Colleen looked around the apartment with a smile. Two days of seemingly endless scrubbing, polishing, dusting and arranging had transformed the bare walls into a home. Her home. The furniture she and Andrew had chosen was beautiful in the room. It was all of a lightly colored oak, with hunter green, dusty blue, rose, and ivory upholstery and accents. It was clean, comfortable and pretty, thanks to Erin, Clara, Nathaniel and Alexandra's help. Andrew would love the way it looked finished.
Michaela read the latest letter from Philadelphia with a smile. Thankfully, Colleen wrote, all was well. Michaela was thrilled to find out that the problem with Collins was all behind them, and that she and Andrew had settled back into their marriage and normal life.
As much as she had previously doubted the two marrying so young, it was proving to turn out much better than she had thought earlier. Everything was going well. Brian was doing excellently in school and seemed quite happy,
Matthew was smiling for the first time in months since Emma had returned,
Grace was prospering as her second trimester began, Jake and Theresa were doing well,
Dr. Bell had taken over Andrew's duties with no problems, Loren seemed quite content with his new found "friend",
Dorothy and Cloud Dancing were happy, and she and Sully were living a normal, happy existence for awhile. Now, all that remained was to figure out what was troubling Gretta so.
Three or four days passed. Colleen and Andrew were busy trying to furnish their new apartment, Grace and Robert E. were happily re-decorating Anthony's old room for the baby, and Michaela had finally caught up with all of her patients, and enjoyed a steady stream of work the whole day long.
Brian, on the other hand, ran into a problem. The day after he had seen Sarah in the orchard, he ask her at school, whether or not she could teach him some chords on the violin.
"Violin?" she asked, puzzled. "Brian, I don't even own a violin, much less play one. I play the piano, like you. Remember?"
"But I distinctly saw you playing the violin when I saw you in the orchard!"
"Well, you probably just saw some branches, because I don't play the violin. Come on, let's go for a walk!" And then she grabbed his hand and off they went.
But now, he was puzzled. He remembered her playing the violin, and it just didn't make sense.
After school, a few days afterwards, he went back to the orchard at the same time as his first visit, around five o'clock. When he came upon the fruit trees, he heard singing, a different tune this time, than the last two times, something sad, and frightened. And this time, someone was singing foreign words. He then, saw the girl. He got closer, closer, closer, the music stopped suddenly.
"And do I have an audience tonight?"she asked, turning around. It wasn't Sarah.
She had blue eyes(very light, hinted with grey), Sarah had brown eyes. She was taller than Sarah, she was taller than HIM! And her hair was redder than Sarah's could pretend to be, probably because it was naturally red. She had a few freckles sprinkled over her nose, but they were hardly noticeable. She was cute, pretty, but not beautiful. Her hair was straight and silky, and now it fell over her shoulders.
"And is my one-man audience mute as well?"
"N-no," Brian stammered. "I'm sorry, I thought you were my... I thought you were someone else."
"Well," The girl continued, "As you can see, I'm not someone else, but me. What's your name?"
"Brian Cooper. What's yours?"
"Brianna Harding. But everyone just calls me Bree."
"Hey."
"Hello." There was an awkward pause. "Did you like my music?" Bree asked finally.
"Um, yeah. It was really pretty." Brian fumbled.
"It's an aria from one of Mozart's operas. My mother just got me the music for it. It just came in this morning from Denver."
Brian was interested, but so many questions crowded his mind, he decided to change the subject.
"Why have I never seen you in school?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't go to school. It's too far, and we can't afford enough horses for me and my three sisters to ride. We just moved here a year ago, anyway.
Father was ill, and the doctor said a better climate would do him good, so he bought this place.
My mother teaches my sisters and I. I come here to practice my music, because no one ever bothers with this part of the orchard, it's pretty much been forgotten. No one comes here but me, so I can practice as long as I please. Did you just happen to find it? Or did you know of it before?"
"Oh, I just stumbled here a few days ago, and heard you practicing. I then I came back just recently, and heard my friend Sarah singing, so you must not be the only one who comes here. I thought she was you, but then she told me she didn't play the violin, and I knew I had seen you play it, so I came back to find out who you were."
"And now you know," Bree chimed. "My mother will be calling me soon for supper. I'd best go. But it was very nice meeting you, Brian."
"It was nice meeting you too," Brian replied. With a hearty handshake, and wave, they went their separate ways.
