Sunlight streamed through the lace curtained window of Michaela and Sully's bedroom. It was early morning and the house was still quiet. The sun made little rainbows appear on Michaela's long, coppery brown hair.

Michaela lay awake relishing what little time she had left to relax before she was going to have to get up and start the daily routine. She rolled over luxuriously in the bed. Nevertheless, there was a slight tinge on the day. She couldn't fully enjoy anything without Sully, and Sully was working close to Soda Springs on a homestead that week. She lay on her side looking about the bedroom. She smiled just thinking about him and reached over and grabbed his pillow to cuddle. She remembered how he'd made this bed for her as a wedding present. "Although," she thought smiling devilishly, "What's the good of a wedding present bed if there isn't anyone else in it with you?"

Michaela looked at the clock over the mantle of the bedroom fireplace, 7:00 a.m. Michaela smiled and decided if she was going to be on time to see her first patient of the morning she had best get moving. As she dressed she thought of the list of things needing to be done that day. She had to go to the clinic and see a patient about his sore throat. She needed to visit the general store with Katie.

She smiled fondly as she thought about her little girl. Katie was 5 years old, and, though a bit young, was about to start school in two weeks when the fall term began. After lunch she needed to go and see Mrs. Gillis. Mrs. Gillis and her husband were newcomers in Colorado Springs. Mrs. Gillis had quite recently had a baby, Michaela wanted to make sure things were going well for the new family. She finished dressing and went to wake Katie.

Half an hour later, Brian and Katie and Michaela sat around the table. Michaela looked at the breakfast she had made-Oatmeal, biscuits, and gravy. Not bad considering how some of her meals still turned out! Although the biscuits were a little burnt no one said anything. And maybe the gravy was a little runny...... With Colleen gone to Denver to college, Michaela was cooking more often herself.

Katie couldn't sit still to eat a bite. Her short five year old attention span couldn't take much more excitement. She would take a bite, get up and walk around, then take another bite. Michaela tried to conceal laughter as she watched Katie. "Alright," Michaela said, in what to Katie seemed an eternity, "I guess maybe it's time to head into town."

The wagon rattled down the dusty dirt road toward the Gillis's. The morning hadn't gone well. Michaela hadn't been able to get a good price on new supplies for the clinic. A patient had not kept his appointment. Michaela had been unable to find someone to watch Katie. She had to take both Katie and Brian with her on her house call. Brian had begged to stay with his friends and go fishing, but Michaela wasn't sure when she'd be back and she might be going to need Brian's help keeping Katie out from under her feet.

Katie was oblivious to her mother's troubles. She was propped in the back of the wagon playing with some clothespin dolls. These were dolls Michaela had made out of clothespins, using scraps of material for their outfits.

When Michaela pulled up to the Gillis's homestead she saw lots of children running about. They were relatives of the Gillis's she assumed. "This might work in my favor." Michaela mused as she watched the children running and playing. "Maybe Katie will stay and play here while I do my work." Some of the children were scruffy; there were seven or eight girls and ten boys. The youngest child appeared to be a couple of years older than Katie maybe seven, and the eldest was probably 14 or 15. Michaela gathered this girl had been told to watch the rest of the younger children, and by the scowl on the girl's face she wasn't enjoying it. All of the girl children wore faded calico dresses. The boys wore patched trousers and had on hand-me-down shirts. Most of the girls and boys had blonde hair, and for the girls it had been plaited in two long braids.

"Katie, Darling, go over there and play with those other little girls until mama gets done." Katie didn't need any encouragement. It had been a very long ride, and she was more than ready to run and play. Katie ran over to the circle of girls and they nodded when Michaela assumed Katie had asked them to let her play.

They stood in a circle and appeared to be playing lose your supper. This game Michaela remembered well. A pair of children run around the circle holding hands and tap someone on the head. The other someone tries to beat them to the empty space. The pair who doesn't get a spot is said to have "Lost their supper." Once Michaela was sure all would be fine while she was inside she knocked on the door, and went into the house.

Michaela found the house filled to bursting with adults. Mrs. Gillis was upstairs in bed resting. She told Michaela she'd been feeling slightly dizzy and glanced down at the little red headed baby girl beside her and remarked. "I haven't been sleeping at all!" Michaela knew all to well about that! A mother's work is simply never done.

