CHAPTER 47

Tom and Charlote knew that she would be sad, after all, knowing that her father and former best friend had been imprisoned for years and that her mother and sisters had gone straight from there to arrange a big trip to forget their troubles, that was reason enough to torment that little girl. But the two of them had no ideas about Jack or Philip and everything else involved in the story.

At dawn, Elizabeth called the mercantile after Charlote and Tom had gone to work. Seeing that they didn't have what she wanted for her baby's trousseau, she decided to go into town, where she bumped into Lina and invited her to go to the neighboring town with her. The day was wonderful with shopping, snacks and lots of laughter, and Elizabeth was enjoying every minute of it, it was a special day, she had the company of her friend Lina and also the baby was sleeping quietly in her belly, without causing any pain.

Shortly after lunch, when they were on their way back to Hope Valle, their wagon was stopped, and two armed men appeared, grabbed Elizabeth and took her away, leaving Lina lying on the road, having been hit on the head with a bullet, from which a lot of blood came out. Still dizzy and with a terrible headache, she climbed into the wagon and drove on to Hope Valle, needing to find Nathan or someone who could save Elizabeth.

Nathan and Lee were leaving the café when they saw a wagon coming at high speed; that's when they noticed Lina lying wounded on top of the wagon, and when they talked to her and learned the whole story. Nathan immediately took over and sent her to the infirmary, while Lee and Bill gathered the men and set off on the search mission.

- Bill! Call in all the men, and they must all be armed.

- Who took Elizabeth? Bill's eyes were wide with terror. He knew she was almost due to give birth, and the scare could have brought the baby forward and put her at risk.

- She's at risk of death, Bill, it was Charles Spurlok who kidnapped her...

A chill went through Wynn's stomach and an ice-cold feeling went through Bill's soul at that moment. Several men came out, all divided up. Each would cover a part of the territory near the area where she had been kidnapped. Carson would take care of Lina and follow behind, staying at a certain point where Wynn had determined as the base point.

As Carson was leaving with his suitcase of life-saving products, Philip, Marlen, Patrick and Frankison arrived in town; as soon as they saw Carson's face, pale and fearful, they knew something serious had happened. And to the surprise of all those men, as soon as Philip heard what had happened, he turned his horse around and started galloping in a way that no one could catch up with, but before he left he just spoke:

- At his house... Run! Charles Spurlok must have gone there. He already tried to kill Elizabeth there. He wants revenge.

Carson knew where this place was. Jack showed him once when they were looking after a child, so Carson told them to get help and he went after Philip with Frankison.

Philip couldn't stand the pain in his head, he felt like he was going to explode, images and images were flashing through his mind. But his fear for Elizabeth and the baby was so great that nothing and no one could stop him.

When he reached the forest, Philip saw a man standing guard next to a car, Spurlok must have been inside. First Philip finished off the guard, that's when he heard Elizabeth's desperate scream; Charles Spurlok was on top of her; Elizabeth was slumped in the corner of the bed, her eyes bulging with terror, she had marks on her face and arm. When Philip saw that, he knew he was going to kill that man. But at that moment, someone pulled him off and threw him to the floor, punching him several times... Philip struggled to escape, but when he did, he didn't give the man a chance and after knocking him out, he went to save Elizabeth.

With a kick, he broke down the door, throwing it on the floor, and went to tackle Charles Spurlok. It only took a few minutes before he collapsed.

Philip ran to Elizabeth, she was curled up in the corner of the bed, gagged, he looked at her writhing in pain, that's when he noticed she was in labor. He released her and began to put her in the best possible position... Even though he had already given birth twice in his life, he had never been as worried as he was now. She was so pale, her face showing the intense pain she was trying to hide. Carson came running in soon after. Philip handcuffed Spurlok and left him tied up with the other bandit outside tied to a tree. Elizabeth went through another hour of intense pain, where little Jack Thorton Junior was born, a child as beautiful as his mother and with the same eyes as her and dimples... my dimples, he thought... my son... tears rolled down Philip's face, he was looking at the baby in his arms when he heard it:

- Elizabeth!

- Elizabeth!

Nothing was heard in the room, and Carson became more and more agitated. Philip began to see that she was strange, that she was completely limp. He began to call out to her, and seeing that she didn't answer, he became desperate. She looked different, her breathing was slow and weak. I put little Jack down in a makeshift corner and ran to help Carson, who was performing cardiac maneuvers on her. The door opened with a dry noise and Abigail, Bill and Charlote arrived, and on seeing the scene, went pale with fear. Abigail took over helping Carson; Charlote noticed that her eyes had lost their life.

-Bill, she's giving up, I know that look. My Tomas, when he was dying, it was like that.

Bill hugged Charlote. He couldn't say anything, but in his years of experience, he also knew that look, and despair now filled his heart.

- Please, Elizabeth; don't leave me. Don't leave our baby, we need you. Philip cried.

- No. Please, Elizabeth, open your eyes...

And everyone saw her slowly close her eyes, and everything go quiet...

- Elizabeth Thorton; Bella! Philip shouted.

- I love you; you can't give up; I've come back just for you, my Bella. Don't leave me, please. I don't know how to live without you...