Chapter 3

“Michaela …. Sully …. You alright?” called Dorothy anxiously as she emerged from the woods with Katie on her hip, her eyes still on the cloud of dust receding into the distance. “I didn’ know if they were gonna let ya be …”

Michaela nodded mutely and reached for Katie, whom she embraced protectively.

“I saw ‘em comin,” explained Dorothy. “Had a hard time keepin’ Katie quiet while they were here.”

“Thank-you,” rejoined Michaela softly, still striving to regain her equilibrium.

His eyes fixed on Michaela, Sully observed the symptoms of shock set in – the trembling, the pallor of her skin. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and drew her close. “They’re gone,” he said matter-of-factly. “An’ we’re all alright … thanks to Brian.”

She nodded, trying to control the trembling. Then she reached out to her son. “Thank-you,” she murmured sincerely. “You were very brave …”

The boy reddened embarrassedly, then shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

After an awkward silence in which nobody seemed to know what to say, Sully suddenly recalled the present reality. He straightened and said with some urgency, “The fire Michaela … a lady’s hurt … Cloud Dancin’s with her .. but she needs ya …”

Michaela’s eyes flew to his. “She’s burnt?” she asked, already regaining her composure. She strode around the wagon, heading for the driver’s seat.

“Nah … she aint burnt,” replied Sully reluctantly. “She’s … she’s got a head wound an’ a bad cut … Cloud Dancin’ says she’s losin’ a lot o’ blood …”

Michaela nodded and handed Katie to him, before stepping up into the wagon. “You and Brian ride and lead us to the homestead,” she instructed. “We should get to her quickly.” The others hurriedly mounted their horses or settled themselves into the wagon and they set off over the rough terrain.

*******************
Cloud Dancing swiped at the blood that continued to pour from the wound on the woman’s face. He’d released the pressure he’d been maintaining on the wound, hoping the bleeding would have stopped, but it obviously had not. He sighed in exasperation and applied pressure to it again. He realised that her condition was critical. She was growing paler by the minute and her pulse was too rapid. He’d have given anything to be carrying some yarrow root on him to slow the bleeding. Again he glanced in the direction Sully had taken. It seemed to have been an age since his brother had ridden out, though he recognised that in situations like this, time was never as it seemed.

Again he felt for a pulse. It was weak now, too weak, too rapid. He glanced around at the destroyed home and surrounds. To see this terrible outcome of hate in contrast to their time up north in the indian territory made his blood run cold. He could understand the hate, in fact he sometimes felt it, probably just as deeply as the dog soldiers, but to give vent to it by killing innocent people – that went against everything he believed in.

He again bent forward over the woman in an attempt to ascertain whether she was still breathing. It was then that he felt the hard metal against his ribs. He took a deep breath and raised his wary eyes to those of a frightened blue-eyed boy child of no more than nine years of age. A tiny fair-haired girl not much older than Katie hovered behind the boy who held a heavy, double barrelled shotgun in his shaking hands. “Leave my ma be,” he demanded angrily, his eyes welling with tears. When Cloud Dancing did not move, he repeated with a menacing shake of the firearm, “Leave her be, I said …”

“I cannot take my hand away from your mother’s wound,” replied Cloud Dancing calmly. “It is still bleeding.”

“You’re tryin’ ta kill her,” the child accused. “Just like pa an’ Hugh … You go away or I’ll shoot ya … I swear I will …”

“I am not trying to kill her,”  the medicine man returned, keeping his tone low. “She is badly hurt … I have some friends coming who will help her …”

“They’re comin’ back?!” exclaimed the boy, his eyes wide with horror, his trembling increasing. The little girl behind him responded to his terror by setting up a frightened wail, clinging to his belt loop and trying vainly to drag him backwards towards the charred ruins of their house. “You aint gonna git May an’ me,” the boy screamed. “I’ll kill ya I will …”

“I am not going to hurt you or your mother,” explained Cloud Dancing in a quiet tone. “I would never do that …”

“You an’ them other indians killed pa an’ Hugh,” accused the little boy loudly. “An’ I aint gonna let ya hurt me …” Behind him the little girl was now quietly sobbing.

“I said I would not do that … I was not one of those who attacked your family and home,” repeated Cloud Dancing, now conscious of galloping horses and the rumbling of a wagon drawing near.

