TBR4

Another night passed with no resolution to her dilemma. But a gnawing fear enveloped the worried red head that if she didn't get away as far from here as possible, she'd be buried there, or at least wish she was. Kitty was young, but she was no fool. She knew what they did to whores who didn't do as they were ordered, stole money from their clients and worse yet, killed that same client, no matter whether he deserved it or not. She wasn't about to stick around for that.

When the sun peeked over the horizon the next morning, Kitty was up and prepared to leave. She'd gone two days now with no food and she was weak but she figured she could last a little longer. At least she had water. The creek near the old farm house had good clear water and she had drank her fill before filling an empty whiskey bottle, found in the derelict barn, with more. It wouldn't last long, but she thought if she used it sparingly, it might be enough until she could get to civilization or at least another source of water.

However, looking down at herself, Kitty wasn't sure she wanted to be seen in civilization looking as she did. Dirty, ragged, her clothes in tatters and her hair matted, Kitty wasn't too eager to be seen that way. For several moments, she stood in indecision. But finally she chose to go on as she was. She had one other dress that might be respectable enough to wear, a little makeup and her mother's hairbrush. She would wait til she was out of this wilderness before cleaning up and fixing up, figuring it would all go to waste should she do it before hand.

Having decided that, she took herself outside and up a fairly high rise to the north of the farm house. From there she could see a great distance around her.

To the west of where she was, Kitty could see the continuation of the road she'd taken when she fled town two nights before. She had no idea where it led to but it was at least a direction and the opposite of where she'd been. So, with a determined mind, Kitty picked up what remained of her skirts and started walking.

As she approached the roadway, Kitty noted the heavy tree line on the south side and figured it might not be a bad idea to keep herself close to it, just in case.

Her figuring was right. She'd been slowly making her way west when she heard riders coming from behind her. As quickly as her exhausted body would allow, she concealed herself in the dense woods and lay quiet as the sound of horses came ever nearer.

"Turk, hold up there." A voice yelled. "Hold up, I say."

"Why?"

Kitty recognized that voice instantly and shrunk even further into hiding.

"Look, Turk, we've ridden all over the countryside these last two days and we ain't found her. She ain't no where around here. Why don't we just head on back to Blue Eye and call it done?"

"Cause I say so." Turk's voice took on a note Kitty had heard before, making her shiver as she lay in cover. That voice meant he was mad and in an extremely vindictive mood. "That whore not only took off with a month on her contract owing, but she hurt and robbed my best customer to boot. It's a sheer wonder Walt ain't dead. He might still have been if Velma hadn't a found him in time. I don't care if I have to ride clean to Dodge City to find her; she ain't gonna get by with it."

"Well, she wouldn't go to Dodge City and you know it." The other voice spoke. "It's too far away. And anyways, we don't know what direction she took off. She could be headed east, ya know."

Several seconds stretched by in silence, before finally, Kitty heard Turk's reply. "Well, ya could be right about that. She sure ain't been no where we've looked so far. I guess we might as well go that way and see. As a matter of fact, there's an old farm that way, she could be holed up there. Let's go."

Holding her breath, she waited until she could hear the men riding away and even then, remained where she was for a while longer. "Alive!" That word bounced around her brain. Walt was alive. She wasn't a murderer after all. She had never been so relieved to hear anything in her life. If it wasn't for the money, burning a hole in her reticule, she would have celebrated. But the fact that she was still a thief put a damper on that. When the sound of their horses had completely faded away and she was certain she was alone, Kitty finally pulled herself up and back to the road.

She'd had time to think, while lying there and a thought had occurred to her. The man she'd heard speaking to Turk was Charlie Dorman, the Sherriff of Blue Eye. Though he was as crooked as they came and firmly under Turk's thumb, he was still the law and his reach was further than Turk's. She needed to get clean out of Missouri and quick.

How was still in question though. The money she'd taken from Walt did her no good out here in the middle of Missouri with nothing around for miles and she couldn't get out of the middle of Missouri without walking. So, wearily, she got back out onto the road and continued her journey afoot.

TBC