AN: Yes, I know I updated this story yesterday but I wanted to post again to celebrate the fact that I have written the last chapter for this story! It is good to know another story is finished. There are 89 chapters in the story, so I still have quite a few more to post (No the abduction scenario does not go on that long though there are still a few more chapters to it). I will probably try to post more frequently then the weekly, though I have also had an increase in work hours of late so which may affect that.

With that being said, enjoy chapter 45.

As he sat down at the Mendelson's table for breakfast, Billy felt proud of himself. He had spent a night at a friend's house. Just being able to say he had a friend was a nice feeling. Knowing he had braved the night away from Gabe was a good feeling too. Despite that, Billy was ready to return to his routine activities. He felt emotionally worn out even though he had finally been able to sleep after Henry had given him his teddy bear. Though he knew he would need to spend some time with Maggie today, Gabe had promised to see him before starting out on rounds this morning.

First though, there was breakfast with Henry and his family.

Mrs. Mendelson was a good cook. The house was filled with fragrant smells from the food that she placed on the table. Mr. Mendelson said grace, and then the serving platters and bowls were passed around the table. He and Henry were allowed to have their own conversations while Mr. And Mrs. Mendelson talked things over with one another as they ate.

Henry and Billy were clearing the table when a gunshot could be heard. The sound startled Billy, who dropped the plates he was carrying which clattered to the floor. One of the plates broke and Billy looked at it in panic even as a few more shots rang out.

When Mr. Mendelson grabbed him and pulled him down toward the side of the room, Billy panicked, striking out. Despite that, Mr. Mendelson kept a hold of him.

"Billy, I am just trying to keep you safe," Mr. Mendelson said calmly in his ear. "I do not know where those gunshots came from."

Billy saw Mrs. Mendelson holding Henry close as the two huddled in the corner of the room. ~I am in a safe place, ~ Billy told himself, going still.

"Are you, hurt?" Mr. Mendelson asked him.

Billy shook his head. He wasn't hurt though his heart pounded in his chest. He knew if Gabe had heard those shots he would be heading toward them not hiding from them. It was what a Mountie did. He may not be hurt but Billy was scared for Gabe and for himself. If something happened to Gabe, then what would become of him? Would they simply ship him off to an orphanage? Would Miss Walsh let him come stay at her orphanage despite how he had been acting?

There were shouts coming from outside now. After a few more minutes passed with no more gunshots, Mr. Mendelson got to his feet. He held out a hand to Billy, who took it as he stood as well. Mrs. Mendelson and Henry had gotten to their feet as well.

"Billy, I want you to stay here with Henry and Mrs. Mendelson right now, okay," Ben instructed.

Billy nodded, knowing that he was a distraction that Gabe did not need right now even if he did want to run to the man who was quickly becoming a father figure to him.

"Where are you going?" Mary asked, her arms around Henry as she held him close to her.

"To find out what is going on out there," Ben informed her. "I will be back as soon as I can. Stay inside."

"Be careful," Mary replied.

"I will," Ben replied. He closed the distance between him and his family, giving his wife a kiss and then placing a kiss on the top of his son's head.

As Ben left, Billy looked at the plates he had dropped. Going to his knees, he began to clean the mess up. His vision blurred. The Mendelson's were going to be angry just like the workers at the orphanages had always been. They had always scolded the children for breaking things, saying there was not a lot of money in the budget for the necessary things, let alone to cover carelessness.

"I am . . ." Billy let the thought trail off as he tried to steady his voice. "I am sorry about the plate," he tried again, as he felt tears fall down his cheeks. "I did not mean to." Billy said, picking up the broken pieces. "Maybe I can help out at the feed store to help cover the cost of a new one," he suggested, the tears falling quicker now.

Through his tears, he saw Mrs. Mendelson kneel on the floor next to him. The lady reached out and took the plate from his hand and set it aside before reaching out to wrap her arms around him. Billy remained stiff in the embrace as he continued to cry.

"Do not worry about the plate," Mrs. Mendelson told him. "The gunshots were scary, weren't they?"

Billy nodded, as he let himself relax against the woman, assured now that she wasn't going to yell at him for breaking the plate.

