Chapter 7 – To Fort Wallace and Onward to Dodge

The sun was setting on another day as Matt Dillon became more aware of his surroundings. He remembered the floor of the gallows dropping out from under him and the noose tightening around his neck and everything going black. Perhaps, he thought, he was dead enough that he'd gone on to Heaven, but that couldn't be right, everything hurt too much. It must be Hell and he was being punished for his wild youth by the pain and weakness. If that were so, was hearing Kitty's voice urging him to live or she'd kill him part of the punishment? Would it all disappear if he opened his eyes, which he somehow sensed were closed, or would he be home with Kitty actually beside him? Steeling himself, Matt opened his eyes as far as he could and with considerable effort turned his head towards Kitty's voice as he weakly squeezed the hand that appeared to be holding his.

"Welcome back, Cowboy. I really thought I'd lost you when Chester and I caught your body before it could drop through the trapdoor on the gallows. Even then it was touch and go. If it hadn't been for the wonderful woman Frank Reardon's found for himself, Maria Soaring Eagle, we still would have been too late."

It still made no sense to him. Two people walked into the room, wherever it was, and joined Kitty. It was Frank and a Cheyenne woman, who began to poke at him and check his bandages after Kitty turned down the covers and lifted the nightshirt he was wearing. When did Kitty put that on me, he wondered. She seemed satisfied with what she found, so Kitty covered him up again. He was vaguely aware of Frank talking and the woman, who must be Maria, giving Kitty instructions about food and water and rest before they traveled in the morning.

By morning, though he was still weak, he was more fully awake. Kitty had fed him his first solid food in he didn't know how long and managed to put his spare pair of pants on him. Still, the pain would have been unbearable had Kitty not been with him. He thought Maria had told her as he was drifting off despite the pain that she was unable to distill the herbs that would ease his pain, so he'd have to wait for relief until they saw the White medicine chief at Fort Wallace. Matt had listened to the two women talk as he fell asleep despite wanting to hear more.

"From the first moment I saw you with Frank's brother in war, I knew you had given yourself completely to him. I had despaired of finding a man that my father would find acceptable while I remained at the mission school where I'd been since I was taken from my parents at the age of ten. All that changed when Frank stopped by the school on his way to Denver with a prisoner he was taking for trial. I wanted to give myself to this man if I ever saw him again with or without approval. I was never so happy when he agreed to take me to my people on his trip to Hays for his new job."

"I'd had many men in my life, too many of them forced upon me by the time I saw Matt. Like you, I wanted him if he'd have me, but unlike you with Frank, I didn't care what my absent father thought. We came to know one another and, as you saw, I'm willing to give myself to him on whatever terms he can live with. Those terms are that we keep our relationship secret as long as he wears that badge of his."

"Frank spoke with my father and I with my mother while we traveled together. Father approved of me remaining with this man, but only after he learned your man was his brother warrior and held him in high regard. We are pledged to each other and will marry when he is ready. Meanwhile, I will do for Frank as you do for Matt."

The woman was back again to change his dressings and rewrap his ribs. She completed her task while Kitty put a glass of water to his lips when Frank entered the room with two soldiers. His friend was actually here. The three men carried a litter that was covered with soft blankets, using it to bring him to a wagon.

Once Matt was secured in the wagon, Kitty climbed in after him. Frank and Maria were on the box he learned when they turned to make sure the passengers were ready. His horse was tied to the back and his gear stowed in the wagon along with whatever supplies they were bringing and Kitty, Frank and Maria's belongings. He heard the command to move forward, letting the rocking of the wagon lull him back to sleep so he could forget the pain, at least for a while.

It took until late in the afternoon of the third day to cover the 75 miles to Fort Wallace at the pace set by the wagon. During that time, with regular meals, Matt grew steadily stronger and would have become restless on the litter that was his soft bed if not for the ever-present pain. It made him wish he could take it out on the men who were the cause of it, but they were all dead, killed during his rescue. Still, he felt he could attempt to walk into the army surgeon's office on his own two feet with someone to lean on. He'd even managed to persuade Frank to help him with his boots.

The doctor checked all that Maria had done, changed the dressing on the wound from the broken rib in his side and wrapped his ribs in a tight new bandage. He also gave Matt a dose of laudanum, his first real relief from the constant pain and left instructions with Kitty and Maria as to what to do for the patient during the remainder of their trip until his own physician could examine him.

"Miss, you did a remarkable job with setting those ribs and repositioning his arms properly in his shoulder sockets. Your friend provided much more than adequate nursing assistance. I can see why the new Hays sheriff was able to negotiate you remaining with him instead of traveling with your tribe down to the reservation."

For the first time in a long time all four friends were able to sleep in real beds. For Matt, it was the best night's sleep since he'd started out on the trail of Jasper Quinton. Under the influence of a rather heavy dose of laudanum he could forget he'd ever had any pain and experience a restful, healing deep sleep. The next morning he awoke ready to begin the last leg of the journey. The doctor checked him one more time, making sure the bandage around his chest was tight enough to keep his ribs in place while allowing him to breath and pronounced he was healed enough to sit a horse. Even so, the physician was glad the Cheyenne woman would remain with the marshal, the sheriff and the marshal's lady friend.

"Are you sure you don't want an escort?" Colonel Warner asked as he walked with them toward the fort's gates. "There are still renegade bands about."

"Thank you, Colonel," Matt was able to reply for himself. "Maria here is all the escort, Frank, Kitty and I need."

Deep down Warner knew Matt was right about the Cheyenne woman, especially now that he knew of the group's attachment to Blue Horse. He reluctantly waved them on their way before turning back inside the gates and ordering them closed.

So as not to tax the still recuperating Matt, the four friends kept to a slow pace, not much more than a fast walk, with frequent stops to rest and longer ones for meals. Even so, the marshal was the first to turn in each evening and the last to rise. Thus, it was mid-morning a week after they left Fort Wallace when they finally arrived at the alley leading to Doc Adams' office. Doc stood on the landing watching Matt keep his left hand on the railing while Kitty kept a reassuring arm around his waist while the young man and woman they rode into town with walked directly behind them, one step below.

"Frank, Maria, I'm Doctor Adams. I'm real pleased to meet you. Chester told me his version of what happened; then Jake told me what really occurred. Matt, you want to tell me what led to them finding you in such a sorry state while I examine you to see how much you're hiding from your personal physician."

"Doc, if you don't mind, I'd rather you get the poking and prodding over with quickly so I can settle into a nice soft bed over at the Long Branch and I don't want to hear any objections from you. I'll tell you what happened later after I've had a few days rest."

During the next three days Chester and Doc came to know Frank Reardon and Maria Soaring Eagle almost as well as Matt and Kitty came to know them. Doc approved of the man Matt claimed as his best friend and the woman with him. For once, Matt actually took things easy over the next few days. In fact, that first day, despite Doc proclaiming him healed enough that he no longer needed to keep his right arm in a sling, Matt kept to Kitty's room, spending most of his time resting, if not sleeping, in the bed he shared with that remarkable redhead, glad she liked his best friend, who would now be relatively close by with Maria the woman he'd chosen who both he and Kitty felt was a perfect choice.