.
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After leaving Ms. Louise, right after assisting her of hanging her own wet laundry up with the round headed clothespin in the decorative pot right beside the wash tub, Mattie left saying her goodbye.
XX
Stepping out into the hot, sunny open air of Dardanelle, she could already feel herself breathing heavy, and sweat sliding down her face in cold orbs that were swiftly wipped away. She hadn't seen any sign of Mr. Laboeuf. Only unfamiliar faces walking around her, all nitty-gritty like.
Mattie watched the town folk walk 'round, and stopped for a passing buggy, before crossing the street.
.
.
while making eye-contact with the strange buggy driver, she felt her heart shake, but it wasn't good. The man staring so deeply at her looked almost like Smitty Johnston. Papa' Ross's good friend from years back, when she was just twelve to thirteen years old.
He had the same blood-hound eyes, so deep, dark and mysterious. The bad teeth, and the curly mustache beneath his knotched nose, which had been scarred ever since the fight he had with a man of law, and even the crazy grey hairs sticking out each sides like those creepy circus clowns, but had most of it covered by that olive green fedora.
Swallowing and removing her eyes from the man, she waited for him to pass and crossed in the nick of time, before meeting him face-to-face again. Smitty was such a sweet man. He was nice to Mama and Papa' Ross, and was too terribly kind to young naive Mattie Ross.
But ever since that incident with him and Maggie, she knew he couldn't have been the same.
::
Trying to get those memories out of her thoughts, Mattie thought maybe Mr. Laboeuf would be inside the saloon having a few drinks.
She never liked going into those smelly places, but had. She stopped at first before the doors, and then opened them, swallowing again hopefully the fear that was tearing her up inside. Once hitting the inside, it was more than she could ever imagine. She had arrived at the wrong time.
Two men rumbling, because of a card game. Taking notice to the knocked over tables, and chairs, and even the terrified folk whom came in for a smooth drink huddled far from those two ferocious men, who through curses and fists like beasts. Something Mattie had never seen.
But before even realizing, Mattie was pulled by her arm, and forced out of the saloon as soon as possible before the whole event gotten worse.
.
.
"Marshal Cogburn?"
Mattie pulled the gripped arm free, and looked up at the man or woman who had saved her just in time.
Her eyes glistened, unaware of the pissed, furious look smacked on the gruffy man's face.
He didn't say a word, and reached out another hard hand, grabbing roughly by the arm once again, and stormed off in a red rage, stopping along side the Main Hotel, that was a far ways down left of the town from where they stood previously.
Mattie didn't understand what was going on.
"Stop it! Stop it!"she bellowed so loud and full of anger, a few walking civilians took suspicious notice to the Marshal.
Finally after letting her redend arm loose, she furrowed her brows and didn't say a word back. Marshal Cogburn mumbled something below his alcoholic breath, popping an already folded cigarette between his lips.
"Sister, why in the hell were you steppin' inside that here bar? Don't you know young girlie's like yer' self ain't allowed?"he spat as he informed her with slight worry in his much angered voice, which mattie turned her head upon.
.
.
"I was in search of Mr. Laboeuf, Marshal! If you cared to know."she had her back turned, eyes watching the clouds above create funny looking shadows on the dirt rode before her, which had several prints molded into it.
Marshal was quite silent for a while before putting another hand on her small shoulder, and spining around.
"You have to understand that these here parts ain't safe fer' long with a little thing like yer'self here. Crazy basterds!"Marshal turned his eye that gazed down at Mattie, looking behind him at the saloon.
XX
Mattie felt a question come to mind.
"Marshal, then who is the one tryin' to stop them?"she was confused on how it could be stopped when Marshal Cogburn was standing here right before her, smoking like a crazy addict.
He returned his stare:
"Well who in hell else? That chauvinist son' bitch, Texas Ranger. That's who, sister. And why you still standin' here?"he rambled on, getting more of Mattie's attention than was needed from her.
Her chest pounded!
-and her eyes popped.
"And you, bein' Marshal, you have no need in helpin' him?"the young girl before him, standing way shorter than Cogburn himself, thought she had the nerve to back talk this old, gruffy one-eyed Marshal the way she did.
Marshal wasn't suprised but not too calm either. He knew this girl had the guts to stand up to someone as bad as Marshal, but it didn't make things better.
Before able to speak his mind and truth about his actions, Mattie ignored him completely and took off, running back toward the bar ahead.
He took the cigarette from his mouth, dropped it without stomping it in, and went after her, with many startled civillians aware of the whole thing.
.
.
Behind her, she could hear his shouting voice.
It was a good thing it was scarying her, cause if it hadn't, she wouldn't be able to understand it anymore than she had now.
"God damnit!"he cursed deeply, close on her heels. That's when she knew and had felt those thick arms of his wrap around her waist and pull her backward, from the bar she nearly made to.
She kicked vigorously!
"Let me go, Marshal! Let go!"
she used the only muscle she had in that one hand, and began to hit those arms around her, kicking ahead of herself, missing Cogburn, until she gotten the idea of using the hard heels of her boots, and hit his upper thighs. Close to where it mattered the most.
