Chapter 6

The Pearl of Women

-"As they were talking together, Eurymachos called to Penelopeia: ' My Lady Penelopeia, if all our nations could see you from north to south, there would be a crowd of new-comers dining here to-morrow and aspiring to your hand! For you are the pearl of women for beauty and intelligence too."-

Opening arguments this morning at 8. M.

The telegram lay open on top of Michaela's desk, unattended after the first reading. It covered the text of an open book concerning the effects of chloroform on head injury patients, which was also unread. In fact, everything sprawled across the top of the desk had been examined for only half an hour, if that long, before the arrival of the first patient- four hours ago. Currently, Michaela stood at the far end of the exam room, speaking insistently over her shoulder to the patient sitting on her table while stirring a new mixture that she had created.

"This should settle your stomach," she said, walking over to Mrs. Klaras, an elderly woman sitting feebly on the edge of the table. Michaela handed the glass over, but stayed close watching the expression and pallor on her patient's face for any changes from the normal. She swayed slightly back and forth, trying to relieve the ache in the soles of her feet. She hadn't sat down for hours.

Mrs. Klaras drank steadily, her wrinkled knuckles shaking slightly with the action. When she finished she handed the glass back to Michaela and closed her eyes a moment, "Yes," she said eventually, "I think it is helping."

"Good," Michaela responded, her face relaxing from its tension. "Take it easy with what you eat for the rest of the day, try to stay with juice and some sort of broth or stew for a while before casually introducing normal foods back into your system. Come see me, though if you have any problems again." Michaela held her arm out for stability as the older woman slide her frail body from the exam table, and slowly made her way to the door. Mrs. Klaras glanced at her a few times, smiling sincerely, thanking Michaela for her help. When they stepped past the front door into the dusty swirl of the outside world, Mrs. Klaras turned to her, cupping Michaela's face in her cold, boney hand.

"You're such a charming girl." The compliment made Michaela lower her head and close her eyes, a gesture something akin to a smile, for the simple fact that she rarely felt anything similar to a girl, and hadn't for some time. It was like recapturing youth, "You just make sure that you take care of yourself too." Michaela nodded, her hand wrapping around the older wrist.

"I will. Thank you." As Michaela watched the older woman hobble off, she stood like a statue glued to the wooden beams of the porch. She could hear the words over and over, lovely girl, take care of yourself. She heard the words, but they had no meaning. She felt no acceptance in the idea that she was keeping her word or guilt in that it was to be ignored with her next breath. They were just words.

At the far end of the street, a figure wearing a white apron, sweeping the front steps stopped to watch Michaela. He watched her stillness, trying to determine the object of her faraway gaze, and he saw the jerk of her head to the right as her name was called. Shelton Howard strolled toward her, his panama hat tilted to the side of his head. Loren propped the broom on the post next to him, leaning his hand behind it, not bothering to hid the fact that he was watching them from across the street.

"Dr. Quinn!" Howard walked toward Michaela's line of vision, his head dipping in her direction in greeting. Michaela squared her shoulders toward him, giving him her full attention.

"Yes?"

"I hoped that there might be time to speak with you today?" The slight twinkle in his eye looked mischievous, and the sly grin grew beneath his beard.

Michaela immediately noticed look and her eyes narrowed. For the first time, she felt more uncomfortable than annoyed by his presence. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh yes, yes. I just wanted… Dr. Quinn there was something that I wanted to tell you."

Michaela felt anxiety rise in her chest, and yet she wasn't able to refuse the man standing before her. "Yes, please, come inside."

Howard stepped up to t he door, opened it and stood to the side, allowing Michaela to enter first. She did and, walking toward her desk, she stopped at the other side of the room and turned toward him. Howard stepped inside and shut the door behind him with a thud. Loren, still watching from his store heard the noise and did not move.

Howard bent toward the handle of the door, thinking, trying to find the best words to be used, and then he realized that there weren't any wrong words to be used at this moment. He was laying it all on the line. There was no possible way he could lose here; he had the winning hand.

