Matt was grateful that the perpetually down-on-his-luck gambler known as Sad Odin Vaughn was in jail that day, as he required special care and distracted the marshal from the guilt pricking his gut over visiting Violet's room, and his own sadness and disquiet about Kitty and Joshua Steele.
A good two cuts above Kitty's other men friends, Steele was a rival to worry about. No older than Matt, Joshua was strong and handsome, bold yet not forceful, with a temperament and talk that appealed to women and impressed men.
Odin's soft, sorrowful voice invaded Matt's pondering. "Marshal," Odin called from the jail cell. "Maarrrshalll."
Poor Odin was a drunkard and chronic opium smoker, afflicted worse than the town drunk Louie Pheeters, as a melancholic cloud which cleared just a little at times engulfed Odin. He'd twice tried to kill himself by drinking bottles of laudanum. Even more pitiful, Odin was young, about Chester's age, while Louie was in his mid-fifties.
Matt had jailed Odin—out of his head with whiskey and opium—for shooting his gun at the night sky along the length of Front Street.
"Alright, Odin," said Matt. "I'm comin'." He always left the door to the jail open when Odin was locked up, as having it closed distressed him too much.
Matt put the shotgun he was cleaning on the table and rose from his chair. Cleaning the shotguns was Chester's job, which he usually neglected until prodded, and then he took a month of Sundays to clean every shotgun unless the marshal helped him.
As Matt turned toward the jail cells, the front door opened, and he smelled Kitty's flowery fragrance and heard the tap of her small shoes on the floor. In spite of Violet and Joshua Steele, things eased of a sudden—lightened and smoothed out— just from Kitty's presence. Matt felt at once surer, more sound in his head.
"Kitty," he said. He looked wistful to Kitty, his eyes a richer blue with the emotion. She knew he had no notion he looked that way, because if he did, he'd toughen his face and distance his eyes.
"Oh, Matt." Kitty moved to him impulsively and hugged him.
"Odin's in the jail," Matt whispered in her ear, rubbing her back a little.
Kitty stepped back from him, holding his hands. "Matt, we have to talk," she said.
"Alright. How about lunch at Delmonico's? I have to see to Odin now." Although Matt hadn't forgotten Kitty's lunch plan with Steele—there was no way the marshal could forget—he hoped she'd break it and lunch with Matt instead.
"I'm dining with Joshua at Delmonico's, today. I have to talk to you, now," said Kitty. "Close the jail door and we'll keep our voices down."
"It troubles Odin when the door is closed."
Kitty sighed and flounced. "Matt, this is important. Can't you just turn 'im loose?"
"Not 'til Doc sees him," said the marshal. "To make sure his head is some clear, so he won't hurt himself or anyone else."
"I'll go for Doc," said Kitty.
"You can't. At least not now. Doc and Chester went fishing with Miss Penny Pierson. We're havin' a fish fry here tonight, remember?"
"Doc and Chester," said Kitty. "With Doc courtin' Penny, I'm surprised he let Chester tag along."
"I don't think Doc had anything to do with it," said Matt. "From what Chester said, it was Miss Penny's idea."
"It was," said Kitty. "Well, that isn't surprising. Sweet as Penny is on men, poor ole Doc hasn't a chance."
"I agree. There's no convincing Doc of that, though, so I'm not gonna try."
Kitty looked into the jail, where Sad Odin stood at the bars. "Hello, Odin," she said, smiling.
"Hello, Miss Kitty," Odin said mournfully. He was a small, neatly formed man who looked dapper despite years of excessive indulgence in whiskey, opium and whatever morphine he could get his hands on. His suit was old and ragged yet clean and pressed, and his tattered boots shined. His hair was gray, and his young, rather elfin face ravaged, with puffy dark circles round his sad gray eyes.
"I'm going to close this door a little while," said Kitty. "The marshal and I need to talk private."
"Kitty," said Matt.
