The Thoroughbreds

Chapter 10

Matt had been back in Dodge for over a month now. When he had first arrived Doc could not imagine why Kitty was not with him. At first he thought they had had some kind of disagreement over that badge, as had happened several times before. One evening over a game of checkers in Doc's office the marshal had explained the situation. The shooting in Wichita, how there were going to be others out there looking for him and how he felt he was no longer able to protect her as he should.

"I need to give up this badge and just disappear. Maybe that way we can find a place where we can be safe. You have been right all these years Doc, I have given a lot to this town and its people and I can no longer keep doing it. It is time to hand it over to someone like Newly. Someone with a good gun arm."

"So what do you plan to do?"
"Kitty gave me a power of attorney to sell the Long Branch for her. It seems Hannah has been wanting to buy it for a while now. They had agreed on a price and we will formally sign the papers in another week. She will then be the official owner of the saloon."

Doc could see that his friend was deeply affected by the whole ordeal.

"It's really for the best you know."

"I know but it's a hard thing to see go."

"I had a letter from Kitty a day or so ago." Doc tried to lighten the mood. "Said she's having fun in New York and is intending to leave for Paris when the money arrives. That seems a long way for a lady to travel on her own."

"I begged her not to go, but I can't stop her."

"Maybe you should go with her."

"No Doc I can't do that."

The physician gets up and pours two glasses of whisky.

"Here try this – it is the good stuff, not the rot gut I keep for patients."

They sip on it for a while, till eventually Matt leaves to go to his lonely room at the Dodge House.

He passes Newly about to head out and make rounds.

"Goodnight Marshal," the young man calls out.

Matt acknowledges him then intentionally turns his attention away from the Long Branch as he passes by.

The nights have been long since he returned from Kentucky alone. Sleep does not come easily. His arm seems to ache worse than ever and he can't wait for dawn to come and erase the thoughts of Kitty being so far away from him. Every night he talks to her in his brief periods of sleep. "Don't go to Paris Kitty. Wait for me, I'll be with you soon."

The Deed to the Long Branch was handed over and the new name appeared over the door. Matt hardly went in there now unless there was a fight that needed to be broken up.

The money from the sale was safely deposited in the bank and by now the draught was on its way to New York. Kitty had made all the arrangements ahead of time so the process worked smoothly.

Everything was falling into place. In a few weeks a representative from the Attorney Generals office would come to town to accept his resignation and swear Newly in as a full US Marshal.

In a way it was sad, he had been here for so long now, but then a whole new life was ahead. He had written to Kitty in New York at the address she had given him. At least he knew she was safe there. He just hoped she didn't go ahead with that wild notion of hers. She told him she was having a great time going to concerts and plays, eating at some of the finer restaurants and shopping in the big stores there. She said she missed him terribly, but that Ben and Sheila Shepherd were fine hosts and she was kept busy most of the time.

She thought she would be leaving for Paris in a week or so, and then would be gone about two months.

He had to go stop her. As soon as Newly was sworn in and he officially resigned he would leave. He had not given much consideration to how he would leave or where he would meet her. He just had to stop her from going to Paris.

By this time Newly was pretty much running the town, but there had been a prisoner to take to Hayes. Matt said he would like to go to Hays, to say his goodbye's to the Sheriff there. The Sheriff was also planning to retire at the end of his current term and hand the job over to a younger man. He had become a good friend over the years, especially in those early years when Matt had no full time deputy.

There had been no problem, the prisoner was delivered and the two lawmen had spent a day fishing, going over old times and discussing what they planned to do after giving up their badges.

The weather was pleasant for the end of summer. He rode out of Hays and headed towards Dodge, relishing the openness of the prairie and feeling somewhat sad about leaving it. He felt at home out here and wondered if any other place could give him that same contentment. With Kitty by his side he knew he could make anyplace feel like home, but it would be different. He spent the night beneath a small patch of cottonwood trees where he had camped many times before. He was in no hurry. Sadly the room over the Long Branch no longer called to him. In the morning he made coffee over a small fire and moved on.

An hour later he was almost within sight of Dodge, he knew this trail so well that the few small rocky outcrops where as familiar as the lines on his own face.

Maybe he had ceased to be watchful, or maybe his luck had finally run out.

Shots were fired from behind one of those familiar sets of rocks. At first he did not realize that they were aiming at him, they went so wide. He went to jump down off of the big buckskin when a great force hit him in the chest. He fell to the ground, as the horse shied from the shot and ran off.

Three men appeared, running towards the downed man.

Dillon still had a tenuous hold on consciousness and managed to work his hand towards his gun.

The images where not clear but he was able to fire a couple of shots, and then a kick from a boot knocked his gun away and sent shards of pain along his arm. The three men picked up the lifeless body and drug it off the trail to hide beneath some bushes.

"Is he still alive?" It was a shaggy haired youth asking the question.

"Don't look much like it." said a taller older man with a cigar hanging from his mouth. He used his foot to turn the Marshal over. He noticed the spreading red stain on the faded red shirt and felt some satisfaction.

"Hey Marshal, you hear me?" he yelled the question towards the man on the ground. "That's for killing my young brother, right there in Dodge, you hear? He didn't mean no harm, just wanted to scare you a bit and you killed him. He was barely twenty years old. He kicked at the man again. You hear what I'm saying to you?"

No response.

The third member of the group was approaching with the horses.
He looked down at the man on the ground.

"I think you got him good Jamie, he won't be killin' no other young kids like your brother."

"Is he dead?"

"Looks pretty much like it. Lets get out of here before we have a whole bunch of lawmen after us."

The men mount up and move off. The body on the ground does not move and soon the long shadows of afternoon wrap around it, protecting the lifeless form from both the harsh sunlight and the sight of others.