When he turned from the door, he met a set of mismatched eyes confronting him head on. They were curious eyes, suspicious eyes, and they were pained eyes. It was a pain that he'd seen buried beneath the surface the moment he met her, and yet it wasn't the pain, but her ability to mask it, to continue with it still buried that filled his thoughts. Howard began to dream of the break within her, the crushing of that strength so that all the pain bubbled to the surface. He wanted to be there when it happened, he wanted to be responsible for it, and he wanted to reap the rewards. He wanted Michaela Quinn, the strongest, most brilliant, and most beautiful of all women he'd ever met to belong to him, to be at his beck and call.

Howard took three steps in her direction and stopped, his eyes roaming the length of her body, something he'd never done so openly before. The act did not go unnoticed by Michaela, who slowly moved around the back of her desk putting the large wood frame between him and her.

Then, as if he'd decided to change course, he placed his hand on the corner of her desk, leaning lazily over and crossing one foot in front of another. "Dr. Quinn I believe I can help you."

"Help me how?" It was amazing the speed with which she reacted to the danger in the air. Howard allowed himself the second to muse that she looked like a frightened doe, lost without protection, running from a mountain lion that threatened her life.

"I know what it is you prize more than anything else." He paused for a moment, but met only immovable eyes, waiting for him to continue for she would not speak. "I know how much your homestead means to you." He began to cross around the desk, "I know how precious the word home is, that that is where you retreat to protect your family and raise your children. I know that it is your sanctuary," he spoke more intensely as he approached her, fast now as she backed away, though determinedly, from his challenging form. He lengthened his stride suddenly and in two steps stood over her, leaning down as he uttered the words she had never spoken. "I know that that homestead is the last and greatest thing you have of your late husband, that you've tied all of your memories of him to it, that it is the solid proof of the marriage that no longer exists."

Michaela ducked out of his grasp. "I hardly see what this has to do with anything." Howard took note that she did not discount his words. It was because they were true. For Michaela, the homestead that she retreated to at the end of her day was the closest thing to retreating into Sully's own arms. It gave her strength because it was created by Sully, he touched everything it was made of, gave it life and purpose. It was filled with his love for her, for their family. It was all that was left to Katie of her father, and though there was the prospect of Michaela loosing the homestead, a real prospect, she hadn't allowed herself the thoughts that flooded her mind now, not during the day at least.

"I can help you."

"I believe you've already said that, Mr. Howard." Michaela said, straightening her frame and clasping her hands before her. His lips curled into a grin.

"You know you're going to lose it all, don't you? Everything that he ever touched will be gone for the reason that he touched it. There is no stopping it; the evidence is too strong, his devotion to the Indians, his past issues with the army…" Howard allowed his voice to trail off. Michaela's face didn't change. "I can stop it." He grinned proudly, "If you say the word, I'll stop it, and you'll lose nothing." Michaela's eyebrows raised in interested and he knew he had her hooked.

"What words."

"Marry me." Howard relished the words in his mouth, saying them aloud and enjoying the look of horror overcome Michaela's face.

"I most certainly will not!"

"Just say the words and I'll telegram…"

"Mr. Howard!" Her voice shuddered through the wooden room, "This is a highly inappropriate conversation." Howard simply smiled. "I'd thank you to leave my clinic this instant." Her forehead wrinkled in anger as she pointed to the door.

"Think about it . Would you prefer to be separated from him forever? Or worse yet for the reputation that will placed on him with the verdict of guilty?"

"Mr. Howard!" she yelled, anger prominent in her voice, not able to hide anything. Howards simply nodded and turned for the door, smiling steadily. He knew she wouldn't say yes today, but it was only a matter of time.

Loren was still standing outside when Howard walked steadily out of the clinic, not seeming to have a care in the world. A few seconds later, Michaela emerged, looking little like the calm, confident man who had just left. Her quickening footsteps and stone features gave away the possibility that something had occurred behind the shut door. She never noticed Loren as she passed the mercantile.

Half an hour later, Sully stepped into the store. He stood, for a brief moment in front of the doorway, his eyes scanning the people standing in the musty room looking through cloth, books, lamp oil. A young girl at the corner of the room looked up at him and smiled before her attention dropped back to the selection of ribbons she was pondering over. A man nodded his hat in Sully's direction, and even Hank, who was exciting the store spoke a "hello" before brushing past him. For Sully it was obvious that Loren had done some work of his own. He was hardly faced with the same hostility that he'd met his first few days in town, and yet his identity had been preserved.

