………………….

That next morning, when Sully made his way downstairs, he noticed the absence of Jackson. He was slightly confused, since he could hear the light snoring of what he assumed was Ellie coming from Colleen's old room. When he entered the kitchen, though, he saw Jackson walking back up to the homestead through the window.

Sully walked over to the door and opened it before Jackson could knock.

"Oh, um…I saw a creek nearby and went to wash up…" Jackson stated, trying to give an explanation for his absence.

"We have running water in the house," Sully stated wryly.

Jackson shrugged and put on a sheepish grin. "Old habit."

Sully nodded and motioned for the boy to come back inside for breakfast.

After eating and being introduced to Brian, Jackson went with he and Sully into town; Michaela staying home with Katie that morning.

It was close to noon when Ellie finally stirred. She had no idea what time it was, but the light outside the window told her it was much later than she had thought she would sleep. In truth, she had not wanted to get out of bed at all, it was far too comfortable. It got to the point, though where she could no longer lie there…and she did feel a little guilty that maybe she was taking advantage of the hospitality of Dr. Mike and Sully.

She stretched and walked downstairs, noticing that no one was about. Dr. Mike then came around the corner out of nowhere, and noticed her standing there.

"There you are." Dr. Mike said warmly. "I was just about to wake you up. I drew a bath for you; I thought you might like one."

"Th-thank you." Ellie stammered.

"You're welcome. Now, I don't think I have any clothes that would fit you…I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of washing the few that you had with you. If you don't mind, I do have a pair of pants that belong to my oldest son, and one of my husband's shirts for you to wear until yours are dry."

Ellie nodded and smiled. When she had cleaned up and dressed, she found Dr. Mike outside, hanging clothes on the line.

"So, how are you feeling, Ellie?" Dr. Mike asked warmly.

"Very good, thank you ma'am."

Ellie looked down on the ground, and kicked at some of the small stones that sat there. Then she looked back up at Dr Mike and said, "Why are you so different?"

"How do you mean?"

"Most people…they don't give Jackson or I the time of day. Its not always been so easy for us…it's my fault I guess. Jackson could find more work if he didn't have to worry about me being there."

"Everyone needs help at some point in their life," Dr. Mike said, smiling ruefully, remembering when she never wanted anyone's help at all.

"Thank you, again."

Ellie walked to stand nearer to the tree on the one side of the clothesline's pole, which was closer to where Dr. Mike was washing the clothes.

"Do you need any help?" Ellie asked.

"Well, I'm almost finished, but if you want to help hang some of this up…"she answered.

Ellie nodded and assisted with hanging some of the wet laundry. Both listened to the breeze blowing through the trees and grasses, and the sounds of Katie's giggling as she played within eyesight, until they both heard a soft thud. Ellie and Dr. Mike's heads simultaneously shot in the direction of the sound.

The day before, a tree branch that was close to the clothesline had been removed, but the squirrel that now sat somewhat dazed on the ground had not realized that until it was too late. With slow, fluid movements, Ellie crouched down and picked the small animal up. The squirrel did not twitch or try to run away; rather, he let the girl pick him up. In the same manner as she had lowered herself, Ellie stood up, and moved her cupped hands, now holding the squirrel, up to a tree branch, and it walked off of her and onto the tree as if nothing had happened.

Ellie turned back to Dr. Mike, as if what she did was the most natural thing in the world. She was met by a look of interest from the good doctor.

"I've not seen many people do something like that." Dr. Mike said.

Ellie half smiled. "I don't think many people have. Jacks, he lost a good job once, because I did something like that. Sometimes…I don't know…I get along better with animals than I do with people."

"Surely he didn't lose his job just because you helped some kind of animal."

Ellie shrugged. "It was part of it. I overheard this one man say that he thought I was a witch or something. Jacks told me to forget about it. Then…" she paused, trying to find the right words. "I can hear things, and remember what they sound like, and, if there's some little thing that's different, I can tell. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Yes. There are people who have extraordinary memories that can remember something after only reading or seeing it once. Perhaps it is something like that?"

Ellie shrugged. "I guess. Anyway, at that same place…I went there one day, and something just sounded wrong. It's like I could feel like something bad was going to happen. I tried to tell someone, and they didn't believe me, and then when it happened, they thought I did it."

Although her explanation was vague, Dr. Mike could tell that it was something that plagued the girl's memory, and she really didn't think it was any of Ellie's fault at all.

"You know, some people are able to tell that things are going to happen before they do. That is nothing to be ashamed of." Dr. Mike told her.

