Part 3

Matthew slipped out the door of the church and watched as Thomas strode briskly across the bridge toward town. He trotted behind him at a safe distance until he saw Sully approaching and he smiled to himself and quickened his pace.

Sully, accompanied by Wolf, was dressed for hunting and carrying his bow. As Matthew approached he heard Thomas's scornful voice saying, "Where are you off to, half-breed?"

"Huntin'" Sully replied shortly.

Thomas snorted. "I'm surprised you weren't back there at the church with the rest of them, taking up for..." he made his voice deliberately mincing..."'Dr. Mike'." In a normal tone he said, "It looks like you've won this round."

"Won what?" Sully replied curiously.

Thomas snorted. "Well, since I've been as good as told to leave town, I suppose you think that leaves you free to claim Michaela as your 'woman' or 'squaw' or whatever it is people like you have." He looked Sully up and down with disdain. "Well, just so you know, I am *not* planning to leave. Not just yet. Michaela may be playing 'hard to get', but she'll come around, I'll wager."

Sully shrugged. "Wouldn't be too sure of that," he replied. "You ain't th' first man she's led on like that then put off." He allowed a bitter note to creep into his voice.

Thomas looked startled. "You?" he said in surprise. "But I thought you and she.." Sully shrugged again and shook his head. Thomas's eyes narrowed. "But the townspeople all said ... the children, that is Brian ..."

Matthew, who had joined them, spoke up. "Dr. Mike and Sully were quite an item around here for awhile an' my brother an' sister were really hopin' things'd work out this time." He shook his head ruefully. "They been disappointed so often." Sully had to turn his head to keep from catching Matthew's eye.

Thomas looked thoughtful, digesting all this, remembering snatches of conversation. Suddenly he exclaimed, "What about when you came flying into the clinic waving that axe of yours and yelling at me to get away from her? That wasn't the act of a spurned lover!"

Sully managed a disgusted look. "I thought she was in trouble. Didn't know she was just gettin' engaged again."

"Again?" Thomas asked weakly. He remembered Brian's 'How many men ya been engaged to?' the first night he met them.

Sully began counting on his fingers. "Let's see ... of course there was David. An' then Ethan ..."

"Uh, Sully," Matthew interrupted, playing along. "Ma was never exactly *engaged* to our pa ..."

"That's right. I guess he don't really count. But then there was th' Reverend an' after him there was that doctor back in Boston ..."

"Boston!" Thomas expostulated, "Doctor! What was his name?"

Sully shook his head. "Can't recall exactly which one it was." He looked at Thomas speculatively. "I guess you fit in there somewhere, too, and I reckon you're back for a second go-round. Well, I wish ya luck with her. You're gonna need it." Shifting his bow on his shoulder he turned to Matthew, who was having difficulty keeping a straight face and was coughing discreetly into his hat. "Ready t'go?"

Thomas held up a hand. "Whoa, wait a minute. You're telling me that Michaela was engaged all those times but it never worked out? That she broke it off every time?" He gave a smug smirk. "It's obvious that all this time she's been waiting for me to come back -- that none of the others compared to what we had."

"Y' might be right" Sully answered noncommittally. "Anyway, it's none o' my concern anymore. We gotta get huntin' 'fore we run outta daylight." As if a sudden thought occurred to him, he turned to Thomas saying, "You ever do any huntin'?"

"Once," was Thomas's reply. "When I did my tour in Europe, some friends in England invited me to their estate and I spent an afternoon 'riding to hounds' as they say."

"Hounds ..." Sully looked at Matthew, who shrugged.

"Fox hunting," Thomas explained condescendingly.

"You hunted *fox*?" Sully asked unbelievingly. "Folks in England eat fox?" After the snails in Boston he figured nothing should surprise him but the thought of consuming fox was just too much.

Thomas snorted. "We hunted for sport, not for food" he explained.

Sully dismissed this ridiculous notion. "Well, around here we do *real* huntin' an' if we don't get started, we'll go hungry."

