Chapter 7:  To Grandfather’s House We Go

Time seemed to fly by quickly, and March was in progress.  Early Sun would be returning to her birth parents in the morning, so the Sully family was spending their last evening with her.  The girl was strong and healthy, and her parents were eager to take her back into their care.

The twins were a full half-year old, and they were growing stronger by the day.  They definitely had their own personalities.  They both had their father’s dark brown hair, but it was straight and soft like their mother’s.  Michaela was enjoying how much the boys were growing, though it saddened her a bit to know that soon they wouldn’t be completely dependent on her.  She wanted them to grow of course, but she knew that soon, they wouldn’t rely on her for everything.

Colleen was sitting on the floor in front of the fire with Early Sun in her lap.  She loved having a little girl around the house to play with, because it was just like having a sister.  She was sad that the nine-month-old would be going home to her parents in the morning, but she also understood that the child’s presence in their home was only temporary.  It just seemed as if she hadn’t been there long at all.  The little one was becoming quite a delight to have around.

Early Sun crawled out of Colleen’s lap to sit on the floor next to Connor and Daniel.  The boys were developing wonderfully, and were able to sit up on their own for short periods of time.  Michaela and Sully were also seated on the floor after having moved the kitchen table aside so the family could play with the young ones.  Brian and Matthew were seated on either side of Colleen, so a protective circle was formed around the three young ones.

Early Sun looked up at Sully and grinned, bringing her hands up above her head and clapping them.  Michaela laughed.

“Early Sun, are you excited to go back to your mama and papa tomorrow?” Michaela asked.  Early Sun squealed with delight, and Brian laughed.

“I think she understands ya, ma,” Brian pointed out.

“Oh I’m sure she does,” Michaela replied.  “I believe even Connor and Daniel understand me.”

“They still ain’t talkin’,” Matthew pointed out.  “Brian was ‘bout six-months-old when he started talkin’.  His first words were ‘dada.’”

“Yeah, and he said ‘em, to me,” Colleen replied, rolling her eyes.  Sully and Michaela laughed.

“I think they’ll start talkin’ soon,” Sully replied.  “The other day, I was givin’ the boys a bath, and they started babblin’.”

“They’ve been babbling for awhile now,” Michaela agreed.  “I think they’ll be talking before we know it.”

“It’s hard to believe, ya know?  Seems like they were born just yesterday,” Colleen said with a grin.  “Now we’ve got Early Sun, but she’s goin’ away tomorrow.  I was getting used to havin’ a little sister.”

“We’ve all gotten used to havin’ her around,” Sully replied.  “I think it’ll take some getting used to, but we’ll adjust to things bein’ like they were before.”

“Oh but they’ll never be the way they were before,” Michaela pointed out.  Everyone stared at her.  “The boys are growing older and becoming their own selves.  We’re all changing.  Matthew, you’re preparing to go to college in the fall.  Colleen will be going in a few years . . .”

“I’ll still be around, ma.  I ain’t even ten yet,” Brian said with a grin.  Everyone laughed and Connor crawled over to his mother’s lap.  He had started crawling before Daniel, but Daniel had quickly caught on to his brother’s advanced mobility and was soon trying to show him up.

“Come here, my little one,” Michaela said with a grin, scooping her boy up into her arms.  Connor grinned and giggled as Michaela held him above her head.  Early Sun held her harms up to Brian, and he pulled her into his lap.  Daniel sat in the middle of the circle, staring at his family.  When he saw that his mama was holding Connor and that Early Sun was getting attention too, his lower lip began to quiver and he started to fuss.  Sully knew what was coming, so he picked the boy up with hopes of stopping the outburst before it happened.

“Alright, son, it’s okay,” Sully soothed.  But the boy didn’t listen to his father, and he began to scream.  Michaela jumped in alarm and Sully winced.  “Shh.  Daniel, don’t cry son.  Pa’s here.”  Colleen’s eyes widened.  Her little brother sure had a set of lungs on him.  Connor heard his brother’s cries, and because his brother was crying, he began to cry as well.

