Rekindling the Flame

Chapter 10

The Request

Kitty smoothed Hadley's wayward curls away from her face. "Do you know how much Momma loves you?"

The tiny girl stretched her arms as far as she could get them. "This much!"

"That much and more." She snatched up the girl, swinging her around in a circle. "You be good and mind Uncle Festus."

Cooper watched his little sister run toward the scruffy man. "When will you be back, Momma?"

Kitty knelt down on the ground to bring herself closer to eye level with her son. The thought of never seeing her little boy again robbed her of the power of speech. Cooper looked at her through the eyes of his father. The same cool blue eyes. Open. Honest. Trusting. She had to look away for a minute in order to pull herself together. "I'll be back before you will even have time to miss me." The hug may have lasted a touch longer than usual, but she needed to draw strength for the task that lay ahead of her.

"Festus, thank you for watching them. You've been a good friend." Kitty gave him a hug, once again drawing strength.

Festus squinted one eye and studied the pretty redhead. "Thank ya. I put a right high value on yur friendship too. Are you alright, Miss Kitty? Ya lookin' a slight bit peekid."

Kitty forced a smile. "Just a little tired. Please, don't worry, just take good care of my children."

DodgeCityDodgeCityDodgeCity

Harlan Carter wandered around Dodge waiting for Cal to finish talking to that old guy. Grandpa. That's who she said he was. There was something he was supposed to do when they got to town but he couldn't remember what. Toga was tied up in front of Wilbur Jonas's mercantile. Maybe that old nag could help him to remember.

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Matt began to smile before he even turned around. As soon as his wife stepped into the office, he could smell that familiar scent. Kitty always smelled so fresh, like a cool summer morning. He finished refilling his cup and then turned to greet her. "I didn't expect to see you in town today."

"I had some business to take care of." It took every ounce of energy she had to maintain a casual façade. "You don't look too busy."

"Been pretty slow. I'm just filling out some reports. I've got time to take you over to the Prairie Rose for a cup of coffee."

Kitty stepped closer and slipped her arms around his waist. "I would, but I really have some place I have to be. Maybe-"

"Marshal Dillon!" Henrietta Makos bolted through the door, ready to make her tenth complaint this week. The two Anderson boys kept tying cans to her cat's tail and then chasing the poor little beast through town. "Those boys are scaring poor Percy to death. Why, he's so nervous, all of his hair is falling out! You gotta do something!"

Kitty stepped aside, giving the irate citizen a wide berth to lodge her complaint. She was actually grateful for the distraction. While Matt was cornered by Henrietta, his wife slipped back toward the wall. She watched her husband handle the woman's tirade with patience and respect. Kitty felt her heart swell with love and pride for this man. She prayed he would understand her actions.

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Doc sorted through his cabinet, taking inventory of his medicines. Two days a week, either he or Calleigh, occasionally both, manned the old office in Dodge for the town's people. Today wasn't one of those planned days, but Calleigh had asked him to meet her here. He moved a bottle on the top shelf to make room for the new stock. The hinge to the front door creaked, reminding him to get that can of oil out of the closet. Without turning, he greeted the other half of Adams and O'Brian.

"Morning. I figured if you were going to drag me in here, I might as well do some work." The old man chuckled at the thought of how little he'd had to work since she became his partner. It was Calleigh's continued silence that compelled him to turn around. It was her demeanor that shocked him. Leaning back against the door, her face was so pale it forced the reddish-brown spots across her nose into a more prominent position.

Before he could cross the room, she bolted from the door, straight into his arms. "Poppy, help me." Tears flowed, choking out any more words.

Calleigh had many titles: wife; doctor; gunslinger—but the one he favored most was granddaughter. That's who was in his arms at this moment. Doc made no attempt to placate her or hush her crying. There were times when tears were needed to cleanse the soul. Instead, he simply wrapped his arms around her and held her tight until she was ready to speak.

The old man pulled a clean handkerchief from his back pocket, as the sobs came replacing the tears. He leaned back and wiped the tearstained streaks from her face. It was just yesterday they talked about Carter. Surely, his heart hadn't given out yet. "Is it Carter?" She sniffled back the tears and shook her head.

"Come on." With a hand still around her shoulder, he led her over to the small daybed in front of the window. They sat down together, and she continued to lean into him for comfort. "Want to tell me what's wrong?" Doc had abandoned his usual blustery tone. The words he spoke now were said in the soft voice reserved for his Sweat Pea.

Calleigh turned to face him. "I'm so mixed up, Poppy." She played with the handkerchief, twisting it into a tight knot. "Something happened…a really long time ago. Something really terrible. Carter had won quite a bit of money in a card game. Of course, he had to celebrate and as usual, he overdid it. He got as far as the doorway before he passed out." When she looked up, Doc could see in her eyes what those years had been like for her.

"I drug him inside and put him to bed." She issued a pathetic imitation of a laugh. "The first time he had won in months, and it had to be a guy that didn't take losing well.

"When he came looking for Carter…he found me instead." When the words were too hard to say, she would retreat into a moment of silence. "The gambler, he was drunk too—only not as drunk as Carter… After he went through Carter's pockets, he realized that most of the money was already spent. That's when he really got angry."

