Gunsmoke:After All This Time
Part 7
The roads in Baton Rouge were much more defined than those in Dodge. As much of a booming town Dodge had become in the last years, Baton Rouge was even busier and a little more civilized as well. As they entered the town, Matt studied all of the fancy buildings. It would have been easy for an outsider to get lost in such a place. "Where's the telegraph office?" he asked.
"Make a right on the next street," she told him. It wasn't terribly busy due to the early morning hour, but there were a good number of people on the street already. Matt imagined that for a town this size, there had to be at least five or six lawmen to oversee it.
"Do you want to go and do your shopping or do you want to stay together?"
"Let's stay together. And there's someplace I want to show you when we're though here."
"Alright," Matt said as he led her inside the office. He sent out two messages, one to Doc, explaining what was happening, and one to Washington, informing them of his resignation. "I've asked Doc to have any of my personal mail forwarded," he explained to Kitty as they headed for the store. Matt always thought that it would be hard when he decided to resign, but it was easy and he knew it was because of Kitty's presence. He knew that he had the rest of his life with her to look forward to.
Once that was taken care of, they climbed back into the buggy as Kitty directed him toward the other end of town. Matt studied the different stores as they rolled along. There were more restaurants than he could count and tons of clothing shops, bakeries, butcher shops, candy stores, furniture stores…it was a very impressive town. Soon they were approaching what looked to be a saloon. The building was enormous with big, crystal clear windows. "The Pelican," Matt read aloud of the huge, boasting sign.
"Stop right here," Kitty instructed. Matt parked the buggy and watched as she got out and walked toward the saloon doors. "Come on," she said as he lagged behind. He caught up with her and they walked into a luxurious room with high ceilings and crystal chandeliers, decorated in a blue, white and silver motif. One wall was painted in a beautiful ivory color, while the rest were decorated in blue and silver, paisley wallpaper. The bar was ivory colored, as well, with shiny, silver trim and a silver footrest. Painted across the front, in fancy, blue lettering was The Pelican. Evenly placed stools stood in front of the bar and behind the bar, on the wall, were three huge mirrors that made the place seem even bigger than it already was. There was a grand staircase in the middle with blue velvet carpeting and private rooms on the first and second floors that were used for private poker games or private parties. Behind the staircase was a large, open room that held three pool tables and two dart boards.
"Well, what do you think?" Kitty asked with a big smile on her face.
"Kitty, is all this yours?" Matt asked stunned.
"Well, not all of it, only half. I'm a silent partner," she explained.
"This place is unbelievable, Kitty. You sure got taste."
"Come on. I want you to meet my partner." She took his hand and led him over to the bar. "Hello, Paul," she said to the short, rotund man behind the bar. He was decked out in tailored, black pants, a crisp, white shirt and a satin blue vest that matched the rest of the décor.
"Hello, Miss Kitty," the man exclaimed with a wide grin. "It's been a while since we last saw you. You should get to town more often."
"I know, I know. I promise to try harder from now on," she said smiling. "Paul, this is a very good friend of mine, Matt Dillon."
"Hello, Paul," Matt said as he extended his hand. There was something about the man that he immediately liked.
"How do you do? Any friend of Kitty's is a friend of mine," he smiled accepting the handshake.
"Is Brandon in today, Paul?"
"He sure is, Miss Kitty. He's up in the office."
"Thanks." Kitty headed toward the stairs with Matt behind her. She turned around to find him still looking around. "Matt, why don't you have a look around while I go and get Brandon." He agreed and watched as she walked up the steps in her country clothing. He smiled to himself thinking that no matter what she was dressed in, she was still a classy lady, his lady.
A few minutes later, he saw Kitty and a gentleman dressed in an expensive looking, white suit coming down the stairs. His light brown hair was slicked back and he had intelligent, brown eyes. "Matt," she said as they reached the bottom, "This is my partner Brandon Vassuer. Brandon, this is Matt Dillon." The two shook hands.
"Dillon, I've heard a lot about you from this beautiful lady here," he said with an accent.
"Nice to meet you," Matt said shaking his hand.
"Please, let's sit," he said gesturing to a table.
"Oh, Brandon we can't stay. I just wanted to stop by and show Matt around."
"Ah, so will you be staying here in Baton Rouge?" he asked Matt.
"Anywhere you see Kitty, you can be sure I'll be right behind her," he told Brandon confidently.
"Kitty, I guess this means all us bachelors are out of the running for your affections," he teased her with a wink. She only smiled secretively and grabbed Matt's hand.
"Let's go, Mr. Dillon. See you later, Brandon," she called over her shoulder as they stepped out of the saloon.
Brandon smiled longingly as he watched them go. Ever since he had met Kitty years ago, he'd found himself with a bit if a crush on her. Kitty Russell was truly an individual and when she walked into his saloon a year ago, he was in the middle of remodeling. She was a bit of a legend in the saloon world and he knew that she had run the very successful Long Branch Saloon for nearly twenty years. She asked him if he was interested in a silent partner and he was. He was sure that there was plenty he could learn from the beautiful woman and he wasn't going to pass up the chance. She was the one responsible for the great décor of the place and some of the design. They had been going strong ever since opening night and she wasn't even there for it. He wondered if Matt Dillon knew just how damn lucky he was.
To be continued...