Work Text:
ATC for Tell Chester
This is for Big MommaT
"Matt?" Doc came shuffling into the freight office. "What…" He paused when he saw Wade lying on the floor, head on a feed sack and obviously dead. "What happened?"
"Didn't Chester tell you?" Matt asked as Doc knelt down by Wade to officially confirm his death.
"Chester?" Doc got back to his feet with a frown. "What's he got to do with this?"
"Well, wasn't he the one that came for you?" Matt asked.
"No, no, some cowboy came for me, said there was a shooting at the freight office. Matt, what's going on?" Doc looked confused but Matt no longer did.
"I'll tell you everything in a little bit, Doc." Matt answered. "But I need to get Wade taken care of first."
"Well, where is Chester?" Doc wanted to know.
"He had some news to deliver."
Polly had just taken a pie out of the oven and sat it proudly on the kitchen table when she heard a knock on the door. Knowing Wade wouldn't knock, Polly went to the door to find Chester standing there, a sad and contrite expression on his face. "Chester?" She looked out to see no one was with him. "Chester? What's wrong?"
"I…" Chester dropped his head. "I got somethin' to tell ya, Polly." He took a deep breath. He surely didn't want to do this, but he felt he had to. Polly would soon know that Wade was dead and that he had been the one to shoot him and he felt it best that he be the one to tell her.
"Well, come in." Polly opened the door wider and took his arm. "Wade's not home yet, but he will be soon. I just made an apple pie. Would you like a piece with a glass of milk?"
"No, Polly." Chester shook his head. "I…"
"Well, have a seat, Chester." Polly interrupted him. "Come on and get comfortable and when Wade gets here…"
"Wade's not coming, Polly." Chester's voice was a little louder than he intended for it to be and he lowered it. "Wade's not coming. He… he's dead, Polly."
"What?" Polly's stricken expression tore right through the Marshal's assistant and he wanted to turn and run but he didn't. He had to see this through.
"Wade's dead, Polly. I… he… we got into a scuffle over at the freight office and… and… he's dead. I guess… you could say that… that I shot him, Polly."
"NO!" Polly suddenly screamed. "No, Chester, no. Tell me you're lying. Please, tell me…"
Chester quickly grabbed both of her arms as she had begun to pummel his chest. "I'm sorry, Polly." His voice betrayed just how sorry he was. "I… I didn't intend for it to happen. Honest. I didn't want Wade dead. It… it was an accident is what it was. I never…"
Polly pulled herself away from him, brown eyes shooting daggers straight at his heart. "Why? Why did you kill my husband. Because I wouldn't choose you? Why, Chester? Why?"
Chester figured that if he told Polly everything about Wade's deception and the wife he'd left out there on the prairie to die that Polly might not hate him. But then again, he realized she just might because he would be the one to have brought her such unhappy news. And with that knowledge she'd most certainly hate Wade as well and Chester couldn't bear the thought of seeing the lovely girl filled with so much anger and bitterness.
"It… it was an accident, Polly." He dropped his head. "I didn't intend for it to happen. It just… it… it was an accident."
"Get out!" Polly suddenly pushed at Chester with all her strength. "Get out of my house and don't you ever come back. Do you hear me? GO!"
Chester nodded and turned for the door, pausing just at the threshold. "Polly? I truly didn't mean…"
"GO!" She screamed again, managing to keep from dissolving completely until Chester had left the house and the door was closed behind him.
The funeral was held a couple of days later, and Chester was conspicuously absent. He knew that he hadn't really done anything wrong and that Wade's death had been more Wade's doing than his but he still couldn't stand to see Polly with hate filled eyes as she stood over the casket of the man she loved but hadn't really known.
"Wonder how Chester's doing?" Doc murmured that evening as he, Matt and Kitty sat nursing drinks at a corner table of the Long Branch.
"He's beating himself up over something that's not his fault and worrying about a woman that hates him." Kitty answered glumly.
Both men glanced up her, understanding that she was protective of Chester and that she was upset and worried about him.
"I just wish, I knew the whole story." Matt sighed, taking a drink of his whiskey. "But Chester won't tell me. All he said before he went fishing was that it was between him and Wade."
"Well, he's being silly, you ask me." Doc grumbled. "If there's something he could tell Polly that would explain all of this, he ought to do it. That's all. He should just…" He stopped when his eye caught an unusual sight at the doors of the Long Branch. "Well, what the…"
Kitty followed his line of gaze and turned to see Polly slowly approaching the table, her arms clutched tightly to her middle, hands clasped together, holding something close. "Polly? Are you alright?" Kitty was alarmed at the paleness of her skin and the look on her face.
Polly didn't answer as she looked to Matt. "Marshal? Do you know where Chester is? Have you seen him?"
"Well, no," Matt answered as he quickly got to his feet and pushed his chair in her direction. "Uh, here, Polly, have a seat. And tell me why you want Chester." He didn't want Chester hurt any more than he already was by Polly and he was prepared to stop her if it that was her reason for being there.
"I got a visitor today, Marshal." Polly answered sadly as she unclenched her hands and produced a small picture frame. The picture was of Wade and a blonde woman. It was a wedding picture. Matt looked at the picture with a frown and then handed it to Kitty who swallowed hard when she saw it before handing it to Doc.
"That's Wade's wife." Polly said mournfully. "He was still married to her when he married me. His wife died right after our wedding and…" she paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Chester buried her for Wade. Wade made Chester keep quiet about her. He convinced him that it was to make me happy, but it was really to keep Wade happy. Oh, Marshal, I need to find Chester. I have to tell him…"
"Polly, how do you know all of this?" Kitty moved closer to the distraught young woman, ready to offer comfort if she'd accept it.
"A… an Indian woman came to the freight office to find Wade." Polly answered finally looking over at Kitty. "She… she gave me that picture and told me about Wade. She… said she wanted to give that back to Wade since he left before the woman died. There was a marriage license with that picture. That woman… She… She…" Polly collapsed into tears and Kitty instantly pulled her into a hug.
"Polly, come with me. I'm going to take you upstairs while Matt goes and finds Chester." Kitty got to her feet and looked pointedly over at the lawman, who nodded his agreement and turned for the doors.
"I'll be back." He said.
Two hours later, Matt, towing Chester along behind him, appeared in the hallway outside of Kitty's door. He found Chester down by the river, doing more thinking than fishing. "Kitty?" He questioned when she stepped out into the hallway with them. "Is Polly still here?"
Kitty nodded. "I put her in the room across the hall. She's lying down. She was pretty upset."
"Well, uh…" Chester spoke up. "Maybe I oughta just wait and…"
"I said she was lying down, but she's not asleep, Chester." Kitty stopped him with a hand on his arm. "She wants to see you."
Her expression let Chester to know that he couldn't back out. "Yes Ma'am." He softly answered as he slowly stepped over to the door and entered the room, hat in hand.
The room was dimly lit yet Chester could see Polly lying perfectly still on the bed, one arm flung across her forehead. He didn't want to do this but he knew he could no longer run from it either. If Polly wanted to tell him how horrible he was for killing Wade, then he needed to let her do it and get it done.
"Polly?" His voice was soft and low. "Miss… Miss Kitty said you wanted to see me."
Polly turned her head and then instantly got up, flinging herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. She uttered not a word and though Chester didn't know what was going on, he did know that she no longer hated him and his heart soared with the knowledge.
For several moments, the two remained as they were until Polly's sobs slowed to a whimper and then finally to a soft sniffling.
"You okay?" Chester asked, looking down at the girl he cared so much for.
"I will be." Polly answered. "As long as you continue to be my friend, I will be."
End.