Gunsmoke: Never Wanna Live Without You

Part 4

Later on, Matt stood in the mirror straightening his tie when the door came open and in walked his assistant. "Chester you're not even dressed yet," he said surprised.

"Oh, Mr. Dillon, I got half a mind not ta even go tonight," said a crabby Chester as he plopped down into a chair.

"Why on earth not?" Matt asked as he ran a hand through his hair. Before Chester could answer, a shot rang out on the street. Matt grabbed his hat and rushed out, with Chester right behind him.

"Marshal!" a man screamed, "Marshal, someone's robbed the general store! They went that away!" He pointed south out of town.

"Chester, go and get the horses. We're goin' after 'em. Anybody hurt?" Matt asked as he looked inside the broken general store windows. The cash register was tipped over and change was scattered about the countertop. The rest of the store was in order.

"No one hurt, Marshal. I took a shot at 'em but I missed."

"How many were there?"

"I counted three."

"Matt?" He turned around to see Kitty walking his way and at that moment, he hated his job more than ever. The dress she was wearing clung to her body and she wore a wrap that covered her pale shoulders. What he wouldn't give right then to be that dress.

"Kitty," he said as he walked up to her, "The general store's been robbed. I've gotta go after 'em before they get too far away. I'm afraid I won't be able to take you to the dance," he said frustrated. He brought his hands up to rest on her shoulders. "I think they could be the same ones who robbed the Neil's."

"It's alright, Matt," she said for what felt like the fiftieth time. Besides, he told her it might happen. She managed a smile for him, even though she was disappointed.

"Mr. Dillon!" Chester yelled from down by the stables.

"Kitty, I have to go. I promise I'll try and make it back before the night is through."

"You just go on…and be safe," she called as he ran off. She watched until they rode out of sight.

Now what? Kitty was very much looking forward to her first dance with Matt and now she wasn't sure if she wanted to go anymore. Chester was gone with him and Doc was busy looking after the injured Mr. Neil.

Somehow, earlier in the week, word had spread that she and Matt were going to the dance together. A saloon girl going to a dance…it's downright despicable…what could the marshal be thinking…I hear she's from New Orleans…they know a lot about voodoo down their…she probably put a hex on him. She'd heard it all and some of it was down right comical. She could deal with the gossip, but she wasn't sure she wanted to stand there and be talked about and pointed at all night. She knew that some of the other girls were going to the dance, but the fact that she had been keeping company with the marshal made their situation all the more scandalous.

"Kitty?" She turned around to see John. "Why are you standin' out here all alone? The dance has already started." He was dressed up nicely in a black suit.

"I was just gettin' ready to go home," Kitty said with a small smile.

"Surely, you don't wanna do that when you look so good in that dress. Don't you have a date for tonight?"

"I did. Something came up." Really, Kitty didn't want to go home, but she couldn't imagine having fun with anyone but Matt.

"Well, I'd be more than happy to take ya."

"Oh, that's alright, John. You don't have to."

"I know I don't have to…I want to," he said looking into her eyes. Kitty thought she saw something in them and she didn't know why she never noticed before.

"Look, John, we can go as friends, but nothing more can come of it. I like you a lot. You've been a good friend to me over the past couple of weeks, but I'm sure you know that the marshal and I have been seeing each other," she tried to explain. His expression didn't change any.

"It's alright, Kitty. I understand. We'll go as friends and we'll have great time." He held out his arm to her and they went off to join the others at the stable.

When they arrived, Kitty immediately noticed the stares and the pointing, but she wasn't going to pay any attention to that tonight. She was going to dance with John and have a good time. The band was already playing music and there were a few brave couples out on the floor. "Shall we," John asked with a big smile. Kitty smiled back.

"We shall."

MKMKMK

"I can barely see a thing, Mr. Dillon," Chester said. The sun had set and it was nearly pitch black outside.

"I know, Chester, I know, but I've got a feeling that they're real close by," Matt said, his eyes straining to see as much as Chester's were. "Just a bit further and if we don't find anything, we'll come back out tomorrow morning and have another look."

"Yes, sir," Chester sighed. Matt wanted to go home as much as Chester did, but he knew they had a job to do. Kitty's face came to his mind and he couldn't help but think of how he had disappointed her once again.

MKMKMK

Kitty laughed and laughed as John twirled her around the dance floor. They were oblivious to the stares they were getting. "Oh, I can't take anymore," Kitty said breathing hard as the song came to an end.

