In a matter of moments, the mountain woods reverberated with the name "Little Jack." Sol never spoke with me, and only managed to say that Wesley is planning something. In the dead of night, all of us are scouring the crevices of every bush and gully. It did not take long befor3 Hope Valley discovered that Jack is not in Hope Valley at all. Nathan has called as many people as possible to help identify whether or not Little Jack ever appears elsewhere. Lanterns flicker between shadows, and I couldn't even make Nathan stay behind. He is with Bill to look in easier areas. Crutches and all. Lucas and I are together with a frantic Elizabeth. Little can soothe the penetrating fear throughout the valley. Not one citizen is hidden away from searching for this priceless little boy. No one will sleep tonight. Stars twinkling above, wind ceased, and a full moon spreading a veil of white over the company, the truth of seven hours having been passed comes to surface.

The school children are trying to comfort Elizabeth as much as they can, and so is Lucas. "Jack!" She wails, "Jack!" Spruce trees loom higher, lanternlight sclicing through the darkness near our feet. It is too dark and dangerous to keep looking, but all of us know that Elizabeth can't rest until her son is back in her arms, safe.

I'm conflicted. There is no proof other than the words of Sol, saying that Jude is planning something. My stomach churns at the idea of this event possibly being what he plots in secret. I swallow down the urge to throw up. If anyone has taken Little Jack, they could be doing anything to him, and we wouldn't be there to stop it from happening. This fills me with rage. I ignore the sweat of my hand buttering the handle of the lantern, and carve a path behind some large stones, to scan the wide cracks. They are large enough to hide a small child. My thoughts roam like moths.

I wonder about Allie, and the guests I allowed in my home while I stayed with Nate at the Hospital.

"Elizabeth," I grasp her trembling hands. "I'm going to head toward the mines. In fact, I think it would be wise for all of you to head back." A few of the mothers in the group pipe up, muttering in agreement.

"That's a good idea." Florence stands beside me, hair disheveled. "Well all want to find Jack, and even though we allowed some older children to help, they are still children. If you're not ready Elizabeth, I can take them down with Molly and Mr. Coulter while you keep searching with Mr. Bouchard."

Elizabeth nods in appreciation, eyes red and mournful. "You're right. Thank you." When Lucas whispers in Elizabeth's ear, probably some words of assurance, I take my leave. The treck downthe mountain is harsh, roots and sharp thorns claw at my ankles. Too much gravity, and I trip on a fallen log, right into a patch of weeds. I hope it isn't poison ivy. White shelf mushrooms adorn the sides of mossy branches and elm trunks. The soil is damp, and I hope there are no spiders lurking beneath any dead leaves. Thankfully, the lantern didn't break or go out in this terrain's attempt to slay me.

"Nyrah?" Jesse's voice sounds behind me.

"Ah, Mr. Flynn." I sigh from embarrassment, and accept his offered hand to help me back up. "Thanks."

"No problem. Clara is around here somewhere. If you'd like to stick around we can go looking together."

"Thanks, but I'm heading somewhere else to look."

"Oh, where-" before the man finishes, I continue my solitary journey back down the mountain. A thought comes to my mind. Most of the lost people in this television series have been found in the mines, so there is a good chance of finding him. I am surprised I didn't think if it until now. "Jack!" My voice chimes in with the many in the distance. "Little Jack!"

After managing to find the road, I jog the rest of the way until I come up to a wounded man in a Serge standing on the bridge. "Nathan!" I run to him, out of breath, but brush it off when I see the deep stress embedded into his eyes. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were with Bill."

Nate leans on me for support, grunting in pain. "I'm sorry. Bill needed to search without me inhibiting him.'

"Nonsense. Where is your other crutch?"

"...it's in the pond."

"What?!"

"Once Bill left, I may have walked too close to the banks. I had to go home and change. My only set of clean clothes..."

