For personal use and select distribution only © by Becky 2002
A quick word from the author ...As many of you know, I have been working on the sequel to A Time to Dance since last year. First, let me say if you have not read A Time to Dance you can still read this story. It stands on its own fairly well although there is still a sense of continuity with its predecessor.
If you're worried you're in for a roller coaster ride like A Time to Dance was, you have nothing to fear. This story is something a lot less controversial and is very focused on relationships, but I hope you will find it exciting, vivid, romantic, often times even comical, and full of depth and sincerity. There is a mix of old characters as well as some new ones. I think you will fall in love with the new people I created just as I did. Colorado Springs and the townies are still involved to some extent, but I spent much of this story exploring two very changing areas in California in the 1870s, Yosemite Valley and San Francisco. Although the story is primarily set in these two places, I think you will find I stayed very true to the feel of the series. This is also my most historically based story, with people and places as true to the times as I could possibly make them. I have been told Westward Bound is even better than A Time to Dance.
Westward Bound is about fifty chapters, but chapter length is longer. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it! Enjoy!
Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | more chapters
Chapter One
Spring 1878
Sully pulled the wagon to a stop in front of the clinic, glancing at Michaela. She was fussing with the laces of their tiny son's knit cap and had grown suddenly quiet after chattering nervously for most of the trip into town.
"We're here, Michaela," he said, jumping down from the wagon and holding up his arms for Jack.
Michaela carefully handed the baby to him and then stepped to the ground, gazing up at her sign with a certain sense of pride. She had only taken a total of four weeks away from the clinic before and after Jack was born, but that had been plenty enough time to truly miss it. Though her thoughts were constantly on the baby and his well being, she couldn't wait to begin seeing patients again. She walked over to the door decidedly and removed her closed sign.
Sully reached in front of her and opened the door to a crowd of townsfolk, among them all of their closest friends.
"Surprise!" the crowd cheered.
"It's good to have ya back, Michaela," Dorothy said cheerily.
"We've missed ya," Grace said as she moved aside to reveal a black range in the corner, a nest of red coals glowing behind the vents.
Michaela gasped, eyes widening. Robert E. stepped forward, turning his cap in his hands. "We got ya a little welcome back present, Dr. Mike."
"A new stove for the clinic," Andrew spoke up, gesturing behind him at the range.
"Understood the old one was givin' ya trouble," Loren added with a grin.
"I used to hear ya fiddlin' with that broken-down thing all the way from across the street, Michaela," Hank remarked drolly, thumbs hanging on his belt.
"That ole stove had probably seen more winters than Loren here," Jake said in agreement.
"Oh, you be quiet," Loren chided, crossing his arms impatiently. "You ain't so young yourself."
"All of you be quiet now," Dorothy said. "And let Michaela take a look at it."
Michaela chuckled, recalling many a failed attempt to reason with the tiny stove left over from Charlotte's boarding house. She walked over to the new range, fingered a large red ribbon tied around the pipe. "Thank you all so much," she said, turning to face the pleased crowd. "This is wonderful."
The townsfolk smiled in reply, some stepping forward to clasp her hands or tell her how glad they were to see her back. As they filtered out of the clinic, Michaela promised to meet everyone at the café for lunch later in the morning. She shut the door after the last few people, then grabbed Sully's shirtsleeve.
"Was this your idea?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Maybe." He gave her lips a gentle kiss. "Welcome back, Dr. Mike."
She ran her finger down the baby's nose and grasped his hand. "Are you sure you don't mind looking after Jack today?"
"Naw," he replied, gazing down at the baby.
"You've been wanting to telegram Mr. Harper about upcoming projects."
"There's plenty of time for that." He gave their son a kiss on the head, then glanced at her, noting her uncertain expression. "What?"
"As long as you're happy," she said, taking his hand.
He kissed her again in reply. "When do ya want me to bring him by?"
She smiled shyly. "In a few hours." She gazed at their baby lovingly, so warmly nestled against Sully's protecting chest. "Bye-bye, sweetheart. Be good for Daddy."
"What do you say, son? Wanna take a walk with your pa?" Sully asked softly. He gently shifted the gurgling infant to rest over his shoulder and Michaela helped to resituate the baby's blanket snuggly around him.
"Both of you be good," Michaela said wryly, giving Jack one last kiss before she opened the door and saw them out.
* * *
The baby curled up one fist, pressing it to his cheek as he gazed up at his father.
"I'll take ya for a train ride sometime. We're gonna do a lot of things together," Sully went on, smiling as the baby's eyes drooped closed. "But right now ya just wanna sleep, don't ya?" He ascended the steps of the post office, nodding at Horace, who was making some calculations with his pencil.
"Hey, Sully," Horace said, pausing in his work and smiling. "Hey there, Jack. He's gettin' bigger every day, Sully."
"That he is. Any mail today, Horace?"
Horace reached into one of the mail slots and pulled out a small stack of letters and a large, thick brown envelope. "Here ya go."
"Thanks," Sully said, taking the pile and finding a seat on a bench nearby. He flipped through the usual letters from Michaela's colleagues and family. "Here's one from your gran'ma," he said, glancing at the baby. "She'll be wantin' to see ya soon." At last he came to the envelope, surprised to see it addressed to him. The return address read from Rudolph Harper, who he and Michaela had coincidentally just been talking about. Sully tore back one side of it, revealing an abundance of pamphlets and maps, topped with a cover letter in Harper's slanted script.
He quickly read the letter, drawing in his breath and sitting quietly for several minutes. At last, he folded the letter, put it back in the envelope and stood up. He gazed down at Jack, who had fallen sound asleep, and ran his thumb over the back of one of his little hands. Slowly he raised his eyes and looked down the street, picturing Michaela inside the clinic, reading a medical journal or chatting cheerfully with a patient as she performed an examination.
"California," Sully said, trying the word out. " ... Yosemite."
"Glad to hear that," Sully replied, reaching in front of her and opening the door.
Katie and Byron were waiting inside by the door eagerly. Michaela drew each of them to her skirts in a tight hug. "Well, how was school?"
"Good. Do you like the new stove?" Katie replied, looking up at her mother anxiously.
Michaela laughed, caressing her hair. "So you two knew about that, too, did you?"
Byron giggled, covering his mouth. "A surprise, Mama!"
"Surprised I was indeed," she said as Sully helped her out of her jacket and hung it on the rack. "And I love the new stove."
"Hey, Ma," Brian said, appearing from the kitchen, towel in hand. "How was the clinic?"
"Wonderful. Thank you, Brian," she said, crossing the room and settling the baby in his cradle in front of the fire. "Katie, Byron? Will you watch Jack for me while Papa and I check on supper?"
"We'll watch him, Mama," Katie said as she and Byron knelt beside the cradle, peeking at their little brother reverently.
"I stuck the roast in the oven like ya wanted, Ma," Brian said.
"Thanks, Brian. That's a big help," Sully said, entering the kitchen. "Why don't ya go on upstairs and get started on some schoolwork before supper? We'll take care of the rest."
Brian handed him the towel. "Call me when it's ready."
Sully patted him on the back as Michaela walked into the kitchen, picking up a pair of towels on the table and opening the oven door. She poked at the roast with a fork, scrutinized it for a moment and then spooned gravy over the top. "Smells delicious," she remarked, closing the door and casting a smile at Sully.
He looked away, reached up and took down a stack of plates from the shelf, absently setting them on the counter.
"Sully?" she began, trying in vain to catch his eyes again. She reached out and took his hand, turning him to face her. "Sully, I know we're all so busy and I can't imagine taking on one more thing but ...."
Intrigued, he squeezed her hand, willing her to go on.
She inhaled slowly. "I noticed again today that the amount of patients I'm seeing is increasing, almost weekly now it seems. The town has grown so much. I don't know how I would manage should an epidemic break out, or even if it becomes necessary to have an unusually high number of patients staying in beds at the clinic."
"What do ya wanna do?" he asked.
She swallowed. "Well, I was hoping perhaps we could attach a few recovery rooms to the back of the front room. I know it's a large project. I don't mean you would do it. We could hire someone of course. It seems my patients are outgrowing the clinic."
He turned to face the kitchen window, staring out it.
She gently touched his shoulder. "I know. Money's tight especially now with the baby. Sully, I know you work hard and I wouldn't ask if I didn't think this was absolutely necessary. I just fear I may be placed in a situation where I can't adequately care for everyone simply because I don't have enough space. I'm all right now, but if Colorado Springs keeps growing like it has ...."
"Seems like it's almost a city now, don't it?"
She stepped closer, following his gaze out the window. "It saddens you, doesn't it."
He shrugged. "Sometimes. Other times it feels like home like nothing ever has before for me. Everybody most important to us is here." He crossed his arms, turning back around. "Michaela, before we add on to the clinic, I gotta talk with ya about somethin'. Maybe after supper? Once the kids are in bed." He paused, reaching up to caress her cheek. "Unless ya want to get to bed soon, too. Ya seem real tired."
"Yes, a little," she admitted. "But so happy about so many things. The baby, you and the children, being back at the clinic." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him to her warmly. "Even if we don't add on, I'll make do. I'm grateful for whatever we can manage." She smiled, giving him a tender kiss. "Besides, it's already so much more than I ever hoped it could be."
* * *
She nodded, slowly opening the brochure and flipping through the pages.
"Harper, he's the most honest man I've ever worked for, 'cept maybe Robert E. I liked the job in Silver Cliff with him. And it's what I'm good at. We'd be buildin' the park so that people can see it, appreciate it, maybe think twice about things. Look, it ain't permanent. I know we'd have a lot more to think about if it were. Just a year, Michaela. The money I'd be makin' doin' this would be enough to add on all we want to the clinic once we get home." He gently placed his hand on her back, watching her eyes. "Michaela? Say somethin'."
"Is there a town nearby?" she asked quietly.
"Fresno," he said. "It ain't too close, but Harper says a supply wagon comes to camp every two weeks or so."
"The children," she said hoarsely.
"We'd take 'em with us."
"Of course, but what about school? Certainly there can't be a schoolhouse nearby."
He scratched his chin, sorting through the pile of papers. "We'll bring books, slates, pens and pencils. We'll keep 'em caught up until they can go back."
Michaela glanced across the room at the cradle where their baby snoozed. "Sully, Jack's hardly three weeks old."
"I know. It ain't gonna be easy travelin' all that way with him, and Katie and Byron, too, but Harper understands I got a family. He says there's lots of room for the kids to play. It'll be so quiet there, peaceful. There's lakes, rivers, deer paths, meadows, valleys, mountains. He says it's the most beautiful place he's ever seen." He grasped her hand and kissed it. "I asked ya once before to move with me. It wasn't an easy thing for me to do. Now I'm askin' ya to give up everything all over again. But I know we can do this, be happy there."
"When do we have to decide?" she asked.
He drew in his breath. "Harper wants to know as soon as possible. He wants to get a good start on the projects over the summer before the snows fall."
"As soon as we can then," she murmured.
He nodded, threading his fingers with hers. "This is a lot to take in all at once. Everything's explained in the things he sent. We'll look at them together and decide together."
She nodded. "Yes."
He leaned forward and kissed her. "Michaela, you're what's most important to me—you and the kids. I ain't goin' without ya. We won't do this unless you're sure about it."
"I think all this information deserves a fair chance," she replied. "I want us to look it over carefully. Together."
* * *
A faint glow from a lamp in the kitchen led him to Michaela. She was seated at the table, as he had suspected, devouring every word from some of the newspaper clippings Harper had given them.
"Can't sleep?" he whispered, sliding onto the bench beside her.
She sighed, resting one elbow on the table. "I'm reading an article by a naturalist named John Muir. He makes it sound just breathtaking."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Settin' aside that piece of land is probably the best thing the government can do."
"But that doesn't mean it's guaranteed protection forever," she pointed out. "The preservation could be mishandled or corrupt or misguided. The most experienced, sincere people should be the people helping to facilitate it."
"I think Harper's a good man for the job," Sully said.
"Apparently he thinks the same of you," Michaela replied, shifting to look at him. "It's quite an honor."
"I just want to help make it a place people can see without interferin' with the land, the animals."
"Sully, I've read through almost all of this," she began. "If I had any doubts this job wasn't simply made for someone like you they've disappeared."
"But?" he prompted.
"Well," she said, folding her hands, "I would still like us to think about it for a few days."
He nodded. "I think that's a good idea."
"And there's something else we need to consider," she went on. " ...Brian."
"Brian?"
"He's almost of age," she said. "If we go, I think perhaps we should give him the choice. He's most certainly earned our respect and trust."
"Ya mean let him decide if he wants to come along with us or not," Sully said, absently picking up one of the pamphlets.
She nodded. "I can't imagine not seeing him for an entire year. But I also can't picture us forcing him to do something he may have no interest in doing. He has school, his friends, the Gazette."
"And the Sheehan girl," Sully murmured, tossing the pamphlet back on the table.
"Sarah?" Michaela blurted.
Sully chuckled, taking her hand and pressing his thumb to the back of it. "You know well as I they've been seeing some of each other for a couple years."
"Time and again, yes. But I certainly don't think it's anything more than that." She eyed him skeptically. "Sully, did he say something to you?"
He rubbed her back. "Maybe a few times, yeah. I think he's startin' to realize he hasn't had eyes for anyone else in awhile. Says he thinks maybe he'd like to marry her, maybe soon."
"What? Sully, marry her? I can't believe that."
"He's just thinkin' out loud, Michaela. Nothin' wrong with a man gettin' his head clear," Sully replied. "Year's a long time to be apart from somebody ya love."
She wrapped her hands around his arm. "A dreadfully long time."
"We should leave the choice up to him, then," he said. "That's the right thing to do."
"Then let's tell him about this, show him the pamphlets and maps," she said decidedly. "I think he'll need time to think, too."
* * *
"Dr. Mike, a year's a long time," Grace said, poised over the café table with a pitcher of coffee.
Michaela glanced at each of her friends, determined to be strong if only for their sake. She found herself defending the idea. "It's not that long, Grace."
Dorothy rested her hands on the checkered tablecloth. "It's plenty long once it's started, Michaela."
"Who's gonna take care of the clinic?" Grace asked, sinking into a chair next to Dorothy.
"Well, I talked it over with Andrew and he knows a young colleague in Boston who has wanted to come west for a long time. Should we choose to go, we're going to correspond with him and ask him to look after the clinic until we return. Andrew seems to think he would be eager to accept."
"Should you choose to go?" Dorothy questioned. "Sounds like you've already made up your mind."
Michaela stared at her hands. "Don't misunderstand. Packing up, leaving everything behind and going someplace we've only heard of in books isn't going to be easy. But when Sully talks about it ... " She looked up, blinking back tears. "There's a sparkle in his eyes, an excitement in his voice I don't remember...since perhaps before he was fired from his job as an Indian Agent so long ago."
"Back when Katie was just a newborn," Dorothy remarked. "Has it been seven years?"
"That's quite a long time to be unhappy with your work," Michaela said quietly. "I just want him to be happy again, that's all."
"What about you and the children?" Dorothy challenged. "You have to think about your happiness, too."
"My happiness depends greatly on his," she replied, taking her friends' hands. "I just know if I go over this too much more I may convince myself we shouldn't go, and I don't want that."
"We can write, can't we?" Grace said tentatively.
"Oh, of course," Michaela replied. "Please, I hope you will."
"Only if you write back," Dorothy teased softly, holding back tears.
* * *
Suddenly, Brian looked up from his book, clearing his throat. "Pa? Could I borrow your toolbox tomorrow?"
"What do ya need it for?" he replied curiously.
He smiled sheepishly, resting his head on his hand. "Well, Sarah's been talkin' about tryin' to hatch some of the eggs their chickens lay and startin' up a hen house of her own. I was thinkin' I could make her a shed near their barn with a place for nests, feed and water and anythin' else they need."
"I bet she'd appreciate that. Is there some special occasion?"
Brian shrugged. "No. Nothin' special. Just feel like doin' somethin' for her."
"That's reason enough for me," Sully replied. "You're welcome to my tools and ya can take your pick of any leftover lumber stacked in the barn."
