Green Eyes 

	The knocking on her door turned into a pounding, and Kitty threw a 
pillow over her head.  It was the middle of the night for her even though the 
sun streamed through the window.  The noise stopped and she groaned 
trying to go back to sleep.  Just as she thought she'd be back to her dreams, 
she was nearly rolled out of bed when someone sat down on it hard enough 
to make the springs squeak.  "Hey!" she hollered coming up ready to fight.  
Matt Dillon sat on the edge of the bed looking at her rather sheepishly 
holding the key she'd given him in his hand, "Sorry Kitty, but you didn't 
open the door."
	"Yeah, I was asleep, or didn't you notice?" she shot back trying to 
gather up her thoughts and her bedclothes.  
	"I have a problem Kitty," he began to try to get her in a better mood.  
	"Matt I was asleep," she said wondering what the Hell he was 
thinking coming to her for favors in the middle of her night. 
	"Kitty, I need your help.  Twelve years ago I knew this girl, Cara, 
she's in town and needs a job.  She's worked in saloons before, and I'd 
appreciate it if you'd sort of take her under your wing, if you know what I 
mean," he said.  Kitty sat up in the bed not very impressed with his little 
speech.  
	"You want me to do what?" she asked incredulously.  Dillon had his 
nerve coming to her for something like this.  
	"Cara, she's not had an easy time and Doc said she tried to kill herself 
yesterday.  She needs somewhere to get on her feet.  You're the only person 
I know who can help.  Come on Kitty," he pleaded.  
The saloon girl ran a hand across her face trying to wake up.  She'd 
just gone to bed four hours earlier after a pretty wild night, and it was a sure 
bet she wasn't going to get anymore sleep.  Getting out of the bed, she 
grabbed her frilly robe and pulled it on.  With a groan she rotated her 
shoulder.  Dillon came up behind her and started rubbing, "Sore?"
	"Just slept on it wrong.  I sort of collapsed when I hit the pillow if you 
know what I mean," she growled.  
	"I am sorry Kitty, but well, it's an emergency," he said softly.  He had 
that look of a little lost kid about him that Kitty couldn't resist at all.  
Watching him through the mirror, she sighed and picked her brush off the 
table to run it through her long hair.  "Matt, you really are a piece of work 
you know it?"
	"I knew you'd do it," he grinned.  
	"Wait a minute mister," she bristled and walked past him to go out the 
room and down the hall with him following close behind. "You don't know 
very much about women, do you?" she was saying as they headed down the 
stairs together. 
	"Well, I haven't made it my life's work if that's what you mean," 
Dillon replied letting Kitty walk ahead of him.  
	"Well, maybe I never made a point of this, but I got some pride."
	"Ah Kitty look…"
	"What makes you think you can wake me up in the middle of the 
night to listen to some long, sad story about one of your old flames?" she 
demanded as she drew a couple of beers.  
	"Middle of the night," he chuckled, "it's almost nine o'clock in the 
morning." 
	"That's the middle of the night!" she replied tersely and walked over 
to one of the tables.  
	Dillon started talking faster, "Look all I meant was if I could get her a 
job here at the Long Branch…"
	Kitty would have none of it, facing him she growled, "And what 
makes you think I'd welcome her movin' in with me?"
	"It's just till she gets to know her way around," Matt explained.  Kitty 
sat dejectedly, "I'll bet she can teach me a few tricks."
	"Yeah maybe so.  Somehow or other I keep seeing her different. I 
keep rememberin' a clean sweet faced young kid who thought she could 
make a respectable rancher out of me."
	Kitty snorted, "Hunh."
	"Maybe she would have too if I'd have stuck around," he said to try to 
tweak Kitty's interest more.  
	"Well why didn't you?" she bit.  
	"Well, I thought I had to prove myself I guess," he answered 
truthfully.  Kitty seemed to realize he wasn't just trying to get at her, "Oh."
	"By the time I did it was too late for both of us," he finished.  
	"I didn't know it was like that.  I'll do it," she decided even though 
she just wanted to say no and go back to bed.  
	Dillon squeezed her arm, "Good girl Kitty.  You know how much 
obliged I am to you."
	"Sure," she answered feeling a little sick to her stomach. 
	"Well, gotta go meet that nine o'clock stage.  See you later," he said 
with a wink.  Kitty watched him leave thinking how stupid she was to think 
she might be special to Dillon, "Sure." 

