Adventures of a Young Matt Dillon
Chapter 12
Disclaimer: See chapter one.
It took Matt four weeks of long days on the trail but he was here, Dodge City. Riding through the streets of the town he noticed that the few people that were out on the streets paid little mind to him as he made his way to the jail house. Once there he pulled up his mount and stepped down, grateful to be out of the saddle, and tied his horses to the hitching rail. Then straightening his shoulders a little he stepped through the door of the jail house to find a man leaned back in the chair, his legs propped up on the desk and a newspaper covering his face, sound asleep. "Excuse me." he said. When he didn't get a response Matt said a little louder, "Excuse me."
The man under the newspaper jerked awake and looked about almost blindly before rubbing his eyes and saying, "Oh, oh, can I help you?"
"Yes, my name's Matt Dillon and I'm the new marshal here." Matt said, watching as the young man in the chair, stood somewhat awkwardly on a stiff kneed leg.
"Yes sir. We heard that you were comin'. My name's Chester, Chester Goode." Chester extended his hand.
Matt took the other man's hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you Chester. Ah, if you don't mind me askin', are you the deputy here or somethin'?"
Chester smiled, "Oh no Mister Dillon, no, I was just the other marshall's assitant and well when he got shot I-I just sorta stayed on. I've been keepin' the place cleaned up and ready for the new marshal to arrive."
"I see." Matt said, hooking his thumbs behind the buckle of his gunbelt. "Well would you like to stay on and work for me?"
Chester looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I guess. You don't mind if I keep livin' here do ya?"
Matt who had been looking around the jail, turned back to Chester, "No I don't mind Chester, I guess as long as you don't mind sharin' quarters with me."
"Oh, you won't be takin' a room at the Dodge House? That's where Mister Tanner always stayed."
"He was the previous marshall huh?" Matt asked.
"Yes sir, he lasted us a whole four months before he was shot down right there on Front Street." Chester told Matt. "Jist so ya know Mister Dillon, Dodge ain't to kind to law men.
"Well Chester, I don't want to sound arrogant, but I plan on lasting more than four months." Matt said with a grin.
"I sure hope so, Mister Dillon. I sure hope so."
A couple of hours later Matt had unloaded both of his horses and taken the animals down to the livery where he met Moss Grimrick, the stable owner.
"Well I sure am glad that we have a Marshal here again." Moss said, pulling the straw from between his teeth. "Maybe this town will start to grow and calm down a little bit."
"Well I'm glad to be here Mister Grimrick." Matt said.
His next stop was the telegraph office where he sent two messages, one to Kimboro in Yuma, to let him know that he had arrived and the other to the War Department to ensure them that he had arrived at his post. Then he headed back to the office to find his new assistant and friend to see if there was any place that was suitable to eat in Dodge. After four weeks on the trail Matt was hungry for something other than rabbits, prairie chickens and son-of-a-gun stew. Walking into his new office he found Chester at the stove making coffee. "Oh hello Mister Dillon, if you wait just a few minutes I'll have a new pot of coffee boiled up for you."
"Just leave it off the stove Chester. Is there any place decent to eat in this town?" Matt asked, feeling his stomach rumble.
"Well there's Delmonico's." Chester said. "That usually where Doc and I eat."
"How about we head on over there then." Matt said, picking up his hat and opening the door.
Chester followed suit and Matt soon found himself in a small cafe that smelled of pork grease and strong coffee. Deciding that it would do, Matt found a table and pulled out a chair and Chester followed suit. When the waiter arrived, Chester called him by name and then introduced Matt. "Jess this here is the new marshall."
"Oh, the new marshal, we was wonderin' when you'd be arrivin. Name is Jess Harper." Jess extended his hand to the tall young man seated before him.
Matt stood to his full six foot seven height and took the other man's hand. "Nice to meet you Jess. Names, Dillon, Matt Dillon."
