Marlene Taylor, nee Bonner, walked away from Matt every inch a happy woman. The lawman watched her leave – his heart pounding, his mind forced back to a dark and terrible place. Arresting Virgil Bonner had been satisfying, at the time. It felt damn good to slap handcuffs on the kind of man who'd kill an entire family for a horse and a couple of dollars. Virgil was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang, in short order. It was over – but it wasn't. Virgil's brother Jude went after Kitty – Matt Dillon's woman. He and his Dog Soldiers brutalized her, raped her, turned her inside out, and dumped her outside the Long Branch, like a useless rag-doll. Then, for good measure, Jude shot her in the back.
Even now, almost 2 years later, Matt could taste the bitter, vengeful bile that rose up in his throat that night. He tore off his badge and went after Jude like an avenging angel, or perhaps the devil. Festus, Newley and every other able-bodied man in Dodge rode after him. When they neared the Dog Soldiers' camp, he slowed his lathered horse and told Festus to take the men back home. He didn't care if he lived or died, but didn't want their lives at risk. And so, alone, filled with a dark, soul-twisting hate, he entered Bonner's lair. They battled like demons, the two of them, until Jude fell to ground unarmed, eyes clouding with fear for the first time in his life. Breathless from the fight, Matt held a huge and heavy rock high above Jude's head. The Dog Soldiers lifted their guns, to finally kill the lawman. He was as good as dead. Smashing Bonner's skull to bits would be his final act. Except, he couldn't do it. He'd never been murderer, and would not die one. That's when the men of Dodge moved in. Instead of riding home, Festus had them circle Bonner's camp. The Dog Soldiers dropped their guns, after all they were cowards at heart. He tossed the giant rock aside and saw Festus coming towards him, carrying something in his hand. "Your badge, Matthew. We need ya ta be wearin' it, all of us – we need you." So, he took his badge from Festus and pinned it on his shirt. They arrested Jude and all his men. In short order, they were tried, convicted and hung, every last one. Kitty recovered, slowly and then faster. It was over, but now it seemed it wasn't.
Matt let out a long breath, hours had gone by and it was well past midnight. All was silent, except for muted sounds coming from Marlene and John. In their corner of the camp, their bodies moved in shadow. Sounds of desire, passion, climax and finally satisfaction floated through the air. John was the only man in the Taylor gang, who traveled with a woman. The others must be hungry, real hungry. Matt looked at the stars above and whispered. "Kitty please, please ignore whatever note you find. Don't come here."
Exhaustion finally pulled Matt into a fitful sleep, hours later when he woke, the morning sun was coloring the sky. Marlene and the 7 Taylor men, were bustling about like ordinary folks, doing ordinary things. A fire was built, coffee started, eggs cracked into a frying pan. Chatter grew loud and animated, about all kinds of mundane things. John put up his hand. "Quiet, I hear a horse."
All eyes turned towards the path that led into camp. They'd made it easy to find, at least for now.
Bushes rustled and Kitty emerged sitting tall on a mare, red hair shining in the morning sun. She looked beautiful and proud, and almost magical in the pink and orange light. No one spoke. Marlene was the first to come to life. "Well, well, you must be Kitty. I can call you Kitty can't I? You can call me Mrs. Taylor." Kitty spotted Matt, tied up and sitting with his back against a tree.
Ignoring everyone else, she slid off her horse and ran to him. "Oh Matt." She sat on the ground beside him, eyes running over his face. "Kitty, you shouldn't have come." She shook her head. "I had to."
Marlene picked up two tin cups of coffee and walked over to the couple. "Ain't you two just the cutest things." She set the cups down on the ground. "Kitty, you can untie his hands. We got guns on you both, you won't try nothin'. Go ahead and drink that coffee. You'll need your strength for what's coming." She chuckled and walked away
Kitty quickly untied Matt's hands. "What's this about?"
"That woman is married to John Taylor, the head of the Taylor gang, but," He put a hand on Kitty's, "Her maiden name is Bonner. She's Virgil and Jude's sister."
"I see." Her two short words were filled with both despair and strength. She handed Matt one cup and clutched the other in both hands. Their eyes met for an instant, and they swallowed the hot and bitter liquid Marlene had given them.
Dodge City
Adjusting his suspenders, Moss emerged from the back room of his stable and smoothed his thin, grey hair. As was his habit, he set to checking his horses one by one, before putting on a pot of coffee. He walked into the first stall - the pinto, Paint, was his frisky self. In the next stall, the strong, dark mustang looked good. Moss stepped around to the third stall, stared, blinked and stared again. The stall was empty. The big, bay mare had disappeared "TOMMY, TOMMY GET DOWN HERE." Moss yelled to the boy again and again, while frantically walking around the stable to see what else was gone or out of order. He spotted a stack of coins on his desk and hurried over. Next to the money was a note: I needed to borrow a horse, and left payment for 5 days. If I use the horse longer, I'll pay the rest when I get back.Moss counted the coins. 5 days worth of horse rental money was there.
"Something wrong, Moss?" Tommy stood behind his boss, half wondering if he'd dreamt Kitty Russell's late night visit.
Moss scratched his head. "Not exactly, but dang unusual. Belle's missing from her stall, but here's a note and payment for 5 days. Also a promise to pay up if more is owed. Horse thieves don't leave notes and money, so I gotta believe it, even though the note ain't signed. But Tommy, didn't you hear any of it? Belle's stall's right under the hay loft."
Tommy licked his lips, and thought about Kitty Russell telling him how the whole thing was personal and private. It didn't make much sense to him, but Miss Russell was kind and smart, and he promised her. "No Moss, I-I'm sorry. I didn't hear a thing."
"Well, no harm done this time, but maybe you should sleep down here from now on, instead of up in the hayloft. You could use a bedroll or something."
"Sure, Moss, that makes sense."
TBC