For personal use and select distribution only © August 1997 by S.L. Snyder

SAVING MICHAELA
by S. L. Snyder

Timeline: September 1869


Sully came to the homestead for dinner, but Michaela wasn't home yet. He had been working on their new home all day and had stopped to go into town to get some supplies from Loren's store. He went by the clinic to see if Michaela was ready to head home and he'd ride out with her. A sign on the clinic door said she'd gone out to make a few house calls, way out beyond the hot springs, and would be gone most of the day. He headed to the homestead, hoping she'd be back by now.

The kids were home and Colleen was making dinner. Brian was sitting on the steps when Sully rode up. "Hey, Sully. Have you seen ma?"

"No. There was a note at the clinic saying she was making house calls. I thought she might be home by now," he replied as Matthew came out of the barn.

"She ain't home yet, Sully," Matthew said. "It's gonna be dark soon and Dr. Mike usually is home before dark...anyway when she goes out of town. I'm getting kinda worried."

Sully hated it when Michaela made house calls so far out of town. He didn't know all these folks setting up cabins out in the wilderness and he was worried for her safety. "Let's give her a little longer, Matthew. Her note sounded like she had to go a ways out for the house calls."



By dinnertime, still no Michaela. Sully and the kids sat down to eat, but without Michaela there, and not knowing where she was, no one was very hungry. Sully was trying to reassure the kids that Michaela was okay, but he really didn't feel assured himself.

Wolf growled and then they heard a horse.

"It's Ma!" Shouted Brian. "She's home!" Brian jumped up and ran for the door, closely followed by Sully, Matthew and Colleen. Brian threw open the door, "Ma!" But all he saw was Flash...standing alone in the yard. "Ma? Ma? Where are ya, Ma?" Brian cried.

Sully and Matthew went out and took Flash's reins. "Sully, her doctor bag ain't here. If Flash got spooked, wouldn't her bag still be on the saddle?" asked Matthew.

"Yeah...I think so. Unless she was on the ground when Flash spooked and maybe she had her bag. I don't know, Matthew. D'ya see anything wrong with Flash?"

They both looked Flash over. "No," said Matthew. "Do you?"

"No."

"Sully," Brian cried, "where's Ma?"

"I don't know, Brian. But don't worry, I'll find her. I promise. Colleen, please put some food in a bag and any medical supplies you have here."

"Do you think ma's hurt?" asked Brian.

"I don't know, Brian. The supplies are just in case."

"Where are you gonna starting looking?" Matthew asked.

"Her note said she was going out beyond the hot springs. I'll start out there and set Wolf on the scent. I need something of hers and something off Flash. Wolf can follow Flash's scent too. Will you kids be okay here? Maybe you should go into town and stay with Grace and Robert E."

"We'll be okay," said Matthew. "We wanna stay here in case Dr. Mike comes back tonight. If she doesn't, we'll go in to town tomorrow and let folks know. They can get a search party going too."

"No. It's better if I go alone. I will find her and bring her home safe...I promise."



Sully rode out past the hot springs and then set Wolf on Flash's scent. Wolf took off with Sully riding close behind. After a while, they came upon a lighted cabin. Sully looked in and saw a family sitting around the fire, but no sign of Michaela. He knocked on their door and a man answered.

"My name is Sully. Do you know Dr. Quinn?"

"Yeah. She was out here early today doctorin' the misses. We's having a baby and the doc was checking up."

"Do you know about what time she left?"

"Long before lunch."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"Sorta. She asked how to get up to the hermit's place. She said he'd sent word he was sick. I told the doc she ought not to go alone. I don't trust that old bassar'. He comes by here and looks at my oldest girl kinda funny. Told him to stay away. But the doc said she'd be okay. Ain't she gone home yet?"

"No. Her family's worried. Can ya tell me where the hermit lives?"

"Yeh. Hope she's okay. She's a good doc and cares 'bout my misses. I'll draw ya a trail. It'll take a few hours to get there...it's rough going. I told the doc that, too." The man drew Sully a trail in the dirt and Sully committed it to memory.

He thanked the man and set out on the path to find Michaela. Following the trail, he thought only about the next bend ahead. He tried not to think about what could be happening to his heartsong. He'd felt this way before, when the Dog Soldiers took her. He hoped this'd turn out the same way. All he wanted was her back in his arms.

