Chapter 28

Bill looked up and down the platform wondering what on earth had happened to keep Nathan from meeting them. He was just about to go in to the Station to telephone the Mountie Office when he caught a glimpse of red hair through the windows and a moment later Molly came running out of the archway. Behind him one of the Mounties let out a low whistle before muttering to the other, "Well now, maybe Hope Valley isn't quite the backwater that we thought." A glare from the judge shut him up and it was only as the woman drew near and shouted out, "I'm sorry darling, Nathan has been caught up with something else," that the man questioned the wisdom of what he had just said.

Realising that Molly was about to say more Bill rushed forward, wrapping his arms around her and quickly whispering, "Not a word in front of anyone else. We'll take these two officers to the saloon and settle them in their rooms, then you can explain." He could see the distress on his wife's face and guessing that the situation was perhaps a little more urgent than he thought he quickly turned to the others.

"Gentlemen, perhaps you could collect your bags from the luggage car and then come out to the front to meet us while I go and sort out whatever mess my wife has made of parking." Molly stifled a grunt as she held back a response to Bill's words, the glower she directed his way sufficient to convey her feelings. The other two Mounties laughed and walked off towards the back of the train. Once they were out of earshot Bill gave her his biggest smile, "Hey, I had to come up with something quick. I thought that was pretty good!" She slapped his arm as they turned towards the exit but the expression on her face didn't change.

"So tell me, what has held Nathan up. It is obviously not just someone's escaped dog attacking the neighbour's chickens." With as much brevity as possible Molly explained the situation out at the rowhouses. Bill was shocked. Deep down he had hoped that there was still a chance of saving Elizabeth but now it seemed they were well past that. "If she isn't really mad then how has she kept up the pretence all this time?", was his first question.

Molly nodded in agreement, signifying that it was something that she had wondered as well. "That was my thought, although I suppose that is the reason she has kept everyone at arm's length for so long. But what kind of life has that been for her and how did the sweet Elizabeth that we knew turn into this?" Bill just shook his head, the same thoughts having gone unanswered in his own mind for so long. Was that sweet Elizabeth ever true or had she been fooling them all along?

Allie was in a quandary. She had come to the infirmary to stay with her mum, as her dad instructed, only to be told that Cecilia had gone out to deal with the situation at Mrs Bouchard's house. So did that mean she should go out there? After all her dad hadn't specified exactly where the staying was to be.

When the telephone call came to say that Constable Aldritt was on his feet and being brought in to the infirmary Faith was relieved that she wouldn't have to make the journey out there after all. Having just slipped off her boots and hoping to grab a coffee with Maggie before they arrived, she was therefore not concerned when the telephone rang again straight away. It was the time of day when patients often called to make appointments. With Molly gone to collect Bill from the station she reached across to get a pen as she answered. After her initial greeting she was silent, listening intently until eventually she raised her head, trying hard to hide the shock on her face.

Finally she spoke, "Ok Minnie, please keep me informed on what is happening. Nurse Parsons will be here in a few minutes so I will send her out and we are expecting Mathew back shortly so he will come then". She hung up the telephone, keeping her eyes closed for a moment then with a deep breath she looked at Allie and spoke, "There has been a change in the situation out there and they would now like a medical professional to come out". Allie was quick to react. "Why? Has something else happened? Is Constable Aldritt hurt more seriously than everyone thought?"

Faith wasn't sure how to respond so instead she asked Allie if she would go to see how much longer Maggie would be. But Allie didn't move. "I'm not a child Dr Carter, I know when someone is keeping something from me. Please tell me what you know." Faith wasn't surprised to see Allie stand her ground, remembering the enquiry that Inspector Hargreaves brought against Nathan and how Allie had marched into the room to have her say. There was no question that Allie was a strong and sensible young woman but not knowing what had happened out at the row houses she wasn't sure what to do. Finally she decided that Allie deserved honesty and so she told her the little she knew.

This was not the first time that Cecilia had experienced a gun pointed in her direction and so she was more nervous than frightened as she stared down its barrel. Elizabeth Bouchard may be a despicable person but she had faced worse evil in the past. So she kept her eyes locked on the other woman, her face a picture of fortitude as she waited for Elizabeth to make her next move. To the side of her she could sense Nathan breathing hard. She knew he would be thinking, working out what was the best way to deal with this and as she took courage from knowing that her husband would do everything in his power to keep her safe a look of calm settled on her face.