Thomas eyed Sully's bow. "People don't use guns around here?"

"Some do. I don't. Don't like guns." Sully answered shortly. "Look, you're welcome t' come with us if you'd like. Might help t' get your mind off things. Won't be huntin' anything fancy like fox, but ..." he looked at Thomas challengingly. "Ya just might learn somethin' ... that is if the idea of real huntin' don't put ya off ..."

"Sounds intriguingly primitive" Thomas met the challenge. "I think I'll take you up on that. Lead on!"

The hunting trip proved successful. Sully soon bagged the game he wanted and he and Matthew prepared it for transportation home. Thomas had watched the entire process with a sardonic eye and had waved off offers to show him how to shoot the bow. The men worked in silence and soon all was in readiness for the trek home.

If Thomas noticed that they were going home a different way than they had come, he didn't comment on it. Presently there was a noticeable odor of smoke from nearby campfires and Sully paused, turning to Matthew. "We're close t' th' Cheyenne camp - I wanna stop an' give 'em some o' this game - they c'n use th' meat an' we got more 'n we need."

Matthew nodded while Thomas expostulated, "Cheyenne? You mean Indians? There are Indians nearby? You're not actually thinking of letting them know we're here?"

"That was th' idea" Sully looked at Thomas. "You ain't sayin' you're scared t' meet 'em, are ya?"

"Ya don't need t' be afraid" Matthew put in. "Cloud Dancin' an' th' Cheyenne are our friends."

"I ... I'm not afraid!" Thomas asserted. "Just a little concerned is all. About getting back to town before nightfall."

Sully consulted the sky. "We should have plenty of time."

They moved toward the Indian camp, Thomas starting at every little sound. A little child was the first to see them and turned and ran into the compound, shouting an alert. As they neared a cluster of tipis, an Indian emerged from one of them and stepped forward to greet them. "My brother!" he exclaimed, clasping arms with Sully.

"Brother?" Thomas hissed in an aside to Matthew. "Is he *really* related to ... him?" His distaste was evident.

"His name is Cloud Dancin'. He saved Sully's life once an' they call each other 'brother'" Matthew replied impatiently. He was trying to follow the conversation between Cloud Dancing and Sully but they were now speaking Cheyenne.

Cloud Dancing was eyeing Thomas speculatively which was making him decidedly nervous. Gradually they became aware that some of the Cheyenne women had been gathering around them, pointing, gesturing and whispering to each other. It could have been his extreme paranoia at his point, but Thomas felt the looks and gestures were directed at him. Finally, emboldened a couple of the younger ones stepped forward to peer at him more closely, one even running a finger along his mustache before running, giggling, back to her friends.

Thomas raised his hands, batting at them as if they were mosquitoes. "Stop that! Go away!" he ordered.

"Do not be afraid" Cloud Dancing addressed him for the first time. "They mean you no harm. They say that you are very handsome and they believe you will make beautiful babies."

"Babies?" Thomas was taken aback. Were they referring to his and Michaela's future offspring?

Sully smirked at him. "Seems Cloud Dancin' was expectin' you" he told Thomas.

"*Me*?" Why would some savage be waiting for him, Thomas wondered.

"He didn't know it was gonna be you" Sully explained patiently. "But now you've showed up, he knows you're 'the one'."

Cloud Dancing stepped forward to explain. "Once our people were strong and many, but lately our strength and numbers have been lessening. It has been said that one would come to restore balance to the People. He is to join with us and make our People strong again. Sully had told you understand that this must be so. The time is right and you are here." Cloud Dancing inclined his head toward the gathered women. "That is why they believe you are the one. Even now the ceremony is being prepared" As Cloud Dancing spoke, one of the women stepped forward and placed a blanket around Thomas's shoulders. Somewhere a drum began to beat. Cloud Dancing turned to Sully and spoke a few phrases in Cheyenne.

