Sully looked down at her smiling face, he appreciated her kind words yet suddenly became nervous, "Sure", he responded.
They returned a short time later and Cloud Dancing offered them water. "Thank you, that was much easier than I thought. Sully is a natural at this. I suppose the boundaries to the north are a little different, being nearer the mountains and all", said Victoria as she sipped water.
"Yes, you could travel many hours to reach them", said Cloud Dancing looking at Sully.
"Should we Sully? I mean, travel out to the mountains?", she looked at Sully.
"Not today, but we could another day", Sully said to her, avoiding Cloud Dancing’s eyes. Sully took the cup from Victoria and excused himself.
"Sully is a very nice man, very kind, but he’s awfully quiet, isn’t he?", Victoria asked of Cloud Dancing.
Cloud Dancing sensed her interest in him, "Ah ha", he said simply.
Sully returned and Victoria asked, "Should we make camp here or nearer the creek, Sully?"
"Well, it would be better if we stayed here", he replied.
"Whatever you say is fine with me, I appreciate the company", she said as she walked closer to him, "I’m glad you’re here, I’ve never worked with anyone who had the interest that you have, it’s very nice". She smiled at him and placed her hand on his arm.
Sully looked down at her hand on his arm and then into her eyes, "Oh sure.......it’s fine, uhm....excuse me", and he walked away. Sully started toward his horse when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, he looked down at the ground he knew it was Cloud Dancing. "Do not be fooled, my brother, feeling needed and wanted is worthless if it is the wrong person making you feel that way", said Cloud Dancing, and then he turned and walked away.
Later, Cloud Dancing was amused watching this woman scurrying about, talking fast, waving her hands, it was good to see someone excited about the tribe, the camp, his people. Sully was smiling, answering all her questions. In all her excitement she almost fell over a small stack of kindling wood, "Oh, I better watch where I’m going!" Sully grabbed her arm quickly steadying her, "Calm down", he said eyes opened wide, he was glad she was excited about the reservation it seemed he never saw people feel this way about the Cheyenne.
"Sully, isn’t it amazing that this land can be so beautiful, so untouched for so long", she said looking all about the reservation land.
"Yup, I hope it stays this way for a long time", Sully responded, "Maybe your maps can help."
Victoria smiled, "I hope they do".
Victoria rushed to Cloud Dancing, "Thank you Cloud Dancing, you have given me enough information for a book, or...I know..an Indian Guidebook, wouldn't that be wonderful Sully?"
Victoria rushed toward Sully, who raised an eyebrow at the thought of such a book. She grabbed Sully’s hands and Sully smiled and quickly looked at Cloud Dancing who merely raised his own eyebrows and smiled at his friend. "Yes, it’s a good idea", Sully responded.
"If I can get the right people in Washington to back me," she said shaking his hands up and down in her hands, " Could you imagine..........maybe if I send a telegram to my headquarters in Washington and they could get approval for the project. Can we go to the telegraph office?"
"What..now?, Sully asked reluctantly.
"Yes, right now", she said eyes full of excitement.
" Well...okay....you stay here and go over the maps with Cloud Dancing, I'll go into town and send your telegram", Sully said, thinking it would be good to get away from her and her touching him.
"Okay, I'll write down the information for you", Victoria said as she ran to her saddlebag for paper.
Sully looked at Cloud Dancing, who just stared at him, and then he walked to his horse. Victoria finished writing and handed him the paper and threw her arms around him, "Oh thank you Sully, hurry back for supper", and she kissed his cheek, he turned to say good bye and she pressed her lips onto his and he didn’t move, but he felt the heat surface on his face. "Now I know you'll hurry back", she giggled into his ear and quickly ran away from him. Sully closed his eyes, took a deep breath, turned and punched the saddle.
