Nathan decided to ride Chestnut from Northeast Edmonton to Lamoureux without any of his Mountie trappings. No uniform, and he'd even removed any trace of clues from the saddle and the rest of his tack. To anyone who encountered him, he was just a traveler on his way east.

In his years as a Mountie, Nathan had developed a sense of when things were right. He knew that if he followed his instincts and didn't let his thinking get too much in the way, he could find the answer he was looking for. It was like that now as he rode.

Constable Arthur Banks of the Spruce Grove Mounties had visited the Bar-S Ranch early in the morning and had gotten all the information Nathan needed to proceed. Yes, the horse had been sold almost a month ago, to a Mr. Bailey in Lamoureux. He was looking for an Appaloosa to add to his riding stables. He offered lessons in simple riding for children, barrel racing and general rodeo skills and wanted a gentle horse with some rodeo experience.

Constable Banks thanked the ranch hand and closed his notebook, turning away. The hand turned and said, "You know, that's a very popular horse. You're the second person asking where she's gone."

When pressed by Constable Banks, the ranch hand said that a young girl, one he'd seen around the stables before, wanted to know where Sunset had gone. He'd thought she might be interested in lessons, but by the time he turned to ask her, she'd left.

And yes, this was about three weeks ago - and the girl fit Jessie's description.

Nathan knew that not all thirteen-year-old girls were the same, but he felt lucky to have Allie's perspective about how their minds worked. He wasn't absolutely positive that Jessie was in Lamoureux, but if he had to put a percentage on it, he figured it at about eighty. Maybe eighty-five.

Before riding out, Nathan had stopped to see Archie and Stella. He'd been careful not to give them hope, and just said he was following up on some leads and would see them when he got back into town.

Nathan rode up to Mr. Bailey's barn and dismounted. His natural love for stables and all things related to horses put him completely at ease, breathing in the well-known smells. He entered the barn and saw about a dozen horses in their stalls. In the distance, he could hear the all-too-familiar sound from his youth – the scraping of the shovel on the hard floor in the act of mucking out the night's soiled bedding in a stall.

There was only one Appaloosa, a beautiful mare with a black face and socks, a white coat and the typical Dalmatian-like spots of black peppering her back and flanks. As he moved closer to her, he could see that she wore blinders to help keep the light out and she had a shiny ointment around her eyes. Conjunctiva, Nathan thought, common in Appaloosas.

He reached out a hand, fingers in, to touch her nose with his knuckles. "Hey, girl," he said softly.

"Can I help you?"

Nathan turned, hoping to see the girl he'd memorized from her picture – a pretty girl of thirteen with long, light brown curls. What he saw instead was a boy with Jessie's face, short hair with a cap pulled down over the eyebrows, very tall and looking older than thirteen. The boy wore a plaid shirt, suspenders, work pants and boots. From the clothes, Nathan thought he might be looking in a mirror.

"I... I was wondering if any of these horses are for sale," Nathan said, a little taken aback. His eyes were adjusting to the low light in the barn, and the more he looked, the more he knew this was Jessie he was talking to. Of course she would have to pass as a boy. It would be so much easier to move through the world than it would be to try to do it as a girl.

"That one's not," she said quickly. "You don't want her anyway, she's got..."

"Conjunctiva," Nathan said.

The cap shot up a little as Jessie's eyebrows moved. "You know horses." She took the cap off and Nathan could see that she had no future as a hairdresser. It looked like she'd cut her hair with garden shears. She said curtly, "So you know you don't want her, then."

"I might, still," Nathan said cautiously, reaching out again and this time getting a nuzzling from Sunset. "Seems she likes me," he said, turning back to Jessie.

Jessie moved closer as Nathan hoped she would, in a protective stance that turned Sunset's nose away from Nathan and toward her. "Like I said, this one's not for sale."

Nathan nodded. "You the owner here?"

Jessie gave a snort. "Do I look like the owner, Mister? No. Mr. Bailey is the owner." She said quickly. "But he's not here."

Nathan gave Jessie some space and moved over to the chocolate bay in the stall next to Sunset. He reached out and stroked his neck idly. "I have a daughter about your age. She loves horses."

For the first time, Jessie smiled. "He's a good one. That's Murphy. Gentle as they come, but he doesn't like it much when the coyotes howl up in the hills."

Nathan laughed softly. "Most of them don't."

He watched as Jessie held Sunset's head underneath her neck and rubbed her face against her cheek. "You seem pretty partial to that one," Nathan said softly.

Jessie smiled again. "That's because I'm going to buy her."

Nathan nodded. "Even with her eye problems?"

Jessie sighed. "Partly because of them. What chance does a horse like this have in a place where she's supposed to be ridden all day? I ride her at night and she's like a filly." Jessie's smile lit up the stables, and Nathan couldn't help but smile back.

Right now he was trying to find a way to make the leap. He could tell she wasn't frightened of him, and she'd opened up a little, but he didn't want this to go on any longer than it had to. She had to trust him and if he kept lying to her, she wouldn't.

"Jessie," he said softly.

Her head came up naturally, answering to her name, and then he saw the fear in her eyes.

He had to be familiar to her, someone she could relate to. "I'm Archie Grant's son, Jessie. He's worried about you."

She frowned. "Mr. Grant? He's your father?" Nathan could see her sharp mind working, making connections.

"My daughter's name is Allie. She's thirteen. And if she were missing, I can't even tell you how I'd feel. Your mom loves you, Jessie."

The fear was back. "Does she know I'm here?"

"No," Nathan said quickly. "She just knows I'm looking for you. And if you want to stay here and you want me just to tell her that you're okay, I can do that. But it would be better if you'd come home."

