A week later, on August 21st, the news office of the Seattle Inquirer was officially opened for business. The printing press was transferred from Aaron's shed to the new red and white office with as much pomp and circumstance as the citizens could muster. Every man, woman and child who had helped with the construction of the new building paraded behind the wagon which carried the press. Aaron Stempel held the reins and Kate Macready sat beside him.

      "Congratulations, Katie," the businessman beamed at her as they rode.

      "Thank-you, Aaron. Thank-you for the shed, thank-you for voting for the paper, thank-you for your connections, and thank-you for the land."

      He laughed heartily, "All right, congratulations to me." Aaron was relieved to see that his friendship with Kate could survive their mismatched feelings for each other. For her part, Katie was grateful for the man's maturity. In the past few weeks, he had never once avoided her or made her feel as though she should avoid him. Aaron really was a gentleman.

      The joyful procession ended before the new building where six men lifted the press from the wagon and carried it inside.

      "That's six more cobblers, Biddie!" Kate yelled to her friend.

      Biddie laughed and waved merrily back at Kate but had no intention of making one more dessert.

      The town council arranged to have a photographer from Tacoma take a picture of the council, Katie and her staff of journalism students to hang in the front room of the office for as long as the paper survived. The minute the flash powder exploded the celebration began. A little band played merrily and the townspeople danced in the street. Seattle's citizens liked nothing better than to celebrate whenever they could find a reason and a new business in town was reason enough.

      Jason beamed at the festivities from behind the refreshment table. Candy was handing out punch and noticed his pleased expression. "Why the smile, Jason?"

      The tall lumberman sighed with pleasure. "Seattle is growing out of its childhood, Candy. The town was just a baby when you ladies came to us and now I'm beginning to see the kind of personality our adult Seattle is going to have. I like it."

      Candy noticed a small group of the Californians who eyed the Oriental workers ominously. "Adolescence isn't an easy time of life for people or for towns I suspect."

      Over at the office, Kate and Biddie gave anyone who was interested a short tour of the building. The large front room held three desks, a long worktable, a telegraph, the printing press and cabinets to hold the type, paper, ink and acid necessary to create the plates they needed. Kate's office was behind a door marked "K. Macready, Editor". The young woman couldn't help smiling every time she saw that sign, "I wish papa could have lived to see this."

      "Oh, I think he knows," Biddie assured her.

      Kate's office was simply furnished with a large desk and chair and a potbellied stove. One wall was filled with shelves and cabinets. The wall opposite her desk held a series of windows framed with wooden shutters. Aaron had made certain that Joshua's blueprints included Kate's shameless number of windows.

      After the party was over Katie gathered her little staff together for their first official production meeting.

      "Well, boss, when do we start?" young Zachary Nichols asked.

      "Today. Right now in fact. Biddie and Candy have their articles ready. Miss Essie has given me a list of the honor students of last term. Aaron Stempel handed me a history of the mill on the way over. And we have my story about the brides for the front page."

      "And our interviews from the logging camp...," Biddie began but Katie zoomed right on.

      "We can start printing up the paper this afternoon and have it all ready to distribute by day after tomorrow. What do you say?"

      Everyone agreed. They were all anxious to see their work in print. Kate started the process of printing out the front page. Things began smoothly but when it was time to run the press, instead of the sharp click it was supposed to make, the staff heard a hellish screech and a thunk.

      Biddie looked at the others bewildered. "Was that supposed to happen?"

      Kate sighed, "'fraid not, Biddie. This press is going to make me very old before my time. It worked for me yesterday when I tried it. I have two hundred copies of the fourth page all ready to go."

      Megan Sliger, one of the brides, shook her head. "Not a very impressive first edition."

      "Well, I know what to do to get it going again but it's going to take a while and I'm going to have to get out of this nice dress and into some work clothes to do it."

      Franny patted Kate on the shoulder. "You'll get it going Katie but I really have to get a few things done today. I wish I could stay to help you but..."

