CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"Lee, just allow a lot more room for turns and start to stop way before you think you need to. The horses do their best to stop, but they have to do it in a slow walk because the sleigh continues to glide a bit behind them."
"Nathan, I get the feeling this might be worse than driving my car!"
Nathan laughed, "Lee, I'm sure you're going to do just fine. You might want to take the new road to that largest clearing. I think it's the next to last one. You'll be able to tell. Then come back by the pond. It's majestic Lee, I think Rosemary will love it. Don't forget to look up through the trees. You two have fun!" Nathan turned and carefully helped an excited Rosemary into the sleigh to sit by her husband and then he placed the fur blanket over her.
Waving them off, he turned to go back to Elizabeth and the children who were still sitting in the warmth of the Cafe.
"Uncle Nathan, how long do you think Uncle Lee and Auntie Rosie will take?"
Nathan smiled that the new names came so quickly to Allie's tongue, just like that's what she had always called them.
"Allie, I think they should be back by 2 at the latest. Is the time important?"
"Well, Robert and his family are sitting over there by the fireplace, and I thought if we knew the time, we could spread the word to all the other kids from school!" she said expectantly.
Nathan glanced over and gave Robert's family a wave, "You and Robert tell them all to be here in front of the Cafe by 2:15, and we'll get started on the rides. Does that sound good? But Allie, make sure all the parents give their approval first, so they know what we're doing."
"I will, Uncle Nathan. It's going to be so much fun!" Allie called back to him as she ran to tell Robert her exciting news.
"Are you okay, Nathan?" asked Elizabeth gently as Nathan sat back down beside her, lightly kissing her cheek.
Bill had cleared the table and was in the kitchen finishing a new dessert he wanted them to try.
"I've never even heard Allie say the word Dad before. But that look on her face when Lee said to call them Uncle Lee and Auntie Rosie. Elizabeth, I've never seen her look so happy. Like she finally belonged. It means the world to me."
"Nathan, you are Allie's Father in every sense of the word. There's no denying that. Everyone at this table saw it and felt it too. You've done an extraordinary job parenting Allie!"
And that's when Little Jack could wait no longer for Nathan to take him!
"Nat'an, Mama me go to Nat'an!" reaching out his arms
"Hey, Big Guy, get over here!"
Elizabeth laughed and lifted Little Jack over to Nathan, where he snuggled in contentedly, as though he were now ready for dessert!
"I've noticed you've called him 'Big Guy' several times now. Is that a subtle chastisement of my 'Little Jack' nickname for him?" laughing as she asked.
"No, no, not at all. But we Guys do have to stick together, and truthfully at some point, he's going to be big enough to say 'Mama, the 'Little' part no longer applies!' But, until then, I think you're safe! At least a couple more years, right, Jack?"
"I love you, Nathan Alexander Grant," she spoke softly as her eyes bored into the depths of his soul.
"I love you, Elizabeth Rose Thornton! With all my heart, I love you." He returned her gaze with one that reached the depths of her soul.
"And I love you, too, Jack!" giving him a kiss on the top of his head. But Little Jack was already giggling from the tummy tickles Nathan was giving him.
Bill was standing behind them, clearing his throat to not so subtly let them know he was there. He set down their desserts in front of them and placed his hands on their shoulders.
"What is this, Bill?" Nathan asked.
"It's Sticky Toffee Pudding. I want to put it on the Christmas menu, but I need to make sure I've got it right first."
Nathan and Elizabeth fed each other a bite and both let out little moans.
"Here, Jack, Yummy!" and Nathan put a tiny spoonful in Jack's mouth.
"Bill, this is the very best I've had. Even better than Cook's at home. You have really upped your cooking game!" exclaimed Elizabeth.
"Whatever you're doing, keep it up. It's superb," Nathan added succinctly. "No changes needed!"