Michaela sat on the bench on the porch to her office, she needed the air, she was glad she didn’t have any patients scheduled. She felt sick, where was Sully, could he be that angry with her that he would stay away ? Should she go to Sully’s campsite and invite him to dinner, yes that is what she would do. She lifted her head and took a deep breath and as she got up to go back into the clinic, she saw Sully walking down the street towards the clinic.
As he got closer, Michaela said, "Sully........ how are you?", and walked towards him.
"Fine Dr. Mike", he replied looking down the street avoiding her eyes.
"Sully....uhm..... I know.....well..the children would love to see you...would you like to come for supper this evening?", she stammered.
Sully took a deep breath and looked determinedly into her eyes, "They would huh", he said. He looked into her eyes wanting to hear that she wanted him to come by for supper.
"Yes, I know Matthew is making some changes on his plans for his homestead and he’d like to show them to you, and Brian....."
Sully interrupted with a sigh, "Well I can’t, I got plans". He was upset.
"Oh", Michaela said feeling surprised by his quick denial, " Maybe some other time then", she said in a soft voice.
"Yeah, maybe", he said avoiding her eyes again.
Michaela turned and rushed into the clinic, when she reached her desk she burst into tears and put her hands on the desk hoping it would hold her up.. She couldn’t help the sobbing and the tears rolled down her cheeks as she stood there frozen. He was obviously still angry with her. She was hurt that he refused her invitation.
Sully stood there wondering if he should go in after her, then, "Sully!! Hey Sully...wanna give me hand?", yelled Hank from the doorway of the Saloon. Hank was holding up Jake who had blood dripping from his hand. Sully ran to help Hank, "What happened?", asked Sully as he lifted Jake’s arm and started to walk him across the street to the clinic. "Ah, he broke a glass right in his hand, not thinking once again, I even got some in my hand", Hank said staring closely at his palm.
Sully rushed an inebriated Jake into the clinic, "Dr. Mike, Jake’s bleeding......", he helped Jake up on the exam table. Michaela was not facing the table but when she turned around, "....let me take a look", she said. Sully froze when he saw that she was crying. He felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. He couldn’t believe she would be crying over the conversation they just had outside. This wasn’t the strong Michaela he knew. He backed up towards the door not knowing what to do or say. He stood there in the doorway staring at her, his mouth open in shock. Michaela looked up at him briefly then went back to examining Jake. He walked out knowing she wouldn’t talk to him as long as she had a patient to care for. He left the clinic and went to the telegraph office feeling shocked and sad. After sending the telegram, he walked past the clinic. He didn’t see any activity but decided it wouldn’t be good to attempt to talk with her now.
As he headed back out to the reservation he thought maybe he should go to the homestead for supper, to try to explain. Yet Michaela might not want him there and he didn’t want to cause a scene in front of the children. What should he do? He would go to see her at the clinic tomorrow he decided, he needed to apologize for what he said the other evening, and for causing her to cry today. He would tell her that he cared for her and that he didn’t want to hurt her. How could he be so foolish. Having her in his life was more important to him than anything and he had to make it right. But these thoughts did not make him feel better.
Victoria was happy to see Sully back at camp and immediately ran to him and told him all the information she had learned from Cloud Dancing. "..and supper is almost ready and we can stay here at the reservation tonight, I already spoke with Chief Black Kettle about it. Isn’t that good Sully?", she asked. "Yeah, that’s fine" he said as he walked to where Cloud Dancing was.
He sat near the fire and stared at the flames. Victoria sensed something different in him and thought if she talked it would take his mind off whatever seemed to be bothering him. "Sully would you teach me to throw the tomahawk?", she asked.
He choked a "What?.. why do you want to learn that?", seeing the excitement in her face.
"Won’t you teach me, please", She moved over closer to him, "It wouldn’t be work and that’s one way to be close isn’t it?", she whispered to him.
Sully cleared his throat and looked into her blue eyes, "What do you need to do tomorrow?"
"Sully! I told you, I want you to teach me how to throw the tomahawk!", she said as she grabbed his arm.
