A few of the children had walked towards town after school later that week. Allie was walking with Opal behind Robert, Emily and Timmy. The children were talking about the festival. It was planned for one week later and they had all been hard at work getting their booths ready. The adults in town were also excited helping to get everything ready. Lee had donated the lumber and men to help build the actual booths. Ned was helping with the food along with Clara from the cafe. Bill had tried to ask Lucas to help but he just said he was busy and walked away.

Allie and Opal were talking about their booth with the other children. Emily said, "My mom was going to help me make cookies for the booth. We are going to make two different kinds!"

Timmy responded, "My mom said we can make a cake to donate. Her cakes are always delicious."

Allie got really quiet when everyone started talking about their mom's helping them. Allie loved living with her uncle but sometimes she felt a little sad about not having a mom to help with things like this. Allie was looking down so she didn't notice the other children looking her way.

"Allie, we don't know much about your family. Do you have something you liked to bake with your mom?" Robert asked.

Allie's head shot up at that question. She hadn't expected anyone to ask about her mom. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she ran in the direction of the stables. Opal yelled after her, "Allie wait!" Allie was very fast and she was already at the stable doors before the other children could react. She needed to get away to be alone. She looked at the horses there and there was a beautiful horse in the spot next to where Newton usually was. Her uncle must be out on rounds she thought. The horse was already saddled and ready to go. Her uncle had taught her to ride from an early age so she was always comfortable on a horse. She led the horse out and used a bench to climb into the saddle. Allie walked the horse out of the stable before anyone saw her and started off towards the woods.

––––––––

Elizabeth had stayed behind in the schoolhouse to grade papers. The students had a math test this week and she wanted to be able to get them finished before she went home. She was about half way through the stack of papers when a group of children came running up the stairs to the school yelling her name. "Mrs. Thornton!"

Robert, Emily, and Tommy came running inside with Opal running behind them. All of them were standing in front of her desk talking at the same time. They all looked worried and upset so she was having hearing anything they were saying. Elizabeth stood up with her hands in front of her.

"Whoa, slow down. One at a time please so I can understand you. What is going on?"

Robert spoke first, "Allie ran away. We saw her go to the stables and by the time we got over there she was gone."

Elizabeth tried to stay calm in front of the children, "why would she run away, do you know?"

Emily answered, "We were talking about the festival and what our moms were helping us make for the bake sale. We asked Allie what she liked to make with her mom."

Elizabeth immediately understood. She had talked with Nathan about Allie's parents so she knew more than most people did about Allie's past. The children thought they were asking an innocent question to get to know her. Allie likely did not have many memories of her mother based on how young she was when her mother died.

"Ok, thank you for coming to tell me. I want you all to go straight home. I will find Constable Grant and we will find Allie. Do you understand? Straight home."

All of the children nodded and walked out of the schoolhouse. Elizabeth left all of her things behind and walked out of the schoolhouse in search of Nathan.

––––––––

Elizabeth walked, almost running, towards town. She hoped Nathan was there so they could begin the search for Allie. If she couldn't find him, she would ask someone in the stables if they saw a young girl. Just as she had that thought, she saw Newton tied up outside the Mountie office. She walked fast in that direction until she heard her name from the direction of the cafe, "Elizabeth."

She turned and saw Nathan walking towards her with a smile. "Hi, how are you today?" he said as he got closer to her.

"Nathan, there is a problem. Allie is missing."

Alarm filled Nathan's face, "What do you mean missing?"

"The children were talking and one of them asked a question about baking with her mother and she ran off. The children said she ran towards the stables."

Nathan didn't ask any other questions and immediately started running towards the stables. He had told Allie to never go off on a horse by herself but she was upset. He knew Allie liked to be on her own when she dealt with difficult things. He was used to giving her time before comforting her. All he wanted was to make sure she was ok.

Nathan arrived at the stables before Elizabeth, he was looking around when Elizabeth ran in. "She's not here. Where could she have gone?"

"Oh no…"

"Elizabeth, what is it?"

"Sergeant is gone. He was Jack's horse, the Mounties gave him to me after he died. Usually he is right here," Elizabeth said standing in front of the spot where the horse usually was. "I had planned to go riding after school so I asked the workers to get him ready. He probably was saddled and ready if Allie came in here. Do you think she would have ridden off on a horse on her own?"

"I hope not. It is going to be dark soon so I don't have long to find her. At least Sargeant is a Mountie horse so she is on an experienced horse, even if she hasn't been out on her own before. I need to go get Newton so I can start searching. Can you go tell Bill, maybe he can help."

"Of course, but I want to come with you."

"What?"

"I'm coming with you. I want to help find Allie."

Nathan was touched that Elizabeth cared enough to help him search for Allie. He couldn't dwell on it too long because they had to get going. "Ok, I will get Bill's horse saddled and find a good one for you. You go to Bill's office and ask if he can help. We will meet back in front of the Mountie office in a couple minutes."

Elizabeth touched Nathan's arm and said, "We will find her Nathan." She walked out and headed down the street. Nathan thought of one more person he could ask to help and walked to Lee Coulter's office. Hopefully he was there and they all could leave as soon as possible to find Allie.

–––––––

Lee was in his office and immediately stopped what he was doing to go get his horse ready. He said he would get his horse, ride over to tell Rosemary so she could watch Jack and Laura could go home. He would meet them all by the Mountie office as planned. Elizabeth had found Bill in the mayor's office and explained what had happened. He gathered a few supplies from his office and said he would meet her over there. He was going to grab a few lanterns for them all to take with them.

Nathan was in the Mountie office gathering supplies as well. He got an extra blanket and first aid supplies and added them to Newton's saddle bags. He filled his canteen with water and found an extra one for Elizabeth. He hoped that the men would have their own because he didn't have another one. He also made sure to let Carson and Faith know where they were going in case they needed to come to the infirmary.

