Chapter 19: Shifting Ground
The next morning, church services were held outside again, to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Elizabeth and Clara walked over to the church together, since Abigail had gone with Kat Montgomery to Buckstown on Saturday after the dedication ceremony, and wasn't due back until Sunday evening.
By the time Jack arrived at the service, Mr. Corbett was speaking to the assembled crowd about his mission in China. Jack stood in the back, seething as he noticed Mr. Corbett glancing over at Elizabeth from time to time when he talked about the mission's need for teachers and other assistance.
After services, Jack started walking towards Elizabeth, but Pastor Frank stepped in Jack's way and requested that Jack help the townsmen return the benches and folding seats to the church's storage area in the back. By the time Jack returned to the front of the church, most of the townspeople had left, including Elizabeth.
Jack strode back to town and over to the café to find Elizabeth. There was a "Closed" sign on the café door, but Jack saw movement in the kitchen, so he walked into the café and back towards the kitchen. There Jack saw Clara, who dropped a pan when Jack came through the entryway, making a clashing noise.
"Oh my, you startled me!" Clara cried out, wide-eyed when she saw Jack.
Jack quickly apologized and bent over to help Clara pick up the pan; Clara also bent over, and the two of them bumped heads. Jack apologized again, "I'm so sorry, are you hurt?" Clara laughed and rubbed her head. "No, no . . . it's nothing, it's my fault - I'm always dropping and bumping into things."
Jack managed to pick up the pan and hand it to Clara. Clara smiled shyly and said, "Thank you." Jack nodded and looked around. "Is Elizabeth here?" Jack asked. Clara replied, "Oh, she went for a horseback ride a little while ago."
Jack frowned. "By herself?"
Clara answered, "Yes, she said she needed to do some thinking. She took her journal with her."
Jack asked, "Was she going someplace in particular?"
Clara shook her head, "No, I don't think so. She didn't mention any particular place. Is everything okay?"
Jack assured Clara, "Yes, I just wanted to talk to her about a few things. I'll come back later, thank you, Clara."
As Jack started for the door, Clara called out, "I told Abigail while she was gone I would do some of her baking today to get ready for when she reopens the café tomorrow. I'd be happy to save some scones for you." Clara smiled appealingly at Jack.
Jack nodded and said politely, "That would be nice, thank you." Jack put his hat on and started for the door again, when Clara called out to him anew. "Oh, wait a minute. I forgot, I have something for you – I'm always forgetting things!" Clara laughed, and then ran up the stairs to the second floor. Jack looked impatiently out the window, wanting to get going. Clara hurried back down and handed Jack a white handkerchief. "Look, I embroidered your name on it, 'Jack Thornton.'"
Jack examined the handkerchief and smiled appreciatively. "That's lovely – thank you, Clara." Clara smiled at the compliment. Jack folded up the handkerchief and put it in his pocket. "I must be going now – thank you again, and good luck with your baking," Jack said, his hand on the doorknob. Clara stood in the doorway and waved to Jack as he left.
Jack walked quickly over to the livery and saddled up his horse, intending to find Elizabeth on the trail, hoping that she took the usual path out of town, into the countryside. Jack hoisted himself up on his horse and galloped full speed out of town, trying to catch up with Elizabeth.
In a little while Jack came to the end of the regular trail, and looked around for clues as to where Elizabeth might have gone. Jack noticed fresh horse tracks in the direction of the abandoned mine. "I wonder why she would go there?" Jack thought to himself, as he urged his horse in that direction.
As Jack approached the mine, he saw Elizabeth sitting under a tree near the entrance, writing in her journal, her horse tied up to the tree. When Elizabeth heard the sound of Jack's horse, she lifted her head up, wiped her eyes, and then quickly closed her journal and put it aside.
Jack hopped off his horse and approached Elizabeth slowly, watching her as she stood up and wiped her eyes again. Jack asked, "Elizabeth, are you okay? Is there something the matter?"
Elizabeth mumbled, "I'm fine," and turned her back to Jack, to face the mine entrance. Jack tied his horse to a nearby tree, and walked over to Elizabeth. Jack asked gently, "What's the matter? Why are you here, by this mine?" Elizabeth shook her head, and didn't answer. Jack pressed on, "Is there something . . . significant about this place?"
Elizabeth looked at Jack, disbelievingly. "You don't remember anything about the mine?" Jack shook his head sadly. "No, I'm sorry. I don't. But please tell me – what happened here?" Elizabeth shook her head and looked down, refusing to answer.
Jack held out his hand to Elizabeth. "Do you want to go in the mine? I'll take you in there." Elizabeth looked at Jack wide-eyed and shook her head more fervently. Jack insisted, "Don't be scared, I'll be with you. Come on, let's go in."
Elizabeth stared at Jack and then tentatively put her hand in his, allowing him to lead her into the entrance of the mine. Elizabeth stopped a few feet into the mine and wouldn't go any further. Jack turned to her, "If you want to stay here, by the entrance, that's fine. Wait here for a minute while I see what's over there."
Jack walked farther into the mine and saw the fire pit and sticks and stones around it. Jack walked back to Elizabeth. "It looks like people sometimes use this mine for shelter – there's a fire pit over there."
Elizabeth nodded, and put her arms around herself, as if she was cold. Jack immediately asked, "Are you cold? Do you need my jacket?" Elizabeth shook her head and said, "No, that's okay. I'm not cold . . . I'm just . . . remembering."
Jack turned to Elizabeth and asked insistently, "Remembering what? What happened here?"
Elizabeth explained, "Jack, I was told that I shouldn't force memories on you, that it's better for you to remember things on your own.
Jack shrugged his shoulders and replied, "At this point, it probably doesn't matter anymore. Tell me what happened . . . maybe it will help."
