This is a sequel to "A Surprise for Matt" I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Matt had sat for sometime gazing at the twins, then he borrowed the cot Festus normally used. He was at his desk catching up with some paperwork when Jake Worth came in to speak to Matt about the rustlers, he did a double take when he saw the twins sleeping on Matt's cot.
"Good morning Jake,"
"Marshal, I'm a little confused I thought this was a jail not a nursery."
"Their mother was a woman I knew in Hell's Corner, Colorado when I was Sheriff there, before I became marshal here. She didn't tell me she was carrying them. She was murdered by a man called James Kingman, the new sheriff brought them to me. I'll look for a house soon can't have them growing up in a jail. Now, what can I do for you?"
"I checked the herd again this morning, another twenty head have gone missing."
"I'll get Festus out to your place as soon as I can. You heard about the stage being held up?"
"No, how'd that happen?"
"Sheriff West from Hell's Corner, Colorado brought the twins on it, Kitty was on it too. There were two other passengers, no one was killed. Actually, Kitty said it was strange because the gang were so polite. They even allowed the twins to stay in the coach."
"That doesn't sound like any outlaw gang I've ever heard of," Jake said.
"Nor me, but regardless I have to track them."
"What will you do with the twins while you're doing that?"
"I'll get them a room with Ma Smalley for now."
"Daddy," Matt rose he got the kids up and helped them pour water for washing. The twins hugging him made him choke up inside.
"Well, the boy looks like you, Matt."
"This is Little Matt and his sister is Katherine."
"Howdy, kids."
"This is Jake Worth, he has a ranch nearby."
"Hello, Mr Worth."
"Can you ride, kids?" Both of the twins shook their heads.
"Matt I've got a couple of ponies, I'll have a hand bring them in. Time they learned to ride."
"Thanks Jake, appreciate it," Jake just smiled and left.
"Come on, we'll go get some breakfast," Matt took the twins to Delmonicos one on each hand. Doc, Kitty, Festus and Tom West were already there. The twins ran up to the table.
"Aunty Kitty," that really choked Matt up.
"Well, good morning, children. Hi, Matt."
"Good morning, Kitty. Joe, we'll have ham and Eggs, coffee for me and milk for the twins."
"Sure thing, Marshal," Joe left with the order, returning a little while later with the food. "There we are, kids, eat up."
"Thank you, sir," Matt smiled, Beth had sure brought them up to have manners.
"When you've eaten I'll take you to Ma Smalley's she'll look after you while I'm tracking those men who robbed the stage," the twins ate their breakfast quickly.
"Do we have to go to this lady's house, Daddy?" Miss Kitty looked choked to see how quickly the twins had formed a bond with Matt.
"I'm afraid so, a jail isn't really the right place for you to live. When I've caught those men I'll look for a house for us."
"Don't worry, Matt, I'll visit them at Ma Smalley's," Miss Kitty said.
"I knew you would," Matt said. "Come on, let's get you settled," Matt led the twins to Ma Smalley's. Ma Smalley was at the front of her house when Matt and the twins arrived.
"Hello, marshal, I heard about your twins arrival."
"This is Little Matt and his sister Katherine. I'll look for a house as soon as I've caught the gang that robbed the stage. I wondered if..."
"You wondered if I'd put them up until then. It will be a pleasure."
"Okay, kids, this is Ma Smalley, I have to leave now, I'll be back as soon as I can?" The twins wrapped their arms around him. "Miss Kitty will visit from time to time."
"Miss Kitty is just a lovely woman, Marshal, so good with children," Ma Smalley stood with the kids watching as Festus brought Matt's horse and his mule, they mounted Matt looked back waved and was gone.
"Have you had breakfast, yet."
"Yes, ma'am at Del ... Del.."
"Delmonicos, what did you have?"
"Ham and Eggs with Milk."
"Now you let me know if you want anything and I'll see what I can do."
Matt and Festus rode out to Miller's Crossing, the marks were still there where the stage had pulled up suddenly and the hoof prints of the on either side of the stage told them where the outlaws had been waiting. "What do you think, Matthew, didn't seem to me there was any reason to rob the stage, at least not for money," Festus said.
"They could have thought there was money to be had what puzzles me is the way they treated the passengers. I don't know any gang who would've allowed the twins to stay on board without searching them."
"Don't matter though, we still got to track them," Matt nodded, his eyes scanned the road. "Matthew, one of their horses has a chip in its left fore shoe."
"They don't seem to have been in any particular hurry."
