Bill visits Henry in prison before the trial.

'You might be glad to hear that they have dropped the attempted murder and bribery charges against you,' he says, putting civilities aside. He could ask Henry how is he doing but he is fairly sure he knows the answer to that. 'But you are still looking at ten years for stealing town funds.'

There. No need to sugarcoat it.

A grimace flashes across Henry's face but it is gone in a blink of an eye. 'Thank you for reminding me.'

'I am going to testify for the defense, but I guess you already know that.'

Henry nods.

'Good.' Bill fidgets in his seat. 'Abigail is going to testify for the prosecution.' He wonders why he feels so uncomfortable stating it.

'So I have been told.' Henry looks oddly calm. 'It's alright.'

'Alright or not, it is how it is going to be,' Bill snaps. Henry's unshakeable patience is annoying him. He suspects that the man is plotting something, he can't imagine Gowen would walk into prison without pulling one of his tricks. Why on Earth would he be so calm about it? His patience is suspicious - but everything about Henry Gowen is suspicious, if you ask Bill Avery.

Eventually Henry breaks the silence that had settled on them. 'Would you tell me about what happened in Hope Valley? Since… you know, since I left. Please.'

Bill is quite taken aback by the request but he can't think of a reason why shouldn't he grant it. He can't decide what does Henry want to hear, so he talks about the people who are the closest to him: 'Jack came back from the Northern territories, safe and sound. He is planning his wedding with Elizabeth. It will take place in late May or early June, so when school is over, they can leave for their honeymoon.' This reminds him of another recent event. 'But first, they will need to find a pastor to wed them since Frank has left us.'

'What happened?' Henry asks and for the first time that day he looks genuinely interested.

'Long story short: he was doing some volunteer work at the children's hospital, here, in Cape Fullerton, in exchange for board and residence, until he was offered to work with them full-time. He came back Hope Valley to say his goodbyes, then left the town.'

'How is Abigail taking it?'

'As best as she can. They parted as friends.' Bill frowns. He can't decipher why would Henry be so annoyingly calm about his own fate, yet so deeply interested in the life of Hope Valley. Bill smells a lie in the air. 'Why do you care so much about Abigail?'

'Why do you? Why does anybody do anything?'

'I can see that prison has put you in a philosophical state. You might as well get accustomed to it. This judge is known as the "hanging judge".'

'Lots of judges have that reputation.'

'Well, this one lives up to it.' Henry wanted to hear stories? Well, he can have this one: 'I heard this judge had a son who'd get in trouble. Nothing big. At sixteen, he took the neighbor's horse for a joy ride. The neighbors were upset, but they didn't want to press charges. It didn't matter to this judge. He took his kid, locked him in a room, and called the sheriff, to have him come and arrest him. The kid escaped and ran away. They haven't heard from him or seen him since.' Bill pauses before striking a final blow: 'If the judge would do that to his own son, he's not going to show you any mercy. He imposes the maximum sentence in every case.'

'Ten years.'

'I should leave.' This visit might not have been such a good idea, after all.

'Thank you for visiting me,' Henry says, and his voice sounds sincere.

'See you in court,' Bill nods, relenting a little. He is about to leave when Henry calls after him:

'Bill. Would you a pass a message to Abigail?'

'I am not sure…'

'Please. I just want her to know that I am ready.' In fact, he has been ready for a long time now. 'She will understand.'

Blessed is the one who endures trials, Abigail thinks in the courtroom.

She does not want to be here. The trial of the mining company was enough for a lifetime, yet now she finds herself in a very familiar situation. She is fighting Henry Gowen - again. However, this time everything is different because Abigail does not want to fight. She wants to help Henry, and Henry… Henry has accepted that he needs her help. He is ready, Bill told her and Abigail understood the message. Or she thinks so. She believes that Henry is ready to start again. Do better.

I shouldn't be here, she thinks bitterly.

Georgia Pardell, the prosecutor steps forward. 'As the new Mayor of Hope Valley, what would you say about your predecessor's job performance?'

