Repeated History: A Birthday Story
Author's Note: Themarshalswoman09 asked me to write a story in honor of James Arness's birthday (May 26th). She suggested a story where Kitty and Ruby make plans for Matt's birthday, and Matt has to miss them. I took that suggestion and came up with a story.
Chapter 1
Ruby walked into the parlor and spied her momma's calendar on her momma's desk. The 26 had a circle around it. She was now curious. "Momma, why is there a circle around the 26 on your calendar?"
Kitty, who was sitting on the couch folding some laundry, smiled. "That's your daddy's birthday." She placed a pair of Matt's socks on the couch.
Ruby looked back at the calendar. "What day is it now?"
Kitty stopped folding the laundry. "Let's see. Today is the 12th."
Ruby had been learning her numbers in school. She found the 12 on the calendar and started counting. "There are 14 days until daddy's birthday. I need to make daddy a paper chain."
Kitty finished her folding and put the laundry in the wicker laundry basket. She would deliver each piece to its appropriate place. "Not today, it's too nice outside to be inside. I'm gonna put this clothing away, and then you 'n I can go outside and get some fresh air." Ruby wasn't too keen on the idea of going outside, but knew she shouldn't argue with her momma.
Six days had passed, and it was raining outside. It was a perfect day to make daddy's paper chain. Gathering the necessary materials, Ruby went to her bedroom and got to work. Twenty minutes later Ruby spread out the paper chain on her bedroom floor and counted the links. There were eight days until her daddy's birthday. She was quite pleased with the finished product. She made it all by herself. Considering she had made multiple paper chains, Ruby felt like she was an expert when it came to making paper chains. Ruby carefully lifted the chain off of the floor and put it in its place of honor, over the back of her desk chair.
"Ruby!" Kitty called as she stepped from the kitchen into the parlor.
"I'm in my bedroom!" Ruby hollered back. "Come and see what I made." Kitty walked through the parlor and down the hall to her daughter's bedroom. Ruby was standing at the door and stepped aside to let her momma into her bedroom. "See." Ruby pointed at the paper chain.
Kitty walked over to Ruby's chair so she could admire Ruby's work. "Ruby, sweetie, this looks great and you did it all by yourself." Ruby smiled. She was as proud as a peacock.
"Thanks, momma. Do you think daddy will like it?"
Kitty turned to look at Ruby. "You know he will." Kitty's comment made Ruby's smile even bigger.
Kitty was about to leave Ruby's bedroom, when she saw Ruby's bed. On top of it was a pair of scissors, paper scraps, and a jar of paste. The jar did not have its cover on it. "Oh Ruby, did you make the chain on your bed?" Kitty walked towards the bed to further investigate.
"Yes, momma. Why?" Ruby didn't understand why her momma was asking if she made the paper chain on her bed.
"Because you shouldn't have done that. I don't want you getting paste on your quilt." Relief filled Kitty, when she realized that the paste lid was on a piece of paper. Whether or not Ruby purposefully did that didn't matter. What did matter was that no paste had gotten on the quilt.
"Sorry, momma. Did I get paste on my quilt?" Ruby was worried that she may have ruined her quilt with paste.
Kitty put the lid on the jar and picked up the scraps. She studied the quilt to be absolutely sure it didn't have any paste on it. "It doesn't look like it. No more projects on your bed. You either use your desk or the kitchen table."
Ruby nodded in agreement. "Okay, momma."
Kitty had the scissors and paste in her hands. "I'll put these away, and you clean up the paper scraps and throw them away. When you finish, come into the kitchen and help me with supper."
Later that evening the Dillons were sitting around the table eating a meal of roast beef, potatoes, and carrots. Before they sat down for supper, Ruby wanted to show her daddy her paper chain. Her momma was correct. Daddy liked her paper chain. He praised her for her work and was impressed she made it all by herself. Just as she did when her momma praised her work, Ruby smiled proudly when her daddy praised her work.
Ruby swallowed the roast beef that was in her mouth. "Daddy, there are eight days until your birthday. That's how many chain links I have on your paper chain."
"Eight days," Kitty repeated. "We should plan something special to do for daddy."
"Tillie at school said her family had a surprise party for her aunt. We could have a surprise party for daddy," Ruby suggested. She had never heard of a surprise party, until Tillie Jacobs had mentioned it. Since then, Ruby wanted to see what one was like.
Realizing Ruby had no concept of what a surprise party was. Matt lightly chuckled. "Sweetie, you can't let the birthday person know you want to have a surprise party for them. They don't know you're having a party for them. That's the surprise."
