This story is intended
for mature audiences due to language, violence, and the vivid depiction of a
consensual adult relationship.
“Dammit, old man, that hurts!” One of the Lester’s accomplices, a
rough-mannered, red-faced man by the name of Danny, complained as Doc painstakingly
stitched up the cut on his head.
“Well if you’d hold still, it wouldn’t hurt so much, now
would it?’ Doc retorted.
Festus narrowed his eyes at the squirrely cowhand. “Yer lucky ol' Doc here is even helpin' ya'
a'tall. I'm thinkin' ya don't deserve
one little bit o' sympathy, my ownself."
Festus continued to mutter indignantly under his breath while Doc
finished cleaning the wound on his third patient, all of whom had suffered cuts
and abrasions at the vengeful hands of Matt Dillon.
A stout, sandy-haired cowhand with a black eye and
swollen, lacerated lip mumbled, “That crazy lawman… You oughta’ lock him up, deputy, ‘stead of
us.”
Festus pounced, grabbing the man by the collar and
gritting his teeth as he spoke, “Why you…
I orta’…”
“Festus!” Doc
cautioned.
“That’s it, Doc.
Yer finished with this buncha’ scummy slopsuckers.” Festus opened the cell and pointed toward the
front door of the marshal’s office. “Git
outta’ here. Now!”
All three men froze, wearing incredulous looks on their
dirty, bruised faces.
“You heared me!” Festus hissed, “Git on outta’ here and
don’t lemme catch you back in Dodge City ever agin…” He squinted one eye at them and lowered his
voice, his hand hovering near his gun, “…iffin you know what’s good for ya’.”
The men gawked at each other, then sprang up, grabbing
their hats and hightailing it out the door as fast as their legs would carry
them.
“What in heaven’s name…?”
Doc’s expression was bewildered.
“Festus, you just gonna’ let those criminals go free?”
“Well, Doc, them three boys there could cause us a heap o’
troubles,” Festus bitterly explained. “Best they disappear for good.
Matthew and Miss Kitty done suffered their share a’ troubles tonight, by
my reckonin’, and they don’t need no more.
Don’t you agree?”
“Yes…” Doc bowed
his head and grunted thoughtfully. “Yes,
Festus, I’m afraid you are absolutely right.”
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“Come on in, Sam,” called Kitty through her bedroom
door. A few minutes earlier she’d asked
him to bring her a trunk she had stored downstairs in the cellar.
She heard the door open and said, “Thanks, Sam, you can
put it over here.”
When there was no answer from her trusted bartender, she
turned around with the shirtwaist she’d been folding in her arms. It was Doc who stood in the doorway, staring
at the piles of clothing and personal items she was hurriedly packing into
trunks. “Kitty…” he finally managed to
utter. “What are you doing?”
Caught. She’d been
desperately hoping to slip out of town without a scene. “Doc, I…”
Her voice trailed off because she didn’t really know what to say.
She’d made her heart-rending decision at sunrise after
fitfully tossing and turning all night long in spite of Doc’s sleeping
powders. The thoughts racing through her
mind were inconceivable to Kitty. Matt
Dillon had broken the law. For her. He’d jeopardized his badge and his livelihood
to protect her. She just couldn't live
with that. She needed to leave, to get
away so that this would never happen again.
Doc pleaded, “Kitty, honey, this is not the answer.”
Kitty’s eyes filled with tears and she hurriedly turned
away. “Of course it’s the answer, Doc.”
“What do you mean?”
Doc removed his hat and scratched his head, looking at the jumble of
petticoats and shoes and silk dresses in open trunks around the room.
“You know what happened out back last night, Doc.” Kitty’s bitter voice broke as she continued,
“I’m…I’m a liability.”
“A liabil-…” he sputtered. “Young lady, that’s ridiculous. Do you know how much Matt Dillon cares for
you?”
Her answer was a mere whisper, “Yes…”
“Then how can you leave?”
“The question is, ‘How can I stay?’” she replied
wistfully. “You know how much Matt’s job
means to him. I messed up last night,
Doc.”
“You?? What in
tarnation do you mean?” he countered. “You
didn’t do anything wrong!”
“I knew those cowhands were trouble.” Her fingers absently traced a lustrous pearl
button on the folded shirtwaist in her hands.
A shiver ran down her back as it evoked vile memories of the previous
evening –of silk fabric and jeweled buttons brutally torn from her body…and
coarse hands touching her where no man but Matt was ever allowed to touch her. Her eyes were distant and her voice seemed to
come from a faraway place. “I knew that
man was on the warpath. I should’ve been
more cautious.”
Beyond frustrated, Doc retorted, “Well, if that isn’t the
most convoluted bit of reasoning I’ve heard in a long time!”
She whirled to face him.
“Doc, if Matt’s career were to be destroyed because of me, I could never
live with myself.”
He desperately implored, “Kitty, you can’t…”
“Doc, I don’t wanna’ talk about it anymore. I’m leaving first thing in the morning. Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be alright.” Kitty Russell busily resumed packing her
things, her expression resolute.
Doc scrubbed a hand wearily over his face, then turned
and shut the door softly behind him.
tbc
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