The Return of Wildcat Kitty and the Cyclone Kid

by Franklin D. Lincoln

The crowd’s cheering reached its highest pitch as the brass band passed by the hotel and the town square. The governor’s carriage rolled into the widened street. A fixed plastic smile was on Governor Hugh Stanton’s face, displaying his mouth full of large pearly teeth, which obviously had the best dental care that money could buy.

  His jaw was beginning to ache from the prolonged smile, for the length of Main Street was very long and he had been maintaining his smile for quite some time. As many times as he made these appearances, the smiling still became a chore for the normally dour politician.

  He waved both hands to his welcoming constituents as he rode along. He waved with his left to the crowd along the left side of the street, dropping it, turning to his right and waving to that side of the street. Occasionally, he would try to stand and take a bow, but would immediately be coached by Matt Starr, who was sitting across from him and riding backward in the front seat, to resume a sitting position for the sake of security.

  From his perch, kneeling on the floor before the window of his hotel room, Kip Dalton watched patiently for the governor’s entourage to roll to a halt in the middle of the street, near the town square. The lace curtains on each side of the double hung window moved ever so slightly from the faint remnant of a breeze that filtered through the bottom window that had been raised open an inch or two above the sill to accommodate the diameter of his rifle barrel.

  Kip was feeling cool and relaxed. He had gone over the scenario a million times in his mind. As the governor’s carriage came to a halt, he would wait for Matt Starr to disembark, thereby signaling Stanton to stand up in the carriage, readying the governor for his own disembarkation.

  Although Starr would want Stanton to step down immediately, Kip knew that the governor couldn’t resist hailing the crowd from a standing position and taking bows to keep the adulation coming. As he stood there, displaying himself prominently, Kip would slide the muzzle of his rifle into the open window space, line his sights on the broad expanse of the politician’s chest, pull the trigger and end Stanton’s budding career, forever. It would be that easy. He waited, trying to hold back the ebb and surge of excitement that was beginning to flow through his veins.

  As Matt Starr stepped from the vehicle, Kip slipped the end of his rifle barrel, ever so slightly into the window opening. He lined up his sights to zero in on where Stanton’s body would be as he stood. He took up the slack on the trigger as he waited. A slight half ounce of pressure and the weapon would roar, sending its deadly missile of death into Stanton’s chest.

  Stanton started to rise. Kip’s pulse quickened a beat. His finger was about to tighten on the trigger, when the rapping came at his door and he heard Kitty’s voice. That moment of distraction caused him to pull back and look behind him. His trigger finger relaxed slightly and some of the slack returned.

  Damn! Not now, he thought to himself. His concentration had broken and he couldn’t believe his ears. “Kitty,” he muttered to himself, wondering how this could be. How did she know he was here? Did she know what he was about to do? Yes. Of course she did. But, how? It didn’t matter how!

  He had been distracted only a split second. He turned back to the window, his weapon still ready, but it was already too late. The governor was just now stepping down from the carriage and his body was soon engulfed in the crowd. He could still see Stanton’s white hair bobbing above the crowd from time to time and could see him moving toward the podium in front of the town hall and meeting the town’s welcoming dignitaries, but he could no longer get a clear shot at him. Too bad he wasn’t after Simon Price, he thought, for the fat banker was standing next to the podium displaying himself prominently. It would have been a great shot.

  For now, he would have to wait until Stanton was at the podium before he could take his shot.

  “Open up, Kip!” Kitty’s voice came to him again.

  He turned gaping at the door. Sweat had beaded on his brow and started to drip down the side of his face. A lock of his dark hair, matted with sweat, and drooped over his forehead.

  His normally twinkling eyes had sunk into his skull and his cheeks were taught. He looked a bit disheveled as he swung the door open to see Kitty Carlin standing there with her pistol in hand and aimed straight at his chest. He could see the anger and sorrow in her face. Almost as if facing the greatest danger he had ever experienced, he stepped back warily from the doorway.

  Kitty slipped inside, shoving the door shut behind her with her back and leaning against it for support. She felt her entire being shaking within her but she was standing rock solid, holding her weapon steady without a quiver or tremble in her hand.

  “I can’t..........I mean I won’t let you do this Kip,” Kitty warned. Her own voice sounded far away to her. This whole thing was unreal, yet here she was and she stood her ground.

  “You know?” Kip asked, backing up another half step.

  “Don’t move!” Kitty warned him. She moved the muzzle of her weapon higher. He stared into the gaping bore.

