Once there was a pretty young lady. She was born and raised in good and rich British family, and her life always was happy and easy…until she met a young guy one day at the church. He was a student at the seminary, and was going to be a priest. But he was so handsome and gentle that she couldn't stop thinking about him…he felt the same way toward her. They met again very soon. and once again…and many times…finally he asked her to be his wife, though he could never be a priest.


Her father didn't bless their union. He became furious and even removed her name from the family Bible.

The life now was not easy, but still happy and full of love. Soon their first son was born. When he was about 4, they decided to leave England for a new life, and arrived in America with two sons - the second was born right on the ship…They had not much money, but were full of hopes. They had each other and 2 wonderful children, and enjoyed their new life…until their first son died. She couldn't live in this place where such a tragedy had happened, and they moved again, to the city…

Her husband couldn't do anything except for preaching the Gospel and working at the farm - so he couldn't find any job to feed his family…It was too much for him, and he died.

Now she was alone with her grief, without money, without a husband, without any friends, any hope and any help. Her son was too small to support her…She stayed alone with her despair for many months, and finally thought there was only one solution to all her troubles…


Standing at the bridge over the Hudson, she thought that good times were gone and would never come back…

It was a warm summer morning, and Michaela as usual was going to work at the clinic. She was in good spirits, it seemed to her that all difficulties and troubles of this year were gone.


"I'm ready to go!" She yelled, mounting the horse. "See ya!" Brian and Sully were repairing the fence together. "You asked me to remind you to go to the station to pick up that parcel."


"Thank you, Brian- I really hardly remembered!"


"Ask Horace about the telegram from Washington!" Sully said.


"Well! I'll be back at 7 p.m!"


Sully and Brian waved to her and returned to their work. However Brian was very quiet and absent-minded. He was deep in his own thoughts. When he hit his finger with the hammer for the second time, Sully asked him:


"Hey, you ok?"


"Yes…well, yes, but I want to ask you…I've got a letter from my…from Ethan Cooper again. He writes that he misses us, and I don't know whether to answer him or not…"


"Do 'you' want to answer him?"


Brian shrugged his shoulders:


"I don't know exactly. Now you're my Pa, and I don't feel about him the same way I feel about you. Perhaps, I must still be angry with him…"


"Maybe not." Sully objected "Perhaps, you could feel sorry for him."


"Sorry? He lives happily with Lilian in a big city, they're rich..."


"It's not enough to be happy. Maybe, sometimes he feels lonely that he has no sons, like you and Matthew, or daughters, like Colleen, and understands that could have had them, but he destroyed his chance all by himself…"


"I'm afraid I'll offend you if I answer him."


"Certainly not. It's nothing bad if you write him about your work at the GAZETTE, or, for example, send him birthday greetings……"


"Sully," Brian asked suddenly, "when is your birthday?"


"I don't remember…Seems, my brother's birthday was in the spring, and mine - in the autumn…or winter…no, I can't remember…. When we celebrated it, I was quite small, this was before we moved to NEW YORK…"


"I've thought about it," Brian said, "It's awful if you have no birthday. So I decided to give you a present."


He ran into the house and few minutes later returned with a thick book in his hands.


"Here it is. I think you'll enjoy it."


"Thank you!" Sully was very surprised, "I wanted to read this for a long time…and to get such wonderful gift from my son…"


Brian smiled widely and gave Sully a big hug.

"Yes, certainly, you have a right to take what belongs to you!" - reported Preston "I hope, Andrew, that your new practice is doing well…"


"Yes, thank you." Andrew answered. He arrived from Philadelphia to take back the medical supplies that belonged to him. To his great wonderment, Preston returned the supplies to him without any argument… You may buy some medical equipment from here." Preston advised. "Come to my office…" There was a lady sitting at the big chair. She was in her fifties and looked very refined…


"Please, just a minute, Mrs. Blackmore." Preston apologized, "I need to ask this gentleman a few questions…


"Don't worry, I'll wait." The lady answered with a light British accent.


