Chester took a sip of coffee and made an unsatisfied face. "I don't know, Mr. Dillon, this tastes a tad on the weak side, if you ask me. It surely isn't one of my better pots."

Matt's eyebrows raised slightly at the idea that the coffee was weak. "Chester, if this coffee was any stronger, I'd deputize it!"

Goode stared at Dillon for a moment, trying to decide if it was a compliment or not, but before he could make up his mind, the door to the office opened, and Dell Stevenson lumbered in, slamming the door behind him.

"I want my wife and daughter, Marshal."

Dillon glared at the man, but kept his voice even, "When Doc says they're well enough to leave Dodge, they'll leave, not before. They were hurt pretty bad, Mr. Stevenson."

Stevenson's sour face told Dillon he was going to push the issue even before Dell spoke. "I don't care nothin' for what no doctor says. I'm tired of making food and coffee, it's a woman's work, and I want my woman at home." He stood looming over Matt's desk. "Where are they?"

Matt stood, rising to his full height, which was a good four inches above Stevenson, and he stared down at the man. "I said Doc's not done with 'em yet, and that's what I meant."

"They over at that old sawbones' office? I'll jist go git 'em myself..."

"Mr. Stevenson, you stay away from Doc's office, or you'll face me."

"It ain't right comin' betwixt a man and his kinfolk, Marshal. It ain't right."

"When Doc says they're okay, if they want to return home, than that's fine, but until then, you stay outta Dodge, or I'll run ya out."

The burly man frowned at Dillon. "You're askin' for it, Marshal, ya really are..."

Dillon moved closer, his body language, threatening. "Any time you decide you wanna take me on, Stevenson, you just go right ahead. I have no use for your kind."

"Whaddya mean by that?"

"I mean you're a coward who beats up on women; you're a waste of space."

Stevenson balled up his fist, and for a minute, it looked to Chester as if the man was going to slug the marshal.

"I'll have your hide for that, Dillon. I will."

"Uh-huh. But until then, get outta Dodge."

Reluctantly, Stevenson turned and walked out of the office. Chester watched from the window as the man got on his buckboard and headed out of town.

"Mr. Dillon?"

"Yeah?

"How many buckboards you think the Stevenson's have?"

"Probably one, like most homesteaders. Why?"

"Well if that's true, he's on it, so Mary and Cassie couldn't have had it out and lost it..."

Matt looked at his deputy and nodded. "It's what we thought all along."

Chester shook his head in disgust, staring into his coffee mug. "Man like that shouldn't have any family, Mr. Dillon...he just plumb don't deserve it."

Dillon nodded as he sat back down at his desk. "I just hope Mary and Cassie don't go back to him."

"But Mr. Dillon...where else would they go?"

Matt looked down at his paperwork, as if an answer would jump out at him. But one didn't. And the big marshal of Dodge remained silent.

The pale eyes opened and focused on the redhead reading the paper in the chair that Doc Adams had occupied. For several long minutes, Cassie studied the woman with great interest. She was pretty, probably well-learned since she was reading a newspaper, and the dress she was wearing was something of which Cassie had only dreamed. When she had seen them together earlier, the woman seemed very easy with Doc. Her curiousity won out over her apprehension.

Her voice was soft, almost tiny, "Who are you?"

Kitty looked up from her newspaper and smiled. "Well now, good afternoon, Cassie. My name's Kitty."

Cassie's voice took on a detached tone, "Where's Dr. Adams?"

Kitty leaned forward in the chair. "He needed to get some rest. He'll be back later." It was odd, but as Kitty stared into the unsettlingly familiar pale blue eyes, she sensed that there was no emotion behind them. "Are you hungry, Cassie?"

The young girl shook her head. "Not really." She sized up the woman sitting with her, and then spoke again, "I'd like some water though."

Kitty poured her a glass of water, and handed it to her. Cassie drank about half of it, and handed it back.

"Thank you," the voice said without inflection.

Kitty was beginning to understand what Doc had been talking about regarding the girl's ability to suppress any kind of feelings, giving the impression that she didn't really care about anything. But as Russell looked deeper into the depths of steely blue, she saw a flicker of...something.

"How are you feeling after so much sleep?"

"Tired still, I suppose."

Kitty smiled again, and decided to try a different tact. "Can you tell me what happened to you, Cassie?" The girl's blank look faltered for a moment, revealing terror, and Kitty felt regret. "If it's too hard for you to talk about right now, that's okay."

Cassie managed to slip her mask of nothingness back in place, once again showing a bored look to the world. "I'd rather talk about it with Doc, I think."

One of Kitty's eyebrows raised. "Oh. I see."

"Are you his wife?"

The stark honesty of the question hit Kitty hard, and she frowned at the girl. "No, of course not."

The girl stared hard into Kitty's eyes. "His daughter then?"

Russell was trying not to become annoyed, and to keep in mind that the girl had been through an awful lot, but it was difficult. "No, just a friend."

Cassie's tone didn't indicate any feeling either way, "Oh." She looked down for a moment, then back at Kitty. "Does he have a family?"

