Eternal Love
Chapter 1
It was late in the evening when Dr. Josef Quinn, his wife Elizabeth and their daughter, Dr. Michaela Quinn, sat in the parlor at their house in Boston. And while Josef read the Boston Globe and Elizabeth was stitching, Michaela was absorbed in a book.
"This sounds interesting," Josef broke the silence.
"What is it?" Michaela looked up.
"There is a medical conference in Denver on March 1th and they are looking for doctors, in particular from the East, who want to report the newest medical development to the doctors out west."
Looking up from her stitching Elizabeth frowned. "Josef Quinn, I know what's on your mind. But you wouldn't do that, would you?"
Michaela looked puzzeled.
"Well, Mike," Josef glanced at his daughter. "What do you think about a journey to Denver?"
"To join the medical conference?" Michaela wanted to know excitedly.
"Oh no, Josef," Elizabeth sighed. "I know sometimes you have silly ideas but you can't really intend to take our daughter with you in this...could, rough wilderness! Denver! That's so far away!" she exclaimed and then continued, "and I think David shares my opinion. He won't permit Michaela to go."
"Permit? Mother, I'm an adult woman and I make my own desicions," Michaela said with an angry voice. "And in addition, I don't need David's permission!"
"But you are almost engaged!"
"Almost engaged?" Michaela exclaimed.
"Well, you two spend a lot of time together. He took you out to the opera and to fancy restaurants, he often has dinner with us. And you both are doctors, you share the same interests and besides…I saw him kissing you last night when he took you home."
"Mother!"
"Everyone knows a kiss is like a plight. So it's only a matter of time until he'll ask for your hand. He is a kind man, a suitable good match, Michaela."
"Mother, I like David very much. But do you really mean that's enough for a life time partnership?"
"Yes, of course! "
"But…."
"No buts, Michaela…," Elizabeth said harshly.
"Ladies, I think that's enough for now!" Josef interrupted mother and daughter. ""Elizabeth, in my opinion a journey to Denver could be a new experience for Michaela. She could meet other doctors, maybe even woman doctors."
"There'll be no other woman doctors, Josef, and you know that!" Elizabeth replied.
"But maybe, I could find a husband out there…how did you call it, Mother? Yes, in this 'rough wilderness'," Michaela said with a grin.
"Michaela!" Elizabeth got pale and pressed her hand against her heart.
"It's enough, Mike," Josef intervened. "Apologize to your mother!"
"I'm sorry, Mother," Michaela did it, abashed. Then she turned towards her father. "I would like to accompany you to Denver."
"All right, darling," he smiled, "tomorrow I'll send a wire to Denver to announce our arrival."
--
The medical conference was over and Josef and Michaela Quinn were on their way back home to Boston. While Michaela sat on a bench in the outdoor waiting area of the Denver train station, her father talked to another colleague inside of the station. She had closed her eyes and thought back to the last few days. Like her mother predicted, there hadn't been other woman doctors. Sure, most of the men were impressed, not about her medical skills but her beauty. No one of them had ever met a woman doctor and Michaela wasn't taken seriously by her male colleagues. Michaela knew, if it wasn't in reference to her father, Dr. Josef Quinn, no one would have noticed her. But there was one exception: Dr. Charles Bernard, a general practitioner, and his brother Dr. Jeremy Bernard, who was a gynecologist. Both men were from Boston too, but lived in Denver for a long time. These doctors had treated her like a colleague, asked for her opinion and shared their practical knowledge with her. She sighed loudly when suddenly a cry for help reached her ears.
"Help, we need help! Is here a doctor?" A boy about the age of fifteen ran into the waiting area. "We need a doctor!"
"I'm a doctor!" Michaela jumped up and took her medical bag.
"You? A woman?" The boy looked at Michaela hesitantly. "You are a doctor?"
"Yes, I am!"
"Well…," he looked around still searching for a "real" doctor, but obviously this lady was the only one.
"Uhm, Ma'am follow me," and he began to run.
