As the stagecoach put Dodge City on the horizon, Matt was consciously aware of how much easier it was to breathe now that his girl's face was joyful. As it turned out, they were the only passengers aboard and her pride flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes already had him thinking about the private time that lay ahead.
It amazed him how rapidly they'd pulled off his uncharacteristically spontaneous plan. Riding back to Dodge at full speed, he made Buck cling to her mare's side just in case she was still feeling any effects from her fall. Then, leaving the horses in Moss's care, she'd sped to the Long Branch to explain the situation to Sam and scooted upstairs to pack. Meanwhile, Matt ran to the stage office to pay for her ticket. Then they'd reunited at Delmonicos to gleefully tell an astounded Chester and Doc that they were both going out of town.
"So I did good back there, did I?" A small smile of satisfaction tweaked his mouth upwards as he leaned against the back of the stage.
"Oh, you did real good, Matt." she was more than happy to spoon feed his masculine ego; reaching out to take his hand, her voice dropped to an emotional whisper, "You're just amazing..." Tears suddenly appeared.
Quickly moving across to sit beside her, he gave her a quick kiss. "Hey now," he spoke softly in her ear, "I think I saw enough of those up on that hill this morning."
She touched his face, her hand lingering on his strong jaw. "I'm happy, Matt."
"Are you really?"
"I couldn't be happier."
"Are you okay?" his expression clouded, "You hit the ground pretty hard this morning. Then we had to move pretty fast to get here."
"I'm fine." she squeezed his hand reassuringly, "Healthy and very happy."
He leaned in for another kiss but before their lips touched they were thrown against the wall when the stagecoach suddenly lost momentum.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The driver bellowed at his team. Matt, fearing a holdup, whirled towards the window with gun in hand.
He was just in time to see a single horse galloping towards a collision. It's big rider was doing nothing to prevent the wreck but, at the last second, the horse veered away and took off across the prairie. It's seemingly lifeless man tumbled to the ground.
"Crazy fool!" The driver scrambled down after regaining control of the team.
"Well, it doesn't look like he was in any condition to do anything about it." Matt was philishoplical as he glammored down, glancing back only for a moment, "Stay inside, Kit."
"He's alive." the Marshal continued, after checking the man's pulse, "Looks like he banged his head pretty good though." Scowling, he searched carefully in the direction the horse had come from, hoping to find some reason for the incident but nothing caught his eye.
"Well, I don't much like the idea of leaving a man out here." the driver muttered, "Especially since his horse took off."
"I don't either." Matt agreed.
"But I don't want to be late with my run either."
"Dodge is the closest town from here and Doc is a good one." Matt gave the driver a look, "If he needs help, we'll go back. I don't care about the schedule."
The man on the ground groaned and his eyes fluttered open.
"Hey, mister." Matt squatted down, giving him a friendly smile, "I'm Matt Dillon, the US Marshal out of Dodge City. We saw your horse throw ya. Are ya alright?"
"I-I think so…" the man slurred his words a little, trying to shake the cobwebs out of his brain, "I got one heck of a headache though."
"I wouldn't doubt it." The Marshal's smile broadened, "Can you tell us what happened?"
"Well," the man was still blurry-eyed as he tried to sit up and only succeeded when the Marshal and the driver put steadying hands on his thick broad shoulders, "the last I remember—"
"Why don't you guys let him sit inside the stage?" Kitty admonished, suddenly hovering over Matt's shoulder, "It's cooler in there."
Matt turned slightly to acknowledge her but wasn't dumb enough to scold her for not staying back. "She's right, Mister. There's some shade inside."
"I got a little coffee up top too." the driver moved ahead while Matt hefted the stranger to his feet and Kitty steadied him from the other side, "It's cold though."
"That'll be fine." The stranger's eyes began to gleam as he checked out the red-haired lady who braced under his shoulder as they moved forward.
"Alright, can you tell us what happened?" Matt prompted again, after the injured man got a couple sips down.
"Why don't you let him tell us his name first?" Kitty gave her big beau a pointed look, not failing to notice that the stranger was as tall and thick as Matt was.
"Right again, Kitty." her beau gave her a lopsided smile, "What's your name, mister?"
"I've come to find that women are right most of the time, Marshal." The stranger managed to flashed a brilliant smile at the beautiful redhead.
"That's the truth." Matt didn't bother keeping the pride out of his voice.
"My name's Ad Bellum, Marshal," the light in his eyes changed for a moment as he eyed the big lawman, but he soon managed another toothy grin, "and the best I can recall about what happened is my horse spooked up the creek aways. I hit a tree branch before I got control of him." His head was quickly clearing and he flashed Kitty another wide smile, "I can't imagine how I didn't fall off right there, but I guess I didn't."
"We're heading to Topeka, mister." the driver suddenly got down to business, "I hate to leave you here without a horse. Can you travel? I—"
"I wouldn't mind seeing Topeka again." Bellum drained the rest of the canteen with another strange gleam in his eyes, "and I can get another horse when we get there."
"Can you pay the fare, mister?" the driver asked.
"I'll pay it." Matt quickly interjected, feeling a little irk prickle his spine at the driver's prudishness.
"Can you travel already, Mr. Bellum?" Kitty looked concerned, "Are ya really alright?"
"Well, I can sure get a little nap on the stage." Bellum surprised her with yet another brilliant smile, "Miss— He said your name was Kitty?"
"Kitty Russell." She extended her hand.
"Let's get after it then." Matt had to work hard to disguise his growing annoyance as he gave his lady a hand up and slid into the spot next to her. A lot of men found Kitty attractive and he wasn't about to blame them, but in the short time that they'd known him, this newcomer was starting to get on his nerves!
Laying an inconspicuous hand atop his girl's on the seat, Matt continued trying to hide his irk as the stage built it's momentum back up. So much for getting the whole ride to Topeka alone with her!
And so it was that they spent the long days of travel making light polite conversation with Bellum when he was awake and silently telling each other how they felt with their eyes when he wasn't. Only when they stopped at relay stations were they allowed a little privacy to talk freely about their plans so both were delighted when the Marshal finally set their luggage down on his side of their adjoining rooms in Topeka's huge Fifth Avenue Hotel.
"Well, I'm glad that guy has his own room now." He turned towards her with a lopsided smile.
"Oh, it wasn't all that bad." She smiled back.
"You don't think?" he scowled, "I was getting mighty tired of watching him smile at you."
"He was smiling at me?" she asked coyly, smirking as she let her hair down and slowly walked towards him, "I didn't even notice."
"Well, you sure know how to make a man feel good, Miss Russell." he bent to give her a long kiss, breaking off just long enough to get a few words out, "Now, how about we get after all those plans we've been talking about?"