Dangerous Passage
We don't own these characters. We just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.
AN: This was co-written with The Blue-eyed fool. If it's really good, she probably wrote that part.
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Kitty sat in the seat beside Matt and looked over at her sleeping giant. They'd been on the train for a day and a half now and he was getting restless. She'd managed to talk him into laying his head back and taking a nap, but she knew it wouldn't last long and he'd soon be up, and probably pacing back out to the platform again, to get some air.
The train, though not as short as some, was still fairly small for a man who hated being confined. Consisting of a locomotive, a fuel car, a passenger car, a sleeping car, a dining car and a baggage car, there wasn't an inch of it, save the locomotive and fuel car, that Matt hadn't patrolled since they'd gotten on board.
The passenger car, they were in, was fairly opulent, with upholstered and cushioned seats, and windows that opened and closed, and a large wood stove at the front, kept constantly going, to keep it warm and comfortable. Well, at least it was to Kitty. Matt, she knew, would've found riding in a saddle all day more to his liking.
But as she leaned back in her plush seat, Kitty smiled thinking of how they came to be on this train instead of the usual bucket of bolts that was typically available.
Kitty and Matt had been resigned to leaving a day later on the regular train to Denver, and enduring the three-day trip on hard bench seats sharing water from Matt's canteen, or whiskey from Kitty's flask, and lunch from a picnic basket they would need to take along.
Once in Denver, they would board another train, most likely worse or at least no better, for the continued trip north to Salt Lake City, Utah. Instead, the ticket agent offered them seats on the Special Express for an extra fee. The Express was going the entire way to Salt Lake City and was comprised with not only the comfortable passenger car, but also a sleeping car and dining car to boot.
Though it did make one or sometimes two short stops to refuel with wood and water, it would still get to Salt Lake faster and imminently more comfortable then the regular trains that traveled there.
Kitty was thrilled at the opportunity to take the express, and though Matt groused about the fare, she insisted on paying for it. She didn't care about spending the extra money, as she knew Matt hated being cooped up on any train, but it couldn't be helped this time. The train was the only way to get to their destination safely, and quickly, and if she did say so herself, luxuriously.
It was practically unheard of to see a sleeping and dining car in these parts. But being able to sleep lying down and actually sit at a table and eat good hot food, all while traveling, was amazing and wonderful. From what the conductor told her, one man who'd boarded in St. Louis, had gone to his sleeping car and hadn't come out for most of the trip. After sleeping in her and Matt's own room the night before, she understood.
Leaning further back in her seat, Kitty absently looked out of the window, thinking of the reason she and Matt were taking the trip.
"Matt, I need you." The letter started. It was from a friend of Matt's, James Hare. James, half Cheyenne and half-white, had been one hundred percent friend to Matt when he'd needed one. Now it was James that needed a friend. He was in jail, being held for murdering the man that had killed his wife. James's infant daughter was now in the care of a local woman who, though kind was of no relation, and should James be hung, would send the child to an orphanage. James wanted Matt to come for his daughter, insisting he was innocent but was worried about a conviction and didn't want his daughter with strangers or at an orphanage.
Matt of course, didn't hesitate to send word that he was on his way. He did hesitate though when Kitty insisted on going with him. "Kitty, I don't know what I'll be walking into up there." Matt protested.
"You'll be walking into a town that's actually tamer than Dodge and trying to clear your friend rather than taking care of his little girl like James wants you to." Kitty pointed out. "And don't even try to deny it." She raised a hand when Matt opened his mouth to argue.
"Alright, yes, I probably will try to clear him. But the lady that's taking care of the baby can continue to do that while I investigate. Besides, James asked for my help, not yours and its winter. Even by that fancy train, it's going to be a cold hard trip, not to mention those mountain passes we have to go through, anything could happen. I think it'd be too dangerous and…"
"Matt." Kitty shook her head. "I am going with you and that is that."
With a smile, she remembered Matt taking a deep breath but keeping his silence as she'd turned for the staircase, and headed upstairs to pack. Matt tried talking Kitty out of it again that night, and yet again the next morning as they headed to the train station. But in the end his attempt at persuading her had no effect.
She knew better than anyone how Matt felt about her safety, but as she closed her eyes and settled back in her seat, she was determined that her safety would be the least of his concerns. Matt was going to need her help, and she was going to give him that, regardless.
The conductor woke them a couple of hours later. "Sorry to disturb you." He leaned down next to Matt, his voice low and his manner secretive. "But you are a law man, right?" He asked a still slightly groggy Matt.
"Uh, yeah. US Marshal." Matt sat up, running a hand over his face and through his hair. "What's wrong?"
Kitty sat up next to Matt and blinked her eyes several times as she leaned forward towards him. "What's going on?"
"Beg your pardon, Ma'am." The conductor, a nervous little man with thinning gray hair, bespectacled gray eyes and a pencil thin mustache, nodded his head at her. "I don't mean to bother you folks, but I was hoping I could perhaps gain your assistance in something, Marshal."
"What?" Matt was fully awake and the sleeping passenger had been replaced by the tough US Marshal in the blink of an eye. "What happened?"
"Well, we have a situation here, Marshal, and I don't rightly know how to remedy it. I was hoping that perhaps you… well, that you might have a solution, seeing as how you're a law man and all."
Matt glanced over at Kitty, seeing the concern on her face. Patting her hand, he turned back to the conductor. "What's the problem?"
"Would you come with me?" The conductor asked in reply. "It might perhaps be better if you saw it."
For a split second, Matt considered the idea of saying no. He wasn't officially on duty, and he didn't want anything to come in between him helping his friend. But instead, he looked over at Kitty as he got to his feet. "Stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Matt," Kitty reached out a hand and Matt quickly took it.
"I know." Matt answered. Kitty was wordlessly expressing that she was worried about him and conveying to him to be careful. And in turn, Matt was assuring Kitty he understood her concern and would indeed be cautious. It was their code, and nothing more needed to be said.
When Matt stood, the conductor turned and hurried back down the aisle followed swiftly by Matt. At the end of the car, the conductor pointed to the next car and whispered. "He's back there, Marshal."
"Who?" Matt asked. The next car was the sleeping section, filled with one small sleeping room after another.
The conductor looked around cautiously before looking back at Matt. "The dead man." He whispered.
TBC
