Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 14 "Comfort Me"

Matt woke to delicate fingers tickling his beard, every bit of three?...four?...days growth?  He’d lost track.  It was all a blur.  The argument.  Kitty taking off for the ranch while he rode halfway to Hays City.  Then riding to the ranch near Cimarron where he’d found Doc’s note and tearing off for the Indian camp to find Kitty.  Afterwards riding again like the devil himself hounded their heels to the gunrunners’ hideout, and finally, back here… back where he belonged.  Brilliant blue eyes were watching him, smiling when he awoke, warm body nestled against his.   “Evenin’, Cowboy…” she said with a crooked smile.

“Evenin’?” he asked in confusion.

“Yep, seems we were both a little tired and we slept all day.”

“Really?”  Matt scrubbed his face with a calloused hand and peered down at his feet.  He still had his boots on.  “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be sick?”

“I was, Matt.   But other than my chest being a little sore, I feel pretty good now.  I woke up to Doc’s worried face staring down at me, and that’s the first thing I remember about being here at all.”

“You don’t remember anything?”

“Except for your voice.  I remember that.”  She spoke in a hushed tone, breaking her gaze to stare distractedly at her fingers toying with his shirt button.  “Matt, I’ve got somethin’ I need to say to you.”

“No, Kitty, I’ve got somethin’ I wanna tell you, honey.”

Kitty placed two fingers gently on Matt’s lips.  “No, Matt, I need to say this.  I…”  She trailed her fingers down his stubbly chin and neck.  “I’m sorry for how I acted.  Sometimes my temper gets the best of me.”

Matt smiled indulgently at his beautiful red-headed lover and pulled her closer.

She added ruefully, “I said a lot of things I’m ashamed of.  I know you have a job to do, and I knew that goin’ into this relationship.”

“But, Kitty…”

“No buts, Matthew Dillon.”  She took a deep breath and continued.  “I’m a big girl, and I know that if I wanna be with you, there are certain things that come with the territory.”

Matt spoke up firmly.  “Now you let me talk, Kitty Russell.”  He pulled her chin up to look directly into his eyes.  “I’m sorry, too, honey.  I told you this when you were still sick, but I don’t think you heard me so I need to say it again.  I’m sorry that my job sometimes gets in the way of me being with you.  And I’m sorry that those men…”  Matt’s voice broke and Kitty could see his pale blue eyes fill with unshed tears.  “…I’m sorry that those men hurt you just to get to me.  That’s not right.  I wish I had been there to protect you...”

Kitty interrupted insistently, “Matt, if I hadn’t gone haring off by myself, then that wouldn’t have happened.  It’s my fault!”

Chuckling, he observed wryly, “We make quite a pair, don’t we?”

“Matt, I wouldn’t trade you for anyone, you hear me?”  She laid her head on his shoulder.  “I chose this life.”

He stroked her long hair, gleaming in the firelight.  “And I love you for putting up with me, Kitty Russell.  You’re a fine woman, and I consider myself lucky to have you.”

Raising up her head, she peeped at him mischievously.  “You think so?  Even though I may lose my temper now and then?”

“I like my women sassy, honey,” he answered, eyes sparkling. 

“Sassy, huh?  How many other sassy women have you known?”

“Just you.”

“Just me?”  She eyed him askance.  “I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, you’re the only one that counts anyways.”  He kissed the tip of her freckled nose, devoid of paint.  “The only sassy woman I call my own.”

“Your own?”

“That’s what I said,” he declared.

She grinned slyly at him. 

He added, “Man’s gotta have a little spice in his life is how I look at things.”

Still wearing the soft deerskin dress the Cheyenne women had dressed her in after bathing her, Kitty rose to her knees, one eyebrow arching.  Reaching to the fringed bottom, she asked coyly, “You like spice?”  She stripped the dress over her head, her pale, naked skin glowing in the orange light of the fire.   Matt’s searing gaze drank in the lovely sight, and he said hoarsely, “What if Doc comes back in here, Kitty?” 

She gave him a lopsided grin, “He’s my doctor, Matt.  There ain’t nothin’ I got that he ain’t already seen at least once or twice.” 

 He hungrily drew her down on the buffalo robe, hovering over her.  “Does it hurt?” he frowned quietly, referring to her bandaged wound. 

“Not really,” she answered lightly.  “It won’t stop me from showing my Cowboy how much I missed him.  And how sorry I am…”  She slid cool, slim fingers behind his neck and pulled him to her lips for a deep, wet kiss. 

Matt’s eyes were heavy-lidded with desire when they broke apart, breathless with longing for each other, desperately gratified to have escaped death once more to be back in one another’s arms.  “God, I love you, Kitty Russell.”  His mouth traveled down her tender neck to place a soft kiss on her bandaged flesh.  “You’re my sassy, spicy woman, and I’m never gonna let you go.”

Her lips curled in a satisfied smile that quickly faded when his mouth latched onto her tight, pink rosebud nipple.  “Oh, Matt…” she breathed and cradled his head closer to her breast.

He kissed his way down her softly rounded stomach, his warm tongue dipping into her belly button, setting her molten center on fire.  Matt’s passionate gaze made her shiver as he eagerly slipped her thigh over his shoulder, and she watched breathlessly as his head dipped low. 

“Oh, sweet Jesus, Matt…” she hissed.  “Oh…you drive me crazy when you do that...  Lord, Matt, what if…oh…  What if Doc comes in here?  We’ll give him a heart attack…  Oh, don’t stop…”

Matt chuckled against her swollen, glistening flesh.  “I thought you weren’t worried about Doc.”  Then he gave her a little nip in just the right place, his toes curling when she released a throaty whimper.  He murmured hoarsely, “Doc’s asleep somewhere.  It’s past his bedtime.”

Kitty clutched tightly at the buffalo robe beneath her and said under her breath, “Oh, I hope so…  I’m just so thankful…”  She made Matt smile when her hips undulated in response to his intimate caresses.  “…that Chester is nowhere around right now.”  She gasped.  “Oh my, do that again…please…oh, Matt…”

“I aim to please, young lady,” he growled as his mouth descended on her heated, tender flesh once more.

“Oh...Matt...”

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Matt secured Kitty’s bag to her saddle and checked the cinches once more.  Doc sat on his horse.  They were in front of the ranch house, ready to head back to Dodge.  Lillie Mae had her arms wrapped tightly around Kitty’s waist, face buried in her riding skirt. 

Virgil urged her, “Come on, honey, we’ve got to let Miss Kitty leave.  I promise we’ll go visit her in Dodge City in a month.”

Lillie Mae’s voice was muffled in her skirts, “Is a month a very long time?”

Consolingly, Kitty added, “No, honey, the time will pass quickly, I promise.  And I’ll come back here and visit you as often as your daddy will let me, alright?”

Virgil smiled bashfully.  “You know you’re welcome any time, Kitty.  He quickly added, “You and Matt both.”

Matt grinned back and stuck out his hand.  “Thanks, Virgil.  We appreciate that.”

Virgil took Matt’s hand securely and leaned in to whisper in Matt’s ear, “You take good care of her, you hear?  She’s a fine woman, and you’re one lucky son-of-a-bitch.”

Matt gave him a lopsided smile.  “I know I’m a lucky man, Virgil.  Thanks for all you did for her while I was gone.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Matt exclaimed, “Daylight’s a’burnin’.  Come on, you two, let’s head out.”

Kitty kissed Lillie Mae’s strawberry blonde head, then Virgil’s flushed cheek and let Matt help her up on her horse.  “I’ll see you soon, I promise,” she called as Virgil picked up Lillie Mae and held her tight.

