The rain that started Saturday evening didn't seem to want to go away. Grey clouds lingered over Hope Valley the following week. Sometimes it was simply dreary. Other times a light drizzle fell making things damp, while other times a heavy rain fell. The dirt roads and pathways became muddy and hard to walk.

Though they didn't have any more dates, Elizabeth and Nathan found time to spend together. Every afternoon, Nathan found his way back to the schoolhouse after walking Ally home to accompany Elizabeth home when she was done at the schoolhouse. On Tuesday, Elizabeth and Little Jack joined Nathan, Ally and Gabriel for a chicken pot pie dinner that Ally cooked. Friday evening, Elizabeth cooked for Nathan and Ally at her home. The four of them enjoyed a quiet evening together as the rain fell heavily outside.

Though Saturday had dawned just as grey as the day before, the rain had finally seemed to move on. Despite the mud covering his boots, Nathan returned from checking on the people living on the outskirts of Hope Valley dry. After getting wet during rounds for most of the week, Nathan had to admit it was a nice change as he walked into the Mounted Police office.

Gabriel was just hanging up the phone as Nathan came in.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked, as he hung up his hat, curious at to what the phone call had been about. The past week had been quiet and he was fine with that. The criminals could steer clear of this area for a while for all he cared.

"I was just talking to headquarters," Gabriel replied, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the desk as Nathan sat down across from him.

"They call to check up on my mental health?"

"Not exactly," Gabriel replied. "I called them. Informed them that you were doing fine since O'rourke's trial from what I could tell and that I thought it was time for me to return to Brookfield."

Nathan nodded. He was doing better after a few more talks with Gabriel about what had happened. He'd had a couple of nightmares this past week, but it hadn't disrupted his sleep like they had been. He also didn't find himself jumping at loud noises quite as much.

"What did they say?"

"That I should head back to Brookfield on Monday," Gabriel said.

"I hope you plan on telling Ally you're going to miss her birthday after all," Nathan commented.

Gabriel smiled. "I will deliver the news. I was thinking I would wait until tomorrow though and if you don't mind, I was thinking about giving Ally her birthday gift early."

"I don't mind at all," Nathan said. "You should give it to her before you leave." Nathan paused before continuing. "I know I wasn't the most welcoming person when you first showed up in Hope Valley, but I'm glad you were here, Gabe. I don't think I could have dealt with this as well without you here."

"You're welcome," Gabriel replied. "As for the reception, don't worry about it. I would've probably responded the same way in your place."

Nathan nodded. "Have you eaten yet?" he asked.

"No. I was waiting for you to get back."

Nathan got to his feet. "Then how about we go grab something to eat at the saloon," he suggested.

"Sounds good," Gabriel replied, moving his feet off the desk and standing up.

The two Mounties grabbed their hats from the hooks and headed outside. Despite the muddy roads and paths, Hope Valley was still going about business as usual. Gabriel and Nathan exchanged greetings with several people as they made the short walk to the Queen of Hearts. Reaching the saloon, they headed inside.

The lunch crowd seemed to have dissipated, though there were still a few groups enjoying an afternoon together. Nathan and Gabriel headed off to a table on the side of the room, giving themselves some distance between them and the other patrons.

Having noticed their arrival, Lucas was at their table as the two Mounties settled at the table.

"What can I get you, gentlemen?" Lucas asked.

"A bowl of the stew and water will be fine," Nathan replied.

"The same, though I'll have sweet tea," Gabriel informed their host.

"I'll be right back," Lucas told them.

"Is it me, or does Lucas seem more relaxed than he had been?" Nathan asked, watching the saloon owner as he leaned back in his chair.

"And I haven't even left town yet," Gabriel joked, getting a chuckle out of Nathan. "Though I guess trying to run two businesses is enough to stress out even the smoothest of people. Fiona has actually taking over a lot of the day to day business of the saloon. I suppose that might account for some of it."

"Perhaps," Nathan said, leaving it at that as Lucas came back with their drinks.

Stopping beside their table, Lucas placed the water in front of Nathan and a sweet tea in front of Gabriel.

"So how's the oil business coming, Lucas?" Nathan asked, trying to sound casual. He was genuinely interested in how things were going with the oil business as Gown Petroleum provided the livelihood of quite of few of Hope Valley's residents.

"Did you come in here for lunch or an interrogation?" Lucas countered.

"Sorry," Nathan said raising his hands. "It was supposed to be just a friendly question."

Lucas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No, I should be the one to apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusions. Things with Gowen Petroleum are starting to look a little better. I knew I was inheriting a mess when I bought the company, and it has been that. However, I met with the men last Saturday, and a plan to move forward was voted on. We'll start up production again in another week, and with everyone taking a pay cut, I didn't have to let anyone go."

"I hear you created an account for the men at the Mercantile so they can get what they need while production was shut down," Nathan commented. "That's very generous of you, Lucas."

"I don't want to see anyone not being able to put food on their tables when the situation is no fault of their own," Lucas said. "Though some choose not to believe it, I have come to care for this town and it's people."

"I deserved that," Nathan conceded, remembering his comments to Lucas when he had volunteered to help notify the people outside of Hope Valley about the chicken pox outbreak.

"I'm going to go check on that stew," Lucas said as he left the table.

"Trying to mend fences?" Gabriel inquired, taking a sip of his tea as he looked across the table at Nathan.

"Is there anything wrong with that?'

"No. Not at all. Especially as I can think of a pretty lady who would be happy if you did."

"You know, I'm kind of looking forward to Monday," Nathan replied. "It'll be nice not to have you giving me a hard time."

