Michaela Quinn
The most exclusive neighborhood in Boston was Beacon Hill. The Quinn family owned one of the most admired houses there ever since the original Quinns arrived in Boston direct from Ireland. This home consisted of three stories. The bottom floor was one of the most successful medical practices in Boston. The office had four rooms. The first was a waiting room where a receptionist worked, and it was usually quite full with patients waiting to see the doctor. The next room was the doctors' office with a beautiful partner's desk. Doctors Joseph and Michaela Quinn, father and daughter, used this desk. The last two rooms were an examination room and a recovery room. The two upstairs floors were where the family lived.
Joseph loved working with his daughter; it had always been his dream. Michaela was also very happy with the arrangement. It was hard for a woman to become and work as a doctor. Her father was most highly respected in the medical community in Boston. Because of this his patients and the hospital let Michaela practice even though they didn't like it. On the other hand, Joseph's wife and Michaela's mother, Elizabeth, hated this arrangement. She thought her daughter was ruining her life with this doctoring stuff. Michaela was not getting any younger and was fast approaching the age where she would forever be an old maid. Proper men from their social strata were not interested in a career woman. They just wanted a pretty little thing that would put their husband first. Michaela was pretty enough to attract a man but she would never be just a proper wife always thinking of her husband first; she was too opinionated, independent, and stubborn.
All of this changed in a minute at the breakfast table. Joseph was talking about a medical conference he was planning to attend when suddenly he slumped over. He had a stroke and passed away in the hospital three days later. Things started going downhill for Michaela right away. Losing her father meant losing her only support as a doctor. Her mother was constantly nagging her to give up this fantasy of being a physician and rather find a man immediately. It didn't take long and she had to close down their offices because patients stopped coming. They'd put up with a woman doctor only because they also got her father. They looked for another practice as soon as he wasn't there anymore. The hospital even stopped allowing Michaela to operate or use any of their other facilities.
Michaela's heart was broken. Her dream of being a doctor appeared to be over. Her mother broke her heart even more by constantly pointing out that her dream was dead. Michaela didn't want to give up. She checked the Boston Globe every day for something that might help her. One day she read an advertisement from a small town in the Colorado Territory that was looking for a town doctor. Michaela figured that she would be accepted as a doctor out west since there the society's rules were not practiced like in Boston.
Michaela became excited and wired to this town, Colorado Springs, applying for the job. She didn't wait for a response, but rushed home announcing to her Mother that she was going out West and ran to her room to start packing. Once her mother recovered from the shock of her daughter's plan, she tried to calm herself before trying to talk to her child.
As Mrs. Quinn entered Michaela's bedroom, her daughter was organizing her clothes and medical supplies for her big move. Elizabeth talked to her about how dangerous it would be for her to travel by herself out West, and she pointed out there was no guaranties she would be accepted as a doctor in Colorado any more than in Boston. Michaela was not changing her mind or even taking time to consider her mother's concern. Elizabeth started to lose her temper and yelled, "If you go on this fool trip out West I will disown you! You will never be able to return to your home here in Boston nor will you receive any of the Quinn money when I die. If you leave here, you will never see me or your sisters again."
Michaela paused and looked up at her mother. "I am sorry, Mother, that you cannot share my excitement in having the opportunity to practice medicine. If following my dream means you never want to see me again, it is your choice. As to my future inheritance: I will support myself. I might never live as I do here, but that doesn't mean I won't be happy. I am sorry, Mother, that you don't understand me, but I am going and that is final. My father supported me becoming a doctor, and I believe if he was alive today he would support this decision I have made."
As Elizabeth descended the stairs she knew that she had lost her youngest daughter. She knew that Michaela was just as stubborn as she and would not change her mind.
After Michaela received a positive response from Colorado Springs she booked her tickets. She sent her father's medical equipment, that was left to her in his will, as freight. The day she left Beacon Hill she only carried a couple of trunks. The only person to wish Michaela well as she left her childhood home was Martha, the chambermaid. She also gave her a basket of food that she knew she liked and would last for a while because she had heard her employer and knew that Michaela would not have a lot of money to start.