Michaela followed him as fast as she could and a moment later they reached a group of craftsmen with one of them lying motionless on the ground.
"Please, Gentlemen, let me through! I'm a doctor." But the men ignored her. "I'm a doctor!"
Finally one of the men gave way and she bent down to the unconscious man.
"What happened?" she asked the boy who kneeled next to her.
"He was on the ladder when two fighting boys tumbled against it and suddenly he lost balance and fell. Please Ma'am, don't let him die!" the boy cried desperately.
One of the other men called, "Hey Lady, what about a kiss of life? For all of us!" The men laughed and another one said, "Wake up, mountain man," and patted the man's cheek. "Wake up! Believe me, it's worth to wake up!" The men laughed again.
Michaela ignored the comments and looked at the man on the ground. He had shoulder-length sun bleached hair and his skin was bronzed. He wore a blue shirt and a blue headband. And buckskin trousers. She had never seen a man with such trousers, not even workmen!
"He is handsome," Michaela thought. "Very handsome!"
Michaela pushed away this thoughts and began the physical examinaton. First she checked his pulse then her hands scanned his head and face, arms, the upper part of his body and his legs.
"Sir, can you hear me?" she asked while she opened the buttons of his shirt and put the stethoscope on his chest. His heartbeat was strong and steady. Then Michaela took the stethoscope away and laid her small, warm left hand over the man's heart. She couldn't figure out why she did this, but she couldn't resist. While she felt his heartbeat at her palm she briefly closed her eyes and an incredible warm feeling streamed from her hand over her arm into her heart, touched her heart.
"Sir, can you hear me?" she repeated with a trembling voice.
The man on the ground heard a lovely female voice, smelled a soft flower scent and felt an incredible warm feeling in his heart and when he opened his eyes he saw the face of an angel. He put his strong hand over Michaela's small one that still rested on his heart.
"I'm in heaven," he sighed, looking directly into the woman's multi-colored eyes.
Michaela couldn't take away her gaze from his eyes. Eyes like a deep blue sea.
When the man began to groan Michaela came back to reality and pulled out her hand from his.
"Uhm, no Sir, you are not in heaven. You came down to earth – in the full sense of the word," she smiled at him.
"What a lovely smile," he whispered.
Michaela ignored his words. "You fell down the ladder, but fortunately you have no serious injuries," she explained to him. "But believe me, tomorrow you'll get bad headaches and a lot of bruises!"
"Byron, you are all right?" The young boy asked the man.
"Yes, Cayden. I'm all right. You heard what the Lady said." Once again his eyes met Michaela's and she blushed. And while she put away her stethoscope, a man approached the group.
"Darling, here you are! Is something wrong? Do you need my help?" he asked Michaela.
Michaela stood up and smoothed her skirt. "No, no thank you. Everything is all right now. This man had a small accident," she said and gave a shy smile to the handsome man on the ground when the whistle of a train broke their eye contact.
"Last call. All aboard now," the conductor called.
"We have to catch the train, young lady," the man pointed out and gripped her arm.
She stood up and said to the man in buckskins, "Sir, you must rest now. And please visit a medical office for a thorough examination."
"I promise," he nodded.
"Good bye," she whispered with a shy glance and walked away, turning her head in his direction again and again. They both knew at this moment that they wouldn't see each other again. And they knew too, when her hand lay over his heart, both had shared a feeling that would last forever.
"Wait," he called after her, "what's your name and where are you from?"
Michaela turned around and began to speak but the whistle of the train drowned her voice "Michaela Quinn." Unfortunately, he couldn't hear her because the train whistled again. "From Boston." And then she was out of his sight.
"Cayden, please do me a favor, run after her," the man told the boy, "ask for her name."
Out of breath, Michaela and her father made it to the train and when they reached their compartment Michaela's thoughts went back to these deep blue eyes. "Byron," she thought with a rapid heartbeat. "his name is Byron." She sighed sadly, knowing that she would never see this man again.
"Michaela, is something wrong?" her father wanted to know.
"No," she replied and blushed.