Elizabeth watched her, confused by the other woman's reaction. "You don't seem frightened, Mrs Grant?" she said, almost spitting out the last two words. "I suppose you think that your hero husband is going to save you. Well he didn't save MY husband, none of the Mounties did! Jack died because the great Nathan Grant was so busy chasing cattle rustlers that he didn't do the job he was meant to do."

Was that what this was all about, Nathan wondered. Had Elizabeth never actually forgiven him for Jack having to take his place on the training mission? He had to think quickly and not let his own emotions overwhelm him. With an almost imperceptible signal to Gabe he began to speak, his voice level and clear. "Elizabeth, I know how much losing Jack hurt you and I believed that we had gone through all of that but if there is more you need to say then we will sit down together, just the two of us, and I will listen. There is no reason to get other people involved in this."

"No reason!" Elizabeth shouted. "You think it is okay for you to have your happy ever after but I don't have mine? Is that fair?" He didn't know how to react to that but keeping his eyes locked on hers he took a small step forward. Quickly she cut him off. "That's enough Nathan, stay exactly where you are!" All around there was total silence, only the chirping of birds in the trees reminding him that this was real and not some part of a bad dream from which he had yet to wake.

He had to keep his mind focused, the memory of the prison transfer and Constable Novak bubbling just below the surface ready to break through. He must not let that happen. This was different. He knew that whatever she may have been through in the past, Cecilia wound not panic. She would have faith in him and he wouldn't let her down. "Alright Elizabeth. Why don't you let me take Cecilia's place? After all it is me you are angry and upset with, not her. Everyone else can move back and we can talk." He kept his voice calm, underplaying the importance of getting his wife out of danger.

Elizabeth laughed. Her eyes darting back and forth between Cecilia and Nathan. "No, I need you to feel the pain that I have felt for so long. To have your heart ripped out so suddenly that nothing matters anymore." She began to pace, small steps side to side, her eyes never leaving Cecilia but her words directed towards him. "You were meant to stay here so that I could watch you suffer every day in the way I had suffered. Then somewhere along the way I began to love you. You made me do that. You had a vulnerability about you. Those blue eyes and that damned half smile of yours. Do you know what that was like? Fighting those feelings all the time, knowing that every time I looked at you I felt that I was killing Jack over and over".

She took a deep breath, the anguish on her face clear to see.

"Then you left, without a word. How could you have done that Nathan? All of Hope Valley turned against me. I could see it in their eyes every day, how they blamed me for you and Allie going. Why couldn't they understand that it wasn't what I wanted, that I needed you to be here so that I could keep Jack's memory alive in my heart and his death in your head. I had the power to make you feel pain or happiness, that's what made my life worth living, and when you were gone I didn't know how to go on anymore."

Nathan let her talk, knowing that so long as she was focused on telling him her story she was not aware of everything else going on around her. It was clear that somewhere along the way Elizabeth's grief at Jack's death had turned to anger and a need for revenge, until finally her mental disintegration began. Now the delusions in her mind had taken over and become her truth. She paused, her glazed eyes finally looking around at all the people watching. "See what I mean, look at them. Even now they are blaming me!"

Nathan had taken another small step forward before bringing her gaze back onto himself for a moment as he gently spoke. "No-one blames you for anything, Elizabeth. Jack's death was a tragic accident and something I think about every single day. Don't you see that you didn't need to do any of this to let Jack live on? You have a son, a wonderful reminder of the man you loved. He is Jack's legacy. His gift to you, to all of us. What you have done has hurt him too."

Elizabeth's eyes flashed with anger. "Don't you mention my son! I gave him away so that he didn't have to live through the pain that I feel every day. So that I didn't have to look at him and be reminded of what should have been. Do you think it was easy for me to see you with Allie, those special moments she shared with you that Jack will never experience because his father is dead? Because you killed him. The Mounties killed him. She needed to suffer too!"

Inside Nathan was fighting to keep the anger from rising, needing to still the emotion that threatened to show in his voice. "Allie did suffer, Elizabeth. Just like Little Jack. She lost her mother, her father abandoned her. Don't you think she had been through enough?"

"But she has you Nathan! She was allowed to have you while I knew I couldn't."