	Matt was back at her room not two hours later.  Kitty let him in, "Now 
what, she doesn't want the job?"
	"No, I just found out something.  I'm gonna need you to watch her for 
me when she's here," he said.  Something started to ping in Kitty's head that 
this girl meant trouble.  
	"What is it Matt?" she asked suddenly more concerned than she was 
jealous.   
	"I have a feeling she's in with the Tolliver gang.  I don't have 
anything more concrete than the description of a woman who does his front 
work.  It's just a little more than coincidence that she comes to town a day 
before I find out that this Tolliver is expected here.  I need you to keep tabs 
on her for me," Matt asked knowing that Kitty was one woman he could 
trust implicitly.  	
	"Sure Matt," she answered seriously.  Her eyes met his, "Is this 
Tolliver real bad?"
	"Yeah, real bad," he answered and patted her arm before he went over 
to get Cara.
	
	Matt escorted Cara across Front Street to the Long Branch.  Now that 
he was fairly certain who she was, he didn't feel the same way about her.  
He was seething with contempt for her and the way she thought she could 
use him, but he was certain that he'd put Cara in precisely the right hands.  
Kitty Russell wasn't a naïve woman or an overzealous male trying to win 
Cara's affection.  She was a woman of the world and could spot a fraud 
quite a ways off.  She was also a good friend to Dillon and would do what he 
wanted her to.  As the reached the Long Branch Dillon spotted Kitty 
standing next to the stairs.  She'd made certain to put on one of her most 
flagrant saloon girl outfits down to the lace up boots and the fishnet 
stockings.  It gave her the precise quality she wanted to portray.  She wasn't 
some push over Cara could bat her eyes at and tell her sad story to.  They 
met Kitty at the stairs, "Well Cara you still want the job?" 
	Cara could tell right off what Kitty was trying to say, she shot back, 
"I'm not a country girl.  I know what to expect."
	"I'm sure you do," Kitty answered.  "Come on I'll show you your 
room."
	Cara turned to Matt with a smile and took her valise, "Thank you 
Matt."
	Dillon watched the two women leave until Chester Goode came up 
behind him.  "Find out anything Mr. Dillon?"
	"Yeah, she wants a week to line things up for Tolliver."  
"Oh, how did you figure that?"
	"Told her I was going out of town on business.  She asked me to put it 
off.  It'd be real convenient if I was gone when Tolliver moved in," he 
confided.  
	Chester felt sorry for Dillon, "It's kind of bad for you ain't it knowing 
what she used to be like and what she's doing now."
	"I've got a way to ease that Chester."  
	"Oh how."
	"I just keep thinking of all the men Tolliver shot down," he said a 
hard glint in his eye.  

	Later that night, he stopped in the Long Branch.  He wanted to check 
on Cara to see how she was doing with her new job.  Kitty was busy holding 
down one of the corner tables and eyeing the newest blonde on duty with 
pure dislike.  Dillon came up to her, "Hi Kitty how's tricks?"
	"If you mean how's your girlfriend she's just fine.  I won't make a 
dime tonight the way she's going," she groused.  Dillon pulled the seat back 
and sat down next to her.  He patted her knee, "I don't think you'll have 
competition for very long.  Think of it as a vacation."
	"Yeah right, just like when Chester tries to give you a day off.  You 
know how that works.  Matt, she's nothing but trouble.  How did you 
ever…?" she cut off as Cara sidled over. 
	"Matt, come to see me?" she asked with a glance at Kitty to tell her 
hands off.  
Kitty would have pounced but Matt stopped her, "No, just came to 
talk to Kitty.  But, are you doing all right?" 
The little bombshell sidetracked Cara precisely two seconds.  She 
recovered quickly enough, "Pretty good.  Saloon life isn't the worst life 
there is."
"Good, well, Kitty here was just saying that you're getting along 
really well.  I'm sure if you have any problems you can come to her," Dillon 
hinted.  Kitty smiled sweetly even though Matt had to nudge her leg with his 
knee to get her to, "I'm sure Cara and I will be good friends.  We have a lot 
in common after all."
Dillon watched the two women and the possibility that if Kitty got too 
riled up he wouldn't have to worry about Cara leaving town.  Cara'd be up 
on Boot Hill after Kitty got done with her.  Fairly assured that he had 
nothing to worry about with Kitty looking after things, he smiled at the two 
women, "Well, I have to go on rounds.  See ya later Cara, Kitty."
Cara and Kitty watched him leave.  Cara turned to the redhead. "He 
always has liked blondes best," she quipped and walked off.  
Kitty snorted, "Well, things do change."
	
