When they made it back to Dodge, Matt told Dale, Tag and the farmer couple to go to the jail and he would join them shortly. Matt then pulled Kitty from his horse and carried her up to Doc's office. Though she protested, insisting she could walk, Matt ignored her protests. He wasn't about to let her go until she was in the safest place he could think of. Doc's office.
After assuring her he'd be back shortly, Matt left Kitty in Doc's care while he headed to the hotel to talk to Judge Brooker.
Back up in Doc's office, Kitty winced when Doc pulled Matt's handkerchief from the wound. "Sorry," Doc mumbled as he began to clean the wound. "Well, it's not as bad as it looks." He finally told her. "The bullet went all the way through. But I am going to have to stitch it up." Taking her right arm in his hand, he removed her makeshift bandage from her wrist. "One inch deeper and you would've cut a vein."
"That wasn't what I was trying for." Kitty told him. "I was trying to get ropes off my wrists."
"Looks like you got the ropes and half an inch hide both off." Doc shook his head as he moved over to his medicine cabinet pulling several items out. "Lay down there, Kitty." He told her as he moved back over to the table. "Let's see how much damage I can repair."
After giving Kitty something to knock her out, Doc began work to repair the damage she'd incurred while Matt spoke to Judge Brooker and then they both went over to the jail and spoke to the Grangers, Ed and Matilda and then Victor.
When Kitty awoke, she saw Matt sitting in a chair next to her, his head was down and he looked like he was asleep. Deciding not to wake him, Kitty pushed the covers off of her and tried to get up. But she had barely sat up when Matt woke and moved over to her.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked as he pulled the covers back over her. "You know it wasn't too long ago that you had surgery."
"It wasn't surgery." She protested. "Doc just had to stitch me up. I'm ok."
"You were shot." Matt told her. "Now, granted, it wasn't life threatening but it wasn't good. So you need to stay right there in bed and rest."
Kitty sighed, deciding to change the subject. "What happened with the Granger's?"
"I released Rey and put Dale and Tag in instead, along with that couple. Judge Brooker is going to hold trial for them on Monday. When he found out his brother confessed, Rey spilled it all. He knew his brother was upset about that girl turning him down and he got worried about him when he couldn't find him. He'd seen his brother and their hand Simpson talking earlier so he came to town to find Simpson hoping he could tell him where his little brother was."
"That's when he came into the Long Branch." Kitty put in.
"Yeah," Matt nodded. "When Simpson told him his little brother had been drinking and talking about going to see that girl again, he went up to that village to find him. When he got there, he found his brother on top of the girl on the ground. Tag was so drunk that he didn't even realize what he'd done until Rey pulled him up and forced him to look. After that they mounted up and lit out for home, leaving the girl on the ground. She wasn't dead when they rode off but she was close."
"Is that when the girl's father saw the boys?" Kitty wondered.
"Yeah," Matt nodded. "When he noticed the girl wasn't in her bed, he went looking for her. He got there just in time to see the boys riding off. After carrying her back to his house, he summoned his neighbors and they chased the boys, even came close to catching them, but in the dark, they eventually lost them. Victor couldn't be sure who they were but he knew one of the Granger boys had been after his daughter so he assumed that's who it was. And that's when he came to me."
"You mean he didn't really see anything?" Kitty was confused. "But I thought…"
"I did too." Matt shrugged. "Like I said, he saw the boys riding off but couldn't really identify them. He just knew that one of the Granger boys had been sweet on his daughter so he assumed it was one of them. But he knew if he told me that, I wouldn't take his word on it. So he let me assume that he could identify the boy who'd hurt his daughter. He didn't want me to arrest the boy, he wanted me to prove it was him and then turn him over to him."
"But didn't you say he identified Rey in the jail?" Kitty was still no clear on this.
"He did. But he was lying. All he knew was that I had one of the boys in jail and he assumed I had the right one. And like I said, he thought he could force me to give him up to him somehow. He figured that way he could get his revenge without worrying about killing the wrong one."
"He didn't know you too well." Kitty observed.
"Nope. Neither did Granger." Matt added. "When he saw that I was going to make his son stand trial, he had two homesteaders that owed him a favor to take you in order to force my hand. Dale, like everyone else in town has heard rumors about us but he wasn't sure so he had one of his men keep an eye on us."
