Chapter Ten: Troubles Shared
Matt woke at first light. The room was chill, but Kitty was warm against him. He kissed her softly, but she didn't stir, so he worked his way smoothly out of the bed, wrapping both quilts around her like a bunting. Matt pulled on his britches and carried the rest of his clothes into the front room to dress. There were still coals glowing from last night's fire, so he added wood and stirred it up, hoping to warm the room before Kitty got up. When the fire was burning well, he went out and found the privy and then headed for the barn.
Frank Reardon was awake, and pretty much for the same reason – too many years of riding trail. He held out a hand to Matt, something he hadn't done the night before, and they shook warmly. "Kitty still asleep?" Frank asked.
"Yeah. She doesn't usually get up until late." Matt smiled, remembering, "She's still fussin' at me about getting her up at nine one morning couple a years ago, said it was the middle of the night."
"Let's feed those horses, compadre," Frank said, "And then we've got some talking to do." Frank climbed into the loft and tossed down armfuls of hay that Matt carried to the three horses. That done, the two men settled companionably on a bench outside the barn door and watched as the sun rose above the hills.
"Seems like there's a few things you forgot to tell me about this little spree, Matt." Frank began.
"Oh? I thought we mostly got it covered that day in Hays." Matt lifted a big hand and started ticking things off on his fingers. "You locked up Marlow. You sent a deputy down with Chester to handle things in town. You found the cabin and brought us up a wagon. You met up with the boys from the Worth place. You got Kitty up here safe and sound. I'd say we did pretty well."
"That part of it worked fine, Matt." Frank went on, chewing on a seeded stalk of hay. "Couple things you forgot to tell me though." He stopped to spit the seeds out and put the straw back in his mouth. "About Kitty."
Matt grinned. "I told you she was the most beautiful women I'd ever met," he commented, "And that I knew I could count on you to take care of her."
"You didn't tell me you were in love with her, Matt." Frank said.
And that left them quiet for a time. "I didn't even say that to Kitty until a couple nights ago, Frank. It's still kind of a raw subject for us both. I just wanted her safe from whoever's trying to kill her, and then I figured we could talk about it."
Frank let that sit for a few minutes then asked, "She tell you I handled her some?"
Matt turned his head sideways to look at his friend. "No," he said slowly, "She didn't."
"I didn't think she would. We worked it out. But I wanted you to know. I didn't understand, right at first, how things sat between the two of you." Frank whistled out a long sigh. "You want to knock me down, I'll stand up so's you can do it."
"Kitty's pretty good at dealing with that kind of thing herself, Frank," Matt replied with a smile. "She hurt you any?"
"Only my pride."
The two men sat silently for a while. They heard the front door open and Kitty's steps as she walked around the side of the house and then back. Matt stood up and reached a big hand down to grasp Frank's and pull him to his feet. "Breakfast?"
"Sounds good to me. There's still a few chickens scrabbling around that barn. Bet I can find us some eggs. You go on in and I'll be along."
Matt found Kitty dressed and frying up thinly sliced pieces of sidemeat at the fireplace. There was coffee boiling on the coals. "You're up early," he told her, waiting until she stood back from the fire to catch a quick kiss.
"Not as early as you, cowboy," she replied, sitting down at the table to peel and chop potatoes to fry. "That bed was mighty cold after you left it."
"I've got a couple of blankets in my saddle roll, I'll bring them in for you tonight." Matt said.
Her hands stopped moving the knife, and her chin went up a little. "You plannin' on leavin' me here by myself, Matt?" she said levelly.
Matt went to stand behind her and stroked her shoulder and her hair, "No, I'm not, Kitty. I'm sorry. I just meant I'll bring in the blankets to keep us warmer tonight."
The smile she threw up at him was sunny, "Bet we can find a couple good ways to keep warm."
Matt laughed, "Bet we can at that."
The three of them ate, and Kitty washed up. When she was done, she took one of the chairs out to set on the porch and the two men drifted over to sit with her, Matt on the step and Frank a little behind her on one of the benches. He tipped his hat partly over his face, but managed it so he could look sharply at the both of them.
"Now," Kitty said, "I'm tired of being left out of this whole thing. You gentlemen tell me what's going on."
Matt started. "We didn't find who shot at you as the coach left, Kitty. By the time Chester and I got around back to the alley there was no one there, and no way to see where anyone might have gone. So we're still left with the idea that someone doesn't want you to testify against Marlow and is willing to kill you to keep you from doing it. Too many strangers in town, even this time of year, to even pick out a suspect."