Outside the children continued to play. The girls went to the edge of the woods to gather bouquets of flowers to take to their mothers. Katie spotted her favorite kinds of flowers straight off. The bright orange tiger Lilly’s their black columns open to the late summer and unusually cool air. Also, there were little purple blossomed flowers Katie didn't know the names of. Bees butted in them with their legs covered in pollen. There were all sorts of huge flowers red, yellow, orange, blue, and white, and little purple flowers Katie didn't know the name of. Baby's breath grew aplenty in short little springs.

Katie ran and ran finding more and more pretty flowers. "What a fine bouquet I'm going to have to take Mama!" She thought to herself. Little did Katie realize with each new flower she saw she was going deeper and deeper into the woods.

The boys were looking about the tree line hoping they'd spot a doe, they never did, but they had fun trying. They darted in and out of the trees playing hide-and-go-seek. Brian was glad he had not stayed behind in town. He made the bird calls Sully had taught him.

In the house, disaster had struck. When Michaela had been examining Mrs. Gillis, she began to hemorrhage. Michaela didn't know what had gone wrong. She tried not to show her concern, as she tried to stop the bleeding with ice and belladonna. She knew she was going to be tied up for a while though, and she was glad Katie had someone to play with.

Brian crouched in the tall grass, barely breathing, not moving. "I hope no one will find me!" He thought, concentrating hard on not sneezing. The weeds were brushing his nose. They had almost the same effect as pepper. He wondered where Katie was. "Maybe I should go check on her." Brian pushed the thought from his mind when he heard footsteps coming toward his hiding place.

Katie sat in the soft warm grass by the little stream. Around her was a pile of flowers. She had stopped to rest and wait for her Mama to get ready to go. She wondered was taking so very long. She plucked up a hollyhock sitting beside her. Now how did they make those dolls? Just then Katie saw a rustling of the bushes.

She looked up and saw standing near her a little kitten. "It sure is a funny looking little thing!" Katie thought. The kitten was a golden tan color, its face was very long and thin. Katie noticed it had two light brown lines coming down from its nose. Its body was marked with a very strange looking pattern of lighter and darker marks which were likely camouflage. Its ears stuck up like a kitten's. It crouched like no kitten she'd ever seen. When the "Kitten" yawned it had long fangs. Its mouth had a patch of white. It looked to be just a couple of months old. Its tail switched and the "Kitten" batted a butterfly away from its nose with a little paw. “It’s so cute! I want to take it home with me.” Katie thought.

(Authors note: If you haven't figured it out yet Katie's "Kitten" is really a mountain lion kitten!)

Just then, the kitten saw something move and it darted away into the woods. Katie couldn't resist following. She darted into the woods after the kitten. "Here Kitty Kitty Kitty." Katie coaxed looking under the bushes for the kitten. She saw it at the edge of a little stream. The kitten ran farther into the woods. By this time Katie was so intent on what she would say to her mama to get her to say she could keep the kitten that she didn't realize how far she had strayed into the woods.

Back at the house, Michaela had managed to stop Mrs. Gillis from bleeding to death. "Now, Mrs. Gillis, you really do need rest. You MUST stay in bed for a few days, if at all possible a week. I will be back tomorrow with more medicine and to check on you. I want you to let me know if you need anything at all."

"Typical Dr. Mike." Mr. Gillis chuckled to himself. "She'd do just about anything to help a feller in need."

Michaela put her instruments back in the bag. On the way home, she'd have to stop and clean them. "I wonder what Grace has tonight for supper?" She wondered aloud. "With Sully gone and Colleen gone there is no need for me to risk cooking something." She smiled wryly at the thought of her culinary skills. "I am getting better though. At least this morning I didn't scorch the biscuits and the gravy was, well, edible."

She walked outside the house. She placed the medical bag in the wagon and patted each horse. "Brian, Katie, time to go home!" Brian came bounding through the bushes. They waited a moment in the wagon for Katie. She didn't come. "Katie!" Michaela called.

"Hey, Katie, you can come out now if you're hidin'." Brian called gazing around to see her.

"KATIE!" Michaela called louder this time. "I wonder where she's gotten to now?" Michaela asked herself more than Brian. She waited a moment. She was growing more frantic by the moment. “Katherine Elizabeth Sully, you come out this very moment!” Still there was no response.

"She can't be far away," Brian stated. "Let's go and look for her." Michaela nodded and she climbed down from the wagon. Michaela and Brian searched the surrounding area but they didn't find anything.

