August, 1910

The two Mounties eyed each other somewhat warily as they sat side-by-side opposite the imposing desk of Superintendent Martin. On the other side of the glass partition behind them, the life of the Union City Mountie Headquarters was bustling noisily by, although inside the office, it was silent.

Well, nearly silent - except for the drumming of Nathan's long fingers on his campaign hat, which he was holding loosely in his lap.

"Do you mind?" Jack said, looking sideways with his eyes narrowed.

Nathan looked over and then down at his hands, completely unaware that he'd been tapping out S-O-S in Morse Code for the last five minutes. He'd acquired the knowledge in a recent class outlining the latest technologies, and the pattern seemed to have stuck.

Jack raised an eyebrow and smiled. "I'll admit I'm a little nervous too, but I don't think it's an emergency. Yet."

Nathan smiled back. "Sorry," he said a little sheepishly. "Just can't remember the last time I was called in here."

"Neither can I," Jack said, taking his own hat from his lap and hanging it casually on his knee. "Probably just a new assignment."

Now Nathan narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, but why both of us?"

Jack started to reply when the door to the office opened, and Superintendent Peter Martin stepped in and hung his hat on the hook. Both Jack and Nathan immediately stood to attention, and simultaneously said crisply, "Superintendent Martin."

Jack had forgotten how tall Nathan Grant was. They'd completed some trainings together over the last year, though they'd hardly spoken - but Jack had remembered Grant as a man who seldom said much anyway. They'd probably exchanged more words right here in this office today than they had in the last year.

"At ease, gentlemen," the Superintendent said, sitting heavily into his chair and causing it to squeak in protest. He waved his hand in front of him a little impatiently, and Jack and Nathan sat down.

Superintendent Martin shuffled some papers on his desk and then moved the entire pile off to the side, taking up another pile and leafing through it. Nathan began tapping on his hat again until Jack gave him a sharp sideways glance and Nathan stopped, raising his eyebrows apologetically.

"Ah, here we are," the Superintendent said, laying two pieces of paper side by side in front of him.

He leaned back, causing another chorus of squeaks. He folded his arms across his ample stomach and said, "Two postings. Two Mounties. You two are as equal in skills as we've got, and pretty much equal in seniority, although Thornton here is a legacy."

Jack and Nathan looked at each other, suddenly aware that this had turned into a competition. What kind, they didn't know yet, but the wariness returned.

"I'll be honest with you," Martin continued, "these two postings couldn't be more different." He picked up one sheet of paper. "Cape Fullerton, which is becoming overrun with rumrunners and illegal traders. A busy and dangerous seaport, but just the posting for an adventurous young buck..." Martin looked at Jack and then Nathan, "...like one of you."

He placed the paper back on his desk, and picked up the second sheet, adjusting his reading glasses. "Coal Valley. Never had a Mountie, and not quite ready for one yet from the looks of it, except that we've had a special request from one of our most supportive benefactors to the North West Mounted Police, who seems to have taken a shine to the town." Martin sighed and looked up at them over his glasses. "And we do like to keep our benefactors happy."

Jack and Nathan were already weighing the choices.

Jack didn't have to weigh long. He knew exactly where he wanted to be, and he looked over at Nathan and steeled his resolve. Of course he'll want the same thing. Who wants to live on a steady diet of coal dust in some backwoods town with a rich benefactor who probably expects to stand over the Constable's shoulder and call the shots?

"So," the Superintendent said, "you boys both going to want to fight over Cape Fullerton, or does one of you want a simpler life?"

At this point, Martin turned to Nathan and lowered his voice a bit. "Was sorry to hear about your sister, Grant. You have the NWMP's sympathy." He leaned forward and added, "I understand you're fostering her girl?"

Nathan was caught off guard by the unexpectedly personal turn the conversation had taken. His brow knit into a frown and he pursed his lips tightly. "Yes, sir. Thank you. It's Allie," he said, still a little off his feet. "My niece is Allie, she just turned four."

Martin looked at him for a moment and then his voice softened. "Cape Fullerton runs at a pretty fast pace, Grant."

"Yes, sir," Nathan said, looking across the desk at him. "I was thinking the same thing." Then he looked over at Jack and raised an eyebrow. "So if I had my choice, it would be Coal Valley."

Nathan saw a sudden flash of triumph cross Jack's face. Jack controlled it quickly, realizing that the Mountie across from him had obviously been through some difficult times recently. Nathan smiled and nodded and then looked back at Superintendent Martin. "And I have a feeling that will sit just fine with Constable Thornton."

Jack nodded his assent and Martin flattened both palms on his desk and stood. Nathan and Jack did the same.

"Your orders will come through in the morning," the Superintendent said. "Best of luck to both of you." He put his hand out and shook first Nathan's hand and then Jack's. The meeting was clearly over.

As Nathan led Jack out of the office, both men were aware that for the near-future at least, their destinies had been decided.

Just like that.

"Hey, Grant!"

Nathan turned, looking down the long aisle between the desks in the main room. He stood and waited while Jack caught up to him. Sometimes Nathan forgot how long his legs were and how fast he traveled on them.

"You want to get a coffee?" Jack said. "I don't know anyone here, and don't suppose you do either."

