Chapter 8 – Tom's side

Tom just stared at Jack and didn't want to talk.

"I don't know why they are keeping me here." Tom complained. "It is just a couple of ribs and a bump on the head, I have done worse."

"Really." Jack questioned. "Being in that bed is the only thing keeping you out of a jail cell right now."

"Have you heard from Julie?" Tom questioned.

"We can talk about that later." Jack said. "You need to tell me what happened. Right now, Mr Thatcher is pressing the Mounties to charge you with theft of an automobile and kidnapping."

"What!" Tom huffed. "This is all Julie's fault."

"Well." Jack said. "You better start talking or there will be nothing that I can do to help you."

"Fine." Tom sighed. "Julie was telling me about all the cars that her father had. I may have said something about seeing them. She snuck me onto the property and opened the garage. She had the keys to get in. As I was looking around at the cars, she pulled a set of keys from her pocket. She wanted to go for a ride. She said that if I didn't take her, she would tell her father that I broke in. So I took the car out. I planned on just taking her for a short ride on the outskirts of town. When I pulled over for a moment to add more fuel, she got on the driver's side and said that if I didn't let her drive she would say that I kidnapped her. She told me she knew how to drive. I figured that she was going to spin it any way that she wanted and I was in trouble no matter what, so I just went with it. It was muddy, she was going too fast and wouldn't listen to me to slow down. We went around a curve and slid off the road. I had gotten out to check on the car and see if I could push it out.

That was when someone came along. The man stayed and the boy ran up to one of the houses to call for help. When the Mounties and Mr Thatcher arrived, Julie refused to say anything. Julie was crying and he whisked her away. The Mounties brought me here and I said that I didn't have anything to say, but they could send for you. That is everything. I swear. You know me."

Jack didn't say anything, he just finished writing. He then handed the book to Tom.

"Read it and see if it is okay." Jack said. "Sign and date it."

"Fine." Tom said.

Tom read over what Jack had written and it was almost word for word what he had said. Tom pointed to one part and had Jack make it clearer. After that, Tom signed it and also initiated where Jack pointed. Jack did the same and then put the book back in his messenger bag. They sat there quietly for a little while longer and then Faith came back in.

"Nurse Carter." Tom said. "Now Jack, can you please tell me about Julie."

"I said that we would talk about that later." Jack said.

"It is okay." Tom said. "I have no secrets from Nurse Carter. She knows about the Thatchers."

"I have to apologize for my brother's lack of discretion." Jack said.

"It is alright." Faith chuckled. "Everyone knows the Thatchers. They're practically …"

"Hamilton royalty." Jack said. "Yeah, I have heard."

"Jack has a very close relationship with princess Elizabeth." Tom teased.

"Tom watch your mouth." Jack warned. "Elizabeth and I both live in Hope Valley."

Tom just glared over at Jack. Jack just shook his head at Tom.

"Oh." Faith said. "That reminds me, Jack, there was a message for you. A Mrs. Thornton called and said that she would talk to you later."

"Seriously." Tom huffed. "You called Mom."

"Thanks Faith." Jack said. "I will talk to you later Tom. I will be back tomorrow."

With that Jack got up and left the room, leaving Tom with a ton of questions. Jack wondered why Elizabeth would call him at the hospital. She knew that he was going to be there. He wondered if she had gone to see Julie. When he got back down to the main lobby, he inquired about making a phone call. He quickly called the Delaney residence and learned that Elizabeth had indeed gone to see her sister, but her Aunt was expecting her back at any time. Jack let them know that he was just leaving the hospital and that he was headed to the house.

Aunt Elizabeth came out to greet Elizabeth. After her coat was hung up, Elizabeth was led into the sitting room. Aunt Elizabeth had figured that she would need some tea after dealing with everything.

"How did it go?" Aunt Elizabeth asked.

"Well." Elizabeth said. "I saw Julie. I spoke to Mother for a few moments. And before you ask, no I didn't say anything about me and Jack. I want to deal with this Julie situation first. I didn't tell her where I was staying other than with Jack when she asked where my luggage was."

"Okay." Aunt Elizabeth said. "Jack should be back soon. I talked to him and he was just getting ready to leave the hospital."

"I want to talk to him." Elizabeth said. "Then I will share more with you and Uncle Wynn."

"That is fine Beth." Aunt Elizabeth said. "Tell me what has been going on in Hope Valley. How is the girl, Becky is it?"

"Becky is doing better." Elizabeth said. "She is still in the hospital, but she is getting stronger everyday. Charlotte was right, she had picked up a parasite. They were able to narrow things down with the information that Cody provided and they got more information when she woke. They have her on the right meds and she is getting better. The doctors think that if she continues to improve, that she might be able to be home by Easter."

