Kitty lay unconscious in the semidarkness of the cave she had fallen into.
It was supposed to have been a brisk ride out into the country to clear away the odors of town, the saloon, and the rowdy men who frequented it.
She had told no one where she was going, and only Moss had glimpsed her riding away on her chestnut mare Magnolia.
Planning to be back in plenty of time to bath and change for work, Kitty dressed in a simple, long-sleeved, thin white blouse with a dark riding skirt and boots and hurried down the stairs without the bartender seeing her.
An hour and a half later, she pulled up in a small meadow on the edge of a thick copse of trees and brush. She dismounted to stretch her legs and let Maggie graze and rest before they headed back to town. The sun was hot and bright, and as she walked along, she glanced up at the one fluffy white cloud in the dazzling blue sky.
The next thing Kitty knew, she was falling into cool darkness. Before she could even scream, she crashed to the hard ground, twisting her right ankle under her painfully before she hit her head and passed out.
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Riding back from the Harris farm where he had gone to patiently listen to a story about missing chickens and terrible neighbors, Matt almost rode past the grazing chestnut horse.
"Huh! That sure looks like Magnolia over there!" he thought as he noted the narrow white blaze on the horse's nose and the white "stocking" on the right front and left rear leg.
He turned his big Buckskin towards the grazing mare and urged him forward, suddenly filled with a deep feeling of unease. Galloping up, he dismounted before his horse had even stopped completely.
"KITTY! KITTY!" Matt scanned the surrounding area until he saw her small boot tracks and started following them.
He would have missed the narrow hole in the high grass if not for her boot prints that led up to it and then disappeared.
Lying on his stomach, Matt peered down the hole into a dark, deep cavern. He thought he saw something white at the bottom.
"Kitty? Honey, are you down there?" he called in dread. Pulling some matches from his vest pocket, he lit one and held it at the end of one long arm extended down into the space as far as he could reach. Just before it burned him, he moved the match a little and saw her still body lying on her right side.
"Kitty…" he whispered, then jerked his hand as the flame reached his forefinger and thumb.
He rolled over and sat up, his quick mind racing for how to rescue her. He thought about tying his lariat to Buck's saddle horn and lowering himself down, but looking at the size of the hole, he knew he would never fit.
"If I try to enlarge the opening, the whole thing might fall in on her."
He lit another match and peered down at the still-motionless woman again. If she were awake, he could drop the end of the rope down to her, and then pull her up if she weren't too badly injured.
"THINK Matt! There has to be an entrance somewhere, and hopefully nearby."
Tying the reins of Buck and Magnolia to the nearest bush, the determined young man headed for the rocky area to the north. He had remembered two old miners talking in the Long Branch one night about an abandoned mine out this way and hoped this was it. They had described a rock formation shaped like a horse's head and he imagined that was what he saw in the distance.
Within about ten minutes of rapid hiking, the Marshal saw it. The two crisscrossed boards across the partially overgrown entrance had a skull and crossbones and a faded "KEEP OUT" painted on them.
He kicked the boards aside and entered the cave. Looking around, he picked up an old torch and used another match to light it. What he saw filled him with dismay. Rocks and support timbers had fallen down and partially blocked the way inside, and even now dust and small pebbles were falling.
Pausing to make a plan, Matt then began to pick his way in as carefully and quickly as possible.
Kitty needed him.