Matt mounted his horse and reached across to grasp her hand.  He quickly kissed it, right out in the daylight for God and everyone to see, and said, “Let’s go home, Kitty...”  He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “…back where we belong.”

End

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 13 "Still Waters"

Matt Dillon gratefully left his exhausted horse with two young Indian boys who eagerly met him at the edge of the Cheyenne encampment the minute he rode up.  Taking his reins, they pointed mutely toward the tepee where he’d reluctantly left Kitty to go after her attackers.  He looked over his shoulder as they led his horse away to give it food and water, emphatically waving him away once again.  Matt nodded and tipped his hat in gratitude, then ambled as quickly as his weary legs would carry him toward the woman he loved. 

Matt stooped low to enter the tent, heart racing, terrified of what he’d find.  His knees grew weak and he blew out a relieved breath at the sight that greeted him.   Tired eyes burning, he spied Kitty lying peacefully asleep, Doc smiling up at him from her side. 

Doc murmured under his breath, “It’s about time you got back, young man.  Someone’s been askin’ for you.”

“She’s been asking for me?” Matt whispered in wonder as he settled himself beside his old friend.  “Is she gonna be alright, Doc?”

Doc’s rheumy eyes looked at him earnestly, and he answered in a hushed voice, “I think so, son.  I think she’s gonna be fine.  She just needs a lot of rest.”

Matt’s fingers reached out to lightly brush her face, and he couldn’t help but notice sleep-flushed rosy cheeks cast against her healthy complexion.  She slept so deeply, a tranquil sleep, a healing sleep. 

Doc asked, “Where’s Virgil?”

“He took Carter Graves to jail for me.”  Matt looked evenly at Doc.  “So that I could come be with Kitty.”

“Well, good for you...”  Doc beamed at him and jabbed a finger in his direction.  “This is where you belong.”

Matt’s ears turned pink and he picked self-consciously at a fingernail. 

Curiously, Doc squinted at him.  “Hey, what about that other fella, that Indian, name of …Kotori?”

Matt continued looking down at his hands.  “He’s dead, Doc.”

“You don’t say?”  Doc glanced speculatively at Kitty.  “Somehow I’m not quite surprised.”

“Whatta you mean?”

“Some of the young Cheyenne braves found a dead screech owl…”

Matt’s voice raised a notch as he repeated, “Screech owl?”

Ill-at-ease, Doc scrubbed his mustache and shook his head.  “Oh, never you mind.  I don’t quite believe it myself.”  He began to rise from the floor with a steadying arm from Matt.  “I’m gonna go hunt me down some grub, young man, and get a little sleep over by the fire.  I suggest that you stay right here…”  Doc raised a bushy eyebrow at him.  “…where you belong…and get a little rest, too.  You look terrible!”

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Matt sat tiredly by Kitty’s side after Doc left, wanting so badly to reach out and touch her just to reassure himself, needing so much to wake her and hear the sound of her voice.  But Matt knew she required rest in order to get well, so he valiantly resisted the urge.  The warmth of the nearby fire made him drowsy, his eyelids drooped and his muscles slowly relaxed until he began nodding off and woke with a start.  Matt sighed.  Doc had told him to get some rest, and he’d be no good to anyone until he slept.  Wearily, he stretched out without making a sound on the buffalo robe bed beside Kitty, careful not to touch her, and began nodding off to sleep as soon as his head hit the soft hides.  He heard Kitty make a small sound in her sleep, and then he felt slim arms wrap around his middle, her supple body molding itself to his, her warm breath on his shoulder as she sighed in contentment.  Matt slid his hand to the small of her back, gently pressing her closer, smiling as he drifted off to sleep in Kitty’s arms.

tbc

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 12 "Deliverance"

Matt Dillon and Virgil Ware rode hell for leather for an old, abandoned shack both lawmen knew well, surrounded by trees so it would be easily defended by Carter Graves and his partner, Kotori.   The Cheyenne had eagerly informed them where to find the gunrunners, since they’d uncovered illicit intelligence that an enemy tribe would be meeting Graves there for a covert transaction.  Matt gritted his teeth when he thought of how they’d used Kitty, had hurt her badly, just to keep him distracted and out of the way of their shady business dealings.   Yes, he would have been after Graves for his illegal activities, but he’d gone and made it personal now.  He would make those two outlaws pay for what they’d done to Kitty.

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Isom huddled near the fire outside the tepee where Doc sat with Miss Kitty.  It was still night time, and suddenly he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck as he felt that he was being watched.  The old man looked slowly around him, searching the darkness for the culprit, when he heard an arrow whiz by and land with a thunk in the wooden pole of Miss Kitty’s tepee.  Isom jumped, his eyes as big as saucers, and he saw a rather large bird screech and take flight, wings outstretched against the stars.  

Two young braves hurried towards him, speaking urgently as Doc emerged from the tent, an alarmed expression on his face.  “What in Sam Hill is going on out here?” Doc sputtered.

Isom listened for a moment, then turned to Doc and explained in a low voice, so that the sick young woman could not hear them inside, “These men say that was a screech owl, the messenger for the witch doctor who made Miss Kitty sick.”

“Messenger?  Why, that’s just a bunch of…”

“It’s what they believe, Doc,” Isom insisted.  “They say that there owl was sent by Kotori to spy on his victim.  They tried to kill it with their arrow and said if they’da been successful, it woulda killed that evil witchdoctor that is tryin’ to hurt Miss Kitty.”  Isom finished worriedly, “They say the curse that’s makin’ her sick may not be broken just yet.”

Doc narrowed his eyes at Isom as he listened incredulously, but didn’t argue.  He simply ducked back inside the teepee and sat anxiously beside his dearest patient, taking her wrist in his hand to check her pulse.

Isom settled outside, near the fire, to keep a wary eye out for whatever might emerge from the darkness next.

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Sitting in a splintery, rickety chair leaned back against the wall of the shack, Carter Groves watched in fascination as Kotori worked in front of the fireplace.  His Indian companion had warned him that the marshal’s woman was not yet dead, but how he knew that, Graves was not sure.  He’d found it best not to question the witchdoctor about things he just didn’t understand and probably didn’t need to.  Titus Crow was living proof of that...  Well, dead proof anyways, Graves snickered to himself, thinking of the little loudmouth half breed moldering in his grave out back of the shack.  He watched with an involuntary shiver as Kotori threw tobacco and other evil smelling substances into the roaring fire.  Again, he saw the Indian draw forth more blazing red hair from the pouch around his neck and chant in his native tongue as he added it to the flames, watching it crackle as it incinerated.  Kotori slowly turned and looked at Graves with black eyes glimmering in satisfaction.

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Isom heard Doc calling frantically for him from inside the tepee.  The old farm hand quickly entered, and his heart dropped into his stomach at what he found.  The beautiful young woman lay sallow, sweating and writhing in her bed of buffalo robes, calling out incoherently in her sleep. 

“Quick, go find Soaring Eagle!”  Doc had to hold her down on the bed.  “She’s taken a turn for the worse!” he exclaimed with an agonized expression.  Isom knew that Doc was at his wit’s end and anguished because he didn’t know how to help Miss Kitty.

 Even Isom started praying feverishly in his head as he dashed off in search of the Cheyenne medicine man.

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Matt Dillon and Virgil Ware crept outside the abandoned shack noiselessly.  Matt wordlessly signaled for Virgil to approach from the other side of the door.  There were only two horses outside, along with the gunrunners’ wagonload of goods, so they’d apparently arrived just in time. 

