Captive Hearts

I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

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"Morning, Matt." Doc greeted the lawman as he entered the office. "Had breakfast yet?"

"No, but I don't have time for it either." Matt answered as he sat on his cot and pulled on his boots. "I just got a wire from Major Higgins out at Fort Dodge. He wants me to come as quick as I can get out there."

"What for?" Doc questioned.

"Well, I don't know. But it sounded urgent so I'll go on out and see what he wants. Hope it don't take too long though. I've got an awful lot paperwork to catch up on here and I need to ride out to Jake Worth's place and deliver papers."

"Seems to me, I heard Company B out of there had gone south after some renegades or something a couple of weeks ago. You figure his wanting to see you has something to do with that?" Doc asked.

"I don't see how it could, Doc." Matt said as he buckled on his gun belt and grabbed his hat on the way out the door. "That's army business, not mine."

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Major John Higgins sat behind his desk trying to concentrate on the papers before him, even as he knew it was a futile effort. Rubbing his hands across his face and his short gray hair he sighed, thinking of what was about to take place here today. A sharp rap on his office door sounded and Sergeant Wilfred Clark opened the door. "Major, Marshal Dillon is here."

Standing, Higgins nodded. "Show him in, Sergeant." He commanded. "And bring the captive here. But give me a few minutes. I'll need to speak to the Marshal first."

"Yes, Sir," Clark said stepping back out of the door way. "Marshal," Higgins heard him say. "Right in here, please."

A moment later, Matt Dillon filled the doorway, a confused look on his face. "John," Matt greeted his friend. "What's up? I got an urgent wire asking me to come out right away. Something wrong?"

Major Higgins came around his desk and shook hands with the Marshal, before settling himself against the front of his desk. "Have a seat, Matt." He indicated the small couch against the wall. "I have something I need to tell you."

"I'd just as soon stand, if you don't mind." Matt told him, still perplexed at why he'd been summoned.

"Suit yourself," Higgins sighed, "but I really think you'll want to be sitting down."

Matt was now even more puzzled but did as suggested and took a seat. "Alright, I'm sitting. Now do you want to tell me what this is all about?"

Crossing his arms in across his chest, the major leaned back and studied his friend intently for a second. He saw the deep lines the years of being Marshal had etched into his face and was afraid his news would etch even more. Finally he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Matt, about two weeks ago, a detail from here was sent down south to round up a band of renegades we had reports on. When they got there, they discovered it was more than what we thought. They encountered a very large band of renegades. It was a pretty tough fight, but in the end we cleaned them out."

Matt's brow crinkled in confusion as to why this would be his concern. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he said, "but isn't that the army's job?"

"Yes, yes it is." Higgins agreed as straightened up and began pacing, clasping his hands behind his back. "It's also our job to rescue and return any captives we encounter in such excursions to their families if possible."

"Okay," Matt still could see no reason for involving him in this.

"When the fighting was over," Higgins continued, "and the renegades were either dead or arrested, we found several such captives, Matt. Five Mexican women, seven Indian woman from different tribes and two white women. They just arrived here early this morning before I wired you."

Higgins paused and glanced over at the still puzzled face of the Dodge City law man. "We will do our best, of course, to find the families of these women and reunite them. But I fear it will be an impossible task. Most of those women may never be returned to where they belong."

"John," Matt gained his feet in frustration. "Look, I'm sorry for the plight of those women and if there's anything I can do to help you find their families then let me know. But I've got a lot of work waiting on me back in Dodge and I fail to see what was so urgent for me to ride out here."

"I know, Matt." The major said, "And I truly did not bring you out here to waste your time. But I felt it extremely important that you came out here."

"Why?" Matt asked. "Look, John, what ever is going on, just tell me."

Major Higgins took a deep breath and fixed his friend with a penetrating stare. "One of the white women that we rescued was from Dodge City, Matt. She was taken about a year ago."

Searching his memory, Matt could think of no one, no women at least, who had disappeared from Dodge a year ago. No one other than…. His mind would not let him go there. It couldn't be her. She left him for New Orleans or maybe San Francisco. It couldn't be her.

A sharp rap was heard at the door.

"Come in," Higgins called.

Sergeant Clark opened the door wide before stepping out of the way to allow the woman beside him to enter.

Hesitantly, Kitty entered the room. Staring at Matt, she tried to smile but couldn't control the quivering of her lips. "Hello, Matt." She finally managed.

TBC

Author's Note: I've never bought the theory that Kitty finally got tired of waiting for Matt and just suddenly packed up and left for New Orleans after all she'd been through to be with him. And I refuse to even acknowledge the existence of those horrendous movies. So this is just a (perhaps poor) attempt to explain what might have happened when Kitty disappeared from Dodge.

Also, I did absolutely no research into the subject of renegades or captives. So if I got something wrong….. OH WELL.