Chapter 4 "Don't Spare The Details (part 1)"
Matt looked at his wound and then at Kitty. "Oh, that," said Matt. "An Indian shot me with an arrow while I was taking Sarah to Fort Wallace.
"What?!" Kitty exclaimed. "I assumed that your trip across the prairie to Fort Wallace with Sarah Drew went without a hitch. I have a feeling that my assumption was wrong. Matt, I want you to tell me about your trip to Fort Wallace. Please, don't' spare me the details"
"I guess when you're telling a story, the best place to start is at the beginning," said Matt. "After I pretty much felt that I had no choice, Sarah and I were on our way to Fort Wallace. We traveled for most of the day and then stopped at Gody's place. You remember me telling you about Gody." Kitty nodded her head. She did remember Matt telling her about the eccentric old woman. "We stopped there for the night. We had supper with Gody. When we were done eating, Sarah stayed in the house to sleep in one of the rooms and I went to sleep in the barn."
"Did you bring Gody her licorice root?" Kitty asked, remembering too how Matt told her about Gody's love for licorice root.
"I did," Matt smiled. He was about to say something, but then stopped. Should he tell Kitty what Gody said about him and Sarah? Kitty did tell him not to spare the details.
Kitty noticed his hesitation. "What's wrong Matt? What are you contemplating about? What is it that you don't want to tell me?
Matt knew he had to tell Kitty. She could read him so well. "When Sarah and I first arrived, Gody thought that Sarah was my bride. We told her that wasn't true, and why she was with me. That didn't matter to Gody. She was convinced that Sarah and I belonged together, that she could feel something between us."
"Did you feel that same thing, Matt?" Kitty asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Absolutely not," Matt answered. "I already told you nothing happened between us."
"Go on with the story," Kitty told Matt.
"We left Gody's the next morning," Matt continued. "It was a hot day, so we stopped by a watering hole. I filled our canteens and then let the horses drink. When the horses were done drinking, I pulled them away from the watering hole. Since it was so hot, Sarah and I went back to the watering hole with bandanas. We got the bandanas wet and wiped our faces and necks with them to cool down. As we were wiping our faces and necks with the cool, wet bandanas, I told Sarah how to keep cool by tying a wet bandana around your neck."
Kitty had to smile. Matt was always prepared and knew how to survive out in the prairie. "You seem to know all the tricks when it comes to being out on the prairie."
"You have to if you're out there as much as I am," said Matt. "Anyway, we were at the watering hole, when I heard the unmistakable sound of fire crackling. I turned around and saw the smoke. There was this rock formation and I told Sarah to go to it. I made sure the horses got out of there. I didn't care where they went, I just wanted to make sure they at least had a chance to survive. After the horses ran off, I joined Sarah. I used water from a canteen to get the bandanas wet. I tied the wet bandanas around our mouths and noses so we could breathe when the smoke came over us. I knew the fire was right above us, so I put Sarah against the rock and then shielded her with my body. The fire went over and I'm not gonna lie. It was one of the most intense moments I've experienced. Survival was on my mind, but so were you. All I could think of was the last time we spent together. I was grateful it was when we had made love and had given ourselves to each other in such an unselfish way."
Kitty was trying to take in what Matt had just shared. He could have easily been consumed by that fire. His words that he shielded Sarah's body with his own echoed in her mind. Matt would have done that. He would have thought it was his duty as a Marshal to make sure Sarah was safe, even if it cost him his own life.
"Oh Matt, that must've been terrible," said Kitty, her voice full of concern. "Did the two of you get burned or anything?"
"No, we weren't injured, but the fire took a lot out of Sarah," Matt replied. "She was scared and completely exhausted. It didn't help when she saw that the wagon with our supplies had been burned and the horses were gone. Sarah thought we didn't have a chance to survive. I have experience on the prairie, so I wasn't as worried as she was. She didn't appreciate my attitude, so I had to remind her that we were still alive and that's what we had to focus on."
"Do you know how the fire started?" asked Kitty.
"Like I told Sarah, sometimes the prairie just explodes," Matt answered. "I didn't tell her about the other times."
"Such as?" Kitty questioned.
"Indians," Matt responded. "I wasn't going to tell her that. The fire put enough fear in her. I didn't want to add to it."
"You probably made a wise choice," Kitty commented. "So if the wagon was no longer usable and the horses were gone, I'm guessing you started walking."
"You'd be guessing correctly," Matt said, nodding his head. "We had no choice. Fortunately there was some luck on our side. We had been walking for several miles and were coming to the top of the hill. When we reached the top, we saw the horses at the bottom. They managed to escape the fire and survive. I was so damn relieved when I saw those animals. We went to the horses. I secured the canteens to them and we continued on to Fort Wallace. We had been riding for a couple of hours, when we came upon a homestead. The entire thing had been burned to the ground."
"Did the prairie fire burn it?" Kitty inquired.