Suddenly there was a knock on the window and outside on the platform stood this young boy, Cayden, and begged to open the window.
Josef pulled it down. "Slow down young man! What's the reason for your behavior?"
"Excuse me, Sir. But…but my friend wants to know your name," he said to Josef but turned his head to Michaela.
Josef Quinn noticed this with a smile, full aware that it wasn't his name the boy wanted to know but Michaela's. He took a calling card from his bag and handed it out to the boy. But at this moment the train gathered speed and the card, one end in Josef's hand the other one in Cayden's, tore appart.
"Oh no," Cayden cried out and then he stood on the platform with only a piece of the calling card.
"He was very handsome, wasn't he," Josef said to his daughter when he closed the window.
"Who?" she asked innocently.
"This man down on the ground."
"Really?"
"Really," said her father with a wink and became engrossed in his newspaper.
--
Byron Sully, that was the name of the man who fell from the ladder, still sat on the ground holding a piece of the calling card in his hand.
"I'm so sorry, Byron," the boy glanced at him "But it happened so fast."
"It's okay, Cayden." He tousled his hair. "But how often should I say it again: call me Sully!"
The boy grinned with pleasure. "But I like to call you Byron. It's the same name my late brother had and you are like a big brother for me. Byron!"
Sully smiled and turned his attention back to the ripped card in his hand.
Josef Quinn, M.D / Mic
Mt. Vernon Street 10
Beacon Hill, Boston
At least he knew where she came from. Boston. That's far from Denver.
Actually, he couldn't figure out why he wanted to know who she was. He wasn't interested in other women, not after…
But he also knew that he would never forget her.
--
A week after his fall Sully lay on his cot at the working camp, staring at the ceiling. So many thoughts ran through his mind and all of them circled around two women: His late wife Abagail, who died giving birth to their first child Hannah, and this woman doctor. After Abagail's and Hannah's death several years ago he was certain that he would never fall in love again, that he would be alone for the rest of his life. But now that he had met this woman from Boston something had changed. Even though he didn't know who she was, he felt attracted by her right at the moment she laid her dainty hand on his heart, when she had touched him. It felt as if she had broken the bonds with only one touch, bonds that constricted his heart since Abagail's death.
Now he lay here, confused about all the thoughts that crossed his mind and the feelings in his heart. Feelings he had had and sometimes still had for Abagail and feelings he could have for the woman doctor. Thinking of both women quickened his heartbeat, made his hands moist and his throat dry. "I guess, she don't know what she had done to me," he sighed lowly.
"Byron?" a voice whispered in the darkness, "are you still awake?"
"Mmh?"
"Can I ask you something?" Cayden sat up and pulled his legs out of his cot.
"Cayden, it's late. Why don't you sleep yet?"
There was a moment of silence.
"You can't forget her, am I right?" said the boy in Sully's direction.
"What the heck are you talking about?"
"You can't forget this lady doctor," Cayden explained.
Sully didn't answer.
"The last few days you were lost in thoughts. And you have that look in your eyes."
Sully smiled in the darkness, "What kind of look?"
"Well, it's hard to explain. I would say it's love."
"You know I still love Abagail."
"Yes, I know," Cayden nodded, "But all the time I know you, your eyes looked so sad. And now your look has changed since you've met this woman." And Cayden continued, "I can understand that. She was beautiful, smart and so nice."
"Yeah, she was," Sully whispered.
"Then tell her."
"Pardon?"
"Send her a letter or a telegram and tell her. Or at least thank her for her help."
"Cayden, I can't do that."
"Yes you can! You take a sheet of paper and…"
"Hey boy, you don't know what you're talking about. So, let's get back to sleep now, all right?"
Cayden grinned in the darkness. "Good night, Byron. And think about my advice."
"Good night, Cayden." And like Cayden told him, he thought about his advice all night. He could send her a telegram and thank her for treating. But maybe, she didn't remember. He shook his head, "A telegram, what a stupid idea!" He turned around and looked out of the window at the full moon. He felt like he was unfaithful to Abagail because he was thinking about this woman from Boston.
