Goodbye my friends,

Maybe for forever

Goodbye my friends,

The stars wait for me

Who knows where we shall meet again

If ever

"Time" Sung by The Alan Parsons Project, written by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson

Chapter Thirteen

Somehow in the depths of sleep, he heard the knocking at the door, but he was physically unable to wake up enough to respond. Years of experience and the oath he had taken fought with the impulse to ignore the knocking and go back to sleep.

The knocking persisted and he was finally able to summon the will to sit up and look at the clock, wondering who was out there knocking at ten minutes past midnight and what the emergency could be. He stood, grabbing his trousers from the chair next to the bed, and dressed hurriedly. "I'm getting too old for this," he grumbled, wondering why he didn't just retire, knowing that it was because his patients still needed him; his favorite, and one of his least cooperative, in particular.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he shouted as he left his bedroom. He unlocked and opened the outside door. A man stood on the landing, clutching his chest with one hand and the railing with the other.

"You gotta help me, Doc!" he gasped.

"Come in, come in," Doc urged. "Let's get you up on that table." The big man staggered against the doorway and Doc put an arm around him to steady him. The man rested his arm across Doc's shoulder and leaned against him as they made their way to the examination table.

Matt pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and eased Kitty into it. She looked at Doc and then looked up at Matt. He knelt down next to the chair and took her hand. "It's Sam, honey."

She closed her eyes and nodded. "What happened, Doc?" she asked quietly.

"He had a heart attack. He came to the office just after midnight and passed away a couple hours later."

"Just after midnight?" She shook her head ruefully. "Yesterday, we were talking and I told him to come see you first thing today. I could tell he wasn't feeling well. I should have said something to you before we left!"

"You can't blame yourself for this, Kitty." Doc sat down at the table opposite her and patted her other hand.

"Can't I? I do feel responsible, Doc, asking him to take over the Long Branch for me. I even offered to sell it to him."

"Oh, well, that explains..."

"Explains what, Doc?"

"He wanted me to tell you he was sorry."

"He was...sorry? Is that all, Doc?"

"He was sorry he couldn't take care of the Long Branch for you anymore, and that he wasn't going to be here to see your child."

"I didn't know you told him, Kitty." Matt stood and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I told him yesterday. I hope you aren't mad, Matt. He already seemed to know, anyway."

"No, I'm not mad. Well, I'd best be going out and hitching up the horses while you pack…."

"But you haven't even had your breakfast yet! Those biscuits are probably done, I didn't have a chance to fix anything else, but I can make some eggs…." Kitty slowly stood up from the table. If she kept busy she wouldn't have to think about this. "You might as well have Festus come in; he's probably hungry after tracking us…"

"Festus and I ate hours ago," Doc told her. "Sit down and rest, Kitty, I don't want you to faint."

"I'm not gonna faint, Doc, I don't have time. I need to get breakfast on the table and pack so we can go back and b-bury Sam."

The next afternoon Kitty stood near the open grave, Doc's arm around her waist and the crying saloon girls standing behind them. Matt, with Festus, Newly, Burke and a few more townsmen slowly lowered the coffin into the ground. The preacher spoke some words she didn't hear and then everyone around her sang "Amazing Grace" as she watched Matt and the other men shovel dirt into the grave. Then it was over and people crowded around them, shaking hands with Matt and Doc and patting her on the arm or hugging her. People said things to her and she answered without having any idea of what she was saying. When everyone else had gone, Matt, putting his arm around her, said, "Let's get you back to town." She nodded. Now that this part was over, she could finally take the time to think.

"You can let me out in front this time," Kitty told Matt as they approached the Long Branch.

"Are you sure?" Since coming back to town the day before, they had been using the back entrance to her rooms. She hadn't been able to bear the thought of walking into the empty saloon and not seeing Sam there getting ready to open for the day.

"Not really, but I need to spend a little time in the office and this is closer." He got down to help her out of the buggy and she leaned over to kiss him before getting out. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, still not quite used to the open display of affection permitted them since their engagement and marriage.

"While you're doing that, I think I'll stop in and see how things are going at the jail."

"Maattt…." Please don't let anything take you away from me and our honeymoon.

"Don't worry, Kitty. Festus and Newly have everything under control."

"Well, you just make sure it stays that way." He walked her to the door of the saloon and waited while she let herself in.

"Don't forget to lock the doors behind you, so you don't get any unwanted company."

"I won't." Kitty closed and locked the doors behind her and walked past the bar without looking at it until she reached her office. She locked the office door and out of habit sat at her desk and opened the ledger. The entries from the last night of business were complete and seeing the last few weeks' figures in Sam's hand hit her hard. Slamming the ledger shut, she lowered her head to the desk and burst into tears. She poured out the loss of her trusted employee and friend and of her former life as the owner of the Long Branch. When she was finally cried out, she sat for a while, head still resting on her forearms.

"Nothing is working out the way I thought it would." She shook her head, immediately scolding herself for her self-pity. Sam's passing had only hastened the inevitable. A saloon had no place in her new life with Matt, and she had told her lawyer this morning before the funeral to make arrangements to close and put it up for sale. She had a husband who loved her and she him and they were starting their life together, for better or for worse. It was time to put the past in the past.

She wiped her eyes and pulled down the lid of the roll-top desk. As she turned to go, she heard someone knocking at the back door. She sighed. The last thing she wanted right now was to talk to anyone, except maybe her husband.

"Miss Kitty? Miss Kitty?" a thin, quavering voice called. Louie! What on earth would become of him without her and Sam to look after him? She rushed to unlock the back door.

"Miss Kitty! I was hoping to see you before you and the Marshal left again for your honeymoon." Louie was sober, but shaky, and she had no doubt he was in need of a drink.

"I'm glad you stopped in, Louie. Now, why didn't I see you at my wedding party?"

"I was asleep, Miss Kitty, I didn't get there until after you left. It was a real nice party, Miss Kitty. I helped Sam clean up afterwards and he gave me a drink…I ain't had a drink since then, Miss Kitty."

Kitty expected him to ask her for one, but his next words surprised her.

"I'm gonna quit drinkin', Miss Kitty."

"Louie, I don't think it's such a good idea for you to quit all at once. When was the last time you had something to eat, Louie, I bet there might be some wedding cake left…"

"Festus got me some breakfast this morning. I sure am sorry about Sam, Miss Kitty. I sure am gonna miss him. No one in Dodge was ever as good to me as the two of you."

"Sam was a good man." Kitty agreed.

"You aren't coming back to the Long Branch, are you, Miss Kitty? Now that you and the Marshal are going to have a family."

She shook her head. "No, I won't be back, Louie. Does everyone know about that?"

"I overheard the two of you talking one day. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop!"

"It's all right, Louie. Everyone will know soon enough, anyway." She patted Louie on the shoulder, trying to guide him back to the door. If she had to keep talking to him she was going to break down again. "Thank you for coming by, Louie, but I have some packing to do. You come see me next week after we get back and maybe I'll have some work for you, all right?"

"I'd be much obliged, Miss Kitty." Kitty locked the door behind him. She returned to her office for her handbag and then took a bottle each from her private supply of brandy and whiskey. Locking the office door behind her, she walked back into the barroom.

It was time for a last look at the room where she had spent so much of her life. Looking toward the deserted bar, she imagined Sam standing behind it, gentle and dignified, as he prepared to close up. She approached the bar and ran one hand along its polished surface.

"Thank you, Sam," she said, smiling. "Go on home. I'll close up tonight." She walked the length of the bar to the front doors and checked to be sure they were secure. With a sigh, she turned and made her way up the stairs.