"...Was your uniform." I withhold the desire to scream in frustration. I had meant to wash his laundry later after my conversation with Sol. Plans have changed, obviously. "It's fine." Everything in my body language yells at him that I am not fine. "As long as you're alright. What about your wounds?"

Nathan points to a nearby tree, and I help him sit down to rest his throbbing leg. Brushing tresses of soaked hair from his face, I clench my teeth in order to halt the immeasurable tears threatening to burst out. "You must be in agony right now." I set aside the crutch he managed to keep a hold of, and rest the back of my hand on his forehead.

Nate gazes up into the branches as if I'm not checking his temperature and asks, "Do you remember this place?" I shake my head, and he exhales in disappointment. "I offered you my jacket and built a fire. You said that maybe one day you'd share what it was that Jude Wesley told you that night, but then I read your diary. It kind of ruined the surprise, I guess."

I cannot stop the baffled gasp that I make. He remembers that night? Hands in my lap, I blink up at Nate. "Yeah, well, he said that he was the reason I am here in Hope Valley...I'm from another world and time, Nate. I'm afraid that Jude will tear me back away. There is no guarantee that I will stay here."

"I figured as much. If I'm being honest, Ny, you are the best thing that's happened to me."

Lily and Sol are the only people to have called me by that nickname. The sound of it on his lips gifts a smile to my own. A contented smile. Nathan continues, "Will you please consider allowing me to officially court you?"

Heat rushes across my cheeks. "What an interesting time and place to ask me that...once we find little Jack, I'll give you an answer." We both clear our throats, and I help him stand once again. "Do you want to help me search the mines?" Nathan nods, face pinched into a tight grimace.

So much is happening all at once. Some good, but mostly bad. The two of us hobble slowly, and I offer to take Nathan back home, but he refuses again. Crickets halt their chirping when our feet trod over certain patches of grass. Down a gravel path, we see the mine entrances up ahead. It has to be midnight, for my eyes are already beginning to droop. We all have been searching non-stop for hours. The only signs of this mine having been used at all in the last several years, are the shattered pickaxes littering the ground in odd crannies.

"I can go forward on my own from here. I don't need both massive clubs to move around anyway."

"They're called crutches." I tighten my fists on both hips.

His cheesy smile is priceless."The name alone makes a person feel helpless. So, no thank you."

"At least let me go in first. I don't want you to go too far into the mines," I say. Nathan is about to argue, but a light and a dark figure clatters out from the mineshaft, ripping a spooked squeal from my chest. Blue eyes focus sharply on the both of us, crow's feet wrinkled around them. It's Bill.

"There is no need to go in. I've already checked it out. Jack isn't in there." Bill's voice cracks, as if holding all the crumbling pieces together with tape. I hug the man, whether or not he expects it. I hold him closer with all my might. Bill is much like what my father was before dad became abusive to me. He never struck me, but he made it very clear that he did not love me. I suddenly remember all the times I found my colored pages ending up torn in the garbage. "We'll find him." I say that to comfort myself more than Bill Avery at the moment. His arms slowly curl around my waist, gently patting my back with his hand. A blood curdling scream startles me from his grip, and I cover my ears, picking up my lantern to head back into the mineshaft. "In here!"

"Ny, what are you doing?" Nate asks.

Bill nods, as if agreeing. "He's right. I said I just checked in there."

"But...the scream! Didn't you hear Little Jack scream?"

"No. What are you talking about?" Bill frowns at my behavior.

"You have to believe me! I heard it as clear as if he had been in in my arms. I need to find him!" I roam as quick as thunder down the shaft. I will not continue a conversation with them. There is no time to lose. For the second time this evening, I trip, scraping my arm against the tracks and gravel. I ignore the red trickle trailing it's way to my fist, and run faster into the tunnels, making note of where each turn is as to find my way back later. "Nyrah! Come back!" I hear Bill's shouts of concern behind me. I don't answer, but call Jack's name instead. "Little Jack, sweetie? Where are you?" Tears are staining my cheeks, as the coal dust begins to coat my lungs. Coughs and hacking chokes are heard moments later. The air is hard to breathe, but I can still feel a draft.

