Chapter 7 – Arrival in Dodge
The stage ride from Abilene to Dodge City was long, dusty and tiring. That is, it was dusty until the rain started to fall and the shades did nothing to keep it out. Since it was November, it could just as easily have been snow. It was sure cold enough when the coach finally reached Dodge City. The town was nothing but a sea of muddy streets and ugly buildings, most of them wood. Also, you could practically see from one end of the main street to the other. Dodge may have been a rapidly growing town, but it was incredibly small and rough for all that.
Kitty Russell waded across the street to a café she spotted and found a seat at one of the tables. She opened her reticule and counted out what remained of her money, a mere $40. Whatever remained after paying for breakfast wouldn't take her much farther. Still, almost anywhere would be an improvement. She ordered an egg, toast and coffee and was just starting to eat it when the biggest man she'd ever seen in her life sat down at a table across the room from her where he proceeded to eat the biggest breakfast she'd ever seen. She doubted he saw her because he was so absorbed with eating his eggs, ham and biscuits, but she was intrigued and decided to remain.
Kitty retrieved her carpetbag from the stage driver and set out to find a place to stay despite feeling foolish. She'd come to Dodge to find a place to work that would allow her even more independence then she'd found in Abilene, but she'd decided to give the ugly little town a try because of a man she hadn't even met. Some show of independence from men her decision was! Still, she'd made it, so first, she looked for a suitable boardinghouse and settled on Ma Smalley's just down the street from the Long Branch. Mrs. Smalley proved to be a friendly widow, who happened to have a room available on her second floor.
Kitty changed out of her travel-worn dress into one that, while still respectable, exhibited a bit more of her charms. She was ready to speak to Bill Pence, the owner of the Long Branch. As she walked down the street toward the saloon, she carried Jim Witherspoon's letter of reference with her. When she entered, Pence was behind the bar.
"Mr. Pence, I'm Kitty Russell. I wrote to you about a job here and that I'd bring my references with me. Here they are," she said handing over the piece of paper.
"This is glowing praise. May I ask why you decided to leave?"
"I wanted to see if I could further myself in the saloon business and Dodge City is growing fast. If I heard correctly, it's up to the girl working for you to entertain men in your upstairs rooms. That's why I'm applying to you instead of the other saloons in town. I want to pick when and if I go further than friendly flirting in order to get him to buy drinks. Fact is, I want to be able to send a man packing if he tries for more than I want to give him."
"Miss Russell, I respect the girls who work here. If a man gets out of hand, I'll back the girl with this mallet," he replied, taking the very thing from behind the bar and waving it at her. "Also, if a girl decides to service a man in his room instead of upstairs, I don't take a percentage. I consider all the money hers. My fee, if you use the upstairs room allotted to you, is 15% of whatever you charge the customer. I expect you to be honest with me about what he paid. If I hear you shortchanged me, I'll throw you out on your ear no matter how much money you bring in. Other than that, I pay $20 a week plus 10% of the drinks you get them to buy and 20% of the winnings you bring to the tables. It says here you're a whiz at that."
"Yeah, I am. I started learning how at a very young age. Your pay sounds fair if you allow sufficient time off for a girl to have a life of her own. How many hours a week do you expect me to work?"
"Usually no more than 40 hours. I try to set up a regular schedule, but it kinda gets out of whack during the height of cattle season. The railroad and Texas cattle are why Dodge is growing so fast. By the way, i also encourage new ideas that will help the place prosper. There's one more thing, I'll pay an extra $5 a week if you can keep my books straight. I see you're quite good at that too."
"Mr. Pence, you've got yourself a deal. I've had almost as much experience keeping a saloon's books as I've had dealing cards and that's a fact. When can I start?"
"If that's a fact, you're hired. You can start tonight at 7."
The redhead he saw that morning in Delmonico's intrigued Marshal Matt Dillon. He sensed there was something very special about her. It wasn't just her beauty, even if, despite her rain sodden clothes, she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He suspected there was more to her than that. Doc Adams, who'd joined him just as she left, felt it too. Matt's thoughts drifted back to when he'd first arrived nine months earlier on March 10, 1866 to start his tenure as the youngest US Marshal ever appointed.
He rode up from El Paso by way of a way station on the Kansas Colorado border before turning east to Dodge City to help track down the gang responsible for a series of stagecoach robberies. It was the final test before his official appointment as US Marshal for Kansas, although his biggest challenge taming and, even more personal problem, had been staying alive in the Gomorrah of the Plains after the appointment was made and approved by the town's and state's leading citizens.
