Author's Note: Thank you all for your kind reviews and for the many of you that are reading this story but haven't commented yet. A little warning is warranted with this chapter. It is rather dark and things are going to get worse for our dear ones before they get better. But eventually, they will get better. I promise. Keep telling me what you think. I love to hear from my readers.

Fiona Miller came rushing out of her barbershop and into the street the moment she heard someone yell 'fire!' Seeing the saloon in flames, she asked one of the men if she could help but was largely ignored. She then heard the news that Lucas Bouchard had been shot and ran to the infirmary knowing Dr. Faith Carter was largely on her own since Molly, her assistant, was visiting relatives. Entering the building, she was surprised to see Bill and Nathan were already there. They had placed a semi-conscious and bleeding Lucas on the examination table and were removing his jacket and vest.

"I came as soon as I heard. What can I do?" she asked, eagerly.

Faith, who was busy cutting through the cuff of Bouchard's trousers in order to examine his leg, briefly glanced at her and nodded. "Go to the cabinet and bring me some sterile gauze and iodine. I need to sterilize his wound."

While Fiona did as she was asked, the men laid Lucas down.

"Bullet hole looks like it passed straight through." Bill Avery said once they had removed Lucas's shirt. "Looks relatively clean."

"Good. Pack it with gauze and I'll deal with that last. I have to find the source of this bleeding." Carter replied, sterilizing his open wound before probing at the tissue in Lucas's lower leg. "Nathan, would you grab one of the tourniquets over there on that shelf? This scarf isn't doing the job."

"Yes, ma'am." He replied.

Lucas groaned as Faith inadvertently touched a raw nerve.

Bill touched Lucas on the arm. "It's okay, Bouchard. You're in good hands."

"It…hurts."

Faith gently lifted Lucas's leg so that Nathan could wrap a proper tourniquet around it and stop the blood flow long enough for her to find the source of the bleeding.

"I'm going to help you with the pain, Lucas. Just hang in there." Faith said, laying down her instrument and looking for her friend. "Fiona. Inside that drawer, there is a set of keys. In that locked cabinet, there is a bottle of cocaine hydrochloride. Please bring it to me. That should numb him enough for me to figure out what we're dealing with."

Down the street, in the Coulter's office, Lee and Rosemary sat with a shaken Elizabeth and Allie waiting for news. Elizabeth did her best to comfort her student but the girl's shakes and sobs only served to increase her fear. Allie kept repeating how it was all her fault, but it took nearly twenty minutes before she had calmed down enough to where Lee was able to coax a fuller story from her.

"We were walking home from school, me and Robert, and I suggested we take a walk through the woods." she said. "I've gone that way a thousand times and…I thought it would be okay." She began to cry again so Rosemary tried to keep her talking.

"What happened then?"

"Well, we saw this shack and I told Robert I wanted to see what was inside. And there were these men there and they had this printing machine, like you use for your paper."

Rosemary looked at Lee who was listening intently.

"And…and I slipped…" she began to weep again. "And I fell into the building and they…they were chasing us and…"

"They were chasing you and Robert?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. And he told me to go toward town but he went the other way and was being chased by this really big man. Really tall."

"Oh, my!" Rosemary exclaimed. "Those are the people that Fl-, um, my source said received a package this week."

"It's the Tyler gang." Lee said. "Nathan warned Lucas and I about them in the saloon earlier today." He turned to Allie.

"Allie, this is important. Do you know if Robert got away?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I…I didn't see for sure, but I heard him call out and I think they have him."

Elizabeth looked fearful. "Oh, no!"

"Do you think you could show us where the shack was?" Lee asked.

"Lee!"

Coulter looked at his wife. "I wouldn't be going alone. But it's going to be dark soon and with Bill and Nathan being tied up with Lucas, and Robert missing, this may be our only opportunity before they get away."

Rosemary lowered her head knowing he was right.