  “How could you?” Kitty asked, almost as if pleading. “After all you’ve done to help us. You’re a good man. We all liked you. And I felt more than that. You played us all for fools. It was all an act.”

  “Kitty. Just listen to me,” Kip said nervously. “In the beginning it was just an act, but that changed. I liked Cyclone and the others and felt more than that for you too. You’ve got to believe me.”

  “No, I don’t,” Kitty said evenly. “I don’t have to do anything but stop you from doing what you came here to do.”

  “I can’t let you do that, Kitty. I’ve got a job to do and I have to finish it. That’s just the way I am.”

  “And you’re doing this job for who? Simon Price? But why?”

  “Price has connections in Washington. He’s hoping that with Stanton out of the way, the president will appoint him territorial governor. Besides, Price and Stanton have been chummy on too many crooked deals. Stanton has been squeezing Price and Price wants that arrangement terminated.”

  “So, you’ve been working for Price all this time,” Kitty said.

  “I’m afraid so Kitty,” Kip said. “It started with the silver hijacking and then it grew into this. Buying that ranch from Price was just a cover to explain my being here. I didn’t expect to find you and the others there. It all just sort of happened.”

  “So, you didn’t just get all of the information about the silver shipment from Flo Baxter, then. You knew what was going down all along.”

  “I’m afraid so, Kitty. But I saw a chance to help you and get the silver for myself by double crossing Price. The lowdown scum that he is, deserved it.”

  “If you could double cross Price, why do you think you still have to go through with this other job for him?”

  “Because, he already paid me.”

  “But if you just walked away with the money, wouldn’t that be the same as getting away with the silver?”

  “You don’t understand, Kitty. It’s not the same thing. I made a bargain. It’s a matter of honor.”

  “Honor? Murdering is honor?”

  “It’s not murder, Kitty. What’s one politician worth anyhow? Nothing! The world is better off without him. And someday, Simon Price will go the same way. You want that don’t you? I’ll take him out today, along with Stanton, if you want. All your problems will be over.”

  “Oh Kip. You just don’t get it do you?” Kitty said.

  He stared at her blankly.

  “One more thing, I want to know,” Kitty said. “When you shot Sam Bell, it wasn’t just to save Grampa, was it?’

  Kip grimaced and said sheepishly, “No.”

  Even though she already knew the answer, Kitty’s knees nearly buckled beneath her, but the door held her up. She had known the answer all along, but she didn’t really want to hear it. It was still a shock to hear the truth verified.

  “No,” Kip repeated. “I didn’t. She recognized me. I could see it in her eyes and I heard it in her voice. She wan
ted to kill me. She knew who I was... or rather she knew what I was, and I couldn’t risk her giving me away, so I shot her.”

  “Oh, Kip,” Kitty moaned. She felt like crying but the tears didn’t come.

  “I’m really sorry about that, Kitty,” Kip said, seeing the utter devastation in Kitty’s eyes. “When I saw how much it hurt Cy, I hated myself for it. I really got to like that old man. I‘ve never felt so sorry about anything in my whole life as I did that night. If you get a chance, please tell him how sorry I was.”

  “You can tell him yourself, Kip,” Kitty said. “Forget this business and ride out of here with me.”

  “Can’t do that, Kitty,” Kip said flatly.

  Behind him through the open window he could hear Governor Stanton making his speech. The crowd clapped and cheered occasionally, punctuating his oratory as he made his points.

  “I wish things could be different, Kitty,” he said. “But they can’t, it’s too late for me. And now I’ve got to get to work before Stanton finishes his speech.” He turned his back and started across the room to the window where he had left his rifle waiting.

  “Don’t do it!” Kitty raised her voice, trying to sound menacing, but she could only hear the whimper inside her. “Don’t make me stop you!”

  Kip kept moving away. “You do what you have to, Kitty,” he said resolutely. “And I’ll do what I have to.”

  Kitty raised her pistol, aiming at the middle of Kip’s broad back. Her finger tightened on the trigger and she fought to keep herself from closing her eyes while releasing the bullet. Somehow, the weapon seemed frozen in her hand and she couldn’t even muster the half ounce of pressure on the trigger.

  With pistol still in hand, she shoved herself across the room, lunging at Kip’s shoulders as he started to bend down at the window. All of a sudden, she had her arms wrapped, in a death grip, around his neck. They both fell forward into the window.

  The glass burst into hundreds of shards. The window casing, taking the brunt of the weight of both bodies, splintered and flew outwards. As one body, the two of them fell, entangled in each other, through the opening.

  Chapter Twenty Six