At a silent signal, Matt kicked the door in and bolted inside, gun drawn as his eyes darted around searching for the Indian Kotori.  Virgil followed with his pistol cocked and aimed steadily at Carter Graves.  The white outlaw’s eyes bulged in fear as he raised his hands in surrender.  “Don’t shoot!” he cried, voice quaking in terror.

Kotori was nowhere in sight.  Matt kept his gun at the ready, turning in every direction, heading into the back room, but there was no sign of the man.  Suddenly, window glass shattered behind Matt and Kotori burst in, shards and splinters flying in all directions.  He grabbed the tall lawman around the neck, knocking the gun from his hand, and pulled a gleaming knife aimed toward his throat.  Matt flipped the man over his back and onto the floor with a thud, but Kotori deftly rolled away and jumped to his feet again, slicing through the air toward Matt with the knife. 

The Indian laughed and hissed in broken English, his white teeth gleaming against dark skin, “Your woman, she gonna die anyway.”  With a roar, Matt jumped on the man, wrestling him to the ground and making him drop his knife.  Kotori strained to reach Matt’s abandoned gun on the floor and pointed it directly at his heart.  Matt grabbed for the gun while Virgil, still holding his pistol on Graves in  the other room, heard a shot fire out.  Anxiously, he called out, “Matt!” 

The lawman answered, “I’m okay.”  He rolled off Kotori’s body and said flatly, “He’s dead.”

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Isom woke with a start as the first rays of the rising sun appeared over the horizon.  The two Cheyenne braves he’d seen earlier approached and one of them was carrying something.  It was a dead screech owl, and the young brave carried it carefully by the feet so as not to slice his skin with its sharp talons. 

Isom’s mouth dropped open as he searched in vain for the arrow wound.  “Did you boys kill it?” he asked in their native language.  

“No,” they answered solemnly.  “It dropped dead out of the sky, in mid-flight.”

tbc

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 11 "No Other Medicine, But Only Hope"

Ancient utterances in two distinct languages charged the smoke-scented air of the tepee where Kitty Russell lay thrashing incoherently.  The aged medicine man Soaring Eagle, scattering an offering of tobacco into the fire, summoned the good spirits in his own tongue while Doc read aloud from his tattered Bible, both praying desperately for divine intervention for the unwholesomely sick young woman.  Cheyenne braves dressed in breechcloths, their naked brown skin gleaming in the orange firelight, held her down as the wizened old medicine man used a razor sharp knife to slice a small cross in the middle of Kitty’s blackened skin.  Doc watched in complete horror as a spider crawled from the swollen, bloody wound.  Soaring Eagle quickly snatched the spider in his fist, chanting feverishly, and dashed it into the fire where it sizzled and burned to a crisp. 

Wide-eyed, Doc swallowed the bile in his throat and continued reading with a trembling voice from the twenty-third Psalm.  “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever…”  His eyes were torn from the pages of his Bible to watch in fascination as Soaring Eagle smeared a greasy concoction onto the wound, bandaging it carefully.  Doc wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, noticing that Kitty lay still and quiet now.  He knelt beside her and anxiously took her wrist in his hand, blowing out a breath when he detected her pulse, a little weak, but steady.  Doc felt shaky with relief as he watched Soaring Eagle continue his ceremony, putting away the knife and now holding an eagle feather aloft over Kitty’s pale body, stroking it over her face, arms, legs, torso, and hovering over the bandaged wound. 

Ducking out through the flap of the tepee, Doc approached Virgil and Isom, huddled whispering together nearby at a campfire.  Virgil asked anxiously, “How is she, Doc?”

Doc voice trembled.  “I…I just don’t know yet, Virgil.  I think she’s better.  She’s stopped thrashing around.  Her pulse is nearly normal.”  Doc had to stop for a moment and gather himself.  “We’ll have to wait and see…that’s the only thing we can do…just wait and see.”

Isom looked at Doc through narrowed eyes.  “What exactly happened in there, Doc?”

Speaking hesitantly, Doc answered, “I’m not sure what happened, to tell you the truth.”  He took a deep breath and avoided Isom’s penetrating gaze.  “I don’t wanna talk about it right now, Isom.  I’ve…I’ve just never seen anything like it.”

Isom nodded with a wry, humorless smile.  “I know what you mean, Doc.  That Soaring Eagle, he’s a powerful medicine man.  I told you so, didn’t I?”

Doc nodded, “Yes, you most certainly did.”

Doc, Virgil and Isom’s heads turned in unison at the sound of a loud disturbance at the edge of camp.  They could hear braves shouting and whooping.  Virgil spoke first as he squinted into the darkness, “That looks like a white man they’re after.  He’s sure putting up one heck of a fight.”

Doc interjected, “That’s not just any white man.  Look!  It’s Matt!”

Isom took off at a trot, heading toward the braves, shouting in their native language for them to stop.  Doc and Virgil were right behind him. 

It had taken three strong, young Indian men to capture Matt and hold him securely.  Blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth and one eye was swelling, but he was still struggling mightily to escape. 

Isom held up his hands and quickly explained to the men that Matt was here to see them, and they were friends of the old medicine man.  With a bitter reply to Isom, the young men reluctantly released Matt and walked away, glancing warily over their shoulders at the tall, strong newcomer.

Doc exclaimed, “Matt, are you alright?”

He growled bad-temperedly as he picked up his hat off the ground, “I’m fine, Doc.  Where’s Kitty?  Is she okay?”

“I’ll tell you the truth, Matt, I just don’t know for sure.”  Doc was chagrined at his inability to help her.  “But she seems to be resting quietly now.  You look terrible.  How did you get here so quickly?”

Shaking his head, the lawman grimaced.  “I’ll tell you later, Doc.  I really wanna see Kitty right now.”

Doc nodded understandingly and took Matt’s arm.  “Come on, son.  She’s right this way.”

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Matt had to bend double and remove his hat to get through the opening of the tepee.  Kitty lay quietly on buffalo robes in the middle of the animal hide construction.  Sitting motionless in the shadows, Soaring Eagle rose when Matt entered and placed a hand on his shoulder silently, then left.  Matt sank to his knees on the floor beside Kitty and took her cold hand in his.  His voice was hushed, almost a whisper.  “Kitty, honey, can you hear me?”

Sunken, black-rimmed eyes in a ghostly pale face did not open.  He gingerly touched the bandage over her heart and spoke again, “Kitty, I…I cut my trip to Hays City short for you.”  Matt raked his fingers restlessly through his hair and cleared his throat.  “I got the Hays City sheriff to meet me halfway so I could come back to Cimarron and spend some time with you, sweetheart.”  The tall lawman sat back heavily, dejected that she could not answer him, terrified that he was too late.  “I got to the ranch house and there was a note from Doc.  Told me you were bad sick cause…”  Matt had to swallow and his voice turned bitter.  “…cause two men had hurt you.  Told me to come here.”

Matt tasted blood and dug out a handkerchief, wiping his mouth.  “I must look a sight.  I rode straight back.  I didn’t think you’d care much what I looked like as long as I made it here.”

He reached out a hand and smoothed back her hair, radiant in the glow of the dim campfire and his voice softened, gentled.  “I’m sorry, honey.  I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.  I’m sorry that you’re sick.  Can you hear me, Kitty?