Only a few seconds later the two terrified children also heard the approach of strangers. The boy immediately raised his rifle, defensively pointing it down the rough track leading to the yard. Cloud Dancing saw his chance and grabbed the barrel, turning it up to the sky, and then grasped the boy tightly in the crook of his arm. As the child struggled and his sister looked on in terror, Cloud Dancing crooned quietly, “I am not going to hurt you …. I am not going to hurt you … My friends will help your mother …”

Sully signalled for Michaela to halt the wagon some way back from the burnt out homestead. He rode back to speak with her and Dorothy. “I think it might be a good idea for the kids ta stay here,” he recommended solemnly. “It aint a pretty sight …” When Michaela looked about to question him, he added, “You don’ mind stayin’ here with ‘em … do ya Dorothy?”

The older woman regarded him quizzically and then nodded her head in agreement. Sully slid from his horse and then lifted Michaela down from the wagon. She reached back for her medical bag and they started down the track. They had taken only a few steps when Sully swung back. “Where are you headin’ son?” he asked of Brian who had dismounted and was following close behind.

“I’m goin’ with you an’ ma,” he replied with some surprise. “Ya might need me for somethin’.”

“I said it might be better for you to stay at the wagon,” said Sully, his tone firm.

Brian frowned. “With the kids,” he muttered wryly. “A little while back ya both thanked me for bein’ brave … I aint a little kid no more …”

Sully swallowed. “When I said what you’ll see aint pretty I meant it son. Reckon it’d be better if ya didn’ have ta …”

Brian’s eyes glinted. “Like I said … I aint a kid anymore … I can take it,” he insisted.

Michaela had been watching this exchange with increased foreboding. “It seems there’s something you’re not telling us Sully,” she interjected. She gazed across at the house from which smoke still wafted into the still summer air. “How did this happen?” she asked, moving off again towards Cloud Dancing whom she could see in the distance.

“They were attacked,” replied Sully bleakly.

Michaela quickened her pace. “They were?” she asked in surprise. “Out here? By who?”

“Dog soldiers,” rejoined Sully tersely.

Her eyes flew to his and then it dawned on her. “The same ones we just encountered?” she asked in shock.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Probably,” he reluctantly replied.

She took a deep breath and set off at a run for Cloud Dancing and the injured woman. She entered the yard and was immediately brought up short by the sight of two bodies lying lifeless on the ground. “My God,” she murmured in shock. She bent to check the boy’s pulse, but Sully stopped her. “They’re dead Michaela,” he said quietly. “They were dead before we got here …”

She nodded, took a deep breath and crossed to where Cloud Dancing sat on the ground, one hand against the woman’s head, the other holding a terrified, writhing little boy. A tiny little girl sat numbly beside them. While Michaela immediately bent over the patient, Sully’s eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of the two, frightened, barefoot children. He instantly dropped to his knees and addressed the distressed boy. “Hey son,” he said quietly. “Its alright now … Dr Mike’s gonna take care o’ your ma …”

The boy stopped struggling and his reddened eyes widened in surprise. “She’s a doctor?” he asked. “A real doctor?”

“Uh huh …,” Sully replied. “She’ll do everythin’ she can for her … What’s your name?” As he spoke his eyes met those of Cloud Dancing. He casually picked up the shotgun from the ground, checked its barrel for ammunition, emptied the shot onto the ground and placed the firearm behind himself.

“I’m … I’m Douglas O’Connell an’ this is  May … she’s my little sister,” the boy replied shakily, resting his hand on the little girl’s  arm. His eyes abruptly welled with tears. “What about pa an’ Hugh?” he asked in desperation. “Maybe the doctor …”

“Dr Mike can’t help them now … I’m sorry …,” replied Sully, reaching for the little boy who went willingly into his arms as Cloud Dancing loosened his grasp. “We gotta concentrate on ya ma now …,” Sully reassured him, holding him close. He gazed around the yard. “Just the three o’ you kids?” he asked. The boy nodded and rested his head against Sully’s shoulder, suddenly exhausted by the traumatic experience. Sully held his hand out to May who was still sitting quietly on the ground, refusing to meet his eyes. The little girl seemed to focus on his hand, but remained unmoved, her own hands in her lap. “I aint gonna hurt ya, ya know,” intoned Sully softly. May remained aloof and Sully frowned, wondering how to reach the child.

Copying his new friend, her brother reached out and she immediately placed her hand trustingly in his. “Is … is ma gonna be alright?” he asked in trepidation, his eyes meeting Sully’s.

