There were few things that Nathan Grant hated more than being confused, and the situation on hand was more than just a little perplexing. The war department was taking over the mill, citing a lack of production, but a quick glance at production levels (which were public knowledge) across British North America showed that theirs was one of the most productive lumber operations in the West. The workforce of their mill was being almost entirely replaced by new men, and the majority of the original workforce was being sent off to war. This begged the question, why replace trained men with untrained men, men who would take weeks to learn the mill's proper functions, and thus impact production when production levels were what they cited in the first place as the issue? And Nathan wondered above all else, why take Lee, but not him? Lee was the manager of the mill, he knew its inner workings. If anyone should stay in order to help increase production, it was Lee. Meanwhile, Nathan was probably ten years younger than Lee, in perfect health, and when push came to shove, wasn't really needed by the town for much on a daily basis.
But, it wasn't until this day, about a week after the initial arrival of the two new gentlemen who were taking over the mill, that his confusion turned into anger. He stared out the window of the RCMP office as he watched the new workers get unloaded from wagons, his mouth literally dropping open at the sight of them. These men were all in their late twenties or early thirties, and they were strong. Fit. Healthy. The army thought that middle aged fathers, many of whom had chronic injuries, would make better soldiers than these? It made absolutely no sense. Nathan almost felt insulted at the sight of them.
'Did they really think we wouldn't question this?' he thought to himself.
The sight of the new men arriving gave him the push he needed. That evening, he entered the saloon, which raised some eyebrows among its patrons. Nathan was never there unless there was trouble. He quickly noted that Lucas was nowhere to be seen; instead, a man Nathan had seen substitute for Lucas on occasion was tending bar.
Two figures that were present however were the two army officers. They were there every night since their arrival They looked up at Nathan as he approached them, and Nathan got the impression that they had been expecting him.
"Gentlemen. Do you mind if I join you?" Nathan's tone of voice strongly indicated that it was a demand, not a question. One of the men sighed and looked down at his drink; the other gestured to a chair. Nathan pulled it out and sat down, folding his hands on the table in between them.
"How can we help you, Constable?" The one who had sighed said.
"You can start by telling me your names. You've been here for several days now and I still haven't officially made your acquaintance. Unless you count getting prodded during a physical as getting acquainted."
They ignored his sarcastic remark. "My name is Captain Yanic Redmond, and this is Captain Harold Walker." The one who had spoken was famous in the town at this point; he had been the one who revealed that Lucas at one point had been a medical student, something Nathan found absolutely preposterous. But then again, a man had just returned from the dead, and Lucas being a doctor was less crazy than that (though not by much), so Nathan just shrugged it off.
"Glad to meet you both," Nathan said, his voice dripping with disdain. "Now, I have some questions for you."
"I'm sure you do." Captain Walker said, again with a sigh.
Nathan gave him a nasty look. "I couldn't help but notice the wagons full of new arrivals this morning. Good looking bunch. They look very strong, I'm sure they'll be good workers in our mill."
The two men looked at him. Everyone sitting at the table knew where this conversation was going.
"And?" said Walker.
"And, I just find it a little interesting that they aren't soldiers themselves. I'm finding it a little difficult to comprehend why the army doesn't want them, and yet they want a bunch of middle aged fathers from our mill. Many of whom aren't the healthiest individuals."
Captain Redmond opened his mouth to respond, but Nathan interrupted him. "I also find it more than a little difficult to comprehend why the army wants nothing to do with me. If anyone in this town should be sent to war, it's a trained member of the RCMP in good health."
"Get to the point, Constable." Walker said. Nathan looked him dead in the eyes and sneered.
"I've already made my point, Captain." Nathan said coldly. "This entire situation is absurd, and there's something you aren't telling us."
Captain Redmond looked around. No one was directly watching them, but a quick glance revealed that they obviously had the attention of the room. No one else was speaking, and people kept quickly looking at them, only to look away when they made eye contact with him.
He leaned across the table so his face was close to Nathan's. "Of course there is." He said very quietly.
