Chapter 69

Elizabeth and JJ smiled as they watched Jack walk away. He had just kissed them and said his goodbyes for the morning. He was heading toward the house on this Monday morning to continue working on it. Mr. Johnston informed him that they were ahead of schedule and that it would be a good time to start shipping some items to the mercantile. Elizabeth had a list of people to call that morning before school started. She was excited that the home was closer to being finished. It was happening a lot faster than she could ever dream. JJ's birthday was a month away. She was hoping they would be in the new house by then.

Elizabeth needed to call her mother to let her know about the birthday party. It was a surprise party. She was just hoping to keep the secret from the mischievous little boy. She watched her little boy run ahead of her down main street toward Abagail's. She admired him as he ran on the sidewalk. He was a challenge in all the right ways. He was a little mischievous but in a playful way. His mind was always active, and she loved that. She quickly noticed that he would push his boundaries until he knew where they were. Then he would never cross those boundaries. He would just check every so often to see if they moved. He was never disobedient or was malicious with his actions. She had to only correct him one time and that was in the mercantile a few days ago when he was working on the math problem her father sent to him. She patted the envelope that contained the letter to her father. She included the paper JJ worked on to return to the man that was in her father's group. It was at that moment that she settled to push JJ with the textbook her old professor sent her. JJ enjoyed being challenged in math. She also knew he needed to be challenged. She was certain the textbook would do that.

Elizabeth was very proud of her father. He pulled himself up from a very dark place. He was paying a price for his horrible mistakes, but he didn't allow himself to stay in that dark place. He was determined to change his behavior and was well along the way in doing so. He was more like the father she had when she was little. It did her heart well that he was trying to connect with JJ. Her son was open to the idea but was still a little guarded.

Elizabeth knew JJ was guarded with new people getting close to him. She thought it was because of losing his father and mother at the same time. However, when he let you in like with Auntie Abagail, that little boy loved big and with all of his heart. A few seconds after JJ disappeared in the café, Frank stepped out.

"Good morning, Frank."

"Good morning, Elizabeth. Would I be able to steal a few moments of your time?"

"Sure. Can we talk on the way to the mercantile? I have some calls to make."

"Absolutely." He settled beside her as they made their way to the mercantile. "I've been giving some thought concerning Mr. and Mrs. McMahan."

"And what have you came up with?"

"A wood chopping contest between the boys. One for the younger boys and one for the older boys."

Elizabeth thought about it for a moment. "That could work. We will have to figure something out for the girls too."

"I think the wood chopping could easily work. There will be a prize for first and second place."

"And you could do this at their place?"

"Yes. I'll suggest Mrs. McMahan to help with the kids since she was a teacher. We could do it there with your help."

"I think that is very doable. We'll make it a field day. Maybe the girls can help Mrs. McMahan with something. That way it'll pull both of them in."

"That'll increase the likelihood of this plan working." Frank stated in a thoughtful expression. "Let me think this over and I'll get back with you."

"Perfect."

"Thanks Elizabeth."

…

Faith stared at Lee. She simply didn't believe what he was telling her. She turned her head slightly to the right and cut her eyes toward him.

"What?" Lee wilted under the pressure.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"Believe it or not. I really did what you and Rosemary told me to do. I left the office when I was supposed to. I haven't put any weight on that foot at all. Look." He lifted his leg to show her the bottom of his foot. "See, no dirt."

"Are you telling me that Lee Coulter, the man who is just as stubborn as he is nice, actually listened to what I told him to do when he never did before?"

Lee laughed when she was speaking. Her eyebrows were raised in great disbelief.

"Hey, I wouldn't say stubborn." He held a straight face as long as he could. "I took to heart what you and Rosemary stated."

"And…?"

"Rosemary said she wouldn't marry me until I was able to walk."

"Oh…now the truth comes out."

"Plus…" He added with flare. "…you were right. I needed to stay off the foot to allow it to heal."

"Wow…you admitted I was right?" She sassed.

"I don't like it, but you were right." Lee gave her a smirk.

