Elizabeth had two reasons this morning to be standing outside the jail. Firstly, she had to admit she didn't mind watching Billy Baxter being loaded into the prisoner wagon in chains and handcuffs. Now that she knew his primary reason for coming to Coal Valley was to get a piece of the Thatcher fortune and possibly break her heart in the process, she could allow herself this little indulgence.

Elizabeth's second reason was that in a very short time she had come to appreciate her unlikely friendship with Rosemary LeVeaux, and she was feeling very sorry to see her go.

"Write every month, remember?" Rosemary said, pouting a little.

Elizabeth smiled. "You have to write to me first, to let me know where you are. Don't forget."

Rosemary leaned in and whispered, "I'm hoping my first letter will tell you that the engagement is back on. Jack told me last night that he still has his grandmother's ring with him in his quarters in Cape Fullerton."

Raising her eyebrows, Elizabeth said, "Well, that's a good sign, isn't it?"

Grinning, Rosemary nodded and said, "I always get my man."

Elizabeth laughed and took hold of her hands. "You have a history together, Rosemary, and you have so much in common. A man doesn't propose to a woman and get over it so easily." Elizabeth raised her eyebrow. "And from the way I've seen him look at you, you don't have anything to worry about."

Rosemary pulled away and tilted her head. "If that's any indication, you and Nathan should be headed down the same aisle, and very soon."

Laughing, Elizabeth said, "I have a feeling things move a little more slowly in Coal Valley than they do in Cape Fullerton. I love him very much, but there's no need to hurry beyond that."

Rosemary tutted and shook her head. "So sensible, Elizabeth. I need to see if I can get you to go a little wild..."

Elizabeth laughed. "This is why my mother warned me about women like you!" She hugged her again. "Oh, how can it be that I already miss you. I only met you yesterday! What if you hadn't come in search of Jack? We might never have even met."

Rosemary hugged her back tightly. "Destiny, Elizabeth. When two souls are meant to meet, the universe finds a way."

Over by the prisoner wagon, Nathan shook hands with Jack. "Hope the trip back is uneventful." He looked at Billy Baxter trussed up in the wagon. "Not quite the trip he was expecting. Thought he'd be riding in style to Hamilton with Elizabeth, and instead he's got lots of miles on a hard wooden floor in chains."

Jack saw Nathan's narrowed blue eyes and he smiled. "You're pretty sweet on her, aren't you?"

Looking over quickly, Nathan smiled and said, "Where'd that come from?"

Jack laughed. "The fact that you'd gladly tear Baxter limb from limb right now for trying to fool your girl?"

Nathan laughed and looked down at the dusty road. "Well, yes, there's that." He looked up at Jack and smiled. "I just wonder when she's going to figure out what a mess I am and give me the boot."

Jack slapped him on the shoulder. "No chance of that, friend. She happens to be just as sweet on you as you are on her." He nodded, "I'm happy for you. I hope our paths cross again, Nathan."

Looking up, Nathan said, "If Rosemary and Elizabeth have anything to say about it, you and I will be choking on neckties at the opera somewhere in Cape Fullerton before too long."

Jack smiled and shook his head. "Don't know why we men always manage to convince ourselves that we're in charge of this whole courting process. They call all the shots." He looked up at Nathan who wasn't really responding. Jack laughed, "Okay, well, maybe it's just Rosemary."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "So... is it back on? Or are you still sticking to 'they would have issued us one' ?"

Jack exhaled. "Yeah, I've loved Rosie for as long as I can remember. I'll probably dig that ring out again."

Nathan smiled, "And the Northern Territories?"

Nodding seriously, Jack said, "I'm going to put that on hold for now. But Rosemary understands that's where my heart is, with those men up there. I'll have to go sooner or later, no matter if we marry or not."

Nathan nodded. "It's a noble cause, Jack."

Jack looked up sharply and said, "So is Coal Valley, Nathan. I never thought I would feel this way, but you've got a wonderful community here. Growing, building. They may not have needed a Mountie four months ago, but they do now." He put his hand out to shake Nathan's. "And you're just the right man for the job."

Nathan shook his hand warmly, "Thank you, Jack. That means a lot."

Jack gave Nathan a quick salute and pulled himself up on Sergeant, moving out of the saddle and onto Sergeant's rump. He put his hand down for Rosemary and said, smiling, "Care to join me, Miss LeVeaux?"

Rosemary looked over at Nathan, who smiled and said to Jack, "May I?"

Jack laughed and nodded. Nathan took Rosemary around the waist and hoisted her into the saddle as if she weighed nothing. She giggled and Jack moved forward and put his arms around her.

"Be safe," Nathan said, as Elizabeth came up and put her arm around his waist.

"See you at the opera!" Jack said, turning back and laughing. He motioned to the guards to get the wagon moving.

Nathan and Elizabeth stood together and waved until they were all out of sight.

There was no such thing as leisure time these days in Coal Valley. Every able-bodied man and woman, and even the children in certain capacities, had some job to do. Whether it was finishing off the interiors of the miner's housing, helping to build the church, putting the final touches on Abigail's, or bringing books to the newly opened Library – the townspeople were busier than they had ever been.

And in that busyness, all working toward common goals, there was a veil of grief that had lifted from the town. Coal Valley was no longer defined by its sorrow for the past, but was instead defined by its hope in the future.

Elizabeth even saw it in the children in her classroom, and she knew exactly what it was.

"Hope is the thing with feathers," she said, reading it out as she wrote it on the blackboard. She'd meant to give this lesson weeks ago, but wanted to wait until she had enough copies of Dickinson's poems so that the children could check them out of the Library. She and Nathan had been quietly stocking it with books, not wanting to draw attention to themselves, though Ned Yost seemed to have an inkling of what was going on.

