Hostage: Kitty's Fate, The Morning After

Chapter 4

Gunsmoke

Author's Note: Sorry folks, I tend to type a bit too fast and screw things up, like use the wrong word, like road instead of rode and a tentative instead of attentive. Yes, I do know the difference but my fingers don't. I don't have anyone reading these for me, so, please forgive me for any future screw ups. I will slow down and try better. Thank you Amanda for understanding what I actually meant to say. I will try to do better the next chapter, but I get so impatient and want to get it on the net. Oh well, I'll try to take it slower next time. :)

Matt entered Del Monico's to find Kitty and Jakey eating lunch. He could tell from Kitty's mood that she had not opened the telegram. Sighing in relief, he took his hat off as he headed towards their table. Jakey looked up and saw the Marshal. He looked at Kitty and told her and she looked up just as her husband came over to their table.

"Young Mr. Timmons, what are you doing having lunch with my woman?" He said joking around with him.

"Aw shucks Marshal, Miss Kitty is the pretty girl around. Someone's gotta set with her and keep her from being lonesome." Jakey said as Matt and Kitty both laughed. "Ifin' I was just a few years older, I'd ask her to marry me." He smiles up at Kitty, who blushed at the young man's admission.

"Jakey Timmons, you ole' silver tongue devil you. Where'd you learn to charm a lady like that?" Kitty asked him.

"My pa said, next to my Ma, you are the prettiest woman in these parts." Jakey smiled, thinking about his mother who died only a little over a year ago. "Ma always told Pa, that you was the prettiest woman in these parts and weren't none prettier."

"Thank you, Jakey." She said smiling at the young man. Matt continued to watch the two.

"I bess be going, Miss Kitty. I'm gonna get into trouble ifin' I'm late getting home." He said standing up and setting his napkin down. He goes to walk by Kitty, but suddenly stops and kisses her on the cheek. Kitty smiled as the young man became slightly embarrassed and took off for the door.

Matt sat down staring after Jakey. "I sometimes wonder if he really is 10 years old or just a midget, pretending to be a kid." Matt said and Kitty laughed at him. Sitting down, he saw the telegram sitting on the table beside her plate. "Why didn't you open it?" He asked her. Kitty looked up at him with her pained blue eyes.

"I didn't mean to do it, Matt, it just scared me, the look I saw in your eyes. You wanted to kill someone. And it scared me." She said looking back down at the telegram. "I know you'll tell me what's in it. I just…I don't know why I felt you would try to hide it, or protect me from it." She reached over and gently took his hand. "I love you, Matt, more than I could ever imagine. You and Kadie, are my world, you're everything that matters to me." She said gently laying her hand on her belly.

Matt leaned up and gently reached over and placed his hand on top of her hand.

"I promise you, that we will go back to the house and we'll discuss this." He picked up the piece of paper and placed it in his pocket. "You, young lady have to promise me no more picking pockets." He whispered to her. Kitty smiled at him and shook her head promising not to pick his pockets again. "So, you've decided on a name, have you?"

"No, you did. Remember three weeks ago, we were picnicking by the creek, you said, you would take good care of your two women, and said Kadie would have my hair coloring, because that's how you wanted it." She said smiling at him.

"So I did. And she will have your hair." He said taking her hand and kissing her palm. "Now, how about I get something to eat, then I'll take my two ladies home?" He said to her.

"Sounds good, Cowboy. I could use a nap, I'm plum tuckered out." She smiled as Matt laughed at her. "What's so funny?" She asked him.

"You've only been up out of bed about four hours, how can you be tired?" He asked her.

"I'll tell you what, you try strapping a watermelon under your shirt and carry it around all day and let's see if it tires you out." She said playfully.

"I happen to like this little watermelon." He said caressing her belly. It was then that Kitty realized they were being watched. Her face turned crimson and Matt sat back in his chair smiling at his wife's embarrassment.

