The wagon with the remaining battered passengers and shotgun guard rattled along, seeming to hit every rut and bump as they traveled along off-road through the brush and trees. All of the injured people were desperately thirsty as they baked under the hot summer sun.
"YOU!" Doc pointed at the big buckskin-wearing man riding along beside the wagon.
"These people need some WATER! What kind of animal are you?!"
Gus laughed and riding up near Doc, pulled the stopper from his canteen and threw the contents in his face.
"Shut up, old man! Doctor or not, you ain't all that valuable to us."
Doc grumbled and crawled up towards the two men with the gunshot injuries for another check on them.
The young shotgun guard, Tim Scott, was hurting and weak, but the bleeding from his leg "through and through" wound had stopped. Doc loosened the bandana and crawled over to Will Kendall, the old man with the chest wound, dreading what he would find. Kendall had never fully regained consciousness, and had only occasionally moaned and said his wife's name. Doc was glad that the man didn't seem to know that his wife was dead and that her body had been buried some miles back.
The chest wound had stopped bleeding, but only because the poor old man was now dead.
Doc reached up and tapped the younger buckskin-clad man who was driving on his back.
"Hey, YOU! The old man your partner shot is dead!" Doc expected the man to stop the wagon so the dead man could be decently buried.
Theo turned and looked at Doc, then down at the body of Will Kendall.
"Hey Gus! The old man you shot is dead!"
Theo stopped the wagon, Gus galloped up, handed his reins to his brother, and hopped into the back of the wagon. Doc, Tim Scott, Phyllis White, and Kitty watched in dismay as the big man picked up the body and heaved it onto the ground. He then took his reins back and mounted his horse.
"Come on brother, let's get going! Wanna reach the cave before dark."
Doc scratched his head, unable to even begin to understand these two murderous men, and their reason for kidnapping a stage full of people. The frightening thought came to him that there seemed to be no reason at all.
The immediate approach to the deep cave was well-concealed by bushes and boulders. Gus rode ahead and scanned the area before allowing Theo to bring the wagon nearer.
Unhitching the horses, Theo led them with his and Gus' to a concealed area a short ways away. When he returned, he kept his rifle ready as his brother climbed into the back of the wagon, grabbed Tim Scott and tossed him over the side to the ground. Grabbing Phyllis White, he had to shove Doc away before he could dump her over the side. She lay moaning on the hard ground. Doc quickly helped Kitty up and managed to start to lower her over the side before Gus grabbed his clothing and pitched him over along with her. He landed on top of Kitty, causing her to gasp in pain and black out for a moment, before he hit his head on the ground.
The four remaining hostages lay stunned until Gus jumped down and began kicking them.
"GET UP! You all don't want me to get bored with you, like all of those others."
Tim hobbled upright, then bent over and helped Phyllis up. Doc rubbed the side of his head, quickly rolled off of Kitty, and gently patted her face until she came to fully.
"Gosh I'm sorry, Honey! Come on, we'd better get up."
He pulled her up and the two couples, leaning on each other, limped into the cave where Gus pointed.
Looking around by the fading daylight, they were surprised to see crates of food and ammunition, and piles of blankets and belongings.
"Looks like a general store in here!", Tim exclaimed.
"More like a storage area for pilfered goods, probably from other unfortunate travelers," Doc muttered.
A short ways in, they heard the gurgling of a small stream and looking back at Gus, who nodded, they all hurried as best as they could to the source. Gus tossed a metal cup their way, and Doc handed it to the women to use, as he and Tim lay flat, scooping the water into their dry mouths.
"Here, Phyllis, you drink first. I can wait." Phyllis took the cup, knowing that her thirst was no worse than Kitty's.
After five minutes, Gus came over, grabbed the cup and pointed to a space along one wall of the cave for them to sit.
The four exhausted and aching hostages limped over, slowly eased themselves down the cave wall, and sat leaning against each other. After baking in the sun for hours, the coolness of the cave had initially felt good, but now all four began to shiver. The two men put their arms around the women, as much for comfort as warmth.
