The Rescue 32

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Matt lay spooned around Kitty, his arm protectively across her waist. She was asleep. He wasn't. He couldn't. He had too much to think about for sleep to come. Though he'd always considered Kitty to be his responsibility, she had become more so the moment he had pulled her from that stage. But now she was even more than that. She was now his wife and soon to be the mother of his child. And his desire, more than that, his need, to protect her was strong.

As he lay there, he thought of that.

His wife.

He had never thought he wanted a wife. Wives required more than he'd ever thought he had to give or ever wanted to give. A married man couldn't take off when he wanted or needed to without a moment's notice. A married man couldn't go where he wanted and stay as long as he wanted with a wife at home waiting on him.

But as he thought about it, he realized that's what Kitty had been doing since they'd come together.

Wait.

She'd never demanded marriage and had seldom asked for more than he was willing to give. She had accepted him and his ways and tried to just enjoy what time they did have together. She didn't push him to be what he wasn't and was simply happy to be with him.

Like now.

Their honeymoon, if you could call it that, was simply them returning to their borrowed sanctuary behind the trading post and spending two days alone with very little interaction with the other people there.

Though still occasionally plagued by morning sickness, Kitty had not allowed that to interfere with her time with her new husband and proved to Matt over and over, in deed and word, how much she loved him. Matt for his part had taken great pains to be as gentle and loving as possible, doing everything he knew to make sure she knew what she meant to him.

He was aware that this brief time with her, happy and safe and carefree, would soon be over and the harsh realities of their circumstances would eventually come crashing back down on them. But for now, he wanted her to feel safe and loved and know that no matter what, he would do whatever it took to protect her.

"You're thinking awful hard there, Cowboy." Kitty said in the darkness. "Must be something really important."

"How long have you been awake?" Matt asked startled that she wasn't asleep.

"A while now." She replied. "I don't sleep as heavily as you think. What's got you so upset?"

Matt pulled her closer and bent his head down, kissing her forehead. "I'm not upset, Kitty." He didn't want her to know his thoughts, didn't want her worrying along with him. "Go back to sleep, you need your rest."

But Kitty knew him way too well. "You're worried about what happens now, aren't you?" She asked as she pulled away and turned to face him. Big blue eyes studied his face in the soft glow of the waning firelight.

Matt shook his head. "We can't stay here indefinitely, Kitty." He said reaching over to rub her bare shoulder. "Depending on the weather, people are likely to start showing up here in a steady stream before too long. People who just might have seen your picture on a wanted poster."

"Then let's go back to our cabin, Matt." She said. "It might be a little slow going but we can make it."

But Matt shook his head. "Not right now, we couldn't. Honey, look outside. The snows deep here, and probably even deeper up at the cabin. If only I hadn't been such a fool to take you away from there…"

"Matt," Kitty's voice was stern. "If you had of done that, then we'd probably be starving right now for lack of food and we wouldn't be married." She stopped when the thought struck her. "Is that it, Matt?" He didn't answer right away which scared her. "You really didn't want to marry me? Is that why…?"

"No." Matt grasped her arm and pulled her tightly against him. "That is not it, Kitty. I don't think I ever realized how much I did want it, until I saw Doc leading you to me. I am happy about this, you have to believe that. But you should also know that married or not, I love you. I would do the same for you whether you carry my name or not. I just keep thinking, though, that if I'd been more cautious, taken better care, than you wouldn't have been shot by Hill, Brody wouldn't be dead and we'd still stand a good chance of clearing your name and getting you home."

Kitty reached out and tracing a finger down the side of his face. "I am home." She said softly. "Where ever you are is home. It doesn't matter if it's Dodge or in the middle of nowhere, as long as I'm with you, its home. Don't you see that? Home isn't always a physical place. Sometimes it's simply an emotional place that you can reach and stay at, with the one you love. And I do love you, Matthew Dillon. I truly do love you."

Matt bent down and captured her lips with his, deepening the kiss and pulling her closer. "I love you too."

As the two, once again, danced the age old dance of lovers in love, three men sat, some miles distant, in what passed for a saloon in Turtle Crick.

"You still think they're there?" The short blond man with cold blue eyes and the constant, startled look, asked the man across from him.

"Well, if that station master is right," the taller, thinner, dark haired man answered, "that's about the only place Doc Adams could've gone to. And I can just bet you, if Adams went there, it was for Dillon. Those two were thick as thieves." His dark brown eyes stared intently into the whiskey glass he held in his hand. "I told Dillon he wasn't above the law, but he wouldn't listen. He got by with Swarner but he won't get by with this."

The blond haired man exchanged looks with the third member of their party, a taller version of himself only with green eyes. "Ak," he said hesitantly, knowing how his friend hated being contradicted but feeling the need to say it anyway. "We ain't got no proof that it's Dillon he went to, or that Dillon is with Kitty Russell. Everabody said he rode down south. Besides, it weren't Dillon that killed Pat Swarner. Jud Sloan even swore to it. Now, you know that."

Ak Blint nodded his dark head in irritation. "Yep, I know what Jud said, Harry, but I don't believe it. No more than I believe he went south. He never would admit it, but he set a lot of store in that red head and he'd do anything to keep her from being hung. Naw, he's with her and Adams went to them. And so are we as soon as this weather clears enough so we can."

Tiller hung his head, saying nothing more. He knew further talk was futile. Once Ak made up his mind, he was implacable. Didn't make him right, just immoveable in his convictions. And despite his often wished-for desire to break free of his stronger willed friend, he never could do it. Tiller recognized the awful truth of his existence a long time ago. He needed a leader and Ak Blint had become that leader. He just hoped he didn't lead him to his death.

The third man of the group, a somewhat grungy man named Clark Grafton, glanced at both of his traveling partners before standing and throwing a coin onto the table for his drink. "Well, gentlemen, I see me a lady over there that looks about as bored as I am, so I figure to go over there and remedy both our situations. See ya in the morning."

Ak and Harry paid little heed to their new partner as he sauntered over to the bar and grabbed the nearest saloon girl by the waist, pulling her to him. With a few whispered words, she looked up at him with a smile and willingly followed him across the dirty, smoke filled room to the small space she had upstairs.

As Grafton led the girl upstairs, his mind centered on another woman, possibly just a few miles away. Though he didn't know her, didn't even know the man who supposedly was protecting her, he did know that a reward had been issued for both her and whoever was with her. And he wanted that reward, no matter what it took and who he had to kill to get it.

TBC