Chapter 2
"But Matt its been over a year since you took any time off," Kitty was complaining.
"Yeh, but then I took four months."
"That was medical leave Matt, not vacation."
"Why don't you go and keep Doc company. You'll have a good time."
"I would have a lot more of a good time if you came too," she smiled wickedly.
Matt sighed. It was beginning to look like he would not get out of going. He should never have suggested that Doc invite Kitty to go with him. Fortunately since the successful conclusions to the trials of Eli Rathbone and Juno Burr, he was currently in favor with the attorney general's office. They would be willing to give him two weeks vacation and send a temporary Marshal to cover for him. He just had to ask. The problem was that Dillon did not like to ask, even if vacation time was owed to him. He always felt that Dodge was his responsibility. Truth was he was not enthusiastic about big social gatherings anyway, but he knew that Kitty enjoyed them.
There had been several weeks for Kitty to work her magic and she felt she was beginning to get through to the reluctant Marshal.
Doc, too, was joining in the argument.
"Come on Matt. It's about time you took a break," he told him several times.
Finally the Marshal gave in, arranged for a Deputy to come and take care of Dodge for a couple of weeks, and bought tickets for Kitty and himself to travel to Denver.
"I'm not sure why I am going to a medical seminar Kitty."
"I'm going to keep Doc company, and you're coming with me, that's why."
So it was, that the three of them boarded the train from Dodge on a rainy morning in September.
The train trip was quiet, and reluctantly Matt had to admit that he enjoyed it. Spending time with the two people most important in his life was an easy thing to do.
They arrived in Denver two days later. Harrington had arranged for a carriage to meet them at the station and take them to the Denver Hotel. It was a fine place with an expansive entrance hall, and a large ballroom where chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and oversized paintings decorated the walls.
Matt felt a little out of place in such opulent surroundings, but Kitty of course strolled in with her usual charm and seemed quite at home.
The bedrooms were about twice the size of those in the Dodge House, and much more graciously furnished. Somehow Kitty had managed to organize it so that the rooms she had booked for the two of them and Doc were connected by a small sitting room. Whether Doc was impressed or not, Dillon could not tell. From his manner he could have been sitting in the chairs outside the Marshal's Office in Dodge.
They had about settled in and Kitty was unpacking their bags.
"I need to go down to the Sheriff's office and let him know I am here." Matt tells her.
Kitty knew that he felt it was only courteous to let the local lawman know he was in town. "Just don't forget you are on vacation, Matt. Don't get yourself involved in anything."