Newly watched from a distance as Carpenter and his men buried Jesse Dillard in a simple grave marked with a hand made wooden cross.
Afterward, the trail boss said a few words before shaking Festus hand and bidding them goodbye.
"If ever you're in Denver," he said with a smile. "Look me up."
"Yes, sir," Festus replied quietly. "I'll do just that."
Later that night, they made camp and Newly warmed up some stew that Mr. Carpenter had given them for the journey home.
He knew Festus was hurting from the death of his friend but Newly didn't know what to say or do to make the pain of his loss bearable.
"Sure was a nice service," Newly said trying to make small talk. "Have something to eat."
"Much obliged, Newly," the hill man said sullenly. "Just not hungry."
"Well," Newly said with a slight smile. "We'll be in Dodge tomorrow, you'll be hungry by the time we get off this trail."
Festus nodded meekly. "Think I'll just turn in."
"Alright," Newly said watching the hill man unravel his bedroll.
"You know," Newly said evenly. "It wasn't your fault."
But Festus only nodded as he laid on top of his wool blanket. His mind wandered back to the night before and what he could have done differently. If only he had tried to stop Jesse from leaving that hotel room. Even though his old friend had a gun provided by that weasel hotel clerk, Festus never thought for one moment that Jesse would actually use it, especially on him. And truth be told, a small part of Festus did want to see Jesse get away. He didn't deserve to be in that prison and if it hadn't been for the badge he wore, Festus was quite certain, he would have helped Mr. Carpenter take Jesse to Mexico like he wanted to.
(Dodge)
Matt stopped his horse in front of the jail early the next morning and climbed down.
Brushing himself off, he undid his saddle bags and stepped up onto the boardwalk.
"Burke," he said opening the door to the jail to find the fright office manager sitting behind the desk. "What are you doing here? Where's Festus and Newly?"
"Aren't they with you?" Burke asked looking beyond the Marshal.
"No they're not," Matt said quickly putting his saddle bags on the table. "They should have been back days ago. We split up in Tribune, I went to Hayes and they were supposed to come back here to Dodge!"
"I don't know, Marshal," Burke said shrugging his shoulders. "I've been here the whole time since you left."
Newly sighed deeply as they broke camp the next morning and Festus still hadn't said more than just a couple of words.
"If it makes you feel any better," Newly said. "I think that hotel clerk will stand trial for murder."
"I hope so, Newly," Festus said with a nod as they packed their horses for the trip back to Dodge.
"Sure will be good to get back," Newly stated with a broad smile. "Although, I'm not so sure the Marshal's not going to get back before us."
"Yeah," Festus said worriedly. "I was a thinkin the same thing."
Matt pivoted on his heel and headed for the door as Burke followed. "Where could they be?" he asked following Matt to the telegraph office.
"I don't know but I'm going to try to find out," Matt said stepping inside.
When he emerged a short time later, he was no closer to solving the mystery of his two missing deputies and it agitated him more than he wanted to let on.
Having dismissed Burke since he was back to take over, all the Marshal could do was wait for word on where Festus and Newly might be.
Entering the Long Branch, Matt nodded at Kitty and Doc as they sat around their usual table.
"Well," Kitty said jovially. "We was just sitting here wondering when you boys were going to get back."
"Where's Festus and Newly?" Doc asked looking toward the doors.
"That's what I'd like to know," Matt said tipping his hat up. "They both should have been here long before me."
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked the concern in her voice evident.
"I mean, we split up in Tribune," Matt said taking a seat. "I told Newly to head back to Dodge and I went on to Hayes. I'm back and yet, they're not!"
"Where could they be?" Doc asked just as concerned now as Kitty.
"I have no idea," Matt replied honestly as Barney rushed into the saloon and stopped at his side.
"Telegrams for you Marshal," he said passing Matt two pages of messages.
"Thanks, Barney," Matt said taking the papers before Barney headed out the doors again.
"Matt," Kitty asked as she watched the expression on Matt's face change. "You look worried?"
"Well," Matt said up. "I don't know if I should be or not. According to this, Festus and Newly left Tribune the same day I did. And according to the other message, a US Marshal from Unionville was shot and died in Lovelock."
"Isn't that on the way here from Tribune," Doc asked sitting up straighter in his seat.
"Yeah," Matt said reading the telegram. "It says, an escaped convict named Jesse Dillard was involved."
"Does it say who the Marshal was?" Kitty asked worriedly.
"No it don't," Matt said getting to his feet. "I'm going to send another wire about this and try to find out what's going on!"
"Good idea," Doc said with a worried nod.