Chapter 116

June 8, 1871 – Colorado Springs

The rain clouds were rolling in again, and Johnny had slowed Byron to a soft canter, so Mary could keep up. He could see her eyelids drooping with exhaustion, and he felt bad for her, but at the same time, it was her own fault for following him. Why couldn't she stop worrying about him? He could take care of himself. It was her that he was worried about now.

"You cold?" he asked softly, reaching over to nudge her.

"I'm fine," she said, adjusting herself in the saddle. Pup whined up ahead, stopped, turned, and then continued on. "How much longer until we find them?"

"I don't know. It's gotta be close. Pup's actin' awful funny. He must've picked up a scent."

"The rain would've washed it away, Johnny."

"How do you know so much about it?" Mary grinned.

"By listening to you," she answered, blushing a little and hoping he wouldn't notice. He noticed her shivering, and he maneuvered himself out of the light coat he'd brought along.

"Here."

"I don't want it."

"You're cold. Take it."

"But…"

"Mary, will ya stop bein' so…"

"So what?" she challenged. Johnny sighed gruffly.

"Never mind." Mary tried not to smile, but she couldn't help herself. She knew he liked having her along, though she knew he'd probably never admit it. "It's gonna rain again soon. We gotta find a place to stop."

"How about up there? There's an old cabin," Mary pointed.

"Where?" Johnny asked.

"Up there, dummy."

"Hey!"

"Well, use your eyes," she giggled. She nudged her horse along ahead, and Johnny followed. When they reached the little shack, they tied the horses up and gathered inside just as the wind was picking up. Mary shivered, but she didn't let Johnny see. She sat down against the wall and watched him close the shutters and make sure the door was securely in place. Once he sat down beside her, he placed his arm around her, when the wind began to rattle the walls. He closed his eyes and hoped that his father was safe and out of harm's way.

Jim struggled for his last breath, and finally let it out, as Hank put his gun back into its holster.

"Jim's dead. Don't gotta worry 'bout him no more."

"Sully's alive," Kid Cole breathed with relief.

"Thank God," Robert E. whispered.

"But he's bleedin' awful bad. We gotta see if the bullet's still in him."

"Turn 'im over," Hank barked. "I seen enough bullet wounds in my time. I don't gotta be no fancy doctor to know if he's still got a bullet in 'im." They slowly turned Sully to his side, and sure enough, the back of his shirt was torn and soaked with blood. "Good news is, the bullet's out. Bad news is, he's gonna bleed to death if we don't get 'im sewn up."

"Seein' as we're a few days away from home, he's gonna bleed to death if we don't do somethin' now," Robert E. pointed out. "I knew Grace sent needle and thread with me for a reason." He rushed over to his horse. Kid Cole glanced over at his wife, seeing she was still asleep. He turned his attention back to Sully. He owed this man a lot. He'd come all this way to save Ruth, and then he'd taken a bullet that wasn't meant for him.

"You think that's gonna work?" Hank asked, as Robert E. came over with the supplies.

"I don't know, but I gotta try somethin'. We can't just let him die." He tossed a few rags at Hank and Kid Cole. "Dr. Mike puts pressure on the wound." Hank and Kid Cole exchanged glances, but they said nothing and got right to work. Hank might not have been fond of Sully, but that was a damned brave (or a damned stupid) thing he'd done taking that bullet. But now Jim was dead, and they didn't have to worry about him. All they had to do was try to get back to town before getting picked off themselves.

"Alright. I don't know…I don't know if there's anything inside that's bleedin'."

"This is hopeless," Hank pointed out. "He's gonna die. Why don't we just put him on the horse and…"

"Shut up, Hank," Robert E. and Kid Cole snapped in unison. They didn't have time for his complaints. As Robert E. and Kid Cole leaned over the wound to get a better look, both sent up silent prayers that Sully would survive, and they wouldn't have to bring Dr. Mike back the horrible news that her husband was dead.

