The Flame Within The Storm

Chapter 1

The Bear

"Now Ollie, you put that chair down!" Kitty stood her ground as 'Queen of the Long Branch'. Even though technically not the majority owner any longer, she still felt an obligation to protect her twenty-five percent.

Ollie Dobbs held the wooden chair over his head, ready to toss it into the mirror behind the bar. The reflection that came back at him more than fit his nickname of Bear—the only man in Dodge that was taller and broader than Matt Dillon. Ollie's huge frame was covered with three hundred pounds of muscle and bulk. His full beard and mustache completed the grizzly appearance. Bear's enormous body weaved back and forth, balanced only by his size 16 boots.

"I just want one more drink!"

Kitty eased a step closer; her voice still held authority, but was wrapped in a calm, soothing tone. "You know that the Marshal is going to be here any minute now and he's going to have to put you in jail. Just put the chair down, Ollie and I'll see if I can help you with that. Maybe I can talk him into giving you less time."

For a moment, Ollie stood perfectly still—or as much as was possible in his inebriated state—as he tried to sort through Kitty's suggestion. The words ...marshal...time...and... jail managed to pierce through his drunken fog. Bear inched the chair down, until finally it rested again on the floor.

'Ollie' scowled at the 'Bear' in the mirror, as he tried to piece together again what it was that Miss Kitty had said. He was only able to recall snippets of her telling him that she would help him. At that moment, Ollie heard the creak of the batwing doors opening and the familiar, commanding voice of the Marshal.

The Bear and the Lady, both turned to face the lawman: Ollie's eyes filled with dread, Kitty's with relief.

"Bear!" Matt tossed his head in a weary fashion, "You do this every payday!"

"I didn't mean to. I just drunk a little too much this time. She…" Ollie staggered slightly and nodded toward Kitty, "Your wife… She…she said she would talk to you…and I wouldn't have to go to jail."

Kitty moved to the right of the drunken man, "No, I said maybe less jail time, Ollie."

Matt looked around the bar, surprised to see only one broken table and a couple of busted chairs. Keeping a guarded eye on Ollie's movement, Matt continued to ease closer. "Maybe just overnight this time," the Marshal offered.

At this point, the drunken man had made no attempt to go for his gun, but Matt had to consider it. Although he wanted to tell Kitty to step farther back, he also didn't want to draw Bear's attention to her in any special way. Dillon planned that when he got close enough, he would simply swing wide and bring Ollie to his knees.

Throwing a quick glance in Kitty's direction to insure her safety, Matt drew back his fist; but he must have telegraphed the punch too much in advance, because at the last second Ollie Dobbs started to duck.

It was at that point that everything became a series of falling dominoes… Ollie fell back, grabbing wildly for something to stop his fall. What he found, was Kitty, whom he inadvertently pulled into the line of fire, just as the Marshal made contact. By the time Matt's brain could process the switch, it was too late to stop the blow. He watched...as his massive fist connected with Kitty's fragile jaw. Dobbs threw up his hands. He wasn't so drunk that he didn't know—in that instant—that he was in some real trouble now.

Ollie had been working at the LadyK Ranch for two years and knew the Marshal to be a fair man; but the one thing you learned right away was, to never mess with Dillon's family. Now, here Ollie was, guilty of accidentally hiding behind Dillon's wife and causing her to suffer his own punishment.

LongBranchLongBranchLongBranch

Dobbs was the farthest thing from the Marshal's mind at that moment. Matt had struck his Kitty; not just a hit, but a full-blown, angry-fisted hit. The bone-on-bone sound cut through Dillon's heart like a knife. Although, he wasn't able to stop the blow, he was fast enough to catch his wife before she hit the ground. She was out cold. He had sent enough force to bring down a 300-pound man not a 110-pound woman.

Just as Dobbs thought to run, Pete slipped in behind the bar, retrieving the bat he kept under the counter. One swift swing and the Bear was down. Pete motioned to a couple of guys in the back corner of the bar to drag Ollie down to the jail for the Marshal. Pete almost felt sorry for Bear. Almost.

Earlier that day, Ollie had been sent into town on an errand for Festus. Seeing no harm in it, the big man was just going to have one drink to cool off. Apparently, that plan had failed miserably.

Hours later, after Ollie had failed to return, the hill man had come into town in search of the missing ranch hand; and was just a couple of minutes behind Matt Dillon's entrance into the Long Branch. His timing was perfect: The ranch foreman pushed into the batwing doors, just as Matt landed the infamous punch.

Throughout his life, Festus had made it a point to only believe what was seen with his very own eyeballs. Yet, even as he watched Matthew cold-cock Miss Kitty, he questioned whether his squinty-eyes had deceived him.