The cold hand that rested limply in his moved, weak as a kitten, and his heart leapt into his throat.  He could feel her trying to squeeze his thumb.  Matt lifted Kitty’s hand to his lips and kissed it.  He whispered hoarsely, “I’m going to find the men who did this to you, Kitty.  Doc will take good care of you while I’m gone, I promise.”  In the flickering firelight, he leaned over her pale, still form and brushed his lips softly against hers.  “I’ll be back soon.  I love you sweetheart.”

tbc

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 10 "Evil Spirits"

Ominous incantations muttered in a deep, rasping voice rose high into the starless sky on the wisps of white smoke from a small campfire. Carter Graves stood watching silently from the shadows as Kotori threw in an offering of tobacco for the spirits along with a red powder that made the smoke roil thick and black.  When the witchdoctor removed something from a beaded deerskin pouch hanging from his neck, Graves craned to see what he would do next. The gunrunner spied a handful of shining red hair in the Indian’s dark palm, cut from the head of that marshal’s woman. Graves smiled to himself as Kotori tossed the hair into the flames, listening to it hiss and pop while it burned. Kotori knew how to keep that Marshal Dillon occupied and out of their way for a few days. Just long enough to sell their guns to the Indians. And Kotori had strong, powerful medicine, so that troublesome, redheaded woman was as good as dead.

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Kitty cried out, clutching her hand to her heart.  Doc sat beside her on the bed, hurriedly swiping the sweat from his furrowed brow with a wadded handkerchief, his own chest tightening as he helplessly watched his dear friend suffer.  She was calling for Matt Dillon, and Doc had no idea where he was.  Virgil had wired him both in Hays City and in Dodge.  Doc prayed that he got the message soon that Kitty Russell was desperately ill.

Virgil stood beside him, brown eyes frightened as he watched Doc bathe Kitty’s perspiring, flushed face, neck and arms with a cool cloth.  “Doc, can’t you do anything else for her?”

Isom Dewey remained quietly at the bedroom door, worriedly listening.

Doc expression was agonized as he scrubbed his hand over his wiry mustache and exclaimed quietly, “I don’t know!  I’ve…I’ve done everything I know to do!  She’s delirious with fever, but I’m scared to give her anymore quinine for fear I’ll kill her with an overdose!”  Doc peered at Virgil anxiously over his glasses.  “But I’ve never seen anything like this.”  He delicately unbuttoned the top three buttons of Kitty’s nightgown to show Virgil the black, angry bruise on her chest.  Now it even looked swollen.  Kitty pushed his hands away as she whispered insensibly to herself. 

“Dear God…” muttered Virgil, his eyes darting in alarm to Doc.  “What…what is it?”

“Before she became delirious, Kitty told me what had happened on her trip here.  An Indian captured her.  He had a spider in his hand and he hit her with that same hand and knocked her down.  Maybe the spider bit her?”  Doc shook his head, his voice rising in frustration.  “I just don’t know.”

Isom slowly approached the bed, asking hesitantly, “Kin I see it, Doc?”

Doc pulled the collar of Kitty’s nightgown carefully back to expose the blackened skin over her breastbone.  Her lips moved and she shook her head in some private conversation taking place only in her head.  Isom’s eyes widened and he took a step back.  He whispered, “I seen somethin’ like this before.”

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In a shadowy corner of the bedroom, Doc and Virgil stood listening attentively as Isom told his story.  “I come upon somethin’ similar many years ago, Doc, when I was young.”

Impatiently, Virgil prodded, “Where, Isom?”

“In a Cheyenne village.  I used to be a trapper and I married an Indian maid.”  Isom’s eyes softened as he remembered.  “I paid her father a lot of pelts and horses fer that perty young gal.   She was sweet as molasses and…”

Interrupting Isom’s fond reminiscing, Doc urged, “Tell us about the sickness you saw, Isom.”

“Well, I lived in camp with her when I wasn’t out huntin’ and trappin’.  One day I come upon a young brave who was layin’ on the ground, shakin’ from head to toe.  He was shore sick, I tell you.  There was a big black mark on his chest, jest like Miss Kitty’s got…”

Virgil eagerly asked, “What did you do?”

“I put him across m’ horse and took him back to my brother-in-law, so to speak.  Ayashe, Little One…that was my wife’s name…her brother was a medicine man for the tribe, name of Soaring Eagle.”

Doc took a step closer to Isom, his eyes gleaming attentively.  “What did the medicine man do for him?”

“Oh, Doc, he spoke over the man and called for the good spirits to heal him.”

Incredulously, Doc exclaimed, “That’s all?”

“Now, it was a long time ago, Doc.  A real long time ago.  Let me think…”  Isom’s eyes stared unseeing as he tried to remember.  “There were more things he did…  It weren’t pretty, to be sure.  He made a cut on his chest.”

“A cut?”

“He shore did.  And put medicine on it.  That brave I found got well after that.  But I tell you, I wasn’t real certain if he was gonna make it at first or not.  He was a real sick man.  Evil spirits was in him.  That’s what Soaring Eagle said.”

Doc sputtered, “Evil spirits?  Why, Isom, that’s pure…”

“You can poke fun if you want, Doc, but I saw it with my own two eyes.  That sick man’s eyes rolled back in his head and he talked crazy.  I think he would’ve died if it wasn’t for Soaring Eagle’s medicine.  He’s a powerful doctor, alright.  I seen him save many people I thought would die for certain.”

Doc took a hopeful breath and asked, “Where does this Indian doctor, Soaring Eagle… where does he live?”

“Ohh…not more’n twenty, twenty-five miles from here.”

“Just twenty miles, eh?”  Doc paced back and forth a couple of times, looking at the beautiful young woman so dear to his own heart who lay on sweat-soaked sheets, crying in vain for her lover.

“Maybe twenty-five.  Like I said, Doc, it’s been a long time.  I ain’t seen him since my wife died.  In childbirth, she died.  Lost our baby, too.”  Isom hung his head and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he remembered a painful time in his life.

Decisively, Doc clapped a hand on Isom’s arm.  “Can you tell me how to get there?”

“Well, Doc, I don’t rightly know if he’s still there.  I did hear tell of him a few years back though from a small band of Cheyenne who came through…”

Doc scrubbed a hand over his eyes wearily and whispered, “Isom, I’m afraid.  I’m afraid I might lose her.  She’s only getting worse.  I want to try taking her to your Indian doctor.  Do you think he’d help us?”

“I reckon he would.  I was a good husband to his sister.  We got along real good.”

“Then let’s go, Virgil.  Let’s load up the wagon.  Let’s leave right away. There’s not a moment to spare.”

Matter-of-factly, Isom spoke up.  “Doc, you’ll need me.  I’ll have to talk to Soaring Eagle.  He might not want to treat a white woman.”

“You’re right, Isom.  You’ll have to go with us.  But what’ll we do with the child?”

Virgil hurriedly supplied, “I’ve got neighbors, a married couple who live a few miles from here.  We can leave Lillie Mae with them along the way.”

Nodding, Doc asked, “Alright, Isom, can you help us get ready?”

The old man offered, “I’ll pack Lillie Mae’s bag.”

Virgil stated, “And I’ll go make a bed in the wagon and pack it with supplies.”

“Let’s get busy.  Kitty’s fever is dangerously high.  I don’t know if she’ll make it another day…”  

Doc’s voice broke and he turned away from the other men.  He continued in a strained voice with his back to them, “Come on, you two.  There’s really not a minute to waste.”

tbc

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 9 "My Cup Runneth Over"

Kitty sighed as she watched little Lillie Mae flit around the backyard like a butterfly, bare footed once more, dirt smeared on her freckled face, dress grass-stained.  She sank down on a bench next to Virgil who smiled shyly at her.  He murmured softly, “She thinks you’re somethin’ special, Kitty.”

