Burned By The Flame
Chapter 4
Tension on All Sides
Matt was waiting for Kitty to make arrangements with Clem, when he heard the sound of gunfire. "Kitty, you stay here." He ran out the door, following the sound of the shot.
"Marshal, back here!" Tom Straker stood at the mouth of the alley, waving his arms to get Matt's attention. "He's back here."
Matt ran towards Straker and followed him back into the alley. He saw the body, but he was too far away to identify him. "Who is it?"
The Marshal was almost to the body when Tom rolled him over. There was just enough moonlight to illuminate the face of Charlie Poe. Matt stopped cold, staring at the lifeless body. "Did you see anybody, Tom?"
"I didn't see anyone, but I heard someone. I heard a woman."
"A woman? How do you know that?"
"Only a woman's high heel shoes make that clicking sound. I know a woman's footsteps when I hear it." Tom was getting a little irritated when he felt like the Marshal didn't seem to believe him. He stopped for a second, then whirled around, pointing toward the encroaching sound. "Just like that!"
Matt looked up to see the silhouette of a woman standing at the end of the alley. "You! Come here."
He started towards her, but stopped when she stepped into the moonlight. "Calleigh?" She continued to walk toward him, her face revealed no guilt or even awareness as to what had happened. "What are you doing here? I told you to wait at the jail."
"I heard gunshots. I came to see what was going on." She leaned to one side to try and see around him. "Somebody get shot?"
"Marshal, you need to come see this." Tom seemed anxious for Matt to follow him. A small crowd was already beginning to gather around the body. When Matt was close enough, Tom knelt down, "Look. He was shot in the back."
When Tom stood up, he noticed Calleigh standing just outside the crowd. His brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of what he saw. "It's Little Doc! She was out here; I saw her walking past the alley. I didn't think anything of it at the time…"
Calleigh was standing just far enough back that she was unable to hear Tom's accusation. She did notice all heads turning to look in her direction. Before she could approach them, Matt went to her.
"Get back to the Long Branch." His whisper was a low growl. Calleigh's brow furrowed, causing tiny wrinkles to form across her forehead, "Now!"
The look in his eyes and the sound of his voice caused a tingling fear to creep up her spine. Without a word, she turned heel and ran back to the bar. Matt returned to the crowd and instructed them to get the body over to Percy Crump's. He dispersed the crowd and made his way back to the Long Branch.
For the most part, the bar was empty. Clem was putting clean glasses back under the counter and Kitty and Calleigh were sitting at a table by the doors. They both stood when Matt came in. "Matt, what happened?" He heard Kitty's question but his gaze never left his daughter. "It's Charlie Poe."
Calleigh made a face of mild surprise, "Really? Shot?"
"Yeah, he's dead. Shot in the back." Matt continued to focus all of his attention on the girl and Kitty had begun to feel a sickening sensation wash over her.
Calleigh was oblivious to both of them.
"Tom Straker says it was a woman." Calleigh's head bobbed, as she pondered this latest development. "A woman. That figures." As she contemplated the last bit of news, she finally began to notice the way Matt was staring at her. "What?" Her eyes widened and she uttered a humorless laugh, "You think I did this!?" Her tone was nothing short of incredulous "Matt!"
"Of course he doesn't think you would do this." Kitty stepped closer to the girl. Calleigh took a step back, her eyes held the shock she felt coursing through her body, "No! Matt are you going to ask me if I did this? Are you?"
"Calleigh," he reached out for her, but she snapped back out of his reach. "Let's talk about this at home."
With each blink of her eyes, the sentiment behind her gaze changed from anger to hurt. The two emotions vied for first place, but it was too close to call. "Aren't you going to arrest me...Marshal?!" she attached a vile bitterness to the title.
Matt stepped forward and this time grabbed her arm despite her attempts to elude him. "I said we're going."
"Matthew. What's a goin' on out thar? I just came in to see if my Calleigh girl would pour me a beer and- "
The image in front of him took precedent over any words. Kitty had a look of fear, unlike any he had ever seen before; and Matthew was holding Calleigh's arm, not with the loving touch of a father, but the harsh grip of a lawman.
Through it all, was an air of pain. All three of them were hurting...and hurting bad. He stepped down the two steps, the jangle of his spurs the only sound to echo in the empty bar. "What's happenin' here?"
Matt suddenly shoved the girl at Festus. "Don't mess with getting Belle right now. Take her with you to my house." Festus steadied Calleigh as she fell against him from the force of the push. "Now! Go now!" Matt's teeth were clenched and his command wasn't up for debate.
