason called. Chop. Chop.

     Josh looked up with a scowl. "Evening." Chop.

     Jeremy grinned, "Expecting a blizzard?'

     Jason's chuckle was cut short by Josh's glare. Jeremy bid them both a hasty goodnight and disappeared into the cabin. Josh went back to chopping.

     "Katie looked very pretty tonight." Jason commented. He leaned up against the porch post as Josh replaced a log.

     "Yes, she did," was the curt reply.

     "You should have stayed until the end of the party. She made a very funny speech about the value of new friends and the importance of old."

     "I'm sure she was very entertaining!" Chop. Chop.

     "Aaron Stempel thought so," Jason deliberately hit the mark that time.

     "I'll just bet he did!" Josh picked up a load of logs and tossed them onto a pile at the side of the house. "You know Jason, Kaitlyn Macready may have fooled everyone in town with those stories of hers but she can't fool me! They all think she's this exciting, intelligent, woman who will do Seattle a lot of good with this paper."

     "And she's not?" Jason led him on.

     "No, she's not! She's the very same naive, stubborn brat she was when she left here. She won't listen to advice any more now than she did back then."

     He grabbed another log. Chop. Chop.

     "Is that what you were trying to do tonight - give her advice?" Jason asked simply.

     "Yes, I tried, but never again. She's on her own now! Yesterday, I promised to support her and I will. But when she comes crying to us complaining about the way Stempel is running rough-shod all over her, all I'm going to do is smile, pat her on the head and say 'I tried to tell you'."

      The picture he had created of a humbled and repentant Kate put a satisfied smile on his face.

     "It sure would serve her right for not listening to you wouldn't it?" Jason said.

     "You bet it would!" Josh agreed. Chop.

     "Josh, let me ask you something..."

     "Sure." Chop.

     "If it weren't Kate who had come to town, if it had been another reporter, do you honestly believe that you'd be as upset as you are right now?"

     Josh thought for a moment then shrugged, "Any other person would have the sense to listen to someone who was trying to warn them about Stempel."

     "Now you're not being fair. Just think about things from another point-of-view, Stempel's for instance. He sees Kate as a young woman with the talent and experience to pull off something Seattle needs. He's only known her for two days, Josh, and one thing he certainly knows is that she is as much a part of the Bolt family as any natural sister could be. I doubt that he's spent the last forty-eight hours concocting elaborate schemes to turn her into some kind of puppet.

     "Now, look at things from Cricket's side of it. She returns home to find a different town than the one she knew. Almost everyone here is a stranger to her, including us. Now Aaron Stempel comes along. He has the means and the influence to make this paper a reality. They meet and she finds that he is interested in her ideas and supportive of her plans. Is it any wonder she chooses to spend so much time with him?" Josh was quieter now. "Jason, I told her I would support her. I can help her with payrolls and bookkeeping..."

     Jason smiled, "Of course you can, brother, but Stempel has never threatened to throw her in the creek. He treats her like a lady. It's something she's hoped we would do."

     Josh leaned on his ax handle; "She mentioned that tonight, among other things."

     "You know, after you left Lottie's this afternoon, Jeremy said something worth repeating."

     "What was that?"

     "He said he had a hard time believing that Katie would ever do anything just because someone told her to. What do you think?"

      "He's right," Josh sunk the ax into the chopping block, " It looks like I've fired the first shot in that civil war I was afraid of." The young man realized what a mess his jealousy and protectiveness had created, "Aaron's right, too. Kate's not thirteen anymore. I just don't know how to treat her any other way."

     Jason clapped his brother on the shoulder. "She'll let you know how."

     "If she ever talks to me again. You should have heard her after I took her away from the party."

     Jason chuckled, "I can imagine. She inherited her mother's Irish temper."

     "What should I do, Jason?"

     Jason pulled out his white handkerchief and gave it to his brother. "When you're in the wrong it's best to surrender with honor."

     Josh folded the handkerchief carefully; "Do you think she'll accept my apology?"

      "She'll accept it. She's a Bolt at heart and the love she has for us runs deeper that any anger she might feel."

