Unshown Moments for P.S. Murry Christmas S 17

"Kitty."

His voice was low and relatively calm but Kitty knew Matt Dillon well enough to know that he was not happy with her.

Sighing, she turned from the books she'd been working on, to face him. "Now, Matt, before you…"

"Before I what?" His voice was still calm but with an edge. "Remind you that you promised not to…"

"I did not." She answered indignantly. "I only promised not to get a bunch of vigilante women together. At least I think that's how you put it. And I didn't do that."

"No." Matt nodded angrily. "No, you just got Miss Grundy drunk and then set her up."

Kitty dropped her head. "Yes, I did that." She admitted. "But I didn't know the circumstances, Matt." Her voice took on a pleading note that even she didn't like. "I didn't know why Emma Grundy was denying Christmas to those kids. I just knew that she was. And Matt, I… I couldn't stand the thought of those kids not having a Christmas. Matt, they…"

Her voice faltered and instinctively, Matt reached over and pulled her into his arms, his anger quickly dissolving. He remembered as a kid growing up that it was seldom he had a happy Christmas and from what Kitty had told him, she hadn't fared much better.

"Honey, I know why you did it." Matt shook his head. "But regardless of your reasons, you may have done more harm than good. I doubt the judge will ever let Emma Grundy run that orphanage again and whoever takes her place could be worse than her. Christmas or no, she at least saw to it that they were fed and sheltered."

Kitty's mind was already working on that problem and she thought she might have a solution. Pulling back, she looked up at Matt. "What if someone changed his mind?"

"I don't think anyone can do that, Kitty." Matt answered doubtfully.

"Maybe," Kitty nodded. "But then again maybe so. Can we try?"

"That depends on what you have in mind." He was skeptical that anything could fix this.

"Well, I know after what I did, the judge probably won't listen to me, but he just might listen to a little child." She arched a brow at him.

Matt chuckled as he realized what she meant. "Well, he might."

As quickly as he could, Matt gathered the children, as well as Titus, and left Kitty to sit them down for a talk. While she did that, Matt went to talk to the Judge, hoping he'd agree to a meeting with the children.

Kitty and Titus explained to the children why Miss Grundy had denied them what they had wanted so much. As he listened to Kitty talk, Titus dropped his head in shame and grief at his part in Miss Grundy's take down. If only he had known.

"What can do we to fix this, Miss Russell?" Michael asked, sincerely wanting to help.

"Well, first of all, I need to know from you kids, what you want." Kitty answered. "Now, if you all want Miss Grundy back, I think I can arrange for you to talk to the judge so you can tell him your wishes. I don't know if that will fix this, but it couldn't hurt. And of course, Titus and I and the Marshal will also talk to him."

"You bet we will." Titus smiled at the little ones in front of him.

"And if possible, I'll also make sure you can attend that Christmas party we're planning." Kitty added.

"What about Miss Grundy?" Mary piped up. "It wouldn't be right to go without her."

"Yeah," Patricia joined in. "And we oughta give her a present too. I mean, we were pretty mean to her."

"Well, I can give you the money to get her something." Kitty offered.

But quickly the kids shook their heads. "No, Ma'am." Mary spoke for them all. "What ever we give her, we need to pay for it so she knows how sorry we are."

Kitty looked over at Titus who shrugged. "Well," he sighed. "If you're going to pay for it, then you're going to have to get jobs. And this time I'm not sure..."

Kitty reached out a hand and stopped him. "I think working for her present is an excellent idea." She smiled at the children. "But since I know more people in town than you do, would you mind if I helped you find those jobs?"

"No, Ma'am." They smiled happily.

"Alright, then." Titus told them. "I'll tell you what. Let's go talk to the judge and then we'll go from there. Okay?"

"OK!" They answered in unison.

After the kids explained to Judge Brooker how they felt about the situation and pleaded with him to let her stay, he agreed to consider their wishes in the matter. However, he made no promises to the children or the adults.

As the kids and Titus filed out, Kitty looked up at Matt. "Thank you, Cowboy, for helping me. I sure hope the Judge agrees to give Miss Grundy her job back."

"I do too, Kitty." Matt nodded. "But at any rate, whether he does or not, we've done all we can."

"No," Kitty shook her head. "Not everything. I promised the kids I'd help them get jobs and I still have some work to do on the Christmas party and…"

"Job?" Matt frowned.

"Uh hum." Kitty smiled. "How else are they going to get Miss Grundy a present?"

"A present?" Matt questioned.

"Yeah, a present." Kitty grinned. Taking a quick look around and seeing no one, she quickly leaned up and kissed him. "And if you're a real good boy, you might get one for Christmas as well."

Matt blushed slightly and looked around him before leaning down close to her. "Now that's something worth working for."

END