My Twisted Heritage

Chapter 12

Gunsmoke

Spoilers: Twisted Heritage/Not really any spoilers, I really don't follow the original idea

too much.

Kitty slowly stepped out onto the porch. Now, almost five months along, she was beginning to show. She wore a loose blouse to cover her belly. Blane was talking to one of his men, when he saw her come out onto the porch. She leaned against the pole and breathed in the cool autumn air. Her hair hung down her back, and she had the front pulled back and pinned. He stopped in his tracks. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He smiles. "Put the team away, and make sure you rub down the horses tonight. They put a great deal of work in today." He walked away and headed for his wife who still stood on the porch, leaning against the pole with her eyes closed. "Well hello there."

"Hi." She said, keeping her eyes closed.

"Are you alright, Kitty." He asked, concerned when she did not open her eyes.

"Very. The air just smells so clean and crisp this time of year." Opening her eyes, she laid her hand on her belly. "We needed some fresh air. Jesse won't let me out of her sight." She stretches her hand out to him and he takes it as she leads him over to the swing on the porch. He helps her sit down and then sits beside her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Her head lay against his shoulder. "Blane?"

"Yes."

"I wanna take Tracy for a walk. It's a beautiful day. And I need to get out of the house. Please talk to Jesse for me." She looks up at her husband. He smiled at her. "I'm going crazy in this house, Blane, and if you don't let me go for a walk, which I promise not to wander too far, I'll, I don't know what I'll do."

He laughed out loud at her. "I'll pack you a lunch and have one of the buggies ready for you so you can take her to the creek for a nice picnic."

"You promise?" She said eyes sparkling.

"Have I ever lied to you?" He asked, taking her chin in his hand.

"No. Never." She said closing her eyes as his mouth descended on hers. She laid her head back on his shoulder as he placed his hand on her belly. She placed her hand on top of his. They sat there for a little while longer.

Later on that afternoon, Tracy helped her mother lay out the blanket for them to sit on. They then sat the basket down on it and then sat to have some lunch. Kitty gave Tracy lunch and sat by while she ate.

"Mama, aren't you going to eat?" She said looking at her.

"I'm still a bit full from the breakfast your grandmother insists on feeding me." She said smiling and Tracy laughed hysterically

"Grandma' says she wants to make you're nice and plump." She laughed. Kitty just shook her head and looked down at her belly.

"Yes, well, it's working." She said gently caressing her belly. She gasped slightly as the baby kicked her side. "I'm alright, you're little sister is making her presence known is all." She saw the wonder in her eyes. "Come here." She said to Tracy who got up and crawled over to her mother. Kitty gently took her hand and placed it on the spot where the baby was moving. Tracy laughed as she felt the baby move beneath her hand.

"Does it hurt, Mama?" She said looking up at Kitty.

"Not at all. It feel different, but, it's wonderful." Kitty said as she pulled Tracy into her arms and held her. Within a matter of minutes, both Kitty and Tracy had dozed off into an afternoon nap.

Meanwhile back at the Copperton Ranch. Matt Dillon rode up to the ranch. One of the hands came to meet him. He looked at the telegram he had received form Tyler Mosely about a woman being seen with Blane Copperton, fitting Kitty's description and he was here to find out if it was his Kitty. The ranch hand took the reins of the horse as Matt asked him for the Boss. He pointed to the house and Matt headed up to the main house. Blane had heard him ride up and came out onto the porch.

"Can I help you, Stranger." He said looking at the big man who walked with a purpose. Matt looked up at him and Blane saw the Marshall's badge. "Oh, Marshall, what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a woman." He said, then reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a photo of Kitty. Handing him the photo, Matt noticed the look of recognition on his face. "You've seen her?"

"You could say that, Marshall. She's my wife." He saw the shock and anger on Matt's face, thinking, well, not sure what he was thinking. "Marshall, before you make any hasty judgment, you should come in and let me explain things." Matt followed Blane into the house.

Sitting in the living room sipping coffee, he told Matt the Story. "She was badly injured in the accident, Matt. Evidently, they robbed the stage and shot her, leaving her to die there. I was heading back home, when this woman stumbled out of the brush, and startled my horses. I thought for sure she was dead. I put her into the buckboard and brought her back here. Jesse, my mother and I tended to her wounds. There was a nasty gash on her head, a bullet had been the cause of that injury as well. Anyway, she got better, but she didn't know who she was or where she came from. Only that her name was Kitty." He said.

"Didn't you even try to investigate it for yourself." Matt asks angrily.

"Of course I did Marshall. Evidently she wasn't on the passenger list of the stage. Perhaps they picked her up along the way, I don't know. The only ones to know would be the driver and the other passenger and both were killed." He sits back and sips his coffee. "She's a remarkable woman. I fell in love with her because she wouldn't take no for an answer. That woman is more stubborn than my mother and that's quite an accomplishment." He saw the recognition of her in Matt's eyes. "You're her man, aren't you?" Matt just looked up at him. "She said, she saw a man's face flash in her mind once, but she didn't know if you were her husband or what. Marshall, there's more.

Kitty's with child." Matt became white. "You really love her?"

"Yes, I do." Matt said to him.

"I think she loves you too, still, even if she doesn't remember everything, sometimes, I see her looking far away, and I know she's trying to remember that love. She feels it in her heart, but doesn't know where it belongs. Matt, there's something else you need to know." Blane got up and walked over to the doors of the library and closed them and locked them. He then returned to sit in the chair across from the couch where Matt Dillion now sat. "I love Kitty very much and I will do what is necessary to keep her. But if she chooses you, I won't stand in her way of happiness." Blane became silent, and the two men sat there in silence.

to be continued…..