"That Marlow fella has a mouth." Frank went on. "He's been talkin' ever since we locked him up. Not too many people to listen, but the word is getting around. He's got himself a lawyer and the lawyer's seein' to that. What he's sayin' is that he had all the women from the Lady Gay and then all the women from the Long Branch and then rode out when Kitty here got sassy with him afterwards and pulled a gun. Says he paid fair and square and no complaints. Says he didn't know that other girl was dead or anything about it."
"What good does it do him, Frank," Kitty asked, "To pass those stories around in Hays when the trial is going to be in Dodge?"
"Word gets around, darlin'," Frank told her, "By the time I get Marlow down to Dodge Thursday evening, the rumors will be all through the town. And likely his lawyer will come down on the stage on Wednesday to be sure the word gets around."
He went on, watching Matt's mouth get grimmer. "So here's how I see it. They're going to get the story of the girl's death from Doc and from Matt and from Chester. And all they can say is they heard shots and came running up to find you, Kitty, standing there with a gun and some man rolling out the window of the girl's room. Doc will tell them she was strangled with a pillow. Then they'll put Marlow on the stand and he'll say that he had Ellen Sue and left her sleeping, and then went and had Kitty, and while they were playin' someone came in and attacked the girl. She started screaming, and they both ran in, and then Kitty got scared and turned on him so he ran. Didn't even know the girl was dead."
"You think a jury will believe that, Matt?" Kitty asked.
"Depends on who's on the jury." Matt hesitated, and then went on, "And it depends on your testimony, Kitty. A lot of men in Dodge respect you, feel you're an honest woman. But some don't. Just be glad that jury will be men, not women."
"Praise God for small favors gratefully received," exclaimed Frank fervently.
"All I can do is get on the stand and tell them what really happened. And Bill and Sam and Gabrielle and Mariah – that has to count for something." Kitty said.
"It does, but maybe not enough. No one else saw Spike. It all comes down to your testimony, Kitty." Frank said, "And whether or not they believe you."
"There's more." Frank started, but Matt interrupted him with a look. "No, Matt, we have to talk about it. Kitty and I talked some last night, and I believe she can handle it better than you think." Frank tipped back his hat and looked straight at Matt, "I'm more worried about you than her, Matt. Your temper's slower but once it starts to burn you might set the whole house afire."
Kitty scooted her chair back until she was looking directly at him, "Tell me, Frank. Just tell it straight."
"Here's what they're going to ask, Kitty," he said. "And what is your profession, Miss Russell?"
"I keep the Long Branch saloon." Kitty said proudly.
"And that's a whore house, is it?" Frank asked.
"No, it's a saloon."
"And you have girls working in your saloon?"
"Prettiest girls in town." Kitty replied, and Frank nodded encouragingly.
"And they take customers up to their rooms to sell them more than just whiskey?"
Kitty shrugged, "Some of them do that from time to time."
"So Spike Marlow went upstairs with each of your girls, Miss Russell?"
"No only with three, with Stella, and then Mariah, and then Gabrielle."
"But Mr. Marlow has testified that he paid for all four of the girls, paid gold, and that he was with Ellen Sue Neely that Saturday night before he came to your room. Did you know he'd been with Ellen Sue before he came to your bed, Miss Russell?"
Matt stood up. "That's enough, Frank!"
"No, Matt, it's not." Reardon said quite gently. He stood and turned to Kitty again, "Did you scream when Mr. Marlow entered your room, Miss Russell? Why didn't you scream, Miss Russell? Why did you wait until after the two of you were through sporting to pull a gun on him? Did you think he wasn't going to pay you, Miss Russell, or had you maybe just raised your prices and that's what caused the argument?"
Matt strode over and aimed a fist at his friend's face, but Frank caught it in both hands before it landed. "They're going to ask you questions you can't possibly answer straight, Kitty. They're going to try to break you down, and they're going to try to make Matt so mad that he starts swinging."
Kitty looked at the two of them, Matt furious, and Frank's eyes sad. "All I can do is tell the truth and count on the judge to slow him down if he asks too many questions at once. I will not stand back and let him get away with murder."
Frank nodded agreement with that. "Judge Beck is a holy terror, Kitty, and if he thinks someone's trying to steamroll him, he's gonna get mad himself, and that's all in our favor. You just have to stay calm, laugh at that lawyer when you can, and ask the judge for help when you don't understand the questions or they come too fast. You're a brave girl and mighty bright lady, I think maybe you can do it."