By the third night Kitty had had enough.  When Dillon showed up 
after hours behind the Long Branch to talk to her she told him so, "Matt 
what are you hoping she'll do?  So far she has all the so-called respectable 
men wrapped around her little finger.  Everyone but you, Doc, and Chester 
fall all over themselves trying to buy her drinks or help out the poor waif."
She was obviously not impressed and pulled the shawl closer around 
her.  These pre-dawn meetings with Matt were getting tiring.  She was 
supposed to be asleep not out on official business for the law.  Matt shushed 
her, "You'll wake her up if you're not careful."
"She's sound asleep.  Besides she's on the other side of the building."
Dillon nodded grasped Kitty by the shoulders, "Look, just stick with 
me a little longer.  I know it's crazy, but she's the link in the chain we need 
to get Tolliver.  Any new men in that you didn't recognize or paid a lot of 
attention to her?"
"No," Kitty answered like she did every night.  "And no she went to 
bed alone.  She sleeps alone, she eats alone, and she works all night to make 
a hell of a lot of money.  Why Olive and I can't get an even break with her 
in the place."
Matt grinned, stuck his thumbs in his gun belt proudly, "She's really 
good eh?"
"What the hell, do you want her for your girl or what?" Kitty 
complained and started to go back inside.  Dillon grabbed her before she got 
inside, "Wait."
"For what!" she demanded not able to hide the hurt she felt in her 
voice. 
"You don't think I'm still interested in her do you?" he asked. 
Russell's eyes found his in the low light, "Aren't you?  Isn't that the 
reason you hopped over there the minute Doc told you she was hurt and 
asking for you?  Really Matt, a girl can only take so much."
Matt tried hard not to laugh.  He knew how Kitty felt about him.  It 
wasn't hard to figure out.  She'd told him up front about it a time or two, 
albeit in slightly more intoxicated moments, but she hadn't recanted her 
stories later.  He'd not really pressed her about her feelings.  He felt the 
same way about her, but he hadn't wanted to tell her so.  He'd not wanted to 
fall for her at all.  But, it was as if he couldn't help it.  With a sigh, he pulled 
Kitty back toward him, "Hey, look, Cara's in the past.  I told you that.  I only want to get Tolliver, that's all."
"You sure?" Kitty asked then tried to cover it up, "I just don't want to 
see you in any danger." 
"You won't be.  Believe me, you're helping me a lot.  You'd better 
get to bed," he said noticing how tired she looked. 
"Yeah well if a particular marshal wouldn't keep dragging me out of 
bed while I'm trying to get my beauty sleep I'd do much better," she shot 
back then thought better of it, "I'll see you tomorrow night."
"All right, tomorrow night.  And, you don't need any beauty sleep," 
he said before they parted for the evening.  Kitty smiled as she headed up the 
back stairs.  