Matt had passed the easier test, but almost gave the harder challenge a pass because of Leona, the daughter of the man who ran the way station. They saw each other quite often, especially after she moved to Dodge to be closer to him and, as he learned, the excitement. After a month he told her if she were willing to be a rancher's wife, he'd buy some cattle to put on a piece of land that was available to rent. She refused unless he was willing to remain a lawman. Since he firmly believed in everything Adam Kimbro had taught when he gave him his first job as a deputy, including the understanding that a family and the badge didn't mix, Matt couldn't do that. If she couldn't accept that he couldn't establish any relationship with a woman as long as he wore the badge because marriage meant raising kids and that sort of responsibility meant he couldn't fully uphold his sworn duty, then he couldn't be with her. She refused to see it that way so he they split. He was hurt and confused. Therefore, he decided the only thing to do was completely dedicate himself to his duties as a US Marshal and forget about any sort of relationship. Lee had no conflict. Two months later, she married a skinny little gambler who promised her the exciting life she craved.
Being devoted to the job became even easier when the City Marshal, Josh Stryker, killed the man responsible for burning down the home of his closest friends, a fire in which the whole family died. Although cleaning up Dodge City was Matt's first assignment as the US Marshal in Kansas, to Stryker, a man who curtailed some of the freewheeling violence, the young lawman was no more than a deputy the town hired to help him. His pride wouldn't let him believe otherwise and Matt never reminded him that as a federal employee he was, in reality, his superior. The charade ended when his court testimony sent Stryker to prison. After that Matt took on both jobs and the town became his headquarters. It suited him well. Even if Dodge were to be tamed enough in the next few months for local law to take over, he couldn't see himself living in a city like the state capital Topeka or even Wichita. Eastern Kansas, being too close to his Missouri roots, was out of the question. To him, Dodge City, the first place he stayed for any length of time after he was orphaned, was where he began to be a man instead of a boy with the help of Doc Adams. Doc was still here and still treated the now older, but still young man as an adult.
Matt was new to dealing with the bureaucracy that came with the job and wasn't quite sure what was within the scope of his authority. He knew he could hire deputies, but wasn't sure he could hire them to help him in Dodge except during a crisis when he could pay them $2 a day plus expenses. Still, he knew he needed an assistant that he could trust. Stryker had relied on several different people as volunteers. One of those was a man, slightly younger then Matt who didn't wear a gun and had a bum right leg. Something about him showed potential and when asked, Doc corroborated it. Since Doc had saved his life the first time he'd been in Dodge as a green 14-year-old orphan after a beating at the hands of a buffalo hunter when he came to the defense of a couple of friends he'd made upon arrival in town, Matt felt the older man wouldn't steer him falsely. The problem was the town's leaders were reluctant to pay Chester Goode wages even as lowly jailer. He therefore decided to pay him what he could from his wages and let him sleep on a cot in the office so he wouldn't have the expense of renting a room.
Chester, despite his infirmity and gullible nature, had proved to be the perfect assistant. He'd also become, along with Doc, his closest friends, except he didn't seek out advice from Chester. A man didn't come to his kid brother, who worshiped him and would do anything for him, for that sort of thing. Doc, on the other hand, was not stingy about giving fatherly advice, but like any grown son, Matt didn't always take it. The young lawman spent the entire day thinking about his life in Dodge City, his responsibilities and, despite all efforts not to, the redhead he'd seen at breakfast. He got up from his desk and shook off his lethargy as he realized it was time to do his early rounds before grabbing supper. Most of the shops on Front Street had closed for the night as he and Chester finished checking them.
The two men glanced into each of the saloons and then met Doc for a supper of stew in the most respectable of them, the Long Branch. All three of them noticed the new girl hustling drinks. Bill Pence must have hired her. He found himself thinking about her again. She hadn't left town. What had just been idle musings had become a desire to get to know this intriguing girl, who, to his mind, was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. She was young, really still a girl, but she carried herself like a woman and not just any woman, but one who expected to be treated with respect, like one of the daughters or wives of Dodge City's leading citizens. At the same time, she had no shame about working in a saloon entertaining men. Matt couldn't have expressed all this, but it was definitely his impression of her. Here was a true lady, whatever that was.
