A/N All the warnings from the previous chapter still apply here, so please be mindful of that.
...
"Abigail?" Jack quietly entered the back room of the café.
A little girl, about eight years old, was sitting at the table, quietly coloring. She looked up, eyes brightening when she saw who was there. "Uncle Jack!"
"Hi, Allie-girl. Where's Miss Abigail?"
She pointed toward the curtain separating the kitchen from the dining room. "She just took some food in there."
"Thank you, sweetheart."
"Hello, Jack," Abigail greeted him with a smile as she passed through the curtains, arms full of empty plates. "Who do we have here?" She glanced at the two children hiding behind him as she set the plates in the sink.
"This is William and Emma. Their mother is in the infirmary with Faith right now, and I was wondering if you could keep an eye on them for a little while. I know you're already watching Allie, but—"
She held up her hand, cutting him off. "I would be happy to spend some time with them. I just put some cookies in the oven, so maybe the two of you would like to be my taste-testers when they finish baking."
A smile played on William's lips, though he stayed quiet.
"Thank you." He led the children over to the sofa, settling them on the cushions. "I'm going to go back to check on your mama, but I'll be back soon. Just let Miss Abigail know if you need anything. She's very nice. And my niece over there, Allie, would be more than happy to play with you."
"Yes, sir."
"Abigail?" Jack tipped his head, inviting her to speak out of earshot of the children.
"So, their mother?"
"The little boy came to me for help. She might be sick or hurt, I'm not sure. I don't know why they're in town, but I think she might be in trouble. She did say she knows Rosemary, so I may go stop in the dress shop and talk to her."
"Well, take whatever time you need. The children can stay here as long as they need to. I'll make sure they get something to eat, and my guest room is already prepared if they need to get some rest."
"Again, thank you so much, Abigail."
"Of course."
With one more reminder for the children that he would return as soon as he could, he hurried away toward the dress shop.
Clara Stanton looked up from the front counter when he walked in. "Good afternoon, Constable. Can I help you with anything?"
"Is Rosemary here?"
"She's in the back. I'll go get her."
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll just go back there. I need to speak with her about a private matter, anyway. Thank you, Clara." He excused himself to go to the back room, finding Rosemary sorting through bolts of fabric.
"Hello, Jack," she said cheerfully. "What brings you to the dress shop on this fine summer day?"
"Well, I might have a new case, but I need your help."
"Of course. I'll tell you anything I know." She set down a bundle of fabric, her face growing serious. "What is it?"
"A young woman arrived in town today with two small children. She claims she knows you."
"What's her name?"
"Elizabeth. I didn't get a last name, but her children are William and Emma. She said she hasn't spoken to you in a while, and she was actually looking for Rosemary LeVeaux in Coal Valley."
"Elizabeth…" She put a finger to her chin, thinking. "I know a few Elizabeths. There's Elizabeth Pierce; she did a few shows with me back in New York. Elizabeth George was a classmate of mine who was living in London last I heard. Oh! Elizabeth Thatcher. Our families were in the same social circle back east, so we crossed paths at dinner parties pretty frequently when we were young. What does this Elizabeth look like?"
"Brown hair, blue eyes, maybe a few inches taller than you."
"That sounds like Elizabeth Thatcher."
"Daughter of William Thatcher?"
Rosemary nodded. "The second of three. If I remember correctly, she was set to marry into the Spencer family from Quebec City. I'm not sure which of the sons she was going to marry. Timothy, maybe. Or James. I'm not even sure if they ended up marrying. We lost touch a long time ago. I'm sorry I don't know much else."
"Don't be sorry, Rosemary. You've given me a lot to go off of. Thank you."
"Perhaps I could go visit with her," she suggested. "Maybe she would be willing to open up to an old friend."
"Maybe, but I would wait until later. She's at the infirmary right now. I don't know exactly what's wrong, but Faith wanted to monitor her for a while."
"Oh, dear. Well, I'll say a prayer for her. And please, let me know if there's anything else you need from me."
"Of course. Thanks, Rosie." He gave her a brief smile before making his way back to the infirmary.
...