Joe watched from the boardwalk in front of his store as the three men on horseback rode off over the countryside. Chuck was checking on Sam, who had been thrown from a horse when the men had fired shots near the horse to spook it.

"Was anyone hit?" Ronald Cray called out, looking around at the shaken people milling about, trying to make sense of everything.

Joe saw Maggie hurrying toward the hotel which then men had run out of. He was relieved to see she was okay. However, he realized that he did not see Gabe anywhere. Despite the men having come out of the hotel, he knew his friend well enough to know that Gabriel would have been trying to pursue the bad guys rather than checking on things in the hotel. As that did not seem to be the case, Joe was concerned.

As others checked on those outside and tried to piece together all that had happened, Joe headed for the Mounted Police office. The office door was still locked which he did not like. Peering in the window he saw nothing out of place.

"Has anyone seen Gabriel?"

The shout came from Chuck, who had helped Sam to his feet and determined the former prospector was not injured. Richard Nell, the blacksmith, was attempting to catch the spooked horse that Sam had been on.

"The office is locked and I don't see him in there," Joe called out.

"Well, he is not in the hotel, despite it just being robbed," Ronnie called out. The distressed hotel proprietor was standing outside of the hotel. He was pale and was pressing his hands together.

"Is anyone hurt in there, Uncle Ronnie?" Chuck called out, even as he walked toward Joe and the Mounted Police office.

"Well no one was shot. Everyone is kind of shaken and Maggie is attending to the guess that fainted during the whole ordeal."

"Make sure no one leaves," Chuck stated.

"What are you, the acting sheriff now too?" Ronnie retorted.

"No, but when law enforcement does get here, they are going to want to talk to everyone," Chuck said, as he continued around to the entrance of the living quarters.

Joe followed, falling into step with the veterinarian.

"Law enforcement?" Joe questioned. "Are you thinking something happened to Gabriel?"

"Well, it isn't like him not to be out and about by this time of the day. That office door should at least be unlocked and if he goes out of town, even just on rounds, he lets someone know."

Joe nodded. Chuck made very good points.

Chuck reached the door and tried it. Like the office door, it was locked.

Reaching into his pocket, Joe removed his small collection of keys. Finding the one Gabe had given him to the living quarters behind the Mountie office, Joe handed it to Chuck.

"Thank you," Chuck said, using the key to unlock the door. "Gabriel, are you in here. It is Chuck and Joe," he called out as he stepped into the living quarters.

The first thing the two men noticed was Gabriel's hand gun simply sitting out on the table.

"That is not a good sign," Joe commented, knowing that Gabriel would not simply leave the gun lying about like that.

"No, it is not," Chuck agreed. "Don't touch or move anything. I am going to make sure the bedroom is empty."

Joe nodded, remaining just inside the door as Chuck walked through the room. Chuck disappeared briefly into the room before reappearing. "He is not in there and the beds do not appear to have been slept in. Send a wire to the Clearwater headquarters and inform them we've had a robbery and that Constable Kinslow is missing."

Joe nodded, even as he got a heavy feeling in his stomach. This was not starting out to be a good day.

After getting Clark Sable, the black smith's apprentice, to make sure no one went into the Mountie's living quarters, Chuck got men to ride out to the ranches to recruit volunteers for a search party. Tracking the criminals was not safe. That would need to be left to the Mounties when they finally got here. However, Chuck did plan on organizing a search party for Gabriel with whoever he could get to help him.

Leaving Joe to start organizing the search party, Chuck mounted his horse and headed out for the Orphanage. Maggie, now that the woman who had fainted during the robbery was resting in her hotel room under the watchful eye of her husband, was taking care of informing Billy of what was going on. The news that Gabriel was missing had to be broken to Lillian as well.

Chuck was not far out of town when he spotted Lillian walking toward him. He dismounted to meet her.

"Going out to see, Grace?" Lillian asked him with a smile. The smile soon fell as she took in his expression. "Chuck, what has happened?"

Chuck removed his hat as he addressed her. "The Royal Brookfield was robbed a little while ago."

Lillian gasped, a hand going to her heart as the color drained from her face. "Gabriel? Was he hurt?"

