It was still raining steadily but the ferocity of the huge storm had now passed, and Emma had noticed that Danny had fallen asleep in Peter's arms. "How do you like that," he whispered to her, "what kind of a shipmate is he, he's fallen asleep on the job, right when I needed him to help keep the ship afloat. If he's not careful he might spend the rest of the journey with a mop and bucket." They put him down to sleep and Emma made a cup of tea and a snack for them to have while they sat and relax with each other and listen to the rain on the roof. "Peter, I didn't know who you were when you arrived at our gate but now, I'm so glad that you are here. That was so wonderful how Danny related to you during the storm because he clearly gets very upset and frightened with all the earth-shattering noise and howling wind."

Peter was very thoughtful thinking over again of his four years at sea, "We all learned the lesson the hard way that we had to respect the weather that was delivered to us and then we just dealt with it like we always did. I swear that there were times when I thought that the ship was listing so dangerously and it was going to capsize but every time, we were able to rectify the situation and survive a close call. My thoughts were always for all our sailors and all of the ships and the thousands of people that always depended on our goods getting through to the final destination safely." Emma was in absolute awe of this man and the work that he had done for all the people in need. "Oh, my goodness, with all the experience that you gained over those years, how did you ever get them to let you go after all that?"

The events of a few weeks ago were vivid in Peter's mind, "Mr Thatcher, the owner of the shipping line was very persuasive and he offered me, right there and then over the phone, the command of his new ship, but I was determined just as I am now to find Christine and start our lives together again, so I felt that I had no choice but to turn it down. I'm pleased to say that Mr Thatcher accepted my decision gracefully." Emma thought about the letters that she still had from Christine from years ago, "Peter, even if I can't find those letters, I can tell you that she was a very determined young woman and she always said that she was going to do something worthwhile with her life even if she was married. She had proved to be an excellent student at school, and she was always prepared to study with a passion and be prepared to help any of the other students when they found it difficult and beyond them. I know without any doubt in my mind that she would be a huge success at whatever she would decide to turn her hand to."

It was fortunate that Nathan had held back in the office as the captain was cutting it a bit fine on his way back from his visit with Elizabeth, he was fortunate that the phone only started ringing as soon as he walked in the door. "Hello, it's Sergeant Francis here from Ashford, I have Mrs Glover here for you." She came on the line just as Nathan handed the phone to the captain, His heart jumped a little as he heard this lady's voice from so far away, this meant that they were one more small step closer. "Hello Mrs Glover, my name is Captain Eric Foster here at Hope Valley. I have much to ask you but first you should know that your son's wife Christine lives and works here in Hope Valley, she is in a complete state of despair at not having her husband with her now that she knows he is out there somewhere looking for her."

He could hear her sobbing on the other end of the line, "Captain, this is such good news for us here as we haven't heard even a whisper from her since the wedding and Peter's hurriedly arranged departure back to sea duty. We had Peter arrive here right out of the blue a few weeks ago but unfortunately, we couldn't give him any encouraging news of her whereabouts. That was the first we knew that he was back on dry land for keeps. He arrived here just in the nick of time to sadly say goodbye to his grandfather before he passed. He has been able to get a list of people with the surname of Pennington, and he is planning to go and find each and every one of them if necessary if it helps him find Christine. Captain, he is worried that Christine had moved on in her life despite his grandfather impressing upon him to the last that she would be devoted to him for eternity. He is putting on a positive approach but I know my son captain and I can read the concern that he holds.

I told him and impressed upon him to keep in touch with us just in case we got news like this, but we haven't heard from him since he departed on the train after the funeral. I'm concerned that nobody is going to know where she is because we would have to be the first to know if she told anyone of her former friends and family. I know from what he told us that his next planned stop was going to be Grampton which is along the railway line. He is wearing his naval officer's uniform so he won't be inconspicuous by any means. Captain, I'm not going to interfere with your investigation even though I would love to talk with her, can you please give her our love and best wishes and tell her that I'll write to her as soon as possible. Sir, this is wonderful news and I have confidence that you will find him very soon." Captain Foster's next part of the plan was about to go into action, "Thank you Mrs Glover, you have been very helpful, and you can be assured that we will find him before very long. We have a lot of resources to put into play from now onwards. I told Christine that we are well versed in finding people who do not want to be found so she should have confidence as well. Can I please speak to the sergeant again?"

