To be continued...
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After three months of planning and plotting, creating, designing, and fighting with the press, two hundred complete copies of The Seattle Inquirer were handed over to ten eager young boys and girls. The children's job was to spread out through the woods and hills to deliver the news to subscribers.
Once the papers left the office, Kate and her staff had a glorious breakfast party to celebrate. They ate cherry turnovers and toasted each other with apple juice and coffee. The staff then took turns reading the entire paper aloud to each other and applauding each contribution. The article about the Brides was on the front page. The interviews with Jason's men took up page two. Kate chose to run a list of the questions and answers exactly as they had been given that afternoon at the camp. There was only a brief explanation of the groups that had been interviewed and absolutely no editorializing on Katie's part. The logger's comments alone were enough to make her point.
The Californian's bigotry toward the Chinese was clear, as was their frustration at being unsuccessful in building a life for themselves in any city so far. The loyalty, confidence and security of the Seattle loggers was unmistakable. But the most revealing aspect of the interview was found in the simple answers Pon Lei gave to Katie's questions. Like the Californians, they most desired a place in this world to call their own. As Kate finished reading the interviews to the quiet little group in the news office, Megan turned to Biddie and murmured, "the Chinese want exactly what the Californians want."
"I wonder why they have such trouble getting along?" Zac asked.
Kate smiled at the young members of her staff. "Hopefully we've just helped them take the first step in the right direction."
************
Jason Bolt opened the front door of his cabin and saw Christopher Pruitt standing before him with an armful of newspapers. He laughed heartily at the eager face already smudged with newsprint. "So you've become a working man, hey, Chris?"
"Yes, Jason. Here's your paper. Katie says I'm going to bring yours every week."
The lumberman reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin but the boy shook his head.
"Katie said your first paper is free."
Jason chuckled, "Well, that's the best news I've heard in a long while. This is for you then, young man." He placed the coin in the boy's shirt pocket.
Chris' eyes grew wide with pleasure as he peered into his pocket. "I'm going to like this job!" The boy shifted his stack of papers before tramping up the road to the next customer.
Joshua and Jeremy were out feeding the horses so Jason sat down to read the paper alone. The lumberman felt a twinge of pride as he scanned the words "The Seattle Inquirer" emblazoned across the front page. Little Seattle was coming into its own and this paper was sure to be the first of many good things ahead for his town.
As he read the account of the bride's arrival in Seattle, Jason remembered all of the events as if they had happened yesterday. There was no doubt about it: Cricket had a definite talent for reporting.
The logger finished his coffee and turned to the second page. His smile slowly faded as he read Kate's interviews with his men. When in the world had this happened? He studied the entire article then put the paper down with a sigh just as Jeremy and Joshua came in from the barn.
Joshua went to the basin to wash up and Jeremy headed for the stove to start breakfast. He noticed the Inquirer first.
"Hey, that's the paper!" Jeremy scooped it up from the table.
Jason nodded, "Seattle's historic first edition."
Joshua came over to take a peek. "It looks good. Cricket did a great job."
"Yes, she did," was the measured reply.
"Look, Josh. The article about the brides is on the front page. Did you read it, Jason?"
"Yes," he nodded. "It's accurate and funny. The brides are going to enjoy it."
Joshua went back over to the basin. "Is Biddie's interview with us in there, too?"
"Oh yes, it's in there." The tone of Jason's voice made both of his brothers wonder what he wasn't saying.
"And?" Joshua asked.
"You two never mentioned that you were interviewed for the paper."
Jeremy shrugged, "Biddie and Kate brought us lunch and Biddie asked us about the details of the contract. I guess we forgot to tell you with all the fighting going on at camp."
"What's wrong, Jason?" Joshua asked.
"Well, while you both were sharing lunch with Biddie, it seems Cricket was out talking to the men about more than just the contract."
Jeremy turned the page quickly and read the headline. "Seattle Loggers Looking for End of the Rainbow."
"What?"
Josh snatched the paper from Jeremy. Jason calmly poured another cup of coffee as the two read the article. He offered some consolation to his gullible brothers.
"It isn't as bad as all that. She was smart enough to keep her own opinions out of print, but..."
"Those who want to cause trouble for us will find a way thanks to this."
Joshua's eyes skimmed the page. He tossed down the paper and began pacing around the cabin. "She's getting us into deep water. Why couldn't she just stay out of it? I'll bet Stempel put her up to this." If Joshua had stopped to think about it, he would have realized that he was more upset at having been fooled by Biddie's cherry pie than by what Kate had written in her article. He didn't like being tricked by Katie any more now than he did when they were children.
"Josh...," Jeremy began.
"Stubborn, willful, self-absorbed..."
Jeremy tried to calm him. "She's a reporter, Josh. We can't expect her to ignore this problem for long. Freedom of the press and all that."
"I know, I know, but did she have to put it in the very first issue? Everyone in town is reading this right now."
Jeremy turned to his oldest brother.
"Jason, maybe if you talked to her..."
Joshua picked up the paper. "That's a good idea. I'm going to the news office."
The angry young man was out the door before they could stop him.
After their celebration, Kate retreated to her office to work. She warned the others that there might be some immediate reactions to the paper but to direct any one who gave them trouble to her. She then shut the door behind her and began work on her next editorial.
Biddie was the first to see Joshua heading for the office with a determined step and a grim expression on his face.
"Oh, dear! Here comes Joshua," she warned Candy, Megan and Zac.
The logger entered with a forced smile. "Morning everyone."
"Good morning, Mr. Bolt." Candy greeted cordially. "May we help you?"