Now Matt sat on the floor, cradling his wife in his arms, "Ahh, honey, I'm so sorry!" Dillon had never hit a woman in his life; and for it to be Kitty… He brushed the hair from her face, bringing the fresh red marks into view, as well as the blood that was beginning to ooze from her lip.

"How is she Matthew?" Festus squatted down beside the Marshal, "Ooooh, golly bill, Matthew! You shur put a purty strong whompin on her!"

"I... I…" Matt's mouth hung open, void of any coherent words.

" Ya didn't braake nuthin did ya?"

"No, I didn't break...I mean, I...don't...know...Will you shut up!" All the while, as Matt was trying to process what had just happened, that familiar hillbilly dialect kept buzzing in his ears, worse than an annoying gnat that wouldn't go away.

Festus winced as he studied the bright red marks on the side of Miss Kitty's face. Right there, Matthew; don't that kinda got the shape of your fist?"

"Will you shut up!"

"I'm tellin' ya, Matthew, that's gonna leave a mark!"

"I thought I told you to shut up and it's going to be a hell of a lot worse than a mark!" Matt suddenly stood, bringing Kitty up with him. "She should have come to by now." Fearing the worst, he turned and ran toward Doc's office, with Festus right on his heels.

"Mebbe not, Matthew. You gotta right powerful blow in that there arm, ya know?"

"Will you STOP saying that!?" If Kitty had not been in his arms, Matt would have used that powerful arm's blow to shut up his friend.

Festus mounted the staircase ahead of Matt, yelling at the top of his lungs for Doc. The town physician stepped out onto the landing, ready to start chewing butt, when he saw Matt quickly approaching the top of the stairs with Kitty in his arms. Doc stepped back and followed the big man inside, directing him to lay the unconscious woman on the exam table.

"Kitty, sweetheart Doc is here. He's going to make it okay." The desperation was choking Dillon to the point he could hardly speak. He moved aside, barely enough for Doc to step in.

"Good grief! Was there some kind of ruckus at the Long Branch?" Enraged was hardly a strong enough word to cover Doc's emotion. "Who did this to her? Matt, where were you?!" The physician motioned for Haggen to hand him a nearby towel.

"Here ya go, Doc," Festus handed over the towel, then looked at the guilty culprit. "Matthew, ain't ya gonna tell em yore the one what slugged Miss Kitty?"

"Festus! Will. You. Shut. Up!" Matt continued to hover over Doc, while also yelling at the scruffy-faced hill man.

Doc froze for a moment, and then dipped his head ever so slightly as he turned to the man lurking over his shoulder. Matt was wearing an expression that the old man had never seen on the Marshal before. It was a jumbled mix of shock, shame, regret…and a myriad of other swirling emotions.

Turning back to his patient, the older man gently wiped blood from the petite woman's split lip and from around her nose. "Nothing is broken, but she's going to have a hell of a shiner...and that bottom lip...is going to be twice its normal size. I'll have to get some ice to put on it, to try to keep the swelling down."

Kitty began showing signs of life, as she moaned softly and made a couple of attempts to open her eyes. "Matt? Matt, what happened?" Her voice was faint, as she struggled to keep her eyes opened—one of which was already swelling shut.

"Kitten, I am so sorry, sweetheart." Doc stepped aside to allow the remorseful Marshal closer access. "Ollie ducked and... Honey, I couldn't stop it." Matt moved closer still and said again, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay...ouch!" Kitty flinched when the simple act of speaking caused her lip to bleed again. She sat up too quickly and all three men reached out to brace her wobbly body. Kitty put a hand to her head to stop the spinning. "Now I know what Chester meant by 'swimmy headed'."

Doc checked her eyes again and shook his head in disbelief. "Well, I guess Matt...you can take her home… I'm going to send some powders for the pain…and something to help you sleep. You're going to be mighty sore, young lady."

Doc wandered over to his medicine cabinet to put a few things together. "How are you going to explain this to Calleigh and Cooper?"

"Maybe ya ought to let me 'n' Doc go home first, to kind a let em know what's a comin. Calleigh girl's a liable to shoot cha when she sees this." Festus scrunched up his face as he studied Miss Kitty's cheek and eye. One finger pointed to the coloring on her face. "Oooh. It's a startin to look kinda purply-blue in there."

Matt smacked his friend's hand away and gave him an exasperated look, "Get away!"

Kitty watched the color drain from Matt's face—in direct relation to the black and blue hues burgeoning through hers. She wasn't sure if she had ever seen such a pathetic face. He was the one in real pain here.

"Matt…" Kitty opened her arms, inviting him in. He was careful not to touch the side of her face left battered and bruised. "It wasn't your fault."

She felt him bury his face in the crook of her neck, wanting to hide from this terrible thing he had done. The reason or fault didn't register with him. It was his fist and her face. That's all he knew. Kitty held him close as she spoke to Doc. "Maybe you two should go on ahead and...explain what happened. We'll be along shortly."

TBC