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A Picnic Outing
Marshall Matt Dillon sat on a bench in front of the jail waiting for the stage to roll on through town. It was late as usual but it didn't bother him too much. He had ordered a special gift for Kitty's birthday from New Orleans and supposedly it was to arrive on today's stage. He frowned as he thought about how many times he had heard that before.
The stage slowly made its way to town stopping 10 feet from the jail. Matt strutted to the stage master and asked about his package. Relief flooded him when a brown paper package was handed to him. Kitty's birthday was less than a month away and he wanted to give her something special this year. He missed her birthday last year due to chasing some rustlers all the way to Mexico and he sought to make up for it this year.
Matt slowly walked back to the jail and hid the package in a desk drawer. He walked over to the coal stove and poured himself a cup of coffee that Festus had made earlier. His face scrunched up in distaste at the bitterness of the concoction that his deputy insisted was the best coffee in town. He slowly walked to sit behind the desk and worked on some overdue papers. He had been chasing so many outlaws in the last few weeks that he had been forced to forgo the paperwork and now he had to make up for it.
A soft knock on the door drew him from his work prompting him to look up. The door swung open revealing a neglected Kitty Russell holding a picnic basket. She smiled sweetly before saying, "You promised me the day before yesterday that you would join me for a picnic."
He grinned before replying, "So I did."
Matt rose from his desk, walked to her and offered his arm. She gladly accepted it and started towards the buggy parked outside of the Long Branch. He helped Kitty in the buggy and then settled next to her. He gripped the reigns in his hands and started for their favorite picnic spot.
A little over a mile outside of Dodge, they came across a wrecked wagon. It had most likely slid off the road and flipped down the hill. A man lay dead beside the road and a woman about 7 feet away. Matt decided they were probably caught underneath the wagon and crushed to death.
Matt and Kitty made their way to the busted wagon and gasped at the sight before them. Hiding underneath the wagon was three small girls. The oldest was about 5 or 6 years old, the middle one looked no older than 3 years old and the youngest was a baby less than a year old. The oldest shifted in front of her sisters in an obvious attempt to protect them from the strangers. "No need to afraid, nobody's going to hurt you," Matt offered sweetly.
The girl gazed into his eyes searching for the truth for a few minutes. She must have found it because she eased her posture. When she did, the middle girl peeked out from behind her sister and spotted Matt's badge pinned to his shirt. She pointed at it and shyly said, "Law."
"Yes that's right. I'm U.S. Marshall Matt Dillon and this here is my friend Miss Kitty Russell. Can you tell me your names?"
The oldest girl answered, "I'm Liberty McNeil but I go by Libby. These are my sisters Madeline and Katherine but they go by Maddy and Kit."
Matt struggled with asking too many difficult questions to the girls but he needed answers to help them. "Pleased to meet you," he said then asked, "Can you tell me what happened here?"
Libby nodded then proceeded to tell him what had happened. She described living in Kentucky and the flood that killed all of their family except for their parents. How her family sold everything to travel out west and start a new life. She continued by telling of the horses getting spooked and the wheel of the wagon breaking causing the wagon to flip. Between sobs she told them of discovering her parents were dead and trying to protect her sisters.
Kitty's heart went out to the little girls and she immediately opened her arms to them. Libby launched herself into Kitty's open arms for a little bit of affection. Slowly she stepped away to allow her sisters some attention. Maddy cautiously walked to Kitty then hugged her back as Kitty embraced her. Matt watched in admiration as Libby struggled to pick up Kit then pack her to Kitty who gladly accepted her. "Kitty we should get the girls back to Dodge and have Doc take a look at them."
She nodded, tightened her hold on the baby and stood up. She watched as Maddy walked to Matt and held her arms up for him. He glanced at Kitty for a moment then back at the girl. "I tired," she whined.
He smiled then picked her up. She laid her head on his shoulder and plopped her thumb in her mouth. He watched as Libby stood there left out then offered her his hand. She smiled up at him before latching onto it. Slowly they made their way to the buggy where Kitty pulled the picnic basket out from underneath the seat and gave the girls something to eat. Within minutes they were seated and on their way to Dodge.
During the trip back Matt took the opportunity to study the girls. Libby, who sat quietly on the floorboard, had light red hair halfway down her back and had clear blue eyes. Maddy, who was dozing in her sister's arms, had curly fire red hair about shoulder length and the greenest eyes he had ever seen. She reminded him of Kitty but he didn't say anything to either. Kit had curly red hair and blue eyes. She was quite content in Kitty's arms and if he was truthful about it he wished that she was their baby. Shocked by his new revelation, he concentrated on getting them safely to Doc.