"The Promise" What prompted Matt to make Kitty promise to never deal at the Long Branch again? This is my answer. (This takes place before "Whelan's Men." (Season 18) )

It was your typical Saturday night at the Long Branch. The place was buzzing with excitement. Patrons were bellying up to the bar to get a beer or a whiskey. Other customers sat around tables with their drinks chewing the fat with each other. Still other customers were gambling their money away or winning it at the faro table or at a poker game. On the player piano, "Old Susanna" was playing.

Matt and Kitty were at their usual table, sharing a drink with one another. Matt was in the middle of his rounds, and like usual, he stopped at the Long Branch to see Kitty. Sometimes Doc and Festus would be at the table with them. Tonight they weren't. Tonight it was just Matt and Kitty at the table. When they were at their table, Matt always sat where he could keep an eye on the saloon. At the moment there seemed to be a commotion at the faro table.

"You just cheated!" yelled Corby Rathbun. He was a cowboy, from one of the trailhands, who had decided to test his luck at the faro table.

"I did not," said Randle Wixon. He had been dealing faro at the Long Branch for a week. "You're just upset that you're losing money."

"I'm not upset I'm losing money," said Corby. "I'm upset that I'm losing it to a cheater like you."

Before anyone knew it, Corby took his gun from its holster and shot Randle. Randle Wixon had no chance for one reason and one reason only. He was not wearing a gun. The once boisterous saloon was now silent. All eyes were on Corby Rathbun. Matt quickly got up from the table, gun drawn.

"Hold it!" his deep voice exclaimed, gun pointed at Corby. "Don't move."

Corby did as he was told. "Marshal, he was cheatin'" said Corby. "Check his vest pocket."

Matt took Corby's gun from him and then checked the pocket of the dead faro dealer. Sure enough, there was a jack of diamonds in his vest pocket. Randle Wixon had been cheating, but he didn't deserve to be shot, especially since he was unarmed. Matt would have made him give the money back to his customers and leave Dodge.

"You see. I told ya he was cheatin'. That jack of diamonds is proof," said Corby.

"He may have been cheating, but you had no right to take things into your own hands," said Matt. "You shot and killed an unarmed man. That's murder. You're going to jail. Some of you other men take the body over to Crump."

Matt escorted Corby out of the Long Branch. As he did, Matt made eye contact with Kitty. They both knew that Matt would not be sharing a bed with her tonight. If there was just a jail cell occupant sleeping off a drunk, Matt would leave Festus at the jail and he would join Kitty. Since the jail cell occupant murdered someone, Matt would stay at the jail with Festus. He would not be joining Kitty tonight. Kitty could see the disappointment in Matt's eyes. She was experiencing the same thing.

"Who ya got there, Matthew?" Festus asked when he saw Matt and Corby walk in.

"Corby Rathbun," Matt replied. "He shot and killed the faro dealer at the Long Branch."

"Randle Wixon?" Festus questioned.

"Yeah," said Matt. "Randle was cheating, but unfortunately Corby decided to take matters into his own hands. Randle wasn't wearing a gun. Corby will spend the night here and I'll take him to Hayes tomorrow morning."

"Do ya reckon you'll have to stay for the trial?" asked Festus.

"I would say so," said Matt. "I was there. I saw it happen. If I wasn't a witness, then I would say no." Matt locked Corby into one of the cells.

Matt and Corby would start for Hayes first thing in the morning. The new thing now was to take the murder suspect to Hayes the very next day. They would wait at the prison in Hays for their trial to start. Matt wouldn't get a chance to see Kitty and say goodbye to her. She knew about the new policy, but wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

Knowing he had a long trip to Hayes ahead of him, Matt took off his boots, gun belt, and hat. He sat down on his jail cell cot and laid down to go to sleep. He didn't realize how tired he was. Within ten minutes, he had fallen into a deep sleep. While he was sleeping, he started dreaming.

Matt had walked into the Long Branch to say hello to Kitty. He had been doing paperwork for the government and he needed a break and a drink. When he walked in, he saw Kitty dealing at the faro table. She didn't deal very often, just every once in a while. Kitty saw Matt walk in and smiled at him, that smile she reserved just for him. Matt smiled back at her, the one he reserved just for her. He then walked up to the bar to get a beer.

"What will it be, Marshal?" asked Sam.

"Give me a beer, Sam," Matt replied.

"One beer coming up," said Sam. He filled a mug with a frothy cold beer and gave it to Matt. "Here ya go, Marshal."

"Thanks, Sam," said Matt. He took the beer and put a nickel on the bar.

Matt took a sip of his beer, when he heard commotion coming from the faro table. Commotion from gambling tables was never any good. More often than not someone usually ended up being shot. As Matt listened more closely, he could hear one of the players accusing Kitty of cheating.

"Hey lady! You're cheatin'," said a cowboy at the faro table.

"This is my saloon. I don't allow crooked games or crooked dealers in here," said Kitty. "Now if I don't allow it, why would I do it?"

"That doesn't mean anything!" the cowboy exclaimed. "You're still a cheat!"

The cowboy quickly pulled his gun and shot Kitty. Kitty was killed instantly. Matt saw what happened and froze. In one brief moment, he had lost his soulmate, his other half. Every patron in the Long Branch stood staring at the faro table and the beautiful redhead who now was lying dead on the floor. Matt shook his head as if he were coming out of a trance. He now looked at the cowboy that had shot his beloved.

"What the hell?" Matt yelled, grabbing the cowboy. "You just shot a woman, an unarmed woman! You'll hang for this!"

"She was cheatin'," said the cowboy. "I know she was."

