A secret from Elizabeth's past is about to be revealed. How will Jack react?

Three weeks had passed since Jack and Elizabeth got engaged. Plans for the wedding were progressing nicely. The only thing that Elizabeth didn't like at the moment was Jack had been called away on Mountie duty. He had been gone a week and she missed him terribly. She was learning to deal with it though. She had to if she was going to be a Mountie's wife. She hoped he would be returning soon.

She woke up around 9 am on what looked to be a beautiful spring Saturday morning. She was going to spend the day working on her craft projects. She was about half way done with her autumn leaves table cloth. She had also started knitting a blanket that she planned to place on the foot of their bed for extra warmth. She needed to go to the Mercantile to pick up some more yarn and was hoping there was a package for her. Jack had come up with a beautiful design for the holiday table cloth and it was due to be delivered soon along with the embroidery floss she ordered.

She quickly dressed, ate a quick breakfast of tea and one of Abigail's blueberry scones, then set out to go to the Mercantile. As she was walking she passed Bill at the jail house as he was putting up a wanted sign. "Good Morning, Bill." She said and walked up to the porch to talk to him. She wanted to ask him if he had heard anything from Jack. When he turned around to great her, she noticed the sign and gasped. The person wanted was Gregory Williams. She could feel her cheeks drain of their color and she started to shake. How could he be out of jail? She thought. She started looking around nervously as if she expected him to come right out and snatch her.

Bill looked at her, concerned after he heard the gasp and noticed her acting strangely. He gently took her arm and asked "Elizabeth, is everything all right? Do you know this man?"

Elizabeth didn't want to go into the whole story with Bill. She realized in that moment that she needed to tell Jack something from her past, a past she thought she would never have to deal with again, until now. She took a deep breath and spoke "No, Bill, I don't. At first glance he looked like someone I know." She hoped Bill would believe her lie. All she wanted to do was leave town and go hide in her in her bedroom.

Bill thought she wasn't telling him something but he decided to let it go for now. If there was more to her reaction she would tell him when she was ready. Unless she was waiting for Jack to come home and talk to him. "Ok, Elizabeth. Just making sure. Jack wants me to look out for his best girl while he is away."

"Thanks, Bill. I will see you later. Have a nice afternoon." She quickly step off the porch of the jail and hurried out of town, not even noticing that Abigail was calling her over to the café to talk.

Elizabeth quickly made her way home and locked the door behind her. She leaned against the door breathing hard. She tried to calm herself but she had so many thoughts running through her mind.

How could Gregory be out of prison? He was supposed to be there for 10 years! I hope he doesn't come to Hope Valley looking for me. Oh, Jack! I need you home desperately.

Suddenly, she felt a sense of calm wash over her; like she knew everything was going to be fine. She decided she didn't want to be a prisoner in her home. She went to her bedroom and grabbed her journal. She was going to go to the pond and enjoy the warming temperatures. As she unlocked the door and stepped out, she did take a hard look at what was going on around her, making sure she didn't see him. She may be feeling better about things but there was no reason to be careless.

As Elizabeth walked out of her home, Jack rode into to town. After taking care of his horse, he walked up to the jail to let Bill know he was back, clean up and then go see his love, his Elizabeth. Oh, how he missed her while he was gone. He noticed the new wanted poster and stopped to read it before entering the jail. "Hi Bill!"

Bill jumped up from the desk and went to shake hands with Jack. "Welcome home, Jack. What are you doing here? I thought you would go see Elizabeth first."

"Well I wanted to clean up first before I went to see her, but how do you know I didn't go see her already?"

"You just missed seeing her here. I think she stopped by to ask me if I knew anything about you coming home but we never got to discuss that. As a matter of fact, I am a little concerned about her." Bill motioned for Jack to join him outside.

Jack stopped him for a minute, instantly alarmed by what Bill had said. "Please, tell me. What is going on?"

"I am not sure exactly but she started acting funny when she saw me put the new wanted poster up. That's why I wanted you to come outside with me. I thought maybe the name might ring a bell with you."

Jack, followed Bill out and read the poster again. Gregory Williams, Escaped Prison, wanted for stalking, kidnapping and physical abuse

"Jack, "Bill said. "When Elizabeth saw the poster, she gasped and started shaking. I could see her looking around town as if she thought he was here. When I asked her if she knew him, she said he looked like someone she knew. Then she took off towards the row houses as if the devil was on her heels. I felt like she wasn't saying something but I let it go for the moment. I was going to keep a close eye on her until you returned. I think whoever this guy is, if he did do something to her, she wants to tell you."

Jack looked at the poster again with a million thoughts going through his head. The most important thought was to go find Elizabeth and find out what was going on. "Thanks, Bill for attempting to find out and for watching out for her until I got home. I am going to quickly clean up and go see her." He walked past Bill into the jail.

A short time later, Jack was walking to Elizabeth's house, his mind a jumble of thoughts about this Williams character and what his connection is to Elizabeth. After hearing how she reacted to the poster from Bill, he knew something was going on. He only hoped that whatever this guy did to his sweet Elizabeth that it wasn't too traumatizing. He walked up the steps to her door and knocked. He waited a few minutes to see if she would come to the door, but she didn't. He knocked again, calling out that it was him in case she was afraid to open her door. Again, there was no answer. He tried the door knob only to find it was locked. Just then he heard his name called. He turned and saw Gabe in the street.

"Mountie, Jack! Miss Thatcher isn't home. I just saw her over by the pond."

"Thanks, Gabe." He waved and then walked towards the pond. He saw Elizabeth sitting on a blanket near the edge of the pond. He called out to her a couple of times but she didn't hear him. He slowly approached her, hoping she would hear his footsteps coming towards her. He crouched down to one side and put his hand on her shoulder. "Elizabeth, it's me, Jack".

Elizabeth jumped, let out a little scream and hit him on the shoulder causing him to fall over. When he righted himself, she jumped into his arms. "Oh Jack! You scared me but I am so glad you are here."

Jack took her hand in one of his own and lifted the other to her cheek where he gently caressed it. "I have missed you so much, Sweetheart."

"I missed you too, terribly." She put her other hand on his hand that was on her cheek. "Jack, I need to tell you something and I hope you can forgive me for not telling you before this." She paused to look at him with watery eyes. "I hate talking about this; it gives me nightmares, but I don't see how I can avoid telling you this any longer."

Jack's heart sank as she spoke; obviously this Williams guy had done something to her and she was clearly afraid of him, petrified of him. "Does this have anything to do with the wanted posted Bill put up today? He said you seemed scared when you read it." He took both of her hands in his own and squeezed them. "I promise you, I won't be mad. Did this Williams character hurt you?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Yes, Jack. He did hurt me." Her eyes started filling with tears and she took a breath to try and calm herself. She tried to take a couple of deep breaths to calm herself, but she was having problems. She needed a few more minutes before she could tell her story.

What happened to Elizabeth? Why is she so scared?