(No One's POV)

Beth's first day of school was nerve-wrecking and exciting at the same time. She ended up talking to Cody before school, but decided to sit with some girls her age near the front when class started.

"Alright everyone, welcome back to school. My name is Ms. Fessler and I'll be your teacher this year. Now I know you've had a lot of different teachers over the past few years, but I plan on putting down roots here in Coal Valley, so I'm here to stay."

"Yeah, that's what they all say," Robert rolled his eyes, while the younger kids giggled. Cody hushed him and Ms. Fessler chimed in.

"Robert, was it?" I know it's hard to believe, because trust is a hard thing to have in people. But I'm going to prove my trust in you. Just like you need to prove that you trust me, do you understand?"

"Yes, Ms. Fessler."

"Good. Then it's settled. Alright, we're going to split up to work on reading, then we'll come together for math."

Beth raised her hand, her daddy taught her to always raise her hand to talk to a teacher. Elizabeth would be so proud of Beth's good manners.

"Ms. Fessler? I don't have a book."

"Well that's quite alright Beth, because we're just going to share with everyone. Here," Francine handed Beth a book off of her desk. "You'll share with Natalie."

The two began reading together, when they came across a page about the main character's mother.

"I didn't think you had a mom," Natalie mentioned. She wasn't trying to be mean, kids at that age were just curious about the world.

"I don't. My daddy says that my mommy had to go to heaven so that way he could find me."

"Oh, that's weird." Natalie scrunched up her face."

"I know, but that's okay. Because I love my daddy and I love Wheatley. That's our dog. Daddy found him too, after Rip died. He was our dog when I was a baby, then he got old and went to see my mommy in heaven too."

"What's heaven like?"

"I don't know. But I know that my mommy and Rip are playing together. I just wish I could see them."

"Are they ghosts?" Natalie exclaimed. They were clearly off track at this point, but it was the first day, so Francine was lenient about things for the time-being.

"Kind of. I can't see them, but I know they're always there.


(Abigail's POV)

The breakfast rush seemed to be never ending today. With the whole town sending Beth off to school, it felt like everyone came to the cafe afterwards for breakfast. I wasn't complaining, it was bringing in money for my family, but it was just a lot to handle at once.

Once the crowd seemed to die down, Jack came in and looked worried, which then made me worried.

"Jack, what's wrong?" I wiped my hands on my apron, so I wouldn't get flour everywhere as I rushed over to him.

"I need to ask a favor of you."

"Well of course, how can I help you?" We made our way to the parlor and I took a seat on the couch.

"I received this in the mail from Mounty Headquarters today," Jack handed me an envelope, and as I began to read the letter inside, he explained. "I must go help secure the Western territories with other mounties. I have to be there in a week. It's not a safe job, but not a dangerous one either."

"Oh Jack, is there anyway you could convince them to let you stay here?"

"I'm not going to bother. As I explained to Bill, Headquarters has let me take a step back for long enough and they need all of the hardworking mounties over there they can get." Jack sat back in his chair and massaged his temple for a moment. "But that's where you come in. I need you to watch Beth while I'm gone. I'd ask Rosemary, but we both know that she & Lee already have their hands full at the moment."

"Jack, I'd be more than happy to watch her. But you know I'm going to worry about you the entire time you're gone. When do you think you'll be back?"

"I don't know. Until the job is done, however long that takes." Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out another envelope. "I've been meaning to give this to you for a while now. If anything happens to me, on this trip or ever, I need you to please give this to Beth. I wrote this right around the time I adopted her."

I took the letter from him, on the verge of tears. I couldn't imagine losing Jack too. What was even harder was imagining Beth losing her father. "Jack, please stay safe. Now that Elizabeth's gone, you're one of my closest friends."

"I can say the same about you. I'll try my best, but once I'm out there I'll just have to do what Mounties do best. Stay strong and get the job done."