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And the Heart is Brave
Chapter 12
It was a few days later, after her morning ride on Sargeant, as Elizabeth was leaving the livery that she noticed the two men casually leaning against the livery wall. Strangers, they were, at least she didn't recognize them. She moved to go past them on her way back into town, not sure if she should acknowledge them or not. They looked a bit on the rough side, and something prickled worryingly in Elizabeth's heart.
One of the men nudged his friend and inclined his head towards Elizabeth, a snicker passing between the two men. No, Elizabeth decided right there, these were not men she should acknowledge. She moved to brush past them as quickly as possible when one of them stepped into her path.
"Hey there, where you going so fast?" the man asked.
Startled, Elizabeth stopped in her tracks. "Please let me pass," she said, in a authoritative tone that hid her alarm at being spoken to like that by a stranger.
"If you ain't a pretty little thing," the man said. "Ain't she, Zeke?" he asked his friend, as his friend took a step behind Elizabeth, both of them effectively blocking her way. "Shore is," the friend agreed.
"I said, let me pass," Elizabeth repeated, her alarm increasing exponentially. She took a step to the side but the man did as well, not allowing her passage.
"Now don't be like that," the man said. "All we want is to be friendly-like," he added, reaching out to grasp Elizabeth's arm.
Well and truly frightened now, Elizabeth shouted, "Let me go!" then used all her might to break free from his grasp. She turned and ran, the men's laughter ringing in her ears as she made away.
Elizabeth ran to where her frightened heart took her, through the empty streets of Hope Valley all the way to the Mountie office, but she stopped short at the pillar outside, grabbing onto it as she caught her breath.
What was she doing? She been frightened back there and she'd run here. To him. To Nathan. But that was right she would do that. He was the constable here, wasn't he? The law? But deep in her heart Elizabeth knew that wasn't the reason. She'd run here because she'd felt unsafe, very unsafe, and she'd run to the one place, the one person, who made her feel safe. She'd run to Nathan, the man, not the Mountie.
But they were on the outs. Not even speaking. Not even friends. She had no claim on him and in the moment she didn't know quite what to do. The dilemma was solved for her a moment later when Nathan exited his office to find Elizabeth on the veranda outside.
"Elizabeth!" he exclaimed, immediately realizing from her face that something was wrong, very wrong. He took two lengthy strides towards her. "Elizabeth, what's wrong?"
Elizabeth drew a steadying breath. He was the Mountie. She would report this to the Mountie. She could do that. Staring somewhere at the center of Nathan's chest, unable to meet his eyes, she recounted in a detached voice, "Two men. Strangers. Over at the livery. They spoke to me...inappropriately," as Nathan's eyes grew wide. Elizabeth swallowed. "One of them grabbed my arm and it frightened me," she told him as Nathan's heart lurched at the information. "I thought I should tell you, in case...in case they bother any of the other women." There. She had gotten it out.
"Of course," Nathan said in a compassionate voice. "Elizabeth, can you tell me what they looked like?" he asked.
Elizabeth swallowed again. "Rough. Unshaven. One of them had a red shirt. The other was wearing a blue neckerchief," she recounted the details.
"Okay Elizabeth, I'll take care of this," he said, looking around the streets but they were deserted. He couldn't leave Elizabeth standing here like this. "Elizabeth, please, please let me take you over to the cafe," he said, putting an ushering arm around her, careful not to touch her.
Elizabeth allowed herself to be directed to the cafe, Once there, Nathan took a few steps past her in order to reach around her and open the door for her. Inside, he ushered her to a side table, watching her slide into a seat before he turned to catch Clara's eye. "Clara, can you get Elizabeth a cup of tea please?" he said in a quiet voice, as Clara's eyes widened, sensing by Elizabeth's demeanour that something was wrong.
"Yes, of course," Clara said, and went to do so.
"Elizabeth, I'll be back soon," Nathan said, eyeing her a second longer before heading out the door.
Nathan found the two ruffians a short while later, just as Elizabeth described them, leaning against the livery wall. "You two got business here in Hope Valley?" he asked them.
