"The Telegram" What if Kitty found out about the telegram from Mavis McCloud? "Mavis McCloud" (Season 3)
(Part 2)
Kitty's breath caught in her throat. She was having a hard time catching her breath. She read the telegram again. The words she kept reading over and over were not what she was expecting to see. Maybe the telegram was meant for someone else. Who was she kidding? It was addressed to the Marshal of Dodge City. There was only one Marshal in Dodge City. Mavis McCloud said she was coming on the noon stage on Saturday to get married and wanted the Marshal to meet her. Saturday was tomorrow. Matt was due back tomorrow. Did he tell Mavis he was out of town and would be returning on Saturday?
Another thought entered Kitty's mind. Matt didn't kiss her when he left. He always kissed her when he left. If he was planning on getting married, a kiss wouldn't be appropriate. There was no kiss, yet he made love to her the night before he left. They made love, but he didn't kiss her goodbye. Kitty was so confused that her head was spinning.
Matt had a lot of explaining to do. She had given him her heart and she thought he had given his heart to her. Yet, here he was marrying another woman. Kitty couldn't fathom that Matt was even getting married. After their relationship went from friendship to something more on the intimate level, they had a serious talk about the future, which included marriage and a family. Matt told Kitty his thoughts on being a lawman and how he didn't think they should get married or have a family. He shared his reasons with her. She didn't necessarily think he was correct, but agreed with his terms. She would much rather have him with no marriage and family, than not have him at all. Now that all seemed to be changing. For some reason he had changed his mind and was getting married.
Kitty knew she had to leave the jail before Chester returned. She wouldn't be able to explain why she was there. Kitty put the telegram back in the envelope and left it on the table. She decided to leave out the back door and walk through the back alleys to the Long Branch. If it was at night, she wouldn't walk alone through the back alleys. Since it was still daylight, she didn't see it to be a problem.
Kitty reached the Long Branch and went upstairs to change for work. At least work would help to keep her mind off the dreaded telegram. That's what she was hoping for. She didn't want anyone to know that she was upset. They would ask her why, especially Doc. He could usually sense when something was bothering her. Kitty would've loved to talk to him about it and get his opinion, but that wasn't an option. She wasn't even supposed to know the telegram existed.
Doc and Chester had finished their meals at Delmonico's and were now on their way to the Long Branch to have a beer with Kitty. While they were at Delmonico's, they made sure not to bring up the telegram. They didn't want any ears besides their own to know what was going on. News that some woman was coming to marry the Marshal would spread like wildfire.
Before they walked through the batwing doors of the Long Branch, Doc addressed Chester. "Now, remember to act as normal as can be. We don't want Kitty to think something is wrong."
"Oh forever more, Doc," said Chester. "I ain't gonna say or do anything that would make Miss Kitty suspicious."
Doc and Chester entered the Long Branch and took a place at their favorite table. Kitty was standing at the bar and had her back to them. She didn't see them walk in. Bill pointed them out to her. Kitty turned around and smiled at them. They smiled back. She went over to the table to take their drink orders.
"What can I get you to drink?" she asked.
"A beer, please," said Doc.
"I'll have the same," said Chester.
"Two beers coming up," said Kitty. "I'll be right back."
Kitty returned a couple of minutes later with the two beers. She placed a mug in front of Doc and one in front of Chester. Both men placed a nickel on the table to pay for the beer. Kitty took the coins.
"If you're not too busy, why don't you join us for a bit?" asked Doc.
"It's not too busy at the moment," said Kitty. "I guess we can chat until things start picking up."
Kitty sat at the table with Doc and Chester. They talked about anything and everything, except for the telegram. That obviously wasn't brought up. When things got busy, Kitty would get up and go help out. Soon it was closing time. Kitty helped Bill clean things up and locked the doors.
