"Was Robert E. hurt badly?" asked McKay.

     "Cuts and bruises, mostly," Sully said.  "The real injury was to his dignity.  But he'd gone through that kind of sufferin' plenty of times before, when he was a slave.  And he was determined that he wasn't gonna let it stop him.  Michaela wanted him to take it easy and rest for at least a day, but Robert E. was set on finishin' the repairs to his new house and movin' in on schedule."

     "Robert E. sounds brave—but foolhardy, under the circumstances," McKay remarked.

     "You gotta understand—Robert E. knew how most folks in town felt about him and Grace—people like Loren and Jake—and Hank," he said pointedly, glancing at the saloon-owner.  Hank wouldn't meet Sully's eyes, but stared down at the desk-top, his fingers toying with the pencil Andrew had been using to update the patient files.  "But even though a lot of folks were prejudiced against blacks—the same as they were against Indians, immigrants, or Chinese—over time people in town had come to accept Robert E. and Grace.  Robert E. was a good blacksmith, plus he did all kinds of repair work for people.  He even designed and helped to build the schoolhouse—though he knew negro and Indian children might never be welcome there.  And folks liked Grace's cookin', so they came to the café.  Folks needed Robert E. and Grace.   So as long as they did their jobs and stayed in their 'place'—the townsfolk were willin' to 'tolerate' them.  Robert E. figured it would all blow over, given a little time—the same way Jake got over bein' mad when Robert E. set up his livery across the way from Jake's barber shop.  What Robert E. didn't figure on was the power Bancroft had over the men in town—fillin' them full of hate and turnin' them into a mob.

    “Michaela and Matthew went lookin' for Bancroft.  They found him in Jake's shop.  I wasn' there, but Michaela and Matthew told me about it later.  Michaela didn't mince no words—she asked Bancroft what gave him the right to beat a man for buyin' a house.”  Though Sully's resentment toward Bancroft was clearly evident in his tone and manner, his voice was tinged with pride for Michaela's courage and spirit.  "Bancroft pretended he didn't know what Michaela was talkin' about—and Jake backed him up—said they was all in a meetin' and any man in town would say the same.  Matthew spoke out too—said how unfair it was to sneak up on a man and outnumber him twenty-to-one.  But Michaela told him not to lower himself to Bancroft's level.  Then she started in on Loren and Jake.  Said it was one thing for a stranger to act like that, but how could they?  She told them she was ashamed of them—that Robert E. was their friend.

     "Then Jake said a strange thing," Sully went on.  "He said Michaela was right, that they should be ashamed of themselves.  That Robert E. had been in town a long time and they should be helpin' him out.  He left the shop and headed over to Robert E.'s.  Everybody followed him.  On the way, he ran into Hank."  Sully looked at the saloon-owner.

     Hank got up from the desk and wandered over to the window.  He stared out at the night, his thumbs hooked in his belt.  Face averted from Sully and McKay, he resumed speaking.

     "I asked Jake what was goin' on," he said in a low voice.  "Jake said Dr. Mike told them we should apologize to our new neighbor—help him out.  Robert E. had been paintin' the front door.  There was a bucket of whitewash and some brushes.  Me and Jake—we started sloppin' paint on the door handle, the window . . .   I said—if Robert E. didn't like it I could fix it—and I smashed the window.

     "Robert E.tried to fight back—but some boys grabbed him, pinned his arms.  He said it was his house, and he was gonna live there.  Then Jake--picked up the bucket of paint and dumped it all over Robert E.  Grace and Michaela and Matthew—Horace too—tried to help him but the other men stopped them.  Jake leaned over to Robert E., grabbed his face and said, 'NOW you can live here.'  Then, we went away."

     "That's when I got there," Sully spoke again.  "I saw Robert E. from a ways off, and I ran to him and yelled 'Who did this?'  I wanted to help Robert E. but he said it was his fight.  I said he couldn't fight them all alone, but he said if he couldn't, he didn't deserve to have the house.  Michaela said he deserved what anybody else did—and he shouldn't have to pay for it like this.  But Robert E. didn't listen—he just went back to paintin' his front door.

     "Then Bancroft decided to try a new angle.  He went to Michaela, all mealy-mouthed.  Said he'd caused a lot of pain and wanted to fix it.  He offered to buy the property back from Robert E., at ten percent over the price Robert E. paid.  Michaela asked why he was tellin' her.  Bancroft said Robert E. wouldn't listen to him, but he'd listen to Michaela—and if Michaela cared about Robert E. at all, she'd urge him to take the offer.  Bancroft didn't make an outright threat, but his meanin' was clear.

