Mary woke to Kitty screaming. Mary tried to wake Kitty, shook her. Kitty punched Mary, sending her backwards into the rock. Mary was yelling as Kitty went after her with the knife. Kitty awoke just in time. "Did I hurt you? Are you ok?" Kitty asked as she stared at Mary. "Yeah," Mary responded. "You nuts or something?" Kitty thought about that for a second. "Yeah, I guess I am.. don't touch me if I am sleeping, I do not like it." Mary said, "I won't, I only tried because you were screaming." Kitty's hair looked like fire in the moonlight. Her eyes had turned hollow shade of blue. "I guess you need a explanation. Well you're not going to get one. It's none of your business. Get some sleep. Don't worry, I will not go back to sleep tonight."
Mary was not at all ready to sleep and said, "Why don't we start walking. I think I slept enough for one night. The moon will give us light." Kitty: "No, we will get lost. I am ok now. I think it is going back to Dodge that is getting to me." Mary: "I think I am not going to take that job at the Long Branch. Dodge must be a very bad place."
Kitty: "You would do well to stay out of saloons. The Long Branch was a wonderful place. I was young, at first it was hard - all the men in town wanted a go at me. I was the new girl in town. The women hated me with a passion and told me so every chance they got. I was run out of the church, restaurants, stores, they did not even want me going to the same outhouse. I had no money so I had to sleep with anyone who wanted me.. I started to eat the free lunch. That saved me some money. I remember my first cattle drive. One man would get out of my bed as another jumped in. I earned a lot that summer. I swore I was never going to do that again. Then the next summer came. I had some money put away so I could be a little more choosy then. I took mostly the Foremen and only about four a night. I would make them buy me a drink or two before we went upstairs. They were not bad men, most were just the third summer I was trying to buy the Long Branch, so I took everyone, who had the fare. I was either in the bar having them buy me drinks or in bed all summer long. By the end of drover season, I had the money for half interest, but I was sick. I could not stand to even drink with a man, never mind take him upstairs. The local Doctor started treating me for what he called histea. It means too many men. I would force myself to drink with the local men. It was my job, but I would not take them upstairs. This caused them to be mad at me all the time.
About then the very handsome marshal started hanging around the bar. I was so sick of men I could not sleep with him. I tried to sleep with him one night, threw up all night. He held my hair. He said he thought I drank too much, but he did not try to sleep with me for quite a while. We became good friends. He was used to women throwing themselves at him. I think part of the attraction was I wanted nothing from him. We spent lots of time just talking, then one day he was shot down in the street. When I close my eyes I can still see the dust that his falling caused. I went to visit him in Doc's office one day. Doc was out, his office was cold - the fire had gone out. I slid under the covers to keep Matt warm. He was not as hurt as I thought he was. We became one after that - friends forever, lovers in times of trouble. Mary asked :" This Matt is who the dream was about?." "Did he make that mark on your face?" . Kitty looked very angry. "I told you that is none of your business."
"Look down there off in the distance, it is a camp fire. We will head toward it tomorrow. If we head out just before light, we might be able to catch them," Kitty said. "Then buy or take their horses." Kitty stopped just before they entered the camp. She fixed her hair, brushed off her dress, and pinched her cheeks. Kitty hid Mary behind a big rock. " You stay here. Do not come out until I come for you. If night falls and I have not returned, you head back to where we spent the night. In the morning, you walk in the direction the sun comes up. When you come to a river, you follow it. Do not trust anyone. Take this gun. You have two bullets. Do not let them take you alive. There are worse things than death." Mary cried and watched as Kitty walked into the camp. The bow on the back of her dress wiggled back and forth. "Morning gentleman," Kitty said in her sweetest southern voice. The men jumped up, grabbing their guns.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" a large man with a scar on his face said as he circled Kitty. Mary could see no more. She thought about climbing on the rock so she could see something, but decided to do as Kitty instructed. The sun was getting very hot. Mary had fallen asleep. She awoke to the sound of Kitty yelling and crying, begging for someone to stop. Mary's heart sank. She looked at the gun. Two bullets, She thought, if I could shoot straight I could kill us both with this gun. Mary lay face down in the dirt and covered her ears in an effort to stop the screaming and the sound of men laughing. Suddenly the world was silent. They have killed her, she thought.
