Chapter Seven
Faith Carter was exiting the Marquee Theatre's opening night of this week's visiting vaudeville performance when she heard the commotion coming from the street. Panicked cries, mixed with smoke and a street littered with mechanical debris met Faith as she slowly walked toward the tragic scene. Her natural instincts as a nurse and countless hours spent assisting with special surgeries and operations gave her the confidence to attempt to create order out of a chaotic situation and she immediately assessed that her energies would best be focused on the victim that was lying unresponsive on the ground, her head cradled in a hysteric man's lap
"Elizabeth!" The kneeling man was wailing, desperate to revive the injured woman as he cradled her head in his hands.
Faith managed to slowly approach the two from the side and touched the man's shoulder to get his immediate attention. "I am a Nurse at the Hamilton General Hospital. Please...let me help." He nodded in agreement as Faith immediately reached out to take her pulse and note other vital signs.
"She's alive. But barely. Her pulse is slightly weak and her breathing is fairly shallow. The blood coming from this cut on her head seems to be lessening...but...we need to get her to the hospital. Immediately. Is this car still drivable?" Even though she spoke firmly, Faith was able to communicate her orders in a familiar professional manner.
"Let me assist with that." Faith's head snapped upwards as she looked to see who had spoken. Her eyes were met with the worried stare of a dashing young man, clearly distraught over the current events. Judging by the attire the threesome were wearing, Faith deduced they must all have been attending the same event.
"Thank-you." Faith exclaimed as she stood up to meet the man's offer. "Let's get her moved safely to your automobile. Sir, can you carry her?" Faith turned to ask Charles gently, completely used to the shock experienced by victims of trauma. Charles nodded and gently lifted Elizabeth's limp form from the hard surface of the road and took her into the closed comforts of Sir Henry's borrowed vehicle.
As Faith was about to open the passenger side door, Henry interrupted her and asked her rather poignantly. "Ever driven one of these?"+
"Well...umm...yes. I have. Once. Why?" Her eyes were large and confused as she noted a skeptical look hidden beneath his gaze.
He spoke quietly, moving in close so that only she could hear his hurried response. " You need to get Elizabeth to the hospital as quickly as possible. I, on the other hand, have matters here that need my attention." With that, Henry subtly nodded towards the wreckage and turned away, walking back towards the twisted encounter of the doomed vehicles.
Faith scrambled into the driver's seat and adjusted herself so that she could comfortably see out of the front window. She slammed her foot down on the clutch, roughly switched gears into first, and set off swiftly toward the hospital.
The Duke of Kent, slowly approaching the two injured vehicles, visually combed the surroundings as if expecting to see someone he recognized. He could have sworn on his mother's life that he had seen a shadowed figure in the backseat of Charles's vehicle as it was pulling away from the hotel. Henry had caught sight of Elizabeth at the moment she closed the door, and had also caught sight of the driver. From what he had seen of Charles' behaviour that night , his instincts told him that Charles was only going to escalate his torture of Elizabeth and the sight of her alone in a vehicle with him made The Duke afraid for her wellbeing. That's when he decided to borrow a groomsman's automobile and quickly follow the speeding car down the streets of Hamilton. Until, of course, Charles sped out of control and ran directly into another vehicle attempting to cross the street.
It had only been less than fifteen minutes since the crash but already the crowds of onlookers had left leaving only the Duke and the unfortunate recipient of Charles' drunk driving skills skulking in the dimly lit light of the public street. With piqued curiosity, Henry approached the black vehicle and opened the back passenger side door, the location he believed to have seen the outline of man merely minutes before. The back seat was empty. Or only initially appeared to be empty. Looking down on the floor, the Duke saw a coil of rope partially hidden under the seat. He bent down to inspect it further when he was met by a strong pungent smell. His eyes scanned the floor and abruptly found a crisp, clean white rag, that had obviously been doused with something potent.
The Duke took a few steps back as his mind processed the clues, unable to immediately admit what these signs were pointing to. He refused let his judgement automatically rush to accuse Charles of an attempt to kidnap Elizabeth, based solely on these findings. It wasn't until he decided to look in the rear trunk of the vehicle that his conviction started to change. There, hiding under piles of storage trunks, was a bag filled with heavy silver plates. Henry bent down to pick one up and brought it out into the open, hoping the faint light would cast some further insight into the cache of mysterious bricks. He could clearly see the words Dominion of Canada sprawled across the front and back and was struck by two faces, instantly recognizable as Lord and Lady Grey, staring back at him from the glint of the metal.
"You don't say…" Henry whispered to himself amusingly, analyzing the shiny find lurking in the depths of the this vehicle's trunk. "Seems Charles is involved in some very serious business."
Henry immediately made his way to the North West Mounted Police Headquarters, anxious to share his findings.
It had been twelve hours since Elizabeth had arrived at the hospital. Her parents, William and Grace Thatcher, had been with their daughter all night, having been discreetly summoned from Viola's wedding shortly before the festivities were drawing to a close. Citing headaches and too much imbibing of the available alcoholic beverages, the couple purposefully chose not to alert their oldest daughter of their sister's unfortunate circumstances to allow her to depart on her much-anticipated honeymoon free of any worries. As they sat solemnly beside Elizabeth's side, eager to note any sign of awakening, Nurse Carter entered the room to perform her routine vital sign checks and ensure her patient was comfortable. Faith noticed Grace's look of surprise as she glanced down at Elizabeth's now ringless left hand and immediately made a motion to clarify the absence to its owner.
