As she had for the past several years, Kitty Russell held a party on Christmas Eve. There was a tall Christmas tree in the center of the room, and the girls had decorated it with strings of popcorn and dozens of tiny candles set on little tin holders attached to the branches. There were cookies and gingerbread, and a hearty spread of food as well as a big bowl of punch spiked with plenty of whiskey. There was music and dancing, and even some carol singing. Kitty led the festivities with a smile on her lips but a hint of sadness in her eyes. Matt Dillon was still out on the trail, and not expected back for several days. Kitty was grateful that the weather was mild, for December, but disappointed that he wasn't with her for the celebration.
Doc cornered her eventually, late in the evening, and steered her to a table in the corner. "Now Kitty, pay attention to me here," he said taking her hand and pulling her chin around to face him.
A little startled, Kitty shifted her attention from the gaiety in the room around her to concentrate on the face of the elderly man sitting next to her. "I'm sorry, Doc," she said, "I didn't mean to be rude. You say anything you want and I'll listen."
Doc cleared his throat. "I know you miss Matt being here, honey, and I want you to know I appreciate you going on with the party even when it's not what you really wanted."
Kitty smiled at him with real warmth, "Of course it's what I wanted, Doc. Yes, I miss Matt not bein' here, but we always have this celebration, and I look forward to it. Anyway, I've got you!" She leaned forward to kiss his cheek and he patted the hand he held. Doc swished his other hand across his moustache in an impatient gesture.
"Well, Matt had a feeling that things wouldn't work out for him to be here, so he gave me this before he left, Kitty, and he wanted you to have it today." Doc pulled a tiny, flat, velvet box from inside his vest pocket and handed it to her. Kitty looked at the box in surprise. Matt had bought her jewelry before, but this looked special. The mark on the box was from a well-known, and expensive, jeweler in Kansas City, so Matt must have gotten it when he was there last month seeing the Attorney General. "You going to open it, Kitty?" Doc asked her encouragingly.
Kitty would have preferred to open the box in private, or to wait for Matt's return, but if he'd made a point of having Doc give it to her today, then she needed to take a look. She carefully opened the velvet lid and caught her breath. Inside was a pearl, a single, smallish pearl lying against a background of black velvet. But it was a slightly irregular oval instead of round and the color was a deep lustrous pink with tiny striations radiating out from the center. The pearl wore a delicate golden cap that attached it to a long thin gold chain. There was no clasp on the chain, but it was more than long enough to go over her head. Grateful that she had worn a low-cut dress, Kitty quickly reached up to undo the intricate garnet necklace she was wearing and then the matching earrings as well. Tucking them into the pocket of her dress, she lifted the chain over her head and let the pearl settle just above her cleavage. Doc looked closely at the lovely gem, realized where he was staring, and moved his eyes away with just a hint of color in his face. "I've never seen a pink pearl, Kitty, have you?"
She nodded. "I saw them in New Orleans from time to time, Doc. You only find them in the Caribbean. It's a conch pearl, from a special kind of conch shell. Jewelry stores in New Orleans have them, but they're not common. See those little lines, Doc? That's how you know it's a conch pearl." She shook her head, "But how he could afford to buy this…"
"Well, you know, Kitty, he did have a handful of gold from that reward money," Doc commented. Kitty pretended to be struck by that, but she knew enough about jewels to realize that a month's salary must have been added to the gold to pay for this exquisite piece.
Doc was still trying to manage to look at the pearl without staring too ostentatiously at her breasts. Kitty laughed a little, "Go ahead and look, Doc, I don't mind." But, seeing that he wouldn't, she lifted the chain and held the pearl on her hand, letting Doc put on his glasses and examine the gem closely, but when he reached out to touch it she pulled back, and he dropped his hand.
"I'm sorry, Kitty."
A little self-conscious now herself, Kitty shook her head. "No, Doc, it's just…"
But at that point a gust of chill wind rushed through the front door, carrying with it a very tall man wearing a Stetson and wrapped in a muffler and a sheepskin coat. Kitty stood eagerly, and then with careful casualness began a graceful walk towards the bar where the Marshal was being relieved of his hat and unwrapped from his outdoor clothes, by Chester, and handed a glass of good whiskey, by Bill. His eyes, however, had found Kitty walking towards him, and never wavered.
"Hello, Matt," she said, "It's good to have you back early."
"Hello, Kitty," he said, his eyes dropping to the jewel nestled against the curve of her breasts, "I see Doc gave you your present."
"It's beautiful, Matt. I've never even known anyone who had a conch pearl. It's… very special," she said, her eyes meeting his.
Matt reached out a big hand, and gently touched the gem with the tip of one extended finger. Kitty shivered, and her color rose. "I thought about you when I saw it," he said softly, but Doc, standing next to her, heard the words and saw her reaction to the touch. Turning, he moved away down the bar and let Bill pour him a whiskey. He shook his head and downed the drink in a one gulp, more embarrassed by that single inadvertent glimpse of glowing intimacy than he'd been in many, many years.