The Rescue 13
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Six damn weeks," Quaid Hill grumbled to no one in particular. He had been at the trading post for six weeks now and still no sign of the red head and the men with her. He'd string that fool Pitts up by the thumbs if he hadn't already taken off, followed not long after by the idiot Haddock. The only ones who'd stayed were Brody and the four bums drinking out in the barn. He was sure they'd stay for the money he was paying them but he wasn't too sure of Brody.
"Awful cold out." Brody mentioned as he sat down at the table across from Hill. "Old man Musgrove says its likely snow will start just anytime now."
Hill glanced at him with a scowl. "Ya got any more good news on ya?"
Brody watched Hill for a moment before replying. "I think we need to pull out of here as soon as we can. Its obvious Pitts didn't know what he was talking about. He lost them at Turtle Crick and tried to cover by steering us here. He'd a stayed otherwise. We oughta just quit and go home. Ya got a good business in Dodge. Ya need to go home and tend it. You and Vic worked hard to build it; it'd be a shame to let it go."
"Vic." Hill said the dead man's name with a mixture of fondness and anger. "If he hadn't of tried taking that woman on alone he'd be alive and I wouldn't be here. I told him we should just leave her be. It was sure she wasn't about to tumble to either of us. But nooooo… He just to try her. Damn fool. He shoulda at least had me go with him. Then we'd both had a taste of her and he'd be alive."
Brody said nothing as he listened to the man ramble. There wasn't much to say. "Well," He said when Hill was again quiet. "Vic is dead. But you ain't and like I said, you ought to go back home. You know, someone could've found that Russell woman by now and hung her already."
"Don't try to cheer me up." Hill sighed as he got to his feet. "Cold or not, I gotta take a leak."
Brody silently watched him get up and leave, shaking his head at the insanity of it all. He knew he should just get up and go home. Even if Kitty Russell and her accomplices were anywhere around this area, they probably wouldn't come near this place or any where else they could be seen. But something inside of him wouldn't let him do it. As badly as he wanted to leave, he couldn't do it. He would need to stay and see this thing through whatever the outcome.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kitty looked out the window and then around the room Matt and Festus had built. Including the small space curtained off for a washroom. Though it was only big enough for a chamber pot and a tiny stand with a wash basin it was a luxury in these mountains and she was grateful for it. Of course it wasn't on the scale of her rooms over the Long Branch, but she knew she'd probably never see them again.
Rubbing her stomach, she willed the nausea away along with the dizziness that had been assailing her for the last couple of weeks. She needed to get up and go fix dinner but she'd been having trouble convincing her body of that. Still, Matt and Festus had been outside all morning trying to get as much done as they could before winter set in for good and she knew they'd be hungry when they got back inside.
Pushing herself up from the bed, she made her way into the main room and pulled out the coffee canister only to discover it was almost empty. Checking her other supplies, she realized that once again they were just about out. Though Matt and Festus had been able to provide plenty of fresh meat they had precious little of everything else. She'd mentioned to Matt two weeks prior that they were running low on supplies but now they were beyond low.
Sighing, she used what little they did have to make a decent meal for two hungry men and decided she'd have to send one of them into town for what they needed.
When the men sat down to the table she wasted no time. "We need supplies, Matt." She sighed as she sat down. "We are now completely out of coffee and just about everything else is gone as well. I know Turtle Crick is a way back down the mountain, but unless you want nothing but water and whatever you two can catch this winter, you need to go."
Matt sat back and pursed his lips. "Actually, Kitty, I was thinking the same thing. I also thought maybe you ought to go with me."
Kitty looked up in surprise. "Me? Do you think it'd be safe? I mean, last time they didn't know anything about me yet but by now…"
"Been thinking about that too." Matt nodded. "There's a trading post that's closer than the town and even if they had heard of you, they most likely wouldn't care. They probably get all kinds going through and I doubt they ask too many questions. Usually safer if they don't."
"Have you been there before, Matt?" Kitty asked.
"Only once." Matt answered. "And I never went in. I was chasing a bank robber a couple of years ago and he came right through this area. I chased him close to the trading post but as soon as we reached it, he veered off and took of east. I never went in but I remember where it was and I remember it being the only place around up here for miles."
"Then you think it'd be okay if I went with you?" Kitty asked.
Matt nodded. "Don't see why not. When winter sets in we won't be going anywhere for a while so we might as well."
Kitty's heart raced at the thought of being able to go somewhere. Despite the sickness she'd been experiencing off and on she would do anything to be able to go somewhere and see something besides the walls of the cabin and the trees surrounding it. "Do you mean that?"
Matt saw the happy look in her eyes and knew right then and there he'd move heaven and earth to see it more often. "I do. It's too late to start today but I figure we get an early start in the morning; we can get there by nightfall. We can spend the night there, get our supplies and leave the next morning. How does that sound to you?"
Kitty's smile brightened the room more than the light coming in through the window. "It's sounds wonderful."
"Good." Matt pushed back from the table. "Then tomorrow morning, we'll leave."
TBC