The Brother
Chapter 4
The morning was quiet after all the celebrating the trail hands did the night before.
Not many of the tables in Delmonico's were occupied and Joe, the old waiter, was making use of the time to change out the checkered cloths.
Kitty and Matt were eating a late breakfast together, eggs and steak and coffee. Not the best either of them had ever had but it was what it was.
"Tell you what Kitty, it seems I've been working day and night for the last two weeks. The town should be quiet till tomorrow when that next herd arrives, how about you and I take off for a few hours and go fishing."
"Sounds good to me Matt." It wasn't often the Marshal thought of leaving town for a few hours so she was only to happy to accept.
"All right, I'll get a buggy from Moss and come by in an hour or so and get you."
-()-()-()-
Wilton Lemay slept late that morning. He had sold all his cattle and made a good profit, the only thing that had not gone right for him was that he had not seen Max, nor had he met anyone who had even heard of him.
Jerry Jackson was planning to make his way back to Texas. He had kept three of the best horses from the remuda and had a spare saddle and trail rig stored at the livery, so Wilton would ride one, at least part way with him. If nothing else it would break the monotony of another stagecoach ride. He gathered up the few belongings he had brought with him and packed them in a small carpetbag. Looking at his watch he saw he had about two hours before meeting Jackson at the livery, that left him time for breakfast. As he approached Delmonico's he saw the Marshal and Miss Kitty leaving. They exchanged pleasantries and Wilton told Dillon he was getting ready to leave town.
"My business is finished here, maybe I'll see you next year. Dodge City has been a very profitable cattle market for me. I never did find my brother though."
"I'll certainly keep an eye out for him, Lemay," Dillon volunteered, "And Kitty here will tell me if he turns up at the Long Branch."
"Thank you both very much. It is of course possible that he had a change of plans and never came this way at all, so I am not too worried."
In fact Wilton was worried. It was not like Max to just loose contact like he had done.
After breakfast Lemay walked back to the Dodge House. Looking down the street towards the Long Branch he watched as the Marshal pulled a horse and Buggy to a stop in front of the saloon, then he watched as the man got down and helped Kitty Russell to climb aboard. The pair of them drove off heading west and he smiled to himself before continuing on to the Dodge House to get his things and settle his account.
It was getting on towards mid morning before he made his way to the livery. He was about half way there when he saw two men on horseback leaving. He just saw them from the back, one was a very large man, but the other – he could be mistaken of course – but the other looked like Max, so much so that he couldn't help but call out.
As he watched, it seemed like the big man urged the other to a gallop, not letting him stop or turn back. By the time he made it to the livery both men were out of sight. Moss Grimmick was there with Jackson's horses tacked up and ready to leave.
"Who were those men that just left Moss? I thought I recognized one of them."
"Strangers to me Mr. Lemay. The big man's name is Dragg Billings, never did get the other man's name, don't think I even saw him till today. Everything all right?"
"Yeh I guess so, I just thought I recognized one of them, but I must have been mistaken."
-()-()-()-
It was a late spring morning as Matt drove the buggy to Silver Creek. It had been weeks since Kitty and he had found time to sneak a few hours away from Dodge, and both of them knew that with the cattle season well under way it may be several weeks before they got to do it again. This time of year the Prairie was a beautiful place, not so hot that it scorched every blade of grass out there and not so dry that the soil would turn to dust that invaded every part of life.
There was a place the Marshal knew well, a small area where Silver Creek turned north for about half a mile, before taking a gentle curve back to the south. There in the bend of the stream was a shallow bank leading down to the water sheltered by a fairly thick stand of cottonwoods. He thought that there in the shade from the trees the fishing should be good.
He drove the buggy off the trail for the last mile or so until he reached the place he was aiming for. Helping Kitty down, he handed her the picnic basket and then reached for the fishing poles.
"Oh Matt," Kitty murmured looking around, "this is a perfect place, when did you find it?"
"Some while ago when I was coming back from Cimarron, I stopped here to water the buckskin and saw several big catfish just lying there amongst the rocks in that patch of shallow water," he pointed to his left. "I planned then to come back one day and try to catch a couple."
They spread the old quilt on the ground and Kitty set about arranging the picnic while Dillon arranged the lines and baited the hooks.
It wasn't long before they lay there side by side in the pleasant afternoon sun, just allowing time to stand still for a while.
