Though he would not be involved in the actual robbery of the Royal Brookfield, Walter still sat around the table with the other three as Charlie walked them through the plan one last time. It wasn't that he longed to part of the 'action' as Edgar referred to it. He didn't. In fact, he wished none of this had to take place. As it had to, well, he was quite content to do his part of keeping an eye on the local law so they did not cause any issues. The less complications there were the less likely anyone would get hurt.

That included his brother, Charlie. If the other three could get into a town, get the money and valuables from a number of people, and leave quickly then there was less chance of any of them getting hurt. Not that he worried too much about Randy or Edgar. He did not wish any harm to them but the only one he really cared about was Charlie.

A groan from the direction of the bed caught all of their attention. The Mountie, who had appeared to be asleep when they started this meeting, was stirring. He was still bound, gagged and blindfolded and thus his movements were limited. However, Walter noticed the increased breathing rate of the man as the Mountie became aware of his situation once again.

"Careful there, Constable," Charlie said casually, his eyes still focused on the map. "The rope is still around your neck."

With the warning given, Charlie went back to reviewing their plan, careful to point at the map rather than give directions or name locations. There was no reason to give the Mountie information that might help them be located.

"Any questions?" Charlie asked, looking around the table.

As usual, there were none. Chairs were pushed back and things were made ready for departure. Walter got his gear together as well. When Edgar came back for him, Walter wanted to simply be able to grab his pack and head to his waiting horse.

Within an hour, Charlie, Edgar and Randy were on their way back to Brookfield. As far as they were concerned, all Walter had to do at this point was simply wait for Edgar to come tell him the mission was complete. Looking toward the bed, Walter knew he could not do that. Though he knew he could not do anything that might result in the Mountie escaping prematurely, Walter did do what he could to make the bound law officers a bit more comfortable in their predicament. His conscience would not allow him to not at least try.

Tying his bandanna around the lower half of his face, Charlie having drilled into him the importance of concealing his identity as much as possible, Walter headed toward the bed. The Mountie, who had been discreetly struggling to free his hands, went still. He may not be able to see, but the Mountie was staying aware of his surroundings as much as he could with his hearing.

"Constable, I am going to remove the blindfold and the rope around your neck," Walter stated before reaching down for the bindings.

Walter undid the blindfold first. The Mountie blinked as his eyes tried to adjust to the light again. While that process was taken place, he loosened the slip knot, and slipped the rope from around the man's head, tossing it toward the back of the wall. Charlie might like the idea of the rope forcing submission, but Walter knew he could not in good conscience leave someone tied in such a position. He did however not loosen the rope holding the ankles and wrists together. That was too much of a risk.

For now, he left the Mountie gagged as he left the bedside. Walter could feel the man's eyes on him as he moved about the cabin. He opened one of the remaining cans of beans and went about warming them up. He had eaten breakfast with the others, but there was no telling when the Mountie's next meal would come. Perhaps he would be rescued later that day if someone happened along the cabin or it could be several days from now. Walter wanted to give the man the best chance of survival. That meant giving the man a last meal and some water while the others carried out the mission, even if that last meal required Walter to spoon feed his captive. On a couple occasions, the captive had refused food and water from him but at least Walter had left them knowing he had tried.

After beginning the process of warming up the beans, Walter poured some water in one of the cups left at the cabin. He then returned to the bedside, grabbing a chair on his way by. He placed the chair at the bedside and sat down, placing the cup of water on the floor.

"I am sure you are thirsty, Constable," Walter said, addressing the bound Mountie. There was a mixture of confusion, defiance, and fear in the man's eyes. A look that Walter had seen in most of their captives' eyes. "I can't untie you, but I am willing to undo the gag and give you some water, provided you don't start yelling for help. I cannot have you attracting attention right now. If you start yelling, I will apply the gag again."

Though the man held, his gaze there was no other acknowledgment to the words. Walter reached out, and undid the square not at the back of the man's head. As soon as the cloth holding the rag in the Mountie's mouth was removed the Mountie pushed the rag out of his mouth with his tongue. Still, the man remained quiet.