"That is great." Aunt Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth continued to fill her aunt in on various happenings in Hope Valley. They had a nice conversation over tea and just about the time that they were finishing, Jack came into the house. When Elizabeth heard the door, she knew that it was Jack, she could just sense it. She set her tea down and hurried to him. Before Jack even had his coat off, Elizabeth had wrapped her arms around him. He knew that she needed him, so he just wrapped his arms around her. There was so much that they had to talk about, but Elizabeth just wanted to be held, so Jack held her. She finally let him slip his navy coat off as well as his red serge.

Aunt Elizabeth showed them around the house and let them know which room that they would be staying in. After she had shown them around the house, she led them back to the sitting room and offered Jack some tea or coffee.

"Coffee, please." Jack said.

After Elizabeth brought coffee for Jack and more tea for Beth, they sat. No one really spoke. Aunt Elizabeth figured that they didn't want to talk about what happened with their siblings, but needed space to think. After about ten minutes, Wynn and Dee joined the group in the sitting room.

Wynn sat down near his wife with his own cup of tea. Dee sat at the small table that was in the room. He had a messenger bag similar to Jack's. He also had what appeared to be papers from work.

"I, take it." Wynn said. "That you have each spoken to your respective siblings."

"I spoke to Julie." Elizabeth said. "Well tried. She is acting like a spoiled child."

"I spoke to Tom." Jack said. "In fact, I have a statement from him."

Jack reached into his bag, pulled out the notebook and carefully opened it to the page that he had written Tom's statement. Then removed it from the book and handed it to Wynn. Elizabeth relayed what Julie had said and also let them know about the bruise on her arm that looked like it was from the steering wheel. Wynn looked over to Dee. Dee had written down what Elizabeth had said, and came to get Tom's statement from his father.

"What is going to happen?" Elizabeth said.

"I don't know yet." Wynn said. "If your father keeps pushing this, then I will have no choice but to take action."

"You're not going to arrest Tom?" Jack asked.

"Do you believe what he said?" Wynn asked.

"Yes." Jack said. "It wasn't easy for him to tell me. Tom may be a lot of things, but he is loyal. When I told him that he could be facing kidnapping charges, he realized that Julie was playing him. He wanted his side out there. He said that he figured she would spin it with her father to get out of trouble, just like she had with the dance hall."

"Well." Wynn said. "We are lucky. We have physical evidence. We also have a statement from the man and his son that stopped to help. The boy, who is thirteen, said that he had seen the lady behind the wheel when the car went past them. The man also said that it was the lady who was behind the wheel when he pulled up, but he wasn't sure if she was driving. Given the damage to the car and Tom's injuries, the Mounties on the scene had figured that he wasn't driving. Now with what you are both saying."

"If Father presses this." Elizabeth asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Well." Wynn said. "If he is pushing us to arrest someone, we could arrest Julie. She can be charged with driving without a license and causing an accident. Right now, there is nothing that I could really charge Tom with. He admitted that it was Julie's idea to take the car and she was going to make it all out to be his fault if anything happened. That shows that Julie had intent, besides she was the one that had the keys. I do think that it would be in Tom's best interest if he left Hamilton for a while. I can arrange for a job for him somewhere else. I strongly urge you to get him to take it. As far as my brother-in-law and niece, let's see if we can do this without arresting Julie."

"Jack." Elizabeth said. "I would really like you to go with me when I talk to Mother tomorrow. I want us to tell her together about us and then we will let her know about Julie and maybe she can get Father to back off."

"I told you that I would be with you." Jack said. "Just remember, nothing that they say can change the love that we have for each other."

"Now that we have that taken care of." Wynn said. "I need to borrow Jack for some other Mountie business. Beth, dear you have had a long trip. Please rest before supper. I am sorry that all this mess ruined your birthday."

"Oh." Elizabeth said. "You don't know that half of it. I will let Jack fill you in, I think that a nap is exactly what I need."

Wynn, Elizabeth Rose and Dee exchanged looks and then looked at Jack. Elizabeth stood and stole a quick kiss from Jack, then walked out of the room and down the hall to the guest room. Jack waited until she he knew that she was out of earshot before turning to the others to explain.

"Mr Thatcher." Jack said. "He sent Charles Kensington to Hope Valley with the promise of Elizabeth's hand. I walked into the school and he was on bended knee asking for Elizabeth's hand. I walked up to her, kissed her and then asked if Mrs Thornton was ready to go. Charles was pissed. When Elizabeth and I started to walk away, he grabbed her arm. I quickly stepped in and threw him in jail. I have ordered the two visiting Mounties and Sheriff Avery that no one is to talk to him until they hear from me. Which reminds me, I need to wire Bill and have him let Charles go."

"Wow." Dee said. "He is lucky you didn't shoot him."

