Matt gently roused his girl as the sky turned pink on the eastern horizon.
"You feeling okay?" he asked, studying her lovely form with furrowed eyebrows.
"Never better." She tried to stifle a yawn.
"Now, I know better than that." he smirked.
"Good morning, Kitty." Bellum's voice turned their heads; he looked better after a night's sleep and he was grinning at her again.
"Matt!" she half yelped, grabbing his elbow as he heaved to his feet with gun in hand. His strength pulled her up again too.
Why don't you come with me while I water the horses, sweetheart?" he ground his anger between his jaws simply because he didn't want to be a source of angst to her, "I don't need to shoot somebody who's gonna be hanging by the end of a rope before this week is out."
"How ya feeling really?" he continued, anxious eyes sweeping over her again while the horses drank.
"As good as any city girl who's been sleeping on the ground for the last two nights." She gave him a philosophical shrug.
He rubbed her shoulders with a tiny smile, "We'll be back in Topeka tonight, Kit, even taking it easy. The hotel room is still ours for another night too—I'm just sorry we haven't been able to use this extra time to have some real fun together."
"Me too, Matt," she sighed deeply, watching him saddle the horses, "but I intend to make the most of what's left of it. Don't worry, I'm fit for travel." She rubbed her big horse's nose warmly, "Even on this big mug."
"We might have to extend our stay, Kit." he warned, still looking worried "There's gonna be a trial and we'll both have to testify. I don't know what their docket looks like, but if the case isn't for a couple weeks, we'll go home and let you get a good rest."
"I'll be fine either way, Matt." She looked determined, stepping into the saddle as he saw to Bellum, "We'll cross that hurdle when we get to it."
Like the day before, Kitty tried to keep her eyes and mind on what was in front of them, making it a long mostly silent ride. She felt badly for that, knowing her big beau would have rather held her attention, but she just could bring herself to look sideways. She knew Bellum was staring. She could feel his smile. She just marveled again that Matt hadn't punched his teeth out yet.
"At last…" She murmured, as late afternoon began to turn into twilight. Staring up at the huge Fifth Avenue Hotel made her eyes water with relief.
"We've got another night on our tab, sweetheart." Matt reminded her, his eyes and voice echoing the relief in his heart, "Why don't you head up to our room. I'll take Bellum to the Shariff then join you as fast as I can."
"I almost don't want to walk in there." she stared glumly at her blue dress, "I look awful."
"Now that's where you're wrong, sweetheart." he shook his head vehemently; swinging to the ground, he lifted her down, "You're strong, smart, brave, fun, and absolutely gorgeous." Giving her a quick kiss, he whispered in her ear, "Order the bath water, Kitty. Relax. Take your time. I'll get him off our hands and be up soon." He patted her horse, then waved for a doorman to take the good beast back to the stable.
"Let's go." he growled at Bellum, after his girl disappeared through the double doors, "You've got a date with the judge that everyone in Kansas wants you to keep."
Like the day before, the sun hadn't done Bellum any favors, but he let his haggard eyes lingered on the door a little longer than Matt liked; it was the first sign of life that he'd had shown for hours.
"I said let's go."
"Matt!" the Sheriff's face lit up when the Marshal walked into the jail a few minutes later, his gun still leveled at Bellum's ribs, "We've been looking for you since yesterday!"
"I'm sorry, Leland." Matt cringed, "We sure didn't mean to miss dinner with you and Alice." He nodded at Bellum, "Can you find him a room? Then I'll explain."
The Sheriff seemed to recognize Bellum for the first time, "Holy cow! That's not—" He instantly barked through an inner door. A deputy quickly appeared and when the new prisoner was gone he heaved a sigh of relief. "We've been looking for him for months, Matt! Where—?"
Stopping suddenly, he yanked out a chair, "Sit down, ole boy. You look like you've seen better days."