"But we never did anything untoward in public." Kitty protested.
"Most of the time that's true." Matt agreed. "But we still could've been seen exchanging a kiss or something. Just because we thought we were alone, doesn't mean we were."
"Well, that's true." Kitty conceded. "And I guess his man saw us kiss or something and told Dale."
"Yeah," Matt nodded. "He figured if he threatened you, I'd either let Rey go or at least fudge the evidence enough to keep him from being convicted. At the very least, he thought that if his boy was convicted, he could use to you to force me into letting Rey escape."
"If that's the case then why did he chase me and shoot me?"
Matt shook his head. "He said he didn't really plan on killing you. When he got to the farm and the couple told him you had escaped he was just intent on getting you back. He swore that when he saw you running across the field, he only fired a warning shot and didn't mean to hit you. But when he saw you go down, he was sure that he'd have to finish killing you and hide your body somewhere and then continue letting me believe you were alive and being held captive."
"How nice." Kitty rolled her eyes. "Thank God, you got there in time to stop him."
"Yeah, well, that was more a case of luck than anything. I was just playing a hunch when I rode onto that farm, ya know. I didn't know for a fact you were there until I saw you running into the woods and Granger chasing you. Tell ya what, I sure am glad you wore blue. It stood out among all that green."
"I'll remember that." Kitty grinned. "Matt Dillon likes blue."
Matt leaned in and kissed her. "That's not all I like."
Kitty chuckled until a thought came to her. "Matt, what about that girl's father, Victor? He still threatening vengeance?"
"Yeah, but not so loudly now." Matt answered. "He now knows that I'm going to turn anyone over to him."
"About time he learned that. Tell ya what though, I'm still surprised it was Tag who did it. I thought for sure that with that button you had of Rey's, it had to be him."
"Me too." Matt nodded. "But from what Rey and Tag both said, when Rey reached down to pull his brother to his feet, the girl reached out and grabbed the front of his vest before passing out. She must've pulled the button off then. Rey never noticed it until I showed it to him. He figured with that button and Victor saying he'd seen him at their farm that he was as good as hung anyway so no need to tell what really happened."
"What's going to happen to Tag, Matt? From what he said, he didn't mean to kill her."
"No, he didn't. But the end result is the same." Matt sat back and sighed. "It'll pretty much be up to Judge Brooker as to what happens to him and Dale. Since he was drunk, and he didn't intentionally kill her, there's a chance he could be sent to prison instead of hung. As for Dale, he'll most likely spend time in prison as well but how much will depend on you."
"Me?" Kitty frowned.
"Yeah, Judge Brooker said he wanted to talk to you before he decided what to do in Dale's case. If you want him to spend some hard time, he most likely will."
Kitty quickly shook her head. "I don't want that. Even if Tag doesn't hang, he'll still be gone for a good long time. And if he has to spend any time in prison himself, I think that's enough punishment."
Matt leaned forward and kissed her again. "You are a good woman, Kitty Russell. Not just beautiful but compassionate and…"
"And in need of more rest." Doc stood in the doorway. "It's about time you got some rest as well, Marshal Dillon."
Matt shook his head with a wry grin and reluctantly got to his feet. "Guess you're right about that." He told Doc before looking back down at Kitty. "Seems to me, I promised you a picnic when all of this was over. You still want to go with me?"
"As soon as I can get out this bed, you betcha." Kitty smiled, happy that he'd remembered. "And I promise to wear blue."
Matt laughed as he left the room with Doc behind him. "I'll go on over to my room and get some rest, Doc." Matt told him. "Send for me if she needs anything."
"She won't need anything because I'll be here." Doc answered. "You know that. That girl's like a daughter to me. I'll take care of her."
"Yeah, I guess you will." Matt put his hat on, nodded at Doc and left the office. As he walked down the stairs and to his room, he thought about what Doc had said.
Victor was a father who was willing to do anything to find his daughter's killer. Dale was a father who would do anything to keep his son from going to prison or worse. And though Kitty wasn't Doc's daughter by blood, he still loved her as such and would protect her with his life if need be. A father's love was strong and no matter what if a man truly loved his children, he would go to any length for them.
Although Matt had no intentions of marriage any time soon, he knew that when he did marry Kitty, and it would be no one but Kitty, and they had children, he'd do no less than give his life them.
The End