Thank you for all your comments and every advice! It's my first story in English and I'm still learning, so I appreciate it very much!

You want to know Miss Winters better? There you go!

Nathan felt a sudden need to protect her, and at the same time, a pressure to run as far away and as fast as possible.

So, he did just that. And 'as far away as possible' in that case, was the edge of the circle of light provided by the fire. He built it from the wood that both women collected earlier, in case they had to spend the night in the woods. Since it wasn't possible to transport the wounded coach driver on horseback (Miss Winters strictly forbade it), Bill and Mrs. Connelly (riding on Newton) set off towards Hope Valley, to ask for Lee's help with the transportation. Nathan stayed with Doctor Winters and her patient, who was currently delirious and feverish. She was afraid he'll catch pneumonia from lying on the ground for so long and decided to move him into a sitting position, leaning his back against a tree. She was holding his hand and whispering to him, trying to ease his pain as much as possible.

Nathan decided to investigate, as they were close to the place where the robbery happened. Bill left them one lantern and took the other one, in case he and Mrs. Connelly didn't reach Hope Valley before nightfall. For a while, Nathan was able to look for evidence in the last light of the day, but soon the darkness came, so he took the lantern with him, leaving the doctor and her patient sitting by the fire. He was close enough to hear their voices.

The woman tried to engage him in a conversation, but he wasn't up for it. His thoughts were jumbled, and he had to keep his distance for a while.

Anna was frustrated. Constable Grant didn't even want to listen to her version of the story. She had a lot of information about the robbery. She wanted to help! Her medical bag has been stolen, and she needed to get it back.

"You know that I'm your witness, right?" she said loud enough for the Mountie to hear.

"Yes, I know." He shouted back and rolled his eyes. Did she suggest he wasn't doing his job well? "I need to inspect the area now. When I'll come back tomorrow, important clues may be missing. I'll ask questions later."

"My medical bag has been stolen, and I want to get it back. I don't care about other things. I just need my bag."

"I'm sure we'll find the robbers and your bag."

Anna wasn't so sure of it.

"You know, I inspected the area earlier. I can tell you what I've found." she wanted to push things forward. As a daughter of a Mountie, she knew that they made mistakes. Especially when they were too sure of themselves.

Nathan rolled his eyes again. He was glad she didn't see his face. She did suggest he wasn't doing his job well enough! And that she was a better tracker. What did she even know, anyway?

"Thank you, Miss Winters. I think I can manage." he didn't know how long he'll be able to hide his annoyance. "When were you able to 'inspect the area'? I thought you were taking care of a wounded man."

"I had a lot of time. We were waiting for you for six hours." she made sure he heard her last sentence. "And I had to get away from Mrs. Connelly because she was driving me nuts," she added under her breath. She really wanted to help her fellow passenger, who was afraid and stressed. She tried to focus Mrs. Connelly's attention on other things – collecting wood, taking care of the coach driver... But they were waiting for help for a long time, and she needed to be alone for a second. Just to think and gather some clues about who the highwaymen were.

"We were trying to get to you as fast as possible."

"I know..." she sighed. She realized Constable Grant may think she was questioning his skills. "Constable, I really can help. My dad was an amazing tracker and he taught me almost everything he knew."

Nathan came out of the forest and sat by the fire. The lantern wasn't giving enough light to investigate, anyways. "So tell me. What did you find?"

"First of all, I'll tell you what I saw. There were two masked men. One dark-haired and one ginger. They had Ross rifles." Nathan stopped her there.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. And I know what it means. They may be former soldiers or Mounties..."

"Or they killed one," added Nathan grimly.

"I've thought about it, too."

"What happened next?"

"They were aiming at the driver and told us to get out of the coach. We got out, the driver did too. They got distracted for a second, looking at the forest. I found out why later. The coach driver tried to take advantage of their distraction and got his gun. That's when he got shot. They hopped on the wagon and drove away."

"Why were they looking at the forest?" Nathan suspected why but wanted to know if he hasn't missed anything.

"There was another man. I know he was hurt because I found traces of blood on the leaves. He also had problems with his leg. I don't know if it was related to his injury or not. When you look at the traces, you can see that he was limping."

"Do you have the bullet from coach driver's wound?"

"Of course!" she gave it to him. "I've also found a lot of bullet shells," she passed him five.

"But there was only one shot, right?"

"Yes."

"So where did they come from?"

"That's a very good question."

They didn't talk much after that, as they were both trying to piece the clues together. Anna was sitting under a blanket, close to the fire. She was warm and cozy, which made her feel tired. She leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes for a few minutes.

Nathan was observing her from the other side of the fire. Shadows were dancing on her face, as it glowed in the flickering firelight. The moon came out from behind the clouds, and it was shining brightly. He took a deep breath and smiled to himself, remembering a quote that he read somewhere: 'Moonlight is the proof, that there will always be light in the darkness'. He hasn't felt this content in a long time.

It didn't take long for Bill to come back with Lee in his car. Doctor Winters made sure they had enough blankets and cushions to soften the bumps on their way to town, so that the ride wouldn't worsen the state of her patient. Nathan and Bill were riding on horseback behind the car, discussing everything that the first one found and learned during they time apart. Nathan informed Bill that he will come back tomorrow to find out in what direction the highwaymen were headed.

They were riding in silence for a while until Bill asked, "And what do you think about our new doctor?" Nathan grimaced.

"That bad, huh?"

"She's a nuisance." Bill laughed out loud seeing Nathan's weary face. "Stop it, Bill. She's annoying. Questioning my skills and my commitment. Wants to do everything herself. Do you know, she proposed to investigate with me tomorrow?"

Bill didn't seem surprised.

"Is she any good?"

"Yeah, she is... She'd done some tracking before we came and found out about the third man and his injuries. She also recognized Ross rifles."

"Her dad was the same. He didn't trust anyone, always questioning other people's work. But he was a great man and an amazing tracker. Do you know, he served in Batoche in 1885?"

"I didn't know that. I've never heard of him."

"That doesn't surprise me. He was a great man, but a humble one." he got lost in his thoughts for a second. "What I'm trying to say is, you don't know what she's been through, so be kind and give her a chance, ok?"

"Bill... do you really think you need to ask?"

"No. But I want to ease my conscience. Her dad was my best friend and saved my life a lot of times."

"Yeah... I understand." He really did. The bond between 'brothers in arms' was strong. Didn't he, himself, came to Hope Valley to protect a wife and a child of a fallen Mountie that he didn't even know...? "Well... she seems nice and she's a good doctor... But she's definitely not going tracking with me tomorrow!" The other man laughed, and Nathan was fairly sure he said it to convince himself more than Bill.