Hostage: Kitty's Fate, The Morning After
Chapter 3Gunsmoke
Kitty adjusted her blouse for the fourth time as she headed down Main Street to the general store. She needed more material to finish the curtains in the nursery and she needed to order a few supplies for the Long Branch. As she walked along the sidewalk, she felt as though someone were watching her. Stopping, she glanced around, and sure enough she spotted him. He was standing in the doorway of the Jail. A big bear of a man, with wide shoulders and beautiful muscular arms that she loved to feel wrapped around her. She could see the smile in his eyes, even from that distance. He was admiring his beautiful wife once again. Kitty smiled at him and shook her head in amazement. Matt looked back into the jail and she could tell that he was speaking to Festus. He then headed across the street, quickly making his way over to her. She looked up at the big man and couldn't help the feeling of love that washed over her. He had made her fears about this baby disappear. She was going to have a child, their child.
Resting his hand on her belly, he leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek.
"I've missed you, Red." He said placing his hand on her waist and guiding her to the general store.
"I find that hard to believe, since it's only a little past ten in the morning and you wouldn't let me out of bed till after nine." She spoke softly so only he could hear her.
"I don't recall hearing you complain this morning." He said as he tipped his hat to Mr. And Mrs. Jenkins.
"Of course not. Why would I complain, your methods are very good at relieving me of my aches and minor pains." She said as they came to the door of the General Store.
Matt could only smile as he thought of their love making this morning. She had been very eager to please him, yet also very eager to be pleased and what started out as tender lovemaking, turned into a session of passionate, erotic love making he wasn't soon to forget. Kitty saw that her husband's mind was wondering back to this morning. She remembered, she had been a little more than happy to comply. Her hormones were driving her to distraction. But she loved the way that he saw to her needs as well as his own. Matt had always been a tentative lover, and he was always caring and passionate about her.
"Good Morning, Marshal, Mrs. Dillon." Mr. Laramie called from behind the counter. He knew that the couple had been discussing other things, what they were discussing was quite evident when Kitty's cheeks flamed crimson red. 'That's gotta be the nicest color for a woman.' He thought to himself. Kitty slowly walked over to the counter and reached into her purse for her list. "How's the little one doing today, Mrs. Dillon?" He asked her.
Kitty smiled up at Mr. Laramie. "Fine, Mr. Laramie. You know, I'm having trouble getting used to people calling me Mrs. Dillon. I'm so used to Miss Kitty."
"Well, I could call ya' Ma'am, but your just too plum pretty Miss Kitty." He said smiling at the beautiful redhead before him. "Oh, that reminds me." He said looking under the counter. "My wife sent this in with me a couple of days ago, I just forgot to give it to you." He stands up and scratched his head as he tries to remember where the box was. "If I could just remember what I did with it. Oh, yeah." He said snapping his fingers. "I'll be right back." He turned and disappeared into the back room. Kitty smiled at Matt as he just shook his head. It always seemed that no matter where Kitty went, she always had men stammering. "I knew I had it somewhere." He said as he came out of the backroom with a large box. "My wife sent this over for ya' Miss Kitty." He said as he sat the box on the counter. Kitty looked at him in surprise, then with Matt's gentle touch on her lower back, she walked over and slowly opened the box. Pulling the tissue paper up, she found beautiful hand sewn baby clothes. Pulling the white crocheted baby dress from the box, she sighed at the intricate pattern of it.
"They're so beautiful." Kitty said as she pulled a tiny calico dress out next. "I've never seen such dresses for babies. Mr. Laramie, they're wonderful." On the bottom was a hand sewn patchwork quilt for the crib.
"That one, she started a long time ago. Finished up when we found out about the baby." He said smiling with pride at his wife's handiwork.
"A long time ago, Mr. Laramie?" Matt asked him.
"Yeah, well my Bess always thought you two would get together. She adores Miss Kitty, like she was her own kin. She was a little hurt at first when we found out you two been married for some time, but then Bess realized, you weren't just protecting yourselves and your privacy, but all of us town folk." He smiles as Kitty held the soft blanket against her belly. "She was awful happy to hear about you little girl."
"Girl? It could be a boy." She said looking back at Mathew.
"Not if the Marshal has anything to say about it." The three laugh.