"Mr. Hawking." Loren spoke, starting toward him from where he'd just stepped out of the back room. The older man's eyes were narrow and concerned, a fact that made Sully stand a little straighter. He felt tension solidify in his bones.

"I came ta see if ya had anymore nails. I ran through the one's I had."

"I think I got some in the back." Loren took the opportunity given him and stepped to the back room, holding the curtain aside for Sully to enter first. "I got this for ya this mornin'." Loren whispered, handing Sully a letter once they were safely out of sight. The return address had been to Denver, written in Matthew's hand. Sully wasted no time in ripping the envelope open while Loren stood watching expectantly.

"Good news?"

Sully grunted, not speaking until his eyes raised from their reading, "he needs some kind of evidence, anything ta vouch for me. He says that the other lawyer's gonna have a lot a circumstantial evidence."

"What'll you give him?"

"I don't know, but I gotta think of somethin,' ta try and remember." Sully's brow creased in concern and his mind started racing through the annals of the past few years. He only halfway saw the door before him as he went to move through it, lifting the letter toward Loren, and nodding. "Thanks for this."

"Sully wait." Loren's voice held a sense of urgency that stopped Sully in his tracks. He had thought that the letter was all that Loren had, that it was the cause for concern, but it obviously wasn't. Sully slowly turned around, half-afraid of what it was that Loren would tell him next.

"Howard went ta see Dr. Mike this mornin." Loren spoke slowly, watching as the younger man's jaw tightened before his very eyes, twitching at the corners.

"And…"

"After he left Dr. Mike looked upset. I don't know what he said, but she left the clinic right after."

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know. From where she was headin' it looked like she went ta get Katie. I hadn't seen 'em in town since."

Sully didn't stop to thank his friend, but instead turned speedily from the doorway. Judging from the mindset Michaela had seemed to have been in recently, he had an idea of where she'd gone.

The rim of Sully's hat flipped up in front, threatening to blow off altogether as his horse ripped through the trees. The longer it took him to find Michaela, the more his heart constricted; his imagination running through all the different scenarios for what had happened in the clinic. Each getting worse than the one before.

The horse tore out of the dense trees and rushed down the path, the homestead just barely in the distance. At the bottom of the path, Sully come to a screeching halt, his eyes scanning rapidly back and forth against the horizon searching for something, anything that would give him an indication that he was right. Finally, he saw the lone wagon, parked in front of the porch.

It was Michaela's way. She'd never been one to back down from adversity. In fact, she'd spend the majority of her life fighting as if the world was a battlefield and her survival depended on her strength, because it had. However, just because she was strong enough to live to fight another day did not mean that she didn't get hurt in the process. There were days when Michaela wondered if her strength were fading before her eyes for the simple reason that there were times when she seemed accomplish nothing but suffering more injuries, but when those days occurred she simply retreated from the world. Home was always where she could lick her wounds in private surrounded by the people who would protect her while she healed. Her family always reminded her of the reasons she fought. Today was no different. After the unnerving conversation with Shelton Howard, Michaela had sought comfort in the only person who could provide it, Katie.

Michaela sat on a blanket under the shade of an apple tree at the edge of the orchard, a picnic basket opened at her side and plates of food sitting before her. She held a glass of sweet tea to her lips, but was preoccupied with something off in the distance.

"No, no Katie. Don't try and climb the tree." She sat a little straighter, leaning back and forth trying to catch a glimpse of the constantly moving frame of her two year old. She was so sidetracked; she missed the solid body walking toward her until he was standing right before her. "Mr. Hawking! Oh, I'd forgotten you'd be here." Her eyes fluttered shut in embarrassment. She hadn't really wanted to see anyone, and yet now that Hawking was standing before her, she couldn't find it within herself to send him away. She wanted him to stay and she didn't know why.

Sully just shrugged, trying to fight down his instinctual reaction to the tiredness and hurt that radiated from her body. He wanted to hold her, to tell her that it was all right to sleep, he'd watch over her. "I just went inta town ta get more nails." He nodded his head toward the house, "Gonna try to fix the roof next."