"Thanks, Pa," Brian said as Michaela walked down the stairs.
"The children are tucked in and the baby's fast asleep," she said, crossing the room and sitting in the chair next to Sully.
"I'm kinda tired myself," Brian replied, closing his book. "I think I'll turn in, too."
"Wait, Brian," Michaela said, glancing at Sully encouragingly. "There's something we want to talk to you about first."
"Somethin' wrong?" he immediately asked, searching her eyes.
"Oh, no. Nothing's wrong," she replied. "In some ways it's actually good news I suppose."
"I got a telegram from Mr. Harper, my boss in Silver Cliff," Sully explained, slipping his knife back into his belt.
"Ya ain't gonna work for him again, are ya, Pa?" Brian asked. "It's so far away."
"He's offered me another job, but not in Silver Cliff," Sully replied. "Out in California. Workin' in a place called Yosemite."
"California?" Brian breathed. "But we'd never see ya!"
"We would come with him, Brian," Michaela said. "Katie and Byron, the baby and I. Mr. Harper would have some sort of cabin built for us near where Sully would work. We'd live there for a year, then we'd come back here."
Brian slowly rose to his feet, initial shock changing to curiosity. "What would ya do there?"
"Harper and his men are buildin' lodges and inns," Sully said. "Paths and trails through the woods, too. They're openin' it up for visitors and he wants my help with all of that."
"We know this is sudden," Michaela added. "Sully and I aren't even sure if we're going to accept. But we wanted you to know that what you do is up to you. We would love it if you came with us, but you're older now, you may want to stay here for...certain reasons. We just don't want to force you into anything."
"So it's up to me?" he whispered.
"That's right," Michaela said. "You've certainly proved to Sully and me that you're responsible enough to make a decision like this on your own. You could stay here and look after the homestead for us, go to school and work at the Gazette, and we'd be back the following spring."
"I'd want to know more about it," Brian said.
"Mr. Harper sent us plenty of reading material," Sully said, picking up the stack of pamphlets on the table between the two chairs and handing it to Brian. "You can look through them."
"We haven't told Katie and Byron yet," Michaela said. "I don't think we should upset them unnecessarily. We'll talk about this with them when we've all made our decisions."
"I won't say anythin', Ma," Brian replied, flipping through a pamphlet. "It sure looks nice there. Think what it would be like to live there a whole year."
"You'll wanna talk this over with Sarah, son," Sully said, glancing at Michaela.
Brian slowly looked up, swallowing. "Sarah. Yeah, I best talk it over with her."
"But I don't think you should stay here based solely on Sarah," Michaela said hesitantly. "I know she's important to you...but this is a wonderful opportunity. You have many things to consider."
"I know, Ma," he replied. "I'm just gonna need some time to think."
Michaela grasped Sully's hand, gently squeezing it. "Yes. As do we."
* * *
"It's just a year," Brian said desperately. "Just till next spring."
Brian's plan to casually mention to Sarah that his ma and pa were thinking about going to California and that he was coming if they did had been a fiasco. She had stopped them dead in their walk along the deer path, gasped and started moaning and carrying on about how far away it was, how there probably wasn't a post office around for a hundred miles, how lonely she would be without him. Brian felt awful for making her so upset, but he was moved by how much she vowed she would pine for him. She seemed more attached to the idea of the two of them than he could have ever hoped for before.
"How can we just not see each other for a year?" Sarah cried, shaking her head. "Why can't you stay here? Dr. Mike and Sully said you could, didn't they? Brian, please."
"I know, I know," he murmured. "Sarah, you mean a lot to me, but my family's important, too. My ma and pa could use my help with my sister and brothers, with everything. And I want to go. I want to see this Yosemite place, maybe even work alongside my pa." He paused, wiping away her tears with the back of his fingers. "And I could write about it, maybe even get a book published someday."
"I know it's important to you," she said quietly. "I'm just...I would miss you so much."
He stepped forward and hugged her tight. "Look, I think sometimes being apart can make couples stronger, more sure about things. I'll write ya all the time, and think about ya, and I'll miss ya, too. Every day."
"In a whole year you could meet some other girl and fall in love with her and forget all about us," she said, sniffling.
He chuckled, kissing her head. "Maybe I'll come across some deer, bears, a mountain lion or two, but I don't think there's a lot of ladies livin' in Yosemite—men either for that matter. I got a feelin' we're gonna be pretty alone out there." Sensing the moment was right he gently pecked her lips. "I'll never forget about us, Sarah. I promise."
* * *
Michaela was waiting for them on the porch steps, a small stack of pamphlets in her lap. Sully sat beside her, watching proudly as she gave their little boy a kiss and smoothed back his hair.
"I could barely keep up with him," Sully whispered.
"You do a better job that I do," she replied, snuggling against Sully's shoulder.
"Ya been readin' the books?" he asked, glancing at her lap.
She nodded. "For the third time today."
"Michaela, I want to write back to Harper by the day after tomorrow if I can. I'm gettin' worried maybe he'll give the job to somebody else before I can say whether I want it or not."
"Let's send him word tomorrow morning then," she replied.
"Tomorrow mornin'?"
She caressed his shoulder. "I've never been comfortable making a decision as monumental as this without allowing myself considerable time to think about it. But I was telling Dorothy and Grace about it the other day and I began to realize that we've known all along what we want."
Sully held Byron close, gazing at him and feeling as if the choice they were about to make would change their lives for more than just a year.
"We need to do this," she went on. "I want us to go. That is, if you do."
He shifted to face her. "Oh, Michaela, I do. Michaela." He drew her lips to his and kissed her lovingly. "I know you're givin' up so much for this. I wish the job were closer to home, but it ain't."
She smiled tenderly. "So we'll all go out there for a year, and then we'll come home. I want to do it."
He wrapped his arm around her, gazing up at the first few stars. "Think we can be ready to get on the train by the end of the week?"
She drew in her breath, the reality of it all sinking in. "Yes. We'll be ready," she replied bravely.
"I'm afraid we can only take one crate," Michaela began as she walked down the aisle to the desk. "Once we arrive in California we'll have to take the stage to Yosemite. We have no idea how much space we'll have for our belongings. Sully and I don't want to be forced to leave anything behind."
"I see," Teresa replied, gently nudging aside two crates. "Don't worry. We will fit most of it." Awkwardly, she gestured at the neat piles on her desk. "I've placed colored bookmarks in each book to help you keep track of whom they belong to. Blue for Brian, yellow for Katie and red for Byron."
Michaela flipped back the cover of a trigonometry textbook with a blue bookmark. Helping Byron and Katie learn their subjects was going to be a challenge, but at least the material was relatively simple. Brian, on the other hand, was beginning to read books as difficult as those Michaela had studied in college years ago. How she would teach him things she had struggled herself to fully master she didn't know.
"Do not worry about Brian," Teresa spoke up, sensing Michaela's apprehension. "He'll be able to manage most of the work on his own. Just focus on making certain Katie and Byron understand their lessons and are moving along at a steady pace." She placed a few textbooks at the bottom of the crate. "Katie is doing exceptionally well as usual. I'm sure that won't change. Byron becomes frustrated when it takes him a few tries to learn a new word or answer an arithmetic problem, but we'll keep working on that. He is brighter than he thinks."
"Mrs. Slicker, I'm not sure where to begin with all this."
Teresa held up a thick stack of papers tied with a piece of twine. "Lesson plans for the three of them for the first few months. You will have the hang of it by then."
Michaela shook her head. "I'm not a teacher."
"We are all teachers, Dr. Quinn. Some of us just happen to work in a schoolhouse." Teresa placed the lesson plans on top of the textbooks in the crate and covered them with the lid. "Good luck," she said, handing over the crate.
Michaela propped it against her hip, nodding.
"Good luck with everything," Teresa added, voice slightly unsteady. "My students will miss them. And I know I will, too."
"We'll miss you, Mrs. Slicker," Michaela replied, gently clasping her hand.
* * *
Sully immediately stood up and took the crate from her, setting it beside the children and then reclaiming his seat.
"Did you have a nice day at school?" Michaela asked quietly, hanging up her jacket and putting her medical bag on the table.
"We got lots of homework," Katie said, her chin resting in her hands.
"What's in the box, Mama?" Byron asked, putting down his pencil and rising to his knees to look.
Michaela sat down beside him. "Actually Papa and I want to talk to you about that."
"Is it a present?" Katie questioned, perking up.
" ... Not exactly," Sully said.
Michaela opened the lid of the crate and pulled out a reader in demonstration. "It's books. Mrs. Slicker is giving them to us for a year."
"What we taking her books for?" Byron said curiously. "Doesn't she want them anymore?"
Michaela took a deep breath. "She's letting us borrow them, Byron. In a few days, we're going to go on a trip. We're going to go to California for twelve months."
"There's a park there called Yosemite," Sully explained. "I got offered a job that suits me real well. I'll be helpin' to make the place nice for folks to visit."
"We're going to see lots of exciting things," Michaela added cheerfully. "Huge mountains with snow on the peaks all year long, beautiful rock formations and waterfalls as tall as the sky."
"We already got mountains and waterfalls here," Katie pointed out.
"Yes, we do," Michaela said. "But Yosemite needs people like Papa to help keep it nice like Colorado."
"We're gonna live in a cabin near where I work," Sully said, reaching over to rub Katie's back. "Your ma will help ya with your lessons each mornin', and in the afternoons ya can play."
"Who else is goin'?" Katie asked.
Michaela glanced at Sully, then took Katie's hand. "Well, just us, sweetheart. Yosemite isn't like Colorado Springs. The only other people there will be the men working with Papa. We'll be by ourselves most of the time. It's not going to be easy, but we'll have each other, we'll have our books and we'll have the beautiful land to see." She smiled faintly at Sully. "It'll be an adventure."
"I don't wanna go," Byron said tearfully. "I don't want adventure."
"Me neither," Katie said in agreement. "I don't wanna go someplace nobody else is."
"We can stay here, Mama," Byron said, gazing at her hopefully. "Please? We don't wanna go."
Michaela got up and stood behind Byron, wrapping her arms around him comfortingly. "I know you feel that way now, but think of everything we're going to see. We'll have so much to tell everyone once we get home. This is such a wonderful opportunity."
Katie shook her head, a wave of tears spilling down her cheeks. "No. I don't wanna move away."
Sully caressed her arm sympathetically. "Your ma and I already made the decision, Katie. We all gotta be ready to get on the train day after tomorrow."
Byron inhaled shakily. "Can I bring my toys?"
Michaela kissed his head. "A few of them. We'll see how many we can fit."
"Wolf gets to come ... right?" Katie asked.
Sully stroked back her hair. "Kates, Robert E.'s gonna look after her for us and keep an eye on the homestead. I don't think Wolf wants to take a big train ride all the way out there and back. We're gonna have enough to keep track of without a pup to think about, too."
Katie's tears intensified. "No, Papa. Wolf! She's gotta come!"
"I know, but she'll be happier here, sweetheart," Michaela said.
Katie pushed back her chair and stood up. "Wolf," she whimpered.
"Wolf," Byron echoed, standing up.
"Wolf!" Katie shouted, scurrying out the front door, Byron following. Michaela immediately spun around after them, but Sully caught her by the arm, holding her back.
"Let 'em go," he murmured. "They'll need some time to say goodbye to her."
"That's not how I wanted them to take it," Michaela whispered, sinking into a chair with a sigh.
Sully took her hand, kissing the back of it. "They'll be all right once we get there. They were just surprised."
She swallowed hard, nodding. "I want them to understand why we're doing this."
"They may not for awhile. We'll have to give 'em some time."
She glanced at the staircase. "Is the baby asleep?"
"Sound asleep," he said with a smile.
"And where's Brian?" she asked.
"Over at the café with Sarah."
"Again? He was with her all yesterday, too," Michaela said objectionably. "I need his help here."
Sully squeezed her hand. "He ain't gonna see her for a year, Michaela. He needs time, too."
"I suppose," she murmured.
Sully slowly stood up, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Let's get to that packin'. We got a lot to do in two days."
"I just can't believe you're leaving so soon," Dorothy spoke up. "You've only known about this for a few weeks."
"Sully and I didn't need as much time as we thought we would to decide," Michaela replied.
Dorothy took a step forward. "Well, is there anything I can do to help?"
"Thank you, but not that I can think of. We finished almost all of the packing last night. Brian was a lot of help with that." She glanced up. "I'm sorry he'll have to leave the Gazette for so long."
"I'll make do," Dorothy replied. "But I'm gonna miss havin' him around."
Michaela walked to the corner and glanced in the bassinet, pleased to find Jack still asleep. She returned to her cabinet and took down several more jars. "I received a wire from the doctor in Boston today. He left on the morning train. Andrew seems to think he's perfect for the job. He certainly sounds very capable."
"I'm sure everything here'll be just fine," Dorothy said reassuringly, coming to her friend's side. "Michaela, maybe you'll find some patients in California. Maybe you should bring more of your medical things. You might need them!"
"I don't think so. The nearest town is a day's ride away," Michaela replied, strolling to her desk and returning the distance she had maintained between herself and Dorothy.
"Aren't you going to miss the clinic?" Dorothy questioned worriedly.
"I'm not going to have very much time to miss it," she said, smiling a bit too cheerfully. "I'm going to be busy helping the children with their lessons and...well, keeping everything running at home while Sully's working."
Dorothy shook her head disbelievingly. "Michaela, you have to be honest with Sully. You have to tell him you don't want to go!"
Michaela drew in her breath. "That's ridiculous. Of course I want to go."
"No, you don't," Dorothy insisted. "I've known you too long now to let you fool me. I can't picture you not touching your medical bag for an entire year. Doctorin' is what you do. You can't just give it up without a glance back to move to the middle of nowhere with nothin' but trees surrounding you for miles and miles! Why, from the sound of things you might as well be movin' to the moon!"
Startled by the truth in her friend's words, Michaela quickly turned away, glancing out the front window at the bustling street.
"Maybe I'm saying this a little selfishly," Dorothy went on more quietly. "I know I'm gonna miss you and Sully and the children terribly. It's just, are ya sure you know what you're gettin' into?"
"No. I have no idea," Michaela said hoarsely. She pressed one hand to her mouth, holding back tears. "That's what's so frightening, Dorothy."
"Just tell him you've changed your mind," Dorothy whispered. "He'll understand, Michaela."
"I can't do that," she choked out. "Sully changed his entire life for me. He wouldn't even be in Colorado Springs anymore if it weren't for me. He takes odd jobs in town he doesn't like so that we can be together. He's let so many opportunities pass him by so that I could stay here and have my practice." She slowly turned to face Dorothy, a tear slipping down her cheek. "You're right. I wish we weren't going. But this is Sully's dream. I just have to do this for him. So if there's hardships we have to face, then I'm willing to face them."
Dorothy gently clasped her hand. "I don't think I'm gonna change your mind." She sighed. "...I should get back to the Gazette." She opened the door, letting her hand linger on the doorknob.
"You'll be at the train station to say goodbye, won't you?" Michaela called.
Dorothy swallowed hard. "I wouldn't miss it," she said, quickly shutting the door after her lest Michaela see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
"You have nothing to worry about here," Andrew said reassuringly as passengers began stepping down from the train. "Simon was one of the top students in our class."
"Next to you I presume," Michaela replied, standing beside him.
Andrew smiled sheepishly. "He was salutatorian."
"You're certain he understands this is only for a year," Michaela said as they continued to watch the passengers.
"Yes, of course," Andrew replied. "He wants to spend some time out here to see if he'd like to live out West permanently, as I have done."
"And he understands this isn't Boston," Michaela said nervously, clasping her hands behind her back.
"Yes, I'm sure. I'll come by the clinic for the first few weeks and help to settle him in," Andrew said. "Everything's going to be fine."
"Of course. Everything's going to be fine," Michaela repeated in a vain attempt to reassure herself.
"There he is," Andrew said with a wide smile, grasping Michaela's arm and drawing her forward. "Simon!"