"Hi." The young girl approached William and Emma. "I'm Allie. What's your name?"
Emma tucked her face into her arm, trying to hide.
"I'm William," he said quietly. "My sister is Emma."
"Do you want to color? I can share my crayons."
"No, thank you." William shook his head. "We're waiting for our mom."
"Where is she?" Allie glanced around. "Is she working? I stay here with Miss Abigail while my uncle is working, unless I'm at school."
"She's sick," William explained.
"Oh." Allie's face dropped. "My mom was sick. She died."
"Is mama gonna die?" Emma's eyes widened.
Abigail entered the room then, hurrying over to the children. "Your mom will be just fine, Emma." She knelt down, rubbing Emma's arm comfortingly. "Nurse Carter is helping her, and so is Constable Thornton. They'll make sure she's okay."
The little girl burrowed into Abigail's arms, tears soaking into her apron. "I want my mama."
"I'm sure Constable Thornton will tell us as soon as your mama is feeling better, and then you and William can go and see her." She stood carefully, shifting Emma onto her hip. "You know, I think the cookies I'm baking are just about ready. Would you like to have one?"
She nodded, not lifting her head from Abigail's shoulder.
"Do you think your brother would like one, too?" She looked down at William, who gave her a little smile.
"Yes, please," he said.
"Let's go check if they're done."
A few minutes later, the three children were seated around the table, each munching on a warm cookie.
"Miss Abigail, are William and Emma going to move here with their mom?"
"I don't know, Allie."
She smiled at them. "I hope you move here. It's fun. You could come fishing with me and Uncle Jack." She took another bite of her cookie, forehead creasing as a thought crossed her mind. "Where's your daddy?"
William's eyes widened, just for a brief moment. "Mama doesn't like when we talk about daddy."
"Is he a bad guy? My dad is a bad guy. That's why I live with Uncle Jack."
"Allie, maybe we should talk about something else. Why don't you tell William and Emma what you did at school today?"
"Miss Abigail?" William asked quietly before Allie could speak again. "May I have a glass of milk?"
"Of course." She pulled out three glasses, filling each half full of milk. "Why don't I make you all something more to eat? Would you like some chicken soup? Or maybe a ham and cheese sandwich?"
"You should have a sandwich," Allie said matter-of-factly. "Miss Abigail can toast them so the cheese melts. It's yummy." She licked her lips as she thought about the meal.
"Mama makes us biscuits."
Abigail put a hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Then how about I heat up some soup and biscuits?"
"Okay."
...
As Jack approached the infirmary, he noticed Faith sitting on the bench outside, resting her chin in her hands. "Faith?"
She looked up at him, exhaustion on her face, along with something else he couldn't quite place.
His stomach dropped. "Is she…?"
"She's fine, or she will be. But we need to talk. Preferably somewhere private."
"No one is in the jail right now." He held out his hand, helping her up before they walked down the street. He closed the door behind them, flipping the lock to ensure they wouldn't be interrupted.
"She's been physically abused, Jack. Probably for a while now. She has bruises all over her body. I'm sure you saw the ones on her face, but she also has them on her arms, her legs, even her stomach. I think she has a cracked rib or two, and her wrist looked like she had broken it previously but didn't have it treated properly." She paused for a moment before continuing. "And the pain she was having? It was because she was having a miscarriage. I'm almost positive it's directly related to the abuse."
"Did she tell you anything?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. She just kept saying that she's fine. My guess is that it's her husband hurting her and that she's running from him."
"Well, whoever did this to her needs to be locked up. And if he could hurt her like that, there's no telling what he could do to those children."
"Is there anything you can do? Because I can testify to her injuries if you can bring it to trial."
He shrugged. "I'm going to start an investigation. Rosemary was able to give me some information I can look into, but unless Elizabeth talks, there may not be much I can do."
"The children didn't say anything, either?"
"No." He shook his head. "They've hardly said anything to me at all, but I can tell they're terrified. Maybe Abigail has gotten them to mention something, though."
"If you want to bring them back to the infirmary to see her, it would probably do all of them some good."
"I think I want to try to speak with her first, if that's okay."
Faith shrugged. "I have a feeling she won't want to talk, but go ahead."