--
Back in Boston, Michaela too couldn't forget what happened in Denver some days ago, especially not this man whom the young boy had called Byron. He was so different from David. David was a doctor – Byron was a craftsman. David wore custom-made suits – he wore buckskin trousers. David had straight short hair – he had wavy long hair. David had brown eyes - and Byron so wonderful deep blue ones. Michaela sighed.
"Michaela?"
When he didn't get an answer he called her again. "Michaela, did you enjoy the stage play?" David asked her while the audience around them applauded.
"Mmh?"
"Is everything all right, Honey?" He touched her arm. "You look like you are far away with your thoughts."
Michaela felt caught and stammered, "Everything is fine. And yes, I enjoyed this evening. It was wonderful. Thank you, David. But please," she looked around and whispered, "don't call me 'Honey'. That sounds as if we were engaged!"
"Would it be so bad to be my fiancée?" He looked at her and Michaela blushed because of his question.
"David, you know how I think about this. And it's to soon for such a final decision!"
"You know I love you, Michaela, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And all the time I thought you loved me, too. But I guess you don't love me enough for a marriage, do you?"
Michaela tried to evade the issue and that was why she didn't answer him.
When he accompanied her home she was very quiet, and as they reached the house and he wanted to kiss her good night like he always did, she turned her head aside so that his lips missed her mouth and only touched her cheek.
"Michaela, what's wrong with you? Since you are back from this medical conference you have changed!"
"Nothing is wrong with me. I'm tired, that's all. It was a strenuous week."
He looked at her skeptically. "Really?"
"Really!" She gave him a soft smile. "Good night, David." She opened the door and slipped inside, relieved that he was gone. Quickly, she ran upstairs to her bedroom and after she closed the door, she went to the window.
"Is really everything all right with me like I told David?" Michaela talked to herself. But she knew since she had touched this stranger's chest nothing was all right. Never before she had such a feeling in her heart, such warmth. All the time she had been sure that the feeling she had for David was love. She liked to talk to him, to spend time with him and they shared the same professional interests. But after she had met this man in Denver, nothing was sure anymore. When she thought about Byron, her heart began to jump and her hands got moist. Her heart never jumped when she thought of David.
She looked into the full moon night and sighed.
"Perhaps, you just watch the same moon like I do, somewhere in Denver," she whispered. "Or maybe you have already forgotten me, Byron."
--
"I did it!" Sully told the boy a few days later.
"You did what?"
"I've sent her a telegram."
"Really?" Cayden exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeap."
"I'm proud of you, Byron Sully," somewhat cheekily Cayden patted Sully's shoulder.
"But now I don't know whether this was such a good idea. What if this man who picked her up was her husband?"
"Oh, you won't believe this. He was an old man!"
"Who knows?" Sully replied.
Suddenly there was a loud shout to hear, "Hey guys, either you both go back to work immediately or I'll tell the boss to cut your wage!" It was Henry, the foreman.
"Come on, Cayden. Let's finish our work before we get into trouble," Sully told him. "Only one more week and it's done."
--
Dr. Josef and Dr. Michaela Quinn had been very busy the last few days. It looked as if half of Boston had caught a cold. Sneezing and coughing people filled their medical office and it was almost 7 p. m. when the last patient left the office.
"What a day!" Josef murmured tiredly and leaned back in his chair, Michaela let out a relieved sigh, too when the door was opened and Elizabeth came in. "Supper is ready in half an hour." She laid a pile of letters on her husband's desk. "And this is today's mail."
"Thank you, I'll look at it before supper."
"And in the meantime I'll clean the instruments," Michaela told him.
Josef opened letter after letter. "Oh, here is a letter from Charles Bernard. You remember him and his brother, Mike?" he asked his daughter.
"Yes, of course. These both doctors were the only ones who gave me the feeling that I was welcome at the medical conference in Denver," she said sadly.
"I know, Mike," he sighed, "but I hope you don't regret that you've accompanied me to Denver."
"No, father, of course not."
