Chapter 37 Ruby Goes To Jail (Part 1)
*Author's Note: Like all the stories in this series, this one is out of cannon.
The aroma of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and coffee filled the Dillons; kitchen. Matt, Kitty, and Ruby were sitting around the kitchen table enjoying the breakfast that Kitty prepared. Matt had to leave shortly for Spearville.
"When do you think you'll be back?" Kitty asked Matt as she cut Ruby's pancake and drizzled syrup on it.
"The trial should only take a day, so I should be back within the next couple of days," Matt answered, placing a forkful of bacon and eggs in his mouth.
"It's nice the trial is in Spearville and not Hays City," said Kitty.
"I know," Matt agreed. "Much less travel."
"Daddy, will you bring me back something?" asked Ruby, joining in the conversation.
"I'll try my best to remember." Matt looked at Kitty and winked at her. They both knew that Matt would remember to bring something back for Ruby.
"Try your bestest," said Ruby.
"I hope you're home in time for Festus' birthday. We're having a party here for him on Thursday," Kitty reminded Matt. Today was Monday.
"I should be," said Matt. "Did we ever figure out how old he was?"
"I don't think we did," Kitty replied. "I remember him telling us he was born the same year his momma's sow gave birth to a record litter."
"Oh yeah! Then he made a wish, blew out the candles, and got whipping cream all over Doc," Matt laughed.
Kitty started to laugh. "Oh that was classic. That would only happen between Doc and Festus. Which reminds me. His other party is going to be later Thursday at the Long Branch."
Ruby had been eating her breakfast and listening to her parents' conversation. The fact that Uncle Festus was getting two parties caught her attention. She only had one party and couldn't understand why Uncle Festus would get two.
"How come Uncle Festus gets two parties?" she asked. "I just got one."
"Uncle Festus is older and has more friends. We can't fit all of his friends in our house. So we're going to have a family party here and a friend party at the Long Branch," Kitty explained.
"Do I get to go to both parties?" Ruby asked, hoping that she could.
"Sorry, gemstone," said Matt. "The friend party is at the Long Branch. You know that's the place where adults go to have fun."
"Hmmmph." Ruby crossed her arms. "If Uncle Festus is having two parties, does that mean he turns two numbers?"
"No. He's just turning one number," Kitty responded.
"I'm gonna ask him how old he is at the family party," said Ruby.
"I don't know if he could answer that," said Matt.
Ruby was shocked. How could a person not know how old he or she was? She knew that she was five years old and on her next birthday she would be six years old. Maybe when you got older, you forgot how old you were. Maybe someday she would forget.
"Do you forget how old you are when you have more birthdays?" Ruby asked. She wanted to know if someday she would forget.
"No, I think Uncle Festus stopped keeping track. " Matt answered. "I need to get going."
Matt finished his breakfast and took one last drink of his coffee. He stood up and walked over to Kitty. Kitty stood up as well. Matt gathered Kitty in his arms and gave her a loving kiss goodbye, telling her he loved her. Matt then walked over to Ruby and lifted her off the chair. He gave his little girl a kiss on the cheek and told her loved her. Goodbyes said, Matt left for Spearville.
On Wednesday morning Kitty and Ruby rode into town. Kitty needed some ingredients for Festus' family birthday party. The family party would consist of a meal and a cake. Kitty planned on making beef stew and biscuits for the meal and a chocolate cake. She needed ingredients for the cake. Walking into Jonas' store, they ran into Doc.
"Kitty, Ruby, what a pleasant surprise. What brings the two of you into town?" Doc smiled when he saw his two favorite girls.
"I needed some ingredients for Festus' birthday dinner and birthday cakes," Kitty answered.
Ruby looked up at her momma. "Cakes? He gets more than one cake?"
"He gets one at the family party and one at the Long Branch party," Kitty affirmed.
"I can't wait until I get older. Then I can get two cakes and two parties." Ruby then looked up at her grandpa. "Grandpa Doc, can you believe that Uncle Festus doesn't remember how old he is?"
Doc did his famous gestures before answering Ruby. "Darlin' now that does not surprise me." Doc turned towards Kitty. When do you plan on Matt being back?"
"He sent a wire from Spearville. I got it before coming here. He said he's going to be back today, hopefully in time for supper," said Kitty.
