A/N I have tried writing the Shotgun Series chronologically and fitting it into canon as much as possible. With the last one, I had reached nearly the end of the series and the limit of my episode-based ideas. I realized my alternate series-ending story had given me a couple more Shotgun plots. This is also the first, and possibly only, one to be more than one chapter. I have plans for one more after this one to conclude the series. Hope you've enjoyed reading them as much as I have writing them.

PROUD

Chapter One

Madeleine Rebecca Dillon absolutely refused to go down for her late morning nap. Kitty looked into her baby's deep blue eyes and tried to will her to go to sleep, and, eyes wide open, Madeleine stared at her mother defiantly as if she knew that's exactly what she was trying to do. "Well, Doc did say you have the two most stubborn parents in the state of Kansas. I guess I'm paying for it now," Kitty sighed. Bess had told her Maddy would be awake more during the day when she started sleeping more at night, so this was to be expected, but it wasn't helping her get the lunch Matt, Chester, and Joe would soon be ready for on the table any faster.

"Now, sweetheart, you don't expect Daddy to fend for himself in the kitchen, do you?" At that, Maddy grinned a toothless grin up at her mother and cooed. Kitty shook her head.

"I know you didn't really understand me." Kitty smiled at the baby, shaking her head. Suddenly her eyes widened. She couldn't possibly have seen what she'd just seen. "I must need a nap myself. Babies don't wink!" Maddy blinked a few times and yawned, eyes finally starting to droop. "That's more like it, little girl." In a few more minutes Kitty was finally able to lay the baby down in the handmade cradle across the room from the brass bed. She stroked the dark reddish brown hair gently and then turned her attention to putting herself back together before going downstairs. She had just finished buttoning up her bodice when she heard the horses out in the corral. Matt had mentioned several times they were as good as a watchdog and would alert them to the presence of strangers near the house when she and Maddy were there alone. The shotgun was downstairs, but she had the derringer up there in her bedside table, and she quickly got it out of the drawer before going to the window to look down into the yard. Seeing no one, she wondered what had the horses stirred up. The string of horses Matt had purchased shortly before moving them from their house in town were gentle, well broken-in animals who weren't likely to get spooked over nothing, so it bore investigating, she decided, slipping the pistol into her pocket. If it were anything serious, the men weren't far and she could summon them almost immediately with the shotgun. Or take care of it herself, if she had to, though she wasn't much of a hand for hunting, if turned out to be wild game.

She tiptoed back to the sleeping baby and laid a hand on her gently. "Don't worry, Maddy. Mama will always keep you safe," she whispered, before hurrying down the stairs as quickly and silently as she could. She walked over to the fireplace, taking the shotgun down from the rack, and considered her options. She closed her eyes and tried to remember if both doors were locked. Whenever Matt went further away than the yard or one of the outbuildings, he always asked her to lock the doors behind him. She wasn't afraid, but knowing how he worried about her and the baby, she went along with his request-most of the time. Had she that morning? The memory brought a smile to her lips. They had shared a particularly intense kiss before he left and-She shook her head trying to concentrate. He walked out the door and she had closed it behind him and turned the key. Yes, the back door was taken care of. The front door should still be locked from the night before. She was about to check for sure when she heard footsteps rustling through the grass. Someone was walking alongside the house-from the back yard! She crept over to the side window-just now realizing that the doors might be locked, but she had opened the windows to let in the early fall breeze-and stood against the wall just to the side of the window. Once she heard the intruder pass the window, she peered through the small gap between the curtain and the wall. The back of a gray haired man wearing a dark suit and a wide-brimmed hat was disappearing from view. She hadn't seen enough to be able to recognize him.

Kitty squared her shoulders and sighed. Time to go confront this trespasser instead of standing here waiting for him to break in. With determination in her step she went to the front door, unlocked it, and eased it open enough to scan the front yard and out toward the corral. She could see nothing near the horses, but she caught sight of the man again, standing looking down at the garden Bess had started for her as a surprise while she'd still been living in town, recovering from Maddy's birth. She left the door unlatched behind her and stepped onto the porch, silently walking down the steps and approached the man. As she got closer she could see that it was an elderly man, dressed more like a gambler than a gunfighter, although the suit he was wearing appeared to have seen better days. She stopped about 10 yards from him, holding her weapon ready. He turned hesitantly toward the barn, freezing at the click of the shotgun and Kitty's terse warning.

"Hold it right there! Now, turn around slow and keep your hands where I can see them."

"I'm not armed," said a familiar voice, but one she couldn't immediately place. He did as she ordered and they looked at each other in mutual recognition. Kitty gasped.

The man took in the sight of her for a moment before speaking. Even with the addition of years to her face and figure, even with her hair in a simple braid and wearing a calico dress, he noted proudly that his Kitty was still a beautiful woman.

"Hello, my dear." He cleared his throat and continued with the first thing that came to mind. "I heard in town that you'd gotten married."

TBC

A/N 2 I know almost nothing about horses other than what I've seen on TV and in movies. If what Matt told Kitty about their behavior is incorrect forgive me and remember this is fiction.