"Cloud Dancin'!  Ha ho," Sully said as his friend silently crossed the clearing and knelt beside them.

     "Hello, my brother—hello Dorothy," Cloud Dancing responded.  The two men grasped forearms.

     "It's good to see you, Cloud Dancin'," Dorothy said with the ghost of a smile.

     "I am glad to find you safe," he answered her softly.

     "You knew," Sully stated.

     Cloud Dancing nodded.  "The spirits showed me in a dream:  a wounded  hawk fell out of the sky and landed in the forest below, as her mate circled above.  The spirits told me this was where I should come."

    Hawks mate for life, Sully heard Michaela say in his mind.  They'd be lost without one another.  He stroked her cheek, remembering the day at the Red Rocks when they'd reunited the injured hawk he'd rescued with her mate, and watched them soaring together over the Garden of the Gods.  That day Michaela had offered to leave everything behind and go with him to Yellowstone, so that he could accept a job offered to him by President Grant—because it had been important to him.

    He blinked tears from his eyes and took another bandage from his bag.

    "How is Michaela?" Cloud Dancing asked.

    "Not good," Sully said, desperation in his eyes as he removed the blood-soaked bandage he'd applied only minutes ago, and replaced it with the fresh one.  "The bullet's still inside her and I can't stop the bleedin'."

    "The bullet must be removed," Cloud Dancing agreed.  "Dorothy, you are injured also."  He touched her cheek gently, a look if distress in his eyes.

    "I'm just roughed up a bit," Dorothy told him.  "I'll be all right."

    "You must have attention," Cloud Dancing said.  "You may have a bruise inside your head—what Michaela calls 'concussion' in her medicine."

    "I can wait," Dorothy insisted.  "But we got to get help for Michaela, and we don't have horses.  The man who attacked us drove them off."

    "I found your horses not far from here," Cloud Dancing told them.  "I will bring them to you."

    "That's good news—thank you," Sully said.  "I can get Michaela to Andrew faster."

    "Will you take her to the Chateau?" Cloud Dancing asked.

    "No—Andrew's in town, treatin' the injured from the renegade attack," Sully answered.

    "There has been another raid on the town?" Cloud Dancing said, looking sober.

    "Yeah," Sully replied.  "It was Black Moon."

    "Michaela and I—were on our way to town to help with the wounded—when we were attacked,"  Dorothy explained.  She went on to tell Cloud Dancing what had happened in town, and about how she and Michaela had been ambushed, as Sully completed his ministrations to Michaela.  As Dorothy described how they had been injured, Cloud Dancing's expression grew thunderous.

    "I am sorry I did not come sooner," he said.

    "You're here now," Sully said.  "I need to get Michaela to Andrew—can you bring the horses?"

    "If you go into town you will be captured," Cloud Dancing warned.  "I can take her for you--"

    "No," Sully said.   "I thank you—but I ain't leavin' Michaela. 'Sides, it's one thing for me to turn myself in—but I won't let you sacrifice yourself.  And you need to meet with Black Moon—it may be the only way to get him to stop the raids."

    "At least I will ride with you to the edge of town," Cloud Dancing stated.  "Dorothy will need my help."

    Sully looked at Dorothy.  She was being brave, minimizing her own injuries, but Sully knew she must be in terrible pain.  Clearly the spirits had been looking out for them by bringing Cloud Dancing to their aid.

    "You're right—I  couldn't have taken care of them both," Sully said.  "I am grateful the spirits brought you here."

    He paused for a long moment, afraid to ask the question.  But he had to know.

    "Cloud Dancin'—did the spirits—did they tell you—will she live?"  His eyes were like smudges of charcoal in his pale, strained face.

    Cloud Dancing placed his hand on Sully's shoulder compassionately.  "The spirits did not say," he said quietly.  He looked into Sully's eyes.  "Michaela is strong," he added.  "She will fight to stay with you."

    Sully nodded, unable to speak.

    "I will get the horses," Cloud Dancing said and disappeared into the trees.

    Within minutes he returned, leading the horses into the clearing.

    Cloud Dancing went to Dorothy, and lifted her into his arms.  Carefully he helped her up into her saddle.  Sully gave him his deerskin bag and canteen, which Cloud Dancing hung on Michaela's saddle.

    Sully gently gathered Michaela into his arms, and then handed her to Cloud Dancing.  He vaulted onto Flash, and then reached down to take Michaela back into his arms.  (She felt no more substantial than a feather, he thought with a stab of fear.  As if she were already starting to drift away from him.)

     Sully cradled Michaela close to his heart, and willed her to hold on just a little longer.

     Cloud Dancing climbed up behind Dorothy, and reached around her to take the reins.

     Gathering his own reins, Sully guided Flash toward the exit from the clearing, as Cloud Dancing and Dorothy followed.