When Michaela reached the station, she heard her name before she boarded the train; so she stopped and looked around. She spotted her eldest sister, Rebecca. "Thank heavens I found you before you left. I wanted to wish you the best of luck. Here is the money I had on hand to help you start off. Please, Michaela please continue to write me. I want to remain your sister and help you any way I can. I know that father thought you were a gifted doctor, so I know you can do it."
Michaela gave her sister a big hug realizing she still had at least one person in her family. She said "Thank you" to Rebecca before she found her compartment. Fortunately she had bought her tickets before her funds were cut off. She had booked a sleeping compartment on all of the trains she would take to Denver. From there she would take a stagecoach. She was sort of excited about that since she had never even seen a stagecoach much less ridden in one.
Her week on the train went by without any incident. Martha's basket of food lasted for the entire trip so Michaela didn't have to waste any of her limited money on the railroad's expensive food. The further west she traveled, the more relaxed she became. She loved the big blue sky and the open land that she saw from the train's window.
When the stage coach arrived in Colorado Springs, Dr. Quinn realized pretty quickly that she wasn't in Boston anymore. First, the streets were not paved. Since it must have rained recently she went ankle deep in mud when she stepped out of the coach. The driver put her luggage on the walk in front of the general store, and the storekeeper said she could leave it there for a bit.
Michaela Quinn headed towards the church since the telegram hiring her came from a Reverend Johnson. As she neared the church she noticed a man painting the wooden structure so she asked if he was the Reverend. It was him, and he got down from the ladder to ask who she was. When she introduced herself as the new doctor, he looked very confused and shocked. He had thought it was Michael Quinn rather than Michaela Quinn to be the town physician. It turned out that the town's telegraph operator had miss-spelled the name, leading to the Reverend's error. Michaela was sad to say that it appeared that women doctors weren't respected out West any more than in Boston.
Once the preacher got over the shock of a woman doctor, he offered to buy her way back to Boston with the town funds. Michaela responded with more bravado than she really felt, "No, I'm staying, you still need a town doctor."
"Miss, you don't understand. There aren't any respectable single women in Colorado Springs, and I don't believe anyone will go to a woman doctor. Women are not treated with much respect out here in the West."
"I understand Reverend, but I am a physician and your town needs one. I will just have to stay around until the populace realizes they need me." To herself Michaela hoped she would be able to earn enough money so she could wait until the town realized how much they required her.
First she needed a place to stay; so she asked the Reverend where the town's hotel was located.
"Miss, we don't have a hotel."
"Then where were you going to house the doctor when he came today?"
"The doctor was going to live in the boarding house run by Widow Cooper, but she doesn't rent to woman, only men."
"Could you direct me to this boarding house? I want to talk to her and maybe I can talk her into making an exception."
Michaela headed back into town to the building the Reverend had indicated was the boarding house. When she talked to Widow Cooper she was informed that all of her rooms were rented to soldiers because of the peace conference between the army and the local Indians. When Michaela asked Charlotte where else she might be able to stay Charlotte appeared very hesitant to respond, but she finally told her that the only other place with rooms to rent was the saloon. Looking for another option Michaela asked if there was anyone who had extra rooms to rent. Charlotte told her that this was a poor town and every family used all the space available in their homes. One of the Cooper children called for their mother so Charlotte closed the door leaving Michaela facing the closed door.
Michaela didn't know what to do. If she returned home, her mother would make her quit trying to work and become just a wife. On the other hand she truly felt that if she stayed here, the town would eventually accept her and she could be the doctor she always wanted to be. She seemed to have no other choice so she straightened up, threw her shoulders back and walked down to the saloon. She stopped in front of the swinging doors and took a deep breath before entering the saloon trying to look strong and confident. When she stepped in all eyes turned to stare at her. Before she made it over to the bar to inquire about a room one of the men drinking at a table asked Hank if she was some new talent he had hired and if so he would like to be her first customer. Hank immediately offered Michaela a job.
