Festus saw Kitty when he came in and he was tempted to go and say hello to her, but she bent over her ledger again. The hillman's face fell. He liked the people he had met in Dodge City, especially the tall marshal, and he wanted to be on good terms with all of them. He was feeling a little lonely these days. As it turned out, the Haggens didn't hold that business with Uncle Jack against him but he knew he couldn't go home again. Working with Marshal Dillon had given him a look at the other side of the law, and disgraceful as it might be for a Haggen to admit it, he liked being on the right side. Well, he couldn't blame this here lady for being suspicious of him with all the trouble he'd been in, but he did wish she was a mite more friendly. He turned to the bar. "Gimme a beer, Sam."

"Coming right up." Sam had noticed Kitty's reaction and now he smiled kindly at his friend. "Where you been this time?"

Festus took a big swallow and wiped his mouth. "Trappin'. Tuck me a mess of furs."

"Any wolves?"

Festus grinned and shook his head. "Nope. I'm out of the wolfin' bizness for good and all."

A big man dressed in buckskins pushed through the doors and sprawled against the bar, pounding on it and startling Kitty out of her reverie. "C'mon, barkeep, bring me a jug!" Sam took the man a bottle of whiskey and he pulled the cork with his teeth and spit it out. The corners of Kitty's mouth turned down. Festus used to do that. She remembered the first time she met him...

That night when Matt came into the Longbranch, he had the hillman with him and they went straight to Kitty's table. "Kitty, this is Festus Haggen."

Kitty inspected the man. He had been in town for a couple of days now and had taken the time to bathe and shave and change his clothes, so he wasn't as scruffy as she had been expecting. In fact, he was very good-looking, with glossy dark hair and soft hazel eyes. He smiled at her and took off his hat. "Ma'am."

Kitty smiled back, exquisitely polite. "Mr Haggen, I want to thank you for all you've done. Matt means a lot to the people around here."

Matt sat down and pulled out another chair. "Have a seat, Festus."

Festus sensed Kitty's reserve. "That's all right, marshal. I'll just get me a bottle and be on my way. I don't like to leave April for too long."

"How's she doing?"

"Well, she ain't never been to town before, but she likes it fine, 'specially now she knows she ain't in no trouble. I do want to thank you for goin' easy on her. She just didn' know what she wuz doin', the little ninny." He nodded to Kitty. "It wuz a pure pleasure meetin' you, ma'am." Festus put his hat back on and strolled over to the bar.

"Buy you a drink?" Matt asked.

Kitty nodded towards the bar. "What about your friend?"

The marshal looked around. "Festus? He's fine where he is." He turned back to her. "What do you think of him now?"

"He's very handsome."

Matt was exasperated. "Is that all?"

Kitty shrugged and smiled wryly. "You know that old saying about handsome is as handsome does. Maybe I'm having trouble getting past what you told me about him. I know you like him, Matt, but do you honestly think you could ever trust him if he didn't have a personal stake in what you were doing?"

Matt sat back. "I hadn't thought about it, Kitty. You know, he paid for a funeral for his uncle. And that girl, April. He didn't have to worry about her, but he's been taking care of her too."

"I'll bet he has."

"It's not like that." Kitty gave Matt a look and he flushed. "Well, maybe it is, but it's not just that. He cares about people."

"And you know this because..."

"I can tell." The marshal was getting an edge to his voice. "Women aren't the only ones who have intuition, you know. Festus is a good man."

Kitty looked rueful. "If you feel that way about him, I guess we'll find out."