Matt gently guided Mary Stevenson by the arm as they walked up the boardwalk toward Doc's.

"You and your husband don't have more than one buckboard, do you, Mrs. Stevenson?"

She looked up at the tall marshal, confused. "Why no, Marshal, no. We ain't got that kinda money."

"Then I guess your husband must have found the wagon and horse that got away from you, because he came into town this morning on it looking for you and Cassie."

Alarm lit the woman's features. "Dell's here?"

"No ma'am, not anymore. I sent him home." He observed her muscles relaxing, and decided it was a good time to try and root out the truth. "Mrs. Stevenson, there isn't much I can do about any of this in terms of the law, but I can do even less if you don't tell me what really happened."

She shrugged him off. "Why Marshal, I've already told you what happened. Ain't nothin' gonna change it."

The double meaning made the marshal frown. "What about Cassie, Mrs. Stevenson?"

"What about her, Marshal Dillon?"

"She's just a girl..."

Mary glared at him. "She's a young lady, Mr. Dillon, and she is not your concern."

He shook his head as they headed up the stairs toward Adams' office. "Let's see how you feel about it after you see her..."

She stared at him hard, but said nothing. He opened the door for her, holding it while she brushed past him.

The marshal's voice boomed through the second floor office, "Doc? Hey, Doc!"

After a moment, Adams emerged from the back room, his stethoscope around his neck, and his hand pulling the glasses from his face.

"Hello, Matt, Mrs. Stevenson..."

Adams gently took Mary by the arm, and helped her sit down on the exam table.

She looked into his soft blue eyes. "I'd like to see my girl, Dr. Adams, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all, Mrs. Stevenson, but while you're here, I'd like a chance to make sure you're okay." He looked at Dillon. "Say Matt, Cassie's awake right now, why don't you have a chat with her, and I'll examine Mary for a few minutes out here?"

"That's fine, Doc, I've been waitin' to do just that."

As the marshal headed for the door, Doc's voice pierced him with a rough edge. "Don't upset her, Matt. She isn't too keen on talkin' about what happened, and I don't want anybody pushin' her."

Dillon looked into the narrowed pale eyes. "I wasn't plannin' on pushin' Doc, but you know I have to talk with her."

Adams looked away. "I know that." He glared at the marshal. "But she's my patient, and my responsibility, so you just remember what I said."

Matt's eyebrows raised slightly at the implied threat, but he simply nodded and walked through the door. Adams turned his attention to Mary, slipping his glasses back on his face, and the stethoscope in his ears.

"Now, lemme take a listen here..."

"It's real nice you takin' an interest in Cassie. She ain't had much of that in her life."

He pulled the instrument from his ears, and looked into her eyes. "Seems to me you and Dell should be doing that." The barb hit home and the women's eyes glanced downward; and Doc felt regret. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Stevenson, that was out of line."

"No, Dr. Adams, you protectin' Cassie the way ya are, you have a right..."

He tilted her chin up toward him so that she would meet his eyes. "No one has the right to judge another human being; least of all a doctor." He let go of her chin, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. "I...well, I owe you an apology, Mrs. Stevenson."

"Dr. Adams, you've been so good to Cassie and me, you don't need to--"

He put the stethoscope to her chest once again. "--Oh hush, I need to listen..."

The young girl continued to randomly play with the material of the comforter, and her eyes were almost vacant as he spoke to her.

"Cassie, it's real important that you tell me the truth about the night that you...well, the night you and your mother were hurt."

She let out a sigh drenched in boredom. "Ain't there nothin' else you can talk about, Marshal? I don't have nothin' more ta say about that night. Doc Adams talks about all kinds of more interesting things with me..."

Matt twisted his hat around in his hands, trying to come to a decision about just how far he wanted to go; and he changed his tact. "You're real fond of Doc Adams, aren't you, Cassie?"

The girl showed genuine interest for the first time since Dillon had entered the room. "Sure I do. He's real nice to me."

"Isn't your Pa nice to you?"

Her eyes flicked up to look into his, and for the first time he saw emotion in them. "He ain't my Pa..."

"That's right, I forgot." He studied her for a moment, then continued, "Doc said he did more to you than a beating."

"He did not! And Doc Adams wouldn't tell you that. You're a liar!"

Dillon hated to hurt her, but in the end, it was convinced it was for her own good. "I'm telling you the truth, Cassie, I know what happened to you, Doc told me; I just want to hear your version of it."

Her voice raised almost to a shrill screech, "Doc wouldn't do that! He wouldn't! You get out of here!"

The door opened, and Doc stormed in, followed by Mary Stevenson.