     Josh smiled, "When we used to fight, Father would make us sit in chairs facing each other until one of us set things right. It never bothered me to sit there, but it drove Katie crazy. She almost always cracked first; when she did, her anger disappeared."

      "See? Only this time you crack first and I'll bet her anger will disappear as quickly as it used to."

     Jason's words encouraged his younger brother and together they joined Jeremy in the cabin with smiles on their faces.

     Unfortunately, that wasn't the condition of a certain young woman residing in a room above Lottie's saloon.

      Kate was still furious. The more she played the events of the evening over in her mind the angrier she got and the faster the pearl handled brush coursed through her hair.

      Lottie had planned to talk to Kate about several things that evening so she stocked a tray with oatmeal cookies and two cups of chamomile tea as a decoy. When she was ready, she mounted the stairs and knocked lightly on Kate's door.

     "Katie, it's Lottie. Are you still up?"

     "Come in, Lottie." Kate answered, trying to stuff her emotions into a safe spot as quickly as she could. She smiled at the woman as she entered, but when she caught sight of the cookies she groaned.

     "Lottie, cookies at bedtime? Don't tell me you've forgotten how old I am too."

     "You're twenty-three," Lottie answered briskly, "but even twenty-three year olds deserve a midnight snack on special occasions, and I'd say tonight has been pretty special, wouldn't you?"

     She handed Kate a cup of tea, took one for herself and toasted the girl. "To the new land owner and future editor of Seattle's first newspaper."

      Kate clinked her cup against Lottie's, took a sip, then sat down on the bed looking miserable. Lottie sat beside her and patted her knee.

     "You know, the brides usually come to me when they have trouble with their men." She rolled her eyes comically, "I don't know why in the world they would consider me an expert. However, after many years of dealing with people I'm guessing that your frown has something to do with a certain blonde logger here in town."

     That was all the prompting the girl needed. She poured out the whole story of that evening to the woman. In return she received a sympathetic ear and some gentle advice.

     "Katie, I'm not saying Josh was right tonight, but I think you need to understand why he feels the way he does about Aaron."

      Lottie told her young friend about Aaron's attempts at taking Bridal Veil Mountain from the Bolts. Kate listened with interest, so many of these stories would make good copy for the paper in Chicago. The girl determined to write them down and ask Jason and the brides about them later. After her explanation, Kate still had a question.

     "Lottie, you've known Aaron for a long time. Do you believe he's only pretending to be my friend to get control of a paper?"

     The question was important and the girl wanted an honest answer.

     Lottie chose her words carefully, "I think Aaron enjoys your company and I believe he would whether you were our future editor or not. On the other hand, Aaron is a businessman and he does look out for his own best interests. When it comes to Seattle, he's just as committed as Jason to seeing us grow into a thriving city." Lottie smiled, "Of course he'd like it to be a city with monuments to him on every corner."

     Kate laughed, "Thank-you Lottie. You've helped me put this Stempel/Bolt feud into perspective."

     Lottie figured this might be the perfect time to put Josh in a better light.

     "You might not believe me honey, but Josh was trying to help you do that too."

     Kate's smile vanished, "That may be so, but all he did was make me angry."

     "I know you're angry and you have every right to be, but promise me something will you?" Kate nodded warily. "Try to have an open mind when Josh gets around to apologizing."

     The girl's eyes grew wide, "Joshua Bolt, apologize to me? Lottie, I could count the times that's ever happened on one hand and still have fingers left over."

     Lottie smiled as she rose from the bed and gathered up the teacups and tray.

     "I've known Josh for a long time too, Katie, and I can't believe he intended to make you angry. He was just trying to look out for you in his own way."

      "Brothers! I missed them so much but now I wonder if I'll survive them."

      Lottie moved to the door, "Oh, you'll survive. Just be yourself and keep doing what you know how to do. They'll come around. Think about what I said about forgiving Josh. It'll make life a lot easier if you do."

      "I'll think about it," was all she would promise as she crawled under the comforter and Lottie closed the door behind her.