"Dear Diary: Where Is He?" This is a missing moment from "Matt's Love Story." After Matt goes after Les Dean, Kitty writes in her diary.
Dear Diary,
Matt had to go after an outlaw, someone who had unjustly shot someone. As Marshal of Dodge City for the last nineteen years, going after the bad guys was as natural as breathing for him. When he rode out after Les Dean, it shouldn't have been any different than the other times, except this time it would be different. This time wouldn't be like most of the other times before this. I wish I would've known things would have been different. I don't know what I would've done. I wouldn't have been able to stop him. He was going to go no matter what. Until he comes back, I will keep this entry open.
I'm back. Matt's been gone for a week now. Being gone a week is nothing unusual for him. However, that doesn't stop me from missing him. I love that man with everything I have. Heck, I miss him if I don't see him for a day. I expect him to be back any day now. When he does return, I'm going to give him an extra special welcome home celebration. My body tingles just thinking about it.
It's been a few days since I last wrote in here. I honestly expected Matt to be back by now. I'm starting to get worried. I don't know why I'm starting to worry. I should be used to Matt being gone for extended periods of time. It's happened multiple times in the nineteen years we've been together. But still, there's nothing that can stop my anxiety. Nothing except for Matt back in Dodge and in my arms.
Two weeks, no it's been over two weeks. Matt's been gone for more than two weeks and nobody has heard from him. Yes, there have been times when he's been gone at least two weeks, but during that time Matt will send word. This time there hasn't been any word from him. I sat in the Long Branch with Doc and Festus today. I told them how worried I was. I also told them that if Matt wasn't back soon, someone had to go out looking for him. Festus was thinking along the same lines as I was. He said he was fixin' to do just that. Doc on the other hand was being more sensible. He knew we couldn't traipse across the countryside looking for Matt, when we had no idea where to look. Doc told Festus to go to the telegraph office and have Barney wire every station up north so we could get a line on Matt. Festus left the Long Branch to do that. When it was just Curly and I sitting there, I told him that he couldn't fool me. I knew he was just as worried as I was. I just pray we get word after Barney sends those wires. Prayers and hope is what I'm leaning on right now.
Where is he? Where is he? Where is he? I can't stop asking that question. Matt has been gone for over six weeks. The wires Barney sent four weeks ago did not get any results. It's as if Matt has disappeared off the face of the Earth. People don't say anything to me, but I know they have doubts that their Marshall will return. I know most people have given up on Matt returning. I know they think Matt's dead. It's so hard to put the words, Matt's dead, in this diary. I guess the only way that I can put those words down is because I don't believe he's dead. I won't accept that he's dead. I can still feel him. I can still feel him in my heart. I can't really explain what I feel, but I feel that he's alive. He's my soulmate. I think if Matt were dead, I would feel this emptiness, and I don't feel that way. I'm not sure how Doc and Festus feel. If they think Matt has died, they have done a great job not expressing their feelings in front of me.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Matt is coming home! Barney just received a wire from him all the way from Arizona. What was he doing all the way out in Arizona? Why was he gone for almost two months? Why didn't he send word to us? These are questions I won't have answers to until I can ask Matt himself. His wire said he should be back within the week. I've waited this long for my love to return. I guess I can wait one more week. I really don't have a choice.
I can end this diary entry now. Matt's home. He rode into Dodge last night. It almost feels like a dream that I wrote those words. When I saw him, relief coursed through my body. He was home, he was alive, and he was with me. Words could not describe the emotions I was feeling. Doc, Festus, and the town were overjoyed at Matt's return. It was truly a miracle that he was alive and back in Dodge City. I sent up so many prayers that Matt would return to me and now I send up so many prayers that he has returned to me.
I am so grateful that Matt is back in my arms and I am back in his arms. I do plan on asking him all the questions I have for him. But right now, I am going to rejoice in the fact that he's back. I had the lamp in my window burning for him every night he was gone. He told me when he rode into Dodge, it was the first thing he saw. He said it brought tears to his eyes knowing that I didn't give up on him. I told him there was no way I could give up on him. My love for him is way too strong for me to ever give up on him. When he pulled me in his arms and kissed me, I knew he felt the same way.
The End