"Let's go back to town. I suppose she's wondered back there somehow. Maybe she wandered farther than she expected to." Michaela pondered trying to decide what to do.

"Yeah, she's prob'ly at the clinic waitin' on us.” Brian reassured his Ma. Neither of them were as confident about that as they tried to sound.

Katie shivered "It sure is getting cold out." She looked up the sky was purple with night. "How'd it get so late! Mama’s gonna wonder where I am!" Katie looked around "Hey where am I anyway?" She didn't know where she was and night was coming, she would likely get into trouble with her Mama. She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was also hungry and slightly chilly. She wondered what she would do. She decided to wait. "I bet Mama already sent someone to find me and bring me home in time for supper."

Michaela went into the clinic Brian at her heels. "Katie," She called. No one answered her. Michaela had been worrying about her daughter out alone in the night, now she panicked. She ran outside.

Jake sat in the general store at the pot bellied stove. Loren sat beside him. They each were leaning back in their chairs against the wall, and catching up on the latest town gossip. Jake looked up just in time to see Michaela running down the street in a panic.

Jake stood up and walked outside. Loren followed. "Dr. Mike, what's goin' on?" Jake and Loren asked about the same instant. At first they couldn't understand a word she said. "Slow down, Dr. Mike, Tell us what is going on."

"This afternoon when I left the Gillis's place I couldn't find Katie. I think she's lost in the woods!"

Jake groaned inwardly and thought, "Wouldn't Sully just have to pick this weekend to be away. When they needed him." He moved into action. "Well I'll get some of the men together. Even though it's gettin' dark, we oughta look for her. Don't want a five year old staying in the woods overnight with all sorts of things roamin' around."

Little did Jake know the last statement had done more harm then good for Michaela. Inside she panicked further. "He's right. What if something does happen to Katie! Why there's all sorts of creatures out there!" She thought.

The mens' horses stood in an impatient ring around Jake. "Alright, as you probably have all heard already, Katie is misssing in the woods. She's prob'ly somewhere out by Gillis's place. We need to search the woods. It is gonna be hard to see, we'll just have to make do...." Jake didn't finish because he heard someone say something to him.

"Mr. Slicker,"

"What," Jake asked. He looked down and saw Brian standing before him.

"Well, could I come? See I figure I might be able ta help ya find her since she's my sister and all." Jake tried not to laugh.

"I don't think that'd be such a good idea, you could be a big help around here and well, you’re just a............." He'd been going to say just a kid, but it didn't seem like the right thing to say.

"Yeah say it, I'm just a kid, I know." Jake felt a moment of guilt.

Michaela walked with Brian back to the clinic. Michaela didn't know what to do or say. Soon after Grace came over with supper, ignoring Michaela's "I'm not hungry."

"Now, Dr. Mike I'm not hearin' any of that. Ya need to eat." Dr. Mike just nodded. She reached for the meat loaf and potatoes and iced tea Grace handed her.

"Hey ma, why didn't those older girls watch Katie better?" Brian asked. Instead of what she normally would have said she burst out sharply at him.

"Brian, it's your fault she's gone. YOU should have been watching her. You..........." Michaela desperately needed someone to blame for her duaghter's mysterious disappearance. She didn't have any time to scold anymore because the door to the clinic burst open. Jake and Loren were dragging Dorothy along.

"Now I'm tellin' you this is really not necessary. I just ate something that didn't agree with me. There's no reason to go botherin' Michaela. Neither of the men were paying her one bit of attention.

"Brian, go upstairs and wait for me." Michaela instructed.

"Now Michaela, I'm sure that I just ate something that didn't settle right and that's all. There's nothin' wrong with me." Michaela had Dorothy sitting on the examination table.

"I disagree. Dorothy have you eaten anything old lately?"

"You mean like molded?" Michaela nodded. "Well, now that you mention it, Loren did have some meat. I had some of that. It looked older than Methuselah, but he said it was good.”

"Dorothy!" Michaela said laughing. "You should have listened to yourself." Immediately the doctor again, Michaela asked "Did anyone else eat it?"

"No, later I got rid of it."

"That was wise." Michaela assured her friend. She reached into the cabinet, where all her medicines where placed in alphabetical order. She found the small bottle she was looking for. It was labeled Paregoric.

"What's that?"

