The Christmas Morning Wish
I don't own these characters. I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had than that.
K&M*K&M*K&M*K&M*K&M*K&M
"How does this look, Miss Kitty?"
Kitty looked up with a frown, her mind not on the festivities going on around her. "Huh?"
"How does the tree look?" Emmeline, one of her girls, motioned to the tree she'd just finished putting garland on.
"Oh." Kitty paused to take a good look at the large evergreen that had been placed in the center of the room with strings of garland made of various materials, glass balls, imported from St. Louis, and many other baubles and adornments. The tree was beautiful. "It's beautiful Emmeline. You all did a wonderful job on the tree." She smiled encouragingly at her despite the mood she was currently in.
Kitty knew her own sour mood had nothing to do with the tree or her friends or the people that worked for her or patronized her saloon and she strived constantly to keep that in mind in dealing with them. Her mood was directly the result of a certain tall lawman that was missing this day and would most likely not return for a while.
He had taken off in the middle of the night, three nights prior, chasing two bandits who'd broken into the freight office and robbed it. Though their take had been small and the weather bad, he'd dutifully grabbed his gun and his horse and took off in pursuit.
Kitty, as usual, was left to sit and worry and spend another holiday without him by her side, knowing all too well the dangers he was facing and that she could do nothing about it.
"Do you?"
Kitty looked up sharply. Again her thoughts had carried her away from the saloon and she missed a question directed to her by Emmeline. "Do I what?"
"Do you believe that any wish made on Christmas morning, no matter what it is, will come true if you really believe in it hard enough?" Emmeline studied her employer seriously.
Kitty frowned as she considered the question. "Umm, I… I don't know. I've never heard that one. I've heard of making a wish while stirring Christmas pudding. Is that what you mean?"
Emmeline shook her head. "No, I remember my granny telling me that if you make a wish on Christmas morning and keep it in your heart all day, it would come true by nightfall, no matter what it was you wished as long as you wish it real hard."
"Well," Kitty shrugged. "I don't know. Could be I guess."
"Well, I sure hope so." Emmeline shook her head. "Cause I sure made a big one."
"Oh?" Kitty inquired curiously.
"Yeah, but I can't tell you what it is until tomorrow." Emmeline smiled as she turned to go upstairs. "That's unless it comes true tonight."
"Kitty!"
Kitty looked up to see Doc coming into the saloon. "Good morning, Doc. Merry Christmas." She smiled at him.
"Well, it's morning at least. You got that part right." Doc grumped with a scowl.
"What's got you all in a twist?" Kitty arched a brow at his unhappy expression.
"Oh, Hooley Benson got me up at the crack of dawn this morning to doctor his horse." Doc shook his head angrily. "Can you believe it? As if I didn't have enough to do today, I had to get up in freezing cold weather and go doctor a horse, which by the way was just cold."
Kitty stifled a laugh and instead picked up her coffee pot. "Here, Doc. Let me pour you a cup of coffee."
"Doubt that will help but I guess it won't hurt." Doc took a scrub of his mustache and looked around the room. "Sure is pretty in here." He grudgingly admitted. "You do all of this?"
"No, Sam and the girls did most of it." Kitty sighed. "I've been busy with my books and inventory and…"
"Trying to keep your mind occupied so you won't worry." Doc supplied with a knowing nod.
"Yeah." Kitty sighed. "Only no matter how busy I am, I still worry. If I could just know that he was alright…"
"Kitty," Doc's voice took on a slightly stern note. "You know as well as I do that Matt can take care of himself. I have no doubt that he'll be just fine. Just fine."
"Yeah, well, I wish I knew it like you do." Kitty pursed her lips and shook her head as she remembered the question from Emmeline. Silently scolding herself for her own folly, Kitty gazed at the star on top of the tree and made a wish for Matt's safety and a swift return to her arms.
XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO
"Hey, Lawman!" The ragged and bloody bandit yelled out. "Why don't ya just quit? Huh? Ya ain't gonna be able to take the two of us in and with that hole in ya, you sure ain't gonna live too much longer. Leastways, ya ain't gonna live if ya stay here. Go on home, Lawman. We promise, we'll let ya go peaceable."
Matt glanced down to the rip in his shirtsleeve, satisfied that the graze on his upper arm had ceased to bleed and concentrated on the voice of the bandit that had him pinned down. After leaving Dodge, he'd tracked the two thieves relentlessly finally finding their camp on a high ridge, not too far from Garden City.
Though he was positive he had them, they had somehow managed to slip away and circle around, pinning him instead miles away in a small outcropping of rock. Buck had skittered away as bullets ricocheted on the rocks around him and Matt sustained his injury as he scrambled for safety. So far the only damage they'd inflicted on him was a slight graze on his left arm, but he knew his position was untenable and with two against one, it wouldn't take much for them to take him.
Leaning against the hard rock at his back, Matt stilled his breathing and his thoughts as he considered his position. From the direction of the voice, he could tell that at least one of the men was above him and to his right. He hadn't heard the other man but he had no doubt he was right there alongside the first. Looking around, he saw the only protection he had from the men above him was the small ledge he was currently under. But Matt knew he couldn't stay there indefinitely and wouldn't. His job was to arrest those two bandits and he was going to do it, regardless of any risk to himself.
But as soon as that decision was made, his thoughts went to Dodge and a certain beautiful woman that held his heart. He knew she worried about him. And he knew she'd most likely work herself into a frazzle, not eating and seldom sleeping as she fretted about his safety.
