Little Girl Lost

By Singerme and Leighann

Epilogue

Kitty crossed and uncrossed her legs for the hundredth time as Chester, Doc, Brenda, and she waited for Matt to arrive. He had gone down to the train depot to meet the afternoon train, which carried James Russ's business partner George and Iris Oliver. Kitty had written to the Oliver's explaining how she had met Brenda and her uncle on the stagecoach, her time with Brenda, and how Robert Warren had planned to get his hands on Brenda's fortune. The Oliver's in turn had replied back to Kitty informing her how grateful they were to herself, Doc, and Matt for all that they had done for Brenda, and how they wanted to come to Dodge City to discuss Brenda's future.

While they waited, Kitty's mind went over the very uncomfortable conversation she'd had with Matt about Brenda, and how she'd came to be in Kitty's room.

"Matt, I can explain." Kitty gave him a beseeching look.

Matt's eyes narrowed as he looked at first her, then the little girl who was held firmly in Kitty's arms and against her legs. "I hope so." He said pointedly. "What's she doing up here?"

"I was hiding from Uncle Robert." Brenda piped up.

"Hiding." Matt sighed. "Kitty…"

"Matt, I know. I know. But you have to understand. I had to do something to keep her safe. You said yourself that you couldn't do it. "

"I did not!" Matt protested.

Kitty's color rose and her contrite expression disappeared in her anger. "You as much as said it. You said when Brenda got well, you'd have to give her back to Warren. And as you just saw outside, Warren was going to kill her."

"You were gonna let Uncle Robert kill me?" Brenda looked at Matt with hurt and confusion written on her face. "Why?"

Matt let out a troubled breath as he looked down at the little girl. "Honey, I wasn't going to let him kill you. I promise. I… well, I just…"

"Matt," Doc interrupted seeing that this might be the best opportunity to get Kitty out of a hole, and bring things back around to the current situation. "Whether you agree with what Kitty did or not, she did save this little girl. Look at her." He pointed down to the little girl who had practically plastered herself to Kitty. "She's just about well and you know what was supposed to happen then."

Matt dropped his head with a sigh. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Doc. And I'm glad he didn't get his hands on her. But now what? From what I gathered, Warren was her only relative. So, whom does she go to now?"

Brenda, who was a little tired of the adults talking about her and not to her, suddenly placed both hands on her hips and stepped away from Kitty. "I want to go to the Oliver's." She stated. "That's where I want to go."

Kitty glanced down with a smile at the little girl who was now sitting beside her, head on Kitty's arm and dozing. Brenda had said she wanted to be with the Oliver's and before long she was going to get her wish. Kitty knew that was for the best. The Oliver's would be able to give her every advantage as well as a loving and normal home to grow up in. And normal, was most definitely not what Kitty could offer her.

Still, Kitty knew she'd miss the little girl with the mop of curly brown hair and infectious smile. She'd really liked having Brenda staying with her. Matt was less than enthused. Knowing that while Brenda was staying with Kitty he couldn't be. But he also knew that it was a temporary situation, and grudgingly admitted that Brenda was probably better off with Kitty until the Oliver's arrived.

Kitty's head came up, as did Doc and Chester's, when they heard boot steps approaching. Gently, Kitty shook Brenda's shoulder and woke her up. "Brenda? Honey? Wake up, little one."

When Brenda woke up, she looked up at Kitty and then around the room. "Are they here?"

"I think they are, Honey." Kitty answered just as the door opened and Matt brought in two people with him.

"Brenda!" The lady rushed forward and pulled the little girl into her arms.

Kitty said nothing as she appraised the young looking couple, who had come to claim Brenda. Mr. Oliver was about 6 foot with a dark brown hair and eyes. His small mustache was well groomed as was his hair and clothes. Though his clothes were nothing over the top, they did bespeak of his wealth.

Mrs. Oliver was about 5' 2" with soft blue eyes, blonde hair and a petite frame. Like her husband, her fashionable peach colored dress with the matching hat and reticule showed her obvious affluence, but was not ostentatious.

