Fish and Tell

	The shotgun blast knocked him off the horse to go rolling along Front Street.  Blood poured out of the wound to mingle with the muck.  He knew it was the end.  Footsteps ran up, someone rolled him over, and as the darkness took him he could hear a voice calling, “Matt…”
	With his last breath he answered, “Kitty…”

	“Hey, wake up!” 
	Dillon opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times.  Kitty Russell stood over him prodding his leg with her bare foot.  It took him a second, but then he realized where he was.  He’d agreed to bring Kitty fishing and they were at Miller’s pond.  He’d fallen asleep under the tree.  “What’s the matter?” she asked looking at him oddly. 
	“Did you call to me?”
	“Yeah and you answered,” she said and held out her string of fish.  There were several good sized catfish hooked on it.  “How many have you caught?” 
	“Uh…” he said realizing he hadn’t even bothered baiting the hook.  He’d had a long day and an even longer night before that and had fallen asleep as soon as he sat down.  Kitty had gone off by herself to prove that she could not only bait her own hook but could take her own fish off too.  
	“I know, you were throwing them back for the big ones right?” Kitty supplied knowing full well he’d gotten roped into taking her by Doc and Chester to get the doins’ for their fry they planned for supper.   
	“Yeah, right,” he accepted as a good excuse. 
	She laughed, “Did you get any rest?  You looked kinda funny when I woke you up?”
	“It was nothing.  Just a dream,” Matt said trying to shake the feeling out of him.  It was a warm spring day with no breeze, yet he was suddenly cold.  Kitty looked completely different than she did in Dodge.  She glowed out in the sunlight with her hair tied back loosely and wearing a pair of pants and a tucked-in gingham shirt.  He couldn’t help but admire her.  She noticed it, “What are you looking at?”
	“Your fish,” he lied.  She let it slide.  “How about this:  I keep catching them if you clean them all?”
	Matt nodded, “That’s a deal.  Looks like you’re better to have along than Chester.  He usually spends most of his time trying to keep from falling in.”
	“Really?” she laughed.  “I guess he can’t help being a little clumsy.”
	“True, but sometimes he tries really, really hard.”
	Kitty turned to put the fish back in the water till they got done.  Matt leaned back with his hands tucked under his head watching her technique.  She deftly slipped a worm onto the hook, gave the pole a little side flip and with a good snap launched the hook into the air.  She grabbed her seat and howled, “Argh…”
	Matt couldn’t help but laugh.  She’d gotten the hook stuck right where it would do the worst damage.  He tried to breathe normally, it ended up coming out as a whooping crane type cough and Kitty wasn’t too happy.  She couldn’t see where the hook went but she wanted it out.  “MATT!”
	Getting up and staggering over rather drunkenly, Dillon couldn’t stop laughing, “Kitty, you caught the biggest one in the lake…”
	“You shut up and GET ME OFF THE HOOK!!!” she demanded red as a beet.  
	“Okay, just calm down, but whatever you do don’t sit down.  Come over to this log and bend over so I can see where it went.”
	“It’s in my ass that’s where it went,” she hissed but did as he told her.  
	As she stood bent over the log and Matt wiggled the barbed hook out of her backside, he couldn’t help but tell her, “There’s one good thing about this.”
	“What?”
	“I’d rather it be you than Chester,” he admitted slyly. Taking the hook completely out, he smacked her lightly where the wound was.  “That hurt?”
	“You know it does,” she tried to sound mad but really wasn’t.  Her screwed up face quickly turned into an earnest smile.  She laughed, “I guess it would look a little funny you having to get a hook out of Chester.”
	“A lot of things have looked funny between me and Chester,” Matt replied honestly but dropped the topic and Kitty didn’t pick it up.  She rubbed the wound and stood up.  “Thank you.”
	“You’re welcome.  How did you learn to fish anyway?” he asked curious to know. 
	She leaned back on the log tenderly.  The wound wasn’t going to be a problem.  That was good.  She didn’t want Doc to have to know about it.  “Say, you won’t tell Doc will you?”
	“About you knowing how to fish?” Matt asked.  
	“No about this wound.  It’s bad enough that you were here but to have Doc know about it…”
	He conceded, “Believe me, I understand.  The first wound he had to tend on me was in the same spot.  He stills rags me about it.”
	Kitty chuckled wickedly.  “So, I guess that makes us blood cousins huh?”
	“Something like that, but you didn’t tell me how you learned to fish,” he prodded. 
	“Oh, well, I wasn’t always the darling of the saloon you see before you.  I spent a lot of my pre-dawn years with the boys down at the Mississippi fishing.  I learned to spit, swear, whittle, fish, hunt crawdads, and handle snakes,” she boasted.  
	Matt was impressed.  He whistled, “Say, I will have to tote you along instead of Chester.  He’s scared of snakes.”
	“I didn’t say I liked them, I just know how to handle them both kinds those with legs and those without.  Since you’re up off your bed why don’t you help me with the fish?” Kitty suggested coyly.  He couldn’t seem to resist those blue topaz eyes.  
