Jack Thornton kissed his daughter's cheek as he turned and got on his horse. He tilted his hat towards the little girl before turning his horse and riding off.
"Bye bye Daddy." The almost five year old called, opening and closing her little hand as to wave. Jack looked back for a second and waved, and in a moment he was gone from the little girl's sight.
No one in the little town of Coal Valley knew much of the man or his daughter. Jack and Claire Thornton were a mystery to the town. Even though Jack was the Constable of the town, he never spoke of their past or little girl's mother.
Three Years Earlier
The town of Coal Valley stood, crowded in front of the mine. The siren had gone off moments earlier, informing everyone that the last of the miner's bodies had been found.
"We have done what we promised and have retrieved the remaining miner's bodies from the mine. Amongst this, we also found something else that will bring hope to at least one Coal Valley family." The town's Mayor, Mr Gowen, said as he held up a piece of wood. The words 'Forgive me, pa' were carved into the wood.
"The Mining Company will look after this until we can think of something appropriate to do with it."
"One of our own spent his last moments carving that out into that piece of wood. The town should get to decide what happens to it." One of the men called out from the crowd.
"Unfortunately that isn't your decision to make." Mr Gowen argued back to the man. The man, clearly unhappy with the response began to charge towards the Mayor.
A flash of red caught everyone's attention as a man in a red jacket on a horse comes riding in, halting between the unhappy miner and the Mayor.
"What is going on here?" The Mountie asked professionally.
"We had a mining accident recently." Mr Gowen replied.
"I am aware. What is the problem?" The man asked again.
"We found this in the ruins. I was taking it back to my office until we can work out what to do with it and this young man isn't too happy with that." The Mayor stated.
"The sign belongs to one of the families, not the mining company." The miner yelled angrily.
"Calm down sir." The Mountie said to the miner. He then turned to Mr Gowen and continued.
"Here is what you are going to do. Get all the women to sample a piece of their husband's writing. Whoever's writing matches, the plank goes to. Do you think you can get it done in three days?"
"And who would you be exactly?" The Mayor tested.
"Constable Jack Thornton. I'm the new Constable of Coal Valley. You have three days." The Mountie, Jack, replied before turning his horse and riding off into the distance.
"You heard the Constable, ladies. Please submit a sample of your husband's writing so we can analyse and compare. Thank you." Mr Gowen informed the town before getting in his car and driving off.
A week later, a woman arrived on the stage coach. She was tall with dark hair and dark eyes. With her was a little girl, no older than two years old. The child was dressed in a small white dress and black shoes whereas the woman was dressed in a cream dress with a brown apron and vest. With her bags and the child in her arms, the woman proceeded to walk around the town.
She made her way to the saloon, where she was met by a shorter woman with blonde hair.
"Hello Miss. My name is Charlotte. I'm looking for Jack Thornton, do you know where I can find him?" The woman asked.
"I'm Abigail Stanton. Yes. He is upstairs in room seven. Would you like me to show the way? I could carry some of your bags if you'd like." Abigail offered kindly with a smile.
"No thank you. I'll be fine. Thank you for the help." Charlotte dismissed the woman and continued to Jack's room.
When she arrived at room seven, Charlotte put down the bags to knock on the door.
"Door's unlocked, come in." Jack's voice called from the other side of the door. Charlotte opened the door to reveal a clean hotel room, and Jack sitting at a desk shuffling through some papers.
"Well, I sure hope you don't plan to stay in here for long, Jack. You won't fit Claire's crib in here without it getting very cramped." The woman said.
"Thanks mom. I am aware. I'm finishing up the payments and paperwork for a row house behind the main street. It's a good deal, three bedrooms, furnished with everything except Claire's crib. It's pretty good rent so I'm not going to complain about it being a little far from the jail." Jack informed his mother.
"That's good. Hold your daughter and I'll find a place for these things." Charlotte said passing the little girl to her father.
"Hello beautiful girl. Were you good for Grandma?" Jack said to his daughter, facing her towards him on his lap.
"Dada." The little girl's face lit up as she spoke.
"She was very good. She missed you though." Charlotte interrupted, placing the bags in the corner of the room, opening one with the pieces of the child's crib.
"That's good. I missed you too, Claire. Thank you for looking after her, Mom." Jack said, looking at his daughter and then up to his mother.
"It was no issue." Charlotte said happily.
"Where will you be staying while you're here?" Jack asked.
"I'll order a room here. I'll help you set the house up and then I'll be back off to Hamilton." His mother replied.
"Thanks for your help. I don't know if I could have managed this without you." The man said thankfully.
"Will you be alright alone with Claire?" His mother asked, slight concern in her voice.
"Yes. We'll be fine." Jack assured, looking back at his daughter who was content in her father's lap.
"Good. Now let's get this crib set up." Charlotte said as she began to piece together the crib.