Detour

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

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"How long you gonna be gone, Kitty?" Matt asked as he walked her to the train depot.

"Oh, not more than a couple of weeks, if everything goes alright. I plan on doing a little shopping and then I'll probably leave a few days after the wedding." She paused and looked up at him. "I sure wish you were going with me."

Matt dropped his head. "I know." He answered. Although the thought of taking a trip anywhere with her was enticing, he had a job to do. A gold shipment would be coming in a few days and he had to be there to meet it. Still, as he looked down at the beguiling redhead, part of him truly wished he could go, the part that loved Kitty Russell.

Kitty knew Matt better than he realized and she understood the inner war he was waging with his badge. Wrapping her arm around his she smiled up at him. "Come on, get me to the depot before my train pulls out and leaves me."

"I wouldn't mind." Matt smiled down at her. "I don't want you to go anyway."

When they reached the train station, Matt glanced around and then back down at Kitty. "Wire me when you get to Denver, will ya? Let me know you made it safely."

Kitty shook her head. "I'm taking a train, Matt, not the stage. What could possibly go wrong on a train?"

Matt took a chance on being seen and pulled her close, placing a quick kiss on her lips. "A lot of things." He told her. "Just promise to send me a wire. And don't you go taking any detours until you do."

"Yes, sir." Kitty answered with a grin and a mock salute.

She leaned in for another kiss but the conductor chose that moment to step out. "All aboard!"

"Bye, Matt." Kitty instead gave him a quick hug before she turned and climbed on board. "I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

"See ya, Kitty." He returned. "Don't forget that wire and try to stay safe." He called as the train began to pick up speed.

"I'll be fine; you're the one that needs to be careful, Marshal." She yelled back to him with a grin and a wave as the train swiftly carried her away.

Later when Matt had time to reflect on those few moments, he realized that right then and there, was when he first had the feeling that something was amiss. But he had shrugged it off, at the time, as just his dislike of her being gone so long and the fact that he already missed her before her train was even completely out of sight.

Kitty made her way through the swaying car to her seat and sat down heavily. She loved travel and weddings and she had promised Pamela long ago that when she got married she would be there. But something about this trip felt off, for some reason, almost as if something bad was about to happen.

Looking around at her fellow passengers, she saw nothing and no one that would cause alarm and she saw none of the tell-tale signs of gunmen or danger. Besides herself there were a total of eight other passengers and none of them looked threatening in the least. Sighing, she shook her head and sat back in her seat. She guessed she was just missing Matt.

Though she and he had been close almost from the beginning, each day brought them closer and she realized she hated being away from him. "Well," she thought. "I can't be with him all the time, especially the way he roams. Besides, maybe now he'll understand how I feel when he's off gallivanting around the countryside."

As the train sped west, Kitty settled in for the ride and Matt went about his job. Neither one knew what the next few weeks would hold for either one of them.

TBC