When Iris Oliver finally sat Brenda back down on her feet, she looked around at the other people in the room. Kitty, Doc, and Chester had all gotten to their feet waiting for Matt to introduce them.

"Uh, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver, I'd like you to meet Miss Kitty Russell, Dr. Adams, and my assistant Chester Goode. They were all involved in keeping Brenda safe while she was here in Dodge."

"Yeah, "Brenda grinned up at Kitty. "Miss Kitty saved me and took me to her rooms and I saw…"

"All my clothes." Kitty quickly put in, not really wanting to go into anything else at the moment.

"Um, hum." Brenda nodded. "And she had lots of clothes. And I played with a cat too. Can I have a cat when we go home?"

George Oliver smiled down at the little girl. "We'll talk about it, pumpkin." He looked around him then. "Thank you all for what you did to protect and take care of Brenda. I can't tell you how much that means to us."

Iris nodded her agreement. "When Robert Warren took Brenda away, we were afraid we'd never see her again. And well, if it hadn't of been for all of you, we still might not have. You all have our eternal gratitude."

"Well," Kitty gave Brenda a wink and a smile. "Brenda's a special little girl, and we couldn't let anything happen to her if we could stop it."

"That's right." Doc put in. "We've come to care quite a bit for her."

"We sure have." Chester put in with a grin, not wanting to be left out of anything.

"Well, we are certainly grateful." George Oliver smiled and then looked back at Matt. "Marshal, our train home will be leaving this evening. But before then, I was wondering if you could recommend a restaurant. I'm afraid train fare isn't the best."

"Certainly." Matt nodded. "As a matter of fact, I'll have Chester here show where it's at."

"Why sure, I will." Chester nodded as he headed towards the door.

"Thank you." George answered. "And uh, Marshal, if there's any paperwork or anything we need to take care of…"

"Oh, no, Mr. Oliver." Matt shook his head. "The legal papers you brought with you, and the wire I got from the judge, pretty much takes care of everything. Brenda's yours."

George nodded. "Well, then," he looked over at his wife and Brenda. "Shall we go?"

With Brenda between them, George and Iris turned to follow Chester out of the door, when Brenda suddenly stopped and raced back to Kitty, wrapping her arms around Kitty as far as she could reach.

"Thank you, Miss Kitty." She looked up at Kitty with something of adoration in her eyes.

Kitty bent down and cradled Brenda against her. "You are more than welcome. And I want you to promise me something."

"What?" Brenda pulled back and asked curiously.

"That if you ever need me, you let me know, okay?"

Brenda nodded, hugged Kitty again, and then finally released her to go over to Doc and hug him. "Thank you, Dr. Adams."

Doc kissed her on the forehead. "You're welcome. "

When he let her go, Brenda turned and ran back to Iris and took her hand. "Bye, Marshal." She looked up at Matt and waved before she and the Oliver's left the jail, following Chester down to Delmonico's.

"Bye." Matt nodded with a smile then looked over at Kitty who was about to cry. "She's going to be alright, you know."

"I know that." Kitty sniffled. "Doesn't mean I won't worry about her."

"No, of course not." Doc agreed. "I think we'll all worry about her and miss her, but you know there are such things as telegraphs and the mail. You can always keep in touch with her."

"He's right, Kitty." Matt agreed. "And you know the train does go that far, so a visit isn't necessarily out of the question."

Kitty looked up at Matt. "You mean that?"

"Why, sure I do." Matt smiled.

"Good, Marshal." She suddenly grinned as she hooked an arm into his. "Come on, let's go see if we can join the Oliver's for supper and then plan our trip out there."

"Our trip?" Matt pulled back.

"Um, hum." Kitty answered smartly. "You said a trip out there to visit wasn't out of the question."

"Well, yeah, but…" Matt started to protest, but Doc's laughter cut him off.

"Yep, that's true, Mr. Marshal." Doc chortled. "You sure did."

Realizing he was out numbered, Matt shook his head as he patted Kitty's hand on his arm. "Come on." He said. "Let's go see about supper and then we'll talk about a visit. Just talk."

The End