The train - Chapter 15

Charlote and Tom were now waiting for the train in the city of Nunavut, because they thought they would meet Elizabeth there; at that moment, after the whistle blew, the train came down the tracks and after a few minutes stopped at the station. Bill introduced everyone to Charlote, most of whom she already knew from when she went to Hope Valley for Jack and Elizabeth's wedding. Among these men were Henry, Jesse, Carson the doctor, Frank the pastor, Lee, Jack's good friend and Ned from the mercantile, and the two Mounties Nathan and Gab and the bar owner Lucas.

Charlote and Tom were amazed at their friendship and at the fact that they were so far away looking for her and her grandson. She explained that she thought she would come by train because it would be easier and quicker and more suitable, and then the whole situation was explained to her and Tom; they were horrified by the situation and imagined everything that Lizzie was going through. Now Tom realized and told everyone what Julie had said the last time, that everything would soon be all right, and that she could stay with Tom as long as her father allowed, it only took a few days to get a certain person back on track and tamed. I didn't want to hear much and I didn't even understand at the time, after all I had already given up on this love and I had been away from her for a long time, that day I only met her because I thought there was something going on with Elizabeth or Jack Junior. During the time we were away from Elizabeth, it was Julie who always told me how they were and about her boyfriend there, she nodded showing Lucas. Until now, Charlote and Tom had been glaring at Lucas when Bill told them the truth about the threats to the Thorton family. Charlote couldn't believe that Lizzie was going through all this, that's when she remembered her defending Jack against his father's accusations to the police years ago.

Just then two more redcoats got off the train. Bill and Nathan, seeing the patents, immediately greeted them. The blondest of them reminded them of someone, but Gab and Nathan didn't know who; that's when he said I'm Senior Lieutenant Frankison Thatcher Delany and this is Sergeant Edward Monclay, it's a pleasure to meet you Sergeant Nathan and Judge Bill Avery. My cousin has always spoken highly of you both. You must be mother-in-law Charlote Thorton, mother of the incredible Sergeant Jack Thorton, who gave his life for his country, and his brother Tom Thorton. You must be the fake boyfriend Lucas who owns the bar and who has become Elizabeth's protector along with his wife, as well as Henry, the corrupt former mayor and owner of the old coal mine who was tried and convicted but who has served his sentence with society and according to Elizabeth is a miracle of blessings today for the town of Hope Valle. There, he pointed to his hand, we have Jessy the bank robber, who married Clara and became a very good person. Lee, the husband of Rosimary, Jack's former fiancée, and Lee and his wife are little Jack's guardians and Elizabeth's best friends, and of course I still have to share a brotherly title with you, Lee. Come on, next we have Ned from the endless telegrams and messages from Jack and Elizabeth, and you're the doctor, the town doctor, who I can't really remember the name of, but who has golden hands for saving lives. I don't recognize you...

- I'm Frank, the pastor, a former bank robber arrested by Jack, who won his Bible and redeemed myself while paying my debt to society.

Frankison continued speaking ... I'm not finished yet pastor, you Nathan, the right man, incredible, so tall that she had to stand on tiptoe to see his eyes, the one who makes butterflies fly in my cousin's stomach, who is so honest and good and above all the best father, since he takes care of his niece. As for you, Judge Bill Avery, Jack and Elizabeth's friend and for her a father, a mentor, a person who always has the right word at the right time, she wrote to us saying that the hardest thing about everything and this whole situation was the separation of all of you, because for her everyone was her family and you Bill is the father she hasn't had for a long time, she made you Henry and my uncle her real father. Well, now I think I've met almost everyone.

- Police officers, introduce yourselves...

- I'm Gab, Nathan's best friend, a brother, I served with Jack Thorton in the war in the North and I recognized his son and widow fleeing when they passed through my town.

-I'm Sergeant Edward Monclay, Beth's childhood friend, and my dream was to marry her. But from all the spiders and other bugs Julie and I threw at her, from screaming and running out of voice, when she grew up and I told her I liked her, she told me to become a man three times first, that she could only have me as her big brother, and that if I still showed her I could be a nice, rare, good big brother, always responsible and looking after people, only then would she forgive me for all the fear she went through and I could be called brother. So even over the protests of my parents, I joined the police after looking for uncle wynn Delany and did my best to serve, honor and take care of everyone and earned the title of big brother, well Julie never forgave me after that, because what she wanted was to upset poor Beth.

They were all walking along when Lucas asked: "I know she's terrified of spiders and rats, but because of a child's game?

Edward lowered his eyes and said that at the time, he was already a teenager, he was two years older than her, she was fourteen and Julie was twelve, they called Beth, one late afternoon, when none of her family was at home because everyone had gone on a trip and Julie and Beth would stay with the housekeeper, that day they would sleep at his house with their sisters, so he went to pick them up. Julie invented a way to scare her, they called her to the end of the grounds, where there was a fountain and a kiosk. They agreed that he and Beth would go in to get the toy box so that Julie and her sisters would have something to play with, but when she went in we locked her in, I gave Julie the key and went to get the suitcases to give to our driver. When Julie got to the car, I asked her where Beth was, but she told me that she had already gone ahead in a rage and didn't want to talk to them. I went home, that night there was a birthday party for a friend of mine and we were all going, both my sisters and the two Thatcher sisters, but Beth didn't go, according to Julie she had a tantrum and the door was locked and she didn't want to see or talk to them. The next day Beth didn't show up, I'd already missed several meals and nothing from her, Julie laughed and laughed a lot, that's when I squeezed her and ended up discovering that Beth was still locked in the basement, in addition Julie cut the light and had my white mouse, but what shocked me was when Julie said that she was going to have a good scare, because it would take away her princess air.

Nathan and Charlote looked at each other, already imagining that nothing good would come of the end of this story, this girl had suffered a lot at Julie's hands, and it seemed that no one was protecting her.

Edward went on to say that Julie had paid some poor boys to catch sewer rats, and that the bigger they were, the more she would pay, as well as some large spiders. During the evening of the previous day until the next day after lunch, she screamed and screamed in the basement, fell while running from the animals during the dark night, hurt her head where it bled, several rats attacked her and the spiders, well some of them were armadillos that bit her during the night. When daylight came and there was enough light in the basement for her to see where the attacks were coming from, she took her shoe and bravely killed the spiders one by one and even some rats; when I opened the door, several sewer rats came out of it, I was so scared that I didn't move. My brother Philips, who also loved her, came running and pushed me aside, and we looked at her.

She was lying on the ground full of little scratches and bug bites... on her arms... on her legs... her hands where the spider had bitten her were all purple, her head was dripping blood and she was crying like a little ball holding her legs. I never imagined so much suffering in one cry, I also saw enormous strength in her. I called, called, called again and she had no reaction, but my brother, who was already a good policeman at the time, gave a command...

-"General Thatcher, you've won... what are your orders?" and he saluted her.

She raised her eyes, they changed color, what was opaque seemed to have fire, she looked at me as if to tell me to die, then she stood up, shook the hair that had fallen out of the comb, looked at my brother and said firmly:

- We've won the battle, they're still going to lose the war.