The great hunt - Chapter 1

Two years after his promotion in the Canadian Mounted Police, Nathan's heart was still heavy from Elizabeth's unrequited love.

On that fateful night at the police station where he worked in Hope Valle, his dear, beautiful Lizbeth had told him that she loved him very much but wasn't in love with him, and for that reason couldn't reciprocate his love. After that conversation, she ran off, and for the next thirty days, they hardly saw each other, and to tell the truth, she was always with Lucas, and that left Nathan devastated, but determined not to stand in the way of her happiness, even if it was with Lucas. He didn't like Lucas, who owned a hotel and a bar in town; but to tell the truth, he had never done anything to tarnish his reputation, but the mere fact that he liked, interested or courted Lizbeth already bothered him.

Jealousy... Yes, there is jealousy, and a lot of it... jealousy. That was the real feeling Nathan felt at the moment, something he had never felt before, but which now consumed him.

Then Bill Avery, the judge of Hope Valle, his friend and a father, who had helped him since he arrived in town, suggested to his commanders that he be promoted.

Bill wanted to get Nathan and his niece Alien away from Elizabeth. She was like a daughter to him, and for her and her little Jack Junior (JJ) Bill would do anything, even take this wonderful man and his niece away from her; unfortunately Elizabeth would have to learn to overcome her fears on her own, because he was determined to protect Nathan and his heart. During the two years without Nathan in town, Elizabeth hung out with Lucas a lot, for everyone in town they were boyfriend and girlfriend, always together on trips, outings and he often picked her up from school.

Elizabeth had lost most of her old friends like Rosemary, Lee, Bill, Clara, Jessy, Henry, Carson and even Abigail. Her gaze had lost the sparkle it once had, her smile was lifeless, but even though she was distancing herself from everyone, she always booked everyone's meetings with Jack Junior. She spent hours in the cell with Sargent, her late husband's horse. It was a beautiful black horse with a lot of energy, but after Jack Thornton's death in the line of duty, the horse became nervous, wouldn't eat or drink and after many attempts, they decided to retire it and send it to his widow. No one was able to ride this horse for more than fifty days and those who tried fell to the ground. Including Nathan, who at the time tried, because he was one of the best tamers and was on duty where this horse was posted. Nathan remembered that day, almost three years ago, when he was sent to Hope Valle to take over from Jack Thornton. At that time he took a check from Elizabeth's pension, which he found very strange because of the time and the small amount, along with Jack Thornton's wild horse for the widow. He didn't understand how the police had sent this horse, if even he couldn't hold it, but according to the commanding general, Patrick, perhaps the horse and she would be of great help to each other, as he had seen Jack with the two of them together and how they acted. The horse tied up in front of the police station, together with Bill's mare and Nathan's horse Newton, Sargent looked crazy, jumping, kicking, trying to bite the ropes. Bill and Nathan were struggling to hold on and the other horses were already in an uproar.

A beautiful young woman appeared on the street, running, long hair with small strands falling in her face, a light reddish-gold hair color, her eyes a light blue like a swimming pool, her skin so white that she stood out in the crowd that was already close to the police station, she stopped, took a deep breath, as if she had seen a ghost;

— Elizabeth, don't go near him, he's very nervous, Bill shouted.

Nathan realized that she was Jack Thornton's widow. What a beautiful woman, my God in heaven. She looks like a painting. Nathan thought.

The two men moved away from the sargent, seeing that he was even more agitated at the moment, already thinking of neutralizing him with anesthetizing darts, when they saw Elizabeth running and her coming close to the animal saying:

— You miss him, don't you?

— You came to look after me and my baby?

The horse stopped jumping, looking from side to side, as if lamenting the lack of his owner, staring at the woman who was approaching him with her small hands, getting close to the animal's face she stroked the horse.

Bill and Nathan were looking on in silence, and everyone in the square was also silent, all of them afraid of the horse's reaction. As soon as they realized it, the horse approached Elizabeth and she spoke softly to it:

— I need you Sargent...

The horse calmed down completely and rested his head on Elizabeth's shoulder, he made sounds like he was mourning the death of a friend; Elizabeth also cried and patted his fur, calming him and saying words of consolation to the grieving animal. Bill and Nathan and everyone in the square stood in a deep silence, totally amazed by the scene, it looked like a movie before their eyes, a woman and a horse mourning the loss and death of Jack. When they came to their senses, they realized that she had untied the horse and Nathan shouted:

— Don't do that, he hasn't let anyone ride since ...

But she had already made a perfect jump and was on top of Sargent, without a saddle, without anything, holding on to his mane, the horse began to walk slowly and then started trotting straight into the forest. Bill was breathless, when they were out of sight, he commented that they were heading towards the land Jack had bought to build a house for Elizabeth and that he had never imagined seeing a scene like this. He explained to Nathan, while driving to the police station, that four years ago, when she arrived in Hope Valle, she didn't know how to cook, wash or ride a horse, that Jack had taught her to ride on Sargent, after she had tried to go to the rescue of a child and even though she had never ridden a horse, she had stolen Sargent, which was tied up in front of the police station, climbed on it, well she had hung on it for Bill's life, but that she had gone and saved the child Opall from a wolf attack. She's stronger than we all think, Nathan. She's the daughter of millionaires, but after coming here she didn't accept a penny from her family, even after Jack's death to this day she hasn't received his pension, she lives on her teacher's salary, pays her rent on time for the terraced houses, takes care of her baby Jack Junior and took out a loan, I don't know where, but she paid for Jack's land.

For all this, Nathan couldn't understand how such a strong woman couldn't face the fear of being a policeman's wife. She didn't really love him, but he saw her eyes shining at him so many times. But in the end she chose Lucas.