On the walk home from Elizabeth's, Allie told Nathan about a field trip that was planned for school the next day. Allie showed Nathan the permission slip that she needed to have him sign so they could go together. Allie had meant to say something earlier but she was so excited about her book. Nathan looked over the permission slip and the plan for the trip. He signed it and handed it back to Allie before telling her to get ready for bed.

The next morning, Nathan walked Allie to school so he could talk to Elizabeth about the field trip. She was standing at the base of the school house steps talking to other parents with a stack of papers in her hand. The last parent walked away from her as Nathan and Allie walked up. Allie had the permission slip in her hand and she ran in front of Nathan to give it to her teacher. As soon as Allie walked away, Elizabeth looked over at Nathan and smiled.

"Hi."

"Hi. I hear you are going on a field trip today?"

"Yes, we are headed up into the woods up to Simon's pass. I wanted to teach the children about the plants and trees in the area. We are planning to leave shortly and we will be back before it gets dark."

"You are going to follow the main path right?"

"Yes. Nathan we will be careful."

"I know, I just worry about you."

Elizabeth reached out and took his hand. She wanted to do more but there were parents and children all around. "I will let you know as soon as we are back."

Nathan nodded and squeezed her hand. He took a step back towards town and said, "Have a good day Mrs. Thornton." With a smile, Nathan headed towards town.

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Nathan went on rounds after leaving the school house. On his way back into town, he stopped by Bill's office but he was on a call with someone. Nathan wrote a note that he would go and get some sandwiches for lunch and bring them back to Bill's office in a few minutes. Bill nodded and Nathan walked out the door.

Nathan took Newton over to the stables for the afternoon. He went to the cafe and Clara gave him two chicken salad sandwiches with some cookies for him and Bill. Bill walked back to Bill's office with lunch and knocked before walking right in. Since they had started looking into Edward Morton, both Nathan and Bill had gotten used to just walking into each other's offices. The knock was simply a courtesy in case he was still on the phone.

The two of them sat down on opposite sides of Bill's desk with their lunch. As they ate, Bill asked, "So what did you find out in Benson Hills?"

"I talked to John Weldon. He said he worked with Charles Kensington once he opened his own business in Hamilton. Charles had been involved in many business ventures through Mr. Weldon's time there. One thing he was known for was taking over other businesses by buying a piece at a time until he owned all the pieces. He would then close the other business so it wasn't competition for him."

"What does this have to do with Edward Morton?"

"From what Mr. Weldon knew, Edward would be the one to go to the other companies to get them to sell. He would promise them things that would never come true. Mr. Weldon figured out what they were up to and he confronted Charles Kensington. Then before he knew what was happening, Mr. Weldon was fired. He couldn't find another job in Hamilton because Charles used his influence. Mr. Weldon was forced to move and he had family in Benson Hills so he settled there."

"Why would Edward come to Hope Valley though? There couldn't be a business here in town that would be competition for Kensington Holdings."

"That's what is still a mystery."

Both of them heard a strong gust of wind hitting the side of the building. Nathan stood and walked to the window. He saw people struggling to walk through town and Ned taking in things from outside the mercantile. Then Nathan remembered. Elizabeth and the children were in the woods on their field trip. They wouldn't realize there had been a change in the weather until it was too late for them to make it back to town.

"Bill, I need to go. Elizabeth and the children went up to Simon's pass on a field trip. I am going to ride up there to make sure they are ok."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, stay here in case anyone needs something in town. I'm sure they are fine, I just want to be sure. You know, because of Allie."

"Sure, because of Allie," Bill said. He smiled thinking who was Nathan trying to fool. He knew that Nathan and Elizabeth loved each other even if neither one had told him yet.

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'How did this happen?' Elizabeth thought to herself as she looked around while pushing the hair out of her face. The windstorm had come upon them quickly. She thought they would have time to make it back to town but a couple of minutes after they started walking, the wind got stronger and she got turned around. Elizabeth told all the children to hold each others' hands and Elizabeth held Allie's hand at the end of the line.

Elizabeth kept turning in her spot until she saw a cabin in the distance. The cabin looked dark so it could be that no one was home. She hoped they wouldn't mine if they took shelter until the storm ended. The storm was so loud that the children couldn't hear her but she pulled on Allie's hand and motioned for all the children to follow her. All of them reached the porch of the cabin and Elizabeth opened the door. It was a one room cabin so after Elizabeth saw that it was empty, she held the door open for all the children.

"Where is Emily?" she asked looking around the room.

Opal moved to the front, "She let go of my hand when we were almost at the cabin. I think she dropped the arrowhead she found earlier."

Elizabeth looked around the room at her students. She needed to make sure Emily was ok but she also needed to make sure the rest of them were as well. "Ok, I want you all to stay here until I get back. I need to find Emily. Sit in the middle of the room away from the windows just in case. No one leaves, do you understand?" Elizabeth saw all of them nod back at her. "Allie, will you shut the door behind me?"

Elizabeth walked out to the porch and started calling for Emily as loud as she could. She hoped that the girl would be able to hear her. When Elizabeth felt a break in the wind, she yelled again even louder until her throat hurt. Finally, she heard a soft yell to the right of the cabin. Elizabeth walked into the wind and towards the direction of the noise. After a few steps, she yelled again and very clearly she heard "Mrs. Thornton!"

She saw Emily huddled on the ground next to a tree. Elizabeth walked as quickly as she could over to where Emily sat. "Mrs. Thornton, I'm sorry," Emily said as Elizabeth hugged her.

