Kitty & Molly

After riding under the relentless afternoon sun for more than an hour, Molly and Kitty went by a grove a trees. Neither of them suggested stopping in the shade to enjoy a moment of relief. Kitty was determined to reach Matt as soon as possible and Molly was eager to get on with her plan.

Molly ran a sleeve across her forehead, "I wish I'd worn a hat. That would have helped some against the damn sun."

"Me too." Kitty spoke quietly and swallowed hard, nausea had struck a while ago and was getting worse by the second.

"Shouldn't we be at that lake already Kitty? Maybe you should check the map. We could be going the wrong way."

Kitty shook her head, "We're not." She squinted and looked into the distance. Her face brightened. "I see water. Come on."

They kicked their horses to a trot and reached Crystal Lake in no time. Kitty quickly slid off her horse and threw Molly a tight smile, "I'll be right back, Mother Nature calls."

She rushed off and ducked behind some rocks, guessing correctly that Molly would think she was going to pee. Safely out of sight, she emptied the contents of her stomach and took a deep breath. There was nothing about morning sickness that was limited to morning.

Molly watched Kitty hurry away. She suspected that besides having to relieve herself, Kitty wanted privacy to shed a tear of concern for Dillon. She sighed and shook her head. Kitty was a fine person, a very fine person, but she had to keep that idea separate from what she had to do. She and Daniel had lost their life style and secure future, and deserved to get those things back. She knelt on the edge of the lake and took a sip of water. Life would be good again. She'd own a saloon and have a share of Liam's money. All she had to do was stick with her plan.

Kitty leaned back against a rock and took a deep breath. She'd instinctively hidden her nausea from Molly. She liked and trusted her friend, but Molly was shrewd and experienced so would suspect pregnancy. For now that was a private thing, especially with Matt's condition unknown.

She came out from behind the rocks and knelt beside Molly at the edge of the lake.

"It sure is hot, Molly"

"I can fix that."

"Really?"

Molly playfully splashed water right at Kitty's face. She saw her shocked expression, grinned and splashed more.

Kitty grinned back, "I shouldn't be the only one enjoying the water." She splashed Molly. Molly retaliated. The splashing went back and forth, and within seconds both women were drenched and giggling."

Molly stood and shook her head. "I'm dripping wet thanks to you."

"You're welcome." Kitty got to her feet, clothes and hair dripping. "Funny thing is, we'll be dry before we know it." She pulled a damp map from her pocket and shook it out.

Molly looked alarmed, "Oh no, the map got wet. Can you still read it?"

"Sure. If we keep at a steady pace, we'll be there in less than 2 hours. Let's get going."

Matt

Matt retrieved handcuffs from his saddlebag and snapped them onto Daniel's wrists.

Then he helped the man mount up.

Daniel shook his handcuffed wrists angrily in the air. "You can't expect me to ride like this."

Matt got on Buck and took hold of Daniel's reins. "Grip the saddle horn. You won't fall off if you hold tight. It's just 4 hours to Dodge."

Daniel complained loudly. Matt ignored him. His head was throbbing. He knew the gash on his head was ugly. When he got to Dodge, he'd be sure to get cleaned up before going to see Kitty.

After a half hour of loud and constant protests, Daniel's voice grew hoarse and he fell silent. He looked at Dillon in disgust. The lawman thought he'd won, but Molly would fix everything.

They were plodding along when the sound of horses caught their attention. Matt peered into the distance and saw two riders coming their way. He immediately recognized Kitty's shape and posture. The other rider was a woman, but not one he recognized.

Kitty and Molly saw two riders in the distance. As soon as Kitty was close enough to recognize Matt, she was so relieved to see him alive and in charge of a prisoner, she wanted to scream hallelujah and gallop to him. Of course she did neither, and as she got closer she saw the gash on the side of his head, the dried blood on his cheek and the exhaustion in his face.

"Kitty, what are you doing way out here?" His voice was restrained but Kitty could hear the worry.

"Matt, a man came to Dodge - it's hard to explain in a few words – he had your badge and a map. He said you'd been captured and if Molly – well not Molly – if I didn't come you'd be killed.

She saw by the look on Matt's face that she wasn't making sense.

"I don't understand Kitty, and who is Molly?"

Kitty nodded towards her companion, "My friend Molly, Molly McLaughlin."

Molly thought she saw a hint of surprise in the marshal's eyes at the mention of her last name. She quickly pointed at Daniel. "That's him. That's the man who roughed me up and gave me the badge and map. He thought I was Kitty and I saw no reason to tell his different. I do not betray friends."

Matt looked at Molly. "So Daniel here attacked you ma'am, thinking you were Kitty, and he told you he wanted Kitty to come out here to help me. Did he say why?"

"No." Molly shook her head. "Only that if Kitty wanted to see you alive she had to come. Since he thought I was Kitty I wanted to come alone, but of course Kitty insisted on coming too."

Matt looked at Kitty and she nodded.

With a pounding head and jumble of unanswered questions dancing in his mind, Matt gave a deep sigh. "Ladies, there are a lot of missing details, but let's get back to Dodge so I can lock this man up and we can sort it all out."

Mystified by her accusation, but sure she had a reason, Daniel looked towards Molly. He was quickly disappointed. She barely met his eyes, and when she did there was no spark or signal.

The women turned their horses around, and Matt led the way. After an hour he looked back and saw that Kitty had grown unnaturally pale. He put up his hand, "There's a watering hole just behind those trees, let's stop for a few minutes."

They all dismounted and Molly started walking to the water with her canteen. Matt tied his prisoner to a tree. Kitty announced that she was going to relieve herself and ducked behind some trees. Matt's eyes followed her with concern but he took the hint that she wanted to be alone. He grabbed the canteen from her saddle and walked to the watering hole to fill it. Molly was by the water, struggling to unscrew the cap of her canteen.

"Here, let me help you with that Miss McLaughlin or is it Mrs.?"

She handed over the canteen and smiled brightly, "It's Molly, but if you're curious about my status it is Mrs. McLaughlin. I'm a widow. McLaughlin was surname of my dear departed husband. I'm sure you've heard the name many times. It's quite common among the Irish, and quite melodious in my opinion. My maiden name was Schneidendorff. Not so melodious and constantly mispronounced." Molly laughed and took the opened canteen from Matt. "Thank you marshal."

"Hey you two." Kitty emerged from the trees looking better. No one would have known that she'd emptied the little that was left in her stomach. "I sure am thirsty. Any one have some water?"

Matt quickly strode over and with a canteen.

Daniel was watching carefully. He was too far away to hear what Molly said to the marshal but didn't like her being so smiley with him.

Matt helped Daniel back onto his horse. "All right everyone, let's get going. We'll be in Dodge in an hour or so.

TBC