"Let me take a quick look." Faith looked at his foot and ankle. The cuts have healed very well. While you could see two scars, they healed properly. She felt his ankle and foot with careful hands. Then she moved the foot in different angles to check his mobility. In her opinion, he was healing well. She was satisfied with everything. "How is the pain?"

"No pain."

"Even late in the evening or the end of a long day?"

"No. It hasn't hurt for the last couple of weeks."

"That's good. Now, let's stand and see how it feels."

"Really?"

"Yes, but slowly and with my help the first time."

Without saying a word, he slowly lowered his foot to the floor. He reached for her outstretched hand. He smiled when his foot touched the floor for the first time in several weeks.

"That feels weird." He stated. He looked into Faith's eyes.

"Now Lee, go slow. Those muscles are very weak from the two cuts and not being used in a long time. If you go too fast too soon you may injure the foot again. You will need to use it to build up stamina and strength back, but you have to go slow. Understand?"

Lee nodded his head as he stood. He put most of his weight on his good foot, but it did feel good standing on both feet. Over the course of a couple of minutes, he slowly added more weight to his bad foot. He was a little surprised how weird it felt. He was also a little shocked that it didn't hurt. His foot just felt weak.

"What are you feeling?"

Lee shifted weight on and then off his foot. "A little weird. There isn't any pain."

"Perfect. Let's take a few steps to test things out."

"Let's do it."

"Slowly."

They walked around the infirmary a couple of times. He continued to hold her hand for support. He loved being able to walk around without the crutches. After the second time around the office, Faith let go of his hand and walked beside him in case he stumbled. He did very well for the next two trips. On the third trip he was beginning to feel the weakness of his foot.

"Here, have a seat." She offered him when she notice he was beginning to struggle.

"Thanks."

"Now, you did great, but you still have to build strength in that foot, ankle, and leg."

"Yeah. I can tell it's not normal."

"True, but if you challenge it without doing too much, you'll build that strength back quickly. Probably a couple to three weeks. If you push too much, you'll injure it again."

"So, when do I know when I've pushed too much?"

Faith looked at him with a little smirk forming on her lips. "That's the smartest thing you could have asked." They both shared a laugh. "That's a great question. Your muscles will grow a little weaker the more tired they become. That's when you need to back off. If you push, you're going to injure that foot or something else because you're overcompensating."

"Thanks Faith. I appreciate everything you've done for me."

"You're welcome, Lee. I'm glad you are doing well."

…

"Ok class, please take your arithmetic book and turned to page seventeen." She stated to the older kids. Then she turned her attention to the little ones. "You please take your arithmetic book and turn to page ten." She spoke to the whole class. "Now, work on all of those problems. I will be walking around the room checking on you. If you have any questions, please raise your hand and I will be glad to help you."

JJ sighed as he took this arithmetic book. The book was too easy for him. He knew he would be bored. He flopped the book on the desk and opened it to the page he was instructed to. He looked up when Elizabeth placed a new textbook on top of his arithmetic book.

"Here. Try this. Page one please." She whispered.

JJ looked up to his mommy's face then back to the book. "Thank you, mommy."

"Do your best, but don't get discouraged if you have some issues. We'll look at them together."

JJ immediately opened the book to the first full page. It had ten questions in two columns. "Nice" He whispered. He took his paper and pencil and began to work.

During her five minutes of walking around the classroom, she helped four students who had questions. She loved the intent expressions on the kids' faces. She loved the look of determination expressed in their concentration. She lived for the moments when they figured it out. When they went from the look of confusion to understanding was the moments in teaching that made everything worthwhile.

After walking around the room a couple of times, Elizabeth noticed that many of her students were working well and progressing through their math work. She glanced down at her son as she walked toward the front of the room. She felt bad when his book was closed. She knew he would struggle with it. This was secondary school work in the front of the book with college level work in the back. She hesitated to give him the book to work on, but knew his grade level book, and the older kids level book, wasn't challenging enough.

"I'm sorry, JJ. Would you like to work from the other book the older students are working from?"