That night, Matt made sure the Long Branch was his last stop on his late rounds. When he entered Kitty was pulling the house winnings towards her as the other poker players cashed in what remained of their chips. Here was something new; she was an accomplished poker player too. The bar was practically empty. It looked like it was just the girls, Bill Pence and the late night bartender. He walked over to her table and introduced himself.
"Hello, I like to talk to all the newcomers to Dodge. I consider it part of my job as marshal. The name's Matt Dillon. How do you like my town so far?"
"Your town is it? Well, I didn't think too much of it when I arrived in all that rain and mud this morning, but I'm liking it much better now. I hope to remain on the good side of the law around here even if the law looks like a cowboy to me, a very large cowboy. By the way, my name's Kitty Russell."
Once the introductions were over with they sat together at one of the tables and found themselves talking as if they'd known each other for years. At first they talked in generalities. Matt told her about the town not always being as quiet as it was today and warned her about when the Texas cowboys arrived in a couple of months. He'd only experienced one season, but expected the next to be twice as big. Kitty told him of her trip to Abilene as assistant cook on a drive during the war and being hired by Jim Witherspoon and then finally coming to Dodge to be hired by Bill. Then the conversation turned to having to earn a living the best way they knew how because of being thrown on their own devices at a young age. Learning they were both orphans was the first step on the road to friendship.
They felt comfortable with each other. Perhaps it was that both were orphans and had learned to be independent early. When her shift ended, Matt offered to escort her home. Chester was looking after the jail and had probably already turned in, so there was no need to stop there on the way. He walked her to the front door of Ma Smalley's and watched as she turned her key in the lock. He waited until she'd closed the door and he heard her lock it before he strode off the porch and walked around the corner of the building to the outside door that was the entrance to his room.
Kitty was a friendly person. Before long just about everyone was enamored of her. The girls she worked with accepted her as one of their leaders. Chester was smitten with her, but soon realized she much preferred the company of Mr. Dillon when given the choice. Doc found the young woman, still a girl really, since she was only 19 when they met, a charmer who welcomed his fatherly overtures. Soon she was coming to him for advice and he was happy to play the father. However, it was Matt who was transformed the most. Despite all his efforts to not become involved, he was drawn to her. He told her things he never would tell anyone else, not even Doc. It just felt right. Soon he was coming to her to talk about how best to approach whatever problem with local troublemakers was bothering him. After a month she'd become his best friend and he hers.
The lawman and the saloon gal looked forward to whatever moments they could snatch with each other. He asked her to go fishing with him one morning as their friendship deepened when she revealed that she loved fishing although she didn't have much chance to indulge in it. She'd only been a few times as a girl. They both knew there was no turning back after that March fishing expedition and picnic not long after she turned 20. The best friends were gradually becoming lovers. Kitty realized after the four friends celebrated Matt's 27th birthday in May of 1887 that he was everything she wanted in a man. She would gladly give up her independence to him at some future date. He resisted longer, but knew no other woman but Kitty could tempt him to consider any sort of relationship, friend or lover, even before he started escorting her to more visible events. He explained about the badge and family not mixing and the chancy nature of his job – a job he was sworn to do as long as he was physically able. The change was noticed by their two closest friends Doc and Chester even if they for the longest while pretended they hadn't.
By the time Matt asked Kitty to accompany him to something other than a buggy ride to a secluded fishing spot along the Arkansas or a nearby creek or pond most of the town accepted them as very close friends. It was more than 9 months since they first laid eyes on each other after all. They joked about Matt's new courting coat, but he still, after that first outing to the charity sociable led to her running crying back to the Long Branch and their first night together, acted in public like they were merely close friends. If he had to break a date last minute he felt Chester and Doc would escort her and, for the most part, she went along with it. Although it was never announced, she was his girl.
Their first night together brought back memories of that first time with Cole to Kitty. For Matt, although he wasn't without experience, it was as if he were making love for the first time and he wanted it to last forever. He thought of taking her upstairs to her room at the Long Branch, but it wasn't hers exclusively and too many men had been there before him. Instead, he decided to walk with her toward Ma Smalley's. When they arrived she thought he would bring her up to the front porch and give her a long passionate kiss goodnight after his comforting arms at their private sociable had dried her tears. Instead he steered her to the side of the building and the private entrance to his room. With his free hand he turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open before half lifting her over the threshold so she could more easily encircle his neck with her arms. When they were at the foot of his bed he stopped and held her in a powerful embrace as his lips sought and met hers, gradually deepening into a deep, passionate open-mouthed kiss.