Nathan wasn't expecting him to admit it so easily, and his face changed from menacing to puzzled. "What, then?"
"We can't discuss it here." Captain Remond said.
"We shouldn't discuss it anywhere." Captain Walker said quietly. "The buildings in this town all have eyes and ears."
"The RCMP office, it's much more private. We could go there." Nathan suggested.
The two captains exchanged a look with one another, then they both abruptly stood up. Nathan stood up as well.
"It's late, Constable. We should be turning in." Captain Redmond said. "But, I'll say this to you: exercise some caution under your own roof."
"What does that mean?" Nathan said.
Captain Walker came up to Nathan's side so he could speak closely to his ear.
"It means, you shouldn't be interrogating us. You should be interrogating your own superiors in this matter." Walker said, practically whispering.
Nathan turned to stare at him. This entire conversation had only created new questions, it hadn't answered any. Was he implying that the RCMP somehow had something to do with this?
"The RCMP has nothing to do with army operations." Nathan responded, though the confidence of his statement was contradicted by the uncertainty in his voice. And that uncertainty was only made greater when he heard Walker make a noise that sounded something like a snort.
"And here I thought you were smart." Walker said as he walked away. Redmond gave Nathan one last look, then turned to follow his colleague up the stairs to their rooms.
In the days before their marriage, Elizabeth had daydreamed a lot about evenings at home with Jack. Her visions were nothing elaborate, they were nothing fancy; they simply involved coming together to share a hot meal and a conversation. They would mostly talk about mundane things, like how their days had gone, or a current event, or if there was some gossip about someone in town. They might share a joke or two. Conversation had never been something they struggled with.
Until now, that is.
Jack had been having a lot of trouble sleeping. Sometimes he would wake with a nightmare, other times he would suffer from insomnia and would get up in the middle of the night to perform some task that didn't need to be done. And the lack of sleep showed on his face, as he had quickly developed very deep undereye bags, and the flush in his cheeks was gone.
Not to mention, he wasn't eating either. She had placed a bowl of beef stew and a hunk of bread in front of him, and he merely pushed it around with his spoon in silence.
"Not hungry?" She asked, trying to be cheerful. She knew that wasn't the problem - he hadn't eaten lunch or breakfast either - but she had to get him to say something.
But he didn't. He simply shook his head and didn't look up.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and exhaled. She wasn't really hungry either; seeing Jack like this robbed her of her appetite as well.
"Jack, you should maybe -"
What she was about to say was interrupted by the sound of Little Jack crying upstairs. The sound was enough to give Jack a jolt, and he stood up quickly and rushed up the stairs. Elizabeth watched him go, pausing for a moment before she too stood up and went up to see him.
By the time she got there, Jack was already hugging Little Jack. It was an effective tactic; Little Jack hugged him back, resting his cheek on his father's shoulder. Jack was making very quiet "shh" noises and rocked him from side to side.
Elizabeth smiled from the doorway. "You're so good with him."
Jack looked at her and smiled a very weak smile. He didn't respond though, he just went back to making the "shh" noises, completely focused on Little Jack.
Elizabeth decided to leave them alone, and she went back downstairs. The house was pretty dark, lit only by the glow of the woodstove and a small hurricane lantern placed on the counter. She looked at the two mostly uneaten bowls of stew resting on the table. They were cold by now, and she figured no one would be eating much that night. So, she dumped the uneaten bowls back into the pot containing the rest, then took the pot out the back door to the chest where they kept perishable food, which effectively worked as an icebox in the winter.
The air outside was frigid but felt good. She paused for a moment, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths. In only a matter of days the house had become stifling, even uncomfortable. Jack was unpredictable; when he was happy he would give her compliments and flirt with her. In those moments, he was the same Jack as she had known years ago. He would also play with Little Jack, and would help her with things around the house. He might even whistle while he did them. However, those moments were getting rarer by the day. Instead, he was usually dead silent, his face completely blank. She would often find him staring off into space, or worse, with tears in his eyes, tears that he would quickly brush away once he noticed her looking at him.