A young man stepped off the train rigidly, several suitcases piled under his arms. He wore a sharp brown suit with a gold watch chain, his squinty blue eyes peering through thick spectacles. He glanced down the street with a small grimace as Andrew grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously.
"Simon, I'm so glad you came!"
"Good to see you again, Cook, ole boy. Certainly brings back some memories," Simon replied, placing his luggage at his feet and straightening his stiff back with a groan. "My, that was some train ride."
Andrew turned to Michaela. "This is Dr. Quinn. Michaela, Dr. Simon Willard."
Simon stared at her for a moment, then slowly took her hand. "Dr. Quinn. Nice to meet you."
Michaela smiled shyly. "Dr. Willard. Thank you so much for coming out here. Andrew speaks so highly of you. He assures me my clinic will be in excellent hands until I return."
"Naturally. And when will you be leaving?" Simon inquired, opening his pocket watch impatiently.
"A few days," she replied. "I'm afraid that's not very much time to help you get acquainted with the clinic and my patients, but Andrew offered to work with you for the first few weeks."
"I'll help as long as you need me," Andrew said.
"So, this is the illustrious West," Simon remarked, gazing down the street again.
Andrew folded his arms reverently. "What do you think?"
Simon brushed off his vest of dust and ash from the train. "It's very...dirty."
Michaela grinned as memories of her first impressions of the town quickly returned. "It can be, but we make do."
"I see," Simon said. "Well, I'm exhausted and famished. Where will I be staying?"
"We'll take you to the clinic and you can stay in one of the recovery rooms for now," Michaela explained. "It's just a short walk into town."
Andrew picked up some of his suitcases. "You're going to love it here, Simon," he said excitedly. "And this town is going to love you!"
"Yosemite is a land I have never seen," Cloud Dancing remarked as he and Sully strolled down the path on their way back from checking their traps.
"It's gonna be a lot different than here," Sully said, rubbing Jack's back as he dozed over his shoulder. "Let's rest up ahead."
They brushed off a log near the edge of the creek and took a seat.
"Michaela's worried about bringin' the baby," Sully went on, gently placing Jack in Cloud Dancing's arms. "It's a long trip."
Cloud Dancing cupped Jack's head with his fingers. "He is small. But he is strong."
Sully caressed the baby's hand proudly. "Ya don't have to tell me that. He eats like he's never gonna eat again. Wakes Michaela and me up at least twice a night. He's already growin' real fast."
"Nae'ha," Cloud Dancing murmured, lifting Jack above his head and looking up at him. "Kâsoestse. Épévahe."
"You're right. He's a fine son," Sully whispered. "Looks like his ma. Michaela says he looks like me. Maybe it's a little of both of us."
"My brother is happy these days," Cloud Dancing said as he rested the baby back in Sully's arms.
"I got a lot to be happy about," Sully replied, nestling the baby against the soft cotton of his shirt and giving him a gentle kiss.
Cloud Dancing gazed at him pensively. "You'll be good for this land."
Sully smiled. "That's what I'm hopin'. Cloud Dancin', if ya need anythin', if anythin' happens while we're gone ... you can always have Horace send us a wire." He watched the water twist around the rocks of the creek as it passed by. "Sometimes I ain't so sure I should walk out on the Cheyenne like this. What if somethin' happens?"
"Yosemite needs you more than we need you right now. You must go."
Sully gradually looked at him, holding out his hand and clasping his arm firmly. "Watch my traps while I'm gone?"
He nodded, holding Sully's arm just as tightly. "You'll be good for this land, and this land will also be good for you, Sully."
"You can still stay in Colorado Springs, Brian," Sarah said desperately, hand clasped firmly with his.
Brian led her away from the crowd at the train station to allow a little more privacy. "I gotta go, Sarah. You know that."
She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. "It must be dangerous out there. Be careful. Don't do anythin' foolish."
He smiled. "I won't. I'll write as soon as I get there."
"I'll write back," she replied. "Brian? I'll wait for you."
He lightly pressed his lips to hers. "I know."
She blushed, nodding at the crowd where Sully and a few other men were helping to load crates into the luggage car. Michaela stood nearby, her eyes frequently wandering to Sarah and Brian at the far end of the station.
"Ma," Brian grumbled to himself. He turned back to Sarah and gave her one last kiss. " ... One year. Then I'll be back."
Glad Sarah and Brian's lengthy goodbye was over, Michaela returned her attention back to the luggage car, the baby snuggled in her arms and oblivious to the dramatic move they were about to make.
"I saw ya snoopin'," Sully murmured, coming to Michaela's side and giving the hem of her traveling cape a playful tug.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Michaela replied, though her voice lacked the usual lightheartedness it had when she and Sully teased.
"That's the last of it," Robert E. spoke up, brushing his hands off on his trousers as he, Jake and Sully surveyed a job well done.
"You're not takin' very much," Loren said disapprovingly, peering into the car at the small stack of crates.
"We'll get by," Sully spoke up. He crossed the tracks to the steps of the train station where Byron and Katie were sitting dejectedly. "Ya ready to go?"
Katie bit her lip tearfully. "Papa, we don't think we're gonna like California."
Byron rested his hands on his knees, heaving a downhearted sigh. "We really gotta go?"
Sully smoothed back his hair sympathetically. They hadn't given the children very much time to adjust to the idea. He was confident however, once they were settled in Yosemite, they would grow to love their temporary home as much as he knew he and Michaela were going to.
"Come on," Sully whispered, taking their hands. "Let's get ya on the train." He led them off the steps and up into the passenger car. He made sure they were settled in their seats, Katie with her stuffed bear and Byron with his stuffed puppy and each with a pillow, before joining Michaela and Brian again outside.
The progression of townsfolk gathered around them to say goodbye was heartwarming. He and Michaela held a place in the town that Sully hadn't thought about very often before. Their presence would be sorely missed, and Sully began to think he might miss the town quite a bit in return. Everyone offered kind words and best wishes, shaking Sully's hand, patting Brian on the shoulder and hugging Michaela until she couldn't contain tears any longer.
Sully wrapped his arm around her back in support as she handed over the baby for Grace, then Dorothy, to hold one last time.
"We'll take care of things here," Robert E. said, clasping Sully's hand firmly. "Good luck, Sully."
"Thanks, Robert E.," Sully replied, squeezing his hand hard.
"I made ya some of my cookies," Grace spoke up shakily, giving a tin to Brian. "You share them with everybody now."
"I will, Miz Grace. Thank you," Brian said.
"Take care, ya hear?" Grace said, giving Michaela a warm, long hug, before stepping back with Robert E. and pulling out her handkerchief.
Finally, Michaela turned to Dorothy, the only person who knew how truly terrified she was to be making such a move.
Dorothy kept the secret to herself as she settled Jack in his father's arms, clasped Sully's hand, and then hugged Michaela tight. "I'll send you copies of the Gazette."
"We'll be all right, Dorothy," she whispered, closing her eyes.
"Just know that you can come home if you need to," Dorothy replied. "You don't have to stay."
Michaela nodded to appease her, knowing in reality she couldn't come back, at least not until the year was over. "I'll miss you."
The conductor blew the whistle a few times, sending puffs of smoke into the warm spring air.
"We best get on the train, Michaela," Sully remarked.
"I don't know what I'm going to do without all of you for a year," Dorothy murmured forlornly, hugging her cape around her shoulders.
Michaela took Sully's hand as they stepped up onto the back of the car. "We'll always be just a letter apart," she replied.
The townsfolk called their last goodbyes, waving hats or handkerchiefs. Knowing she couldn't watch any longer without breaking into tears all over again, Michaela opened the door and entered the safety of the passenger car, Sully's hand resting understandingly on her shoulder.
Hungry, impatient and drained of all energy, Michaela and Sully carried an equally weary Byron and Katie off the train. Brian followed behind them, trying to appease the whimpering, cranky baby. Two days on a train had been plenty long enough for everyone in the family.
Sully found a bench nearby and laid Katie on it. She immediately curled up with her bear and fell asleep again. Michaela sunk into the bench beside her, putting Byron on his feet and taking the baby from Brian.
"Are we there yet, Mama?" Byron asked quietly, grasping her skirts and standing close as he eyed the other passengers uncertainly.
"Almost, sweetheart," Michaela replied, patting Jack's back comfortingly.
"We're in San Francisco, B.," Brian said helpfully. "That's only a few hundred miles away."
Sully unfolded a detailed set of instructions Harper had written out for him. "I gotta walk a few blocks down the street to get our tickets for the stage. Brian, can ya make sure all our things get unloaded?"
"Sure, Pa," Brian replied, leaving the group and circling around to the other side of the train.
Sully eyed Michaela worriedly. She looked about as worn out as he knew he did. They had been up a better part of the past two nights with Jack, comforting him when the train whistle woke him and trying to soothe him back to sleep without the familiarity of his own cradle and blankets, packed away in the luggage car for safe keeping.
Not only had the baby been hard to appease, but the journey had been difficult for Byron and Katie as well. Excitement about having bunk beds in the sleeping car they shared with Brian had quickly worn off as neither found it easy to fall asleep in such a new setting. Each night Sully, Brian and Michaela brought the children four or five glasses of water and told them half a dozen stories before they could finally settle down and close their eyes.
Sully smoothed a stray hair from Michaela's brow and tenderly ran his fingers down the baby's head. "Ya need anythin' before I go?"
Michaela quickly smiled, clearly determined to remain composed despite how exhausted she felt. "No, I'm fine. We'll wait for you here."
The spectacular mountains, valleys, waterfalls and endless deep green foliage went all but unnoticed by Michaela and Sully as they took turns holding the baby, rubbing his back or rocking him. Jack had been unable to doze off for more than a few minutes at a time the entire stagecoach ride. He spit up his meals and seemed flushed and even a little ill, but he cried when Michaela removed some of the blankets from him.
As they approached the last few miles of their trip, Michaela brought her hand once more to Jack's head, scrutinizing his temperature. "I don't think it's a fever," she remarked tiredly, glancing at Sully. "I think traveling in a stagecoach just doesn't agree with him."
Brian slowly opened his eyes from another nap, Katie cuddled asleep against his shoulder and Byron's head resting in his lap. "How's Jack doin'?" he spoke up.
Sully handed the baby back to Michaela, careful not to disturb him. "He ain't sleepin', but he's stopped cryin' at least," he said.
"I think once we're there he'll feel better," Michaela added, kissing the baby's nose sympathetically. "He's just ready for this to be over."
Sully glanced at Byron, who was wearily pulling at a stray thread at the end of Katie's pinafore and heaving tired sighs every so often.
"Byron," Sully spoke up. "Ya ready to get out of here, too?"
The little boy raised his head from Brian's lap, swallowing. "We there yet?"
"Just about," Sully said with a soft smile. "Come here. Look out the window."
Obediently, Byron got to his feet and climbed into Sully's lap, wrapping one arm around his father's neck for balance and peering out the window.
"Whoa!" Byron gasped, pointing. "Papa, look!"
Katie roused herself from sleep, following his gaze. "Smoke," she said hoarsely, rubbing her eyes.
"It's mist from a waterfall," Sully explained. Massive, sand-colored cliffs framed the valley the little stagecoach was making its way across. In the distance, steam surged from the crevice where two rocks met, followed by a wide ribbon of white billowing to the stream below, creating a low rumble that seemed to fill their chests.
"Sully, it's beautiful," Michaela remarked, slowly drawing in her breath.
He smiled, caressing her knee. "Ain't it?" He glanced out the window again, smiling even wider. "The camp. I think that's Harper's camp," he said, nodding at a small cluster of tents in the distance.
"That must be it," Brian replied, standing up and holding onto the back of his seat for support.
"We're here!" Byron shouted, sliding down from Sully's lap and grasping the window ledge.
"We're here!" Katie echoed as she followed her brothers to the window.
Sully held Michaela's knee tighter, excitement building up within him. "We made it."
"No small wonder," Michaela replied wryly.
"I'm glad ya came," he whispered.
"So am I," she replied softly.
"I got a good feelin' about this, Michaela," he went on expectantly. "I think this is gonna be one of the best things that's ever happened to us. We're gonna love livin' in this place, I know it."
"Sully, what are you doing here?" Harper exclaimed, glancing disbelievingly at the stagecoach drivers unloading crates from the roof. He had a pencil and several blueprints in hand and was dressed in the same brown suit and vest Sully remembered he had worn every day back in Silver Cliff.
Sully glanced at Michaela, speechless for a brief moment. "You sent me an offer, Mr. Harper. Didn't ya get my letter?"
"Why, no wonder! Mail only gets to us about once every few weeks," he said with a chuckle. He immediately sobered, eyeing Michaela and the children. "When I didn't hear anything I assumed you weren't going to take it."
Sully shuffled his feet as panic seeped into his chest. "No. No, sir. I want to take it. I want it very much."
Harper rubbed his chin, looking behind him at the fourteen or fifteen workers who had gathered nearby, eyeing the family curiously. Harper turned back to face Sully. "Well, we're in quite a fix now, aren't we?"
"Ya filled the position," Sully murmured.
"Oh, not at all," Harper assured him. "There's plenty room on the team, especially for someone with your skills." He paused, pulling a cigar from his breast pocket and nervously twisting it in his fingers. "It's just, I haven't made arrangements for where you and your family could stay. I was going to have a cabin put up if you were coming—but then of course I was led to believe you weren't."
"We could stay in one of the tents, Sully," Michaela said helpfully.
Sully shook his head. "Michaela, we can't all-"
"I won't allow that, ma'am," Harper immediately replied. "You must have proper quarters to live in if you're going to be here all year." He smiled, extending his hand. "We haven't met. Michaela, is it?"
She took it politely. "Yes. It's a pleasure."
"These are our kids," Sully spoke up, proudly drawing the younger children to his side. "That's Brian, this is Katie and Byron." He nodded at the baby. "That's Jack."
"My goodness, Sully. You've got quite a family here," Harper said with a wide smile. "And you most certainly cannot live in a tent. We'll figure something out." He put his hands on his hips, eyeing them. "You all look just about beat. Hunker down here tonight. We'll work out something else tomorrow."
"Up and at 'em!" barked a voice from outside, throwing back the flap of the tent. A man with a disheveled, red-tinted beard, huge, broad arms and hands and a tattered bearskin cape over his shoulders took a step in.
Michaela and Sully stirred beneath their blankets as light poured inside. The baby, settled snug between them, immediately awoke, kicking his legs and letting out a forceful cry. The pallet they had spent the night on in the tiny tent hadn't been glamorous, but they were grateful to finally be off a moving train. Sully stood up, brushing off his shirt. Jack had been much better that night, settling down easier and sleeping deeper, but he continued to wake his parents every few hours for a feeding or diaper change. The constant interruption was taking its toll on them, and they had woken up nearly as exhausted as they had been when they went to bed. What they needed was some good news.
"Sully, we've found you a place to live," Harper said, appearing beside the man.
Michaela sat up and picked up the baby, rocking him as he rooted around impatiently. One thing she hadn't gotten very much of the past few days was privacy. Sully laid his hand on her shoulder.
"We'll be outside," he said.
She glanced up, nodding appreciatively. "Thank you."
Harper and the man stepped out of the tent as Sully secured the flap after them.
"Sully, this is Thaddeus Donovan," Harper began. "He'll be scouting for our team."
Sully shook Thaddeus' hand firmly, immediately at ease with his friendly smile. Around his neck were two bear claws set in an arrangement of beads. He wore a deerskin pullover, pants and boots, the hide carefully tanned and well worn. Sully decided he and Thaddeus were going to get along just fine.
"I used to come up here winters to trap," Thaddeus said. "I stayed in a deserted cabin 'bout four, maybe five miles from here. It ain't much, but it's a roof over your head and has a nice warm hearth. Will that suit ya?"
"That'll suit us just fine," Sully said. "Thank you."
"Get your family up and some breakfast in them," Harper said. "I'll give you one of the company wagons, horses, some provisions, a chicken or two. Thaddeus'll show you out there."
"Mr. Harper, I can't tell ya how much we appreciate all you're doing for us," Sully said.
