Chapter 9 – Changes part 2

While Elizabeth had called off the engagement the day after her father had visited. While Elizabeth thought she was free as of the eleventh of July, Lucas still had no clue. She had tried to call him the night before in Edmonton, but she couldn't get a hold of him. She had left a message to have him call her if he checked for messages. When Elizabeth still hadn't heard from Lucas by the end of that weekend, she shifted her focus and tried to get back with Nathan who was constantly withdrawing from her.

No one heard again from Lucas until he arrived back in town on the twenty-second of July. Lucas arrived in town late that night. He immediately went to his office and found several things. The first thing that he picked up was paperwork from Henry Gowen buying out all of Lucas's shares of the oil company. Lucas read through the papers and wondered where Henry had suddenly gotten the money, but since he didn't care about the oil company, he signed the papers taking the buyout. He figured Henry had found a different investor and since Lucas didn't have the energy to fight and he needed the money he signed the papers and immediately took the papers over to the oil office and dropped them on Henry's desk with the keys and a note that he wanted the money within forty-eight hours.

Lucas then went back to his office and started going through other paperwork. He hadn't seen Elizabeth's note before he was too tired to continue. Lucas went to his bedroom to catch a few hours of sleep before he left early in the morning again, this time headed to Buxton. He didn't see Gustav or anyone for that matter while he had been in Hope Valley all of about nine hours. Nathan however had seen the car, but when he went to speak to Lucas, he was gone again and Gustav hadn't even known that he had been there.

Once again Lucas had arrived back in Hope Valley late, without seeing anyone. He found the check from Henry on his desk with the final paperwork. He grabbed it and quickly sorted through the rest of the stack. Anything for the saloon or the oil company, he put in separate piles. He then bound the stack of oil company mail for Henry and the stack of saloon business for Gustav to deal with, since most looked to be from vendors. The stack that was left was personal correspondence, so he took those since he could deal with them as he had time. He opened his personal safe and dumped everything in there into his satchel without looking and didn't notice the small blue pouch.

From his office, Lucas went to his personal quarters and packed some clothes and other personal items that he didn't want to get lost or to part from. He loaded everything except the satchel of money into his car. After a few hours of sleep, he got up and left notes for Henry and Gustav. Part of what he left Henry was the stack of oil company mail that had been put on his desk, the other part was that he wished him well with whoever he had suckered into partnering with him. The note sounded very much like a goodbye. The note to Gustav asked him to take care of the saloon and see that everything was handled as he had to leave again. He wasn't sure when he was going to be back, but would be in touch when he knew more. He left the note on top of the stack of mail and set it in the kitchen for Gustav.

After one last look around his office, grabbing a few other things, Lucas left his keys to the saloon on the desk and left Hope Valley. He was running and he didn't care. He didn't speak to anyone nor did he care. Lucas hadn't seen the note from Elizabeth so he didn't know that she had broken off the engagement first, all he knew was that she had left him high and dry when he needed money to get out of a jam so he didn't care. There was a part of him that wanted the ring back, not knowing it was in the satchel in his hand. He just knew that he needed to leave before the others caught up with him. He didn't care if they came looking for him in Hope Valley and what happened to the people that he would run into. All Lucas knew was that he was saving his own hide as usual.

For the second time, Nathan saw Lucas sneak out of town. Nathan saw that the car was loaded and it looked like Lucas wasn't coming back. Nathan shook his head, he wondered what trouble that Lucas had gotten into and what he needed to be on alert for. He made a mental note to call headquarters when he got back to the office. He wondered if Lucas had had the decency to tell anyone he was leaving or was he just going to cut and run. Part of Nathan was glad that Lucas was leaving, but he wondered what trouble he was running from and what that would mean for Hope Valley. Nathan didn't even feel sorry for Elizabeth after everything that she had put him through. Would he protect the town, her included? Of course, but he wouldn't tell her anything else.

Nathan just prayed that whatever caused Lucas to run would not bring untold trouble on the innocent people of Hope Valley. He also prayed that whatever happened he would be ready and so would the town. Finally, Nathan prayed for Lucas. Just because they didn't get along and Nathan was sure Lucas was part of something criminal, he didn't wish harm to him. Nathan actually had hoped and prayed that Lucas would change his ways and give up whatever criminal connections he had. Maybe part of that was because of Nathan's own past with his father.

… … … …

Many of the changes that had happened in the past six weeks revolved around Nathan and Allie. The first of those changes came the week after William Thatcher's visit. Tuesday of that following week, Nathan left on the early morning train with Frank headed for Union City. Nathan had meetings at headquarters and Frank wanted to go with, in the hopes of finding an engagement ring for Abigail.

While at those meetings, Nathan learned more about the training manuals that headquarters wanted him to rewrite/update. He also learned that besides a vehicle he was getting at least one if not two young Mounties assigned to Hope Valley and they would be expected to patrol further North, even past the new settlement that was about a half hour from Hope Valley. The good thing was that only one of them had to do that patrol which took most of the day a couple times a week as long as there were no problems. Nathan learned that the first young Mountie to be assigned to him would be Gabe Montgomery and his horse, Magic. Gabe had been chosen because of his knowledge of the area and of some of the people, but also because he excelled at tracking and they wanted him to learn more from Nathan.

