"So that we understand you, Miss Bradley, did you at any time tell Doc Adams that your father was sick and needed his help?"

"Dr. Adams made it very clear that night in Delmonico's that he wouldn't lift a finger to help my father if he were dying at his feet, so consequently, Dr. Adams would be the last person I would go to."

Matt leaned over to Kitty. "She didn't really answer the question..."

"Why didn't McClennan object?"

Dillon shrugged, and the two of them returned their attention to the testimony.

"Very well, Miss Bradley. Now tell me about the night Doc Adams came to the Dodge House."

"My father was very tired, and was resting, I was reading in a chair by the window. There was a knock on the door, and when I answered it, Dr. Adams pushed past me, a gun in his hand."

Festus couldn't stand it. "That's a pure-ol-dee lie. Doc didn't even have a gun. I took it from him after the shabble-de-wompus at Delmonico's--"

Haggen stopped short, realizing he shouldn't have mentioned the gun. Judge Dalton glared at him.

"Any particular reason you took his gun from him, Mr. Haggen?" Judge Dalton asked.

"Well I...I jes' didn't think he should have it is all..."

"Uh-huh. I think we can all imagine why..."

Kitty grabbed Haggen's hand and pulled him down into his seat, shaking her head. Matt glared in Haggen's direction, and Festus felt his stomach fly into his throat.

"If you interrupt these proceedings again, Mr. Haggen, I will find you in contempt."

"Yessum."

"Continue, Miss Bradley."

"Dr. Adams came into the room with a gun, and he'd been drinking--"

"--How do you know that, Miss Bradley?"

"Why I could smell it on his breath, Mr. Beeman. He was drunk. And he told my father that he would pay."

"Did he say what he wanted your father to pay for?"

"No. It was something between them a long time ago, before I was born."

"A grudge?"

"Yes, that was my understanding."

"Very well. What happened next?"

"My father stood and told Dr. Adams that he had had too much to drink and that he should put the gun down, and they could discuss matters. Dr. Adams told him that he was just taking up space and deserved to die. Then he took a shot at my father, but he missed."

"How close was he?"

"I don't know, about ten feet, I guess."

"He missed at ten feet?"

"He was almost falling down drunk, so yes, he missed."

Kitty leaned into Matt's ear. "She's making this up as she goes along."

"Yes, but look at the jury, they're eating it up."

Kitty glanced over at the twelve men sitting in the juror's area, and they were raptly listening to every lie the woman was telling. Beeman's voice pulled her attention back to the testimony.

"What happened then?"

"My father ran out of the room, trying to get out before Dr. Adams killed him, but the doctor just followed him out onto the landing at the Dodge House."

"What did you do then?"

"I ran out there with them. They got into a struggle for the gun, and I tried to break it up, but there was nothing I could do. Dr. Adams came up with it, and shot my father in cold blood. He tumbled down the stairs, dead."

Ruth Bradley broke down in tears, and Beeman comforted her quietly for a moment. Then he spoke once again to the court.

"Miss Bradley, did your father ever tell you about the grudge between himself and Dr. Adams?"

"No, my father never told me."

Kitty leaned into Matt once again. "Her father might not have, but we certainly did. I can't wait until McClennan calls you as a character witness, you can straighten some of this out..."

Beeman's voice continued, "Miss Bradley: the version you tell of that night in the Dodge House is vastly different from that of Dr. Adams. How do you account for this?"

"Any man who can kill in cold blood can certainly lie about it, Mr. Beeman."

Beeman turned to the judge. "That's all I have for this witness, your honor."

Dalton looked at McClennan. "Your witness, counsel."

"Miss Bradley, you say that Doc Adams was falling down drunk when he came to your room, yet the hotel clerk, Howie Culver, failed to mention that fact in his testimony. Could it be that Dr. Adams was not drunk?"

"I can't help it if the clerk didn't notice, or is a friend of the accused."

Howie stood up. "Are you callin' me a liar? I ain't no liar! Doc didn't look drunk to me!"

"Sit down, Mr. Culver, or I'll have you removed."

"Yes judge."

"Miss Bradley, you also stated in your testimony that you have no idea what the grudge between your father and Dr. Adams was...but in fact, both Kitty Russell and Matt Dillon discussed it with you, isn't that true?"

"Mr. Beeman asked me if my father ever discussed it with me; he did not. Whatever the marshall and his woman might have said about it, I can't know as fact; their information comes from Dr. Adams, and I believe they'd say or do anything to save him."

"Sort of like you about your father's reputation."

"Objection!"

"Sustained. Mr. McClennan, do not make disparaging remarks regarding the character of the witness. She is not on trial here, your client is."

"Yes, your honor." He turned back to Ruth Bradley. "You said that there was a fight for control of the gun on the landing. If Doc Adams was so drunk, how did he gain control of the six gun?"

