A few minutes before ten o'clock that evening, Matt and Doc came into the Long Branch together, met Kitty by the stairs, and the three went up to Louie's room.
Louie looked exhausted and excited all at the same time when his closest friends entered his room. Kitty had the three books in her hands and sat down in her usual chair close to the head of the bed on Louie's left, and next to the small nightstand with the oil lamp. Matt pulled up a chair next to Kitty, and Doc sat beside the bed on Louie's right side.
Kitty had already given Louie his one drink of whiskey fifteen minutes earlier, and Louie had impatiently drunk it like medicine rather than the irresistible liquid that had led to the failing of his body.
"Thank you Miss Kitty, Marshal, and Doc, for coming to visit and listen to me. I know how busy you all are. I want you to know me before it is too late." His three friends silently exchanged glances, then settled in to listen, the last thing this lonely old man would ask of them.
"Miss Kitty, I'll try to make this as short as I can, 'cause I really want to hear you read to me." His eyes glowed as he looked at the slim books in her hands, similar to the way he used to look at a bottle of whiskey.
"If you remember, I said that I was an honor student and first in my class all the way up to my last semester. One semester more and I would graduate with two degrees, go back to Franklinton, and taken charge of the school there. Just what my parents had raised me for, like a prize steer, from birth. That all changed in my mind one warm, September day."
Louie closed his eyes for a few moments, seeing that day all over again in his mind, smiled, and looked at the face of each of his friends before continuing.
"I was sitting on a bench under my favorite tree on campus. I'd been reading for about a half hour when a shadow fell across the book. I was irritated by whoever was so rude, and turned to see a slight young woman standing there, holding a magazine. She came around and sat right down beside me!"
Louie could still hear her voice: "Well, Mr. Louis Pheeters! What are you doing reading history on such a fine day?!"
"You..you know my name?" Louis had no idea who this young woman was, and how she seemed to know him. As he stared at her, he noticed her small, trim figure in a simple, pale yellow dress, and her mass of untamed chestnut curls. Neither attractive nor homely, her nose was large, and her chin was weak, but her light hazel eyes behind wire frame glasses were sparkling with humor and intelligence. Then she laughed, a full-throated, joyous sound, set off by a dazzling white smile, and he was lost.
"Of course I know your name, Mr.-Top-Of-The-Class! All of us seniors have been scrambling around in your wake for almost four years, now. I'm Ann O'Hanlon. Pleased to finally meet you!"
She had stuck out a slim right hand, and her handshake was surprisingly firm, dry, and steady.
"So, Louis, how about dropping that dry book of yours and taking a gander at THIS?" Ann leaned closer, grabbed his history book, and put her magazine in his hand. He looked down at the garish cover of "Western Tales," depicting two cowboys drawing at each other, yellow flames shooting from their pistols, blood running down both of their shirts. Louis had never seen anything like this, and was repelled and fascinated. Wide-eyed, he opened it and began to read. Thirty minutes passed and Annie cleared her throat.
"You certainly don't say much, do you? Pretty great stuff, huh?! I plan on going out West some day. Might take a while, but I'm going!" Ann's voice was bubbling over with excitement.
Louis was so wrapped up in the magazine's lurid and exciting stories that he flinched when Ann spoke, then looked at her smiling face.
"This is WONDERFUL! I never knew anything like this existed! And this is REAL?!" Louis looked raptly into those marvelous, clear hazel eyes. He realized that he was in love.