Apart 10

"See what I mean, Mr. Dillon?" Chester sat atop his horse, looking at Matt while he knelt down, inspecting the prairie floor. "Them tracks just up and disappeared."

Matt didn't answer right off as he thoroughly inspected the ground, noting several signs that he was sure Chester and the others missed. Carefully following the trail he found, he started walking forward in a crouch, eyes intently studying the ground.

"Ya find something, Mr. Dillon?" Chester asked as he urged his horse forward to follow.

"Maybe." Matt answered shortly. He didn't want to talk so great was his worry. He wanted to find something, anything that would lead him to Kitty. But he didn't want to follow a false trail that would take him away from her either.

Going forward, he continued to find an overturned rock here and a tamped in leaf there and the shadow a print down the way. But all too soon, those few faint signs faded and Matt stood, yanked his hat off his head and tossed it to the ground in a fit of anger, knowing he'd find nothing else.

"Mr. Dillon?" Chester broke in. "Ya find anything else?"

"No." He shook his head. "Whoever these people are, they're damn good at covering their tracks."

"We gonna quit lookin'?"

Reaching down, Matt reclaimed his hat, tugged it tightly onto his head and swung himself back into the saddle. "Not as long as I have breath, Chester."

Kitty sat tensely on the small cot, flinching every time she heard a noise. Daniel hadn't come back after seeing to Brock but she expected him to. He had raped her twice now and she had no reason to expect he'd stop.

Closing her eyes, she remembered the look in his eyes as he stood there, gun still smoking after killing his friend. Any part of the Daniel she'd known was gone. The man that replaced him was soulless.

"Kitty?" She looked up to see him coming in, a tray in his hand. "Brought ya some food and some coffee. You've been here for a day and a half and haven't eaten a bite. You must be starving." Smiling, he laid the tray on the small table by the window and motioned to her. "Come on, you've got to eat, Kitty."

"I'm not hungry, Daniel." She said quietly, shaking her head. "I don't want anything."

"Aw, come on, sweetheart." He stepped over to the bed and took her arm, pulling her to her feet and ignoring her attempts to pull away. "I admit it's not the best food but it's better than nothing and the coffee's good. Kitty you've got to eat."

"No, Daniel." She pulled her arm from his grasp. "I told you I'm not hungry and I don't want anything. Please, leave me alone."

Daniel let go of her and dropped his head. "Kitty…" He paused and took a deep breath. "I… I know what I've done was… well, it wasn't right. I… I should've waited until we were comfortable with each other again and you had time to get used to being with me but…"

"Get used to being with you?" Kitty was incredulous. "Daniel, get this through your thick skull. I will never be 'comfortable' with you, not like that. I told you a long time ago that I didn't love you. That hasn't changed. You can rape me every night but it won't make me love you or want you, ever."

Daniel looked up. "Alright, Kitty." He sighed as he turned to the door. "Have it your way for now. But understand something. Whether you are comfortable or not, you are mine, from now on. You will stay with me and you will be with me and if things work out the way I want them to, you and I will have a family together. Just settle your mind to that."

Kitty blanched as Daniel left the cabin, closing the door behind him. A family. "Oh, God." Pregnancy. Daniel had taken her twice now and there had been no precautions against pregnancy taken either before or after. Closing her eyes, she sank back down on the cot, praying she hadn't conceived while positive her prayers were no longer being heard.

After leaving the shack, Daniel stood outside the door for a while, lighting another cigarette and puffing on it while thinking hard about what he'd just said to her. A family. Until the words came out of his mouth, he'd not given any thought to that sort of thing. For most of his life, he expected to live alone and die alone. Seeking comfort in the arms of whatever woman he could buy or charm into bed, he never worried about fathering a child. It was that woman's responsibility to take care of it and the next morning he would pull on his clothes and leave. Even when he stayed with a woman for a while, like this last one, he wasn't concerned. He knew she'd make sure she didn't conceive. She had more to lose than he did if she were to get pregnant by him.

But Kitty. He'd given her no chance or opportunity to prevent such a thing from happening. Right then, she could be carrying his child. As he finished his cigarette, he thought about that, and realized the thought pleased him. He'd been with a lot of women over the years. Some of them stirred him, some amused him, some, like the last one, irritated and intrigued him. But none of them, especially the last one, consumed him like Kitty Russell did.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked up to see the last one dismounting from her horse and coming towards him. "Did you get Payne and deliver the note?"

"I did. He's tied up in the barn." He answered. "You?"

Cynthia nodded. "I wanted to keep him out of town longer than I did but he's as stubborn as a mule. But the wagon trick worked. He's looking in the wrong direction as we speak."

Daniel let out a laugh and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply for a moment before releasing her. "Good girl. Now go on back to town and finish out your part. By this time tomorrow, we'll be leaving here with a lot of money."

TBC