He frowned and then replied gently, “Probably too soon ta know …. But Dr Mike’ll do everythin’ she can …” Again the child’s eyes welled with tears, while his sister appeared totally detached from what was happening. Sully glanced up to see Brian in quiet conversation with Cloud Dancing as they watched Michaela work. He called, “Brian …?”

The boy’s eyes flew to his father’s and he hastened to his side. “Yeah pa,” he responded, his eyes raking the two small children in Sully’s care.

“I was thinkin’ maybe Douglas an’ May here might like a drink o’ water an’ maybe somethin’ ta eat … Could ya take ‘em over to Dorothy an’ check on the little kids for me?” asked Sully. When Brian looked about to protest, he added obliquely, “I wanna see if ya ma needs my help … an’ then we’re gonna haveta look after things around here.” His eyes indicated the children’s father and brother laying in the hot summer sun.

Brian immediately nodded. “Sure pa,” he said. “I’ll take ‘em to Miss Dorothy now … then when they’re settled … maybe I can come back here an’ help you an’ Cloud Dancin’.”

Sully nodded. “That’d be fine,” he said. “Maybe you could cut across the meadow to the wagon?” he suggested, hoping his son would realise that to keep to the track would take the children past the two bodies.

Brian nodded and reached out his hand to the two small children. “How about ya come with me?” he entreated. “My baby brother William an’ little sister Katie are over near our wagon … an’ I’m sure Miss Dorothy would like to meet the two o’ you …. She’s a real nice lady.” Again May refused to take a stranger’s hand, but grasped her brother’s and trotted off beside the two as they headed across the meadow.

Sully immediately stooped down beside Michaela. “How’s she doin’?” he asked fearfully.

She shook her head. “She’s lost so much blood … and this wound is deep …,” bemoaned Michaela as she continued to work.  

“Anythin’ I can git ya … help ya with?” he asked.

Again she shook her head. “No … but we have to think about what we’re going to do,” she said quietly. “They can’t stay here … there’s nothing left … and she’s going to need ongoing treatment … that’s if she survives …” She glanced across at the two bodies. “And we can’t just leave them laying there like that …”

Sully nodded. “If you don’ need us here … me an’ Cloud Dancin’ can bury the bodies … we’ll have a look around too … see if any stock survived the fire …,” he suggested.

“There’s nothing you can do here for now,” replied Michaela. “But as soon as she’s stabilised I’ll need your help to move her out of the sun …”

Sully nodded and rose from the ground, then he and Cloud Dancing hurried away towards the wagon to collect two shovels.

*********************
“Here alright?” asked Sully, as he and Cloud Dancing gently placed Faith McConnell on a blanket laid out in the shade of the trees near the Sully wagon.

Michaela nodded and immediately bent over her patient once more.

Sully glanced up at the sky. “Gittin’ late,” he remarked. “We’re gonna have ta decide what we do now … Can Mrs O’Connell be moved … or do  we camp here for the night?” he asked.

Michaela sat back on her heels. “I’d rather we moved on,” she said quietly. “Staying here is too distressing … and I’d like to get her and the children to the medical clinic as soon as possible.”

“Only a couple more hours travellin’ time left,” Sully informed her.

She frowned and her eyes went once more to her patient. “I’d feel better about it if she’d regained consciousness … but I’m almost certain there’s no skull fracture …,” she mused. “I could travel in the back with her and the children if you drove.”

“Means tomorrow’s journey wouldn’ be quite so hard … or long …,” Sully offered.

She determinedly nodded. “We’ll leave then … as soon as I’ve paid my respects at the graveside,” she said quietly. Her eyes fell on the two forlorn children sitting on the grass with Dorothy and Katie and she bit her lip. “No child deserves what they’ve been through today … its so unfair …,” she murmured heatedly.

“Nothin’ we can do about it but be here for ‘em,” he offered, beginning to pick up the many objects which had been offloaded from the wagon since they’d arrived.

Michaela’s eyes flew to his and then narrowed in anger. *Was* that all they could do? *Was* that all they could have done? Now was not the time, but they would talk about it later, that she was sure of.

**********************
There was such a pain in her head she found it difficult to breath. She was on a moving wagon, but there were no discernible voices. As the memory of what had happened flooded back, she froze and her jaw tensed. Peter, Hugh? She’d seen what that indian did to them. She’d seen them die right there before her eyes. She didn’t want to think what might have happened to the younger children – the thought was too much to bear, too overwhelming. She tried vainly to control the trembling she knew was about to overtake her body and tremulously raised a swollen eyelid to ascertain her surroundings. What met her eye terrified her. Nonchalantly riding close by the back of the wagon was an indian, older than those she remembered seeing, but an indian nonetheless. What was going to happen to her? She quickly closed her eye again and took a deep breath. Perhaps she was going to die too, and soon join her beloved husband and children. Unnoticed by her carers, a lone tear trickled from the corner of her eye and ran down the side of her face onto the blanket on which she was laying prostrate, and then Faith O’Connell thankfully lapsed back into unconsciousness.