"Paregoric, it'll calm your stomach. The meat probably wasn't enough to give you food poisoning if you couldn't tell it tasted funny. Just in case, though, I'd like to keep you overnight." Michaela poured out a spoonful of paregoric for Dorothy. Then she went upstairs to turn down the bed in the first recovery room.

Brian stood on the balcony outside. The sun had set, the sky was dark blue. The whipper wills called from the trees. "It really is my fault. If I'd have gone to check on her then she never would have gotten lost. I'm no little kid and I'm gonna prove it!" Brian heard Michaela leading Miss Dorothy upstairs. He put his foot over the edge of the balcony, found the porch support, and dropped to the ground.

"Michaela, things will work themselves out. I bet Katie just lost track of the time and didn't hear you call. I'm sure in just a couple of hours the men will find her." Dorothy reassured. Michaela wished she could be so sure. The women sat talking for a good while before either realized how quiet it was. “Michaela, have you seen Brian lately?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, it seems he'd have been in here talking about the gazette, and how his newest article is coming."

"Well, that is strange. Now that you mention it.” Michaela agreed.

"Why don't you go in and check on him. You told me you blamed him for Katie getting lost. Maybe you might tell him it's really not his fault." Michaela stood up and walked around looking for Brian. He was no where to be found.

"Dorothy, I can't find him anywhere!"

"Oh Michaela, I bet he just went outside or something." Michaela didn't believe that though. In her heart of hearts she knew why he'd gone. And it was all her fault!

Brian sat on a log by the stream, at the edge of the woods. He looked around. "If I were Katie where would I have gone?" All he came up with was a big blank.

Katie shivered. The sky was black as pitch. She was very hungry. More so then she thought she ever had been. She was also nervous. She had realized that she was going to have to spend the night alone in the woods. She'd never been anywhere alone over night. Just then she heard who who who. "It's just an owl." Katie told herself. She heard the cicadas in the grass. They were singing the late summer songs. Katie walked over to the large weeping willow. She lay down underneath it and curled her knees to her chest to sleep.

Michaela lay staring at the ceiling. It was late. Dorothy had told her "Now Michaela, You are not going to sit up here all not with me worrying. Go in the other room and get some sleep,” but she couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about Katie alone in the woods and lost. She also wondered where Brian was. "I can't believe I blamed him! Now he's gone too!" She cried silently, and clutched a blanket to her. For the thousandth time that day she wished with all her heart that Sully were there. "You could find her if you were here." Michaela whispered.

Brian shook himself. He was very stiff, and his feet were asleep. He sat up. He was lying on the ground. He had his jacket as a pillow. It was sometime in the middle of the night. He remembered going to look for Katie. "Tomorrow I'll walk around some of the spots we go to fish. Maybe she's found them, and maybe she's waiting for me there."

Dawn came early the next morning. Jake and the men were awake. Jake and the men had searched until long into the night. Finally they'd found a place to make camp. "I hope we find her today." Jake thought as he stood up. "Come on time to get movin." Jake roused the other men.

Rustle rustle, there was a noise in the grass. Katie sat up. "What was that?" she wondered and turned around. "Oh you again!" Katie said cheerfully. It was the strange looking little kitten. "I like you even though you did get me lost!" Katie reached over and picked up the kitten. It gave a little mew. Katie stood up. "I wonder if I can find anything to eat?" She wondered aloud. She walked farther into the Forrest, still holding the kitten, who was mewing plaintively.

Michaela stirred, she opened her eyes. There she was lying on the recovery room bed. She'd gone to sleep. She knew she shouldn’t have. "I should have stayed in there with Dorothy last night." She said guiltily. She got up and went to check on Dorothy. She was already awake. "Did you sleep any?" Dorothy asked cocking her head. She watched Michaela's expression.

"A little." Michaela admitted. Dorothy nodded approvingly.

"Well, I see no reason that you won't be able to go home today." Michaela said. She put her stethoscope back in the medical bag.

Jake looked out across the horizon the sun was barely peeking over the tree tops. "Must be about five." Jake announced. The men grumbled at being wakened at such an hour. They were now on horseback. They had searched the woods near the Gillis's without a trace. "How far could such a little girl get?" Jake wondered. To this question there was no answer.

Brian hadn't found any more traces of his sister. He'd been up for hours looking. Just then he saw something in the dirt. He bent down for a closer look. It was a paw print, Mountain lion it looked like. The paw prints were lost when they wandered into grass. The thought of there being a mountain lion worried Brian. He hoped that Katie wouldn't run into it! If she did would she be smart enough to stay away?

