Chapter 6
Doris quickly grabbed the baby before Mike let go. Looking down between Mike's legs, Doris noticed a stream of blood flowing. She opened the stage door and put the baby on the seat. Doris knew the baby was too young to roll off of the seat.
"Norm! Jim!" Doris frantically yelled.
Hearing their names and the frantic sounds of Doris' voice, the two men came running from the other side of the stage. They saw Mike passed out on the ground and all of the blood. They were in shock.
"What happened? What's wrong?" Norm asked.
"She's hemorrhaging, bleeding out, but I don't know why. It was such an easy and natural birth," Doris responded, trying to do what she could to stop the bleeding, but her efforts were failing. There was nothing she could do to stop the bleeding.
Jim noticed the pool of blood was increasing. "Is there anything you can do to save her?" he asked.
Doris looked up with sadness in her eyes. "No," she softly said. "If she was in a hospital or even a doctor's office, she may have a chance, but not out here."
Doris went to check on Mike one last time and realized she had passed away. Grief overtook her, and Norm and Jim as well. They would have to bury Mike before they rode to Dodge. Jim kept a shovel up front, under the floorboards. He started digging a grave several feet off the road. When he grew tired, Norm took over. It didn't take long for the two men to dig the grave. Once the grave was dug, they wrapped Mike in a blanket and gently lowered her down into the grave. Mike's body in the grave, the men covered it with dirt.
While the men were tending to the grave, Doris went back into the stagecoach to get the baby. She cradled the baby in her arms, knowing that the little one had no idea she was now an orphan. If she was thirty years younger, Doris would take the baby in as her own. However, being the ages she and her husband were, that just was not an option. Realizing the baby was still naked, Doris went into Mike's suitcase and pulled out a tiny gown. She dressed the baby and wrapped her up again in the blanket.
"Everything is all set," said JIm. "Maybe we should say a prayer for Melinda, and then head for Dodge."
Norm and Doris nodded their agreement. "It's too bad there isn't anything out here to mark her grave," Doris sadly said.
Being out in the middle of the treeless prairie, there wasn't anything to even make a cross. They said their prayers, boarded the stagecoach, and rode in the direction of Dodge City. Jim knew they were already going to be a few hours late. With a newborn baby on board, he couldn't pick up speed to make up a little bit of the time.
Meanwhile, back in Dodge, Matt was trying to do everything he could to settle his nerves. He had lunch with Doc, bought supplies for the office at the general store, and went to the post office. Each hour that passed brought the three o'clock hour closer. He wished that he could stop time, but knew that wasn't possible. The stage with Mike Yardner would be coming. It was inevitable.
A few minutes before three, Matt walked to the stagecoach. His stomach was in knots. He couldn't remember ever being this nervous. He approached the depot and waited. After waiting for twenty minutes, he realized the stagecoach was behind schedule. That wasn't out of the ordinary. The stagecoach had been late countless times before. Matt wasn't sure if the late stage was a blessing or not. Probably not a blessing, it just gave more time for his nerves to keep getting thinner and thinner.
Bruce stepped out of the depot. "It looks like the stage is delayed."
"So it is," Matt agreed. "I'm going to go back to my office. I'll be back when I hear it coming."
Matt walked back to his office. He asked himself if he should ride out and see what was causing the delay, but then decided against that. A stagecoach that was less than an hour late was nothing to be concerned about. Another hour had passed, and still no stage.
It was now early evening and Kitty had just gotten out of work. She was hungry and decided to walk over to the jail to see if Matt wanted to join her for supper.
"Hello, Cowboy. Do you want to grab a bite to eat?" Kitty asked.
"Sure. That sounds wonderful," said Matt. He wasn't sure if would be able to eat. The stage still hadn't arrived, and now Kitty was done working for the day.
Matt and Kitty walked to Delmonico's, took their seats, and ordered their meals. While they were eating, Kitty spoke. "Bruce stopped into the Long Branch for a beer. He said you were waiting to meet the stage."
A lump started to form in Matt's throat. He made an attempt to clear it out before he spoke. "Um yeah. Things have been kind of slow around here, and it's been a couple of weeks since I've welcomed the stage, so I thought today would be a good day. However, it's delayed. It was supposed to be here at three. It's now almost half past six o'clock."
"How about after we finish our supper, we welcome it together?" asked Kitty.
Matt wanted to say that wasn't necessary, but what would be his excuse not to welcome the stage. Things were not going as he had hoped. "Alright, we can do that."
Matt and Kitty finished their supper and left Delmonico's. They were walking towards the depot, when they heard the familiar sound of the stagecoach approaching. Matt immediately regretted not telling Kitty about Mike's arrival. It was too late to do anything about it now.
"Do you know the passengers that are arriving?" asked Kitty.
"I saw the passenger list. There's a Melinda Yates and a Norm and Doris Pritchard. I assume the Pritchards are together, probably a married couple," Matt answered.
The stage pulled up to the depot and Jim jumped down from the driver's seat. "Sorry about the long delay. We had a situation."
Matt wanted to ask what the situation was, but he was focused on the stagecoach as the passenger door opened. Out walked an older couple. The woman was holding what appeared to be a baby. There was no sign of Mike. He didn't know what to think. She was supposed to be on that stage.
"Why was the stage so late?" asked Kitty. Her voice broke Matt out of his trance.
"There was another woman on the stage, Melinda Yates. She had gone into labor during the ride. Unfortunately, she did not make it. She passed away shortly after giving birth. The birth and then the burial is what made us so late," Jim answered. "She gave birth to a baby girl."
Matt could not fathom the information he had just heard. The reason Mike was coming to Dodge to see him had to be to tell him she was pregnant with his child. He knew the baby had to be his. The timing was perfect. Counting back about nine months would be right around the time he and Mike shared a bed and had sex with one another. That one night with Mike, in her bed, had resulted in a child. He walked over to Doris and looked down into the face of the baby she was holding, the face of his newborn daughter.
TBC