Gabriel chuckled. "You'll miss me when I head back to Brookfield," he countered as the main door of the saloon opened suddenly.

Both Nathan and Gabriel looked in that direction to see Ally hurrying into the saloon. She looked frantically around the room, hurrying in their direction when she spotted them. Both men were on their feet by the time Ally had wove her way through the tables.

"Ally, what is it?" Nathan asked, barely acknowledging that they had attracted the attention of most of the people in the room.

"Robert, Parker and Opal went down to the river. They wanted to see it after all the rains we've had. I told them what you said about it not being safe but Parker said I was just being a sissy and started toward the river. Robert and Opal followed him."

"You did the right thing coming for me, Ally," Nathan said, wishing that he could take the time to comfort his niece. However, he hoped he could catch up with the children before anything bad happened and that meant he needed to head for the river immediately. "I want you to go find Judge Avery and tell him what's going on," Nathan said, knowing that if one or more of the children ended up in the water that he and Gabriel would need more help. "After you do that, I want you to find Mrs. Thornton and stay with her."

"Okay, Uncle Nathan."

Nathan glanced over at Gabriel. "Let's go."

The two men hurried out of the saloon and made their way to the livery. They were at the livery by the time either of them realized that Lucas was following them.

"What are you doing, Lucas?" Nathan asked as he headed for Newton's stall.

"I'm coming with you," Lucas said. "If one or more of those kids en up in the river, you'll need my help."

"Just make sure you follow our instructions," Gabriel said as he grabbed Apollo's saddle. "We don't need to be trying to rescue you as well."

"Understood," Lucas said, going to his own horse.

The three men quickly saddled the horses. They led the horses out of the livery and mounted as Bill hurried up to them. Glancing toward the row of houses, Nathan spotted his niece hurrying along the path toward them.

"I'm going to gather some of the men just in case this turns into a long search or a rescue. We'll be right behind you."

"Hopefully, we'll have caught up to the kids and be headed by then," Nathan said. "However, you might want to get some people to gather some blankets and bring a wagon out."

Bill nodded. "I've already got Clara working on that and I told Jesse to alert Carson."

"Good. We best be going," Nathan replied.

As Bill headed into the livery, Nathan, Gabriel and Lucas headed their horses in the direction of the river. They were about half way to the river when they spotted a person running toward them. As they pulled the horses up, Nathan and Lucas recognized Parker.

"Constable Grant!" Parker panted as he ran up to them.

"Where are Robert and Opal?" Nathan asked the boy, even as his eyes scanned the kid for any obvious injury. He didn't see anything and Parker was also dry.

"We were tossing sticks into the river and watching them go down the fast-moving water. Opal slipped on the bank and went in. Robert and I grabbed for her but the water swept her away. Robert was trying to keep an eye on her from the bank."

"Where are they?"

"They're downstream from where this path ends at the river."

"Okay," Nathan said. "There are others following us. Give them the update and then I want you to head home, Parker."

"Yes, Constable Grant," Parker replied as he stepped back out of the way so the three men could continue.

Robert was out of breath as he ran along the river bank. He kept going though, because he knew if he lost sight of Opal then they might not ever see her again. Out in the churning river water, Robert saw Opal grabbed a hold of the branches of a fallen tree whose top most branches hung over the far side of the river bank.

"Hold on tight, Opal," Robert called out to his classmate, as he looked around at his surroundings.

As the tree was on the far side of the bank, there was no using it to reach Opal. The nearest bridge crossing the river was still over a quarter mile down the river. To reach it he would have to let Opal out of his sight. If she let go of the tree branches that she was clinging to they could lose track of her for good.

"Keep holding on, Opal," Robert called out again. He risked the briefest of looks away to see if anyone was coming but didn't see anyone.

As he kept an eye on Opal, Robert considered trying to swim out to her. He was an okay swimmer and if the river wasn't swollen because of the recent rains, he could easily make it out to Opal. However, he didn't think he stood much of a chance against the current, which meant he wouldn't be much good to her if he couldn't reach her.

"Help me!"

"Parker went for help, Opal," Robert called out, standing on the bank. "Just keep holding on," he instructed, wondering how far away help was.

He saw some tree branches bobbing their way down the river. Robert found himself holding his breath as he watched them. He didn't want the current to carry the tree limbs into Opal or the tree she was clinging to.

Thankfully, the branches passed by Opal's position without incident. Thinking that he heard distant hoof beats, Robert glanced quickly in that direction. Even from the distance he could see the Red Serge Jacket of two of the riders.

"Help is almost here, Opal," Robert called out to his classmate again as he looked back out at her. "Just keep holding on."

"Robert, where is she?" Nathan asked as he brought Newton to a stop and got down from the horse.

"Over there. Clinging to the tree branches," Robert replied pointing.

"Keep your eyes on her," Nathan instructed the boy as he turned to retrieve the coil of rope from his gear on the saddle. "We'll go upstream some. I'll need some time to get across the river so I can reach her," he said, now addressing Gabriel.

"You're going in that water?" Lucas asked.

"It's the only way to reach her in time," Gabriel said, having retrieved his own coil of rope. He and Nathan started walking back up the river bank. "Someone needs to go in after her. They'll have a rope around their waist and once they get to Opal, the other two will pull her in," he said for Lucas' benefit as he and Nathan were already thinking the same thing. "I can go into the river though," Gabriel added, looking at Nathan.

Nathan shook his head. "Opal is more familiar with me. There is less chance of her panicking if I go out for her," he replied, looking back out into the river and judging the distance between him and the little girl.