Just after midnight, he stopped to rest. He knew he had to rest if he was going to help Michaela. Wolf curled up at his side and went to sleep. It took Sully a little longer, but his sleep was not restful.

After a few hours, Sully woke up and got Wolf on the trail again. He'd dreamt about Michaela and he saw a dark figure he guessed was the hermit. He'd heard about an old crazy man up in the hills, who scared anyone he'd meet.

Sully prayed to the spirits to guard Michaela to keep her safe. He couldn't lose her...not now....not when they were seeing their future together. Their wedding would be in the spring, he'd have the house done by then.

The sunrise was beautiful, but Sully couldn't see it's beauty. All he saw was the trail ahead. The trail leading, hopefully, to Michaela.



By noon he started to see signs that someone had walked on this trail recently. Wolf was starting to get lower to the ground, which mean that the scent was getting stronger. Sully wasn't quite sure if Wolf had Flash's scent or Michaela 's. Suddenly, Wolf stopped and pricked up his ears. Sully got off his horse and tied him to a bush. He signaled Wolf to stay with him and together they crept up the trail.

Wolf emitted a low growl, so low only Sully could have heard it. Sully stopped and went into the bushes with Wolf. He moved forward, around the bend and saw an old cabin....barely enough there to be called a real cabin. He signaled Wolf to stay. He went around through the bushes to get behind the cabin where he could look in the window.

The first thing he saw was a tattered figure at a table. The figure was covered with animal hides and from the movement, Sully could tell the person was eating. He looked around and in a corner, he saw Michaela! She was on the floor and there was a chain around her waist. He couldn't see her face, just the auburn hair he knew so well. Her medical bag was in front of her and all the contents were spread out on the floor. They looked like someone had set them around in front of her in a pattern.

Sully saw her move a little. One of her hands pushed her hair out of her face and he realized her other hand was tied, with a rope, to a metal hook on the wall. He saw her face clearly; it was dirty and bruised, but it was Michaela. She sat up a little and looked toward the window. The figure's back was to the window, so Sully showed himself to Michaela. He knew immediately that she had seen him; he saw the corner of her mouth turn up just a bit in a smile. She nodded her head ever so slightly and then she looked away.

Sully moved down from the window and took a deep breath. She was alive! She was aware! She knew he was there!

He heard a chair scrape and took a chance to look in the window again. The figure had risen and a hand threw a piece of meat to Michaela. She didn't touch it. Sully heard a man's voice:

"Eat it! Ye need nourishment. After awhile ye will see it my way and become my woman."

"Never," Michaela shouted.

"Ye'll change yer mind. I'll have ye."

"The only way you'll have me is to force me!" she replied.

"I force no one. Ye'll see. Ye'll learn to love me. I ain't had a woman in many years, but I can wait. God told me ye would be mine! God told me to be patient. He won't have said that if it weren't meant to be. Ye'll see. When ye are cold enough ye'll seek my bed."

"Never," Michaela repeated. "I'll die first."

"Ha!" he said then turned to go outside. "I go get water now." He walked out and headed down the path Sully had just been on. Sully waited until he was out of sight and then hurried into the cabin.

"Sully!"

"Michaela! Are you okay?"

"Yes. Just cold and tired and scared."

Sully put his arms around her and held her for a minute. Then he pulled his knife and cut the rope around her wrist. He then looked at the chain, but there was a big padlock on it and no key in sight. He looked at Michaela.

"He has the key. I didn't see where he put it. He's crazy, Sully. He had left word with another patient that he was very sick and needed help. When I got here, he asked me in and then hit me. I lost consciousness for a minute or so and when I regained consciousness, he had put the chain and rope on me."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No. When I first woke up his hands were here," she gestured towards her breasts. He didn't hurt me, just felt me, almost like he hadn't touch a woman before. He started to unbutton my blouse, but I yelled 'no' at him and he stopped. He had two buttons undone, he left them and got to his feet."

"Your blouse is torn at the shoulder." Sully said with a frown.

"I think it happened when he hit me. I must have fallen on the floor. But he did not do anything else. He has not touched me since then."

Sully had been concentrating so hard on Michaela that he did not hear the man coming back.

"Who are ye and what are ye doing with my woman?" the man said.

Sully turned around, rising and putting his hand on his tomahawk. "This is my woman. I have been looking for her. She belongs to me. Why do you have her chained?"

The man looked very confused. "No she ain't. God gave her to me! God would not have given me someone else's woman."

