Matt had no idea how long he'd been sitting on the bench in front of the barber shop, but he was cold and stiff. He stood, and glanced up the street, staring in awe at the sight approaching him: a man on a mule, pulling a gelding with a woman, and they looked very familiar. He ran toward them.

"Festus! Kitty!" Matt went to Kitty, who looked like she might fall off her horse. "Kitty... what are you doing here?"

"Matt?" She reached for him and he pulled her off the horse and into his arms. "Oh Matt...I didn't think we'd ever get here."

Dillon looked up at Haggen, unable to keep all the anger from his timbre, "Festus, what in the hell were you thinking; you should have known better than to attempt this ride during such a heavy snowfall. Anything could have happened to the two of you."

Haggen stepped down from his mule, and looked at the glistening snow on the ground. "I tried to tell her, Matthew, but she wouldn't hear of it."

"He's right Matt, I wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

Dillon shook his head. "Come on, let's get the two of you inside, you both look half frozen to death."

"I'll meetcha over yonder, Matthew, I'm gonna put Ruth and Toby up first."

"All right. See you over at the jailhouse."

"I'll do her Matthew, and see you directly."

Haggen moved toward the livery with the two animals, and Matt walked with his arm around Kitty toward the Sheriff's office. "Damn fool thing to do."

"There was no choice."

"We left in the middle of the night for a reason, you know. I thought he wrote you a note..."

"He wrote a note all right. Matt, after readin' it there was no way I was stayin' in Dodge and lettin' the two of you face this alone."

"What in the world did that old turkey-buzzard tell you?" When Kitty didn't answer, Matt decided not to push her. "C'mon...it's a lot warmer in the office."

Dillon settled Festus on the bunk Tom had originally fixed up for him, and he quietly took Kitty into the back room. The two of them softly padded past the sleeping doctor, and into the open cell next to him. Matt settled down on the bunk, and pulled Kitty onto it with him, holding her closely. She pressed into his body, feeling his warmth, and more than that, his comfort. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, the last of her strength, gone. Sensing her need, Matt tightened his arms around her, pulling her even closer.

He whispered into her hair, "I spoke with Ruth Bradley tonight..."

She looked up at him, the pale moonlight from the window softening his features slightly. "Any luck?"

"No more than you had, apparently." She looked slightly surprised and he continued, "She told me you spoke to her back in Dodge."

Kitty nodded. "I did, and toward the end of that conversation, I really thought I had a shot at the guilt angle, but now I don't think so."

"What made the difference?"

"If she was a person with a conscience, Matt, she wouldn't have let it come this far." She looked over at the sleeping figure in the cell, and her voice turned sad, "She wouldn't be able to do this to him. Not to Doc."

Before her emotions could have their way with her, Kitty buried her face into Matt's chest, and he held her to him. As she drifted off to sleep, the last thing she was aware of was his gentle breath against her skin.