Chp 18

At the sound of Miss Kitty's scream, Bud tensed up. He had no idea what was going on inside the shack but the fear he heard in her voice was enough to propel him into action.

"NOW!" He yelled as he jumped out of the bushes and rushed towards the three men. At his call, six kids jumped from their hiding places and began to pelt the three hooligans with rocks as Martha and Jacob moved even closer, hitting them as hard as they could with heavy sticks.

The men were stunned, unable to understand, at first, exactly what was happening. When they did, they weren't sure how to defend themselves against a pack of wild kids armed with sticks and stones.

Parson's recovered first. Covering his head as best he could with an arm, he reached for his gun but Martha saw him and laid into him hard with the heavy tree limb she held. Screaming, he dropped the gun just as he got it out of the holster. Quickly, Jacob scooped it up and aimed it at the man. "Ya better not move, Mister." Jacob warned him. "Ya better not."

Bud, who'd scrambled to his siblings sides and had already clubbed Brewer over the head to protect Elsie, moved over to the tree and untied Georgie. Taking his hand, he led them to his other brother's side. "Keep em here, Jacob. I'm gonna go check that shack."

"They ain't going nowhere." Jacob vowed.

Bud nodded. "Best get them tied up. It'll be easier." As his brothers and sisters pushed the men towards the tree, Bud raised his gun and started towards the shack only to be stopped by Georgie tugging on his pants leg.

"I go with you." Georgie vowed.

Bud understood. Georgie loved Miss Kitty and he would face the devil himself, if it meant getting to her. But he couldn't let his little brother go in there. He didn't know what had happened inside. If it was as bad he imagined, if Miss Kitty was hurt, he didn't want Georgie to see.

Martha saw what was happening and quickly stepped over, taking Georgie by the hand. She'd heard Miss Kitty scream too. "Go on, Bud. Me and Georgie will wait here. They might need you in there."

Bud nodded and took a tentative step towards the cabin, his little brother's wails of protest ringing in his ears. Swallowing hard he moved towards the door.

Inside the shack, Kitty lay gasping for breath on the bed, as she watched two still figures on the floor, praying the taller of the two would move or make some sort of sound.

When Graham had sat down on the bed beside her, he reached for the front of her blouse and tore it open. "Got you one pretty woman here, Marshal." He grinned over at an enraged Matt Dillon as he reached for her chest. "She and I are going to have us a fine time."

He returned his full attention to Kitty when she writhed on the bed, trying to get away from his touch. Reaching for the buttons on his pants with one hand, he began to pull the hem of her dress up with the other. "I'm gonna enjoy every minute of this." He said as he bent over Kitty.

Kitty turned her head to avoid the kiss, he was trying to force on her, and saw Matt awkwardly getting to his feet. The rage he'd felt, at seeing what Graham was doing, had given him the strength to break the ropes binding him. Throwing them to the side, he gained his feet and started towards the would-be rapist. "Leave her alone." He growled as he started across the room.

But Graham, despite his eagerness to claim Kitty's body, wasn't completely caught off guard. Pulling a knife from his boot, he sprang up and whirled around to face Matt, knife raised.

Matt was by this time almost atop of him and barely managed to dodge the swipe of the man's knife. Jerking to the side, he made a grab for Graham's arm and began to struggle with him for control of the weapon.

Kitty jerked at the ropes holding her tightly to the bed but knew she couldn't help Matt and screamed when she saw Graham manage to free his hand from Matt and raise the knife in the air, aiming at Matt's chest. But he stumbled on the uneven floor boards of the old shack. Matt raised a hand to punch him but Graham managed to evade the punch and brought the knife back up, this time successfully bringing it down in an arc just as both men fell to the floor.

"Matt," Kitty screamed. "Oh, God, Matt."

Neither man moved. Neither one made a noise.

"Matt, please!" Kitty screamed again.

Just then the door burst open and Bud rushed in, his horrified eyes taking in the scene. "Miss Kitty."

He took a step towards her, but Kitty shook her head vehemently. "No. Matt. Help Matt."

Bud swallowed hard and turned towards the two men laying on the floor just as Matt began to move and get up, rubbing his head where he'd hit it on the side of the fireplace, when he fell.

Reaching over, Matt turned Graham over to see that he was dead. He'd fallen on the knife that he had meant to use on Matt and it was now buried deep into his chest. Taking a ragged breath, Matt moved quickly over to the bed and untied Kitty, finally pulling her into his arms.

"Oh, Matt." She cried as he cradled her against his chest.

"It's alright, Kitty." He rubbed her back. "It's alright."

"Marhsal?" Bud stood, uncertain of what to do.

Matt looked up at the boy and smiled. "It's all over, Bud." He hugged Kitty tighter. "It's all over."

TBC