For a moment, Matt wished with all he had that he was back in Dodge, in a warm saloon with a warmer woman and away from this cold barren landscape and even colder hearted men above him. But with a sigh, Matt accepted his position and what he supposed was his fate. Taking a deep breath, he gripped his gun tightly, pushed away from the rock and began to climb.
XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO
Kitty leaned against the bar later that night and watched her friends and some of the people of Dodge, who had no place to go on Christmas and no money for the dinner and presents she had provided for them. She loved seeing the joy on thier faces and watching the kids playing with the only toys were likely to get that year. But as joyous as the night was, something, or more correctly, someone was missing.
Though Matt had missed many holidays over the years, including Christmas, and she was used to spending those times alone, it never got any easier. And this year, for some reason, her worry about him was worse than in times before. Though she couldn't put a finger on exactly why, she knew it was and it made enjoying this, her favorite holiday, even harder in his absence.
"Sure is a nice party." Sam spoke up beside her. "You really outdid yourself this year, Miss Kitty."
Kitty offered him a half hearted smile. "Thanks, Sam, but I think we both know I didn't do nearly as much as you and the girls did in getting ready for this."
"Well, you had a lot on your mind." Sam said kindly. He knew, perhaps better than anyone besides Doc, why she was in such a melancholy mood but he didn't feel it his place to give voice to that reason.
"Yeah." Kitty let out a breath. "Guess I have."
"Miss Kitty!" Emmeline practically danced in front of her as she held out her left hand to display the small ring that was now residing on her ring finger. "Look! It came true! It came true!"
"It?" Having not remembered her morning conversation with the young woman, Kitty wasn't certain of what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"
"Jed!" She nodded over to the young cowboy that spent many a night in the saloon in pursuit of the pretty blonde girl. "He proposed to me. That's the wish I made this morning even though I didn't really expect it to come true because Jed said he couldn't afford it. But he did! He did!"
Kitty grinned as she gave her soon to be ex-employee a quick hug. "Congratulations, honey. I'm real happy for you. That's wonderful."
"See?" Emmeline returned the grin and the hug. "Wishes made on Christmas morning really do come true."
Kitty's smile dimmed measurably as she thought of her Christmas wish that morning. "Yeah, right." She muttered with a shake of her head.
XoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxO
Matt rode down the darkened streets of Dodge just after eleven pm Christmas night. How he'd managed to make it before midnight he had no idea. But whether it was the wish he'd made that morning or fate or simply the man above looking out for him, he'd not only caught the two freight office robbers but actually made it back to town while there was still an hour left of Christmas.
"Matthew? You got em!" Festus quirked a brow at him as he pushed his two prisoners into the jail and towards the cells. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Festus." Matt answered. "Listen, do me a favor, will ya? Lock these two up and stay here with them tonight? I've got something I need to do right away."
"Sure will. You go right ahead on, Matthew. I'll take kere of these two yahoos here." Festus nodded.
"Thanks." Matt answered as he turned and left the jail as quickly as he could.
Though 11 wasn't necessarily that late for the saloon business on a normal Friday night, it was when Christmas fell on that day and Matt was half afraid as he hurried down the street that Kitty would already be in bed. But as he looked up to her window, he saw the welcoming beacon she'd left for him and he hastened his steps even more.
Her door was open and she was standing in the doorway with an anxious expression when he appeared on the top floor. She'd heard his horse as he clip-clopped down Front Street. Knowing that should one of her girls step out of their room at that moment, they'd see her, Kitty nevertheless ran straight into Matt's arms when she saw him. "Oh, thank God." She practically sobbed.
Hugging her back, Matt practically carried her back to her room and closed the door tightly behind them.
A couple of hours later, Kitty lay contently in Matt's arms still amazed that the was there and safe and, except for the slight wound that she had cleaned and bandaged, completely whole. "I was afraid, Matt." She finally admitted in a soft almost timid voice. "It wasn't so much you're not being here but I was scared that..."
"I know, Kitty." Matt leaned down and kissed her on the temple. "To tell you the truth, I was a little scared myself. When I started climbing up that rock face to those two men, I was certain that it would be the last climb I ever made. But when I got there, I saw that they had apparently stolen a couple bottles of whiskey along with the money and were just drunk. The one that was hollering at me, told me he was trying to scare me off because they'd lost their rifles and his pistol in crossing a creek north of here and had already used what little ammunition they had left for their one remaining pistol when they'd shot at me earlier."
Matt chuckled as he remembered the surprised look on the inept bandits faces when he appeared at the top, gun raised and ready to fire. "Honestly, I don't who was more surprised." He told Kitty. "Me or them. And of course after I corralled them and realized where I was, I was even more surprised. Those two idiots had actually circled around themselves while trying to run from me and were almost back here when I caught up to them the second time."
"Well," Kitty twisted around in the bed to face him. "I know who was more relieved. That would be me. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see anyone as I was you when you got here. I guess Christmas morning wishes really do come true."
"Huh?"
"Oh," Kitty waved a hand. "This morning one of my girls told me that her grandmother had taught her that any wish made on Christmas morning would be fulfilled if you wanted it bad enough. And I surely did want you home bad so I wished for it as I looked at the star on the Christmas tree. I didn't really believe in it but now..."
"Hm..." Matt smiled. "I made a wish too you know."
"You did?" She searched his face for any sign of his teasing her for her foolishness but found none.
"Yeah, I wished that I was back here, with you like this. But like you, I didn't really think that would happen. Guess we were both wrong."
"Un huh." Kitty shook her head. "Not wrong, just incredibly lucky and blessed. Merry Christmas, Cowboy. I love you."
Matt inclined his head and kissed her tenderly. "Merry Christmas, Kitty. I love you too."
END