"Just ten of Emily Dickinson's poems were published while she was alive. Now millions have read them." She walked slowly down the middle aisle between the round tables. Soon they would be in her new schoolroom in the church, and Elizabeth could hardly contain her excitement.

"What do we think Dickinson meant by hope being a thing with feathers?" she asked.

Anna Hayford raised her hand, and Elizabeth nodded to her. "Because hope can fly?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Very good, Anna." Then she frowned a little, "But hope is a feeling, and feelings can't really fly, can they?"

Jacob's hand shot up, "No, it's a metaphor," he said.

"That's right, Jacob! So what does the metaphor of hope being like feathers signify?"

Elizabeth was glad to see Rachel's hand go up. Not only was Rachel very good at writing and conceiving stories, but she was one of the children who had lost her father seven months ago and had somehow managed to stay hopeful through a terrible tragedy. In a way, Rachel was Elizabeth's metaphor for Coal Valley.

"Yes, Rachel?"

"Well, if hope has feathers, then I think she meant that hope is like a bird. A free bird, one that lives inside our souls, right alongside God. That bird will sing, come rain or sunshine, good times or bad ones, if we let it. But we have to let it sing, no matter what."

Elizabeth stood still and smiled at Rachel. She pushed back the tears she felt coming into her eyes and said, "Very good, Rachel. Yes. I think that's exactly what Dickenson meant." Elizabeth took the walk up the aisle to the blackboard to compose herself, and then she turned.

"So metaphors can give us a picture in our mind that helps us to understand things that might not otherwise make sense..."

"Class dismissed!" Elizabeth said, ringing the bell on her desk. "Be sure you all bring coats tomorrow, the newspaper says possible snow."

And there he was. Standing in his red serge with his thumbs in his belt, smiling his crooked smile and making her heart jump the way it did every day.

Today, because of the lesson she'd just taught, Elizabeth's emotions were a little closer to the surface. That, coupled with the fact that by next week she would be teaching classes in the finished church, had her in a bit of a mood.

She walked toward Nathan and took his hand silently. "What?" he said, blending a smile and a confused frown as she led him up the middle aisle. Then his face turned to surprise when Elizabeth took him behind the blackboard.

Nathan had stolen a look at Allie on his way up the aisle, and he could see that she was, as usual, engrossed in her drawing. Now he turned to Elizabeth and felt his knees weaken slightly as he saw the look in her eyes.

"We won't be able to do this much longer..." she said, leaning up to touch her lips to his.

There was something about the combination of Elizabeth's natural elegance and grace, coupled with a passion in her that came out at times like this, that rocked Nathan back on his heels. Not only had he never felt this way about a woman, he'd never experienced this level of wanting before, a kind of need, like hunger.

Elizabeth had a fire in her, and she felt so good in his arms, but what amazed Nathan was that her innocence was always there, surrounding everything else. He clearly understood that this was as new to her as it was to him. That they were exploring these feelings together, which made it even better.

They both realized where they were at the same time, and each pulled back. Nathan sighed against her cheek, and he could hear Elizabeth's breath slowing. "I don't know what brought that on," Nathan said, quietly, "But let me know where to send the thank you note."

Elizabeth laughed softly, "Rachel Stoneman." She looked up at him and combed her fingers through the curl that had fallen down onto his forehead. "I'll explain later," she said, looking around him to be sure Allie was still drawing. She was, and hadn't looked up. Elizabeth smiled at Nathan. "We should be very grateful for her love of art, you know."

Nathan laughed and hugged Elizabeth tightly. "I'm going to lobby the church committee for a large blackboard on wheels instead of the one they're putting on the wall..."

Elizabeth listened to his laugh as it vibrated through his chest, and she felt the gentle scratch of the red serge on her cheek as she laughed with him. She couldn't honestly remember being happier.

"I love you, Nathan," she said softly.

Nathan pulled away because he wanted to see her eyes. "Say it again, please," he said, almost in a whisper.

Elizabeth smiled and looked directly into his very soft, very blue eyes.

"I love you."

Nathan took a deep breath. "Sometimes I can't believe it. What on earth did I ever do to deserve you?"

Elizabeth kissed him on the cheek. "What's wonderful is that I feel exactly the same way." She sighed and took his hand, leading him out from behind the blackboard.

Nathan kissed her hand and then let go of it, walking over to Allie. "What are we drawing today?" He said, sitting down to see if this one would make it into the picture frames he had scattered around the house for her best artwork.

"Feathers," Allie said, not looking up. "Miss Thatcher talked about feathers."

Nathan looked up quickly and Elizabeth smiled. Even when she thought lessons would go over Allie's head, she was pleased that she seemed to retain some part of everything Elizabeth taught.

"Hope is the thing with feathers," Elizabeth said, her eyes soft on Nathan's. She was remembering when he had asked her to choose books from his bookshelf in the office without looking. Dickenson's poems had been the first book she'd chosen. Now she had a real Library and could choose from so many books.

Elizabeth frowned, seeing the stunned look on Nathan's face. "What is it, Nathan?"

He raised his eyebrows and stood up. "C'mon, Allie, we're going to give Miss Thatcher her surprise." Allie grinned up at him and smiled. "Feathers," she said, nodding.

Nathan took Elizabeth's hand and she looked back at her desk. "It's okay," he said, smiling. "We'll come right back."

He took her around the corner and down two doors to the Library. He stood behind Elizabeth and said, "Open the door."

When she did, her eyes were drawn immediately to the wall in front of her. Centered there was an exquisitely crafted wooden plaque. On it was carved:

Hope is the thing with feathers... Emily Dickenson