Chapter 9 – 364 Days

Elizabeth overslept the next morning and had to hurry to get to the school before the children. As she rushed to get ready, Abigail informed her that Paul was still alive. Considering how badly he had looked the previous night, this was somewhat of a miracle. Elizabeth wondered how he would do if he were in a city, with a proper hospital, and actual doctors working on him last night, rather than a school teacher, a pregnant wife, and a Mountie with basic medical training.

After the last of her students had left that afternoon, Elizabeth stopped by the jail and the doctor's office, but found both empty. She hurried to the Café.

As she entered, she saw Jack sitting at a table with Rosemary and Lee. Elizabeth placed her hand on Jack's shoulder as she moved to sit down with them. He touched her hand and held it for a moment before letting go. She wished they didn't have to behave so properly in public, but a public kiss might be considered an unacceptable display of affection between an unmarried school teacher and a Mountie. She knew that both professions were held to a high standard of morality, and they had already set enough tongues wagging.

"How's Paul?" she asked nervously, afraid of what the answer might be."

"He's holding his own. The doctor's back in town and looked at him. Clara has moved into Abigail's room so the family can stay together upstairs. Some of the town men carried him over early", Jack informed her.

"He looked awful", Rosemary added unhappily.

"Has he regained consciousness?"

"Not yet", Jack answered grimly.

The four sat at the table saying nothing before Rosemary spoke again.

"Clara stitched up his uniform . . . . I tried to get it clean, but I'm afraid the blood stains had set too long".

"Well, he won't be going on rounds anytime soon, Rosemary, so I'm sure it's not a problem" Elizabeth answered. She thought Rosemary was silly for worrying about it.

Lee, Rosemary, and Jack looked at each other.

"What?" Elizabeth asked, suspecting that she was missing something in this conversation.

When no one said anything, she asked again more insistently, "WHAT?"

Jack and Rosemary remained silent. It was Lee who explained the importance of having a neat uniform ready.

"Mounties are buried in their uniforms" he said quietly.

Elizabeth put her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob.

When she was sure her voice wouldn't crack with emotion, Elizabeth asked, "How's Sabrina holding up?"

"I've never seen a woman so strong. . . . . except your mother, Jack. She was strong like that when your father. . . . .well , . . . you know", Rosemary's voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to bring it up," Rosemary added, her voice full of compassion.

"It's okay, Rosie. It's not like it ever goes away." Jack reassured her. "I was thinking of him anyway."

Just then, Abigail walked over to the table carrying Jacklyn. "Can one of you please watch her? I've got too much going on in the kitchen right now. And I want Sabrina to nap some more."

Jack immediately reached for the little girl. As he held her, he stroked her brown hair and kissed the top of her head. Oblivious to the worries around her, Jacklyn happily banged a spoon on the table. No one stopped her; they were all thinking the same thing. Would history repeat itself? Would this Jack's father die in the line of duty?

Elizabeth thought about how easy her life had been, and how hard it must have been for Jack when his own father died. Despite the tragedy of his father's death, Jack had grown into an honorable wonderful man. More and more, she realized how wrong her father had been to treat Jack the way he had. How her mother and Viola had looked down on Jack when they should have been doing the opposite. I should have stood up for him more, she thought guiltily. She remembered how excited she had been when she found out that her father had offered him a job. Stupid, she chided herself.

After five minutes, Elizabeth couldn't sit there any longer. It was all too depressing, knowing that this little girl's father was unconscious upstairs, and her pregnant mother was exhausted from stress. "Jack, let's take a walk" she suggested.

"Leave the little one with us." Rosemary said. "I can entertain her, and if she gets restless, I'll just soothe her with some more of Abigail's cookies."

Elizabeth wasn't sure that was the best way to handle a restless child, but she wasn't going to argue.


As Jack and Elizabeth walked out of town, she reached for his hand. Elizabeth decided that comforting Jack was more important than town gossip. Besides, the students had already seen them hold hands before.

"How did you find him?" she finally asked.

"I heard a gunshot. It led me generally in the right direction. And later, I saw vultures in the sky. I headed to where they were circling".

