Lee swerved along the road as he headed towards the smoke cloud. When he got there, all he saw was smoke. No Rosemary, and no one else either. He kicked a branch on the ground. Darn it! Where was Rosemary?

"Elizabeth," Rosemary leaned over to her friend. "Abigail, you too," she whispered.

"What?" Both ladies leaned towards her.

"We need to get out of here. If you distract the man, I can get out the side door."

"Alright." Elizabeth said. "Go carefully."

Rosemary looked up. His back was turned, and so she slowly turned onto her knees and quietly crawled along the wall, behind Elizabeth's desk, and to the door. She paused just before she opened it to calm her quickly beating heart. Then she did everything in a rush. She slid the door open, slipped out, and closed it behind her. She didn't wait for anything, she ran as fast as she could towards town. Hopefully they don't find me. I have to find Lee!

In disappointment, Lee was heading back to town. He didn't know where to search next, or even what to do. A look at his watch confirmed that it was past ten-thirty now. He pulled onto the main street of Hope Valley and that was when he saw Rosemary, who was running down the road. He pulled the car to a stop and got out. Immediately, she began to run to him.

They met in the middle of the street. "Rosie!" Lee was the first one to speak as he pulled her into a giant hug.

"Lee!" She exclaimed.

"I've been so worried!" They said at the same time, then chuckled as they hugged again.

"Where were you?" Lee asked. "And where's everyone else?"

"I was in the schoolhouse. Everyone else is there and-" Rosemary was cut off by Bill and Wyman Walden coming out of the mayor's office. She turned around, saw Wyman Walden, and angrily began walking towards him. "Mr. Walden!" She demanded loudly. "Your goons-" she spit out the word, "have unjustly held us. You must let everyone go!"

"I'm so sorry to hear of this. Of course, everyone must be let go immediately. I'll see to it myself." Mr. Walden said.

"You'd better." Rosemary threatened.

Bill walked up to them, and Lee immediately guessed what had happened. "The papers?" He asked glumly.

Bill nodded. "Mr. Walden had a signed petition to grant him the land. There was nothing I could do."

"I guess I lost the battle." Lee said sadly.

"You'll win it yet." Rosemary said comfortingly, slipping her arm through his. "And in the meantime, I'll destroy him in the press."

"I don't know about that, Rosie." Lee shook his head. His fears had been right, he had let the town down. "This is only one step, and he took it. What's next? My land?"

"I'm sure he won't. Let's go to the schoolhouse." Rosemary suggested.

"Alright." Lee agreed. "I'm so glad you're okay." He said as they walked towards the schoolhouse. Outside was a large group of people, all fuming over the trick. When Lee and Rosemary came close, they were immediately surrounded.

"Did the vote go through?" Ned asked.

"What happened?" Jesse asked, as well as many other voices.

"Everyone, everyone, calm down," Bill said loudly from the schoolhouse stairs. "Lee, come over here."

Lee let go of Rosemary's arm and walked to the stairs. Rosemary turned to the people around her, mentally taking notes for her article. Lee climbed the stairs and stood next to Bill. "Yes, unfortunately, the papers were signed. The land in town goes to Mr. Walden."

Voices and complaints of anger rose over the group. "What does he want it for?" Someone yelled out.

"I don't know." Lee answered honestly. He looked around for Mr. Walden to answer the question, but Mr. Walden was no where to be seen.

"How could you let him do this?" Another person asked.

"It wasn't my choice." Lee sighed.

"What about when he held us all in the schoolhouse? Are you going to press charges?"

"I can't do anything. It'd be my word against his." Lee pointed out.

Amid the further complaints, Bill nodded. "He's right. There isn't anything we can do."

"Go home now, and I'll take care of the rest. If you have any questions, you can talk to me." Lee dismissed the crowd. There were a few dirty looks and lots of talking, but people did begin to leave.

Rosemary walked around the group, asking questions and opinions. She wanted to know what everyone thought. Meanwhile, Bill turned to Lee. "I'm sorry." He said.

"It's okay. They're just worried. And frankly, so am I. Are you sure that there's nothing I can do?"

"I'll keep looking, but for now, no." Bill shook his head. "But if I can find a way, I promise, you'll be the first to know."

"Good. We have to find a way against this." Lee looked up to see Rosemary coming towards him, and she didn't look very happy.