"Oh, no, please, Miss Kitty," Odin pleaded. "Please don't do that to me."
"It's alright," Kitty soothed. "You just let me know what you need. What you want, Odin."
"Hot coffee with sugar and cream," said Odin. "And one of Chester's penny books. The one he was reading last night, with a Kiowa man smoking a long pipe on the cover."
"Maybe you should read a different story, Odin," said Matt. "Chester marked his place in that book; he hasn't finished it."
"Oh, let him read it, Matt," said Kitty. "A story with a long pipe can't hurt him any worse than he's already hurt. You pour the coffee, and I'll find the book."
While Kitty pulled Chester's stack of penny books from under the bed, Matt poured a cup of coffee, added a heaping spoon of brown sugar and a generous dollop of yellow cream, and stirred the steaming liquid. There was plenty of sugar and cream, as Matt and Chester, Doc and Kitty drank black unsweetened coffee, as did most men the marshal jailed. Chester used the sugar and cream after berry picking, and not much at that, as Matt liked plain berries.
At Kitty's suggestion, Odin removed his boots and tie, unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, and cozied under the blanket on the cell bunk, sipping coffee and reading. Kitty softly and silently closed the jail door, smiling at him all the while.
"I don't think Sad Odin would be sad anymore with a fine woman takin' care of 'im," said Matt.
"I think you're right," said Kitty. She poured two cups of coffee for Matt and herself. "He'd probably like Vi Darling. Most men do."
Matt tensed to keep from gulping as she handed him his cup. He dreaded talking about last night, and she was going to make him.
They sat at the table. Matt looked miserable, and she found herself feeling sorry for him. "Did you take her last night?" said Kitty. Her lovely blue eyes searched his face as she sipped her coffee.
Matt thumped his cup on the table. "Do you have to say it that way, Kitty?" he said. "That's . . . coarse." She waited calmly, unmoved by his scolding.
"Yes," said Matt, looking into her eyes.
"Do you like her better than me?"
"No, of course not, Kitty, I don't like her better than you. I just went to her room because . . . I wanted you."
"That's what I thought," said Kitty. "But I needed to hear you say it. I don't hold it against you, Matt. It wouldn't be fair."
"Well, that's good to hear," said Matt. "What about Steele? Will you have lunch with me instead of him?"
Kitty's red brows crinkled as she thought on it. She'd looked forward to seeing Joshua's handsome face again, hearing his deep smooth voice, listening to him talk and talking to him. "Joshua's a good friend to have," said Kitty. "When you're busy or away, or have too much on your mind to bother with me."
"I never feel like that about you, Kitty. You're never a bother. I have you on my mind more than anyone. Or anything else."
"Yeah," said Kitty. "You still put that badge before me, though. Joshua doesn't wear a badge, and he can get young Dave to work the livery any time. You and I'd have more time to ourselves if you'd just write headquarters for a couple of deputies, Matt."
"Kitty, we've been over this. I can't trust a couple of strangers to do the job right, and I won't deputize any man here in town, either. Chester's the only man I trust to work for me," said the marshal.
"I know, Matt," said Kitty. "That's why I'm having lunch with Joshua."
"You're not being fair, Kitty. You didn't like when I went to Violet's room."
"No," she said. "I didn't say I'd go to bed with Joshua."
"Will you?"
"I don't know, yet," Kitty said resolutely, meeting Matt's eyes. "If you can share someone else's bed, so can I."
"Kitty." Matt smacked the table in frustration.
"Shhh," she said. "We'll distress Odin if we raise our voices."
"I told you," said Matt, lowering his voice. "I only shared Violet's bed because I wanted you."
"Well, Matt, if I do go to bed with Joshua, it'll be for the same reason."
"But I always want you."
