Disclaimer: I do not own the characters within; all rights and much respect go to Crown Media, Hallmark, Ms. Oke, Mr. Bird, Mr. Landon, and the creators/writers/actors of "When Calls the Heart". You inspired me to write and I'm not a writer! Feel free to use my story on the show, I'd be honored!

"Love is patient, love is kind. Love rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. Love never fails."

*Dear Hearties, be prepared for angst/drama but I promise all will be healed. Love never fails!

Chapter 7

Jack rode on his horse through the busy streets of Toronto but he didn't notice anyone or anything around him. His head was spinning from everything he overheard.

'She's going to marry Lowne? He's wealthy; his Mountie salary is probably chump change to him. He can give her the life she deserves and they want that for her. She deserves it. My salary couldn't afford a home like that, all of those fancy things. They call her Beth? I don't know rich Beth, I know Elizabeth a school teacher in little Coal Valley who lives over a café. Maybe it's just as well that this happens now, before we get too far into our courtship? What am I thinking? I'm in love with her! It felt good to act like her husband today. The very thought of Lowne acting like a husband toward her…kissing her, touching her…' Jack tightened his jaw and closed his eyes as he tried to get the thought out of his head. Jack felt as though he had been punched in the stomach.

He made his way to the train station. He checked to make sure the bandits that tried to rob the train were removed from the holding area at the station.

"We'll be moving them in a few minutes, Constable. I read about you catching the Tolliver gang. Looks like there will be another reward." Constable Horton stated as he saluted Jack. Jack shrugged his shoulders and then saluted him back. He could care less at this point. Jack looked at the criminals and made eye contact with the bearded man that held Elizabeth at gunpoint. Jack had to turn away as the memory of Elizabeth in danger and how they confessed their love for each other played out in his mind. He had to try to stop thinking about her.

"One ticket to Lethbridge, please. Oh and I have a horse." Jack said handing the man money. He had to try and focus his mind on getting to Lethbridge and the recovery efforts; hopefully he'd see Elizabeth back in Coal Valley. He felt bad that he didn't say goodbye but he had to get to Lethbridge and honestly, he couldn't stay to watch or listen to anything else.

"I didn't realize Elizabeth was in love with Jack!" William said to Kate as he stood to walk to their foyer. "Did you? I know I don't keep up with the 'girl talk' here but…I had no idea that our little Beth is in love! Did you?" He asked Kate again.

"I…may have heard that a few times from Julie." Kate said. William shot her a look. "Ok, ok, several times from Julie but, honestly I didn't realize it was fact! I thought Elizabeth may have feelings for him but I guess now we know it's not just Julie being…Julie." Kate said. "I just worry about her out there!"

"She's clearly grown up a great deal, Kate. We saw that in her letters but now it's quite evident. I fear that we may have damaged our relationship with her. She's quite angry." William said with a look of worry.

"I just want her to be taken care of and safe! Go ahead and say, 'I told you so'!" Kate said as tears sprang in her eyes.

William handed her his handkerchief and put his arm around her. "I knew this idea of yours was going to blow up in your face, Kate." He said with a smile. "Face it, Elizabeth takes after me! She's strong willed…"

"Stubborn!" Kate interjected.

William continued, "…and rises to any challenge. She's a Thatcher through and through and you, my dear wife, just challenged her! She's heading back to Coal Valley and to Jack." William finished with a small smile.

"This will be a mess to deal with, between the Lownes and the Preparatory Academy. The Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Higgins, had to pull some strings." Kate said.

"You need to fix this, Kate. I'll be here to support you every step of the way." William said. Kate wiped her eyes and nodded as they walked out of the study expecting to see Julie, Elizabeth and Jack but only Julie stood looking out the open door.

"Julie, where's Beth and Jack?" Kate asked.

"Elizabeth went to find Jack. We could hear everything you said in there. He was upset and left. He went to the train station to head back west." Julie said with concern.

William and Kate shared a worried look.