Josef turned his attention back to the letter and shortly after Michaela heard him laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Listen, Mike, this part is for you: Miss Michaela, if you ever be tired of working with my good old friend Josef in Boston – sorry Josef – you are always welcome in our medical practice in Denver. We could use good doctors here out West "
"Charly, this old charmer!" Josef grinned.
Michaela came to his side and kneeled next to him, "Father, I hope you know I would never leave you!" she said with a terrified look.
"I know, darling," he said while he stroked her cheek fondly.
"Good," she sighed relieved.
After supper Michaela went up to her bedroom. When she lay on her bed with a book she heard a knock and the door opened.
"May I come in?" It was her father who held a sheet of paper in his hand.
"Why, certainly!" She sat up and put her book away.
Josef closed the door and sat down next to his daughter.
"I guess, that's for you." He handed a telegram to her.
"From Dr. Bernard again?" she said with a grin.
"No."
Now curious, she took the telegram. "But it's adressed to you father, it's called 'Dr. Josef Quinn.'"
"Read it," he ordered.
Dear Ma'am,
I don't know if you remember me. I want to thank you for your help
at the Denver train station after my falling from the ladder.
Sincerely, Byron Sully
PS: Like you predicted, I got a really bad headache.
Michaela blushed and whispered "Byron Sully".
"It's from the young man you treated before we left Denver, isn't it?" her father wondered.
Michaela nodded and looked away embarrassed.
"I think this telegram is a pleasing-gesture. He seems to have good manners. Far too seldom we doctors get such a nice thank-you," Josef explained. "Besides, I guess this thank-you is rather for the woman than the doctor." He looked at her. "You liked him, mmh?"
Michaela grew more and more embarrassed, but she nodded.
"There is nothing to be abashed of, Mike. Like you said before we went to Denver: You are an adult woman and not a young girl anymore. I know you often hide your true feelings, especially when it comes to men."
Josef stood up and looked at her with a fatherly, understanding smile.
"Will you answer his telegram?" he asked her.
"I don't know whether this is proper, father."
"I think you should," he advised. "But if you answer him, you better don't mention it to your mother…or David!" He kissed her forehead. "Good night, darling."
Michaela didn't sleep well that night. Should she really answer his telegram? Maybe it was nothing more than a polite gesture? And what if her mother found out? She would never understand that she had fallen in love with another man but David. Michaela was startled about her thoughts. Had she really said "fallen in love"? Michaela sighed out loud. Surely he was married and had children.
"But I'll do it!" and with this words and his face on her mind she fell asleep.
Early next morning she went to the telegraph office to send a wire to Denver.
Dear Mr. Sully,
Thank you for your telegram. I hope you are well again.
Sincerely, Michaela Quinn, M. D.
PS: Of course I remember you. I always will.
The last words were not what she had meant to write; they had come from her mind of their own accord. But what did it matter? There was no chance of ever seeing this man again. So why should she not tell him the truth?
--
It was Sully's last day in Denver. The work was finished and he was glad to get home to Colorado Springs. He missed his wolf, he missed the woods and he missed his brother and best friend Cloud Dancing. Cayden and he had received their wages for this month of hard work and both guys were now packing their bags at the working camp.
"It was nice to meet you, Cayden."
"Same with you, Byron Sully. I'll miss you."
"What will you do now?"
"I'll go back to my parents to Boulder. Mother wrote they missed me very much."
Sully nodded and took off one of his bead strings.
"This is for you, Cayden. I hope you will never forget your "big brother" Byron Sully." He laid it around Cayden's neck.
"I'll never forget you! How could I?" he said while he touched his gift. "Thank you."
Suddenly they heard someone calling from outside.
"Is Sully still here? Byron Sully!"
Cayden and Sully looked at each other, not knowing what this meant.
"I'm here," he opened the door and walked outside. "Who want's to know?"
A man neared and handed him a telegram and while Sully read it, Cayden got more and more curious.
"Byron, what's wrong? Bad news?"