"How was she cheating?" Matt seethed. "She has no place to hide cards. Besides, she doesn't cheat."

Matt was able to prove to the cowboy that Kitty hadn't been cheating. He took the cowboy over to the jail. Never in all of his life had Matt felt so much anger. He had been angry about things before, but those times paled in comparison to the anger he felt now. It took all of his willpower not to kill the cowboy with his bare hands.

Kitty's funeral took place the next day. So many of Dodge's citizens attended the funeral. For the first time that anybody could remember, the Long Branch had been closed. Anyone that worked at the Long Branch was at the funeral. Of course Matt, Doc, and Festus were there. Many people had their eyes on the Marshal. They knew there was something between Marshal Dillon and Miss Russell. They wanted to see his display of emotions at the funeral.

The funeral was coming to an end and Kitty's casket was being lowered to the ground. Matt got a sickening feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. Seeing Kitty being lowered into the cold, dark earth was torture. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Kitty wasn't supposed to be dead. This was all because she had been accused of cheating while dealing faro at the Long Branch.

Matt went back to the jail after the funeral. He sat at his desk and pulled out a picture of Kitty and himself. They had it taken in Topeka during one of their vacations together. He looked at the picture and let the tears flow. He didn't care who walked in and saw him. The tears were for Kitty, his one and only.

"Oh, Kitty," he softly cried. "Why did you have to leave me?"

Matt woke up with his heart racing. He quickly sat up and looked around. Festus was in the other cot. It had been a dream, no, not a dream, but a nightmare. It had been a nightmare, but he had to make sure that it wasn't real. Matt had to make sure Kitty was alright. He had to go and see her.

Matt sat up in bed and put on his boots, followed by his gun belt and hat. Festus had woken up earlier when he heard Matt moving around. He figured he must've been dreaming. Festus wasn't sure why Matt was putting on his boots, gun belt, and hat. He couldn't have been getting ready to go to Hayes. Dawn was still several hours away.

"Matthew, where ya fixin' on going?" asked Festus.

"I'm sorry, Festus. I didn't mean to wake you," said Matt. "I have to go and see Kitty."

"What for?" asked Festus. "It's in the middle of the night."

"I can't explain now," said Matt. "I will later."

"Do ya still plan on takin' the pris'ner to Hayes?" asked Festus.

"Yes," said Matt, as he walked out of the jail and over to the Long Branch.

Festus wasn't going to push Matt into telling him why he was going to see Kitty. Festus figured Matt had been having some sort of dream or nightmare that must've involved Kitty, and that's why Matt was going over there.

Matt climbed the back stairs of the Long Branch and reached the landing outside of Kitty's room. He hated to wake her, but he had to confirm that she was alright. That she was alive. Matt had his key with him, but he still softly knocked. He waited a minute and then knocked again.

Kitty had fallen asleep about an hour ago. In her sleep fuddled mind, she thought she heard knocking. However, she didn't know if it was real or if she were dreaming. Then she heard it again. Now she was awake and knew the knocking was real. Kitty slowly crawled out of bed and put on her robe. She walked to the door.

"Who is it?" she softly asked. She was kind of afraid. She had no idea who would be at her door at three o'clock in the morning.

"Kitty, it's me," said Matt. "Can I come in?"

Matt's voice was the last voice she expected to hear. Kitty unlocked the door and opened it to let Matt in. When he did, Matt took Kitty into his arms and held her like he had no intention of letting her go. Kitty was very confused by Matt's actions.

"Matt, not that I don't love being in your arms, but I'm having a hard time breathing," said Kitty.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," said Matt, loosening his grip.

Kitty took a closer look at her man, and could see he was upset. "Matt, I can tell something is wrong. Please tell me."

"Kitty, I don't want you doing anymore dealing whatsoever at the Long Branch," Matt responded. "I want you to promise me right now that you won't."

Kitty raised her eyebrows at Matt. If he was going to wake her up in the middle of the night and make such a statement to her, he was going to have to explain himself. "Why are you asking me to make this promise to you in the middle of the night?"

"Oh, Kitty, I had the worst nightmare," Matt answered. "You were accused of cheating and you were shot, killed instantly. In one lousy second I lost you. There wasn't anything I could do."

"Matt, you know I don't cheat when I do decide to deal," said Kitty.

"I know that and it was proven that you didn't cheat. But that didn't matter, you were still shot and killed. Please promise me that you won't deal at the Long Branch anymore," Matt pleaded.

Kitty could see how upset Matt was. He had to be if he came to her in the middle of night to ask her to make this promise. She hated to see him so upset. If making this promise would make him feel better, then she would do it.

"Matt, I hate seeing you so upset," said Kitty, pulling him close to her. "I promise I won't deal at the Long Branch anymore."

"Are you sure?" Matt questioned.

"Yes," Kitty answered. "I've seen how dangerous being a dealer can be. It doesn't matter if they are cheating or not, or whether or not they are armed."

"Do you think we can seal this promise with a kiss?" asked Matt.

"I think that can be arranged," said Kitty, pulling Matt into a deep, soul shattering kiss. Both were breathless when they finished. "Do you have to go back to the jail?"

"No. I just have to be sure I'm back in the morning to take Corby to Hayes," said Matt.

Kitty liked the answer she heard and pulled Matt towards the bed. She removed her robe and he removed his hat, gun belt, and boots. They climbed into bed and Matt pulled Kitty close to him. She put her head on his chest and soon fell asleep. Matt didn't fall asleep right away, but it didn't take long for him to do so. As he did, he thanked the Lord that the nightmare wasn't real and he still had the love of his life wrapped in his arms.

The End