Chapter 6 – The Necessary Vessel

Elizabeth lay in bed but she couldn't fall asleep.

Although Jack, lying next to her, didn't say a word, she knew that he was awake. It was too quiet. If he had been asleep, she would have heard the steady low rhythm of his breathing.

"Jack, I am so sorry."

"For what?"

"For not wanting you to go in the first place. It was only for three weeks. I was selfish. I wanted to keep you here with me and the baby and I wasn't considering that being a Mountie makes you really happy."

"Being with you and the baby makes me really happy."

"I know. But if you had to go away for three weeks, we would have been okay. I shouldn't have complained. I'm sorry."

'It's okay, sweetie. Let's just see what happens. Maybe I won't get selected for TDY."

Elizabeth moved her cold feet under the flat sheet and blanket. Squishing her toes under Jack's warm legs.

Most nights, Jack would laugh and complain that Elizabeth's feet were freezing, and that he couldn't possibly sleep with the chill. Then he would smile in the darkness and always let her keep them nestled under his legs anyway. Warming them like a little heater just made perfectly for her.

But tonight, when Elizabeth's cold toes burrowed under his legs, Jack didn't smile.

Instead, he wondered how many nights they would lay apart in the future. Her feet only warmed by an extra pair of socks instead of his body.

How many nights would he fall asleep without her chilly feet warming his heart.

"What am I going to do if he has to go away for four months?" Elizabeth asked worriedly two days later as she sat at Lucy's kitchen table and folded cloth diapers while Lucy prepared dinner.

Elizabeth put another freshly laundered diaper on the stack and glanced at their babies on blankets on the floor.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him we'd be fine. He's so upset about getting cut from the course. I wasn't about to tell him how worried I am."

"It won't be so bad. It's only four months if he has to go. Lots of families are separated at some point. Think of settlers who leave their families behind until they get . . . settled."

"We're not settlers", Elizabeth said with a look of disapproval, causing Lucy to keep talking.

"Lots of families have to live apart for a while. Look at Penelope and Odysseus. She waited years and years for him to come home."

Elizabeth stopped folding the diapers and looked at Lucy in surprise. "Penelope and Odysseus?"

"From the Odyssey. It's a Greek epic poem. Penelope waited 20 years for her husband to come home from war and travels."

"I know who they are! But I don't want to wait 20 years for Jack to come home!"

Lucy chuckled. "Now aren't you glad it will only be four months if he has to go? I bet four months seems pretty short now compared to 20 years."

Elizabeth frowned in disgust at Lucy. Twenty years! For goodness sakes!

Although, four months does seem pretty short now that I think about it that way, Elizabeth realized as she picked up another diaper.

And how the heck does Lucy know about the Odyssey? Chickens and eggs I understand her knowing, but Greek classics?!

Three days later, Elizabeth stood in the doorway of her kitchen, drying her hands on a dishtowel and watching Jack by the front room window. His arms were outstretched as he held his son above his head, smiling and asking questions which the boy was far too young to answer with anything other than the beginning of an infant's giggle.

They looked so happy together.

But then, Jack drew the little boy to his chest, holding him securely. He wistfully kissed the top of his son's head in a moment that nearly broke Elizabeth's heart. She knew he was wondering if he would shortly get a new assignment. One that would take him away from his son for four months.

Ever since Jack had received word that he was no longer scheduled for the advanced training course, he had been preoccupied. He stopped by the post office more than usual. His mind wandered while he polished his boots. Last night, as they sat on the couch reading, Elizabeth noticed Jack hadn't turned a page in over five minutes.

And Jack had started to complain over the last few days. About living in a mercantile instead of a real house. About Elizabeth having to work. About the uncertainty of a job with the Force. About how his own father never got to meet Jack Thatcher Thornton.

"Breakfast time, boys", Elizabeth called out with forced cheerfulness before she turned back to the kitchen and took the food from the stove.

"I'm thinking about quitting", Jack said. He avoided looking at Elizabeth as he reached for a piece of toast from the plate in the center of the table.