"No! No, on the contrary! You won't believe it! This is a telegram from her. Dr. Michaela Quinn from Boston!"
"You're joking!"
"Not at all. Look yourself," and Sully handed the paper over to Cayden who started grinning from ear to ear.
"That sounds like she is fond of you, too."
"You think so?"
Cayden rolled his eyes. "Of course she is! Or why has she answered your telegram? Haven't you read the last sentence?"
Sully read the telegram again and again.
"But this doesn't mean a thing."
"I suppose it does."
"I think it's only a polite gesture. Besides, there is no chance to see her again."
"Who knows? Expect the unexpected."
"No, there is no chance. And like I told you before, I still love Abagail."
"Byron, she is dead! You have a right to be happy again after so many years."
"You don't know what you are talking about!" Sully replied angrily, turned around and walked inside to finish his packing. Two hours later they said good bye to each other with a friendly hug and Sully got on the stage coach that would bring him home to Colorado Springs.
--
When he arrived in Colorado Springs, his first way led him to the cemetery behind the church.
"I'm back, Abagail." He knelt in front of the two graves and laid down a bunch of flowers. For a few minutes he was lost in thoughts about his former life with Abagail. He closed his eyes and he could picture her as if she stood before him: the black hair, her gentle dark eyes, a face like porcelain, her lovely voice, her multi-coloured eyes, her flower scent, her face, just like that of an angel…All of a sudden he felt as if hit in the stomach when he realised that his memories of Abagail had been replaced with thoughts of Dr. Michaela Qiunn and he became angry with himself.
"Oh Abagail, how can I do such a thing to you?" he said out loud, stood up quickly and walked away. But then he hesitated, turned around and went back to her grave.
"May I ever be happy again, Abagail?"
Suddenly it felt like a hand touching his face, stroking back his hair and someone – no, not someone, for him it was definitely Abagail – said in a soft whisper "Sully, I love you and that's why I want you to be happy. I want you to find love again. You should go on with your life. But please, don't forget what we had together."
"I never will!" he whispered and now somehow relieved he left the graveyard and went back to town. And on his way he made a decision. He would buy a plot of land and build a new house on it for his new start of life.
Just before he reached the boarding house to say hello to his friend Charlotte Cooper and her kids, he heard someone calling after him.
"Sully! Sully! Wait!"
He turned around and a woman with shoulder length black curly hair rushed to him and he couldn't prevent that she hugged him. Quickly he freed himself from her embrace and stepped back.
"It's nice to have you back, Sully!"
"Hello Constance."
Constance Bray was twentyfour years old and came to Colorado Springs one year ago. She was the daughter of Loren Bray's brother Ed, consequently Loren's niece and Abagail's cousin. When her parents passed away because of an accident Loren decided that she could live with him. She was a nice and friendly woman and everyone in town liked her. Very often her gestures and behavior reminded everyone of Abagail, especially Loren.
"Is this all you have to say?" Constance adored Sully.
Everyone in town knew that she was head over heals in love with him since she had met him for the first time. And everyone also knew that Sully didn't reciprocate her feelings. But she refused to believe it and she felt certain that someday he would love her too, in particular because he was always kind and nice to her.
"Nice to see you," he answered politely.
"Didn't you miss me?"
"Constance…."
"I know you can't admit yet because you are still mourning. But I know…" she whispered.
Sully felt very uncomfortable. "Constance, please stop this.
To his relieve at this moment the door of the boarding house opened and Charlotte Cooper came out.
"Sully, I could use your help inside. Would you be so nice, please?"
He turned around and said to Charlotte "Yep, I'm comin'."
"I'm looking forward to see you again, Sully," Constance told him and walked back to the mercantile.
"Oh godness, Charlotte," Sully said relieved when he closed the door behind him. "Thanks for saving me!"
"When I looked outside the window and I saw you and Constance I could imagine how annoying this situation must be for you," she smiled at him knowingly.
"I don't know what I should do. I don't love her and I never will!" he said in an angry tone. "But she don't get it!"
He sat down on a chair and Charlotte handed him a mug with hot coffee.
