Chapter 53 – Adam Returns to Work

Monday afternoon, Herbert Ansvil had come over to talk to Adam about coming back to work. He was so excited. Adam told Herbert that he would be there the next morning so on Tuesday, one week after he returned to Coal Valley, Adam returned to work. Adam was there just as the men were coming in for the morning. A number of them welcomed him back. Many had seen him at the welcome home party, but it beared repeating.

"Mr Gowen has me so busy pushing the men hard." Herbert said. "I have really fallen behind on the load reconciliation. I'm really grateful to have you help me out here."

"Oh thank you, Mr Ansvil." Adam said.

Adam took the book from Herbert and opened it.

"It's still Herbert, Adam." Herbert said. "You need to enter the weights here at the end of the day. You can keep track of them weekly and that's how we know how much to pay them. I always remember you being at the top of this list."

Just then the shift whistle blew and Adam flinched and stumbled back a bit. He hadn't heard that in such a long time that it scared him. It hoped that he would get use to the sound again, but he really wasn't sure.

"You okay?" Herbert asked.

"Yeah." Adam said. "I just having heard that for so long."

"Okay." Herbert said.

"I will get on this right away." Adam said.

"It's good to have you back." Herbert said.

"Well." Adam said. "It's good to be back, Mr Ansvil."

"Herbert, Adam, Herbert." Herbert said.

"Herbert." Adam said.

Herbert walked away and Adam went back to the book that held the weights in it. Adam was fine, but jumped again when he heard the whistle at lunch. He wasn't sure that he would ever get use to that sound again. Every time the whistle blew that day, Adam jumped. His nerves were on edge and he had never been so glad to head home as he had that day.

Tuesday morning, after Elizabeth left for school, Julie came downstairs. She had breakfast and then went back upstairs and packed up the things that she had gathered. When she came back down, Abigail looked at her. Julie had a saddlebag with her and was dressed to go riding.

"I thought I would go for a ride." Julie said. "I think I will read down by the pond when I get back. No need to come back here. I might even find a nice spot to read while I am riding."

"Be careful." Abigail said. "Want me to pack you a lunch?"

"That would be wonderful." Julie said.

Abigail packed Julie a nice lunch and she placed in it her empty saddlebag side. Abigail watched Julie leave, hoping that she wasn't up to trouble. At least she wasn't going to be causing trouble for Elizabeth in the classroom. Julie went and got her horse. She took a longer way around to the trail she had been on the day before to make sure she wasn't followed. She got to the cabin, gathered her stuff and headed in. She set her stuff up on the table and then turned to Nathaniel.

"Would you mind raising up your shirt a little?" Julie asked as she held the bandages and antiseptic. "I need to be able to see the wound to treat it."

Nathaniel winced as he lifted his shirt.

"Oh." Julie said seeing the wound. "I see … okay."

"Can we please just get this over with?" Nathaniel asked.

Julie poured some of the antiseptic on the cloth and went to clean the wound. Nathaniel winced.

"Sorry." Julie said softly.

"Don't worry about the pain." Nathaniel said. "Just clean it up the best that you can."

Julie continued to clean the wound.

"I will have you know I was worried about you last night." Julie said.

"I was thinking of you as well." Nathaniel said.

"Staying out in this dirty place." Julie said. "It is not good. I really wish that you would come back to town."

"No." Nathaniel said. "I don't want to put people in danger. Besides, I am use to being on my own."

"This injury obviously wasn't caused by barbed wire." Julie said.

"I am sorry." Nathaniel sighed. "You came in here, and you caught me by surprise."

"So you lied to me." Julie said.

"I was trying to protect you." Nathaniel said.

"Well." Julie said. "Tell me the truth."

"Fine." Nathaniel said. "But the less that you know about me the better. I am just trying to protect you."

"My sister is seeing a Mountie." Julie said. "Maybe he can track down who did this to you."

"I said this was no one else's business, especially no Mountie." Nathaniel said sharply. "I don't know who I can trust. My luck, they will blame me."

Julie got up and headed back over to her saddlebags.

"Please." Nathaniel said. "Please don't leave. Look I can explain."

"I think that you were right." Julie said. "The less I know –."

"It was my brother and his gang." Nathaniel said. "He, um … they robbed a bank."

Julie turned and looked at Nathaniel. She wasn't sure what to believe and honestly she didn't care. She knew it was gunshot wound.

"Okay." Julie said softly. "I see … and … how do you fit in? I would say that you are obviously part of that gang."