Reaching down for the cup, Walter picked it up. He then reached out to help hold the man's head up a little so he could hold the cup to his lips. The man tensed at his touch but didn't start fighting or yelling. Walter gave the man several sips of the water, before placing the cup back on his floor and getting to his feet. He would go check on the beans. He had a few hours before Edgar made his way back for him. Walter would not even entertain the thought that the man would not come because that would mean that their plan had not gone as planned. That was an option that Walter did not want to think about because he did not know what he would do if something happened to Charlie.

Lillian was the first person up in the house on the edge of Brookfield. Despite having chamomile tea with Eleanor as well as a relaxing chat, she had still not slept well. She was awake several times during the night. Each time she had used a candle to make a walk through the house, checking on the three children and that everything was as it should be. At six-thirty she had not even entertained the idea of going back to sleep.

Instead, she had made her way down to the kitchen and started breakfast preparations. Eleanor would probably protest when she got up, but Lillian did not mind. The woman did more than just cook for them all, and Lillian did not mind helping her out a bit. When Eleanor woke up, she could help finish up breakfast.

Knowing that bread needed to be baked today, Lillian started with mixing up dough for several loafs, to get that process started. She then started mixing up batter for cinnamon, raisin muffins. As she stirred the batter for the muffins, she decided that she would make French Toast for breakfast. It was one Vincent's favorite breakfast food, and it was not often that it was made. It was out of question on school days and Eleanor did not particularly care to make it.

Lillian had put her muffins in the oven, by the time Eleanor joined her in the kitchen.

"You are up early," Eleanor commented, reaching for her apron.

"I had trouble sleeping," Lillian admitted. "I was thinking I may take a walk into town after breakfast. Will you and Grace be okay here?"

"Of course we will," Eleanor told her. "You do what you need to do to ease your mind," she instructed as she tied the apron strings around her waist. "Perhaps extend an invitation to Gabriel for dinner tonight."

Lillian smiled. She had not said she was going into town to see Gabriel but Eleanor knew. "I will."

"What have you got started for breakfast?" Eleanor asked, ready to jump into work.

"I have cinnamon raisin muffins in the oven that need to be checked in a few minutes and I was going to make French Toast."

"Vincent will be happy," Eleanor commented. "I will check the muffins and then go see what we have in the way of canned fruit," she said as hurried footsteps came down the steps.

"Good morning,' Mary Louise called without coming into the kitchen. "I am going to bundle up and then go milk Virginia."

"Good morning," Eleanor and Lillian both called back.

It was not long before the girl was coming back into the kitchen. Mary Louise had her coat on, but unbuttoned, her scarf dangling from her shoulders and was pulling her hat onto her head.

"Could we make buttermilk today, Ms. Eleanor?" Mary Louise asked. She paused a few steps into the kitchen to button up her coat.

"As Miss Lillian was up early and found time to help me out, I think I can find the time to help you make butter milk," Eleanor told the girl.

"Yes!" Mary Louise said excitedly. Remembering her manners she amended the reply. "Thank you, Miss Eleanor."

"You are welcome," Eleanor told her as she moved to the stove to check on the muffins.

Gabriel swallowed the spoonful of beans. He didn't like the idea of being fed by someone hol

ding him captive but he knew that refusing the food and water would only be detrimental to himself. He did not know how long he would be trapped here and it was clear to him that they intended to leave him tied up in the cabin alone as soon as they were done with whatever robbery they were pulling off. Having made up his mind to do whatever he could to survive this ordeal, Gabriel accepted the offered food and water without protest.

As he did though, he found himself contemplating his young captor. Though he had not gotten a good look at any of them, Gabriel could tell that Walter was younger than any of the others. He also did not seem as hardened by life as the others. The fact that as soon as they were alone, Walter had removed the rope from around his neck, told him that Walter was more hesitant than the others about what was taken place. Charlie might not necessarily want him dead, but the man was going to do what was needed to make sure his captive did not cause problems. Walter seemed to care a bit about his well being, despite not speaking up against the others. Charlie had also said that he had taught Walter to tie knots. That told him two things - Walter had been the one to initially tie him up and that Charlie felt some kind of responsibility over Walter. What the relationship was, Gabriel was not sure.

