CHAPTER 18

But every dream can turn into a nightmare: in their dreamland, where Elizabeth and Nathan were, in their own little world, when they walked hand in hand along the path to their terraced houses, they didn't notice, when evil eyes were lurking. Nathan had even felt a strange sensation, but without selling anything suspicious, he decided to enjoy his family.

An evil smile appeared on that face, his gaze became very narrow and he only saw evil there. His revenge would be perfect and could end Elizabeth Thorton and Jack Thorton and still hurt Nathan. He had many reasons to end them all. If that nosy teacher hadn't intervened, her brother Julius Spurlok would have been free, and Jack would never have captured him. His brother was intelligent, but by messing with a mountie's wife, he sought war with the entire corporation. And there was Nathan, the man who, when he heard about Júlio Spurlok's first escape, was responsible for tracking down and capturing his brother, where he was agitated in his attempt to escape, shooting at the mounties, ending up being shot twice and dying immediately. Two shots given by mountie Nathan Grant. The man who swore he would protect Jack Thorton's widow.

Charles Spurlok, would avenge his brother, he awaited the arrival of his brother on his father's side, Wade Licky, as no one would notice their connection, as their names were different, and when they did it would be too late.

And Charles, seeing that couple so happy, decided to punish them before their deaths. It would make them suffer and feel fear and pain, day after day and starting the next day. He would make that woman suffer a lot and Nathan, a fool in love, would suffer even more seeing the state of his wife.

The next morning, Nathan took Elizabeth and Alien to school, he noticed everyone's eyes on them, but Alien was soon telling everyone that we were going to become a family, and now she would have a mother.

Several parents and students came to congratulate the couple. Today would be a different day, classes would only last until lunch time, as the city would meet with the council to start taking the necessary measures for the rains. They feared that when the rains arrived just before Christmas, they could wreak havoc like the previous year. They needed to make plans in advance, as this would avoid losing lives.

Behind the school, Charles Spurlok had already left a small surprise hidden... At the right time he would use it. Today that teacher would receive her first surprise.

Elizabeth spent the morning between math and algebra classes, of all her students, she could notice Alien's great interest in those subjects. He needed to talk to Nathan, maybe it was time to stimulate his studies. Elizabeth knew that each student there had a lot of potential. They would become great adults and great professionals.

As soon as the class ended, she dismissed the students. Alien said goodbye, as he would stay with Opall and Emily, and Opall's mother would teach them how to make chocolate cake.

Elizabeth was sweeping the room and putting all the benches in place, she needed to leave everything tidy, as Pastor Frank would use that place for the celebration early tomorrow. It would be a special day, as it was the celebration of the death of the mine's miners. Elizabeth still couldn't believe how much time was passing. It seemed like that tragedy had happened yesterday. But Elizabeth, now analyzing, realized that it had been eight years since that incident, most of her students were children or relatives of those miners, and Elizabeth knew everyone's pain. She closed the window and went to gather the basket, she needed to leave or she would be late for the meeting. As she stood with her back to the door, next to her desk, she heard dark laughter and the door closing. Darkness took over that place and she knew she would need to turn on the flame of the flashlight again, as with the windows closed, the light was almost nil. She started walking towards the window and when she took the second step, she heard a noise...

... A shiver passed through his body, a chill in his soul, his blood ran cold...

The noise again...

But it wasn't just one noise, there were two; it wasn't Three... The noise was coming from three different places in that room, she saw something moving in the hallway, but it wasn't possible... that was...

— A rattlesnake! Elizabeth shouted.

Elizabeth was starting to go crazy, she was terrified of snakes, and she was sure there were three inside and someone closed the door with her inside. Tears were streaming down her face, she realized that the noise was getting closer and closer to her. He didn't know if anyone would miss him at the meeting. I couldn't even tell how many hours it would be. She needed to make an urgent decision...

Meanwhile, in the bar room, everyone was at a meeting, several issues had already been decided. Nathan, looking at Rosemary, said:

— I thought Elizabeth was going to be at the meeting?

— Me too, Nathan. But something must have happened for her to be so late.

— Yes. But that doesn't suit our Elizabeth. And this morning, when I dropped her off at school, she confirmed to me that she would be here. So much so that classes would end at lunch time, so she could prepare for this meeting, she had something important to talk about.

— Let's stay calm Nathan! Nothing bad will happen.

But they didn't know that at school, Elizabeth heard the snakes rattling, they were getting more and more agitated, and so Elizabeth started walking on the benches, and managed to open a window. She placed her feet on the doorpost and sat there, looking at the ground below... it was very high, she knew the fall would be big, but those animals were very agitated, and at any moment they could attack her. And at that moment, Elizabeth heard the sound of the rattle right under the window by which she was sitting, and gathering her greatest courage, she made her decision and jumped out of the window...

Nathan was impatient, he paced back and forth. Elizabeth...

He felt a shiver run down his spine..." He needed to see her." Nathan thought.

— Bill, I can't wait any longer. I'm going after Elizabeth.

—She hasn't arrived... said Bill, looking everywhere.

Lee ended the meeting, as he noticed that Bill and Nathan were worried about something, that's when Rose arrived and very quietly spoke in his ear:

— Elizabeth is missing, she didn't show up here at the meeting.

Lee looked at his wife in amazement. Everyone knew that he was very close to Jack and Elizabeth and after she became a widow, Lee took her in as a sister, whom he always looked after.

At home, Robert noticed that he had forgotten his book under his desk. He needed to get there quickly and pick it up, as he had a lot of activities to do and without the book it would not be possible to solve the questions. He knew that in the back, under the flower vase, his teacher always left a key hidden, so whoever needed to enter the church to talk to God could do so without much difficulty. He knew that there would be no one there at that time, as all the adults were at the town meeting. When Robert saw the school, he was shocked by what he saw, his teacher, Mrs. Thorton, was jumping out the window, and soon he saw her on the floor lying and not moving.

He even heard the sound of her falling to the ground from afar...