"No. This was ok."

"Then why do you have the book closed?"

"You said I could only do the math problems on page one."

She looked at him confused. "Are you finished?"

"Yes, ma'am. I did all ten questions on page one. I wanted to go further, but you said I always had to do what my teacher, and mommy, said." He whispered the last part.

"May I see your paper?"

"Sure Mrs. Thornton." He handed her the paper. She examined the work and realized he had answered all the questions correctly. He still finished the questions before any of the others. When she looked at the book, she knew she could work on the problems in the first two chapters, but then she had to look to the answers in the back of the book. She just didn't know the answers.

"Do me a favor, look at the beginning of chapter three. See if you can answer the questions on the first page of chapter three."

"Really?" He asked enthusiastically.

"Yes." She tapped the top of his little desk. She knew he was bored with the math the others were doing. To grow, he should be challenged and be encouraged to stretch his mind. She just wasn't sure how she was going to do that with arithmetic. He was advanced in the other areas. He just was so far ahead of the others, including herself, in arithmetic. She wanted to check with Jack to see what he thought.

…

After working on the home for a couple of hours, Jack needed to run into town. Things were going very well at the new home, and he wanted to wire to begin shipping of other items they had already bought. Elizabeth didn't order those items because they didn't think they were ready. He enjoyed the walk into town, It wasn't a long walk. The weather was perfect. He knew the weather would be turning soon. He was excited they would be in the home soon.

He looked up when Abagail called for him. He smiled at this woman who had become his sister.

"Mayor Abagail." Jack sassed to Abagail's annoyance.

"Jack Thornton. Why do you insist on calling me that?"

"Mayor Abagail, as my boss, and as mayor, I should show you proper respect."

She huffed. She most certainly didn't like the title. She also knew that Jack was teasing her like a little brother would.

"Speaking of being your boss, we need to discuss your first day as sheriff."

"I'm released from the mounties officially on Friday."

"Perfect." She thought about it for a moment. "So, what do you think about next Wednesday? That would give you a few days between both jobs. You can work on your home a little more."

"I can begin on Monday."

"You can also begin on Friday." She sassed a little.

"Fine. Wednesday it is. Is this what I can expect when I work for you."

"I'm used to getting what I want." She playfully sassed.

"That's what Frank said." Jack smiled a little brother's smirk.

"Excuse me?" She laughed with her hand on her hip.

"Nothing Mayor Abagail."

She glared at him for a moment but knew she wasn't going to win that little battle with him. He was taking too much joy in playing with her.

"Jack, have you spoken to the individual you mentioned earlier about the special crates?"

"I have. She was interested."

"She?"

"Yes. Tyna was the person I spoke to."

"Oh Jack, she would be a good fit for that."

"Elizabeth and I think so. I showed her a diagram of one type of crate we need. She looked at it for a few minutes and already had a way of making it better. She's going to be great at this. She'll be by soon to fill out paperwork for her new business."

"Thanks for giving her this opportunity. She could use it."

"We aren't giving her anything. She will make this work or not. I truly believe she will do a great job."

"Hey, what's going on with Constable Reed?"

Jack took a few minutes to share with her about everything that happened. They were also waiting on word from mountie headquarters what they wanted Jack and Sam to do. Jack shared that he still thought Sam was just in the wrong place at the wrong time in front of the wrong person.

"Would a whiskey runner really do something like that?" Abagail asked completely shocked.

"Some would, especially if he or she thinks their business is big enough or makes him or her enough money. Some people will do about anything if they can justify it." He shook his head. Jack was always amazed at how some humans don't mind if they hurt other people.

"Are there reports of whiskey runners in the area?"

"There was a few weeks ago. I haven't heard anything recently."

"And Reed is ok?"

"He is, he'll have a little bit of a scar from his wound but he'll be fine. He is already back to full strength. Faith fixed him up and took great care of him."

"Wow…that's a lot to take in." She thought for a few minutes. "What do we need to do on our end?"