Jude Bonner was getting worried. They had been riding for four days, and as best as he could figure, they were no closer to wherever these men were taking him. Maybe it was just a plot to get him out and kill him. He wasn't too sure, but he wasn't a coward, at least not in his own eyes and he'd face whatever came his way. As they rounded the bend, they entered the canyons. Any thought of cover was clearly not going to happen. He was out in the open, a sitting duck, as the white man would say. Here he was without a weapon to defend himself. They began to follow a trail that took them along a steep ridge. The ridge came up and around, then led to what seemed like a small hidden canyon within the canyon. As they passed through the narrow opening, there were people walking around and doing their business. Bonner noticed that it seemed to be a small village of Arapahoe's who lived there. Their living quarters were cut into stonewalls, of the canyon. There were several huts on the main ground as well. He saw a man come out of one of these huts and stand on the front step. As he moved closer towards the man, he thought that he looked quite familiar, but was unsure as to who the mangy ole' fella' was.

Dismounting from his horse, he tied it to the post and walked over to the man whose arm was held up by a thin rope and his hand tucked into his shirt.

"LaFete, you're alive?" Bonner said confused.

"If you can call it that. That Deputy shot me and left me there as fodder for the buzzards. But I wasn't dead, I was playing possum." He said as he stood up. LaFete was unable to move his left arm. Festus' bullet had left his arm paralyzed. "Can't use a gun no more, Jude. So I ain't no good to ya' there."

"Why'd ya get me out, LaFete?" Jude asked confused.

"Come on in, Jude, I'm sure you're hungry and tired. I'll tell ya' everything after a good hot meal." He said gesturing to Jude. Jude looked at the three men who had helped him escape and they were taking the horses to the corral. Entering the hut, he noticed it was just a one room place, but there was a bed on the east wall and one on the west wall. In front, was a fireplace with a woman cooking stew. A small square table had two barrels for chairs sat in front of the fireplace and the woman took the towel and grabbed the handle of the pan. She removed it from the fire then sat it on the table. Jude watched as the young woman then went over to a chair in the corner and began sewing, repairing clothing. He noticed that she was not Indian, but Mexican. LaFete always did have a thing for the Mexican woman. He also noticed that she was with child. "She's my woman. She and her father found me and saved my life. Her father died from the fever a few weeks later and I promised to take care of her."

"And I see you have." Jude said taking the spoon and dipping out some stew onto his plate. "So, why don't you begin to tell me why you got me out?" He said loading the spoon up and quickly shoving it into his mouth.

"You don't wanna eat first?" LaFete asked him.

"I can eat and listen, LaFete, talk!" He said shoving another spoonful into his mouth. He was hungry, but he wanted to know what LaFete had in mind.

"I was in Dodge a few weeks ago. Didn't nobody recognize me with this beard and hair. Saw that woman, pretty redhead, with eyes of blue. Heard she and the Marshal came out with the truth that they'd been married for years." LaFete said leaning back in his chair. His food sat in front of him, but he knew Jude was impatient.

"So, what do I care about her? That woman was nothing but trouble anyway. Had my head all mixed up." Bonner said trying to pretend that she wasn't all he could think about since he was taken to prison.

"Cause she's a carrying your child." LaFete said to him. Bonner just stared up at him from his seat. His mouth full and his eyes, seemed to asking a question, is it his.

"Could be yours or K'Lingy's, even Duffy had at her. Could be anyone's includin' that Marshal." He said, as he began to chew his food.

"Could be, but wouldn't ya' wanna know ifin' it was yours?" He asked him, trying to get him riled.

Bonner sat and thought for a moment. He smiled as he leaned forward in his chair. "Don't matter ifin' it is or ifin isn't, I'll betaking that child. I'm not gonna let some white man raise my son. Or his woman for that matter." LaFete smiled as the fire returned to Bonner's eyes. "I think I'll have me another bite of that sweet juicy peach." He said sitting back and laughing as LaFete stared at him and smiled. "You sure that's the only reason you got me out?"

"What other reason could there be?" LaFete asked nervously.

"Like maybe you're hopin' I run across that thar deputy what done your arm in." He said as he finished his supper.

"Maybe there is a bit of revenge itchin' at my gut." He said sitting back in the chair. Jude looked him over and smiled.

"You know, killin' me a deputy ain't no big deal, LaFete. I'm taking that woman, and that child. They belong to me." He grabbed his cup and drank a mouthful of whiskey. "I'm looking forward to seeing, Reds again."

To be continued…….