The Jack of Diamonds could mean only one thing, or specifically, one person: Dandy Jim Butler.
Kitty spun around in her chair, standing at the same time. Her face was flushed and her hair streamed behind her with the sudden movement. He was standing there in an unbelievable blur of black and white towering above her. Her arms lashed out automatically, wrapping around his neck and she buried her faced in his neck, hugging tightly as if she would never let him go.
He was responding spontaneously, stroking her hair tenderly, holding her just as tight. Seconds dragged on and then they kissed.
“It’s gonna take a heap of time to grow that girl up,” Cyclone groaned from the other side of the table.
Chief Henry gave him that knowing glance of agreement and Rap said, “Lawdy. Lawdy. They just keep poppin’ up all over the place.”
They were still in embrace when Kitty suddenly realized what was happening. A flitting thought of Kit Dalton flashed through her brain. She broke away and pulled back. She reached up and pushed a lock of hair back. For a moment she felt flustered and overjoyed all at the same time.
“Oh, Jim,” she said, a little breathless. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“You too Kitty,” he said still smiling. “When I saw you here, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to come over and say hello.”
He waved at the others at the table. “Hello fellas.”
He got half-hearted waves back.
“I see they still like me,” Jim said.
“Takes them awhile to warm up.”
“Where’s Jeremy?”
“We’re going to meet up with him later. It’s a long story. What brings you here?”
“I’m looking for a man.”
“You’re not taking up bounty hunting are you?” Kitty jeered.
“No, Of course not.” Jim smiled. “This man is my cousin. It’s important that I catch up to him before he gets himself into something I can’t help him out of.”
“You think he’s somewhere’s around here?” Kitty asked.
“A man answering his description was seen gambling here a couple of weeks ago. He met with Simon Price. I’m afraid Price has hired him to kill the governor. I’ve got to stop him before it’s too late. I think he’s already tried it three times. Matt Starr’s been guarding the governor.”
“Matt?” Kitty’s heart leaped in her throat at his name. It had been so long since she had seen him. Then to herself, she told herself she didn’t care anymore. Then she said, “Have...have you seen Matt?” She told herself she didn’t want to know, but she did.
“No, Kitty,” Jim said softly. “But he’s......” He thought better of it and chose not to tell her that Matt was marrying the governor’s daughter. “I hear tell, he’s fine.” Jim said.
“If Matt’s guarding the governor,” Kitty said. “Then he’ll probably be in Thimble Creek this afternoon. The governor will be there to rename Thimble Creek, Fortune City. They’re having a big celebration there, today, in honor of the occasion.
“Then Kip will probably be there too,” Jim muttered almost to himself.
Kitty’s eyes suddenly widened with surprise, “Kip!” She exclaimed.
“Yes, Kip Dalton,” Jim said, a bit bewildered. “The man I’ve been looking for. Don’t tell me you know him?” It was more a statement than a question.
Kitty’s body went rigid with cold. Jim’s words, “Kip. Kip Dalton,” echoed over and over in her brain. No. No. it couldn’t be. He wasn’t like that. He was a gentle, caring man. He might even be the one man she had been waiting for.
“Kitty. Kitty. Are you all right?”
Suddenly she was hearing Jim Butler’s voice. It was caring and gentle, also. Just like Kip’s. Of course. They were cousins and Kitty had seen much of the same qualities in Kip Dalton that she had seen in Jim Butler. Kip had been handy though. He had been close to her for days. Jim butler had been out of sight and out of mind for months. Was she just a silly girl that needed to grow up, after all? She would have been asking herself that, if the gravity of the revelation was not overtaking her entire being.
“Kitty. Kitty,” she heard Jim repeat; his gentle hands caressed her shoulders. He felt them tremble.
She came out of her shock and lifted her eyes to his. The tremble in her shoulders ceased. “I’m all right, Jim,” she said reolutely. “But, I’ve got business to take care of.”
“Somehow, I’m getting the feeling that you’re about to take care of my business.”
“No, Jim,” Kitty said stoically. “This has to be mine to take care of.” She pulled away from him.
“Grampa!” Kitty shouted, turning back to the table. “Finish up here and wait for me. I’ll be back.”
She ran out of the restaurant and down the street to her pinto. She mounted up, lifted the reins and gave her spurs to the pony’s sides. In a matter of seconds she had disappeared out of town in a cloud of dust.
The train spread out twenty two cars long. Jeremy tooled the wagon up behind the last car and crossed the tracks to be on the same side as the depot station. The big engine chugged at a leisurely idle, steam hissing occasionally from its brakes.
Stevedores and laborers were busy loading several cars up ahead as the wagon rocked unsteadily on the rutted path leading to the loading areas.
Even though the depot was almost a quarter of a mile away from town, the festivities could still be heard even above the sounds of the train and the hubbub of hustle and bustle of loading freight and passengers. The bass sound of the town brass band, heralding the governor’s arrival was a monotonous din at this distance.
“Never saw a train so big and so up close before,” Jeremy commented as he snaked the whip behind the left lead horse’s ear, to prod him on over the uneven ground. “We never had the railroad here until now.”
“Get used to it, kid,” Kip Dalton said, grinning as he sat beside him on the wagon bench. “With your share of the silver, you and your sister will be riding trains like this to Missouri and anywhere else you want to go.”
“We’re only keeping enough to go see our mother and see that she’s taken care of.”
“There’s the Beatties’ share,too.” Kip said. “They won’t be needing it.”