"Don't think anything of it," Harper insisted. "I want ya on my team, Sully, that's all." He sighed, eyeing him up and down. "You look about as done in as you did last night. Didn't ya get any sleep?"
Sully smiled softly. "Some. Our son's pretty little. He wakes a lot during the night."
"Well, rest up," Harper said, patting his back firmly. "You start work right here next Monday, nine o'clock."
A clearing broke the soaring, dense pine trees, allowing sunlight to escape down to the wagon to warm everyone's faces. Moments later a chopping stump and half-completed corral came into view, followed by a tiny cabin with a large front door and a window to the side, the roof covered with brush and debris. Nearby was a shed large enough for a few animals.
"There she is," Thaddeus said, nodding toward the clearing.
"That's our house?" Byron spoke up, rising from the back of the wagon and hanging onto the front seat.
"That's our house," Michaela said, mustering all the optimism she could in her voice.
"It ain't as small as I thought it might be," Brian said helpfully.
"It's right on the lake," Sully spoke up, pulling the reins to stop the team. "Look."
The cabin was indeed perched on an incline no more than a few hundred yards from a calm, sparkling lake. Mountains framed the water, jutting into the clouds.
"That there's Lake Ahwahnee," Thaddeus said, dismounting his horse.
Byron giggled. "Ahwan-chee!" he repeated as Brian lifted he and Katie from the back of the wagon.
"What does it mean? Is that some sort of Indian name?" Michaela asked hesitantly, mouth dropping in shock as she gazed at the dilapidated cabin, in worse condition than even her cabin in Colorado Springs had been when Sully first brought her to it.
"That's right, ma'am," Thaddeus said, shooting tobacco juice to the side forcefully. "It's the tribe that lives 'round these parts. Means gaping mouth."
Michaela quickly closed her mouth, holding the baby tight against her. "Oh. I didn't know there were Indians around here."
"I've heard of 'em," Sully said. "They're peaceful, ain't they?"
Thaddeus smiled, wiping sticky juice from his chin with the back of his hand. "By and large. Let's get your supplies unloaded. I want to get a good start back while there's still light."
Michaela surveyed the corner reserved for the kitchen area, Jack snuggled in the warm leather sling around her shoulders Sully had made for her so long ago. There was a table for eating with two long benches, a smaller table against the wall to prepare supper at or wash dishware, a shelf above it for stacking plates, and a modest stone fireplace with a door to an oven on its right side. She turned from the area in disbelief. No icebox, no cabinets or drawers, not even a range. Even her first cabin in Colorado Springs, as rustic as she had thought it was, had a range.
Byron and Katie were looking over the three cots in the opposite corner of the room uncertainly. As simple as the cots were, Michaela was grateful to have them. The double bed at the other end of the room was a welcome sight as well. It was smaller than their bed at home, but it seemed comfortable enough. At least the cabin had a place to sleep for everyone.
She crossed the room and drew Katie to her side lovingly. "These look nice and soft," she said encouragingly.
"I can't have my own room?" Katie asked softly.
"We're all going to share this room, Katie," Michaela replied. "But I think it's going to be fun."
"I'll take this one," Byron said, sitting down on the cot in the far corner with a blue afghan. "It is soft, Mama. You're right."
"See?" Michaela replied, caressing his hair.
Byron let out a forceful sneeze, scrunching up his eyes. It was the sixth time he had sneezed in the past five minutes.
Worriedly, Michaela glanced around the room. It was stuffy and covered in dust and spider webs. She took Byron's hand, leading him toward the door. "Come on, sweetheart. I want you to sit outside until we can get everything cleaned up." She led him to the bench on the porch and stepped out into the clearing, peering up at the roof. "Sully?"
A flailing pine branch came dropping to the ground as Sully stood up on the roof.
"Sully, you're being careful, aren't you?"
"We're fine," he called, swiping his hand across his brow as he picked up another stray branch and threw it to the ground. "What's wrong?"
"Byron's sneezing," she replied. "The cabin's filthy. We need to get it clean before he can be inside."
He walked to the edge of the roof and climbed down to the ground, brushing off his shirt. "Michaela, me and Brian see a lot of places that need patchin' up there. We're gonna have to get the roof fixed soon 'fore it rains. There ain't a lot of light left."
She sighed. "Then Brynie's going to have to sleep outside because if he breathes in that dust any longer he's going to have an attack."
Sully ran his fingers through his hair, glancing up at the roof. "Brian?"
The young man stood up, grasping the stone chimney for support. "Yeah, Pa?"
Sully motioned him down with one hand. "We'll get to this tomorrow. We gotta clean the inside of the cabin first."
Michaela cleared her throat, gently grasping his arm. "Sully? I don't see a well anywhere."
He reached inside her sling and tickled Jack's cheek, smiling as the little boy waved his arms happily. "Me neither."
"Where are we going to get our water then?" she asked hesitantly.
He lifted Jack from the sling and settled him over his shoulder, kissing his head. "Hey, Jack. Ya like the cabin? It's real pretty here, ain't it?"
"Sully, we need water," Michaela persisted worriedly.
Byron slowly rose from the bench and walked over to his parents, grabbing Michaela's hand and tugging on it.
"I s'pose we'll have to bring it up from the lake and boil it," Sully replied, noticing her uncertain expression. "It'll be fine, Michaela. The lake's right here."
"Yes. I know," she replied, voice unsteady. She glanced down at Byron, still tugging on her hand. "What is it, sweetheart?"
"I gotta go," he whispered.
Michaela returned her gaze to Sully. "Where's the outhouse?"
He glanced around the clearing hesitantly. "Outhouse?"
"I gotta go," Byron said more urgently.
Brian climbed down from the roof and folded his arms. "I don't think there is an outhouse, Ma. Looks like you're gonna have to ... to find a place behind the trees somewhere."
"Mama, I gotta go bad," Byron pressed.
"Behind the trees?" she said halfheartedly as she helped Byron unfasten his suspenders.
Byron scurried into the woods, unable to wait any longer.
"I'll make sure he's all right," Brian said, quickly patting her arm and hurrying after his little brother.
Sully smiled sheepishly, handing the baby back to Michaela. "At least there's plenty of woods to go around."
"Did we know there wasn't even going to be an outhouse?" she asked, patting Jack's back. "It's simple enough for you and the boys, but how are Katie and I going to....?"
"I'll build us an outhouse when I get the chance. In the meantime, we'll get used to it," Sully replied.
She glanced around the clearing, taking a stiff breath. "I suppose you're right. We'll get used to it," she said, nodding determinedly.
Michaela opened her eyes. An owl hooted, trees rustled and a pack of coyotes howled far in the distance. She was used to such sounds. She heard them all the time back in Colorado Springs. She took a shaky breath. It was only their first night in this new place and she was already thinking about home. She wasn't about to admit that to anyone, however, let alone herself. She felt for Sully's hand beneath the blankets and squeezed it tight. He squeezed back, sighing softly.
"Still can't sleep?" he whispered, stroking her thumb.
"There's so much to think about. So much we have to do before you start work next week."
He turned on his side to face her, planting a kiss on her temple. "First thing I gotta do is build us a proper bedroom."
"Sully, you don't have time for that," she protested. "So many things should take precedence over that. The roof ... "
He smoothed her hair. "I'll fix the roof and then I'll make time to hang up some sheets around our bed, how's that? We're gonna need a little privacy eventually." He smiled wryly. "I hope."
She shifted to her side to look him in his eyes, chuckling softly. "Yes. And perhaps after that ... you could build an outhouse?"
He smiled. "We'll see. Are ya glad ya came with me, Michaela?"
"Very. We're all together, that's what's important."
He turned to his back and tucked his hands under his head, gazing up at the roof. "Thaddeus offered to come out here in the next few days and help us fix the place up. He seems real kind."
"Don't you think he's awfully ... brusque?"
"How's that?" Sully questioned.
She sighed, reaching her hand up to stroke his chest with her fingers. "I don't know. He spits, for one thing. It's not setting a very good example for the children."
"I didn't notice," Sully replied.
"Hm. Well, I did."
"Michaela, a lotta men workin' those long hours have taken up chawin', or somethin' like it."
"If you take that up or anything like it you won't be welcome back in this house," she retorted.
He laughed, bringing his hand up over hers. "I'll remember that."
"I suppose I wasn't getting the impression that he liked me very much," she went on softly.
"Maybe he was gettin' the same impression 'bout you," Sully replied sensibly. He turned back on his side. "We won't be seein' too much of him. Five miles is far enough out to keep people from comin' here too often."
"I suppose," she replied, giving him a small kiss. "I was looking in the shed and I think there's room in there for a cow, too."
"A cow?" he questioned.
"Milk for the children, Sully," she said. "And for cooking. Could you ask Mr. Harper for one?"
"I don't know about that. He's already given us so much."
"I know," she murmured. "But I'd feel so much better if they had milk to drink. You could just ask, couldn't you?"
"I'll think about it," he said noncommittally.
"All right. Thank you, Sully," she whispered, giving him another soft kiss. " ... The lake's been on my mind, too."
"It's beautiful," he said breathlessly. "I was thinkin' maybe sometime Brian and me could build us all a rowboat. We could take it out and have a picnic, do some fishin'. And Thaddeus says in the winter there's good ice fishing."
"I'm worried about the children falling in," she replied, voice unsteady. "Katie and Byron are just learning how to swim. What if they venture too close to the edge? You know how they are. We turn our backs for one moment."
"We'll talk to 'em," he replied. "We'll tell 'em to stay away."
"I just wish it wasn't so close to the cabin, that's all," she said restlessly. "We could put up a fence or something of the sort. Something so that I know they can't get to the water even if they wanted to."
"A fence around the whole lake? I don't know about that. Michaela, we'll talk about this later. We should try to get some sleep. Another big day tomorrow."
" ...You're right." She smoothed his hair from his brow, kissed him goodnight and watched as he closed his eyes and soon after began breathing deeply.
Michaela remained awake. She tried to put thoughts of her clinic, the town and their friends to the back of her mind. She tried to look ahead to the twelve months with Sully and their family. That was certainly better than waiting back at home without him. She tried to smile, tried to believe everything would be fine.
Tiny sobs startled her a few moments later. She immediately recognized them. "Byron?" she called in a whisper, sitting up in bed.
The weeping abruptly halted. Byron rubbed his hand across his nose, pursing his lips tight to hold back the tears. "Mama!"
Michaela slid from the covers, careful not to wake Sully, and padded across the boards to the little boy's bedside, sitting beside him. The moon cast just enough light through the window to make out his features. His face was flushed and tears slithered down his cheeks. "Sweetheart," Michaela murmured sympathetically. She wiped his cheeks with her thumbs and leaned down, giving him a comforting hug. "Oh, what's the matter? Is that owl frightening you? He can't get inside." She pulled back, searching his eyes.
He shook his head.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Michaela asked patiently.
Again, he shook his head. "Mama, I want...."
"What?" she said encouragingly, stroking his hair. "What do you want?"
"I want my bed," he said in a tone just barely audible.
"Oh, I know. It's hard to sleep on something that isn't familiar to us. I'm having the same problem."
"When're we going home?" he asked. His eyes were open wide and full of questions. He didn't understand, and Michaela wanted him to, so much.
"Brynie, this is where we're going to live now," she told him once again, taking his hand. "We're going to live here in Yosemite for a year. That's one spring, one summer, one fall and one winter. Then we'll go back home that spring."
"Back to my bed?" he queried hopefully.
"Yes, but I think by that time, you're going to be so used to the bed here, you're going to end up missing this one."
"But I can't sleep 'less I'm in my bed at home."
"How about you at least try?"
"Why?" he asked, touching her arm with one finger absently.
"Well, because..." She thought a moment, glancing over her shoulder. "Because Mama and Papa decided this would be a very nice place to live and for Papa to work. And because Papa loves us and we love him, too ... and we want this for him. So can you be a good boy and give this bed a chance?"
"I guess so," he said with a sigh. "I'll try."
She kissed his cheek and then pulled back, rising to her feet. "Goodnight, sweetheart. Try to close your eyes."
"All right," he whispered. "You gonna try, too?"
"Yes," she said. "...My very hardest."
"Hope so," Sully replied, removing a nail from his lips and bracing it against the wood. "Ain't had too much time to think about it. I just wanna get this roof patched first. Won't feel right leavin' my wife and kids here with holes in it."
"Can't blame ya. Noticed there's some boards on the door rottin'. We'll get to replacin' those next."
"Thanks," Sully replied, looking up with an appreciative smile. "That's real nice of ya."
He shrugged. "We help each other out here. Things go smoother that way."
"My wife and me don't have much to give ya in return save a hot meal," Sully replied.
"Sounds like just what I been hankerin' for," Thaddeus said. He glanced out toward the woods and nodded. "Looks like there might be our hot meal right now."
Brian held up a plump gray squirrel by the tail, a broad smile on his face as he ran into the clearing. "Pa, look!"
"Ya got that?" Sully called down.
Byron and Katie abandoned their game of catch with a small sack filled with beans Michaela had sewn for them and hurried over to their brother.
Brian laid the squirrel on the ground, his smile widening.
"Oh, no. Ya killed it," Katie said remorsefully, crouching beside the limp animal.
"With my slingshot. Can ya believe this?" He glanced up at the roof, shading his eyes. "With my slingshot, Pa!"
"Good work, Brian," Sully replied. "We'll have your ma roast it for supper."
"Well, let's skin it, boy," Thaddeus shouted, standing up and walking to the edge of the roof. "You can use my knife."
"I ain't ever skinned a squirrel," Brian said. "I don't think I've even tasted 'em before."
Thaddeus jumped to the ground, removing his long, jagged knife from his belt. "Squirrels can be mighty flavorsome if ya cook 'em just right." He sprawled the animal out, belly facing up, and pushed his head back
Katie sniffled, clutching her knees. "What're ya gonna do to him? You gonna hurt him?"
"Brian!" Sully called, noting Katie's upset.
Brian glanced up at his father and then squeezed Katie's shoulder. "Kate, why don't ya go inside? Tell Ma we can have squirrel for supper."
"All right," she whispered, standing up and hurrying to the door.
Byron leaned forward in anticipation. "Now skin 'im!"
Thaddeus chuckled, poising his knife over the lifeless animal. "We are, son. Hold your horses."
"I didn't think I'd ever be able to get one," Brian remarked as Thaddeus made several clean, careful incisions with his knife. "I was just about to give up, come back, when he came runnin' up a tree. I took a chance and I nailed him. Square between the eyes."
Sully climbed down to the ground, coming to stand beside Brian. "Sometimes takin' a chance is the best idea. 'Sides, if ya miss, ya ain't any worse off for it."
"Bet you've caught a lotta squirrels, Pa," Brian said.
Sully crossed his arms. "A few. Cloud Dancin' and the other Cheyenne taught me how to be still, patient. Wait for them to come to you."
"Seems like Indians know all there is to know about everythin'," Brian said reverently.
"I wanna be an Indian," Byron said, pulling his brother's slingshot from the back pocket of his trousers.
"Careful with that, B.," Brian said, looking on with a small smile.
Byron aimed it at the squirrel and drew back the elastic. "Got ya! I'm an Indian!"
Thaddeus laughed, glancing at Byron. He brought his thumb up to the child's cheeks and drew two streaks of blood beneath his eyes. "There ya are. You're a regular Miwok now."
"Ma!" Brian called as Michaela appeared in the doorway. "I got a squirrel. Will ya cook it for us?"
She smiled. "Certainly. My goodness, that's a big one."
Byron ran to his mother's side, grinning dizzily. "Look, Mama. Mr. Don-van says I'm a Miwok."
Michaela stooped to his level, brow raised in confusion. "What's on your face, Byron?"
"War paint," Brian said with a chuckle.
"Just a little squirrel blood, ma'am," Thaddeus explained, dropping a handful of gut to the side. "Won't do him no harm."
"Squirrel blood!" she exclaimed, immediately digging into her apron pocket for a handkerchief, wetting it with her tongue and wiping it firmly down the little boy's cheeks.
Byron writhed and tossed his head. "Mama, no. I'm a Miwok!"