"There are a few line shacks nearby, Matthew. Could they be rustling cattle as well. I knows you said Jake Worth is having a problem with rustlers but what about other ranchers."
"Rustling and stage hold-ups, it's possible and more than likely. If they commit one crime out of town they might as well commit others. I'll take the shacks on the right side of the road, Festus, you take the ones on the left. Meet me at Jake Worth's in two hours."
"Right," Festus rode down to the left and Matt rode off up the hill on the right his eyes scanning the ground for the horse with the chipped front left shoe. It didn't take long to get to the first of the six line shacks, all he found there was some of Jake Worth's cowhands enjoying a lunch of beans and ham with coffee.
"Howdy, Marshal, light down a spell have some coffee."
"Not today, boys. I'm hunting the men who held up the stage yesterday."
"Jake, told us about it, bit odd really, we've only seen one man here this morning, riding a black and white paint. We chased him off in the direction of town."
"You searching for the cattle?"
"If we find them we'll drive them back, if we find the rustlers we'll get them to Dodge, banged up a bit but alive."
"Good, men who rustle cattle got to expect to be banged up some just don't kill them."
"We'll try not to but if they pull guns on us..."
"Yeah, I don't think they will. Festus and me think that the holdup gang and the rustlers maybe one and the same."
"Meaning they won't use the guns."
"You can never guarantee they won't but that holdup was odd, I suppose they were too polite."
"Jake told us about the twins," Matt smiled.
"I'm still getting used to being a father, if their mother had told me I would have stayed in Hell's Corner."
"Dodge would still be a hell hole on Friday nights, not that I don't get drunk of a Friday, my jaw still remembers the strength of your fist."
"Well, I'll be seeing you. I got other shacks to check."
"See you Friday night, Marshal," Matt left with a wave of his hand.
"Well, boys, some of you that was your first sight of the Marshal of Dodge City, Matt Dillon. Any of you think you're a bigger man than he is, think again. He's been shot more times than I care to mention. One time a man shot him in the back, bullet lodged near the spine old Doc Adams took him on the train to Denver, the train was held up seems there was an army shipment of gold was on board, flat on his stomach he still killed two and saved the train and gold."
"You make him sound like God almighty."
"To the people of Dodge and the people round here he is."
"Those twins of his are going to grow up having one hell of a father," the cowhands watched as Matt disappeared into the trees. The men were finishing up the meal and packing way the equipment when they heard two gunshots and then minutes later a rider on a black and white paint galloped past towards Dodge. "Hey wasn't that the stranger we rousted out of here earlier?" Buck galloped up to the corral without Matt or his saddle. "Whoa there," Pete soothed the horse.
"Did his cinch break?" Ed asked.
"Nope, look here on Buck's flank," Pete asked.
"That's a bullet crease." Ed said.
"Pete, you stay here, rest of you come with me," Frank said, they mounted and rode into the trees, it wasn't long before they found Matt standing there he was holding his lower left arm. "How bad is it, Matt?"
"Not bad, Frank. Just a scratch."
"Ed, you got some bandages?"
"Yep," Ed tossed them to Frank. Frank cleaned and bound the wound. "Buck came back to the shack, he's got a bullet crease on his flank. You won't be able to ride him for a while, you better take my horse. I'll ride double with Ed back to the shack get a spare horse."
"I think you'll find those cows nearby, I think that man paid the gang to rustle the cows and rob the stage. It's the reason they were so polite that man knew I would have to investigate."
"Which got you out of town?"
"Yeah, so he could take a couple of pot shots at me. What I'd like to know is why?"
"He must be wanting to do something in town. So you better go back, we'll bring Buck in on Friday."
"Festus will get to Jake's in about an hour..."
"Don't worry, we'll tell him."
"Thanks, you want to get drunk on Friday, don't do too much damage I might go lenient on you."
"Seems fair, Marshal."
"Frank you've known me long enough to call me by my given name."
"Sure Matt. Say hi to the twins for me."
"I will. Now I better go."
"See you Marshal," Matt left quickly, riding hard for Dodge. He entered his office an hour later, Burke looked up surprised.
"Matt, what's wrong? Didn't expect to see you so soon."
"Any strangers come to town, maybe on a black and white paint?"
"I haven't seen anyone, why?"
"The hold-up, the rustling it's all connected to that man on the black and white paint. It was done to get me out of town, he might not know I'm back."
"What happened to your arm?"
"He took a couple of pot shots at me but I actually think he hits what he aims at. His first shot hit my arm, just a graze, his next shot hit the saddle girth and grazed Buck. Fortunately Frank, one of Jake Worth's hands leant me his horse."