Kitty broke the silence, struggling to sit up and look over towards Doc, Phyllis, and Tim.
"Matt will find us in time! I know he will never give up! I'd bet he is close now."
She closed her eyes and leaned back against Doc's arm again, her ribs and shoulder throbbing. The old man gently held her, his ankle and head hurting too much to dwell on imminent rescue.
Phyllis sat forward and looked towards Doc and Kitty. She had heard the deep faith in, and love for, this "Matt."
Doc saw the quizzical look on the middle-aged woman's face.
"Matt is Matt Dillon, the U.S. Marshal from Dodge. And I too believe he will find us. He is an amazingly strong, determined, and resolute man. I am proud to call him my good friend."
Phyllis intuitively knew that "Matt" was more than a good friend of the lovely and exceptional Kitty. She was gratefully distracted from the current dire situation by her womanly musings about this man, what he would look like, and the reunion he would have with this lady.
Kitty opened her eyes a little later to find Phyllis, sitting next to her, staring at her speculatively.
"What is it, Phyllis? Is something wrong? Besides us being kidnapped, beaten, starved and thrown in a cave, that is?"
Phyllis' mouth dropped open, then she began to laugh, which got Kitty going. Both women clutched their injured ribs that hurt so much when they laughed, but they kept on until tears ran down their faces.
The two men sat forward, gaping at these two crazy women, then they began to laugh too, not even knowing why.
The larger brother in buckskin was at the cave entrance, and he now turned and glared at his prisoners.
"SHUT UP, or I'll kill you all now! That noise better not have been heard by that Marshal, if he is even still looking for you sorry lot."
The four stopped laughing and looked apprehensively towards their captor.
Resuming their previous positions up against the cold cave wall, the men once again put their arms around the shivering women.
Phyllis looked at Kitty sitting close beside her and whispered:
"Kitty, is "Matt," the Marshal, your man?"
Kitty wouldn't have talked about Matt normally, but she felt that the middle-aged woman beside her, sharing this possibly deadly ordeal, was asking out of more than mere nosy curiosity.
"Well, Phyllis, we are an unofficial type of couple, and have been special to each other for a few years now. He is more mine than anyone else's. There will never be any other man for me. He's not much for words, but shows me in lovely ways how he feels."
Phyllis sighed and realized that she was a secret romantic, having tamped down such impossible feelings for more than twenty years now. She had become the proverbial "old maid" school teacher after years of hardening her heart.
"Kitty, please tell me what he's like?"
No one had asked her that before in just that way, and Kitty chose her words carefully, her eyes looking up as she whispered.
"Well, he's beautiful!" The women looked at each other and had to stuff a fist in their mouths to keep from laughing again.
"He's the biggest, tallest, strongest, and bravest man I have ever known. But at the same time, he can be incredibly gentle, and kind, and understanding. Maybe it's my red hair, but I DO tend to have a rather hot temper!"
"Tell me more, please! Kitty…I've never been in love or loved by a man. I know what I look like and how grim I usually am. I,I want to apologize for immediately judging you and misjudging you because you are so very beautiful. Your face and hair and body are what I always dreamed of growing up, only to turn out too book-smart and homely."
Kitty gently pulled away from Doc's arm and put her right arm around the weeping spinster.
"Phyllis, looks don't last forever, but kindness and friendship do. I'm so glad we're friends now, and when, NOT if, we get to Dodge, I want to spend time with you."
Kitty kept her arm around the woman who laid her head on her chest, still crying a little, but listening closely.
"My Matt has the most beautiful, pale blue eyes that pierce me through, making me shiver. His hair is brown and curly, and he pretends to hate it when I put my fingers in it. He is almost seven feet tall wearing his boots, and can pick me up like a feather. As I said, he is physically beautiful, but the man he is calms me and steadies me and makes me feel so special."
"Thank you for sharing him with me, Kitty. I can't wait to meet him."