"Common protocol for us to remove all jewellery once a patient is admitted. I have her ring safely locked in our safe and will bring that to you for safekeeping on my next round…" She spoke directly to the pair, hoping her explanation helped ease any confusion they had on the matter.
"Of course." Grace responded absently, her mind clearly not concerned for the missing ring. She then proceeded to squeeze her daughter's hand and look expectantly for any sign of response.
It was then Dr. Baker entered the room, holding a clipboard with Elizabeth's latest test results. The three bodies all turned and looked at the Doctor, nervously awaiting his update. "It appears this young lady here has an angel looking out for her. Besides the serious contusion on her forehead from the impact on the windshield and minor cuts and scratches, she appears to be in excellent health." Dr. Baker continued to look down at his reports and flipped a page, continuing. "No broken bones. No internal bleeding. Vitals have been steady for the past six hours. I would hope she has regained consciousness in the next twelve hours and if she hasn't...we will then resort to further tests. But for now...we need to just watch her closely and ensure nothing gets worse." Dr. Baker raised his eyebrows to his audience to silently summon any questions the Thatchers had but both William and Grace seemed satisfied with the promising news and each nodded their understanding.
"Well then. I shall continue on my rounds. Rest assured Mr. And Mrs. Thatcher...your daughter is in excellent hands with Nurse Carter." The doctor then looked directly at Faith and added, "Please do tell me immediately if anything changes." He then turned on his heel and left the room, his clipboard tucked tightly under his arm.
As the doctor was leaving Charles Kensington was approaching to enter Elizabeth's room, having just returned from a sobering rest in the waiting room. His appearance caused William's attention to quickly snap in his direction, asking, "Charles? You still haven't sufficiently explained how you almost got my daughter killed." As much as William tried to keep his voice even, the anger he currently felt caused his volume to increase rather loudly.
"Mr. Thatcher. Like I told you last night...I was trying to console Elizabeth. Seems she was rather upset about something that was said between the two of you." Charles purposefully looked William directly in the eye as he said this. "She was inconsolable and she threatened to throw herself out of the car and as I reached out to stop her...I swear I only looked away for a second….but that's when that car...that car came out of nowhere!" Charles mustered all of his resolve to conjure up enough tears to make his story believable.
William was silent and simply looked upon Charles as a man with no other options. This young man was his trusted apprentice, a man he entrusted with a great deal of responsibility and he had proven himself time and time again. He basically thought of him as the son he never had, and therefore, felt no other option existed than to believe him. To question Charles' integrity would be to question William's very own integrity in return.
"Very well…" William began but was abruptly cut off by a murmuring coming from Elizabeth's bed. It appeared his daughter was in the process of coming to. "My dear. Elizabeth!" He exclaimed as he rushed to her side, clutching her hand in his.
Elizabeth moaned lightly again and began to slowly move her head from side to side. Grace was across from her husband, holding her daughter's hand to her heart as William continued. "Elizabeth, my darling. It's your father. Don't worry, everything is fine. You're ok...Elizabeth. Do you hear me?"
"Father?" Elizabeth croaked, her mouth and throat parched from her extended sleep session. "Where...am...I?" Each word a monumental task to pronounce but the attempt to communicate was a godsend to those in her company.
"You're a patient at the Hamilton General Hospital." It was Nurse Carter. "It appears, my dear, that you've got yourself one heck of a bump on the head."
Jack Thornton was sitting in the front seat of a Mountie escort vehicle, currently transporting Bill Avery back to Mountie Headquarters in Hamilton, and to assist with investigating a breaking development in the counterfeiting case that had made its presence known recently in Hope Valley. He had been eating breakfast at Abigail's, readying himself for the rounds of the day and thinking about Elizabeth's return in three days time, when two men in red serge entered the cafe, locking eyes immediately with their brethren. The oldest of the two spoke first. "Constable Thornton?" He extended his hand in a greeting. "Constable O'Leary and Constable Thompson. I am here to escort Constable Avery, with the cooperation of yourself, to Hamilton headquarters. Constable Thompson here will be filling in on your behalf during your absence."
Jack's heart fell at the mention that he was required to report for duty, in Hamilton of all places, just as Elizabeth was to return home. "May I ask, sir, why I must be the one to escort Constable Avery back to headquarters? Surely Constable Thompson is capable?" Jack was reeling from the thought of putting more time between himself and the woman he was planning to marry in two months time.
Constable O'Leary looked at Jack in understanding, knowing how disruptive the Mountie life could get. "Rest assured you've come highly recommended as you've already had experience with this case...the counterfeiting ring? Seems there's been a break in the case in Hamilton and they need your expertise. There's also a potential kidnapping of some rich woman, that may or may not be tied to this, but it also needs to be investigated." He continued to look at Jack, expecting him to stand up at any moment and follow them out the door.
Jack did follow them out the door, but made a quick visit to Ned Yost's Mercantile, intending to send a telegram to Elizabeth. He wanted to ask if she could delay her return, for even one day, to enable him to see her. More than anything, he wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her that he loved her. And see her smile back at him, shyly. His words always had a visible effect on her, and he loved to watch her reactions.
"I'm sorry Constable." It was Ned Yost. He was standing behind the counter and could clearly understand how troubled Jack was by his information. "The telegraph machine is currently out of order. I've ordered another but it won't arrive until tomorrow." Jack turned and fled the building, incensed by his series of unfortunate events in the last half hour.
As the escort vehicle turned onto the main road, headed for the nearest train station, Jack Thornton pushed aside his seething frustration at the current luck he was experiencing but found it was only replaced a heavy foreboding. He didn't have a good feeling about this case. At all.