13
The late spring temperatures of the New Orleans subtropical latitude were brutal. The searing days and sultry nights took on the form of an all-embracing steam, which sapped from Kitty every ounce of spare energy. The effort to dress and brave the crushing heat for the Cathedral exerted its toll. Both John Chapman and Professor Pittlekow suggested it was time to stop her visits. But caught as she was in the power of Marie Laveau's spell she had not the will to do so. With each visit she began to feel a tentative reconciliation when she entered the church. The words of the Hail Mary, so monotonous to her ears, brought a calming peace. Over a time the hate in her heart waned. However, it brought no acceptance of her plight nor did it bring the desire to bond with the bastard baby she carried.
For the most part, she had given up thoughts of Matt Dillon and the future they might have had together. Only in her weakest of moments did her memories drift to him. She acknowledged she could never return to Dodge City, for she could never again be the woman she once was. Her soul piercing wounds were too numerous and too deep to ever completely heal. She went through these days as one walking across a vast desert, blindly putting one foot in front of the other, crying silently for deliverance.
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It was on an afternoon in late May, that Addie Pittlekow sought out Kitty's guidance. She and her father were invited for dinner that evening. After a perfunctory exam of her condition the Professor retired to Chapman's study for the two men to discuss a problem they were having with the administration at St Catherine's. Addie had declined the invitation to join them and instead had opted to talk with Kitty.
She'd rapped her knuckles almost timidly against the red head's door, "Frau Russell," she said when Kitty answered the knock, "I hope you don't mind, but I vas wondering if you might help me with something?"
"Me? Help you?"
"Ja …" The German woman lowered her head and pursed her lips.
"Come in, please." She encouraged. It had been a while since anyone had sought her advice. It was a welcomed change from her self-absorbed world, "Sit down." Kitty offered while gingerly lowering herself to the rocking chair, "Tell me what I can do to help."
Adelheide Pittlekow took a seat in a straight-backed chair across from Kitty, "First before I continue, und pardon me for asking, but is there anything between you und John Chapman?"
Kitty shifted her weight in the chair; it was impossible to find a comfortable position, "We are good friends. I don't know what I'd have done without him these last months."
Addie's shoulders went slack as the air deflated in her lungs.
An understanding glow warmed Kitty's eyes. "But if you are asking if there is a romantic interest between the two of us, no, we are friends, good friends and I will love him forever for being that."
Addie swallowed hard and pressed her hand against an invisible wrinkle in her skirt. Her words came out soft and Kitty had to bend forward to hear them, "I vas wondering if you could help me, you are so beautiful und you know how to vear your hair … und… you move like the dancer, graceful."
This wasn't the first time Kitty'd heard the request, and she graciously helped the other woman finish her thought, "and I paint my face?"
Her confidence waning, Addie's German accent seemed more pronounced, "Ja … but in a good vay, not like a bad voman, like a beautiful lady."
Kitty suppressed a wry smile, these last scorching days she'd grown puffy from her face down to her ankles. Her movements had turned to an awkward splayed legged shuffle as she tried to maneuver her heavy load. But she sensed the sincerity and desperation coming from the female doctor. "You'd like me to help make John Chapman notice you?"
"Ja, yes." Addie brightened with hope.
Using her arms Kitty pushed her weight out of the rocking chair and motioned for Addie to take a seat at the dressing table. Standing behind her she studied the reflection in the mirror. "You have lovely eyes, clear skin and beautiful hair, but everything is so stiff,severe, men like softness. Your eyelashes need darkening to frame your eyes and your eyebrows … well they shouldn't grow in one line across your forehead." She took a tweezers from her beauty case, and began to pluck at the overgrowth.
"Ouch!" Addie exclaimed pulling back.
Kitty steadied her with a hand to the shoulder, "Beauty has a price."
When she had cleared away an arch and pathway, she turned to Addie's harsh hairstyle. "Now this looks painful." She eased out the pins letting the dark blond hair fall to her shoulders. "Remember, softer is better, at least when you are trying to get a man to notice you." She did the doctor's hair in a style similar to the one she'd worn back in Dodge. She opened another case revealing face paint and kohl and showed her how to apply the faintest tint to highlight her natural good looks. When that was accomplished Kitty offered her own Irish lace collar to decorate the neckline of Addie's plain dark dress, and a pair of pearl earbobs, "to add light and movement to your face." Kitty explained. "It's like fishing with a shiny lure."
Addie looked back at her reflection, and smiled. "Ja, he will notice me now. Danke schon, thank you."
"You are most welcomed. Shall we go down to dinner and see what John thinks of the change."
Chapman didn't notice at first, he was so used to Adelheide Pittlekow's usual appearance that he didn't bother to study her now. It came as a shock when he looked up and saw the transformation. He did a comical double take, blinking his eyes as though they were seeing a vision. Kitty caught sight of the Professor taking in the revelation. He winked at Kitty in a way that reminded her of Doc, and reminded her just how far from home she was.
In the matter of just a few days the pair had become a couple. Addie confided to Kitty that she'd been in love with Chapman since she had first met him as a young girl. She had become a doctor not only in an effort to emulate her father but to be closer to John. Her plan hadn't materialized as she'd hoped for he never seemed to notice her as a woman only as a colleague.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see the two of you married one day soon." Kitty said on an afternoon a week later as she was trying out a new hairstyle on Adelheide. The baby kicked and Kitty grimaced. Addie noticed her reflection change in the mirror.
