"Good supper Colleen", said Sully as he got up from his seat and walked to Michaela and whispered in her ear, "We could have our coffee outside".
Michaela lowered her eyes, smiled and picked up her coffee cup and followed Sully out the door. The air was cool and sky was at sunset as Sully sat down on the stairs and motioned for Michaela to join him. They sat in silence for a few moments, sipping their coffee. Sully glanced at Michaela frequently. Michaela glanced at him and then quickly looked down at her cup, afraid that he would see her looking at him. Sully enjoyed spending time at the homestead with her, she was more relaxed when she was away from the clinic. She was glad he was nearby, always willing to help out, and that he seemed to enjoy spending time with her and the children. Finally breaking the silence she said "isn’t’ t the person you’re expecting from Washington due tomorrow Sully?"
"Yeah, Victor McCullough, a map maker going through the territory according to the telegram. Sure hope he’s only here for a day or two", he said as he looked at her, "I’d rather spend time with you." He took the coffee cup from her hands and placed in next to his on the step. "I 'd like to take you and the children on a picnic, would you like that?", he asked her in a soft voice.
"Yes the children would like that Sully." she responded.
"How about you, would you like that", he asked staring into her eyes.
"Yes, yes of course, it would be lovely,"she said as she lowered her eyes. Sully reached to touch her hair but stopped and lowered his hand to caress her hand, "You let me know when you wanna go and I'll take ya", he said as he smiled at her, "Come on lets walk off some of that supper." Sully stood and held out his hand to Michaela, she took his hand and rose to stand next to him. Her hand felt so small in his. After walking a short way he gently kissed her forehead and drew in the sweet smell of her hair, he was surprised when she raised her hand and gently placed it on his chest. He looked down at her, trying to look into those beautiful soft eyes, but Michaela looked shyly down. He placed his hand under her chin and raised her face to him, "Michaela...", he said softly. "You’re so beautiful, so special to me, I hope you know that." Michaela smiled and kissed him. He was surprised she had initiated the kiss, he wanted to remember this moment, it felt wonderful. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him. Michaela pulled away, blushing, and said nervously, "The air is beautiful this time of year isn't it?"
"It's beautiful all right", Sully said staring at her and stepping closer to her. He raised his hands again to her face and noticed how she straightened her body and looked into his eyes. Sully bent down and kissed her ever so gently on the lips, as he felt a tingle rush through his body and noticed that she did not back away, he kissed her again a little more deeply and stepped closer to her and put his hand on the back of her head. She sighed and put her arms around him. He melted into her, savoring this moment, not wanting to let her go. Michaela suddenly pulled her head back and seemed to be catching her breath. Sully stepped closer and resumed the kiss, his hands firmly on her shoulders, when suddenly she pulled her face away.
"What's wrong?", Sully asked softly, as he kissed her neck and held her close to him..
"Oh, .. nothing...it's getting late,... you should be going", she responded backing away from him looking to the side, back to the house and not looking at him.
"Michaela, ..it isn't that late", Sully responded and pulled her close to him and kissed her again.
"Sully, please", Michaela said her voice raised.
"What.... what is it? Tell me what’s wrong..This feels so wonderful having you in my arms, kissing you. Don’t be afraid.", he said with a quizzical look on his face, he held her hand to his chest.
"No....well... that's... I am not... it's late...", sputtered Michaela as she pulled her hand out of his..
"I want to kiss you Michaela, there’s nothing wrong with that..........I care about you, we need to know each other, be together..", he lifted her face to his, "you don't have to be afraid of me", Sully said as he tried to pull her gently toward him.
"No, Sully I am not afraid", replied Michaela as she put her hands behind her and stepped back.
Sully took a deep breath and said, "If you aren't afraid of me...then....is it......then is it me? Don’t you want me to touch you or kiss you?" he stared at her intently watching for her response, holding her arm.
"I told you.....I’m not afraid of you..Sully", Michaela stuttered her reply and lifted her head as if to further define that she was not afraid. "Fine, then it is just me......I guess you don't want me kissing you then...", he said angrily as he let go of her arm and turned away from her. Michaela was silent. Sully felt hurt and hoped she would say something, but she didn’t. He raised his head, took a deep breath, "Good night Michaela", he said not making eye contact with her, and he walked away. "Sully,.. wait...Sully?", she said softly not knowing what to do. This was not how she wanted the evening to end. She stood there watching him walk away, unable to do anything. She turned towards the house and then back towards the woods, hoping he was coming back. Michaela felt a thump in her throat and her eyes fill with tears as she slowly walked into the house.
The next morning Sully thought about the previous night as he leaned on the post outside Loren's store waiting for the stage. Olive noticed him deep in thought and came out and said, "You gonna run off on the stage are you Sully?"
Sully stared out toward the street, ignoring her for a moment, then turned to her, "Why would I do that Olive?".
"The stage would be good to use to get out of town if you were, well you know, afraid of something....", she lifted her eyebrows and stared right at those blue eyes.
"What do I have to be afraid of?", he asked her.
"Oh, Sully, I can’t think of a thing.....", she said as she walked back into the store.
Sully just shook his head.
The stage pulled up on time and Sully watched three passengers get off, all women. He yelled up to the driver, "Hey you know anything about a Mr. Victor McCullough supposed to be on this stage?"
