PT.8
Again, he asked the question. "Are you Dillon's woman?"
Squaring her shoulders, thinking to herself, "Ok, Kitty." She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and then before she knew it, she heard the words coming from her mouth. "Yes, I'm the lady. And you are?" She now stared as if to burn a hole through him.
"Well, if you need to know, Red, my names Jay Keller. And I owe Dillon."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, Lady. It was Dillon who crippled my leg the way he did. Left me in pain the way he did. And I swore that someday I'd make him pay, big time."
Kitty just swallowed hard.
Franny had ducked the girls behind one of the clerk counters, telling them to stay quiet.
Again, the first man took his attentions back to Susan, pinning her against the wall. "Hey, honey, how bout's me and you git to know each other back here some?"
Again Kitty yelled out, "Leave her alone!"
Susan just watched in fear, wondering why Kitty continued to provoke them.
Then Kitty walked over to Keller. "Look, why don't you and your men just take the money you want and go? No one here is going to try and stop you. Look around you. Besides the women here, there are just a few old men."
"That old manager back there tells me, the gold we wanted, that we came here for, isn't here. Says its due in later today."
"Oh, so you're just going to hold us all here and wait?" She asked.
"Sure are, Red. Why? We keeping you from something important?"
"Look, why don't you let these girls go? You don't need them. You have the Sheriff. Just let them go."
"Red, you're startin' to bug me."
Sheriff Nelson, sitting in a chair, tied with one of the men holding a gun to him, just looked at Kitty, mouthing to her, to please be careful.
After sitting for hours, Kitty was pacing. She was agitating Keller. But she slowly had managed to write a note and slip it out the door, hoping someone, who was out on the street, would get it and would listen to her request. She had told whoever gets the note, to send a wire off to Marshal Matt Dillon in Topeka, Kansas, telling him to come to Emporia, that they were being held hostage at the bank by Jay Keller and his gang and that she was with Susan St. John and her daughter.
Topeka, Kansas
The group of men were just breaking up their meeting with Governor St. John, when a messenger service approached them asking, "Excuse me, Gentlemen. I have a message for a Marshal Matthew Dillon."
Matt lifted his hand. "Right here, son." He took the envelope and tipped the boy.
"Shall I wait for a response, Sir?"
"No, that won't be necessary."
"Good day, Sir."
St. John looked to Matt. "Matt, is everything alright?"
Matt began to read.
Marshal Matthew Dillon,
C/O Governor's Mansion, Topeka, Kansas
Matt, need you in Emporia. Urgent. Stop. Held hostage with Governor's family by Keller gang. Stop.
Kitty Russell
TBC