"You may be right, there, Mr. Laramie, the Marshal always gets his way." She smiled at them as she began to fold the things back up and place them in the box.
As Matt laughed at Kitty, young Jakey Timmons came running into the General store.
"Marshal! Marshal!" He yelled rushing into the store. "Marshal, Mr. Bellard gave me this telegram for ya." He said, now standing in front of the Marshal. Kitty smiled as she placed the lid on the box.
"Hiya, Miss Kitty." Jakey said as he rushed over to her and looked up at her. "How's the baby?"
"Jakey, you don't ask a lady a question like that." Mr. Laramie said. No one noticed the Marshal reading the telegram. Matt felt his heart plummet to his stomach. His hands began to shake as he realized that the animal who had kidnapped his wife and raped, beat and shot her, was out. He had to kill him. He wouldn't let him near her again. Kitty laughed and looked up at Matt, she noticed his distress. At that moment Matt realized she was watching him. He smiled at her.
"Mr. Laramie, do you think Jakey would like a licorice stick?" She said smiling down at thee young man whose face lit up. She then left the two as she made her way over to Matt, just as he folded the telegram and slipped it into his pocket.
"You wanna tell me what was in that telegram, Cowboy?" She said as se moved in front of him. He smiled at her.
"It's just work, Reds. Word from the War Department is all." He said as he pulled her into his arms.
"It's not just work, is it, Matt?" She said looking up into his sad blue eyes. "Okay, I'm going to get Jakey to help me carry some things back to the Long Branch, then you can meet Jakey and I at Del Monico's. And maybe tonight, you can tell me what's really in that telegram." She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. Matt watched as she returned to Jakey's side just as Mr. Laramie handed him Licorice stick.
"Thank you for the licorice stick, Miss Kitty." Jakey said his mouth full of candy.
"You're welcome, Jakey." Kitty took her list and looked at it. But it wasn't her list in her hand. When she had leaned up and kissed Matt, she had slipped her hand into his inside pocket and took the telegram. She started to open it, but then, she decided against it. She slipped it into her purse. "Jakey, do you think you might be able to give me a hand with some things?"
"Sure thing, Miss Kitty." He said as Laramie took the note Kitty proffered. He grabbed a small crate and began to load the items on the list.
"Oh, Miss Kitty, that material you ordered is in. I'll just go get it from the back." He said as he slipped behind the curtains. Two seconds later, he reappeared with a bolt of soft sunflower yellow material.
"It's much prettier than I thought it would be." She said as she looked at the bright color of the material.
"You gonna make yourself a pretty dress, Miss Kitty?" Jakey asked her as he watched her finger the soft material.
"No, Jakey, this is for the baby's room. And that quilt Mrs. Laramie made for the crib with go perfectly with this yellow." She said smiling at the material. "I guess that's about all, Mr. Laramie. What do I owe you?" She said opening her purse.
"Well, let's see." He said as he picked up his tablet and pencil. He began to jot things down and add up the figures. "Four dollars and twenty three cents." He told her. Kitty reached into her purse and pulled out a five-dollar bill and handed it to him. He took it to the box he kept it in under the counter and counted out change for her. "Here ya' go, Miss Kitty." He said as he handed her the change.
"Jakey, can you carry that box over there and I'll get this one." Kitty asked as she picked up the clothing from Mr. & Mrs. Laramie. "Tell Bess that the clothing are beautiful and the quilt is perfect, and thank you both so much, Mr. Laramie." She said as she began to head out of the store.
"You're welcome, Miss Kitty." He said smiling as the two left.
Matt paced the jail until Festus came back into the jail.
"I didn't find no hide nor hair of that thar telee-gram, Mathew." He said as he stepped up to the desk. Matt checked his pockets one more time.
"She did it, Festus." Matt said solemnly. He was terrified of her reading the Telegram.
"Who done what?" Festus asks confused.
"Kitty kissed me, and picked my pocket." He stands up and walks over to the door where his hat hung. "I've gotta talk to her Festus. If she reads that Telegram, there's no telling what she's gonna do, when she finds out, Bonner is out." He said putting his hat on and quickly leaving the jail. He knew Kitty was going back to the Long Branch to drop off supplies then over to Del Monico's, so he headed for the Long Branch first.
To be continued…….