Elizabeth still had money in her boot from traveling. She rushed down the street and called upon the first for-hire horse and buggy she came upon. "I need you to take me to the Toronto train station, please hurry!" Elizabeth pleaded. 'Please help me find him!' She prayed.

Jack checked the time; he had thirty-five minutes before the train departed. He tied his horse to a post and sat down on a bench. He tried to occupy his time by drawing but when he pulled out his small notepad he flipped through the pages and saw some notes, followed by a drawing of a mountain scene, a rendering of Rip and picture after picture of Elizabeth. Jack quickly closed the notepad and stuffed it in his pocket.

Elizabeth jumped out of the carriage and handed money to the driver, "Thank you!" she called as she ran into the train station. Elizabeth scanned the crowd for Jack's red serge jacket as she dodged people rushing about. She searched for several minutes and came upon the ticket booths. "Excuse me!" She called as she ran to the front of the line. She pulled her gold heart locket out from the neckline of her dress and removed it. She opened it and looked at the picture of Jack, and then showed it to the man at the ticket booth. "Please sir, have you seen this man? He's a Mountie. He would have bought a ticket west, Lethbridge to be exact."

"Nope sorry, ma'am. Try the next booth. Next!" The man yelled.

Elizabeth moved from booth to booth showing her picture of Jack until she hit the 5th booth. "Yes, ma'am. He bought a ticket about a half hour ago."

"Did you see which way he went?" Elizabeth asked.

To the left, ma'am. Next!" The ticket man said.

"Thank you!" Elizabeth said as she moved in the direction he indicated. She passed two Mounties who appeared to be searching for someone too. "Jack!" she yelled as she walked up behind him. She touched his shoulder, "You left..." she began but her heart sank when she realized it wasn't him.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" the Mountie asked.

Elizabeth was so disappointed that she could only shake her head no. She continued to look around.

Jack sat reading the newspaper and continued to check the large clock on the wall. He couldn't help to overhear two men talking across the way from him.

"Well, I'm glad we were able to get this squared away. I can't tell you how relieved I am to have this all behind me." one man said.

"Yes, well money has a way of taking care of problems, especially in the education field." Mr. Higgins said.

Jack rolled his eyes from behind the newspaper when he heard the money reference. He really didn't want to hear that right now.

"What's on your agenda for tomorrow?"

"I'm very excited, actually! I'm going to see a teacher that I've brought back to town. She's quite the woman; beautiful, intelligent and comes from money. Her mother contacted me to request my help to get her back here for a job at the Academy. I'm hoping she will be more receptive to me this time around. I sent her to this little mining town out west for refusing my advances." Higgins said with a sly smile.

Jack's eyes went wide as he threw down the newspaper. 'He's talking about Elizabeth! He sent her to Coal Valley as punishment? She refused his advances?' Jack thought as he stood and stepped toward the two men. 'How dare he!'

"Jack!" Elizabeth called as she ran over.

"Elizabeth!" Jack said with surprise.

"Jack! I've been looking for you! You left without saying goodbye!" Elizabeth said out of breath and visibly upset.

"I'm sorry, I…" Jack began.

"Miss Thatcher, I see you made it home." Mr. Higgins said looking her up and down.

Elizabeth gasped with surprise and backed away slightly "Mr. Higgins!"

Jack noted that she appeared frightened so he stepped in front of her. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Superintendent of Schools!" Higgins said to Jack as he moved to see Elizabeth behind him.

Jack blocked him. "I overheard everything you said. How dare you use your power that way!" Jack said.

Higgins was taken aback by this Mountie before him. He knew this was not good a situation and decided to retreat promptly. "I will see you tomorrow, Miss Thatcher. We have to sit down with the Academy staff. Good day!" Higgins said

Elizabeth stood behind Jack with her hands on his shoulders. Jack turned around swiftly, "Elizabeth, do you have to answer to that man?"

"Yes." Elizabeth said as she nodded.

Jack ran his hands up and down her arms, "He's taking bribes! He made advances toward you?"

"I refused them of course!" Elizabeth said.

Jack just stared at her; he didn't know what to do.