"Jack, honey! It's your best friend Nyrah. Where are you? Let's go find your mama!" I am met with silence as I make yet another turn. I am deep within the mines now, and Bill's and Nathan's cries are distant. A shadow curls in my peripheral vision, one which vanishes as I turn to vanquish it. I'm not alone. I cannot have been mistaken. That scream belonged to Jack. Sniffles and and hiccuping breaths echo close to my ear, but the lantern I'm holding cannot cut through the pitch black. The oil is running low. I don't have much time before it extinguishes. "Baby Jack?" My breaths are erratic from fear. Baby cries can be heard louder than before, and a freckled face I know well unshrouds itself. Jude Wesley stands erect, untainted by coal dust in the slightest. His shirt is ivory white, and in his arms, is Elizabeth's son. I step back slightly, uncertain if he is an illusion.

I go to snatch the little boy from Jude, but the man pulls away before I can lay a finger on him. "Wesley..." If I were a dragon, onyx smoke would be billowing from my ears and throat in great volume. "Give him to me. If you've hurt him in any way I'll-"

"Don't worry." Little Jack rubs his weary eyes, and cries, reaching out to me with his small arms.

"How could you do such a sick thing?!" Hot tears evaporate from contact with my skin. "Let the child go!"

Jude Wesley circles around me like a ravenous lion. "Only if you promise to give me your child in exchange. Think...Rumplestiltskin, in this instance."

"Why would I give you my first born child? No mother in their right mind would do such a thing."

"Well, I need an heir. And you cannot be the mother of my own child, so my niece or nephew will have to do. I don't want this life anymore."

Stomach acid rolls up into my esophagus, and I try to grab the little boy from him once again. "Wesley, I'm warning you! Please, don't do this." I fail for the second time, and I find myself holding the lantern tighter. The lantern has sharp corners. I could hit him with it. My only fear is starting a fire or getting lost in the dark, or possibly missing and hurting the child. Mines are unstable and dangerous things. I cannot let Little Jack get hurt. I hope that Bill finds us soon. Maybe I can stall Jude long enough. "You can't be implying that I'm your sister."

"That is exactly what I'm implying." Jude rubs his chin and readjusts the wailing child in his arms.

"That's impossible."

"I was set up for adoption of course. You and I share the same father." My heart is pumping blood too fast, and I am going to have a panic attack, but I slow my breathing to avoid it. It is remarkably difficult and almost impossible for me. "Gah! You're so stubborn!" Jude's eyes flash like firecrackers. "Is it so much to ask to have a normal life?"

I feel another presence nearby, and I sincerely hope it is friendly. If only we could get Jack from him, I could take this guy down in three seconds. Wesley continues, "I could write you out of the story you know. I could write it so that you would approve of this plan. I am almost desperate enough to do it. "

I am clueless as to what all of this means, but I am too distracted to pay attention to the nonsense as I see Nate with a gun clicking against the back of Jude's head. "Give him to her right now. You are under arrest."

"I don't answer to you." Jude replies disrespectfully. What happened to all of his gentleman-like charm?

Bill draws his own gun. "No? How about the both of us?" Jude concedes, and I cradle the startled little boy in my embrace, attempting my very best to comfort him. I waste no time and try to get Jack to safety. It isn't long before I hear grunts and groans laft behind. As if Jude is putting up a fight. I peek back, and Bill is tackled to the ground. Nathan is doubled over after Jude elbowed him where the wound on his stomach is. "No!" I shout. Unsure what to do, I scour the floor of the mine for any sort of weapon. The men are in such a tussle, that none of them see as I approach with a rock in one hand, and an infant in the other. The second they are standing again, and Jude's back is to me, I slam the rock against the back of his head.