"Nothing yet. We are still waiting for orders from headquarters. Reed and I looked over the scene twice and noticed a few things, but nothing that points us to anyone. We looked around. On the south side of the area, we found a few broken branches but no evidence that leads us to anyone."

"Did you look into the caves?"

"Caves…what caves?"

"Yes, during the mining time here, the mining company blasted two or three test mines there. Maybe more than that. I don't really remember. They didn't lead to anything, but there are a few mine shafts that goes into the ground a hundred feet or so. It was quickly determined that the area wasn't good for mining."

"And they are on the south side?"

"Yes. If I remember correctly, from the open field on top of the hill there are about two or three batches of thick trees. After those, you will find the first mine shaft. The second one is about one hundred yards past it. The another one hundred yards past it. Each one is about a hundred yards or so between them."

"We didn't go that far in." He spoke out loud, but Abagail wasn't sure if he was speaking to her.

"I'll need to look into it further."

"Be careful Jack. If they'll shot at one of you, they will shoot at both of you."

"Yeah."

"Oh Jack, when I asked about Reed, I wasn't asking about all this."

"Really? Then what was you asking about him?"

"Him and Faith."

…

Elizabeth sat at her desk listening to the younger children read from their readers. She noticed it was almost time for lunch, but she had time for one more student to read their two paragraphs.

"Opal, why don't you read next"

"Yes, Mrs. Thornton."

Opal stood and took her place in front of the class. She began to read slowly. She struggled with reading last year, but she was doing much better this knew school year. Elizabeth knew Opal's mother must have worked with her over the summer. She was so proud of Opal and her hard work. She was always a shy young girl, but she was beginning to get out of her shyness.

"Great job Opal. Now children." She called out loud enough to capture everyone's attention. "It's time for lunch. Please remember, when I ring the bell again, you have five minutes to come into the school building and begin to work on your vocabulary to continue our day. Do you all understand?"

"Yes." She heard several students voice a reply.

"Now, go eat lunch and then play. Have fun and play nice with each other."

She chuckled as each student quickly stood from their chairs and quickly made their way to the front door to retrieve their lunch pals and head outside.

Jack had to step aside so the children wouldn't run him over. He smiled as he watched each of them run out the door chattering with each other. When the last student made their way out the door, Jack made his way into the school room. His smile grew at the sight of his beautiful bride sitting behind her desk.

"Hey gorgeous."

"Hey you. What are you doing?" She stood to accept his kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"I went to the mercantile to order some more of our things from Hamilton."

"You're making that much progress on the home?"

"We are. So, I went ahead and ordered the rest of the things. I hope that's ok?"

"Oh Jack, that's perfect." She bounced on the balls of her feet. She can't wait to get into the new home. "Oh, do you think we will be in the home before JJ's birthday?"

"Maybe."

"So, is that why you came to town?"

"Part of it. I spoke with Abagail. My last day with the mounties is this Friday. She suggested that I begin as sheriff on Wednesday. She wanted me to take a couple days off so I can still work on the home."

"That's very kind of her."

"It is." He smiled as he stepped closer to her. "Elizabeth, I can't wait to move into our new home. As much as I love our row house, I'm looking forward to our new season in life."

"Me too. It will be a good and sad day."

"It will." She tip toed and gently kissed his cheek.

"Would you like to share my sandwich?"

"I can't. I need to find Reed and go to search a little more where he was injured."

"You mean shot?"

He nodded his head.

"Jack…is this dangerous?"

"Elizabeth, I'm still a mountie."

She understood exactly what that meant. She sighed knowing her husband would be in danger.

"We will be as safe as possible. I promise."

She nodded her head in understanding. She placed her hands on her belly. "All three of us need you to come home to us."

"And I need you all." He kissed the tip of her nose. "I do not want to miss out on any part of our future."

"You come back to me as soon as possible."

"As fast as I can." He gave her a deep dimpled smile. He kissed her on her cheek and remained sitting with her until it was time for the children to come back for their lessons.