Ellie smiled a real, unabashed smile. "I like you, Dr. Quinn." She said.

"I like you too, Ellie, and you can call me Dr. Mike."

………………

Later that day, after receiving and going through some of his latest pieces of communication from the Bureau of Land Management, (some of which promptly gave him a headache) Sully made his way back to the livery, where Jackson had offered to help Robert E. On his way, Daniel walked over and joined him.

"Hey Sully." Daniel called over as he walked toward him.

Sully nodded and waited for him to catch up. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. It's quiet today."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Looks like they're trying to keep you busy." Daniel commented, noting the large packet Sully had in his hands.

"Some people like to use a lot of words." Sully stated with a slight touch of annoyance.

Daniel chuckled.

"So how are those two kids doing?" Daniel asked.

"Pretty good. The boy's over at Robert E's right now. The girl was still asleep when we left."

"Any idea how they got out here?"

"Same way we did."

"Really?" Daniel asked again, catching Sully's meaning in those few words.

Sully nodded.

Robert E saw their approach, and walked over to them.

"Hey Sully, that boy, he's a good worker. He's finished two bridles already"

"You know, he needs some steady work if you can give it to him." Sully commented.

"Well, if he keeps on doing what he is, I don't see a problem with that."

Jackson walked out, carrying the finished piece. "Anything else you need one?" He asked hopefully. "Hey Sully, sheriff."

Robert E took the bridle, and looked it over. "Nice work."

"Thanks."

Daniel looked at the piece of tack and noticed the straight even stitches that held the leather pieces together. "That is good work." He commented. "Have you done stuff like this before?"

Jackson shrugged. "I can pretty much sew anything. Had to for a while there. I mean, have you ever seen a seven year old try to patch something together? It isn't pretty…or at least it wasn't when my sister tried." He commented, smiling at some old memory.

…………….

It was later that day when Sully and Jackson made their way back to the homestead. As they rounded the corner on their horses (Jackson had borrowed one) they saw Michaela, Ellie, and Katie still outside, enjoying the warm afternoon and its sunlight. Michaela was on the steps, and Katie was sitting next to Ellie, who was drawing animal shapes in the dirt in front of her and seeing if Katie could guess what they were.

Jackson stopped his horse. "That sure is a pretty sight." He said smiling.

Sully nodded, a smile playing on his lips as well. "It sure is." He responded.

Wolf ran ahead and went straight towards the two girls.

Katie looked up first and saw her furry friend bounding towards them. "Wolf!" she called happily.

Ellie looked up and smiled. "Right again, Katie."

Wolf came up and licked the side of Katie's face, which made the toddler giggle. She patted the side of the animal's face with her small hand.

Wolf nudged Ellie's shoulder with his nose, and Ellie scratched him behind the ears and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

Ellie then looked up and saw her brother coming towards her. She stood up and walked over, noticing the smile on his face.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"Pretty good. I might just have a job."

"Really?" she said, her eyes getting wide and a broad smile growing on her face.

Jackson nodded. "Yup. The blacksmith has some work for me to do. Who knows, maybe we've finally found a place to stay."

"Oh, I hope so!" Ellie said, giving her brother a big hug. "Maybe I could find a job too?"

"Who knows, maybe…come into town tomorrow, you might find something you can do."

……………….

All day, old memories where brought to the forefront of Daniel's mind, so it should have been no wonder that when he drifted off into sleep, his dreams would replay them as well.

In those dreams he was brought back to a day he would never forget, and it wasn't for a pleasant reason.

flashback/dream

Daniel heard it first, and his worst thoughts were confirmed when he turned his head and saw the dust fill the air. His legs moved as fast as he could make them, but his mind went faster than his body.

It was a cave-in; and worse yet, he knew Sully was down there.

They didn't know how bad it was at first, but after two days of digging through rocks and timbers, they all began to think the worst. Every muscle in Daniel's body ached, but he kept on moving, knowing that the longer it took, the more likely it would be that the ones left in the mine would be dead.

end

He awoke with a start, and the feelings of dread and anxiety were still fresh in his mind, as though he had just experienced that terrible time, instead of it being so many years ago.

Daniel took a few deep breaths, and he tried to remember the day when they found Sully, and the few others that were still alive in down there, recalling the feeling of relief he had and the look of gratefulness on Sully's face.

Daniel once again closed his eyes and willed himself back to sleep. He hoped that this time, his dreams would not take him back to where he did not want to go.