A feisty argument blasted the Marshal's ears as he stalked towards the jail the next morning. It had taken some doing to get him out on the street but Kitty had dutifully sipped down the broth Doc brought over and promised her lover she'd lay low for at least a couple days. It satisfied him enough to let her out of his sight for a while.

"What's going on here?" He ripped the door open to find Festus going toe to toe with another man.

"Matthew," the deputy's mouth was quicker than the startled newcomer, "This yahoo says he's Cal Strom. He wants to know how much we'll take to let his sorry brother outta jail."

"You're the Marshal?" Cal jolted, "You can't hold Rick in here!"

"Mister," Matt growled, realizing he was the other man who'd caused his lover trouble, "Your brother is staying right where he is until a judge comes and if you're not careful—"

"You can't do that!" Cal blew up. He was some inches shorter but that didn't stop him from getting in Matt's face, "Our Pa is a judge! He won't stand for this!"

"I can do it and I am."

Moving like a striking rattlesnake, Matt threw him outside then forcibly hauled him to the livery stable. "Hank, get his horse saddled. He's riding out right now."

Glaring at his hostage, he added, "You can either ride out on your own or I'll tie you to the saddle, but I don't want to see another Strom in Dodge till your brother goes on trial."

Much to his relief, Cal begrudgingly mounted and it wasn't long before he was headed back to the jail.

"Matthew, is Miss Kitty alright?" His deputy met him at the door.

"She's fine, Festus. Thank you." he sighed, "Doc brought over some broth this morning and she promised me she'd stay in bed for a while."

"Marshal, you can't hold me in here!" Their prisoner shook the bars for emphasis, "Cal's right. When our Pa finds out what you've done, there'll be trouble!"

"If your Pa is the kind of man you and your brother say he is," Festus snapped, feeling like he'd had more than his share of Stroms, "then we'd be glad for him to come and see what a real judge has to say!"

"Festus…leave it alone."

Matt's voice was soft; he understood how his friend felt but he had no desire to get into an argument with an unreasonable man.

Sitting down heavily at his deck, his thoughts turned to drawing up charges and finding out when the next justice would arrive. He didn't even care who it was; a conviction was the only possible outcome that his mind could conceive. He only hoped nothing happened over the next few days that his friends couldn't handle because he planned on spending as much time as he could with Kitty.

"I hope you let me and ole Thad handle things for a while, Matthew…" His deputy read his mind.

"I'm counting on it, Festus."

It was early afternoon before the Marshal got all the answers he'd telegraphed for and he was impatient.

Kitty's eyes popped open when she sensed movement beside their bed.

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart."

Her lover's face momentarily split a cheerful grin as he stooped to kiss her. Then he adjusted the quilts to tuck her in.

"Did I really say I'd stay in bed for a couple days?" she sighed.

"You did." he caught her eyes with a pointed look, "I plan on holding you to it too. It worried me that you agreed so easily."

"I thought it'd help get you over to the jail this morning." she grumbled, "I'm pressing charges, you know."

"I was going too if you didn't. I wrote 'em up already." His eyes were fastened on her bruised throat, "How ya feeling?"

"Bored." she answered quickly, holding up the book she'd laid next to her loaded gun on his nightstand, "Doc checked in again midmorning. I got him to tell one of the girls to get me some books and he brought 'em over. Been reading ever since." She tried to stifle a yawn, "Reading and sleeping."

"That's good." He nodded approval, his eyes sweeping over her before he shrugged off his vest, flipped back the quilt, and slid in beside her. "You sleep again now." He eased her back down and covered them both.

"Will you let me out tomorrow if I do?" She smiled as he gently rubbed her back.

"Maybe…" He sighed.

"What is it?" She rolled over to search his face.

His eyes fastened on her throat again, "The brother came by this morning."

"Ugh." she shuddered, "He was almost as bad as the one you shot."

"Almost?"

"Well, he wasn't in my room!" She leaned in to kiss him, "What happened?"

"He wanted to post bail for his brother; Festus was ready to beat him up when I got there. Apparently, their Pa is some bigwig judge in the Texas Panhandle. I found that out through the telegraph." He sighed again, "Unfortunately, he'll be back. I'm sure their Pa will come too. He has a right too though, since his boy is going on trial."

"Well, let 'em come." she snuggled closer, kissing him again, "What does it matter anyways? If their Pa's a judge, he'll understand the law, won't he? His boy was in my room, strangling me. Then he fired at you. He oughta be grateful his boy isn't buried on Boot Hill."

"Well, I know that's how normal people would look at it, but sometimes powerful men can let things go to their heads. It can happen to anyone, lawmen, judges, businessmen, ranchers. We've seen some of that around here over the years, ya know…"

"Don't I know it…" she rolled her eyes, "Ugh."

"Of course, maybe he was putting on." Matt tried to lift the mood, starting to return her kisses, "We've seen boys running their mouths while their Pa's are reasonable men too."

"That's true." She smiled when he pulled her closer.

"But…" he mumbled between kisses, "I kinda doubt it…"

Yeah…"

"Marshal...?"

There was a knock on the door. Thad sounded embarrassed.

"Coming!"

"Sorry…" the young deputy hung his head at the look on his friend's face, "Barney came over. I told Festus I'd bring this to you."

"Another telegram?" Matt frowned, "I got the answers I sent for before I left. I made sure—"

"This one's from Judge Strom." Thad cut him off, "I'm sorry, Matt. I guess Cal came back into town."

"Son of a gun…" the Marshal scowled, "He waited a long time. I was just there." His scowl deepened as he grumbled, "He got an awful quick answer too."

"Judge Strom is pretty attentive to his boys." the deputy's face reddened, "I-I know, Matt. I know the Stroms. I should've recognized Rick last night. I don't know why I didn't..."

"What?" The Marshal's eyebrows rose.

"They have a younger brother too." Thad continued, "The three of 'em came into Greenwood a few years ago. Roughed up a few people and trashed a bunch of businesses. Dad tried to run 'em out, but his health…" He shook his head, "I got him to write a warrant but they made it back to Texas before I caught up and...their Pa sent men to throw me out when I crossed state lines." He shrugged, "It was the first time Pa deputized me."

"Well, you're not much for jurisdiction, are ya, Thad?" Matt smirked, whacking his back. Quickly reading the telegram, he rolled his eyes, "It says they'll be here in a week."

Author's Notes: LovingmesomeMK, Thank you! It's always lovely to hear from you.

Beverly: I know right?! I wish Matt had been in that opening scene.

When I first got this idea, I wondered if maybe the Strom's came from the Oklahoma Panhandle and therefore Thad might know them, but consolation consensus thought Texas was batter. However, I decided to leave in the part about Thad's previous run in and give him a bigger role in the story.