Chapter 40 "Use Your Words" Matt and Kitty try to give Ruby some advice.

Hearing the door open, Matt looked up from the cumbersome paperwork he was working on. A smile spread across his face when he saw Kitty step inside. Matt put his pen down and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. She was a vision to be held. Matt knew it was close to the time for Ruby to be retrieved from school, but was curious as to why Kitty stopped at the jail.

"This is a pleasant surprise. What brings my beautiful wife to the jail? Are ya here ta file some sort of complaint? Better yet, didja come to invite me to a quickie in your room at the Long Branch?" Matt's voice had a teasing tone to it.

Kitty focused on Matt's last question. Back in the day, Kitty would randomly stop by the jail in the middle of the afternoon. If she knew Matt was alone, Kitty would walk up to him and seductively whisper in his ear that she was in the mood for a tumble in the hay with him. Matt was putty in her hands and rarely denied her.

Kitty brought herself back to the present. "I wish I was here for the second reason. As far as the first reason is concerned, my only complaint would be that you can't join your wife and daughter for lunch at Delmonico's."

"Well, you have no complaints," Matt reassured her. "I would love to accompany the two most beautiful girls to lunch."

Kitty smiled. "Great. I have a few things to pick up at Jonas' before I get Ruby. We'll pick you up in twenty minutes."

"You know. You could skip going to Jonas' and we could have a quickie in one of the cells. It's empty back there," Matt suggested.

"Have you lost your mind, Marshal Dillon? We cannot have a quickie in one of the cells. What if someone like Festus or Newly or Doc came in?" Secretly Kitty liked the thrill of making love with Matt in one of the jails. The idea that they could possibly get caught added to the thrill.

"Just thought I'd ask. I figured it wouldn't hurt ta do so," Matt sighed.

"I guess I can't blame ya for asking. I need ta get going if I'm gonna stop at Jonas' before I get Ruby. I'll see ya in twenty minutes." Kitty left the jail and headed to Jonas' store.

Over at the school, Miss Grey was addressing her students. "Alright, finish what you're working on and place your pictures on my desk. You will need to finish your pictures tomorrow. Our art show is the evening after tomorrow, and I would like your drawings finished before then."

Earlier in the week Miss Grey announced to the class that she wanted to have an art show for the families. The school never had an art show, and the kids were both curious and excited about it. Miss Grey explained to the students that they would draw a picture of something they liked or something they liked to do. They would then share their pictures with their loved ones at the art show. The students loved the idea.

Miss Grey handed out invitations telling students to return them with the number of guests that would be attending. Ruby knew whom she wanted to invite, her daddy, her momma, Grandpa Doc, Uncle Newly, and Uncle Festus, and that's exactly what she did. Each of them graciously accepted Ruby's invite.

"Oh my, look at the time." Miss Grey spied the clock on her desk. "Kindergartners, it's time for you to get ready to go home. My older students, it's time for you to get ready for lunch."

The students knew the drill. The older students waited for the kindergartners to get themselves ready to leave before they got ready for lunch. At the beginning of the school year, the kindergartners were slow at getting themselves ready. However, that changed. They could now get themselves ready more quickly.

Waiting to be picked up, the kindergartners played outside while the older children ate their lunches. The older students would have recess after they finished eating. Ruby was involved in a game of tag, when Kitty pulled up in the wagon.

Kitty enjoyed watching her daughter run around with her friends, laughing and having a good time, especially after the chloroform incident. She decided she would let Ruby play for a few more minutes. While observing Ruby play, Toby Stollman picked up a handful of dirt, ran over to Ruby, and threw it at her. Not appreciating having dirt thrown at her, Ruby picked up her own handful of dirt and threw it at Toby.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Kitty climbed down from the buggy and headed in the direction of her daughter. She knew she had to put a stop to the impending dirt war. Kitty walked up to the duo as both of them bent over to collect their second handful of dirt.

"Both of you drop the dirt," she instructed. Ruby immediately dropped her handful of dirt. Toby hesitated a moment before dropping his handful. "Ruby, you know better than to throw dirt."