"Jack, no!" Elizabeth said in dismay. She set down her fork with the scrambled eggs still on the tines and looked across the table at her husband.

"You haven't gotten any orders to a new assignment. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I can't make you do it alone for four months. I love you and I'd be too worried about you if I had to go. I'd miss you two. And even if I don't have to go this time around, they'll be other times. I can't guarantee that I'll never get sent away."

"You can't quit. You love being a Mountie."

"I loved being a Mountie. Now I love being your husband and our son's father."

"Jack-"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore now. I've made up my mind."

"You do not unilaterally make decisions for us", Elizabeeth told him calmly. Only the fact that Jack was so somber kept her from getting angry at him.

"If I get orders to go TDY for four months, I'll quit the force so I don't have to go. I've already fulfilled my commitment. I'll find something else to do. I'm going to write a letter to your father. Ask him for a job."

"You'd hate working for my father. You said before that you can't see yourself working in an office with a desk job," Elizabeth argued.

"It would be safe steady work."

"It would be dreadfully boring and you'd hate it. And I'd hate it for you."

"I could do private security. Maybe the Pinkertons. Or I could work for a police force", Jack offered.

"I don't want you doing that either! It's more dangerous than being a Mountie. Working with hardened criminals. And you love working in nature. Riding through the countryside. You help people. Not just arrest criminals."

"So now, all of a sudden you want me to be a Mountie!" Jack responded angrily. "After not wanting me to go to the advanced course. After all your worries when we first courted. Now suddenly, I'm supposed to be a Mountie whether I want to or not."

Jack threw his napkin onto the table, stood up, and walked away from the table.

Elizabeth watched sadly as Jack grabbed his hat and jacket on his way out the door.

Through the window, she saw him put up his collar as he fought against the blistering wind and made his way across the street to the jailhouse.

"I'm sorry I got angry earlier", Jack apologized as they lay in bed that night in the darkness.

"It's okay. I understand."

"I know you want what's best for us. I was thinking that maybe when I quit, we can go back to Hope Valley. It will be hard though. Getting enough money to afford a home, a good piece of land, and cattle. And I'm not sure if we could make it financially as ranchers. It would take a couple years to start making a profit. I could work at the sawmill, I suppose."

Elizabeth didn't say anything but snuggled up against Jack's body.

I know what's best for us. You staying a Mountie is what's best for us, Elizabeth thought determinedly. Why are men so stubborn? After thousands of years, they still don't get that their women know best!

Jack put his arm around Elizabeth for a few minutes but then drew it back.

Turning on his side to face the other direction, he tried to fall asleep.

At three o'clock in the morning, Elizabeth awoke to the soft sounds coming from the left side of the bed as the baby, feeling the beginnings of hunger, was sucking on his fist.

Elizabeth lifted the small boy from the bassinet, which was pushed against the bed, and brought him to her breast.

Twenty minutes, she quietly put the sleepy baby with his now-full belly back into his bassinet and lay her own head onto her pillow.

As she closed her eyes, Elizabeth heard the creaking of the mattress. The sound of the sheets moving.

She felt the warmth of Jack's body over her before she felt his touch.

The first kiss was tender. Soft. Loving.

Jack's hands moved slowly on her body.

Gently feeling her curves.

Memorizing each dip with his lips. The crook in her elbow. The bend in her knee.

Elizabeth leaned back her head, enjoying his touch.

With each touch of his mouth on her skin. With each loving stoke of his fingers, Elizabeth's desire began to build.

He caressed her thighs as he slid his hands under her cotton nightdress.

When Jack moved his mouth along the slender arch of her neck, and then found her lips in the darkness, Elizabeth refused to be overcome by the sadness of what ifs. About what the future might hold. They had this moment.

She placed her hands on his face, holding his mouth to hers. Feeling his own passion build as she returned his kiss.

For the next week, Elizabeth tried to hide her tension as she awaited the arrival of the mail each day. She smiled happily every morning when she awoke in bed with Jack. She made three warm meals a day until Jack jokingly complained that he had gained ten pounds. She trimmed his hair and massaged his shoulders. They made love every night. And they waited.