"Matt, your voice. I don't mean that way. I mean you, your company. And not just for a beer and chat. I mean squiring me around town. Picnics and buggy rides and dances and sociables. Trips . . . maybe a riverboat ride. And . . . talking about us, our lives, and things that matter in life, not just outlaws and men in jail, like poor Sad Odin, or my girls and patrons, or Chester. And . . . and holding my hand and putting your arm around me. Yes, Matt. Even in public, like beaus do. And, telling me how much you—"
Kitty caught herself, and her hand flew to her mouth as she stared wide-eyed and a bit breathless at the marshal. She didn't recollect Matt ever telling her he loved her.
"Even if I could remember all that, Kitty," the marshal said dismally, "a U.S. marshal can't be a man about town. I'm sorry, but it just isn't possible."
"It is with Joshua," she said.
As Joshua and Kitty sat talking over coffee at Delmonico's, long after they finished lunch, Doc, Chester and Penny rode back to town from Rattlesnake Creek. Doc drove the buggy, with Penny between the two men, wrapped in her shawl.
Since Doc held the reins and needed his arms free, Penny nestled up to Chester and dozed. Feeling her small bones pressing against him made Chester think of a wren or sparrow, and he wondered if her frailness would wear him down if he courted her, came to love her, maybe. The care of such a woman might prove worrisome indeed. It was alright for Doc, who took care of folks natural as breathing, and was as good a nurse as a doctor.
Hearing a horse galloping close behind the buggy, Chester looked over his shoulder. The rider was the coal mine owner Theodore Calvert, Penny's beau.
"Who in tarnation is that tailin' us," said Doc. "They're almost under the wheels."
"Mr. Calvert," said Chester. "He looks riled, Doc."
"Yeah, well so am I," said Doc. "He's like to cause an accident, he don't back off." Calvert rode up beside the buggy on the side where Chester sat, and Doc reined in his horse.
Penny stirred herself. "Teddy," she said sleepily. "What're you doing out here."
"I was out to one of my mines," said Calvert. "Why are you riding with Doc and Chester?"
"We went fishing, honey," said Penny. "Ma Smalley fixed us a picnic lunch."
"What are you going to do with the fish, Penelope," said Calvert. "You don't cook."
"I'm gonna fry 'em up to the marshal's office for supper tonight," said Chester. "Me an' Doc and Mr. Dillon'll eat 'em; Sad Odin too if he's still in jail when the fish is done. Miss Kitty's invited, and Miss Penny of course. She caught two big trout and a catfish."
"Well, you're a chatty fellow," said Calvert testily.
"Don't be impolite, Teddy," said Penny.
"You were embracing Chester when I rode up," said Calvert. "I've a right to be surly."
"She warn't embracin' me. Miss Penny was jest leanin' on me whilst she took a lil nap. Don't scold her," said Chester. He did not consider Teddy Calvert a force to be reckoned with, despite the mine owner's wealth and position, as he was neither big or tall. Calvert had soft eyes, unruly curls, and looked younger than his thirty-nine years.
"Don't tell me how to talk to my girl, Chester," said Calvert.
"Penelope, you're not to keep company with other men," Calvert went on. "I forbid it. You should know better. Climb down from that blamed buggy at once and ride to town with me."
"I'll do no such thing," said Penny, sweetly unruffled. "Doc and Chester will drop me off at Ma Smalley's, and I'm walking to the marshal's office suppertime for fried fish. You ride on along home, Teddy. Stop making a spectacle of yourself."
"You are not to dally with other men," Calvert desperately implored.
Doc squinted and blinked as he looked searchingly at Calvert's strained face. "Why don't you ride alongside us into town, Ted," said Doc. "You can visit Penny at Ma's. You don't wanna make Penny get down when she's tuckered from fishin' and settled comfortable here in the buggy, do you?"
"Well . . . ." Teddy's boyish features drooped as he yielded. "I suppose you and Chester will take good care of her, Doc."
"The best," said Doc.
"I'll wait for you at Ma's, Penny," said Calvert. "I'm going to ride ahead, give my mare a run."