"Hell and damnation, Matt, what do you think you're doing?" Doc went to the hysterical girl, sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled her into his arms. "It's all right, honey, just take it easy..."

She pushed him away with her fists against his chest. "Leave me alone! You're all liars... you're just like him."

The comment hit Doc as surely as if he'd been struck by a weapon. He tenderly pulled her close into his chest.

"No, Cassie, we're not all like Dell Stevenson. I promise you that..." She quieted down after a few minutes, and Doc gently brushed her hair back out of her face. "There now, that's better."

Her eyes darted over toward Dillon, then back to Doc. "Please, I don't wanna talk to him anymore..."

Doc brushed his thumb over her forehead. "Shhh...you don't have to do anything you don't want to, honey." He nodded toward Mary. "Mrs. Stevenson, take her fer me..."

Mary slid onto the bed and pulled the distraught girl into her arms. Doc stood and glared at Dillon.

"Matt, I wanna see you for a minute out in the office."

The two men walked out of the room, Doc closing the door behind them. Matt turned to face Adams, but the doctor was already out of the gate.

"I told you not to push her, Matt, that she'd upset easily. Butcha just went ahead and did what you damned well please, and now she's in there ballin' her eyes out. I'm probably gonna have to give her somethin' ta calm her down. What in the hell did you think you were doing?"

"Doc, take it easy--"

"--Don't you tell me to take it easy." Adams began pacing, his hands shoved deeply into his pockets. "That girl is fragile right now, Matt, and I don't mean just physically. The poor little thing tries to pretend she don't have any feelings most of the time, tryin' to protect herself, and you go in there bustin' her up." Adams stopped and stared at Dillon. "What did you say to her?"

"I didn't mean to upset her, Doc, I was just tryin' to get answers about the attack."

"The end justifies the means, oh fine..."

Dillon forced himself not to take the bait, and he held his voice to an even timbre, "I noticed that she tries to pretend she doesn't care about anything...why's she doing that?"

The ire in Adams' voice was in complete contrast to Dillon's calm, "I told you, it's a defense mechanism. She doesn't want to be hurt again. Can you blame her?"

Dillon looked down at his hat. "No, Doc, of course not." After a few long beats of stifling silence, Matt spoke softly, "I'm sorry, Doc, I just wanted her to say that it was Dell Stevenson that did it."

Adams let out a long sigh of air. "Thought you said there was nothin' you could do about it even if she did..."

"Well, there's no law about it, no..." He waited until Adams looked up at him. "But there's nothin' that says I can't scare Dell a little..."

Adams smiled slightly and shook his head. "I'm sorry fer yellin' atcha like that, Matt, but you shouldn't have distressed her so..."

Dillon squeezed Doc's shoulder. "You're awfully fond of her, aren't you?"

A sweet smile tugged at Doc's lips; it was a grin that Dillon rarely saw, except every now and again when Adams looked at Kitty.

Doc's voice took on a very tender quality, "That little girl's just as sweet as they come, Matt, and smart too. Cassie just needs to be encouraged in the right way, and there's no telling how all that potential might turn out."

"She's more than just a little girl, Doc..."

Adams glanced at Dillon and smiled. "Oh I know that, Matt, but she's mostly a little girl; especially to me..." The doctor's tone turned salty then. "That's why you'd better keep Dell Stevenson away from here, Matt, because if makes one move against that girl, I'll kill him."

"Doc!"

"I mean it, Matt. No child should be abused like that, neither a boy nor a girl; but especially not a girl." Doc's eyes narrowed, and Dillon recognized the stubborn stance of Doc's posture. "You just make sure he keeps his distance."

"Now Doc, the man does have a legal right to--"

"--to what? Abuse her?" Dillon couldn't think of anything to say, so Doc continued, "What happened to 'I could scare him?'"

"Yeah, I can, but there's no law that says he can't see her. Legally he's her parent, and that's the way it is, Doc."

"I don't know how you serve the law, Matt." Dillon looked at him, and he shook his head. "If Dell Stevenson wasn't her legal guardian, and he did something like that to her, you could put him in jail, couldn't you?"

"Yeah, Doc, if either Cassie or her mother filed a complaint, I sure could."

Adams shook his head. "It's just backward, Matt. The penalty should be even worse for a man who's supposed to be her parent..."

Doc couldn't finish the statement, and Matt gently pat his shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything, Doc."

"Yeah, sure, Matt. Thanks."

Dillon put his hat on his head and walked out of Doc's office. If Dell Stevenson did show his face around town, he needed to be prepared to keep him away from Adams; for Matt knew Doc would make good on his threat.