That afternoon Dr. Mike left the clinic to gain more signatures for her petition. Kat offered to watch the clinic for her, after all people still got sick despite social injustices. Mathew was at the edge of town by the church helping Olive finish the floor for her Hurdy Gurdy, but Brian had wanted to stay at the clinic. He loved sitting with Kathryn and telling her about his adventures with Sully. Dr. Mike hadn't been gone for very long when Brian and Kat heard the sound of drums and soldiers gathering in the center of town.

"What's all that noise?" Brian questioned.

"Hopefully it's the soldiers leaving town. C'mon let's go take a look." She suggested before swinging open the door to the clinic. When she saw what was actually happening in the town square, Kathryn tried to shield it from Brian's sight, but he pushed past her.

"What's going on?" He demanded. " I wanna see!" The soldiers closed ranks in a way Kat had only seen once before. Concerned, she crouched down and whispered to the boy standing next to her. "Brian, this is important. You have to go get your Ma. You have to run as fast as you can, tell her they're gonna shoot Cloud Dancing, she's gotta come back right away. You understand?"

Uh-huh." Brian nodded before running off to get his mother. Kathryn jumped on her horse and rode out to find her brother who luckily wasn't very far away. He'd started walking towards town when he heard the drums.

"What's going on?" Sully asked when he met up with his sister.

"It's Cloud Dancing." Kat told him without dismounting. "They're gonna execute him. You have to try and stop them. I sent Brian to fetch Dr. Mike."

"Let's go." Sully took off running.

"No! No!" Michaela shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd. "Stop General Custer! You can't do this! You said two days!"

"I changed my mind." Custer informed her impassively. By now Kathryn and her horse had come stomping back into town. She'd dismounted from her horse and stood next to Dr. Mike.

"You can't just execute a man without a trial." Reverent Johnson interjected.

"What's his crime?" Olive wanted to know.

"He's an Indian." Jake replied as if that explained it all. "He's got to have done something to have been shot for."

"This man saved our lives!" Dr. Mike shouted at the town's folk. "You can't let them do this!" Sully stepped between Dr. Mike, Kat and Custer.

"He doesn't know anything!" Sully insisted.

"They why don't you ask him one last time?" Custer demanded. Sully looked from Dr. Mike to Kat before walking over to Cloud Dancing.

"Tell them anything." He whispered to his friend. "Lie to them." But even starved, bruised and beaten Cloud Dancing wouldn't give it.

"No." Was his reply. "I see the truth. Good-bye my friend." Sully had to accept that there would be no convincing Cloud Dancing. He was about to lose the man who had been like a brother to him. The man who had taught him so much about being a man. With silent acceptance he stepped to safety behind the Firing Squad. Now only Kat and Dr. Mike Stood in Custer's way. So Custer proceeded to drag a fighting Michaela out of the way.

"You can't do this!" She screamed, struggling against Custer's hold with all her might. A pair of strong hands also pulled Kat out of the way, but she didn't bother fighting them. There was no point. Cloud Dancing was going to die and there was nothing anyone could do to save him.

"Sergeant, carry out your orders." Custer instructed over Michaela's screams. The soldiers in the Firing Squad took their aim. Kat decided at the last minute to bury her head in the chest of whoever it was who held her. She breathed in the musky scent of a familiar cologne and knew at once it was Jake Slicker who had his arms wrapped around her protectively. The soldiers were ordered to fire, and with a final shriek from Dr. Mike, the rifles expelled their bullets. A hush fell over the crowd and Jake was the first to speak.

"I'll be dammed." He gaped, releasing Kat. "Blanks."

"Take him back to his cell." Custer ordered with a despicable grin on his face. The soldiers did as they were told and most of the town's people returned to what they'd been doing now that the spectacle in the center of town had concluded. Even Jake had started wandering back to the Barber's Shop before Kat had a chance to ask him why he'd pulled her out of the way.

"Next time, Custer will kill him." Sully announced to Dr. Mike and Kat once they were alone.

"We can't let that happen." His sister said.

"We have to do something." Dr. Mike agreed.

The next night the Hurdy Gurdy opened as planned. General Custer and nearly all of his soldiers were in attendance by the time the opening commenced. Colleen, Brian and Mathew were each dressed in their Sunday best when they arrived with Dr. Mike and Kat. Colleen set off to try and find someone to dance with her since Sully had turned her down. Brian wanted to show Loren the song he'd learned to play on the Harmonica, and Mathew was suppose to be getting his first dance with Ingrid. Kat had promised to watch the three children while Michaela and Sully carried out their plan to rescue Cloud Dancing.

"Why the long face?" Kat asked when she spotted Colleen sulking at the edge of the dance floor.

"There's no one to dance with me." The young girl told her.

"Well, I ain't got no one to dance with me neither, so how about we dance together?" She offered her hand out to Colleen with a smile. Together the two took to the floor dancing circles around some of the less talented couples. An hour or so passed before Olive allowed the band, and the dancers, to take a break. Brian was still by the lemonade stand taking to Loren, and Colleen skipped over to get herself a cup of lemonade. Mathew had finally worked up the courage to talk to Ingrid, and Dr. Mike had just returned from her mission.

"So...?" Kat whispered when she spotted her friend in the crowd.

"It's taken care of." Dr. Mike assure her. A genuine smile appeared on Kat's face.

"The why do you look so upset, Doc?" She asked, elbowing her friend playfully. "You saved someone's life. Smile! You've just added another chapter to the thrilling tale in the life of Dr. Quinn, M.D.!"Kat swept her hand out dramatically to emphasize her point. Dr. Mike couldn't help but laugh. She liked being around Kathryn because of her unique outlook on things. Life in Colorado Springs had certainly been improved by her return.

A/n: OMG guys two updates in the same week! Am I the best or what? OK TBH I just wanted to get through the rest of "The Prisoner" but I think I wrapped everything up nicely! The next episode with be "Happy Birthday" which I've very excited to start on! Special thanks to snn7b, Kim & Michaela for your reviews of Chapter 9. I love reviews! (Especially positive ones!) So basically tell me what you think of Chapter 10, and what you are hoping to see in future chapters!