“Oh dear,” Michaela whispered to deaf ears.  Nobody could hear anything over the boys’ cries.  Early Sun was startled, and she began to scream and squirm in Brian’s arms.  Soon, Wolf and Pup were sitting at the door, begging to be let out and away from the cries of the three screaming infants.  When nobody moved to let them out, they ran up the stairs, hoping to escape from the noise by hiding in the master bedroom.

“Let’s take ‘em outside for some fresh air,” Sully said above the screams.

“What?!” Michaela asked.  Sully pointed to the door, and Michaela nodded.  She took Daniel into her arms and Brian handed Early Sun to Sully.  Michaela followed her husband out onto the porch with the infants, and Brian quickly shut the door to block out some of the noise.  Colleen, Matthew, and Brian quickly made themselves busy upstairs with cleaning their rooms so Michaela and Sully wouldn’t call on them to try to console the screaming babies.  Yes, they were fun, but when they got like this, it took a lot to get them to calm down.

Out on the porch, Michaela paced back and forth quickly with a boy on each hip.  Sully tried holding Early Sun up so she’d giggle.  He tried playing the eagle game where she’d hold her arms out like she was soaring through the sky.  But, she would not play the game to save her life, and Sully gave up.  He sat down on the porch and began bouncing her on his knee.  Connor’s screams stopped, and he was simply hiccupping, but Daniel was still going strong.

“Sully, we should take a walk,” Michaela suggested.

“Walks never work, Michaela.”

“I know.  I meant just us.”  Sully laughed and shook his head.  He knew Michaela was partly joking, but he also knew that both of them cherished silence when they could get it.

A wagon approached the homestead, and Michaela and Sully could see that it was Horace with Mary in tow.  Michaela tried rocking back and forth with the boys in her arms, and once Daniel began to calm down, Early Sun gave up, and her tear-stained cheeks returned to their normal shade instead of bright red.

“Evenin’ Dr. Mike, Sully,” Horace said, tipping his hat. 

“What brings ya out here, Horace?” Sully wondered.

“There’s a fella in town, says he knows ya, Dr. Mike,” Horace said quietly.  Michaela looked at Sully and then at Horace.

“Did he give you a name?”

“Yeah.  His name is Silas Parker.”  Michaela’s heart caught in her throat.  Sully noticed Michaela tensing up.

“Sounds like ya do know him,” Sully said quietly, curious as to who this Silas Parker was.

“Yes,” Michaela whispered.  “I do know him.”  She hurried toward the door.

“Michaela?”

“We need to go into town.  Please go hitch up the wagon.”  Sully nodded and handed Early Sun to Horace while he rushed to the barn to hitch up one of the two wagons.

*~*

The Sully family sat at Grace’s while they waited on Silas Parker to arrive.  Michaela had only mentioned that he was her father’s lawyer.  While they were waiting at Grace’s, Brian helped feed Early Sun some of the filling from an apple pie.  Michaela looked as pale as a sheet, and Sully was worried about her. 

Connor and Daniel had worn themselves out, and they were sitting in their father’s lap, resting their heads against him.  Grace, who had finally began feeling like her old self, was filling glasses of cider.  She would look at Michaela and Sully’s family and feel jealous, but she would keep those feelings bottled up on the inside.  She had to stay strong.  She had to keep telling herself that she and Robert E. would get their baby one day.  It had to happen.

Silas walked into the café wearing a fancy business suit.  He immediately took a seat across from Michaela.

“Michaela Quinn!  I haven’t seen you since you were as high as my knee.”

“Mr. Parker, what are you doing here?” Michaela asked forwardly.  He swallowed hard.

“I was passing through Denver when I received a telegram from Boston.  Your father is ill, and he wanted me to go over his will with you.”

“His will?!” Michaela asked.  “I will not!”  She refused to believe that her father was going to leave this world.  “Why didn’t my sisters send word?”

“They would have, but Josef wanted me to tell you.  He forbade your sisters from contacting you.”  Sully’s hand moved to hold Michaela’s, and her hands felt as cold as ice.

