Pt 2

Though routine in nature, transporting a man to prison was never easy, but Nate Collier was one of the toughest. So far, he'd managed to slip his ropes the first night out and had Matt not been awake, would've bashed his scull in with a rock. He'd also taken a chance of ramming his horse into Matt's and trying to push him down a steep slope. Matt had managed to control his horse and pull his gun, subduing the villain.

But not long after that, Collier tried again by launching himself from his saddle and onto Matt, knocking them both off their horses where they each fought desperately for control of the other. Once again, Matt prevailed, though barely.

Matt now had the man's hands tied securely to his saddle horn, and his feet securely tied under his horse's belly. The riding wasn't easy for the convicted bank robber, but it was a cinch, he wasn't going to find any more escape attempts easy.

As they rode, the short pudgy man with a full beard of dark blond hair, studied the lawman, he rode beside. Silent and stalwart, Dillon gave very little away about himself.

"Got ya woman, Lawman?" Collier asked, trying to see if he could rile the man in any way.

"Nope." Matt answered.

"Ya ain't?" Collier looked at the ruggedly handsome Marshal and found that difficult to believe. No expert on male beauty, he wasn't blind either. Dillon was tall, blue eyed and just what most women seemed to find attractive. It was hard to figure him without at least one female admirer.

Matt had already answered his prisoner's question, and he didn't find it necessary to answer again, so he remained silent. But Collier wasn't quite yet ready to give up his line of questioning.

"Man like you, has just gotta have at least one female at home, a pining for yer return. Tain't natural for a man not to have at least one on the hook."

Matt kept his silence, refusing to take the bait offered by the loathsome man beside him. His personal life, what little there was of it, was not open for discussion with anyone, especially not this bandit.

Collier studied the laconic man beside him for several long moments before speaking again. "Ya know, back in Abilene, they's a saloon down there had the prettiest little gal working for em that I ever did see. Had her some of the prettiest red hair and blue eyes and a figure just made for a man's hands to go around, if ya know what I mean. She were sure something special. Of course, she knew it too and she wouldn't take just any old boy up them stairs with her. No sir'ree. Most cowboys was out of the running, where she was concerned."

He looked over at the big man's face but so far, saw nothing. The marshal neither looked at him, or showed any expression what so ever. Collier prodded him a little more. "I, uh… I only mention that, cause I figure that's the kind of woman you'd probably have. Real pretty and cool like and only available to the highest bidder. You got that kind of woman, Dillon? Bet ya do. Ya probably just keeping her to yaself too, huh?"

Matt ignored his comments. "There's a small stream ahead." He pointed down the trail they were on. "It's getting late. We'll camp there for the night." His mind had involuntarily gone to the girl he'd seen in Delmonico's before he left and it irked him for some reason. He didn't want to think of that girl, any girl for that matter, but especially not that one. Just the thought of her could too easily distract him. And with a man like Collier, he couldn't afford to be distracted.

Once Matt picked the campsite, he pulled Collier off his horse and cuffed him by one hand to a sturdy tree branch. He had several bruises to prove that the convict couldn't be trusted.

Having done that, he quickly made a fire and a pot of coffee and some beans. Only after eating his own meal, did he release his prisoner, so that he too, could eat. Matt intended to keep constant watch on the man with nothing to take his eyes off of prisoner.

"Ya don't give a man much room, do ya, Lawman?" Collier grinned over at him.

"A man, yes." Matt answered pointedly. "But I'm not sure you qualify for that."

Collier's grin disappeared to be replaced by a snarl, as flipped his plate up and over at Matt. But Matt was ready for him, and easily dodged the plate. He couldn't, however, dodge the bandit that hurtled himself at him.

Both men went tumbling backwards and Matt landed on his back, his prisoner on top of him as Collier tried desperately to get his hands around Matt's neck. But Matt managed to knock one of the villain's hands free with a powerful forearm, and with the same hand punch him with one jarring blow to his jaw. Collier was knocked back but he wasn't done. Pulling back his arm, he aimed at Matt's face, but Matt blocked the punch and rolled just enough, to unseat his attacker.

Once Matt had Collier off of him, he grabbed him by the collar and punched him again, and yet again, until the fight was taken out of him and he feebly raised a hand in defeat. "E… nuf. Enuf." He gasped. "I cain't…"

Matt wearily got to his feet, pulling Collier up with him, and then pushed him back over to the tree, cuffing him to it securely and then tying a length of rope around him as an extra precaution. Looking down at the not-so-mighty bad guy, Matt pointed his finger. "You try that one more time, and you won't live long enough to see that prison."

Wisely, for once, Collier kept his mouth shut, resigned to staying put for the night. But they still had half a day's ride ahead of them till they reached the prison, surely he could think of something before then.

TBC