"I can't believe it!" She seethed as she drew near the men. "Everyone is mad at you," she pointed at Lee, "and for ridiculous reasons. Don't they see that you're trying your hardest and there's nothing you can do? It's unreasonable! I-"

"Rosie," Lee stopped her. "It's okay. That's my job."

"You'll see, when I write the article."

"Tell them." Bill said with a chuckle. "Excuse me," he stepped down and walked back to town.

"Come on, let's go home." Lee said. "It's cold."

"Alright." Rosemary relented, stepping down the stairs. They walked back to their car in town, then drove out to their house. "I need to talk to Elizabeth for a minute, then we can talk." Rosemary said as they got out of the car.

"Okay." Lee nodded as Rosemary walked to the rowhouse next door.

Rosemary knocked on Elizabeth's door and it opened immediately. "Rosemary! What are you doing here? I thought you'd be home with Lee." Elizabeth said.

"No, I wanted to come over and talk to you. Are you okay? Is Little Jack alright?" Rosemary stepped inside.

"We're both fine," Elizabeth assured her.

"It was scary. And to think that I didn't even know where Lee was half the time…I still can't believe that they tricked us. And did you hear what Lee said? He can't do anything about it!" Rosemary fumed again.

"I'm sure Lee will do all he can," Elizabeth began. "And he will find a way to beat them." She finished determinedly.

"I know. But still!" Rosemary's hands flew up and she dropped them with a sigh. "Are you sure you're alright? Do you want to come over for supper?"

"I'm good. I'd say yes, but Nathan and Allie are coming over."

"Well, bring them over too."

"Alright." Elizabeth relented. "We'll be over at six."

"Wonderful! Until then, relax and rest." Rosemary ordered. "I'd better get back to Lee. He feels terrible."

"I'm on his side." Elizabeth smiled. "You rest too," she added.

"I'll try. See you soon." Rosemary turned and went back outside. She slipped back over to her house, and entered. She noticed that Lee was asleep on his chair, so she went back outside, kicked the snow off her boots, and then quietly re-entered. Just as quietly, she took off her coat, scarf, and gloves. She was trying to tip-toe across the floor to the kitchen when her foot hit a board and a loud crack sounded. Lee shifted and his eyes opened. Rosemary stopped as he sleepily rubbed his eyes. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized.

"That's okay." Lee cut off a yawn. "Are Elizabeth and Little Jack doing alright?"

"Yes, they're both fine. They and Nathan and Allie are coming for supper, then Elizabeth doesn't have to worry about cooking." Rosemary sat down opposite of Lee. "I'll just throw something together in a few hours."

"Speaking of which, I'm kind of hungry." Lee mentioned. "Breakfast seems like hours ago."

"I'll make you some lunch right away." Rosemary hopped back up. "It does." She busied herself in the kitchen while Lee leaned back against the chair. "It's ready," she called a few minutes later.

"Can I come in?" Bill asked, opening the door of Nathan's rowhouse.

"Of course." Nathan stood from the settee. "What is it?"

"I dropped by to talk about Wyman Walden." Bill closed the door behind him. "I think we should have someone watching him at all times."

"I agree." Nathan nodded seriously. "What I need is another Mountie. That'll be a full-time job and I'm already busy enough."

"Some backup would be nice too," Bill agreed.

"I'll talk to Headquarters."

"Good."

"Until then, I'll do my best to watch him. But I need hard evidence. Even after today, I can't do anything about it." Nathan furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

"I know." Bill nodded in frustration. "I know."

Five hours later, Nathan, Allie, Elizabeth and Little Jack were standing on Rosemary and Lee's front porch while Elizabeth knocked on the door. "Come in, come in," Rosemary invited as she threw the door open. "Lee, they're here!" She called up the stairs. There was a thump upstairs and then, a few seconds later, Lee appeared.

"Hi Elizabeth, Nathan, Allie, Little Jack."

"Hi." The three of them answered, while Little Jack looked up with a smile.

"Elizabeth, Allie, you can come to the kitchen and help me with the preparations. Lee, you can entertain Nathan and Little Jack." Rosemary directed everyone. Elizabeth and Nathan shared a small smile as they spilt, Elizabeth to the kitchen and Nathan over to the settee.

"It's nice for you guys to come over tonight," Lee began a bit awkwardly. The hard part about Rosemary's dinner parties was entertaining by himself.

"Thanks for having us." Nathan replied politely. He didn't know what Lee was thinking, but he felt lost without Elizabeth too. "How are you after today?"

