Chapter 195 – Seeking Information

After leaving the schoolhouse, Frank and Bill walked young Mr Higgins to the jail. Then without speaking, Frank tucked his sidearm in his coat. He then went to get Wynn, Jacobs and Abigail. There was something about the look in Bill's eyes that he didn't want to leave the man alone too long with the intruder. Bill looked like he was ready to shoot someone and he didn't care about the consequences of his actions.

When Frank got to the mayor's office, he knocked and stepped in without waiting for an answer. Abigail looked at him. Frank looked around and didn't see Wynn or Jacobs. He did see two men in suits sitting there and remembered that the auditors were coming, so figured that was them.

"Everything alright?" Abigail asked.

"No." Frank said. "I need you to come with me to the jail. Bill has a situation that needs your attention."

Abigail turned to look at the two men sitting at the table.

"Go." Andrew said. "I will let Wynn know when they get here."

"Please send them over as well." Frank said. "Both DC Delaney and Sergeant Jacobs."

"I will do that." Andrew said. "If we have questions for you, we will write them down. We have plenty of books to get us started."

"Thank you." Abigail said. "I am sorry."

"No need to be sorry." Andrew said. "We get that there are a lot of moving parts happening right now."

Abigail nodded and then followed Frank out onto the steps.

"What is going on?" Abigail asked.

As they walked to the jail, Frank quickly filled Abigail in on what happened that morning at the schoolhouse. He heard Abigail let out a harsh breath.

"Slow down." Frank said. "Elizabeth Delaney and Charlotte are even angrier than you. I saw them in the mercantile when I came over. I am sure that there are a number of wires going out. From what I could see, Charlotte was very angry."

"I am sure." Abigail said. "She told me a little about Thomas Higgins back in October and it wasn't good. If he sent his son here, he might be trying to intimidate Elizabeth again."

"Again?!" Frank asked.

"From what I understand." Abigail said. "Granted, I don't have the whole story, but from what Elizabeth has said, the man basically threatened her when she went to apply to be a teacher in the West. Something about did she earn her degree or did her daddy just buy it. He also tried to get her to go out alone with him. She said he sent her here as punishment."

"Oh." Frank said. "Joke is on him, she loves it here."

"Very true." Abigail said. "But it wasn't easy for her when she first arrived almost a year ago."

"Oh." Frank said as he reached the steps of the jail. "He continually called her Miss Thatcher. He didn't know that Elizabeth was married."

"Thank you." Abigail said. "Please have Elizabeth Delaney and Charlotte head over here. Then can you head back to the school and just help keep an eye on things."

"Of course." Frank said. "I will be around later if you want to talk. I was going to go visit Jack closer to lunch time."

"Thank you." Abigail said.

Frank went back down the steps and headed to the mercantile. Abigail took a fortifying breath and headed into the jail after a quick knock.

Charlotte and Elizabeth Rose left the schoolhouse and headed right for the mercantile. Both were fuming mad. They got to the bottom steps of the mercantile and Elizabeth Rose stopped Charlotte.

"I get that we are both upset." Elizabeth Rose said. "But we both need to be level headed. We will send our wires and wait for a response. We will then go to the jail. I am sure that they will get Abigail. If Bill doesn't need us, we will go back to the cafe."

"Okay." Charlotte said.

Both women took a deep breath and then headed up the stairs. When they walked in, Ned and Katie were both there. As upset as she was, Elizabeth Rose needed to be calm and get the messages out. She knew that Charlotte was more likely to be the emotional one, so she needed to be level headed.

"We both need to send some urgent wires." Elizabeth Rose said.

Katie handed them each a message pad and pencil. Elizabeth Rose and Charlotte both wrote out several messages. Charlotte had to stop writing twice because she was so upset. Finally, they handed the messages to Ned, who immediately went to send them.

"We need to deal with other things." Elizabeth Rose said. "But please keep the original messages for us. If there is a response, please bring it to the jail. If we leave, we will let you know."

"Okay." Katie said. "I will try the jail first. Mrs Delaney, if you see your husband or son, they have several messages already."

"I am sure that Dee will stop in shortly." Elizabeth Rose said. "If there is a response back before he stops in and you can't get away, please send it with him."

"I can do that." Katie said. "Lucy was going to take the girls over to play with Maggie Larson as Opal is in school."

"Very good." Charlotte said. "Glad it is working out for you two to have the girls."

Elizabeth Rose and Charlotte left the mercantile and headed to the jail.

As Wynn, Jacobs and Dee reached the edge of the buildings, they only saw one guard at the school and then Jacobs saw Elizabeth Rose and Charlotte walk past toward the jail, but Patty wasn't with them.

"Sir." Jacobs said. "I know that we are supposed to meet Abigail at her office with the auditors, but I just saw your wife and Charlotte walk toward the jail with no Patty and there was only one guard out front of the schoolhouse."

"Dee, check the mercantile." Wynn said. "Then come over to the jail."

"Got it." Dee said.

Dee headed to the mercantile, while Wynn and Jacobs headed to the jail. When they turned the corner and could see the jail, they saw Frank talking to Elizabeth Rose, Charlotte and Patty. Wynn could tell by his wife's body language that something was wrong. He quickened his steps and just as they reached the road in front of the jail, Elizabeth Rose turned around.

"I will explain everything." Elizabeth Rose said. "But we have a huge problem."

Wynn let out a harsh breath. Frank stepped forward.

"Sir." Frank said. "First, no one was hurt. Elizabeth was a bit upset, but Bill and I were able to handle things. Abigail is already here. I need you to be calm before you go in there. Bill is not happy and knows that these three ladies are not happy. We just don't have enough information at this moment, so I am thinking that we let Bill hold the person until we get some more information."