He deftly looked and pointed his finger on the map right where Grampton was situated and slightly bit his lip. "Sergeant, with your help, I'm going use our resources as best as what we can to flood the towns along the rail line through the extensive telegraph system and the telephone. I want every police station to have at their disposal a complete and accurate description of Mr Glover. If they locate him, they are to retain him and advise me at Hope Valley as soon as possible." He hung up the phone and immediately asked Florence to place a call firstly to Sandra at Fort Clay and then afterwards to Captain Edwards at Union City. He thought to himself seriously, "I'd love to get hold of that list of Pennington's that he is working with."

Peter awoke next morning to mainly clear skies and still conditions. With the nice balmy weather that greeted them in the morning, you wouldn't have known that there had been a big violent storm that they had experienced overnight except for the mass of rubbish strewn around, a broken gate and also, the uprooted tree that had thankfully fallen well away from the house and shed. He was up and outside well before the others and soon started to survey the damage outside and considered how long it was going to take to tidy up and effect the repairs. He thought of all the times when Emma and Danny would be here living on their own having to face the aftermath of a powerful storm like this.

She hadn't shown the slightest bit of any fear last night or any sign of frustration, she just knew that she had to get on with it. He was going to be here for her this time at least, and he would help them out as best as he could. He thought that he wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he went and left them to their predicament, again, as unfortunate as it may seem, his search for Christine would have to wait for a while.

Emma appeared at the front steps and cast an eye around all the mess from the rain and the wind. She had the look of someone who had sadly seen it all before and now it was just an extra task that had to be done to fix everything. "Danny is still asleep after last night." She looked at Peter with affection and gratitude, "You helped my little boy through that harrowing experience Peter. It's times like this when I miss his dad. We were so happy and hopeful when we first moved here as a family but now it's just a matter for us of survival." She looked around in dismay at the extent of the job that lay before her. "It took ages to clean it all up after last time and now it just like before." Peter shifted branches out of the way and opened the shed door, "Emma, I need to take the horse and cart back to the stable, he must be wondering where it is and why I haven't returned it to him. Stealing horses can get you in a great deal of trouble," he smiled. "But don't worry, I will be back to start work here to help you very soon."

He saddled Emma's horse and secured him to the rear of the cart so that he wouldn't have to walk back from town afterwards. He would try to figure out what he needed so that he could start the repairs to the fence and gate. He called in to the police agency and offered his thanks for the accurate directions to Emma's place. "She remembered my wife from years ago, but unfortunately she can't help me with knowing where she is now. I'm going to help restore and fix her place up after that unexpected storm last night before I have to be on my way again." The police agent took a sigh of relief, "I wondered who you might be when you came here yesterday asking for Mrs Gibson, I thought you might have something to do with a very influential man who lives around here called Evan Harris. He's been putting a great deal of pressure on her for the last two years to sell her place to him at a rock bottom price.

Christine was trying to keep going earnestly about her business in the Infirmary but the glum and resigned look on her face seemed now to be a permanent fixture. The stress and the tension was now starting to take its toll on her as the unknown for her was becoming more and more unbearable as each day passed. She would continually look longingly at the door and imagine the captain coming in to say that he has found Peter and he is on his way here. "Any news would be better than none," she thought. She and Faith were colleagues, but they were now becoming good friends as each day would pass. She hated to see Christine having to go through each day with this hanging over her and nobody could do anything about it. "Christine, I really can completely understand what you are going through day after day from my own experience. I watched for the stage and waited by the phone for days and weeks on end until I had to accept that Carson wasn't coming back. He was the doctor here who helped me and gave me the confidence to study and become a doctor. I thought he was going to ask me to marry him and then suddenly he was on the stage and gone. He has followed his dream and is now a highly rated surgeon in a major city so far away. He chose his work over me, and it hurt but I have moved on from it over time." Christine thought that she knew Faith but now she could see the dedication in her work even more after having to recover from her own breakup. "Faith, what if he gets despondent after a while when he can't find me and he decides that it is too hard. He might decide to take that commission and return to the sea forever. He can't look for me indefinitely without losing hope in the end if he can't find me." This was something that Christine was starting to have on her mind as a distinct possibility. She felt reluctantly that she had to be prepared to accept that she may never see her husband ever again. "Christine, we can't let that happen without a fight," said Faith, "Elizabeth will be here soon just like always and we will ask her."