"Alright." Lee sighed at the memory of the morning. "I was worried about everyone and the vote, and the vote went by without me even realizing it. I think I let the town down, and people are going to be mad at me."

"There wasn't anything you could do."

"I know, but it's still frustrating."

"If it helps, I plan on asking for another Mountie to come help me." Nathan offered.

"That would be great, and it would help the town too." Lee nodded.

"Did you have a restful afternoon?" Rosemary asked Elizabeth in the kitchen.

"I did." Elizabeth nodded. "Little Jack took a nap while I graded some papers, then we played together for a while."

"What did you do, Allie?" Rosemary turned her attention to the girl.

"Nothing much," Allie admitted. "I read for most of the afternoon."

"Ooh, what are you reading right now?"

"Little Women by Louisa May Alcott."

"I love that book!" Rosemary replied excitedly.

"Me too. It's been really good so far." Allie nodded as she put some plates on the table.

"It is a good book." Elizabeth joined Allie, putting forks and knives beside the plates.

Rosemary turned from the stove and looked around. "Looks like everything's ready. Lee? Nathan? Supper's ready."

The two men looked up. "Wonderful." Lee said as they stood up and Nathan directed Little Jack over.

They all sat down at the table, looking at the delicious meal in front of them. "Everyone, go ahead and get what you need. Nathan, I can serve you some chicken if you'd like," Rosemary offered, extending her hand.

"Thank you." Nathan gave up his plate.

"You too," Rosemary pointed at Allie, who handed up her plate too.

In a few minutes, the food was served, everyone was sitting down, and the talking began. "So, what were you men talking about?" Rosemary asked.

Lee and Nathan looked at each other. "We were talking about town business." Lee began slowly. Nathan nodded.

"Oh." Rosemary and Elizabeth exchanged a glance. They both knew that they'd better ask later. "Well, hopefully you figure out what to do with that scoundrel." Rosemary said indignantly.

"I'll try." Nathan said.

"I'm sure you'll do all you can," Elizabeth smiled in his direction.

"Will there be school tomorrow?" Allie asked hopefully.

"For sure." Elizabeth nodded.

"Too bad." Allie pushed around her food. "I wanted to go sledding."

"There will be more snow." Nathan said as the adults shared a smile. "It's not even Christmas yet."

"Speaking of Christmas," Rosemary lifted her fork into the air. "Lee is going to do something huge this year!"

"Rosie!" Lee looked up. "I didn't say that."

"You basically did."

"No, I said that I would talk to Abigail about it. I don't have time this year." Lee looked over at Nathan and Elizabeth, his face clearly saying: help me.

"I'd love to take on Christmas." Elizabeth offered suddenly. "And," she turned to Nathan. "Nathan and Allie could help me too."

"Really?" Allie twisted to look at Nathan with an excited look on her face. "That'd be so cool Uncle Nathan!"

Nathan looked from Allie's eager face to Elizabeth's smile. "I don't know," he began. "It might be a lot of work."

"It'd be fun." Elizabeth smiled again. "Come on. We could all do it together." She laid her hand on his arm.

"Well," Nathan drew out the word.

"He'll do it!" Rosemary called out.

"I'll do it." Nathan relented.

"Oh yeah!" Allie dug into her food happily.

"Wonderful." Elizabeth and Rosemary said together, and Lee looked happy too.

"Glad we got that figured out." Rosemary said.

"Me too, especially since I don't have to do it." Lee smiled at her.

The chatter continued as Elizabeth, Rosemary, and Allie talked about ideas for Christmas and Nathan and Lee sat there, mostly silent, smiling at their respective ladies and their happiness. Finally, when Little Jack was nodding off, Elizabeth stood. "I think we'd better go." She said sadly.

Nathan stood as well. "Thank you for supper." He said to Rosemary as he shook Lee's hand.

"Thank you!" Allie gave Rosemary a hug.

"Never a problem." Rosemary replied happily. "You four are always welcome here." She continued as she gave Elizabeth a hug. "Bye." She called as she waved at the door. Then she closed it and turned back to Lee. "What?" She asked with a slight smile when she saw him standing there, smiling at her.

"Nothing." He crossed the room to take her hands. "I love you." He leaned forward to kiss her.

"I love you too." She replied softly.

"And thank you for finding someone else to take care of Christmas."

Rosemary laughed. "You're welcome."