Matt & Kitty in New Orleans
The next morning after breakfast Matt headed off to the main Police Station to see Captain Blake.
The Captain was delighted to see Matt, "Marshall Dillon, always a pleasure. I'm sorry about the trouble you had yesterday evening, but truth be told Rene Du Boise is a shady character who we haven't been able to charge with anything, your statement will give us something at last."
Matt understood the Captain's frustration, having experienced that kind of thing first hand. He gave a sworn statement about the events of the previous evening, and let the Captain know he would be glad to testify if need be. The Captain thought it wouldn't be necessary, but he'd be in touch if it was.
By the time Matt got back to the apartment building Kitty was already waiting for him in a hired carriage. Matt climbed in and they set off for Queenie's establishment.
Sitting close together in the carriage Matt put his arm around Kitty, "Kitty do you want to get married here in New Orleans or wait to get back to Dodge? Whatever you want is fine with me."
Kitty snuggled closer, not being able to get enough of the feel of Matt, "I've been thinking about this. I so much want Iris to be at our wedding, let's get married here. We'll pick a date as soon as we can get Iris out of that place. We can have a party back in Dodge when we return."
They arrived at Queenie's and rang the bell. Queenie opened the door half expecting to see Kitty, but was surprised to see the tall good-looking man who was with her.
"Well who do we have here?"
Kitty's distain for Queenie had grown with each visit, "This is my husband Matt. We are here to see Iris."
Queenie looked at Kitty as she opened the door and the couple walked in, "That's fine honey, and welcome Mr. Russell. You'll have to wait though. Iris is seeing someone at the moment. When she's finished you can go up. Of course you realize that because there are two of you, you'll have to pay double."
Kitty was about to lose her temper, but Matt put a hand on her shoulder and said, " Of course, we'll pay for two."
Suddenly piercing screams were heard coming from upstairs.
Kitty looked up and then at Matt as the screams continued, "I think that's coming from Iris's room."
Queenie tried to block the staircase. "Interfering with a customer is a no no in my establishment."
Matt gently but firmly moved Queenie aside. Kitty raced up the stairs and Matt followed.
He reached the room and tried to open the door, but it was locked. He stepped back and kicked the door in. A large, heavy man was standing over Iris, cursing as he beat and kicked her.
Matt moved in, grabbed the man and threw him against the wall. The man slid down to a sitting position. Iris was badly bruised, her breathing was labored and she was barely conscious. Matt lifted her gently in his arms.
"Kitty, let's get her down to the carriage. We'll tell the driver to get us to the nearest hospital."
He rushed down the stairs with Iris in his arms. Queenie was yelling, "Go out the back way. Don't go out the front, it's bad for business, go out the back."
Matt ignored Queenie's shouts and moved quickly. Kitty got into the carriage first and Matt gently placed Iris across the seat with her head on Kitty's lap. Matt climbed up next to the driver told him to race to the nearest hospital.
When they arrived, Matt carried Iris in, saying, "We need help over here right away." Iris was whisked away to an exam room quickly. A kind looking nurse introduced herself as Clara. She assured them that Iris was with a very good doctor, and let them know that if they needed anything they could come to her.
After waiting for a while Kitty looked at Matt, "I left Davy with my neighbor, Lorraine and she expected him to be picked up by now, maybe I should go get him and bring him here. This might take a while."
"No Kitty, you shouldn't leave, Iris might ask for you. I'll go and get Davy."
Kitty agreed. Matt left and Kitty waited alone. Nurse Clara came over with some coffee, which Kitty gladly accepted.
At last a doctor came out. "Are you a relative?"
"Yes, I'm her cousin, my name's Kitty Russell."
"Mrs. Russell, I'm afraid that your cousin is in critical condition. I'm not saying that recovery is impossible, but she has sustained a serious concussion, broken ribs, many contusions and there seems to be internal bleeding. I'm going to have to operate immediately to try to stop the bleeding. She is starting to fall asleep from the medication I gave her. Would you like to see her before I take her into surgery?" Kitty nodded and the doctor let her into the room
Iris was beginning to lose consciousness, but saw Kitty and whispered, "I've made a mess of everything. I married Carl being blind to his faults, I ignored everyone who tried to warn me, I killed my baby, I sold my body – there is no way out of the mess I've made."
Kitty stroked Iris's cheek. "Iris, you are a good person. Matt is here, and we will find a way out of everything."
Iris smiled slightly, even in her distress, at the way Kitty sounded when mentioning Matt, "So at last I get to meet this Matt," Iris whispered as she lost consciousness. Some orderlies came in and moved Iris into the operating room.
Kitty was in the waiting room when Matt returned with Davy. They waited for hours. Nurse Clara brought them all some food and added a candy drop for Davy.
Finally the doctor emerged, and went over to Kitty. "The surgery went well and the internal bleeding has stopped. At the same time I have to add that her condition is still very serious, and we have to hope that no infection or pneumonia sets in. You folks should go home. She'll sleep through the night; you can see her in the morning."
Matt and Kitty climbed into the carriage. A very sleepy Davy was on Kitty's lap. Kitty looked at Matt, "I'd like to be able to tell Iris, as soon as possible, that her debts are paid up. I think that would be such good medicine for her. Can you help me go through the remaining bills and IOUs? I've handled most of them and negotiated some pretty good deals, but there are still a lot to go through."
"Of course Kitty. We'll get right on it."
When they got home, they put Davy to bed. Kitty was making coffee as Matt started through a stack of papers, sorting them out into separate piles.
He looked up as Kitty handed him a cup of coffee, "Thanks Kitty. You know, I think that nothing in this pile right here is legitimate. These papers are dated after Carl's death and signed with signatures that don't match Carl's. They can be totally eliminated. These are just people who heard about Iris owing a lot of debts, who tried to pull off a scam. The others should be paid. With the money you have left and the money I brought with me, we might be able to have all this cleared up by the end of the week."
Kitty looked up, "Matt, what do you mean about the money you brought with you?"
Matt pulled Kitty onto his lap, "Kitty, I was afraid that you wouldn't have quite enough from your sale of half of the Long Branch to pay everything off, especially with you having to pay all the expenses here. I didn't want you to have to sell any more shares of the Long Branch, so I emptied out my bank account. It's not a tremendous amount of money, just $500 but it will make the difference between paying off all the debts or not."
Kitty was starting to protest, but Matt interrupted her, "Kitty there is nothing more important that I could do with my money. We're together in this, remember."
Before Kitty could answer he pressed his lips hard against hers and moved his hand up and down her back before he lifted her and carried her to bed.