“Did you at least get to see her when she was still clean, Virgil?” she asked in feigned exasperation.  Looking over at him sternly, she couldn’t suppress her grin for long.  “I think she’s awful special, too.”  Kitty looked at the high-spirited little red-head longingly and repeated, “Awful special, Virgil.”

He smiled knowingly at Kitty, then chuckled.  “Sorry ‘bout her getting’ all dirty again.  She does love to have a rollickin’ good time in the great outdoors.”  Virgil straightened his hat and added, “She’d never seen too many trees or even grass until she boarded that orphan train.  It’s a whole new world out here for her.  She can’t get enough of it. ”   He pointed and laughed in delight as she did a somersault, dress flying in the air like the petals of a flower.  “Me and Isom have to drag her kickin’ and screamin’ into the house at night.”

Kitty watched the child dancing round and round with her kitten cradled in her arms and said with conviction, “It’s a good thing you’ve done for her.  You saved her.  Who knows what would have happened to her in the city.  Probably the same thing that happened to her sister...”  Kitty’s voice died out and her eyes stung with unshed tears at the thought of that poor lost girl still on the streets with no way of making a living except by selling her young body. 

Virgil placed a warm hand on her arm.  “I’ve told them to keep looking.  For Geneva, I mean.  She’s only fourteen.  I told the Children’s Aid Society to contact me if they find her because I’ll adopt her, too.  Lillie misses her sister.”

Kitty deftly wiped a tiny tear from the corner of her eye and cleared her throat.  “I know.  She told me.  I think she misses her somethin’ awful.  I understand that.”

“She’s lonely, Kitty.”

“She’s got you.  And Isom.”

“She’s needs a woman’s touch…”

“Oh…Virgil, I…”

Lillie Mae dashed up and plopped down in the small space between her father and Kitty.  She sang out, “I love my family, my family, my family,” squeezing Kitty and Virgil’s arms tightly in her grasp the whole time.

They both laughed at her sheer joyfulness and exuberance.  Lillie jumped up, draped Petunia over her shoulder and grabbed Virgil’s hand. 

“Daddy, will you ask her?  Will you?”

Kitty felt suddenly wary.

Virgil shook his head, “No, now, Lillie Mae, we’ve discussed this…”

“I know we ‘scussed this, but you ain’t asked her yet.  Ask her to stay, perty please with sugar on top?  I want her to stay.”

Virgil’s face flushed and he looked ruefully at the beautiful woman sitting gracefully beside him on the bench, “I think Miss Kitty here knows you want her to stay.”

“You ask her, too.  I’m just a li’l girl.  A grownup has to ask ‘er.” 

“Miss Kitty knows she’s always welcome to stay for as long as she wants.”

Lillie Mae transferred her attentions to Kitty, grasping her hand while her kitten tangled in her hair, purring in her ear.  “See, Miss Kitty, Daddy wants you to stay, too, I tole ya’!  Lillie Mae stretched her neck and planted a damp kiss on Kitty’s cheek, then skipped away around a large oak tree singing, “Staying, staying, Miss Kitty is staying…!”

Kitty looked helplessly at her friend.  “Virgil…!”

“Yes?” he smiled innocently.

“You’re not helping!  She thinks I’m staying forever now!”

Virgil took a fortifying breath and looked earnestly into her eyes.  “You know you can stay for as long as you want.  You could stay forever if you wanted.”

Kitty released a tiny gasp. 

“I know…”  Virgil ducked his head self-consciously.  “I know you love Matt Dillon.  I like Matt, too, and respect him even more, but…”

Her voice came out in a whisper, “But what?”

“But you’re a fine woman, Kitty.  I think you’d make a fine wife.”

Her eyes widened.

“I think you want children.”

“But…”

“Is Matt Dillon willing to give that to you?”

“I…I…just don’t know…  I mean, it’s not for me to say...”

“Exactly.”  Virgil took her hand and lowered his eyes nervously.  “If…if you ever get tired of waiting for Matt Dillon to give you those things...  I’d be willing to give them to you.”

“Oh, Virgil, I…”

Virgil raised her hand to his face and brushed his lips gently over her skin.  “I’d be willing to give you anything, Kitty.”

Lillie Mae squealed as she ran up and grabbed their hands, soundly kissing both of them.  “Come play with me, Miss Kitty, come play with me.”  She pulled Kitty up off the bench and let the child lead her by the hand toward he the tree, looking over her shoulder wordlessly at Virgil in wonder at what he’d just proposed to her.  

“Watch me climb.  I can climb high,” the small imp declared.  Then she put her hands on her hips and wrinkled her freckled nose.  “But I need a little boost gettin’ started up though.”

Kitty burst out laughing and picked Lillie Mae up to place her on the lowest limb.  A sudden pain struck her chest.  She felt overwhelmingly dizzy and crumpled to her knees.  The last thing she remembered was Lillie Mae screaming and Virgil’s voice hollering for Isom to ride to town and wire Doc Adams quick.  Virgil was holding her when everything went black.

tbc

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 8 "No Rest for the Weary"

Kitty awoke with a terrible start, her heart beating wildly.  She’d been dreaming about a dark-skinned man with long black hair and glinting black eyes chasing her, beaded animal tooth necklaces pounding rhythmically against his naked chest.  In her dream, she’d hidden with bated breath in the thick bushes, fearfully watching moccasined feet creep stealthily by, mysterious whispered chants taunting her ears.  She’d felt something skittering on her skin, then peered down at her arm and, to her utter horror, discovered long-legged spiders crawling over her entire body. 

When Kitty awoke, gasping for breath, she found herself still sitting in the bathtub.  She quickly looked down at her arms, greatly relieved to find no spiders, and sat motionless for a few moments, gathering her wits about her.  The hot water had completely sapped every last bit of her energy, and she even felt a bit dizzy, from getting too hot in the steamy water, she supposed.  Grateful that it had only been a dream, Kitty rose up tiredly, holding to the sides of the tub to steady herself, and carefully stepped out onto a towel placed on the wooden plank floor. 

Hastily drying off, she moved in front of the mirror to dress.  Kitty grimaced when she noticed an ugly, purple bruise on her chest where the Indian man had hit her.  She gingerly rested her fingers in the center of it.  The mark was tender and throbbed a bit when she touched it.  Sighing, she wondered how long it would take to fade away, then quickly threw on her dressing gown over her underclothes and rolled up the sleeves.  She had to get busy on Lillie Mae.  That poor child was going to take a while to whip into shape.

Lillie Mae sang made up songs throughout her entire bath, splashing happily in the water while Kitty gently scrubbed away layers of grime acquired throughout the past month since Celia had died, paying special attention to tender, filthy areas behind delicate shell-shaped ears, under impossibly small fingernails and between tiny toes.  She poured pitchers of warm water over her long, snarled hair and attempted to gradually work the tangles out in the water with an herbal concoction Isom had given her.  He claimed Miz Celia had sworn by it.   And Lillie Mae hadn’t hollered in protest at Kitty’s meticulous ministrations, not once. 

Occasionally, a soft, warm, fuzzy ball of fire would attack Kitty’s bare foot as she worked, making her jump in surprise every single time, to Lillie Mae’s complete delight.  The little girl would chortle gleefully at the antics of her small, gamboling kitten, and Kitty wondered how on earth the child could be so happy and carefree after all that she’d been through. 

Using her fingertips to work on a particularly tangled hank of baby fine, strawberry blonde hair, Kitty asked tentatively, “Do you like living here, Lillie Mae?” 