"You are not any such thing," Michaela retorted, taking the slingshot from him and standing up. "Go inside and wash with some water."
"But, Mama.-"
"Now, Byron Sully!" Michaela ordered. She turned to Thaddeus. "Mr. Donovan, I have to ask that in the future you avoid smearing blood from a squirrel or otherwise on my son's face."
"He's all right, Michaela," Sully spoke up. "He was just pretendin'."
"Sully, we don't know what sort of diseases the animals in these woods could have," she said worriedly. "I don't want him coming into contact with raw meat like that."
"I apologize, ma'am," Thaddeus spoke up, rising to his feet. "He's a fine boy. Real lively. Reminds me of my sons."
Michaela paused, drawing in her breath. "I didn't know you had children. Where are they?"
"Utah. With their mama," he replied. "I been savin' up to bring 'em out here. I ain't seen 'em for goin' on a couple years now."
"Ya must miss 'em," Brian said quietly.
"That I do," Thaddeus said, clearing his throat.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Michaela said, softening. She glanced inside. "You will stay for supper, won't you?"
He smiled, holding up the skinned squirrel by the tail. "Would I miss a taste of this? I can't wait."
* * *
"Morning, Sully. Right on time."
"Mornin'," Sully replied, glancing at the frame of a lodge nearby that several men were helping to raise.
"How did you find the cabin? Everything satisfactory?"
"We like it," Sully replied.
"Glad to hear that. Would ya care for some breakfast?" Harper gestured at the tents where a few men were gathered around their campfires.
"No thanks. I already ate."
"Excellent. Then let's get you started." He handed him the blueprint. "Study this. I'll put you up on the roof first. You're familiar with that."
"Yes, sir," Sully said, unrolling the blueprint.
Harper glanced back at the camp. "Wait. First let me introduce you to everybody, how's that sound? After all, you're part of the team now." He put his arm around him, leading him toward a group of workers. "I'm glad you're here, Sully."
Sully smiled, tucking the blueprint under his arm. "So am I, Mr. Harper."
* * *
"'How do...you do?" Katie went on, touching each word with her finger. "I am...very hap-... happy to see you. Do you...li-live near...by?'" She glanced at her mother for approval.
"That's wonderful, sweetheart," Michaela said, turning the page for her. "Keep going."
Katie smiled tiredly and focused on the next difficult sentence. "'O, yes,' said the...lady b-bird. 'I live in the..."
"Elm tree," Michaela said helpfully.
"Elm tree...near...yon ...yon-der co...co..."
"Sound it out," Michaela said. "...Cottage."
Katie sighed. "Mama, how much more do I have to read?"
Michaela glanced at the open pocket watch she had placed in the center of the table. "Well, I think now's a good time to take a break for lunch."
Byron looked up from his slate, clutching his slate pencil. "Recess time?"
"Recess time," Michaela replied with a chuckle. "Byron? What happened to your spectacles?"
Brian slid his papers into his history book and closed it firmly. "He's got 'em hidden in his pocket, Ma."
"You wear them at school, don't you?" Michaela questioned.
"Yeah. But this isn't school, Mama," Byron protested, reluctantly slipping them from his breast pocket and laying them on the table.
"Yes it is, Byron," she said. "For the year, at least. How you behave for Miss Teresa is how I want you to behave for me. That means wearing your spectacles." She drew in her breath. "Though I suppose you don't need them to eat."
Byron smiled impishly, shaking his head.
Michaela closed the storybook, took Byron's slate and papers, putting them at the end of the table, and lifted him off the bench. "Help me cook lunch?"
"We'll all help ya, Ma," Brian spoke up with a smile.
* * *
"Are you going to nap for me, sweetheart?" Michaela asked, chuckling as the baby weakly grasped wisps of her hair, eyes dazed after a full belly. She rose from the bed and walked to his cradle at the foot, kneeling down and tucking him under the covers. "There we are. Shh." She stroked his hair, smiling as his eyes drooped closed. "There, that's my baby boy."
Michaela watched the baby rest for a moment, then stood up and walked to the table, taking a seat beside Brian and putting her napkin in her lap. "He's fast asleep."
"Babies sleep a lot, don't they, Mama?" Byron said, absently touching the end of his spoon to his plate of stew.
"They do," she said, picking up her fork and stirring her stew. "Jack's growing very fast and that makes him tired." She glanced at their full plates. "None of you are eating very much of your lunch. How...how is it?"
"It's good, Ma," Brian immediately said. "Maybe it just needs a little salt." He reached for the shaker in the center of the table and sprinkled salt liberally over his plate.
"Mr. Harper was very kind to give us so many provisions," Michaela said. "Although canned food isn't always the best, I know." She scooped up a fork-load of stew and stuck it in her mouth, instantly recoiling. She quickly washed it down with a sip of water. "Why didn't you say something? This is just...dreadful!"
Katie giggled, putting her fork down on the table. "It's dreadful!"
"And yucky," Byron added, bursting into his own fit of giggles.
Brian pushed the salt and peppershakers in his mother's direction. "Try these. It helps."
Michaela laughed, shaking her head. "Perhaps it was just that one can. I'm sure we can find something else that we like." She picked up the basket of rolls and handed them to Katie. "For now fill up on bread."
Brian grinned. "It's all right, Ma. There's other cans in the provisions that look a little better." He paused, narrowing his brow. "What was that?"
"What's what?" Michaela asked, adding a roll to her plate as a horse whinnied once more from outside.
"Papa's home!" Byron said eagerly.
"He isn't supposed to be home until suppertime," Michaela replied, nervously standing up.
The door thrust open without so much as a knock. There stood a man, his dark, thin hair slick down his back, his tan, hairless chest bare, and a thin deerskin with tiny stitches fastened around his waist.
"An Indian!" Katie cried, pointing at him. The man turned to her voice and took a step into the room.
Brian stood up and cautiously walked to Michaela's side. "Ma?"
"Sully says the tribes here are peaceful," Michaela whispered.
"We don't know that for sure," Brian replied. "They ain't the Cheyenne. They don't know we're their friends."
"Then we'll just have to let them know." Michaela gestured at the table, desperately trying to control her quivering hand. "Please, come in. Sit."
"Mama," Byron whimpered. "Mama, I want him to go away. Mama."
"Shh," Michaela said. "It's all right."
The Indian walked across the room and stood in front of Katie, gazing down at her with rigid black eyes. A moment later, he reached his hand up and caressed her hair with his strong fingers. The little girl looked at Michaela helplessly, swallowing hard.
Michaela eyed the carved handle of a knife jutting up from his leather boot. Hope that the Indian could be friendly was fading with every stroke he made of Katie's hair. She picked up her plate of stew, thrusting it in his direction. "Have some food. Look. Look, food. Eat. Please, please don't touch her. Don't touch her, please."
Distracted, the Indian dropped his hand and glanced at the plate curiously. He grabbed it from Michaela and dipped his fingers into the warm broth, picking up a chunk of meat and sticking it into his mouth. His face scrunched up ever so slightly as he chewed.
Michaela smiled weakly. "It's not very good, is it? I'm sorry."
The Indian let loose a barely audible grunt and dropped the plate on the table, returning his eyes to Katie and reaching his hand out to her again.
"No! Leave her alone!" Michaela said vehemently. "What do you want? Please!"
"We don't have anythin' to give him, Ma!" Brian said, voice bordering on panic.
The Indian turned from Katie once more, glancing at Michaela and then strolling across the room. He ran his hands across their mantel, the shelves, and the blankets on the cots. Michaela's eyes darted to the sleeping baby. She feared if she left her place to pick him up, the Indian would go after Katie again or perhaps even herself. Just as she was deciding that she had to have Jack safe in her arms no matter what the risk, the Indian walked out the door, mounted his horse and disappeared.
Brian hurried across the room and shut the door decisively, pulling the board across to bolt it.
"He's gone now, Mama?" Katie spoke up shakily.
Michaela immediately rushed to her, hugging her tight from behind. "Oh, sweetheart. He's gone. Shh, it's all right. You're all right."
"He was b-big," Katie whimpered. "I don't like him."
Byron got up on his knees and patted his sister's back helpfully. "Don't be scared, Katie."
"He wanted to hurt me?" she asked, a hiccup escaping her lips.
"No, of course not, Kate," Brian said, joining his little brother in patting her back.
"He just thinks your hair is so pretty, that's all," Michaela said reassuringly, kissing her cheek. "He's gone now. Everything's all right."
Brian caught his mother's eye. "I'll put out the fire, Ma," he said quietly.
She nodded in approval. She hadn't thought until now that having a fire in the fireplace would attract anyone. "Thank you, Brian."
"Then I'll sit outside, keep watch," he said more firmly, laying his hand on her shoulder.
She nodded once more. "Yes. Please."
* * *
"He didn't say anythin'?" Sully asked once more.
She lightly ran her finger around the rim of her cup. "Not a word."
"Seems like he just wanted to see for himself what's goin' on here," Sully remarked.
"The way he looked at Katie makes me shudder," she replied.
"Thaddeus has been tellin' me about the tribes. Miwoks, most people call 'em. They've been in this area for generations. Government moved 'em to Reservations for a while. Then some years back they let 'em come back to their homes."
"We're on his land, Sully," she said hoarsely.
He stood up, stepping off the porch and folding his arms. "Ya can't go anywhere without bein' on land the Indians were once on, too."
"What's the government going to do about Indians that are left here? If this is going to be a national park, I don't know how visitors would react to seeing a Miwok, or how the Miwoks would react to visitors."
"I can't see the tribes stayin' around here much longer." He dumped the last remaining swig of coffee into the dust impatiently. "I didn't think about that when I took the job. I just didn't think Indians could still be here."
"None of us did," Michaela replied softly. "But now we know they are. And I don't think they appreciate our presence."
He sat back down on the bench, wrapping his arm around her waist comfortingly. "We just need t' let 'em know we don't wanna hurt 'em. We wanna live in peace."
"I tried that. He didn't seem interested," she said shakily. "Sully, he could have killed us all if he wanted to. It was terrifying."
"He was just curious, Michaela."
"You didn't see his eyes," she retorted. "You didn't see the way he was looking at Katie."
"What do ya want me to do?" he asked, a hint of frustration in his tone. "Would ya feel better if I stay home tomorrow?"
"You can't do that," she said with a sigh. "I just...I want you to acknowledge how frightened we all were."
"I know ya were," he replied, reaching his hand up to rub her back. "And I'm sorry about that. But we can't jump to conclusions. Maybe he just ain't seen too many white people before. Maybe he ain't ever seen hair fair like Katie's."
"I want to give him the benefit of the doubt," she replied quietly. "But I find that very difficult when it's our child involved." She glanced at the door as Jack let out a fervent cry from inside. Thankful for an excuse to end a conversation that wasn't going anywhere, she immediately stood up.
Sully grasped her hand as she walked past him. "Michaela, it's gonna be all right. Chances are he won't even come back again."
"I hope not," she whispered, slipping her hand from his and disappearing inside.
* * *
Michaela secured the stocking to the line Brian had strung between two trees and watched as the children hovered over the happy infant, tickling his chest and talking to him. She was so pleased at how well they had adjusted to the new addition to their family. She and Sully had gone to great lengths to involve Byron and Katie in the little boy's care, and their encouragement had played a large role in the children's easy acceptance of Jack.
Her eyes wandered to the small front porch. Brian was sitting on the bench, gazing out at the trees vigilantly. Michaela had to admit she liked the idea of Brian being close by should an Indian show up again.
She returned to the tub and picked up another stocking, hastily rubbing it against the washboard. Light was fading fast and she still hadn't accomplished all she had set out to do that day. She still needed to clean the soot from the lamps and run a cloth over all the furniture and windows to help combat the dust that made Byron sneeze and cough. She hadn't even started supper and for that matter plates and mugs from lunch were still sitting in the basin that acted as their sink. As it was, she had cut short the children's lessons for the day so she could begin hauling water for the laundry. Everything seemed to take so much longer without running water.
Their wagon appeared from the small path that separated the trees, a welcome sight. Michaela dried her hands on her apron as Sully pulled on the reins and climbed down to the ground.
He waved to Byron and Katie as he walked to Michaela's side, grinning and giving her a warm hug. "Hey."
"How was your day?" she asked, pulling back to search his eyes. He was so cheerful lately and a little more talkative as well. Michaela loved to see him smiling and she was enjoying being the one listening for a change.
He smoothed away a droplet of water from her chin. "Everything's comin' along real nice. We had some leftover lumber." He nodded behind him at the planks stacked in the back of the wagon. "Would ya still like that rowboat?"
"Do you have time for that?" she asked hesitantly. Brian stood up from the bench and joined them.
"I'll help ya build it, Pa" he spoke up, standing beside his father.
Sully laid his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Everythin' all right here today?"
The young man nodded dutifully. "I haven't seen anythin' out of the ordinary."
"Good," Sully replied. "I don't expect ya will. Like I said, any Indians around here are just curious. Nothin' more than that."
"You're probably right. Best to be safe though," Brian said. "Can we start on the boat now? I helped Katie and B. make some drawins of how they think it should look."
Sully patted his back. "That sounds good, but after we have some supper. I'm starved."
"Actually, supper's going to be a little late," Michaela spoke up uncomfortably. "I haven't started it."
"Oh." Sully swallowed, glancing at the clothesline.
"I'm almost finished here," she said quietly, strolling back to the tub and rubbing another cloth against the washboard.
"Come help us with the boat after we eat, Michaela," Sully said.
"I'd like to, but I still have some cleaning to do."
Sully took the cloth from her and pinned it to the line. "Here. Me and Brian can do this."
She reluctantly stepped back, allowing the men to take over the last of the washing. "Thank you. I'll have supper ready as soon as I can." She gently grasped Sully's hand. "I'm sorry. I lost track of time."
He shrugged. "That's all right. We can wait."
* * *
Byron grabbed a pencil off the table and scratched a line where his father pointed as Brian picked up the bucksaw.
Sully stepped back, clutching Byron to him. "That's good. Ya draw nice straight marks."
Byron gripped his pencil proudly. "Thanks, Papa. I'm a good helper."
Sully stooped down and lifted him onto his knee as they watched Brian cut through the board. "Ya sure are. You're helpin' out your ma, too, ain't ya? With the chores and the baby?"
"Yep. I play with Jack," he said with a grin, pressing his hands to the grass at his feet. "He doesn't cry no more then."
"Glad to hear that. Ya know, while I'm at work, you're man of the house. You and your big brother."
"What's that mean?" Byron asked.
Brian glanced over with a smile. "Means we take care of things."
"That's right," Sully replied. "Like lookin' after the cabin, seein' to Jack, bein' there when your ma needs a hand with somethin'. It ain't an easy job. Comes with a lotta responsibility."
Byron nodded confidently. "But I can do it, Papa."
Sully kissed his head and hugged him. "Yeah. I know ya can."
Michaela and Katie carried the mugs from water and coffee over to him and set them in the sink.
"Not again," Michaela replied.
Byron climbed down from the bench, joining the three. "I'll help get water, Mama. I'll help."
Michaela took down a small tin pail on the shelves and two much larger wooden buckets. "Will you, sweetheart? Here, take this one." She handed him the pail and put her arm around him, glancing at Brian and Katie. "We'll be back in a few minutes. Why don't you two get out the books and slates so we can start our lessons?"
Katie scampered to the fireplace obediently and pulled out the crate beside it where they stored everything they needed for school.
"We'll be right back!" Byron said, holding open the door for his mother. He followed her down to the lake, clutching his pail to his chest.
"I'm glad you came with me, sweetheart," Michaela said, squatting at the shoreline and filling her buckets. "I like having company."
"Papa said I'm a man in our house," he explained, dipping his pail into the water. "That means I help out."
Michaela chuckled, setting her buckets beside her. "Oh, do you mean Papa told you you're man of the house?"
He wrinkled his brow in confusion. "That's what I said. My job is I take care of ya, Mama."
Michaela kissed his head. "Good. I'm glad you're the one." She searched his eyes. "Byron, you haven't talked about Colorado Springs lately. Do you miss it?"