"Isn't that the stream we just passed?" Hank asked.

"Doubt it. There's thousands of streams 'round here." Truthfully, though, Jake didn't know if they were lost. He had the strange feeling something wasn't right. Maybe they really had passed that stream before! He recalled the time when Willow Creek got polluted by a mine. Dr. Mike and Sully had gone to get water samples from the creek to prove that Harding's mill had polluted it. They'd all gone looking for Michaela and Sully only to get lost and been found by Michaela and Sully instead of the other way around. They'd had a lot of trouble. Among other things they'd been sprayed by a skunk. If that wasn't bad enough they'd been wrong about the direction to go. To top it off Matthew had been right! A kid had been smarter than them! Now here they were again, and probably lost again. "What luck!" Jake muttered sarcastically under his breath.

Katie held the kitten in one arm and more flowers in the other. She had found a cluster of berry bushes. She reached out for a handful of berries. They were delicious. Just as Katie bit down on another handful of the juicy berries she heard a savage growl. She spun around. Katie almost choked. In front of her was a huge mountain lion! The mountain lion growled low in its throat and went up onto its hind legs. It swayed toward Katie. She screamed and the mountain lion roared.

Michaela had finally made it to the clinic. She'd had a very busy morning. Just then the bell on the door rang. "I'm coming." Michaela went to the door. There stood Preston. Michaela held back a groan she really didn't want to see him right now. She let him in anyway.

"Michaela, It's such a fine morning isn't it..."

Michaela sighed. Preston had given the morning a sour smell. Like sulfur almost. He'd come to talk to her about paying on the loan she had. She'd recently had to replace some items at the clinic in a hurry and once again she'd had to take a loan from Preston. Why did he always show up at the times when she'd rather not talk with him?!

The mountain lion reached out and slashed with its claws. Katie put her hand up to protect her face but was not in time. The angry female mountain lion had given her five claw marks across the face. Katie dropped the kitten which by know she recognized as the mountain lion's cub. Katie dashed away from the mountain lion. The mountain lion only chased her. It was infuriated she'd touched its cub.

Katie ran and ran. She was just able to keep ahead of the mountain lion. Just then she came to the edge of the woods. She had forgotten about the cliff. She looked back to see the mountain lion. It was gaining on her! Then she heard a crumbling sound. She was falling down the side of a steep cliff. Katie groped for something to grab onto. It seemed she was falling forever. Then she felt a sharp pain. The world drifted away in blackness.

Dorothy put her arm around Michaela's shoulder. "Now Michaela I'm sure everythin's going to be alright. I'm sure Katie is fine. Maybe they've found her and are on their way home." Michaela raised her tear streaked face.

"And who all have they found!"

"Well, they found you and Sully."

"No, we found them. They were lost." Dorothy wished she hadn't brought that up. She'd forgotten that time when they'd been looking for Michaela and Sully at Willow creek, and Michaela and Sully had found the searchers instead of the other way around.

Brian sat down for a brief rest. He was tired and hungry, but he was determined. "I'm not going home without Katie, and that's final!" Just then he heard a savage growl and a high pitched scream. He was absolutely sure the scream was a child's. He wondered if it was Katie. Brian immediately dashed toward the scream.

Katie slowly opened her eyes there was a splitting pain in her head. She realized she was stuck in a tiny little crevice on the side of a cliff. She couldn’t move around much.

The mountain lion had apparently given up and gone away, back to its cub. “Good Riddance.” She thought about the cub. “I wish I’d known you were a mountain lion before now!” She felt an overwhelming tiredness. She couldn’t keep awake any longer. Then the world went black again.

"Michaela all I'm sayin' is that surely they will find Katie." Michaela nodded numbly with all her heart she hoped that was true!

"In the meantime Dr. Mike," Grace added. "You need to eat. We don't need you getting sick you've got to take care of yourself." Michaela knew Dorothy and Grace were right. Grace handed her the tray of food. Michaela sunk witheringly into her desk chair and ate. Grace nodded and she and Dorothy watched every bite Michaela ate. "Like a hawk." Michaela thought.

