Author's note below.
The late soft September sun streamed into Kitty's room while a gentle breeze caused the leaves to dance and twirl about to the beautiful melody of autumn.
Kitty sat next to the window, watching the scenery outside. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, then her chin in her hands, as her mind wandered back to her conversation with Preacher John and Abby.
Kitty expected the moment she told the couple who she was; They would have asked her to leave. But instead, they forgave her, and both welcomed her with open arms.
Then afterward, John read the story of the woman who was thrown at Jesus' feet for being caught in the act of adultery.
As John read, Kitty realized how much she could relate to the woman in the story.
There may have been a thousand years between the two of them, but Kitty did not see much difference between them.
Kitty always thought that passage was about adultery. She could remember many times someone would stand outside the saloon. It would be some do-gooder preaching about how wicked the women were that worked there. They would say nasty things to the women if they stepped foot outside in the daylight.
But as John kept reading the passage, Kitty realized it was about more than adultery.
It was Christ extending his mercy, his grace, and forgiving the woman of her sins.
Kitty was sure the woman felt the same way she did when she heard the words "Go and sin no more."
When the Preacher turned and spoke the very words to her. Kitty felt the chains of her past fall away.
She no longer stood in the midst of the chains of guilt and shame from her past.
Kitty's transgressions were no longer to be remembered, for God, had tossed them into the sea of forgetfulness.
Kitty's mind shifted to her girls and how they longed to meet their father, as her eyes drifted to her writing desk and the letter, she had written weeks ago sat on top of the desk.
The letter had been sitting there for a while as it was covered in a thin layer of dust, and the edge of the pages were starting to turn a soft shade of yellow.
With a sigh, she stood up and walked over, and picked up the letter. Taking a deep breath, she blew all the dust away, letting the dust settle where it may.
She opened the letter again and looked it over, making sure everything was in order, then she kissed the note, leaving the outline of her red lipstick behind.
Then she gently folded the letter back up. Kitty sighed; she tapped the letter in the palm of her hand.
It was time for Matt to know the truth. Kitty just wished that she had told him sooner.
Kitty put the letter in her reticule, then picked up her skirts and made her way down to the kitchen to leave a note for Sarah. Since she and Maddie had gone out to run some errands, and Bethany was in school. Kitty walked to the door, and Lady followed, "No, Lady no walk today. I'm going to find Newly." The dog lowered her head, the woman smiled as she knelt to pet the dog, "I promise, if I find him, I'll bring him back for you and the girls."
At that Lady's tail started to wag, then soon she happily trotted off. Kitty could only chuckle as she stood back up and went out the door. She headed down the street and through the park on the way to the hotel.
It was such a beautiful autumn day.
Kitty smiled as she could hear chipmunks and squirrels chattering back and forth as they gathered their food for the coming season and the sound of flocks of birds flying overhead as they headed south for the winter.
Yes, there was a change in the air, the days were getting shorter and nights longer, and it was cooler. The leaves were the colors of orange, red, and gold. Fall was here to stay.
Kitty watched in awe as leaves fell like snow all around her. She was so lost in the moment that she did not realize someone was coming the other way,
"Hof!"
Kitty turned and looked at the man, "I'm so sorry..." She smiled when she saw Newly standing there. Newly's smiled, "I'm sorry ma'am I-I..."
They both started to laugh when they recognized each other.
"I'm so sorry, Kitty. I should have been watching where I was going."
"Oh, it's all right, Newly. I wasn't watching where I was going either."
The young man chuckled, "I was just heading over to see you."
"Well, it looks like we had the same idea. I was just on my way to see you."
She winked up at him with a smile. Newly tipped his hat to her in reply,
"Well, then I'm glad we bumped into each other. How about you tell your reason for coming to see me, then I will tell ya, mine."
"Alright." Kitty pulled the letter out of her bag and held on to it, "I want to ask you, Newly, could you give this letter to Matt for me? I wrote it a while ago, but I-I..." she sighed, "Well, it's time for Matt to know."
A gentle smile spread across the young deputy's face; as he looked at the letter, Kitty's neat handwriting with the words that read, "My Dearest Matt." He always believed there was nothing prettier than a woman's handwriting, especially when the writing was for her beloved.
