~9~

Kitty watched as Doc cleaned Festus's wound. "Is he going to be ok, Doc?"

"Shucks, Miz Kitty, this here ain't nothing. I'll be right as rain in a day or so. I'm more worried about Will."

Doc scowled. "Festus, this wound is more than nothing. It's going to take some time to heal."

"But he's going to be ok, right, Doc?" Kitty asked again.

"He's going to need to stay off his feet for awhile, and if infection doesn't set in, then yes he'll be ok, Kitty." Doc saw Kitty's shoulders relax.

"Miz Kitty, will ya go down to the jail and see if'n Matthew and Will are back?"

"Festus, Newly said he'd let us know as soon as they returned." She reminded him.

"I know, but you heard what Will said. Grimes left Will in the hands of that Ike fella to do what he did to her."

"I know, Festus. What you didn't hear was that Grimes ordered Ike to kill her before he walked away." she told him with sadness in her voice.

"I gotta find her." Festus tried to get up, but Doc pushed him back down.

"Festus, you're in no condition to go after her. Matt went after them, and I'm sure he'll find them." Doc told him. "Now you just lay there and let me finish taking care of this wound."

Festus gave Doc a frustrated look. "Fine, ya o'l quacky quack."

There was a knock on the door and Newly came in. "The Marshal's back."

Festus leaned up on his elbows. "Is Will with him?"

"She is. They are at the jail right now."

Festus laid back down. "Thank ya, Newly." he said with relief.

"What about Kasey Grimes?" Kitty asked.

"The Marshal brought Kasey Grimes' body back with him." Newly explained.

Matt took off his gun belt and hat and sat them on his desk. Will took a seat at the table. She hadn't said a word the whole ride back into Dodge. Matt went over to the stove and poured himself a cup of coffee. "You want some coffee, Will?"

"No thanks, Marshal."

Matt sat down next to Will and took a sip of his coffee. "How do you know Kasey Grimes?"

"We used to work on the same cattle ranch in Montana. About a year ago he started disappearing for a week or two at a time. He was a good worker, so the ranch foreman would take him back every time he returned. One Saturday night a bunch of us went to town to let off some steam. I decided to head back to the ranch early, and spotted Kasey going into an alley. I thought he was too drunk to find the stable, so I followed him."

Will stopped when Kitty came into the jail. "Matt, Will, I just came to tell you that Doc said Festus is going to be ok."

"Thank you, Kitty." Matt looked at Will. "Go on, Will."

"I saw Kasey meet up with Ike Clayten. They had no idea I was in the alley with them, and they started talking about a stagecoach robbery they had recently pulled off. Ike was mad at Kasey for killing the driver. They started to argue, so I decided to get the town sheriff. I accidentally kicked an empty bottle on the ground and they heard it and caught me. Kasey told Ike to kill me and left the alley, but Ike didn't have the stomach to kill me."

Will took a long pause, looking at Kitty and then back at Matt before continuing. "Ike and I fought and he beat me plenty. During the fight he pulled a knife, and I struggled with him for dear life over it. He managed to pin me to the ground, and we both had a hold of the knife. To this day I don't know how I managed to turn that knife towards him and push it into him. I managed to stand up and make it to the sheriff. The sheriff told me that there was no one in the alley when he got there. According to all the rumors, Ike is running with a dangerous gang in Arizona now, and I've been looking for him and Kasey for a bit."

"Is that everything?" Matt asked.

"I held a gun to his head in the Long Branch like he said." Will added.

"She gave Festus the gun when he asked her for it." Kitty interjected. "He was taking Grimes to the jail when he jumped Festus, taking his gun, shooting him and took off."

"Am I free to go, Marshal? I'd like to go see Festus." Will asked.

"Have Doc take a look at your jaw while you're there." Matt told her.

Will grabbed her hat off the table and left the jail.

Kitty walked over and sat down next to Matt. She could tell by the look on his face that something was bothering him. "You believe her, don't you, Matt."

"She's leaving something out. I know it, Kitty."

"Matt, I have no right to tell you this. Ike violated Will before he beat her."

Matt looked at the door that Will had just gone out of, "She killed Grimes to save me, Kitty."

Will climbed the stairs to Doc's office. She had put Festus out of her mind when she went after Kasey, she could have cried when Kitty told her that he was going to be ok. Will opened the door and saw Doc sitting at his desk. She came in and closed the door. "Is it ok if I see Festus?" she asked.

Doc saw the bruise on Will's jaw. "Grimes give you that?"

Will lightly touched her jaw where the bruise was. "Small bit of payback. I'm fine."

Doc took out his glasses and put them on. "Let me have a look." He stood up and examined Will's jaw. He made her move her jaw from side to side. "That hurt?"

"Smart's some."

Doc took off his glasses and placed them on the desk. "It's not broken, but chewing may be a bit painful for a few days." Doc sat back down. "He's in the other room resting. He's been more worried about you then he has himself."

"I won't stay long."

Will went into the next room. Festus was lying in bed with his eyes closed. She sat down on the side of the bed. "Festus," she whispered.

Festus opened his eyes and smiled at Will. He reached up and touched the bruise on her jaw. "What's this here?"

"I didn't duck quick enough." She said with a watery smile. "Festus, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"Here now, none of this here is any of your do'n."

"I'm afraid it is." Will went on to tell Festus the whole story. She didn't leave a single detail out. When she finished a single tear escaped her eye, and Festus reached up, wiping it from her face with his thumb.

"Willa, you had no idea that he was ta show up here tonight. So stop all this here fretting about it be'n all yer fault, cause it weren't. I'm the one who let him get the drop on me. You had no idea that was ta happen. As fer tak'n his life, ya had to or Mathew and you'd both be dead. I'm mighty grateful you came back in one piece."

Festus pulled Will down beside him, wrapping his arms around her as she put her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that until they both fell asleep.

Will woke up to Doc nudging her arm. She eased herself off the bed and quietly followed Doc out of the room. "Sorry, Doc." she whispered.

"Don't worry about it. You've both had an evening. I want you to go straight to Kitty's and straight to bed. I don't want to see you back here before noon. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

Will left the office and did as Doc said, going straight to the Long Branch. It was past closing time, but the front door was still unlocked. Will entered the saloon and saw Matt and Kitty sitting at a table having a drink. She didn't say a word, but went straight to the stairs, and climbed them.

Kitty's heart just about broke when she saw Will. She looked like she had the weight of the world on her.

Kitty waited until Will was out of earshot. "I remember that feeling." She said.

Matt took a drink of his whiskey. "What feeling is that, Kitty?"

"When I took Jeremiah Leech's life."

Matt looked up at the curtained doorway. "She's had a hard road of it lately, that's for sure."

TBC