Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All rights go to the actors, writers and creators of the show "When Calls The Heart".

(7/07/2018)

CHAPTER 25

Jack, Bill and Frank came along the road to see two horses tied ahead. They were on the corner of a bend some distance away. Bill whistled to Jack and they both stopped dead, just ahead of Frank.

"They are the other two horses, Jack" Bill spoke low, his voice just above a whisper.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, one black and one white. Has to be them."

"Ok. Let's tie up the horses. We go ahead on foot."

They pulled the four horses away, out of view from the road and tied them up.

"Bill and I will go in, Frank you keep your eye on their horses. Shoot them to injure, not to kill." Jack directed, Bill and Frank nodded in agreement.

Jack moved ahead staying in the tree line, out of sight, Bill a few steps behind him. As they got closer, Jack could hear voices.

"No, town is that way but her footprints head back that way."

"Let's split up. She's here somewhere."

Jack looked over at Bill. They decided to split. Jack continued in the direction he was heading, staying close to the larger trees. As he leant out from one tree, he saw a man looking around using a rifle to push through the underbrush. He glanced back to see Bill pressed up against another tree. Bill signalled that he had his target in view as well. Jack signalled to him.

"Hands up! You are surrounded by the Mounted Police! Put your weapons down or you will be shot!" Jack yelled.

He watched the man in front of him freeze, but instead of surrendering, he raised his gun and waved it at a tree to the left of Jack. Terrified that Elizabeth could be anywhere out here, he took aim and fired toward the man's right shoulder before the man could fire. He fell to the ground with a yell of pain.

Jack glanced back to Bill to see he had moved out of sight. Jack glanced around the tree to see Bill standing over a man, his stomach pressed to the ground and arms raised over his head. Jack rushed the man he had shot and made sure he had been disarmed. He pulled the man's arms behind his back and cuffed him, despite the main screaming in pain.

"You should have thought about that before you kidnapped a woman" Jack said unsympathetically.

"Frank! We've got them!" Bill yelled.

"Elizabeth!" Jack shouted into the trees. "You can come out now!"

"Elizabeth!" Bill yelled.

Jack saw movement in a nearby shrub and immediately he was running toward it. He couldn't see anything at first before Elizabeth's face emerged from behind a tree. She looked pale, tired and scared. Jack ran to her and as soon as she had pulled herself from her hiding place and he had wrapped her up in his arms. he felt her legs go from underneath her. Jack picked her up and carried her back to the road, determined to never let her go again.

Elizabeth had been sitting there scared out of her wits. They were about to find her. Now what?

Just as she thought they would find her any second, she had heard Jack's voice loud and clear. He's here! I'm not going to die! Her heart began beating a different tune - until she heard the gun shot. Dread filled her thinking it could have hurt Jack. Her Jack.

Then she heard him calling her and she felt so elated. She stood up and saw Jack running towards her, his expression showing relief. She managed to step forward but her legs were not cooperating. They had been squashed underneath her for some time and between the cold and lack of circulation, they had a mind of their own. As soon as Jack reached her and she felt his strong arms around her the feeling of safety made her whole body instantly succumb to exhaustion. She collapsed into him and then she was weightless as her head rested on his shoulder and he carried her away.

Bill had put both men on top of a horse each and tied them on. They were not going anywhere except back to a nice jail cell back in Hope Valley. He had done his best to bandage the bullet wound on one of the men but he didn't really care if he made it or not. Not after what they had put Elizabeth through.

Jack and Elizabeth sat huddled together down by the road. She had practically fainted in his arms, but now she sat next to him on a log, his arms wrapped tightly around her. He was whispering something to her to which she smiled and nodded. Bill was glad that she was at least still smiling. Hopefully things hadn't gone as bad as they could have.

"Ok, Jack, we're ready to go. Those two are tied up, we can head out and make it down the road a bit before it gets dark. We've maybe got an hour."

"Actually, there's one more" Elizabeth spoke up.

"One more what?" Jack turned his head toward her.

"Another man."

"Where is he?" Bill asked.

"About ten minutes back that way. On the hill just before the town, there is an old cabin off to the right."

"Okay … is he tied up or something?" Jack asked her.

"No. He's dead I think. Or close to it" Elizabeth whispered.

"Oh Izzy." Jack's arm tightened around her and Elizabeth's head dropped against his chest.

"You go ahead. I will catch up." Bill untied his horse and the spare one and rode off.

Jack was about to tie the two horses and their captured men to his own horse when Frank stopped him.

"Jack, tie them to mine. You take Elizabeth on your horse ahead and I will hang back a bit. She probably wants to be as far as possible away from them."

Jack nodded and did what Frank had suggested. He went back to the log to help Elizabeth up. She was weak but unfortunately, he only had water to give to her. Jack put his jacket around her since her muddy one was now cold and damp. He helped her onto the horse and climbed up behind her, before reaching for the reins around her.