"I'd like to see Kate." It wasn't a request.
"I'm sorry, but she's busy..."
Joshua didn't wait for her to finish. He strode over to Kate's office, knocked once before opening the door then shut it firmly behind him.
The staff heard both voices rise and fall in a very animated "conversation". They were caught off guard when Kate suddenly opened the door and said with a frozen smile...
"Would you all mind taking an early lunch today?"
Kate didn't wait for their reply but turned back into her office and closed the door. Candy and Biddie shared a smile.
"Biddie, would you join me in an early lunch?"
"I'd be glad to."
The voices were booming once again. "We might need to take an early dinner too."
Megan and Zac wore worried looks.
"Maybe we shouldn't leave," Zac said, "She might need our help."
Candy laughed, "They've been doing this for years. She'll be fine."
Inside the office, the battle raged on.
"Josh, I understand your concerns but you need to understand that a paper has to report the news."
"What news? I see no news here."
He tossed the paper down on her desk. "I see someone courting trouble which might lead to real violence. Would that be news enough for you?"
Now Kate was really angry. "That's not what I'm about, Josh, and you know it."
"I'm not sure what I know about you, Miss Macready."
"That's obvious." Kate took a deep breath and tried to stay objective. "Listen, Mr. Bolt, I didn't create the answers those men gave: I just reported them. People will draw their own conclusions about what's happening with your loggers."
Joshua leaned in to her. "And we'll have a bigger problem than we have right now. Why can't you see that?"
"Prejudice exists, Josh, right here in Seattle! That's what I see. I've seen it in Chicago among the ironworkers and in California with the railroads and the mining operations and now I see it here on our mountain and in our town."
"And so you plan to cure these problems with your articles?" Joshua asked.
"Seattle made me the editor of this paper, Joshua. I told you how I feel about letting people read the truth. I have an obligation my readers to do whatever I can to diffuse this bomb before it can explode. I want Seattle's citizens to take a good look at these men, at what they want, and why they're here. If they understand them, then they can decide whether or not they want to accept them based on facts and not on whispered stories they learned from who knows where. That's what the press can do, Josh, and that's what I'm trying to do."
He gazed out the window and tried to gather his thoughts as best he could now that her explanation had taken the wind out of his sails. Kate sat on the edge of her desk with her back to him.
Finally, Joshua said softly, "I'm trying to protect you, Cricket."
She answered just as softly. "I know."
"But, do you know why?"
She turned to him. "Why, Josh?"
"Your name is on this paper. If these men want to get revenge for any reason..."
"Believe me, Josh, I know the type and I know what they can do, but they don't scare me."
"What does scare you, Kate? I'd really like to know."
She gazed out the window at Seattle's citizens going about their business.
"People who are afraid to look prejudice in the face, call it what it is and work together against it; people who accept hatred as a way of life. That scares me, Josh."
The young man sat beside her on her desk. "Seattle has her faults but she's still a good place, Cricket."
"That's what I've always believed. I'm just trying to do what I can to keep her that way." She held out her hand to him as a peace offering. "Truce?"
He accepted it with a shake. "Truce."
The girl gave a big sigh and smiled. "Good. Now we can all get back to work." Katie started to move back behind her desk but Josh held firmly to her hand.
"Wait, just a minute."
"Yes?"
"A little while ago you said something pretty interesting."
"I'm supposed to say interesting things," she joked. "It's my job."
"You said you wanted to diffuse a bomb before it exploded."
Kate withdrew her hand from his nervously. "Yes?"
"Jason used the exact same analogy the other night at Lottie's."
"He did? Well," she gave a small laugh, "great minds think alike, I've always heard."
Joshua couldn't miss the guilty look in her averted eyes and knew that what he suspected was true.
"You heard our conversation in Lottie's, didn't you?"
Kate sat herself behind her desk and began rifling through a stack of papers. "Josh, I really don't have time for this. I have a new deadline to meet and I'm an hour behind schedule thanks to you."
Joshua would not to be put off. "Kaitlyn Macready, did you listen in on that conversation?"
She boldly met his gaze. "Of course I did."
"How?"
"I shinnied up the tree to the second story window, climbed in and sat at the top of the stairs. Any more questions?"
"Just one..." He moved around to her side of the desk. "Did you deliberately sidetrack Jeremy and I with lunch so you could talk to the loggers?"
Kate shrugged, "You would never have let me talk to them if I'd asked your permission."
"That's all I wanted to know."
Joshua moved behind Kate's chair and pulled it away from the desk with a jerk. The girl stood up to run out the door, but before she could take one step, the logger bent down and draped the editor over his shoulders.
"Josh, what are you doing?!" Katie cried indignantly.
The logger opened the office door with difficulty, strode through the main room and out the front door. Zac and Megan were sitting together on a bench just outside the building. They were astonished to see their boss being carried passed them like a lost lamb. Kate called out to them as Josh marched up the path toward the Bolt cabin.
"Zac! Megan! Go get help!"
The young people were confused. Who should they call? What would they say?
Joshua stopped outside the Bolt barn and right in front of the water trough.
"In you go!"
He ducked his head and shoved the girl directly into the cold water below. Kate sputtered and fumed as she struggled to sit up. Jason and Jeremy heard the commotion from inside the cabin and ran out to see what was going on. There was Kate in the midst of the trough, pushing her hair out of her face and trying to catch her breath. Joshua stood over her, victoriously.
"Let this be a lesson to you, Miss Editor. This is what will happen to any Seattle reporter who resorts to eavesdropping and conniving to get their stories."
With that, he sauntered past his laughing brothers and into the cabin to eat his breakfast.
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