June 2014
Doc's Dilemma
Towards the end of season 5 there is an episode called I Thee Wed. There is a scene where Doc is listening to Matt's chest for some reason not fully explained. He tells Matt, "I don't understand how anybody could take a bullet that close to the lung and 6 months later not even have a wheeze to show for it. You must have a very fine physician."
This is what happened 6 months earlier. It is also a sequel to Lawman.
Chapter 1
The first chill of fall was in the air as the two lawmen rode silently side-by-side. They had left Dodge at first light and already the town was about twenty miles behind them. For both men silence was a natural condition so, even though they had much to discuss, very few words had been spoken. They both stared ahead, each locked in very separate worlds, but at the same time forced to share the one they had just lived through.
By noon the sun was high in the sky and the air much warmer. They stopped by a small creek to shed trail coats and share a sparse lunch while the horses rested. With a minimal dialog of words a small fire was built and a pot of coffee prepared while each man sat silently chewing on dried beef jerky waiting for the brew to boil.
By evening they had covered more than half the distance to Garden City and stopped to make an overnight camp at a spot both knew well. The horses had been watered and tethered for the night and two rabbits that Doug had shot were roasting over a small fire. The occasional crackle from the firewood was accompanied by hissing sounds as grease from the cooking meat fell into the flames, causing the smell of the roast to permeate the air. The men were hungry and for Matt the taste of fresh caught meet cooked over a campfire was the best supper in the world. He thought about some of the meals Kitty had prepared for him, they were special too, but then there was more to those treasured memories than food alone. Just being in her company, feeling the warmth of her touch and watching the expression in her eyes, was something he missed when he was out here. Those two parts of his life seemed so distant from each other, there was no way to unite them. The images of Kitty made him wonder how Doug was holding up. He could see the other man was deep in thought; maybe he should get him to talk about it.
"I'm sorry things finished up the way they did Doug," he started
"Don't apologize Matt. I know none of this was your fault, I'm just grateful you stuck by me like you did or I wouldn't be here now. Gina is a good woman but I should never have subjected her to the loneliness of being married to a lawman, then none of this would have happened."
"You can't blame yourself, she knew what she was taking on." Matt leaned over and reached for a stick to stir the fire a little. There wasn't much wood left now and it was mostly just the bones and other scraps left over from their meal that kept the fire glowing.
He thought again about Kitty. She knew first hand the dangers of being in any way involved with a lawman and as far as he knew she accepted them as the reason he did not want to marry and have a family. He wondered sometimes why she waited for him, waited for what she called 'that far off someday', but he had told her about it from the beginning, from the very first time they had shared a bed, so she had to understand.
Doug had started undoing his bedroll and spreading it on the ground.
"Do you think you'll ever get married Matt?"
The question took the marshal somewhat by surprise. It was something part of him wanted: a wife, a home, maybe even a family. He looked away from the fire for a minute and saw the crescent moon rising above a nearby grove of cottonwood trees. There was still something he felt when he was out here. He didn't know what it was but he enjoyed being alone. A small fire and a simple meal of fresh caught meat was all he needed. Could he ever adjust to living a settled life? Pleasant as the thought of coming back to Kitty every night was, would he really be happy?
"Matt you never answered my question."
Dillon came slowly back to the present
"No I didn't, did I?" He voice was distant, like he was still thinking on it. Then suddenly he shook his head, as if to clear it, "We'd best turn in and get some sleep, I think we have a few busy days ahead."
"I miss her, Matt. In spite of everything she did I still love that woman and would take her back tomorrow if I could. Don't you miss Kitty when you are out here on the trail?"
Dillon grunted some inaudible reply as he undid his bedroll and set his saddle as a pillow. As far as he was concerned, these were not topics for discussion, even with friends. Yes, he knew in his heart that he did miss her presence, but out here on the prairie, alone, he could find a deep quiet that brought a peace to his soul that nothing could replace. Somehow in his mind the two sides of him were mutually exclusive. He just needed to find a way to keep both.
He was quite comfortable and the saddle blanket made a good cover to protect against the approaching chill of the night air, but his mind was unsettled now. His friend's questions had struck a part of him that he did not fully understand and generally avoided facing. Sleep did not come easily to Matt Dillon that night.
xxx
He would have been even more restless if he had known that the morning before Doug and he left town, two cowboys went to the livery in Dodge, tacked up their mounts and headed west towards Garden City. Art Fox and Pete Trammel had just lost out on a pocket full of money. Johnny Halstead had offered to pay them to stir up feeling in the town against City Marshal Hamilton, but their first encounter with Matt Dillon had scared them off. After all it had not been a lot of money - certainly not enough to tangle with that particular United States Marshal. For a while it looked like everything was going to be all right because Hamilton got convicted of murder and was going to hang anyway. Somehow at the last minute Dillon had arrested Johnny Halstead and now it was he who he was in the jail along with Hamilton's pretty wife, and the City Marshal had been exonerated. That made their chances of getting any money here in Dodge non existent since neither of them had much of a penchant for real work. Luckily they heard that the two lawmen were going to head to Garden City and arrest Elton Etheridge. After careful thought they came up with the idea that the little banker might be willing to pay to keep himself out of jail
xxx
Earlier in the evening in Garden City, Elton Etheridge was getting ready for a big poker game in the back room gambling parlor of the Aces Wild Saloon. . He had four high stakes players coming in tonight and hoped he could find one to two more men with deep pockets to sweeten the pot.