"We don't want to tip him off that you're here?"
"No, I want you to patrol just as if I was still on the hunt. Tell Miss Kitty and Doc if you have to but warn them not to say anything to the twins."
"You're worried that the twins might get caught in the crossfire if they come running here," Matt nodded, he didn't need to say that the worry was there in his eyes. "I saw the kids earlier they're having a good time at Ma Smalley's," Matt had known they would. "Louie Pheeters gave Little Matt a toy stagecoach and Ma Smalley's given Katherine a doll that used to belong to her daughter."
"Where'd Louie get the money?"
"He said he made it for his little boy. I never knew he had kids."
"Neither did I, Louie tends to keep certain things to himself. I don't think anyone in town knows Louie's early life."
"I'll go out on my rounds, keep an eye out for a man on a black and white paint."
"Let whatever he's planning take place. I don't think he'll kill anyone," Burke left the office trying to look like everything was normal and not sure that he was succeeding, he entered the Long Branch.
"Hello, Nathan, beer?" Burke nodded.
"Quiet night?"
"Yes. That's what we want."
"What's going on?" They took their beer to a table, Doc came in at that moment. He got a beer and joined them.
"Matt's in his office."
"I didn't think he'd be back so soon," Kitty said.
"Neither did he, apparently the stage hold-up and the rustling of cattle was a ruse to get Matt out of town. He doesn't..."
"He doesn't want the twins to know?"
"He doesn't want to chance the twins being caught in the crossfire," Kitty smiled Matt's care for the twins was clearly evident. "Doc, Matt picked up a flesh wound to his arm."
"I'll go take a look at it," Doc finished his beer.
"Go the back way, Doc, he doesn't want anyone else knowing he's in town yet. I sure wish Newly was here instead of taking that prisoner to Garden City."
"The twins are going to come as a surprise to Newly."
"The twins were a surprise for all of us, Matt more so but I think he's going to make a great father. I've got to go back, see you all later."
Doc having collected his bag from his office slipped along the back alley to the marshal's office. He knocked on the back door, Matt opened it letting him in. "Hi, Doc, Burke told you..."
"Yes, let's have a look at that arm," Doc removed the bandage, cleaned the wound again and put a new dressing on. "You can thank, Frank again when you see him. Wounds good and clean," Doc helped himself and Matt to coffee.
"Doc, did you know that Louie had a son?" Doc nodded.
"A Long time ago. Both his wife and child were killed in an Indian raid, he was a sober man then you wouldn't have recognised that man as the Louie we know now. He just couldn't cope without them, why?"
"Louie gave Little Matt a toy stage he made for his little boy."
"I didn't know he'd kept any of the toys he'd made. Back then he was really good with his hands."
"Who is this man on the black and white paint?"
"I don't know, I just don't know. I have been going through the wanted posters, nothing."
"What about this Kingman fellow."
"Tom, hadn't had time to have them printed out."
"Right and he left on the afternoon stage, it'll be four or five days before he can get back to Hell's Corner."
"Yeah and it'll take the same amount of time to get the posters out."
"You do seem caught between a rock and a hard place," Festus and Burke came in together.
"Frank told you Festus?"
"He sure did, how's the arm?"
"Not bad, Frank did a good job on it."
"I saw old Buck's side, that man is either lucky he didn't hit you or he's a crack shot."
"I think he's a crack shot. I don't why he didn't just kill me," Matt said.
"Well kill a lawman, would get him hung, wound one might only get prison."
"You know, Matt, Nathan does have a point."
"Festus, oh marshal you're here," Jonas said. "Fella just come in my store and held me up. All he got was sixty dollars, didn't do no shooting just waved that pistol."
"Did you see what direction he went?"
"North, Marshal on a black and white paint."
"Festus, tell the twins I'll be back as soon as I can."
"You going to need me with you, Matthew."
"No, Festus, I need you here to protect the twins."
"Are you thinking that he's going after the twins?"
"I don't know," Matt couldn't put his finger right on what the man was leading up to but knowing that he was leading up to something. Matt gathered his saddlebags, he led Frank's horse to the stables, Moss took the horse saying he'd look after it. Patch lifted his head as Matt saddled him, the horse nuzzled Matt's hand. "Easy Patch, need you to give your best," for a moment his eyes misted as he remembered meeting Ellie. He led Patch out and mounted him, heading North and West.
If you want to read the concluding part of this triology, you'll find it in a crossover called "The Trail to Dodge" which introduces Matt to Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry (Alias Smith and Jones).