Elizabeth wailed then, her body shaking as she looked around until finally her gaze rested on Cecilia. "Don't you see. This way I get to hurt you both the way you hurt me and Little Jack." This was a dangerous moment, Nathan knew. He had to bring the conversation back to something else, where emotion wasn't the driving force in her thinking. "But why turn to crime, Elizabeth? You didn't need the money. Did Lucas force you to become involved?"

Her expression changed at the mention of her husband and her voice took on a disdainful tone. "Lucas Bouchard? He couldn't come up with a plan for anything! He talks big but doesn't have the ability to do anything about all his grand ideas. No, it wasn't my dear husband. He thought he was controlling me, which is exactly what we wanted him to think." She turned her head to look across to the other side of the road, "Wasn't it dear Mother-In-Law?"

Struggling against the two men holding her back, Helen Bouchard snarled, the fire in her eyes directed towards Elizabeth. "Don't say another word! Can't you see he is tricking you, trying to get you to tell him everything."

For the first time Nathan could see a weariness in Elizabeth, a sense of defeat that showed in her bearing. He had to tread carefully, choose his words wisely. "Why so much cruelty, Elizabeth? All those people who have suffered because of your actions, did you not care about what you put them through?" Once again he had taken a small step forward without her realising.

"You should ask my father about that. We needed money after he cut us off from my trust so I had no choice. Don't you see, once you are in bed with the devil then there is nothing to do but go along with everything. Better they suffered than my family." By now Nathan felt he was gaining some control as he kept Elizabeth's eyes locked on him. "You could have gone to Bill, asked him to help you. The Mounties would have come to your aid. You didn't have to go down this path."

At that Elizabeth gave out a derisive laugh. "Do you think I would go to the Mounties when they were part of the reason Jack is dead? They were as complicit as you, Nathan. Don't you realise that was my other motivation, to see what it did to the ever so righteous Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I didn't tell them what was going on because I wanted to help those people control The Mounties. I needed to destroy all of you!"

Cecilia listened to her husband's soothing tone as he attempted to calm the tormented woman standing in front of her. She couldn't help but feel some sympathy, the anguish written on her face and the despair in her words like the script of a Shakespearean tragedy that was now waning. She would be weeping by now were she sitting in a theatre watching this story unfold on the stage in front of her. Instead she was here, a madwoman brandishing a gun in her direction while blaming the most honourable man she knew for what her life had become. To think she had carried this hatred inside her for so long, allowing it to fester like an untreated abscess while wishing the same affliction upon those who had tried so hard to help her was unfathomable.

Elizabeth Bouchard had no idea of the real world. Her life as a rich girl in Hamilton could never have prepared her for the hardships that Cecilia had seen, that she knew millions suffered every day. Yet they did not succumb to so much self pity that they floundered on the edge of reality, needing someone to blame for what had been an unfortunate circumstance of life. She wondered what this woman would have done had she seen the horrors of war that were still imprinted on her own mind.

Struggling to keep her face expressionless Cecilia could feel the outrage boiling up inside her. Whenever she found herself in a situation where her emotions threatened to overflow she usually managed to find some equilibrium by staying as aware as possible of what was happening around her and letting events unfold. She wasn't sure how much longer she could do that here. She sensed that Nathan had been planning a move but after Elizabeth's disclosure of her objective to do whatever it took to bring down the entire Mountie force he had seemed momentarily unsettled. He would recover his composure quickly, she had no doubt.

Without Elizabeth realising, Gabe had disappeared soon after Nathan began speaking, a previously used plan that the two were hoping would work in this situation undoubtedly now being set in motion. Their understanding of each other was what made them such an incredible team and that was all Cecilia needed to give her faith that all would be right.

Not knowing the battle Cecilia was fighting within herself Elizabeth turned her attention back towards Nathan, knowing that she had dropped another bombshell at his feet with the thought of his beloved Mounties in disarray. She watched him struggle with that news for a while, knowing how much honour meant to him. In her more lucid times she wondered whether her need for vengeance had as much to do with knowing that Jack would always put the service ahead of her. No matter what life they built together she would forever have come second to what he saw as his calling. Hadn't he written exactly that in his notebook? The memory of his words fuelled the fire within her once more.