"Thank you so much Florence for all that you are doing, we are still going to need you for quite a while yet until all this is over." Florence and Fiona were ever constantly manning the telephone desk under the captain's direction. "You're very welcome captain, go ahead, it's Sandra Mills on the line." He had been waiting anxiously for this call, "Hello Sandra, it's good to hear from you, I'm sorry that I'm not back there as planned, but I have a task here to perform which is going to need your help." He outlined a rather abridged version of the recent events and how his plan was to locate this former sea captain.

"Sandra, it was only by chance that it was discovered that nurse Christine's husband was out there looking for her. I want to give you some of the locations where this man has been and where his likely to continue his journey. It appears that he may have been following the railway line to some of the towns along the way at least for the moment. I want you to get hold of the related maps of that area and have our telegraph section put out our request to locate this man. I believe that if we can flood the area's postal and police stations, we will have a breakthrough eventually." Sandra had a mountain of questions for him, not the least of which was how her good friend Elizabeth was going. "Sandra, it was Elizabeth who had received a letter from her father which started her suspicion which has now led to our exhaustive investigation. She is a very impressive lady and I feel very privileged to know her. It was so fortunate because I was only sixty seconds away from departing to return to Fort Clay and they would have been stuck for any direction. I have the authority to utilise resources for tasks like this when I need them and anyone else might find hurdles in their way.

This man seems to be a very resilient and resourceful person and I am looking forward to meeting him. Elizabeth's father is the owner of the shipping line who Peter Glover worked for. He was offered the command of a brand new ship, but he declined the offer so that he could set about finding his wife. I intend to see that this will happen for them and that they will be reunited together. He has put in his time for his country so we can do something for him in return." He gave Sandra all the descriptive particulars and information so that she could get started immediately. "Sandra, I am sure that we are gradually closing in on him, but it is still going to take a big effort from all of us."

The storm had played havoc with the fence and gate and areas that used to be a garden with flowers and vegetables. Now it was a matter of starting again and trying to make the area look at least presentable. It wouldn't matter when the stage would arrive, Peter decided that he couldn't possibly leave until everything was restored to some sort of serviceability. He was very interested in the comment made by the police agent about someone in the district called Evan Harris. He decided against mentioning it as it was really none of his business to interfere in Emma's affairs, but while he was there he would be prepared to stick up for her if necessary.

He returned after explaining to the owner of the stable how he couldn't bring the cart back yesterday afternoon because of the storm but there was no complaint at all. Emma had made a start out the front with all the mess and destruction, "I know the plants and shrubs look bad at the moment but give them a week and they will be as good as new." Even though it all looked like a war zone, she seemed generally unperturbed except for the frustrated look on her face. She had been through all this before and no doubt, it would happen again eventually. She had a smile of thanks and appreciation for Peter as he surveyed the rails on the fence and the fallen gate. It definitely appeared to him as if she had seen it all before. Apparently, there were tools in the shed that he could use but he would need to find them first according to Emma.

He was fossicking around inside the shed when he noticed a cart pull up out the front with an elderly man gingerly stepping down to talk to Emma. Danny was out the front with his mother and Peter could clearly see that the child didn't like this man as he clung to his mother. Emma was rather standoffish and even though Peter couldn't hear what the conversation was about, he could detect the obvious level of hostility while that man was there. He wondered whether this was the Evan Harris that the police agent had mentioned before. "Mrs Gibson, you could sell your property to me today and you wouldn't have to worry about fixing all this up, my offer still stands." She picked up her son and turned abruptly and headed back inside leaving the old man standing at the front gate.