"Before I agree to anything." Wynn said. "Just tell me what is going on and what has been done."

Frank quickly filled Wynn and Jacobs in. Elizabeth Rose and Charlotte added a few comments as well. Once Wynn knew what was going on, he closed his eyes and flexed his hand twice.

"Jacobs." Wynn said. "Go deal with this. I am going to head back to the office. I can't deal with this right now. I have no patients for Thomas Higgins or family. That man has been nothing but trouble since the day I first crossed paths with him."

"I will handle it." Jacobs said. "I know the name, but have never met the man."

"You are lucky then." Charlotte said.

"Ladies." Wynn said. "Please go back to the cafe. Dee will handle the wires. I am sure it won't take long to hear back from people in Hamilton."

"Okay." Elizabeth Rose said. "I think Ann might be at the cafe alone, or Clara might still be there."

"Then please go help Ann." Wynn said. "Jacobs can deal with things inside. Frank, stay here for a moment."

Patty, Elizabeth Rose and Charlotte headed the cafe. Once they were past the infirmary, Wynn turned back to Frank.

"I see it in your eyes." Wynn said. "What didn't you say?"

"Lewis screwed up." Frank said. "Higgins was able to slip into the school through the side door. I don't know where Lewis was, but it took him several moments to respond. Morin was on the ball and was in the school as soon as he heard voices. I quickly grabbed my side arm and came over as well."

"Thank you for helping." Wynn said.

"Also." Frank said. "Bill looked like he was going to shoot the man on the spot."

"Got it." Wynn said. "Can you please go back to your office and keep an eye and ear out."

"I can do that." Frank said. "Morin should still be in front of the school and Bill told Lewis to stand outside the side door until he said otherwise."

Wynn nodded. After talking to Wynn and Jacobs, Frank turned and headed back to the school house. Jacobs waited until he rounded the corner.

"Sir." Jacobs said. "I will deal with this. McGinty is at the house. I can always get someone else to sit in the jail. Go, I will be over at the office shortly. Either this guy will have the right answers or he will be sitting in a jail cell until we can figure it out."

"Thank you." Wynn said.

Wynn turned and walked back to the mayor's office. Jacobs watched him walk away and was going to wait until he saw Wynn was in the office. He was almost there, when Dee came out of the mercantile. He looked between Jacobs and his father. After a moment of hesitation, Dee headed toward Jacobs, so he waited. While he waited, he waved to Wynn who had looked back and saw Dee. Wynn knew that there was information that he would have to have later, but at the moment, he had enough going on and was going to let others handle the immediate problems.

Abigail stepped into the jail, not waiting for Bill to invite her in. She looked between the two men that stood there glaring at each other. Bill caught her out of the corner of his eye and he made a quick motion to her, so Abigail stopped and waited.

"Madam Mayor." Bill said. "This is young Mr Higgins. He was looking for Miss Thatcher but he failed to inform anyone that he was coming. I was wondering if you knew."

"No, Sheriff Avery." Abigail said. "I didn't know anything about it."

"Thank you." Bill said. "This man is claiming that he is here to relieve Miss Thatcher of her teaching duties because she broke the morals clause in her contract."

"Well." Abigail said. "I find that hard to believe, but since the contract was signed with me, and I wasn't notified of this, I have to think that there is something else going on."

"I thought so as well." Bill said. "From what you have told me, Hope Valley is a private school and although they have to send reports to the department of education, I know that private schools are not subject to the same rules as say a school in Union City."

"True." Abigail said. "Next year when Hope Valley school will come under the umbrella of the city council, then there will be different things that need to happen."

"I thought that you said you were the mayor." Higgins said. "How is the Hope Valley school not under the city council and local board of education?"

"Simple." Abigail said. "I wasn't mayor when Miss Thatcher came out here at my request. I just became mayor in the new year. After the last teacher, just up and quit with no warning, the mothers of this town got together to form our own school. After the mine disaster that took our husbands and sons, we wanted control of the only thing we had left – our children.

As the wife of the superintendent, the other mothers looked to me. We did what we could to teach the children while we waited for a new teacher. Miss Thatcher arrived last May. After a trial period of a week, the mothers agreed that Miss Thatcher was the teacher that we wanted. She signed a contract with me as the head of the mother's group. I was informed by local education authorities in Benson Hills that since we, the widows and mothers, were paying Miss Thatcher that we were considered a private school and not subject to the same rules as the county schools."

"That is sort of true." Higgins said. "But I am not a local education authority. I am here as a representative of the Superintendent of all Western schools."

"So then you would have some sort of paperwork showing that." Abigail said. "Because until you can produce those, my understanding is that my contract supersedes that."

"I …. uh …." Higgins stammered.

"I thought so." Bill said. "So until we can get this sorted out, you can sit in a jail cell for the time being."

"But Miss Thatcher wasn't at the school and I demand that you bring her here right now." Higgins said.

"Absolutely not." Abigail said. "Miss Thatcher has children to teach and I am not going to interrupt their day as this is the first week that they have been back in school after just over a week off due to flooding in the area. The students and frankly this town need the routine of school and work. I am not going to let you come in here and disrupt that, because you have an attitude."

"But when we were at the schoolhouse." Higgins said. "The three ladies who all said they were teachers, none of them were named Thatcher."

"That doesn't mean that she wasn't there or wasn't around." Bill said. "Now, until I can verify who you are and what you are doing here, you will sit in a cell."

"But, but." Higgins again stammered.

Bill had heard enough. He pushed Higgins in the far cell and shut the door, locking it.