Elizabeth was repulsed. "Vultures were circling Paul?"

"No, the two men Paul had killed. Near as I could tell, they had been dead a couple days. Their bodies, what was left of them, were about 20 yards away from Paul."

Elizabeth felt like gagging, but she also wanted Jack to be able to talk about what had happened.

"The gunshot you heard?" Elizabeth questioned.

"I think that was from Paul killing a wolf that was going after him. I found its body a few paces from him. Despite Paul's wounds, he had managed to pull his gun and kill it, probably as it was attacking"

"He must have been so scared." Elizabeth said as she held tighter to Jack.

"No, I don't think so. At least not about the wolf itself. Only two things scare Paul . . . Sabrina and Jacklyn having to fend for themselves if he died, or him being the one left alone without them."

"Did Sabrina ever tell you how Jacklyn got her name?" Jack continued.

Elizabeth nodded.

"When he found them alive,. . . . I've never seen a man so overcome with relief. That night, back at the ranch, he still had tears sliding down his face; he was so filled with love", Jack said.

Jack stopped walking and turned to Elizabeth. "At the time, I didn't think I would ever feel that much love for someone. Now, I'm starting to understand it, to feel it."

"Oh, Jack" was all she said before she reached for his face and gently kissed him.

Jack broke away from her kiss and looked down. His voice cracked with emotion now. "You once told me that you didn't think you were brave enough. . . . Could you do this? Wait and worry about me all the times I may be away. Would it be worth it for you?"

Elizabeth held his face in her hands, forcing his tear-filled eyes to look at her. "Jack, I would spend 364 days alone worrying about you, if it meant I could spend one day a year in your arms", she said softly.

She kissed him gently on the lips. "I love you, Jack Thornton. You're the one for me. Don't you know that by now?" she whispered before she kissed him again.

He wrapped his arms around her, gently kissing her lips.

They had had many kisses during their courtship. Nervous awkward first kisses, fun kisses in laughter, passionate kisses that made her toes curl, but this was different from all the rest. Elizabeth would remember this kiss for all time. This tender kiss was the beginning of forever. She knew, without a doubt, that they would love each other always.

They sat on a grassy hill, releasing the tension of the past few days. It was peaceful out here, away from everyone else. Why couldn't every day be like this right now? Elizabeth thought. They watched the deer graze in the setting sun and felt the air cool.

"Jack, look how red the sky is! It's so beautiful."

"It's almost gives me hope that things are looking better".

The word "hope" reminded Elizabeth of something. "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words. . ." began Elizabeth before Jack interrupted her.

"Can you not quote that? I kind of hate that poem since it's the one that Billy Hamilton used to flirt with you", Jack said with humor in his voice.

"Oh, yes. I forgot about that. Sorry." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as an apology, and was rewarded with a smile and his dimples.

Elizabeth was happy that Jack's mood was starting to lighten up. She thought for a moment as she looked at the sky and remembered an old sailing adage. "Okay, how about this one: Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky at morning sailors take warning."

"Who are you, Christopher Columbus?" he asked amused.

"Jack, I can't be Christopher Columbus, I'm a woman" she retorted.

"Okay, MRS. Christopher Columbus, is it then?"

"He never even made it to Canada, or any of North America, Jack, . . . and neither did his wife!" Elizabeth informed Jack, as she tried to stifle a giggle.

"Is there anything you don't know?"

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip in a way that Jack always found irresistible. "I don't know how your kisses are going to taste in the next second", she said with a gleam in her eyes.

"I can help you with that", he said as he slowly leaned towards her.

They remained on hill, in each other's arms, talking at times, just holding each other at times, until the stars came out. Neither one was anxious to leave the peacefulness of just the two of them and go back to the strong possibility that Sabrina may be a widow.

Dear Readers: There is just one chapter left in this story, and it will be the longest. The upcoming Chapter 10 will bring everything together. Before you read it, you may want to re-read, or skim, the first 9 chapters so you don't miss anything that comes back into play. I love, love, love Chapter 10! I hope you will too. Thanks for reading.