"Katie, tell me the plan once more." Biddie requested as the girls got down from their buggy and walked along the path to the logging camp.

      The editor closed her eyes in a prayer for patience and shifted the large picnic basket from one hand to the other.

      "The whole thing?"

      "No, just my part," Biddie smiled.

      "We're going to share our lunch with the Bolts. While you're eating, you're going to interview them about the progress on the contract and I'm going to talk with some of the other loggers. It's really very simple."

      "All right, I've got it now."

      "You have your list of questions?"

      "Yes, indeedy," Biddie beamed, "and my pencil and paper."

      Katie smiled to herself. Biddie hadn't asked why Kate would be interviewing the others and it was just as well. If she'd known, she might tell the Bolts and they would certainly interfere with her attempts to get a true picture of what was happening among the men on Bridal Veil Mountain.

      The women had timed their luncheon surprise perfectly. Jason had just left camp with a crew to cut timber over on the north ridge. Joshua and Jeremy had finished their morning work and were starved. One look at the fried chicken, rolls, gravy and corn that the girls had brought them made them abandon their usual lunch of stew and cold biscuits in the bat of an eye.

      Kate suggested the four of them retreat to the office tent for their meal so the other men wouldn't feel deprived.

      Jeremy pulled himself up to the table. "What's the occasion?"

      "Lunch is a bribe," Kate answered, holding a plate filled with fried chicken just out of their reach.

      "I knew it," Josh moaned.

      "We want all the details of this great contract we've heard about for the paper," she bargained.

      "That's no problem, is it, Josh?" Jeremy asked, his stomach growling.

      "Doesn't seem to be. Jason should be here though," he hedged.

      Kate started to pack away the food.

      "Well, if you think Jason can tell us something that you can't..."

      Jeremy rose and unpacked the plate. "Jason can't tell you anything we can't!"

      "I'm so glad to hear it. When will he get back by the way?" Kate asked, as if it really didn't matter.

      Joshua took a big bite out of a drumstick. "Sometime tomorrow. Why?"

      "No reason." Kate knew that Jason would never allow her to interview his men out of his presence. Fortunately for her, Josh and Jeremy were less guarded than their older brother.

      Kate and Biddie watched the men eat. When Katie was sure they had a good start on the meal she said, "Biddie here will get the specifics of the contract from you two. I'm just going to walk around outside and interview some of the men to get their thoughts on the job."

      With that she was gone. Josh had some misgivings about her leaving and would have followed Katie out the door if Biddie hadn't begun her questioning with him as she removed a warm cherry pie from the depths of the basket.

      Outside, the loggers were eating their noon meal in three separate groups, the longtime Bolt supporters, the disgruntled Californian contingency and the silent Chinese.

      Kate made her way to the disgruntled group first. She introduced herself and asked a few of the more vocal members some very pointed questions about why they were in Seattle, what they thought about the job and what their plans were for the future. The young woman knew the type of man she was talking to and received the answers she expected. The only thing that surprised her was how anxious these men were to see their opinions put into print. Kate assured them that they would be able to read about themselves in the very first edition of the Inquirer.

      Katie went to the Seattle group next. They were happy to see her and she relaxed around them immediately. The reporter asked her friends the exact same questions she had asked the others. Their answers were very similar to those of the new men but their upbeat attitudes were in stark contrast to the angry ones she'd just encountered. Before she left them, she asked Corky if anyone among the Chinese spoke English. He told her that a man named Pon Lei was the spokesman for the group.

      Kate found Pon Lei, bowed to him and introduced herself. She explained what she wanted to do as best she could. Pon Lei was quiet and wary. He seemed to listen as she talked but never once allowed his eyes to veer away from the American loggers.

      "I understand, Miss. I will answer for my men."

      "Thank-you." She sat down on a stump opposite the older man, took out her notepad and once again asked the same questions the others had answered. The interview was brief but enlightening. Kate was excited about the direction her investigation was taking her. She couldn't wait to see these interviews in the hands of Seattle's citizens. Kate thought of the two mothers who had robbed their little boys of the joy of playing with each other because they didn't share the same culture. She was certain that this article would be the first in a series of steps to show those women and others like them that their fears were unfounded.

       Just before Kate left, Pon Lei laid a hand on her notepad. "Yes?" she asked.

      "Miss, my people would like to stay in Seattle. Please, do nothing to stop this from happening."

      Kate's enthusiasm to get this interview into print had temporarily blinded her to the feelings of the Chinese themselves. The look in this stranger's eyes was one of resignation to what seemed to him to be an inevitable confrontation.

      Kate explained, "My parents were one of Seattle's first settlers, Mr. Lei. They believed the Northwest must be a place where all people lived and worked together."

      She patted the notepad in front of her. "I want our readers to know about your dreams. When they know you, they will be less afraid and more willing to accept you as part of this community."

      Pon Lei understood the international language of idealism quite well. He smiled slightly, "You are young."

      Kate returned the smile, "Sometimes. Why do you say that?"

      "Fear is not always the cause of the hatred we have felt here and in other parts of this country." He nodded toward the Californians who were joking about the Chinese with dark humorless expressions.

      Kate nodded, "I don't think my article will do much to change them, but people like my friends there," she pointed to the Bolt loggers, "only need to understand and they can take care of the rest of them."

      "The young are certain they have answers for the old problems of this world."

      Kate rose, "If we weren't so certain, we wouldn't try to change what we think is wrong and then where would we be? My parents were young when they began what I'm trying to bring about."

      "And your children will continue this dream." Pon Lei's words were a benediction.

      "That's the way it works." Kate smiled and bowed to the gentleman then went back to retrieve Biddie and head back to town with several new ideas to set on paper.