Unshown Moment for Reunion 78, Season 1

This is for BigMommaT

"Come on, you need some air, Chester." Belle laughed as she pulled Chester out onto the boardwalk before he offered to buy her more than a drink. So far he'd been a perfect gentleman. But she'd seen many a young man lose his head over a pretty girl and get up to things he shouldn't.

"Ah, Miss Belle, sometimes I think you're just after me for my money." Chester returned the laugh. He really liked Miss Belle but he never could understand why she always sent him home alone and early.

"Chester, you're right. Know what my mother told me? Never trust a man with brown eyes." Belle kept her tone flirtatious but not too friendly. She truly did like the young man in front of her but she kept it in mind that he was a customer of the saloon, not hers.

"Oh, don't you believe her. There ain't a word of truth to it." Chester grinned, trying hard to be engaging.

But Belle wasn't having it. "You're a sweetheart. I love to be with you and I'll see ya on payday. Now scoot."

"Oh, Miss Belle, I… I mean couldn't we… would you like just one more drink?" Chester protested.

Belle shook her head. "Good night, Chester." She said with a smile. He reminded her too much a young man she knew once and she wasn't about to hurt him by being with him. Just like she would never hurt the other man. The same man she saw just as Chester moved to leave. Turning quickly, she put her hand up to cover her face.

"Chester!" She whispered urgently. When Chester returned to her side, she sent him in to get her cape and asked him to tell them she wasn't feeling good, giving the excuse of too much rye. As she waited pensively on the boardwalk, she prayed fervently she could get away before Jerry, and she was positive it was Jerry, came back out and saw her.

When Chester returned, he had Kitty by his side.

"Belle?" Kitty asked with a frown. "What's wrong? It's not even nine yet. Why are you going home?"

"Cause I don't feel good." Belle said as she grabbed her shawl out of Chester's hands and quickly wrapped it around her.

"Well, you were fine just a little bit ago." Kitty observed. "I'm not sure Bill is gonna believe you just suddenly got sick."

"Well, I don't care what Bill believes." Belle snapped, as she glanced at the doors to make sure she was still safe from being seen. "Or you either."

"Belle…"

"Good night, Kitty." Belle said quickly as she turned and hurried away.

Kitty looked over at Chester as the girl disappeared from sight. "She's a strange one."

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Belle sat up in her room, next to the window, watching a man toss a rope into the back of a wagon. But it wasn't just any rope. It was a hanging rope and she knew exactly who it was meant for. Belle grimaced at the sight. Ever since Matt had arrested Jerry and she heard the lynch talk around town, she'd holed up in her room, not eating, not sleeping. She drank more than usual and she hadn't gotten properly dressed since it happened. But she didn't care. She cared about nothing except Jerry and keeping it from him what she'd become.

"Belle?"

Belle tensed at the sound of Matt's voice at her door. "No." She cried quietly. "No, please." But Matt didn't let up and finally she could stand it no more. Getting tiredly to her feet, she moved over to the door and opened it. "Go away, Matt." She said sternly. "I told you I couldn't help you. No go away."

"I don't want you to help me, Belle." Matt said kindly. "But I was hoping you'd help Jerry."

"No." She shook her head adamantly. "There is nothing I can do to help him but to just stay away from down there."

"I don't believe that, Belle." Matt pushed past her into the room. "I think you saw exactly what happened down there and for some reason you're afraid to tell. Why? What is it between you and that boy that you want to hurt him so bad you'd want to see him hung?"

"I don't want to see him hung!" Belle cried suddenly. "I don't want to see him hurt at all. Can't you see? I'm trying to protect him."

"No, I don't see." Matt answered. "It looks more like you're trying to protect yourself."

Belle took in a ragged breath and looked down, thinking on that silently.

"They'll hang him, Belle." Matt said softly. "If you don't help him, they'll hang him and there won't be much I can do about it."

Belle gasped and finally looked back up at Matt. "Let me change my clothes and I'll go."

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"Ellie? Ellie!" Jerry called up to her room. He just had to talk to her again.

"Ellie's gone, Jerry." She answered sadly.

"Yeah," He sighed. "Goodnight, Belle."

"Goodbye, Jerry." She corrected him.

"Ellie, I…"

"Goodbye, Jerry." She said firmly.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Goodbye." Jerry rode off with a slight smile on his face, thinking of what Ellie had done for him. It wasn't lost on him what she'd become or what she'd done to save him. She'd done everything she could to protect him including letting him see what she'd had to do to survive. Jerry was outside of the Dodge City limits when he pulled up sharply. Ellie may have sent him on. But Belle hadn't. And if Belle was who she was now, then he wanted to get to know Belle.

Turning his horse, Jerry raced back to town. He was probably going to be in trouble with his boss for not showing back up at the herd, but he didn't care. His future, if he played it right, wasn't with a trail herd out of Texas. It was with a girl named Belle.

End