And then there were the nightmares. He hadn't woken up screaming again, but Elizabeth was careful not to leave him alone in bed. Now when he woke up, he woke up sweating and panting, his eyes wild. He would clutch his chest as if that would somehow make his heart slow down. And then he would get up and say that he needed fresh air. He told her not to worry, he always kissed her goodbye, but she would watch him as he walked out the door, and he most definitely was not alright in those moments. She tried to talk to him a few times, but his response was always the same: it was nothing, it was just stress, he would be fine soon.
She didn't know how to help. She knew nothing about this sort of thing. She really needed to speak to a doctor about what to do.
'A doctor. Like Lucas.' She thought.
She hadn't seen much of Lucas since Jack had come back. She wasn't entirely sure if he was avoiding her, or if she was avoiding him. She knew their first meeting in the post-Jack-apocalypse would be awkward. They had been very good friends for years now, and Lucas was the first man who made the thought even cross her mind that there might be a second chance at love for her. She liked Nathan too, but she knew there was no chance she would ever be with another Mountie. She would never go through all of that pain again.
But Lucas? Lucas was never in any danger unless his patrons somehow got out of control, and even then the biggest risk to him was broken glass. Not to mention, he was charming, friendly, charismatic, and sweet, but he also had a rakish sort of way about him. He was wonderful with Little Jack too. Nothing about their relationship had ever progressed beyond a dance and an occasional long look, but Lucas had made her think a lot about the letter that Jack had left for her, the one that he meant for her to read if he ever were killed in action.
'I hope you'll be open to love again.' It had read. When she read it, she hated him for writing it. But over time, she loved him for it. He wanted her to be happy more than anything else.
Now things with Lucas were completely different. She had the love of her life back, and Lucas was a friend. A friend who she had been just as astonished as everyone else to hear that, far from being a laid-back bartender, at one point had been mere weeks away from being a doctor. And the funny thing was, the more she thought about it, the more she could see it. Lucas had a rare sort of empathy about him, he could instantly see what was bothering someone and he could make them feel better about it. He cared about people. So while she didn't know much about his academic prowess, she could see the potential in him.
"Elizabeth?"
Her eyes opened and she turned around to see Jack standing in the back doorway.
"What are you doing out here?" He asked.
She smiled at him, trying to play off her pensiveness. "I was just putting the leftovers in the icebox. Or that's what I call it. It's a box, and it's cold out, so, it's basically the same thing."
He walked up to her and took her hands in his. "You'll have a real one soon."
She smiled back at him. "I don't need a real one. I don't need anything. I have everything I'll ever need." She said lovingly.
She had meant the remark to be sweet, but her face fell when she saw Jack look sad at the sound of it. He looked away from her and down at his feet, still holding her hands.
"Hey," she said quietly, reaching out to touch his face. He didn't look up.
"I wish you would talk to me about this." She said quietly.
Jack swallowed hard. "I wish I could."
"Well that's progress. At least you aren't denying it." She said, trying to make a half-hearted joke. Jack didn't laugh, or even react.
"Jack, I started to say earlier, I think you should see someone about this. In fact I was just thinking, maybe you could talk to Lucas."
At the sound of that Jack did look up. "Lucas?"
"Yes, apparently he's been keeping a secret from us. He went to medical school! So he might know something about this."
"About what?" Jack's voice was darkening.
"About your symptoms lately. Maybe it's related to your injury."
Jack's face then completely changed. He had looked sad before. But now his face twisted into a smile. But it was far from a normal smile. It was a dark, foreboding kind of smile, a dangerous smile. Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed in response. She had never seen Jack look like this before, or at least, not at her.
"And what symptoms are those, dear?" He said loudly and cruelly.
Elizabeth didn't know how to react, so she just stood there for a moment looking confused. When she did finally speak, she said, "You've been, well, depressed. And you won't eat. And you aren't sleeping."
"You wouldn't eat or sleep either if your wife was unfaithful."
Elizabeth's mouth dropped open. "What?!"
