Gunsmoke

Nineteen Years, Seven Months and Fourteen Days

Chapter 12

Finding My Way Back to You

Notes: Have Kitty go back to the way it was. It is four years after Matt's death and she is living a sad and lonely life. I'm not so sure that this one is going to make any sense to anyone. I'm not so sure it makes much sense to me, but it was there, and had to be written. I apologize for my muse or lack thereof.

KR

Kitty had fallen asleep on the coach ride back to Dodge. Sitting across from her was none other than Will Mannon. She tried to remember when he had gotten on the stage. Her mind flashed back to the day Mannon returned to Dodge. It was almost a year ago, when he showed up at the Long Branch.

Kitty fell against the bar. She hit her side, and looked at Mannon. "You and I have some unfinished business, Reds."

"IF memory serves me, correctly, you couldn't finish your business last time, I highly doubt you will finish tonight." She said grabbing the bottle from the counter and breaking it. "I'll kill you if you try, or you'll kill me, one way or another, one of us will not walk out of here."

"I do love a woman with spunk, Reds." He said moving closer to her. Kitty stepped back against the bar, but he was quicker than she. He grabbed her wrist, squeezing it brutally until she dropped the bottle. He then turned her around and clamped his hand over her mouth as he dragged her into the back room, to her office where he brutally rapes and beats her.

"It's about time you woke up, Reds." He said staring at her. She wanted to get off of the stage, but a sharp pain brought her to a holt, as memories ripped through her mind. She saw Matt's casket being lowered into the ground. Newly going up against Mannon for raping and beating her. Festus came up against him soon after he returned and found out that Newly had been shot dead. Tears began to fall down her cheeks again. "Now, now, Reds, I thought we settled all that. You needn't cry over a dead man or two or three." He laughed at her. They had been gone from Dodge for almost three months, well, she had been gone. She had run away, but he had found her. Her hand fell to her slightly protruding belly, and she thought of the baby growing inside. She had been with Matt for nineteen years, and they had been so careful not to get pregnant, but Mannon did not give her a chance to avoid this situation. After killing Newly and Festus, he shot and badly wounded Sam. That meant there wasn't a man left in Dodge with the backbone to go up against Mannon and he took what he wanted. He took claim of the Long Branch; it's owner, and made it publically known that she belonged to him. No man even so much as smiled at her knowing that they would have to try to face down Mannon's gun. Everything was coming apart, her life was not what she had wanted it to be and all the dreams she had, of Matt, his children, they were just that, dreams and she was angry. How dare God do this to her? Hadn't she been through enough? She hated Mannon with everything that was in her. How could she carry his child when she wanted him dead, and as for the child, she didn't want that child either, it belonged to a murderer, it would only be logical that it too would be evil, like his father. "When we get back to Dodge, I'll have one of the other rooms next to yours opened up and we'll make a nursery out of it." He said leaning forward and gently caressing her belly. The anger in her just rolled over her and she slapped him across the face. Mannon touched his cheek then suddenly he slapped her and she fell onto the seat of the coach. She looked up at him as she touched her nose, feeling the blood dripping from her nostril. Seething, she grabbed something, anything and hit him. Mannon threw his arm up to defend himself from her blows. But she was like a madwoman as she continued to strike him. Mannon laughed at her striking him with the cane. Suddenly he grabbed the cane out of her hand and struck her hard across the face. He throws the cane out the window of the stage and looks down at her as she lay on the floor sobbing. Slowly, methodically, he began to unbuttoned his jacket and smiled down at her as he did so.

