CHAPTER 28

- Tell me, let's see what you heard or think you heard! Bill said with his usual frown.

- Prisoner Charles and William Thatcher saw that I was lying in a corner, I had noticed in the early hours of the morning that they were giving each other a signal with their heads and eyes, so I pretended to be sleepy and lay down and remained motionless, until some snoring I did, but they started talking quietly, thinking I was asleep.

"CHARLES, DON'T WORRY THAT THE COMMANDER IS GOING TO TAKE US OUT OF HERE AND WE WILL STILL GET ELIZABETH AS A TOAST. NO JUDGE WILL GIVE A WIDOW THE FREEDOM TO RUIN A FAMILY OR TO SHAME A SOCIETY..."

"SIR WILLIAM, WHAT I AM LIKEING MOST IS HIS ASSHOLE FACE, AT NO MOMENT DID HE REMEMBER ANYTHING."

"YES, CHARLES IT'S SO HILARIOUS TO SEE THIS. HE IS SO CLOSE AND SEES NOTHING, FEELS NOTHING."

"SIR WILLIAM, THAT SCHEME DURING THE TRAINING WAS RIGHT, HUH? WHO WOULD IMAGINE THAT THEIR PLAN WAS SO PERFECT. SEEING THIS IS BETTER THAN SEEING HIS DEATH".

- Soon after, Mr. Bill, they ended up going to sleep. I could be wrong, but I think they were talking about Captain Philip, I know he has no past memory, but I can't connect the ends...

Bill looked at the boy wanting to read his reactions, he didn't see any evil in that young man, but he seemed to know something, so he asked:

- How do you know he has no memory?

- Do you know, why did I come here? My story is as follows, I was just a soldier, we had recently joined, I had my best friend, we were raised in an orphanage our whole life, in... He was stationed with me, one day out of nowhere he disappeared, and that it happened days after we heard a conversation under a mountie who had been presumed dead, but in the conversation they laughed saying that he would suffer a lot now, him and others. That he would see his family go away being given to another man, and that he would not remember her, they laughed a lot, that was when I was scared by the evil and I tripped, and made a noise. My friend Simon, pushed me and hid me and so he was punished and sent to the Northern Territory, there he met Jack Thorton and other soldiers, they fought and escaped from captivity together, but as soon as they arrived at the base in Hamilton, he was arrested as a deserter and was not even allowed visitors.

- Northern Territory?

-Jack Thornton?

- Deserter?

The young mountie saw the anguish and various feelings passing across Bill's face, his look seemed incredulous about something.

- Mr. Judge, I can give my life for him if you want, we were raised in an orphanage together and we have no one for us, he wouldn't make up a story like that and he would never run away from a battle. My friend and his sister is in Hamilton looking for the other soldiers who were with them and I came here after Jack Thorton, to prove that my friend was not a deserter, but to my surprise I discovered that Jack had passed away. Then I asked Captain Philip some questions and he said he couldn't help me because he didn't have his memories. You know, sir Bill, soldier Simon, said that Jack had a wife and loved her very much, he lost his memory due to a huge head wound when he arrived in captivity, according to Simon he was bleeding a lot, he was very pale and very hurt as well. Because he was covered in dirt, he thought Jack wouldn't be able to survive, the poor guy had a pain in his head that made him feel like he was going crazy and even so, he still got hit a lot there. He was the last to be thrown into that cell. Simon had already been there for more than four days when Jack arrived. Each of the hostages came on different days and did not know each other, but according to Simon, Jack always saw a beautiful young woman, who always warned him about the danger or took care of him.

— Why did you stay here in Hope Valle when you saw he passed away?

— I met his widow, she emanates a light. Knowing that my friend is alive because of her or their love, and made me stay and protect her in any way I can. She has been through a lot, and suffered a lot, I wouldn't have the courage to abandon her.

Bill smiled to himself, seeing that another one had fallen in love with Elizabeth. What was it about that teacher, who made an entire city, besides all the mounties falling in love with her?

Bill passed by the soldier, messed with his hair, messing it up, as he liked to show these boys that they were still children, and said:

- I'm going to analyze son, I'm going to analyze everything you said. You did really well for someone who still wears diapers. And all of us together will protect that teacher and her baby. Know that I also fall in love with her. I learned from your smile that whatever problem I have, just by seeing that smile I can find the solution to the problem. She healed me and I will always be here for her too.

Bill, warned soldier Marlen that he shouldn't tell anyone about that conversation, not even Captain Philip should know, as there were a lot of strange things there, and apparently those two prisoners were involved in more things than just the kidnapping attempt of Elizabeth, asked to be careful with what he said around them, to avoid hints or suspicions that they were investigating them, in addition, Elizabeth was not allowed to enter the police station to visit them or for anything else, they didn't want her even going to see some of the mounties she accidentally met with the prisoners. Bill didn't want to take any risks with Elizabeth, her pregnancy wasn't being easy, going through her husband's death and that pregnancy alone and with so many problems in the middle of that pregnancy, still having to talk or hear something inappropriate from Charles, or Willian, was something that Bill wouldn't allow it, he noticed how painful it was for her to tell Lee about it being incompatible for a widow to be Bella's guardian and godmother, at that moment Bill was sure that her pain due to the many gossips and Willian's actions were hurting that girl too much. He wouldn't allow anyone else to talk about her, or make light of her because she was a widow, today Bill knew what the miners' wives went through years ago, he really never imagined that society would be so cruel.