"Well, I say, take it up on appeal. It ain't any of their business what goes on in Hope Valley." Bruce Weise stated as the floor was opened to public discussion.
"There is no appeal." Lee noted. "There was a provincial referendum that all of us voted on and…"
"Well, I didn't vote for it." Another man said.
"That may be so, but the measure passed. And as such, it has become the law of the land."
"What's wrong with a little beer after a hard day's work?" Jesse asked.
"What's wrong with a little temperance?" Mary Wolf stated before dropping her head when her husband's eyes turned her way.
"Unfortunately, this isn't a debate about temperance or abstinence anymore." Bill Avery responded. "The decision has already been made. The province is dry. A new saloon is out."
Several began to grumble while others raised their chins in justification. The split was somewhat even.
"Well, just because we can't have a saloon doesn't mean that the whole project should be scrapped." Fiona said. "We'll just have to come up with another plan. Something exciting that can still draw a crowd."
"Such as?" Bill asked.
"I don't know. We already have a movie theater. Why not go all the way and make it an entertainment complex? You know, show plays, live music…?"
"New York North West!" Rosemary exclaimed. "That's a wonderful idea!"
Lee wasn't so sure.
"No. That sounds like a great idea." Elizabeth said. "The closest place for cultural events is Union City and with Hope Valley's projected future growth, it could really be a good opportunity."
"It could put us on the map." Mike added.
"Are you saying that Hope Valley doesn't have any culture?" Florence asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. "That's not what I'm saying at all. There is definitely a culture here in this town and a way of life that none of us wants to lose. But the times are changing quickly and now could be our opportunity to define what our future looks like. If we don't, we're about to be run over by a culture we don't want."
There was a rumble of whispers around the room followed by the rap-rap of the mayor's gavel at the bench.
"Order." Lee said. He looked to Elizabeth.
"Do you think this is something that Lucas would be supportive of? After all, it is his business." Lee asked.
Elizabeth thought for a moment then nodded. "Lucas will support anything that helps Hope Valley. And, he will want to run his business as honestly and legally as he can. If he can't have a saloon, then as a businessman I'm sure he would see the value in providing this type of service."
Lee nodded. "Very well, then. Should we put it to a vote?"
At the end of the session, the yays prevailed. The Queen of Heart Saloon had been put to rest and the new Hope Hotel and Entertainment Center was born, pending Lucas's approval of the name once he returned.
Lucas woke up early in the morning excited for the day. The reason for this was he knew a change in regimen was now in order. Instead of being stretched and soaked and prodded all day long, a new activity was being added which promised to help him to turn a corner.
"Have you ever walked on crutches?" Emily asked to both Lucas and Cy.
"Once, when I sprained my ankle." Lucas said. Emily and Cy both looked at him as if waiting for the rest of the story. Lucas lowered his chin. "I tripped when exiting a rickshaw on a trip to Beijing in 1901."
"Ah, I see." Emily said.
"T'aint nothin'." Cy said. "Try falling out of a Sycamore tree thirty feet above a creek bed! That'll give you a reason to use crutches."
"What were you doing?" Emily asked.
"I was playin' like Tarzan in the Jungle. You know, from the magazine?" Cy said.
"Also, in book form." Lucas added with a slight grin, remembering a friend of his mother's who had been the editor of the printed edition. The man had given him a first edition copy though he was twenty-seven years old at the time.
"We never had a library where I grew up." Cy said. "But the Pritchards used to bring in magazines and the newspaper from Knoxville, because of course that's where Mrs. Prichard was from. Anyways, where are our crutches? I'm ready to get walkin'."
Emily walked to the side of the room and opened a box where she pulled out two pairs of forearm crutches, straight from the factory.
"What's that?" Cy asked.
"These are a new form of crutches." She explained. "Emile Schlick's Walking Stick."
Lucas took his set of crutches from her and examined it while she explained how they worked.
"You put your arm though this metal cuff and your hands grasp the handles, and then what I want you to do is try to stand on your good leg then swing both crutches and the bad leg forward at the same time."
Cy immediately went to putting the crutches on his arm while Lucas looked at her, unsure.
"It's okay, Lucas. Aubrey will be right beside you so that you don't fall." She replied seeing his hesitancy. She then looked over at Cy and scolded him. "Wait until Paul is with you, Cy. We want no injuries today."