"I…I'm pretty sure I can show you. It's out in the woods behind the saloon. Maybe about as far as a city block." Allie replied.

Lee stood. "Okay, Allie. You stay here. I'm going to go get Jesse, Ned and as many men as I can round up. We've got to go get Robert."

Rosemary went to him and embraced him. "Please be careful."

"I will, sweetheart." He said, kissing her on the cheek before turning to leave the room.

Back in the infirmary, Faith Carter looked grimly at the open incision she had created. Underneath a layer of muscle, she saw that Lucas's lower leg had been crushed into many pieces by the weight of the beam. Both Bill and Nathan recognized the shift in her expression.

"Is it bad?" Bill asked.

She nodded. "Severe comminuted fractures in his tibia and fibula."

"Can it be repaired?" Nathan asked.

She thought out loud. "I'm not sure. Maybe with some plates and screws…if I can get a stable enough section of bone to work with. This is bad." Looking up, she saw three sets of eyes staring at her with concern and shifted back into her professional mode. "Fiona, on my desk there's a piece of paper with Dr. Shepherd's phone number on it in Baltimore. I need you to call the switchboard and have Florence ring him. I'm going to need a second opinion. Nathan, would you bring me the chloroform? I need to get prepped in case I have to operate."

Within minutes, Lee Coulter had organized a makeshift posse comprised of himself, Jesse Flynn, Ned Yost, Joseph Canfield, Gustave Pepin and several other of the men from town, including relatives of Robert. The men briefly met near the livery then entered the woods when there was still around forty-five minutes worth of daylight left. Even still at that time of day the canopy of trees made things more difficult to see. Clara and Allie walked with them to the edge of the woods and to the spot where she last saw Robert as he ran. A few feet from that spot, the dirt was disturbed and Lee could see large footprints which then turned the other direction.

"And, this is where it ends." Ned said.

Lee looked around and decided that they needed to go further where things were less sure and safe. He turned to dismiss the ladies.

"Thank you, Allie. Now, go back to my office with Mrs. Flynn and sit with Rosemary and Mrs. Thornton. We'll take it from here."

Allie balked. "No. I can't go back. I need to be there when you find him."

Lee looked at her. "I'm sorry. It's just too dangerous. You need to go back."

"But, Mr. Coulter…" she said, beginning to whelm up.

"Allie…"

"Hey, Lee…what's this?" Jesse asked, picking up something from the ground.

Lee walked over to him and Allie and Clara followed.

"What is it?" Lee asked.

"Pieces of paper with gold on them." Jesse said. "They're strewn all over the place. Some here…some there."

Allie looked at the paper. "It's wrapping paper. From my gift!" she exclaimed. "He left us a trail!"

Lee looked at Allie and Clara with a sense of urgency. "That's great! He left us some clues. Now go back with Miss Clara and…"

"But, I…"
"Allie, don't argue." Clara chided. "It's getting dark. You're holding them up."

Allie lowered her head. "Well…alright. But let me know right away if you find him, Mr. Coulter. It's really important."

Lee smiled. "I will, Allie. I will."

While Drs. Carter and Shepherd discussed Lucas's condition, Fiona held the candlestick phone up to the Doctor's ear and Nathan placed the mask administering chloroform over Lucas's mouth and nose. On the other side of the patient, Bill manned the blood pressure cuff, keeping an eye on Lucas's vital signs while Faith operated. The judge had learned that particular skill in his journeys as a Mountie but never thought he'd actually have to use it once he retired from that profession.

"Yes, the tibial plateau is intact for about two and a half inches before the bone begins to splinter." Faith explained to Carson Shepherd. "I was thinking if I could somehow attach a plate from there down to the…what?... No. It's been destroyed… No…that's too unstable. Wait a second. I have a bleeder. Fiona, can you hand me that clamp?… Got it. Yes. The severed bone nicked the anterior artery but I have that closed off now…That's correct…Okay…What do you suggest, then?" she asked. "I'm sorry? What did you say?"