"I'm sorry, but that is not my chosen profession. I am a doctor and would like to rent one of your rooms."
Hank just stared at her. His first instinct was to say no because he figured his customers would not like a woman in his establishment unless she was entertaining, of course. On the other hand, the woman standing before him was beautiful and if she worked for him it would bring him great profits. He thought to himself that if she rented a room here at the Golden Nugget, she might eventually have to work for him. No one was going to visit a woman doctor. Jake was good enough, and there weren't other jobs for women to earn enough to meet their needs until they found a husband. He figured she would run out of funds and have to agree to work for him. Besides she seemed older than most girls when they married, so maybe she was destined to work for him. She would be the star of his stable of entertainers, and he would remain the owner of the best entertainments in the Colorado Territory.
As Hank was considering all of this, Michaela just stood there getting more and more nervous as time passed, but she continued to stand tall and challenge Hank with her eyes. Eventually Hank agreed to rent on of his rooms to Michaela so she went back to where the stage had left her luggage and brought them into her room in the saloon. As she sat on the edge of her bed she wondered what she had gotten herself into. The worst part of her living here was that she had to pass through the saloon to get to her room.
Michaela laid down to rest from her travels and stared at the ceiling, planning what she would do next. Her plan started with the idea of learning about the town and meeting the residents. She figured they all couldn't be like the men in this saloon. She had met a Reverend, and they had tried to hire a doctor. That was why Michaela believed there were good people in this town that she could help them if they would only let her and learn to trust her. Based on these assumptions, she decided to walk around the town and introduce herself to the residents.
She steeled herself for her walk by the bar to reach the sunlight and to explore the town. Once outside Michaela had the opportunity to look around for the first time since she arrived. What she only noticed now was the beautiful blue sky. She took a deep breath to smell and taste the air. There was nothing like this back in Boston, and it brought a smile to her face. Her new home was beautiful and she was hopeful that she would eventually be able to practice medicine in this place in spite of how badly her time here has started. So far she has been disowned by her Mother, rejected as a doctor because she was a woman, and forced to live in a saloon, but she hadn't given up and was still optimistic about her future.
As Michaela looked around the town she again admired the wide sky here and smelled the clean crisp air. She saw the meadow where the Indians and the army were negotionating. As her eyes looked at the boarding house again she decided to go down and talk to Mrs. Cooper. She seemed kind and not put off by her being a doctor.
When she knocked on the door, her eldest son Matthew answered again smiling at her. Michaela asked whether she could see his mother if she wasn't too busy. The boy let her in and directed her to the kitchen.
When Michaela entered, she found Mrs. Cooper baking for tonight's supper, but Mrs. Cooper smiled and asked her to sit down while she worked and poured her a cup of tea. "I am so sorry, Dr. Quinn, that I couldn't offer you a room here this morning. I don't know how you, a decent woman, had the courage to enter the saloon and rent one there."
"I couldn't see another alternative if I wanted to stay here and become this town's doctor", chuckled Michaela. "You were the only kind face I saw today so I thought I would visit and hopefully make a friend. I was hoping to learn about this town from you and get some advice on how to proceed."
Charlotte smiled and said, "I would love to be of service, but I don't know if this town will ever accept a woman doctor. My best suggestion on how and where to start is for me to introduce you to the pregnant women in and around Colorado Springs. The women of the town just help each other give birth. If there are complications we usually lose mother and child. Jake, the barber, fancies himself a doctor and he is all we have. But he would never help in birthing nor would we want him to. Maybe the pregnant women here abouts will allow you to help by examining them and aiding them in delivery. Maybe you can lower the number of babies and mothers we lose. That could gain you the trust of the women. Maybe then they will start bring their children to you and you will succeed in starting your own practice.
Charlotte had given Michaela hope for the first time since her arrival. "Thank you Charlotte, when can we start?"
