At just after ten o'clock that evening, all hell broke loose at the Long Branch Saloon. The main barroom was busy, but not crowded, and most of the customers were locals since it was too early in the year for the herds and their attendant hordes of cowboys. Kitty was standing chatting with one of the dealers at the door of the private card room when she heard an outraged scream from the front of the room. "You lying little whore!" and the overloud sound of a hard slap echoed in the now silent room as conversation stopped and every man in the room turned to where two of Miss Kitty's girls stood glaring at each other. A young cowboy stood between them holding Dolly's raised arm and clearly restraining her from hitting the smaller Annie another time.
Kitty headed toward them with direct strides. Sam, his shotgun in his hands, was already over the bar and standing next to the girls by the time she got across the floor. Kitty took a firm grip on Dolly's upper arm and headed her towards the hallway at the back of the room. "Sam, I want all the girls in my office. Right now." She nodded at her second barman, and jerked her head at the young cowboy. "Clem, give that young fella a drink on the house." And then, mouth smiling but blue eyes snapping fire, she cheerfully addressed the still quiet room, "It's all over gentlemen, you go about your business, and I'll settle mine."
Kitty pushed Dolly into the office so hard she fell against the far wall, regaining her balance and rubbing her arm as Sam ushered the other four girls into the room. All smiles gone, Kitty stood facing them. "Now someone tell me what the bloody hell that was all about," she said with grim calm. No one spoke for a moment. Dolly looked sullenly at the floor, and Annie held her hand against the side of her face. Kitty could see blood squeezing through her fingers.
Cora gasped at the sight when, at a nod from Kitty, Sam firmly, but very gently, moved Annie's hand to show four deep, bleeding scratches standing out against the red print of a hand on the girl's cheek. "I'll tell you, Miss Kitty," Cora said, "That Dolly she didn't like it when Annie turned down her cowboy. She was just jealous, she was, and she said some dirty things about Annie, and then she slapped her and scratched her face."
"Dolly?" Kitty asked. "What's your take on that?"
Dolly, still furious, pitched her voice into a scathing imitation of a soft-spoken little girl "Oh, Johnny, I just couldn't do that. I promised my dying mamma I wouldn't. You make me want to, Johnny, you do, but I just can't."
"That what you said, Annie?" Kitty asked, and Annie nodded, "Yes, ma'am. Pretty much."
"That's a good line, Dolly. You might try using it from time to time. So what's the real problem here?"
"She's a lying little bitch, is what's the problem, Miss Kitty!" Dolly seethed, "She tells Johnny she's too good for the likes of him, when she already spent all afternoon upstairs screwing with the Marshal. And she didn't even give Sam his name for the book, Miss Kitty! You told us any man goes upstairs has to have his name in Sam's book, but she didn't do that, just took his gold and took him straight upstairs."
"I never did!" Annie's eyes were huge and she took a step towards Kitty, raising her hand as if to touch her arm. "I never did, ma'am. You know I didn't do that." Her hand dropped to her side.
"You did! You did! We all saw you." Dolly screamed.
One urgent word at a time, Kitty spoke across the room to Dolly, "Keep. Your. Voice. Down. Or you will surely regret it." She turned to the other girls, and Cora nodded regretfully, as did Patty Sue and Lizzie.
"We wouldn't have said anything to you, Miss Kitty," Cora said, "Knowing how you feel about the Marshal and all, but, well, we did see. He asked for her at the bar, and then went over and sat with her a bit. He was holding her hand, and Lizzie saw that big gold coin. Then Annie went runnin' up the stairs, quick like a little bunny, and a few minutes later he followed her up. He was up there an hour or more, Miss Kitty, before he came down and walked right straight out."
Kitty didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She most certainly wanted to do one or the other, but it wasn't the time for that. Her voice was crisp and cool. "Cora, first you go get a rag full of ice from Clem, and then you take Annie across to Doc to see what he can do with her face. I do not want her scarred, it's bad for business." Cora slipped out of the room on the tail of her words, and Kitty turned to Annie. "You will keep ice on that face, and do whatever else Doc tells you to do until it heals. You're off shift in the barroom until then, but you will work both clean up and set up and Sam will show you how to help with the inventory. I won't cut your pay."
"Yes, ma'am." Annie replied, her eyes on the floor.