Kitty smiled at her, but the young girl could feel her irritation. "You know, Cassie, Doc's a pretty private person, I'm not sure how he'd take all these questions about him behind his back."

The girl shrugged, as if none of it mattered. "Oh. It doesn't make any difference about anything anyway."

Kitty frowned. "It's okay to be curious about people, Cassie, but most of the time, you just shouldn't ask such personal questions."

It was as if the girl hadn't heard her. "Do you like to read?"

"Yes..."

"I learned to read. But I don't get to see too many books." She looked at the pretty redhead once more. "Is the newspaper nice to read?"

"If you like news."

The door to the room softly opened and Doc peered in. He smiled when he saw that Cassie was awake.

"Well now, look at that! The two prettiest women in Dodge, settin' in my back room havin' a chat. I must be the luckiest fella in all of Kansas!"

He winked at Kitty, but she ignored the acknowledgment, abruptly standing up. "You look more rested."

"I feel a lot better, thanks."

"That's good. But if you don't need me any more, I think I'll be on my way."

Something in her timbre didn't sit right with him, and he turned to her. "You all right, Kitty?"

"Yes, just have a lot on my mind, I guess..."

He frowned as he watched her head toward the door. "Kitty, I'm going to examine Cassie for a minute, but then I'll come out to the office. Wait fer me, will ya?"

She looked deeply into the sea of pale blue, and saw that he had picked up on her discomfort. She looked away. "Sure Doc, I'll wait for ya."

After she closed the door, Doc turned to his patient, smiling. "Well, you look a bit better. How do you feel?"

She shrugged, not appearing to care. "Okay."

He sat on the edge of the bed, pulled his stethoscope from his bag, and listened to her chest. He checked the bruises and scrapes, then pulled the instrument from his neck, tossing it back into his bag. He leaned his hands on either side of her and smiled.

"You should eat something. How about a little broth?"

She looked down at the comforter. "I'm not really hungry."

He bent his head down, catching her pale eyes with his own. "I'm a pretty good cook, ya know..."

She couldn't resist returning the smile he gave her. "If that's what you want me to do, I could try it I suppose..."

His smile broadened, and he gently brushed the hair back from her face. "That's what I want you to do."

She nodded. "Okay." As he started to get up, she grabbed his arms. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just gonna go out there and make you a little broth." He reached for the bottle on the bedside table, pulling out a pill. "But I'm gonna give you another pill, because I want you to get some more sleep. It's the best thing for you right now."

She stared into the sincere eyes, and wondered if she could trust him; her need to trust him proving too strong. "Do you... do you have a family?"

He smiled at her and shook his head. "No, no family."

"A sweetheart?"

"No, no sweetheart."

"Why not?"

He smiled at her then, seeing the child in her coming to the forefront, instead of the abused young lady. "Because no woman in her right mind would marry me!"

"Don't you ever get lonely?"

The smile left his face. "Sure, sometimes I do."

"I feel lonely all the time." Her eyes darted to his then, checking to see if it was okay for her to say such things to him, and she could see that it was. "You're easy to talk to...my Pa - my real Pa - I could tell him anything." She looked away. "Not like it is now..."

He put his hands on either side of her face and gently pulled her head to face him. "You need to get some rest." He slipped the pill into her mouth, and gave her some water. "I'll have that broth ready fer ya when you wake up."

He started to get up, and once more she grabbed his arms tightly. "Stay till I fall asleep?"

He grinned at her, nodding. "Sure I will. Now you close those beautiful eyes..."

She closed them but immediately opened them, staring at him imploringly. "Sing to me?"

He laughed then, but to her it was the most pleasant sound she had heard since she had been very small. From the other side of the bedroom door, Kitty could hear his sweet voice softly singing; and she couldn't keep the irritation from rising in her throat. She stood and began to pace, wondering how much longer he would be; but momentarily she heard the door to the back room open, he stepped through, and closed it quietly behind him. While the smile on his face should have warmed her, it cut her deeply. He walked into the room, and sat down at his desk, tugging down on his right ear.

"She is just such a sweet little thing, and with some time and the right kind of caring in her life, she'll come around."

Kitty tried to keep her voice smooth, "She's quite taken with you, you know..."

He looked at her, his eyes soft with emotion. "That's good to hear, because I'm pretty taken with her."

It wasn't the answer Kitty had expected. "Then that works out well, I guess."

He heard the unsettling tone that he had picked up on earlier, and his brows narrowed. "Kitty? Is somethin' wrong?"

She looked at him, at the complete lack of malice, and her anger dissipated. She looked away, her voice growing soft. "No... I'm sorry, it's just been a long day."

He stood and walked over to her, putting his hands on her arms. "That answer might work with someone else, but this is me, good ol' Doc, remember?"

Her crystal blue eyes pierced him with intensity. "It's really nothing, Doc, I'm just in a foul mood is all, don't pay it any mind."

She pulled away from him, and his voice hardened. "It doesn't sound like a 'nothing'..."

Kitty picked up her coat, walked over to him, and stroked his face lightly with her hand. Without a word, she brushed his cheek with her lips, then turned and walked outside. And Doc Adams had a terrible feeling that something fundamental between them had just changed; for that tender moment had felt like a good-bye.