"At first I thought that was a possibility, but then I found a Cheyenne Indian arrow," said Matt. "That told me that Indians burnt the house and probably started the prairie fire. When we got there, I told Sarah to stay put, while I investigated. She must've not wanted to wait any longer, because she dismounted and joined me. It was bad enough that she found a child's doll, but then she saw the boots on the legs of a dead man. He was half buried in the burnt rubble. She felt as though she had to do something. I said to her there was nothing we could do. But if she wanted to help, then she could fill the canteens at the well. When you're out on the prairie and you come to a water source, you take advantage. If I would've known what she was going to encounter at the well, I never would've sent her?"
"It was a body." Kitty wasn't asking a question. She had a strong feeling that's what Sarah encountered.
"Yes," Matt confirmed. "It was the child. I don't know exactly how she ended up being in there. We found the wife next to her husband. I don't know if the Indians put the little girl in there to kill her or if she saw them and jumped in the well to hide. No matter how it happened, she ended up drowning. Seeing the child in the well, was Sarah's undoing. I told her she had to get a hold of herself, so she could help me bury the bodies."
"Oh, Matt, I can't even begin to imagine witnessing such a thing," Kitty quietly said.
"And I hope you never have to," said Matt as he gently put his hand on hers. "Do you want me to continue? It's getting late."
"I have tomorrow off and I'm sure you don't have to be at the jail at the crack of dawn, so you can continue" Kitty replied with a smirk.
Matt replied with a smirk of his own and continued his story. "After burying the bodies, we continued on with our journey. I was getting tired of riding and I knew Sarah was too. I needed to find a place for us to camp for the night. I also knew the horses needed to rest. While we were riding, I spotted some trees and shrubbery up ahead. When you find vegetation like that in the prairie, you can almost guarantee there's water nearby. Sure enough, there was a small pond of water. I decided that's where we were gonna camp."
"I bet you were glad to find that pond," said Kitty. "Not only did you have water, but you could catch some fish to eat."
"I was appreciative of the water, but I knew a pond like that didn't have any good tasting fish in it. You'd probably be able to catch sun perch, but it takes fifty of them to make a meal and they aren't the best tasting. I would have to be starving to eat a sun perch. Besides, I had my rifle and I was confident that I could hunt down and kill us a rabbit. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to find rabbits in the prairie. It's probably easier to kill a few rabbits, than it is to catch enough sun perch to make a meal. Plus, rabbit tastes much better. Before I left, I told Sarah to stay in the cover of the trees, for two reasons. It was cooler in the shade and I didn't want her to be visible to any Indians that could be in the area."
"Did you give her the reasons?" asked Kitty as she tried to stifle a yawn.
"Nope, I just told her to stay in the cover of the trees. I didn't give her my reasons," Matt responded. "I didn't plan on extending my hunting perimeter too far from our campsite. I sent up a prayer asking the Lord to send some sort of game our way. It didn't have to be a rabbit. Well my prayer must've been loud and clear. Because I wasn't gone for no more than five minutes, when I saw a rabbit. I shot it and was going to bring it back to the campsite, but then I changed my mind. I thought it would be better if I gutted it and undressed right there, and just bring back the meat. I didn't know how Sarah would react if I did that in front of her."
Kitty tried to hide another yawn and Matt noticed. "Kitty, I can see you're exhausted. I'm getting pretty tired myself. Are ya sure you want me to continue?"
"I am tired, but I want to know exactly how you got shot by an Indian," Kitty insisted. "Is that part of the story coming up?" Matt shook his head yes. "Then continue until you get to that part."
"While I was skinning and gutting the rabbit, I heard a noise behind me. I didn't know if it was Sarah coming to see what I shot or if it were Indians. I grabbed my rifle and turned towards the sound. I took a shot, but it was too late. The Indian shot his bow and got me in the shoulder area. I had to play dead. I had to make the Indian think he had killed me. I realized there was more than one, when I heard him yelling. I don't know exactly how many there were because I had my eyes closed. They took my badge off me, unhooked my gun belt and took that, and they took the rifle. I heard them ride off, but I still laid there as if I were dead. I couldn't risk moving, until I knew they were long gone. So now that you know how I got shot with an arrow by some Indians, can we get some sleep?"
"I guess we can get some sleep," said Kitty as she walked over to the bed. She noticed Matt stayed seated in the chair. "Aren't you coming?"
"I wasn't sure if I was sleeping here or not," Matt replied.
"You're sleeping here," said Kitty. "But sleeping is all we're going to be doing. I'm too tired for anything else and I still need to hear the rest of your story."
"I'll tell you the rest tomorrow night when I come here after my rounds," promised Matt.
"Alright," said Kitty. "I guess I can wait until tomorrow night."
Matt removed his clothing, leaving just his undergarments on, and joined Kitty in bed. He gathered her in his arms. Matt was disappointed that they weren't going to be making love, but was content to at least be holding Kitty. As far as he was concerned, it had been too long since she had been in his arms.
TBC