"And Annie?" The girl looked up at her. "Any customer you take upstairs, any customer, his name goes in Sam's book, and he doesn't stay more than 30 minutes. You got that?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Kitty twisted her hands together for a moment, turning the stone of her big ring to the inside of her right hand and then without a word she stepped swiftly over and struck Dolly, hard, across the face. The ring cut her skin just below the cheekbone, and Dolly raised both hands to her cheek, crying out. "You, Dolly, will go upstairs with Sam and pack your things. I want you out of here in ten minutes. Sam, pay her to the end of the month, and give her anything she has owing on the books." Sam nodded and motioned Dolly towards the door with his shotgun.
Dolly took one step, and then turned to speak to Kitty in a low, vicious tone. "I'll tell them. I'll tell the whole town, I will." Dolly said. "Tell them about your precious Marshal Dillon."
Kitty shrugged. Her voice was ice. "You say anything you like, Dolly. Nobody listens to a whore. Now get her out of here, Sam."
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"What now, Kitty? You're crying again. I can't have you crying, it's bad for business."
"He hurt me, Monsieur, he really hurt me."
The small, dapper man sighed deeply, and patted the girl's shoulder. She was no more than fifteen, slender but tall, with firm breasts, already large, displayed elegantly against the blue silk of her gown. "Who did, Kitty?"
"Monsieur Dubois."
"No, child! Surely not. He is a gentleman. What did you do to cause him to be displeased with you?"
Kitty tried to stop crying. "He, he wanted me from behind, Monsieur, and I didn't want… It hurts, Monsieur."
The small man struck her sharply but almost gently on the cheek. Enough to sting but not to leave a mark. "But child, that is such a little thing. It hurts, yes, but it is soon over. And he is a gentleman, not some dirty riverman, not a soldier." He took her chin firmly in his hand, and wiped away the tears with his handkerchief. "You know, Kitty, that I save you for my best customers. Not every man is a gentleman. You wouldn't like it, would you, child, if I were to give you to some of those others."
She shook her head, her face stolid, but her eyes raging. "Then I will hear you say no more about Monsieur Dubois. It is wrong to speak ill of such a kind gentleman." He turned and locked the door. "Now, child, if you will learn better how to use your mouth, you will have less to complain about elsewhere." He reached to unbutton the front of his pants, "I will help you learn. A special trick perhaps. Something that all the gentlemen will like."
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"Nobody listens to a whore. Now get her out of here, Sam."
Kitty turned to the three remaining girls. "But in the Long Branch that is absolutely the last word of this that will be mentioned. Do you understand me, girls? It's gossip, and it's not kind to anyone involved." she sighed, "And just in case you're interested, it's not true, no matter what you think you saw. Do you understand me?"
All three nodded vigorously. "Yes, ma'am."
"Now I want you two back out in the barroom. Anybody asks you any questions, you just smile pretty and ask them if they want a drink. You know what to do, and I'm counting on you to do it. Go on now." She scooted them all three out of the room and sank into her chair. She put her head down on the desk and laughed until tears ran down her face.
Half an hour later, Kitty was working the room, smiling and joking with the men as she offered them a last round and told them the Long Branch was closing early because of the weather. When Doc Adams came in, shaking snow from his hat, she steered him over to their regular table and sat down beside him with a swish of silk and a long exhaled breath. "How's Annie, Doc? Is that cheek going to scar?"
Doc shook his head and took the whiskey she offered him. "I don't think so. She should be fine in a couple of days. Be a shame to mar a pretty face like that. What happened?"
"What did they say happened?" Kitty countered.
Doc looked at her speculatively. "Well, Carrie… Cora? Cora didn't seem too pleased with Annie. I heard her say something about her getting what she deserved and about the Marshal. Those girls been fighting, Kitty? That's a bad thing. Scratches like that could be dangerous if they're not cleaned up right. The ice was a good idea, Kitty. I told her to use snow on it tonight and tomorrow. Now tell me, what really happened? Someone threatening Annie with the law?"
"Guess you'll hear what there is to hear tomorrow, Doc." Kitty said, rising. "I'm tired, Doc, and I'm still not feeling in top shape. And there's a certain lawman I really need to talk to."
Doc rose with her, and took her wrist a moment to feel her pulse. "Goodnight, Kitty. You remember what I told you. I want you sleeping quietly tonight. I'd say sleeping alone, but Matt made it clear that's not going to happen, so I'll settle for sleeping quietly. You're really not over this yet."
Kitty nodded, but when Doc leaned over to kiss her cheek, she stepped back away from him. "Careful there, my friend. I'm not sure my reputation can stand any more tonight. Or yours either."
"What the…" Doc said startled, but she walked away from him and up the stairs.
