CHAPTER 44

Philip and the mountie gang were on their third day on the road; It dawned cloudy and around lunch time, it started to rain, making them walk more slowly, to avoid getting stuck. Willian and Charles, from the time they left prison until now, always threw words to the wind and laughed when they saw Philip pass by. The mounties had already noticed the fact, but they didn't know that Philip, Patrick, Frankison and Marlen were prepared for this trip and were watching and listening to everything the prisoners and lawyers were saying and thus joining the dots to solve that problem, they set up a trap... What they noticed was that Hargraves was spoken about several times, and always in a low voice and dubious tone.

— Charles, pay attention. Lawyer Kin told me last night that today we will be rescued. According to him, there were only three mounties left in the camp when we stopped to sleep today. Philip and some of the others will take turns going to the nearby town, sending telegrams to the base and getting food and supplies, some of the lawyers will go with them to the town, so they don't draw attention to our escape.

— Willian, who is coming to help us and how will we get Elizabeth?

— Hargraves... He has a good team ready, and we're going to run away and come back later to get that girl, if she's already won the little bastard, it will be even better, because you won't have a sick wife in bed for a few days, not that that would prevent a honeymoon.

— I'll make you forget everything when you're in my arms. She will return to being society's lady and its perfect daughter.

— I know, Charles, I know... And every woman in bed needs a real man, and that's how they learn to live and obey us. I'm sure that once she learns to respect you, she will be the happiest woman in the world. Both Grace and I trust you.

Charles and Willian didn't know that the valet of the prison stagecoach was a disguised mountie, who heard everything, and with the others they planned a way to catch whoever came to rescue them.

Philip paced back and forth, he was a caged bear, he couldn't imagine what would drive a man, to do bad things and use his career as a mountie; He was disappointed to find out everything about Hargraves, his cousin was doing everything wrong in life. How could he be engineering a prison break? What else has he done wrong? Which criminal has he helped? And when Frankison looked at Philip, he saw a dark cloud in his eyes, something breathtaking, something terrifying, and he heard him say under his breath:

— I'm going to find out, and if he did something to cause that pain that exists in Elizabeth's eyes, and if he is the cause of that suffering, and if he has touched a strand of her hair, I will end him...

Frankison, you never imagined seeing Philip so changed. He was afraid of whoever came in front of him now. And, at the same time, he got goosebumps, feeling that man's love for his little sister.

— Philip, we go together, put an end to Uncle Willian and Charles' plans, besides, who does he think he is, to make Beth's life a living hell? I know you will protect them and we will help too.

— Frankison, I know you know everything about the history between me and Jack. I don't know what happened or why, but I love Elizabeth and that baby, and I'm going to find out who was responsible for her going through so much pain. I know what I saw in your eyes, I heard your painful cry and your tears on my shoulders, I will not forgive whoever hurt you like that.

— I know and we're going to find out, and I'm going to help you, because I also don't accept what they put her through. But your cousin Hargraves...

— If he did something to her, if he even thought… he will see me, he will pay me. And with each passing day, Frankison, I'm having more doubts about our relationship, but during this trip we're going to discover some things.

And so following the plans, that afternoon the mounties left, each one on their own mission, they were going to catch these bandits. These men were a real mafia.

At dusk, when the sun disappeared and darkness began to fall, Hargraves gathered twenty men, all hooded and well armed, some of them mounties and others pinkertons, men who should fight for justice, but were corrupted by money and now worked for Hargraves in the path of evil. They had orders to kill the mounties present, knock out the lawyers and take only Willian and Charles, to a base that would serve as hiding places for some time, then Hargraves, with everything planned for the departure of these two men from the country, would take Elizabeth Thatcher with him. for them; Philip, Nathan and Wynn wouldn't know what hit them when they lost their beloved teacher Elizabeth. And this time, they would finish off all those men.

They came in, shooting everyone, attacking the lawyers who were in the camp. Hargraves stayed away, he could not be seen and compromised his career, but he did not know that Frankison, Patrick, Marlen and Philip were lying in wait all afternoon, and he saw and heard him making strategies and giving orders for that gang to kill. the mounties. Today Frankison was grateful for his new training and the last Christmas gift that Elizabeth gave him, a top quality camera that had the function of filming with audio and image, and he now had the necessary evidence that could be used in the trial... They waited until they freed the prisoners, filming the entire action, and when the bandits and prisoners met Hargraves at the top of the hill, Philip shouted and gave the order for his arrest. They all reacted, there were lots of shots, blood everywhere. Charles was hit in the leg, after trying to escape with William on him, they were also armed and were shooting at the mounties. They were real bandits. Frankison, managed to arrest his uncle Willian, after he tried to kill him. His father, Wynn, would not be happy knowing that that man pointed the gun at him, and his sister Beth, she would be very disappointed.