"He's a much younger and stronger man than my father was, even inebriated he's stronger."

"I see. Had your father been drinking that night, Miss Bradley?"

"Certainly not. My father never took a drink."

"Never?"

"Not in my memory, no."

"What about 27 years ago in Easton, Miss Bradley?"

"Objection. The witness is 25 years old, how can she be expected to answer questions about events that took place two years prior to her birth?"

"Sustained. Mr. McClennan, stick to the facts of this case, and not anything else please."

"Your honor, it was the prosecution that brought in the events of 27 years ago, building a motive around it for murder. I must be allowed a chance to probe these facts or my client's right to a fair trial is being violated."

Dalton sighed, but nodded. "Very well, Mr. McClennan, proceed."

"Miss Bradley, are you now aware of what transpired between your father and Dr. Adams back in 1853?"

"I know what Kitty Russell and Marshall Dillon told me, yes."

"And are you aware that your father was tried by a jury for negligence due to--"

"Objection! Your honor, neither Miss Bradley, nor her father are on trial here. Mr. McClennan is trying to besmirch the good name of a doctor who was highly respected back east, merely to make his client seem less than the cold-blooded killer that he is."

Kitty started to stand to yell at them all, but Matt held onto her tightly. "Kitty, I know how you feel, but we both know that an outburst isn't gonna help Doc. Just calm down."

"Calling Doc a cold-blooded killer, that's just...disgusting."

Matt pulled her into him and held onto her while the drama before them continued to unfold.

Dalton looked at the defense counsel. "Mr. McClennan, Mr. Beeman, approach the bench." the judge leaned into the two men. "You two had better quit with the histrionics, or I'll fine both of you."

McClennan spoke up, "Your honor, the fact that Dr. Bradley was brought up on charges of negligence due to intoxication could well speak to the fact that it was he who was inebriated at the Dodge House, and not Doc Adams."

"That was 27 years ago, Mr. McClennan, hardly relevant now."

"But your honor, it does bring into question the testimony of his daughter--"

"--No, Mr. McClennan, it does not. You're reaching because this isn't going well for you. Back off or face contempt."

The two attorneys backed away from the bench and McClennan resumed.

"Miss Bradley, did you love your father?"

"Of course I did, what kind of question is that?"

"Would you have done anything for him?"

"Within reason, yes."

"What's within reason?"

"I would do anything that was within the law for him, yes."

"So you would not, for example, lie on the witness stand to protect his memory?"

"Of course not, and I resent the implication."

"Why were you traveling out west?"

"My father...my father was ill, and California seemed like a milder climate for him to live in."

"Isn't it truer to say that he was dying, Miss Bradley?"

Tears formed in her eyes, but she forced herself to answer. "Yes, he was dying."

"What was he dying from?"

"I...I don't know. He was just dying."

"You don't know, Miss Bradley, or you don't want to tell us?"

Ruth Bradley began weeping. "He was very sick...isn't that enough for you?"

"Isn't it true that he was suffering from some kind of liver malady because of all his years of heavy drinking?"

"No! No, my father was a great man...he was...a great man..." Ruth Bradley dissolved into a ball of sobs.

And Doc Adams abruptly stood, slamming his hands on the table. "I can't take this! That's enough, Tom! Can't you see the poor girl is overwrought? Now back off of her, or you're through as my attorney."

For a moment, everyone in the courtroom was dazed, then Judge Dalton recovered.

"Dr. Adams, please sit down."

"I'm sorry judge, but I'm not gonna just sit by while a young girl is publicly destroyed. Her father is already dead, ain't that enough?"

McClennan walked over to Adams. "Doc, sit down and be quiet."

"I'll do no such thing. As a matter of fact Tom, you are through." He turned to face Dalton. "Judge I'm firing my attorney Tom McClennan."

"In favor of whom?"

Doc pulled down on his right ear, thinking. "Well, I'll just represent myself, your honor."

"Let me remind you, sir, that your life is at stake. You should have a studied attorney at law representing you."

"I understand that, judge, but I'm not willing to see a young girl put through this kind of a circus, and what's more, I think this entire proceeding has just been shameful. Diggin' up what people did or didn't do almost thirty years ago don't change what happened. I'm just gonna tell what I know, and the jury can decide what's what."

Doc walked over to Ruth Bradley and gently guided her down from the witness chair, and walked her over to the gallery, sitting her in a chair. He knelt down next to her for a moment, checking her pulse, and softly wiping away her tears.

"Do you need anything to help calm you down, Miss Bradley?"

"No, I'm fine." She stared into the concerned steel blue eyes. "I guess it's true that help sometimes comes from unexpected places..."