The coach pulled up to the Dodge depot and the driver looked down at the door, sickened by what he had heard going on, but unable to stop Mannon because his partner had been shot when they tried to stop him and pull him away from Kitty. Mannon climbed out of the coach and looked back into the coach. She had stopped crying as she lay on the coach seat. Angrily he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the coach, throwing her to the ground. There were a few townsfolk gathered around, and looked on in horror as she lay beaten on the ground. Slowly she climbed to her feet, but it wasn't fast enough for him and he grabbed her by the hair pulling her completely upright. Her lip was busted and dried blood left a trail down her chin from her nose and from her lip. Her left cheek was bruising, her blouse torn open and she tried to pull it closed but he grabbed her arm and headed over to the Long Branch as the town watched helplessly. It would not be good for the Saloon owner, and they knew this. The saloon was open but there were only a handful of people inside. Most of them were strangers to Dodge. Who only visited on rare occasions. They watched as the man entered the saloon with the battered woman and headed up stairs without saying a word.

The next few days were quiet in Dodge as Mannon stayed in the room with Kitty. When Sally had come up to bring a tray of food, she had seen through the crack of the door, that Kitty's right hand was shackled to the brass bed and she was on her side facing the opposite way, the sheet was pulled down to her hips and she was naked from there up. She also noticed the bruises on Kitty's back. The sight of her boss, made her sick inside. Mannon took the tray and stared at her, she quickly cowered away from him and headed back down the stairs. No one saw her for the next few days not even her girls. About a week or so later, the new Doc in town had given her a clean bill of health, but had told her to take it easy. Kitty never said a word to him. She just stared out the window as Mannon tried to make small talk with the doctor who didn't like him either. He knew that Kitty was withdrawing from the world. With the exception of Matt, Mannon had killed everyone she loved. Doc, Newly, Festus, and Sam, well he still wasn't able to walk on his injured leg. She just wanted to curl up and die. The child growing inside of her, she didn't want it, she wanted to die. She smiled slightly as she thought of Matt. His smile in her mind would be all that she had left of him. Mannon had taken everything from her, every piece of jewelry, every dress was destroyed because he didn't know what had been given to her by Matt Dillon and he wanted nothing of Dillon left behind. What he couldn't take from her were the memories and she held onto those as tight as she could. Doc Stillman left and Kitty watched as Mannon walked over to the nightstand. He opened the drawer and pulled out the US Marshal's Badge she had hidden in the bottom of her closet, thinking it would be safe. "I found this little tin star hidden in the bottom of your closet." He said looking at the last thing she held onto.

Kitty stood up and started to walk towards him. She held her hand out towards him. "Give it to me, it's mine." She said approaching him. He just smiled at her. "You've taken everything from me, you've left me nothing. I want the badge, it belonged to a good decent man."

"You're dead Marshal?" He laughs and she slaps him, but he continued to laugh at her. She tried to grab for it, but he shoved her and she fell to the floor. He then threw the badge and fired a shot at it, shooting it clean through the middle. Kitty crawled over to the badge that lay on the floor. She looked at it and cried as she held it to her breast. He angrily grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back. "You're Marshal is dead!" He said getting in her face. Kitty suddenly grabbed his gun from the holster and he backed away slightly. "You gonna kill me, Reds?" He said backing up somewhat towards the door. Kitty slowly got to her feet.

"You're already dead, Mannon. You have no heart, no feelings, so that makes you dead. I want you to know that you will never see this bastard of yours born." She turned the gun and suddenly shot herself in the chest. He grabbed her about the waist as her body went limp in his arms.

"No! NOOOOOO!" He yelled as he held her lifeless form in his arms.

***********************************

Kitty woke with a jolt. She realized that she was back on the stage. Sitting across from her was Helmick and the young woman with her son. She was back on the stage from garden city and her mind was trying to process everything she had either dreamed or been through. She wasn't too sure. "Are you alright, Miss Russell?" Helmick asked concerned.

"Yes, I…just a bad dream." She said sitting straighter in her seat. "Thank you." She said as she looked out the window and gazed out. Something was nudging her insides and she couldn't get her mind to stop racing.

TBC

I am sorry but my muse is working hard or hardly working, one or the other. Anyway, hope this doesn't bring too many awful thoughts about me. Wow, my muse is a real bi…!