Charlotte chuckled at the young doctor's enthusiasm. "I'll take you around tomorrow. Can you ride a horse?"
"Of course," replied Michaela.
Charlotte invited the doctor to stay and have dinner with her, her children, and her boarders, who were all army officers. Charlotte was a wonderful cook, but after the meal she had to return to her room in the saloon. Michaela went directly there and locked herself in after enduring many rude comments from Hank's customers. Michaela washed the dirt of the day off her and lay down on the bed. As she lay there she heard the drunken men in the saloon and other drunken men being entertained by the girls in other rooms much like hers. This was a long way from her home in the Beacon Hill section of Boston.
The next morning it was much easier for Michaela to leave her room since everyone was asleep after their wild night of drinking, gambling and entertaining. When Michaela made it out into the sun, it was another beautiful day in Colorado. Michaela only hoped today would go better for her because the money she'd brought with her was almost gone. She would have to start paying for meals and other supplies. She hoped the women she was introduced to would pay her for her visit and doctoring. When Michaela met up with Charlotte, she was cleaning up from the breakfast she had just served. She offered Michaela a plate while she finished cleaning her kitchen. Michaela gratefully accepted.
The two women went over to Robert E.'s to rent some horses to visit pregnant women.
As Robert E brought out two horses for the women, Michaela, who had been confident till this moment, started to panic. She had ridden horses in Boston and even jumped them in competitions, but that meant she was used to riding with an English saddle. The saddle being put on the horse by Robert E was a Western style. Robert E noticed the fear in Michaela's eye and asked her if she knew how to ride a horse. She said, "Yes," but was honest and admitted that she had never ridden this kind of saddle.
Robert E. smiled and reassured her that since she was comfortable with horses, she would adapt to the Western way of riding easily. He pointed out the differences to help her. When riding Western you hold both reins in your left hand rather than one in each hand and you don't post as you do on an Eastern saddle.
As the women left the livery Robert E. chuckled as he saw the good doctor riding as if she was on an Eastern saddle. He thought to himself that the horse would adapt.
After each house call Michaela was a bit more disappointed because none of the pregnant women she met paid her. They were used to their neighbors helping them deliver their babies so they didn't even realize they were supposed to pay.
The women she examined were actually in pretty good health, even with no prenatal care. She left them with instructions to eat healthy food and get lots of rest. She wasn't sure her orders would be followed because a woman in the West had a lot more to do than one who lived in a Beacon home where they had servants to do their daily chores. Here in the Colorado Territory most of all the household chores had to be done, pregnant or not, by the women of the family. This cut down on the opportunity for rest. The other problem the women had in following doctor's orders was that the people of Colorado Springs were poor. They couldn't afford to buy particularly healthy food. It was cheaper to eat mostly starches rather than meat and vegetables.
When the women returned to Colorado Springs they returned their horses to Robert E and headed to their homes after a very busy day. Right before Michaela had to brace herself to walk through a busy Golden Nugget and endure the comments of a room full of drunken men just to reach her room, Charlotte invited her to have dinner at the boarding house with herself, her family, and the soldiers staying there. Of course Michaela immediately accepted rather than just eating something cold she had been "paid" with today in her room all alone. She enjoyed Charlotte's children and she actually liked arguing with the Colonel about his views about the Indians. Michaela truly believed all men were created equal no matter the color of their skin. Back in Boston she had used her medical training to help anyone who was hurt on the Underground Railroad and later during the war. Since she was a woman she couldn't enlist to be a doctor in the army, but that let her free to go where she was needed the most, where they would let her practice medicine because they were desperate. The colonel, on the other hand, thought the only good Indian was a dead Indian. He also had no respect for Michaela since she was a woman doctor. He had no idea that he would learn she was much more and would become a very strong Indian supporter that would cause him and his eventual replacement, Custer, more trouble than they could handle.
