Chapter 10

When Sully rolled over in bed he felt a cold lumpy pillow next to him. He opened his eyes and scanned the room. He saw Michaela at the vanity brushing her hair. He pulled his buckskins on and strolled over to her.

"Let me," he said with his hand held out.

Michaela was silent as Sully worked. His strokes eased her tension. When he finished he bent down and kissed the top of her head.

"Sully?"

"Hmm?"

"Would it be okay with you if I went to see David today?"

He looked in the mirror at her. "Do ya mind telling me why?"

"I feel like I have to. It's strange he would tell you and not me. I need to talk to him — make sure he doesn't need anything."

"Do ya want me to come with ya?"

"I would rather go alone, if that's okay."

Sully shrugged. "Sure."

"I'll leave after breakfast and then I have a couple of appointments later this morning. Do you want to have lunch together at Gracie's today?"

"Yeah, I have some work to do around here before I go see Robert E, so let's plan on noontime."

After breakfast Brian went out to saddle up Flash. Michaela kissed all of them goodbye and headed out to the Springs Chateau. David was in the dining room. She took a deep breath before striding over to him.

"Hello David," she said, listening to make sure her voice didn't waver.

"Hello Michaela." He smiled at her. "I knew you would come."

"Am I that obvious?"

He said nothing, but his eyes gave her the answer. "Are you angry I didn't tell you?" he asked.

"No, just surprised."

"I didn't want you feeling sorry for me Michaela." His speech was broken up by a momentary cough. "I know I should have been honest with you in my letters, but I didn't want you trying to influence Sully on my behalf."

"You don't know Sully very well then David. He is not easily influenced. He admires your work. Your dedication to conservation is something both of you have always shared. It was me you didn't agree on."

He stared at the strong, certain woman in front of him. She was so different from the Michaela he had left behind when he enlisted. What could life have been like if he had never been injured in the war? Yet, could she have become the same person if she had stayed with him instead of coming out West?

"The two of you seem very happy together."

"We are."

"I'm glad things turned out the way you hoped Michaela. I can't say that I regret coming to Colorado Springs, but I am sorry for the difficulties I caused. I hope you can forgive me." He coughed again, longer than the last time.

Michaela pulled out the chair and sat down. "There's nothing to forgive now David." She paused, wondering if she should ask it, but the doctor in her would not be silenced. "What did your doctor tell you?"

"I'm dying." He chuckled, trying to make light of the situation, but that only caused another coughing fit. She looked at him with concern. "I probably have about six months, less if I contract pneumonia."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Well there is one thing but…no, never mind it's too much to ask."

She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. "What is it?"

"I have a woman working with me. She has no one else she can depend on. Well, she has a family but they haven't spoken to her in quite some time. If something happens to me before the congressional hearing, will you travel with Sully to Washington and bring her back to Colorado Springs with you?"

"Would she want to come here to live with a bunch of strangers?"

"When I told her where I was going she mentioned she had been to Colorado Springs before." David took a sip of water to dull the scratchiness in his throat.

"How long ago?"

"I don't know. She doesn't talk much."

"What do you know about her?"

"She was taken by renegade Indians when she was young. She married into the tribe and soldiers ambushed her village, killing everyone except her. She was reunited with her family after her visit to Colorado Springs, but it didn't last long. They couldn't get used to her Indian ways." David coughed.

Michaela couldn't believe what she was hearing. It couldn't be; it just couldn't be. Her heart and mind raced as David told her this woman's story; a familiar story. She began to fiddle with lace on her collar.

"How did the two of you meet?" she managed to ask, her voice wavering.

"She came to speak with Congress about Indian affairs on a day I happened to be there trying to convince a few senators that we need this survey in California. I was so impressed I made a point of meeting her. We had lunch and I told her what I was working on. She decided to move to Washington to help me. That was about six months ago."

"What's her name?" Michaela asked her voice barely above a whisper.

"Catherine." Michaela's mouth fell and her face went white. David looked at her with concern. "Are you all right Michaela? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Sully sat in Grace's Café waiting for Michaela to arrive. He hadn't bothered to stop by the clinic so he assumed she would be on time. After fifteen minutes, he took Katie and walked over to clinic. He found Mrs. Foster sitting on the porch.

"Oh Sully," she said when she saw him. "Do you know where Dr. Mike is? I had an appointment half an hour ago and she never showed up."

