Chapter 11 "The Sunday School Incident" Matt and Kitty have a talk with Ruby after an incident at Sunday school.

Matt and Kitty were attending Sunday services, while Ruby was attending Sunday school. They were in the middle of the service, when the Sunday school teacher, Nellie Perkins, walked down the aisle and stopped at the pew Matt and Kitty were seated. She crouched down and softly spoke.

"Would the two of you come with me, please?" Miss Perkins asked.

Matt and Kitty both panicked. Something had to be wrong. Miss Perkins wouldn't come into Sunday services to get them, if something wasn't wrong. Matt spoke first. "What's wrong? Is Ruby alright?"

"She's fine, but I would still like the two of you to come with me," Miss Perkins replied.

Both relieved, Matt and Kitty got up and followed Nellie Perkins out of the church and to the small building where Sunday school was held. As they were leaving the church, there were soft murmurs around the congregation. They were wondering what was going on.

Matt and Kitty entered the Sunday school building and saw their daughter and another little boy sitting on a bench. The little boy, Toby Stollman, was holding a rag to his cheek. His mother, Eva Stollman, was sitting next to him. She saw the Marshal and his wife walk in. Ruby also saw her parents.

"What's going on here?" asked Kitty as she knelt down next to Ruby.

"What's going on here?" Mrs. Stollman repeated. " I'll tell you what's going on here. Your daughter hit my Toby for no reason. I would think you would raise her to have better manners and not to be a little brat."

"Now just a minute," said Kitty, her anger rising.. "Don't you dare call my daughter a brat."

Before things started to escalate further, Matt intervened. "Now hold on here." He then turned to Miss Perkins. "What's this all about?"

"Well Marshal, the kids were outside playing and Toby here started teasing Ruby. Instead of getting me, Ruby decided to hit Toby. I don't allow hitting at Sunday school," Miss Perkins answered. She was about to say something else, but Mrs. Stollman interrupted.

"She shouldn't be allowed to come back, not if she's going to go around hitting other kids."

"Mrs. Stollman, I don't allow hitting at Sunday school, but I also don't allow teasing. Your little boy isn't completely innocent in all of this. Nobody is going to be kicked out of Sunday school," said Miss Perkins. She knew Ruby wasn't a little girl that went around hitting other kids. She was a very sweet little girl. If she was being honest, if she was Ruby, she probably would have hit Toby too.

"Hmph," said Mrs. Stollman. "Let's go Toby." She took her son by the hand and walked away.

"Miss Perkins, we are very sorry," said Matt. "Rest assured that we don't teach Ruby this sort of behavior. We will have a talk with her when we get home."

"Marshal, trust me. I know you and Mrs. Dillon don't raise Ruby to hit others," said Nellie. "Don't worry. I'm not going to remove Ruby from Sunday school."

"Thank you," said Kitty.

Matt, Kitty, and Ruby left the Sunday school building. They walked to the wagon. Matt helped Kitty step up, and then lifted Ruby up, handing her to Kitty. Kitty placed Ruby on the seat next to her. Matt walked to the other side of the wagon, climbed up, and sat down on the seat. He grabbed hold of the reins, gently snapped them to get the horses moving, and set off for home.

"Young lady," Kitty addressed Ruby. "When we get home we are going to have a little talk about what happened." Ruby scooted closer to her daddy and Kitty noticed. "Don't think your daddy is going to get you out of this."

Ruby looked up at her daddy. When he looked back at her, he had a serious face. Ruby knew when daddy had on that face, she just might be in trouble. She crossed her little arms and looked straight ahead. Matt and Kitty looked over the top of their daughter and at each other. They couldn't help but smile at one another.

When they reached their house, Matt got down from the wagon and then helped Kitty and Ruby get down. Matt unhitched the horses, while Kitty and Ruby walked into the house. He would join them as soon as he was done. Kitty and Ruby were sitting in the parlor when Matt entered the house.

Kitty spoke first. "Young lady, please tell us why you hit Toby Stollman."

"I had to hit him. He was sauting me," Ruby replied.

"He was saluting you?" Kitty questioned.

"Yes, like the other day when daddy said that guy was sauting you. Daddy hit that guy, so I hit Toby," said Ruby.

Kitty immediately knew what Ruby was talking about. She, Matt, and Ruby were on their way to Delmonico's to have supper, when one of the town jerks approached them. He made a comment about the Marshal being married to saloon trash and how they had created baby saloon trash. Matt's fist decked the guy. Matt told the guy to never say such things and insult his family. Kitty was sure Matt was defending her honor, but had a feeling he was even angrier because the man's insults had involved Ruby.

"You mean he was insulting you," Kitty corrected.

"That's what I just said. He was sauting me," Ruby affirmed. "I had to fend myself. You said I should."

"Well, sweetheart, I know I said that, but I didn't mean for you to hit a little boy," said Kitty. She was now remembering how she told Ruby that a lady should know how to defend herself. "What did Toby say to you?"

"He said, Ruby's a girl. Ruby's a girl," said Ruby in a nasally voice, imitating Toby as best she could.

"What's wrong with that? You are a girl," said Kitty.

"He was saying it in a mean way," said Ruby. "Should I wet him say mean things to me?"

"Of course not. You should go and get Miss Perkins before you make any rash decisions," said Kitty.

By this time Matt was doing his best not to burst out laughing. Kitty noticed this and was getting annoyed. She knew if he started laughing and Ruby saw him, then Ruby wouldn't take this seriously. Kitty glared at Matt and he instantly changed his mood.

"Why don't you talk to your daughter," said Kitty. "I'm going into the kitchen to start lunch." She left the parlor and walked into the kitchen.

"Daddy, what's an itchy decision?" Ruby innocently asked.

"An itchy decision?" Matt questioned. He was confused.

"Momma said not to make rash decisions," Ruby responded.

"Oh, that kind of rash doesn't mean itchy. It means you do something without thinking of what may happen," Matt explained. "Your momma and I want you to think before you do things."

"Daddy, I'm sorry that Toby got hurt, but I'm not sorry that I hit him," said Ruby.

"Ruby, your momma and I don't want you going around hitting people. Why aren't you sorry you hit him?"

"Cause now I know how to fend myself," said Ruby with a proud smile on her face.

Matt just shook his head. He hoped that his and Kitty's talk with Ruby set things straight. He didn't want their daughter going around hitting anybody that said something she considered to be mean. Matt was about to say something, but Ruby spoke again.

"Daddy, are you mad that momma gave you a wittle girl and not a wittle boy?" Ruby softly asked.

Matt was taken back. He was not expecting to hear that from his daughter. "What would make you think that?"

"Toby said daddies wiked it when mommas gave them wittle boys. He said momma onwy gave you a wittle girl," Ruby said, her voice almost a whisper. "That's why else I hit Toby."

"Ruby, I'm not mad that your momma gave me a little girl. She gave me the prettiest little girl on Earth. I wouldn't trade you for any other little boy in the whole world," Matt said as he looked into his daughter's blue eyes.

Satisfied with her daddy's answer, Ruby put her little arms around his neck and hugged him. "I wuv you, daddy," she said.

"I love you too, little gemstone," Matt said, returning the hug.

Later that night Matt told Kitty what else Toby had said to Ruby. Kitty couldn't believe what she was hearing. Normally she wouldn't condone hitting from Ruby, but in a way she was happy that her daughter stood up for herself. Kitty knew she didn't have to ask Matt how he handled the situation. She knew her Cowboy handled things perfectly. Kitty knew that Matt made sure that Ruby knew how much she was wanted and loved. He did that every day.

TBC