	Kitty went over to another fallen log that she was using as a dock of sorts.  Her boots were stashed in the limbs along with the rolled up socks.  Shinnying out till she could dangle her feet in the water, she reached for the pole and putting another worm on the hook that had just been in her pants, gave it a light toss into the water.  It floated on top waiting for a bite.  Matt stood a second, “Why don’t you use a weight?”
	“I don’t want to fish on the bottom.  I don’t want mudcats,” she said expertly.  
	“Oh, okay.  Well, if you need some I have some,” he offered and took up a spot fairly close to her.  Slipping a weight along the line and giving it a hard chomp to cinch it in place, he made sure to cast away from her.  He didn’t want to get tangled in her line.  It was nice to be a regular person for a while Matt decided.  He thought Kitty enjoyed it too.  They were both consumed in their work most of the time.  Kitty always seemed to be after more money.  Matt always had to maintain an air of dignity and respect.  But out here in the air and the sun they were just two normal people trying to catch enough to eat for supper.  That reminded him, “How many do you think we need to get?”
	“Well, Chester eats enough for three and you don’t exactly eat like a bird,” she figured, “at least a dozen.” 
	“Only a dozen?” Matt asked thinking that didn’t sound like much.
	“Well, Chester’s supposed to be out after crawdads too isn’t he?  Between that and the fish and the rest we should keep from starving at least for tonight,” she said amazed at the man’s appetite.  But, he was a big man who had big needs.  Not for the first time since she’d gotten to Dodge did she appreciate that fact.  She smiled a little.  
	“For tonight anyway,” Matt echoed.  
	It didn’t take Matt long to pull in a few large catfish too.  Kitty was impressed, “You’ve got a pretty good technique yourself you know.”
	He pushed the hat back on his head and squinted in the bright light, “That’s not the only thing I’m good at.”
	“Oh, it isn’t?  Well I hear a lot from a lot of men you know.  Until you can prove it it’s just a lot of hot air,” she challenged and gave him a look that nearly had her in his arms in a finger snap.  She was hard to resist.  He had to though.  With a shake of his head, he went back to the fishing.  Kitty realized she must have said something a little too forward.  It was a fault of hers.  He was quiet for a long time and it made Kitty feel bad.  “Sorry,” she said after a while.  
	“For what?” he asked confused at her sudden change in tone and disposition.  A frown marred the pale features and made her look much younger than she was. 
	“Whatever I said I just meant it as a joke.  I mean, you were teasing me and I just teased back,” Kitty explained a little downcast.  
	“Hey,” he replied and walked over to the tree to lean against it so he could look up at her.  “I didn’t mean to make you think you’d said something wrong.  I don’t normally joke around with women.  You’re really the first one I’ve ever done that with.  I guess I start thinking I should behave more like a gentleman instead of a school kid.” 
	Kitty couldn’t help but look at him.  He had the prettiest blue eyes.  The dark hair only made them stand out more.  They made her smile even though she was trying hard not to.  “I don’t know, I kind of like you as a school kid.  But I like you as a gentleman too.” 
	Matt nodded, “All right, maybe I should work on knowing when to be one and when to be the other.”
	“I think I’d like that,” she said almost shyly.  She felt like a girl who’d never been kissed let alone had sex.  It had been a very long time so long she almost didn’t recognize what the feelings were.  She had a crush on the marshal.  “Matt,” she said sweetly, “you ever gonna marry?”
	That was a rather forward question.  He was startled a little and stammered a bit, “Uh…” 
	“Sorry, me and my big mouth again.  Look, we can play twenty questions.  You ask me something just as embarrassing,” she offered.  
	“All right, when are you getting married?” he asked.  She shook her head, “I’m not the marrying kind.  Not that I don’t want that, but well, not many men can get past the line of work I’m in.”
	Matt patted her leg, “A good man won’t care, as long as he knows you’re his and his alone after he wants you.”
	She nodded, “But where can a girl find a good man?  They’re kind of few and far between.  At least I don’t see them very often.  Or are you volunteering for the job?”
	Dillon paused, man he’d like to.  “This badge means a lot Kitty, not only to me but to everyone it touches.  When I put it on I swore an oath to protect and serve with my life if necessary.  As far as I know it’s impossible to split a man in two so he can be with a family and a badge at the same time.  Any woman would deserve more than a gun and a tin badge at the end of the day.  I’m afraid that’s what any woman would get with me.  Does that make sense?”
	She shrugged, “Sure in some noble philosophical type of way.  Still you’re a man who has needs and wants and feelings.  Does a gun and a tin badge help with those at the end of the day?” 
	Matt couldn’t answer that, “I think we need more fish.”
	“Yeah, I think we need more fish,” Kitty agreed but leaned closer as if tempting him to kiss her.  He ruffled her hair instead, “Better get to it.”
	“I’ve still got more than you do,” Kitty challenged.  
