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!

Thanks for reading and reviewing, Hearties! Sorry for the wait but life got me. Of course our Jack had to be exonerated! As a modern gal, I love that Jack is the hero (fan self) BUT, I love the notion that Elizabeth can save him in a different way than he can save her. I also believe that it shows that love always perseveres and never fails on both sides. On that note, love always protects!

And….action!

Chapter 14

Constable Lewis and Jack greeted Elizabeth as she walked over to them on the sidewalk. "You're free!" she said with a smile.

"Almost!" Jack said holding his cuffed hands up in front of him.

"Just give me a few minutes, love birds!" Constable Lewis said with a smile. Jack and Elizabeth shared a shy glance at each other when a loud pop sounded down the street. Some people looked around but others went about their business, the hustle and bustle of the busy sidewalk and street drowned the sound out. Lewis and Jack looked but didn't see anything. Lewis shrugged his shoulders and Jack returned his attention to Elizabeth.

"I can't believe you found that loophole!" Jack said.

"Well, the librarian helped! As luck had it, she used to live in Ottawa and remembered reading about that case in the newspaper. I'm so glad it worked." Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Thank you…" Jack began when suddenly, gun shots rang out closer as men on horses rode up the street. They pulled to the front of the Parliament Building, firing into the air. Chaos unfolded on the busy city street and sidewalk as people ran, crouched down or fell to the ground to take cover.

Jack quickly turned to Elizabeth, lifted his cuffed hands over her head and moved his arms down to hug her, which locked her in place against him. In one swift motion, Jack brought them both to the ground and covered her with his body to shield her from the gunfire.

People screamed and shouted with fear as the men continued to fire into the air. Lewis had ducked down as well but he held his gun up to fire back.

Mr. Thatcher watched the entire scene unfold from his crouched position behind a pillar. "My goodness!" he said feeling helpless.

"What's going on?" Jack said looking over at Lewis.

"I think it's a brig break!" Lewis said firing back. "I see a group down the road at the jail!"

"Barth!" Jack and Lewis said simultaneously recalling this morning's conversation with the man. He said he wasn't coming back to the jail one way or another.

"Jack?" Elizabeth said worriedly from under him.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth! I know this is not proper but I didn't know what else to do." Jack said looking into her eyes.

"It's ok!" she said holding his collar. They flinched and hugged at the sound of more shots. "When is it going to stop?" she said frantically.

Jack simply kissed her temple, "You're going to be alright, Elizabeth."

"What about my father?" Elizabeth gasped. "God, please make it stop!" Elizabeth cried as she shut her eyes tightly. Elizabeth felt Jack's body flinch and heard him groan in pain.

"Jack? Jack?" She shook him.

He groaned again and looked at his arm, "I'm ok, I think it's just a graze."

One of the gunmen pointed a gun at the Mountie escorting Jack's cell neighbor Barth on the sidewalk. "Hand over your prisoner or I will fire, Mountie. I'll take you out and half of these innocent people."

"You've already used most of your bullets firing them into the air." The Constable said trying to buy his time as he saw more Mounties heading their way.

"It's about time you guys got here. I was beginning to think you were not coming!" Barth said as he struggled to break free of the Mountie's hold.

Constable Lewis saw an opportunity as both gunmen appeared distracted at the moment. "I have a chance!" Lewis said turning to Jack.

"Good luck!" Jack called as his new friend moved away. Jack wished he were able to help but he was thankful he could protect Elizabeth. He rolled them sideways so that he could see better but still held her close.

Lewis carefully walked a few steps trying not to draw too much attention although his red serge jacket didn't allow him to blend in. He aimed, fired and wounded one gunman. The man fell from his horse but Barth seized the opportunity to make a run for his other friend. Two more gunmen came out of nowhere and provided coverage as Barth was scooped up. Jack looked over and saw Barth nod at him as they rode away with Mounties chasing after the gunmen on horseback. Another Mountie moved to grab the downed gunman.

"It's over! They're gone!" Lewis yelled as he moved toward Jack and Elizabeth. Sighs of relief could be heard all over. A citizen was shot but people were tending to the man.

Jack moved his arms up and over Elizabeth freeing her from his hold. They both sat up and Jack tried to get a good look at his arm to see where he was hurt. "Oh, Jack…you're hurt!" Elizabeth said as she sat up on her knees and took his arm to get a closer look. "Oh thank God, it's just a laceration!" Elizabeth said with relief.

"See, it's just a graze. I'll be ok." Jack said. "I'm glad it was me and not you."

"Yes but…" Elizabeth said feeling badly. "Thank you for protecting me like that. You're a wonderful man and Mountie." Elizabeth said sincerely as she leaned in and kissed him.

"Ahem" Lewis said. "Sorry. I can give you a few stitches if you want to be sure it heals ok but regardless, I need to get you discharged." Lewis reached his hand down to help Elizabeth up as Jack got to his feet. "Let me take a look, Jack." Lewis said. "You're right, it's just a graze! We can bandage it over at the jail."

"I'd love to help catch them before I get to Lethbridge." Jack said. "Barth's got quite the list of crimes under his belt. He was in for robberies and the main suspect in an attack and murder of a saloon girl." Lewis shook his head at that while Elizabeth looked disgusted.

"I need to find my father! I don't see him anywhere." Elizabeth said looking around.

"Perhaps he made his way back to your hotel? Where are you staying?" Lewis asked.

"Hotel de Vincent on Angel Street." Elizabeth said.

"Wow! I tried to stay there but it was too expensive for my salary!" Lewis said innocently.