…

Jack kissed his bride and then left to find Reed. He was sitting at the desk in the jail working on some paperwork. Reed received a telegram from headquarters stating that he needed to stay in Hope Valley to find out what happened to him in the field. The bank robber was seen somewhere else a few hundred miles away. Secretly, Reed was perfectly ok staying for a few more days. He was quickly learning to love Hope Valley and its people, especially a curly headed nurse.

Jack informed Reed everything that Abagail told him about the caves. They weren't too far away from them on their second visit the day after the shooting, but they just didn't go far enough.

"That's sounds interesting." Reed stated out loud. "Jack, that could very well hold a still or be a drop off and pickup place for whiskey runners. The solitude and a dry place to store the merchandise and even themselves. That would be a perfect spot."

"I agree. I also think that's why they shot at you with no hesitation. They didn't know if you were a threat or not. They weren't willing to risk what they have."

"What are you thinking?"

"Let's go look around again and see if we can find those caves."

"Let's go."

"What do you think about not wearing the red serge?"

"Go undercover?"

"Yes. They have already shot at the red serge before. If we go in civilian clothes, they won't shot because they won't think we are the law."

"Smart. Let's do it, but I don't have civilian clothes."

"I'll find you some. Meet me at the livery in fifteen minutes. We'll get the horses saddled."

…

Jack ran home and grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt for Sam to wear. He really thought not wearing the uniform was the way to go. At least it would get them closer to the caves without being noticed. They approached the tree where Reed's horse took him when he was shot. They tied off the horses and grabbed their sidearms and their badge. They may have been in plain clothes, but they still were mounties who may arrest someone or numerous individuals. Reed also carried a rifle. They could pass off as being hunters looking for some wild game.

"Let's remember our training. Keep fifteen feet apart and staggered."

"Got it." Reed stated.

After the third patch of trees, the area opened up again. Jack glanced toward Reed who nodded his head. Jack kept his sidearm in its holster but did unsnap the catch. He wanted quick access just in case he needed to get to it quickly.

They walked fifty yards, and the ground began to descend to a small valley. After another ten yards, there was a small, thin area of trees. However, these trees seemed different. They were smaller than the other trees. It just seemed odd. When they reached the tree line, they stopped to look around.

"Hey Jack…" Reed nodded toward the side he was on. "Over there."

"I see it." Jack stated as he began to make his way to Reed's side. They kept their distance between them. They reached the entrance of the mine. Jack was on the right and Reed on the left. They stayed there for ten minutes to listen and watch. They didn't notice anything. So, Jack motioned for Reed to move in with his gun up and ready. Jack pulled his sidearm and kept it in a ready position. Jack raised his hand with three fingers up. Slowly, he counted down by lowering one finger at a time. When he closed all fingers into a fist, they strategically made their way into the entrance of the cave. They went slow so their eyes could adjust to the darkness. The sun was allowing some light in the mine. When it became too dark to see, Reed pulled out a match and a small torch he had in his back pocket. Jack did the same.

…

"Did you have a good day?" Elizabeth asked as JJ came back into the schoolhouse. She was gathering her items from her desk.

"I did. Where is daddy? Is he at the new house?"

"No. He had to do something with Constable Reed."

"Oh…"

"Are you ready to go home or do you want to play with the other kids?"

"May I stay with you?"

Her heart melted. She loved that he wanted to spend time with her. She reached out her hand. "Come on. Let's stop by the mercantile and then head home. We can find something to do once we get home."

…

"Reed." Jack whispered. Jack nodded to the wall on his side where he was walking. Jack brought his small torch close to the three boxes stacked on top of each other. He picked up a clear bottle that was in the top box. It had a honey color liquid in it. The bottle was filled to the very top with a cork sealing the bottle. Jack handed his torch to Reed and pulled the cork. The undeniable smell of liquor filled the air.

"We found their stash."

"We did. Let's go further in and see if we find any more.

"Do you think we need to check the other mines as well?"

Jack thought about it for a moment. "I do. They may have their stash spread out over these mines. Be careful. We don't know how many people may be involved or who they are."