	The afternoon wore on, the two poking at each other with friendly jabs.  Kitty was still ahead fish wise when Matt got his line tangled in the tree she was sitting on.  It was such a mess that he was gonna cut it, but Kitty insisted she could get to it.  It was in the roots but it was a big tree and she could hang over the side.  She slid out as far forward as she could and reached… but it was still just a little far out.  She’d have to stretch her entire body out to get to it.  
Matt warned, “Kitty it’s not important.  Just let me cut it and I’ll start over.”
“No, I’ll get it,” she said determined now even though she wasn’t sure how she was gonna do it.  Getting up on her knees she stretched until she was perched precariously over the water and the root ball.  One more inch and she’d have it.  The line tugged free and with a grin of triumph she started to turn to Matt.  It was enough to throw her off balance and into the water below.  The pond was only a few feet deep at that point, but it was enough to get her sopping wet.  Matt forgot about trying to stay dry and headed after her, “You okay?”
	“Yeah I’m fine,” she grouched.  She was fine, just a little embarrassed.  He held out a hand to help her up.  She took it gratefully.  The wet clothes clung to her every curve.  Matt couldn’t help enjoying the view.  He pushed some of the wet strands of hair out of her face, “Hey, you know, you’re kinda cute when you’re wet.”
	“What about when I’m dry?” she asked a little amazed.  
	“Dry, well… I guess you’re cute then too,” he reasoned.  
	“Good. Didn’t want to think that I’m wearing the wrong look for the fellas,” she said and tried to get some of the water out of her clothes.  The only way she was going to do it was to get the clothes off and at least wring them out.  Matt figured that and did the only thing a man could do.  He took his vest off and started to unbutton his shirt.  He handed it to her, “Here.  Don’t want you to freeze.”
	“It’s at least eighty degrees out here,” she shot back but took the shirt anyway.  Heading behind some bushes, she started stripping down to her underclothes.  She at least had underclothes on.  She had thought of going without cause it would be hot but had a horrible picture in her head of her pants ripping open when she bent over and trying to explain why she was fully exposed to Matt.  Wringing the pond water out of the clothes she pulled Matt’s shirt on.  He had to wear such long tailed shirts that it went almost to her knees.  Decently covered, she laid the clothes out in the sun to dry.  It wouldn’t take long.  “You look better in my shirt than I do,” he said with a smile.  She was beginning to suspect all the compliments.  
	“If I didn’t know better I’d swear you were lying to take advantage of me.”
	“Oh, they’re not lies,” he assured and just couldn’t resist.  His kiss took her by surprise, but she didn’t try to stop him.  She found her hands reaching around his neck.  He was so tall he had to bend a little awkwardly to reach her with her bare feet.  She stretched on her tiptoes to make it easier on him.  Kitty found herself being pulled off her feet to be suspended in mid air when he straightened up.  She didn’t weigh much and felt so nice in his arms.  Leona had never gotten to him the way Kitty did, and he didn’t even know Kitty that well.  He tried to make himself think of her as a sister, but you didn’t kiss your sister, not that way, and you didn’t have to swallow and pray she didn’t realize he was very aroused by her.  His prayer wasn’t answered though.  “I guess they’re not,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.  She wasn’t an educated woman with books or fancy schooling, but she knew a man when she felt it.  Matt Dillon was definitely a man and perhaps for the first time since she got over the silly notion of following Cole Yankton around the country to be his woman, Kitty felt stirrings that most saloon women didn’t even think they had anymore.  After all, she was supposed to be entertaining the men not enjoying it herself.  “Matt,” she breathed and the spell was broken.  He set her down. She slid down his torso and the action alone nearly made him explode.  “Kitty,” he gulped and pushed her away a little.  She stared at him confused.  “What’s wrong?”
	“I told you.  A badge and a woman don’t mix, and I don’t want to be just another man knocking on your door.  I’d rather be nothing than that,” he revealed.  Kitty tried to convince him, “Matt, believe me, you’d not be just another man knocking.  You’d be the only man knocking.”
	It didn’t matter.  Matt shook his head a little sadly, “I can’t do it.” 
	Kitty stopped trying to talk him into something that she didn’t even know if she wanted.  She’d stayed in Dodge months earlier because Matt had been kind to her.  At least that was what prompted her to stay after she got the money to leave.  So many times she hated Dodge City, Kansas.  When it rained it poured and was like a bog and when it was hot it killed.  Someone always seemed to be getting shot or stabbed or robbed or raped.  But a tall man with a boy’s smile and a kind hand always seemed to show up just when she needed to see him most and convince her she hadn’t made a mistake and Dodge wasn’t so bad after all.  She’d made other friends, Doc and Chester, and some of the townspeople even started to speak to her.  She wasn’t treated like a piece of trash like most of the girls were, and she knew it was mostly because Matt Dillon called her friend in private and in public as well.  She did know one thing.  If he ever changed his mind, she’d know what her answer would be, and it wouldn’t be no.