"Train to Lethbridge leaves in 15 minutes, all aboard!" Jack and Elizabeth looked over at the train conductor and then back at each other.

Jack held her hands in his, "You need to tell your family about him. He said your mother asked him to get you that job. I'm sure she doesn't know the kind of man he is. That's illegal to take money and to use his power over his employees!"

Elizabeth nodded with tears in her eyes. "I know. You're…you're leaving."

"Yes, I got you here safely as I promised and now I've got to head back." Jack said as he looked into he eyes.

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye." Elizabeth said as her voice cracked.

"I'm sorry but it sounded as though you and your family had a lot to discuss." Jack said as he looked down.

"Yes, I told them I'm not going along with their plans!" Elizabeth said.

"I'm glad to hear that Beth but maybe you should reconsider their plans." Jack said as his insecurities as a provider came rushing back to him.

Elizabeth looked at him I surprise. "Why would I do that?"

"You're Beth. I don't know Beth. Beth lives in...in a palace. I could never give you that life Elizabeth." Jack said dropping her hands.

"Beth is only a nickname and I don't want that life!" Elizabeth implored.

"I was lucky to give you the school house and church because of the reward money but you deserve a beautiful home. Lowne can give you that." Jack said almost choking on his words. "You're family has expectations of your suitor."

"I don't care what my family thinks! I know what I want! I want my life in Coal Valley. I want y…" Elizabeth said as her tears ran down her face.

"Excuse me, Jack Thornton?" Jack turned around and saw two Mounties standing behind him.

"Yes?" Jack said gathering his emotions as he saluted the Mounties.

"You need to come with us." They instructed him.

"What for?" Jack inquired.

"For dereliction of duty as a result of not following orders to proceed immediately to Lethbridge, Alberta Canada." The Mountie formally stated as one of them moved to take Jack by the arm.

"What?" Elizabeth said in surprise. She looked back and forth between Jack and the Mounties.

"I can explain." Jack started.

"You said in your telegram that you were heading here to Toronto. We've been expecting you. Let's go Thornton." One of the Mounties pulled on his arm.

"Please, don't do this in front of her. I'll comply, just let me say goodbye to her." Jack pleaded. The Mounties nodded.

Jack placed his hand on Elizabeth's back and led her a few steps away. "Elizabeth, I've got to go." Jack began.

"You're in trouble for coming with me! I worried this would happen!" Elizabeth said.

"Is that what happened?" The tall Mountie inquired.

"I'd do it all over again, for you." Jack said as he looked into her eyes.

Elizabeth turned to the Mounties, "He was headed to Lethbridge but he came upon my stagecoach which was disabled. The Mountie that had orders to ensure my safety abandoned me and left his post. Jack stayed with me and covered for him until he returned. He ended up staying on and made a plan to capture the robbers on the Toronto bound train. He saved the whole train!"

As if on cue, three Mounties escorted the criminals out of the building. "Again, nice work Thornton!" Constable Horton called to Jack as he saluted him again. The Mounties waiting for Jack turned and looked at him with surprise.

"How about that!" One Mountie said to the other.

"How can you insinuate that Jack did something wrong when he covered for another Mountie who was derelict of his duty and saved an entire train of people from being robbed, possibly killed?" Elizabeth asked.

"We will be sure that our superiors know about this ma'am. Who was the Mountie that abandoned his duty?" A Mountie asked.

"Constable Clayton Lowne!" Elizabeth said.

"To be fair, he did assist with stopping the train robbery. I couldn't have done it without him." Jack added.

"Ok, we've got to catch this train. Let's go Thornton!" A Mountie moved forward and grabbed Jack's arm.

"Wait!" Elizabeth said as she moved closer to Jack and put her hands on his chest. "Jack, I…" She began but the tall Mountie moved toward Elizabeth, grabbed her arms and pulled her away. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but…" the Mountie began.