"You musta heard God wrong," Sully said softly. "God gave this woman to me a long time ago. She is mine and I have come to take her home."

"How could that be? I been here so long by myself. He sent her to me."

"If he sent her, why'd you leave a message down the trail for her to come here? Don't you think if God gave her to you, you wouldn't have needed the message?"

"I...I...I don't know," he replied, his look becoming confused.

Sully instinctively knew he had to keep pushing the confusion for Michaela's sake. He knew he must make this man doubt that he had heard his God correctly. "Has this woman touched you with love?" Sully asked.

"No. She says she don't want me. But God said...."

"No, God didn't say. See, she touches me with love." Sully took a chance, turned his back on the man and moved his lips towards Michaela's. Michaela saw his look and knew she must play the game. She reached up her hands, pulled Sully to her and kissed him.

"See?" said Sully.

The man shook his head. "She touched you with her mouth. Can you touch her woman parts without her saying 'no'? She said 'no' ta me."

"Yes, I can." Sully turned back to Michaela and with apology in his eyes, he put his hands on her breasts so that the man could see him touching her. Michaela looked straight in Sully's eyes and smiled at him. The man saw this.

"She smiles at you when you touch her. She must belong to you. I musta heard God wrong. Do you think so? Do you think it was really the Devil talking to me instead of God?" the man asked in wonderment.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. I know only that I need to take my woman home. Can you give me the key?"

The man reached inside his furs and brought out the key. He looked at it and then tossed it to Sully. Sully turned and unlocked the padlock, taking the chain off Michaela. As he did, he whispered to her, "Only a little more play acting and we'll be on the way home. Don't say anything." Michaela nodded.

Sully stood up and pulled Michaela to her feet. He gestured toward her medical bag and instruments and Michaela gathered them up.

"Have you lain with your woman?" the man asked.

"Yes. We have children. So you see, God gave her to me a long time ago."

"So my woman must be somewhere else?"

"I don't know."

The man shook his head in sorrow, went over to his bed and laid down with his back to them. Sully took Michaela's arm and pulled her out of the cabin and headed down the trail to the bend. When they rounded the bend, out of sight of the cabin, Sully stopped and took Michaela in his arms. Michaela grabbed a hold of Sully like she would never let him go. He could feel her shaking and the sobs started.

"Shhh...it's okay...you're safe now." Sully said as he held her and kissed her forehead.

Michaela let go and looked up at Sully. He wiped the tear tracks off her face as Wolf was bounding around them. Michaela leaned down and gave Wolf a hug. "I'll bet you helped find me, you wonderful boy, you wonderful wolf." Wolf licked her face in reply.

Sully smiled. "C'mon. My horse is just down there a little ways. We need to leave here now."

"Flash!" Michaela exclaimed. "He let Flash go and hit her to send her away!"

"She's home...she's okay."

They got down to Sully's horse. He lifted Michaela up and then got on behind her. He put his arms around her and she sunk back on his chest. He knew she was very tired. It after dark they reached the cabin where the man had told Sully about the trail. Sully knocked on the door again. The man opened the door and when he saw who it was, he gestured for them to come in.

"Ya found the doc! Is she okay?" he asked Sully.

"Yes. Just cold and tired."

"Hello again, Mr. Wilson," Michaela said.

"I told ya not to go up to the hermit's. He's crazy."

"Yes you did, sir, and next time I promise to listen to you," Michaela said with a grin.

"Next time," Sully said, "I'll be coming with you so nothing like this can happen again!"

A very pregnant woman came out from the other room. "Dr. Quinn, my husband told me about what happened. Are you okay?"

"Yes, Mrs. Wilson. I'm fine."

"Come here by the fire and let me get you all some food. Then you must stay here tonight. We only got one bed...but we can give ya furs and blankets to sleep on."

"That's okay, Mrs. Wilson," Sully said. "The floor by the fire would be great. Now I need to send a message to the children."

Sully took paper and bandages out of the bag Colleen had packed, wrote a quick message to the children and tied it on Wolf. As he finished tying it, he looked up and saw two little children peering out of the other room. Their eyes were big with wonder as they looked at Wolf. "He won't hurt you. Do you want to touch him?" Sully asked them. They both nodded. "Then come...it's okay."

They slowly walked over to Sully and Wolf and tentatively reached out to touch his fur. They giggled and then ran back to the other room. Sully walked Wolf out the door, let him smell a sock of Brian's and said, "Go to Brian!" Wolf took off running down the path.

