AN: One last thank you to everyone who has stayed with me on this and has been so sweet to review. I don't claim to be a great writer but I do claim to be a great fan of this show and it's wonderful characters and it's so nice to see how many others share that love with me. Merry Christmas.

A couple of weeks later, Matt was back to work. Paul, though he hadn't disappeared from Matt's memory, was pushed back into the far reaches of his mind to perhaps be pulled out and examined on those long nights spent on the trail when he could do nothing else. But not right then. Right then, he had something much more interesting to think about.

Matt stopped outside the doors of the Long Branch and took one last look around the quiet streets. The cold from Christmas hadn't abated and had been actively serving as an effective crime deterrent. He doubted he would have any trouble with spoilers, which meant he just might be able to spend his evening someplace much more comfortable than the jail cot.

Pushing on into the saloon, Matt made his way over to the end of the bar where Kitty stood going over her books. "Kitty." He tipped his hat to her with a grin. "How are you tonight?"

Kitty looked up with happy smile. "Hello, Matt. I'm alright. How about you?"

"Just fine." He answered as he noticed and then took a curious glance at an older man, standing just a ways down the bar.

Kitty noticed where his gaze was directed. "Something wrong, Matt? You know him?"

"Uh, no." Matt shook his head. It couldn't be, he thought as he forced his attention back to her. "How's business tonight?"

An arched brow let her to know his real reason for asking. "Oh, fine. Doesn't look like we'll be open late though. I figure I'll close down around eleven or so." She tilted her head provactively and Matt's grin widened.

"Is that a fact?" Upon her answering nod and wink, he stepped back and turned for the door. "Well, then, ma'am, I guess I'll see you..." He stopped when he got a better look at the old man across from him.

Noticing, Kitty gave Matt a look of concern. "Uh, you alright, Matt? You look a little pale."

Matt swallowed hard. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. He didn't exist. He knew that now. Didn't he? "No, no, I'm fine." He shook his head with a forced smile. "It... it's just..." He saw the old man put his glass down and head out of the saloon. Quickly, he followed after him without another word to Kitty.

Hurrying to the door and out to the darkened streets beyond, Matt was intent on catching up to the elderly gent. He wanted to talk to him and find out just who he was.

But when he reached the street, he saw no one. There wasn't a soul stirring. The stores were all closed so he knew he couldn't have gone into any of them. He couldn't be riding or walking out of town in any direction without Matt seeing him. And even if he'd ducked down an alley, Matt would've still been able to hear him. Nothing. He had completely disappeared.

"Matt?"

Matt jumped and turned to see Kitty standing beside him, a curious expression on her face. "Want to tell me what's going on? And don't say nothing. You knew that man, or at least thought you did."

Matt stood silently and continually scanning the streets before finally looking back down at her. "I don't know, Kitty." He sighed. "Right now, I'm not sure I know much of anything other than its cold out here and I want a whiskey." Smiling, he took her arm. "Come on; let me buy you a drink."

Kitty willingly went inside with him, but she wasn't fooled. There had been something between Matt and the white haired old man. What, she didn't know but she figured sooner or later, he'd tell her.

When they reached the bar, Matt ordered them both a drink and then stopped Sam when he finished pouring their drinks. "Sam, that old man that was in here. Did he say who he was?"

Sam shook his head. "No, sir, he didn't. Or at least not to me. He just stood there quietly and drank his water and then left."

"Water?" Matt and Kitty exchanged puzzled glances. Not too many people went into a saloon to drink water.

"Yes, Sir." Sam confirmed.

"He only asked for water?" Kitty asked with a frown.

"Well, no, Ma'am." Sam shrugged. "He didn't exactly ask for anything. He just pointed to the picture of water and the glass and threw a nickle on the bar for it. I figured he either couldn't talk or didn't want to. Was something wrong with him? I mean, he didn't cause any problems."

"Matt?" Kitty and Sam both looked at him curiously. "Why the interest in the old man?" Kitty asked.

Matt stood back and stood his head. "It... It's nothing, Kitty. Nothing at all."

Kitty let it go for then but she figured later she'd find out.

After the saloon was closed and cleaned and Sam had gone home, Matt and Kitty made their way upstairs to the only home either of them really knew. Nothing more had been said about the old man and the both of them were content in that. Matt had just about convinced himself that he'd merely been imagining things, both two weeks before and that night as well. He figured he had to have been. Nothing else made sense.

After unlocking her door, Kitty and Matt entered and immediately set to making themselves comfortable for the night. It was when Matt sat down on the side of the bed, that he noticed it and his heart raced for a moment. Kitty had gone into the water closet and wasn't there to see what he had found.

There, lying on the pillow that he always used, was a bible. But not just any bible. It was the same careworn tome that Paul had used several times during that long Christmas eve that wasn't. Picking it up cautiously, Matt saw that it was turned to a particular page in Acts. Chapter 19 vs 11. Next to that verse was a note to look under Ecclesiastes. The same verse Matt had read before.

Next to that particular passage was a handwritten note.

"It's not time for you to know it all, but you know enough and you love enough for now. Do not worry about the rest."

Matt stared at the page for several long moments before finally closing the sacred tome. He knew enough? About what? About Kitty? Could it be that this 'Paul' had saved he and Kitty so that he would actually think about his and her relationship and what it meant to him?

Taking a deep breath, Matt thought about a few months prior when he'd left her to go to Topeka and what happened while he was gone. And he thought of other times when they'd disagreed. Was this merely someones way of teaching him and perhaps Kitty what was really important?

Matt snapped the book closed just as he heard Kitty coming back into the room. Quickly, he covered it over with the shirt he'd just removed and laid it carefully on a chair.

Kitty noticed. "Gonna tell me now about that old man and what your hiding in your shirt?" She asked.

"Old man?" He tried to pretend he didn't remember but she was having none of it.

"Yeah, that old man in the saloon tonight. The old man that looked so much like the one I thought I dreamed up and the one you chased into the street."

"Oh, that old man." He stalled, trying to decide if he should say anything or not.

Kitty sat down beside him and reached over, taking his hand. "I don't remember Christmas Eve or even much of Christmas day, Matt. But I do know something happened, aside from us falling in the ravine and Chester and Will fishing us out. And I have a feeling you know what that is. Now are you going to tell me or not?"

Matt pursed his lips for a moment, before turning to her, and pulling her close. "Nope. As a very nice man once told me recently, it's not time yet. Okay?"

Kitty considered his words and the look on his face as he said them. "Okay." She finally nodded with a sigh. "I won't push. I trust you'll tell me when it is time."

"I will." He answered. 'As soon as I know when that time is.' He thought.

The End.

Acts 19:11, Ecclesiastes 3:1