Elizabeth crossed the room and was putting aside the spelling test papers she had graded, when she glanced out the window which stretched across the front of the mercantile house.

She bent her head down slightly so she could see under the large painted letters that now said "Thornton Home" and saw Jack hurrying across the street, a piece of paper in his hand.

Jack walked in through the front door. He hesitated a moment when he saw Elizabeth and then smiled broadly.

"They changed the advanced course again! Remember, they cut the number of students because of budget cuts? They've decided to go ahead and keep all of us!"

"But how?" Elizabeth asked in amazement.

"They're changing the course structure to make it shorter. Fewer days. They'll save money in lodging and food. It will mean longer hours. No free weekend. And some of the course will be correspondence to make up for the lack of classroom time. They're sending out a box of materials to read before I go. But I made it! I'm on the list again. I'm going!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Elizabeth sighed with relief and slumped onto the couch. "Thank goodness."

A smiling Jack looked at Elizabeth, who immediately stood back up and went to hug him. "I'm so happy for you! I knew the Mounties realized how good you are."

Jack suddenly pulled back. His grin faltering. "Are you going to be okay? It's for two weeks."

Two weeks. Not twenty years! Not four months! Just two little weeks! And, he's not quitting. He's not quitting what he loves, Elizabeth thought.

"I'll be fine. We'll be fine. It's just two weeks. We'll barely even know you're gone. And Julie can come visit like you said."

Jack looked curiously at Elizabeth. "You'll barely even know I'm gone?"

"Compared to what Penelope had to endure, it's just a blink of the eye!"

"Who the heck is Penelope?"

"We were talking about me quitting the Force. This course doesn't necessarily change that", Jack said soberly an hour later as he set down his fork and knife on the table and looked across at Elizabeth. "If I stay with the Force, I'll always have nights away. Danger. We still need to consider it. What's best for our family."

"You were talking about quitting the Force. I voted no."

"And I voted yes."

"Which means I win."

"How exactly do you see that?"

"I'm the wife. I gave you a child. That means my vote is worth more than yours."

"I believe I helped a little with that child. So I believe our votes are equal. Which means we have a tie."

"I fail to see how your fifteen minute contribution equals my six hours of labor."

"Those were the best fifteen minutes of your life!"

Elizabeth smiled at Jack's bravado and got up from the table. She walked across the room and picked up a pen from her desk.

"I guess we just have to let the little pumpkin choose", she said with a knowing look.

"Are you serious? We're going to let Thatch choose our future?"

"Who better?"

Twenty minutes later, Elizabeth handed the baby to a grinning Jack and went to wipe the pen ink from breasts.

"It's official. I'm staying a Mountie."

"It would appear so", Elizabeth answered with a chuckle.

Elizabeth sat in the simple chair at the Madisons' kitchen table which was made of a three-inch slab of oak wood and browsed through the Sears Roebuck catalog in front of her.

The babies were napping on the couch, giving Elizabeth a chance to relax with Lucy after a long day of teaching. Neither infant was old enough to roll over, but Elizabeth and Lucy had pushed chairs up against the couch just in case either boy chose this moment to show some form of advanced physical prowess.

"I wish we had a shower," Elizabeth said longingly as she looked at the inked drawing on one of the pages of the catalog.

"A shower?"

"It sounds fantastic. Listen to this", Elizabeth said as she began reading to Lucy from the catalog. "It's an investment in cleanliness and comfort from which the whole family can draw daily dividends in pleasure and good health. It's the future of indoor bathrooms. The most modern convenience for a happy, healthy, and clean family."

"Stand up and turn around", Lucy instructed as she stopped stirring the batter in the large ceramic mixing bowl.

Elizabeth didn't move other than to look up curiously at her friend and then over her shoulder wondering if something was behind her.

"Stand up and turn around in a circle", Lucy instructed again as she motioned with her finger making a circle. "Around."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.

"Because you made a wish without a vessel."

"A what without a what?"

"You made a wish without a vessel. An instrument. A catalyst."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"People can make wishes on birthday candles, or stars in the sky, or blowing on dandelions. Or using a wishing well or a fountain. But you have to have something to make the wish work correctly. You didn't have anything, and you made a wish, so you need to turn around to take back your wish."

