Wallace wasn't as easy to break as Matt thought he would be. Despite his wound and his obvious fear of the angry lawman, he still wouldn't talk.
"Matthew." Festus squinted up at him. "I'm a figurin you orta jes let me have him. I got me some Injun tricks that jes might make him reconsider."
"You can do what you will." Wallace said through gritted teeth. His shoulder was aching miserably. "I'll tell you nothing."
Matt studied the man sitting miserably on the bed, holding his shoulder, for several long moments before looking over at Festus. "He won't tell us anything, Festus." Matt sighed. "He's more afraid of the men he's in with than he is of us."
"Matt." Kitty pulled at Matt's sleeve. "Can I talk with you?"
Matt nodded. "Keep an eye on him, Festus." He said as he followed Kitty outside. "What's wrong?" He asked when they'd stepped out of earshot of those inside.
"Nothing." Kitty answered. "Except he won't talk and the way he's bleeding, he won't live too long either. He's got to get some help, Matt."
Matt pulled back slightly, looking at her rather suspiciously. "Kitty, I…"
"Oh, get that look off your face." She was rather pleased to see the look of jealously that flitted across his face. "I only care about his health so far as it concerns you. Under cover or not, if he dies, it'll be like we killed him on purpose. And with him dead, we'll have no access what so ever to the men and information you need."
"Well, you got any ideas of how to get him help and get him to talk?" Matt crossed his arms in doubt.
"I do." Kitty smiled up at him. "But you're going to have to trust me."
"Not if it's going to get you in any deeper than you already are." Matt shook his head. "I have no intentions of you getting hurt. If I hadn't been here today…"
"Matt, calm down." Kitty took his arm to calm him. "I won't be hurt. But I do need you to listen to me. You and Festus are intimidating but like you said, he's more afraid of whoever he's mixed up with. So we need to approach this another way."
"How?" He didn't like her being anywhere near Wallace and if that was what she was suggesting, he would veto it immediately.
"We let him go." Kitty answered simply.
"What?" Matt was sure he hadn't heard her correctly. "We let him go and he'll head straight back to…" He stopped, understanding what she meant. "He won't let us just follow him." He warned.
"No, he won't." Kitty agreed. "Not if he knows about it. But if we were to leave him here, tied up, saying we'll come back later and then he was to get loose…"
"You know, Red. That's pretty good thinking." Matt grinned.
"Why, thank you, Marshal." She chuckled for just a moment forgetting everything but how good it felt to be with him.
Together the two returned to the room where Festus sat guard over Wallace.
"Alright, Festus." Matt nodded at his friend. "Get me a rope if you will. Let's get Mr. Wallace, here, tied up and then we can go. We need to get Kitty back to town."
"We're gonna hafta be awful keerful, Matthew." Festus instantly warned. "If whatever fellers he's mixed up sees us with him…"
"Oh, they won't." Matt grinned. "Because we're not taking him with us."
"What!?" Wallace started. "You have to take me to a doctor. I'm hurt. Can't you see that? You shot me."
"Yeah, I know." Matt answered with no sign of remorse.
"Kitty." Wallace pleaded. "Make him take me back to town. I need help."
"I tried, Miles." Kitty answered with a slight shrug. "But he's stubborn. He doesn't want to take you back to town."
"That's right." Matt agreed as he took the rope Festus handed him and moved towards Wallace. "I'm going to leave you here when I go. I can't take you back to town without answering some questions I don't want to answer. Besides, the way I figure it, if your friends don't know where you are, then they won't have any connection to me. But don't worry, we'll come back. Maybe by then, you'll be in a mood to answer my questions."
"But… but you're a lawman." Wallace groaned as Matt pulled him forward, grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back, tying him at the wrist. "Please." He was now practically begging. "My shoulder hurts badly. Please."
"Sorry." Matt stood back and shook his head. "You know, I might've considered it, if you hadn't of done Kitty the way you did. But now…" Matt shook his head with a grim smile. "I don't care what happens to you and if you're dead when I do get back? Oh, well." He looked over at Festus and Kitty. "Come on."
Wallace continued to plead and even cry as the three walked out of the cabin and towards the horses and buggy. But they paid him no heed. Kitty moved over to Matt's side and leaned in close. "I'll need to ride in with you, Matt. He's gonna need something to get back to town in and I doubt he could ride a horse."
"Yeah, I think you're right." Matt agreed as he swiftly mounted and then extended a hand to help her up in front of him. Waiting until Festus was mounted; Matt turned his horse and led the way back towards town.
Back inside the cabin, Wallace groaned as he heard the horses riding out. He had to get free. He couldn't let Dillon get away. Using all the strength he could muster, Wallace managed to sit up and carefully began working, trying to find some way to free himself. As it turned out, it was easier than he thought.
With just a little manipulation, he finally threw off the ropes around his wrists and then bent to untie his legs. "Dillon doesn't know much about tying a man up." He grunted as he painfully pushed himself to his feet. It never occurred to him to wonder why not. When he finally managed to rise, he grabbed a towel from the table and pushed it tightly against his shoulder and then on wobbly feet, made his way outside, finding the buggy right where he'd left it.
"I bet you didn't believe I'd ever get free, did you law man." He ground out as he laboriously climbed into the buggy. "Well, that's your mistake. I'm going to get you, Dillon. You and Kitty Russell and that friend of yours are going to pay. And you're going to pay heavily." With his good arm, Wallace pulled himself into the carriage, snapped the reins and headed back to town.
TBC