Kitty's Killing/ATC 1

In Season five, episode 24, a man seeking revenge on his ex-son-in-law forces Kitty Russell to take him to where the man is waiting for the birth of his child. Kitty leads him down back alleys to a deserted house. The man becomes angry and pulls a gun on the young woman. They struggle and the gun goes off. Matt Dillon is looking for the redhead when he hears the sound of shots and hurries toward the scene.

CHAPTER ONE

A shot rang out and then another. In a back alley of Dodge City, Matt Dillon's heart was in his throat and he was having trouble swallowing. His legs didn't seem to want to move fast enough. All his thoughts were centered on Kitty with a prayer that she was alive.

As he rounded the corner, he felt such relief when he saw her leaning against the doorframe of the ramshackle house. Yet, his heart went out to the redhead when he saw the horror on her face. He hurried to her side and exclaimed, "Kitty!"

"Oh, Matt," she moaned. He looked in the house and she whispered, "Oh, it's an awful thing to kill a man."

"Yeah," he said as he touched her shoulders and she turned and fell into his arms. "Yeah," he repeated, "Kitty, it's bad. Come on, I'll take you outta here."

Arms around each other, they walked away from the horror behind them. He felt her begin to shake and held her even tighter. Soon he felt the dampness from her tears on his shirt front. "It will be alright, honey. I'm here with you."

As they approached the back door of the Long Branch, he decided they should stop and sit on the back steps. He kept his arm around her and said, "Before we go in, tell me what happened."

Looking into his blue eyes and feeling the strong arm holding her, Kitty recounted how Chester had come into the Long Branch looking for Matt and how Leech had overheard them. He had then forced her at gunpoint to take him to Ollie Radford. Instead, she had taken him to an abandoned house. Leech became angry, they fought, and the gun went off.

Tears were running down her face as she finished her tale and, rather than taking her right upstairs, he decided to get them both a good, stiff drink. Taking out his handkerchief, he wiped away her tears. "I'll have Clem give us a drink. Then you are going up to bed."

Still leaning against him, they made their way into the saloon. Clem took one look at them and started pouring shots of whiskey. Kitty hand was shaking as she picked up her glass and thanked her bartender. As she took a swallow, she looked up at Matt and started to speak but her legs began to give way.

The marshal picked to her up in front of the whole crowd and said, as he headed for the stairs, "Clem, get Doc and Chester as fast as possible."

He carried her to the first available room and laid her on the bed. She started to come to. "Stay here," he told her, "I'm going to your room. I sent for Doc." He opened the door and lit the lamps.

"Matt," she moaned, "don't leave me."

Quickly kissing her, he replied, "I'll be right back."

She began to cry. Matt was instantly back at her side. "I.…ah…." She began choking up as she sobbed harder. "I… Oh, no! I killed….a….a man."

Sitting down next to her, he took her hand and gently began stroking it. His voice was soft as he explained, "It isn't going to be easy, Kitty. It's going to take time. You had no choice. I understand completely - you never want something like this to happen, but it can be a life or death situation. I hate it, I never get used to it, but I will do everything I can to help you get through it."

"Oh, Matt," she said as she squeezed his hand. "I don't think I realized what you must go through far too often in your job."

As he picked her up, he whispered, "We'll get through this together." She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

He was just settling her in her own bed when Doc came bustling through the door. "What happened?" the medic inquired.

"I think she needs a sedative, Doc," Matt said quietly.

"I SAID, WHAT HAPPENED?" the doctor demanded.

The marshal wanted to wait to tell the doctor the whole story, so he explained, "She had a great shock and passed out downstairs, so I brought her up here. She needs some rest."

As she opened her deep blue eyes, she started to cry. The doctor opened his bag and began, "Kitty, I want you to take this. It will calm you down and you can get some rest."

At first she tried to refuse but he was not listening. After he got the medicine into her, she looked around and held out her hand. "Matt, are you here?"

"I'm right here, Kitty. You close your eyes and get some rest. I'll be close by," he assured her.

"Don't leave me," she begged drowsily.

As they watched her eyes close and her breathing even out, Dillon took the doctor aside as Chester walked through the door. "Doc, can you stay with her? Chester and I have to go get Jeremiah Leech's body."

Chester's eyes were big. "His body? Wal, what in the world happened, Mr. Dillon?"

Glancing at the red-haired beauty, he lowered his voice. "Leech took Kitty to find Ollie Radford and she led him to an old empty house. He became angry and was going to shoot her. They fought and the gun went off, killing Leech. I found her leaning on the door jamb, nearly hysterical. I brought her back here and she passed out. Now we need to get his body."

Doc scrubbed his finger over his moustache and offered, "I would stay but Ollie Radford's wife is almost ready to deliver her baby. Maybe one of the girls…."

"That a good idea, Doc." The marshal started for the door when Kitty threw off her covers and cried out, "Matt, Matt, where are you?"

The men stood still, looking at each other. Chester spoke up, "Ah'll git some of the men, Mr. Dillon, ya stay here with Miss Kitty. We'll take the body over ta Doc's."

It became obvious that Kitty was not going to settle down until she was sure Matt was beside her. Reluctantly he agreed, torn between his duty and the fragile young woman on the bed.

Matt sat in the chair next to her bed. When the other two men left he took her hand and whispered, "Kit, settle down, I'm right here." She took a deep breath and seemed to go back to sleep.

Some hours later, Clem came up to tell the lawman he had closed the saloon for the night and to find out if his boss was all right. Reassured by the marshal's presence, he bade them goodnight and left them alone.

The warmth in the room and the soft chair made the peace officer relax and his eyes started to close. Soon, he was softly snoring when he heard Kitty sobbing. He was instantly awake. She was calling out his name. "Matt, hold me, hold me," she begged.

Taking off his vest, then his boots, and finally his gun, Matt moved to the other side of the bed. He carefully laid down beside her and wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. She settled against his chest. He began kissing her silky red hair and whispering soothing words in her ear. Sometime later, they fell into a deep sleep.