If Nathan had thought that calm discussion would somehow settle Elizabeth, giving them some semblance of a person they could deal with, all hope of that disappeared when he saw the evil in her eyes as her next words were addressed to Cecilia. "I understand that you are expecting a baby, that you will be giving Nathan the one thing that he has always wanted, a child of his own." Cecilia gasped at the cruelty of her words, her thoughts immediately going to Allie who they both loved so much. She was their child in every way. Before either she or Nathan could reply a voice spoke out from the back of the gathered crowd.

As people turned, Allie made her way to the front. "You are wrong there Mrs Bouchard. My father already has a daughter. Fortunately we are related by blood but even without that we would be family because we love each other. You don't seem to understand how love works. That it is the great force that unites and binds us."

Allie stepped further into the space in front of the crowd. Looking sideways at Nathan she shook her head as he began to speak, knowing that he would tell her to get back. "You see, this baby is not a gift for my father, something to fulfil a need in him. He or she is already a part of this family, living proof that there is life after tragedy if you allow yourself to let in the light. But you need to have a heart for that, something that can be mended. First my dad showed me the light, then my mom and soon my new sister or brother will do the same for all of us. It's called love."

Elizabeth was becoming irritated. Why had Allie come here, what was she trying to do? It had always been easier to inflict pain on the girl when she didn't have to look at her. Knowing that when Nathan was hurt Allie also hurt was a perfect situation for her. "What do you want? Do you think I am going to suddenly feel remorse and say how sorry I am for what I did to you and your father? You will wait a long time for that!" Elizabeth sneered

.

Once again Allie walked forward, this time getting a little closer to her father. He nodded at her, his arm reaching out slightly to welcome her to his side when she was ready. "I don't want you to apologise Mrs Bouchard because then I would have to forgive you and I don't want to do that."

The crowd was transfixed, their eyes moving back and forth from Elizabeth to Allie as though a tennis match was being played in front of them. "I won't forgive you Mrs Bouchard but I will thank you. For so long all I wanted was a mother. Actually, I wanted you to be my mother. So desperate was I that I never really saw you. Had I done that I would have realised that beneath your superficial air of kindness there is not much substance to you."

There were gasps from all around, both at the audacity of Allie to speak in such a way and the truth in what she was saying.

Elizabeth's anger was boiling now, her face twisted as she hissed back, "Who do you think you are, speaking to me like that. You are nothing. You and your father are nothing to me. I used you to get my revenge on him and I would have kept on using you if you hadn't run away." Allie smiled, a benevolent look that showed a maturity beyond her years. "We didn't run Mrs Bouchard, we walked with our heads held high to a new beginning. You are the one who deserved pity, at least until you showed your true colours and then sadly you warranted nothing but scorn".

Allie was just turning to go towards her father when Rosemary stepped forward from the crowd, her voice clear as she looked at this woman who was once her friend. "She is right Elizabeth. The shallow self-pitying person you became is all that Allie ever experienced of you and yet she still only looked for the good. But some of us remember who you were, what you were before. How did such bitterness engulf you? Why didn't you take the help we offered? It was there but you didn't want to see. You were my best friend. Lee and I tried so hard to help you but you just pushed us further away."

Anger emanated from every pore of Elizabeth, her grasp on reality so fragile that nothing seemed to be able to break through the wall of hatred she had hidden behind for so long. "You think you were my best friend? You came to Hope Valley to get Jack back and when you lost him you settled for Lee so that you could still be near him. You have been jealous of me all this time so don't pretend you had my interests at heart."

The venom was pouring out of her now yet Rosemary stood calmly beside Allie as Elizabeth continued. "Now you have Little Jack, so I guess in one way you won. You have the best bit of Jack Thornton while I am just left with emptiness." Rosemary went to move closer but Elizabeth turned the gun towards her. "I could always shoot you now, then you would be with your precious Jack. Would you like that?"

Struggling to keep herself from shaking, Rosemary felt a hand take hers as Allie closed the slight gap between them. For a moment Elizabeth said nothing, the small gesture seeming to have some sort of hold on her as though bringing back memories long buried. She spun back around towards Nathan, "I told you to stop moving, I know what you are trying to do here and it won't work. You cannot save her!"