"I don't want to take back my wish. I do wish I had a shower. I want to stand up in a bathroom and let the water fall down on me."

Lucy stopped stirring again and stared at Elizabeth with a look of pity. "Suit yourself. But if you don't take it back, you'll get your wish in an unexpected way."

"What do you mean? In an unexpected way? What's wrong with that? I like surprises. And besides, wishes don't come true just because you ask for something."

"You won't get your wish like you wanted. If you make a wish without a wishing vessel, it gets all messed up along the way to being granted. Who knows what will happen on its journey."

"On its journey?"

"From your mouth to . . . well, to it becomes true. Without a vessel, it doesn't have proper instructions."

"That's the silliest thing I've heard."

Lucy poured the batter into the cake pan on the counter.

"It may seem silly, but it's true."

"It is not true."

Lucy shrugged as she put the cake pan into the oven. "You know, for a teacher, there's a lot you don't know about, Elizabeth."

Thirty minutes later, Elizabeth laughed to herself as she walked the short distance home, thinking about Lucy and her silly superstitions. Elizabeth carried her son, bundled up against the cold weather, in her arms, and a small basket of eggs slung over her elbow.

Despite the nasty weather of a winter that refused to give in to Spring without a final bout of chilling precipitation, Elizabeth moved slowly. It had been sleeting on and off all day and the ground was slick.

When she walked in the front door and shook off the wetness, Elizabeth was surprised to see Jack carrying a bucket into the bedroom.

"We got a leak in the ceiling", he said over his shoulder.

The Spring sun had barely risen in the sky but the baby in the mercantile house didn't care. He kicked out his legs and alternated between sucking on his fist and making cooing sounds as his father carried him to the double bed in the middle of the room.

At three months old, the infant had no idea that his father had spent an hour yesterday attempting to keep the sleet from raining down like a shower onto the bed. Or that the roof was too slippery to allow anyone to climb on it for better repairs.

He didn't know that his mother, who was sleepily rubbing her eyes, had hours of school-work ahead of her.

The infant knew that he liked the feeling of being held by his father. Feeling the rhythm of the man's chest rising and falling as he cuddled him close. He liked his father in a different way than he liked his mother. But he liked them both very much.

"I almost wish I could sleep all morning. But then I'd miss this wonderful moment", Elizabeth said dreamily as she lay in bed next to Jack.

She reached over and ran her finger along the soft skin of her son's back as the child lay with his tiny chest on Jack's own bare muscular chest.

"I know what you mean. This is nice."

Elizabeth gave a little laugh as she glanced at her son, who looked so small and vulnerable with his stretched-out body which was still tiny enough to fit perfectly on Jack's chest.

"Looking at the two of you just now made me think of something that happened ages ago. I had forgotten all about it. It was before we even courted."

"What was it?"

"Nothing really. Abigail and I were playing cards and I said 'I wish I had a pair of Jacks.' And then Abigail laughed and remarked that what I really wanted was one specific Jack, a certain Mountie Jack."

"I'm guessing this was before we started courting."

"Yep. She was teasing me about being sweet on you and you barely even paying attention to me."

"I always paid attention to you –"

"This was when we were still just friends. And you were acting all professional. Anyhow, isn't it funny that I now actually have my pair of Jacks. My wish came true. . . Just not the way I expected. I mean I was talking about Jacks from a deck of cards when I said it. . . Although, I really did want you too. And then I got you. And baby Jack."

Jack chuckled. "It certainly took a long time and a convoluted path, but you got your wish. And I'd say that you have yourself the most handsome pair of Jacks ever."

Elizabeth leaned back against her pillow and looked up at the patched hole in the ceiling.

"Have you ever heard an old folk tale about needing a wishing instrument or wishing vessel in order for a wish to work the right way?"

"Of course. Why?"

"I had never heard of it until Lucy told me."

"That's because a rich girl like you didn't have to make wishes. You had everything you ever wanted growing up. Until, of course, you met me."