Kitty bought the sugar, flour, and baking soda that she needed. She also picked up the new boots they were going to give Festus for his birthday. Kitty had noticed several weeks ago that Festus was in need of new boots. She was also well aware that Festus would not get a new pair on his own. So a new pair for his birthday was the perfect gift. Wanting to get Festus a good quality pair of boots, Kitty mentioned the idea of Doc and Newly going in on the gift. They liked the idea.
With business taken care of in town, Kitty and Ruby returned home. Kitty put the boots in the bedroom and the dry goods in the kitchen. Looking at the clock on the fireplace mantle, Kitty realized it was time for lunch. She decided it would be a simple lunch of ham sandwiches and apple slices.
"Ruby, it's rest time," said Kitty as she finished cleaning up from lunch.
"Aw momma, I don't want to have rest time," Ruby complained.
"You know how it works. If you're still awake after a half an hour, then you can get up," Kitty reminded her daughter. "I want you to use the water closet and then off to your bedroom."
"Fine," Ruby sighed as she did what her momma instructed her to do.
Once Ruby was in bed, Kitty sat at the desk in the parlor and worked on her Long Branch ledger. She always used this time to do such work. Kitty had been so caught up in her work, she didn't notice that almost forty-five minutes had gone by. Thankfully Ruby still didn't know how to tell time. Kitty pushed her chair from the desk, got up, and walked down the hall to Ruby's bedroom. She expected the little girl to be fast asleep.
When she opened the door, the little girl was far from asleep. Ruby was lying on her bed with her feet up on the headboard, looking at one of her picture books. Ruby heard the door open and put her book down. Sitting up, she looked at her momma.
"Can I get up now?" asked Ruby.
"Did you fall asleep?" asked Kitty. Ruby answered with a shake of her head. "I guess if you haven't fallen asleep yet, you probably won't. Come on. You can get up."
"Finally," said Ruby. "I've been waiting a long time. What are we gonna do?"
"Momma still has some desk work to do and then we'll play outside for a little bit," Kitty replied.
"Can I play outside by myself?" asked Ruby.
Kitty thought for a minute. "Alright, but you need to play behind the house. I'll check on you every once in a while."
"Okay, momma," Ruby agreed.
Ruby ran through the kitchen to the back door. Her initial plan was to play with her red ball. On her way through the kitchen, she noticed her momma had the cake pans on the counter. With a smile on her face and a new idea brewing in her mind, Ruby grabbed one of the pans and ran outside.
Cake pan in her hand, Ruby went to the garden and filled the pan with dirt. Ruby decided she was going to make a mud cake. To make mud, Ruby knew that she needed some water. So, she took her pan of dirt to the outside water pump. Trying her best to hold the pan under the pump, Ruby began to push the lever up and down. Before she knew it, water was going into the pan. The dirt quickly turned into mud and was getting all over Ruby's dress. Ruby yelled out.
Kitty was finishing up her figuring in her ledger, when she heard Ruby's screams. Worried that her daughter had gotten hurt, Kitty rushed to the backyard. When she opened the door, she saw the cake pan on the ground and Ruby's dress covered in mud.
"Oh Ruby, what did you do?" asked Kitty, not pleased with the scene before her.
"I wanted to make a mud cake," Ruby answered, all splattered in mud.
"You are all dirty and you used my good cake pan. You know better than that," Kitty scolded. "I can't have you traipsing in the house like that. Come here so I can take your dress off."
Ruby walked over to Kitty, allowing Kitty to unbutton the muddy dress. She lifted it over Ruby's head. Ruby's undergarments were wet, but not dirty. Kitty left the undergarments alone. She looked down at Ruby's shoes and knew those would have to come off before Ruby went in the house.
"I want you to go to the house but take your shoes off before you get there. I don't want mud tracked in the house. You wait for me in the kitchen and I will help you take a bath," Kitty told Ruby.
Kitty watched Ruby walk to the house and made sure she took her shoes off. Satisfied that she did, Kitty took Ruby's dress and rinsed it under the water pump. Luckily the dirt came out easily. She hung the dress on the washline. Next Kitty rinsed Ruby's shoes off. With the mud all rinsed off, Kitty put the shoes by the back door to dry. The last thing to clean was the cake pan. Kitty rinsed out all the dirt outside. She took it in the kitchen to finish cleaning it.