After Matt and Chester had supper in Delmonico's it didn't take long for word to spread that the new marshal was in town and it seemed to Matt that everyone either stopped by the office or walked by to get a look at him, making him feel like a prize bull at the fair.
The next morning, Matt woke early and went to take a look around the town while it was still asleep. When he went out the only other person on the streets was the milk man with his cart. Matt took in the weather beaten buildings, dusty streets and decided that for a new home and a place to start a new career Dodge would do. When he arrived back at his office, Chester was awake and making coffee and Matt felt his stomach turn at what he saw the other man doing. He wasn't dumping out the old grounds, rather just adding a few new ones along with some egg shells and chicory. Turning himself away a little, he greeted Chester. "Mornin'."
"Oh morning Mister Dillon. I'll have ya a good cup a coffee boiled up in a minute."
Not wanting to be rude, Matt said, "Oh, thanks Chester." Before he took a seat at what would be his desk and began to go through the pile of mail there. Lost in his own thoughts and the mail Matt didn't hear Chester start talking again until the other man was at his elbow. "Oh, I'm sorry Chester what was that?"
Chester backed off a bit and said, "I brought ya yer coffee Mister Dillon and then I was sayin' that I usually have breakfast with ole Doc."
"Doc?" Matt asked, his mind instantly bringing up an image of Doc Holliday.
"Yeah, Doc Adams. He and I have breakfast together most every morning."
Just then as if on cue, the office door opened and man in a black suit with a misshapen black hat shuffled through the door. "Morning Chester." He greeted before he saw Matt sitting in the desk chair. "Oh, oh, sorry there young man, I guess I didn't see you. I'm Doctor Galen Adams and you must be our new marshal." He extended his hand towards Matt.
Matt stood and extended his hand as well. "My names Matt Dillon. It's nice to meet you Doctor Adams."
The two men shook hands and Doc said, "Call me Doc, Marshall."
Matt grinned. "Call me Matt, Doc."
Over breakfast Matt learned more about Dodge from the physician's standpoint, which were it was always hot, it was always dry and the best place to go get a beer was the Long Branch. It was then that Chester pointed out to Matt again that the prettiest girls also worked at the Long Branch. He learned that Doc was an avid checker player and that all the stories he had heard about Dodge weren't true.
Until that night however, when Dodge seemed to wake up, then Matt was kept busy running from saloon to saloon breaking up brawls and taking weapons away from drunken cowboys. Luckily for Matt he didn't have to shoot anyone but he did have to take quite a few to jail that night and bust a few heads. The last confrontation pitted Matt against a ox of a man, rightly named Bull Olson. Bull had big meaty arms and fist like sledge hammers and the fight between the two men was one that was talked about for months to come, but it also helped Matt gain the reputation that he needed to gain control over Dodge. The fight also resulted in Matt getting to take his first visit to Doc's office for six stitches to a gash under his chin and to have his bloody nose and lip cleaned up..
Tipping Matt's head up so that he could get a better look at the bloody gash, Doc whistled. "That looks like he made your chin explode Matt. What'd he hit you with anyway, a chair leg or something?"
"His fist."
"His fist!" Doc said in disbelief. "Well let's get it cleaned up and put some stitches in it." He said, grabbing the alchoal and a cotton swab. "Now this will sting just a little."
When the first dab hit the bleeding wound Matt did all he could to keep from yelping in pain and then jumping off Doc's table and running out the door. However he couldn't help his sharp intake of breath and slight jump.
"Hurt a little does it?" Doc asked.
"Just a little Doc."
"Well, I haven't even got to the stitching yet." Doc said, putting down the cotton swab and picking up his needle and thread. Threading the needle, he again raised Matt's chin and made the first stab.
That time Matt did allow himself to yelp in pain. "Ouch! Jesus Doc, isn't their something you can do to not make that hurt so much?"
"Well I could put you out but I only need to put a few stitches in it and it'll be all done." Doc said.
Gritting his teeth, Matt said, "Fine. Just get it over with Doc."