The four of them mounted the horses and started off in different directions. Each of the men had a gun with them and they all agreed to shoot off 2 shots if Allie was found and 3 shots if help was needed. Elizabeth stayed with Nathan, wanting to make sure he was ok as she was sure he was worried about Allie. She could see the look in his eyes when she had said Allie was missing. It was as if his heart had broken and stopped all at once. Elizabeth hoped to never see that look on his face again.

"Nathan," Elizabeth said looking over at him. She could see the tears in his eyes. She knew he was trying not to cry because of the search but some of the emotions were coming out.

"I just need to find her Elizabeth. I can't live without my little girl." Elizabeth knew how close Nathan and Allie were. Allie was his child, there wasn't a doubt in her mind. Nathan loved Allie just as much as Elizabeth loved Jack- there was no difference.

Nathan and Elizabeth kept calling out Allie's name as they rode through the woods. Sun had set a little while ago and it was getting more difficult to see. Nathan would not stop until he found her. All of a sudden Elizabeth stopped her horse and said "Nathan wait! Did you hear that?"

"What? I don't hear anything."

"Shhhh, I hear it over there," Elizabeth pointed to her right. Elizabeth jumped down from her horse and slowly walked that direction. Nathan jumped down from Newton, standing in one place to not make any noise. Elizabeth heard crying and decided to call out again, "Allie! Can you hear me?"

"Mrs. Thornton! I'm over here!"

Elizabeth turned to tell Nathan but he was already back on his horse. Elizabeth mounted her horse and they both rode in that direction. Then they saw a small clearing with flowers. Allie was on the edge of the clearing with Sergeant standing protectively over her. Allie was holding her arm, crying and looking in their direction.

"Uncle Nathan!" Allie cried out as she saw him. He jumped off Newton so fast Elizabeth swore that he didn't even wait for the horse to stop. He ran and pulled Allie into his arms, with his chin on her head as they sat on the ground.

Elizabeth jumped down and grabbed the reigns of both horses and walked towards them, trying to give the two a moment. She heard Nathan talking as she approached. "Allie, it's ok. I'm here and I'm so glad you are ok. Are you hurt?"

"My wrist hurts. I fell trying to get down from the horse."

"Let me take a look. Allie, that horse is much too high for you. And I've told you about going out on your own, you could have been seriously hurt."

"I know Uncle Nathan, I'm sorry."

"It looks like you might just have a bad sprain but we will have Dr. Shepherd look at it when we get back to town. I'm going to have you ride in front of me on Newton."

Nathan helped Allie get to her feet and walked over towards Elizabeth. "Allie can you stand here with Mrs. Thornton? I need to shoot off a couple shots let the others know we found you."

"Yes sir." Nathan walked further into the clearing and 2 shots went into the air.

"Allie, I'm so glad you are ok," Elizabeth said.

Nathan walked over and said, "Elizabeth would you like to ride Sergeant back or the other horse? I will guide the one you don't ride back while riding with Allie."

"I think I'll ride Sergeant."

Nathan helped Allie get on Newton and he mounted the horse behind her. Elizabeth handed the reigns of the horse they had borrowed to Nathan before she got onto Sergeant. All three of them rode towards town, happy that Allie had been found.

–––––––––

As soon as Nathan, Allie, and Elizabeth arrived back in town, they stopped in front of the Mountie office with the horses to tie them to the post in front. They all walked over to the infirmary and Elizabeth waited outside while Nathan took Allie inside. Bill and Lee arrived back in town when Nathan and Allie were in the infirmary. Elizabeth told them about finding Allie and that she had hurt her wrist. Bill and Lee offered to take care of all the horses so Nathan and Allie could go home as soon as they were done. Bill and Lee would talk to them all tomorrow. Elizabeth wanted to wait until Nathan and Allie were done in the infirmary.

Nathan walked outside, taking a deep breath and looking towards the sky. Elizabeth saw relief on his face but some of the worry was still there. Elizabeth said softy, "Nathan are you ok?"

Nathan turned towards her, "You're still here? I heard Bill and Lee out here earlier, I thought you would have gone with them."

"No I wanted to make sure you and Allie were both ok."

Nathan nodded. He wasn't able to keep the tears in any longer. Elizabeth walked over, putting out her arms to offer him a hug. Nathan took Elizabeth in his arms, accepting the comfort that she gave. Elizabeth was surprised at how comfortable she felt in Nathan's arms. She put her head on his chest and just listened until he calmed down. Once she could feel that he had stopped crying, she pulled back. Nathan started to wipe the tears from his face. "I'm sorry Elizabeth."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It's been an emotional day. We found Allie and she is ok, that's all that matters."

"I was so scared. When her parents died, I became her guardian. But it's more than that. We became a family. I don't know what I would have done if I would have lost her."

"Nathan, she is ok. Everything is ok now."

Nathan looked up in her eyes, "Thank you Elizabeth, for everything today. For finding me as soon as you knew Allie was missing. For coming with me to find her. You heard her when we were out there."

"Nathan, you and Allie are very important to me," Elizabeth said. She saw Nathan's expression change. Oh no, what had she said, she thought. She needed to go home. "I'm going to go, let Allie know I'm glad she's ok."

"Wait, we can walk you home. I'm sure Allie will be done soon."

"That's ok, I need to get home to Jack. Goodnight." Elizabeth stepped off the boardwalk and started off towards home, not looking back. She felt tears starting to fill her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was because of the emotion of searching for Allie that she had held in or if it was for the fear that she had ruined a friendship with Nathan.

"Goodnight," Nathan said, quietly calling out after her. What had happened?