Chapter 1 the Hug
The town was so quiet. There was a hush among the townspeople as they realize that a Mountie has lost his life. Reluctantly, they are pleased to realize it is not their beloved Mountie, Constable Grant, as they now see he has wearily entered the town with his trusty horse Newton. Before they can process all this they see Elizabeth Thorton, turn, see Constable Grant and run to him and embrace him. They are in their own world for a time.
The spell then becomes broken and the townspeople look to see how they could help. Judge Avery tries to take control and says "Carson please have the transport wagon move to the back of the infirmary and take over this." Quietly Carson agrees and he moves the wagon. Nathan and Elizabeth are still locked in the embrace.
Bill quietly says "Let's move on now" and the townspeople go back to their lives. Bill sees Jesse and asks him to take Nathan's horse to the livery. Nathan becomes aware of the changes in the town and tries to move Elizabeth who is oblivious to her surroundings. All she knows is that Nathan is alive and she can hear his heart beating. Quietly Bill approaches them and says to them, "Go to my office and sit down. I'll take care of things here now and then meet you. "
Nathan says only one word "Allie". Fiona steps up and says "I'll find her and take her to Bill's office. Don't worry"
Nathan then says, "Elizabeth come on. Let's go to Bill's office". She pulls back and Nathan helps guide her to Bill's office.
Nathan's thoughts are swirling as they get to Bill's office. What went wrong on the transport, could he have done something differently and while he is thrilled Elizabeth is with him what does it mean. He ushers her into Bill's office, seats her and gets her a drink of water.
Softly Nathan says, "Elizabeth say something are you OK?" Silence. He tries again, "Elizabeth, it's Nathan, I'm not Jack, I am Nathan" With that Elizabeth comes alive and strongly says "Nathan I never thought you were Jack. I was just so afraid and then relieved you were OK. Nathan, you are all right aren't you" she says anxiously looking at him.
She then stands and says "Here you sit down, let me take care of you. Here have some water." She flutters around trying to help him. Nathan captures her hands and says "Elizabeth I am fine and soon Bill or Allie will be here. Elizabeth follows up with "Nathan you asked me this morning and I didn't give you an answer. Yes, yes Nathan I want to go to dinner. I want you. You are in heart; I knew I just couldn't admit it"
Hearing that Nathan gets up and embraces her and says "Elizabeth take time and think about this. I am not sure we should be making decisions at this time. You are saying everything I prayed you would, but I think we need to talk about it." Elizabeth goes to say something, but the door opens and Allie bursts in with Fiona.
"Uncle Nathan" she says and runs to him. He goes down on one knee and hugs her tightly. Nathan says "Shhh, shh, I am fine. There was a problem with the transport, but I wasn't hurt and I wanted you to know it I am totally fine" Allie pulls back and with tears on her cheeks says, "You are sure". Yes sweetie I am fine" Nathan says.
Rosemary and Bill arrive together and any further conversation with Nathan and Elizabeth is now gone. Rosemary persuades Elizabeth and Allie to leave, but not before Allie makes Nathan promise he will come home as soon as possible. Elizabeth whispers to Nathan, "Don't worry about Allie; we will take care of her. Finish up as soon as you can and come home" Nathan nods and with that they leave.
Bill asks "Elizabeth are you OK," Fine Bill, I am fine, she replies. "Just take care of both of you "Thanks Elizabeth we will do our best" Bill says tiredly.
"Nathan, are you OK, can we gather together and finish our work today," Bill says. Nathan responds and says "Let's go and get this over with are you Ok". Bill nods and they go over to the jail to start all the work they need to do.
Constable Lawson is at the jail with Jenny and Elias and had put them in separate cells. He started the phone calls with Mountie headquarters and has a list of tasks they must complete to satisfy headquarters. Judge Avery needs to look over everything and sign off to have all the processing start.
Once at the jail Nathan learns that Constable Keller, the Mountie who died, was new and still in his first year. His partner, Constable Lawson is at the jail and both Bill and Nathan sympathize with him and his losing a partner. At this time, Nathan still doesn't know what went wrong. He says "I thought I had it handled, what went wrong?" Bill says "You really don't know? " Nathan looks at him quizzically.
Constable Lawson speaks up and says "Keller is a rookie and likes action, He mistakenly pulled a gun and cocked it which must have set off the woman and she fired." Nathan is surprised as he was so focused on Jenny and the gun she held. Lawson and Bill both say "It would have ended OK if Keller didn't pull his gun." Hearing that Nathan sits down heavily as he thought it was totally his fault the situation went wrong. All three recognize that Constable Keller has paid the ultimate price with his life and fill out the report as carefully as possible. They want to spare Constable Keller's family any additional heartache and they finish the paperwork and the calls to Mountie headquarters which takes a while.
Bill has noticed Nathan losing color during their duties and several times, asks "Are you Ok"? Nathan just nods and they continue their work. Finally they are done and all stand and stretch relieved to have that behind them. Nathan begins to feel lightheaded and bonelessly slides into his chair. Bill notices and says "Lawson help" They prop up Nathan and give him some water and Nathan waves them away and says "I must have stood up too quickly" "I don't think so Constable" says Lawson as he notices a growing stain on Nathan's red serge. "Pull off you jacket", Lawson says and helps Nathan shrug out of it. They finally see a large bright stain on Nathan's thermal and pulling aside Nathan's shirt Bill sees Nathan has been shot. "We need to get you to Carson, Nathan you have been shot and this has been a slow bleed for some time".
Both Bill and Lawson get him to Carson who immediately begins to treat him. Nathan continues to complain he will be fine, but no one pays him any attention. Carson cleans him up and realizes he was grazed by a bullet and now needs several stitches. He then examines him and sees a variety of nasty bruises Nathan has. In response to Carson's questions Nathan says "I fell when I was taking Jenny down after the shot and I guess I didn't realize it was so rocky." Carson says "Nathan since we didn't take care of that bullet graze when it happened you are at risk of infection so I want you to spend the night in the infirmary" Nathan totally refuses knowing this will make Allie fearful. There is a back and forth between the two men until Carson agrees he can go home as long as someone watches him for fever and it is too much for a young girl to do. Nathan looks pleadingly at Bill who says "We will figure this out. You can go home to Allie"