In the bright light of day, Cara was just as much a conniving snake as 
she was at night.  However there was one difference.  Snakes didn't 
purposely set out to bleed people dry or strike only certain people.  Snakes 
only struck for food or in self-defense.  Cara struck in sheer delight.  Kitty 
could almost see the wheels of schemes roll in her blonde curls.  It made her 
sick every time the woman got near her.  But Matt needed her to watch her 
and watch her she did.  
Cara sat in her best traveling outfit.  It was time to move.  It was a 
week and Tolliver would be in town that night.  She'd come up with a sure 
fire scheme to get Dillon out of town.  She knew that he'd been on her trail 
the entire time.  She knew that he talked to Kitty right before dawn after the 
first day.  She'd let them think she was oblivious to it all.  She had made a 
pretty little penny for herself and ended up sucking the other girl's dry for a 
week.  That gave her a little satisfaction.  If Dillon thought he was hiding the 
fact that he had it bad for the redhead he was wrong.  She could spot the heat 
between them the second Dillon mentioned she'd be able to keep her 
company before she even got to the Long Branch. Above her she could hear 
Kitty talking to Olive as they walked, "I'm going to the general store.  Do 
you need anything?"
"No, couldn't afford it if I did want something," she muttered.  
"I know what you mean," Kitty grumbled and headed down to where 
Cara was waiting.  
"Kitty I don't suppose you have twenty dollars I can borrow do you?" 
she asked sweetly.  Kitty popped one eyebrow up with her reply, "No, I'm 
afraid I don't."
"Oh, but I really do have to have the money.  You and Matt are the 
only friends I have in town and well, I hate to ask him for the money, but it 
is urgent," she said as convincingly as possible.  Kitty sighed, "Sure, I'm 
going that way, do you want me to ask him for it?"
"Would you?  I really feel so pesky asking him for it," she answered 
her mind adding another chink to her mental gun.  
"Certainly.  I'll be back," Kitty said and practically stormed out the 
Long Branch and down to the marshal's office.  Cara smiled knowing she'd 
just pulled one over the woman Matt considered to be her equal.  Kitty 
wasn't a match for her at all.  

Dillon and Chester were standing out on the porch talking as Kitty 
strode up to them under a full head of steam.  "You got twenty dollars?" she 
interrupted.  Dillon turned from where he was leaning to look at her, "Well I 
might have why?"
Without preamble Kitty held out her hand, "Well, let me have it."
"Now wait a minute.  Most people put a little honey in their voice 
when they're asking for a loan," he said with a wink at Chester.  Kitty 
wasn't phased, "It's not for me.  It's for Cara.  Well you told me to look 
after her."
Dillon dug the two ten dollar coin pieces out of his pocket, "Did she 
say what she wanted it for?"
Kitty replied, "I didn't ask.  When I said I didn't have it she 
practically said outright I could get it from you."
"I see," he figured.  
"Well she couldn't be broke, not the way she's been working," 
Chester pointed out.   He was right.  Cara didn't need the money, at least not 
for anything Dillon could think of.  
"Well I'll say one thing.  I've known some pretty tricky women in my 
time but your friend Cara has them all beat," Kitty spat out and headed back 
to give precious Cara her twenty dollars.  It galled her to hand it to her, but 
she did it anyway.  
"Matt doesn't have a lot of money to throw around you know," Kitty 
said with a cold smile. 
"Why did he complain?" Cara asked and pocketed the money. 
"No, he handed it over, just make sure you remember where you got 
it," Kitty warned and headed to the general store.  

Cara watched Dillon and Chester run for the train and smiled.  She 
was already packed up she just needed to get out of there.  Heading over to 
Moss Grimmick's she arranged for a horse and went to change into more 
appropriate riding clothes.  Matt was well on his way to Topeka and Jack 
was waiting five miles outside town.  