The child nodded solemnly.  “Ohhhh, yes.  I have a daddy now.  I never had a daddy before.”  She paused, and Kitty could see the small mind working behind her wide green eyes.  “And I have food to eat.  Isom cooks good food for me!  I eat it all up.  He cooks very good pie!  Dee-licious!”  She soundly smacked her lips and patted her belly and sang, “Pie!  Pie!  Pie!  I like pie!” 

Kitty smiled through the mutinous tears in her eyes as she marveled at the resilience of this little child from whom so much had been taken, and then miraculously given back. 

Lillie Mae grinned back and then scratched her chin, adding thoughtfully, “And a bed.  I ain’t never had a bed before neither.”

“Oh…”  Kitty was taken aback at her answer, and she had to swallow hard.  “It’s…it’s good to have a bed and a daddy to take care of you.  And Isom, too.”

“Yeah, they take real fine care of me...”  Lillie Mae intently examined a drop of water as it gathered on her fingertip and dripped slowly into the bathtub.  “…not like my real mother.”  Suddenly she frowned and looked at Kitty.  “My real mother, she didn’t take such good care of us at all.  We had to leave, me and my sister did.”

Kitty’s voice caught in her throat, and she was unable to get any words out at all.  She just continued gently working on the child’s hair.  And listening very quietly.

“My real mother was gonna have a baby so she said me and Geneva, we had to leave!”  She looked incredulously at Kitty.  “I didn’t have no place to sleep.  And it was very, really cold.”  She wrapped her thin arms around herself, remembering the bitter winds that would whip down the city streets.  She added softly, “I was scared.”  The child looked down at her wet hands and examined her pruny fingers.  “I didn’t have anything much to eat neither…  No pie.  I miss my sister.” 

Kitty finally found her voice.  “I bet you do, sweetheart.”

“Yes, I miss her lots.  We couldn’t find her at all to go on the train with me.”  Her little expression was forlorn.  “We looked and looked and couldn’t find her anywheres…  I miss my sister very much.”

The child looked up at her appealingly, and entreating green eyes locked with hers.  “How long can you stay, Miss Kitty?  How long will you stay with us?  For a long time?”

“Well, I…”

“I like you an awful bunch, Miss Kitty.  You’re nice.  You take really, very good care of me.  My mother, she never took good care of me at all...”

“Lillie Mae, I’ll be visiting for a little while at least.”

“A long time, please?  Can you stay a big, long time?”  Lillie Mae stood up and put her wet little hands on Kitty’s cheeks, imploring.  “My daddy likes you, too.  He would like it very much if you stayed, too.”

Kitty’s cheeks flushed.  “Oh, you little rascal.  Don’t go talking about your daddy like that,” Kitty teased as she wrapped a towel around her small charge and lifted her out of the tub squealing.  The wet little thing wrapped her arms and legs around Kitty’s body and squeezed tight, Kitty’s heart melting inside of her.  She hugged the tiny child back, inhaling the sweet scent of clean, baby soft skin that surprisingly made her chest ache with longing.  Kitty dried her off until she was pink and glowing and dressed her in a fresh, sun-washed cotton pinafore.  She brushed the child’s hair until it shone and began curling in soft waves, tying it back with a big bow.  Then Lillie Mae crawled in Kitty’s lap and laid her head on her chest, repeating, “Stay here with me and Daddy, Miss Kitty.  Please stay…”

Kitty took a deep breath, and started to explain why she couldn’t stay when she suddenly felt a small hand ever so gently touch her chest where her dressing gown had fallen open. 

“You’re hurt, Miss Kitty! Did you fall down?”

“Oh, I’m alright, Lillie Mae.  It’s just a bruise.”  But the child’s fingers felt cold on her skin.  She looked down, and the discoloration was even larger now, as big as a man’s hand.  Kotori’s hand.  It felt hot to the touch. 

Lillie Mae frowned.  “Does it hurt a whole bunch?”

Kitty lied, “Not very much.”  It was beginning to throb a bit worse, but Kotori had knocked the wind out of her when he’d violently shoved her down with the flat of his hand.  No wonder she was sore.  “I’ll be fine, Lillie Mae.”  She changed the subject.  “Do you want to go show your daddy how nice you look now, while I get dressed?”

“Yes!  Yes!  You want to come with me?”  Lillie Mae tugged on her hand.

Kitty shook her head.  “No, you go on.  I’ll be out in a little while once I get changed, alright?”

Lillie Mae grinned.  She was a different child, a beautiful child.  She had just needed a little tender, loving care.  Kitty’s heart ached again just looking at Lillie Mae.  Lillie Mae was a lucky girl, to have been rescued from the brutal streets the way she was.  But, Kitty thought, Virgil was a lucky man to have such a precious little girl to call his own now. 

Sighing, she watched the child scamper out the door and went to the wardrobe to find something to wear, wondering all the while if Matt was in Hays City yet, and whether he was still upset with her for getting so awful mad at him.  Kitty lightly touched the fevered bruise on her chest, wishing he was with her right now instead.

tbc

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 7 "Orphan Train"

Virgil’s eyes had a faraway look as he spoke.  “Celia and I adopted Lillie Mae off the orphan train that came through here six months ago, Kitty.”

Kitty’s mouth dropped open in surprise.  “Orphan train?”  She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been that.

“You know, the trains they send out here full a’ orphans and street children from New York City?  The Children’s Aid Society is tryin’ to find good people in the country to take them in.  To give them a new start in life.”

Kitty’s expression softened when she realized what the child must have been through.  “Oh, Virgil, I had no idea.  I mean, I’ve heard of the trains, but I didn’t know you and Celia had taken in an orphan.”

“Truth be told, Kitty, she’s not a true orphan.”

She frowned.  “What do you mean?”

“The Children’s Aid lady who was travelin’ with them told me Lillie Mae was found sleepin’ in a doorway in the dead a’ winter.  Beggin’ for pennies from strangers.”  His voice broke and he glanced out the window behind him for a moment before he continued.  “Eatin’… outta garbage cans.  Her mother had another baby on the way and had turned Lillie Mae and her older sister outta the house ‘cause there wasn’t room or food enough for all of ‘em.   Her older sister turned to prostitution to support herself.  The lady said a lot of the older girls do…”

Kitty hugged her knees to her chest, intently staring down at the tousled sheets, and asked quietly, “Where is her sister?”

“We don’t know.  The mother signed over her parental rights so that Lillie Mae could come west and find a new home.  But Geneva disappeared.  They don’t know what’s become of her.  But there are literally thousands of children on those big city streets, Kitty.  It’s easy for a young girl to get lost in a crowd.”

Her brow was knitted in consternation.  “Oh, I know how easy it is.  I honestly do, Virgil.”  She took a deep breath.  “How did she take Celia’s death?”

“I’ll tell you the truth.  I don’t rightly know.  She’s become very quiet and reserved.  She keeps to herself most of the time.  I know she misses Celia.  But it’s just one more loss in her life.”

“What about school?”

“We tried sendin’ her to school in town, but she didn’t like it one bit.  Said the kids…made fun of her cause she was an orphan.”  He raked his fingers through his hair restlessly.  “‘Bad blood’ they’d whisper.   Celia started teachin’ her here at home.” 

“Virgil, she looks like a wild Indian.”  Kitty bit her lip.  “Who’s taking care of her?”

“Well, that’s the problem right there.  Celia always took care of her before, gave her a bath and such.”  His expression was helpless.  “But she won’t let me or Isom come near her to bathe her or fix her hair.”

“Well, do you blame her much, Virgil?  She’s what?  Six?  She’s a little girl.  And you’re a man.”

“No, but what else can I do?”  He held his hands out in supplication.  “And we don’t rightly know exactly how old Lillie Mae is.  She doesn’t even know when her birthday is.”