"As soon as I'm done washing the cake pan, we'll get you cleaned up," said Kitty.
"Momma, are you mad at me?" Ruby asked while Kitty was giving her a bath. She had a feeling she knew what her momma's answer would be.
"Yes, I'm upset," Kitty answered. "You know better than this."
"Do I have to sit in the corner?" asked Ruby.
"I think you know the answer to that," said Kitty.
"Dagnabbit," Ruby mumbled.
There had been times when Ruby misbehaved and sat in a corner in the living room. However, this time Kitty had to make supper, so she was going to have Ruby sit in the corner in the kitchen. Before putting Ruby in the corner, Kitty had Ruby set the table and wash the green beans. Kitty figured it was best to have Ruby help her before she carried out her punishment.
Kitty took Matt's chair and faced it towards the corner. All the kitchen chairs had back spindles, but Matt's chair had arms. Kitty felt that Ruby would stay in the chair better with the arms. She lifted Ruby onto the chair and went to continue cooking supper.
Ruby turned around and looked through the spindles. "Momma, it's like I'm in jail."
"That's what you get when you misbehave. Now you need to face the corner," said Kitty. Ruby turned around and faced the corner.
Matt rode up to the property and noticed Ruby's dress on the washline. He wondered what happened. Matt figured he would find out as soon as he went inside. He took Buck to the barn and headed for the house. Matt always walked in the front door because Ruby was usually playing in the parlor. When she saw her daddy, she would greet him with a hug and a kiss.
This time when Matt walked in the front door, Ruby was not in the parlor. He could hear Kitty in the kitchen and guessed that's where Ruby was. Matt left his boots by the door and his hat on the hook. He took his gun belt to the bedroom. After washing up, Matt went to join his girls in the kitchen.
"What's going on here?" he asked, seeing Ruby sitting in the corner.
"Daddy, I'm sorry I couldn't give you a hug and kiss when you got home," Ruby apologized. "Marshal Momma put me in jail."
It took all of Matt's willpower not to laugh at Ruby's comment. He knew Kitty wouldn't appreciate it if he did. "I'm sure she had a good reason for doing so. Now, does it have anything to do with your dress on the washline?"
"Tell your daddy why you're in jail," said Kitty.
"I used momma's cake pan to make a mud cake and I got all dirty," Ruby explained.
"I can see why you're in jail. You know better than that," said Matt.
"Momma said the same thing," said Ruby with a shake of her head.
"The food's ready," said Kitty. "Matt, why don't you break Ruby out of jail, so we can eat."
"Finally," said Ruby, standing up and turning around so her daddy could pick her up. Once he did, she gave him a great big hug and kiss. "Did you bring me something?"
"I did, but you'll have to wait until after supper," Matt replied.
After supper Matt gave Ruby some licorice sticks. She was allowed to eat one, but the rest had to stay on the kitchen counter. Ruby didn't argue about that. She didn't want to be punished again.
Later that night Matt and Kitty were in bed quietly talking with one another. Since she didn't sleep during her rest time, Ruby went to bed earlier than she normally would. It didn't take long for Ruby to fall asleep.
"Marshal Momma, I just want you to know it took everything I had not to laugh at Ruby's comment about you putting her in jail," Matt quietly chuckled.
"You weren't the only one," Kitty admitted. "We should probably get some sleep. We have Festus' family party tomorrow during suppertime and his Long Branch party later tomorrow night."
Matt's face held a look of disappointment. "I've been away from my wife for the last couple of nights and all I've been looking forward to was making love to her." Matt started running his hand up and down Kitty's thigh.
"Cowboy, when you touch me like that, how can I refuse you?" asked Kitty, succumbing to Matt's touches.
"You can't," Matt whispered, his hot breath in her ear.
That's all it took. Before she knew it, Kitty was underneath Matt. He was covering her face and breast with passionate kisses. It wasn't long until they were making love with one another. Afterwards, Matt rolled over onto his back and brought Kitty close to him. As always, she laid her head on his chest and soon fell asleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
TBC in the next chapter, "Happy Birthday, Festus!"