Chapter 4

“Any change?” asked Sully of Michaela as she straightened after checking Mrs O’Connell’s vital signs yet again. They were sitting in a firelit campsite by the trail. The children slept near by, while Cloud Dancing and Dorothy were talking quietly a short distance away.

She shook her head. “The same,” she replied dully. “The best I can say is she’s no worse …”

“That’s good aint it? Means she’s fightin’,” he queried.

“I suppose so,” she responded dejectedly. “This is all so unnecessary … What’s going to become of them? … Little May hasn’t said a word since we found her ... and you can tell by Douglas’s eyes how deeply effected he is by all this …” She rubbed roughly at her own tired eyes and slumped forward to rest her head on her bent knees.

“You don’ think the lady’s gonna make it then?” surmised Sully in a whisper, his worried eyes on the two tiny children laying asleep between Brian and Katie.

“I didn’t say that,” she rejoined tensely. “I sincerely hope she does … and I’ll do everything I can to make it so …”

His brow creased as he regarded her. “What ya gittin’ at Michaela?” he asked, his tone low. “Somethin’s eatin’ at ya …”

She swallowed and remained silent.

“Michaela?” he tried again.

“I … I just don’t understand why you didn’t *do* something,” she muttered, her head again resting on her knees.

“What are ya talkin’ about?” asked Sully in astonishment. “We’ve done all we could for Mrs O’Connell an’ the kids …”

“Its not *them* I’m talking about,” rejoined Michaela more animatedly.

“Who then?”

“When you came upon Red Fox and his men with the children and I, you *knew* it was probably them who’d killed Mr O’Connell and his son … and you just let them go …,” she unexpectedly accused.

Sully’s brow creased in puzzlement. “What did ya expect me ta do?” he asked with increasing anger.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she admitted honestly. “But you just let them go …”

“An’ if I’d tried ta stop ‘em … we’d all be dead … Four of ‘em … armed with rifles … what could I have done?”

She turned tired, sad eyes on him. “But they’re out there Sully … and who knows how many other innocent homesteaders they’ll kill …”

“They’re angry,” he said quietly.

“So its alright to kill innocent people?” she exclaimed indignantly.

“Course not … but I still say I couldna stopped ‘em … not without gittin’ you an’ the kids hurt in the process …”

“So we’re alright, but many strangers out there might be killed … because we let them go …,” she finished dejectedly.

Sully shook his head in bemusement. “I still don’ know what I coulda done different,” he muttered. “We were lucky they went away as quietly as they did …”

“And meanwhile other innocent people get hurt …,” concluded Michaela with distaste. She glanced from her unconscious patient to the two now fatherless children. “I can’t bear to think about other families that might suffer the same fate as the O’Connells.”

Sully sighed. She was right, but what *could* be done about Red Fox and his men because Red Fox was right too - the army *was* stupid. They’d never catch him. “Tomorra, I’ll have a talk ta Cloud Dancin’ about it,” assuaged Sully. “See if he can think o’ somethin’.” When Michaela nodded in acknowledgement of his suggestion, he added, “You gonna try ta git some sleep now huh?”

She shook her head. “I need to keep checking Mrs O’Connell,” she informed him. “I don’t want her regaining consciousness in such a strange place and no-one awake to reassure her ….”

“Ya can’t stay awake all night Michaela,” he admonished without thinking.

Her jaw clenched and she turned to look at him, her eyes glinting in the firelight. “I don’t have much choice do I?” she said quietly. “Imagine if it was me lying there …”

He gulped. “Then I’ll stay up with ya,” he stated.

She shook her head. “You’ll have to drive the wagon all day tomorrow …. You get some sleep, I’ll be alright …”

He regarded her resignedly. No use arguing. He’d never win. He slid down until he lay on his back beside her and closed his eyes, hoping he’d feel her move and wake if anything happened.