But Thomas had thrown off the blanket crying, "What 'ceremony'? What do you mean? What can I possibly do to make his people strong?"

"Calm down" Sully advised, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You said yourself ya heard how th' Indians take white folks into th' tribe - it's a great honor! You'll be adopted as a Cheyenne an' tomorrow you'll be married t' one o' their women ... looks like you'll be havin' a weddin' after all!"

Thomas shook off Sully's hand. "That's no honor. That's a horror! I'm a respected man of business from Boston. I have no intention of marrying one of these savages -- whatever they call 'marrying'. *You* marry her - you're one of them, anyway."

"I'm not the one chosen for it" Sully said quietly.

"Well, I certainly don't want to be, either!" Thomas exclaimed. In a lower voice he almost begged Sully, "You know these savages. You can talk to them. Isn't there some way you can get me out of this?"

Sully sighed. He was getting really tired of Thomas and just wanted to get rid of him. He wanted to have supper with Michaela and the children, to start working on getting their relationship back in balance. He smiled inwardly. That kiss at the homestead this morning had been a good start, but he knew they still had a long way to go. As long as Thomas was around it would be an impossibility. Turning to Cloud Dancing he spoke in Cheyenne and they conversed at some length, Thomas's eyes shifting anxiously back and forth between them as he attempted to pick up the nuances of what was being said. At last Sully and Cloud Dancing clasped arms then Sully gestured to Thomas and Matthew saying "Let's go" as he set a brisk pace back through the woods.

"What did you say to him?" Thomas wondered as he trotted to keep up.

"Told him ya had ta go back t' Boston an' close out your affairs -- that ya wanted t' say good-bye t' your family an' find a weddin' present for your bride."

"A wedding ..." Thomas began, then he looked at Sully with something akin to respect. "What will they do when I don't come back?"

Sully shrugged. "They won't be comin' t' Boston t' get ya if that worries ya."

Thomas nodded, seemingly satisfied. Matthew noticed that whatever impact his defection might have on them was not among Thomas's worries. But he hadn't expected any more from this self-centered man.

As they neared the town Sully advised, "I'd get goin' as soon as possible. Don't want any of 'em seein' ya still here when they come t' town an' gettin' suspicious." Matthew quickly covered a grin.

They stopped at the telegraph office for Thomas to purchase a ticket for the morning stage and Sully to check for any mail from the government officials to whom he'd been writing to complain about conditions at the Indian camp. Once outside again they prepared to part company. "I guess I should thank you for your help out there, ... Sully" Thomas said grudgingly, extending his hand.

Ignoring it, Sully nodded and turned to leave when a loud voice from down the street made them both turn in that direction.

"Hey, Bradford, been waitin' for ya ta get back." It was Hank and he was not happy. "Just got back from takin' Rosie t' see Dr. Mike. Seems like ya giv' her more 'n she bargained for. So now ya owe me fer a visit t' th' doc, *an'* for medicine an' ya also oughta pay me fer th' days she won't be workin'. I'll add it t' yer bill which ya can pay when ya leave -- an' I want ya outta here by mornin'!"

Thomas looked around at all the people who had stopped to listen to this tirade, including Michaela standing on the clinic porch. The look on her face boded him no good. It was definitely time to leave.

Dinner at the homestead that night was a celebration, as Sully and Matthew explained the events of the day. "I still can't believe that Cloud Dancing and the others practised all that subterfuge just for me" Michaela marveled. "Thank you, Sully, for arranging it!"

"They care about you, Dr. Mike an' they appreciate all ya done for them. They didn't wanta see nothin' bad happen t' you ... or t' us." He gave her a significant look, causing her to redden and lower her eyes.

"Well," she said at last, "I want to thank you all for loving and believing in me, despite ... despite the past."

"You always told us," Brian declared, "everyone makes mistakes. Guess that means you, too!"

"Yes, even though I don't like to admit it, that means me too" Michaela agreed ruefully.