After a warm dinner, Sully and Michaela curled up together by the fire. "Thank you, Sully. Thank you for coming for me."

"I had no choice. I love you and can't be without you," he nuzzled his lips in her neck. "Michaela?"

"Hmmm?"

"I'm sorry for touching..."

Michaela interrupted him, "Shhh. I'm not. You did what you had to do. You are my hero. My savior. I love you, Byron Sully!"

"And I love you, my stubborn Medicine Woman! But hear this now, never again will ya make house calls so far into the wilderness without someone else along. I will come whenever I can. If not me, you'll take Matthew or one of our other friends. I know ya want to believe in the goodness of people, but it just ain't the way it is out here. So for the sake of the children.....and me, ya gotta be careful. Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, turning her head and kissing him.



Robert E had come out to stay at the homestead after Matthew had told him about Michaela missing and Sully going to search for her. He and Matthew were sleeping in the barn. Colleen was in her own bed, but Brian was in Michaela's. He needed to feel close to his ma. He was scared of losing her the way he'd lost his real ma, but he knew if anyone could find her, Sully could.

He was sleeping with his arms around Pup. Pup woke him up by growling. Brian could tell it was very early in the morning...not dawn yet. He listened to hear what Pup heard and then he heard it, a scratching on the door. He jumped out of bed, followed by Pup, and went the few steps to the door. He opened it to see Wolf standing there. "Wolf!" Brian knelt down and put his arms around Wolf. "Colleen, Matthew, Robert E," he yelled, "Wolf's home!"

They all came running to Brian. In the moonlight, Matthew saw the bandage and note around Wolf's neck. He took them off and went in the house to read it. He turned to the others with a smile, "Dr. Mike's safe. Sully's with her and they'll be home later today!"



Sully and Michaela woke at first light. Mrs. Wilson fixed a quick breakfast. Sully told Mr. Wilson to warn his neighbors about the hermit and Sully would wire the authorities. After saying their good-byes, Sully and Michaela headed for the homestead. They took their time, knowing they had been lucky that Michaela hadn't been hurt, beyond a few bruises. They reached a mountain stream about half way home, where Sully stopped and got off, then took Michaela off the horse.

"We'll rest here for a few minutes." he reached into Colleen's bag and brought out some cloth. He got it wet and brought it over to Michaela. He knelt down where she was sitting and tenderly started washing the dirt off her face. "Need ta make ya look more presentable or the children will be worried. When he reached one of the bruises, he noticed her skin was scraped and there was a little dried blood. He carefully washed the blood away.

The cold water felt good on her face. Michaela looked into the intense blue eyes of this man she loved so much. How had she been so lucky to have him love her? She knew she loved him more than she could have ever loved David. This man before her was her everything. "Sully? I'm sorry for making you worry. I will try to be more careful in the future. I know I don't always think when I act, but I promise to try."

"That's all I ask, my love. Ya just have to stop being so independent. We both do. I know it's hard, but we gotta rely on each other.....and the children."

Michaela put her hands on either side of Sully's face as she gazed into his eyes. Then she pulled his face to hers and kissed him. Sully pulled her up to her knees with him and they embraced. They started kissing and nuzzling, the kisses becoming more intense. Michaela felt her body stirring, responding to Sully. Sully was responding to her. They pulled apart, their hearts beating rapidly and they had trouble catching their breath.

"I think we need to go now," Sully said, with a slight smile.

"I agree," she laughed. "If not, things will happen, yes?"

"Yeah...."

They mounted up and headed down the trail. Michaela turned slightly to be able to put her cheek against his chest and hear his heart. Sully felt her skin against his. They both were happy, to be together like this.



Brian had spent most of the day watching the trail. He had refused to come in for lunch, so Colleen had brought it to him on the porch. About mid-afternoon, Matthew and Colleen (Robert E had returned to town) heard Brian yell, "MA!"

They hurried out to see Michaela and Sully riding up the trail and Brian running out to greet them. Sully let Michaela off the horse as Brian ran up and put his arms around her. Matthew and Colleen hurried down to them. They looked at her face to see if she was okay and they saw the smile they loved.

"Dr. Mike, you okay?" Matthew asked.

"Yes. I'm fine. Come let's go into the house and we'll tell you all about the hermit." With her arms around Colleen and Brian, with Matthew and Sully following behind, Michaela went into the house, glad to be home.

The End

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