Apart 2
As soon as Kitty had been bound and gagged, with a hood placed over her head, she was carried outside and placed in the back of a wagon. A tarp was pulled over her, to conceal her presence. Two men had grabbed her, but she suspected more as she thought she heard bootsteps going up the stairs and towards her room. But unable to see, she couldn't be sure.
However, it made no difference since a few minutes after being stowed away in the back of the wagon, the men climbed in and hurried out of town. No one saw or heard a thing.
As the wagon bumped along whatever rutted road they were on, Kitty tried desperately to still her lurching stomach but the jostling wasn't making it easy. She was about to lose the meager contents of her stomach completely when the wagon finally came to a creaking stop and the tarp was pulled off of her.
"We're home." A darkly bearded man with only three fingers on his left hand said in a singsong voice as he leered down at her from the end of the wagon.
Still gagged Kitty could offer little in the way of comment or protest as he reached out, grabbed her legs and forcefully pulled her from the wagon, standing her on her feet. She was still fighting nausea and thought it quite possible that she might choke and die from her own vomit if something didn't happen quickly.
"Brock." A dark, rich baritone voice called from behind her. "Get that gag out of her mouth and sit her down somewhere, she looks green as a gourd."
Grumbling under his breath, the man called Brock, quickly removed the gag and pushed her back to the edge of the wagon. "Sit." He ordered.
Kitty wanted to do just that but her stomach could no longer be tamed and she suddenly turned her head, losing her dinner from the night before on the dusty ground and Brock's right boot.
"Damn you!" He roared as he raised his fist but his arm was suddenly caught in the iron grip of the baritone.
"You touch her, I'll kill you."
Kitty looked to the man who'd prevented her from being hit and was stymied at what she saw. "Da… Daniel?"
"Evening, Kitty." He politely nodded at her just before she fainted.
KMKMKMKMKMKMKMKM
Matt stoically sat beside Cynthia St. John in the small wagon she'd rented for the trip and drove slowly along, his horse tied on behind. Though he'd exchanged pleasantries with the young woman at his side, when they'd first started out, he said little more after that. He had little to say. Cynthia St. John, however, seemed to have plenty to say.
As they rolled along, she kept up an almost constant stream of chatter, often squealing like a small child when she saw a deer or other wild animals along the way. She told him about growing up in a wealthy family with a banker father and her senator godfather and often pointed out things that were so much less or more than what she had 'back home.'
Matt, most of the time, simply nodded and kept driving. His mind was not on the pretty young woman at his side, but rather on something else entirely. Kitty and the way things had been left between them when he'd driven out that morning. He wished like crazy now that he'd gone ahead and woken her to apologize, regardless of the early hour. He hadn't though and the knowledge that she was not only worried about him but angry at him and hurt worked on him.
"Gonna have to fix that when I get back." He told himself silently.
"Matt?" Cynthia batted blonde lashes at him with a charming smile. "I want you to know that I really am enjoying this time with you and I am looking forward to the rest of our trip."
"Oh." Matt nodded but kept his eyes forward.
"Oh? That's all you have to say?" Cynthia let it be known she wasn't pleased with his answer. "Matt, you act like you don't want to be here."
Matt took a deep breath before looking over at her. "Miss St. John..."
"Cynthia." She insisted. "Matt, we're going to be together for several days. We might as well be friendly." She gave him another winning smile but it seemed to have little effect.
"Miss St. John." He repeated her formal title slowly. "I am here as part of my job, not as your friend. Now, I will do everything in my power to get you to the fort and your father safely and as quickly as possible but that's about all I will do."
"You're angry." She pouted. "You don't like me and you're mad because you have to take me."
Letting out the air he'd just taken in, Matt shook his head. "I'm not angry Miss St. John and I don't have anything against you. But I'd be lying if I said I was happy about this. I just think that you could've found another, quicker and easier way to get to that fort. I don't understand why it was so important that I take you."
"Because." Cynthia dropped the honey sweet tones and her voice took on a slight edge. "I wanted you to." Reaching over, she grasped his arm causing him to finally turn his head and look at her. "Matt, I know we don't know each other very well but I want us to. While it's true, this was Uncle Eldred's idea, I didn't object because when I saw you, I realized how attractive you were and how much I really did want to meet you."
"That makes no sense." Matt pulled on the reins and stopped the cart so to turn fully around. "The first time we met was in Dodge, this morning and this little trip, from what I understand, was arranged between Senator Hudgins and my superiors sometime before that. How could you have wanted to get to know me when you'd never laid eyes on me before now?"
"Oh, I saw you several months ago." Cynthia smiled. "You were in Topeka, at some meeting or other. I was there visiting Uncle Eldred. You didn't see me, but I certainly noticed you. I don't believe I ever saw anyone as tall or handsome as you and when Uncle Eldred was trying to decide who would take me to my father, I suggested you."
"I see." He turned back and looked to the heaven's in exasperation. "So this was your idea?"
"Yes." She admitted. "I wanted to get to know you and I knew this would be the only way I'd get that chance." Cynthia reached out again and this time grasped his hand. "Matt, please. Please forgive me. I promise you won't regret this and I will do everything in my power to make it fun for both of us. Please take me the rest of the way."
Matt turned back and slapped the reins against the horse's rump. "Don't guess I have a choice, do I?"
TBC