“No. No,” Jeremy said. “Kitty wouldn’t want that.”
“She didn’t say so,” Kip retorted.
“She just didn’t get a chance to,” Jeremy said. “Everything was happening so fast, she just didn’t think about it. But, I’m sure she wouldn’t want it.”
“So what do we do with it?” Kip asked. There was a little irritation in his voice.
“Send it on to the Denver Mint with the rest of the silver,” Jeremy said.
The depot station was looming in front of them already.
“If that’s the way Kitty wants it. That’s the way it’ll be.” Kip’s shoulders sagged and he brooded.
The pinto’s fore legs stretched out reaching forward at full stride. His hind legs pushed back in unison, digging iron shoes deep into the turf; tossing clods of grass high about his fetlocks as he thrust forward.
Again and again the fore legs stretched out. Again and again the hind legs pushed forward. Stride after stride all four legs were pounding over the landscape in a constant blur of thundering hoofs, carrying the rider at breakneck speed.
Wildcat Kitty leaned forward in the saddle, half standing in the stirrups, her bottom barely touching the saddle beneath her. Her booted feet constantly pelted the flanks of the pinto, urging him on, occasionally raking him with her spurs to urge the maximum speed from him. With wide lashes she slapped the excess length of her reins back and forth, whipping the pony across both sides of its neck.
Landscape flew by in a blur. The tears in her eyes caught the bright afternoon sun and blurred her vision even more. She just kept pushing her horse forward in the direction she needed to go.
All she could see was bits and pieces in her mind’s eye.
There was Kip Dalton on his magnificent blac
k stallion, Sabre, on a high ridge, appearing from out of nowhere, silhouetted against a bright blue sky, riding to the rescue that first day she had seen him. There was Kip Dalton with his big black horse rearing and bowing. There was Kip Dalton waving victory before riding of into the distance. There was Kip Dalton fighting every step of the way as they rescued Frankie the Kid and his friends. There was Kip and Kitty at the corral in the early morning light and coffee cups dropped in the dust. There was Kip and Kitty on the trail day after day and nights around the campfire.
And there was Kip Dalton shooting Sam Bell. A more quiet and pensive Kip Dalton became more aloof as plans went into action and things changed.
Mile after mile, the pinto ran on. Lather built up on his chest and flanks, but the horse had heart and never faltered as he responded to his rider’s demands.
“That ought to do it,” Kip said as he strolled back to the wagon where Jeremy still waited while the paper work was taken care of. Kip was folding the manifest up and tucking it in his breast pocket under his buckskin jacket. The entire load of silver had been loaded for shipment except for four cases that had been left in the wagon for Kitty.
“Good.” Jeremy said. “I’ll be glad to get away from here before anybody recognizes me.”
“With everybody turning out for the governor in town today and with the depot way out here. There shouldn’t be any chance of that,” Kip said.
“Anyways, I’ll be glad to get moving,” Jeremy said.
Kip walked around behind the wagon where Sabre was tethered. “Alright, You get moving. I’ve got some business in town, I’ll catch up later.” He untied the big black and swung into the saddle.
He rode up beside Jeremy and stretched out his arm, offering his hand. He smiled broadly. “Take care, Jeremy,” he said. There was a touch of regret in his tone.
Jeremy started to smile, but then, a cold chill swept over him that he couldn’t explain. “Of course,” he said. He suddenly felt as if something was wrong. “See you down the trail.” Jeremy felt like his own words were echoing in his head.
“Yeah, kid,” Kip said. “See you down the trail.” He turned Sabre to go. Then he turned back and said, “Tell Kitty.......” He seemed to stammer. “Tell Kitty that…..” He shook his head as if in defeat. “Never mind,” he said. He neck reined Sabre, tapped his heels to the horse’s sides and rode off toward town.
Onward and onward, the pinto chewed up the miles. The rushing air in Wildcat Kitty’s face had dried her tears and dust had caked into the streaks that were now painted the length of her cheeks. The beautiful thoughts had dried up with the tears. No longer could she hold on to a dream. No longer could she shed tears.
Jeremy was almost a quarter of a mile away from the railroad depot when he saw the rider heading, hell bent for leather, toward him. Had he been expecting Kitty, he might have recognized her earlier, but she was almost upon him when he first identified the pinto.
He pulled on the reins, drawing his teams to a halt as Kitty rode up bringing her pinto to a sliding stop beside him. The pinto’s breathing was labored and hard. Jeremy had never seen Kitty push a horse to such extremes. He knew immediately that something was wrong.
“Where’s Kip?” Kitty demanded breathlessly, looking over the almost empty wagon.
“He said he had business in town. Said he’d catch up.”
“Did you get the silver shipped?” Kitty asked.
“Yeah. Except what we kept.”
“Sent it to Denver? Right?” There was suspicion in her voice.
“That’s what you said isn’t it?”
“But is that where it’s going?”
“I guess so. Kip took care of it.”
“Do you have the paper work?”
“No. Kip’s got it.”
Kitty nodded knowingly to herself.
“Something wrong, Kitty?”
“You go on back to Hunter’s Corners. Tell Grampa to stay put until I get back.” She backed the pinto away from the wagon to make room to get around it.
“Kitty,” Jeremy said. “There was something strange about Kip. He acted kind of sad and sorry. He wanted me to tell you something. Then he said never mind.”
Kitty nodded, lifted the reins and headed the pinto toward town.
Chapter Twenty Four
The Return of Wildcat Kitty and the Cyclone Kid Page 31