The sun was setting. Mary's tears streaked her face as she headed back up the hill. She stopped as Kitty's words echoed in her head. There are worse things than death. What if Kitty was still alive? Mary ran back to her hiding place. Night brought a new set of screams from the camp. Kitty's screams seemed to echo through the prairie ..It was as if Kitty's voice was all around her. Kitty's voice was now weaker. She was no longer begging.
The moonlight was making long shadows. A large shadow engulfed Mary. She reached for the gun. dropped it. Kitty stepped on the gun. "You will not need that." Mary looked up, Kitty's dress was covered in blood, her hair was down around her shoulders, and her face was bruised. "Are you all right?" Kitty responded, "It took me longer than I expected but I got the horses.I donot think it is wise to head out tonight. We will go back to where we spent last night and hit Dodge tomorrow." "Why don't we use their camp?" Mary asked, regretting it as soon as she said it. Kitty: "Their bodies are still there. I am not spooked, but do not want to sleep with the dead," Kitty said with no remorse in her voice. "You killed all four of them?" Mary asked. "Yeah, I told them that I had a knife. They just laughed at me. They are not laughing a move on,"Kitty said.
Kitty ran up the familiar stairs of Doc's office. Matt's hat is hung on the wall, with a set of guns. Pushing past the young man sitting in Doc's chair, she moves into the inner office. She gasps as she stares at the empty bed. "Excuse me madam, can I help you?" the young man asked. Kitty turned, looking at him with confused eyes. "He cannot be dead. I would feel it if he were dead." The young man inquired, "Who?" Kitty was getting mad. "Marshal Dillon," Kitty said as if there was no other person in the world and this man should have known who she was asking about without her telling him. "I think he is at the Long Branch, if he has not left town yet." Kitty looked confused. "You mean he is all right?" Kitty pushed past the young man again and down those stairs. Kitty's nerves were all on edge. The short distance between Doc's office and the Long Branch seemed to take forever. The bay wind doors flung open, then just as quickly closed, catching Kitty's dress between the doors. Kitty was struggling to free her dress when she saw him. Forgetting the dress for a moment, she stood at her full height. Looking in those Crystal blue eyes 42 years came back to her in flashes like a deck of cards being dropped one by one on the floor. He looked up from his beer. He could not believe his eyes. He did not see the gray hair or the wrinkled face. What he saw was the young girl that walked into Delmonico's that rainy day.
"You ok?" Kitty asked, as tears filled her eyes. "I heard you were stabbed and that you were dead." Matt held out his hand as he rose out of his chair. His hand was wrapped. "I was stabbed in my hand, I got ten stitches." Now Kitty was mad. "You were stabbed in your hand and got ten stitches, Well ain't that something. You disgust me." Matt rubbed his head: "Now Kitty.." Kitty responded, "Don't you 'now Kitty' me." Matt started to grin. "Now Kitty You came all this way because you thought I was hurt." Kitty looked like she was going to cry or maybe laugh. Kitty yelled, "I came here because I thought you were dying. What is the matter with you cowboys? You can't take down an old man. You call yourself gunslingers. Someone give me a gun, I will do what all you gunslingers, murders, and outlaws are unable to do. Someone give me a gun!" Mary, who was trying to free Kitty's dress, yelled, " No, no one give her a gun!" Looking at Matt Marry yelled, "Get away from her. She is touched, she is out of her head, Don't hurt her." Mary jumped in front of Kitty as Matt approached. "I won't let you hurt her. You have done
enough to her. You will do no more." With that, Mary pulled the derringer. Matt stopped but only for a moment. Then in one step he grabbed the gun and pushed Mary out of the way He then softly took Kitty in his giant arms. Their eyes met, and as always, Kitty's anger melted. She lowered her head and rested it on his shoulder. Kitty's legs buckled. Matt gathered her up and headed for Doc's office. Looking over his shoulder, he said to Mary, "You come along."