They walked a couple hundred yards into the mine and saw nothing. They slowly made their way back to the front of the mine and paid close attention, trying to see or hear anything. They found four more mine entrances. Just like the first mine, they found anywhere from three to six boxes of liquor in clear bottles in each mine. After the last mine, Jack and Reed made their way back to their horses. They settled on their horses and sat there for thirty minutes with a close eye on the area. They were hoping to see whoever would come back for their many boxes of whiskey.

"What do you think?"

Jack thought for a minute. "We need to write up what we did. But first, we need to wire headquarters. If there were only two or three individuals, we could handle them. I get the feeling there is more than that. That's a lot of boxes of whiskey we found."

"I counted twenty three boxes. Each box contained twelve bottles."

"That's two hundred seventy six bottles." Jack quickly did the math in his head.

"Math wasn't my best subject in school."

"When your Ma is a teacher, every subject is your best subject." Jack chuckled. "That's a lot of money. Whoever is doing this will be very interested in keeping their product in hand."

"When does the mercantile close?"

"Soon. However, if we get back and it's closed, we can stop by and get Mr. Yost. He's opened up for me before on many occasions to send an important telegram. But instead of a telegram, I think we should phone this one in."

"Let's get going Jack. You have a family to get home to."

"And you have a dinner with a curly headed nurse to get back for. She usually eats soon." Jack sassed.

"What's the story with her?"

On the ride back, he shared meeting her in Hamilton while she took care of his brother and the reason for her coming to Hope Valley. Reed was very interested in her story.

…

By the time they made it back to Hope Valley, made the phone call to headquarters requesting at least two more mounties, and taking care of their horses at the livery, Jack made his way home and Reed made his way to the café in hopes of finding a nurse to share a dinner with.

Jack stepped on the top step of the row house and found it odd that it was quiet. His little boy was a lot of things and quiet isn't one of them. He slowly opened the front door, and the house was dark. There was a lantern that was lit on the table and two candles on the little table in front of the couch. On the table, was a roast beef sandwich on a plate with a glass of water beside it. On the floor between the table and couch was a book that looked like it fell to the floor. It was partially opened. Jack could only smile at the image in front of him.

Elizabeth was laying on the couch on her right side. Her back was pressed against the back of the couch. JJ was laying in front of her. His head was resting on her right arm with the top of his head nestled under Elizabeth's chin. Elizabeth's left arm was wrapped around JJ's stomach area. Her hand was tucked under him. She was firmly holding him close to her body. She was a protective mother even in her sleep. It reminded Jack of his first day back in Hope Valley when he found JJ in Elizabeth's arm sleeping on Abagail's couch.

The sight before him was every dream he had dreamt about his little family. The love of Elizabeth for her child was evident. JJ was so content and comfortable in his mother's arms. He never wanted JJ to forget about his biological mother, Joy, but Jack was having a hard time not thinking of Elizabeth as that boy's true mother. They certainly acted like it.

Elizabeth also stole his heart in this moment. She was stunningly gorgeous. In her mother's role, she took Jack's heart each time. She was so beautiful as a mom. She was loving and caring. Correcting when she needed to be. While her body was beautiful, it was the look of love on her face in her sleep that captured his attention. She was made to be a mother and teacher. It was so easy to see. He chuckled when she snored softly.

Instead of going to the kitchen table and getting the sandwich his loving wife left for him, he sat on the chair beside the couch and simply admired the scene that was in front of him. Each second reminded him that his decision to leave the mounties and grasped onto a family man who will be home each night was completely worth it. He intently studied his two loves in front of him. He carefully looked at each one over from head to toe. He wanted to commit every moment and every aspect of what he was seeing to his memory. Ne never wanted to forget a moment of this memory. He quickly went upstairs and found his sketching pad and pencils. He came back down to the same chair. He turned the pages of his pad until he found the first blank page. He smiled at the sight in front of him and then settled the pencil in his hand. With the first line from his pencil on the sketch pad, his smile never left his face.