"Why look, Zeke, it's the law!" one of the men said derisively, as Nathan's eyes narrowed on him.
"I asked you if you have business here," Nathan repeated in a clipped tone.
"Well, I guess you could say we're just passing through," the man replied. "Ain't that right, Zeke?" as the two men laughed at some perceived joke.
"We don't like your kind here," Nathan said. "Move along," he ordered.
"What?" the man said, surprised by the sudden ejection. "Oh, I get it!" he said knowingly a second later. "This is about that pretty little schoolteacher, ain't it? Just cuz we wuz trying to be friendly," he said as Nathan's countenance grew suddenly dark.
"And I hear she's a widow woman. You know what they say about widow women, don't ya?" the other man snickered.
But Nathan had heard enough. With each hand he grabbed a fistful of shirt near each man's neck, first pulling them ahead then pushing them forcefully back against the livery wall with a loud thud when their bodies met the wall. Nathan pinned a forearm across each man's throat, just enough to hold them in place and cutting off enough air to make it uncomfortable.
"We don't talk about women like that here. Now I said, it's time to move along," he told them. "Unless you'd like to stay and see the inside of a jail cell here?"
One of the men choked out, "We ain't done nothing wrong! You ain't got no call to arrest us!"
"No? How about public nuisance? Loitering? Just try me..." Nathan threatened, delivering another painful push against the wall, "...and see how creative I can get."
"Okay, okay," one of the men conceded. "We'll go," he said, as Nathan relaxed his hold, as the two men slumped from the wall. "This town ain't no fun anyway," he complained.
Nathan didn't reply, just watched as the two men retrieved their horses, mounted and rode off, his eyes on them until they were well in the distance. He would have to telephone the nearby towns, warn them of the ruffians in their midst, but first he had to get back to Elizabeth.
Once back at the cafe, Nathan slid into the seat opposite Elizabeth and removed his hat. "It's okay, Elizabeth, they're gone now," he told her.
Elizabeth looked up from her teacup on the table. "They're gone? You...you got them to leave?" she asked. Had Nathan run the ruffians out of town?
"Let's just say I made a strong suggestion they leave," he answered, pursing his lips and Elizabeth nodded in understanding, dropping her eyes. "Elizabeth, please, let me see you home," he coaxed. "Or at least, let me get someone to take you home," he added, painfully, knowing Elizabeth wanted little to do with him these days. But Elizabeth shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you for your help, constable," she said, her address formal. She stood to leave, and Nathan stood when she did. From that spot, he watched her turn and leave the cafe.
Nathan sighed, threw some coins on the table and exited the cafe. He turned down the sidewalk and strode quickly along, his destination, the local dress-shop. He arrived a moment later, and entered inside.
"Constable Grant! Nathan!" Rosemary Coulter corrected her greeting of the Mountie at the his entrance into the small dress shop. It wasn't often men came into the shop and she was surprised to see him there.
"Mrs. Coulter. Rosemary," Nathan corrected himself in like fashion, removing his hat. "I wonder if you could do me a favour," he asked.
"Of course!" Rosemary agreed, amenable but surprised by the question.
"I wonder if you could go to Elizabeth," he said. "Her house, I mean. To her," he stumbled the corrections one after the other.
"Why? What's wrong?" Rosemary asked. Even in his fractured way, Rosemary realized that Nathan was telling her Elizabeth needed her.
"It's just...there were a couple of rough characters in town today and they accosted Elizabeth on the street. They're gone now," he reassured Rosemary at her look of alarm. "But I think Elizabeth could use a friend right now," he told her.
"Of course! I'll go right now!" Rosemary exclaimed, immediately worried about Elizabeth, that such a thing had happened.
Nathan visibly relaxed with relief. "Thank you," he said with gratitude.
Rosemary eyed Nathan, a measure of understanding in her eye. "No, Nathan. thank you," she said, pausing a moment to give her words weight, then turned to hurry out the door.