At last the children were in bed, far too late, according to Michaela, and quiet descended on the homestead. Sully poured them more coffee and inclining his head toward the outside, he raised his eyebrows.

Michaela's mouth quirked into a small smile and she wondered why she suddenly felt so nervous. But she took her cup and went out to sit beside Sully on the steps. They sipped in silence for awhile, watching clouds scudding across the moon. Sully appeared calm and serene but Michaela was feeling more agitated by the minute. Finally she took a deep breath, and lowering her coffee cup to the step below her, she spoke. "I ... I'm sorry, Sully."

He looked at her tenderly. "Nothin' t' be sorry about. Already told ya this wasn't your fault. Don't think there was anything ya coulda done once Thomas got his mind set on marryin' ya. Men like him just can't understand when a woman don't want 'em back."

"I appreciate that, Sully" Michaela said quietly. "But when I said I was sorry, I was speaking of this afternoon ..." Sully looked at her quizzically and sighing, she continued, "when I ... when we ... that kiss ..."

Sully almost wanted to laugh, but knew he'd have to tread very carefully here. Looking Michaela in the eye he said, "Why are ya sorry about that?" He, too, placed his empty cup on the step.

Michaela hunched her shoulders together, gathering her courage. "I ... I know you enjoy such things ..." she began.

"You don't?" he asked her gently.

She quickly cut her eyes at him and then looked back at her knees. "That's the problem" she said in a low voice. "I do. I enjoyed David's kisses and ... at first ... Thomas's ... and... perhaps most of all ... yours" her voice was barely audible. She glanced at Sully again and he nodded for her to go on. She could see he was puzzled. "Oh, Sully, you don't understand!" she continued. "I suppose things are different here but I grew up in a society that believed that 'nice' young women didn't feel such things."

"Ya also grew up where women didn't become doctors" Sully pointed out.

"That's not the same thing. Becoming a doctor did not involve feelings I wasn't supposed to have. The society in which I grew up was very clear on that. I remember talking with Rebecca once and she confided to me what Mother had told her the night before her wedding." Michaela stopped abruptly, realizing that having this conversation wasn't exactly proper either.

"What'd she say?" Sully was curious.

Michaela pressed her lips together and then came out with it. "She told her she should close her eyes and think of England."

"England?" This was the last thing Sully had expected.

"It ... it was supposed to help make an unpleasant duty more pleasant, I suppose."

"Why should it be unpleasant? I can't imagine enjoyin' bein' with a woman 'less she was enjoyin' bein' with me, too" Sully protested.

Michaela blushed furiously and hunched her shoulders even more. She wished this conversation had never begun but now she felt she owed it to Sully to try to make him understand. "In Boston unmarried couples never kissed unless they were engaged or about to be. Most couples were very strictly chaperoned until marriage. Brief, sweet kisses were expected but it was felt that more than that could ... could lead to other ... things. I always was led to believe that this meant that men had ... difficulty ... controlling those feelings."

"Is that why ya always pull away from me, why you're so nervous around me? I ain't Thomas. I ain't gonna ..."

But Michaela interrupted, her eyes filling with tears, her voice anguished. "Don't you see, Sully, it's not just you. It's *me*! *I* have these feelings, too! I felt something with David and even with Thomas, though those feelings repelled me ... and ... I have them with you, as well." Her voice became a whisper again."

"Do they repel ya with me?"