Later, when Michaela retired to her room in the saloon, while the bar was too noisy for her to sleep she thought about how her life was going. She seemed to have solved her food problem. Yet since her mother had disowned her, she had no access to any of the money her father had left her. Luckily her oldest sister believed in her as their father had and had given her some money to start off with. The citizens of Colorado Springs had not accepted her as their doctor yet, but she still believed they would eventually. Her problem was to make her limited funds last until they did.
She had found a place to stay even though it wasn't ideal. Now she had been paid with food. She gave the perishable foods to Charlotte which made her feel better about eating with her so often. Michaela knew she was very lucky to have made a friend who was such a good cook. Michaela not only had no place to cook in her room, but she had never cooked in her life. She had been raised with servants. She did keep some of the food in her room so she wouldn't have to always rely on the Cooper's boarding house for her meals. She had heard a rumor that someone was going to open a café near the livery, which would give her another place to eat when she started earning money. Or maybe she could trade medical care with the owner for meals.
Her biggest immediate problem was how to pay Hank for her room. She tried to earn her rent money by treating his working girls in trade, but Hank bought a patent medicine at the store for them and wouldn't agree. All Hank was interested in was her to pay her rent by working for him. Michaela couldn't do such a thing. It wasn't proper and she was a lady, not a "whore". Michaela was beside herself; she had never been with a man and certainly didn't want to be for money. She had always dreamed of a man sweeping her off her feet, marrying her, and then teaching her how to show her husband that she loved him. Who would have thought that Dr. Quinn was a romantic at heart?
When the girls weren't busy entertaining, Michaela got to know one by the name of Myra. Michaela always treated others as equals so she had no problem making a friend of a prostitute. It didn't take long, and Michaela was desperate because all of her money was gone. Unless she was to be put out in the street she had to pay Hank. Michaela shared her problem with Myra and Myra made a suggestion.
"I know you don't want to work for Hank like I do but want to continue to live here until enough people need you that you can support yourself as a doctor. Therefore I suggest you only agree to work for Hank for one night. He could auction off the opportunity to teach you the ways of love to the highest bidder. Everyone knows how beautiful you are and, since you dress properly, would believe you are a virgin. Men from all over the territory will try and buy one night with you from Hank."
"Oh Myra, I couldn't do that for even one night! I don't know how to be with a man." As a single tear fell down her cheek, Michaela bowed her head with shame.
"Dr. Mike, I could teach you how to get the man who wins you started and then you will just have to relax as best you can until he is finished and falls asleep with a smile on his face. Hank will be sure that this man leaves the next day and will split the money with you less the rent. That way you only have to sell yourself once and then go back to being a doctor. Maybe your practice will grow before you need money again so you never have to do this again." Myra could tell how this whole idea repulsed the Boston doctor, but since neither of them could think of another solution to the doc's money problems, she could see gradual acceptance.
Michaela swallowed the big lump in her throat and said, "OK, what do I have to do?"
"Could you show me your nicest corset?" Myra requested. Michaela showed her a very sexy one with white lace and laces in the front.
"That's perfect," smiled Myra. "I will talk to Hank about setting up an auction to sell you just one time, the opportunity to be with a virgin, you. As Myra left to plan with Hank, Michaela sat there holding her lacy corset and wondering about wearing it to turn on a man as Myra suggested.
Only some minutes later, Myra returned with a big smile on her face. "Hank will take sealed bids from those that would want to be the one and only to have an evening with you in your room. You will entertain the winner next Saturday and then it will all be over Sunday morning, when you go to church and can pray for God's forgiveness."
Again Michaela swallowed the lump in her throat and asked, "OK, what exactly do I do when the winner comes into my room?"
"You should be wearing that lacy corset with nothing else, sitting on the bench by your window."
"Nothing else, really? That has such a low neckline!"
Myra smiled at the doctor's fear and said, "Remember this will all be over the next morning."
"I don't think I can even look at this man, wearing only a corset."
"I have an idea. You can act demure. Don't look at him; just look down and slowly, very slowly unlace your corset."
"Undress in front of a man?"
Again Myra smiled, "You do know how men use a woman, I mean you are a doctor; you deliver babies so you must know how they are conceived?"