"I never had a choice." Nathaniel said.

"We all have choices." Julie said. "Well, that is what my sister says, anyways."

"It's my older brother." Nathaniel said. "I had to listen to him, we were orphans. Joe took care of me. I didn't want to do what he did, but we had to survive."

"But you have a choice now." Julie said. "You can break free from your brother."

"Julie." Nathaniel said. "He's all I got."

Julie just looked away and went back to her saddlebags.

"Julie." Nathaniel said. "He did this to me. I don't want to live the life of crime, but what am I suppose to do? If I go back with you to town, Joe is going to blame me, then the Mounties are going to lock me up and what chance will I have?"

"You could tell them the truth." Julie said.

"Julie." Nathaniel said. "Please. I just want to get better and then I will be on my way. Joe is crazy. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I think your a good man." Julie said.

"I want to be." Nathaniel said.

Julie left some food for Nathaniel. Looked around the cabin again before turning to him.

"I will be back tomorrow." Julie said.

Nathaniel nodded and watched Julie leave. Julie took a long way back and didn't get back to the cafe until well after lunch. Abigail just looked at her, but didn't say anything. She wondered where Julie had been all day, but she wasn't going to push it. At least she was leaving Elizabeth alone. Abigail wasn't sure what Elizabeth had told Julie about Jack's leaving so she didn't want Julie upsetting Elizabeth anymore. Abigail knew that she was going to have to keep an eye on both Thatcher sisters for different reasons. Abigail wasn't happy that Jack was leaving, but she understood why he had to leave.

When Elizabeth got back to the cafe after school, she packed some of Abigail's scones for Jack. She also made a couple sandwiches and packed some supper for Jack. She then went over to the jail and dropped it off.

"I know that you are busy." Elizabeth said. "But I made you some sandwiches for tonight and there are scones for tomorrow."

"Thank you." Jack said. "I would like to try and come eat with you later. Maybe closer to close."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I won't hold you to it. But please try."

Jack just nodded and Elizabeth left.

When Adam got home on Tuesday, he told Laurel he was tired and just needed to lay down a bit. She said that she would wake him for supper. She didn't like the way that he looked. She had wanted to ask him about how his first day back went, but she could tell that he didn't want to talk about it. She wondered if something had happened. She knew that Adam was proud and independent and didn't want help from others, but it should have been different with her. Laurel was setting the table when Jolene came back in.

"I picked these flowers for Pa." Jolene said showing her mother what she had. "I thought they might cheer him up."

"That's very thoughtful of you, sweetheart." Laurel said. "I'll put them in a vase."

Laurel took the flowers from Jolene and put them in some water, before putting the vase on the table.

"Now." Laurel said. "Why don't you tell you Pa that supper is almost ready."

Jolene went into the bedroom off the kitchen to wake her father. When she walked in she saw his peg-leg was sitting against the small table. She was curious about it, so she went over to look at. She touched it and moved it a little before looking over to the bed. She could see the part of her father's leg that was missing under the covers. He was sound asleep and didn't move. Jolene was feeling a little braver and went over to the bed and lifted the covers to look at his leg. She let out a gasp that startled Adam and he woke with a start. Jolene was scared and stumbled backward and let out a yelp when she hit the wall.

"Princess." Adam said when he looked over and saw Jolene.

"What happened?" Laurel asked running into the room.

"I don't know." Adam said. "I was dreaming. I guess I … . Are you okay?"

Laurel helped Jolene to stand up. She appeared pretty shaken.

"It's okay." Jolene said softly. "He didn't mean to. I'm okay."

As soon as Laurel helped Jolene to stand, she tried to back out of the room and Laurel let her.

"I'm alright." Jolene said softly again as she left the room.

Laurel followed Jolene out of the room. Adam just looked at them go and he felt bad. He knew that he had scared his daughter and then his wife when Jolene had fell against the wall. He tried to catch his breath and fell back into the bed. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he had to do something. Adam knew that he couldn't go on living like he was. It had been different in the hospital. He thought he had dealt with things and they had tried to tell him that it would be different when he was home. After a week at home, Adam knew what they meant. He felt like his nerves had been on edge since he stepped off the stagecoach and it only got worse being down at the mine that day. Supper that night went okay, it was a little tense, but neither Adam or Laurel pushed the issue. Jolene was quiet at supper and as soon as they were done, she hugged her mother and father, before heading up to her room.