"Someday she'll become aware of it, trust me."
"I hope so," he sighed and took a slug of his coffee.
Shortly after Brian and Colleen came back from school and both were very pleased to have her friend back. And when Matthew came home from work they all sat around the dining table and listened to Sully's story about his work in Denver, about the boy Cayden and about his fall from the ladder; but he didn't mention that he had met a woman doctor from Boston. Michaela was his little secret.
--
Early the next day he set out to the Indian camp to meet his brother Cloud Dancing and his wife Snow Bird. A few miles outside town he came to an open range with a wonderful view. Near by was a creek and in the middle of a meadow stood a big old oaktree.
"That's it!" Fascinated he took in his surrounding. "This is the perfect place where I wanna build a new homestead!" He stayed for a while and in his mind he envisioned what the homestead could look like: Downstairs a huge living room and a kitchen, upstairs two or three bedrooms, in front of the house a porch with a bench to watch the stars and the moon in the summer nights. But with whom should he share this house and this view? He sighed and his thoughts went away to a woman with multi-colored eyes…
Wolf lay beside Cloud Dancing who sat cross-legged next to the fire place, carving a new flute. Suddenly Wolf lifted his head and straightened his ears.
"Hey boy, what's wrong?" Cloud Dancing stroked Wolf's fur. "He's coming, right?" Cloud Dancing arose and looked into the direction in which Wolf was running. An shortly after, Sully appeared from the woods with Wolf on his side.
"Ha-ho my brother," Cloud Dancing greeted him.
"Ha-ho," Sully answered and both man hugged each other.
"It's good to see you my friend."
"I'm glad to be back."
How was Denver?"
"Strenuous, it was a lot of hard work."
Sully looked around the camp.
"Is everything all right here?"
Cloud Dancing sighed, "I don't think so. I've seen buffalo hunters a few days ago. And soldiers."
Sully lifted his head. "Soldiers?"
"The soldiers are coming to keep my people at the reservation and if the hunters continue killing more buffalos my people will starve next winter."
"In Denver I've heard the railroad company will extend the route to El Paso."
"Your people call it progress, my people call it extermination of Indian tribes."
Both men remained silent for a few minutes before Cloud Dancing changed the theme.
"How about a hunting trip?"
"Sounds good to me!" Sully grinned.
At the end of a successful hunting day Cloud Dancing set a fire for the night and Sully prepared food. After they had eaten they sat by the fire with a cup of coffee.
"Will you tell me what's bothering you?" Cloud Dancing asked Sully.
"How do you know?"
"I know you, my brother."
Sully sighed, "I've met a woman in Denver."
"You've often met women before."
"But this time it was different. This woman was different from others."
"The spirits told me about a change in your life. Something new is coming up.'"
"Have the spirits told you anything more?"
"No. But I guess, you'll tell me what had happened."
First Sully remained silent but then he told his brother how he had met that woman doctor and that he thought about her again and again. He also told what Abagail's spirit had told him and that he wanted to buy a part of land, build a new homestead and start over with his life.
"You know I'm not that kind of man who falls in love quickly. Abagail was my first love and with her death I've lost a part of my life," Sully told Cloud Dancing. "But that day in Denver when this woman doctor laid her hand on my chest, I…I can't describe this feeling, Cloud Dancing. It was like…damn, I don't know what it was." Furious Sully threw the rest of his coffee into the fire and stood up. "I go to sleep now."
"Sully?"
"Mmh?" he turned back to face Cloud Dancing.
"I guess that feeling is called love. Don't figtht it."
"Love?"
"My brother, you have been gone many seasons without love. Love is like the elk. Strong, powerful and hard to kill. If you look in your heart, you will find the courage to love again."
"I hope you're right," Sully sighed loudly.
"I know I am. And with a new house you'll make a new beginning."
"I wished she wouldn't live so far away. I know I'll never see her again," he said while he walked away.
"That's not what the spirits told me," Cloud Dancing called after him.
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Chapter 2 will follow soon... - tell me what you think