He smiled, shaking his head. "I like Yosem-tee. I think I'm gonna miss my bed here!"
She laughed. "Yes, I suppose that's possible! I just wish there were some other children here you could play with. You must miss your friends from school."
Byron shrugged, peering into her buckets. "Hey, Mama. Look."
"What?" she asked, following his gaze. She swallowed, standing up. The water in the buckets was quivering, shooting little ripples to the sides and back again. A low rumble, as deep and roaring as the engine of a train, began surging through the earth.
"What is that? Thunder?" Byron said, standing up nervously as he looked up at the puffy white clouds passing lazily across the brilliant blue morning sky.
The rumble escalated as the ground beneath them shuddered. A flock of birds abandoned the trees they were in, squawking in alarm as they flew into the distance, while squirrels, raccoons and other small animals scampered across the forest floor. The horse in their pen let out an agitated neigh, tossing his head and bucking.
"Ma!" Brian called, the panic in his voice filling her with dread.
Michaela scooped Byron off his feet and ran up the unsteady bank for the cabin. "Brian! Katie!"
She ran into the cabin as dishes fell crashing to the floor and the baby let out a startled scream from his cradle. The children were standing by the table, holding onto it in support, eyes wide with fear.
"Ma! It's an earthquake!" Brian shouted.
The children huddled against the walls of the cabin as Michaela pressed the baby against her and quickly joined them. They crouched down in horror, having nothing to hang onto but each other as the earth rumbled. They watched as the cabin creaked and splintered. Dust from the roof hit the floor and dishes, cups and plates fell from the shelves, crashing in several pieces.
"Why's it shaking?" Katie cried, rising unsteadily to her feet. "Mr. Bear's still on my bed! I gotta get him! Mr. Bear!"
Michaela grabbed her wrist firmly, keeping her still. "Stay here, Katie!"
Suddenly, the earth grew still, the crashing ceased and their horse slowly relaxed, stomping one foot and braying quietly from the pen outside.
Michaela heaved a relieved sigh, glancing at the children and rubbing Jack's back soothingly. "Is everyone all right?"
Byron drew in his breath, slowly standing up. "Somebody made the ground move."
"That was an earthquake," Michaela explained, kissing the baby's head as he cried. "The ground below us moves and that makes everything shake. It's all right to be frightened. That wasn't very pleasant, was it?"
"I didn't like that," Katie said, grasping her mother's skirts. "It doesn't shake in Colorado."
"Some places have 'em more than others," Brian spoke up, his voice unsteady. "This part of California is one of 'em." He placed his hand on the baby's back. "Jack all right?"
"Just surprised, that's all," Michaela said, hugging him to her tighter. "We all are. Oh, Jack. Shh."
"Wait, there could be aftershocks, Ma," Brian said. "I read about 'em in one of my books. They're smaller earthquakes that happen soon after a big one."
"We'll have to be vigilant then," Michaela said. She wrapped her arm around Katie and held her close.
"Did Papa feel the ground move, too?" Byron asked.
"Pa!" Brian breathed. "He musta felt it!"
Michaela cringed as she pictured Sully high atop a ladder, on a roof, or perhaps inside a building that wasn't yet all too sturdy, when the earthquake hit.
"Maybe I should ride out there," Brian said.
Michaela hesitated. "I don't know. He's probably fine."
"I can at least tell 'em we're all right," Brian replied.
Michaela reluctantly nodded. "That's probably a good idea. Be careful, Brian. Please."
"I will," he said, spinning around and running out the door.
* * *
He tossed another pile of shingles aside as Harper leapt to his feet.
"Over here!" Harper shouted, pulling a man up from the mess and helping him to his feet. "They're here!"
Sully rushed over, tearing off a strip of cloth from his shirt and pressing it to the deep gash on the man's head as other workers heaved two other men from beneath the shingles and helped them sit a few paces away from the collapsed roof.
Disoriented, the three men coughed and rubbed their eyes, various cuts and gashes marking their exposed skin.
"Somebody fetch the doc," Harper ordered, taking a canteen from another man and handing it to the injured. "We're gonna need some help here."
"I'll get 'im," Thaddeus spoke up. "I'll be back soon as I can."
Sully tore off one more strip from his shirt and handed it to another of the injured men. "That's gonna take hours. They need to be stitched up now."
"We got no choice," Harper replied briskly.
"My wife, she's a doctor," Sully said, looking up. "She can help."
The group of workers burst into surprised laughter as Harper gazed at Sully questioningly.
"Mrs. Sully? A doc?" Harper said.
"That's right," Sully said firmly. "I can have her out here in an hour."
"Can't say as I've ever heard of a woman taking up such a profession, Sully," Harper remarked. "It's interesting, at the least."
"She's a fine doctor. Stitched me plenty of times," Sully went on. "She'll take care of these men."
"There's your boy, Sully," Thaddeus remarked as Brian galloped into the clearing and quickly dismounted, running over to the scene.
"Pa!" he shouted.
Sully grasped his shoulders. "Everybody all right?"
"We're fine. We're all fine," he said quickly, glancing at the debris. "What happened?"
"Roof collapsed. A few are hurt," Sully explained.
"I'll get Ma," Brian said, spinning around.
"Hold on there, son," one of the injured men spoke up gruffly, washing his dusty face with water from the canteen. "If it's all the same to you I'll wait for Doc."
"The day I trust somebody's woman t' stitch me up's the day I die," another man said vehemently.
The other man smirked. "I don't mind Miz Sully tendin' to me. In fact, that sounds mighty fine right now. Bring her out here, boy."
Harper cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sully, you go on home and tend to your family. We'll be all right. My contract with the doctor in Fresno is binding. And besides, we're all used to him."
"But they need help," Brian said. "Ma knows what to do! She'll help!"
"Mr. Harper, Michaela's good at what she does," Sully said. "She'll fix these men."
"I don't know anybody better than the Doc in Fresno. No offense," Harper said. "This isn't something to fool around with, Sully. We have men seriously wounded here. I know she's you're wife and all, and naturally you would want to defend her. Now, I'm sure she's very quick with a needle. Most females are. But anything more than that and to be honest it makes me nervous. The good Lord blessed us with as fine a thing as a woman to tend to our homes, look after our youn'uns and to do some tending to us menfolk from time to time. I aim to see to it things stay that way."
"Harper has a point, Sully," Thaddeus said.
"Hell, Sully, who wears the pants in your house anyway?" one of the injured men spoke up.
"But she can help! Ya gotta give her a chance!" Brian said.
Sully glared at Harper for a long moment, then slowly backed up. "It's all right, Brian. Come on, let's get back to the cabin."
* * *
"Just be careful with all this glass," Michaela replied, taking the dustpan from him and dumping the pieces into a bucket.
"Jack stopped crying, Mama," Katie called. She was crouched beside her little brother's cradle, rubbing his belly soothingly. "I think the earthquake made his bed shake. That scared him."
"We were all a little scared, weren't we?" Michaela replied.
"Bet Papa wasn't scared," Byron spoke up with conviction.
"Sully," Michaela whispered as she heard horses braying outside. She rested the broom against the fireplace and hurried out the door.
Sully climbed down from the wagon, eyes filled with alarm. "You all right?"
"We're fine. Are you?"
He swallowed. "I ain't hurt, but a few of the other men were."
"The roof of one of the lodges caved in," Brian spoke up, dismounting his horse.
"We had just started puttin' it up," Sully explained. "We had a lotta loose shingles sittin' up there. They all came down. Scraped a few men standing nearby."
"I'll come right away," she said, turning to the cabin.
He grabbed her arm, spinning her back around. "Michaela, I tried tellin' 'em. I said you were a doctor and could probably get there faster. But Harper knows the doc in Fresno. He's got a contract with him. He sent a rider out to fetch him."
She shook her head disbelievingly. "If it's just a few cuts and bruises surely they wouldn't mind if I came out to help."
Brian patted his horse's neck. "One of the men, he said the day he trusts a woman to stitch him up is the day he dies."
Michaela raised her eyebrows in shock.
"Best not to stir up trouble," Sully said. "I'm sure the Fresno doctor'll take care of 'em just fine." He backed up a step, gazing at their home. "How'd the cabin hold up? Anythin' break?"
"Half of our plates, three cups and two lamps," she said quietly. "I have it almost all cleaned up."
"Coulda been worse," he said, taking her hand and heading for the door.
"I'm just glad we're all safe," she murmured.
He paused in his steps, wrapping his arm around her waist comfortingly. "I'm glad I'm home."
* * *
"Harper says they happen all the time," he remarked, tucking a clean diaper beneath the baby's back. "But not usually so strong."
"Some scientists believe that's how the great mountain ranges were formed," Michaela said absently. "It seems possible at least the ones here came to be in such a way."
"Harper said that, too," Sully said.
"Don't forget a little powder, Sully," Michaela spoke up.
"Oh, yeah," he murmured, grabbing the tin beside him and opening it. He sprinkled powder on the baby's bottom, drew the sides of the diaper together, carefully pinning them, and pulled down his shift over the diaper. "There we go, Jack. We did it." He lifted him off the bed and brought him to Michaela. "Say g'night to Mama."
Michaela kissed the baby's cheek. "Sleep well, sweetheart. I suspect I'll be hearing from you soon."
"G'night for a few hours, Jack," Sully said with a soft chuckle, kissing the baby's head and then tucking him in his cradle. He glanced up at Michaela and climbed onto the bed, sitting beside her. "What ya thinkin'?" he asked, smoothing her hair behind her ear and kissing her cheek.
"Did that man really say the day a woman stitches him is the day he dies?" she asked hesitantly.
"Michaela, they ain't used to anybody like you. There's hardly any women around here to speak of, let alone women who are doctors." He tilted her chin toward him and kissed her reassuringly. "Don't let it get to ya. You know you're good at what ya do and what he thinks don't change that."
She smiled softly. "I suppose I've gotten used to not having to contend with that very much anymore. I forget things are different outside of Colorado Springs. It's just I could have helped those injured men."
"They still got taken care of."
"It's the principle of it, Sully."
"Don't think principles matter very much to men like him," he said, slowly bringing his hand up to caress her full breast as her cheeks warmed. "Michaela? They hurt?" he whispered.
She swallowed, shaking her head. "Not exactly. It's just I'm so...different."
He smiled, shifting to lean over her and kissing her. "I like ya this way, too."
Shyly, she pushed back his hair, returning the kiss. She hadn't thought very much about resuming intimacy with Sully. She wasn't sure if the time was right yet, nor had she felt very desirable lately. Since the baby's birth, she craved any sleep she could get. Stealing a few hours of rest before Jack woke again had been her priority when she and Sully climbed under the covers each night. Still, Sully's touch was so comforting. He was always able to convince her the time was just perfect to be together, that he loved her no matter how uncertain she was feeling about her appearance.
"Mama?" Katie pulled back one of the sheets Sully had hung, reaching up to scratch her nose. "Mama!" she whispered.
Michaela pushed Sully away and turned on her side to face the child, embarrassment rapidly coloring her cheeks. "Katie! What are you doing up?"
The little girl held the sheet in one hand and her bear in the other, her eyes traveling between her mother and father curiously.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Michaela asked, propping herself up on one elbow. "We're just about to go to sleep. We're very tired."
"Ya have a bad dream?" Sully spoke up, slowly drawing in his breath.
"Mr. Bear felt the house shake," she said timidly, eyes welling with tears.
"Naw. It ain't shakin' now," Sully reassured her, reaching across Michaela's shoulder to take the little girl's hand.
Katie squeezed back hard, her fingers cool. "What if it does? Brian said we're gonna have more earthquakes."
"Yes, we could," Michaela said. "If we do we'll go to the corner again where we'll be safe from things that could fall, all right? Go back to bed now, darling."
Katie eyed their pillows and blankets hopefully. "Can we sleep with you?"
Michaela hesitated, glancing at Sully for approval.
"Please?" Katie persisted, a tear escaping and gliding down her cheek. "Mr. Bear said he's scared."
"Come here, Kates," Sully said, unable to refuse the child's pleading.
Katie immediately crawled up between them, tucking herself under the covers and cuddling up against Michaela.
Sully stroked back her hair soothingly and gave her a kiss on the head. "We're all fine now, Katie. Everybody's safe."
"Papa and I were just talking about the mountains here," Michaela said. "Many people think the reason they got to be so big was because of earthquakes. The shaking pushed them straight up to the sky."
Katie drew her bear tight against her chest. "Really? Whoa."
Sully squeezed her fingers with a smile. "Sometime while we're here, we'll climb one, get a look at the valley from up top. How's that sound?"
Katie grinned. "Good."
"Close your eyes now, sweet girl. Get some sleep." He leaned over her and gave Michaela a gentle kiss. "'Night."
She smiled, gazing at him wistfully. "Goodnight, Sully."
* * *
"Mornin', Sully!" Thaddeus called, crouched before a campfire where a few men were finishing their breakfast. He set his plate of fried potatoes on the ground and walked over, shaking his hand.
"Mornin'," Sully replied, digging into his jacket pocket for his work gloves.
"It's a fine day, ain't it?" Thaddeus said, grabbing his arm and strolling over to the frame of a lodge they had just started putting up. "The sun's shinin', birds are a-chirpin', grass has never been greener and we ain't had no finer weather!"
Sully glanced up at the cloudy sky. "It's rainin'."
"Who cares if it's rainin'!" Thaddeus replied. "It's pay day, Sully!"
"Today?" Sully queried.
"That's right. Every other Friday. You're about to get what's comin'!" Thaddeus took his thick fingers and patted Sully's cheek playfully. "Snap out of it, Sully! Smile for once! We all ride out to Fresno and celebrate at the saloon. First one's on me, how's that sound?"
"Thanks, but not this time." Sully crossed his arms, slowly drawing in his breath. "Ya mind if I ride along with ya to Fresno, though? I got somethin' I been meanin' to buy."
Thaddeus slapped his back. "Now that's what I like to hear. Spend those greenbacks. Ya've earned it. Sure, we'd be happy to have ya along."
* * *
"Maybe he's gettin' a tooth, Ma," Brian suggested, crouching beside the fire where a kettle of broth was simmering for supper.
Michaela kissed the baby's head. "No, it's far too early for that. Oh, sweetheart. Shh."
Byron and Katie walked over to the chair and sat down on the floor, gazing up at their little brother sympathetically.
"I know. Maybe he just had a bad dream," Brian said.
"About a monster," Katie said helpfully. "Or earthquakes."
"Yes, that could be," Michaela admitted.
"What if he's sick, Mama?" Byron asked.
"He doesn't act sick." Michaela pressed her hand once more to Jack's head, finding his temperature normal. "He could be a little colicky I suppose. Babies get cranky and cry sometimes, Byron. They have bad days just like bigger people."
"He cries pretty loud," Byron observed. "I hope he has a good day soon."
"What time is it?" Michaela asked, glancing at Brian. "Did Sully say he was working late today?"
"I don't think so," Brian replied. "I bet he'll be home soon."
"I hope so," Michaela murmured, kissing the side of Jack's head and rocking him soothingly.
Since they had arrived in California, Michaela had been careful to avoid burdening Sully with anything negative. Each afternoon when he came home from work, she would tell him that she and the children had had another wonderful day. She would detail the children's accomplishments in school, the little milestones Jack reached, the baking or cooking she had done and the animals she had spotted while gathering water or hanging laundry. It was partly the truth. There were times when Michaela felt truly happy, spending time with the children and living in the tiny cabin and surrounding wilderness.
Other times she didn't know how she would go on another minute in the place. What she had avoided telling Sully was how overwhelming each day was. She spent every waking moment cooking, cleaning, and looking after the children and the new baby. She felt tired, short-tempered and more than a bit useless, her medical bag sitting on the mantel gathering dust. Practicing medicine, what she had devoted her entire life to doing, was put on hold, and the job she thought she was never cut out for she was now living day and night. She was a homemaker, and moreover, convinced she was terrible at it.
Michaela could see Sully clearly loved working for Rudolph Harper and living in Yosemite. She hated to dampen his spirits, but she simply didn't know how she could go on telling him how wonderful each day was when they continued to grow harder and harder.