"Bill, I must say our meal last night was out of this world. Everything was perfect—definitely Five Star, and every bit as good as what Cook would have done. In fact, I think your Crepes with Cherries were even better than hers, and she's from France. So that is a very high compliment, indeed! You do know, you're going to have to make them for me at least once a week!"
Bill was beaming, "Glad you liked it, Elizabeth. You know I'd do anything for you two."
Then he grunted, "Hmph! If I'm going to continue to get uptown orders like Nathan's here, I'm going to have to seriously up my cooking game in order to just survive!"
Nathan and Elizabeth just laughed and smiled knowingly at each other.
"I don't know Bill, but a fancier dinner here and there might go over bigger than you think. You ought to consider it. Why wait to go to Buxton?"
"You've got a point, Nathan. At first, I thought Gustav was going to corner that market, but it doesn't seem that's happened yet. A lot of families still prefer the Cafe over the Saloon for their evening meal. I'll give it some thought. Actually, I've already done a little of that with the Christmas menus."
"Well, if the Sticky Toffee Pudding is on the menu, you're definitely on the right track, Bill," encouraged Elizabeth.
"More!" begged Little Jack, and Nathan obliged with another tiny spoonful.
"Hey, Nathan, I just thought. You do know you're off for another week, at least. Aaron and Gabe are doing a fine job, not as precise as you, but fine all the same. We miss you, but you need the time off. Why didn't Ned send that telegram to them? He does remember, doesn't he? I mean, I told him myself!"
"Bill, Mr. Helmsley had addressed it to me personally. Ned apologized, but he was sure it was meant for me. So, yes, he knows to go thru Aaron and Gabe." Nathan sounded a little wistful.
"Nathan, it'll all be there for you when you get back. But I am hoping we'll have everything finalized on our end with Packer Johnston and his gang before you do get back. The phone's been ringing off the hook with congratulations for you on your huge takedown! And I'm telling each and every one of them, it was all you!"
"Bill, you know that's not true. I couldn't have done it without you, to say nothing of all the other help we got from the extra Mounties and Lee, along with the townsmen he deputized," Nathan protested.
"Nathan, you captured Packer Johnston, himself, single-handedly. Even Aaron says you had it all done by the time he got there. And then you are the one who masterminded and executed the plan to capture his entire gang! Not me! And Nathan, you accomplished that without a single gunshot! I know. I was there! That's the stuff Mountie dreams are made of. So, you, my friend, had just better start getting used to it. Because this one goes down in the history book with your name on it!"
Nathan sat stone-faced, staring straight ahead.
Elizabeth was quietly watching Nathan, and she could tell Bill did not know Nathan wrote historical books, and that now his name was going to be on them in more ways than one! It was clear Nathan had not shared his writing with Bill at all.
"Bill, you were also with me just before that, when Jenny hijacked us! I caused a young Mountie to die."
"Nathan, we've been through all this. Elizabeth, could you excuse us a moment?"
"Of course, I'll check and see how Allie and Robert are doing. Shall I take Little Jack?"
"He's fine here, Elizabeth. He's already falling asleep."
Bill continued, "I want you to listen to me. I knew this was going to be a problem for you. So I recreated our positions and the path of the bullet for the top Forensics Team the Mounties have. Let's just say, I called in a favor. A big one! They looked at everything. I've even been back and forth on the phone with them at least six times over the last few days, answering their gazillion questions. Talk about an inquisition! And no, Gabe and Aaron don't know anything about it. You want to hear what the Forensics Team has to say?"
"Not sure I'm ready for that, Bill." Nathan's stomach was churning.
Bill put his hand in his back pocket and took out two pages, one drawn by him and one that was very official-looking.