"No," Michaela admitted, "but that doesn't make them easier to deal with. It makes them harder."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sully was acutely aware that what was happening here was significant. He knew that what happened with Catherine had caused a severe breach of the trust that was so important in their relationship. What was said and done here and now could help to rebuild that trust, or do it irreparable harm. But Michaela had reached out to him, had entrusted him with her most private feelings, she to whom trust did not come easily. It was up to him to treat those feelings with respect. At last he spoke. "Michaela, 'f ya ask me, there ain't nothin' wrong with those feelin's. Both men and women have 'em -- I b'lieve that's the way th' Creator meant it t' be. I mean, think about it --" he grinned. " 'f it were only men havin' fun, the women would've rebelled long ago an' we wouldn't even be here!" This elicited a small smile from Michaela. Growing serious again, he said "I understand now a little of why you've been so afraid ta be alone with me, so nervous about kissin' me. I promise you I'll respect that. I won't ever ask you for somethin' ya can't give me an' I won't ever grab and take what ain't rightfully mine, either. I promise you, you can trust me. An' if ya ever need th' talk about how you're feelin' -- if you're afraid or overwhelmed -- we can talk about it. Or maybe you'd feel better talkin' with Dorothy or Grace. But please, don't ever be ashamed or afraid of your feelin's for me. You are beautiful and loving an' *normal*. I would never let anything get away from us ... an' neither would you. The feelins *can* be controlled ..." He paused, praying he had not overstepped his bounds.

Michaela was very moved by what Sully had said. At the same time she could feel so many different emotions whirling and swirling inside of her. Things she wasn't quite ready to entrust to Sully yet. Suppose she did admit to herself that her feelings were normal and she did allow their relationship to progress? Sully had been married before. What if he found her hopelessly inadequate? Suppose she gathered the courage to tell Sully how deep her feelings for him had grown - - would he laugh? "It ... will take time" she ventured. Looking into his loving blue eyes at last, she said, "I do trust you, Sully. I know you are not like Thomas. I ... I just need time to explore my own feelings." One side of her mouth quirked up. "It's not easy just to throw off the teachings of a lifetime ..."

Sully reached out a tentative hand and touched her cheek, brushing back a stray lock of hair. "Take all the time ya need" he said. "I'll be here." They gazed at one another for a moment and then slowly, hesitantly their lips met in a kiss. Sully felt Michaela's hand on his shoulder and drew closer to her. Then, feeling her stiffen he broke off the kiss and dropped his hand from her face. Reaching for her hand, he said, "Would you like to go on a picnic with me tomorrow? Be good t' get away an' just have fun for a change" he added persuasively.

"Tomorrow! Oh my goodness with all that's been going on I nearly forgot! Tomorrow's the day I go to meet the Army wagon train with the food for the Indians!"

"I forgot, too" Sully admitted.

"The supplies are badly needed. I'd like to deliver them within the next few days. I just hope the provisions are decent this time. That last shipment was inexcusable -- full of worms and bugs ..." Michaela gave Sully a shy glance. "Could we have that picnic when I get back?"

"Sure" Sully agreed.

"We need to plan for Brian's birthday!" Michaela continued excitedly. "That's coming up next week!"

Sully smiled at her excitement. It usually took something involving the children to unmask the staid Dr. Quinn and give a glimpse of the fun-loving Michaela underneath. He hoped, with time, that he would be able to draw out this endearing part of her that she liked to claim never existed. Reluctantly, he rose, pulling her to her feet beside him. "Time I was goin', Dr. Mike" he said. "You take care and I'll see ya when ya come with those supplies. I'm goin' out t' th' Indian camp for a few days. They're havin' some games an' Cloud Dancin' challenged me to a tomahawk throwin' contest."

Michaela smiled. "That I'd love to see! I imagine you'll acquit yourself very well. After all," her eyes twinkled. "No one is better than you at throwing the tomahawk!"

Sully pulled his weapon out, weighing it in his hand, running his finger up the handle. Flipping it over and replacing it in his belt, he said, "I'll do all right. Anyway, I'll probably still be there when ya come with th' supplies."

"Good! Then you can help unload."

Sully grinned, then said, "I best be goin'" He touched her lightly on the arm. "Good night."

"Good night," she replied. "And thank you, Sully. For everything."

They embraced briefly then Sully nodded and started on his way, turning at the edge of the yard and walking backward to get one last glimpse of her. She waved, watching as he strode away until he disappeared into the night.

The End