*********************
Faith drifted in out of consciousness throughout the night and early morning. Sometimes she thought she could discern English-speaking voices, but that seemed too much to hope for. The pain in her head was unbearable, and the constant movement of the wagon beneath her left her nauseated and unable to concentrate. In her few lucid moments her thoughts turned to her two youngest children, Douglas and May. Where were they? Were they also dead, like Peter and Hugh? Unconsciousness became a haven where she didn’t have to see the painted faces, the raised rifles, the terror in Hugh’s eyes, didn’t have to smell the smoke or the blood, didn’t have to hear the screams and the shouts of triumph from the Indians, didn’t have to think about what might become of her.

It was shortly after lunch that Michaela noticed Mrs O’Connell’s eyelids fluttering and she bent over her, softly murmuring, “Its alright … you’re safe now … You’re with friends.”

She did not open her eyes, but her brow creased in puzzlement and then her heart began to pound. Could it really be that someone had found her, that the Indians were no longer a threat? She moaned softly and her tongue snaked out to dampen her dry lips. A wet cloth was placed to her lips and then she was gently eased up slightly so she could drink from a canteen. The cool water was heaven, but with increasing consciousness came realisation and it was terrifying. She slumped back against the blanket and her swollen eyes welled with tears. “Douglas? May?” she groaned. 

“They’re here … right here beside you,” offered Michaela softly and reassuringly.

She felt a small hand creep into hers and she squeezed it tightly. She strained to open her eye, and though blurry, she could make out the features of her youngest son. “Douglas?” she murmured softly, lovingly. He did not reply but rested his head against her breast. She brought her arm up to embrace him. “May?” she asked in trepidation.

“She’s here too mama,” returned Douglas softly.

He backed away a little and May moved in front of him, into Faith’s limited field of vision. “Sweetheart?” she murmured lovingly. The little girl immediately lay down in the cramped space beside her mother and pressed herself close.

With Katie and William sleeping peacefully beside her, Michaela watched the reunion of mother and children with tears silently coursing down her cheeks. She couldn’t bear to think of what this woman had suffered, would suffer over the coming days. She couldn’t imagine how it would feel to see your husband cut down and your son fatally attacked.

She glanced up at Sully’s back as he steadily steered the wagon homeward. She knew her verbal assault on him the evening before had been unreasonable, but her feelings of helplessness had overwhelmed her. She’d make it up to him. She’d make him understand how she’d been feeling. One thing was certain however. Something had to be done about Red Fox and his followers, or other families would suffer the same fate as the O’Connells.

**********************
“We’ll have ta git goin’ again Michaela,” urged Sully, looking up into the blue sky of the late afternoon. “We’ve still got maybe three hours of drivin’ before we git home …” They had stopped for a brief time to stretch cramped muscles before embarking on the last leg of their journey home.

Michaela sat back on her heels and nodded. “Are the children ready to leave again?” she asked.

Sully gave her a wry smile. “They’re gittin’ sick of the wagon,” he commented. “Even William … an’ he sleeps most o’ the time … But they’re ready.” He looked down at their patient. “How’s Mrs O’Connell doin’?”

“Much better … though she keeps drifting into unconsciousness,” Michaela informed him. “I know she felt even better when she knew Douglas and May were safe …”

Sully glanced across to where all the children and Dorothy and Cloud Dancing sat in the shade. “Dunno what’s gonna come of ‘em when when we git home … They don’ have anythin’ … ‘cept what they’re wearin’.”

“They have each other … We’ll have to make sure the three of them are looked after …,” she responded. “Meanwhile they can stay at the clinic.”

Sully acknowledged the sentiment with a nod and made for the group relishing their time out of the wagon.

Faith heard the conversation between the two adults. She fought to control the tears that once again threatened to fall. Dr Mike was right. They didn’t have anything now … she couldn’t even afford to pay for her medical care. She was a proud woman. She’d find a way to pay, and a way to support her children, in that she was determined. She swallowed and then tried vainly to open the eye that wasn’t bandaged. The sun made her squint, but she could just make out the group in the shade a few yards away. Her heart began to pound. There was the same indian again, the one she’d seen following the wagon. And there were Douglas and May quietly sitting close by. She struggled to sit up and watched in dismay as the woman who’d been introduced to her as Dorothy bent to speak quietly in the indian’s ear. Perhaps she and her children weren’t as safe as she’d thought. She managed to croak out, “Douglas … May … Come here please …”

The children looked up immediately and quickly ran to their mother’s side. “Up here with me,” she instructed, patting the blanket beside her. “I want you close by me …”

The children needed no further bidding. With Sully’s help, they climbed up into the wagon and hunkered down by their mother where they stayed for the remainder of the journey into Colorado Springs.