"How old are you?" Gabriel finally asked Walter in between spoonfuls of beans. He was not sure if he could gain anything by trying to get Walter talking but Gabriel decided to ask a few questions and see what happened. He figured the most the young man would be capable of doing to him was to gag him again.

"What does it matter?" Walter countered, holding another spoonful of beans out to him.

Gabriel ate the beans before answering. "You seem kind of young to be keeping company with a group of criminals."

"Charlie is my brother," Walter admitted. "He is the only family I have."

"How old are you?" Gabriel tried again.

"Sixteen," Walter told him, scraping the last of the beans out of the bowl and feeding it to Gabriel. The young man then got to his feet and headed toward the kitchen area of the one room cabin.

Despite the fact that technically Walter was one of his captors, Gabriel's heart went on to the young man. He said his brother was the only family he had, which meant that he had lost his parents. Though he did not know when that had happened, Gabriel felt he understood how Walter had gotten mixed up in this life style. It was not unreasonable to assume that Charlie had fell into a life of crime in an attempt to support not only himself but a younger brother after his parents' death. It made sense that Walter would want to help instead of feeling like he was just a burden to his brother. Leaving him behind during the actual robbery's was probably a misguided attempt on Charlie's part to protect his little brother from getting hurt. But what happened to Walter if things went wrong and Charlie was arrested, hurt, or even killed. Gabriel had his doubts as to whether the other two men would come back for the kid if Charlie was no longer in the picture.

Walter came back. He retrieved the cup from the floor and held it to Gabriel's lips. Gabriel took a sip of water.

"You don't have to do this, Walter," Gabriel tried as the young man walked away again. "From what I gather, you are not involved in the actual robberies, even if you are an accessory to kidnaping. If you start cooperating, I can help you out. Ask the judge for leniency and when you are old enough to be on your own, you can start over."

"And Charlie?"

"He would serve jail time," Gabriel admitted. "But if this keeps up he could end up getting shot while pulling off a robbery. Wouldn't jail be better than having him in the grave?"

Walter had placed the cup on the table. He stood with his back to Gabriel.

"I cannot betray, Charlie," Walter said in a wavering voice. "He has looked after me for the last nine years, ever since my mother was killed by an errant shot by a Mountie."

Gabriel's breath caught. This situation had definitely just taken an unexpected turn.

"What happened?" Gabriel asked, hoping that bringing up that particular memory did not cause further trouble for himself.

Walter turned toward him. Gabriel could see tears glistening in the young man's eyes. "What would you care?" he asked bitterly.

"I can sense your hesitancy, Walter," Gabriel said, hoping the use of the young man's name would help form a connection. "This is not the kind of life you want."

"Perhaps not," Walter admitted. "But it is how life turned out. My dad was a drunk and ended up drowning in a creek he had stumbled into on his way home from a saloon. I was only two at a time but Charlie told me about it. Charlie was twelve and started taking on extra responsibilities helping mom to make ends meet. Five years later, my mom and I were simply walking down the street. Two men started fighting, a Mountie stepped in to break it up. The men fighting went their separate ways but as one was walking away, he turned and fired a shot at the Mountie. Though he took the shot in the shoulder, the Mountie pulled his own gun and fired on the man. The man jumped to the side and that bullet him my mother. She died in front of me. The shooting was ruled an accident and the Mountie resigned but that did not matter. My mother was dead and Charlie was all I had in the way of family."

Gabriel closed his eyes. It was a tragedy on all accounts.

"I am sorry that happened, Walter," Gabriel said quietly as he opened his eyes again.

Walter shrugged his shoulders. "Life is not fair. You got to look out for yourself."

Gabriel had the feeling he was repeating things his brother had told him.

"So why I do not wish you any harm, Constable," Walter continued. "I sincerely hope you are found quickly after I leave here. However, my loyalty is to my brother no matter what the consequences are. Anything you say is just a waste of your breath."

Gabriel simply nodded, as the young man moved to the fireplace and out of his line of sight. His heart went out to the young man. He was trapped in a situation not of his making, but family loyalty was a hard thing to break. Gabriel did not think he had the time nor was he in the position to convince the young man to turn over a new way of life by going against his brother. As he tried to shift his position to find a bit of relief, he was reminded that he wasn't even in the position to help himself.