Matt and Festus headed out of Dodge leaving Sam to watch over things. Sam; a man of deep feelings and locality would have rather gone on the search for Miss Kitty and the town doctor. He stood on the boardwalk in front of the Long Branch and watched the two men leave on horseback. Under his breath he sighed, "Please bring them back safely..." he then turned and walked back through the swing doors of the saloon. He hated the feeling that was slowly building up inside of him - that of uncertainty and helplessness . Quickly he turned his attention to a few men looking for drinks at the bar. "What'll it be?" his velvet barbitone voice asked.
Doc slowly pulled the Colt from his waistband and scanned the wooded area near their fire. Night was quickly coming on and he felt his eyes were playing tricks on him as he peered deep into the thicket. The crashing noises continued around them. The doctor slowly pulled back, picking up a few more pieces of wood on his way back to the concave in the rock face where Kitty stood watching. "It's the cougar, isn't it?" she looked at Doc face and could tell.
"I'm pretty sure. It has one thing on it's mind too..." Doc looked sharply to Kitty.
"I don't follow..." Kitty blinded at the older man standing in front of her. Her blue eyes locked to his crystal blue eyes - she knew there was panic behind them.
Doc stuck the gun back in his waistband and then placed his right hand on Kitty's shoulder and tried to offer reassurance that everything was going to be just fine. "It has picked up the scent of blood. Mine to be exact. It's hunting fer food..." Doc turned back to the woods and sighed.
Kitty broke from his hand and marched out to face him. "Well we just can't sit here and let that animal attack us!" she blurted.
Doc looked deeply into Kitty's blue eyes. "No, we can't. But right now we have to figure out a way to get through the night." He ran his right hand over his moustache. "I need to get more wood for one thing." he said looking around. He dropped what wood he had next to the fire.
"Oh, Doc..." Kitty wanted to follow but he stopped her. "You just pick up that scatter gun and keep it handy. Now go on..." he shooed her back to the fire.
Matt and Festus rode hard. There were obviously no signs of any traffic on the road toward the stage stop. If there were, they were washed out by the big storm the night before.
Festus hung over the side of his mule looking intently at the ground and then he pulled Ruth to a stop. "Matthew. Thar ain't been nobody on his road fer a day. And with no moon tonight, it's gonna be darker then the inside of a cow. I can only track fer another hour or so..." he scanned the horizon before locking his eyes on the marshal.
Matt knew Festus was right but hated the thought of not even reaching the stage stop before night fell. He pursed his lips and looked at Festus with a determined fire in his eyes. "We'll ride as far as we can safely." Then he spurred Buck into motion not wanting to waste a second of valuable daylight. Festus nudged Ruth and followed the marshal. "I sure hope that ol' scutter can keep Miss Kitty and himself outta trouble..." he muttered under his breath. Matt over heard him and deep down he was wishing and praying the same thing. The night grew darker.