"I was comin over here to see where Michaela was myself. We were gonna have lunch together. I'm sorry I'm no help Mrs. Foster."

"Oh that's all right dear. Please tell Dr. Mike I'll stop by tomorrow."

"I will."

Now concerned about what could have kept Michaela, Sully put Katie in the wagon and they headed towards the Springs Chateau. When he got to the resort there was no sign of Flash. With Katie in his arms, he jaunted up the stairs and into the resort to track down David.

He spied him coming down the stairs and waited for him. David smiled when he got to them.

"Hello Sully, Katie. What a surprise. What brings you all the way out here?"

"Do ya know where Michaela is?"

"I thought she went back to town. She said she had appointments today."

"She hasn't been in town all morning. I found one of her patients outside the clinic waiting for her."

David creased his brow. "That doesn't sound like her. I wonder what could have kept her."

"So she didn't say anything else to ya before she left?"

David coughed and few times and had to catch his breath before answering. "No, but I think something I said upset her."

"What did you say?" asked a defensive Sully.

David relayed the story to him and told him Michaela had agreed to bring Catherine back to Colorado Springs after his death. Sully raced out the door with Katie in his arms. He had to find Michaela. David walked as quickly as he could to the front door of the Springs Chateau. Sully hadn't even said goodbye. He wondered why Catherine's name caused such a strange reaction in both of them.

Sully spied her looking out over the horizon. He had hoped he was right when he figured she might come to his special place to think about what she had just promised David. He had left the wagon a ways down the road, and now carried Katie piggy-back up the mountain. When she saw her mother, Katie giggled. Michaela whipped her head around.

"Oh Katie, you don't know how happy I am to see you." She picked Katie off Sully's back and hugged her close. Looking at Sully she asked, "How did you know where to find me?"

"I just left the Springs Chateau."

"So you know."

Sully nodded. "How could ya make a promise like that Michaela?"

She shrugged not really knowing the answer, but she knew it was the right thing to do. No matter what her feelings she couldn't leave Catherine alone in Washington. "I didn't really have a choice," she explained.

"You don't owe Catherine nothin. How could David ask ya to do that?"

"I didn't tell him." She shook her head. "I just couldn't." Michaela rocked Katie back and forth hoping the child would fall asleep and not hear the words being spoken.

Frustrated, Sully turned away and looked up at the sky, and then he remembered the words spoken by Cloud Dancing. He turned to Michaela and gazed into her eyes. He spoke softly and with concern, "We agreed to put our past behind us. How can we if Catherine comes here?"

"It's different now. I don't feel the same way since we talked."

"Ya know that ain't true Michaela; ya wouldn't be here if it was."

Ashamed she lowered her head and buried her face in Katie's hair. "But I want it to be true, "she cried. "I don't want to be afraid of what might happen if she ever comes back here."

"Ya don't think I could ever…" It was too painful for him to continue.

"Oh no, never I just…" Now angry at herself she looked over at the horizon before she could answer, "I just don't want her here. I want our lives to stay the same as they are now. I don't want the chaos her return would bring to our home and this town."

Sully came around to face her. "Then tell David no."

"How can I do that Sully? The man is dying and she has no one else."

"She has a family. She can't run away forever. She has to face what's happened to her and find a way back to the life she had before she was abducted."

"What if she can't do that?"

"She has to."

It was some time before they made their way back into town. Brian was helping Robert E when they arrived.

"Howdy Robert E," said Sully.

"Howdy Sully. Hope ya don't mind Brian keepin me company while he waited."

"Of course not Robert E," Michaela said with a smile. "I'm sorry we weren't here when you got out of school Brian. Are you ready to head home?"

"Yeah Ma, let me get my books." Brian raced inside the livery. When he came out, he petted Flash who was tied up behind the wagon and then hopped in. "Thanks Robert E."

"Any time Brian." Robert E waved as they pulled away. He saw the tense look on Michaela's face and hoped everything was okay.

Later that night after both Katie and Brian were asleep, Sully came downstairs and found Michaela sitting in her chair staring at the glowing embers in the fireplace. He knew what was on her mind; the same thing that had made her quiet on the ride coming home and at the supper table. He strolled over to her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders, caressing them. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Ya need to tell David ya can't do it." She said nothing. "It's okay to feel sorry for her, but ya can't put you and your family through it…not even for David."

Michaela continued to gaze into the fireplace. She knew Sully was right, but she couldn't even begin to figure out how she would tell David no.