The next morning, Jack and Elizabeth met in the café for breakfast as soon as it was open at 6 am since the stage would be leaving at 6:45.
"Did you talk to Lee about keeping an eye on stuff while we are gone?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, after I left here I went and talked to him. He also said he would take care of Rip," Jack responded.
After they had finished eating their breakfast, Elizabeth went upstairs to grab her bag. When she got to the bottom of the stairs Jack was waiting to take it from her.
Once he set her bag down outside Jack said, "I'll be right back.
He then went over to the jail and grabbed his bag. After he returned they did not have to wait long for the stage to pull up. They both gave Abigail a hug. She then gave them a sack of food for the trip.
Jack helped Elizabeth up. After handing her their bags, he climbed up himself. Looking around he realized they were the only ones on the stage at that moment. Within a minute they started moving.
"I can't believe we are actually doing this," Elizabeth stated.
"I know, but I'm glad we're doing it because you are the love of my life Elizabeth," Jack explained sweetly.
"And you truly are the love of my life, Jack."
Elizabeth then lays down against Jack's chest. They are both content to spend time in each other's arms just relaxing. She started drawing circles on his leg. Then he started drawing lines on her arm. Soon Elizabeth was asleep.
Jack could not sleep though. He was too excited about making Elizabeth his wife and a little scared of what the Thatcher's would think when they told them later and how Elizabeth would react if her family disowned her.
After that, his thoughts went to the beautiful love of his life in his arms. Elizabeth looks amazing even when she is asleep. She is great with the kids at school and she would be good with our kids when we have some. With this Jack started to slowly dream about the future with Elizabeth. Jack was awakened by Elizabeth kissing him on the check.
"We are going to stop for a few minutes to give the horses a break. We should get out and walk around. Then we can eat some of the food Abigail sent with us," She whispered into his ear.
"Okay, that sounds good," Jack responded loving the feeling of her warm breath.
They ate their delicious lunch from Abigail. Then they talked about their future and what it would look like for a while. Jack and Elizabeth decided that they would stay in the room Elizabeth had been in above the café until Jack could build their house on the land that he had recently bought.
About three hours into their afternoon of riding, the driver, Sam, told them, "We will have to find a spot to stop for the night because of the cold and since it lightly started to snow."
"Do you want me to come up there and help you keep a lookout for a place? I vaguely remember that there was a run-down cabin somewhere near Cape Fullerton from when I came out just over two years ago," Jack volunteered.
"Sure," Sam replied as he stops the wagon so Jack could come around.
"It will be fine; we will make it work. I love you." Jack said before kissing Elizabeth and climbing down and then back up next to Sam, who is outside the covered area.
It took about an hour to spot the abandoned cabin. Once they did, it took a few minutes to get over to it. Jack then jumps down and goes over to explore it. It definitely is an abandoned one-room cabin. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack sees what looks like another building. He walks over to it and realizes it is what is left of a stable, which is barely in good enough condition to house the horses. It will have to do for the night. Jack then walks back to the wagon.
"There is what is left of a stable behind the cabin," Jack says to Sam as he climbs back up beside him.
They got the wagon as close to the stable as possible; as Sam was unhitching the horses Jack helped Elizabeth down and grabbed their bags.
After Sam got the horses settled he said, "I'll stay out here in the corner with the horses you two take the cabin."
"I think there would be room for all three of us," Elizabeth responded quickly.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be fine out here."
"Okay, if that is what you want," Jack answered.
Jack then took Elizabeth into the cabin and started a fire to warm them up.
"Why don't you take the bed, Elizabeth. I'll sleep on the floor," Jack said.
"We can both share the bed and be good and just go to sleep, don't you think," Elizabeth stated.
"You're right," Jack responded.
They sad by the fire for a while talking about nothing in particular. Jack showed Elizabeth some of his drawings. Elizabeth showed Jack some of the embroiderings she was working on, which was actually very good. Finally, Jack put out the fire and they laid down in the bed and went to sleep.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Jack smelled smoke. He got up and looked around, but the fire from the night before was still out, so Jack was puzzled. He then pulled open the door and saw it. What was left of the barn was in flames. Jack then ran over and shook Elizabeth awake. Once She looked at him, Jack told her to fill pots with snow. She immediately obeyed. As Elizabeth filled pots with snow from the few inches that fell the night before, Jack was busy helping the horses get away from the fire, but he couldn't seem to find Sam anywhere though. The thought went through Jack's head, what if Sam is stuck in the fire? As Jack helped the last horse and Elizabeth brought the two pans over, the rest of it went up in flames. Some of the flames caught the wagon.
"We will use these if it touches the cabin, but I think the snow will stop it," Jack said.
They stood by the cabin with the four horses and watched as the pile burned. Once it was all done Jack threw the buckets of snow on it to be sure it was out.
"What do you think caused it?" Elizabeth asked.
"My guess is either Sam was smoking and it did not get put out all the way or he lit a lantern and the same thing happened," Jack answered.
"You want me to see what I can find for us to eat, then we could finish our journey into town."
"Sure."
Elizabeth found some rice and beans that they ate cold. Then they packed up what was theirs and put it in a pack on one of the horses. Jack found some lead ropes that did not get burned. So they each got on one horse and had another horse they were connected to with the ropes. They had an eventful cabin stay and were ready to leave as they set off.