Ginger had pushed through the bat-wing doors into the saloon after seeing the beautiful red-haired young woman sitting at the table by the stairs, sipping from a blue-and-white patterned coffee cup. "That has to be Kitty!" Ginger thought, her finely arched eyebrows rising in surprise. She had always imagined saloon women to be coarse, highly-painted, provocatively dressed, hard, slatternly women. This "Kitty" was easily the most elegantly dressed, perfectly-made-up, and most beautiful woman she had ever seen outside of her own mirror. "Wow! Maybe this won't be so easy, but she IS still a 'saloon woman,' she thought, paused inside the doors, assessing her competition.
Kitty looked up from the newspaper on the table, set down her coffee cup, and nodded at her head barkeep, Sam, who was about to alert her to Ginger's presence. "Can I help you, Miss?" Kitty asked with a pleasant smile. "She must be looking for someone," Kitty thought, but something about the intense way the young woman studied her made her uneasy.
Ginger walked over, stopping in front of Kitty's table. She put on a charming dimpled smile that didn't quite reach her large, cold blue eyes. "Yes! Are you the proprietor here? Are you the 'Miss Kitty' I have heard about? I'm Ginger Peller, just arrived yesterday from Wyoming."
"Yes I am, and please have a seat and take some coffee with me, Miss Peller," Kitty said in a friendly tone. She smiled back while noticing the fakery of the other's dazzling smile. "What can I do for you?" Kitty asked politely, curious if this young woman was thinking of asking for a job. "She certainly has the face and figure, but there is something about her that makes me doubt her suitability as a saloon worker," she thought, almost smiling at the image of this woman dealing with the usual harmless but rowdy clientele.
"Oh, please call me Ginger! I AM younger than you, I suppose!" she said brightly, her eyes wide and innocent. " I WILL have that coffee, please. It certainly smells much better than that awful stuff that nice, but rather simple, young man at the Marshal's office just offered me." She pulled out the chair opposite Kitty and sat down, smoothing her skirts and patting her soft, shiny hair.
So you've met Chester, then. He's a VERY good friend of mine." Kitty still smiled but her sky-blue eyes took on an icy glint. When Sam set another cup down on the table, Kitty poured from the matching blue-and-white coffee pot, and handed it to her guest.
"Hmm, this certainly is good coffee, Miss Kitty! Thank you. Well, as I said, I got into town yesterday-I have a room at the Dodge House-and that kind Mrs. Huggins hired me immediately to help her in her dress shop! I thought I'd let you know that any dresses you order there will be done within no more than two days. I guessed that you would be very well-dressed, and you certainly are! Oh, and in case you wondered, I did make this dress. Nice, isn't it?" she asked, looking down at her neatly buttoned bodice.
Kitty had been carefully studying Ginger Peller as she listened to her. She had always been an excellent judge of people, and instinctively knew that this seemingly friendly young woman meant her harm. She was trying to puzzle it out when Ginger put down her coffee cup, the smile dropped from her face, and she leaned forward, staring into Kitty's eyes.
"Kitty, I know you are wondering what I really am doing in Dodge, and what I am doing in the Long Branch. I'll tell you. I stopped here on a whim, on my way to 'civilization' in St. Louis. Anywhere away from Wyoming is 'civilized!' When I saw someone I knew, I decided to stay. That someone is the Marshal. Marshal Matt Dillon. He spent time with my family some years back and was one of my big brother Johnny's best friends. I also consider myself a close friend. A VERY close friend!" Ginger sat back and the dimples reappeared. "My! I think I'll have another cup of coffee, please!"
Kitty silently poured fresh coffee into both of their cups. The two beautiful women eyed each other as they silently sipped. Kitty knew that Ginger was waiting for her response, but believed in silence serving her better at the moment. After all, this young woman must have been very young when Matt was still traveling around the West before settling in Dodge, and was probably close to him in the manner of being a kid sister to Johnny. Still, she couldn't help but wonder. As she pondered, Kitty took a larger sip of coffee, and Ginger spoke.
"That big Marshal sure has a cute little strawberry birthmark! Have you seen it, Kitty?" She gave a small giggle when the beautiful redhead's eyes widened and she started to choke and cough. Pushing back her chair, Ginger stood up and gracefully swayed to the bat-wing doors, glanced back, and pushed through to the boardwalk. Her lilting laugh could be heard as she walked away.
"Miss Kitty! Are you all right?!" Sam had hurried over and began tentatively patting her on the back with his massive hand. He turned his head towards the woman leaving, and his craggy face furrowed in anger. Unsure of what the beautiful stranger had done, somehow he sensed a conniving intent focused against his beloved employer and friend.
When Kitty had finally stopped coughing and caught her breath, Sam pulled out a chair next to her and sat down. "Miss Kitty. Is that woman a friend of yours?"
Kitty saw the concern on her dear friend's frowning face, and put her slender hand on top of his large one on the table. "No, Sam. She most definitely is NOT a friend."
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It was almost 9:30PM when Matt rode tiredly back into town on an equally tired Buck. They had ridden many miles around the prairie with the Commanding Officer of Fort Dodge. As he dismounted in front of his office, he saw Chester come out with a big grin.
"Welcome back, Mr. Dillon!" He took the reins from the Marshal's hand. "I'll take him on down ta the stable and git him settled. He looks hungry ta me."
Chester was about twenty feet away, leading the horse, when he turned back around and called out, "Oh, Mr. Dillon! A purty young woman name o' Ginger Peller stopped by this mornin' fer ya. She's over at the Dodge House."
Matt stopped in his tracks, and memories whipped through his mind. He turned his head towards the Dodge House, as if expecting to be able to see through the walls, then turned and walked into his office, a furrow between his eyebrows.