Newly smiled as she handed her letter to him. He placed it in his pocket vest where it would be safe.
"Now it's your turn,"
Newly sighed as he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground,
"I'll be heading back to Dodge tomorrow." Kitty nodded in her understanding way,
"I was wondering when you would be leaving. I knew your week was almost up. I know two little girls that are going to miss you."
"I know, I've been dreading to say anything about leaving. The thought of making Bethany and Maddie cry. Well, it tears my heart out."
Kitty looked at him with compassion, "Newly, those two little girls will be all right. Yes, they'll cry, but that means they love you."
Kitty let out a long sigh. "The Lord knows how many tearful goodbyes the girls and I've had throughout the years when I'd head back to Dodge. I-I only wish I would have done things differently but..."
Newly stopped her, "Kitty, the past is in the past. There is no way of changing that now."
She nodded as they continued their stroll through the park. As they walked, Newly noticed something different about Kitty. She seemed to be holding her head a little higher and her shoulders back with confidence, as though nothing was holding her back, and she had nothing more to hide.
Kitty looked over at the deputy, "What is it Newly?"
He smiled, "Well, I was just wondering how did it go with the Preacher?"
"Better than I could have imagined. I felt a freedom that I haven't felt in a long time."
"That's wonderful, Kitty." He smiled, which explained her look of confidence and even a joy that seemed to dance in her eyes.
They found a bench to sit down on and watched the rest of the world pass by. Kitty smiled at his response,
"Thank you, Newly, I was scared to tell them at first, but as things unfolded, the fear in my heart seemed to fade away."
Newly smiled as he listened to Kitty tell him the story. Once she had finished, Kitty could see a puzzled look on the young deputy's face.
"Alright, Newly, I can see the question on your face. What is it?"
Newly could only laugh, "You were never one to beat around the bush, were you?"
The woman shook her head as laughter danced in her eyes.
"Well, Mrs. Kitty, I was just wondering. Does that mean you need to tell everyone the truth or just some people?"
Kitty smiled once again at his concern, "Oh, Newly, no. Only the ones that were it is between them and me. Otherwise, there would be a wild prairie fire that no one could put out."
Newly nodded. "Yeah, I guess everyone would be gossiping and spreading rumors everywhere."
"Exactly, and I don't want the girls to have to pay for my past."
"Kitty, anyone who meets those sweet daughters of yours... Well, let me say it this way, you have nothing to fear about that.
The same goes for the Marshal."
Kitty let out a sigh, Newly knew the worry that was on her mind.
As they started to walk again, He looked over at her, "The Marshall, wouldn't run from you or the girls, Kitty. I know not a day has gone by that he doesn't think about you. Matt wouldn't ever walk out on you. Remember fear is a liar and that it makes you believe the worst of outcomes or even worse."
Kitty half nodded, "You've been spending a lot of time around Doc, haven't you?"
Newly laughed, "Well, yeah. Considering the fact, I'm going to be a doctor."
Laughter filled the air, "How I miss that old man,"
Kitty could only smile.
"He misses you; he talks about all the times you helped him, with being his nurse."
She smiled as she thought back on all the times, there was so many to think about,
"I think my favorite was to help to deliver babies…Happy, healthy, hearing them cry for the first time.
But when things didn't go well. I took it harder than I should have I guess."
The woman only shrugged her shoulders, as they came around the corner to Sarah's home. The young man thought about her words.
There had to be something deeper, something that went farther back than young Bethany. But Newly, didn't want to press Kitty about it, that was her business, and her story to tell when she was ready.
Thank you everyone for the kind revives! Sorry, this chapter took me so long to post but life has been rather busy, and I just haven't had the time to sit down write/ edit as I did before, and life is getting busier :( I will keep updating every chance I get. I know this chapter is a little short but I realized that I needed to explain/ clear up a few things from the last chapter.
So I hope that makes sense to you guys.
In my opinion. Kitty committed herself to Matt and didn't commit adultery, (between the two of them) but the reason for choosing the passage that I did, was because there were a lot of parallels between Kitty and the woman. the woman was a prostitute and Kitty was a saloon girl and so on.
Anyways thank you guys so much again for the reviews! TBC