She was up at six o'clock with the baby, trying to quell his cries without much success. The children were awake soon afterward, hungry for breakfast, but between tending to Jack and watching the eggs, it took Michaela a good hour before she had anything on the table for them.
School had been a disaster as well. Brian was full of questions about a chapter he was reading on weather patterns and Michaela had no idea how to help him other than to study the chapter herself, which she simply didn't have time for. Byron and Katie were focused at first, but the practice arithmetic problems Michaela had made up for them weren't challenging enough. Soon they were giggling and whispering, and it wasn't long before Michaela had lost their attention for good.
Lunch was just another battle to try to make something out of nothing with their canned provisions. Then with the afternoon came more chores to be done, half of which Michaela didn't even start, so busy she was feeding, rocking, changing and feeding some more a very cantankerous Jack.
Thankfully, Brian was as helpful and willing as usual, looking after Katie and Byron when Michaela had to focus on Jack. What Michaela really needed was for him to start on some of the chores, but that was impossible when there were three small children to keep an eye on.
All Michaela wanted to do now was tell Sully about all that had happened. She wanted him to hold the baby so she could sit down and rest her arms for a minute. She needed him to hug her and tell her that it had simply been an unusually busy day and that she had made it through just fine, giving her reassurance only he could provide.
When they finally heard the wagon pulling up out front, Michaela let out a great sigh of relief. She stood up with the baby and walked to the door as Sully came in, an envelope in one hand and a wide smile on his face.
"Oh, Sully, I'm glad you're home," she began, tears of near desperation appearing in her eyes.
He gave her a quick kiss, startling her. "Michaela, look at this!" He opened the envelope, revealing a thick stack of ten-dollar bills.
"Oh. You were paid today?"
"I knew how much Harper was gonna pay me, but to see it, have it in my hands...I just can't believe it."
Byron stood on tiptoe, pointing at the envelope. "That's a lot of money, Papa."
"More than I've ever made before at one time," Sully said proudly. "The clinic's gonna have as many new recovery rooms as ya want, Michaela."
Michaela smiled faintly at his excitement.
Sully lifted Katie off her feet, spinning her around. "Kates, what do ya think about havin' a glass of milk at supper tonight?"
"Me, too, Papa?" Byron spoke up.
Katie clapped her hands. "Milk!"
Sully took Byron's hand, leading him to the door. "There should be plenty for all of us. Come on."
"Sully, what on earth?" Michaela said, reluctantly following everyone outside. There stood a stout tan heifer, tied to the corral and chewing lazily on bits of grass.
"Pa, a cow!" Brian exclaimed.
Byron and Katie rushed over to it, petting her nose and admiring her coat.
"Sully, you bought us a cow," Michaela murmured, pressing one hand to her mouth as the baby cried louder.
He wrapped his arm around her waist. "Ya've been after me to get us one, haven't ya?"
She gazed at him, overwhelmed. "Oh, thank you. Thank you. The children are going to love having milk to drink. And I can cook so many more things."
He smiled, drawing her closer. It wasn't the money itself that thrilled him so, but the fact that he was finally providing for the family. Michaela had asked him for a cow and he had enough money to buy her one. He had never felt so satisfied as he handed the bills over to the merchant in Fresno. He felt like a vital part of Harper's team. He was finally doing something that he was good at and that he loved, too. The idea that Michaela and the children were dependent on him now filled him with pride. He wanted them to have everything, and with what he was making now, they probably could.
"Glad ya like it," Sully said, glancing at Jack. "He's bein' real fussy. Somethin' wrong?"
"Oh, he's fine. Just a bit colicky," Michaela quickly said, reaching her hand up to rub the baby's back.
"Ya have a good day?"
Michaela swallowed, glancing at the cow and then at him. "I...yes, we did. It was wonderful."
* * *
The weather was just beginning to turn uncomfortably warm and muggy, the beginnings of what Harper had told Sully would be a long summer. Their tiny cabin was stuffy, even with the window open. Michaela covered Jack with his thinnest blanket, kissed his head and stood up as Sully came in the door.
"Horses are all set for the night," he whispered, walking across the room to join her. "Cow, too."
"Everyone's asleep here," she replied, circling the bed and opening the trunk to take out her nightgown.
Sully stooped beside the cradle, smoothing Jack's hair with a grin. "Two months."
She smiled. "Indeed."
"Brian tell ya we finished the boat?" he asked, looking up.
She nodded.
"We could take it out for that picnic sometime. There's a nice shore on the other side of the lake."
She walked back to him, her eyes betraying her tiredness. "That sounds nice."
"Come take a look at it," he said, grasping her hand.
"Now? Why?" she asked, glancing across the room at the sleeping children. "Can it wait until tomorrow? Besides, I've seen you working on it."
He grinned, leading her to the door. "I added somethin' and I need your approval. Come on."
"My approval?" she questioned, reluctantly following him outside and down to the rocky shore.
Sully released her hand and walked to the edge of the quiet water where the boat floated, covered with a canvas tarp and tied to a nearby tree. He pulled back the canvas, revealing a beautifully crafted, shiny wooden rowboat just large enough for everyone in the family. He and Brian had worked so hard on it. Their efforts had certainly paid off.
Michaela took a step closer, folding her hands. On the side, back at the stern of the boat, Sully had neatly painted six black letters. She drew in her breath, surprised.
Sully wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It's bad luck not to name a boat."
"Oh, Sully. After me," she whispered, moved.
He smiled. "Yep. What do ya think?"
Michaela was becoming accustomed to being called nothing other than "Mama" all day. The clinic was on her mind more often as the weeks went by. She worried about her patients and how the young doctor looking after them was getting along. Most of all she had simply missed hearing "Dr. Mike." She felt tears she had been so careful to suppress since they had arrived threatening to spill.
"What's wrong?" Sully asked, eyeing her anxiously.
"Nothing," she murmured quickly. Sully certainly didn't have time to worry about all that was on her mind. He worked too hard to have to think about her uncertainties. "This is very sweet. I can't wait until we take it out."
He turned her to him and pressed his lips to hers, caressing the back of her neck with his fingers. "I love you, Dr. Mike."
She smoothed back his hair, her fears subdued by Sully's gentle touch. "I love you, too."
"It's gettin' late. What do ya say we...we get to bed?" he said softly, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly as he caressed her shoulders.
"I'd like that," she whispered back, a slight blush staining her cheeks.
He took her hand, slowly leading her up the bank and back to the cabin. "Everythin's all right? Now's a good time?"
She smiled. "Yes. Now's a very good time."
* * *
"You sleepin'?" Sully whispered against her ear.
"Mmm. Almost," she replied hoarsely, slowly opening her eyes.
He propped himself up on his elbow and brushed back her hair from her cheek to meet her eyes. "We were good about bein' quiet."
She chuckled. "We are a bit out in the open here."
"I missed ya," he replied, brushing his brow against hers.
"I noticed that," she teased, turning on her back and wrapping one hand around his neck.
"Michaela, ya love it here, don't ya?"
"Of course I do," she immediately replied. "It's very beautiful."
He smiled. "This work means more to me than I ever coulda imagined. It's perfect for me."
"I like seeing you so happy," she said, lifting her head to kiss him.
He watched her eyes for a moment, gently clasping her hand. "Ya miss the clinic?"
She forced a smile. "There's so much to do here, I don't have time to think of it that often. Besides, I would have missed you more if you took this job without all of us."
"I never woulda taken it if you weren't gonna come, too," he whispered, slowly drawing her lips to his and kissing her warmly and leisurely.
A few moments later, the baby stirred and let out a forceful grunt as he prepared to cry whole-heartedly. Michaela gradually raised her hand to Sully's lips and sat up, pushing back the sheet.
Sully grasped her arm and guided her back down on her side to the pillows. "I got him," he said. He edged down to the end of the bed and reaching into Jack's cradle at the foot. He brought up the whimpering baby, clothed in nothing but a diaper, and tucked him beside Michaela, stroking his hair as he latched onto his mother decisively.
"You're growin' so fast, Jack," Sully said, chuckling as the baby pressed his tiny fingers firmly against his mother's breast and curled his legs up to her belly.
"He's a good eater," Michaela remarked. "All my boys are."
"He's beautiful, Michaela. Watchin' you and him like this...I've forgotten how beautiful it is," he whispered. "I can't believe he's here, that he's ours."
She swallowed hard, emotion sparking tears in her eyes. "I know."
"Ya glad he's a boy?" Sully asked. "Did ya want a little girl?"
She stroked the little boy's back with her fingers. "No. I just wanted a baby. I suppose Jack qualifies."
Sully kissed the soft skin of their baby's shoulder. "Hear that, Jack? We're so happy you're here."
"We're happy all of us are here," Michaela added, meeting Sully's eyes and giving his lips a gentle kiss.
"You know this," Michaela said encouragingly, a notepad and pencil in hand. "Remember we went over it the other day? Think hard, sweetheart."
Byron folded his arms. "House," he said pensively. "H-o-u-s...."
Michaela held her breath, poised on the edge of the bench.
Byron squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to picture the word in his mind. "H-o-u-s-e!" he shouted.
Brian leapt to his feet, grasping his little brother's shoulder excitedly. "That's it! Ya did it! That's the hardest word you've spelled yet, B."
Katie and Michaela clapped enthusiastically as Byron giggled and stepped toward his mother, eyeing her notebook hopefully.
"I did good?" he asked, blue eyes wide with anticipation.
Michaela proudly drew a large star beside his name. "You passed your spelling test faultlessly. You're the very best speller in the entire first grade."
"Nobody is in the first grade 'cept me, Mama!" Byron said with a giggle.
Michaela tickled his chest good-naturedly. "Oh, so you're right."
"Want me to spell some more words?" Byron asked. "I know lots now."
She chuckled. "Tomorrow. I think we can end school for the afternoon."
"Time to go play outside!" Katie shouted, scampering toward the door.
"Mama, come play with us," Byron said.
Michaela glanced at the fireplace. "I'm sorry. I can't. I have to start supper before your papa gets home and I'm going to have to bring up some water to wash the floor. See how filthy it gets from our boots? And Jack's going to be hungry again before we know it."
"I'll chop some wood for ya, Ma," Brian offered. "Looks like we're gettin' low."
Michaela stood up and removed the lid from a crate of provisions on one of the shelves. "Thank you. Keep an eye on the children, too, all right?"
"I will," he said, walking across the room and heading out the door, Byron following him.
"Stay in the clearing," she called. "Byron? Katie? Do you hear me?"
"We will, Mama!" Katie called back.
"We will!" Byron echoed.
* * *
"I hope this tastes better than it smells," she remarked. "Here, what do you think? Your honest opinion now, young man."
Jack drew his hands into fists as Michaela held the spoon near his nose. He kicked one leg fiercely and let out an impatient moan.
"That's what I said," Michaela replied, setting the spoon on the table and reaching for the salt and peppershakers. "Tell me this, Jack. Is it that these provisions are truly terrible, or am I just a hopeless cook?"
"Maybe a little of both?" Sully spoke up teasingly, shutting the door behind him.
Michaela turned from the fireplace and instantly brightened. "Sully. You're home." She brought Jack to his cradle, laid him in it, and met Sully in the middle of the room.
"Hey," he said, eyes bright with excitement. "Michaela, I got great news."
"So do I," she replied, removing the sling from her shoulders and setting it on the table. "Byron spelled house in school today. All on his own."
"That's good," he replied. "You ain't gonna believe this."
"Believe what?"
He took hold of her hand. "Ya feel up to a little company? 'Cause we're gettin' neighbors."
"Neighbors?" she murmured in disbelief. "Neighbors that live nearby, that we can call on? That can call on us?"
"That's the kind," he said with a chuckle.
She threw her arms around Sully's neck, letting out a cry of delight. "Oh, Sully. Who? Who's moving here?"
"Thaddeus and his wife, their two boys," he said, his smile widening.
She cleared her throat, dropping her arms. "I'm sorry--Thaddeus?"
"Yep. His wife's been waitin' at their old homestead near Salt Lake City. He's got enough to bring her out here now. Ya should see him. He's so excited. Harper's gonna have a cabin put up a few miles from us. They'll be moved in within the next few weeks." He eyed her uncertain expression. "What's wrong? Michaela, I know he don't impress ya, but his wife sounds like a real nice lady. And just think, Katie and Byron'll have somebody else to play with."
"Yes. Yes, you're right. His wife and I can visit during the day while you and Thaddeus are working. The children can have some playmates." Her smile widened at the idea of having another woman her own age to talk to. She clutched the sleeves of Sully's shirt eagerly. "Oh. I can't believe this. Oh, I love you. I love you."
He laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her off her feet as she yelped with surprise.
"Neighbors, Sully," she exclaimed. "Neighbors!"
* * *
He approached the chair by the fireplace where Michaela sat and timidly cleared his throat. "Ma? Ma, can I talk t' ya-" He paused, immediately quieting as his mother stirred and turned to face him. "Ma, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were sleepin'."
Michaela yawned softly and blinked as he circled her chair to face her. "I didn't know I was either," she said with a soft chuckle, picking up a small stack of papers resting in her lap. "I told Byron and Katie I'd correct their arithmetic tests before they woke up. I must have nodded off."
"Ya can always do it later. They'll understand. Why don't ya go lie down on the bed?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I just needed to close my eyes for a few minutes. Is anything wrong?"
"No, nothin'. I been keepin' watch and haven't seen a thing," he replied, taking a seat on the bench at the table and resting his hands on his knees. "I was wonderin' if I could talk t' ya about somethin'. It can wait if you're tired now."
She straightened in her chair. "Not at all. What's on your mind, Brian?"
He pressed his thumb to the envelope, staring at it thoughtfully. "Awhile back, I wrote a letter to my p- ...to Ethan. I told him about us livin' here, about the park and how we're gonna make it real nice for visitors."
Michaela nodded patiently. "And he answered."
Brian nodded, lifting up the envelope in his hands. "He and Lillian wrote me a real nice letter back. They've got a big house overlookin' the ocean. They can see the boats right from their front window."
"That sounds lovely."
Brian cleared his throat. "I was thinkin'...San Francisco ain't that far from here. Do ya s'pose maybe, before our year here's over, I could go out there and see him?"
She folded her hands in her lap, watching his eyes expectantly. "Would you like that or would he?"
He shrugged hesitantly. "He'd like it, but I want to, too, Ma. I ain't seen him in years. Sully's my pa, not him, but I just want him to see I'm all right. And I want to see that he's all right, too. I could ride to Fresno and catch the stage there. Ethan said he'd pay for it all. I'd be all right. Ya wouldn't have t' worry."
Michaela eyed the letter cautiously. The last time Ethan had seen his children he had nearly taken them away from her for good. As far as Michaela knew, Matthew and Colleen had lost all ties with him, but something seemed to be pulling at Brian to keep persisting, to maintain a connection, however small that was. Michaela couldn't help but be impressed with Ethan's invitation. He was going to great lengths to see the young man and he had to be commended for that.
"I'll talk it over with Sully," she said softly. "But I think perhaps we can arrange something."
Brian leaned forward. "Really? I wouldn't ask if I didn't really want this."
"I know," she replied, gently taking his hand.
"Ma? Thanks," he murmured. He pulled a few sheets of folded newspaper from the envelope. "Ethan sent me a few pages from the San Francisco Chronicle. Ya wanna read 'em?"
Michaela glanced at the paper with a smile. It was so rare that they had something different to read and she savored anything that brought new news. "I'd love to."
* * *
"It's hard to trust him. He's a man that don't keep his word," Sully replied.
"Perhaps he's different now," Michaela said optimistically, leaning against one of the posts of the corral fence. "It has been years since we last saw him."
He swallowed, placing the comb on a nearby shelf and turning to face her. "I never had a good feelin' about him. Maybe his intentions are all good this time, but he ain't done anythin' that gives me cause to think he's changed."
"If you feel that strongly about it we'll just tell Brian that we'd rather he didn't go. He'll understand."
