Kitty

Kitty rode out with Newly, Sean and Patrick. Newly had agreed that he would get her as close to the site of the avalanche as he could.

Sean was skeptical about the whole thing but figured he might as well go along. He made sure to bring a lead rope figuring there was a pretty good chance that Kitty would have to be rescued from something, and end up riding double with one of them. Having a lead rope would make it easier to bring her rider-less horse along.

Kitty knew that the men she was with had no confidence in her riding her ability. She realized that she didn't spend a great deal of time in the saddle, but damn it could she ride a horse and had been riding for years, a lot of years. She had never even been much of a side saddle woman. Something she knew Matt had always appreciated about her.

As they plodded along in single file not saying a word, Kitty's mind drifted back 6 months to the first time she had ridden after giving birth to the twins. Hannah and Bessie were 6 months old and Matt, with a big grin on his face, had taken her by the hand and led her out to the main corral. He pointed to a beautiful, golden brown filly. Kitty remembered the excitement Matt had in his voice, "Kitty look she's beautiful and strong, and has a lot of spirit but at the same time she's sweet tempered and ready to be ridden. She's perfect for you. Come for a ride with me tonight. Try her out."

Kitty remembered how she had protested with all kinds of reasons, but then confessed that she felt too fat to wear riding pants. She still had some of the weight she had gained carrying the twins. Matt had laughed and said, "You are the most beautiful, desirable woman in the world. I love the way you look in riding pants. Please come riding under the stars with me. Please."

There wasn't a woman in the world who could have resisted Matt at that moment, so she relented and they had had a magical time riding together on that beautiful spring night. Kitty's heart warmed at the memory. She looked up and saw Newly looking at her. She looked back at him and nodded.

They moved along slower and slower as the snow got deeper. Newly stopped after a few hours, and Kitty pulled up along side of him. Newly pointed towards some huge snow mounds. "I'm sorry Kitty there is nothing much to see. We're at least a mile from where the house stood, and riding closer would be dangerous, but when it was standing you could see it from here in that direction. It was the only structure around."

They remained on horseback looking at the desolate scene for a few minutes. Kitty looked at Newly, "Thank you for bringing me here. I know you don't think it's much, but it means a lot to me."

Newly shrugged a little, "Happy to do it Kitty. I wish I could have gotten you closer. We should head back now. We've seen what there is to see."

Sean brought his horse along side Newly's, "I have an idea. If we head southeast and then south it will be a lot easier riding, even though it's the long way back. The snow's a lot less deep going that route."

Newly looked at Kitty, "Sounds like a good idea to me. Is that all right with you?"

Kitty nodded and they started back to Dodge with Sean leading the way.

Matt

Matt was sitting on the floor of the tunnel with his back resting on the rear wall. He closed his eyes and tried to relax his cold and aching body. He had no idea where they were. He didn't know how long the tunnel was or even exactly in what direction it had taken them. For all he knew they could be under a ton of snow. Whispering Matt said, "David, our only hope is to find an exit and hope it leads to a safer place than we came from. There just has to be some kind exit from this end of the tunnel. It makes no sense to dig a tunnel of this size and not have an exit at each end, even if it was used for storage."

Matt knelt on his left knee and tried to bend his right. It was so swollen and sore he could barely move it. Lifting the lantern Matt examined the ceiling of the tunnel slowly and carefully. After going over the same areas inch by inch several times, Matt thought he saw a thin crack in the ceiling. He could feel it with his hand. Following it along he could feel that the crack formed a large rectangle. "David a crack like that doesn't occur naturally. Someone cut that into the ceiling. It looks like it may be what we're looking for."

Matt pushed up at the area. Nothing budged, even after repeated tries. Matt removed David from his shirt. "Sorry, I know the floor is cold, but I'm going to have to put you down so I can use all the force I can with both arms."

Matt took a breath and slammed the ceiling with the palms of both hands with as much force as he could muster. It moved a tiny bit, or it seemed so to him. Trying again and again he seemed to be making progress as the rectangle moved upwards.

The ride back to Dodge

As they were riding back to Dodge Kitty was glad that Sean had suggested the longer route. After about an hour they were in snow that was not even a foot deep, so riding was easier.

No one spoke, and aside from the muted sounds of the horses' hooves hitting the snow covered ground, everything was still. Suddenly there was a strange sound and the horses got a little spooked. They all settled their horses to a stop and Sean looked around, "Hells Bells, what was that noise? I don't see anything."

Newly pointed, "It came from there I think." There were more sounds. They were getting louder and closer together, but no one saw anything. Suddenly a small piece of land flew up into the air and dropped a few feet away.

The four riders were stunned into silence. After watching where the piece of land landed their collective gaze moved to where it had come from. They saw a hand reach out of a hole and set a lantern on the ground.

Newly, Sean, Patrick and Kitty all thought they were going crazy.

Then they saw a man's head and shoulder rise out of the same hole, before he hoisted his body to sit at the edge – not just any man – one who looked exactly like Matt Dillon.

Kitty closed her eyes thinking, - I'm losing my mind. I just had a hallucination that Matt came up out of a hole in the ground.

Matt looked over and saw Kitty, Newly, Sean and Patrick sitting on horses looking at him like they had just seen a ghost.

He smiled and waved at the four riders, whispering to David, "This here is a great place for an exit."

They all froze for seconds, then finally believing their eyes all four rode to Matt. Kitty jumped off her horse and knelt down next to him taking his shoulders in her hands. Matt leaned forwards and kissed her gently, "I'm sorry, I know what you must have thought."

She started to lean into him but felt some thing move. Matt opened his under shirt some, "It's a baby, he was caught in the avalanche."

Kitty's jaw dropped. She was beyond speechless.

By that time Newly had taken his coat off and wrapped it around Matt's shivering body.

Patrick and Sean stood ready to help. Sean shook his head and said so quietly that even Patrick could barely hear him, "Next time I hear a story about Matt Dillon, I'm believing it – no matter how crazy and impossible it sounds."

The men helped Matt to his feet. It was obvious he couldn't put weight on his right leg. Newly put his arm around Matt's waist to steady him, "Matt can you ride a horse?"

Matt nodded, "I can't use my right leg, but I can manage."

Newly nodded, "Let's get you up on a horse with Kitty and get back to Dodge."

Matt was mounted with Kitty in front of him. Kitty turned to him with a big smile on her face, "Cowboy, I love you."

Matt leaned forward and kissed her, "I love you too."

Newly mounted his horse. He couldn't help thinking – I can't wait until folks see us ride into town, I really can't wait.

TBC