"You have had a difficult confinement Frau Russell. I cannot imagine how hard it was to lose your husband at a time like this, but soon you will have your baby and the child's father will live on."
Kitty stepped back, "I thought you knew, I thought John would have told you, surely your father suspects the truth…"
Addie swiveled around in her chair, "The truth of what?"
Color slipped from Kitty's face, "I'm not married, I never was …"
Addie stood and moved swiftly to Kitty, "but…"
She shook her head slowly from side to side, "Addie … I was raped. I left my home, my business… I left my … friends … to come here so they wouldn't have to see me like this …" Abruptly, Kitty turned her back to the other woman, valiantly trying to control her emotions.
"What of the child? After it is born, will you return to your friends?"
"I don't know what will become of the child… I don't know what will become of me." She was quiet for a moment and Addie watched her square her shoulders before turning to face her. When she did it was with a smile pasted in place, "Your hair looks fine, go find John."
Addie opened her mouth to say something further, but Kitty had turned her back again. Realizing she'd been dismissed the doctor left the room, her head filled with unanswered questions and her heart filled with pity.
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Addie Pittlekow stood helplessly by as Chapman paced his office, rereading a telegram he'd received earlier that afternoon, "Come immediately your sister gravely ill."
His voice was a fusion of concern and doubt, "This wouldn't be the first time Annabelle has used sickness as a ploy to regain my good graces. She's always been a skillful faker, with just enough of a heart condition to make her believable."
Addie put a hand on his arm holding him in place, "John, you have no choice in de matter, if there is any chance your sister is seriously ill you'd never forgive yourself for not being there to support und comfort her."
"You're right of course. It's just this is a bad time to be going anywhere. Kitty is in the last six weeks of her pregnancy. Her mental and physical health are being held together by a thread of self-will."
"Didn't you say you were sure her friend would be coming here to find her soon?" Addie reminded him. John had confided to her that just the other day he'd received a telegram from Doc Adams stating Festus Hagen was tracking Matt Dillon down, apparently following a lead the lawman was now in St Joe. He had to figure Dillon by process of elimination would show up in New Orleans in the next couple weeks. It was that thought which swayed his decision.
Chapman nodded and smiled at Addie, "You're saying I should take care of Annabelle now and Kitty later."
Boldly she tightened her hold on his arm until he pulled her into an embrace, she looked up into his face, "Papa vill keep a close eye on her und if it makes you feel better, so will I."
Kitty concurred when he discussed the situation with her, "I'm fine John, really. I know you're worried about your sister, please go to her, she needs you."
So on the 20th day of June, he packed up his bags and took the train North to St. Louis. With the promise of Professor Pittlekow that the minute Kitty's condition changed he would send a telegram alerting Chapman to that fact. Later that day Pittlekow stopped by to examine Kitty. She lay on the bed clothed in a dressing gown. He waited for her to move the Gris-Gris out of his way; aware he was not allowed to touch it. He measured the growth of the child, "De baby is high," he said, "und he has not turned, ve vill hope dat he changes position before it is time for him to be born." Professor frowned and thoughtfully fingered his beard. "Next veek, you vill stop by my office to see me, I vant to do complete exam, ve vill vatch you very close de last four weeks."
She nodded, and swallowed down the anxious feeling of being trapped in a runaway carriage. The Professor patted her hand, "It vill be fine, you are not to worry. However, with John gone, I may decide to keep you in de hospital for the last weeks of your confinement. If you notice any change you are to summon me immediately."
Kitty knew something about the last stages of pregnancy, she'd been around for Bessie and that experience had made her an old hand. Doc had in fact called upon her several times to assist him in deliveries. She'd always thought it odd and she was sure Doc's patients had too, that she an unmarried business woman in a less than noble profession, should assist these chaste women in bringing life to the world.
Her back hurt, but she didn't mention it to the Professor. She was afraid any hint of a problem and she'd end up a patient at St. Catherine's. If that happened, she knew she would surely go mad.
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Matt Dillon had been searching for her for weeks, stopping at every train station and two-bit town along the way. He'd received several leads but none had panned out. Following a vague tip from a train porter in St Louis, he'd headed to St. Joseph, Missouri. He'd been there for over a week, the trail, which had started out to be so promising, had turned unexpectedly cold. He was running out of ideas.
He stood, a lonely cowboy figure trapped within a crowd of urban passengers in front of a puffing steam engine, waiting to board the Great Northern for Chicago. His nostrils burned from coal smoke and creosote and he could feel the residue settle on his skin. He squinted his eyes as a scowl deepened the lines on his face.
Had the timing been one iota off, Hagen would never have seen Matt Dillon at the busy depot. "Matthew." He shouted running against a throng of travelers, keeping his eyes on the sweat stained Stetson, which loomed above the crowd ahead of him. Dillon turned around, thinking for a moment he was hearing things, the horde pushed past him grumbling that he was blocking their way.
"Festus? What are you doing here?" he asked when Hagen had caught up to him.
"Doc done sent me to find you, I know where Miss Kitty is."
Matt's carpet bag slipped from his hand and he grabbed the shoulders of his friend for support, his voice was a mixture of hope and desperation, "Where is she?"
It was Hagen who encouraged him to move away from the crowd. The whistle of the train blew and the locomotive began pulling away from the station, Festus had to shout to be heard above the roar, "Doc got a telegram from Dr. Chapman, she's in New Orleans."