"Put me down!"she gave him one last chance, and he dropped her. Not hard, but not too softly either. She dropped to her knees, stood up and dusted her new white dress off that collected so much of the golden dirty below them, that was instantly darkend from the new grey clouds that hidden the radiating sun, and it's warm rays.
By the expression on Marshal's face, she could tell he meant business, but barely showed it, swipping sweat from his forehead.
"I will be leavin'. To assist the Ranger as much as I can." he pushed aside his dark coat, that had hidden a weapon, aimed downwards in his leather holster. Just the sight of it triggered the courage and bravery inside Mattie. She wanted to assist them just as she had long ago.
But after being told otherwise, she stood there in the middle of the dirt road, watching Marshal walk away, disappearing into the doorway.
XXXX
XXXX
The day was quickly growing into midday, and it wasn't turning out as great as she hoped. After reunited with Marshal for a few minutes, it was the worst. She hated it, that after finally seeing him eye-to-eye again, they had gotten into a sudden fight, of what was right-from-wrong. It angered her terribly bringing a pain to her gut that she held.
Even the sun refused to shine, and the birds were long gone, left with the dark, shadowed reflections of them. Crows. Snapping, crazily cawing crows.
She moved her eyes from high above in the sky, and went back inside the Main Hotel, were Ms. Louise was standing absolutely quiet before her, nearly crashing into her, if she hadn't peeped up.
Her wrinkling hands found their way on each of the young girl's shoulder, and rubbed gingerly, full of motherly love.
"What is it, dear?"her crackling voice interrupted her daydreaming, and Mattie smiled at the short and stubby woman before her.
"Oh. Nothin', Ms. Louise."she gave her quite the original response that everyone now 'a days used, even if it weren't truthful, gently removing those hand from her shoulders, starting to decend the few stairs behind her.
The older woman pursed her lips, and didn't even think about smiling. She knew something was a bother to this young girl but didn't understand what. But she had her own list of things to worry about.
: : :
The sheriff had finally appeared.
He dismounted his black furred mare, before stepping into the saloon with boots with sparkling pair of silver spurs, hitting the wooden floorboards below, his twin revolvers staring everyone down, and a tooth pick close to snapping on the edge of his lips.
Texas Ranger Laboeuf, and Marshal Cogburn, had caught the two men, but couldn't stop them right away before they bashed eachothers faces. They weren't pretty anyway, and if anything, it made them look much better with all those knife slashes, bruises and broken noses.
Cogburn laughed a bit in the process of watching them argue back and forth, but he was way too serious all the same.
The wide eyed Sheriff thought he was some big stuff, the way he walked, and the cowhide vest, the red bandana, big buckle, and pointed boots and sparkling points of his badge that eye-popped to whom ever took a look. Especially the ladies.
XX
Cogburn turned his head slowly, both men still restrained, and smiled catching Laboeuf sneering at the Sheriff.
He didn't say a word, but was thinking the words. And what a pair of cocky hateful words they were. Laboeuf was just lucky he didn't exploit him in a crude way, everyone knew he would.
"So." the older man began, swishing the assumed chew smashed against his molers."Yer' the two who caught them? A Ranger and Marshal?" he nodded his head as he looked down at each struggling wanted man, then up at the Ranger and Marshal afterwards.
They refused to respond.
and the Sheriff took the two wanted fellows off their hands.
"Come on by my office later and get yer' rewards, fellows. You caught the Recker Brothers. Been on their tails fer' as long as I can remember."the sheriff informed them, each brother standing tall on their feet, and forced to walk out with the Sheriff.
.
.
Laboeuf removed his buckled hat, holding it in one clenched fist at a side.
He swallowed, and put it back on, leaving Marshal Cogburn, who still stood inside the saloon. A few of the women were still shaking and quivering, and that was Cogburn's job to calm them back down.
But Cogburn was never a gentle kind of man and attempting to help the frightened women was a bad idea.
So he tipped his hat to them, with a 'Goodday' and left, on Laboeuf's trail.
XXX
Mattie was upstairs, in her room, in the Main Hotel sitting on the edge of the feather mattress, grabbing a handful of the white material from her dress and bunched it all in a tight, clenched fist.
She didn't know what to think. Afterall, Marshal Cogburn had told her to stay away from danger. And Mattie liked danger as much as the next guy. She was mainly interested in the rushed feeling of adrenaline, and the tickling way sweat dripped down her face.
It sounds pretty silly, but she was a truthful little girl.
.
.
Soon enough, when the day had turned away, the wind started up, and brought a cold breeze with it, giving the skin of Mattie's body prickles of goosebumps.
All she could do to relieve her pain of being cold, was grab the quilt and wrap it around her as best she could with her one hand, still feeling the hard finger indentations of Marshal Cogburn's hard grip deep in her arm, slowly dozing off, after letting her head come into the pillow and sunk deep in slowly before her body followed seconds after.
E/N: This may be the most confusing chapter of this entire story, but who said it had to make sense. Just as long as it's interesting:D hope you readers enjoy! Two final chapters coming shortly!