Lola remained in the driver's seat of the broken down wagon with her eyes on Matt, as he steadily approached to arrest her. Anger blazed within her. Another man trying to take charge of her life.

Danny watched with growing horror. If Dillon arrested Lola, the lawman would take possession of the duffle bag. That couldn't happen. He lifted his chin – show time. Smiling, he ran in between Lola and Matt, surprising them both. He swept Lola up in his arms. "Dillon, she can't walk and you can't get the wagon back to Dodge unless you fix the wheel – you are the only one here who knows how to do that kind of thing." He set Lola down on a large flat rock. She frowned, trying to figure his game while calculating her own. Matt eyed both of them and made his own calculations. "All right O'Brian leave Lola sitting there and you go sit under that tree a few feet away. You're right that the wheel needs fixing." Danny gave a courteous bow and sat on the ground under the large oak tree. Matt reached under the wagon, where he knew Moss would tie an extra wheel. Keeping half an eye on Lola and Danny, he efficiently changed the back left wheel and toss the broken one aside. He ran a sleeve across his sweaty forehead, as he calmly pulled out his gun. "All right Lola, no more games. I knew you wouldn't shoot me before the wheel was fixed, now you have no use for me. Hand over your gun." She smiled and widened her eyes. "Why Matt, what make's you think I have a gun?"

Panic again seized Danny. They were back where they started. Dillon was arresting Lola and would take custody of the bag. He inched his way up to his feet. His horse was two steps away with a rifle in the scabbard. Dillon was facing Lola, and they were fully focused on each other. It was a chance to make a move. With two quick steps, Danny grabbed the rifle and pointed it at Matt's back. "Throw your gun away Dillon. I'm gonna grab the duffle bag and ride off. I'll take your gun and horse too, for good measure. Lola, I'd take you along but I can't trust you, besides you'd slow me down. Good luck with Dillon."

Lola's eyes grew big with rage. "The BAG is mine." She pulled her gun from her pocket and fired straight at Danny. He fell to his knees, still gripping the rifle, and managed to get off one shot before falling face down in the dirt. Lola gasped and flopped back from the force of Danny's bullet. Blood spurted from her chest. Matt ran to her. She grimaced. "Tell Kitty, I'm sorry I'm not the girl she knew. People change." She closed her eyes for the last time. Matt grimly walked over to Danny and lifted a limp wrist. There was no pulse. Two smart, good looking people who too many bad choices. He took a deep breath and started the work of hauling their bodies to the back of wagon. Kitty would want to bury her childhood friend, and pay her respects. It was the least he could give her.

Dodge

Darlene stood in the shadows across the street from Doc's, watching people come and go. Daylight had long faded when she saw Doc leave his office, and head off towards the Long Branch saloon. That meant Kitty Russell was alone, at last, in the doctor's back room. Moving lightly and quickly, Darlene crossed the street and ran up the steps. As expected, Doc's door was unlocked. She tip-toed into the back where one dim lamp, in the corner, cast just enough light to keep the room from total darkness. Dosing in bed, Kitty stirred when she heard the door. "Doc? I thought I told you to go have a beer." "It's not Doc." Kitty's eyes flew open. Darlene stepped back and opened her hands in front of her. "I'm not here to hurt you Kitty. I wanted to make sure you're OK. I'm gonna leave town, that's why I stole the money this morning, but I wanted to talk to you first. I want you to know, I didn't mean to hurt you and I'm not a murderer."

"You tried to kill Lola."

Darlene shook her head. "Not really. I've been throwing knives in a carnival act since I was 3 years old. That makes 13 years. From the start, I practiced hard to please Daddy, and avoid the back of his hand. That was my life, practicing the act and doin' it. That's how I got so good."

"I don't know why you're telling me this, Darlene."

"I'm gonna show you that I'm not a murderer, and I didn't try to kill Lola. Now, I had no affection for her. She made fun of me, and after daddy died, I was jealous of how she got Danny to buy her nice things, but I never wanted her dead. After she took the bag, Danny told me to kill her – said to open her head like a melon. He was red hot angry, and set on getting the bag back. If I didn't do what he said, he woulda left me alone in the desert to die. But I didn't wanna kill her."

"Darlene, you did throw the knife into her back."

"I wanna show you something." Darleen lifted the lantern from a hook and carried it across the room. "See this little smudge of dirt right here." She pointed to a small dark circle on the wall. Kitty squinted hard, and nodded. Darlene set the lamp down, and backed up to the edge of the dimly lit room. She pulled a knife from her skirt pocket, and with a flick of her wrist, sent it flying into the wall. She carried the lantern to the small smudge again. "See, even in this bad light, I hit that small spot exactly." She yanked the knife from the wall and put it back in her her pocket.. "If I wanted to kill Lola, I woulda done what Danny said, and split her head wide open. I don't know anything about how a body works, but I figured if I put the knife in the middle of her back, she'd have a wound, bleed some, and a doctor would patch her up. I hear of people getting better after knife wounds all the time. I didn't even mean to cripple her. Marshal Dillon told me that something in a person's back– um – I think he called it a spine – makes for walkin'. I sure didn't know that. I just thought, if I at least wounded Lola, Danny wouldn't abandon me."

The earnestness of Darlene's words and the pained look on her face tore at Kitty's heart. "Sit down Darlene."

The young woman hesitated. She thought the conversation was over and was about to leave. She stiffly sat next to the bed. Kitty closed her eyes for a moment. She was tired and her head was aching. "Darlene, you must know what you did was wrong. Lola could have died, even if that wasn't your intention. When your brother threatened you, you could have come to talk to me, or to Marshal Dillon."

Darlene frowned and slowly shook her head. "That idea woulda never come in my mind. All I ever knew was my family and the act. Going to a place for 5 days, another place for 2, somewhere else for 10. We stuck together - there never was nobody else to go to." Darlene paused and chewed her bottom lip. "But I guess you're right. I guess I knew putting that knife in Lola was wrong, but Kitty, I didn't know how not to do it. If you had to do something bad to keep from losing everything you knew in life, and being left to die, what would you do? The best thing I could thing of, was to do the bad thing in a half-way kinda way."

Kitty closed her eyes again, her head was pounding so badly, she could barely think. She forced her eyes open. "Darlene, when Lola married your brother, didn't she try to be a friend to you?"

"Kitty, I don't think we knew the same Lola."

"I see. Well, you've said what you came to say. I guess you'll be running off to another town."

Darlene stood. "Now that you got me thinking, I changed my mind. I'm going to Marshal Dillon's office and wait for him to come back. If Lola and Danny are with him they'll tell their story, and I'll tell mine. Maybe I'll be sent to jail for throwing that knife at Lola and stealing your money, but talking to you made me realize that I kind of grew up in a jail, didn't I? Maybe it won't be so bad."

TBC