Kitty went upstairs to get ready for bed. For the last couple of hours, Kitty kept busy enough to keep her mind off things. She no longer had that. Who knew how much sleep, if any, she would get. Neither Kitty, Doc, nor Chester got much sleep that night. All three minds were on the subject of the telegram that was sitting on the table at the jail.
The next day dawned. Kitty expected Matt to be coming back from Spearville. If he was going to meet the noon stage, he more than likely would be back sometime this morning. She figured he would want to be back in town before the stage got in. Kitty had it in her mind to go over to the jail and wait for Matt's return, but then had a different plan. She would stay up in her room until just before noon. Around noon she would walk over to the hat shop and see if Matt was at the stage depot. The hat shop was right across from the stage depot. If she saw him there, then she would know that he did plan on meeting Mavis McCloud.
Sitting in front of her vanity mirror, Kitty started brushing through her hair. While she was doing so, the ring on her left ring finger caught her attention. She rarely took it off. Kitty had been wearing it for close to a year now. She remembered the day she got it. Matt gave it to her. He had just gotten back from a trip to Topeka and gave it to her. To say she was shocked to get it was an understatement. He quickly went on to explain why he was giving her the ring. It wasn't an engagement ring, but it was a ring saying that he was committed to her and only her. There would never be anyone else. Those were his words, at least they were a year ago.
Matt arrived back in Dodge City mid morning. He was glad to be back in town. The trip to Spearville wasn't a bad one. He preferred that one over the trip to Hayes City. Matt brought his horse to Moss' stable. He gave Moss instructions to give the horse some oats and a rub down.
Matt gathered his gear and walked over to the jail. When he arrived, Doc and Chester were inside. Matt could sense that something was on their minds, but he had no clue what it was. He walked over to his desk to deposit his saddle bags and his rifle.
"Did anyone notice I was gone these last few days?" Matt asked.
"I'm sorry, Matt," said Doc. "That telegram over there has Chester all anxious and I've seem to have caught it from him."
Matt walked over to the table and picked up the telegram. He was about to pull it out of the envelope to read it, but Chester spoke. "Mr. Dillon, I don't like admitting this, but I sorta glanced at that there telegram."
"Glanced?" questioned Doc.
"Now hold on here," said Matt. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a glance at it myself." Matt unfolded the telegram and started reading. "US Marshal. Dodge City Kansas. Coming to get married. Arriving noon stage Saturday. Meet me. Mavis McCloud." Matt looked at the telegram again. Confusion was all over his face.
"That's the exact same thing it said when I read it," said Chester.
"Married, you never said anything about getting married," said Doc. "What's her name? Mavis McCloud?"
"I never heard of her either," said Chester. He was still anxious over the whole ordeal.
"Why you ol' son of a gun," said Doc. "If you ain't the foxiest thing I…"
"Now just hold on, here" Matt interrupted. "Before you start a stampede, maybe I should explain something to you."
Doc looked at Chester. "Keep quiet!"
"I'm listening," Chester whined.
"This is very important," said Doc.
"Now this may come as a shock to you, but being that you're friends of mine, I think you should be the first to know," said Matt.
"Yeah," said Doc. He couldn't wait to hear Matt's explanation.
"First off, I have no intentions of getting married," said Matt. "Second, I never even heard of this Mavis McCloud." By the time he was done he was practically yelling.
"Why do you think she's so sweet on you?" Chester asked.
"She may be pretty," said Doc.
"I don't care if she looks like Lillie Langtry," said Matt. He looked at the telegram again.
"She's coming in on the noon stage, Mr. Dillon," said Chester. "You're not even going to meet her?"
"No I'm not," said Matt. "Not if I have any sense, I'm not. In fact, let's go and get some breakfast and talk about something else. A woman like this can lead to nothing but trouble."
"I don't see how she can," said Doc.
"Oh, but they can," said Chester.