Brian ran toward the sound of the scream. He was almost sure it had been Katie. He made it to the edge of the woods. He looked down the cliff. He couldn't see anything. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it didn't come from here." Brian turned to go. At that moment he saw a flash of something bright. In the bushes he spotted a snagged piece of material. It was blue and red and green gingham. Brian knew it anywhere. That was material from the dress Katie had been wearing the day she got lost! "I know she's here!" "Katie!" Brian called. There was no reply. "KATIE!" Still she did not answer.

Katie heard her name being called over and over. "Katie, Where are you!?" She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes to look. The August heat was sickening. She was so thirsty. She hadn’t had anything to eat and drink in almost two days. She wasn’t sure she could muster the strength to shout.

Brian knelt by the cliff and looked over. It was to steep he couldn't see anything. "Katie are you down there!"

Katie recognized her brother's voice. "Brian, help me." She finally was able to call.

"Katie, where are you?!"

"I don't know. I fell. My head hurts awful badly." Was all she could get out before there came back the world of peaceful black, with no more pain. Brian was worried about that, but there wasn't anything he could do now.

"Katie I'm going to climb down and get you." This was much easier said then done! The cliff face was very rocky. The rocks weren't stable and they might crack at anytime. "I know it's dangerous to go down there, but how else will I get Katie out of the crevice. How will I get back up this cliff with Katie?” Thousands of other thoughts raced through Brian's mind. He also knew Katie could be hurt and he was the only one small enough to get her in that little crevice.

Brian remembered he'd brought a long rope with him. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the rope. He tied one end onto the base of a tree. The other end he tied to his pants. "Alright, Katie, I want you to stay very still and tell me when you see me." There was no answer.

Brian edged his way over the cliff and found a foot hold. He started inching his way down the cliff. It took quite awhile the cliff was steep and he couldn’t see where he was going. Finally, he made it to the crevice. Sure enough, in the narrow little space lay Katie. Brian crept over to her. The crevice was just about a three foot wide space. Brian knelt by his little sister. He checked for her pulse. She was alive! "Katie, wake up for me." She didn't respond.

Brian knew he needed to keep her awake. He kept talking. He needed to find a way to get Katie up the cliff. It was too steep to hold her and climb. "Maybe I could make some kind of a stretcher and pull her up with the rope." "Now, what have I got with me?" Brian asked himself. His pockets held: some string, a few coins, a nail, and a piece of taffy. The only usable things were his jacket and the rope. He thought for a moment.

Then he had an idea. Brian spread the coat out. It had been large to begin with, a size to big. It was bigger than Katie. He carefully lifted Katie from the crevice floor and placed her on the jacket. He'd heard his Ma say neurological patients shouldn't be moved in case they had broken bones. This was the only way. He wrapped Katie in the coat. Then he untied the rope from his pants and tied it around the coat in three different places. This made a kind of stretcher. Brian pulled on the higher rope and the stretcher came up.

"By golly, I think this'll work!" Brian exclaimed. He left Katie on the bottom and slowly climbed back up. All the way he was well aware one slip and he could fall to his death. He made it back to the top. Then he knelt on the edge and pulled on the rope slowly and tediously bringing the unconscious Katie up the mountain side.

Brian was very relieved when he had her to safety. "It's a good thing I came looking. I don't think Ma or the townsfolk could've climbed down there." Brian laughed softly picturing Hank or Jake sprawled out on the face of the cliff.

Once again, he tried to revive Katie, but she didn't respond. Brian carefully lifted Katie into his arms. He didn't know how he was ever going to make it back to town. He supposed he'd walked some ten miles. Even though she was small, Brian didn't think that he could make it that far today. Let alone how he would get Katie back to town as well?

Finally he had a break through. He pulled two strong branches off of near trees. He pushed the branches of the sleeves of his coat. After that, he retied the rope around that. He pulled the "jacket travois" back toward town. It was very slow going. He had to make sure he didn't trip, and that Katie didn't hit anything. He kept talking, but was unable to bring her out of her unconscious state. He was worried about her being dehydrated.

It was late. Brian couldn't sleep. He'd only been able to make it back to the stream he'd camped at the night before. In the morning he could follow the stream back to town. He hated to make Katie wait longer for medical care, but he couldn't make it another step. He laid down beside Katie his arm around her. He slept lightly most of the night, waking at every little sound. Brian was up at dawn in a hurry to get Katie back to town. He knew everyone had to be worried sick.

