Hi all, this chapter is a little slow, so please bear with me. All the characters belong to the writers and the creators of this show except for some in this chapter that do not exist on the show. Enjoy and thank you for all the love you have shown my writing. I am no professional, just relying on my imagination.

"Are you all packed?" Rosemary asked Abigail excitedly and Abigail smiled and nodded. She and Abigail were standing outside her café, the coach waiting for her.

"I am…thank you so much for the help yesterday, Rosemary." Abigail said and hugged Rosemary. Rosemary helped Abigail in the café as Abigail was running behind on her packing for her trip to Hamilton. She put all her thoughts and anxiety for this trip in a small box in her head and decided not to revisit them at all. Although, she knew she was heading for that box, she was positive that she would take it well.

"Hi Abigail!" Elizabeth said brightly as she walked towards the two ladies.

"Hi Elizabeth" Abigail answered.

"Rosie!" Lee called for Rosemary from far and motioned her to go to him.

"Coming sweetie!" she said and looked at Abigail. "Abigail, Lee needs me. I have to go." She said apologetically and Abigail nodded understandingly. "Bye dear and have a safe trip. Do take care of yourself!" She said brightly and gave a quick hug to Abigail before running over to Cody who was surrounded by all the children of Hope Valley, all talking in excited tones. "Cody…" She called out and Cody half ran to her. She leaned down until she was level with him. "I want you to take good care of your mum, alright?" she said sweetly and Cody nodded with a smile. "All the best sweetheart!" she said as she hugged him too. "We are all so proud of you!" she said and broke the hug.

"Thank you Mrs. Coulture. See you soon!" he said with a smile. Rosemary waved at him briefly before rushing towards Lee.

"Are you all set?" Elizabeth asked as she looked from Rosemary to Abigail.

"Yes, I am." Abigail said as she breathed out loud.

"You seem nervous." She said to Abigail.

"I am nervous." Abigail admitted.

"Are you ready for this?" Elizabeth asked, looking Abigail in her eyes.

"I would like to think I am. I have had plenty of time to think this through and I want to do this for Cody. He needs me there." Abigail replied firmly and Elizabeth nodded in agreement. Cody ran over to where they are. Abigail scanned the street for Bill and saw him standing by the saloon. "I'll be right back." Abigail said and Elizabeth nodded as she walked to the other ladies.

"Hi." Abigail called to Bill as she approached him.

"Hi!" Bill responded as he walked a couple of steps to approach her.

"Will it be alright if I left you in charge for two weeks?" She asked him.

"Sure. Don't worry about it." He said nonchalantly as he shrugged.

"Also…" she said as she tried to search the words. "About what you said the other evening…" she started.

"It's alright. We can talk about it when you get back from Hamilton. I have a feeling you will be sure of your decision once you get back." He said meaningfully.

"Thanks." She said and walked towards the coach while Bill watched her with longing in his eyes.

"Bye Elizabeth." Abigail called and hugged her.

"Goodbye Abigail." She replied and hugged her back. Both Abigail and Cody hopped into the coach and before they knew it, they were on their way.

"Mum…" Cody called as he moved an inch closer to Abigail.

"Yes honey." Abigail replied with a smile.

"Are you OK?" He asked innocently.

"Yes Cody. I am perfectly fine. Why do you ask?" She asked curiously.

"You seem a little worried." He said, concerned.

"I am very much fine, sweetheart." She said as she put her arm around him. "Your mum is fine. I just want you to focus on the training and working hard so that you can make a wonderful future for yourself." She said soothingly.

The journey to Hamilton was tiring both mentally and physically for Abigail. They had finally reached Hamilton. Cody jumped out of the coach first with Abigail muttering a "Careful Cody" from behind him as she gently got down. Hamilton was a lot busier than Hope Valley, noted Cody with awe. Abigail held Cody's hand as she looked around to find her motel. She spotted it and lifted her bag with the other hand as she crossed the road to the motel with Cody.

"Good afternoon Ma'am." The motel owner called to her as she walked in.

"Good afternoon. I am Abigail Stanton. I had called to book a room in your motel." She said. The motel owner looked through his records.

"Ah yes, Mrs. Abigail Stanton and Cody Stanton?" he asked with a smile.

"That's correct." Abigail replied.

"Here's your room key. I will have someone bring over your bag to you." The motel owner said as he handed her the keys. They both made their way to their room and on entering the room, thought it was decent. They settled down fast as Cody had to go to college for orientation the next day.

THE NEXT DAY AT THE COLLEGE.

"Wow! This is amazing mum!" Cody exclaimed as he entered the college, with Abigail walking next to him.

"It is quite impressive!" Abigail said as she looked around, trying to keep up with an excited Cody. She was met by a smart man in a grey suit in the corridor.

"Hello there!" he said and forced and Cody to stop in their tracks.

"Hi." Abigail said confidently.

"I am Tobias Langley, the vice principal of this college. I have not seen you around and I believe I do not recognize this young man either." He said with a husky voice. His smile was charming.

"I'm sorry. I am Abigail Stanton. Cody Stanton is my son. We are from…" Abigail started explaining.

"Hope Valley." He interrupted. He held out his hand. "It's a pleasure, madam mayor." He said respectfully.

"You can call me Abigail." She said and shook his hand.