At that time the second young Mountie hadn't been chosen, but there was talk to hold off and see how the two did first and see if a third man was needed. Nathan thought it was a good idea to hold off on the third member, but had looked over the potential candidates and certainly had his favorites in the group. He made his wishes known to Superintendent O'Reilly and he wanted to give it at least a month or two to see how things worked out. Nathan knew that it wouldn't be ideal to move someone once the colder weather had set it, but that was what it was. The worst case scenario would be waiting until spring to move a third Mountie to Hope Valley.

Nathan also spoke to the Superintendent about his concerns over Lucas, even though no one had seen him since before he had left the week after the Father's Day celebration. They know that he had spoken to Elizabeth and Gustav and at least once to Henry. O'Reilly just told Nathan to be on the lookout and he would see what he could find out and pass on any pertinent information. It wasn't what Nathan was hoping for, but he has shared his concerns and that was all he could do at the moment. Nathan did make a mental note to call William Thatcher and see if he had found out any additional information. He knew that Elizabeth had broke things off, but there was something that told Nathan that William Thatcher wouldn't leave it at that and he would want to know everything there was to know about the man in case he tried to come back demanding things, especially since not only had William eliminated any chance of Lucas getting his hands on Elizabeth's trust fund, but he had also cost him money by buying out the rights to Elizabeth's book.

The last thing that Nathan learned at the meetings was the new hierarchy of the RCMP and who had been promoted and who had been moved where. Nathan was glad to learn Superintendent Hargraves had been moved to Regina and was assigned desk duty. At least there was very little that Hargraves could do to mess with the daily life of Nathan in Hope Valley since he had been assigned desk duty overseeing admissions and had very little to do with the actual day to day operations of the force anymore. According to Superintendent O'Reilly, Hargraves had basically been assigned a dead end job as it would not allow for any advancement and the men who held that job usually retired after three to five years when it became clear they were no longer going to advance in the force. For that Nathan was grateful since he didn't have to worry about Hargraves coming after him any more.

Before he left, Superintendent O'Reilly had pulled Nathan aside and informed him that the latest inquiry had been removed from his file by Chief Superintendent Collins and there was no longer any mention of it or the accusations that Hargraves had made anywhere in his permanent file. A commendation recommendation notice from a member if the public had also landed on O'Reilly's desk. He told Nathan that he could say who had made the recommendation, but that it was for outstanding community outreach and going above and beyond the call of duty time and time again. Since O'Reilly knew Nathan's discomfort with public displays he promised him that he wouldn't do a large ceremony for either the commendation or the promotion, as long as the new commendation was displayed in his office for the remainder of the year as he would be checking on the fact. Nathan agreed as few people actually came into the office.

Gabe had arrived on the morning train on August first. At the moment, the plan was for Gabe to stay with his mom and sister. Frank and Lee said they would get one of the apartments fixed up over the winter which was fine. Cody and Gabe had been talking about maybe getting the apartment together. It wasn't that either minded living at home, but both wanted their own place since they were working. Abigail was a harder sell then Cat since Cody was only sixteen where Gabe was twenty-one, almost twenty-two. Despite the age difference the boys got along great. Nathan had spoken to Abigail and suggested that it might be a good thing, because then Cody could get a real taste of what it was like to be a Mountie before he made the commitment to the academy. Since it was still at least a few months away, Abigail hadn't given an indication one way or the other.

Nathan was grateful for the extra help, especially with having to patrol out to the new settlement and slightly beyond. For now it was decided to do those on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a few Saturdays thrown in at random. The people were close enough to town that they used the services in town. One of the parents also brought the children in by wagon each morning for school and while it was still nice the children would walk home as a group. Once it got colder, other arrangements would be made, but hopefully many of them would be in homes closer by then.

… … … …

Gabe was working out great and he got along with Nathan well. Cat was overjoyed to have her oldest back under her roof for however long it lasted. Gabe was a smart and eager young Mountie and was willing to listen to Nathan and Judge Avery, so he could be better. The best part of Gabe moving back to Hope Valley, was that his long time love wasn't that far away in Benson Hills. Her mother had moved there after the mining trial to start over. Gabe and Rachel had written back and forth for years, no matter where life had taken Gabe. Rachel was proud of Gabe and had even convinced her mother to let her move back to Hope Valley.

Rachel had applied for and received a job working at the dress shop. Clara loved the work that she had sent in and hired with Rosemary's blessing. Rosemary had bought the dress shop years ago from Dottie, but had mostly left it to Clara and Mary Graves to run. When Clara called Rosemary with the idea of hiring another person especially since both her and Mary would now have small children, Rosemary jumped on the idea. When she had put the ad in the papers in both Benson Hills and Buxton, the response was immediate. Granted there were more experienced seamstresses, Rachel's personal appeal resonated with Clara. So the week before Gabe moved to Hope Valley, Rachel moved back home, taking the apartment above the dress shop with Fiona. The two women got along fine and it was easy for Rachel to watch the shop with her only being upstairs.