Back in town Michaela had spent an awful night. This was the second night her children had been gone. She felt to blame for both of them. Dorothy had made sure she came home to sleep. "Dorothy's such a good friend." Michaela thought to herself.

"Jake, this looks too familiar!" Then all the men stumbled out of the woods and they were at the edge of town.

"Well, I'd say! We found our way back to town."

"Let's rest in town for a minute, and change our clothes, eat, and then we can go back out. The rest of the men agreed.

"Katie, Wake up." Brian encouraged his sister. "We need to get you back home." Brian kept talking to her as he got ready to try and get back to town. Brian picked Katie up and carefully placed her on his “jacket travois” and kept walking. Sometime after lunch Brian got to the school house. He smiled. He smiled, his steps quickening. Just knowing he was almost there and how glad his Ma would be.

At that very moment, the men were in the clinic giving Michaela the bad news that they hadn’t found Katie. Michaela hadn't taken it very well and had broken down crying. She wished more then anything Sully would come home.

Brian ran down the dirt street of Colorado Springs. He burst into the clinic. "Ma, I got her!" Michaela was at Brian in a moment hugging him. Hugging the unconscious Katie and talking all the while.

"Thank God! Are you both alright?"

"Well, I am Katie's not. She's not talking or anything." Michaela immediately took Katie. She laid her daughter on the examination table. Dorothy led Brian out of the clinic.

"Let's send Sully a telegram." Brian suggested.

"That's a wonderful idea Brian. I bet Horace will send it for you. I'll be in the Gazette office. You can come find me." Brian nodded and walked over to the telegraph office.

"Horace, will you send a telegram for me?" Horace turned to look at Brian and nodded. "Where's it going to?"

"The Johnson's, in Soda Springs, Sully's working for them on their homestead."

"I knew that." Horace said tapping his forehead. “Where’s my memory gone these days?”

"Tell him that Katie got lost in the woods and I found her. We don't know what's wrong yet. We think he should come home soon."

Horace nodded. "I'll do."

Brian went to find Miss Dorothy. She and Brian went and sat with Loren. They waited.

Loren handed Brian a perfectly red, round apple, "Here."

"What's that for?"

"Just a', wanted to say, I thought ya did real good savin Katie an all, I'm proud o' ya, Brian."

"Thanks!"

Michaela was in the clinic with her daughter. Katie had a broken ankle and a pretty severe concussion from hitting her head on the rocks. She also had some pretty nasty bruises. Just then Michaela noticed the severe claw marks on her daughters face. They looked a little infected. Michaela wondered what had attacked her daughter. Michaela thought she was going to be alright! Michaela tucked her daughter into the recovery room bed and left the clinic.

In the mercantile, Michaela gave Brian a huge hug. She told about Katie's condition. Late that afternoon Michaela sat in the recovery room with Katie holding her hand. She had woken up, but was still resting quite a bit. She heard. "Is everything alright?" Michaela looked up?

"Sully!" She exclaimed running to him. "Who told you to come!?"

"Let's just say a little bird told me." Sully wrapped Michaela in a hug. While she told him about Katie. He smiled. "Sounds like our little girl is gonna be well soon." Michaela smiled. She hoped so.

"Mama, can I get up today? Please." Michaela smiled. Five days had passed since Katie's “adventure” in the woods. School had started three days ago. Katie had been begging every day to be allowed to get up out of bed. Sully had made Katie a pair of crutches. She'd have to use them for two months or so until her ankle healed.

"Michaela, we gotta let her fly on her own wings sometime." Sully reminded.

"Well, school starts in about an hour. If you practice on your crutches and do alright you can go. If you get tired though, you have to promise to tell Senora Teresa."

"I promise." Katie agreed, her solemn blue eyes shining.

"You ready to try your new crutches?" Asked Sully, a hint of mischievousness shining in his blue eyes. He'd carved them especially for his daughter, to fit her tiny frame perfectly. There was love in each knife stroke. Katie nodded. Sully helped her get up. She unsteadily walked across the room with the crutches. It didn't take her long to learn how to use them.

"Katie, sit still. I'm almost done." Katie tried not to wiggle. Michaela tied Katie's ribbons on the ends of her braids. "You’re ready." She said helping Katie down. Michaela stood with Sully on the porch of the clinic. They watched Katie hobble off on her crutches. All the girls following her, asking questions about her adventure.

Michaela laid her head on Sully's shoulder. "There goes our little girl. She's all grown up."