Chapter 22 – Supper and Ceremony
Jack took both of Elizabeth's hands and pulled her in closer. He looked into her eyes and then leaned in for a kiss. She didn't pull back, but closed the distance and they shared a passionate kiss before Jack pulled away first. Jack and Elizabeth stood there for a moment after they shared their kiss. Jack was confused, one moment Elizabeth was keeping him at arms length and then the next she was kissing him like they were more then courting.
"I really should return the wagon." He said breathless.
"I should start sorting all this." Elizabeth said.
Neither moved for another moment. Finally, Jack let go of her hands and turned to walk away.
"Why did you introduce me like that." Elizabeth asked as he walked away.
"Because it is the truth." Jack said looking back at her before walking out of the schoolhouse leaving Elizabeth's head spinning.
Elizabeth spent the next two hours going through crates and trying to put things away. Things that she wouldn't be needing right away, she started to put into the storeroom. Then she tried to figure out the best way to organize all the reference and other books that lay in crates around her. They men had build a number of bookcases for the schoolhouse They were along the wall and back on one side with the stove and wood box on the other side. Elizabeth found extra copies of some of the books that she read as young teen, so she decided to hold off and put those in the storeroom. She also found a crate of Bibles and would let Pastor Hogan know about those. She hardly felt like she had made a dent, but she wanted to head back home and check to see if Charlotte and Abigail needed anything. She picked up the new journal and letter, then headed back to the cafe.
As Elizabeth walked back to the cafe, she was amazed to see the Mounties out in the field playing with a number of the school children. She stopped and watched for a moment. It looked like the children were having a good time. She loved that the children had so many positive male role models to look up to, since many of them lived in fatherless homes. She was also grateful that Jack was a good role model for the children. There were others in town, such as Bill, Lee, Ned Yost, and Pastor Hogan, but it seemed that Jack was the most visible and Pastor Hogan hadn't been there that long, so the children hadn't really gotten to know him yet. She wished that the children didn't have to have such heartache at such a young age, but they have seemed to have bounced well. She wanted to stop and tell the guys how much that she appreciated them spending time with the school children, but didn't want to interrupt the games that they were playing. She made a mental note to thank them that night as supper.
Elizabeth arrived at the cafe to see if Abigail needed help. When she saw her carrying a letter, she just motioned for her to sit down. Abigail went to put a pot on the stove to make tea for them. Abigail sat down with Elizabeth while the water heated.
"You okay." Abigail asked.
"Yeah." Elizabeth said. "Just overwhelmed."
"What is going on." Abigail asked.
"Well," Elizabeth started. "First it was the sixteen crates that arrived this afternoon. Apparently, my mother and Aunt Agatha ordered additional school books, novels, slates, workbooks, art supplies and entire crate of Bibles for the town. I spent the last two hours trying to start sorting stuff."
"Well," Abigail said. "That was very generous of them. Maybe we should have the school children write some thank you notes. What else."
"On my way over here." Elizabeth said. "I stopped to watch Jack and six other Mounties playing with some of the children in the field. I was just amazed watching them. My first thought was sitting watching Jack play with our children in the future. I knew that nothing else mattered and that we have both just been silly. I need to figure out a way to talk to him and let him know."
"Maybe." Abigail said. "Let's get through tonight and tomorrow and they you and Jack can find time this weekend."
Abigail got up and poured each of them a cup of tea. As she did that, Elizabeth opened the letter from her mother and looked in the front cover of the journal. As she thought, there was some cash for her. Elizabeth scanned the letter before starting from the beginning. She learned that her father was still mad. He wanted to pressure the Superintendent of Schools to move her, but Grace and Agatha had stopped him. Grace also told her that she learned that William had gone to the Mounties and demanded that they move Jack, but all he could do was get them to offer him a new posting of his choice with no guarantee that he would take it. Elizabeth learned that her mother was furious with her husband for not respecting Elizabeth's choices. Grace was also worried that William was not done meddling. Grace expressed her displeasure with her husband and tried to assure Elizabeth that she did wished her the best and prayed that her father would come around.
"Everything okay." Abigail asked when Elizabeth put the letter down.
"Father is just being difficult." Elizabeth said. "He is still mad that I came back out here and that I want to pursue a relationship with Jack. I told him that I am an adult and that he doesn't get a say in my life anymore. He just can't accept that he doesn't get to dictate my every move."
"Watching you children grow up is not easy." Abigail said. "Hopefully, he will come around, but are you prepared to live with those choices. If push came to shove, would you be able to chose Jack over your family. I am not trying to talk you into or out of anything, I am just asking you to think about things. I know you want to be with Jack, but you also need to try and fix things with you family."