"It's ok Emily. We just need to get back to the rest of the class. Let's go," Elizabeth said as she stood and held out her hand to help Emily up.

Elizabeth held Emily at her side as they walked closer. Elizabeth looked in front of her to avoid the fallen trees. She heard the wind getting stronger the closer she got to the cabin. They were almost at the cabin when Elizabeth tripped and fell in a hole that was covered in leaves. Elizabeth laid on the ground, holding her ankle. The pain was intense but she knew she needed to get Emily out of harms way. "Emily, I need you to go quickly to the cabin with the other students."

"What about you?"

"I'll be right behind you." Elizabeth smiled as she nodded for Emily to go. Elizabeth watched as Emily went in the cabin and shut the door behind her. She watched for a minute to make sure the door didn't open again. Elizabeth laid down on the ground. She just needed a moment before getting the energy to walk or maybe crawl to the cabin. Elizabeth closed her eyes and she heard a horse. She looked over and saw Nathan in his bright red serge.

"Elizabeth!" Nathan jumped down from Newton and quickly tied him to the porch before he ran over to her side. "Are you hurt? Where are the children?"

"The children are in the cabin. They are all fine. I fell in a hole and I can't move my ankle. I was just about to get up to go into the cabin with them."

Nathan had a look in his eyes that Elizabeth had never seen before. He didn't say anything else and instead just picked Elizabeth up from where she was on the ground. Nathan carried her over to the cabin and opened the door while holding her close. The children all looked at the Mountie carrying their teacher into the room and setting her down at a chair. Nathan didn't say anything as he walked back over to the door. He saw Allie standing to the side and he hugged her. He told Allie that he was going outside to check on Newton and he would be right back.

Elizabeth sat in the chair wondering what had happened. Nathan usually smiled the instantly he saw her and wanted to stay with her. The look on his face as he found her and set her on the chair were different. Dinner last night had been wonderful and she couldn't imagine what would cause this change in him.

There was a sound outside and Elizabeth could hear the sound of a wagon and other voices. When Nathan walked in, Bill and Lee were with him. "Ok children, Judge Avery and Mr. Coulter have brought two wagons to help bring everyone back to town. The wind has slowed down so we would like to get you all back to town as soon as possible. I will stay behind with Mrs. Thornton and we will follow shortly."

The children started to walk out of the door with Bill and Lee. Elizabeth could see the wagons from the door and all the children got into the two wagons. Nathan stood on the porch until the wagons pulled away and Nathan waved. He went over to Newton's saddle bags and he found his first aid kit. Nathan walked back into the cabin and secured the door.

"Nathan what is wrong?"

"Not now, Elizabeth."

"Clearly something is bothering you. And since we are alone here, I want to know what happened. Last night and this morning, you seemed fine."

"Elizabeth, I want to make sure your ankle is wrapped and stable before we head back down the mountain." Nathan removed her boot from the injured ankle and she took a deep breath. Nathan moved her ankle back and forth to make sure there were no breaks and he got a wrap from the kit. He secured her ankle and picked up the boot and the first aid kit. Nathan held out his hand to help Elizabeth stand, but said nothing.

"No."

"No?"

"We are not going anywhere until you tell me what is wrong," Elizabeth said.

Nathan put the kit and Elizabeth's boot down on the table. He put both hands on the table and lowered his head with a sigh. "Do you realize the danger you put yourself in?"

"What?"

"Elizabeth, when I saw you lying on the ground not moving, I felt my heart stop. What were you doing outside the cabin?"

"I took all the students to the cabin but Emily fell behind. I went back outside to look for her. I fell in the hole when we were on the way back to the cabin."

"Why didn't you wait for help?" Nathan asked.

"I didn't know if or when help would be coming. I had to get to her before something happened or she went further from the cabin."

"You never should have come up here."

"Nathan," Elizabeth said as her hand on his. "there was no way either of us could have known about the windstorm. When I realized the storm was coming, I made sure the children were safe."

Nathan pulled his hand away and started to run his hand through his hair. He turned from Elizabeth and she stood from the chair. She was able to stand without putting weight on her injured ankle but she couldn't walk towards him. She let him have time to work through the emotions he was going through. Nathan turned towards her and immediately his eyes softened as he saw the concern on her face.

"Elizabeth, I can't bear the thought of something happening to you. I was in Bill's office earlier when I saw the wind starting to pick up. I immediately thought of you and Allie and getting to you as soon as possible. I was worried the entire way up the mountain. Once I was sure that Allie was ok, all of my emotions about you became flooding in. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did."

Nathan walked closer and put his arms around her, holding her up so she didn't have to balance off her ankle. Nathan looked down, "Elizabeth I…"

"Nathan, why don't we head back to town. I'm sure everyone will be waiting for us."

He looked up at her then, putting his hand on her cheek, "Not before I tell you this. Elizabeth I love you. I realized it the day of the library opening when I saw you sitting with Allie and Jack. I probably should have planned a more romantic way to say it but…"

Elizabeth reached up and put her fingers over Nathan's lips. "This is the perfect moment." Elizabeth put both of her arms behind Nathan's neck and pulled him closer. She kissed him softly. "I love you too. More than you know."

Nathan pulled her close and lifted both of her feet of the ground so she matched his height. He kissed her passionately and it felt different for both of them. The feelings were out in the open and it was beautiful. He pulled back and smiled at her. He swung her around in a circle as she laughed. Nathan set her down softly as to not injure her ankle.

"I love you Elizabeth."

"I love you Nathan."