"Morning, Mr. Dillon." Chester smiled brightly as Matt entered the jail. "You're just in time for a fresh cup of coffee."

"Um…" Matt quickly shook his head as the aroma from the pot hit his nostrils. "Thank you, Chester, but no. I had a cup over at the Long Branch."

"The Long Branch?" Chester questioned. "Why on earth did ya go over there for? I mean Sam's coffee ain't no better'n mine. As a matter of fact, I think mines better than his. He don't put no eggshells or salt in it. And he never leaves the grounds for the next day. Sides, it's awfully early, I'm surprised Sam even had some coffee made."

"Well, he did have coffee made and I had some." Matt declined to say anything more on the subject as he sat down at his desk and pulled a stack of envelopes to him. Chester didn't need to know why Matt had stopped there first. "This all the mail?" He asked as he sorted thru the stack.

"Yes, Sir." Chester nodded. "Well," he shrugged, "as far as I know. I ain't been over there yet today. Of course, the stage ain't come in so there may not…"

"Marshal?"

Both men looked toward the doorway to see a swarthy looking man standing in the threshold holding a rifle. As tall as Matt if not taller, he was broad chested and his muscled arms spoke of long days of hard work. The stern expression on his bearded face instantly alerted Matt that this was not a social visit.

"I'm Marshal Dillon." Matt answered. "What can I do for you?"

"You bring to me the man who hurt my Anya." He answered in a heavy accent. "I vant him."

Matt exchanged a quick puzzled glance with Chester before returning his focus to the large man in the doorway. "Who are you, Mister?" He questioned. "What boy? What are you talking about?"

"My name is Victor. I am Anya's father. The boy is son of a rancher. He is a boy of dis town." The man told him. "He came to our small village and hurt my Anya. I have come for to kill him."

Matt frowned at the man, not intimidated in the slightest by his size or demeanor. "Yeah, well, first of all, nobody takes the law into their own hands around here. And second of all, you're going to have to tell me a lot more than you have. What's this boy's name? Where did this happen? How…"

"His name is Granger." Victor snarled, clenching his rifle tightly in his grasp. "He hurt my Anya. He must pay for dat."

Matt knew the name. "When did this happen?" He pressed. He needed a lot more information before he could arrest one of Dale Granger's boys.

"Tree days ago." The man answered, a sadness suddenly overtaking his voice. "My Anya, she live only two days. She die last night and I come for dat boy today. I vant him, Marshal. I vill make him pay for vat he do to my Anya. You find dis boy. Find him and bring him to me."

"I will find him." Matt answered. "But I'm not bringing him to you. If he's done what you say, then he'll answer to the law. Not to you. You understand?"

"Yeah." The man nodded. "I understand. But you too must understand. Dat boy hurt my girl and he will pay for it. If you vill not help me, then I vill find him on my own. But I vill find him and he vill die."

"Now wait a minute." Matt shook his head but Victor ignored him as he turned and swiftly left the jail. "Victor!" Matt yelled as he followed him onto the street but the man didn't even give him a glance as he climbed onto his horse and swiftly rode away.

"Well, forever more." Chester, who'd followed Matt from the jail, exclaimed. "You think he means what he said?"

"I don't know, Chester." Matt stepped back into the jail and pulled his hat from its peg. "Keep an eye on things here, will ya. I'll be back later." Without waiting for an answer, Matt quickly strode down the street to Doc's office. Taking the steps two at a time, Matt knocked but didn't wait for an invitation before entering.

Doc glanced up from his desk when Matt entered. "Morning. What's got you up here so early? Don't tell me you've already had your daily bullet wound." Doc grinned but changed his expression when he saw Matt's. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I'm not sure." Matt leaned against Doc's examine table. "I had a man in my office this morning saying something about his girl being hurt. I was wondering if you might know something about it."

Doc hesitated only for a moment before nodding. "I might." He sighed. "I was called out to treat a young girl yesterday but she died before I got there. I tried to examine her but her parents wouldn't let me do much. Still, from what I did see, something bad happened. I saw marks on her throat that could have been caused by someone strangling her. She had a blanket over her and her parent's wouldn't let me remove it so I couldn't tell much more. I asked what happened to the girl but they wouldn't tell me and when I suggested telling you about it, they pretty much showed me the door."

"Would you say she was murdered?" Matt asked.

Doc sighed and took a sip of his coffee before answering. "Yes and no. What little I saw certainly looked like she could have been but…" he shrugged. "Without actually being able to completely examine her, I couldn't swear to it. But it did look bad. I was going to tell you about it last night when I got back to town but you were gone."

"Yeah, I just got back from Adobe Flats this morning." Matt answered. "Where were these people, Doc."

"Oh, about 30 miles north of here." Doc told him. "A bunch of people settled in a little valley up that way and started what I guess you could call a town of sorts. It's not too big but they do have general store, a stable and a leathers good shop."

"Do they have any sort of law set up there?" Matt questioned.

Doc considered the question before shaking his head. "Not that I've seen. I've only been there a couple of times but I never saw anything to indicate that they even needed the law."

"This girl's father, could you describe him?" Matt was beginning to get a really bad picture of what happened.

"Yeah." Doc nodded. "He's real tall, tall as you, I'd say. He's got light colored hair and massive arms and chest. Looks like he throws anvils around for fun. Was that the man that came to the jail?"

"Yeah." Matt nodded. "Looks like he's now wanting revenge for his girl and he wants me to help him get it."

"You?" Doc frowned. "How?"

"He wants me to find the boy that did it and bring him to him." Matt shook his head as he got back to his feet. "And from what he said, that boy's last name is Granger."

Doc took a swipe of his mustache. "Did he say which one?"

"No." Matt answered. "From what I know of the two boys, it's most likely Rey. I'll know more when I talk to them."

"You think they'll tell you?" Doc questioned. "I doubt their pa will even let you talk to them, much less let them confess to something like that."

"All I can do is try." Matt shrugged as he turned and left the office.

TBC