Nine months later…
"Miss Thatcher! Miss Thatcher!" Five year old, Claire Thornton, called excitedly as she burst into the saloon. It was an early Wednesday morning, school wasn't due to start for another 45 minutes.
"Claire. Slow down. What's got you so excited?" Elizabeth said calmly with a smile as she got up, walked around to the little girl and knelt down to her level. Claire extended out her arm, a paper in her hand.
"My daddy is coming home. He got all the bad guys and now he's coming home!" The little girl exclaimed excitedly. She was so excited, she could barely even stay still.
"That's fantastic news Claire. When will he be back?" The teacher asked curiously.
"The Mountie man's letter says he'll be back by Friday." Claire beamed happily.
"That's great sweetie. Would you like to tell the class when everyone is here?" Elizabeth suggested happily. Claire suddenly gasped as her face lit up even more so.
"Miss Thatcher? Could we make a banner so that Daddy knows he's in Coal Valley? He might have forgotten what it looks like." The little girl asked.
"I doubt he could forget his home. But of course we could make a banner. What if we work on it as a class tomorrow? We can get ideas today and then tonight I'll get everything we need and then tomorrow we can spend the day making the banner." Elizabeth promised. Claire smiled before running out the room excitedly.
The woman was interested to meet the little girl's father. Claire and Elizabeth had become very close after Elizabeth found the little girl crying under her bed during a storm.
Flash Back- 2 weeks after Elizabeth's arrival
Thunder crashed and large bolts of lightning lit up the sky as the summer storm rolled into Coal Valley. It was later afternoon, Elizabeth had been helping Becky with some of her studies when the storm came, and decided to stay the night at Abigail, well Jack's, place.
After changing into some borrowed night clothes, the teacher heard quiet sobbing coming from Claire's room, where she had spent a week in when she first arrived. Elizabeth listened for a moment before knocking on the little girl's door.
"Claire, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked through the closed door. A short moment and no reply later, the teacher carefully opened the door, scanning the room for the little Thornton but the girl was nowhere to be seen. Quiet, muffled sobs continued, the concerned teacher followed to sound to Claire's neat bed.
Elizabeth carefully knelt down to the group and looked under the bed. Curled up in the back corner, behind a couple soft toys and an old blanket, was the tiny body of little Claire. The little girl's face was nuzzled into the blanket, muffling her sobs. The teacher's heart broke at the sight of the little girl.
"Claire? Sweetie, what's wrong?" Elizabeth asked, rolling herself under the bed, next to the little girl. Claire hesitantly moved the blanket from her face.
"Do you want me to get Miss Abigail?" The teacher questioned. Claire shock her head.
"Can you tell me what's going on then? Please?" Another head shake. Elizabeth thought quickly for an idea.
"Claire? Do you like hot chocolate?" The teacher asked curiously. The little girl's face lit up as she vigorously shook her head. Elizabeth smiled at her success.
"If I make you a hot chocolate, could you tell me what's wrong?" Elizabeth suggested.
"Yes, Miss Thatcher." Claire said with a smile. Both crawled out from under the bed
Ten minutes later, the duo were sitting in the kitchen drinking fresh hot chocolate. Claire was quiet, just staring at her drink.
"I miss my dad. And I hate thunder." The little girl blurted out randomly, ending the silence. Elizabeth looked at Claire then placed her cup on the counter behind her and pulled the little girl into a hug.
"Aw sweetheart. Thunder is nothing to worry about. It won't hurt you, I promise. Maybe this week we can learn about thunder at school so you don't have to be scared. As for missing your dad, I'm positive he misses you too. Would you feel better if we wrote a letter for him together?" Elizabeth suggested kindly to the little girl. Claire smiled at the idea.
"Can we write the letter now Miss Thatcher? I don't want to be alone until the storm is gone." Claire stated quietly.
"Of course we can. Go grab some paper and a pencil and we'll write this letter for you father." Elizabeth replied excitedly. Claire smiled and then ran off to find the writing materials.