Her eyes followed his, "that be lovely. There's been a leak in the hallway upstairs for a while now." Sully nodded, still standing, awkwardly over her; Michaela caught her manners. "Oh, have you eaten lunch yet Mr. Hawking?" She wondered why she desperately wanted him to say no, and was pleased when he shook his head, and reprimanded herself for the thought. "Please join us, there's plenty."

"Are ya sure?"

"Certain, I was in a hurry so I just had Grace throw things into the basket for us. There's far too much." She scooted over on the blanket, opening space for him and solidifying her invitation.

Settling himself on the blanket, Sully watched as Michaela shot another glance over toward Katie. She was digging in the dirt. He thought that while Michaela was still alone with him, he'd have the best chance of finding out what exactly happened at the clinic. "So ya were in a hurry? I whaten expectin' ta see ya here this time a day."

Michaela visibly tensed beside him, and Sully began to wonder if she'd tell him anything at all. "It's nothing, really."

"Don't look like nothin'; it looked like it bothered ya."

"Um…" Michaela took a deep breath, gauging how comfortable she was telling this man something. She was; she was comfortable telling him everything though she couldn't explain it, but despite the trust that tried to thrust upon her, she didn't want to tell him everything. "I just had a visit by Mr. Howard today. He seemed to have some interesting views on things." She diverted her eyes to the fried chicken before her, pulling off a piece and placing it in her mouth.

"I seem ta be confused as to why Howard is here at all."

Another breath, "he's an attorney working for the army on my husband's case."

"His case?"

"He's on trial for treason. They believe that he instigated the assault that took his life."

"I see, and ya can trust this man?"

"Not really, but I did think he was harmless. Now I believe I may be wrong." The satisfaction in Howard's eyes appeared in her mind, sending chills down her spine. Thinking back over it, she felt more in danger now than she had then.

If Sully heard only one word of her sentence, it was the word 'harmless' for her to have said it, she believed there might have been 'harm' now. He turned to look at her, but her attention had been diverted to the little creature toddling toward her.

Katie's grin spread from ear to ear as she made a beeline toward her mother holding a white flower in front of her as if to show it off.

"What do you have?" Michaela asked, opening her arms for Katie to step inside. The little girl came to lean against her mother's shoulder and held the flower in front of them. Then she seemed to spot Mr. Hawking sitting at the other edge of the blanket, "It'th white," she told him. He couldn't help but smile at her brilliance, just like her ma.

Michaela easily pulled Katie's hand as well as the flower into her own, inspecting the flower from all sides. "That's called a chamomile. That's what I make the tea out of when you have a tummy ache." Katie wriggled her nose and screwed up her face knowing exactly what it was her ma was talking about; Sully laughed.

"I no like it." However, despite her words, she didn't seem bothered by the fact that as she spoke, Michaela had taken the flower from her and tucked it behind her ear. Katie reached up to feel the flower's petals.

"It looks pretty," Michaela told her. The little girl paused just a moment longer before running off again.

"Would you like a piece of chicken?" Michaela asked suddenly, as if just remembering Sully's presence once more and trying to fill the quietness between them. Perhaps she was aware that she was being closely observed for Sully hadn't said much of anything, but nodded when she handed him a plate of fried chicken.

Michaela nibbled on her own little piece and then pulled off another strip in time for Katie to come running back to them, another flower in hand. Katie stopped before them, but before she had a chance to say anything Michaela lifted the chicken up to her. The little girl just opened her mouth wide and devoured both the chicken and the tips of her mother's fingers. Her chubby, red-rimmed cheek vibrating steadily with each chew. Michaela turned for a cup of applesauce sitting on the blanket, and turned back just in time to have a yellow flower, roots and all dangling in front of her face.

"Whas thith?" Katie clasped the flower with a tight, dirty fist with mud-caked fingernails.

"That is a dandelion. The roots," Michaela pointed, "make your liver feel better." The flower lowered a little and Katie's eyes appeared over the top of it.

"Liver?"