"Don't touch her!" Jack demanded as he broke away from the Mountie that held onto him. "Please, let me say goodbye and I'll go." Jack took hold of Elizabeth's waist with one hand and touched her face with the other, "Please don't meet with that Higgins man alone, Ok?" Jack pleaded. "I hope to see you in Coal Valley again someday. I love you." Jack said as he moved in to kiss her.

Elizabeth held onto him and kissed him back. Their kiss was passionate but brief as she felt him being pulled away.

"That's it, Thornton! Come on!" The Mountie yelled as the whistle blew for the train.

"I love you!" Elizabeth cried as she watched them move away.

Elizabeth returned home distraught. She didn't know what would happen to Jack. She felt guilty because it was because of her that he was in trouble. She had no idea when they would see each other again. What would happen to him if he is in trouble for dereliction of duty? Now that she thought about things, she wasn't sure where they stood other than they loved each other because Jack was almost trying to convince to consider Clayton. 'Why would he do that?' she thought.

"Beth?" Her father called from the bottom of the stairs as she entered her bedroom.

Elizabeth stopped but kept her hand on the doorknob. "I'm too upset to talk about it." Elizabeth said.

Julie popped her head out of her bedroom. "Did you find Jack?"

Elizabeth began to weep at the sound of his name. "Yes." She croaked out.

Julie ran over and hugged Elizabeth. "Tell me everything that happened." Julie encouraged her. Elizabeth told Julie everything that transpired between her tears. William slowly made his way up the stairs as Elizabeth explained the events of the night as well as the ride in the stagecoach, Clayton abandoning her, Jack keeping her safe and the train ride.

Julie smiled, "I knew that handsome Mountie wouldn't let you out of his sight. He loves you, you know. I saw the way he looks at you and I saw the pain in his eyes at the very notion that you would marry Clayton. He said he was going to be sick and excused himself!"

Elizabeth began to cry more but her father stepped forward. "Beth, I'm so sorry for everything! I pray you will forgive us for our foolishness. May I propose that after we get things straightened out with the academy tomorrow that I escort you back to Coal Valley? I'd like to see your new home and meet your students, friends and in all honesty, I'd like to get to know Jack. I only know him through your letters and well, Julie." They both laughed at that. "If you love him, then I think I need to get to know him as your suitor. As long as that's all right with you, of course!" William said holding his hands up.

"Well, I'd like your blessing of course but I want to be with him regardless. I just don't know where Jack and I stand now. He knows that you want me to marry Clayton." Elizabeth said sadly.

"No, your mother wanted that but we both want you to be happy and safe. Hearing you talk about Jack and your trip here, I have every bit of confidence that Jack is a wonderful suitor for you." William said.

"Well there's mother…" Elizabeth began.

"Now, now, I'll take care of your mother." William said as he hugged her.

"I'm determined to fix things." Elizabeth said looking at her father.

"That a girl!" William said proudly.

Jack sat on the train lost in thought. "Hey Thornton, you want anything to eat?" one of the Mounties asked.

"Thornton?"

"Thornton!" The Mounties said simultaneously.

Jack looked up at them. "What?"

"Do you want anything to eat?" The Mountie asked.

"No. I'm not hungry." Jack responded distantly.

"Ok, I'll make sure your horse is fed. I'm going to head back to the livery car." The Mountie said to the other.

Jack instantly thought about Elizabeth surprising him in the livery car. He suddenly remembered that he still had her earrings and ring in his pocket. He pulled her ring out and held it. He traced the stones with his finger and then placed it on his pinky although it only fit just past his finger nail. 'I'll have to remember this for when I buy her a ring when I ask her to…well, that is if she doesn't marry Lowne and she makes it back to Coal Valley.' Jack thought shaking those thoughts away.

"That's a beautiful ring." The other Mountie said. "I assume it belongs to the lovely lady you said goodbye to?"

Jack nodded slightly.

"I'm sorry but you know we were just doing our job." The Mountie said with an apologetic smile.

Jack nodded again.

"You know, I think the only thing you're guilty of is being in love." The Mountie said with a wink.

Jack looked away and tucked the ring back in his pocket. He sighed and looked out the window unsure of what the future would hold.