"Dr. Mike?" Gabrielle walked into Michaela's office, her eyes sad and filled with tears. Michaela frowned, looking up from the paperwork she wasn't really paying much attention to anyway. "I'm really sorry. I should have told you he was going out there."

"Yes, you should have," the doctor replied. "But when Johnny is up to something, he's going to do it, because he thinks its right."

"If he gets hurt, I won't be able to forgive myself." The girl turned to walk away, but Michaela stood and crossed the room, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"You were doing what you thought was right for a friend. That's good, but when it's something that could get him hurt, you need to tell someone, because that is the right thing to do, even if Johnny doesn't know it. Do you understand?" Gabrielle nodded.

"Sorry, Dr. Mike."

"It's alright. Why don't you go find Little Wolf and play?" Gabrielle shrugged but when upstairs to find the young Cheyenne boy. Once the room was cleared out, Michaela closed her eyes and leaned against the door. She placed her hand on her belly and felt her babies kicking. After everything her family had been through in the past year, losing Johnny or Sully was not in the cards now. If anything happened to them, God, she didn't know what she'd do. Losing Sully would be like dying herself. Losing Johnny, it wasn't even conceivable. She couldn't lose either of them, and right now, she felt completely helpless.

Just as she was about to go back to her desk, a frantic pounding on the door startled her. Moments later, it burst open, and to Michaela's surprise, a soaked Snow Bird stood there, her limbs shaky and her face reddened with exhaustion.

"Snow Bird! What on Earth?"

"It is my husband. You must come quick!"

"What's happened?" Michaela asked, grabbing her bag and sliding into her coat.

"He's had a vision. It is not good, Dr. Mike. He is ill and feverish." Michaela immediately thought of Sully, and she swallowed hard, praying silently that this vision had nothing to do with their family. But, she followed Snow Bird out to the wagon, climbed up, and started off toward the reservation.

"I think it's done," Robert E. said slowly.

"That storm's gonna be here any second," Hank pointed out. "If they're gonna live to see tomorrow, we gotta get them to shelter."

"Let's go down the road a ways. Surely there's somethin' off the trail a ways," Kid Cole suggested. Luckily, the litter was big enough for two, so all three men gently lifted Sully up and placed him beside Ruth, being careful not to stir either of them or rip Sully's stitches.

"What about him?" Hank asked, nodding toward Jim's motionless body.

"Slap him up on your horse. Take him back to town," Kid Cole replied.

"You wanna give him a proper burial after what he did to your wife?"

"If it was up to me, I'd let him rot or let the wolves eat him, but I'm the sheriff, and I gotta bring him back. He's got family somewhere that's gotta be notified. Least I know he's never gonna hurt Ruth again. I can sleep better at night just knowin' that. C'mon. Let's get goin'. I wanna make it back to town 'fore the end of the week."

"Don't think Sully's gonna make it that long," Hank muttered, tossing Jim over the back of the horse and mounting up. With that, he followed behind the sheriff and the blacksmith.

Wolf whined, trotting along side the litter that carried Ruth and Sully. He would lean over and lick Sully's hand from time to time, but there was no response. The wolf kept his ears perked, listening for any signs of danger, but the only danger they faced was the storm.

"Storm's passin'," Johnny said after an hour of huddling with Mary in the little shack.

"You're sure?" she asked softly, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Yup. The thunder and lightnin' are getting further apart. That means it's getting further away."

"Oh. You know a lot."

"Just know things from livin' out here my whole life."

"I want to live out here my whole life too," she decided.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I like Boston, but I like the mountains and the Cheyenne here. Plus, you and Aunt Michaela and Uncle Sully are here." She frowned. "That makes us cousins, sort of."

"Not really. We're not related, remember?" Johnny laughed. "Dr. Mike's not my real ma."

"I guess it's easy to forget things sometimes," Mary blushed. She bit her lower lip. "I think once my mother marries the reverend, we'll be staying. Gabby'll be here too."

"Yeah, I s'pose so," Johnny replied.