"I guess that's the end of the Tolliver gang Mr. Dillon," Chester said 
as the bodies of Cara and Jack lay in the street.  
"It's the end of a lot of things Chester.  A lot of things," he said and 
walked away to leave Chester to take care of the dead.  He had someone 
more important to talk to.  
It was nearly three in the morning and Matt knew that the Long 
Branch had closed up a little early.   Heading up the back stairs, he pulled 
out the skeleton key he had to check the businesses with and let himself in.  
A second key, kept separate and always in the bottom of his vest pocket 
would open Kitty's door if he had to get in.  Coming to number six, he 
knocked lightly.  He could hear her grumble as he stood waiting in the dark 
hallway.  She shuffled over to the door, "Who is it?"
"Matt," he said quietly. He could almost hear her warring with herself 
to either open the door or keep it locked.  She opened it, "What?"
"It's over," he said without a smile.
"What do you mean, it's over?" she asked tight-lipped and narrow 
eyed.
"Tolliver and his gang.  They're dead in the street.  Chester's taking 
care of them now.  I thought you'd like to know," he said wondering why 
she wasn't more pleased. 
"So you woke me up to tell me you killed the bad guys.  All right, can 
I go back to sleep now?"
"Wait, don't you want to hear it all?" he asked putting a hand against 
the door to keep her from slamming it shut. 
"Not particularly," she replied not letting his strength get the upper 
hand.  She held the door taut against his hand. 
"Cara's dead too," Dillon said quickly.  The door swung back easily.  
With a sigh she nodded him in, "Come on in."
Removing his hat, he ducked through the door.  Kitty lit a lamp.  "Do 
you want a drink?" she asked.  She had a private stash of brandy for her own 
indulgence in her foundations drawer.  
"If you've got one," Dillon said appreciatively.  Pulling out two 
snifters, Kitty poured him a good two fingers worth.  Dillon had learned not 
to swig her brandy.  It was to be savored and he did just that.  She watched 
him appreciatively.  She'd shown him the proper way to drink fine liquor in 
Wichita.  He nodded, "Pretty good."
She chuckled despite the fact that she was trying to be casual with 
him.  She couldn't keep the act up, and she frowned, "So Cara's dead, 
how?"
Dillon watched the brandy swirl around in the glass, "Tolliver shot her 
in the back.  She was certain he wouldn't, but he did."
"Pretty bad when you believe in a man so much and then he turns on 
you," she said softly gathering the nightgown around her to sit cross-legged 
on the bed.  She'd stopped being ladylike with Dillon a long time ago.  He 
was one of the few men she didn't care what she looked like when he saw 
her, and he'd seen her in just about every way she could be seen.  
"Is that what happened with you?" Dillon asked.  
She took it to mean the reason she became a saloon girl, "Yeah I 
guess.  Doesn't matter much now though."
"It does to me," he said watching her.  
She was a little confused, "Why?"
"Kitty, when a man knows he needs something, he has a tendency to 
just grab for it.  But some things he can't have just by grabbing.  Some 
things he has to ask first.  I'm asking," he said which confused her even 
more.  
"Matt, I think either you're not telling me something or I'm falling 
asleep through part of the conversation and missin' it."
He sighed, downed the rest of the brandy, "Kitty, you deserve a lot 
more than I can ever give you.  In fact I can't give you anything but 
heartache." 
Kitty cast a sidelong glance at Dillon trying to understand what he 
was saying.  "Matt, are you trying to ask me to be your girl?" 
Not looking at her he nodded, "Yeah, that's what I'm asking.  Cara 
made me realize what's been missing."
"Don't you think it'd be better if you got some nice respectable girl 
for a sweetheart?" she asked her heart leaping at the thought that he wanted 
her and sinking at what the town would think. 
"I want a woman who can take care of herself.  I want a woman I can 
trust.  I want a woman that I can be mighty proud of.  You're the only one 
for the job," he answered quietly.  "But I have to be honest with you.  As 
long as I wear this badge I'll never marry, and what I want from you 
respectable people wouldn't approve of anyway."
Kitty listened to Dillon hash his way through some kind of proposal of 
some sort till she didn't think she could stand it anymore.  Getting up, she 
headed over to her bureau where he was leaning.  Matt looked up at her with 
as honest an expression as she'd ever seen.  She nodded her head, smiled, 
and kissed him passionately.  Kitty's body was small and lithe and felt so 
good in Dillon's arms he thought he'd break her in two.  But she didn't 
break; she bent in all the right places.  Dillon had never really met his match 
till he found her.  All the other women had been nice diversions, but Kitty 
had completely knocked him off guard.  It had taken an old girlfriend's 
death to make him realize who she really was to him.  Without another 
word, he waited for her to unbutton his shirt and tug the hem out of the 
pants.  Removing the gun belt he bent down to take off the boots when she 
stopped him.  She wanted to do that as a token of a woman to her man.  
That's what she was now.  She was the marshal's woman and would do 
anything to keep him there.  Kitty Russell smiled brightly and laughed when 
he gathered her in his arms to take to bed.  She finally got what she stayed in 
Dodge for, the love of a man bigger than life itself.