While their mouths remained locked together, he grasped her shawl and let it drop from his fingertips to the floor. Then his fingers groped blindly for the buttons down the back of her gown as he pulled her even closer. Once he'd fully loosened it, he gently pushed the garment off her shoulders and down toward her waste. It was only then that he stepped back toward the bed and sat down to watch the dress slip off her to join the already discarded shawl while he at the same time pulled off his boots and tossed his courting coat aside. By the time he'd rid himself of his string tie she had stepped out of the gown and her petticoats and was walking slowly towards him.
"Come here Cowboy, " she cooed invitingly, "and help me with this corset, but only if you promise I can help you out of your shirt and pants. I'm willing to cut the distance between us in half unless you want me even closer to your bed."
Matt did as he was told, meeting her when she was three-quarters of the way to the bed. Soon he was clad only in his drawers and socks and she wore only her panties and stockings. They came together for a waltz that required no music other than their need for each other. His twirling steps brought them to the bed so that she was leaning against it. He moved them even closer so that she had no choice but to fall backwards onto the bed. In an instant he was falling slowly on top of her as he toed off his socks and reached for her one remaining article of clothing. At the same time she pulled his drawers down exposing his stiffening, already large manhood.
Matt moved far enough away from Kitty to pull her panties all the way down her legs and off and then completed the removal of his own remaining unmentionable. Kitty expected him to climb back on top of her and enter her right then. She certainly felt ready. He didn't. Instead his lips caressed her toes as his hands massaged her inner thighs. Ever so gradually he moved his fingers and then his mouth upward on her body until his lips were pulling at her nipples and his manhood was rubbing where his fingers and mouth had just been. When his lips were at the level of her own mouth he reached under her and helped her pull toward him as he entered her with what was more a stroke than a thrust. It seemed like hours before they were both seemingly spent, but after a short rest, she initiated a new dance. It was early morning before she departed for her own room in the main part of the house. She'd just closed her door when she heard Ma Smalley heading down the stairs to the kitchen to start her day.
Many more such nights and snatched moments during the day were to follow as the days stretched into weeks, months and years. As '67 became '68 and then '69, Matt and Kitty grew even closer in their private moments. Every action not directly related to their work was weighed in relation to what the other might think. Kitty did make one decision very much related both to her work and her ever deepening relationship with Matt. She stopped taking men up to her room at the Long Branch or visiting them in their rooms. He was now the only man she wanted to more than casually flirt with as a part of her job. Since Bill Pence was so pleased with her handling of the saloon's books that he offered to make her a full partner once she came up with the money she was looking forward to cutting back on the flirting as well. Then, in late May of '69, not long after they privately celebrated Matt's 29th birthday with her own special gift she had enough money to buy into the Long Branch. Matt, who had just returned from a trial, couldn't have been more proud. He beamed at the sight of the new sign proclaiming Russell and Pence as owners of the best saloon in Dodge City, but she was troubled by the telegram she received stating her father was on his way to see her just when everything was so right.
Kitty had begun to feel safe despite using her own name, especially now that she had Matt. She'd snuck out of Laredo and Mullins' Alhambra Saloon seven years ago. How did her father know where she was and why was he coming to see her now? She knew Cole returned to California after the war and was a bank robber among other things. She'd made it a practice to read about him whenever she got a hold of a California paper from a customer or drummer who was heading back east. She hadn't even contacted Julie Blane since the day she was forcibly taken from San Francisco. Surely her becoming half owner of the Long Branch wasn't newsworthy anywhere but Dodge City.
At first her father seemed genuinely interested in her friends and new life, but he began dropping hints as the dinner party he'd paid for was coming to an end. He even acted surprised that Matt would naturally offer to walk her back to the Long Branch. When she went for the buggy ride with her father the next morning she confronted him, starting with asking how he knew where she was and why he pretended to be upset because she owned a saloon. He'd gone out of his way at the party the night before to make it clear to her friends, especially Matt, that a proud lady of the Russell family would find owning a saloon beneath her.
"Father, how did you know where to find me? While I haven't exactly covered my tracks recently, I haven't communicated with anyone who might let you know even inadvertently where I went when I disappeared from Laredo."
