Two Days Later

Matt was in his office looking through the newest batch of wanted posters. As he carefully examined each one, he used his left hand to set it aside and lift another. His right hand was engaged in repeatedly squeezing a hard rubber ball. It was one of many exercises that Doc had given him to strengthen his hand and arm. He performed these exercises without fail twice a day. Most of them were difficult and painful, but he would have done them even more frequently if Doc hadn't warned him that overdoing it would undo the progress he was making. After years of ignoring Doc's orders to be cautious after being wounded, he was for once carefully following instructions.

The door opened and Matt looked up and saw Festus, "Glad you're back. Keep an eye on things, will you? I'll be gone for an hour or two. You know where I'll be if you need me."

Festus nodded knowing that the marshal would be just outside the town limits practicing with a gun.

Matt rode by the Long Branch and looked up. He saw Kitty at her window and waved. She waved back with a strained smile. She too knew exactly where he was going, and her heart ached at the thought. She wished that life was simpler and Matt could just set guns aside. It was one of those things that couldn't be. Even if he hadn't put the badge back on, there was always a chance that someone would come after him, and for his own safety he had to be as prepared as possible.

15 minutes later Matt reached his usual spot, tied up his horse and began the routine that he had worked out for himself. First he repeatedly drew and fired with his left hand. His speed and accuracy were slowly improving. The draw was the tricky part, but when he took his time aiming he was very accurate. Next he switched to a right-handed draw. It was not as good as his left, but was getting there. In fact he was surprised by the day-to-day improvement. Finally, before returning to town he took some time for rifle practice. After working for a little over an hour, he mounted his horse to head home. As he rode he wondered who the man hiding behind the bushes was. He had been there every day for the past three days. It was obvious he thought he hadn't been seen, and Matt didn't see any reason to let him know otherwise.

Ralph Lang, believing his presence had been unnoticed, remained crouched behind some buses until Matt was out of sight. He could see that Matt's draw was improving, but was far from gunslinger speed. The boss had said it didn't matter one way or the other, because a gunfight was not part of the plan, but Ralph felt better knowing. He still hadn't found out the date of the wedding, and would hang around town until he did. He hoped it would be soon, the taste of revenge was strong in his mouth.

Two Days After That

It was late afternoon, Matt had finished his shooting practice and was particularly pleased with the progress in his right-handed draw. He was riding towards Dodge when he veered westward, knowing that a cattle drive had just set up camp not far from town. It was one of the smaller drives, but it still involved a lot of men, so the impact on Dodge had to be taken seriously. A word with the trail boss was in order.

When Matt reached the camp, he saw a heavy set man with thinning hair and a black handle bar mustache speaking to a couple of men. Noting the man's air of authority, Matt knew he had to be the boss and rode over. "How do, I'm Marshal Matt Dillon."

The man tipped his hat, "Pleasure, I'd been told you'd likely stop by. I'm Clem Worth, the foreman of this drive. I'll say straight out, I've been on lots of drives, but this is my first time being in charge. I don't want any trouble with the law, and I'll cooperate any way I can."

Matt dismounted, "Glad to hear that, Mr. Worth. We both know your boys will be looking for fun tonight and they can find plenty of it in Dodge. They can gamble, drink and have a good time with the ladies, but I want you to know that anyone who causes trouble or does anything illegal will face consequences."

Worth nodded, "Sounds fair. Tell you what, I'll gather my boys together for a talk before they set off for town." The men shook hands, and Matt was about to walk away when Worth stopped him. He pointed towards a cowboy who was putting on a gun belt. "Marshal, I think you might want to keep a special eye on that fellow. Goes by the name of McCain. He's a strange one. Before the drive I hired men I knew and trusted, men who'd work as a team. As luck would have it, a month ago one of my boys got real sick and I was short handed. That McCain fellow came along looking for work, and because I needed someone I hired him. Like I said he's real strange, gives everyone the creeps."

Matt looked at McCain. He had killed bank robber named Jake McCain in a shoot out many years before, and wondered it this could be a relative. "What do you mean by strange?"

"Well for one thing, he doesn't talk to anyone, doesn't want any friends, stays by himself all the time, even eats alone. When the others have free time they socialize with one another. Not McCain, he spends all his spare time off by himself practicing his draw, practicing and practicing. Even when we're working he tries to stay alone. I swear marshal, if another man had an accident with a horse or whatever, I don't think he'd move a muscle to help. In some ways he does his job all right, but he makes everyone real nervous. I won't hire him again. I like men who get along, makes a long drive better for everyone, if you know what I mean.

Matt nodded, "I know exactly what you mean, and thanks for pointing him out."

When he reached Dodge, Matt got cleaned up and took Kitty out for an early dinner knowing it would be a busy night for both of them. As they sat in Delmonico's, Kitty was unusually quiet as she pushed her food around on her plate with her fork. Matt knew she was nervous, "Kitty, I know you're worried about how I'll control those drovers when I can't handle a gun the way I used to. The fact of the matter is these men are not gunslingers, they're cowhands and I've handled thousands of them over the years. I'm ready and so are Festus and Newly.

Kitty nodded a bit uncertainly as she answered softly, "I know." After a pause she asked a question she had until now avoided, "How are your practices going?"

"Better all the time."

She gave him a look that demanded more. He nodded, "All right, the facts. I can shoot with good accuracy when I have time to aim. The speed of my draw is far from what is used to be, but my right hand gets better every day. In fact tomorrow, I'm switching to my old right sided gun belt."

Before Kitty could answer they heard the clamor of horses and men hooting and hollering. Matt quickly paid the bill and they left. The night's work had begun.

TBC