"Are you okay, Izzy?" he whispered into her ear.

She moved back into his arms and nodded.

They rode for over an hour, Bill catching up to them about halfway in. As the sun dipped below the horizon, they pulled the horses over. They were about to set up camp when Bill heard something ahead.

"Just stay here. I'm just going to check something out."

Before Jack could respond, he had galloped off down the road. After a few minutes, Jack heard a familiar whistle.

"Looks like we're going a bit further."

Jack and Frank spurred the horses on and as they got closer they noticed movement up ahead in the low light.

"Elizabeth!" several voices called out.

Seconds later Jack's horse was swarmed by Faith, Shane and Lee. Jack helped Elizabeth down into Shane's arms and watched as the three of them embraced her simultaneously.

Jack jumped off his horse and watched as Faith, tears rolling down her face, hugged her friend. Lee and Shane both gave Jack a pat on the back.

"Well done, Jack."

"Thank you, Jack."

Jack followed Bill and tied up his horse with all the others and turned to see that they had quite the company here. There were another four men from town who all came over to shake his hand. They had a fire going and some hot food cooking over the coals.

Jack watched as Elizabeth was led by Faith to some blankets by the fire. Faith sat her down and handed her some biscuits and poured her some soup. Meanwhile Lee was putting another blanket around her shoulders. Jack smiled as he watched everyone milling around her making sure she was okay. They all loved her and it had nothing to do with her last name. The people of Hope Valley had fallen in love with her just for being herself.

Elizabeth had been overwhelmed when she saw all the people that had helped in the search for her. Seeing Faith had been the last straw. She had stood there sobbing into Faith's arms, the events of the last two days overwhelming her.

As she sat by the fire, leaning against a big log with everyone fussing over her, she looked over to see Jack watching her. He was smiling at the scene before him, not just her, but when their eyes met she could see his smile grow a little bit bigger. She motioned for him to come sit next to her. He sidled over and slid down against the log next to her. Faith immediately handed him some food as well and Jack and Elizabeth sat in silence eating the first food they had in two whole days.

Elizabeth was so happy to have Jack next to her she had leant into him and was staring at the fire. Her hand had slid into his, hidden by the blanket and there they sat quietly. The whole party was so excited to have found Elizabeth and had three captured criminals in their midst, that the chatter continued for some time. The heat from the fire was making Elizabeth sleepy and before she knew it her head had slid onto Jack's chest and she had fallen fast asleep.

Jack had been prepared to stay up all night to keep a watchful eye on Elizabeth but Shane and Bill had insisted on keeping an eye out.

"You just stay next to her, Jack. We can't lose her again" Shane insisted.

Jack was not about to complain. That was the best order he had gotten in a while. He had laid her head down on a blanket and pulled another one up over her and rolled out a second blanket beside her for himself. He stayed close to her, insisting to himself that it was only so that she wouldn't get cold.

Jack woke in the morning, after one of the best nights sleep he had ever had. Elizabeth was pressed up against his chest, arm draped over him and her head nestled into his shoulder. He could have been embarrassed by the intimacy of the situation but he didn't care. They were fully dressed, had blankets between them and were surrounded by at least ten other people. He kissed her forehead and eased out from underneath her, trying not to wake her. He sat up to see no one else moving about. He went off into the trees to relieve himself and ran into Lee on his way back.

"Lee. How did you sleep?" Jack asked him.

"Good! Although I think you ended up with a better sleeping arrangement than me. Bill is a hell of a snorer!"

Jack blushed in response.

"Don't worry. I didn't see anything." Lee's eyes twinkled and he laughed as he walked away.

Elizabeth awoke the next morning feeling cold again. She vaguely remembered being cold in the night but she had quickly found something warm near her and snuggled up against it. Now her heat source was gone and the sun wasn't even up yet. She saw Lee walking back across the camp and lie back down again. She closed her eyes so he wouldn't notice her. A minute later she heard someone else. She peeked through her eyelids to see Jack come back toward her and lie down next to her. Oh, that was my heat source. She tried not to smile. Instead she waited until he was settled and then pretended she was asleep and rolled into him, pressing up against his side. She expected him to move away, but instead he rolled onto his side facing her, pulled her closer toward him and raised the blanket up over her before wrapping his arm around her waist. He kissed her forehead gently.

She raised her eyelids then, her hand sliding up between them to his face. He pulled back slightly and looked down into her eyes, surprised to see her awake. Her hand moved towards the back of his head pulling him down to her. Their lips met and their kiss was gentle and soft. They were surrounded by a lot of people, so it couldn't last as long as she wanted. Her hand pulled him in closer, their kiss deepening. I'm sorry, I love you, she kissed him. I know, I love you too, he kissed her back.