"Alright, honey," said Penny. "I need to rest before I meet everyone to eat our fish. You can climb into bed and cuddle me, keep me warm while I nap."
She giggled at length like a trilling bird, wrinkling her little nose and looking from Calvert to Chester to Doc, who all appeared taken aback. Although Doc and Chester knew from town gossip that Penny was no lady, hearing those words from so dainty a woman was shocking.
"How can you be so common, Penelope," said Calvert, his face flushing.
"Oh, don't be stiff, Ted," said Penny. "It's no secret. All of Dodge knows I'm no pure maiden. Ma forbids it unless her boarders are married, though even she suspects what we do in my room." Penny giggled again.
"Gracious," Chester said quietly, his face cherry red, while Doc regarded Penny appraisingly. In spite of her gracefulness, the girl had the breeding of a saloon gal, and Doc found himself fortunate that he had scarce a shadow of a chance for a serious courtship, which on account of her charm, delicacy, and especially her affection for him, Doc might otherwise be tempted to embark on.
As for Chester, he calculated that Miss Penny was afflicted with wantonness, which made her unsuitable as a close lady friend, a wife let alone. Maybe that was why Calvert had yet to propose. Howsoever, Miss Penny was a little beauty, and kissing her about made Chester's toes curl. Keeping to mind that she was no scarlet woman like those living in the back street houses, and some who boarded at the Long Branch, Chester saw no harm in sparkin' Miss Penny now and then, so long as Mr. Calvert held off a betrothal.
Skittish from Calvert's rigid posture, his mare started prancing and blowing. "She wants her head," said Doc.
"She certainly does," said Calvert, tugging the reins as he glared at Penny. "But I'm determined not to give it to her."
"Not Penny," said Doc. "Your mare. She wants to run."
Penny screamed laughter, clinging to Chester's arm. "Oh, Teddy," she gasped. "You're simply hilarious."
"Go ahead and laugh," said Teddy. "You're not going to that fish fry at the jail tonight without me. Not with all those men."
Penny abruptly stopped laughing, her bright black eyes wide. "Teddy," she said. "You're not invited."
"You kin come if ya want, Mr. Calvert," said Chester. "We caught a mighty big pile a fish, and Miss Kitty's bringin' bread rolls and butter, and yams and roastin' ears from Delmonico's."
"Oh, joy," Doc grumped. "Why don't you invite all of Dodge while you're at it, Chester." He knew Calvert would permit no sweet talk or caresses with Penny at the marshal's office, and Doc was too concerned over Calvert's distress to take the liberty with Penny in front of him. The man looked haunted, with a pallor under his tan complexion.
Chester, Doc figured, would show no such scruples in the matter of Calvert and Penny. As Calvert hadn't proposed to her, to Chester's simple way of thinking, Penny was unattached. And Chester's fondness for pretty young women made him bold when he went sweet on a girl. At such times, he showed no qualms about sparkin' a woman in the presence of beaus far more formidable than Teddy Calvert.
Chester also was unlikely to spare Doc's feelings in the matter of Penny. Though Doc knew Chester wouldn't set out to trouble him, when a woman Chester liked gave him special attentions, he thought of nothing else. The fish fry Doc had pleasurably anticipated now seemed somewhat of a drab prospect.
"Well, you're not bein' neighborly to Mr. Calvert at all, Doc," said Chester.
"Oh, what the deuce," said Doc. "Come join us tonight if you're of a mind to, Ted."
"How sweet of you, Doc," said Penny. "Now, I'll have you and Chester and my Teddy there."
"I will be there," said Teddy. "Count on it." He let the reins go slack, and with a jump and a whinny, his mare galloped toward town.
Doc chirruped to his horse, setting him off at a trot, and the buggy riders watched Calvert's mare race ahead of them, kicking up tufts of pale budding grass and rain softened dirt while Calvert leaned over her neck and clung to the pommel.