"So, Andrew," Preston continued. "It's not too expensive, I'll sell this hotel anyway…"


"And who will buy it?" Andrew asked.


"Senator Dinston...and your new relative represents him here." Preston grinned. "Certainly, Sully understands the wilderness very well, but he's not a businessman at all…"


"Excuse me. You said 'Sully'?" Mrs. Blackmore suddenly asked. "Such a strange name for a man, isn't it?" Preston noticed, "It's just his surname…his given name is Byron, but he hates it so much...Mrs. Blackmore, is there something wrong?" he said, very concerned when saw that she had suddenly turned pale.


"I'm fine." she smiled, "Just a little dizziness…It's not unusual for my age."


"I can examine you." Andrew offered/


"No, thanks. Mr. Lodge, can you tell me where the post office is? I need to send a letter…"

"Horace, what about my parcel?" Michaela asked.


"Here it is, Doctor Mike!" the telegrapher answered.


"Can you also look for a letter for Sully from Washington? He's waiting for a letter from Senator Dinston."


"I have a letter for Sully but it's not from Washington. Some lady brought it and asked me to send it to him. Let me see her name…here it is...Katherine Blackmore…"


"Katherine!" - Michaela thought - what does she want here?"


"Horace, what did she look like? Did she have long light hair and blue eyes? Was she young and…"


"No." Horace answered. "She was your mother's age and had chestnut hair …Do you know her?"


"No, I don't know her, …perhaps Sully knows… I'll take it and give it to him…"

Brian met her on the porch.


"Hi, Ma! I'll take Katie."


"Thank you. How's it going here?"


"We finished the fence."


"Fine… Where is Sully?"


"Upstairs, reading a book. I gave him a book, found it in the catalogue. I thought: we all celebrate our birthdays, but Sully does not remember,exactly, when he was born …it's not fair…"


"Certainly not." Michaela agreed. "And you decided to give him a gift?"


"Yes, I think he liked it……"


Sully was so absorbed by reading that he didn't even hear Michaela, as she came in..


"Usually you hear my steps!" Michaela noticed,a little offended. what are you reading that's so interesting?


He showed her the book.


"Rev.J.Powell. The Life and Traditions of the Cheyenne People." she read. "Brian knew what you would like to read!"


"Certainly. It's a wonderful gift…Michaela. What about the letter from the Senator?"


"Here is a letter, but it's not from the Senator. It's from some lady…" Michaela reached over and handed him an envelope. "Horace told me she brought it herself..."


"A Lady?!" Sully wondered.


"Her name is Katherine Blackmore."


"Katherine Blackmore? Never heard of her...but I can imagine what you thought when you saw her name."


"It's not her. Horace told me she's my mother's age. I already made a fool of myself once, when you got a letter from Daniel, written by a woman... Read quicker, I'll die from the curiosity…or is it a secret, maybe?"


"Certainly not!" Sully said, revealing the envelope.


"Well, what did your beautiful stranger write?" Michaela was going to ask, but the words stuck in her throat when she noticed Sully's reaction.


He looked at the sheet of paper as if it was a snake in his hands…


"Sully, what happened?"


He did not answer her, continuing to look at the small sheet of paper. His eyes were wide open, but unseeing.


"Sully," she touched his shoulder, "what happened?"


He looked at her helplessly.


"Michaela, - this woman writes that…that she is my mother…

Several days passed. Michaela and Sully avoided speaking of this unpleasant subject, and Michaela became sure that Sully made a good decision …But they met a few days later, however,by chance…


Sully and Michaela had lunch at Grace's cafe, and suddenly heard Preston's voice,


"Here, Mrs. Blackmore. Here is this man you've asked about!"


Michaela stood up to leave, but Sully squeezed her hand, and she sat back, very puzzled.


Mrs. Blackmore was in her sixties, but she was still a very attractive woman. Michaela also noticed that her new mother-in-law is dressed not unlike her own Bostonian relatives.


"Excuse me," she began "I sent you a letter …Did you receive it?"


