A Christmas Story

Second Chances

Gunsmoke

Fan-fiction

GtSales

For my GS sister Margie ...

The autumn had been long and lovely in Kansas. The temperatures remaining pleasant, the skies so clear and blue that it seemed like a gift. The herds had come and left Dodge City taking the rowdy cowhands, poker sharks and more disreputable of the red light girls with them. Once more, the law and the Ladies Aide Society had control over morality in the former Gomorrah of the Plaines.

Perhaps because of this, the idea of talking the Marshal out of town for a little vacation had been easier than in years past. A prime opportunity presented itself when an invitation arrived from a former lawman friend of Dillon's. Ralph Bridges was marrying his long time companion and while Kitty's personal acquaintance with the man was only brief she had been entertained by endless stories of the youthful exploits of Ralph and Matt. She felt as though she knew him well.

They had left Dodge by train on December 8th and arrived on the 12th. The temperatures had been in the sixties and although Kitty had packed a trunk and several smaller carpetbags of clothing she had not felt the need to include heavier garments, concentrating more on showy dress befitting the big city.

Dillon being a practical man had stuffed his entire vacation wardrobe in two carpetbags. Kitty silently bemoaned the fact that such a handsome man had but one 'courting jacket' and that was nearly ten years old and a little snug around the waist. She decided his Christmas gift from her was going to be a good suit, she knew just the tailor to accomplish the task in record time.

So their vacation had gone. Matt, much to his chagrin, spending several mornings being measured and pinned. However, even he agreed the finished result was satisfactory and worth the effort. Kitty, not to be outdone had spent equal time on the production of a gown worthy of Dillon's appreciation.

The wedding of Ralph and Lorna had been a modest affair, both Matt and Kitty had been overdressed for their part in the ceremony and had far out shined the bride and groom. But, that was the way it usually was for even in common attire they made heads turn

With the wedding out of the way and the newlyweds off on a honeymoon. Matt and Kitty enjoyed the delights of the big city. They attended variety acts at the Emporium Opera House and plays at the Grande Theater. They dined at fine restaurants, guests of the cities famous breweries and visited the most ostentatious of the St Louis saloons. Dillon, a man with generally rugged tastes enjoyed the glimpse into the life Kitty might have had, had she not stepped off the stage at Dodge City all those years ago.

They took time for Christmas shopping; small gifts they knew their friends would appreciate. Books for Doc and Newly, a hunting knife for Festus, and a gold plated watch for Sam. They departed St Louis on the 20th of December with plans of arriving back in Dodge City on Christmas Eve.

1.

Kitty Russell stomped her foot in frustrated annoyance. "What do you mean the train isn't running?"

"Like I said lady, the bridge is out at Okauchee Falls. Train ain't gonna get through to Ford County from this part of the state 'til that's been fixed. Now, you could head North and catch the Wichita line, or South and hitch a ride on the Sante Fe, but you ain't gonna get to Dodge no other way."

The scowl on her face didn't detract from her beauty but it didn't soften her countenance any either, "How much time does that add to our travel?"

"I'd say three or four days."

Kitty straightened her spine, "What about the stage?"

Dillon shook his head, "I don't know Kitty, could be a mighty cold ride. This time of year there's always a chance of freezing rain or snow."

"But would we get home in time for Christmas?"

The man at the depot took a puff on a nasty smelling cigar before answering, "I reckon you would, provided like the Marshal says, the weather cooperates."

With all of her foot stomping, her magnificent ostrich and peacock plumed bonnet had slipped to one side. She righted it with a certain amount of vengeance,"Oh it will cooperate."

The two men looked at the red head and then at each other and almost believed if anyone had the power to control the forces of nature it would be this one.

"Stage for Dodge 'ill be leaving in two hours." He looked the fancy woman up and down. "You might want to get yourself a warm coat and some heavy boots. If'n you run into bad weather you might havta get out and push."

She gave the ticket man a finger poke to the center of his sternum, "Mister, if I have to push the coach all the way to Dodge City, it's going to get there for Christmas."

At the General Store, she purchased a man's plaid coat in heavy wool, explaining she would give it to Festus once they arrived in Dodge. She bought a pair of long underwear and thick wool socks too, gloves a wool muffler, a tin of biscuits and a pound of farmer's cheese in case they got hungry along the way. Then, because she hated the thought of being cold she bought a wool Indian blanket in vibrant colors of red, yellow and blue to drape over the pair of them. "They do have buffalo robes on the stage you know" Dillon advised with mock seriousness.

"Those flea bitten hides? I think not Cowboy, we can snuggle up just fine under this blanket."

Matt laughed at her as he carried her plunder to the stage depot. Her trunk and carpetbags along with his were waiting to be loaded on the already packed stage, for with the train to Dodge out of commission Christmas mail and packages had been piled into every free nook and cranny of the conveyance.