Sully looked at her hand on his arm, "Look, I’m not gonna teach you that, what work do you have to do?"
"Oh Sully, can’t we take a little time away from the work?", she kept a hold on his arm.
He looked at her face and then he looked away, "You better go sit over there", he pointed to the other side of the fire.
"What’s the matter, you afraid of me?", she remarked.
"What? Don’t be ridiculous", he snapped back.
When she didn’t move, he got up and started to walk away. She got up and followed him. "Why are you following me?", he turned around to ask her with a determined angry voice. As he turned she went right up to him and kissed him and tried to put her arms around his shoulders. "No, stop doing that", he said as he pushed her arms down and away from him. "Sully why can’t we just enjoy each others company a little?", she looked up at him.
He stared at her then turned and walked away. Victoria stood there for a moment and then walked slowly back to camp, unrolled her bedroll and laid down. They didn’t speak for the rest of the evening.
In the morning, Sully and Victoria prepared to leave the reservation and Sully walked over to Victoria who was saddling her horse. "Look, I’m sorry about yelling last night." She looked at him and smiled softly, "It’s okay Sully, I just thought that if we were both alone, that... well, maybe we didn’t have to be.... I’m sorry ", she said. Sully stared at the ground, "Let’s go", he said as he turned and mounted his horse.
They rode to the creek in silence. Both glancing at each other without the other knowing it. Sully watched her as she walked along the bank of the creek, she removed her hat and her long auburn curls fell over her shoulders. She looked up at him, seeing him staring at her, "Long hair, ah....sometimes it’s a pain isn’t it?", she laughed a little. "Yeah", he smiled and chuckled slightly. "Is there still gold up here Sully?", she asked peering down at the creek water. "I doubt it, most of it’s been mined. Do you see something in the water?", he asked. "Well maybe...it looked shiny and...", and she slipped on the wet rocks and fell into the water. Luckily it wasn’t even a foot high, but "Oh great, my ankle, I don’t think I can get up", she moaned. Sully ran over to her.
"Where is it hurtin’?", Sully asked as he knelt down on the shore near her. "My ankle! My ankle that’s where", she yelled groping at her ankle, "and... could you help me get out of the water..please", she yelled at him putting her hands up and motioning for him to help her. "Okay, come on, I’ll carry you out", he said sneering at her as he put his arm around her waist and pulled, "Hold on". "Oh Sully", she laughed as she held her arms tightly around his neck. Sully wasn’t laughing, "Stop it, it ain’t funny, I hope you didn’t do this on purpose", he said. "Please, I wouldn’t hurt myself just to be rescued by a handsome man", she said playfully. "Oh yes you would", Sully chuckled. "Are you sure you don’t want to have fun with me Mr. Sully", she giggled into his ear and then she pulled her arms tighter around his neck and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "That would be trouble", he mumbled under his breath and he put her down on the blanket and started to unlace her boot. She giggled and reached up to his hair, pushing it away from his face. "Stop it", he said, as he jerked his head to the side. ***
Michaela thought the ride out of town would help clear her head of thoughts of Sully, but it wasn’t working. She relived their discussion in the street, he seemed so angry with her. Michaela slowed down as she heard voices just over the hill. As she made it to the crest of the hill, she saw someone carrying a woman, she could hardly believe it, it was....Sully! Michaela could not believe her eyes. What was Sully doing with this woman? As she watched them, Sully gently put her down on the blanket and knelt to unlace her shoe. Michaela gasped softly and pulled the reins to the right forcing the horse to turn and then she turned again making sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. The woman was touching Sully’s hair, Michaela quickly turned her head. Feeling tears coming she rode away, she just had to get as far away as she could. What was he doing? Who was she and why were they out here? She felt terrible, that maybe she had lost him to someone else. She stopped, took a deep breath, wondering why she let this happen. She raced off again, eyes blurry with tears. She had lost Sully and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
"Does your ankle feel better, can you ride now?", Sully said sarcastically to Victoria.