"That was what Constable McGinty said." Jack remarked. "Charles had been previously warned to stay away from Elizabeth and that she wanted nothing to do with him. I understand that Mr Thatcher has business with the sawmill in Hope Valley and that Charles was handling that, but because of his actions he is missing an important meeting with the owner of the sawmill, Lee Coulter.

Lee also happens to be my best friend. Do you remember him from the wedding? I told him where Charles was and when he missed the meeting today, Lee was going to wire Mr Thatcher and let him know that Charles didn't show up. Lee was not happy with the way Charles acted when he previously was in Hope Valley. From what Lee said, Charles acted like it was the biggest inconvenience to come all the way out there. Then Charles insisted on getting a tour of the mill, complained how dirty it was and basically told Lee he needed to clean up the work site. One thing that Lee is a stickler for is safety, especially after he was hurt back in October. It is a sawmill in the middle of the woods. There is going to be some level of dirt and mud. What happens after that, I don't know. All I know is that he had no right to put his hands on Elizabeth."

"Well." Wynn said. "If he laid hands on Elizabeth, I will back your play. And yes, I remember Lee. I am glad that you are friends. He seemed really nice."

"I can't believe that William would do that." Aunt Elizabeth said.

"More than that." Jack said. "Charles actually told Elizabeth that it was time to quit 'playing teacher' and join society like she is supposed to. Elizabeth was furious. I think that if there hadn't been bars between them, she would have punched him herself. I have never seen her that mad and honestly I never want to see that again."

"If you will excuse me." Aunt Elizabeth said. "I will leave you boys to work. I need to start supper."

Aunt Elizabeth left the room. Jack and Wynn joined Dee at the table. Jack figured this was about the Garrison gang and what else he knew if anything. Once they were all seated, Wynn wanted the details about how Jack knew that the Garrisons were in the Hope Valley area.

"I got your letter, but I want to hear everything from you." Wynn said. "I know that there are details in the letter that you didn't share for one reason or another. I don't care why you didn't share them, but I need to know everything. I am sick of the Garrisons being one step ahead of us at every turn."

Jack spent the next hour going over how he came about the sketch and how the person was identified. He then talked about what Pastor Frank had told him and what he figured that the gang was planning. Wynn shared about a gold train that was going to be running through the mountains more than a day's ride north of Hope Valley between Rock Creek and Coopersville. Jack had been wrong about the bank, but Frank had been right about derailing a train. When Jack was done, Wynn was right that Jack had left out details and at least he understood why he had done it, it was doing his best to protect Frank and let him continue to live his new life. Wynn respected Jack for always wanting to protect the people that he cared about, even if it wasn't his job.

Wynn also updated Jack on what had happened with the rest of the Pacific Northwest Mining Company. The payments should be back on schedule and there would be no more problems getting the widows what they were owed. Jack also learned that there had been some irregularities with the town's books, and that the money had been paid back. Since the money was able to be paid back and Gowen was dead, it was a closed matter. It was chalked up to poor accounting as they couldn't actually find anything wrong with any of the companies. Jack had questions about the audit, since he hadn't talked to Abigail about it. Wynn let him know that it was a closed matter and that only the town council knew and it wasn't going to be public knowledge. Jack looked at Wynn, but then Wynn explained with everything else going on with Pacific Northwest, the less that was public the better.

After getting all of his questions answered, Jack felt better. He didn't exactly agree, but at least he was happy with what Wynn had told him. The men talked about Mountie business until they were called for supper. They shared a few stories and talked of time at the academy. Jack knew that he knew Dee from somewhere and it wasn't the wedding the month prior. Jack knew that he had met him before he had come to Hope Valley, but really couldn't figure out where it was. He thought he knew, but now he wasn't as sure as he had been before. Jack had thought he had it figured out before, but as they spoke, he had ruled that idea out and was once again trying to figure it all out. It was bothering him, but he knew that he couldn't dwell on it with everything else going on. Jack pushed the thought out of his mind and enjoyed spending time with some fellow Mounties and family as he didn't get that a lot of the time.

Aunt Elizabeth had woke Beth before she called the men. All together, Elizabeth was grateful that she had taken a nap. Traveling overnight really took something out of her. Not only was it the traveling, but the reason that she had been traveling. Elizabeth knew that dealing with her family was stressful, but it had to be done. She just wished that she could go back to Hope Valley and forget about dealing with her parents. Supper was a lovely roast with potatoes and mixed vegetables. Everyone enjoyed the food and the company. After supper, Elizabeth talked to her aunt about talking to her family about her marriage. Aunt Elizabeth reminded her that Jack was right, nothing that they said could change the way the two felt about each other. She also told Elizabeth that the best way to deal with it was straight forward and if they didn't want to accept things then that was their loss.