Calleigh had never felt so betrayed and angry, at the same time, in her life! She wanted to fling herself away from the hill man and shout at the big man with the badge. Yet, despite the craziness of the moment, deep down she knew that whatever he was doing, he was doing it for her.
Festus tugged on her hand and they left quickly. He climbed up on Ruth, pulled Calleigh up in front of him and took off for the Lady K.
When Matt turned around, he was confronted with another set of blue eyes. This time, there was nothing inviting in them. They didn't sparkle like sapphires, but instead glinted like ice. There were no words that were going to change the look in those eyes—not right now anyway. "Are you ready to lock up?"
Kitty nodded silently. He looked around the now deserted street as she locked the outer doors. When she finished, she turned to go toward the stable. "Never mind the buggy." Before she could protest, he had lifted her up onto Buck, mounted up behind her and taken off.
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By the time Matt got home, there was a kitchen full of agitated people waiting for his arrival. Festus had come home by way of the Double O, to get Newly. Doc was already at the Lady K, babysitting Hadley and Cooper.
Kitty preceded her husband into the room and went straight to the cupboard to get the fixings for a pot of coffee.
Matt didn't have the luxury of any such distraction. "Can we just sit down and discuss this?" He looked at the two men standing on each side of his daughter, like a pair of sentinels standing guard over her. It hurt him to feel like he was the enemy. "Please." Again, he looked at Newly, his deputy and Festus, his former deputy. These men knew the law same as he.
"The coffee is ready, why don't you all take a seat." It was Kitty's gentle voice that swayed them into the chairs around the giant oak table.
Matt reached across the table for Calleigh's hands, but she pulled back, just out of his reach. He leaned his long body forward and grabbed them again, holding them too tight for her to break free. "Before we go any further with this... Calleigh, I know that you didn't shoot Charlie Poe."
Finally, he felt the tension between them relax ever so slightly. "I love you Calleigh, you know that; and I'm always going to stand behind you. I wanted you as far away from that mess as possible. Some people in town don't need much to start rumors."
He let go of her hands. Calleigh stood, causing Matt to rise also. They locked eyes and for a moment, everything seemed frozen in place. It was Calleigh that made the first move, straight into her father's arms. She wasn't ready to cry, but she was ready to feel the strength of his arms around her. He kissed the crown of curls and broke into a half smile. "Let's have a cup of that coffee and talk this out."
"This is what I know so far: Poe was shot in the back. I don't know what size gun," he looked to Doc, "that's your department. Tom Straker says he heard the clicking of a woman's high heels...he also claims that he saw you wandering down the street at the end of the alley."
Now all eyes turned to the suspect. For the first time, Calleigh felt a sense of guilt. "That's why you were so angry with me." Suddenly, her father's actions made sense. "If I had stayed at the jail like you told me, I wouldn't be in this mess."
Matt heaved a heavy sigh and his face expressed relief that she finally understood. "Even as a kid, you never listened to me," he took a sip of coffee and muttered under his breath, "I guess I should have had Kitty tell you, then you would have done it."
It wasn't so low that both women didn't hear and each felt a little guilty.
"What do we do know, Matt?" Newly asked, as he leaned back to let Kitty warm up his cup. "They don't have any real evidence, do they?"
"No. It would help, Calleigh, if you had a witness as to where you were between the time Poe was shot and Tom saw you walking past the alley."
"I didn't see anyone, Matt. I was going to Moss's for Belle. If Tom had kept watching, he would have seen that I passed by the alley, but kept going. When I heard the shot, I was clear at the end of Front Street. By the time I walked back, the crowd was there and you were walking toward me."
"How do we all knowd that Tom Straker didn't just kill Poe his own self?" Festus narrowed one eye and jabbed his bony finger in the air to make his point.
"Because, unlike our little saloon hostess here, Tom has an alibi. Billy Ackers saw him. They were both at the south end of the alley. Calleigh was at the north end. At least we can be grateful that they both didn't see her. Then we would've had two witnesses."
Kitty stood back, watching the circle of men, all devoted to the girl. All loved her, but only one held her heart—and he was being even more quiet than usual. She saw a look of fear in his eyes—that he knew enough law to know they were in trouble. "Newly, what do you think of all this? Legally I mean." Sooner or later, they were going to have to face the dilemma.