     "Well, Robert E. wouldn't take the offer.  I think Grace would have given in—bein' afraid for Robert E.'s life.  But Robert E. wasn't gonna let anyone buy him off, or scare him into givin' up his dream.

     "Bancroft went back to Michaela.  This time he didn't put on any fake manners.   He showed her a copy of her mortgage, and threatened to sell it to another bank, which would have forced her to pay off the loan in full.  When Michaela said he couldn't just sell her mortgage, Bancroft said he could, if he thought property values would go down 'cause of a 'certain element' movin' into town.  Michaela said that was extortion—Bancroft said it was 'business.'  Then he went further.  He said he'd given Michaela the chance to make this whole thing 'go away'—that she could have swayed Robert E. to take the offer.  And that anything that happened from then on would be on her conscience."  Sully glanced again at Hank.  Hank turned from the window and walked slowly back to face them.

     "That night we rode into town again—but this time we went to the café," he said.  "We overturned tables, pulled down shelves, smashed the dishes and glasses.  Pulled down Grace's sign, too.  Then some of the boys started shootin'.   Loren wouldn't join in—Jake asked him what he was waitin' for, and Loren said he didn't know we'd be usin' guns.

     "Sully came runnin' from the clinic—he tackled one of the men and threw him to the ground, but then somebody else hit Sully on the back of the head.  Suddenly Robert E. showed up with a shotgun.  Grace and Michaela were right behind him.  They tried to stop him, but he just fired into the crowd.  We found out afterwards that he'd hit Loren—gave him an armful of buckshot.   Robert E. firin' at us was enough to drive us off, and we rode away."

     "The next mornin' Michaela, me and Matthew went to the café and tried to help Grace and Robert E. clean up the mess and put everythin' back together," Sully chimed in.  "While we were at it, Dorothy came over from the general store and begged Michaela to come back with her and take care of Loren, who was hurt.  When Michaela got there, and saw the buckshot in Loren's arm, she knew he'd been one of the men who tore up the café.  Loren tried to deny it, but Michaela told Dorothy the truth about what happened.

     "But Dorothy refused to believe that Loren and the others has done anything so wrong—she thought all it amounted to was a few men feelin' rowdy and turnin' over a few tables.  The way she saw it, Robert E. was the dangerous one, for firin' into the crowd like he done.

     "Later, Michaela and Matthew went to the café for lunch.  It was deserted—not a single customer.  Grace didn't understand what was goin' on, but I did—I'd been to the general store and picked up a copy of the Gazette that Dorothy had just printed.  On the front was an article about what happened at the café the night before, makin' Robert E. out to be a dangerous troublemaker.

     "Michaela ran into Bancroft.  He asked if she'd read the fine print on her mortgage—gettin' ready to threaten her again.  But Michaela stood her ground.  She told him to take the clinic, do whatever he wanted with her mortgage.  She said she'd pitch a tent, or practice out of her wagon—whatever she had to.  But she'd never give in to the likes of him.

     "I guess after that, Bancroft decided that threatenin' Robert E. and hurtin'—maybe ruinin'—Grace's business wasn't good enough for him and his cronies," Sully went on bitterly.  Staring at Hank coldly, he said, "Do you want to tell the Sergeant about what happened next, or should I?"

     Hank didn't acknowledge Sully's question, but after a long silence, he said stiffly, "That afternoon, while Robert E. was workin' over at the house and Grace was alone in the café, three boys wearing robes and hoods—went after Grace.  One of 'em grabbed her and held his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream.  The second one stood watch while the third—took a razor and . . . cut off all her hair."

     "Would you happen to know who it was who did it?" Sully asked challengingly.  McKay was watching Hank carefully as well.

     Hank didn't answer.

     "I guess it don't really matter," Sully spoke again after a moment.  "The way I see it, makes no difference who they were, or whether it was three men or thirty—every one of you carries the blame for what happened."  Hank's face was turned slightly away, and his long, wavy hair fell forward, obscuring his eyes, so Sully couldn't read his expression.

     More quietly, Sully continued, "Michaela and me offered to let Robert E. and Grace stay in the barn at the homestead—we were afraid it wasn't safe for them in town.  That night, while we were eatin' supper, we heard a commotion outside.   It was Bancroft and the others.  They were burnin' a cross in the yard.  Bancroft was yellin' that oath.   We ran out on the porch and I screamed at them to get off my land, but Bancroft said they wasn't goin' anywhere and told his men to teach us a lesson.   He  started backin' up, wavin' his arms at the others to get them to attack—when suddenly a sleeve of his robe caught fire from the cross.  He run off, and the others followed."