Sully silently nodded. Outwardly he seemed calm, and only Michaela knew, what it cost for him.


"Oh, my God…I don't want how to begin..." Mrs.Blackmore nervously picked at her gloves. "This letter…I've sent you…"


"Is more than 20 years too late!" Sully answered.


"Sully!" Michaela tried to stop him, but he was already unable to stop.


"All these years you didn't think about me, but now you come and think that it's possible to start over!"


"I'll be glad if you can call me mother again…" Mrs.Blackmore whispered.


"My mother drowned in the Hudson River 23 years ago!" Sully interrupted her and rose sharply,almost turning over the table.


Sorry, but I have nothing more to say to you!"


With these words he left the cafe, not even waiting for Michaela.


"You're his wife…can I speak with you?" Mrs Blackmore turned to her.


Michaela suddenly became furious:


"You want to know about your son…what exactly you want to hear?" she asked quietly. "Well I'll tell you. Did you ever see the homeless children - such dirty, hungry, lonely children? I think those children are in England too. So, do you want to know that your son was one of them before the orphanage? Do you want to know that Sully even now, more than 20 years later, can not talk about his childhood - it's too painful for him? Or you want to know how he worked in a mine as the powder-man, and each day risked his life, and once was buried alive under the cave-in for several days? You didn't know it, right - because you LEFT HIM, when he was just a kid …just a kid who needed your care and your love - she spoke louder and louder - When his first wife died together with their baby, there was nobody to support him, and he enlisted in the army, because he wanted to die! The Indians found him half-dead in the woods and became his family…instead of you. I don't know why you came here to remind him of all these awful things…


Mrs Blackmore silently looked at her, and tears crept down her cheeks.


"I implore you!" - she said,finally, "Please, let me explain…"


But Michaela refused.


"I need to go to the clinic. Excuse me." she was nearly running from the cafe.

Deep in her own thoughts, she almost ran into Loren Bray.


"I'm sorry." she said, "I didn't notice you…"


"What's happening with all of you today? Sully was a kind of mad too…run somewhere, almost pushed me over… This is because of that woman, isn't it? I think that she…" But Michaela did not want to discuss this subject with Loren.


"Please, Loren…let's talk about it later…I need to hurry- she ran into the clinic.

There was much work in clinic, but Michaela thought about this woman all the time… and worried for Sully…


Michaela tried to find Sully anywhere in town before she left…nobody had seen him after he left the cafe, but there was a very loud discussion at Loren's store about this case…


Michaela had no time to take part in it. She still tried to find Sully, and visited almost all his favourite places in the woods, but the rain forced her to stop. However she hoped that he would get home before she did.


"He's not back yet?" Brian reported, perplexed. "I thought you'd be together. What happened?"


"There is a lady in Preston's hotel. She says she's Sully's mother."


"But Sully told us she died!"


"No. She's alive. But Sully did not want to meet her. She left him." Michaela cut herself short,trying to find a word.


"Like our pa - Ethan Cooper..."Brian finished. But I forgave him."


"It's not the same thing...your pa knew that you have a mother, sister and elder brother. But she left Sully alone, and he was younger than you."


"But suppose she's ashamed about what she's done?"


"Anyway, Sully needs time to make some decisions. He's so depressed and I worry about him. I need to go look for him."


Sully came about an hour later, soaked through to his bones.


"Sorry I'm late." he said. He took off his wet coat and shivered.


"You're cold?" Michaela asked. "Just a little."


"I'll bring you a dry cloth." she ran upstairs.


Sully still looks exhausted and depressed and Michaela was still worrying about him.


When they both sat near the fireplace, she tried to talk with him again. "You did not warn me." she began."I'm sorry…just needed to be by myself for a while." He squeezed his temples and winced.Michaela looked at him with a great concern.


"Are you all right? You'll get sick spending all day in these wet clothes!"


"I'm fine, just a little tired. I have a lot of things to do in town tomorrow, so I'll go to sleep.