Peter had been able to witness and hear the entire episode and he watched, along with Emma who was staring defiantly as the old man disappeared antagonistically down the road. "Emma is that something that you can talk about to me?" asked Peter. "It didn't look like a social call to me." Her look was exasperated and annoyed, but she had that unwavering air of defiance that suggested that whatever this man was proposing, he would be out of luck. "That was Mr Harris, he comes around here after every storm thinking that I'm going to fall over and sell my property to him for a pittance. It's been hard here since Jacob died but this place is mine and I'm not about to be cheated out of it just to suit him. I'd be happy to make a new start somewhere and have Danny be able to go to school like other children. All he needs to do is offer me a fair price for my place and I would be able to start again somewhere else and he knows that. He is a very bitter old man unfortunately, and I don't care for his abrasive and rude attitude towards me, so I have had no alternative but to treat him with the contempt that he deserves, and he doesn't like it.

Union City had a large and extensive police station, and they had a very good telegraph and communication facility at their disposal. Their responsibility covered a wide-ranging area which included the city itself and the large surrounding district which spread for many miles. Captain Edwards had been unavailable for most of the day, but he made time for Eric Foster as soon as he knew of his enquiry. They both had similar qualities and their administrative approaches were part of the reason that they had ascended quickly to the level of captain in the force. "Hello captain, I haven't seen you since we were in the courtroom together with that young woman, Amy I believe. How is she going now after that ordeal and Mexican standoff that she experienced? I suspect that she must be doing well because Simon showed me a letter that she had written to him. I believe that our efforts at the courtroom were vindicated. I trust that you will pass on my best wishes to her when you can Eric."

Captain Edwards was now curious as to why his friend Captain Foster was ringing him from Hope Valley rather than Fort Clay. It was a difficult task to try and provide an abridged version of the complexity of the task in trying to find Peter Glover and the request that he was going to make. It didn't take Captain Edwards very long during the discussion to understand the issue and he immediately sent for his telegraph operators while he was still on the phone. He asked for the best description that was available so that he could get started and he said that he would be in touch regularly. "Eric, will you please let Mrs Glover know that we will do our very best for her." This was a good outcome for Captain Foster as he now felt that every police station and postal service would be on the lookout for Peter Glover from now on. He expected some positive results from this effort to come sooner than later.

Nathan had been listening to the captain's conversation while he was making a list of all the towns along that particular railway as well as towns within fifty miles of the track. The extensive use of the telegraph would at least be able to keep the telephone free. The list was comprehensive, and it was going to keep the operators busy for some time. They knew from experience that they would always need an acknowledgement of their transmission from each place. While he was considering how to coordinate all of this, a concerned looking Doctor Faith arrived on their doorstep with a situation that she felt wouldn't wait. She was happy to catch Nathan out the front as he was just heading over to the Mercantile to see Florence and Fiona. He thought that she looked concerned about something, "Hello Nathan, I'm glad I caught you, our Christine is not handling all this very well, but she did make a valid point earlier. It crossed her mind in a bad moment that her husband might get to the point where he may feel that won't ever be able to find her despite all of his best efforts. He may decide that his only course of action now might be to resume his naval career and return to sea. Nathan, what can we do to make sure that this can't ever happen?" Nathan was extremely thankful for Faith's thoughtfulness in bringing this to his attention. "I am so thankful for the captain being here to take on Christine's dilemma, he has far more contacts and authority than what we have but I can deal with this and save him this job at least.

Even though the gate was old, it was still quite serviceable as long as it had a decent post that would be holding it together but unfortunately there were many parts of the fence that looked broken and in need of replacement. Emma had no suitable timber on her property to do the job, but she knew the place in town where it was available. He headed back down the road, this time with Emma's cart and decided that he wouldn't be leaving until he was satisfied that she had a solid fence and gate that would withstand the next wave of storms and beyond. He was concerned about her having to endure the rudeness from a man who didn't seem to care about her and her child while trying to take some unfair advantage. As soon as he finished loading the timber for the fence, he decided to have a word again with the police agent.

