Chapter 3

Sully drove the horses quickly down the road. Even though it was dark, he knew the terrain well enough to push them to run at their fastest. As they ran through Shanty town, where the people had come to look at what all the commotion was about, a large object appeared in the distance. It was shrouded in darkness but the moonlight told Sully that it was, in fact, a house. Sully pulled right up to the house, immediately noticing that there were no lights on inside. He could tell that the cabin was small and rundown but it was difficult to figure out just what kind of condition it was in without any lights. The entire area was undeniably quiet. There were no wolves howling or owls hooting or sounds of civilization anywhere nearby. The silence was almost chilling.

"Should have asked Robert E for some candles," Sully thought as he helped Michaela down from the wagon. When her feet were firmly planted on the ground, she opened her medical bag and produced two small candles.

"Always be prepared," she replied, handing him one.

They lit them and slowly made their way to the front door. Sully was sure to keep Michaela behind him, wanting to protect her at any cost. He didn't like the idea of going to a mysterious house in the middle of the night but it didn't seem like there was any other choice.

"Don't seem like anyone's home," Sully remarked.

"Those children have to be somewhere."

Sully knocked on the front door, realizing for the first time that they might just be on a wild goose chase. If the parents had been so badly injured, there was no telling what had happened to the children. Still, though, he knew that Michaela wouldn't rest until the children were found.

"They may have ta be somewhere but it don't seem like they're here," Sully announced, turning to her.

"Try to open the door."

Sully pushed at the door and it opened. He held the candle straight out in front of him but all he saw was the normal insides of a home – a fireplace, a chair, a table, a small cot. Deciding it was safe, he stepped into the darkness that surrounded him. With his first step, he heard the gun go off.

As soon as the shot went off, Sully spun around, fear overtaking him. His life suddenly slowed to slow motion.

"Michaela!" He screamed as she fell to the floor, her legs crumbling beneath her.

Not caring about the danger that they could have been in, with the shooter standing right in the doorway, Sully fell to his knees by her side. He held his candle closer to her body and tried to inspect where she had been hit. When she had fallen, her candle had gone out and her medical bag had fallen from her hands and landed a few feet away. The contents now littered the ground. Sully looked up and down her body, wondering where the wound could be. Finally, he saw a small, red stain on her Michaela's dress, right below her left knee.

"Michaela!"

Sully lifted her skirt just enough to see the wound. He inspected the wound carefully and realized that the bullet appeared to have only grazed her leg.

She opened her eyes.

"Sully?"

He immediately turned his attention to her face, sighing in relief. He brushed away a piece of hair that had fallen into her face and gazed into her eyes, thankful that she was awake and talking.

"Michaela…" he whispered. She noticed the tears welling in his eyes. He had been so distraught at trying to assess her wound that he hadn't given himself the chance to feel any emotions. Now, however, it finally hit him that she could have been seriously injured or worse, that he could have lost her forever.

Michaela began to sit up.

"You shouldn't move," he instructed.

She ignored him and sat up anyway, inspecting her own wound.

"It's fine," she assured him. "The bullet barely nicked me. Just knocked the wind out of me is all."

As the initial shock of being shot wore off, Michaela immediately recognized the danger that they could have been in. An unknown shooter had just shot them in pure darkness. Knowing that it wasn't the best situation and that they had to figure out who shot them, Michaela looked over Sully's shoulder at the open door. She cried out when she saw the shadowy figure just standing in the doorway.

"Sully!"

Sully immediately stood, tomahawk in hand, the thought finally occurring to him, as well, that there was a shooter. He peered at the doorway but couldn't tell who was standing before him. He had left his candle beside Michaela and the lack of light hid the person's face. He didn't know whether he should throw his tomahawk or wait. He raised it above his head, ready for action.

"Wait!" A young, female voice shouted. Sully immediately lowered his weapon. "Please! Please don't hurt us!"

"The children!" Michaela exclaimed, getting to her feet. Sully wanted to turn to tell her to sit down but he didn't.

"It's alright. We're not going to hurt you," she said soothingly. Sully reluctantly put his tomahawk back in its holster. "We're here to help you."

Both Michaela and Sully heard a crash. Sully assumed that the young girl had dropped the gun that was in her hand.

"My ma and pa…they…"

"We know," Michaela replied.

"Are you Annemarie?" Sully asked.

"Yes," Annemarie answered. She began to sob. Michaela wanted to go over and hold the child but she still wasn't positive that they were out of danger's way.

"Annemarie, could you turn on a light so that we could talk?" Sully questioned.

Within seconds, a lantern was lit. Sully first glanced at Michaela to be sure that her leg was not bleeding any worse. When he determined that it was fine, he turned to look at the girl. She couldn't have been more than ten years old. Her dress was covered in blood and her hair was matted with it. As he suspected, a small handgun was at her feet.

"I didn't mean ta shoot ya," Annemarie cried, barely able to put together a coherent sentence.

"I know," Michaela said as she limped towards her. "My name is Dr. Mike and this is Sully."

"You're…you're a doctor?"

"Yes. Are you hurt Annemarie?"

She didn't reply and just kept sobbing.

"Is this your blood, Annemarie?" Michaela questioned again, trying to look over the girl and find any wounds.

"No," she replied, after a moment of silence. Her sobbing became more in control, even though she was still crying.

"Are any of your brothers or sister hurt?"

"No."

"Where are they?"

"Under the bed," Annemarie answered. "I told 'em ta hide."

"What happened here?" Sully asked.

Annemarie didn't respond.

"You can tell us, sweetheart, we're here to help you," Michaela prompted.

Annemarie tried to hold back her tears. She managed to control them but she still couldn't help as stray tears ran down her cheeks.

"After dinner, papa…papa got the wagon all hitched up," she began slowly, "said he was goin' inta town. Momma got real mad and followed him outside. Said she didn't want him goin' inta town. Said she didn't want him seein' none of them whores." Michaela gave Sully a quick glance but concentrated on the little girl. "Papa got up on the wagon anyway and mama climbed right up there after him. They was fightin' and papa almost pushed her off but momma pulled out a knife and…and I climbed up there to stop 'em, that's how I got covered in all of this blood, but momma pushed me off. Told me to get back in the house. Told me that everythin' was gonna be alright. I didn't wanna go in the house but I did and I heard momma and daddy screamin'. I looked out the window and I saw 'em both wrestlin' with the knife and…"

"Oh my," Michaela whispered, it finally becoming clear to her.

The townsfolk had nothing to worry about, at least not in the respect to finding the person who had killed the Frosts. There was no reason why Hank, Jake, and Loren had to ride out in the middle of the night searching for the killers. There was no killer. The Frosts had killed each other.