The next evening, Nathan Burke stood up from his desk in the freight office, stretched, yawned, and ran a hand over his short, frizzy dark hair. It had been a long, busy day, and he had been preparing for the gold shipment arriving in the early morning. Glancing over at the large safe, he silently repeated the combination to himself that only he and the Marshal knew, aside from the home office in Chicago. "05-23-24…my birthday is May 23, so I can remember that!" Smiling to himself, he proudly put his hands on his hips and surveyed his mini "kingdom." He pulled on the cuffs of his yellow-orange shirt, straightened his black string tie, and checked the buttons on his chocolate-brown vest. Running a hand over his hair again, he nodded in satisfaction, locked the door behind him, and headed for the Long Branch.
"Yep! Only me and the Marshal can open that safe! Once that gold gets here, it'll be as safe as in Fort Dodge!" Burke loudly bragged as he took another swallow of his beer. He had been standing at the Long Branch bar for an hour now, one foot on the rail, reveling in the attention he was garnering from the townsmen near him.
"What time is the gold getting here, Burke?" old Simon Green asked as he eagerly leaned closer in order to hear the answer.
"Well…Simon…it's supposed to be secret," the freight manager drawled, but seeing that his audience was losing interest, quickly added, "but you all are trustworthy citizens, sooooo," he paused dramatically as he glanced up at the large clock on the front wall, "all I can say is that I need to be back in the office tonight at…"
"BURKE! Don't you think you've said enough?!" Kitty snapped in a sharp voice as she frowned from the end of the bar where she waited for Matt. Her hand snapped the pretzel she was holding in two.
Nathan Burke uncharacteristically blushed, realizing that he had gone too far in his quest to impress his friends. Nodding his head, but not meeting Kitty's eyes, he plunked down some coins and headed out the bat wing doors.
Kitty was still shaking her head in disbelief when she felt Matt's eyes on her from over the top of the bat wing doors. Looking up, her sky-blue eyes met his clear blue ones in their usual special moment of greeting. When he pushed through the doors, her smile drew him to her like a magnet.
"Hello, Kitty," he said in a low, warm voice as he rested his forearms on the bar next to her, and leaned forward to bring his head down to her level.
"Matt. How about a drink?" she asked, knowing the regular customers would expect this question.
"No thanks, Kitty. Maybe later." He smiled at her knowing look, having talked over the gold shipment's imminent arrival with her while in bed last night. She knew he avoided whiskey and sometimes even beer when trouble might be coming.
"Nathan Burke just left, Matt, but not before almost spilling the beans about the arrival time. He worries me sometimes, and really angered me tonight! He endangered the both of you, and who knows who else with his bragging!" Her voice was low and intense in his ear as she leaned close after glancing around carefully.
Matt sighed, pushed his big Stetson up from his forehead, and gave a slight, slow nod. "Yeah, I know, Kitty. He's a loyal, well-meaning man, but the mix of beer and attention sometimes gets the better of him." Seeing her mouth start to open in protest, he quickly added, "I'll talk to him, Kitty, and warn him that he is endangering his job as manager of the freight office.
Placated some, but still incensed that Matt could have been put at risk by Burke's loose mouth, she also sighed, met his eyes, and smiled.
As the big Marshal and the beautiful saloon owner leaned close in soft talk, two scruffy men got up from a table in the dark back corner and quietly made for the front doors, then turned right towards the nearby alley. Mort and Smithy had slipped in through the back door, were good at keeping a low profile and blending in with the other cowhands in a crowded saloon, but were very observant. Nathan Burke's loud bragging voice had reached them above the din, and now they had important information to report to The Falcon.
"See you later, Kitty," Matt said in a deep, intimate voice, smiling as he straightened up and headed out on his last rounds of the night. As he reached the swinging doors, Doc was wearily shuffling in, battered medical bag in one hand. "Kinda late for you, isn't it, Doc?" the tall lawman asked as he held one of the doors open.
"Yes, it is, Matt. I was out at the Collins' house all night waiting for another stubborn baby to make up its mind to be born! And a whopping, loud boy it is!" Swiping a hand over his mustache and wry smile, he shook his head as he continued on towards Kitty at the end of the bar, as Matt let the door swing and strode down the boardwalk.
"Doc! You come on over here and have a drink! You look beat, you poor thing." The lovely red-haired woman waved two raised fingers at big barkeep Sam, who always kept an eye on her.
"Thank you, Honey," the tired man said before he raised the small glass to hers and took a grateful drink. "Say, I passed the freight office on the way here and saw Burke at his desk. When I waved at him, he scowled like he'd bitten into a lemon!"
"Burke!" Now Kitty scowled, thinking of how the attention-craving man had almost told the entire saloon what time he and Matt would be receiving the $30,000 of gold. "If his big mouth gets Matt hurt, it will be the sorriest night of his life!" she vowed to herself.
When she explained her irritated expression to Doc, he drank down the last of his whiskey, smacked the glass down on the bar top, and exclaimed, "It's my considered opinion that if they put Burke's brains in a mustard seed, they'd rattle like a pea in a boxcar!"
Kitty's eyes widened and she gave out her surprisingly loud and hearty laugh, and the small man beside her grinned in delight at his lovely friend.
To be Continued…