"Yes, of course, but I have never done such a thing!" Michaela responded with a deep blush on her cheeks.
"This very slow demure striptease by a beautiful woman will turn any man on. He will grab you, finish removing your corset and take you right there on your bed. He'll fall asleep on your bed smiling widely, and you can go and clean up and go back to being who you really are and forget this night ever happened."
This is not how Michaela ever dreamed of being with a man for the first time, but she would probably earn enough to let her practice grow into a moneymaking business. "Thank you Myra, for your help."
As the time came for Hank to open the sealed bids and declare the winner, he was very happy. The winning bid was an offer for $100 over the next highest bid. A very clever bid thought Hank, but he sure liked it because it meant more money for him. He was surprised that the wining bid came from Sully. Hank didn't know how this mountain man came up with this amount of money, but he would have it in hand before he allowed him back to her room. Sully had never paid to be with any of his girls, but of course this was definitely the most beautiful one he had ever seen. If it weren't for the large amount of money Hank was making, he would have taken her for himself for the rent.
Hank was right. Sully didn't have enough money to buy Michaela, so he had collected donations from her friends. Grace, Robert E, Charlotte, the women whom she had delivered their babies. Even the Cheyenne had contributed because of all she had done for them.
The evening had come and Michaela was never so scared in her life. She prayed for the strength to let this happen just this once and put her white lacy corset on over nothing. She sat on the shelf below the window and looked down; she didn't want to see the man who had bought her.
Hank allowed Sully in the back and kept all of his customers away. They wanted to listen at the door to hear Sully take her and to hear her scream. Hank had promised Myra not to let other men listen or pound on her door, since this was going to be hard enough on the doctor to fulfill her obligation. Myra reminded Hank that he was making a lot of money from Myra's idea and that she had instructed Michaela so this night would go well, and Hank would not have to refund anyone's money.
As Sully slowly entered Michaela's room he closed the door softly behind him. When he looked at Michaela sitting there wearing that beautiful white corset, he swallowed the rater large lump in his throat. When Michaela heard the footsteps down the hall and then her door opening and closing, she knew the winner of Hank's auction was there. She continued to look down and used her very shaky hands to slowly unlace her corset in the front. She was hoping she would never have to look at the man who won her and that it would be over quickly and be as painless as possible. She hoped that her friends would never learn that she did this and that she would never have to do this again.
Sully was as uncomfortable as Michaela because he had never been with a whore, and he respected her too much to change that now. When he looked up and saw that she was removing her corset for him he yelled, "Dr. Mike! What kind of man do you think I am?"
Shocked at the sound of Sully's voice Michaela looked up and replied, "You paid Hank for me, you have the right to do anything you want to my body for this night only."
"I paid Hank for you so you wouldn't have to let a man do to you what should be saved for the man you love and marry. A man and a woman should only be together out of love not because you need to pay your rent."
"Oh Sully that is so kind of you, but how did you ever get enough money for Hank?"
"Your friends contributed so I would have enough and you would not have to go through with this."
Michaela blushed and replied with tears in her eyes, "Everyone knows I sold myself and was willing to let a man do anything he wanted to me."
"Only your good friends know, and they understand. They know you are too proud to beg for money from them even though they would have gladly helped you. Now get dressed and pack up all your things. We will go out the back way and I will take you to my homestead that I don't use anymore. You can live there for as long as you want."
"Thank you!" replied Michaela and then turned red as a beet. She just remembered she was sitting there in front of Sully with just her corset on. Sully turned his back to give her privacy to dress and pack. As she emptied her room at Hank's saloon of all of her things, Michaela started thinking about what a nice man Sully was. Here he used all of his money to prevent her from losing her reputation and did not avail himself of his right into her bed that evening. As she packed she snuck peeks of Sully standing there and realized what a good-looking man he was, and now he had proven himself a true gentleman. She started to wonder if someday she would wear that corset again for him and enjoy him slowly removing it with much touching and kissing. After they wed of course.