Chester had been looking for the marshal all morning, but there had been no sign of him. He continued to pace in front of the jailhouse scanning Front Street for the tall lawman, while Mary Stevenson sat impatiently in the buggy.

"Chester... Chester... can we go now?"

He nervously glanced in her direction. "Well now, Mrs. Stevenson, I really would like to let Mr. Dillon know where I'm gonna be. It's a bit of a ride out there and back, and he might be lookin' for me or something..."

"Chester, I can drive myself out there if it's too much bother."

"Oh, no ma'am, it's not a bother..." He looked up and down the street once more, and frustrated, he muttered, "Of all the mornings for him to be playin' hookey..."

"What was that, Chester?"

"Uh, nothing ma'am. I guess we'd better get goin'..." Chester climbed into the buggy next to Mary, and spoke once more, "Ma'am, are you sure you want to go home? I don't mean any disrespect or nothin' it's just, maybe it'd be better if you stayed here in Dodge for awhile longer..."

"Chester, I appreciate your concern, but I've studied on this a lot, and I think it's best for me to go home."

"Well, if you say so, ma'am." Against the gnawing thoughts of better judgment, Chester slapped the reins against the horse. "Giddup..."

Doc smiled, clutching the package under his arm. "Thanks Wilbur, thanks a bunch."

"You're welcome, Doc. I've got a girl almost Cassie's age, and I'm guessin' she's gonna like that dress." He paused for a moment, then said, "It might have been a good idea to have a woman here though, I'm just guessin' about the size..."

Doc shrugged. "I went by Ma Smalley's and couldn't find either Mrs. Stevenson or Mrs. Smalley; and Kitty wasn't around the Longbranch." He snorted derisively. "Women. Always around when you'd rather they were somewhere else, and when ya need 'em, they ain't nowhere to be found!"

Jonas laughed heartily with Adams, and pat him on the back. "Well, let me know if you need anything else, Doc." He winked at Adams. "I'll be happy to take some more of your money!"

Doc's face took on a slightly dour look. "Yeah, I just bet that you would, too!"

Adams walked out of the General Store, and headed toward his office.

Cassie ripped open the paper package, like a five-year old on Christmas, and her smile lit up the room.

"Doc! It's beautiful!" Disbelief filled her large eyes as she looked at him. "It's really for me?"

He looked around the room playfully. "I don't see any other young ladies standing around here, do you?"

She smiled broadly at him. "I ain't never had a store bought dress. Never..."

Uncomfortable with the emotions hanging in the room, Doc said, "Now I'm gonna go out to the office, and give you a chance to try that new dress on."

Just as he was about to walk out and close the door, she said, "Doc?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, honey." Her eyes teared up, and he teased her, "Now, I didn't just buy that dress fer you to hold in yer hands ya know, I wanna see a young lady in it! You go try that on!"

He closed the door and grinned, and then shaking his head at himself, he walked over to his desk, and sat in the chair. The door to the office opened, and he looked up to see Dillon.

"Doc?"

"Hi Matt, come on in."

"You alone?"

Slightly confused by the question, Doc's voice held his surprise, "Well no, Cassie's in the back room..." Relief filled Dillon's features, prompting Adams to ask, "What's goin' on?"

"I can't find Mary Stevenson or Chester anywhere, and Moss Grimmick says that Chester came by early this morning to borrow a buggy."

Doc's eyebrows shot up. "Are you sayin' that Chester took Mary Stevenson out for a buggy ride? Matt, how could he!"

Dillon shook his head at the old man. "This isn't funny, Doc."

Adams chuckled to himself. "Maybe not to you..."

"Doc, I'm serious."

"So where'd they go?"

"Moss said something about Chester takin' Mary back home."

Doc stood, suddenly alarmed. "What? Matt, there's no tellin' what that man'll do to her..."

"Yeah, I've already thought about that. I just wanted to come by here and make sure Cassie was still with you."

"Well she is."

"Listen, I'm gonna ride out there, and--"

The door to the back room opened, and Cassie bounded out wearing the new dress, interrupting Dillon's statement. The two men turned and looked at the beautiful young woman standing before them.

Doc's eyes filled with pride, and his voice held unusual warmth, "Cassie...you look lovely. Just lovely."

Dillon nodded. "That looks real nice, Cassie."

She smiled at the two men, twirling around like a little girl. "Do you really think so? I mean, would this dress be a proper courtin' dress?"

Doc's voice took on mock sternness, "Courtin'? You're barely out of yer sick bed, and yer worry'n about courtin'? As the old man of the house here, they'll be no makin' half the young men of Western Kansas miserable, until you've had more time to get better!"

"Oh, Doc!"

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Grinning, Doc pat her back, and then pulled away.

"I'm awful glad you like it, Cassie."

Dillon watched the girl, and couldn't help but feel edgy; the change in her from the previous day was striking. She held onto Doc's hands tightly, smiling at him, and Matt realized that her level of trust in Adams had grown tremendously, giving her the confidence to be the young lady she was, as opposed to the closed down, frightened child he'd spoken with yesterday. And the worry began to churn in his belly.

He dissolved the distressing thoughts by broaching the subject at hand. "Cassie, did your mother mention anything to you about leaving Dodge?"

