Children of 1868 Colorado Springs were often admonished to be seen and not heard, but anyone within a quarter mile of the little red schoolhouse certainly heard the din they generated when they got out of school.
It was just after three in the afternoon, and the schoolhouse had just emptied. Children ranging in age from five to sixteen walked, ran, or skipped away, usually clustered in groups of friends or clinging to the hand of an older sibling.
Two siblings in particular were not sticking closely to each other. Colleen Cooper, a blond girl of nearly fifteen, was at least fifty feet ahead of her ten year old brother, Brian. Colleen walked with a quick step, books in her arms, while Brian straggled along behind, all but dragging his books by their strap.
Colleen paused, groaned, and looked skyward before turning around to face her brother. "Brian, come on."
Brian sighed and jogged to catch up. "I'm comin'!" His pace once again slowed as he pulled the dreaded piece of paper out of his back pocket.
It was a history test, marked with a large red 'F'. Brian cringed to think of what his adoptive mother would say. Dr. Mike was very particular about education, and Brian's grades had never been so poor before.
"Brian!" Colleen scolded. Once again her brother had fallen behind.
Brian ran up to his sister again, grimacing at the bad grade. "Whaddya think Ma'll say?"
Colleen shrugged. "I dunno. She won't be happy, that's for sure. You know how she feels about school."
The towheaded boy hunched his shoulders. "Think she'll be mad?"
Colleen frowned. As much noise as the doctor made about 'book-learning', she had never actually gotten angry over grades. "She never has before...and you're not gonna help any by draggin' your feet. Come on."
Brian sighed and stuffed the paper back in his pocket.
Neither of the children noticed the approaching hoofbeats. Horses were so commonplace that they didn't even think about the fact that these hoofbeats were not coming from town...they came from the little road that went past the church and the schoolhouse and headed West.
"'Scuse me," called a quiet voice.
Both children looked up to see a rider in travel-worn trousers, boots, shirt, jacket, and hat seated atop a skittish young bay gelding. The rider, judging by his clean-shaven face and voice that was not quite deep, was a very young man. "Could you tell me where I might find the Queen of Hearts circus?"
Both Brian and Colleen pricked their ears and turned to regard the young stranger with surprise. "Heart and Atlantis?" asked Colleen eagerly.
The rider straightened his spine in the saddle. "That's it. You know 'em?"
Brian nodded eagerly. "Yeah! We were even in their circus."
The stranger raised his thin brown eyebrows. "Really? So, let me guess...you were the lion-tamer right?"
Brian giggled. "No. I was a clown. My sister here walked the tightrope. So did my big brother."
Colleen judged Brian's shoulder, blushing in embarrassment. "Brian," she scolded softly.
"Aha!" cried the rider. "Then I find myself in the company of fellow performers!" He flashed a grin and began looking about. "Tell me, where can I find them?"
"Oh...they left already," admitted Colleen.
"How long ago?" asked the rider, his smile fading.
"At least four months."
The rider sighed and slapped his thigh in disappointment. "And I was hoping to meet up with them. Rode all the way from Sacramento just 'cause I heard they'd be here!" He turned to the children again. "Did they say where they'd be headed next?"
Brian chewed his lip. "Didn't they say they were going to New York?"
Colleen shook her head. "No. Remember? Heart said they were leaving the circus business."
The rider looked all the more crestfallen at the news. He slouched in the saddle. "Oh boy. Then I really missed the boat." He gave the children a strained, halfhearted smile. "Thanks anyway."
A sudden gust of wind blew by, carrying with it leaves and dust. The bay horse spooked at it, skittering about and whinnying.
The rider steadied his frightened mount. "Whoa! Steady, boy. Steady." Quickly he dismounted and stroked the horses' neck. "He doesn't take to wind too much. Easy, there, fella." He took the reins and began to walk him toward town.
"You said you came all the way from Sacramento?" asked Colleen in awe.
"Yup," said the rider with a nod.
"Wow. Hey, how come you want to join the circus?" asked Brian, curious.
"Like I said, I'm a performer."
"What do you do?"
"Oh...it's kind of hard to explain..." His voice faded as he surveyed the large expanse of grass between the schoolhouse and the church. A slight grin touched his face. "How about I just show you?"
Brian's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"
The rider grinned and nodded. "All right, then." He tied the horse to a nearby tree, pulled off his boots and jacket, and rolled sleeves and pant legs up to his elbows and knees. Then, without a word, he began walking on his hands. He walked about twenty steps before doing a complete 180 and going down on his feet.
Colleen and Brian's eyes were wide with admiration. "You're an acrobat?" exclaimed Colleen.
The young man smirked. "Oh, that's nothing." And with that, he reared back, took a running start, and executed a couple of perfect back handsprings, ending in a backflip. Through it all, his hat had somehow stayed squarely on his head. He rose and grinned, but that grin faded when he heard the loud cheers of the other schoolchildren, who had gathered to watch. Even the Reverend, who had just exited the church with a book under his arm, stood with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. The young acrobat blushed and quickly got himself in order.
"Wow!" exclaimed Brian in envy.
"That was amazing," said Colleen, her eyes still wide. "How did you do that?"
"Lots and lots of practice...and lots of falling down," the boy admitted, pulling his boots back on and gathering the reins of his horse. He then turned back to the children. "Listen, could you tell me where I might find a blacksmith? My horse needs shoeing, bad."
Brian nodded eagerly and pointed down the street. "Sure! Robert E. has a shop right down there."
The young man nodded back. "Thanks...Brian, right?"
Brian nodded.