"Sometimes." Doc stood and walked back toward the bench, facing the jury. "I don't think that we can question how much Ruth Bradley loved her father. And with that kind of love comes the willingness to protect and keep close the object of that love." His eyes landed on Kitty as hers filled with tears; he held her gaze for a moment, then looked to the jury. "It also needs to be said that the past belongs to the past; talkin' about it don't change it, and sometimes it just reminds us of how much we've missed in this life. It's true that I threatened Aaron Bradley at Delmonico's. It's also true that I said I wouldn't lift a finger to help him if he were dying at my feet; however, when the time came, neither statement proved to be in my character." His eyes connected with Matt's, and the marshall swallowed hard as Doc continued. "I took an oath you see; an oath as a doctor that says I must not play God. That means that I sit in judgment of no man who needs my help, and freely give help to any man who requires it. That belief included Dr. Aaron Bradley. Whatever else I may be, I am first and foremost in my life, a doctor." He looked at the jury. "But I am also a man, with a man's feelings, failings and a man's pain."

Doc looked down, trying to keep a lid on his emotions. "What happened between me and Aaron Bradley 27 years ago doesn't have a damned thing to do with this case." He looked back up, his gaze lighting on Festus. "While it was the reason that I felt such intense anger, in the end, whether because of those dearest to me, or just from within, I could no more act on that anger than I could bear seeing Ruth Bradley taken apart in this court of law." Doc stared at the jury. "Was I angry enough to kill Aaron Bradley? As a man, yes. But when Ruth Bradley came to me that night, telling me her father was ill and needed a doctor, that was all I heard. It didn't matter who he was. When I arrived at the Dodge House, Dr. Bradley was waiting for me with a gun. He had been drinking, and I couldn't reason with him. He fired off a shot, but missed. I lunged at him, got the gun, and yes, for a brief moment I thought about retribution for what he had cost me all those years ago. But in the end, I couldn't do it. Maybe I just couldn't cause the same kind of torment to Ruth Bradley that had been dealt to me, but either way, I walked out.

"Dr. Bradley shoved me from behind on the landing, and I dropped the gun. He picked it up, and we fought over it for a few minutes. During that scuffle, the pistol went off, hitting him in the chest. He fell backward and down the stairs of the main lobby of the Dodge House. It was then that Marshall Dillon came in seeing Bradley dead, and me with a smoking gun in my hand." He looked once more at Ruth Bradley. "I'm not sure why Miss Bradley insists on telling a story other than what happened that night, except that I imagine she's trying to protect the memory of the man she loved more than any other. While I wish it weren't so, I can't say that I don't understand her motives."

Doc turned to face the jury. "Gentlemen, I swear on everything that I hold right and dear that I have told you the truth. As a matter of fact, there ain't nothin' more to be said." He turned to Judge Dalton. "Judge, the defense is at rest."

Dalton couldn't speak for a moment, and when he finally did, his voice was soft. "You could call a few character witnesses if you want, Dr. Adams, I believe your attorney had planned to do so."

"Yes, I could, your honor. But I don't see how imposing further on those dearest to me will in any way shed further light on the truth in this case. I'm a simple country doctor, your honor, I'm sure that's been made plain."

Dalton stared at Adams with unbidden respect. "A country doctor you might be, but simple you are not. You may return to your seat, Dr. Adams." As Doc walked back to his chair, the judge continued. "Gentlemen of the jury, you will retire to chambers and come to a verdict. Bear in mind that in this case, a judgment of guilty will render a hanging, so consider carefully all that you have seen and heard. This court will reconvene when the jury has reached a conclusion."

The judge banged his gavel on the bench, and for a long moment, no one moved, most still transfixed by what they had heard. Slowly, the crowd began to dissipate from the courtroom until only a few remained. Festus put a strong hand on Doc's shoulder, squeezing it tightly, but he was too choked up to speak. After a moment, he turned and walked out of the room, fighting to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. Matt pat Doc's arm.

"If you're ever tired of doctorin' you could always have a second career as a defense attorney."

"Think so, do ya?"

Matt smiled at him. "You bet." He looked at Kitty. "I'm going to see if Festus is all right, he looked a little shaken up. I'll wait for you two out there."

Kitty nodded and Matt walked out of the room. She sat in the chair next to him, staring at the judge's bench in front of her.

"You sure know how to get to a girl, handsome."

"Do I?"

"Uh-huh."

"Think I got to Ruth Bradley at all?"

"I don't know that anyone can, Doc."

"True enough, Kitty."

She reached for his hand, and he gently clasped hers inside his larger one. "Doc, I'm scared."

He waited for her to look at him and he smiled. "Me too, honey."

"Sheriff Taber's set a table for the four of us to have something to eat over at the jailhouse. I know you're probably not too hungry, but it's important to me that we're all together."

Doc felt the moisture sting his eyes, and he cleared his throat. "It's important to me too, honey." He stood then, holding out his arm. "Allow an old doctor to escort a beautiful, young lady?"

She grabbed his arm and kissed his cheek. "If that old doctor didn't, there'd be hell to pay!"