"Abigail…" He acknowledged and looked over at Cody. He leaned down to his eye level. "And you must be Cody Stanton…" he said and held out his hand to him, which Cody shook happily. He leaned back up and looked at Abigail. "We can talk in our office." He said and motioned with his hand for them to follow him.

Tobias's office was what seemed like a proper scholar's office with books on shelves and papers neatly stacked on his desk. On the side was a table with what seemed like a telescope. Cody was amazed by it. The walls were adorned by numerous framed certificates of achievement for both his person and the college. His desk was neat. An hourglass was placed on the side as well as a table clock and a pendulum. On the other side, placed in a crescent shape, were what Abigail thought were photo frames, three of them. Should be of his wife and children, Abigail presumed.

"I must say I was impressed by Cody's article!" he said enthusiastically as he went down to sit on his chair and requesting Abigail and Cody to sit on the opposite chairs. "Ms. Thatcher is a highly accomplished teacher and is well known on these sides. So when we heard from her recommending Cody for our two weeks' young scientists' training course, we knew we had to have a look at your work. Your article is challenging some of the greatest physicist's theory on the creation of magnetic fields from electricity and we are thrilled that such a young mind is able to process all this information in his head. Do they teach you this in school? I do not think such a mature topic can be in your curriculum." Tobias said.

"Well, Mrs. Thornton taught us about electricity in school and I had a lot of questions in my mind. So she got me lots of books on that. That is where I learnt about magnetic fields and Mr. Hans Christian Ørsted who accidentally discovered that." Cody explained.

"Mrs. Thornton?" Tobias asked.

"Ms. Thatcher took up her husband's name after marriage." Abigail explained.

"I see." Tobias responded. "We are very happy to have you here Cody. We hope you enjoy this experience and that you will take away a lot from these two weeks." He said and smiled at Abigail and Cody. "We will have you introduced to a few teachers and your fellow trainees by our lecturer, Mrs. Washington and she will show you around too. Training will begin from tomorrow at 8.00 am and will end at 3.00pm. You will then have an hour to talk to our college students and interact with them until 4.00pm. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. Mrs. Washington will be your supervisor and you can also speak to her if you have any issues. Please follow me." He said and got up from his chair, with Abigail and Cody following him out of his office.

"Ms. Smith, please show Cody here and MS. Abigail Stanton to Mrs. Washington's office. She is expecting them." He said and smiled at Abigail. Ms. Smith, a petite lady in her forties, seemed very enthusiastic.

"Of course, Sir." She said and motioned them to follow her. Cody and Ms. Smith started walking away, only to stop a few meters away, waiting for Abigail as they chatted away.

"Mr. Langley…" Abigail started. "Is there anything that I need to get for Cody? Any books or papers, for his training?" She asked.

"No, we have a fully stocked library. He will get all his materials from there." He replied.

"OK. I would like to thank you for this opportunity that you have given Cody. I am sure he will learn a lot from this." Abigail said.

"The pleasure is ours ma'am." He said and Abigail smiled.

"I will be off then." Abigail said.

"One more thing…" he said and that caught Abigail's attention. "As part of our due diligence, we do a thorough background check on all our incoming trainees and students. I just want to say, on an informal note, I do respect all your achievements. I find it rather impressive when a lady assumes leadership. It is very different from the way a man would think. They lack a personal touch." He said, much to Abigail's great surprise. All she could mutter was a "Thank you", with a tinge of suspicion. "I would love to hear all about that, if that's alright with you." He finally stated, putting his hands in his trouser pockets. Abigail's mouth was slightly opened as she furrowed her eyebrows at him. That amused him. She finally closed her mouth, struggling to find the words. "IF you are willing to do so, that is." He clarified more, trying to make her more comfortable.

"I…I will see you when you see me." She fumbled and that made Tobias smile. He knew she was not comfortable yet. He had to speak to her. Beneath what seemed like a solid exterior, he found her rather endearing.

Abigail accompanied Cody and Ms. Smith to a tour of the college. She was impressed by the facilities available and understood why this was one of the best colleges. She had never seen Cody this excited. She was happy that he was happy. Her heart swelled with pride when she saw Cody's name written on his assigned desk in the laboratory.

After an hour, Cody and Abigail were on the streets of Hamilton, looking through the big shop windows. Abigail took in the crowd and wondered how different this was to Hope Valley. While she was amazed by the modernity of Hamilton, she could not help but miss the tranquility of Hope Valley. She was deep in thoughts when she heard a very familiar voice calling out to her: Madam Mayor. She stopped dead in her tracks, swallowing hard. She knew that voice and something inside of her gave way to a Pandora box of emotions. A thousand memories flashed inside her head. She gripped her bag, like her dear life depended on it. Cody had not heard that and was looking into a shop window. She turned around slowly, knowing fully who it was. Henry.

"Henry." She whispered, her lips quivering as he smiled at her ever so slightly. Oh that smile, Abigail groaned. Why did he still have the ability to make her feel weak? His eyes depicted a lot of emotions as he approached her slowly, until he was a step away from her.

"You look...just so…great." He said huskily. He wanted to tell her she looked beautiful, but refrained from it, thinking it to be inappropriate.

Seeing his face that close to her again, her heart was pounding, a little more than usual.