"Gabriel is missing, Lillian," Chuck told her. "No one has seen him this morning. His pistol was left lying on the table in his living quarters."

Only a muffled cry came from Lillian as Chuck reached out to pull his childhood friend close to him. Lillian leaned against him, both hands now over her heart as she rested his head against him. There were no tears, even though her breathing came in ragged gasps.

"A telegram has been sent to Clearwater and we are organizing a search party. We will find him Lillian."

"I knew something was wrong last night," Lillian said. "I could feel it." There was a short pause and then Lillian looked up at him and asked, "where is, Billy? Does he know?"

"He was still with the Mendelson's. Maggie was going to go give him the news. Ben figured Billy would let Maggie comfort him before he let any of them near. There were gunshots fired which already had the boy rattled."

"Was anyone shot?" Lillian asked.

"No. I don't think there was any intent to harm anyone. They simply wanted cash and valuables from the guests at the hotel and Uncle Ronnie. The shots that were fired appeared to be warning shots unless they had really bad aim."

Lillian was quiet again after that. Chuck held her for a few more minutes before speaking. "Let me take you home, Lillian. Then I am going to go help with the search."

"No," Lillian said, finally drawing back. "I want to see Billy first," she said with conviction. "He will probably be better off with Maggie, but I need to let him know I am concerned about him. We're closer to the town than the orphanage. The robbers are gone now, right?"

Chuck nodded. "They headed in the opposite direction of the orphanage. There is no concern for you all out there."

"I am going into town then," Lillian said, putting on a strong exterior despite anything she felt inside.

"I'll take you," Chuck told her.

Chuck wrapped his arm around Lillian's shoulders and held her close, as he headed them in the direction of the town. With the reigns in his other hand, the horse obediently followed behind.

Reaching the town, Lillian could sense the urgency of the people. Women huddled in small groups, whispering. Joe had a group of men gathered outside the mercantile. They appeared to be looking at maps.

Chuck led Lillian to the infirmary first. Walking in, they heard sobbing. It appeared to be coming from behind a privacy curtain that had been moved in front of one of the cots.

"If it is not an emergency, please come back a little later," Maggie called out from behind the curtain.

"Maggie, I have Lillian with me," Chuck replied.

"Come on back."

Chuck led Lillian toward the curtain. Maggie was sitting on the side of the cot, her hand on Billy's back. The boy was laying face down on the cot, his face hidden in a pillow. Muffled sobs could still be heard.

Slipping from Chuck's comforting grasp, Lillian walked toward the cot. She knelt down next to it, opposite of Maggie. Slowly, Lillian reached out and started running her fingers through Billy's hair.

"Billy, I know you're are scared," Lillian said softly. "I am too," she admitted. "However, I know Gabriel and I know he will do everything he can to come back to us no matter where he is. We just need to pray for him."

Billy shifted his head so that Lillian could see part of the boy's tear streaked face. He was still crying as he said, "I am a horrible person."

"Why do you say that?" Lillian asked him, her fingers still moving slowly through his hair.

"Because I should be worried about, Gabe, and I am. I want him to come home. I do not want to be alone again. However I am also worried about what happens to me if he doesn't. It is selfish I know."

Chuck's breath caught at the words even as Lillian continued to speak softly to him.

"You are not selfish. That is a very valid fear," Lillian told him. "One that Gabriel has already considered. If anything happens to him, he has arranged for the Grants to look out for you. He has told me that, he just did not think it was a good time to bring that possibility up to you. No matter what happens, you are not alone now, Billy."

"I still want Gabe to come home."

"We all do," Lillian told him even as Billy buried his face in the pillow again.

Lillian looked up at Chuck. "I want to stay here for a while," she told him.

Chuck nodded. "I will let Eleanor and Grace know that you are here and what has happened. I will also make sure you are kept informed of how everything is progressing."

"Thank you, Chuck."

Chuck nodded. "Anything you need, Lillian, just ask."

Lillian managed a smile as she nodded in acknowledgment.

With that said, Chuck headed out of the infirmary. It was going to be a busy day. He just hoped it ended with them at least locating Gabriel.