"L'Hommedeu had his spies out all over. He didn't let on to Cole when he visited Abilene because his local spy knew you'd prevent Cole from seeing you in case he let Denis know where you were either mistakenly or because he was already aware of Denis' activities in regard to you. Marc sent men to every possible place you might be – men you didn't know. He didn't miss Abilene as a possible destination."
"If Marc L'Hommedeu told you where I was why didn't you object to me working in the Silver Slipper? Since you've come to Dodge you've had nothing good to say about me owning half of a saloon. If you care so much about where and how I'm living why didn't you come for me before? Back when I was still a schoolgirl why did you send me to live with Pan and then Julie instead of mother's people? I know you turned me over to Denis and Marc after Cole went to California. You knew the nature of their business and made sure I was good at cards before they took control. Answer me! You owe me at least that much."
"I'm a gambler, honey. I sent you to those two women because I wanted you to know how I earned my living and, in case you had a falling out with the Du Prees, how to earn a living without selling yourself. You're my daughter and I had more of a legal right to determine your upbringing than any of the other Russells or your mother's snobbish relatives who objected to her marrying me. At the same time, I kept out of your life because I wasn't in a position to take care of a girl growing into a woman. By the way, if you wanted to write to your friend Lucy you could have at any time after you arrived in Abilene. I told her father where you were and that you later moved to Dodge City. Before you ask, I believed both L'Hommedeus when they said they would keep you safe and only expose you to gambling in their establishments. When the war came, they convinced me that sending you to Laredo made sense. It was away from the fighting. It wasn't that hard."
"I'd like to believe you were that gullible, but I can't. What did they have on you? It better have been something powerful."
"I was into Marc for a huge sum. I'd lost way too much to his dealers on his riverboats. He promised to forgive my current and future debts if I didn't question his actions concerning you. If I did, he was going to call in that debt and leave me homeless and penniless and he'd have an even greater hold over your life. I'm offering you a chance to come back to New Orleans with me and come back to the life you deserve. All I ask in exchange is you obey me and help me gain as much profit as possible. I hear you're really good with all aspects of our mutual business."
"Yeah, I am. I can make sure whoever I want wins and no one the wiser. It helps us to turn a profit here at the Long Branch. I'm also now an expert on what men want. I've had to learn that to keep from being beaten or killed. The two combined is why Bill took me on as a partner and why I had the money to do it. As you well know my expertise in cards began when I was ten. The rest started when I was 13 thanks to you turning me over to the L'Hommedeus. Tell me, was it Cole's idea or did you convince him to leave for California until I was 16?"
"Cole wanted to stay in New Orleans and run his family's business, but Denis and his father sent him to California under threat of revealing to the authorities that he seduced an underage girl and had embezzled money from his father. He didn't know I knew what he'd done when he asked me for your hand and he didn't want to take any chances that I'd be told so he did what they suggested. If it's any consolation Cole really did love you. I don't know about now because after the war he went back to California and I haven't seen him since. I believe Denis told him about your move from Abilene to Dodge City."
In the end Kitty, with Matt's help, sent her father packing. She knew he only wanted to control her money by controlling her and cared nothing for her happiness. His debts had been his excuse to turn her into a whore, but his pride wouldn't let him admit that she was anything but the lady she was born to be. Her half ownership of the Long Branch kept him from ignoring reality, while it allowed Kitty to return to being the lady she always was deep down.
Four months later Cole Yankton came to town. Kitty remembered how she'd loved him back in New Orleans and that he shared that feeling then. When she met him on Front Street it seemed like a part of him still loved her just like a part of her still loved him. He was her first, but she had changed since then. She'd had a taste of being her own woman and liked it. Although she would always care for Cole, her feelings for Matt, the kindest, gentlest, most honorable man she'd ever known went much deeper than that. They were more than a man and a woman attracted to each other; they were soul mates – best friends and devoted lovers.
Kitty knew it hurt Matt that she was openly kissing Cole, but it was almost too easy to get back into their old relationship. She thought maybe if she and Matt broke their routine somewhat she could sort things out and tell Cole there was someone new in her life that she couldn't betray no matter what. That's why she talked him into taking her to the Mexican restaurant at the far edge of the other side of town. As if to spite her, that's when Cole and his friends robbed the bank. After Cole died in Doc's office from the gunshot wound Matt inflicted on him she was finally able to tell him everything, even more than she told him in front of Doc. Doc had become the father she never really had, especially after her father's recent return and she now hoped permanent departure from her life, but there are some things a girl tells her boyfriend that she'd never tell her dad.