"Yes, I’m fine, it does hurts, but we can continue on". Sully helped her stand and she put her arm around his waist, she looked up at him, "Thank you Sully", she said softly, "I didn’t mean to be so much trouble."
"It’s okay it ain’t your fault", he replied, he noticed she started to cry. He stopped and sat her down, "You’re gonna be okay, but if you want to rest we can stay here a little longer, or I can bring you back to town to see Dr. Quinn", he said, but she kept sniffling. He lifted his hand to push her hair off her face, "Hey, it’s gonna be okay...." and she leaned her cheek into his warm hand. He was startled by the feeling he had, the touch of her skin. She looked at him, her blue eyes all wet and puffy, he leaned in and kissed her lightly and then backed away but she reached up and put her hand on the back of his neck. Sully started to pull away but Victoria pulled tighter so that he fell on top of her and she kissed him. He tried to pull away, but she held the back of his neck tightly and whispered, "Stay..please... we aren’t hurting anyone", and she pulled him closer. ‘I am hurting someone’ he thought, but he didn’t fight it, the feeling of someone wanting him, the closeness of a woman.
"Sully!!..Sully!!!!..", Sully looked up and was instantly pulled back to reality by someone shouting his name. He saw Matthew up on the hill. Sully scrambled quickly to his feet, "Matthew... what is it?", he yelled, hoping Matthew hadn’t been there too long. "Have you seen Dr. Mike, Flash came back to the homestead without her", Matthew shouted down to Sully.
Sully looked down at Victoria, "I have to go", he ran to his horse, "stay here I’ll be back or I’ll send someone for you." "It’s okay, Sully, I’ll manage, I’ll ride back into town", she said.
As Sully reached Matthew, Matthew looked at Sully and then down at the woman, he didn’t say anything and Sully motioned for them to start down the road. "Any idea where she was going when she left?", Sully asked Matthew avoiding his eyes. "
"No, she left from the clinic. Where have you been.. what’s going on, who’s that woman?" Sully couldn’t talk to him about this now and sighed deeply, "Let’s find Dr. Mike, Matthew", Sully said and he rode off again. Victoria wasn’t too far behind them, he stopped and shouted, "Let’s split up, Victoria go down that path, it’ll end up back in town so you won’t get lost", Sully said pointing to the right. "Matthew, head up towards the reservation, maybe she was coming back from there". Sully rode and felt a terrible guilt creeping over him, how much did Matthew see, what would he be thinking, what does Victoria think? Had Michaela seen them and hurried away so fast that she fell from the horse and that’s why the horse appeared alone at the homestead? First I have to find her, thought Sully.
"Sully !! Sully!!", Victoria screamed, "there’s a dead woman down here on the rocks, hurry!" Dead? Oh no,.. .thought Sully, please don’t let it be Michaela and if it is her don’t let her be dead. His heart pounded faster and faster as he hurried to where Victoria was screaming. Matthew arrived almost at the same time. Sully jumped off the horse and ran to the edge of the rocks, God, it is Michaela. "Michaela", he yelled, as he scurried down the grass slope, good he thought not very steep and mostly grass so hopefully she isn’t hurt that badly. He touched her face and was relieved that she was breathing and he gently brushed her hair from her face and saw that the right side of her head was covered with blood. He scooped her up into his arms and raced up the hill. "Matthew I gotta get her to town, go to the school and get Colleen, and hurry."
"Is she dead?", asked a nervous Victoria still sitting on her horse.
"No, but I gotta get her back to town", he said as he lifted her onto his horse.