His gaze settled on his wife and he leaned over, kissing her cheek. "Well, it is all circumstantial. She was seen in the area. Tom heard a woman running away; and she did threaten to kill him." It really didn't sound like much when he laid it out that way. "In her defense, Calleigh grew up here, everyone knows her. She's happily married and settled down, been practicing medicine for almost six years. Why would she shoot a low life piece of trash like Charlie Poe?"
"I think the way he was shot is important too." Doc felt it important to interrupt, "Everybody knows what a crack shot Calleigh is. There would be no reason for her to shoot an unarmed man in the back."
"I'm not sure, but I think I'm starting to feel better." Calleigh got up to get another cup of coffee and got side tracked by the cookie jar. "Maybe I won't hang after all." When she turned back around, she was stunned to see all the serious faces. She had stuffed too big a bite of cookie into her mouth and it took a moment to chew it down. "What?"
"There's enough to have you arrested!" Matt's tone was becoming harsh again and Kitty knew that was a sign that he was afraid. "You're the Marshal's daughter. There's going to be people in this town screaming for your head on that point alone. If that doesn't get them riled up, add to that, your husband is a part-time deputy and your uncle is an ex-deputy. You don't see a little reason for folks to cry nepotism there? Even the assistant deputy is a long time family friend."
It was Festus who suddenly realized there was a missing piece in this family circle, "Whar's Thad inyways?"
"He rode out to Clive Ferguson's place and then was going up to Crawford Springs to do some fishing. He won't be back until tomorrow." Matt pulled himself to his feet, his weary state evident by the slow movement. "Doc, I have to have you come back into town with me to look at Poe."
"Matt, it's so late." He walked across the kitchen and took Kitty by the shoulders.
"I know and I'm sorry sweetheart, but it needs to be done as soon as possible." He leaned down for a brief kiss, "Don't wait up for me. You need some rest." He needed to say it; but he could tell by the look on her face that sleep was not going to be possible, whether he was at home or not. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
The pow-wow was over and they began to leave the table, almost as fast as they had assembled. Within a few minutes, Kitty found herself alone in an empty kitchen. A heavy stillness hung over the room, causing her to shiver with a premonition that something bad was heading their way.
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Matt followed Doc's buggy into town. Both men were separately thinking the same thing. Doc left his buggy at Moss Grimmick's and walked back to Percy Crump's with Matt. Walking didn't inspire any more conversation than riding had. Doc opened the tools he had brought for the job and began to examine Poe's body. Matt kept going over the circumstantial evidence. He was hoping that by morning, in the light of day, things wouldn't look so bad. He actually felt himself relax just a tad when he thought about her reputation. Calleigh O'Brian was one of Dodge City's most predominant citizens. Why surely-
His thoughts were interrupted when Doc called to him, "Matt, you need to see this." Doc wiped his forearm across his forehead as he waited for the marshal. "He was shot once in the back. I dug out the bullet," he held it up between his thumb and forefinger." It's a .41 caliber." They looked at the bullet and then at each other, "A derringer."
They both knew that Calleigh carried a derringer. Matt's stoic expression hid nothing from Doc; he had known the lawman too long. "Calleigh is not the only woman in town to carry a derringer. It doesn't mean anything."
"Marshal, I uh, I need to talk to you," Percy Crump had been standing at the back of the room while Doc did his exam. He had heard the anger in the big man's words and he was dreading what he was about to say. Unfortunately, he knew he had no choice. "When the boys were getting Poe's body out of the alley, they found this laying just off to the side."
He hesitated slightly and then held the discovered object in the palm of his hand. The two men stared, wide-eyed, as though Percy were holding a rattlesnake. "Marshal, I'm an old man and I lose things all the time. I could easily lose... "
Matt looked into the rheumy eyes of his old friend. He held up his hand to stop him before he could say another word. Like several other long-time residents in this town, Percy considered Calleigh to be a child of Dodge. She wasn't born here, but she had come in a unique way and many of them felt they all had a hand in raising her. Percy nodded and quietly left the building.
Matt held the tiny gun and looked up at Doc. The tiny silver caduceus, embossed on the pearl handle, did all but scream Calleigh's name. "It's the one you gave her when she started going out on rounds in the country." Matt's huge body seemed to crumple, but with a stroke of luck, there was a crate in the right position to catch him. "I don't know what's going on here, but she did not do this, Doc."
The older man laid a hand on Matt's shoulder. "That doesn't even have to be said."
"But it does. Maybe not between us, but... Doc we are in so much trouble here. The whole town is going to expect me to arrest her." He stood up and started to walk away, almost in a daze. "Kitty's going to hate me."
"Matt, where are you going?"
"I have to send a telegram, Doc."
TBC
