"He Noticed That Day" In "The Bullet," after Kitty gave her soliloquy, Matt turned to Kitty and told her he noticed. This story tells just what he noticed and how he felt about that.

When Matt walked into the cafe, he noticed the usual citizens of Dodge City, but someone else caught his attention, someone he had never seen before in Dodge. This someone was a woman, a woman with the most vibrant red hair he had ever seen. He was certain she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He caught himself staring at her while she ate her breakfast, but he could not help himself. He imagined what it would be like to touch and kiss that alabaster skin.

'Whoa!' Matt thought to himself. 'What are you doing? You know you can't get involved in a relationship. Besides, she has a bag with her. You know she won't be staying in Dodge.'

Joe brought Matt his eggs, ham, and biscuits. While Matt ate, he would take quick glimpses of the beautiful redhead sitting across the cafe. He didn't notice she was doing the same thing. Halfway through his breakfast, Matt had seen that the woman was finishing her breakfast and getting ready to leave. She took one more sip of her coffee, grabbed her bag, and walked out the door.

As he saw the stagecoach drive off, disappointment clouded Matt's face. For one brief moment Matt let himself imagine being able to have a permanent relationship with a woman. 'Oh well, it's probably for the best, but I definitely wouldn't have minded getting to know her,' thought Matt.

Kitty Russell had decided to stay in Dodge, and now she needed a job. She had less than forty dollars to her name, and she knew that she couldn't live long off of that. Kitty hated to admit it, but the job she was most qualified for was a saloon girl. She left Ma Smalley's and made her way back into town. By this time the rain had stopped. As she surveyed the buildings, she noticed that Dodge had several saloons. However, one seemed to stand out from the rest, the Long Branch.

Kitty decided to go there and see if they were in need of a saloon girl. She walked up to the batwing doors, pushed them open, and walked inside. It wasn't busy inside, just a few guys sitting at a table and a few more at the bar. Kitty figured since it was early in the day, they probably wouldn't be busy. She walked up to the bar to speak to the barkeep.

"I'm looking for a job. Is the owner around?" asked Kitty.

The barkeep noticed how pretty Kitty was and smiled at her. "He's in the office. I'll go get him."

The barkeep went to the office. "Sir, there's a young girl standing at the bar, looking for a job. She sure is a pretty little thing."

"Thank you, Fred," said Bill Pence.

Bill walked out of his office and saw Kitty standing at the bar. He had to admit that Fred was right. She was pretty. "Hello, I'm Bill Pence. Fred says you are looking for a job. Do you have any experience working in a saloon? How old are you?"

"I'm nineteen, going to be twenty in a couple of months. Yes, I do have experience working in a saloon. I've worked at a few in New Orleans and Abilene," Kitty answered.

"Well, I do need another girl to work the floor. I just had one quit because she got married. You start tonight at eight. Just to let you know, I totally leave it up to the girls if they want to entertain men upstairs. I don't force the girls to do anything they don't want to do," said Bill.

Kitty was glad to hear that. She knew she could make way more money entertaining men, but she tried to avoid that. "Thank you, Mr. Pence. I'll see you tonight."

Kitty left the Long Branch and returned to Ma Smalley's. She looked at the clock in her room. She had to be back at the Long Branch in a couple of hours. During that time she would pick out her dress and put up her hair.

Dodge City was calm, and Matt was able to finish all of his paperwork. He probably would have been able to finish it much quicker, if he didn't let his mind wander back to the cafe and the redhead that was there. As he was signing one last piece of paper, Doc walked in.

"Do you want to grab some supper at Delmonico's?" asked Doc, rubbing at his mustache.

"Sounds good," said Matt, hoping supper with Doc would distract him from his thoughts.

While they were eating their meals, Doc noticed that Matt was quieter than usual. Normally, when the two of them had supper, Matt did his part in keeping up his end of the conversation. Is something on your mind, Matt? You seem to be on the quiet side," Doc inquired.

Matt knew he couldn't admit to Doc the real reason he was so quiet, so he came up with another reason. "Sorry, Doc. I've been doing a lot of paperwork today. I guess it just wore me out."

"I see. How about after dinner we head over to the Long Branch and have a beer. According to Chester, there's a new girl working there. He says mighty pretty with the reddest hair he's ever seen," said Doc.

Matt perked up at hearing what Doc had just said. Could it be that the girl that captured his attention at the cafe was working at the Long Branch? He hoped the answer was yes. Matt didn't want to look desperate to see this girl, so he calmly said to Doc, "Sure. Sounds good."

After supper Matt and Doc walked over to the Long Branch. Matt looked over the batwing doors before he and Doc walked in. He surveyed the saloon, but did not see the beautiful redhead. He was disappointed. Matt and Doc walked over to a table and sat down. It was at that moment that Kitty walked in. Matt didn't notice her because he was facing away from the door, but Doc noticed.

"That must be the girl Chester was speaking about. I have to agree with him. She sure is pretty," said Doc.

Matt turned around and noticed a red-haired girl standing at the bar. Her back was to him, but he was positive it was the girl from the cafe. She was talking to Bill Pence. After her conversation with Bill ended, she walked over to Matt and Doc's table.

"What can I get you boys to drink?" asked Kitty. It was then that she noticed that one of the men sitting at the table was the same man she saw in the cafe. She felt that this was her lucky night.

"You're new here, aren't you? I don't think I've seen you here before,' said Doc.

Kitty tried to focus on the other man at the table. "Yes, I am. My name is Kitty Russell."

"Well, Miss Russell, I'm Doc Adams and this here is Marshal Dillon."

Matt stood up to properly introduce himself. "Hello, Miss Russell. I'm the Marshal of Dodge City." He then extended his hand out to her. Kitty took his hand and shook it.

"You can call me Kitty," she said with a smile.

"You can call me Matt," he said, also with a smile.

Doc watched the exchange between Matt and Kitty and had a feeling he was witnessing the start of friendship and possibly more.

Then End