“How serious is it?” Michaela asked.  “Is it his heart?”

“I’m afraid so,” Silas replied.  Michaela looked at Sully, tears forming in her eyes.

“We need to get to him.  We need to go to Boston.”

“I know,” he replied.  “I’ll make arrangements.”  Michaela nodded her appreciation.  The older Sully children were silent, watching their parents as the news settled in.  Josef was ill and that was all they knew.

*~*

Silas had started off toward Denver to catch the train the night before, so he would arrive in Boston a full day ahead of the Sully family.  But in the morning, the stagecoach arrived at eight to take Michaela, Sully, and the children to Denver to catch the train to take them to Boston. 

The Sully family said their goodbyes to Early Sun at dawn when Cloud Dancing and Snow Bird arrived to pick her up.  The beautiful little girl seemed to be upset to leave her foster family, but she also loved being with her parents again.

Everyone was upset to see her go, but they also knew they had to focus on getting to Boston to see Josef.  The children were going to Boston for the first time, and Michaela was nervous to be going back for the first time since she’d left with Sully.

She had busied herself the night before, picking out the children’s nicest clothes, but not really thinking about the fact that their nice clothes weren’t exactly good enough for Boston.  All she cared about was the fact that her father was ailing, and if anyone objected to the children’s style of dress, they were going to have to deal with it, because Josef was what was most important.

Sully and Michaela settled into the stagecoach with the boys in their laps.  Colleen, Matthew, and Brian piled into the other seat, and the family was silent for the first hour of their journey.

After awhile, however, Brian grew restless and looked at Michaela.

“Ma?”

“Hmm?” she asked softly

“How long will it take to get to Boston?”

“Hopefully there will be no delays and it’ll take us just under a week.”

“If there are delays?” Colleen asked.  Michaela swallowed hard, praying that Josef would still be alive when she arrived.  She knew her father was strong, but he was getting very old.  He wasn’t going to be able to hold on forever.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” she said simply.  She smoothed back a piece of hair on Daniel’s head that seemed to never want to obey the hairbrush.  Daniel looked up at his mother, his big eyes staring into hers.  He grinned and pointed to her.  Michaela smiled, not being able to resist cracking a smile for her beautiful little ones.

Matthew tipped his hat so the sun wouldn’t be in his eyes.  He settled back in his seat so he could get some rest.  He hadn’t had much sleep the night before, and frankly, that was all he was interested in at the moment.

Colleen knew that Michaela’s nerves were on edge, so she remained quiet while Brian followed her example.  Sully’s hand held Michaela’s, and he would cast her reassuring glances every once in awhile just to let her know that he was there for her and he loved her.

As the day wore on, the stagecoach passed by the place where Michaela was once abducted from her family.  Sully was relieved that Michaela didn’t seem to notice.  She was too focused on reading up on her father’s condition in one of her medical books. 

Sully was holding both of the boys now so that Michaela could concentrate, but they were growing restless, and it was only a matter of time before one of them began to fuss.

“Ya think Wolf and Pup are alright?” Brian wondered as the sun began to fall after noon passed by.

“Sure,” Sully replied.  “Robert E.’s gonna take real good care of ‘em while we’re gone.”

“How long will we be gone?”

“I don’t know, Brian,” Sully replied honestly.  Brian looked at Michaela, but decided to let her be for now.  He eventually closed his eyes and fell asleep, followed by Colleen, as the stagecoach rolled along the prairie, carrying the Sully family to Denver to board a train to Boston.

*~*

Michaela had never had this reaction to being on a train before, but she was feeling poorly and jumping up every few minutes to find a place to privately get sick.  Sully knew she was feeling like this, so he had the children sitting in a separate section in their train car with the babies. 

The children were worried, because they’d see Michaela pass by their seats every time she would get up, and Sully would follow shortly after her to offer moral support.  Michaela was dreadfully upset over her father’s ailments, and going back to Boston under this circumstance wasn’t making it any easier.