He sighed. "He is the boy's father. Seems Brian really wants to do this and I s'pose they got a right to see each other."
"You're his father now, Sully," Michaela said softly. "You're his pa. Brian said that, not I."
He crossed his arms. "Then as his pa I'd rest a lot easier if we went along with him. Just in case Ethan gets it in his head to try anything."
"You mean go to San Francisco? All of us?" she blurted.
"I can talk to Harper about gettin' some time off, maybe a week sometime in the next few months."
"I'd love to visit there, Sully," she said whimsically, reaching her hand up to scratch the horse's nose. "But what about the children? Their lessons."
"I figure San Francisco's a learnin' experience in itself," Sully replied. "We could give Ethan and Brian some time alone and show the children the city. Get 'em some ice cream at one of those parlors ya have in Boston. Even Jack would like a taste of that."
"We could show them the ocean," Michaela added. "The ships."
"Let's go then," Sully replied with a smile. "We'll make a special trip of it."
She gave him a kiss on the lips. "I'll tell Brian. He's going to be thrilled."
* * *
"Here, Mama," Byron said, holding up his brown tie. "Take this."
Michaela drew in her breath. "Byron, put that back on!" She seized the tie from him and strung it around his collar, drawing it back into a neat bow.
"I don't wanna wear it. It's hot," Byron protested. "No."
"New families don't move near us every day, sweetheart," Michaela said, frantically smoothing back an unruly lock of his hair. "This is a special occasion."
Brian looked on, shifting the baby to rest over his shoulder. He had never seen his mother so eager to meet someone. She had insisted he and Byron dig out their ties and that she and Katie wear their nicest dresses, despite the blistering hot weather. He couldn't help but smile at her excitement. It was contagious.
The door creaked open, revealing two boys about nine and ten years old, their sandy blond hair, broad smiles and dimples reminding Michaela of their father.
"Hello," Michaela said. "You must be Mr. Donovan's sons. We've come to welcome you. We're your neighbors."
"Your only neighbors," Brian spoke up with a grin.
"Ma! The neighbors come over!" the older boy shouted forcefully, opening the door wider.
The younger boy gazed up at Michaela for a long moment, mouth slightly agape, then eyed Katie and Byron curiously, wiggling the toes of his bare feet. "I'm Jim. You like to play?"
Michaela patted Byron's back as he grasped the ends of her cape hesitantly, too shy to speak. "They love to play," she said. "This is Byron and Katie."
"We'll show you our fort," Jim said, brushing past Michaela and motioning for the children to follow.
"Come on. It's this way," the older boy spoke up, hitching a loose suspender over his shoulder as he stepped off the stoop and ran ahead.
"We can go, Mama?" Katie asked, looking up at her.
"Certainly," Michaela replied. "But stay nearby, all right?"
"I'll go with 'em, Ma," Brian spoke up dutifully, settling Jack in her arms.
"Jim, Luke, you boys be good to those youn'uns!" a woman shouted, appearing in the doorway and wiping flour from her hands with a towel. She eyed Michaela distrustfully, her eyes traveling to her hair, curled and pinned up, down to her cape, blouse and skirt, and finally her polished black boots.
"Good morning," Michaela spoke up, holding her hand out. "I'm Michaela."
"You Sully's wife?" she replied, slowly taking her hand. The woman wore a faded green apron atop a calico brown dress, thick dark stockings and brown leather shoes. Her dirty blond hair was tangled and pulled back on her head in a loose bun, wisps of hair framing her face where a trace of flour clung to her brow.
"Yes, I am," Michaela replied with a friendly smile. "You're Thaddeus' wife. We're neighbors now."
"Carrie," the woman said, stepping back into the room.
"Pardon me?" Michaela blurted.
"I'm Carrie," she said, narrow eyes the same shade of brown as her sons. "Come on inside."
"I can't tell you how happy I am that you're moving here," Michaela went on, glancing around the room. "Oh, you have a lovely cabin."
The room was about the size of their own cabin and had a loft for the boys behind a large stone fireplace. Half-unpacked crates were stacked on the kitchen table and master bed. The tantalizing aroma of baking bread from the oven in the fireplace filled the tiny room.
Carrie returned to the table and picked up her rolling pin, pulling a thin circle of dough near her.
Michaela touched the baby's cheek with her finger as he cooed. "This is Jack. I met your sons outside. My little girl and boy are thrilled to have some other children around."
"Take a seat," Carrie said, nodding at the chair across from her. "Well, ya'd think I should be throwin' some fancy ball! You tie your boys' necks with ribbons every day out here?"
Michaela slowly sunk into the chair. "Oh, no. Of course not."
"Thaddeus tells me you're from Colorado Springs," she remarked. "Big city."
Michaela chuckled. "Hardly. It has been growing quite fast lately, but I suppose it'll always seem small to me. I grew up in Boston."
"Boston," Carrie echoed, eyeing her cape again. "Well, this sure ain't Boston."
Michaela shifted in her chair uneasily. She had hardly known Carrie for a few minutes and already it seemed the woman didn't like her. She desperately tried to discern what she was doing that seemed to irritate her so. Uncomfortably, she unlaced her cape and put it in her lap, looking back up resolutely. "Sully and I would like to invite you and your family over for supper, perhaps once you've settled in. Unfortunately, our provisions aren't the best. We're used to buying fresh groceries once a week at our mercantile. It's been quite an adjustment for all of us."
"Ain't no mercantile 'round here to speak of," Carrie said. "Ya make do."
"Well, yes," Michaela replied. She cleared her throat. "Was the weather this hot where you used to live? Near the Salt Lake, wasn't it?"
"Hot? Land sakes! You think this is hot?" She chuckled, swiping the back of her hand across her brow.
Michaela blinked, taken aback. "I don't know. It's hotter than anything I've experienced."
"This here's a regular frost!" she replied. "We seen weather so hot wells go dry as a bone before your eyes, plants shrink up, cattle fall dead. I suspect Colorado Springs has servants to bring ya ice, fan ya."
Michaela stood up, her temper rising. "No one has that. Not even in Boston." She paused. "Well, perhaps a few people," she added more quietly.
Carrie put down her rolling pin and reached for a pitcher of water and a glass. "Here," she said, pouring water into the glass and handing it to her. "Musta been a long walk out here."
Michaela grudgingly took a sip. "Thank you."
"We'll all come by tomorrow night," Carrie added, picking up a round cutter and digging it into the dough to make biscuits. "That's kind of ya."
"I haven't been very successful with the oven in our fireplace," Michaela said tentatively. "I had a range at home."
"Takes practice," Carrie replied.
"You seem to have the hang of it," Michaela said. "Perhaps...perhaps you could help me sometime?"
"I'm real busy here," Carrie said, laying the circles of dough on a tray. "Servants ain't gonna do the work if I don't."
"Yes, of course," Michaela replied, disappointed. She had so hoped Thaddeus' wife would want to drop by their cabin from time to time, visit and bring her children to play with Byron and Katie. Now it seemed that, despite having another family so close by, they were going to be just as isolated as before. "We should start back," she said quietly. "I think my baby's going to be ready for a nap soon."
"Ya'll be careful walkin' in those woods," Carrie replied, crossing the room and opening the door. "If ya got any sense, next time ya'll bring your shootin' iron in your free hand."
"I don't think that's necessary, thank you," Michaela replied, voice slightly terse. "Carrying a rifle often increases one's risk of encountering danger."
Carrie chuckled, grasping the doorframe. "Ya stick 'round these parts long enough, you'll change your mind."
"Byron, Katie! Brian!" Michaela called. "Come here. It's time to go!"
* * *
"I don't know what to cook them," Michaela said, lowering Jack into a basin of shallow warm water on the table. "Bath time, sweetheart."
"How 'bout stew," Sully suggested. "That was pretty good last time ya made it."
"No it wasn't. It was terrible," she protested, running a soapy washcloth down the baby's chest. "No one liked it."
"Ya could make some dumplins to go with it. Make enough and that'll help hide the taste."
"I suppose." She gently positioned the baby on his side and ran the washcloth down his head, neck and back. "Sully? Perhaps we could take the wagon to Fresno before they come. We could buy fresh vegetables, fruit, dried meat."
"Maybe sometime. It's a long trip. There won't be time tomorrow." He eyed her skeptically. "What're you so nervous about? It's just Thaddeus. He likes anythin' ya cook."
"It's Thaddeus and his wife and sons," she corrected.
"So?" he replied, resting the newspaper on the table.
She sighed. "Carrie--his wife? She was quite curt with me when the children and I visited."
Sully leaned forward in his chair, intrigued. "What do ya mean?"
"I don't know," she murmured. "She seemed quite bothered by the fact that we're from the East. That is, the East relatively speaking. She thought we had servants."
"Well, ya did. At least in Boston."
"But not in Colorado Springs," Michaela protested, tenderly massaging the baby's scalp with soap bubbles. "She thinks I don't know how the world works out here. I suppose she has had a lot more experience living this way, so far from everyone. I'm certainly not incompetent, however, am I? I want to start over with her, but if my supper is going to make them all ill that's not a good way to go about it."
He chuckled. "What'd you say to her?"
She turned her head to meet his eyes. "I didn't say anything, Sully. You'll see when she comes."
"Michaela, city folk and country folk don't mix, at least not too well. I bet it's hard for her to love somebody she thinks don't really understand her."
A trace of a pout formed across her lips as she carefully rinsed the baby's head. "You love me."
He smiled, standing up and giving Jack's nose a playful tap with his finger. "But I don't love the city ya came from. That life ain't for me."
"All done, Jack?" Michaela lifted the baby from the basin and laid him on a towel, wrapping it around him. "I know, Sully. The life we have now, together, is what's most important."
He kissed her cheek. "Just do the best ya can with supper. At least we know Thaddeus'll eat it."
She smiled, handing him the baby and drying his head with another towel. "Yes, we can count on that."
* * *
"We figure it'd be nice to see the place for a few days," Sully went on, taking a sip of coffee. "I think we're gonna miss everythin' here, though."
"San Francisco's nice I bet," Brian added. "But everythin' about Yosemite is so beautiful. I know I'll want to get back."
Michaela placed three more dumplings on the plate and then handed it to Carrie to pass back down. "That's the last of them, Mr. Donovan."
"Thank you, ma'am," Thaddeus replied, taking his plate from a wide-eyed Byron and digging in again. "You folks itchin' to go anywheres ya best get it out of your system by November. We're snowed in on all sides 'til spring. Every year fools try an' bring trains through Donner Pass and every year the tracks get blocked, trains're held up for days. Ya learn up here if ya try an' beat Mother Nature, she's gonna win nine time out of ten." He shoveled a large bite of stew and dumplings into his mouth.
"What's Donner Pass?" Brian asked.
"Route through the mountains south of here," he explained. "The winter of '46, before the railroad come, big group of eighty or so tried to go through. It snowed early that year and didn't quit 'til April. They were good an' stuck. Folks say just to stay alive they had to eat mice, their livestock, even the leather of their shoes." He swallowed another gigantic bite of food. "When things got bad enough...even each other."
Brian clutched his napkin in one hand. "The Donner Party. I remember readin' about this once in one of my books."
"It was real famous when it happened," Sully said. "In all the papers. Half of 'em didn't make it out."
"That's right," Thaddeus said. "Forty-seven I believe finally got to the other side of the Sierras the next spring."
"Are we gonna eat our shoes, Mama?" Byron spoke up.
"And mice?" Katie added. "And each oth-?"
"Hush. Of course not," Michaela reproached.
"We got lots of provisions stocked up here and more to come," Sully said. "Mr. Harper's givin' everybody plenty to eat to get us through the longest winter."
"I s'pose we'll manage to keep our shoes on our feet where they belong," Thaddeus added with a wink.
"Thank you for that lovely story, Mr. Donovan," Michaela spoke up. "Would you mind if we change the subject now?" She glanced at the younger children. "Byron, Katie. Why don't you tell Jim and Luke and everyone what we're learning in school."
"About animals," Katie said, smiling shyly at Jim. " ...Beavers, deers, raccoons."
"Birds, too," Byron added softly.
Michaela patted Katie's hand encouragingly. "About what they eat, where they live and what sort of habits they have."
"Next week Ma and I are gonna take 'em out to look for some of the animals they been studyin'," Brian said, sipping his water.
"Then we're going to put together a small book that has a page for each animal," Michaela explained. "Detailing everything we've learned about them."
"Ya won't have too much trouble findin' animals," Thaddeus remarked. "They're all over the place."
"And I can draw a picture on each page," Byron said.
"I didn't know there's a schoolhouse here," Carried spoke up. "Where is it?"
Michaela smiled. "Right here in our cabin. We brought some books from home. We're all learning." She glanced at Jim and Luke. "Did your boys go to school when you were living in Utah?"
"No, don't see the need," Carrie said.
"They can read and write good as any child, ain't that right, boys," Thaddeus said.
"Yes, sir," Jim and Luke said simultaneously.
"Taught 'em myself with the Good Book," Carrie went on. "I figure all they need to know is right in there."
"Certainly that gives them a good foundation," Michaela replied. "But other books have a lot to offer as well. Why, anything you could want information about you can find written down somewhere. As much as I value the Bible, it's not going to help Byron and Katie very much with their project about animals."
"A lotta nonsense is what they're fillin' ya with," Carrie retorted. "I've read books. I know what they teach. Greed, idleness, vanity and desire. Rubbish if ya ask me."
"You haven't read our books," Michaela said. "I see nothing in them but new facts and figures, information about far-off places, cities and towns, people and things."
Sully caught Michaela's eyes, taking a sip of his coffee. "S'pose if folks don't wanna read 'em, then that's up to them."
Michaela gazed back and slowly let out her breath, not wanting to further the argument in front of the entire table. "Yes, of course," she said quietly, grasping the handle of the kettle on the cloth beside her. "We're almost out of coffee. Excuse me while I brew some more."
* * *
Finally, he could wait no longer. The porch was as clean as she was going to get it and it was too muggy out to be working so hard. He wanted her to come inside.
He crossed the room and opened the door, cautiously stepping outside. He watched Michaela sweep for a few seconds, her eyes fixed on the floorboards and a trickle of perspiration sliding down her temple.
"Michaela? Are ya ... are ya almost done here?" he whispered.
"No," she said briskly, sweeping faster.
He nodded, leaning against the doorframe. "All right. I'll wait for ya then."
She sighed, stopping in place and resting her hands on top of the broom handle. "The sheer ignorance, Sully. Can you believe her? It's just astonishing."
"...Well, I s'pose she ain't doin' any harm."
"She is doing harm," Michaela insisted. "Those poor boys are going to grow up as uninformed and-and boorish as her."
"It's too bad. I bet they'd like goin' to school. But at least they know how to read and write. That's a good start."
"You're taking her side."
"What?" he breathed.
"You are," she accused. "You're taking Carrie's side over mine."
"I ain't takin' anybody's side," he said, resting his fist on the porch railing. "Ya both got good points. Book learnin' is important nowadays. But the Bible can be a real help to folks who believe it."
"And I'm not saying it can't be taught as well," Michaela replied. "But to say that it's the only book that should be read is absurd! I could let Jim and Luke borrow some of our books if Carrie would let me. But I suppose I don't have a chance with that. And their father. If he isn't the most vulgar, repulsive...."
"Don't say things you're just gonna regret later," Sully said softly.
"We just might starve this winter if that man's around," Michaela retorted. "He'll eat all our provisions!"
"Michaela, Thaddeus is a good man," Sully said. "A hard worker, a good husband. He's been nothin' but kind to all of us."
"He tracks mud all through our house and on our porch and it's sickening the way he spits," Michaela went on. "He consumes food like an animal at a trough. He's loud and outspoken and brings up topics that are entirely inappropriate. The Donner Party while we're trying to eat? For heaven's sake. Katie and Byron are going to have nightmares now and I may as well!"
He inhaled sharply. "So his timin' ain't perfect. But he is our neighbor and he's on Harper's team with me. And he's my friend, Michaela."
She handed him the broom and grasped the door latch, lifting it up. "Fine, he can be your friend. But he's not mine!"
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