Suddenly, the doctor's mouth opened slightly and she went pale. "Really? Are you sure, Carson?" Then Nathan swallowed and he fought back emotion when he witnessed Faith Carter reach to the instrument tray and pick up a saw.

Darkness began to fall in the wooded area outside of Hope Valley but the men continued to follow the paper trail until they came upon a small cabin. Outside the cabin, smoke rose from a camp fire that had recently been extinguished and it appeared, by all that had been left behind, that whoever was there had left in a hurry.

Walking into the now empty cabin, the team did discover a few clues. A spool of rope attached to a chair served as an indicator that someone had been held there, and the last scrap of wrapping paper underneath told them it was Robert. A tube of women's lipstick sat near a wash basin by the bed and a bottle of Doan's Kidney Pills on a table where an uneaten plate of food was still there.

"Someone has a bad back." Lee announced.

Jesse walked beside him. "Why do you say that?"

"The pills. When I threw out my back, I tried some of those to see if they would help."

"Well, it looks like they took off on horseback." Ned said walking through the door. "Trail leads about fifty feet that way, so we can assume they're heading west."

"It's time to pray." The town's minister, Joseph Canfield suggested.

Lee agreed. "Would you lead us?"

Joseph bowed his head as did the other men and he prayed. "Father, God. We do come to You in the name of your Son to ask for Your protection and the safe return of this young man, Robert Wolf and that whoever has gotten him would be captured and brought to justice. Father, a lot has happened here the last few hours that has caught us off guard, but we know that nothing is a surprise to You and so we ask for Your blessings on this situation and that of our dear friend, Lucas Bouchard. Lucas has been badly injured and we do not know what road he may travel in his recovery, but we ask that You would help him and give him direction and keep him on the path you started him on. Also, we ask that you would give Dr. Carter wisdom as she treats him and that if it be Your will that he will live, and will enjoy a full and happy life to the honor and glory of Your great name. Now, as we return to our homes tonight, Lord, I ask that You would help our law enforcement officers, Constable Grant and Judge Avery and all of us to find Robert and to right the wrong which has been done. Thank You for hearing our prayer, in the name of Jesus I pray, Amen."

"Amen." Jesse repeated.

Heading into town, the team of men dispersed and Lee made his way toward his office to see if there was any word. Just as he was passing by the infirmary, he watched the door open. Through the opening, he could see Fiona sitting in a chair wiping tears from her eyes while a bloodied and solemn Faith received a comforting hug from Bill Avery. Lee's heart sank as he feared the worst and he swallowed when Nathan Grant came into view.

The Mountie looked him in the eye and Lee could tell by his countenance that the news was not good. Crossing the street, he met with Nathan as he moved toward the office.

"Please tell me…he's not…" Lee said, dreading the news he expected to hear.

Nathan paused for a moment to maintain his composure and to think of what he wanted to say. Finally, he spoke. "No. He's alive." Grant replied.

"Thank God. You still look concerned." Lee said as Nathan relayed the rest of the news.

"He um…he bled a lot at first and his blood pressure dropped a few times. So, Faith called Carson Shepherd at Johns Hopkins. She said the bone in his leg was shattered."

"And…?"

"She wasn't able to save the leg. She cut it off about three inches below the knee." Nathan swallowed and, in his eyes, Lee could see that he was struggling with a mixture of emotions - from sympathy and compassion for his one-time rival to heartbreak for the man who saved his daughter from a would-be murderer to worry about how he was going to tell Elizabeth. Lee's eyes became misty and he reached out and touched Nathan on the arm.

"Well. At least he's alive. That's at least something. Come with me. We'll tell her together." He said.

Nathan wordlessly nodded, taking his Mountie cap into his hands and lowering his head as the two men walked together down the street to break what Nathan Grant would find to be one of the most difficult pieces of news that he ever had to share.