He was surprised to see what seemed to be an unscheduled stage arrive in the street with four men unloading equipment. They all shook hands and waved goodbye and good luck to another man who seemed to be walking down the road with a pronounced limp and wearing an army uniform. Peter noticed the pleasant look on this man's face, but it looked like he had many issues and was always deep in thought. The police agent was helping the four men with all their equipment and supplies, but he stopped when he saw the man limping on his way down the street. Peter saw him as well and pulled up the cart next to him and offered his help after seeing this man struggling with having to limp along the street.

It appeared that he knew where he was going even if it would be an arduous and exhaustive task to get there. "I'm happy to give you a ride wherever you need to go," suggested Peter who had removed his jacket in the warmth of the day. The man grimaced as he struggled but eventually he made it onto the seat. They sat quietly together in the cart as it slowly rolled along the track on the way out of the town. It was unusual because he had no gear to speak of except for the clothes on his back and he had just arrived on the stage. He barely uttered a word and Peter observed that he seemed to be taking in every tree, every bush and every fence as they travelled along. His eyes were filled with incredible emotion as it looked like this was a long overdue return after a lifetime of hardship. Peter found it puzzling and hard to even ask for directions, but the man would make an indication with his hand when they came to any fork in the road.

A homestead gradually came into view and Peter could almost feel the man's heart pumping as he sat up as they drew closer to the front gate. He hardly blinked and he never took his eyes off the place. He put a gentle hand on Peter's arm to indicate that they had arrived at the destination. He just sat there calmly staring at the home and the garden as if he thought that he might never have had the chance to ever seen this place again. He needed Peter to help him down from the cart as he was now completely overwhelmed with emotion. Peter put his jacket back on and wondered what to expect as they approached the front door. The man looked at Peter again and seemed to acknowledge him now being in uniform. He looked like he was going to completely break down so Peter made sure to help him as best as he could before he stumbled.

Faith was very keen to have their little matter sorted out soon because she had a very pressing engagement to attend to without any further delay. Nathan understood the urgency and rode to the school to see Elizabeth. She gladly gave him her father's phone number in Hamilton after he explained Christine's anxiety. This was one thing that they could sort out quickly to ensure that nothing would happen and Christine would at least get a little bit of relief. He went straight over to the Mercantile to see Florence. He gave the crumpled note with the phone number to her, but she said that she had retained it from the last time when she had to call Mr Thatcher for the captain.

"Hello Florence, this is not an earth shattering request but the sooner we get this attended to, it might help ease Christine's disposition as Faith has work for her to do." He had a hug and a kiss for his fiancé who was sitting at the desk with a rather puzzled look on her face, "Nathan, I've tried to send three messages over the telegraph, but I haven't had any acknowledgement so far. This is very unusual." Hamilton was in the other direction, so they were very confident of being able to make a successful phone call. "Hello, this is Senior Constable Nathan Grant from Hope Valley, I wish to speak with Mr Thatcher please, I won't keep him long thank you." Nathan waited with Fiona in the Mercantile, "We haven't had much of a chance to discuss and make any wedding plans," he said sadly as he took her hand. She smiled at him, "It's taken a long time for us to get this far, a few weeks more will be okay, besides," she added cheekily, "I want to see this man who Christine raves about, he must be some fella who is scouring the entire country looking for her."

Nathan always knew that she never missed an opportunity to tease him. The phone rang, "Hello, this is Thatcher." Fiona handed the phone to Nathan with a smile, "Hello Mr Thatcher, thank you for responding, this is Nathan Grant. I'm sorry that we haven't any further news about the whereabouts of Peter Glover, but we have a request to you to help alleviate a concern that his wife has conveyed to us." After some explanation Mr Thatcher agreed and decided to personally instruct all concerned that Peter Glover would not be going back to sea duty any time soon. "It will be a blessing if he does call us because we can then give him the good news about his wife's location. I say again, will you please keep me advised at any time of the day or night if there is any news."

