PT.10

Shuffling around in the dark, the carriage that carried Kitty and the two men began rocking. They were riding down a long wooded back road. There was no sign of where they were. These men weren't familiar with the area. Suddenly the carriage tilted and flipped.

All three were thrown. Scrambling, they were trying to pull themselves up. One of the men were injured. He had landed on a large rocky area, breaking his leg, which was also open with a large gash.

Kitty was shaking her head, righting herself. "UGH!" She saw his leg bleeding and crawled toward him. "Don't move. Let me look."

"Aw, Lady. Let me be."

Shaking her head. "Shut up and lie still." She ordered, proceeding to rip his pant leg. She turned to face his friend. "I need water." She began ripping her petticoat in strips. As she felt his leg, she realized it was broke. Again turning, "See if you can find some good strong sticks while you're at it."

He shot her a look as if he didn't like being told what to do by her.

Tightening her jaw and tilting her head. "PLEASE?"

Kitty proceeded to bandage his leg and make him comfortable while his friend scoured around for twigs to build a fire. Sitting beside the injured man, "You know you should give your friend there some advice."

Shifting his eyes toward her, "And that would be?"

"Hmmm, oh, just that while he's digging a pit to place those twigs in to build a fire, he might want to dig two more holes as well."

Squinting at her, "Two more holes?"

"Uh huh. He's gonna have to bury you both somewhere when Matt catches up to you. Oh and believe me," she was now smirking at him, "he will."

Matt, John, Tom, Sam and Harriman arrived at the first location where Kitty had been held. As they entered, Matt called out her name. "KITTY? KITTY?" When not getting an answer, he turned, grabbing Harriman. "What game are you playing?"

"I… I… Dillon, I..." Without warning, Matt's punch drove Harriman across the room. Both Tom and Sam grabbed him before he could repeat the action.

John and Tom lifted Harriman. "Look, Mister, you'd be smart to take our friend here to where you have his wife. I'm not sure we can hold him off for very long, nor do we want to. You made a big mistake. You messed with the wrong man and," Tom leaned in real close, "mister, if those flunkies of yours touched one curl on Kitty's head, I wouldn't wanna be you. Am I making sense to ya?"

Harriman's eyes were wide. He now realized maybe he'd made a mistake crossing Matt.

Dodge City

Cattlemen's Association

Some of the local ranchers all gathered together going over what they thought the next move would be, when Pete rushed through the door. "Sorry to interrupt men, but I just thought you'd all want to know."

"Ah, well." Kennedy stood up. "Well, Pete, spit it out. I… I..."

"Aw, Pete, give me that." Kennedy said as he grabbed and read the wire. "Damn! Has Newly O'Brien seen this?"

"No. I thought you men would know where he was."

Cassidy spoke up. "Try Delmonico's or the Long Branch. Quick!"

Several men looked at Kennedy. "Well? What is it?"

"Trouble." He answered. "Miss Kitty. Not much detail but seems as though she's been kidnapped while they were in D.C. This wire is from a friend of Dillon's. They think it's connected to the railroad."

"What can we do?" Porter, another rancher asked. They just all looked at one another.

Pete rushed into Delmonico's. Newly and Festus were having breakfast with Grace. "Marshal O'Brien, Festus, Doc Grace."

"Hey, Pete." Grace greeted him. "Join us?"

"I'm sorry, Doc Grace, this isn't social. Marshal, this came. It's real important. You all may wanna read it. I'm real sorry about what it says. Newly quickly grabbed the wire. As he read, his face looked stunned, scaring Grace.

"Newly? What?"

"Yeah, Newly. What?" Festus repeated.

Newly was not sure how to break the news. "Gracie honey, now I don't want you to get upset."

Panic took over. She grabbed the paper from him before he could stop her. Her eyes filled. "MOMMA!"

"Newly, what's that there tele'wire say?" Festus asked.

"Festus, Miss Kitty's been kidnapped and they think it is connected to the railroad.

Quickly Festus jumped up.

"Where you going?" Newly said.

"Where ya think? Ta help Matthew and bring Miz Kitty home. Gracie Honey, don'cha worry. Me and yer Poppa will bring yer Momma home afore ya kin say a rat run over the roof with a piece of raw liver in it's mouth. Now ya just take care of thangs here, jes like yer Momma would want ya to. Ya here me, now?" He leaned down, kissing her forehead. "Newly, I'll git word to ya when I catch up with Matthew, directly."

Festus packed up Ruth, headed out of Dodge due East, saying to himself. "On my way directly, Matthew. We'll find Miz Kitty and we'll git them there varmints. Stay in the buggy, Miz Kitty. We're a coming."

TBC