Then, as she opened her mouth to continue her tirade Charlotte Thornton stepped down off the porch and marched right up to stand in front of her, creating a barrier between the gun and Cecilia. "Well, Lizzie, this is quite a performance you are putting on for us today. I hate to imagine what Jack would think of it all."

Stumbling backwards Elizabeth stared vengefully at her but the woman's whole demeanor showed a determination that said she was not going to be bullied. "You think you are the only one to suffer loss?" She stepped nearer to Elizabeth, the gun now dangerously close to her chest. "Think about this town and what it has gone through. Abigail Stanton, Florence Blakeley, Molly Sullivan, Cat Montgomery, Clara Stanton, Dottie Ramsay. Do you remember those names Elizabeth? Do you not think they loved their husbands just as much as you did Jack? Do you think I mourned my husband any less than you? I lost a husband AND a son. So did Abigail. What makes your loss worse than ours?"

Finally something seemed to have broken through the wall to make Elizabeth stop. "It wasn't the same for you all. Jack wasn't meant to die that day!"

Pointing at Nathan she shouted, "It was his turn. It should have been him! If Jack couldn't live then why did God have to be so cruel by making me love Nathan. I tried not to, I told him I couldn't. Why didn't my heart hear? Why wouldn't anybody listen?"

Elizabeth was beaten. Sobbing wildly, her shoulders dropped and she looked around confused, all the fight gone from her. Charlotte reached out to take the gun from her hand as Gabe grabbed her arms from behind.

Charles Kensington looked on, his face expressionless as he saw the dream he had held on to for so long finally disappear before his eyes. It was Cecilia who reached out to him. Having turned first to embrace Nathan she then told him to go and do his job, assuring him that she was fine. Then as she took Allie in her arms she looked up to see Charles sitting dejectedly on the steps of the row house. Mother and daughter walked across to where he sat watching the psychiatric nurse administer some medication to Elizabeth.

"She will get help Charles. I don't think she will be going to Hamilton with you but I believe there are good facilities in places like Union City and Vancouver where they are using new treatments. At the very least she will be where she can no longer hurt people. Or herself."

He nodded. "What about criminal charges? Won't she have to stand trial for what she has done?" Cecilia glanced across to where Nathan and Gabe stood talking with Charlotte. "I am neither a Mountie nor a Judge so I cannot answer that but my feeling is that she would not be considered sane enough to answer to any charges in a court of law. We don't know the full extent of her involvement yet anyway but I imagine she will be placed in a secure facility, probably for the rest of her days."

Nathan had heard talk of how gutsy Charlotte Thornton was but had put those tales down to folk memories that had been boosted over the years in the retelling. Certainly the woman he had met at the train station showed no indication that she had nerves of steel. "That was a very brave thing you did there, Charlotte. I'm not sure I would have approved of that strategy, nor my daughter's for that matter. I will be having words with her when we get home."

Charlotte smiled, placing a reassuring hand on Nathan's arm. "Please don't be hard on her, she was very brave and a true credit to you. Everyone has times in their life when they need to stand up and be counted, no matter the potential consequences to themselves. Today was one of Allie's days and by God she used it magnificently. I think I may have to make her an honorary Thornton!"

Nathan laughed. "Well if you heard the glowing words she had to say about you after you marched forward then I think she would definitely accept that honour!" His smiled faded for a moment, "Seriously Charlotte, what made you step up there between Elizabeth and Cecilia? Weren't you afraid for your own life?"

She shook her head, "I knew Elizabeth wouldn't shoot me. In her mind it would be the same as shooting Jack. He was like me in many ways and she knew that what I said is exactly what he would have told her if he was here. You mustn't carry any guilt about this Nathan, none of it had anything to do with you. That young woman was damaged a long time ago and you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Walking away Nathan knew that what she said was true and yet he felt the weight of guilt laying heavily on his shoulders right now. Was there anything he could have done to stop all of this? What if he hadn't gone after those castle rustlers, would that have prevented this chain of events from happening? Just then a voice spoke quietly beside him. "I know that expression Nathan Grant. You did nothing wrong. Look across there, can you see those two people you love? God decided you needed to be here for them. For all of us. I don't know what but I do know that he has his reasons and one day it will all be clear to you. Until then you have to keep your faith, continue to live the good and honest life that you do and know that you make a difference."

With that Joseph patted him on the back, "Now go and give your ladies a hug, I think you all need that right now."