The man just stood still on the pathway with the help of Peter who stood right there with him in support. He was looking around taking in every blade of grass and every stone and not uttering a word. Peter could hardly imagine what was going on, but he was sure that this man had been here before, perhaps a long time ago. There was a creak of the front door as it opened and out wandered the old man who had been to see Emma earlier. He came out onto the landing and looked on while fumbling with his glasses. He looked like he had just arisen from an afternoon nap but, as he focussed you could just about see the blood drain from his face. He stood there before them in wonderment and nearly collapsed.

The man gently released himself from Peter and slowly and carefully went to the old man and hugged him tightly, "Dad, I'm back home finally and I am here to stay." Mr Harris looked at him but still could hardly believe it, he had been too frightened to dream that his son might return after so many years. He was speechless and dumbfounded to think that all his dreams had come true. "George, how could this be happening, we never heard anything for so long and now you just turn up on our doorstep." He took his puzzled father up on the landing and sat him down. There was going to be a lot to say but now they had the rest of their lives to catch up with the last few lost years. Peter wiped a tear from his eye and turned to leave but George sang out loudly for him to come and sit with them. "I need to thank you sir for your help as I probably would have struggled to make it here on my own. I'm so sorry that I don't even know your name."

His father was clinging so tightly to him as if he was trying to make up for all the years that they had been apart. George had started to settle down a little as he had been frightened all along that his loving father may not be still alive and he would be returning to an empty house. He noticed Peter's naval officer's uniform, "I can see that you were in the navy sir, we owe you our gratitude and our lives for all the work that you people did for us." They sat there quietly while his stunned father was still trying to catch his breath and composure. This had been quite a shock and it was going to take some time to absorb. "My name is Peter Glover, and I came to this little village to see Mrs Gibson. The massive storm hit, and I have stayed here to help her restore the place before I leave." He looked at George and it reinforced his belief that the hard and dangerous work that they had done in the shipping lanes over the last four years was more than worthwhile. Just to see these two men, father and son reunited was all the thanks that he needed. Peter wanted to talk to Mr Harris before he would depart.

Nathan knew that Faith had plans that could not wait so he was pleased that he could report so promptly that there was no way that Peter Glover would be returning to sea duty under any circumstances. Christine drew a sigh of relief even if she didn't have her husband back, at least the prospect of sea duty was no longer an option. "That's good finally," said an exasperated and relieved Faith. "We are busy from now on because Sally Turner's baby is due before very long and I don't want to get to see her just when her contractions are only two minutes apart. I have already got everything ready so we can depart almost immediately for their farm. Nathan, if you can accompany us to their place, I'm sure that Andrew can look after us and accompany us on the way back." She remembered that Amy had expressed an interest in helping out when the time came so they picked her up on the way. They would arrive at the farm with at least a couple of hours daylight still available travelling in a much better carriage than they had before.

Amy was excited because she had remembered feeling the baby moving inside Sally's body, something that she would never ever forget. Faith explained to her about how the baby will only be born when it is good and ready and not before. He or she can come early or even a couple of weeks late. "It's never the same for everyone. If it doesn't look like the baby is coming today, I plan to take Sally back to the Infirmary so that we can monitor her a lot easier from there." This little excursion was like a tonic for Christine helping to take her mind off the endless waiting for her husband to turn up. They both enjoyed the journey and the exuberance with all the questions coming from Amy about little babies and pregnancy and such.

She was looking forward to seeing the Turner family and especially Robbie again. Even though it had been a rush to get ready, she still remembered to bring books so they could read together like before. The new carriage was just like the town ambulance, and it hadn't taken very much persuasion for everybody to see that it should have been up and running well before, but now it was in service set to provide an essential service to the town. Many in the town had also recognised the meteoric strides that Amy had been making and how she was so valuable as an assistant for Mrs Thornton at the school. Every child had improved their grades since she had been there for her own learning and the inspiration that she provided. The parents of Hope Valley had taken it upon themselves to start a little fund to put money away for her to use in the future. Elizabeth had known nothing of this until there was a sizable sum stored secretly away for their exceptional and deserving young lady.