Slow Train to Dodge

PT.17

Kitty quickly turned at the sound of Jessie's voice, stunned. "Mrs. Copperton? What are you… I mean…"

"Oh, forget all that. Where is Tracy? Where are you keeping her, you and this so called representation of the law? What a joke."

Heat now rising to her face, Kitty stood. "Now wait just one minute here. How dare you. How dare you attack Marshal Dillon. He has nothing to do with any of this. Maybe you should be asking yourself what it is you're doing to that poor girl to make her run from you and her own home."

Matt, surprised by this whole scene, just watched, then ,spoke. "Kitty what is this all about?"

"I'll tell you, Marshal." Jessie started. "Kitty, here, is hiding my granddaughter from me. Tracy ran away from home and she ran to Kitty. And Tracy is only 17. Marshal, it is your duty to turn her back over to me. So what are you going to do?"

Rocking her head back and forth, hands on hips, "Oh now, you wait one minute. Matt, this crazy woman is trying to marry that girl off to someone. Ughhhhhh!"

Matt threw his hands up, "Now, Kitty, this is a family matter."

Her jaws began to tighten. "Matt Dillon, don't you dare 'Now Kitty' me! Let me finish. That little girl is 17. This man could be her grandfather and she doesn't even know him. It's a business deal!"

"What?" Matt asked.

"Yes. A business deal! Tracy told me the whole sorted story."

"Kitty, are you sure you know it all?"

"Matt…"

"Look, Marshal, I am the child's guardian and I have the legal say of what goes on in her life until she is 18. So, as I said, it is your legal duty to instruct Miss Russell to turn Tracy over to me this instant."

From the back room, Cates began yelling out to Matt again his usual threats. The sound of the voice caught Jessie's attention and without thinking, "Cates? Is that you?" She said before catching herself. "Oh, I…I…"

"You what, Mrs. Copperton?" Matt asked. "You know this man?"

Now Sam Cates could see Jessie Copperton standing in the office lobby. "Yeah, the lady knows me."

Shaking her head, "Ohhh, why did I ever keep you on? You and your brother were worthless from the start. Couldn't pull off the most minor set of instructions."

Matt was now listening intently and pulling over a chair. "Ma'am, have a seat and maybe you should start from the beginning."

"Beginning? What are you talking about?"

"Your connection to the Cates brothers. I'm listening."

Carver now opened the cell and brought out Sam Cates and handcuffed him to a chair. "Ma'am, go on." Matt sat on the edge of Carver's desk.

"Well, a few years back, I hired Ben Cates as a hand on the Copperton ranch while my son Blaine was away on business. He said he had a lot of knowledge of horses. He seemed to know his stuff. He was good with them. I made all the deals and Webb handled all the men at my instruction of course. Anyway, he asked that I bring on his brother. We needed a man so I did. We made some good breeding deals. My son and I didn't always agree on how and who to deal with but things worked out in the end."

"Were there any problems while they worked for you?" Matt asked.

"Well, not really."

"What do you mean, 'Not really'?"

"Well, Ben and Blane were both hard headed. They didn't always see things the same way but Ben and I… Anyway, things worked out just fine. Marshal why does this all matter? Ben left my employ."

"Mrs. Copperton, Ben Cates is in prison and set to hang for horse theft and murder. And Sam, here, is now in jail for kidnapping and attempted murder and…"

"Oh now, Marshal. I had no such Idea these men were capable of such…"

Before she could finish, "LIAR! Dillon she a LIAR! She canned Ben after she had him do her dirty work for her. Those horses you are hanging my brother for, that was her deal. They're horses she wanted. The owner wouldn't make her a deal so she sent Ben to force him to deal. The mighty Jessie Copperton don't take 'no' for an answer. And the order was "Bring back the horses, NO MATTER WHAT! At any cost!"

Kitty was astonished. "WHAT?"

Nodding, "Yes, Ma'am. And when Ben asked what about Mr. Copperton, she said not to worry."

Getting angry, "Shut UP, you fool!"

Matt was shaking his head in anger. "Mrs. Copperton." He now looked to Carver. Both were now thinking the same thing. Carver put Cates back in the cell.

Jessie stood to leave. "I'll be at the hotel. I expect you to turn over Tracy."

"Et, et, Mrs. Copperton. Wait. We're not done here. I don't think you understand the seriousness of what…"

"Oh, just spit it out, Marshal."

"Ma'am, if this story checks out then you are complicit in the same charges as Ben Cates."

"I beg your pardon, Marshal?"

"Ma'am, if Ben Cates was working on your orders to steal those horses, you too will be charged with horse theft and an accomplice to murder."

Jessie's face dropped. "What? I never…"

Just then standing in the doorway, shaking, with tear-filled eyes, stood Tracy and Jay with his arm around her. "Oh, Grandmother! How could you?"

TBC