*************************
“Ma!” exclaimed Colleen as she opened the door to an insistent knocking just after sunset. “We didn’ expect you back tonight …” She stepped forward to hug her mother but was brought up short by her haggard appearance. “Is somethin’ wrong?” she asked immediately, her eyes darting to the wagon by the dimly lit porch and Sully attending to something, or someone, at its rear.

“We have a patient in the back of the wagon … You probably should get Andrew,” Michaela explained tiredly.

“Of course ma … right away,” said Colleen running back towards their living quarters at the rear of the clinic.

Cloud Dancing and Sully gently eased Faith forward and out of the wagon and then carried her into the clinic. “She has a severe concussion, a very deep laceration on her face which I stitched, and a variety of other lesser haematomas and lacerations on her upper body … I don’t believe there’s a skull fracture … though you might want to check yourself,” Michaela outlined to Andrew. “She’s been in the moving wagon all day, so she’s in considerable pain … though I don’t think it wise to give her anything too strong because of her head injury … perhaps some more willow bark tea …”

Andrew bent over the woman now prostrate on the clinic examination table and gently prodded at the swelling on her face and her skull. A few minutes later he straightened and   turned to Michaela. “I agree … there doesn’t appear to be a skull fracture … Do you mind if I remove the bandaging?”

“Of course not,” said Michaela wearily. “It should be changed anyway … conditions were far from sanitary out there ….”

While Andrew again bent over Faith, Colleen asked quietly, “What happened ma? Where did you find her?”

Michaela’s jaw clenched and her eyes glinted. “It was dog soldiers … they attacked her homestead … killed her husband and son … Two other small children are outside with Dorothy and Brian …”

Colleen frowned. “Dog soldiers ma?” she queried incredulously. “I didn’ know there were any left around here …”

“We were a lot further north than here … there’s a small band … we had an encounter with them ourselves …”

Colleen’s eyes opened wide. “They didn’ do anythin’?” she asked worriedly.

Michaela shook her head. “No … Sully stopped them …,” she replied concisely.

Andrew straightened. “No sign of infection … the best thing is probably to get her up into a comfortable bed …” He looked at his wife. “Colleen … could you ready the recovery room … check the bed?”

She nodded. “Of course,” she replied. “An’ I’ll fix the room next door for the two children … Alright ma?”

Michaela nodded gratefully. “I know she’ll want them close,” she averred. “They’ve all been through a terrible ordeal …”

*********************
Michaela stepped out of the recovery room into the lamp lit hallway and quietly pulled the door closed behind her. She ran her fingers tiredly through her hair and unexpectedly stepped straight into Sully’s arms. Instinctively she nestled into his embrace and rested her cheek against his chest.

“She settled alright?” he whispered, gently stroking her hair.

She nodded. “She’s better now she’s comfortable,” she replied. “But …”

“But?”

“She seems … well … she seems remote … almost resentful …”

“She’s bin through a lot … probably just startin’ ta sink in what’s happened.”

Michaela sighed. “I suppose so,” she admitted hesitantly.

“Ya sound worried …”

She shrugged. “Its probably just because I’m so tired,” she justified. “I’m sure it will all seem better in the morning …”

“So you’re ready ta go home now?” he asked, his hand lovingly massaging the nape of her neck. “Brian took Katie an’ William a while back …”

She peered up at him and explained softly, “There’s one more thing I want to do before we go home …”

His brow creased. “What’s that?” he asked in puzzlement.

“I want to go over to the mercantile … to speak with Loren and the Reverend … *then* we can go home … Alright?”

“They’ll both be there in the mornin’.”

“I … I think Mrs O’Connell might appreciate the Reverend’s assistance … perhaps even this evening …”

Sully smiled and kissed her forehead. “Shoulda guessed you’d be thinkin’ of the O’Connells,” he said quietly, proudly. “You want me ta come?”

She shook her head. “I won’t be long …,” she promised.

He again kissed her forehead. “I’ll be ready soon as you are,” he said tenderly. “Kinda lookin’ forward ta gittin’ home …”

Despite her weariness, Michaela smiled. After four years of marriage she knew that glint in her husband’s eye. Her stomach fluttered and her skin tingled. She would never cease to wonder how one look could stir her so. She stood on her tiptoes and claimed his eager mouth with hers for a kiss that bode well. At last, she whispered, “I won’t be long … I promise …” and moved swiftly down the hallway and stairs, her fatigue momentarily forgotten.

Continued ....