His dealer was a very experienced man and could manipulate the cards like no one he had ever seen. Of course he had to pay the man for that level of skill, but it still left a worthwhile take for the house. He always provided plenty of whisky together with several pretty saloon girls to serve it, that way there was some degree of distraction going on throughout the game.
Having checked that several "new" sealed decks of cards were available, and that the drinks and cigars were replenished from the night before, he made his way out to the main saloon.
He had heard nothing from Halstead and could only hope that everything had gone as planned. He had even heard rumors that the City Marshal had been convicted and was set to go to a hanging.
Business was good that evening and the bar was crowded. Now that Hamilton was out of the way he could stay open as long as he liked, he could even increase the price he charged for whisky. Just a small increase would bring in a lot more money if things continued to be as busy as they were now. Times were definitely looking up.
Hackett was behind the bar trying to keep up with all the demands for beer and whisky. The man seemed overworked but it never occurred to Elton Etheridge to roll up his sleeves and help. Instead he was thinking about the future of Garden City. They certainly needed a lawman of some type, but not a man like Hamilton. He thought about offering the job to Jed Bowman. Admittedly the boy was barely 20 years old, but at least that would give him a chance to mold the young man into the type of law he wanted in this town.
Etheridge noticed two scruffy cowboys sitting drinking at one of the tables. They had been watching him for some time now. Eventually one of them came up to the bar to talk to him.
'You're Etheridge, right?"
He looked at the unshaven, disheveled creature that had approached him. "I don't see why that should concern you," he said pulling himself up to his full height and trying to look down his nose at the man who was a good four inches taller than he was.
"Oh you'll be concerned all right. I have some news from Dodge City."
Etheridge looked at the man with renewed interest. "Did someone give you a message for me?"
"Not exactly, come and sit down with me and my friend over there," he indicated the table with a nod of his head, "we can maybe save you from a lot of trouble, if it's worth our while of course."
" I don't see why Dodge City should concern me." Etheridge started to turn away from the unsavory individual.
"There's a pair of lawmen headed this way - we thought that might be of interest to you."
Etheridge stopped suddenly and looked back at the man who had been standing next to him.
"What would that have to do with me?" His voice was a little less certain now.
" Like I said, come and sit down and we'll talk about it."
Reluctantly he followed the man to a small table where another equally unkempt individual was sitting. A pair of saddle bums that's all these men were.
"Sit down," ordered the first man as he pushed a glass towards the banker and poured a shot of whisky into it.
"Here try some of your own rot gut."
Etheridge looked at the liquid in disgust. This stuff was all right for undiscerning cowboys, but his own personal supply was of much finer quality.
The first man was speaking again.
"I think Johnny Halstead is a friend of yours. He's not doing so well at the moment."
"Why are you telling me this? I don't even know the man, he's certainly not a friend of mine."
"That United States Marshal is very clever. He pinned the murder of the bounty hunter on Halstead. He's got him and that pretty wife of your City Marshal's in the jail. Reckons he can prove they were the killers, not Hamilton."
"I don't see why that should interest me."
"From what I heard, that Marshal got your friend Johnny to sign a full confession. The way I understand it your name is mentioned in there a time or two." The man made a sly grin as he spoke and revealed a row of half rotten teeth.
Etheridge had a hard time not letting panic show on his face. He had already experienced the resourcefulness of Dillon and knew that he wouldn't stand much of a chance if that particular big hand of the law came down on him.
The cowboy watched Etheridge for a moment or two before continuing.
"He's on his way here now, with that man Hamilton. I'd say that both of them have a pretty big grudge to settle with you."
The little banker was becoming flustered and his face had attained a rare shade of red. He looked at the two drifters in front of him with a little less certainty.
"I don't know why you'd say that, I didn't have anything to do with it."
The cowboy looked at his friend and gave the slightest nod.
"Well I guess we were mistaken. We were only trying to be of help, but if you don't need us we best be leaving." The two men pushed back their chairs and began to rise to their feet.
"Wait a minute, maybe, that is..what kind of help did you have in mind?"
The two men sat down again. Etheridge looked around to see if they were likely to be overheard. Fortunately the place was so noisy now that unless someone stood right over them, they would not be able to hear a word of the conversation. No one seemed to be interested in this unlikely threesome anyway.
"Maybe we could stop those two lawmen, give them something else to think about while you disappear for a while."
"I can't do that, I have a bank to run." Etheridge started to leave.
"It wouldn't be so easy for you to run that bank from jail would it? That Marshal will have you locked away in the state prison before you know it."
"He can't prove anything against me."
The man who had been speaking drained his whisky glass and motioned to his friend.
"I guess all our good intentions were for nothing then, sorry we wasted your time. We'll be staying over at the Hotel across the street for a few days if you change your mind."
'Fools' Etheridge thought to himself as he watched them leave. As if he would believe a story like that. He valiantly dismissed the incident from his mind. He had seen two of his high stakes gamblers enter the saloon and hurried over to introduce himself and show them to the back room.
xxx
The evening had been a very profitable one for Etheridge and he almost forgot the warning from the two cowboys. It was the following day around noon when he left the bank and was on his way to get lunch at the only decent restaurant in town when he saw them. Two men on horseback were entering town from the eastern end of Walnut Street. One of them he instantly recognized as Dillon - that interfering United States Marshal, the other was Hamilton. He looked around for a place to hide and ducked into the hardware store in which, incidentally, he owned a small interest. He watched them ride by and then headed along to the hotel. Maybe he should consider the offer from those two saddle tramps, a little help in hiding low for a few days would not be amiss.
TBC