Jack's smile turned into a grin. "You heard me. I take it you and Lucas became good friends in my absence. I never really pegged you as the type who would go for someone like him."
Elizabeth found herself getting angry, but she tried to remind herself that this was just another example of Jack acting completely out of character.
Before she could speak though, he continued with, "How many times?"
"What do you mean, how many times?"
Jack leaned his face close to hers. In the darkest voice she had ever heard come out of his mouth, he responded, "I mean, how many times. Once? Twice? A regular event? You put my son to bed and then bring him into yours?"
She couldn't stop herself. She slapped him. Hard.
Jack's hand went to his cheek, and then he looked at her. He licked his lips; her slap had split his lip, and she could see a tiny amount of blood appear. For a moment, she thought he might hit her back.
But he didn't. He just turned and walked away into the dark night.
"Whatever this is, it better be good." Bill called out with annoyance. "It's three in the morning."
He rubbed his eyes as he opened the door. There, in the hallway, he saw Nathan Grant standing in front of him.
"Do you ever sleep?" He grumbled.
"As little as possible." Nathan responded as he pushed his way in. Bill sighed and closed the door behind him.
Nathan then turned, and responded, seriously this time, "I'm sorry about the hour. But I was awake thinking about this, and I needed to run it by someone."
"And it couldn't wait another four hours?" Bill asked.
"No. Because I'm going to be on the 5 AM stage."
Bill felt himself perk up a bit at the sound of that. "You're leaving? Why? Where are you going?"
"Calgary."
"Calgary? What for?"
"My direct superior is posted there. I trust him. I've known him since even before I was RCMP. He's been in my life since I was fourteen. I joined because of him."
Bill furrowed his eyebrows. "Okay, good for you I guess, but, I assume there's more to this."
"Yes. There is. I spoke with the men from the army earlier."
"I heard. Your conversation is the talk of town."
Nathan snorted. "Without a doubt. Not that we talked about much. And that's exactly the problem."
"What do you mean? What did they say to you?"
Nathan looked around a bit. He saw that Bill had a window open and he went over to close it.
"The room gets really hot with that closed, you know."
"I'll reopen it in a second." Nathan then took a number of steps closer to Bill, so that the two were mere inches away from one another. Whatever this was, it was clearly a secret.
"Bill, have you ever heard of there being connections between the RCMP and the army?"
"Of course. It makes sense that there would be."
"No, I don't mean normal connections related to law enforcement. I mean, something like..." Nathan's voice trailed off. He didn't quite know where he was going with this himself. He just knew something was wrong, and that the army officers had all but told him there was.
"Something like?" Bill prompted him after a moment of silence.
Nathan took a deep breath. "I really don't know exactly. But in our conversation I got the impression that the officers were trying to tell me something, though they couldn't come out and say it. Like, there might be a connection between the RCMP and the army that isn't about doing good."
Bill cocked his head slightly. "Corruption? Is that what you're suggesting?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe. And that's what I need to find out."
Bill nodded a couple of times. "That's what you're going to see this superior of yours? To discuss this with him?"
Nathan nodded back. "He knows about most RCMP activities west of the mountains. He might know something."
Bill put his hands on his hips. "Alright then. Any idea how long you'll be gone?"
"I don't know, but I'll try to be back as soon as I can. It might be two weeks."
"I'll hold down the fort then."
Nathan nodded once. "That's why I came, so, that's good to hear."
The two men stared at one another for a moment.
"So, is there more, or can I go back to bed?" Bill said.
Nathan laughed a bit. "Yes, you can go back to bed. Sorry I woke you." He walked towards the door and opened it.
Bill turned before he closed it behind him. "Nathan?" Nathan turned and looked at him.
"Try to hurry back. I have a bad feeling about all of this. I think we're going to need a Constable around. And Jack is in no position to do it."
"Still bad then, is he? I've been meaning to check on him."
"He didn't look so good the last time I saw him."
Nathan looked down at the floor and frowned. "Keep an eye on him, Bill. I've heard about head injuries like that. They can turn people into something they're not."
Bill nodded in response. He had heard the same thing.