Alright, it is an easy one, Abigail has already thought about it during the journey to Cape Fullerton. 'I have learned firsthand that it's not easy being a mayor of a frontier town. You have to oversee both the town council and law enforcement. People look to you for answers, and everyone has different priorities. Henry Gowen projected leadership and made tough calls, and, as a result, he brought jobs to Hope Valley and our town prospered. But he wronged his constituents when he stole from the town. He cheated the community that he was part of. However, I think he realised his mistake, and he is ready to earn the forgiveness of the community had he get the chance.'

'What makes you think that?'

I saw him fall to the ground, and I held his hand while he was begging for my forgiveness, she wants to say but it would be too… personal. Sensitive topic. When Henry was just lying there, unconscious and covered in blood, that was hard. Then he spent a good time lying at the infirmary, unconscious and pale as death, and that was almost harder. Abigail winces at the memory, but she keeps the details to herself when she answers the question:

'He took a bullet for Bill Avery without a second thought when Ray Wyatt tried to kill him. He almost died.'

'But he didn't, and the first time he had the chance, surely granted by the lenient treatment he received from you, he tried to escape.'

Abigail angrily glares at Bill because nobody else could have given Georgia Pardell this piece of information. 'Lenient treatment? As soon as he recovered from his near-death experience, Henry was working on his community service, and he was always under surveillance.'

'Yet he left the town.'

'Because he was looking for a lost little girl!' Abigail feels frustrated. She doesn't want to be tricked into saying something about Henry that isn't true. 'So were almost all the adults of Hope Valley! He joined the search even though he knew his action could be misinterpreted later - and really, now you are trying to frame him for something he didn't do. Henry Gowen stole from Hope Valley, yes, but he did not try to escape his punishment.'

'Mr Gowen basically bankrolled your cafe, didn't he?'

'I guess you could say that...' Before she could go on, there is another blow:

'Did he buy you when he reassumed his position as mayor after AJ Foster disappeared?'

'He certainly did not.' Abigail frowns. She wonders where will all these questions lead.

'Had you found traces indicating that Mr Gowen had mishandled public funds, surely he would have offered you a nice sum to keep that information to yourself, I assume.'

'He did not do such thing.' By this point Abigail is seeing red but she won't give Pardell the pleasure of showing her indignation. That woman wants to pick a fight with her? All right, Abigail Stanton can fight if that is what they wish for. 'If you think that accusing me of corruption will take you anywhere, then you are wrong.'

The judge intervenes: 'Change your line of questioning, Ms. Pardell, or sit down.'

'No further questions.'

Abigail can see that Ms. Pardell is not pleased with her testimony. Good. However, she can't relax, not yet, she still has to go through the questions of defense.

Now it is Archie Reed's (the defense attorney) turn: 'I have learned that during the incident when Henry Gowen joined the searching party, he saved you.'

Did Bill tell these lawyers everything? Abigail huffs a little before answering: 'Yes, I sprained my ankle and the only reason I didn't get stuck in the snow for who-knows-how-long is that Henry found me and took me back to Hope Valley.'

'You feel beholden to him, don't you?'

'We help each other. That's how a community works.'

Noah and Peter were part of that community once. So was Frank until he chose to leave. What if Henry has to leave, too? Not by choice, not by accident but by the judge's decision. Well, Abigail might be a witness for prosecution, but she won't let it happen. At least not without a fight.

She turns to the judge because he is the real one to be convinced of Henry's guilt or innocence. Everyone else is just a pawn in this game, even Henry. 'Your Honor, if you are going to judge the man, judge the whole man. The man who took a bullet for Bill Avery. The man who went searching for a little girl, risking a harsh sentence. The man who helped me when I was in pain and alone. The man who risked his life for the community that he previously wronged. I know you will decide his guilt or innocence but I would ask you to remember that it's not wrong to give someone a second chance or to believe in the power of redemption. What's the alternative, Your Honor? We may lose the person we love and never see them again.'

She means every word, although she did not intend to become so emotional. Maybe she just can't bear the thought of injustice. Henry is part of her community, and she does not want to lose him, not this way. Not because she testified against him. For Abigail, it is not a fight for or against Henry, not anymore. It is always a fight for the truth.

And for Hope Valley.