-()-()-()-
Drag Billings paid Moss for boarding the horses and then led them outside where Max was waiting. After adjusting the cinch on his horse, Dragg mounted up and told Max to do the same. They headed west out of town following the route the Marshal had taken. Max was looking for a way out of this, he did not hold with shooting a woman, or ambushing a man and shooting him in the back. Just as they were leaving he thought he heard a familiar voice calling his name, but Dragg prevented him from turning round to check and urged both the horses into a gallop that they kept up until they were well clear of the town.
"I think that was someone calling my name back there," Max complained.
"Exactly – did you want someone to know you'd been here, we need to get this job done and get on home before anyone recognizes us."
Max was almost certain he had heard Wilton calling him, if only he could get away from Billings he might stand a hope of getting out of this mess.
"How much is Gannon paying you to get this job done," he asked when finally they slowed down to a fast walk.
"None of your business."
"It is my business, you are putting my neck on the line. Killing a US Marshal will set all the law in Kansas on us."
"That's why we'll be headed back to Colorado as soon as the job is done."
"Don't you see, they'll have the Marshal's service after us whether we're in Kansas, Colorado or anywhere else. Don't you want to get away from Gannon just let me have some money and I can get plenty more, I can pay you more than he promised you and you'll be free to go anywhere."
"Can't do that Lemay. Lou Gannon sent us to do a job and if we don't take care of it he'll have men come after us who will be a lot worse than the Marshal's service. You are free to leave once the job is done but not before."
Max knew that alone he could not take Dragg Billings unless he could get him into a stand-up gunfight.
-()-()-()-
Wilton Lemay was waiting at the big wooden door to the livery stable when Jerry Jackson walked up. He was still watching the place where a small cloud of dust marked the progress of the two riders heading off into the distance.
"Someone you know?" asked Jackson seeing that his boss was staring out into the prairie.
"I thought so, but maybe not. I thought it could be my brother Max, but I don't know who the other man is."
"We can head out that way if you like, boss."
"Maybe that would be a good idea, then I'd know for sure."
They checked the rig on their horses and paid Moss for the board and then in the early afternoon sun, they headed west after the two horsemen.
-()-()-()-
Matt had the fishing poles set up and Kitty had arranged the blanket and set out the picnic basket. The water in the stream was crystal clear and the afternoon sun was pleasantly warm, even so Dillon felt something was wrong. A lawman's instinct or a sixth sense, something kept nagging at the back of his mind. It had been that way since they were about half way from Dodge. He kept turning round and staring back up the trail they had come on, but could see nothing unusual.
"What's the matter Matt?" Kitty could feel that something was distracting him.
The two poles he had set were perfectly still, with no movement to indicate a catch. The air was stirred only by the gentlest of breezes and there was no sound except for the water creeping slowly over the rocks in the creek.
"Matt!" she said again realizing he had not heard her. He turned to her almost in surprise.
"I'm sorry Kitty, what did you say?"
"I asked if something was wrong."
He didn't want to spoil the day, it was so rarely that they managed to get out of town together.
"No I'm sorry Kitty I was just thinking about something. Come on let's eat, there's something about being out here that gives me an appetite."
She didn't quite believe him, but watched as he started hungrily on the sandwiches and opened the bottle of wine. She joined him as they toasted their good fortune at finding an afternoon to share, and pushed any doubts aside.
The meal was finished and nothing had happened to confirm his instinct of danger so the Marshal removed his gun belt and lay down next to the woman he loved. For a while they were watching the few clouds that drifted across the Kansas sky. Then all of a sudden Kitty called out
"Matt!" The Lawman instinctively reached for the gun, which was no longer on his hip.
"No," she laughed, pointing at the fishing poles "I think you've caught something."
He looked at the fishing poles he had almost forgotten about, and managed to grab the one nearest to him that was dancing all over the place. Skillfully he hauled in a large catfish, "now that will make a good supper," he said with pride as he produced a knife from his pocket to start cleaning the catch. It was then, just by chance, that his eyes caught a flash of movement in the bushes a little further up stream. He yelled, "Get down Kitty," at the same time the loud crack of a rifle being fired destroyed the quiet air around them. He threw himself forward intending to shield Kitty and at the same time reach across the picnic quilt to retrieve his gun. It was then that a second shot quickly followed the first.
TBC