Frank dropped the fist he was still holding and raised a hand to the nape of Matt's neck to shake him. "Matt, you've either got to get hold of yourself or stay out of town. You can let Doc and Chester testify. We can get someone else to 'rescue' Kitty and take her back to Dodge on Thursday and you can just stay out on the trail lookin' for her. We've both been through trials like this before. You know what you have to do." Frank slapped him lightly on the shoulder and then turned and walked away towards the barn.
Kitty went over and wrapped her arms around Matt's waist. He put both arms around her and spoke into her hair, "I don't know how to do this, Kitty."
Kitty leaned back, loosening his arms but holding hers clasped tight at his waist. She looked up into his face. "Well, Matt, you've got about five days to learn. I'll help you all I can, Matt, but I am going to do this."
"Then I guess I am too." Matt told her.
Kitty smiled up at him, "Love works like that, Matt, it goes both ways." He kissed her then and she didn't ever think he would stop.
OoOoO
They all three let the subject slide for a while. Kitty baked up more biscuits so Frank would have something better than jerky to eat while he rode back to Hays. They speculated some on the gold robbery, but unless the money showed up, or Marlow confessed, there didn't seem to be anything further to do about that. Matt remembered that the Muellers had mentioned a garden, and they all three went twisting through the shallow gully behind the house to find it tucked in next to a tiny spring and surrounded by a neat picket fence. Kitty picked what tomatoes and beans she could carry in her skirt, and brought them back to the cabin to cut up for dinner. Matt was mostly quiet, Kitty only a little subdued, and Frank lively enough to make up for both of them.
After they ate, and while Kitty cleaned up and sat on the porch stringing beans for supper, Matt went out to the barn to help Frank saddle up for his trip back to Hays. They stood on either side of the big Appaloosa, Matt rubbing the horse down with a handful of straw while Frank packed the last things in his saddle bags.
"I wish I knew better what to do here, Frank," Matt said when they'd wasted about all the time they could without talking. "Not just about Marlow and the trial." Frank looked over at him, "About Kitty, too."
"Now you stop me if I'm wrong here, Matt," Frank said, "But it looks to me like you're not just askin' me for help here – marshal to sheriff – you're askin' me for advice. That so?"
"Yeah, that's so." Matt replied, his head down, hands busy on the Appaloosa's coat.
"Well then I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and I'll give you some advice. Likely you won't listen to it, but I'm gonna give it to you anyway." Reardon reached across the mare's back and laid a hand on Matt's arm, holding it still. "Do you love me, Matt?"
Matt looked across at him a little curiously, but without embarrassment. "You know I do, Frank. More than a brother."
Frank held his eyes, "And I'd take a bullet for you, Matt, any given day, or kill a man just on your say so because I trust your judgment same as I do my own – maybe more. But we're men. No need for us to talk about things like that. We know, and that's enough. Women are different. When you told her you loved her did you make that a happy thing for her?"
Matt shook his head slowly, thinking back to how scared and almost angry he'd been that night. His declaration had forced its way between his teeth, but it sure hadn't been a happy thing for either of them.
Frank grimaced and blew out a slow breath, "Cowboy, you've got that woman so damn frightened of loving you that she's likely to leave you just because she thinks you might be better off without her. Now you listen to me. Hear what I say. You've got five days up here with her. That's five days to show her she's the most important thing in your life – maybe not forever, but day by day for those five days she needs to know that nothin' else is as important to you as she is. Not Marlow, not the trial, not Dodge, not nothin'. You do that for five days and then you see how she feels, and how you feel, and maybe, just maybe, you'll be ready to figure out how to spend your lives together."
He took his hand off Matt's arm and cuffed him lightly across the face, "And if you decide, or she decides, that it's not going to work for the two of you, then, by the great Lord Jehovah, Matt, you come and tell me straight out 'cause I'll court that woman for all I'm worth and I'd marry her in a Mississippi minute if she'd have me. I sure as hell wish I'd seen her first."
Frank hefted his saddle across the mare, tightened the girths and led the Appaloosa into the yard. Matt watched as he laid an arm around Kitty's shoulders and gave her a quick kiss before swinging up and riding out down the trail. Matt swept a hand back over his hair and whistled through his teeth. "Damn," he thought, "I sure didn't see that one comin'."