"Yes, ma'am" Cy said, though he continued to lean on the crutches and otherwise handle them in a manner that was not high on safety.
"Lucas, you go first. I want you to just do what I said. I'll demonstrate." she instructed before showing him exactly what she wanted him to do. It took only a few steps before he got the hang of it and, using the crutches, he moved quickly across the floor then returned to his place.
"That's wonderful! How did it feel?" she asked.
"Okay." Lucas said. "I feel like I need to bend over in order to use them."
"Yes, I've had that complaint before with taller men. Other than that? How do your arms feel?"
Lucas thought for a moment. "Honestly, a little tired. "
"As they will be for a while. That's why we're pushing the strengthening and mobility exercises so hard. It will come back. Just have to stay at it." She replied. "Okay, Cy. Your turn. Let's see what you can do."
Cy smiled and immediately took off on the crutches faster than his assistant could keep up. Lucas heard Cy cry "Whoooo!" as he went along and simply shook his head and smiled at his outgoing friend.
"Slow down, Cy!" Emily said. At which point Cy stopped and looked at her.
"Don't tell me what to do or I shall get ye with my sword!" Cy said, raising one of the crutches up towards her and promptly falling on his hind quarters.
While Emily and Paul tried to help Cy up, Aubrey walked beside Lucas as the latter leaned against a table with his arms folded in front of him.
"He's fairly insane, isn't he?" Lucas asked.
"Mm-hmm." Aubrey replied. "How do you think he got his fingers blown off?"
Lucas turned his head and looked at him quizzically. "He was injured in battle, wasn't he?"
Aubrey paused then smirked. "He and a buddy were tossing live ammunition. Cy picked up a grenade and was going to throw it like a baseball only he didn't realize the pin had fallen out and when he went to release the grenade, it exploded. While he was down a shell did come in and badly damaged his leg. He lost his leg due to shelling and his hand due to stupidity."
Lucas contorted his face as he imagined the scene. "What about his friend?"
Aubrey smiled, "I think they made him a sergeant." He then elbowed Lucas as if he was just kidding but Lucas took mental notes concerning this new information.
"Hey, Lucas. Wanna race?" Cy asked.
Lucas smiled stiffly. "That's alright, Cy. You go right ahead."
"Uncle Nathan…Some mail came in for you from the mercantile." Allie Grant stated as she entered her home. Her father had just gotten home after policing a dispute between two landowners and was changing his clothes after getting mud on his serge.
"Go ahead and put it on the kitchen table, Allie. I'll be right out." He yelled from his bedroom.
"Okay. I'll do that." She said, smiling. "By the way…it smells really pretty."
Allie heard a thump coming from her father's bedroom and was surprised when he rushed into the hallway dressed in muddy work pants and a t-shirt.
"Where is it?" he asked, putting out his hand.
"Where is what?" Allie teased.
Nathan threw her a look. "The letter."
"The one from Balt-i-more?" she asked, drawing the syllables out very slowly.
"Yes. Give it here."
Allie produced the letter and began waving it in front of him. He reached for it but she pulled it away and finally when she got the single-raised-eyebrow look with no smile, she handed it to him.
Putting her hands behind her back she twisted back and forth. "Who's it from?"
Nathan opened the letter in front of her and read a couple of lines. His lips began to curl upward ever so slightly. He quickly refolded the letter then began walking toward his bedroom. "A friend."
Pursing her lips, Allie walked a few steps toward him. "A fe-male friend?"
A few seconds passed and she heard him mumble. "Yeah. Something like that."
She moved toward his door, leaning against its frame.
"Is she pretty?"
Nathan was sitting on his bed reading the letter, ignoring her presence. A smile appeared on his face.
"Well, is she?" Allie said, a little more forcefully.
He folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. "Yes. She's very pretty. She's Lucas's physical therapist. She's a nurse."
"And you met her when you dropped him off?"
"Yeah…well, no. We met a little before then on the train. She fell into me in a restaurant."
Allie grinned mischievously. "Oh? Do tell?"
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Nothing to tell. She said she was sorry. I helped her by picking up her purse and she moved on."
"So, why is she writing to you?" she asked.