However, when Fiona saw Gabe and Rachel together for the first time, she realized the arrangement, no matter how much she liked it, was probably just temporary. She predicted that the pair would be married within the year. Abigail smiled as she had also seen Rachel great Gabe when he had come into town with Nathan that first morning. She remembered when they were both just shy awkward teenagers around each other.

… … … …

Another huge change for Nathan that only a few people knew about, was he had been in contact with the service that had arranged for Jeb Campbell's mail order bride. Jeb had mentioned it one evening when Nathan had stopped by and helped him with chores since Laura was stuck at Mrs Thornton's. That had been back in May and since Nathan had exchanged a handful of letters and one phone call with the potential young woman. It was now Nathan's call as the young woman was more than happy to come. Nathan hadn't thought it would happen so fast, so had asked for some time, just a couple weeks to get his teenage daughter used to the idea before the young woman arrived.

Nathan had been unsure about the whole thing, especially after what happened with Elizabeth but back in July when Allie had been excited about him dating he realized that as long as he was happy she would be happy. When he had talked to Allie, he and the young woman had exchanged two letters and Nathan had felt a connection to the young woman. It wasn't that she didn't have potential suitors back in Toronto where she was, but she had never felt right about them.

The young woman, Margaret, had always seen herself married to a man and living in the country or at least a small town. Margaret was well educated and from a moderately wealthy family. She was twenty-five and the only one of her adult siblings not married. She had two sisters and a brother who were still in school. Nathan had let her know that they lived simply and didn't have all the comforts of the big city, including running water and indoor plumbing, though Hope Valley hoped to have it within a few years. Maggie, as she preferred to be called, was completely fine with it and had actually told Nathan she looked forward to the adventure since camping with her late grandfather had been one of her favorite times growing up.

Thinking about Maggie was one of the thoughts that had been rattling around Nathan's head that morning of the twenty-first as he had rode. He had thought of what Colleen would have said about the whole matter. Seeing her at the cemetery had been like her giving her blessing so as Nathan headed back to town aimlessly, he was trying to think of a way of telling Allie so Maggie could board a train westbound and be there in less then a week once asked.

… … … …

One of the other things that Nathan had been thinking about that morning was Allie's birthday that had happened the week before. When he had talked to Allie about what she wanted to do for her birthday she had asked to go camping, just the two of them. Nathan had said he would see what he could do. Knowing that her horse from Mr Thatcher would arrive on Saturday, Nathan planned a small party for Allie at the cafe with Opal, Emily, Cody, and Robert along with Lee, Rosemary and Bill. It would be a chance to give Allie her presents and also celebrate with her friends.

The afternoon party at the cafe had been a huge success. Lee and Rosemary had gotten Allie two new dresses that she could wear to church or school. Rosemary had even tucked a note in the box telling Allie to come by the dress shop and she would make sure she had all the proper undergarments that she needed. When Allie had gone to give them a thank you hug, she had whispered an extra thanks to Rosemary. Cody and Robert had each gotten Allie some fishing hooks, line and tackle. She was grateful because she knew she had needed it and they had noticed. Opal had gotten Allie a new journal and Emily had gotten her a fancy new pen she had had Gabe bring from Union City.

Allie was confused when both her dad and Uncle Bill handed her an envelope together. Inside was a puzzle that Allie needed to figure out in order to receive her gift. The puzzle had a bunch of letters and symbols on it. The five young people quickly put their heads together and figured out Allie's gift was in the livery. Allie started jumping up and down asking if she was getting a horse.

"You will just have to go see." Nathan said.

Allie bolted from the cafe with Nathan, Bill and the rest a few steps behind. Allie got to the livery but didn't see any horses that she didn't recognize until she came to the last stall by Newton that had recently been occupied by Gabe's Mountie horse, but it wasn't Magic standing there but a horse that looked very similar to Newton. She stood there and looked between the horse and where her father stood in the aisle.

"His name is Hickory." Nathan said. "Is a five year old thoroughbred. The new blanket is a gift from your Uncle Bill. He pulled some strings and got you a Mountie replica blanket. The saddle and bridle are from me. The horse himself is also a gift, but the giver wishes to remain anonymous. The person however spoke to me and made sure it was okay beforehand. So enjoy it sweetheart."

Allie ran to give both Nathan and Bill huge hugs. She wanted to ride Hickory right away, but Bill reminded her there was still cake and ice cream back at the cafe. So with one long look back at the horse, Allie led the group back to the cafe where they had cake and ice cream while discussing several things. Rosemary of course insisted on making sure Allie had riding culottes. Nathan couldn't tell who had been more excited – Allie getting the horse or Rosemary getting to play for Allie.