"Oh. I didn't know that." Matt and Kitty could hear the disappointment in Ruby's voice.
Kitty quickly came up with an idea to cheer Ruby up. "I have an idea. We can make surprise plans for daddy's birthday. When it's his birthday, he'll be surprised with our plans."
"I like that," Ruby happily agreed. "Alright daddy, momma 'n I are gonna have surprise plans for your birthday."
"I can't wait to see what the two of you come up with. I'm sure I'll love it," said Matt.
On Saturday Kitty and Ruby made surprise plans for Matt's birthday. They decided to go on a fishing trip with Matt. Both Kitty and Ruby knew Matt liked to go fishing and wished he could do it more often. With Matt's birthday falling on a Saturday, it would allow the family to spend the entire day fishing and just being together.
"Now remember. This is a surprise for daddy," Kitty reminded her daughter. "Don't tell him what we have planned and don't give him any clues."
"I know momma," Ruby declared. "I don't wanna ruin the surprise."
While Kitty and Ruby were busy at home making surprise birthday plans, Matt went into town. He said he had some paperwork to catch up on at the jail. In reality both he and Kitty knew he was leaving the house, so Kitty and Ruby could make their plans without him overhearing anything.
"Wael hey, Matthew," Festus greeted as Matt walked into the jail. "We wasn't expectin' you today. What brings ya here?"
"Kitty and Ruby are making surprise plans for my birthday, and I decided to give them some privacy," Matt replied, placing his hat on the hook next to the door. "How's the prisoner?" Matt was referring to Doug Stark. He was in one of the jail cells with charges of burglary. He had been robbing general stores in the area.
"He ain't been causin' no problems, so I'd say he's fine," Festus answered. "By the way, Barney dropped off that there telegram" Festus pointed to the table. "He said it was for you."
Matt picked up the telegram and silently read it to himself. When he finished, Matt let out a sigh with a shake of his head. He folded the telegram and put it into the inner pocket of his vest.
Festus could see that the telegram had upset Matt. "Bad news, Matthew?"
"Yeah," Matt sighed. "Judge Brooking sprained his ankle. He's gonna be laid up for a few weeks. Judge Tanner O'Hare is gonna be taking over while Judge Brooking recovers. Judge O'Hare wants me ta have Stark in Hays by Wednesday afternoon."
"Judge O'Hare? Ain't he that new no nonsense judge?" Festus questioned.
"That's him," Matt replied. "I don't know how I'm gonna break it to Kitty and Ruby that I have ta leave town and go to Hays."
Festus immediately knew the dilemma Matt was facing. His girls were planning a surprise for his birthday. "Matthew, you ain't have ta fret none. Ya know I plan on taking Stark to Hays for his trial."
"That was when Judge Brooking was gonna preside over the case. Judge O'Hare wants me ta bring Stark, and I probably should. It's always good ta get on the good side of the judges." Matt took his hat off the hook and placed it on his head. "I need to go to Jonas'. Kitty wants me to pick up some sugar. Then I'll have to deliver the news to Kitty and Ruby."
"Good luck, Matthew," said Festus as Matt left the jail.
Matt bought the sugar and headed home. On his ride home, he decided not to say anything about leaving for Hays while Ruby was around. He would wait until he was alone with Kitty. For some reason, Matt thought it would be better if both he and Kitty broke the news to Ruby.
Later that night Matt and Kitty were sitting in the parlor. They had just tucked Ruby in bed for the night. Kitty had noticed that Matt was unusually quiet during supper. She decided to confront him about it. "You were on the quiet side tonight. Are you feeling alright? Is something bothering you?" Kitty hoped Matt wasn't getting sick. It wasn't uncommon for him to come down with the ague.
Matt knew he couldn't lie to Kitty. It was time to face the music. " I feel fine. I'm not sick or anything." Kitty was relieved to hear that. "When I got to the office this morning, there was a telegram waiting for me. Judge Brooking sprained his ankle. He's gonna be out of commission for a few weeks."
"Oh that's terrible. I hope he heals quickly. Is that what's bothering you?" Kitty knew Matt thought highly of Judge Brooking, but couldn't understand why he would be this upset. After all, it was only a sprained ankle.
"Judge O'Hare is taking over for Judge Brooking," Matt replied. "Judge O'Hare wants me to bring Doug Stark to Hays." Matt waited for Kitty's reaction.
TBC (This story will be 2 chapters, possibly 3.)