Nathan tilted his head, weighing a noisy night in the barracks trying to read against a cup of coffee and a talk with another Mountie. He chose the latter.

"Sure," Nathan said. "Actually, I didn't get any dinner on the way in, can we get a bite to eat?"

Jack nodded and turned to the closest Mountie sitting at the desk next to him. "Good place to eat?"

The man barely looked up, but pointed to his left, "Out that door and to the left. About five blocks. Sally's." And after imparting that wealth of information, he simply bent back down to his work.

Jack turned and grinned at Nathan, and Nathan had the fleeting thought that it was a smile that must really charm the girls. "Sally's," Jack said, raising his eyebrows. Nathan laughed, finding he liked Jack Thornton. Nathan nodded and shrugged. "Sally's," he said, leading the way.

On the way out the door, Nathan stopped and peered closely at a large map on the wall. There it was. A tiny dot just past Murrayville. Coal Valley.

Outside, Jack climbed up on Sergeant as Nathan mounted Newton. They started slowly down the busy street without conversation, too consumed with avoiding wagons, automobiles and pedestrians to talk.

A wooden sign showed them they'd arrived and after they'd tethered their horses, Nathan and Jack found a table inside.

"You're not hungry?" Nathan said, after he'd ordered steak, eggs and coffee.

Jack chuckled. "I think you're eating enough for both of us," he said.

Nathan smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Not sure where it all goes," he said. "But I do love to get food in my belly."

Jack smoothed down the front of his red serge jacket. Looking around, he was relieved to see there were other Mounties in the restaurant. It wasn't always easy to be the center of attention, and the red serge usually made that a certainty.

"I ate on the way down from Fort Simpson," Jack said.

"That where you're... you were stationed?" Nathan asked, digging into the rolls and butter the waitress dropped off.

"Yeah," Jack said. "You?"

"Not too far, Benson Hills. I could probably ride it tonight if I didn't have to wait for orders. It's on the way from here to Coal Valley, actually."

"You have a girl?" Jack asked, sipping his coffee.

"Yes," Nathan said, his mouth around a roll. "She's four. My niece."

Jack laughed softly. "I meant..." he said, his eyebrows raised, "Do you have a girl, someone you're sweet on."

Nathan looked up from buttering a second roll. "Oh. No. Been pretty busy..." he said. "And now, with Allie..." Nathan shrugged and sighed. "I'm not really very good with girls," he finally said.

Jack smiled. He thought Nathan Grant would probably be just fine with girls if he would look up from his dinner once in a while. Tall, dark, square-jawed and with eyes that made you look twice at how blue they were. Jack looked around them and yep, there was a table of two young women who weren't just looking at the uniforms.

"I had a girl," Jack said, leaning back expansively. "Rosemary. Even got engaged, but it seemed she loved the theatre more than me, so..." He leaned forward again and looked down into his coffee, the hurt still surprisingly there.

"I'm sorry," Nathan said, with evident sincerity in his voice, and Jack looked up.

"It's okay. It's probably for the best. You know what they say, 'If we'd wanted you to have a wife, we'd..."

"...have issued you one," Nathan finished for him. They both laughed and Nathan leaned back as his steak arrived. Before too long, it had disappeared.

They managed to have a good conversation while Nathan ate, talking about their current postings and the ups and downs of Mountie life. Jack talked about the Northern Territories and all the challenges the men were facing up there. He said he would put in some time in Cape Fullerton and then expected he'd volunteer to head up north.

Nathan nodded. "It's good you feel that way, because men are needed up there, but I just know it's not for me. I think smaller. What we're protecting is a way of life, our families... and the idea of a town like Coal Valley, a growing town..." Nathan looked out the window at the automobiles and crowds of people going by. "Where you walk down the street and people know your face and your name..."

Nathan often had trouble translating the deep feelings that rose up in him into words. But right now, his instincts were telling him that he'd absolutely made the right choice. He not only felt that he had something to offer Coal Valley, but that a small town like the one he'd grown up in might help to heal the deep hole he and Allie were still feeling at the loss of Colleen.

Nathan had spent the last few years in big cities. A year in Calgary, then training up in Edmonton, and even some time in Quebec City. After growing up on the ranch and farm lands of Airdrie, Nathan was craving small, quiet streets.

Twenty-six years old. Fatherless. Sisterless. Grieving. Lost. Suddenly a parent to a child I love deeply but have no idea how to care for...

"Where'd you go?" Jack asked, peering into Nathan's slightly vacant eyes.

Nathan shook his head slowly and looked at Jack.

"Sorry," he said, coming back to his surroundings. Then he smiled. "I was in Coal Valley, actually." Nathan opened his leather pouch and pulled out the money for the bill as he nodded to Jack. "I made the right decision."

Jack smiled back. "So did I," he said. He lifted his coffee cup and waited until Nathan did the same. "To fighting the good fight," Jack said firmly. He touched Nathan's cup with his own.

"Wherever we are," Nathan said. "Best of luck, Jack."

Jack said, "And to you, Nathan." He drained the last of his coffee cup and said, "And if our paths don't cross again? Have a good life." There was that smile again.

Jack and Nathan stood and shook hands. "You too, Jack."

Two decisions, and the ripples were already beginning to form.