"Very funny. But seriously, I didn't have a wishing instrument when I made that wish. About the pair of Jacks", Elizabeth said as she sat up in bed and looked at Jack.

"I know it sounds silly, but think about the last few months. I wished I could sleep in and then the baby went missing which actually gave me the first good night's sleep in a month. I made a silly comment that I wished I had more color in my cheeks and I ended up with Scarlet Fever. Then I wished you didn't have to go away and there was that whole fiasco with your orders. And you don't have to go away for three weeks. Just two. When I wished for a shower, we got a hole in the roof."

"Sweetie, let's be sensible. Wishes don't magically come true. All that stuff is just coincidence. That bit about needing a wishing vessel is just a silly folktale."

"Of course it is. It's just –"

"You can't possibly believe that stuff. This reminds me of when you were pregnant and you believed we had a ghost protecting us. Then you got me believing it too. "

Elizabeth frowned. "Yeah, well, I'm not so sure I don't believe in Bunny."

"Yeah, . . . okay . . . me too. But I'd never admit that to anyone except you. But Elizabeth, this wish thing is just a legend."

"But all my wishes came true! . . . . It's just like Lucy said. They all came true in an unexpected way. They got messed up along the journey."

"Journey?"

"That's what Lucy called it."

Jack gently stroked his son's back, drawing light circles on the baby's skin.

"So what was the last wish you made? Have you made one that hasn't come true yet? Let's see what happens to it."

"I don't remember. Maybe I didn't have any more. But really, I should be more careful with my use of the English language and my choice of words. I'm always telling my students to be precise. I guess I should follow my own advice."

Jack laughed. "Okay. Are you sure there were no more wishes?"

Elizabeth got out of bed and slipped on robe. As much as she liked lying in bed, it was time to start the day, beginning with making breakfast.

"Let me think."

Elizabeth opened the door to the small closet and took out an ivory blouse and a pale blue skirt. Throwing them across her arm she moved to the dresser and pulled open the drawer containing her socks and undergarments.

"Oh yeah, I wished that I had a great excuse to not go back to wearing my corset. I like wearing looser clothes. Remember when we were talking about the latest fashion of no corsets and how long it would take to get to this tiny town."

"Well that wish seems innocent enough."

"I didn't have a vessel. An instrument. A catalyst to help it on its journey."

"It's a pretty simple wish. I can't imagine any surprises coming out of it."

When Little Jack Thatcher Thornton made a cooing sound, Elizabeth initially smiled at the sound coming from the small boy, but suddenly she looked stricken.

Jack noticed Elizabeth's look and glanced at the baby on his chest. "He's fine. He's just . . . ouch . . . he's just pulling on my chest hairs."

"No. Oh no. No. Not this soon. He's only three months old!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"My wish! Remember what we did right after my wish?!" Elizabeth asked frantically.

"I totally remember. I helped you out of your clothing. And I enjoyed it very much." Jack smiled as the images of that night of passion came to mind.

'But Jack!"

"So? What's the problem?"

"We had sex!"

"And that made me very happy", he chuckled. "I still don't see the problem"

"My wish may still come true! It may be coming true right now!"

"I don't understand", Jack said in total confusion.

"What could happen when we have sex?!"

"We could have it again?" Jack offered.

"Which we actually have done. Several times, actually," he added with a boyish grin.

"No, silly! I wished that I had a reason not to go back to wearing tight fitting clothes! We made love! I might be . . . I might be. . .Oh my, I might be-"

Elizabeth slumped down onto the bed, dropping the clothes to the floor. "I love you and I love being a mother. But this soon, again?"

"Might be what? What are you talking about?" a puzzled Jack asked.

Elizabeth anxiously motioned towards the small baby on Jack's chest.

"Dear lord! Not again already?!" Jack asked as realization washed over him.

The End of Vignette 11

Dear Readers, I hope you enjoyed it! Next up is Vignette 12. Also, I'm still writing my Reversal Story under the name woolenslipper. It's fun and happy! And for a really different twist on things, check out "A Devious Plan: An Innocent Woman".