With that, the stranger mounted his horse, tipped his hat, and rode off toward Robert E's blacksmith shop.
Brian watched him for a long while, then sighed wistfully. "Wish I could learnt to do that."
Colleen cringed. "Dr Mike would never let you. She'd say it was too dangerous."
Brian shrugged. "I know...hey, I bet Ma would want to hear about the acrobat!" and he took off running, not heeding his sister's calls. Perhaps the exciting news would distract his 'ma' from his bad grade.
The town clinic, sitting in the old boardinghouse that the late Charlotte Cooper had run, was easy enough to find. It had a large green sign with the name of the doctor: Michaela Quinn. Having a lady doctor was a source of both pride and embarrassment for the town. Most still felt a woman's place was at home, but could not argue that the opinionated doctor's skills had saved about half the town...more than once.
At the moment the doctor had had a rather quiet day. The only patient who had come in was a little girl of about five years old. She had gotten too close to her father's axe and accidentally cut her finger. Her parents were petrified that she'd lose the finger, but the doctor had assured them that it wouldn't happen. At the moment she was carefully stitching the wound shut.
At that moment, Brian burst in the door, followed by Colleen. "Ma! Guess what we-"
"Brian!" scolded Michaela. "You know better than to burst in here like that." The sudden noise had made all of them jump, and the doctor feared she would do more damage to the wound with the movement. The little girl burst into tears.
Both of the Cooper children's faces were stricken with guilt. Brian hunched his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Ma. I just wanted to tell you-"
"Whatever it is, it can hold for another minute," said Michaela with a frown. "Go wait outside."
Brian, crestfallen, hung his head and walked over to slump on the bench.
Meanwhile Colleen had apologized in her own way and stepped cautiously inside. "What happened?" she asked, trying to comfort the little girl and see what Dr. Mike was doing. "Anything I can help with?" Colleen was the least squeamish girl in town, and was fascinated by medicine. She often assisted the doctor with different cases.
Michaela's features evened somewhat. "No, I don't think so. But thank you for offering..." Her voice faded away as the door was shut.
Brian slouched dejectedly on the bench outside. Nothing seemed to be going right! First, his big brother Matthew had been called out to help on Miss Olive's ranch for a week...then he had flunked the history test...then he'd gotten an earful from Colleen...and now, Dr. Mike was mad at him, and she hadn't even seen his test paper yet. Today was awful, he decided. The boy looked up and searched the streets for his new friend, the acrobat.
The short, smooth-faced young man was not at Robert E's blacksmith shop. That was odd. He'd said his horse needed shoeing, and that took at least a couple of hours. Brian frowned and let his eyes roam across the dusty road, looking for the talented tumbler. He soon caught sight of the skittish bay horse tethered to the hitching post outside Bray's General Store. In minutes the young man himself emerged, a canvas food bag in either hand. They looked to be full of beans and cornmeal. As he loaded the supplies into his saddle bags, he chewed busily on a chunk of something in his mouth. He didn't spit...in fact, he swallowed, meaning it wasn't tobacco. It had to be candy.
Brian smiled a little. He didn't think anyone older than he had a sweet tooth. Perhaps he could ask the acrobat what his favorite kind was.
But no...the acrobat had mounted his horse and rode off at a trot for the edge of town. Apparently his horse had not needed shoeing as much as he had said and his top priority was leaving the area. He kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
Brian's heart sank. So much for making a new friend! This day just kept getting worse and worse. Regretfully he pulled the marked-up paper out of his pocket and stared at it. He still dreaded telling Dr. Mike about it.
Unfortunately the worst was yet to come. A sudden gust of wind took the paper out of Brian's hand and blew it down the street.
"Oh, no!" Brian leapt to his feet and chased after the wayward test. He did not see where it was headed...right for the acrobat's skittish bay gelding.
The paper had only to dance before the horse's nose for the animal to go ballistic. He reared, whinnied, and pawed the air.
"Whoa!" The acrobat clung desperately to the saddle, but this time he could not hold on. He slid off and fell hard on his backside, head snapping down to hit the dusty ground. As his horse galloped away with several men in pursuit, he did not rise or even stir. His eyes were closed as if in sleep.
Brian, who had since caught his paper, watched the scene with wide eyes. Without hesitation he turned around and raced back toward the clinic. "Ma!" he cried in alarm. "Ma!"
Dr. Michaela Quinn had just finished tying off the bandage for little Mary Coleman's finger when she heard Brian calling for her. For a moment her patience with her son was just about gone. What was going on with him lately? The woman shook her head, had Colleen finish the job, and stepped outside with a frown. When she saw the frantic look on his adopted son's face- and the commotion across the street -she knew something was wrong. "Brian?"
"Ma, you gotta help him," pleaded the boy, pointing across the street.
"Who?" asked the doctor, trying to see what the commotion was about.
"The acrobat. I was gonna tell you about him. He fell off his horse," explained Brian. "He's not movin'."
Michaela nodded. "Brian, stay here," she ordered, taking off across the street to push her way through the quickly-forming crowd. After a great deal of 'excuse me, please', she reached the fallen rider. He looked rather young and lay as one asleep. There was no blood, but that didn't necessarily mean anything one way or the other. Carefully she reached to take his pulse. It was strong, but..."Can someone help me get him to the clinic, please?"
Immediately both Jake Slicker, the barber, and another tall man reached to pick the unconscious youth off the ground.
The hat fell off in the process, letting a cascade of soft brown curls fall loose. The truth of the matter made the crowd gasp in alarm. Even Dr. Mike was taken aback.
The rider was not a young man after all. It was a woman.