Thick black smoke filled the air as the train trudged to a heavy stop. Passengers filed out onto the platform, covering it completely.
One tall, well-dressed young man stepped off cautiously. He took off his hat. The sun streaked through his dark, well brushed, blond hair, and illuminated his deep green eyes under thick eyebrows. Speaking quickly to one man about luggage, and stopping briefly only to ask directions, he made his way to the clinic. He rang the bell and waited anxiously.
"Come in!"
He turned the door-handle and did just that.
"Dr. Quinn?" He asked in a thick accent.
The woman sitting at the desk blushed with pride answered, "Yes, I'm Dr. Michaela Quinn. How may I help you?"
"My name is Nicholous Ryan. I believe that you are caring for my sister?"
Michaela stood up jerkily, her heart skipping a beat.
"Yes," she managed to say. 'How remarkable' she thought, 'that he looks so much like Gretta!'
She continued "She's at my home, caring for my daughter. I'm not very busy at the moment, I could show you the way."
"That would be most kind of you."
Walking clumsily, trying to regain her poise (for THIS WAS the famous Nicholous Ryan!) she grabbed her coat and led him out the door.
Matthew and Emma walked towards Grace's Cafe, talking up a storm.
What were her plans? What were his plans? Emma talked about the great cities she had visited, and certain funny instances of travel, and Matthew talked about what had happened in the past year. Sully being chased by the army, the epidemic, Colleen and Andrew's wedding, about Jake and Teresa, Dorothy and Cloud Dancing. They had, they realized, a lot of catching up to do!
"So, when Gilda goes back on the road, will you go with her?" Matthew asked, scooting a chair back for Emma.
"I don't know," came the reply. "Thank you." and she spread a napkin over her lap.
Matthew set down, his heart beating faster and faster, yet the circulation in his hands seemed to be getting slower and slower. Emma might stay in Colorado Springs! "I think," she continued, "That I'd like to stick to my old plan. I've seen so much of the world, made a fresh start. Maybe, people here have forgotten about.."
She stopped there and looked at Matthew. He and his family had been the only ones (besides Loren) who had believed in her after she decided to leave Hank's. And yet, she still had felt that Dr. Mike, and the whole town, disapproved of them being together. But none of the speculation and gossip had seemed to bother Matthew.
"I'm sure things would work out right this time around," Matthew said cheeringly. "But still, maybe things would be better, if you got married."
"Married?" They both blushed to the roots of their hair.
Michaela and Mr. Ryan were mostly silent on the trip to the homestead. When they did speak, it was about Gretta. However, Michaela was relieved when they pulled up to the driveway.
"Maybe I should go get her?" Michaela suggested. Mr. Ryan simply nodded in agreement. there was no telling how Gretta would act when she saw her brother.
Michaela ran up the steps. Once inside, she called up the stairs.
"Gretta!"
Gretta was sitting on the floor playing with Katie. "Ma!" Katie cried with delight when she heard Michaela call Gretta.
Smiling, Gretta scooped up the little girl and headed down the stairs. She stopped short when she saw her brother.
Gretta's face was deathly pale as she handed Katie to her mother. Michaela was concerned that Gretta was about to faint, but the color returned to Gretta's face as she said, "Nicholous. What a pleasant surprise. If you'll excuse me, I have errands to run. I'll be back later, Dr. Mike." And she quickly brushed past Michaela and Nicholous, practically running out the door before either of them thought to stop her.
Gretta arrived at Dr. Bell's office. She hoped he wasn't seeing any patients now. She needed to talk to him. Perhaps he would understand.
She just couldn't go back to Switzerland. Not now. Gretta knocked on the door before she entered. "Gretta." Ryan said, "So now you've decided to see me. Wonderful. Let's discuss the last time I ran into you." "Not now, Ryan." Gretta said, breathlessly. "I need to talk to you." "Go on, then." Ryan said, still quite a bit annoyed with her regarding their last meeting. "Ryan...my brother is here. He wants to take me back to Switzerland. I don't know what to do...I..."
"Then you should go back to Switzerland, my dear. That would be best for all concerned!"
Gretta and Ryan looked up. Daphne had arrived.
"Mother!" Ryan snapped. "What do you have against her anyway?"
Daphne looked put out. She looked at Gretta and said angrily "You just tell that stuffed up hen mother of yours that I'm HAPPY! Even if she's not! She can't ruin my happiness! Your father dying was the best thing that ever happened to the world! Especially to me! I'm not sorry to see him go! I'm GLAD he's dead! You just tell that piggish family of yours.." She broke off as tears spilled down her cheeks. Daphne turned and ran out the door. Ryan looked at Gretta, she looked back at him, eyes full of tears.