Doc remained silent, bracing himself for what was inevitably going to come. Again, Calleigh began to twist the cloth into knots.

"At first, I thought he was just going to beat me. He kept saying he wanted his money's worth and just kept hitting me. At the time, I didn't realize what was happening. Now, as an adult, I know that sometimes…" Another lapse of silence took command of the room. "There is a depraved breed of man that gets excited by violence."

Calleigh rose and walked across the room, to distance herself from her Poppy before she could continue. Leaning against his desk, she kept her eyes focused on the worn, wooden planks under her feet. "He did things that…I'm still not old enough to know about."

A sharp breath from across the room, caused her eyes to instantly change course, colliding with his. Doc fought to control his emotions, to keep a tight rein on his rage, as well as his tears. She let her gaze fall back to the safety of the floor.

"Carter didn't wake up during this whole thing?" Despite Doc's soft voice, he couldn't hide the underlying anger in his words.

"He was dead to the world and no amount of screaming was going to wake him up." Again, she uttered a scornful laugh. "Believe me, I know. At first, I thought I was going to die. There was so much blood everywhere. But then, I started to pray that I would. I managed to drag myself into the alley to find help and that's all that I can remember from that night."

The hardest part said, Calleigh walked back over to the daybed. Her petite body appeared exhausted, as she dropped down onto the lumpy mattress.

Doc swiped at his mustache. He was too angry, now, to cry. "Did you see a doctor?"

Calleigh sat beside him, still staring at the floor. "No." Before he could object she hurried to explain. "He wanted me to; it was me. I just wanted it to be over. The woman that ran the bordello, Stella, was a big, bawdy woman, with lots of black hair. She had taken care of a lot of girls over the years that had suffered the same sort of fate. Granted, they were older…and in the profession, but the results are the same. She was the one who found me in the alley. She was sweet on Carter and was always nice to me." Calleigh peered up at Doc under half-closed lids. "Stella took real good care of me, Poppy."

"Why wasn't he arrested?"

Now she even managed a shadow of a smile. "They both wanted to know his name. I refused to tell them. She wanted him arrested, Carter wanted to kill him and I knew that he would. He was still a pretty good shot back then."

"You should have let him!"

"I was afraid he would end up in jail or maybe even dead. Remember, Poppy, Carter was all I had. We had only been together about a year, but he was the first person to stick by me in my whole life. Besides, it wouldn't have changed anything."

Doc stared at the woman he had watched blossom from a child. She stood in front of him now in a pale yellow, flowered dress, the picture of innocence. The image before him did little to help him understand, or accept, this atrocity. His fists were balled so tight, he could feel the edges of his ring slicing into his finger.

"Why is this coming out now?"

"I thought I had dealt with it years ago. I began to pretend that it never happened at all and threw myself into the quest to find my dad. As a matter of fact, I've only spoken of this one time—and that was to Matt. Even then, it was like remembering a dream."

Calleigh lifted her face to Doc's, looking more vulnerable than he had ever seen her. "When I bumped into Lincoln Forbes, all of those memories rushed back, I felt like I was drowning."

"Is he…" Doc paused, not certain he wanted to know "Is he the man?"

Calleigh could see the anger, vying with compassion, in the old man's eyes. "At first, I wasn't sure. I thought he looked like him, enough to reawaken those old memories."

Their eyes met and Doc wouldn't let go until Calleigh answered his question."Yes… He's the same man."

Doc pulled his tired body to his feet. He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, mostly used for medicinal purposes. This qualified as medicinal, since he thought he was going to be sick. Settling for one strong shot, he replaced the bottle and returned to his seat. "Why 'me'? Why are you telling me?"

She raised her hand, cupping his chin in her palm. "You are the only one I trust to handle it wisely. What do you think Newly—or Matt, or Festus—would have done if I'd told them?" It was in the form of a question, but they both knew that it was not. Any of the three of them would have killed Lincoln Forbes, without question. Matt included.

"But why not Kitty…you two are so close?"

Calleigh skimmed the tip of her tongue along her top lip, considering her words carefully. "Honestly, Poppy, I was more afraid of her killing him than any of the men. Kitty has always treated me as her child and I know that's what I am in her heart. We both know that her commitment as a mother knows no bounds."

Doc's head bobbed slowly, knowing the girl's fears were well grounded. Kitty would die for her children, or kill to protect them. "She would," Doc whispered, as he reached over, taking Calleigh's hand in his.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Her face expressed the apprehension that mirrored her tone. "I want you to go tell Lincoln Forbes to leave town, for his own safety."

Doc came up off the bed as if his butt was on fire. "What!? You want me, to save this worthless excuse for a human being!?"

Calleigh rose, wrapping her hands around his shoulders. "Poppy, please. You are the only one that I trust to do this. I know you want to kill him too, but you will consider my needs first. And I need for him to leave town before someone I love does something we will all regret. It's not for him."

The anger lost its battle to the love he had for this child. "Where is he?" His voice was weary.

"At Ma Smalley's. He doesn't go to work until six, or thereabouts. I know this is a lot to ask." Her hands slipped down his shoulders, then his arms and came to rest in his hands. "I love you, Poppy."

Those had been the magic words that for over a decade gave life to his world.

TBC