December.
The winter scenery in Hope Valley had come around once again. The sheets of white fluff covered the ground, the leaves fell on the snow leaving the trees bare naked and the waters had frozen sturdy enough to slip and slide on the thick material.
Homes were very warm again. Most of the time if residents weren't in their own homes they were either in the mercantile, at school or church, or in Abigail's cafe where the coffee was always running and heated food was always available. Abigail was serving out the apple pies when the wintery cold came running in after Jack and Lee walked into the room. "Afternoon gentlemen."
"Afternoon gentlemen. Coffee, Jack?"
"Yes please, just one before the trip."
"Sure thing. And Lee I have Rosemary's order in the back."
"Thank you."
While Abigail retreated to the kitchen the two men stood around to wait. "How long until you return from New York, Jack?"
"I'll be gone for a little over a week. First to help my brother out, then walk around a bit and maybe find a Christmas gift for Elizabeth." Jack answered. "I'm glad to be helping my brother get out of jail because he was helping to stop the fight between the men and women and not actually starting the fight."
"He's lucky to have you as a brother." Lee chuckled. "If Rosemary is right about the gender, hopefully in a few short years we can give Gene a little brother or sister."
"She still sure it's a boy, isn't she?"
"Gene Leland Coulter." Lee smiled. "But I'm still hoping she's a Hazel Rose Coulter with her vivid personality."
"Another Rosemary? Just what Hope Valley needs." Jack laughed.
"Just what the world needs." Lee also laughed.
Abigail returned to the front with Jack's coffee and Lee's order to go. She smiled faintly at the men, but they both knew that Abigail was kind of forcing herself to smile. Christmas was around the corner. Christmas was usually spend with family and friends, but a member of Abigail's family was still missing. Abigail was still heartbroken but she was slowly healing from the hurt. But she still ached with every unanswered prayer that Clara wasn't here.
Jack and Elizabeth big farewell to one another and then went their separate ways; Elizabeth back to class from recess and Jack on his way to help out his brother in New York.
After delivering the food and checking on Rosemary's well being, Lee was back at the saw mill awaiting a new worker from Boston. At the arrival of the saw mill Lee found a new face. A tall guy with hazel brown hair covered by a newspaper boys cap, a white shirt under his dark winter jacket, with suspenders, tan pants and beat up sneakers. He appeared young, but very skinny and fatigued. "Carl Elmer?"
Carl turned at the call of his name and saw a man with dark hair. "Lee Coulter?"
"Yes sir," Lee smiled and held his hand out to shake with Carl. "Your father's an old friend of mine, but he talks about all the time in his letters."
"Same here." Carl smiled.
"Thank you again for coming up on short notice around Christmas time."
"Oh it's no worry. Dad says that mom and him will come up in about a week and stay up here in the house I'm staying in." Carl smiled. "So Christmas with the Elmers will still happen."
"And you can really fix anything?"
"I'm good with my hands."
"Good. I need someone like that to help around with the lumbering, whether it be taking the trees down or the machines. Possibly helping to pack up the deliveries too."
"Anything you need, sir." Carl smiled. His stomach roared loudly a few moments later. "Sorry. I woke up early but didn't get a chance to eat something."
"Well how about a quick tour and then lunch. My treat."
"Sounds good." Carl smiled. Then an idea emerged. "I heard of Hope Valley once, besides from dad. There's a nice little cafe that a nice woman owns."
"Oh, that must be Abigail's Cafe. She's a very nice woman."
"Maybe I should drop by and see for myself." Carl grinned.
No more than an hour later the two men were inside the cafe. Lee walked up to order two coffees and pieces of pie while Carl stood around and studied the cafe. It was nice as his friend expressed months ago.
"Who's your new friend?" Abigail asked Lee.
"Oh, a new worker for the saw mill. Carl Elmer. His father is an old friend of mine. I had mentioned that I needed some help around the mill and he suggested Carl, who can pretty much fix or work on things that involve his hands."
"Well it sounds like the mill is going to be extra busy with all that help soon." She smiled just as Carl strolled up to the front. "Nice to meet you, Carl. I'm Abigail Stanton."
Carl gave a bright smile. Stanton. "Hello Mrs. Stanton."
"Oh, a very polite young man." Abigail smiled. "Have you've been given a tour of Hope Valley yet?"
"Personally no, but I've heard stories from Mr. Coulter and another friend of mine." Carl smile. "Actually I was kind of hoping that my friend would be here."
"Oh, and who's that?" Abigail wondered.
"Miss Clara Stanton, Ma'am."
Both Abigail and Lee looked stunned when Carl said her name. Abigail assumed he was from Hamilton, but Lee knew the true story.
"How do you know Clara?" Lee questioned.
"I met her on a ship to New York." Carl explained. Through the awkwardness he said, "I can guess from the looks on your faces that Clara isn't here."
"No. We... we haven't seen her in a while." Lee said. "She's been gone for over a year now."
"Oh. Yes, I remember her telling me that story." Carl mentioned.
"Where did you last see her?" Abigail pondered.
"New York." Carl replied. "It was a couple of days after we docked into New York."
"Was she okay? How was she? Did someone hurt her? What happened to her?" Abigail asked these and many more questions rapidly. She needed her answers. At least her prayers for Clara's living had been answered.
"She's okay. She was in good health. Couldn't be any more healthier than she was really." He said. He wanted to tell her about Josephine, but his gut told him to not speak a word about Clara's daughter. "She misses everyone and everything about Hope Valley."
Abigail gave a giant smile of relief. Clara was safe. "Where was the last time you saw her in New York?"
"A single women's shelter."
"A shelter?" Lee asked.
"Yes sir. Uh..." Carl didn't know if he should mention the disaster that took place, but maybe it would be better if Abigail knew ahead of time. "A lot of the women, single and mothers with children, stayed in one or two shelters until family could be found."
"Why would families have to be found?" Abigail asked.
Carl was about to speak when memories... nightmares flashed back into his head. But he tried to ignore them as he answered. "Clara and I... were on the Titanic."
"Titanic?" Abigail nearly shouted in horror. Hope Valley had heard about Titanic at least two days after the horrific events. Back in July, a couple from New York had moved to just outside the town of Hope Valley. They were third class passengers on Titanic and shared a few details of the event. They were both lucky to be able to make it from the cold bitter waters and onto the rescue ship. Just as much as they were lucky to share the story. Hearing it was a nightmare for the residents to hear, let alone really being there when it all happened.
"Yes Ma'am." Carl expressed. "But the last time I saw her was a few days after the event. After that she never sent a letter. I sent a letter to the shelter, hoping they would send it to whomever she was living with and then from that address she would write me back, but it always got returned back."
Abigail sighed. It hurt that there wasn't much contact with Clara still, but at least one thing for sure. Clara was alive and safe. That was all Abigail needed to hear.
"Lee? Did Jack already go to New York?" Abigail asked.
"Yes. A while ago."
"If I send a telegram, maybe Jack will get it. He told me the name of where his brother was being held." She stated. With Cody and Becky here during Christmas break soon and Rosemary's due date coming up in a couple of days, Abigail was stuck in Hope Valley for the rest of December. But if she got the message to the Mountie in time...
Then just maybe there's some hope left.
Whoo! They know Clara is alive! :)
Yes, I think Rosemary would be a wonderful mother! :)