Matt stood in the middle of the empty prairie studying the confusing tracks in front of him. They didn't make sense. Whoever it was, that beat up Tobie and stole the mare, wasn't acting like any bandit he ever saw. The man wasn't heading straight south, as most would and he wasn't headed straight anyplace else.

Taking his hat off, Matt wiped his sweaty brow and massaged the stiff muscles in the back of his neck. He had a feeling he was being played. Whoever, he was following, was purposely leading him in circles around here which made Matt wonder why. The only reason he could think of was because they wanted to get him out of town and away from…

Quickly, he put his hat back on and mounted. He wasn't too many miles out of Dodge and unless he was wrong, he needed to get back there and pronto.

Back in town, Duke stood at the base of Doc's stairs and pulled his watch, squinting at the small round face to read the numbers. 6:15. He'd made good time, by his reckoning, considering the things he'd had to do by 7. Freshly bathed and shaved with a neat haircut, he looked more like he was going to church rather than going to his death but he had no intention of going to meet St. Peter, or more likely the other feller down below, looking anything less than his best.

Taking one last look around him, he started climbing the stairs to the physician's office. He saw the deputy racing out of town on his mule, headed to find the marshal most likely. He'd been near the doors of the Long Branch when he heard the deputy asking for volunteers to search the town for Miss Kitty.

Festus, as well as quite a few other people, had searched the town high and low but could find no sign of her. If Duke was right, he didn't figure they would either. At least not until it was all over and maybe not in the best of shape. His heart ached at that. He'd really come to like that lady.

Shaking off the thought of what could be happening to her, he continued his climb and when bidden to do so, opened the door and went in to talk to Doctor Galen Adams.

Two miles out of town, Kitty woke, bleary eyed, head and jaw aching and more confused than worried. She had no idea where she was or why she was there. The only thing she remembered was two men at her door with a gun and then one of them hitting her. She didn't know exactly who the men were, although she remembered seeing them in the Long Branch.

Pushing herself to her feet, she looked around. She was in a small room with a cot in the corner and a small square table next to that. There was a scratched wooden chest of drawers across the room. The table had a lamp, pitcher of water and a glass sitting on it. Upon inspection, she found the chest was empty.

At the head of the cot, there was a small window that had been boarded over but there was enough of a gap between the boards for her to look out and see an empty yard and a big barn in the distance. She recognized the barn. She was at the old Lane farm.

It had been abandoned some three years back when the owner, Jimmy Lane and his family left, unable to make the dry, rocky ground yield a living. Kitty had visited the farm just once, about five years prior when she'd come out with Doc to help Mrs. Lane with the birth of her third child, a boy.

Sighing, she rubbed her sore jaw and sat back down on the cot. She now knew where she was, but she still had no idea why. There was a strong possibility that she'd been taken to be used in some way to get back at Matt for some supposed crime against one outlaw or another. But who?

Getting back to her feet, Kitty went all the way around the room ending back up at the window. She'd found no possibility of escape. The walls and door were solid. She pushed hard at the boards across the window but they wouldn't budge. Finally, giving in to her aching head, she moved back to the cot and unhappily laid down to wait for what happened next.

Not too far from the farm, Festus pushed Ruth to run as fast as he could. "Come on, Ruth." He urged. "We gotta find him." But though the mule willingly complied, Festus could feel his saddle shift under him and worried that it might fall off. It didn't matter if it did though. He had to find Matthew and head him on back to town.

When Sam had informed him that Miss Kitty was missing, he and every man available had scoured the town looking for her. But she'd completely disappeared in the middle of the day without leaving word as to why. Festus was pretty sure she'd been taken but by who or why he didn't know and it didn't matter at the moment. Matthew would figure that out. He just had to find him.

No sooner did that thought cross his mind than he saw the man he sought, riding hard across the hard packed ground heading towards town. "Matthew! Matthew!" He yelled, pulling Ruth to a halt. "Over here!"

But Matt didn't hear him. Instead he raced inexorably towards Dodge like the hounds of hell were at his feet. Festus made no further efforts to get his attention. Matthew was headed where he needed to go, besides, he'd pushed Ol' Ruth as far as he could for a spell.

Dismounting, Festus gently patted the old mule on the head. "Well, he'll find out when he gits to town, Ruth. The ol' Lane farm's not far from here. Ain't nobody a living there, but reckon the well might still be good. What's say we go git some water and I fix this here saddle fer ya?"

Grabbing the reins, Festus headed in that direction while Matt raced frantically for Dodge.

TBC