      Kate nodded. Franny and Canada were to be married that Saturday and the editor knew that she had more than a few things to do.

      "Go ahead, Franny. In fact, why doesn't everyone go home for supper while I try to get this thing to work? The type is set for the rest of the pages. I won't need you all to be here. See you early tomorrow morning?"

      The group didn't need much prompting. Within seconds Kate stood alone with her dragon.

      "All right, monster, it's you or me. You're going to crank out a paper in two days if it kills me." Kate wrestled with the press that night and all the next day. Curious townspeople drifted in and out of the office to give Kate, Candy, Biddie, Zac and Megan moral support and advice. The brides in the dormitory took turns bringing Kate meals and trying to coax her away for a break. By ten o'clock the next night the little staff had successfully completed their task. Two hundred copies of the first edition were stacked neatly in the office waiting to be sold the next morning.

      As the girls walked back to the dormitory, Katie noticed the lights from the saloon gleaming from within. She parted from the others and wandered over to pay her respects to Lottie before turning in. The reporter looked through the window before she entered and saw Jason, Joshua, Clancey and Lottie all seated at a table. Jason seemed to be upset about something. The girl knew that the moment she walked into the room they would all stop discussing what ever it was that made them all so serious. Taking a quick look around to make sure the square was deserted, Kate slipped around behind the saloon and climbed the tree at the side of the building. She opened the window in the long second story hall after being sure it too, was deserted. The reporter settled herself at the top of the stairs where she could hear the conversation below.

      "Is it really that bad, Jason?" Lottie was asking.

      "That bad. There were four fights just yesterday."

      Clancey tried to help, "why not tell the men who was stayin' and who wasn't right off?"

      Joshua shook his head. "No, Clancey, the Californians would walk off the job and move on. We can't afford to lose anyone for a few more weeks." Joshua cradled his beer mug in his hands. "The trouble is, if we don't do something quick we're going to lose men because of all the fighting."

      "Your friends will always stand with you," Lottie assured them. "Swede, Corky, Billy, Canada, Sam..."

      "That's five," Jason smiled grimly.

      "There are more," Lottie protested.

      "Not as many as we would have if we let the Chinese go,"Joshua said.

      Clancey grinned knowingly. "But you won't do that now will y', lads?"

      "No, we won't." Jason pushed himself away from the table. "Like it or not, Seattle will be a town where anybody who works hard can find an honest job and a home. We've always believed that, and now is not the time to change even if it costs us a contract."

      Katie filled with pride as she pulled her notepad from her pocket and recorded Jason's words. From the noises she now heard below, she could tell the Bolts were getting ready to leave.

      "Clancey,"Jason said, "if Katie starts asking questions about all this you won't say anything will you?"

      "My lips are sealed, bucko."

      "Lottie?"

      "I won't say a word, but why don't you want her to know?"

      "If this gets in the paper the situation could blossom into a major confrontation. Everyone in town will take sides and people might be tempted to take matters into their own hands. Things could get nasty fast. I want to try and diffuse this bomb before it has a chance to explode in our faces."

      "I understand," Lottie murmured.

      "I wish Katie did."

      Katie held her breath. Joshua didn't say a word about her visit to the camp the week before. Maybe he'd forgotten.

      The girl slipped back out the window after the men left. Moments later she was safely back inside the dormitory. Kate undressed in the dark, trying hard not to wake Biddie or the other girls. As she lay in bed listening to the soft breathing of the brides, the reporter struggled with the question of whether or not to distribute the paper in the morning. She didn't want to start a civil dispute, but there wasn't time to replace her article on the loggers and, truthfully, she didn't want to. The article never mentioned the fighting or possible strikes on the mountain. What she had written was more of a human-interest story and she knew Seattle's humans would be interested in the subject.

       The paper would go out as scheduled and if any one complained, well, she'd be ready.