"She's telling me about Lucas's progress." He said, half-truthfully.
Allie twisted her mouth to the side. And raised both eyebrows. "Is that all?"
Nathan paused a moment trying to balance Allie's feelings with a need to be honest with her. "She may have said a few more things."
Allie leaned forward on her elbows. "Like what?"
Nathan shook his head and removed the letter from the envelope. He handed her the letter.
Allie's eyes twinkled as she sat down in a seat at the edge of his bedroom.
"Dearest Nathan…Ooooohhh…Dearest! I like where this is heading!" she gushed. Nathan chuckled.
"The therapy for Lucas, thus far, is going very well. He is maintaining his flexibility and regaining strength slowly and his mood is much better. He has a roommate now who is rather reckless. Quite the opposite in terms of personality, but Lucas seems to be quiet patient with his proclivities and he seems anxious to get better so he can return home. This is all good news.
In other news, one of my friends from nursing school has just joined our staff. We call her "Bachy", but her real name is Amanda. She's from Sweden and has the sweetest smile you'd ever want to see. Anyway, I think that the hospital wants to make her Dr. Shepherd's permanent nurse-assistant, so there is a possibility that I'm going to be reassigned. I hope it doesn't happen before I can see your friend Lucas walk out of here.
I hope you are settled back in Hope Valley and that Allie is happy having her father back. I think of you often and hope that God grants that we can see each other again. But whether that comes to pass or not remains to be seen. Just know how grateful I am for your rescue in the train station and how happy I was to walk with you and to hear your story. You're a special man, Nathan. I knew it immediately and I'm never wrong about these things. You'll find that out about me.
Well, I hear them calling for me so break time is over. Be careful on your job, particular as the winter is coming soon. I'll try to write soon. Perhaps we can even call, if you like. If you would like that, let me know and I will send you the information where you can contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Emily Anne Reardon"
"Emily Anne. I like it." Allie said. "Just like Anne with an E."
"Who?" Nathan asked, taking the letter back.
"Anne of Green Gables. I'm re-reading the book now. It's one of my favorites." Allie said.
"I see."
"Well, I like her, so if you need my approval…"
"I don't. Emily and I are just friends."
Allie rolled her eyes. "Friends don't spray perfume on envelopes."
Nathan chuckled.
"As I was saying. If you need my approval, so far, she makes the grade. I approve."
Nathan's mouth curved up. "Well, thank you. Now, get cleaned up and get ready to go to town. I'm treating us to dinner at Abigail's tonight."
"Yum!" Allie said before scampering off.
Nathan took the folded letter and started to set it aside, but instead he raised it to his nose to smell her perfume and left it in his nightstand instead.
"It sounds to me like this Cy is a very reckless character!" Elizabeth said as she and Lucas chatted on the phone.
"He is. But you also have to like him. He is the kind of man who has never met a person that he didn't like or that he couldn't be friends with- except the Germans."
"Because of the war?"
"Exactly. I tried to tell him that my experiences in Munich were very pleasant and that the people couldn't have been nicer, but he just said…well, never mind what he said. How are things at school?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Busy. Trying to wrap up before winter break. Rosemary is teaching the children some music for this year's Christmas play."
"I wish I could be there." He said.
"I do too." She replied.
He became a little quiet for a minute as she told him about Opal and about Robert and Allie and some of the other children. Finally, she became concerned by his silence.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
Lucas smiled to himself. "Guess I am just a little homesick." He replied. "I miss all of the names that you mentioned and love hearing you share what is going on in their lives. But, you know who I miss most of all?"
"Me?" she said softly.
"You,…and little Jack. Cy's wife comes to visit about once a day and sometimes she brings their little tow-headed boy, Buford James. He reminds me so much of little Jack and seeing them together as a family…it puts all sorts of longings in my heart. I can't help but feel that time is moving so quickly and I'm missing out on so much." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph of her and little Jack. He considered the thought that one day he would be in the picture with them and he closed his eyes.
At the same time, Elizabeth reached forward and touched his photograph which sat on the table near the phone. "I know what you mean." She said, truthfully because there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think at least once what it would be like when they were finally a family. "Soon, my love. We'll be together soon. And then, we'll have all the time in the world."