All three of them had walked out of the jail. Matt had the telegram in his hand when they left. On their way to Delmonico's he put the telegram in his vest pocket. He was hungry and at that moment he wanted to eat and forget all about the telegram. The other thing on his mind was Kitty. Did she know about the telegram? If not, how was he going to explain it to her? How could he explain something that was confusing to him? For the time being, he felt it was best not to say anything to her.
"Does Kitty know about this?" Matt asked.
"No, Matt," said Doc. "Chester and I made sure not to say anything to her. We figured that was up to you."
"Good. Right now, I don't know what I'm going to tell her," said Matt. "This isn't something you can just bring up out of the blue."
"I've been thinking, Matt. Maybe you should meet that stage," said Doc.
"I already told you I have no intentions of meeting the stage," said Matt, frustration in his voice.
"Hear me out," stated Doc. "It's probably better that you go to her, instead of her searching for you. If she did that, the whole town could find out that this girl is here to marry you. Is that what you want?"
"I didn't think about that," said Matt. "Fine, I'll meet the stage at noon and get to the bottom of this."
Noon was approaching, and the stage was due to arrive anytime. Doc would have come along, but he ended up having a patient. Matt and Chester walked out of Jonas' store, when the stage arrived. Matt was actually getting butterflies in his stomach. He had no problem facing outlaws and gunmen, but a stage carrying a woman gave him butterflies. Of course it wasn't just any woman. It was a woman who supposedly wanted to marry him.
"Well it's pretty much on time," said Chester as watched the stage ride by them.
"Yeah," said Matt.
"It don't seem to bother you none," said Chester. He couldn't tell how nervous Matt was.
"I think the stage should be on time," Matt responded. He knew what Chester meant.
"I meant about meeting Mavis," Chester replied.
"Come on," said Matt. "Let's get this over with."
Matt and Chester walked to the depot. "How are we gonna tell Mavis from anyone else?" Chester asked.
"I don't know," Matt answered.
"Mr Dillon, look," Chester said, pointing to Kitty. "There's Miss Kitty."
"Chester, did you say anything to her about this?" asked Matt, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"No, I swear I didn't," promised Chester. "Look, she's going into the hat shop. She didn't even see us."
Matt stared at Chester and then looked over the passengers departing the stage. The first two passengers were men. They obviously weren't Mavis McCloud. Maybe Mavis changed her mind and didn't come. No, Matt had a feeling that wasn't the case. She would be on that stage. It was then that a young girl stepped off the stage. She seemed to be the only female passenger.
"There's a girl," said Chester. "Do you think that's her?"
"How would I know?" asked Matt.
"Mr. Dillon, she's really pretty," Chester observed. "Besides, she's the only female on there."
"Let's go find out," said Matt as he walked over to the depot. When he approached the young woman he removed his hat and spoke again. "Excuse me, miss."
"Yes?" she questioned.
"I'm Matt Dillon," said Matt.
"Maybe you can help me. I'm looking for the Marshal," said Mavis.
"You found him," said Chester. "Mr. Dillon is the Marshal."
"Then you did get my telegram," said Mavis.
"That's right. You didn't have a name on it," said Matt.
"How would I know your name?" asked Mavis. "I just got here." Matt looked at Chester. "Oh my goodness. You didn't think I was coming here to marry you?" Matt gave a nervous laugh. "Oh how awful. I mean how awful for you."
Matt was now relieved. Mavis McCloud did not come to Dodge City to marry him. He introduced Chester to Mavis, but wanted more information from Mavis. She had said that she should've explained more in the telegram. Mavis explained that she did come to Dodge to get married, but she wasn't sure who she was going to marry. It was then that Matt suspected that Mavis was a possible runaway. Matt didn't want Kitty to know about the telegram, but now he needed her help. Mavis was a young runaway and Matt thought it would be best if she had a woman to look after her. Matt sent Chester to go and get Kitty.
While Chester was gone, Matt tried to get more information from Mavis. She told Matt how old she was, but she wouldn't tell him where she was from. That was more evidence that Mavis had run away from home. Mavis also told Matt about meeting Barney Wales. Matt told Mavis that Barney was a good man.