"But momma, he threw it first," Ruby complained.

"Don't but momma me," Kitty scolded. "You know better." Toby had a smirk on his face. Ruby Dillon was in trouble. Kitty saw Toby's smirk and had to use all her willpower not to take him over her knee and give him a good spanking.

"Sorry momma," Ruby apologized.

"Okay. Let's go to the water pump and rinse off your hand." Kitty led Ruby to the pump. Ruby held out her hand while Kitty pumped water over it, washing away the dirt. "I think your hand is clean. We need to go to the jail."

"I'm being rested for throwing dirt?" Ruby couldn't believe her momma would take her to jail for throwing dirt.

"No, you're not being arrested for throwing dirt," Kitty replied. "We're gonna get daddy and have lunch with him at Delmonico's."

"Yay! Lunch with daddy!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Don't get too excited," Kitty told her daughter. "Before we go to lunch, daddy and I are going to talk with you about using your words." Ruby's lip pouted out.

As Kitty had stated earlier, she returned to the jail with Ruby twenty minutes later. "You're punctual as usual." Matt observed. "Let me get my hat and we'll head on over to Delmonico's."

"Hold on," Kitty held up her hand. "Before we leave, we need to have a talk with our daughter about using her words."

Matt looked at Ruby and then at Kitty. "What prompted this?"

"Well, your daughter was about to be involved in a dirt war with Toby Stollman."

"He started it," Ruby defended herself.

"I know he did honey, but that doesn't mean you have to stoop down to his level," said Kitty.

"Momma, I can't stoop down to his level. He's bigger than me," Ruby responded, obviously confused.

"No, it means you don't act like him," Kitty explained.

"Oh, I get it," Ruby responded.

Matt and Kitty lectured Ruby about not getting physical with Toby Stollman when he bothered her. That meant no hitting, no kicking, no tripping, and no throwing dirt. She needed to use her words and then get Miss Grey or another adult to help her. Ruby agreed.

A couple of evenings later the school was full of people attending the students' art show. There was standing room only. Matt, Kitty, Doc, Festus, and Newly were standing in the back. Matt didn't want to block the view of others and thought it was best if he stood in the back. He held Ruby so she could see.

"Our next presenter is Ruby Dillon," said Miss Grey as she held Ruby's picture away from the crowd.

Matt put Ruby down so she could walk up to the front. Her family watched with pride as she accepted her picture and climbed on top of the wooden crate. Ruby turned her picture, revealing it to the crowd.

"This is me and my daddy on his horse Buck. I love it when daddy takes me for a ride on Buck," Ruby said as she explained her picture to the audience.

Matt, Kitty, Doc, Festus, and Newly all had smiles on their faces. They knew Ruby drew a picture for the art show, but they had no idea what she drew. She told them she wanted to surprise them.

"You call that a horse. It doesn't even look like a horse," Toby rudely commented.

An awkward silence took over. The crowd did not know how to react. Ruby looked at her picture and then up at Toby.

"Right now, I want ta slug you," Ruby told Toby. "But my daddy and momma said I can't hit you or kick you or trip you or throw dirt at you. They told me I need to use my words, and that's what I'm gonna do." Matt and Kitty gave each other a pleasing look. It looked as though their lecture was going to pay off. Ruby took a deep breath before continuing. "You, Toby Stollman, are a jackass!" With her picture in her hands, Ruby jumped off the crate and went to join her family.

Most of the assembly erupted in laughter over the spunky little redhead's outburst. Even Mr. Stollman was laughing. Mrs. Stollman was reacting quite oppositely. She gave her husband a look that could kill, but he didn't care. His son was being a jackass. Festus and Newly were laughing with the others. Doc was swiping his hand over this mustache trying to conceal his smile. Matt was doing his best not to laugh, and Kitty just stood there with her mouth gaped open. She had a firm grip on Matt's forearm.

Matt looked down at Kitty and whispered, "Ya gotta give her credit. She used her words." Kitty could do nothing but agree.

The End