"You want her to stay, don't you?" Her voice trembled a little.

"Sure. She's my friend."

"You like her more than that, don't you?"

"Mary, she's a girl," he laughed.

"And you're a boy!"

"So? Can't we just be friends?"

"Sure, but it'll be more than that someday." Johnny rolled his eyes. "It will!"

"Whatever you say, Mary," Johnny replied. "We best get goin' again. The rain's stoppin'." Mary sighed and followed him out of the little shack. "Just drop it, Mary. You and Gabby are both my friends, but I've known you the longest, and I ain't gonna forget that. I don't have the kinda fun with Gabby that I do with you. It ain't like that with us. I can tell you everything, 'cause you're my best friend." Mary blushed again. "I wish ya believed me."

"I believe you, Johnny," she said softly, before letting him help her up onto the house. "Sorry."

"C'mon. Let's go find my pa."

Rebecca and Timothy had been following a trail of hoof prints, but the rain had washed most of them away. Rebecca was sick with worry, and all Timothy could do was reassure her that the children were very resourceful and would be fine. Rebecca would agree with him, but he knew she was trying very hard to convince herself.

"Timothy, what if they were caught in the storm?"

"Mary's safe with Johnny. He's been going on adventures since he was old enough to walk. Loren had the hardest time keeping up with him. He knows his way around her better than a lot of folks, so I wouldn't worry too much. If Mary's with him, he's keepin' her safe."

"But they're just children!"

"Johnny's not from Boston. Children in Boston are a lot different than children in Colorado Springs. Trust me, Rebecca. Nothing's going to happen to those kids."

"Jim's out there, and he's armed. What if he comes upon them?" Timothy didn't want to think about that. All he wanted to do was find the search party, bring everyone (including Ruth) back safe-and-sound, and get on with his future with Rebecca and the girls. All he could do was hope that the group had found Ruth and come across the children, and that they were all on their way back to town.

Cheyenne Reservation

Michaela slipped inside the teepee, where Cloud Dancing was lying, his body covered in a thin sheen of sweat from fever.

"I have never seen this happen before," Snow Bird insisted. "He had a vision, and he spoke Sully's name, but he said nothing else. I came for you, because I thought you could heal him, and he may tell you what he saw."

"I'll do what I can," Michaela said, worry in her heart and her mind. Snow Bird left the teepee, and Michaela began to mix up some quinine for Cloud Dancing's fever. He spoke something in Cheyenne that Michaela could not understand, and she placed her hand against his cheek. "Cloud Dancing, it's Michaela. Can you hear me?" Again, he spoke in Cheyenne, and Michaela could make out only a few words. Gun, wolf, horse. Her heart skipped a beat.

She held a cup to his lips and let him drink the liquid. He swallowed it thirstily, and she waited in agony for his fever to break. Before long, an hour passed, and Snow Bird came in and out, bringing in more water to help cool the Cheyenne medicine man. She happened to pass through and Cloud Dancing spoke again, and she froze.

"Snow Bird? What did he say?" Snow Bird feared telling the medicine woman of her husband's vision, but she knew that if something had happened to her husband, she'd want to know too. She didn't see how keeping it from her could help.

"My husband says that Sully has been shot."

"What?" Michael asked, her breath leaving her for a moment. "Oh God. He's not…he's not dead." Snow Bird shook her head. Michaela felt the tears start to flow, but when Cloud Dancing started to come to, she brushed them away. She had to focus on her patient, but unfortunately, it wasn't easy considering his bond with her husband. She had to save him and she had to hear more from him about her husband's condition. All she wanted to do was go out there and find him, but it was impossible now. He needed her, and all she could do was wait for him to be brought home and pray he made it home alive.

Wow, it's been a long time since the last update, huh? Well, I have school and other things to thank for that. I realize this chapter was a shorter one, but I don't want to stress myself out too much since I'm just getting back into the swing of things. Please let me know what you thought about the chapter. I'd like to know if it's worth continuing or not! Thanks so much for your patience. - Ashley