"I have...I guess. Mighty glad to be here though." Matt thunked the little wooden box down hard as he sat, "You got some coffee, Leland? We ran out this morning."
"You bet, Matt."
A few minutes later, a steaming cup was placed in the Marshal's big hands.
"Well, I sure wish I'd had those circulars sooner." he began, after taking several slow sips, "We ran across Bellum not too far out of Dodge. He told us his horse spooked and ran him into a tree. He was unconscious in the saddle and they almost ran into the stage team but his horse threw him and took off so we helped him get here." His face was dark, "I didn't even know he was wanted until after the meeting when we got those new circulars."
"I'm awful sorry, Matt." The Sheriff hung his head.
"Yeah, me too." Matt felt his blood warming up, thinking about the next part of the story, "When I got back to the hotel, I was going to arrest him but he'd already taken Kitty with him." His voice caught, "I-I just went after 'em, Leland. There was nothing else to do. I didn't have time to tell anyone. We just got back." He paused to control himself, "He'd smiled at her the whole trip. I wanted to plug him so bad and then to find out—" He indicated the little wooden box, "He'd given her a big fat diamond brooch. I don't know how he got it."
"It's best not to litigate all the could've, would've, should've parts of the job, Matt." the Sheriff looked grieved. "Is Kitty alright?"
"Yes." The Marshal rubbed the grimy stubble on his face, "Thank God. She's resting back at the hotel...I hope."
"Well, I bet she'll rest better once you get there." the Shariff slapped his friend's shoulder, "Go on to her, Matt. When's your stage leave? Tomorrow, was it? The Judge should be here in the morning. I'll see if I can wrangle the schedule so Bellum is the first case he hears...though, you might still have to stay an extra day or so." He smiled slightly, "If you do, Topeka can pay for your change of fare."
"That's not necessary." Matt shook his head, holding out his hand as he got to his feet.
The Sheriff took it, "Necessary? Who said anything about that? It'll be a pleasure."
He spoke again as the Marshal's hand reached for the doorknob, "Leave the horses here, Matt. I'll have a deputy take 'em back to the stable. Just get back to your girl. You don't mind walking, do you?"
Matt definitely didn't mind walking. In fact, he almost ran.
"Kit…?"
A tiny lopsided smile tweaked his mouth upward as his eyes swept over her sleeping form. He was so glad. She needed this sleep. Moving as silently as possible, he got himself cleaned up and only accidentally woke her when he slipped under the sheets beside her.
"Sorry, sweetheart." he kissed her quickly, wrapping protective arms around her as his head hit the pillow, "Go back to sleep."
He kissed her again as her eyes fluttered, trying to focus on him. "Go to sleep." he repeated, "The Sheriff is gonna try to get Bellum on the docket for tomorrow morning."
That had the opposite effect than what he wanted. Her eyes widened and the fog lifted.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." his grip tightened around her, "I guess, I knew that would happen. But the Judge is coming tomorrow. If we can give our testimony early, maybe we can catch our stage at noon. I'll feel a lot better once I get you back in your own bed."
"I'll feel better there too…" she sighed, a few tears slipping down her cheeks, "The whole Capitol will come out for his trial, won't they? They know what he's done and they'll know I was with him and think—"
"Don't think like that, Kit." he interrupted, caressing her face; there was an urgent look in his eyes, "Just remember that I'll be there too. Just keep your eyes on me, sweetheart. I know the truth and I love you. I'll always love you."
"I know...I was just kind of hoping for a little more time. I'm so tired, Matt, It didn't hit me until I was in that wonderful hot water. I almost fell asleep." She teared up, "It was so wonderful."
"I don't know any other woman who could've done what you did out there, Kitty Russell." he leaned in to kiss her, "I'm proud of ya." He kissed her again, "Be proud of yourself, love."
He felt her relax in his arms and sighed with relief; it was what he'd wanted the whole ride back. She was asleep again before he'd even eased her back down on her pillow.