She met Dillon's eyes, but subconsciously moved closer to Doc. "No..." Concern clouding her features, she turned to Adams. "Doc? Where's my Ma?"

"Now don't worry, Cassie, I'm sure everything is fine, but she and Chester headed out to your farm this morning."

She put her hands on Doc's chest. "No, Doc, please, you have to stop them! He'll hurt her, I know he will." She looked at Dillon. "Please, Marshal, do something!"

"I'm headin' out there now, Cassie. You just promise to stay here with Doc until I get back though, okay?"

The girl nodded, and Doc wrapped an arm around her waist. "Don't worry Matt, she's not goin' anywhere." Cassie laid her head on his shoulder, curling her face into his neck.

As Matt hit the door, he looked back at Adams. "Doc, if Dell should come here for any reason, don't do anything rash."

Adams' pale eyes met Dillon's shimmering blue ones. "I meant what I said before, Matt. If he makes one move toward her, I'll kill him."

"Doc--"

"--You'd better get going, Matt."

"Yeah."

Dillon shut the door harder than he needed to, the sound causing Cassie to shudder. Adams held her closer, patting her back gently.

"Don't you worry, honey. Nothin's gonna happen to ya while I'm here, I promise."

Matt pushed Buck a little harder as he sped along the road leading out to the Stevenson homestead. It was plenty cold, and his horse was probably more comfortable working harder than not, but on some level, Dillon felt a little guilty making the animal run full out for so long. He looked ahead, and saw a buggy approaching. As it came closer, he saw that it was Chester.

Goode stopped the buggy and waved his hat. "Mr. Dillon! Mr. Dillon!"

Matt came to a stop right next to the buggy. "Chester...why did you take Mary Stevenson home?"

"Well Mr. Dillon, I looked all over Dodge for ya, I really did, but I couldn't find ya nowhere, and well, Mrs. Stevenson was insisting that she go home, and said if I didn't do it, she'd do it herself, and well now, you know Mr. Dillon, I couldn't possibly let a woman go alone all the way out--"

"--Okay, okay." Matt let out a long-suffering sigh. "What was the situation when you left?"

Chester swallowed hard, discomfort stretching across his face. "The situation?"

"Yeah, what were Mary and Dell doing when you left?"

"Well, Mr. Dillon, I don't rightly know--"

"--Chester! Just tell me what they were doing."

"Mr. Stevenson was holdin' a shotgun on me, and frankly, I don't rightly know what Mrs. Stevenson was doin' at that point."

"A shotgun?"

"Yes sir." Chester swallowed again. "He told me to get off his land and leave him and his wife alone."

"Okay. You head back to Dodge."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to make sure he understands that if any harm comes to his wife, they'll be hell to pay."

"Yes sir."

Chester watched as Dillon rode off quickly. He put his hat back on his head, and slapped the reins against the horse.

"Come on ya ol' glue bucket, I'd like ta get back ta town afore nightfall..."

Dillon rode up toward the house cautiously, and didn't get down from his horse when he yelled to the occupants.

"Mr. Stevenson! It's Marshal Dillon. I'd like to talk with you."

After a moment or so, the door opened, and Dell walked out, holding a shotgun.

"Whaddya want, Dillon?"

"I'd like to speak to your wife."

"She's busy." He held the shotgun higher. "And I got things to do better'n standin' here jawin' with you."

"Unless you intend to use that thing, and hang for killin' a U.S. Marshal, I suggest you call your wife out here."

Stevenson held Matt's eyes for a long moment, than yelled toward the house. "Mary, git on out here!"

Mrs. Stevenson appeared in the doorway. "Howdy Marshal."

"Mrs. Stevenson...is everything all right?"

"Of course, Marshal. I'm just makin' some dinner fer Dell is all."

He looked at the woman meaningfully. "Cassie was worried about you comin' out here..."

"Aw, well, you tell her not to fret. Everything's just fine, ain't it Dell?"

"Yeah, real peachy." He looked back at Dillon. "I want my girl back out here, Dillon. She belongs here with her Ma and Pa."

Matt ignored the man. "Cassie'll want to see you soon, Mrs. Stevenson, when are you going to come into town?"

Dell broke in. "You send that girl out here to see her Ma, Dillon."

Matt's voice turned acrid, "Doc Adams says she isn't ready to travel, so Mrs. Stevenson will have to come to Dodge." He looked hard at Dell. "And it had better be within a few days if you don't want to see me back out here."

"Don't worry, Marshal," Mary's voice was soft, "I'll come see Cassie."

"Fine then," Dell spat, "I'll jist visit her with you."

"No you won't, Stevenson," Matt said, "only Mrs. Stevenson." He smiled at the man. "But it's a good idea that you drive the buckboard for your wife, and then you can come to the office and we'll have a little talk."

"I ain't got nothin' more to say to you."

"Uh-huh. Well, you just remember everything I've said."

Stevenson held the shotgun closer. "And you just remember that even marshals can be hit by stray bullets."

"So can husbands who beat their wives..." Dillon tipped his hat to Mary. "Ma'am."

Without another word, Marshal Dillon rode off; with any luck, he could make Dodge by nightfall.