"Well that would be me, and it's Victoria not Victor", said the young woman extending her right hand to Sully, "and I hope you are Byron Sully".
"Yes.... yes I am", said a very surprised Sully as he shook her hand, "I'm glad to meet you, I uhm, well I was told a man was coming out here."
She chuckled, "Seems the government sent out alot of telegrams saying I was a man, Mr. Sully!"
"Call me Sully," he said as he reached for her carpetbag, "Is that yours too?", he asked surprised that a woman would have a bedroll.
"Yes, it's mine, I’m not a very formal person Sully", she said as she grabbed the bedroll slung it over her shoulder and another roll of documents tied together, Sully assumed they were her maps. "Now, I just need the blacksmith to get a horse and you can show me your town Sully."
She means business, Sully thought, "Well we can get a horse right over here at Robert E's, and..well...I guess we can start right away", Sully replied as he really looked at her, so young and pretty, yet obviously quite sure of herself.
Miss Olive was taking this all in from the store counter. She smiled and thought "Isn’t this interesting, Oh poor Sully, always in a situation he doesn't want to be in, wonder what Dr. Mike would think of this"... she chuckled to herself and went back to work.
Sully and Victoria got a horse from Robert E who kept looking at Sully waiting for information on who this woman was, but Sully was his usual quiet self. As they rode out of town Sully said, "If you want to stay outdoors, you can camp near the river, or you can stay near the reservation."
"Do you know the Indians well enough that they would allow me to stay with them?"
"Yup", he said, watching her and her ability to handle a horse. "You’ve ridden before?"
"Oh yes, I mostly do outdoor work. I never wanted to be a woman who’s locked up inside all day, that’s not for me, and my it is beautiful around here", she said as she paused and glanced around, "Perhaps I should show you some of the maps now so you have a better idea of what I need to do."
"Fine," said Sully, as he dismounted his horse and offered her a hand. She put her hands on his shoulders and jumped off the horse, for a moment they exchanged a look. She reached for the maps and a pencil and sat down to unroll the maps. Sully gathered a few small rocks to use as corner anchors for the parchment.
"These are Indian territories, I have separated the Cheyenne and the Arapaho, but I need to define the boundaries. I also need to do all the legend work", she said and looked at him, "What do you think?"
Sully was very impressed with her work and her apparent knowledge of the area. "I think it looks good and Cloud Dancing can help define boundaries for you."
"Is he Cheyenne?", she asked.
Sully nodded, "Yes and he could explain anything you might want to include in the map. Have you thought about putting Indian facts on the map, or maybe some historical facts?"
"No I haven’t but that’s a good idea", she penciled it on the bottom of the map, "Perhaps facts pertaining to each tribe and a history of the areas they cover", thinking about that a moment she added, "Well of course it might be outdated soon with the army rescinding treaties and killing buffalo."
"You’re right", Sully said looking at her, he admired her knowledge, "Like I said, Cloud Dancing will help you. Should we head out there?"
"How did you get to know the Indians, Sully?", Victoria asked while rolling up the maps.
"Just interested that’s all", he replied. They stood and got the horses.
Victoria was grateful that Sully seemed to understand what she wanted to accomplish. She knew it would be good to work with him. He mounted his horse and led the way.
As they rode out to the reservation, Victoria glanced at Sully frequently and if their eyes met, they both smiled politely.
"You’ve lived here a long time haven’t you?" , she asked finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I guess I have some roots here", Sully said.
Victoria saw how private he seemed, "Well, I can’t begin to thank you for helping me with these maps, I’m anxious to finish this project. I’d like to work on a project about the Indians. You would be a help with that Sully, and your Cheyenne friends too. They would help me, wouldn’t they?"
"I think they would, it’s good for someone to write this all down for the future, what little future they probably have", Sully said.
"Sad isn’t it, but at least you and I can educate people and document it for future generations", hoping he would agree to work with her in the future.
"That’ll be nice. Its nice to have someone who is interested, the folks of Colorado Springs view the Indians as savages mostly, when the Indians have tried to help them", Sully said as he looked at Victoria, "Most towns out west want to be rid of Indians so they can claim all the land, that’s all".
"You should be in Washington, Sully, the Indians need more people on their side", She smiled softly.
"Not me, I don’t want to go to Washington", Sully replied smiling back, "and I’m not sure I want people to see how beautiful it is here, they’d all come out and ruin it."
"Umm, you’re probably right..... ", she responded looking at him.
When they arrived at the reservation everyone seemed curious about this woman who was with Sully, as he usually came with the "Medicine Woman". Cloud Dancing began looking at the maps, "These are very good. I see these notations on the bottom, are your writing Indian history also?", he asked Victoria.
"Sully has helped me with that idea, he’s been very helpful", she said flashing a smile Sully’s way, "His knowledge will prove very valuable to me and this project."
"I see", replied Cloud Dancing smiling at her and then looking at Sully, who looked like he was not paying attention to them.
"I think I’ll have to bring him to Pueblo, so he can help me there also", she smiled at Cloud Dancing. She walked over and rubbed Sully’s arm, "Thank you for bringing me here, I didn’t expect to get first hand information and I really appreciate it. You should consider working with me permanently. There are a lot of projects coming out of Washington these days. Well.........maybe we can measure the eastern boundary now, will you help me Sully?"