     "Bancroft's sleeve was on fire?" McKay repeated, recalling Hank's earlier reference to Bancroft's arm, and Sully's remark about Michaela.

     "Yeah," Sully said, noting that McKay had made the connection.  "I'm gettin' to that now.

     "Next mornin',  Grace and Robert E. packed up and went back to town.  They didn't want to put us in any more danger by stayin' on.  I offered to stay with them till things calmed down, but Robert E. refused—said it was his fight.  There was no budgin' him.

     "But that didn't stop Michaela and me from goin' after Bancroft on our own.  That afternoon we went into town lookin' for him—found him in the saloon.  Hank was there, and Jake—plus one of Bancroft's 'boys.'

     "Michaela went up to Bancroft.  She was furious, but she spoke real quiet.  She said, 'How dare you burn a cross at my home.'  Bancroft acted all insulted.  Said he was gettin' tired of these accusations—so unless we had any proof, to take ourselves outside and 'tell it to a fencepost.'

     "I grabbed his arm and pulled up the sleeve.  The skin was all red and burned, and covered with blisters.  I said, 'There's your proof!'

     "Michaela said if he didn't get some care for the arm he was gonna lose it.  Bancroft said Jake took care of it already.  Michaela asked how.  Jake spoke up—said he used linseed oil and lime water.  But Michaela said the fluid needed to be removed from the blisters, and a proper dressin' put on.

     "Bancroft got real sarcastic.  He said, 'Let me see if I got this straight—after all that you say I've done, you are now offering to help me?'

     "I could see from Michaela's face how torn she was—between her anger at this man and her obligation as a doctor.  But her doctor's oath won out—for the moment.  She said, 'I 'spose I am.'

     "Bancroft looked at her with real hatred.  He said, 'Well, I find that mighty funny—because I would never let you touch me after you touched a dirty nigger!'

     "That was it—we'd both had enough.  It was clear that Bancroft was ruled by his hate—he'd never see reason.  Michaela said, 'I feel sorry for you!'  She turned and started to walk out.  I followed her.  Then, from behind us, Bancroft said, 'You should feel sorry for yourself—and you should watch your back—you still got those little ones at home!'"

     As Sully repeated Bancroft's venom, McKay saw his eyes glitter with anger.  A muscle ticked in his tense jaw.

     "When Bancroft mentioned the kids, somethin' snapped inside me," Sully went on in a low, but ominous voice.  "Michaela reacted the same way.  She went back to Bancroft and said, 'Are you threatenin' my children?'  Bancroft answered, 'I'm just sayin'—a lot of people don't take kindly to sympathizers!'

     "I pushed past Michaela, and went up to Bancroft," Sully said softly.   Barely above the level of a whisper, he added, "I told him, 'If you lay a hand on them--I'll kill you.'  Then I grabbed his face to make my point."   Unconsciously, his hand clenched in a fist, as if he were remembering how it felt to squeeze the banker's flesh.

    Making a visible effort to control his rage, he said, "Bancroft looked scared for the first time.  The man with him started toward us, but he musta been spooked by the look on my face, 'cause he backed off.  After a moment, I made myself let go—and then we walked out.

     "We went back to the clinic.  Michaela said she never thought she'd hear me say that to anyone—but I said no one had ever threatened the children before.  Then Michaela said she realized that it wasn't Robert E. who was puttin' the kids in danger—it was her.  I told her she was standin' up for what's right, just like she always done.  Michaela confessed that she was relieved when Robert E. and Grace left the homestead—that she was afraid for all of us.  I told her I cared about Robert E. as much as she did, but that he wanted to stand up for himself—that there was only so much you could do for somebody.  Michaela said that wasn't what I used to say.  And I told her that back then, I only had myself to worry about.  Michaela said it was the same for her.  But now--there was the children.

     "Just then, Matthew, Colleen and Brian came in.  I said maybe we should ask them—see how they felt.  Michaela asked them what they thought.  Matthew said he thought Robert E. was wrong, when he said it was his fight.  That a lot of people had died, fightin' for his rights.  Brian repeated somethin' Robert E. had told him—that no man had the right to own another man.  Then Matthew added that he thought we should help Robert E.  And Brian and Colleen agreed.

     "I wish I could say that that was the end of it—that the worst had happened.  But it wasn't over quite yet," he added quietly.  McKay looked  from Sully to Hank, and waited for the end of the story.