"Let's go and get some punch," John suggested. Kitty allowed herself to be led over to the table where one of the ladies from the church was serving.

"Oh, I've had a wonderful time tonight," she said as she sipped on her drink.

"It sure would have been a shame if you had gone home earlier."

"Well, I'm glad I didn't. I can honestly say that my first Dodge City barn dance was a hit," she said smiling, even though she wished it would have been Matt to take her. She hoped that he and Chester were alright.

MKMKMK

"Chester," Matt called in a loud whisper. They had followed a hunch to an old abandoned cabin where they figured the thieves might hole up.

"What is it, Mr. Dillon?" Chester answered softly as he crept over to where Matt was.

"Did you see anything around back?"

"Yeah, I saw two men through the window walkin' around like they didn't have care in the world. They sure are dumb, Mr. Dillon. Did they really think we wouldn't be after 'em?"

"I don't know, Chester, but as long as they think they've gotten away with it then we have the advantage. We're gonna surround the cabin and take 'em by surprise." Matt checked his gun and then looked at Chester. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

They crept up to the cabin, Matt at the front and Chester at the back. "Come out with your hands up," Matt yelled through a broken window. He saw a third man and they immediately scrambled and headed towards the back door. Matt kicked the front door in and pointed his gun. "Hold it!" he yelled. One of the men turned and aimed to shoot, but not before Matt put a bullet in his arm. The second man had dropped his gun in surrender and Chester held the last man at gunpoint.

MKMKMK

"You three sure are a coupl'a idiots," Chester said a while later when they were almost back to town. Matt smirked as he listened to him. "Didja really think we weren't gonna find ya?" None of them said anything. The lights and sounds from the stable could be seen and heard in the distance.

MKMKMK

"Why don't we go outside and get some air," John suggested after another dance.

"Alright," Kitty said. They made their way through the crowd and outside where it was much quieter aside from the groups of people here and there laughing and talking. They walked up the street a ways and Kitty saw Matt, Chester and three other men in the distance. "Oh, look. Matt must have caught the men who robbed the general store." She then looked over to see John's face go pale. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Huh?" he asked. It was the first time she had ever seen him flustered. "Oh, I'm fine, Kitty. Why don't we go back inside and dance some more," he said as he placed his hand on her arm and began pulling her back to the barn.

"Wait, I want to talk to, Matt first," she said becoming suspicious of his behavior.

"Marshal, if we're goin' down then all of us are," said the man who had surrendered.

"What are you talking about?" Matt said.

"There's one more of us that you ain't caught yet. We couldn't've pulled this off without some sort of lookout."

"Oh, that's just like a thief. Rat out yer friends," Chester said disgusted.

"There's a big difference between bein' friends and bein' partners," said the man with the shot arm.

"Well then who is he?" Matt asked only caring about catching the forth man.

"His name's Luff, Marshal…John Luff."

"Look, Kitty, I just remembered somethin' that I gotta do," John said as the group got closer and closer.

"John…"

"Kitty!" she heard Matt yell her name from a few feet away. "Get away from him!" She turned around confused. John panicked as he saw the marshal dismount and make his way toward them. He grabbed Kitty from behind, his arm around her neck and his gun pointed into her side.

"You just back up, Marshal. I don't wanna hurt her, but I will." Kitty brought her hands up to his forearm in order to keep her balance.

Matt immediately stopped short when he saw John grab Kitty. "Just let her go. Don't make this situation any worse than it is," he said trying to talk some sense into him.

"You may as well give it up, Luff," yelled one of the detained men. "All they got us on is robbery. You just askin' to be hanged if you kill that broad."

"What the hell do you care?" John yelled back angry. "They wouldn't've even known who I was if you hadn't told 'em." His grip inadvertently tightened around her neck.

"John, please," Kitty whispered, breaking him from his anger. She felt him ease up ever so slightly. If she was right about what she had seen in his eyes earlier, then she knew that he wouldn't really hurt her. "Think about what you're doing."

"Just let her go, John and we can talk about this," Matt tried again. He watched as John slowly released his hold on Kitty, his gun hand falling to his side. He stepped forward and took it from him. Matt looked over to Kitty and then back to John. "Let's go," he said. John looked at Kitty with sad eyes and then started for the jail along with Chester and the others.

To be continued…