"Okay, I will." Elizabeth said. "Do you need any help with supper? I will help, but I would like some quite time before if I can."
"I am good." Abigail said. "It is Thursday night, I don't expect many people and I have already posted that I am closing early."
Elizabeth headed up stairs. Abigail continued to work in the kitchen baking for the next day as well as preparing supper for her customers and also Jack's supper party. The cafe smelled wonderful and Abigail was glad that she could provide for the community that way that she did. She had only been open a short while, but she already thought of expanding the kitchen and the dinning room. Abigail wanted to expand, but she first had other things that needed to be taken care of. Abigail loved that she was able to offer the service to the community. She really loved cooking and backing and being able to share that with others had helped her find a new purpose in her life after she lost Noah and Peter.
Abigail would have to figure out a way to buy Henry Gowen out before she could think of expanding the cafe. She knew that she needed him to initially open that cafe, but she didn't want him as a long term partner. She didn't trust him. She had always tried to see the good in people, but it was hard with Henry Gowen. She had forgiven him for the hand that he had played in the deaths of her husband and son, but that didn't mean that it didn't still hurt.
Before Abigail knew it, her regular supper was done and she was working on setting the dinning room for the special supper. She decided to get out the special red table clothes that Jack had used to catch the Tolliver gang. Not only would they match then men's red serges, but it would be a nice to be able to tease Jack just a little. She was sure that most of the Mounties knew about what he had done. She had made roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables and dinner rolls. She had decided to serve family style, so that everyone could sit, eat and talk.
Just before seven, Elizabeth and Charlotte stood just outside the cafe to greet the guest. Bill was the first to reach the cafe and was quickly followed by the six visiting Constables, the last to arrive were Jack and Collins. Bill and the other men milled around talking while waiting for Jack and Collins. Once everyone was inside, Jack looked at Collins and he nodded.
"Can I have everyone's attention." Jack called out.
Everyone quieted down and looked at Jack.
"First of all." Jack started. "I want to to welcome you all here. Thank you for coming to celebrate with me. I also want to thank Abigail for cooking for us tonight. Finally, I want to thank the two special ladies here tonight – my mother Charlotte Thornton and my love Elizabeth Thatcher. Before we eat, Elizabeth has asked to say something."
"I want to thank you all for being here." Elizabeth said. "I want to say a special thank you for taking time to play with the children this afternoon. May of these children lost their father not that long ago. You have no idea what it means to them to have someone spend time with them. I am glad that people are willing to step up and provide a role model for them. You may have only spent a few hours with them, but I know that it means a lot to them and they won't forget it."
Everyone started to sit. Abigail, Charlotte and Elizabeth went into the kitchen and started bringing out the food for everyone, before taking their seats. Jack had saved a seat for Elizabeth next to him. Before long, everyone was talking and enjoying themselves. Captain Rushman was the first to notice the tableclothes.
"Hey Jack." Rushman called. "It is nice to see you returned the tableclothes."
Jack signed. "Am I ever going to live that down. I did what was needed to be done, aren't we taught to think outside the box."
"You will never live it down." Captain Taylor said. "I have submitted it to the academy as an example of creative thinking that needs to be encouraged and how we should be using the resources around us to help get the job done."
Jack just rolled his eyes and Charlotte caught it.
"Hey watch that sass." Charlotte said. "You should be proud. You caught a dangerous gang, while being outnumbered. Your creative and resourefulness should be celebrated."
The way that Charlotte scold Jack like a child brought about some smirks among the men. None of them were willing to cross her, so they tried hard to hide their faces. They rest of the meal was enjoyable. Stories were shared and a good time was had by all. There were many comments about how wonderful the meal was. Most of the Mounties expressed to Abigail that they rarely ever got such wonderful homecooked type meals. She let them know that they were welcome anytime they were in the area.
After the food was served, the group sat and talked for awhile. Abigail didn't mind that the guys sat and talked for awhile, it was rare that Mounties got to spend much time with other Mounties unless they were stationed together. Abigail, Charlotte and Elizabeth cleared the tables and cleaned up the kitchen while the men enjoyed each others company. Finally, Collins stood up and excused himself for the night. The other men soon followed suit. Jack checked with Abigail to see if there was anything else that needed to be done before he left. Assured that everything was under control, Jack left to have a little quite time before turning in. He knew that he had a long day ahead of him, but he enjoyed spending time with the other Mounties.