What in the world? they thought in unison.
In Philadelphia, however, things were gay and happy at last. The weather was beautiful, and Colleen and Andrew always met each other for lunch at on of the sidewalk cafes that lined the streets. They occupied their Saturdays by looking for furniture. So far it had been an almost fruitless hunt. Andrew was wealthy, exceedingly, but Colleen refused to let him touch a penny of it, except for the rent.
"What if some emergency happened again?" She asked. "What would we do if we didn't have that money? We'd be sunk! We'd be in a sea of debt just when we couldn't swim. We'll need that money for my tuition (though when I'm a doctor I'll pay you back every cent).
Besides, what if all those little Cooks decide to follow in the father's footsteps and go to Harvard? Where would that money come from?
And eventually we'll have to buy a house, and living in a big city like Philadelphia will cost more than living in Colorado Springs. And don't we want to travel a bit before we settle down?
I want to start a family, but I'd also like to see some of the world. No, we'll need that money for more important things. Let's just make do with what we have."
And so that settled it. Colleen rarely over-ruled Andrew (she always wanted him to have the last say) but in matters where her future family was concerned, she put her foot down, small as it might be.
So they went around looking for furniture that they could afford on Andrew's salary. But one Saturday, after all their hunting, they finally found some good game.
They found the parlor furniture that Colleen absolutely adored. It was walnut, rather old, but not out of fashion, with vines of plump grapes carved on the back and legs, and upholstered in rose velvet.
There was a settee, a high-back chair, and two armless parlor chairs. They also found a beautiful coffee table, with two matching end tables.
For the greatroom, since they had no family of their own, yet, and since it was naturally behind the parlor, they decided to make it a drawing room, and eventually, a drawingroom/music room, whenever they bought a piano.
They decided, too, that it should be airy, for it had great windows that looked out into the rose garden in the back.
So they bought two armchairs, upholstered in a creamy damask, with ghost stripes, and a drop-leaf table to sit in between them. Eventually, too, they would have a couch.
They bought a small bookshelf to sit on one wall, and another end table, with a white marble top, to sit in between the two center windows. They would put an arrangement on it, they planned. And then Colleen saw it.
Tall, majestic, and beautiful, the great Grandfather clock looked like a king. With a bright face, gold hands, a clear chime that sounded like birds singing, Colleen fell in love with it the first time she saw it. Andrew bought it for her, for her birthday, he said, because no matter how much she loved it, Colleen didn't want to by anything unnecessary.
They would put it in the drawing room, to fill up some space. The small bedroom, next to their own, they decided, would be Andrew' study/library, until they needed it for a nursery. Andrew bought a heavy, large desk made of cherry, and they bought him a large, well-padded armchair, upholstered in burgundy leather. The last thing for that room, they bought giant bookcases, and a well-organized file, in which Andrew could keep his papers well organized. Next came the kitchen. A stove, a beautiful black stove, trimmed in nickel, had four burners, and a little place on the side in which Colleen could keep water. Whenever she used the stove, the water would heat up quickly, so she never had to wait and heat water in pots. This way let you heat more water at a time, more efficiently.
"How remarkable!" Colleen cried.
They also bought a solid oak table with four chairs, two coal heaters, and a hard-coal heater for various rooms. Then came their bedroom. THEIR very own bedroom.
They bought a chifferobe, a dresser with triple mirrors on it, a full-length mirror, two side tables, both a highboy and lowboy, a chest of drawers, and a big, four-poster bed. It was a rice-set, the woman had said, made of a maple. Really, they had over-indulged, but it was worth it to them. They would have this furniture a long time, and there were so many rooms to furnish! When the furniture had been moved it, and Colleen and Andrew surveyed their new domain, Colleen suddenly threw her arms around Andrew's neck, kissed him, and shouted for the whole world to hear,
"I love you Andrew Cook!"
Michaela set a cup of tea on the table for Nicholous Ryan.
"I still do not understand why she ran off," Michaela mused.
"Gretta is most likely scared to come back. But she shouldn't. She has left her family and homeland for too many years. She should return someday...and face the truth," Nicholous Ryan said calmly. He took a sip of his tea, not noticing Michaela looking at him with a strange look. There was something about him that she didn't like, but she didn't know what it was.
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