Jack looked down. "Ok, let's get going to the jail. We'll catch up with you later, Elizabeth." Jack said abruptly as he began to walk away. Elizabeth and Lewis looked at Jack oddly. Lewis quickly caught up to Jack. He suddenly recalled the conversation with Jack on the train in which he explained that Elizabeth's family wanted her to have a wealthy suitor; it all made sense now.

"Sorry Jack, I didn't mean to bring up her wealth and our lack thereof." Lewis said.

"Don't worry about it. Let's help these people." Jack said. Jack and Lewis began moving around to make sure people were ok as they made their way to the jail.

"Beth! Beth!" William called. "Oh my dear girl. Thank goodness you're ok!"

"Are you ok? I was so scared. I didn't know where you were." Elizabeth said as they hugged.

"I wasn't as close as you were, dear." William said as he looked her over just to be sure she was fine. "I saw how Jack protected you. I'm going to have to add that to the list of times he's saved my girl."

Elizabeth felt herself blush. "Yes." She said quietly.

"I think we better continue on our way. Jack's cleared and obviously this town is not safe! I'm going to get our tickets for the next train to Calgary. We'll take a stagecoach from Calgary to Coal Valley." William said.

"Ok, I want to send a telegram to Abigail and let her know we're on our way." Elizabeth said. "I also need to say goodbye to Jack. He's on his way to being discharged at the jail."

"Good, I'm going to send one home and to my associates in Cape Fullerton. I might as well go out there and do some business while I'm out west." William said. "I'll meet you at the hotel in an hour."

Over at the jail, "Constable Jack Thornton, you are free to go. Here are your personal items as well as your service revolver. Your horse can be picked at the livery on Hearties Way. Ask for Ms. Henrich and she will assist you. You need to head out immediately and report to Lethbridge. You must send word that you have arrived to Commissioner O'Keefe. Not sure how long you'll be there, I'd assume until recovery efforts are completed. Could be a few months from what I hear. It's pretty bad so they're sending more Mounties. Good day, Constable!" The acting Mountie said as he saluted Jack.

"Thank you!" Jack said as he saluted him back with a smile. "It feels good to be free!" Jack said with a smile as he stepped out into the street. Lewis patted him on the back. "Guess what? I got orders to head Lethbridge too!" Lewis said. Jack's smile grew bigger and they shook hands.

"Let's go get my horse." Jack said as they headed to the livery.

Mr. Thatcher purchased tickets for the next train to Calgary which was in three hours. As he moved down the street, he saw Commissioner O'Keefe mounting a horse. He thought he'd take the opportunity to say something about Jack. "Commissioner, I'm William Thatcher." He said with his hand out.

"William Thatcher! I just read your letter and received your donation in Jack Thornton's honor. I must say, that took a lot of nerve on your part. It would not have made a difference in the decision to exonerate him. You see the court deals only in facts, not money, to decide Court Martials." Commissioner O'Keefe said suggesting bribery.

"I'm pleased to hear that for you see, it's a fact that letter and check were written well before I was aware that you, of all people, would be overseeing the Court Martial. That is evident by the date on the documents. It's also a fact that Jack Thornton would not accept the money and therefore donated in his honor. If you do not wish to accept that very generous donation to the Royal Northwest Mounted Police Academy, then it's a fact that I can cancel the payment and donate to another cause." William said firmly as he looked the man in the eye.

The Commissioner's eyes went wide for a moment. "No, no, that's not necessary. Why, I'm thrilled to announce the donation to the Academy!" he said.

"That's what I thought. I also hope that Constable Clayton Lowne will have his day in court." William said.

"Yes, he has already been taken into custody and the testimony from Thornton's case will be used in his." The Commissioner said.

"Good day to you." William said with a nod.

"Good day." The Commissioner said as he tipped his hat and rode away.

Elizabeth made her way to the front desk. "Excuse me, sir? I need to send a telegram."

The man nodded, "Cheryl or Bobbi, could you please help this woman?"

"Of course! Here you go." Cheryl said as she handed the telegram paper off to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile as she wrote to Abigail. She felt excitement for the first time in a while at the thought of seeing her friend soon. She noted the time and turned in her telegram. "Thank you, ladies!" she said as she scurried out of the hotel and over to the jail to say goodbye to Jack.

She arrived at the jail a bit winded and asked for Jack. "I'm sorry but you missed Constable Thornton." the acting Mountie told Elizabeth. "He left about twenty minutes ago to get his horse and head off to Lethbridge."

"I missed him?" Elizabeth said shocked.

"Sorry ma'am." The Mountie said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Elizabeth happened to look to her right and saw Clayton in the first cell. She walked over with her arms folded and spoke, "Clayton, it's a shame to see you in this situation but it's one that you got yourself into. I can't believe the lies you told while you were on the stand! If it wasn't for you, Jack would have never been in that situation!" Elizabeth said.

"No, Thornton would not have been in that situation if it wasn't for you!" Clayton said pointedly.

Elizabeth was taken aback by that statement and a little part of her knew he was right. She turned away and walked out of the jail. Elizabeth's eyes began to tear-up as she walked down the street. She had to walk past the Parliament Building to get back to the hotel. She thought about Jack protecting her during the chaos earlier. She was lucky to have him in her life but would he be in her life? She desperately wanted to say goodbye before he left. Elizabeth didn't know when she'd see him again and Clayton's words haunted her.

Elizabeth rounded the corner to Angel Street and there in front of the Hotel de Vincent, were two Mounties on horses. She wiped her eyes to make sure she was seeing clearly. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized it was Jack and Lewis.

Jack was waiting for her.