Friday morning, Jack was up early and left for rounds at first light. He returned to town and noticed that Lee's wheelchair was outside the infirmary. He was glad that Lee would be able to enjoy the ceremony. Lee had also given the men permission to have a two hour break to come to the ceremony. He made it very clear that they had to check out and back in with Hickum. The children had also been excited about the ceremony. Some of them didn't understand why all the Mounties were in town, but could tell that it was something good and not bad. It had been decided that since Jack wanted Lee there, it would be the easiest to have the ceremony outside the jail.
When Jack got back after rounds, he cleared off the porch and swept it. When he was done making the outside ready, he went inside and started to get ready. He wanted to shave and needed to change into his dress uniform. He was still nervous about his speech, but didn't want to think about that at the moment.
As the crowd began to assemble, Captain Rushman and Constable Carver went and helped Lee into his wheelchair and brought him outside and placed him in the front row. They then went and mounted their horses and joined the other Mounties in line. Superintendent Collins and Jack were in the jail waiting to come out. They were waiting to come out when the crowd had been assembled. Since Mayor Gowen wanted nothing to do with the ceremony, Collins had asked Charlotte to welcome the people and introduce him. He felt that is would be extra special for Jack.
At exactly 10:30, Charlotte stepped up in front of the crowd and tried to get their attention and people didn't want to quiet down, she looked back and Jack nodded. At the same time, Constable McGinty caught the exchange and quickly covered his ears and the other Mounties figured he knew what he was doing and followed suit. Charlotte let out her high pitched whistle and instantly had the crowds attention.
"I want to thank you all for coming out today." Charlotte said. "We are here to celebrate as Superintendent Collins presents an award to our own Constable Jack Thornton, so without further ado, Superintendent Collins."
"Thank you Mrs Thornton." Superintendent Collins said. "I am honored to announce that by order of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier and Lieutentant Governor George H.V. Bulyea, along with Commissioner Aylesworth B. Perry, Constable Jack Thornton had been promoted to the rank of Corporal and that on this day the 21st of October, 1910 Corporal Thornton is also given this award for exemplary work.
Some of that includes bringing the Tolliver gang to justice after rescuing both Ms Elizabeth and Julie Thatcher; his work with Inspector Avery regarding the investigation of the mine disaster; the breaking up of an illegal gambling ring and capturing an international con artist so that he can stand for the charges against him."
When Collins was finished speaking, he held the award so people could see it and nodded to Jack to step forward and give a thank you speech.
"Thank you Superintendent Collins." Jack said. "I rode into this town over six months ago. I knew of the tradegy that this town had experienced, or I thought I knew. Honestly, I expected to find a broken community, but I found a community that had pulled together and were helping each other to overcome. I am not saying that people weren't hurting, because they were. Yet they were willing to help each other. I was amazed at the strength that this community show to each other and to myself.
Many of you may not know that I wasn't happy about being assigned to a small coal town. I had wanted to be where the action was, I thought being assigned here would be the end of my career. I was wrong, being here seems to have propelled my career with the Mounties. I didn't think there would be much to keep me busy in a small coal town on the frontier. Wow how wrong I was.
This town has grown to mean so much to me in the short time that I have been here. I hope to continue to serve this community that I have grown to love for a long time to come. Watching this town pull together to help each other in difficult times has helped to restore my belief the the goodness of humanity.
I want to thank the Mounties that have traveled to celebrate this award with me as well as the community members that have stepped up to help me when needed. Wearing this uniform, serving our community and our country isn't just an honor … this is my life … my calling. It's my destiny."
When Jack was finished speaking, he stepped back and faced Superintendent Collins. Collins stepped forward, removed the award from its case and pinned it to Jack's red serge. The two then faced the crowd as they applauded. Jack grinned at Elizabeth and she smiled back. After Jack's speech and the award actually being pinned to Jack's chest, Charlotte stepped forward again.
"Everyone is welcome to join Jack and the other Mounties at the saloon for refreshments." Charlotte said.
Most people made their way to the saloon, many of the shop owners returned to work. Jack just wanted to disappear with Elizabeth, but knew that he couldn't. As the party started to wind down, the Mounties said their goodbyes and rode out of town. Shortly afterward, Superintendent Collins said is farewell to Jack and went to board the stage so he could journey back to Cape Fullerton. Jack took Lee back to the infirmary and planned to go check on the mill. Elizabeth helped Abigail and Charlotte clean up. Elizabeth then went to continue to work on putting away all the stuff at the schoolhouse. Jack wanted to spend time with Elizabeth, but there was so much that needed to be done.