"Well, you're more ready than you think. Their conclusion was that had you not moved the rifle that tiny bit, and it was a tiny bit Nathan - they said the blast kept you from kicking it out of Jenny's hand or moving it too far in either direction. Anyway, back to the Forensic Team's conclusion: If you hadn't moved the rifle, that young Mountie would have still been in the trajectory of the bullet and, without a doubt, still would have been killed. But there's another piece to it, one we haven't really analyzed that much, but the Forensics Team did. They said had you not moved the rifle as you did, the bullet would have most likely hit me as well as the young Mountie, and we'd both have been killed. They said even if I had only been hit by the exploding shrapnel, that even that would have most likely killed me, too, since the blast was at such a close range."
Nathan couldn't move or speak. He just sat there, holding Little Jack with his face of stone. Even in this, Nathan was so thankful Little Jack was soundly sleeping. No little boy should ever have to hear such a horrid discussion as this one.
Finally, Nathan garnered enough strength to ask the last remaining question, "Bill, what if I had moved the rifle further over in the direction I was aiming for?" Nathan's eyes were haunted. He had to know everything.
"The Forensics Team said that would have been impossible, given the timing of the blast. But they said if you magically had been able to do so, you and Aaron would have been the ones most likely killed by the bullet and the exploding shrapnel."
"So, there was no way for all of us to have gotten out of it alive."
"No, Nathan, there was not. And that's all on Elias and Jenny O'Rourke. Now sadly, mostly Jenny, since she actually shot the rifle. However, I do think Elias will be named as an accessory, since he was the reason she was there, along with the fact that he encouraged her!"
Bill lowered his voice, "Nathan, I'm able to tell you all this today, because of you," and Bill emphasized the 'you.' "You saved my life. And I will be forever grateful. How you properly thank someone for doing that, I'll never know. But believe me, it won't be forgotten. Nathan, when that young Mountie pulled his rifle, he sealed his fate right then and there, and he put every last one of us at risk. You didn't do that Nathan, instead of killing him, which we now know was all Jenny, what you did, that very heroic action of tackling that rifle head-on, saved my life."
Nathan was searching the official paper which verified every single thing Bill was saying.
Still holding Little Jack, Nathan looked straight at Bill, "This proves I didn't kill him, Bill. I didn't cause him to die."
"No, Nathan, you did not. But you did save my life!"
The two men came together in a genuine embrace with Little Jack sleeping soundly between them. Bill could finally see the weight of the heavy burden Nathan had been carrying start to lift from his body. And Bill did a very odd thing.
He started laughing and was finally able to pull himself together to say, "You're back, Nathan! You're really back. Thank God!"
And with this gift of the truth, Bill had given him, Nathan knew he could really be himself again. For Elizabeth, for Allie and Little Jack.
But Bill was still laughing, and Nathan was beginning to get concerned about him.
"Now, Nathan, this next part you're not going to like very much, but I might as well go on and tell you now. The Forensics Report will be used at Jenny's trial, Elias's too, of course, and a copy will be placed in Constable Crawford's file, but I was able to get it sealed, so the Crawford Family will never know."
"That's as it should be, Bill. Why would I not like that?"
"Because a copy is in your file, too? And it looks like you'll be receiving a medal of some sort?" Bill was studying Nathan's face carefully. "In addition to the one Commissioner Blake is giving you, of course. Surprised? Harold and I go way back. Now, I had nothing to do with that one at all. So, don't shoot the messenger!"
When Bill realized what he had said, he started laughing again!
"Yes, but you definitely have something to do with the other one! Bill, I don't want medals. I just want to do my job."
"Well then, stop doing it, so dag gone well!"
"Bill, do you sit up at night thinking up your one-liners, or do they just sort of fall into your mouth?"
"Careful now! I am the Judge!"
"Oh, that you are, Sir! Judge Avery, thanks for the comprehensive Forensics Report. I am indebted to you for that. And thanks for being a true partner and real friend. And as of today, officially family! We'll talk about that other thing, your medal brainstorm, when I get back to work!"
Nathan gave Bill an ominous look, but Bill was still too busy laughing to notice.
Somehow, they both knew, their partnership, and friendship had just been elevated to a whole new level.