The air was balmy and the sun shinning most brilliantly. She felt a wave of foolishness for all of her purchases. She said almost apologetically. "Best way not to need something is to have it on hand."

Being a man with a healthy appetite for the pleasures of the body. His mind immediately went to the provocative intimate apparel she usually wore,"I can think of no good reason for you to wear long johns." He replied.

"Might be I'll need them to keep me warm."

He stuck his tongue in the side of his cheek to repress a reply that might be considered inappropriate, and she laughed out loud at the face he pulled. There were times she could read his mind easier than the pages of a book.

He knew it too, "Come on you." He said with a possessive hand to her arm.

He helped her into the coach and as she was settling herself in the seat with a mail bag beside her and another under her feet, she heard the driver remark to Matt, "Glad to have you along for the ride Marshal, got no one riding shotgun, course ain't carrying anything more valuable than Christmas letters and boxes of cookies and fruitcakes that will no doubt have gone bad by the time we get to Dodge. Name's Bill Wilson."

The two men shook hands, "Pleased to meet you Bill."

"Likewise Marshall."

"Just great." Kitty thought to herself, recalling in a flash of memory every instance when a ride on the stage had not gone as planned. Well, this one would go fine. She wasn't going to give in to any niggling doubt that it might turn out otherwise.

Dillon had just settled his long body into the seat next to her when a young woman with an infant came hurrying up to the coach. "Please! Don't leave without us." She presented the money for the fare and was assisted into the stage.

"It'll be close quarters in there." Bill warned her.

"I don't care. Me and the baby don't take up much room." She sat in the seat across from Matt and Kitty with mail bags loaded on either side of her.

Kitty gave the girl a smile and she returned with a slight uplifting of her lips. The woman couldn't have been more than eighteen, with fair fine hair pulled back in a hasty bun. Wispy curls had escaped and framed her face in wild disarray. She was very pale, but so clean her face fairly glowed with it. Her china blue eyes noted Kitty's elegant coiffure, splendid bonnet and expensive traveling suit and she quickly looked away. She pulled tighter a frayed and thread bare shawl, closer around herself and the baby.

Kitty thought the girl looked uncertain and decidedly out of place, like someone who had been plucked from one spot and placed down in a completely different location. Yet, there was an innocence to her winsomeness, which relied on some inner harmony and Kitty felt a pang of jealousy that this poor girl had achieved the beauty every woman envied, without so much as a fashionable garment or elegant bonnet.

The baby in her arms seemed drowsy. He couldn't have been more than six months, thin too, like his mother, fair of face with the same wispy yellow hair. His cheeks were chapped and he had purple hued circles under his sleepy blue eyes. He was clothed in a thin cotton gown with woolen booties on his feet. In his little hands was clutched a faded flannel blanket, that somehow touched a chord in Kitty's memory. The girl cooed soft motherly nothings to the babe and he seemed most content.

"It can't be easy traveling with a young child." Kitty said in an effort to start a conversation with their traveling companion.

"Jesse's a good boy, he won't fuss none, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm sure he is." Kitty replied kindly. "I run a saloon in Dodge, so one rowdy little cowboy isn't going to bother me none."

Some of the shyness faded from the girl. "That's where me 'n Jesse is headed, to Dodge City, Kansas."

"You have folks in Dodge?" Matt asked.

She gave the big man a wary look and replied with only a shake of her head retuning her attention to the baby.

The stage started with a jerk and it was clear it wasn't going to be a smooth ride, for the mail bags and boxes shifted with each bump and grind of the coach. Kitty looked over at Matt and shrugged her shoulders. She had hoped to have the coach to themselves or at least some interesting travel companions. He grabbed her hand for a quick discreet squeeze. "At least the weather appears like it's going to cooperate." He said.

They traveled the road in silence, save for the grate of the wheel and constant creak and groan of the stagecoach. Mother and child in the seat across from them were soon in an exhausted sleep, she using the U.S. mail bag as a makeshift pillow. Kitty followed suite and Dillon was left to study the woman whose head rested so naturally on his shoulder. If they had been alone he would have wrapped his arm around her so she could be pillowed against his sturdy chest, as it was he slouched in the seat a bit, the better to accommodate her comfort.

The warmth of her body, the sweet smell of her fragrance stirred an emotion in him. He felt a powerful connection to her and a great tender watchfulness washed over him. No one understood him as she did, no one could make him laugh or even smile as much as she. She was his dearest friend, his ardent lover. There was no woman he'd ever desired as much and no woman who had made him feel as whole as Kitty Russell. He needed her in his life and without the badge it would most certainly have been her his life revolved around. The word 'love' came to mind and he dismissed it. He had no rights to the word. What they shared was for the moment, however many they were given, not for ever.

She snored softly, her full lips slightly open, her breath warm against his neck. He touched her hand again, certain no one would see. He would protect her with his life. He would cherish the sight of her, thrill at the touch of her, mourn her loss if she wasn't beside him ... but love, no love was not for one such as he.