The Rescue 9

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For the next two weeks, the fugitive trio traveled west, keeping away from towns and settlements and going off trail anytime they saw or heard anyone. Conversations were sparse between the three, having little to say and a lot to think about.

Often, Matt would look over at his lovely traveling companion and shake his head at the injustice done to her. Always naturally thin, she was positively gaunt now. During the two weeks she spent in jail, she seldom touched food and since they'd rescued her from the stage, her appetite hadn't picked up. He worried about how frail she had become.

But his worry wasn't only for the weight she'd lost or the paleness of her skin. Her whole demeanor had changed. Kitty had always been strong and resilient and not too many things ever got her down. But the fact that she had been close to being hung for something she hadn't done, and was now on the run from the law, had served to knock her down and had kept her down.

As each day passed, she seemed to whither a little more. Matt knew they were going to have make some changes and soon.

They had been camping each night where they could. Each place out of sight and easily guarded and easily scrubbed of their presence the next morning before they left.

This night they had found an old barn sitting next to a burned out cabin. It wasn't much but it helped knock off the wind. Little was said as the three settled in for the night. Kitty fixed them supper while Matt and Festus took care of the animals.

Once supper was completed and their dishes cleared and cleaned, Festus, as was his custom, excused himself and stepped out of the dilapidated structure to 'tend to bidness' and of course take first watch.

Matt sat back against the barn wall and looked over at where Kitty sat next to a small fire adding a few small pieces of wood to keep it going without building it up too high. Despite two weeks on the trail and the many hardships she'd endured, as well as her ever dwindling figure, he still thought her the most stunning woman he'd ever seen.

Kitty noticed his intense scrutiny and looked up, giving him her best fake smile. "Today was a pretty day." She remarked.

Matt nodded. "Yep, but this late in the year, days like this will be fewer and further apart."

Kitty looked down at the fire. "What are we going to do, Matt, when winter sets in?" She added another piece of wood. "I suspect places like this are going to be hard to find the further into the mountains we go."

Matt nodded again. "Yeah, I know that, Kitty, but I know a place north of here where we can winter and be pretty sure of going undetected. It's an old trapper's cabin. I haven't been up there in a long time but I think it'd be a good place to hole up till spring."

"What if someone else is already there or it's burned down or…" Her head came up to question him.

"Kitty," he stopped her. "No body knows about that cabin but me and the man who built it and he's dead. And cabins don't usually burn down on their own. And even if it did, we should have enough time before the snow flies to get something fixed up."

Kitty sighed and looked back down again without reply. She hated this, hated what she'd lost and would never get back but hated even more what Matt and Festus had given up to save her. Unsuccessfully stifling a tear she looked up at Matt. "I'm sorry, Matt. I wish more than anything that things were different. You and Festus have done so much…"

Matt swiftly left his spot by the wall and moved over next to her, pulling her into his arms, kissing her on the crown of her head. "Kitty, you have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't do anything wrong. This mess wasn't your doing."

"But if you hadn't pulled me from that stage and…"

Matt gently gripped her shoulders, turning her slightly so she could see his face. Placing a finger under her chin, he raised her eyes to his. "If I hadn't pulled you from that stage, I'd have lost my reason for living. Lord, girl, don't you understand how important you are? Not only to me, but to Festus as well as Doc, Sam and quite a few others. I can't speak for Festus, but I can tell you I have not lost anything I can't do without."

With her finger, Kitty traced the spot on his chest where his badge used to rest. "Even your badge?" She watched his face closely for the truth.

"Even that." He answered without hesitation. "I love you and if I have to give up a job to keep you safe and with me, then so be it."

"But your badge wasn't just a job, Matt." She protested. "It was your life."

"Un, huh." Matt shook his head. "You are. Like I said, I love you."

Kitty buried her head in his chest, fresh tears replacing the old ones. "I love you too."

"Good. Now what do you say, we lay down here and get a little sleep so we can start out fresh in the morning?"

Though she doubted she could sleep, Kitty nodded and settled down on her blanket. "Stay with me?"

Matt stretched out beside her, and pulled her back against him. "Can't think of anyplace else I'd druther be."

As the two of them settled down for the night, Festus warily walked the perimeter of the old farm yard and kept his eyes to the east. Something didn't feel right. Though they had been extraordinarily cautious and taken every care they could at making sure to leave no trace of a trail behind them, he had a feeling it hadn't been enough. He could feel someone out there.

Several miles to the east, eight men sat around a fire sipping hot coffee.

"Pitts, are you sure we're on the right trail?" The tall, powerful man with the hazel eyes, sandy brown hair and slight scar near his hairline asked.

Culver Pitts, older, sinewy with a full head of iron gray hair, wearing buckskins that looked as old as he did, nodded. "I've been a tracker for a number of years. I can follow a snowflake in a blizzard. These ones, we're a followin', has been awful careful and I ain't never seen nobody cover their tracks as good as they have. But they ain't been so careful I couldn't find em. Trust me, Hill. We's on the right trail."

Quaid Hill lay back with a pleased grin and took another sip of his coffee. Every since he had found out that Kitty Russell had escaped and gotten away, he had been determined to find her and see to it that she hung as she was sentenced to. Vic Treager had been like a brother to him, and he would not rest until he saw her dead.

"They ain't gonna be easy to take." Roman Haddock spoke up. "If they're good enough to keep her this long, they're probably pretty tough."

Hill looked over at one of the saddle tramps he'd hired to come along as an extra gun. He had little care for the stringy headed blond with the permanent sneer but, like the others, the man was good with a gun so he kept him. "You let me worry about that." He answered. "Your job's just to back me up."

As the talk died down and the men settled in for the night, Seth Brody sat back against his saddle, an unhappy expression on his face. He hated what had transpired so far and he knew that chances were, things were only going to get worse. He hadn't wanted any of this to happen, but it had and now all he could do was see it through.

TBC