As Michaela sat back down in her seat, Sully handed her a damp rag, and she used it to wipe off her sweaty face.  She was pale and shaky, and she knew that once she got to Boston and could see her father, she would feel much better.  She just wished that she didn’t have to wait for several days before getting word.  What if he passed away before she could say goodbye like her mother did?  God wouldn’t let that happen, would he?

“It’s gonna be alright,” Sully whispered, running his hand against her clammy cheek.  Michaela nodded weakly and closed her eyes.  She leaned her head on Sully’s shoulder and closed her eyes.  “Just get some sleep now.  You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

“I hope so,” she replied.  She gripped Sully’s hand, and she soon dozed off into a shallow sleep.  She couldn’t dream, and she could still hear everything going on around her.  She couldn’t relax, and she felt as if her entire life was catching up with her.  Everything had moved so fast in the past year and a half.  What if this was God’s way of slowing it all down and letting it all catch up to her?

Thunder rumbled in the distance.  Michaela looked up to see that Sully was beginning to doze off.  She smiled a little, and leaned her head back, thinking about her family.

She was blessed with a wonderful husband and five amazing children.  She had come out of one of the wealthiest families in Boston, and now she was living a much simpler life, but she liked it that way.  She could do without the fancy dresses, though a girl had to dress up sometimes.  She could do without the fancy food or the maids.  Life was so much better and more worthwhile now that she worked hard to get what she wanted.  When she was young, all she had to do was ask her father.  He was like her own personal wizard, making her dreams and wishes come true one by one.

A loud squeal woke Sully from his almost slumber.  Michaela stood up, her stomach feeling much better.  Sully reached out to her as the train screeched to a halt.

“Sully?” Michaela wondered with wide eyes.  Screams were heard from a forward compartment, and Sully knew there was trouble.

“Stay here,” he whispered, grabbing his tomahawk.  He started out of their compartment and toward another car of the train.  Michaela stood in the aisle, watching after her husband, hoping to God that this was just a dream.  She sat down and the children came in to sit with her.

“What’s goin’ on?” Brian asked worriedly.

“Where’s pa?” Colleen questioned.

“It’s alright,” Michaela whispered.  She brought Daniel into her arms, and his sleepy head rested on her shoulder.  “Sully’s going to take care of everything.”  She swallowed hard and waited for his return.

A few people came running through the door separating the train cars.  Matthew stopped one young man by grabbing his arm.

“What’s goin’ on?”

“Train’s bein’ robbed!  Some fella’s up there tryin’ to wrestle away the gun!”  The man took off toward the exit of the train.

“Ma, we better get off here and wait,” Matthew suggested.  As much as Michaela hated the idea of exiting a train in the middle of nowhere, she knew that if the train was captured by the robbers, she and the children would have no way of escaping.  She knew in her heart that Sully was going to take care of it.  “There’s a train station ‘bout two miles down the tracks.”  Michaela looked at Matthew, knowing he would have been looking out for those kinds of things.  She simply nodded, and exited the train with her children along with the other frightened passengers.

The train was still and all was silent.  A crow began to circle overhead, and Michaela knew that wasn’t a good sign.  Brian clung to Michaela’s skirt while Daniel continued to sleep in her arms.  Colleen’s arms grew tired after awhile, and she handed Connor to Matthew.  He kept an arm around his little sister to let her feel safe. 

Several frightened folks had already started off toward the train station a few miles back, but Michaela couldn’t leave.  She didn’t want to go anywhere without knowing whether or not Sully was safe.

The howl of a wolf in the distance startled a few children of other passengers, but the Sully children remained calm, knowing that the wolf wouldn’t come near them, and they were smart enough not to go near the wolf.

After several more minutes of silence, the train began to inch forward.

“Ma!” Colleen screamed.

“It’s alright, Colleen!  It’s alright,” Michaela attempted to assure her.  Her own voice was filled with fright, however, so it wasn’t an easy task.  A moment later, the train halted again and a gunshot rang out, sending the rest of the passengers, excluding the Sully family, running for the woods.
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