Elizabeth raised her head to look at Jack and said, "One day, a few months ago, a storm came in and Rip ran off when he heard the thunder. Rip sometimes runs all the way out here when he's scared. You and I came back here to look for him. We stopped in the mine for a while to wait out the storm."
Jack asked, "Did we find Rip?" Elizabeth answered, "Yes, he was hiding down one of the mine paths." Jack raised his eyebrows. "And that's it? Did anything else happen?"
Elizabeth went on. "When we were looking for Rip, I hurt my knee – one of the rafters knocked me down." Jack looked concerned and said, "Oh - what happened then?" Elizabeth went on, "Well, you rescued me, helped me out from under the rafters, and . . . carried me over there, by the fire." Jack smiled and replied, "I'm glad I was able to help." Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, it ended up that my knee was fine, just a little sprained.
Jack raised his eyebrows at Elizabeth and asked, "Is that it? Is there more?"
Elizabeth continued, somewhat reluctantly. "Well, you and I . . . we had been arguing about . . . some things . . . but then, after you brought me back to the fire . . . we made up."
Jack grinned and asked mischievously, "How did we make up? What exactly did we do?" Elizabeth swatted Jack on the arm and retorted, "None of your business!" Jack replied, seriously, "Of course it's my business, it concerns me . . . and you! Tell me, what happened . . . exactly." Jack pressed Elizabeth, moving closer towards her.
Elizabeth looked down at the ground and said quietly, "You told me you loved me and that . . . we would always face our problems together . . . ." Elizabeth started weeping silently.
Jack put his hands on Elizabeth's arms. "Elizabeth, I'm so sorry. This all has probably been harder on you than it's been on me. Please know . . . I followed you out here today to tell you . . . I do care for you very much. Even not remembering our past, even just knowing you these few short weeks, I feel . . . very strongly for you. I even . . . ."
Jack hesitated, so Elizabeth prodded, "Yes?"
Jack said in a low voice, still holding on to Elizabeth, "I even dream about you . . . ."
Elizabeth looked up into Jack's eyes and asked innocently, "You do? What do you dream about?"
Jack stepped closer to Elizabeth and whispered huskily, "Can I show you?"
Elizabeth's brain told her to say no, that Jack hadn't promised her anything, that even after this conversation Jack could still leave for his next Mountie assignment without things between them being settled. But Elizabeth desperately wanted to feel Jack's lips on hers again; her body yearned to be in his embrace, even if it was just for one final time.
Elizabeth raised her face to Jack and whispered, "Yes."
Jack wrapped Elizabeth in his arms and lowered his lips to hers. He kissed her gently at first, then he pulled back and looked at her, and then he kissed her again, more passionately, pulling her body closer and closer to his.
Jack paused between kisses, rubbing his lips against hers, and moaned softly, "Elizabeth . . . Elizabeth . . . ." But before Jack could continue, the ground beneath them started to shake and they heard a rumble.
Jack whipped his head up and looked around; Jack noticed small stones starting to fall from the ceiling of the mine. Jack grabbed Elizabeth and ran out of the mine, where they saw the horses bucking and pulling against the trees they were tied to.
Then the earth started shaking again - Jack threw Elizabeth to the ground in a patch of open grass and covered her with his body. The earth continued shaking and rumbling. All of a sudden, Jack and Elizabeth heard a huge roar as the mine caved in on itself. Jack shielded Elizabeth from the flying debris as she whimpered and hid her face in his chest.
After about a minute, the shaking and rumbling subsided. For a few moments Jack and Elizabeth didn't move. Then Jack lifted his head to look around. Jack got on his knees and helped Elizabeth into a sitting position. The two of them looked at the mine entrance, which was completely covered in fallen rocks, clouds of dust spewing out of the crevices.
Elizabeth sputtered, "My goodness, we could have died in there." Jack rose to his feet, and put out his hand to help Elizabeth up. "We didn't - thankfully, you insisted on standing near the entrance," Jack acknowledged.
Elizabeth stood up and stumbled a bit. Jack put his hand on Elizabeth's arm to steady her. "Are you alright?" Jack asked, concerned. Elizabeth, who was breathing heavily, admitted, "I'm a little shaken up." Jack nodded and agreed, "I don't blame you. That was quite an earthquake we just lived through. And we have to be careful – there could be aftershocks."
Jack looked over at the horses, who were skittish but had mostly calmed down. "Elizabeth, we have to get back to Hope Valley – who knows what damage might have been done there, and if people are injured . . . ," Jack shook his head, and started moving towards the horses.
Elizabeth, still unsteady on her feet, told Jack, "You go ahead. You ride faster than I do. Anyway, I need to find my journal and a few other things I had with me before you came."
Jack untied his horse from the tree. "Are you sure?" he asked anxiously, looking from Elizabeth towards the path back towards town. Elizabeth urged, "Yes, you go first. Let me get myself together here, and then I'll follow right behind you."
Jack hoisted himself up on his horse, and turned his horse in a tight circle a few times to calm him down. "Okay, but promise me, you'll come right away," Jack insisted.
Elizabeth smiled a little and replied, "Of course, I promise." Jack took one last look at Elizabeth, and started galloping off, yelling behind him, "Come quickly, I'll be expecting you." Elizabeth called out to Jack, "I'll be there soon. It'll be okay, don't worry."
But Jack had every reason to worry. Between possible building collapses, people being trapped under debris, and aftershocks, Jack expected things to be grim in Hope Valley.
As Jack galloped back to town, he knew only one thing for certain – at the end of the day, if at all possible, he wanted Elizabeth in his arms, and he wanted to be kissing her, this time without interruption.
What Jack didn't realize, unfortunately, was that those few minutes of intimacy he had just shared with Elizabeth may have been their last, forever.