“Oh, Virgil.”  Kitty’s heart ached for this little girl who’d never had a real childhood.  She laid a hand in the center of her chest, and realized with a start she was actually tender from where the Indian Kotori had shoved her down the day before. 

Virgil’s next words came out in a rush, before he lost his courage.  “Lillie Mae needs a woman’s touch, Kitty.  Could you try and do somethin’ with her while you’re here?  She sure does need a good bath, I’ll tell ya’.   And she looks like she’s taken a real shine to you.”

Kitty smiled kindly.  “Of course, Virgil, you know I’d be glad to.  Could you arrange for a tub and some hot water?  I’ll do the rest.”

Relief flooded his features.  “Oh, Miss Kitty, I’d be much obliged.  I surely would.  I’ll do anything you ask me to.  This child has known nothing but loss and deprivation her whole life.  I wanna change that, but with Celia gone, it’s been difficult.”

“I don’t know how much help I can be, Virgil, but…”  She gave him a crooked smile.  “…at the very least I can get her clean for you.”

“That’s a start, Kitty.”  He shyly grinned from his seat in front of the window.

Kitty tugged her sheet higher and asked sweetly, “Can you send me that hot water, now?  I’d really like to get cleaned up myself.  It was an awful long day yesterday.” 

Virgil’s cheeks flushed pink and he jumped up from the chair, realizing she was waiting on him to take his leave.  He was in a lady’s bedroom, and she was en déshabillé, for goodness sake. 

A sudden look of worry crossed Kitty’s face.  “And do you think we could send a wire to Matt in Hays City this morning, too?  He should be arriving sometime today, and I want to warn him about those gunrunners looking for him.”

“Of course, I will be happy to take care of your bathwater right away.  Oh, and I already sent that telegram early this morning.  You were exhausted, and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Oh, thank you, Virgil.  And I’ll tend to little Miss Lillie Mae as soon as I’m done.  Deal?”

“Deal.”  Virgil Ware gave Kitty Russell one last bashful look and pulled the door shut the door behind him.

tbc

Author’s Note:  An excellent source of information on The Children’s Aid Society Orphan Trains that transported approximately 100,000 New York City children to homes out west from the 1850’s through 1929 is the PBS documentary, American Experience: The Orphan Trains, c1995, available through Netflix.

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 6 "Lillie Mae"

Kitty woke to the morning sunshine warming her face and a pair of pale green eyes peeping over the foot of the bed at her.  Startled at first, she peered more closely and the small pair of eyes slowly dropped lower until they disappeared completely out of sight behind the bed. 

“Good morning…” Kitty called in a soft voice, sitting up in bed, and the eyes made an unhurried reappearance.  This time, she noticed an unruly strawberry blonde mop atop the green eyes and an additional head, this one of the tiny feline variety, alongside.  Kitty’s eyebrow rose slightly at the timid child and she stretched out her arms invitingly.  “Come sit beside me, Lillie Mae?”

The small green eyes widened a bit.

“That is your name, isn’t it?”  Kitty rubbed the sleep from her eyes and patted the bed beside her.  “Come on, little one, come sit by me.”

Ever so slowly, the child stood, calico kitten in hand.  Kitty was taken aback at Lillie Mae’s appearance.  Hair uncombed, face and hands dirty, feet bare.  But Kitty didn’t let on.  She just held out her hands again, beckoning to the little wild child.  Clutching her kitten under her arm, the little girl, who looked to be about six, took hesitant steps closer and closer until she stood silently at Kitty’s side. 

Kitty lifted the little ragamuffin onto the bed beside her while the kitten let out a tiny cross mew.  Lillie Mae appeared to be quite practiced at quieting the little beast.  She plopped it over, pink belly-up, into her petite arms like a baby and scratched its furry head until it purred contentedly.

Kitty asked tentatively, “What’s its name?”

Small, pale, strawberry blonde eyebrows raised at her wordlessly.

“The kitten?  What’s its name?”

A voice no louder than a whisper.  “I think it’s Petunia.”

“Petunia?”

“She told me so.”

“The kitten?”

“Yes, the kitten told me her name was Petunia.”

“Oh, that’s a pretty name.”  Kitty said softly, gently tucking the child’s frizzy hair behind her ear.  “And you’ve got a pretty name, too, Lillie Mae.”

Again, the small, inquisitive eyebrows.

“Yes, it is a pretty name.  For a very pretty little girl.”

The strawberry blonde eyebrows nearly reached her fuzzy little hairline.

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you’re pretty before?”

A solemn shake of a small head.  A smaller whisper.  “You’re real pretty though.”

Kitty smiled.  “Why, thank you.  And I assure you, you haven’t caught me at my finest.”  She laughed a merry laugh and the little face looked up at her in utter delight.  Kitty continued, “I’ve been traveling a long ways on horseback…” 

A small nod of the head.

Kitty continued with a frown, “…and then there were some complications…”

Lillie Mae’s face frowned too.  “Com-puh-…”

“Complications…that means ‘bad things happened on the way.’”

“Oh…bad things…”  Lillie Mae frowned again and shook her head sympathetically.

Kitty continued“…so then I came back here with Virgil…”

“Daddy!”

Kitty’s eyebrows lifted this time in surprise, but she continued without a hitch.  “…so I came back here with your daddy…”  Kitty touched Lillie Mae’s freckled nose.  “…and I fell asleep right away because I was so tuckered out.”  Kitty beamed at the small child and the little girl’s laugh rang out like a tiny, delicate silver bell.  Kitty’s heart ached at the sound, it was so sweet and so pure.

The small voice questioned, “What is your name?”

“Kitty.”

More tiny raised brows and a quick glance down at the kitten now sleeping in her arms. 

“Yes, like your kitten.”  Kitty leaned down to whisper in Lillie Mae’s ear.  “I have a very dear friend who sometimes even calls me “Kitten” when we’re alone.  But don’t tell anyone.  It’s a secret.”

Lillie Mae grinned from ear to ear and placed her index finger to her lips.  “It’s a secret,” she repeated. 

 

Kitty pulled the dirty-faced little girl into her lap and hugged her.  “So, Lillie Mae, tell me…where is your daddy right now?”

“I’m right here,” a soft-spoken, deep voice answered from the doorway. 

“Oh!” Kitty’s hand flew to her mouth and she tugged the quilt up to cover herself.  “Virgil Ware, didn’t you ever hear of knocking?”

Virgil’s southern accent drawled out especially long when he was teasing Kitty.  “Why, Miss Kitty, the door was wide open.”

Lillie Mae grinned.  “I opened it.”  A silver peal of tiny giggles soon followed.

Kitty gave a big grin and gave Lillie Mae’s daddy a big questioning look. 

Virgil cleared his throat noisily.  “Lillie Mae, go see what Isom’s doin’ in the kitchen.  He told me he wanted you to go with him to gather eggs this mornin’.”

“Aw, Daddy, I just met Miss Kitty.”  Lillie Mae put a dirty hand on Kitty’s cheek.  “Can’t I stay here with her?  Just for a little while?  Please?”

“You heard me now.  Go on with Isom.  Miss Kitty has to get dressed and then you can visit with her some more, alright?”

“Alright…”  Lillie Mae slid off Kitty’s lap in slow motion and dragged her feet across the floor, carrying her sleepy kitten under her arm.  She looked up at her daddy with a pout as she sulked out the door.

 Virgil waited until the child was out of earshot.  “Well, I’ll let you attend to your morning ablutions, Kitty…”

“Oh no, Mr. Ware.  You and me have some talkin’ to do.”  Kitty propped her back up against the pillows and pulled her quilt up to her chin.  “Damn propriety.  Come over her and sit on this chair and explain to me what’s goin’ on.”