Jessie smiled sadly and shook her head. "I prayed about this, Mr. Grant. That somehow I could let Mom know that I was okay," she said with a little laugh. "God takes care of us, but not always the way we want Him to."

Nathan laughed. "Don't I know it. Sometimes we have to figure He has a better view than we do."

They both stood there quietly for a moment, lost in their communion with Murphy and Sunset, which connected them to each other. One horse lover to another.

Jessie wasn't sure what it was about this man. Maybe that he had a daughter her age. Maybe that she was just tired of being so grown up and he seemed like he understood that. And maybe that he was Mr. Grant's son, and she liked Archie so much. But she decided to trust him.

"I need to stay here for six months," she said finally. "I'm buying Sunset with the work I do here. I'm afraid if I don't buy her that she'll... Mr. Bailey was talking about the glue factory in Battleford..." She turned her head and held Sunset. "I plan to go home when I've bought her, but I can't until then."

Nathan thought for a moment. "And if you could buy her now, would you go home?"

Frowning, Jessie thought. "If I could? Yes. I didn't want to leave home. I just couldn't leave her here." Jessie raised her chin. "She's my horse. Even if I don't own her. We belong to each other."

Nathan grinned. "I understand that better than you know, Jessie." He raised his eyebrows. "Where can I find Mr. Bailey?"

Jessie said, "I'll take you there."

They walked together up to the office. Jessie sat outside on the rail, kicking a small hole into the dirt with her boots. She'd learned when things seemed to be too good to be true, they usually were. But this time, she was feeling hope.

They were in there for a long time.

Nathan came out of the office and turned to shake hands with Mr. Bailey, who said, "Glad to get rid of that horse, but sorry to lose the best hand I've had in a while." He turned to Jessie. "Jamie, if you decide you want to come back, you've got a job. Anytime."

Jessie had put her cap back on her head, and she tipped it, "Yessir. Thanks."

Mr. Bailey pointed his head toward the barn and said to Nathan, "Take your pick of tack. You bought that with her. It's all pretty old, but it should serve."

As they walked back to the barn, Jessie looked up at Nathan, not knowing whether to believe. Nathan reached his hand down and put it on her shoulder. "She's yours, Jessie."

Jessie exhaled and all the bravery she'd had to maintain for the last three weeks shattered in an instant. She ran into the barn and threw her arms around Sunset, sobbing into her long neck.

By the time Nathan reached her, she was thirteen again, and through eyes swimming with tears she turned to him and said, "I can't believe it. Thank you." She put her arms around him and said again, "Thank you, Mr. Grant. If it takes me the rest of my life, I'll pay you back. I promise."

Nathan was having a little trouble keeping his own emotions in check. He rested his hands on her shoulders and said just what he was thinking. "No need, Jessie. I would hope someone would do the same for Allie."

Jessie ran back to Sunset and hugged her too. "We're going home," Jessie said blissfully. "Did you hear that, girl? We're going home!"

Nathan watched her with a full heart. No one knew better what the love of a horse could do. Jessie was going home. And Nathan smiled, knowing that he would be going home too.

They waited until the sun was low in the sky, to lessen the effect on Sunset's eyes. They shared the sandwiches that Nathan brought in his saddlebags, and he told her finally that he was a Mountie. He told her about Elizabeth and Allie and Jack, and how he hoped that Archie would come to live with them. And he said that she and her mother had an open invitation to visit Hope Valley if they ever wanted to.

Jessie told Nathan about school and about her dream of becoming a vet. They laughed about how she cut her hair, not with garden shears but with the fetlock scissors, and dull ones at that. She thought that Allie was the luckiest girl in the world, with a barn and paddocks and her horse right in her back yard. And she said that she might like to visit sometime.

As the sun was going down, they chose Sunset's saddle and tack and got her ready to ride out. They acquainted the two horses and alternated between a walk and a canter back to Edmonton. They reached the boarding house a little after eight.

Jessie stayed with the horses while Nathan got Stella and Archie and asked them to come outside. When Stella saw her daughter, her reaction was more thanks than Nathan would ever need.

And the look in Archie's eyes – a combination of intense gratitude, deep pride and a father's love – would be with Nathan for the rest of his life.

Nathan stayed north another two days, until Jessie and Stella were safely back in Spruce Grove and Sunset was boarded at the Bar-S, this time owned by Jessie and not the stables. Helen was so grateful to have help again that Stella immediately got her job back at the Spruce Café. Archie and Nathan collected Archie's things from Spruce Grove and they both happily waved farewell to Mrs. Ledoux.

Constable Sam Hughes accompanied Nathan and Archie to the train station. A happy ending was always a good thing in this business, but apart from that, Sam had some news to share.

"I asked Marie," Sam said softly as they waited for the train to pull into the station.

Nathan's eyebrows went up. "You did? And what did she say?"

Sam sighed. "She said that she'd rather be with me in a little danger once in a while than with anyone else who is safe all the time." He nodded enthusiastically. "She said yes!"

"Good man!" Nathan said, nodding and slapping him on the back. "You won't regret it. Some say you give things up when you get married. I have to pinch myself to believe all the things I've gained."

The train pulled in and Nathan waited for the noise to subside. Then he smiled and said, "A wife, a daughter..." he paused, his heart full. "And a son."

As he picked up his bag and helped Archie up the steps, Nathan grinned and said to Sam, "What more could a man ask for?"

From the porch swing in Hope Valley, Elizabeth sighed as she gazed out on the pond.

Tonight. Finally. I can tell him.