"Yes, It's in your belly, right… there…" Katie dissolved into a fit of giggles as Michaela's fingers danced along the side of her rounded tummy, gliding over the organ with tickling strokes. Michaela laughed too, and Sully's eyes shot from Katie, who he had been watching intently, trying to memorize every little expression the girl made, to Michaela. He hadn't heard her truly laugh yet. The wrinkles of hardship around her eyes and mouth almost completely disappeared in the presence of her laughter. "No, no, come back." Michaela tugged on Katie's skirt before she had a chance to run off once more. Quickly, she dipped a spoon into the applesauce and, wiping the excess on the sides of the jar, deposited the tasty treat into Katie's waiting mouth. With a lick of her lips, Katie turned and ran off. Michaela took a bite of the applesauce herself before setting it back on the blanket.

"Ya sure do know a lot about plants." Sully mumbled before taking a bit to eat.

"I had the opportunity for a friend of mine, who was a Cheyenne Medicine man to teach me what he knew. I use it a lot in my practice."

"I'm surprise people let ya."

"Why is that?" The tone of defense obvious in her voice. Sully took the time to swallow what he was chewing before continuing.

"Just seems like not much folks wanna have Indian medicine."

"Mr. Hawking, there is nothing wrong with Cheyenne medicine."

Sully smiled; he remembered the influenza epidemic that struck the town not long after they met. Michaela had been reluctant then to use the teas he suggested, now she fought for their integrity. "I whaten sayin' there was. Just not much other folks stop ta think 'bout it like that." From under the brim of the hat, two eyes peered out at Michaela. They were partly hard to see for the shadow the brim cast across his face, but for a split second, he lifted he head and flashed her his direct gaze. Michaela was struck by the pure blueness that looked back at her, allowing her to see that there was no hostility for the herbs she used to practice her medicine. However, his message was lost, forgotten as the blue pierced her heart. Almost like…

Katie came toddling back with a handful of Purple Cone Flower, asking for a name, and receiving a piece of biscuit in addition to the answer.

At that moment, crackle of trees at the far side of the valley caught Sully's attention. He shot a glance to Michaela and Katie, who were distracted by their own interaction and then back to the rustling leaves. He lifted his arm, "Katie come here." The little girl's eyes shot up and she stepped over the folds of her mother's skirt in order to get to him.

When she arrived by his side, Sully gingerly wrapped one arm around her back, aware that this was the first time he had gotten to touch his daughter, and preventing himself from giving into the desire to hold her, and he leaned in, his other hand making gestures across the horizon.

"Ya see those leaves movin' all the way over there?" The brush of curls against his face announced her nod. "Just at the base of the tree, can ya see that spot of brown? That's a deer. He's eatin in the valley, trying ta get warm in the sunlight before it gets too cold tonight.

"Where doeth he live?"

"Bet he lives near here somewhere." Sully tilted his head up to her squinting in the sunlight and saw the blue orbs grow big in a gasp.

"Really?" He nodded.

Behind them, Michaela watched, not the deer, but her daughter and their mysterious new friend. Her chest tightened, and it was everything she could do not to leave them sitting there or worse yet, pull Katie away. They were so perfect, the two of them standing there together, Mr. Hawking telling Katie about the deer and the girl listening to him with bated breath. Tears that Michaela was unable to control sprang to her eyes. That was Sully's place with Katie, not Hawking's. Sully was supposed to be the one to tell Katie about these things, to capture her imagination the way he had done Brian, to enrich her, and Michaela still wanted to reserve that place for Sully, though she knew the place would never been filled. Dropping her head to inspect the jar of applesauce once more, she took another bite. Trying to swallow the tears along with the creamy sauce.

That was the moment that Katie had turned Sully's attention back to Michaela, as she sat bent over the jar, the bright afternoon sun surrounding her, making her look as though she sparkled. Her caramel hair, frizzing around her head from the braid that curled over her shoulder seemed to shine golden, and a sprig of purple coneflower jutted from behind her ear where Katie had place it earlier.

"Mommy pretty." Katie announce, putting into words what Sully was thinking. The voice caught Michaela's attention and she looked up to realize she was being watched. Sully immediately recognized the sparkle of unshed tears in her eyes, and realized their reason and his role in their existence. However, he also recognized that the mere presence of the glisten in her eyes spoke of the woman she was, the strength, compassion, kindness, and the protectiveness of her family. She was unlike anything he'd ever met.

"Yea, she is." He whispered.

So There is Chapter... I think I've lost count... six? I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry I didn't update sooner, I got sidetracked playing with my new iphone this week!