"Thank you, Faith."
Together, they exited the jail, and Jack quietly entered the infirmary.
"Elizabeth? It's Constable Thornton."
He slowly stepped around the curtain, finding her curled up on the bed, her arms wrapped around herself. Streaks of tears lined her cheeks.
His heart broke at the sight. He saw a lot of terrible things in his line of work, but nothing made his blood boil more than seeing someone in that state. He couldn't imagine what could bring someone to hurt the person they were supposed to love the most.
She scrambled to sit up when she saw him, trying to quickly wipe away the evidence of her tears.
"No, stay down. It's okay. You need your rest."
"Where are my children?"
"They're still with Abigail. I'll bring them by soon, but I wanted to talk with you first." He took a seat beside the bed. "Can you tell me anything about why you're here?"
She shook her head. "I can't."
"Are you running from somebody? Your husband, perhaps?" He noticed her starting to fidget with her wedding ring. "If you talk to me, we can catch him. Put him in jail where he can't hurt you or your children ever again."
She crossed her arms over her chest, ending the conversation. "I just want to see my children."
Sighing, Jack resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't get anything more out of Elizabeth Thatcher today. Thankfully, he had the bit of information from Rosemary that he could start his investigation with, and he hoped he could convince Elizabeth to open up eventually.
"Are you sure you're up for it? You could rest a while longer, and I could bring them by later," he suggested.
"Please, Constable."
"Okay," he relented. "I'll go get them from Abigail's."
...
Emma's eyes lit up as she stepped into the infirmary and saw her mother. "Hi, mama." She hurried over to the bed.
"Hi, baby." Elizabeth gave her a tired smile, reaching over to stroke her cheek.
William just stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do.
"Come here, Willie." She waved him over.
"Are you okay, mama?"
"I'm much better now that you two are here. Did you have something to eat?"
William nodded. "Miss Abigail gave us chicken soup and biscuits."
"And cookies!" Emma added.
Faith carried a tray over, setting it on the small table by the bed. "Abigail sent over some food for you, too. Even if you aren't feeling hungry, you should try to eat something."
"Thank you, Faith." Elizabeth accepted the food, lifting a biscuit from the tray and bringing it to her lips. "When do you think I can leave?"
"Ideally, I'd like to keep you overnight, just to make sure the bleeding doesn't get worse. I can have a cot brought in for the children. If you're still okay in the morning, I don't see any reason why you'd need to stay in the infirmary, as long as you stop by for another checkup in a few days."
"Is there a hotel or somewhere we could get a room? I don't…" she hesitated for a moment, lowering her voice. "I don't have a lot of money."
Faith gave her a reassuring smile and took her hand. "Don't you worry about that. I'll talk to Jack, and we'll get things sorted."
"Oh, you don't need to involve the Constable. He's already done enough for me and the children."
Faith's smile dropped. If Elizabeth wouldn't open up to Jack, there wasn't much they could do to catch the perpetrator. What pain had she gone through? What sort of hold did this man have on her life to make her so terrified? Before she could say anything else, she felt a little tug on her skirt.
William's face stared up at her. "Miss Nurse? I can take care of my mama. Don't worry."
She crouched down. "I'm sure you can. I bet you do a great job taking care of your mama and sister. But right now, your mom needs to rest. Do you think you can make sure she does that?"
He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good. I'm going to go talk to some people and see if I can find a place for all of you to stay tomorrow. You make sure your mom gets some rest."
"I will."
Faith stood back up, addressing Elizabeth again. "I'll be back shortly. Just take things easy."
"Mama?" Emma climbed up on the bed after Faith left, William climbing up behind her. "Are we staying here?"
"For a few days, at least."
"I like it here," William announced.
"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows. "What do you like about it?"
"Everybody is nice. And Miss Abigail makes good cookies."
Elizabeth smiled. Even in the few interactions she had had since arriving in town, she could tell it was a special place filled with special people. Hope sparked in her heart for the first time in a long while. Maybe this place would be good for them, maybe it could be home.
"Well," she ran her fingers through William's hair, "maybe we'll stay for a little while, then."