Virgil sighed.  “Yes, ma’am.”  He tugged at his trouser legs as he sat down on the chaise lounge by the window.  “What would you like to know?”

“What would I like to know?  I want to know everything about your charming little Lillie Mae.  Go ahead, Virgil.  Out with it…”

Virgil took a deep breath and glanced out the window behind him, then began to tell his daughter’s story.

tbc

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Deliver Us from Evil, Ch. 5 "Restoreth My Soul"

The racial and social appellations employed in this fictional story are meant to reflect the historical period in which the narrative takes place.  No bigotry or bias is intended by the author.

Someone shook Kitty’s shoulder as she lay on the hard, unforgiving ground.  Slowly she opened her eyes, squinting against the late afternoon sunlight slanting through the trees.  Virgil Ware’s face apprehensively gazed down at her.  “Kitty, can you hear me?  Are you alright?”  He was crouching beside her, where she’d apparently been lying since she fainted.

She laid her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes again for a moment, murmuring quietly, “I think so...”  Cautiously raising up on her elbows, she scanned her surroundings uneasily.  “Where are the others?”

“Others?”  His voice sounded alarmed.  “Someone else was with you?  Where’s Matt?”

“Oh,” she replied, chagrined.  “Matt didn’t come.  Virgil, I’m so glad you’re here!  I…I made the trip by myself.”

“Alone?”  Virgil’s expression changed to dismay.  “Kitty, that’s dangerous.  You shouldn’t have come…”

“Yeah, Virgil, I know, I know.  Matt is gonna kill me when he hears what happened.  He didn’t want me coming by myself either.”

“But you said there were others…”  His eyes anxiously strayed to her ripped bodice, and she hurried to tug it modestly closed without benefit of the buttons that Carter Graves had torn off.  She tried to sit up, but she felt dizzy.  Virgil put his arm around her shoulders to support her. 

Squinting against the fading sunlight, her eyes searched for the spot where she had watched Titus Crow die a horrible death.  His corpse was not there.  “He’s gone!” she exclaimed.  “They’re all gone…”

“Who, Kitty?  Did they hurt you?” He quickly glanced over her body, searching for injuries.

“No, not really.”  She gingerly touched the back of her tender skull where the half-breed had nearly torn her hair out by the roots.  “Nothing permanent anyhow.”

“Who were they?” he repeated anxiously.

“Carter Groves seemed to be the leader of the three.”

“Carter Groves?  He’s a gunrunner.  Sells Spencer repeating rifles to the Indians.”

Kitty continued, “Titus Crow was the one they killed.  He was a half-breed Indian.  The full-blooded Indian was the one who killed him.  Name of… Kotori, I think it was.”  Kitty’s face paled and her blue eyes widened as she looked at her friend.  “Oh, Virgil, it was so awful.  I’ve never seen anything like it.”  Her eyes filled with tears, and she wrapped her arms around Virgil’s neck.  Gently he held her, patting her back comfortingly.  When at last her shivering had stopped and she released him, he softly questioned her, “What did they want, Kitty?”

She wiped a stray tear with the back of her hand.  “I don’t think they really wanted me.  That’s why they left me here, I suppose.”  Suddenly she remembered something they’d said, and she exclaimed excitedly, “They were after Matt!  We’ve got to warn him, Virgil!”

“Matt?”  Virgil sat on the ground beside her.

“Yes, when they were arguing, Titus Crow said that Matt was supposed to be with me.  They knew our plans, and he was angry when they found out I was by myself.”

“Maybe they wanted Matt out of the way.  He’s kept the gunrunners out of this part of the countryside for quite a while now.  With the U.S. Marshal out of the way, they’d be able to make a lot more money.”

Kitty’s brows knitted together fretfully.  “Shouldn’t we wire him in Hays?  That’s where he’s headed.  He should be there in another day or so.  We need to warn him!”

He reassured her, “I’ll send Matt a wire when I go to Cimarron.”

“Virgil, I remember something else.”  She touched his arm anxiously.  “They said Carter Groves’ friend worked for Western Union.  That’s how they knew we were traveling today.  The telegraph operator either in Dodge or in Cimarron must’ve told him about the wire we sent informing you we were coming.”

“That explains a lot.”  He glanced down at her hand on his sleeve, then back up into her eyes.  “I’ll look into the matter, for sure.  I’ll find out who the operators were on both ends of that wire.  We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Suddenly remembering Matt’s words about Virgil being sweet on her, she pulled her hand away self-consciously.  She murmured quietly, “Oh, Virgil, I hope Matt’s alright.”

“Well, I think he’s fine because he’s far away from here.  If he’d been with you, it might have been a different story altogether.”

She traced a well-manicured fingernail over a tall blade of grass.  “So it’s a good thing he changed his plans and wouldn’t come with me, huh?”

He watched her, intuiting her initial disappointment that Matt hadn’t accompanied her.  “Yeah, Kitty, it is.  But what we need to do now is get you to my house so you can get rested up plus have some of Isom’s fine home cooking.  How’s that sound?”

“Wonderful, Virgil.”  She sighed deeply.  “That sounds just wonderful.”

Standing, he extended his hand.  She accepted it, but when she rose to her feet, her head began to swim and she felt faint again.  “Oh…” she whispered, as her knees started to buckle. 

“Kitty…!” Virgil exclaimed as he caught her in his arms. 

“I’m alright, really…” she murmured.  “I think I just got up too quickly.”

“Well, I’m not taking any chances.  You’re riding with me.  We need to get you back to the house quickly.  I may wire Doc Adams to come take a look at you.”

“Oh, Virgil, don’t do that.  I’m fine, really.  He was going on a fishing trip for a couple of days.  I don’t want to interrupt him.  See, I’m standing up by myself now.  You can let go of me, I promise.”

Virgil eyed her warily.  “Well, alright, you stand right here and don’t move.  I’ll get the horses.  But you’re still riding with me.  I won’t have you fainting and falling off the horse.  Matt would never forgive me if I let you break your neck.”  He raised a brow at her drily.

“Okay, I’ll stand right here.  I can’t wait to get back to the house.  It seems like it’s been ages since I’ve been there.”

Virgil brought the horses over and mounted his stallion.  He reached down and pulled her up by the hand effortlessly to ride in front of him, locking one arm securely around her slim waist.  He replied, “It’s been a whole year.  Way too long in my opinion, too.”

Kitty patted his hand contentedly and settled against her friend comfortably.  She had to admit, she was exhausted and her head was pounding.  She wanted nothing more than a bath and a soft bed.  She smiled.  “I can’t wait to see Isom and Big Sam.  How are they doing?”

He spurred his horse and they headed downriver, in the direction of the ranch house.  “Just fine, Miss Kitty, and they will be very happy indeed to see you, I assure you.”

She looked down at Virgil’s strong hands holding the reins.  She said quietly, “I hope Matt is able to join us soon.  I miss him already.”

“I know you do, Kitty.  I’m sure he’ll be here as soon as he’s able.”  Virgil cleared his throat.  “And…uh…I have someone I’d like you to meet.”

“Oh?” she asked curiously.

“Yes…”

“Well, who is it?”

“Uh… Her name is Miss Lillie Mae.”

“Oh!” Kitty answered happily.  “I can’t wait to meet her, Virgil.”

“I can’t wait for you to meet her, Miss Kitty.”  He paused, and she was sure he was smiling in spite of the fact that she was unable to see his face.  “I surely can’t.”

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