"Looks like she's runnin' away with him," said Doc.
"Teddy makes her nervous," said Penny, "because he feels so very keenly. That sort of thing affects horses."
"Might help 'im out if he felt a mite less keenly," said Doc, "if he wants to hold onto his senses."
"Yes . . . ." said Penny. "Teddy's the kind of man who needs a wife, not just a kept woman. If he ever comes round to asking for my hand, I'll be faithful to him all my days."
"Does he know that?" said Doc.
"He most surely does," said Penny. "I've promised him enough times. He says he can't trust me to be a good wife unless I stop keeping company with other men before he proposes, and I won't do that. If Teddy loved me like he should, he'd ask me to marry him at once and have done with it. As long as I'm unmarried, I'll have as much fun with other men as I please."
Smiling, Chester moved his face close to Penny's. "Waal, now, that's only fair," he said. "A young woman not bound in marriage oughter enjoy herself."
" 'Specially with a nice young man like you, Chester?" Penny tittered, and Chester carefully wrapped his arm around her narrow shoulders, as she was like a butterfly who could take just the gentlest touch.
Penny linked her gloved fingers around his neck, gazing into his eyes. "You feel fine and strong," she murmured. "There's more to you than my poor Teddy." Chester kissed her, and she eagerly responded.
Doc leaned forward and slapped the reins on the horse's rump. "Yaaahh!" Doc said fiercely. "Yeeaaahh!" The buggy bounced as the horse gave a leap and broke into a gallop.
Penny squealed and clung to Chester, who grabbed the side of the buggy. "Good heavens," said Chester. "Doc!"
"Whoa, whoa," said Doc, pulling the horse to a walk.
"Doc, why'd you run the horse thataway with Miss Penny in the buggy," Chester demanded. "She mighta flew clean out if I hadn't held onto her."
"She would not have flown out," said Doc. "I'd not've run the horse if there'd been any danger."
"Confound it, Doc. You shouldn't oughter done that," said Chester.
"You just sit still and calm yourself, Chester," Doc ordered. "No harm came of it."
"I jest wisht I knew why you done it, is all." Chester folded his arms and hunched into his seat.
"Oh, hush up," said Doc. Chester gave Doc a hurt look and pouted.
"Oh dear," said Penny. "This is all my fault, because I kissed Chester."
"Now, don't start a blamin' yerself again, Miss Penny," said Chester. "Doc and me's growed up men; we're held to account for what happens betwixt us. I'm the one kissed you, 'sides."
"Yes, but I kissed back. I know it troubles you, Doc, but Chester's so nice and strong, and he has such sweet brown eyes, I just couldn't help myself," said Penny.
"Awww, now, Miss Penny," said Chester, blushing. "Why're you lookin' at me like that, Doc. I cain't wrap my head round you actin' like sech a grump."
"You're not to blame for anything, Penny," Doc said, a tad bitterly. He took the reins in one hand, and laid the other over Penny's folded hands. "A pleasant young woman like you?" said Doc. "Absurd. It's all Chester's fault."
"Oh, Doc," said Penny, pressing his hand between her hands.
Chester heaved a sigh and commenced a doleful tuneless humming. Penny held Doc's hand and patted it, and except for Chester's warbling, they were quiet the rest of the ride home.
As Doc's horse pulled the buggy up to Grimmick's livery, Joshua Steele was leaving Delmonico's with Kitty, who held his arm.
"I can't remember when last I had such an interesting long talk," said Kitty, as Joshua walked with her to the Long Branch. "Reminds me . . . there's a whole big adventurous world outside a saloon and Dodge City. I can think all sorts of things and feel all sorts of ways. I'm free. Our talk reminds me I've a right to be free, Joshua."
"Every woman does, Kitty," said Joshua. "There's just one thing I expect from my woman."
"What's that."
"I'm a one-woman man," said Joshua. "And I want any girl I keep company with to be a one-man woman."