Sully arrived at the clinic and rushed Michaela inside, Colleen and Matthew were not far behind. "How bad is it Sully?", asked Colleen as she grabbed antiseptic and bandages. "Can’t tell, the blood has to be cleaned up......", he replied gently touching the wounded side of Michaela’s head. Colleen gently wiped the area, "Doesn’t look too bad....I’ll make sure the bleedin’s stopped and put a clean bandage on it." Sully looked up at Colleen, and pulled a chair up to the table, sat down and held Michaela’s hand, he was determined to stay put until she woke and he knew she was all right. The site of all the blood worried him, but once Colleen finished cleaning the wound, they were relieved to see it wasn’t that large. "Looks like just a bad scratch", said Colleen. "Her hand is scratched too", said Sully holding it up gently to Colleen. "Let me take care of it", Colleen said as she put antiseptic on a clean cloth. Victoria had looked in from the doorway, saw Sully holding Michaela’s hand. She felt sad, but was touched by Sully’s tenderness and concern, she knew he was a wonderful, caring man. She decided it best to leave them alone and walked towards Grace’s Cafe.
"Do you think the horse threw her, Matthew?", asked Colleen out on the porch of the clinic. "Well....maybe...", Matthew said as he thought of seeing Sully with the woman and thinking that is probably what Dr. Mike saw, "who knows what she saw........ Colleen, you go back to school, I’ll come get ya if anything changes or she wakes up."
"Sully....", said Matthew from the doorway, "I wanna talk to you." Sully slowly rose from Michaela’s side, he knew what Matthew wanted to discuss. "I thought you cared about Dr. Mike...cared alot....what’s going on?"
"I do care about Dr. Mike, Matthew, more than I can say. What you saw.....I’m working with someone who....."
"Working!!!", Matthew cut him off, "what kind of work is that?"
"Matthew", Sully grabbed Matthew’s shoulders, "the woman in my heart is Dr. Mike and that’s all you need to know for now", and he went back into the clinic. Matthew sighed, and sat on the bench on the clinic porch.
Victoria walked tentatively towards the clinic, seeing Matthew outside. "Excuse me, I need to speak with Sully for a moment, is he still here?" Matthew glared at her, "Yeah, he’s here, I’ll get him", Matthew said as he went into the clinic.
Sully walked out to see Victoria sitting on the bench. "How is Dr. Quinn?", she asked as Sully sat down. "I think she’ll be okay", he replied. "Good........ I needed to speak to you because I have to move on to Pueblo, I wanted you to know", she said. Sully kept his eyes on the floor, thinking this was a good thing that she would be leaving, but he felt uncomfortable at what had happened to them earlier.
"This is sudden, are you finished here?", he asked.
"Oh yes...I am finished here", she sighed, "and I have to consider my deadline with my office. You can come with me to Pueblo, Sully......", she said as she placed her hand on his, "I’d enjoy having you along."
"Victoria, I can’t go with you to Pueblo, I live here, my life is here. I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea today. You’re a nice woman.......", Sully said.
"Please.....don’t say anything else Sully", Victoria sighed deeply, "I had a good time here, I liked spending time at the reservation and I liked spending time with you. You’re a special man Sully.....", she raised her hand to touch his face but stopped, "but I have to be going, so I’ll say good bye and if I travel through Colorado again, I’ll look you up." Sully reached out and gave her hand a little squeeze, "You better", he said and stood up. "Thank you Sully...for everything", she smiled though her heart ached. Sully nodded and walked back into the clinic.
Matthew didn’t say a word as Sully came back into the clinic. "Any change?", asked Sully. Matthew shook his head. Sully sat back in his chair and held Michaela’s hand again, rubbing her soft skin with his thumb. Please wake up, he thought, there are so many things I have to tell you. Sully sat at Michaela’s side until Colleen returned after school. " I better change the bandage", she said. As she gently pulled the blood-stained bandage Michaela moaned gently and moved her head to the side. "Michaela...Michaela.....", Sully said to her, squeezing her hand slightly. "Sully........", she moaned. Colleen ran to the door, "Matthew, she’s waking up!" Michaela opened her eyes slowly and looked at Sully. She quickly closed them, "Oh......leave me alone", she said and turned her head away from him. That was all Matthew needed to hear, "We’ll take over now, you can leave", Matthew said sternly to Sully.