Meanwhile, Kitty was over at the hat shop browsing around. She had no intention of buying a hat. Her plan was to walk over to the hat shop to see if Matt was waiting at the depot. As she was walking to the shop, she spotted both him and Chester going towards the depot. Kitty hoped that they didn't notice her. She walked as if she didn't see them. Her heart was breaking. Matt really was meeting Mavis McCloud. The tiny piece of hope that Kitty still held onto was now gone. If Matt was meeting her, maybe he really was going to marry her. She would not cry, at least not in public. Kitty was deep in thought, when Chester walked in.
"Miss Kitty," Chester stated. "Mr. Dillon would like you to come over to the stage depot."
Kitty couldn't believe it. Was Matt serious? Did he actually want her to come and meet his bride? He had to be crazy. "What for?" she asked.
"Well you see, there's a young girl over there that came to Dodge to get married. She sent a telegram to the Marshal saying she was arriving on the noon stage and to meet her. Me, Doc, and Mr. Dillon all thought she meant she was coming to marry Mr. Dillon. I guess that's not the case. She's coming to get married, just not to him," explained Chester.
Relief flooded through Kitty's body. She wasn't about to lose Matt. He wasn't marrying some woman that arrived on the stage. "Who's she going to marry?"
"She don't know. I believe Mr. Dillon thinks she's ran away from home. That's why he wants you to come to the depot," said Chester.
Kitty and Chester walked over to the depot. Matt introduced Mavis and Kitty. He was about to explain everything, but Kitty stopped him. She told Matt that Chester explained everything and that she would take care of Mavis.
"Kitty, I want to thank you," said Mavis as she and Kitty walked to the Dodge House.
"Oh, it's no problem," said Kitty. 'At least now I don't have to kill a certain Marshal and claw your eyes out,' she thought.
Later that night, Kitty and Matt were basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Kitty had her head on Matt's chest and was drawing lazy circles on it with her finger. The whole telegram was a misunderstanding, but she still felt guilty about being a snoop and reading it.
"Matt, I'm sorry," Kitty sighed.
"What for?" asked Matt. "Don't tell me that you're sorry for our love making."
"Oh no! I could never be sorry for that," Kitty quickly reassured. She gave Matt a kiss and lovingly ran a hand through his damp curls. "I'm sorry that I was a snoop and read the telegram from Mavis."
Matt looked at Kitty questioningly. "I didn't even know you knew about the telegram. Doc and Chester said that you didn't."
"They didn't know that I read it. I saw them with it and noticed how suspicious they were acting," said Kitty. "I knew that Chester brought it to the jail. When they went to Delmonico's to eat supper, I went to the jail to look for it. I don't know why I did that. I'm not usually a snoop. I hear gossip and such at the Long Branch, but I don't make an effort to do so. It's hard not to hear the talk. Anyway, I read the telegram and let my imagination run away with me. Please forgive me."
"Kitty, there's nothing to forgive," said Matt. "If anything, I should ask you to forgive me."
"Forgive you? Why?" asked Kitty.
"For not coming to you. I should've trusted you enough to come to you," Matt explained. "Instead I panicked."
"I panicked too," said Kitty. She then looked at the ring Matt had given her.
Matt noticed and took her hand and kissed it. "Kitty, when I gave you this ring, I also gave you my heart. I know you have given me your heart. That's something I will always treasure. I'm not about to return your heart to you or take mine back. To me, that ring is about as close to a wedding ring that I can get. It's a symbol of our commitment to one another."
"Oh Matt," cried Kitty.
Kitty had tears streaming down her face, but Matt wasn't concerned. He knew they weren't tears of sadness or frustration. Matt still had a lot to learn about women, but he was pretty sure the tears Kitty was shedding were tears of love. A love that was meant for him and him alone, just like his love was meant for her and her alone.
The End
