Back in hope valley

Glum faces plastered on their faces, the kids solemnly walked into the school room, taking their seats in the pews of the church. Their loud booming voices which usually filled the entire classroom, now were quieted down into hushed whispers, a pin dropping would break them off from their dark gray haze which loomed over them. Their new teacher, back faced to them, white chalk in their hand as she brought it up to the black board, scratching it against the black board. She turned to face the class

"Hi Kids, my name is Ms Davenport, but you can just call me Ms D for short, as I know some of you are still struggling with your words!"

The grin plastered on her face was undiminishing, as her big bobby bun bobbed up and down as she spoke. Eyes sparkling gray, her skin a pale tone of peach, cheeks rosy from the Hope Valley heat. Brown wavy hair tied to the top of her head She wore a pale cream coloured shirt, a v shaped collar, buttons running down to the top of her sky blue skirt.

Not getting a response, she walked to the front of the desk, her long blue frilly skirt gently swirling with her, the edges of her skirt stretched towards down her stockings, just above her ankles where dark brown boots were shown.

"Well, Ms Thatcher has told me all about you, and you all sound like a Lovely bunch."

She held her hands together in front of her chest, her eyes widening with excitement

*Silence*

The kids, their faces as blank as the sheet of paper in front of them, stared at the teacher, dumbfounded by her enthusiasm. The teacher's face shifted into a slight disappointment, surprised by the lack of enthusiasm the kids showed.

She shifted awkwardly on the spot, hands sweating with anxiety, and let out an annoyed sigh as her shoulders sank with annoyance and exhaustion. She carefully walked around the small desk, white thin papers slowly stacking up on top of it. Her hands slowly started flipping through the pages, and grabbed the ones in the light orange folder, tied together with a rough starchy brown string, its arms wrapped gently around the mustard folder, the bow holding its structure together.

She gently tugged on the string, the structure loosening, and grabbed the thin starch string, holding it between her two bony fingers before placing it on the table, the rest of the string following it's structure, crumpling into a small ball, its strings wrapped around each other. She took the thin pile of papers in her hands, and walked around the desk, her glossy black boots thud thudding against the wooden floor.

"Why don't we start a new project? Let's get into pairs! This would help to get us to know each better"

Ms D says, the smile returning, and attempted that it never to leave her face allowing her gray eyes sparkling as the light pushing in through the translucent windows around the room, glowed on her glossy ginger hair, making the color bounce off into people's eyes, her gray eyes enunciating the color of her hair even more.

Back in Hamilton

"Elizabeth!"

Hearing a shrill voice cry out for her, she turned and saw Julie riding a horse in speeds towards her, her light ginger hair started fluttering in her face, Julie pushing it back all the time while running towards Elizabeth. The back edges of her chestnut coat flutter against the wind.

Elizabeth couldn't help but feel fear take over her mind. Her heart started racing. She put the gun back in her bag attached to her horse's saddle.

"Julie, What's wrong"

She couldn't help the breathlessness out of her voice, worry and anxiety shaking her to the core, sensing dreariness and fear from her sister. Elizabeth looked up, and noticed Julie's eyes filled up with tears. Elizabeth took a step forward towards Julie's horse. She gently placed her hand on Julie's gloved one, on the reins. She glanced up into Julies gray eyes, which were filled with tears, and in a more hushed voice, making it seem as soothing as possible

"Julie…What is it?"

Whimpering slightly, Julie squeezed Elizabeth's hands before brushing off a strand of hair off her forehead and slowly said, her voice breaking, and she spoke, the words rolling off her tongue in a quick pace, in a rush to get the words out. In a higher pitch than normal, she let out the words

"Their back, I just - I don't know what to do"

Julies breath was staggering while she let out the words. Hearing her words, all Elizabeth could do was let out a worried gasp, and grabbed her horse by the reins, jumping on to her saddle

"I saw them coming from the window and exited the back door to come find you"

Julie added, her voice the pace of her words not slowing down, her chest heaving as she tried to catch a breath.

Elizabeth felt her own heart beating, worried thoughts occupying her mind space, I wish Jack was here, I know he would've protected me at all cost. Elizabeth felt sadness bubbling up inside of her, feeling disappointed at herself, Jack popping up in her mind. She brushed the thought of him away, a tear dropping down her reddened cheeks and she pulled the reins, encouraging her horse to speed up.

Elizabeth's horse in Hamilton, Cherry, was a dark black horse, dark shade of bronze in the heavy sunlight, its tail stretching down to the top edge of the horse's hoof. Elizabeth felt an immediate connection to her, which is why Cherry is her own personal horse in Hamilton. It's different with the horse she has in Hope Valley, maybe it's because it has gotten a special relationship with Sergeant Jack's horse but Elizabeth still enjoys Cherry's presence and would ride her whenever she came to visit Hamilton. Obviously, not the last 2 times she came, her visits being preoccupied with her family.

Elizabeth hit her ankles against the horse's side, clutched onto the reins, as the horse dashed faster, pacing through the forest, long trees with pointing leaves which provided shelter, into the clearing. The wind, usually a relaxing air on her face, felt like a slap on Elizabeth's face, as she felt tears bubbling up within her. Elizabeth could hear hooves hitting against the grassy field behind her. She wasn't worried. She knew Julie was right behind her.

She had more thoughts in her mind, thoughts that scared her, of what could possibly be waiting for her back at her parent's house.

Elizabeth could feel her heartbeat racing, and hear the pounding in her ears, as she pulled the reins to the side, the horse turning right, following the rocky pathway leading to their back garden. Elizabeth pulled her reins, the horse coming to a straight halt in front of a small hut. Elizabeth and Julie got off their horses, handing off the reins to the man with the straw hat, and steel blue shirt, brown suspenders wrapped down their shoulders.

Elizabeth lifted her skirt gently, climbing up the stairs quickly, her breath stuck in her throat. She wrapped her hand around the door handle, and twisted the doorknob pushing the door open with the pressure. No matter how scared she was, no one could have prepared her for the sight in front of her eyes.

Millions of tiny shimmering glasses, sparkled on the Thatchers rug, half broken glass lay on their coffee table, the other part lay carelessly on the floor, its sides chipping off. Elizabeth glanced around, seeing the door into her living room open, she paced into the room. She walked past a once prized Thatcher's possession, an antique bowl with its blue patterned designs around it, now lay broken beside the shattered glasses.

Her pace automatically halted, her eyes taking in the situation in front. Her parents lay on the couch, her mother's forehead dripping blood, her father's wrist clenched at his sides, knuckles bruised. Two men stood behind them, with black suits, their heads glossed back. The two men sitting in the seats in front of her parents turned at the sound of footsteps on the floor.

The man just glared at Elizabeth, his gray eyes sharp, glancing over her body, making Elizabeth shift uncomfortably in her spot. His face, long and pointed, eyebrows sharp, his fingers gripping on to their couch, but stood up, the smirk never leaving his face.

"What do we have here?"

His voice had the capability to send chills down Elizabeth's spine. She looked nervously at her parents, whose faces were towards the floor. He walked towards her and felt Julie press closer to her back, feeling the anxiety. Elizabeth pushed Julie a bit farther from her behind, showing her protection for Julie.

The man came and took his hand, touching Elizabeth's face. She automatically turned the other way. The man gave out an evil chuckle, his height made him cowering over Elizabeth.

He turned back to her parents and his eyes immediately darkend, the thin line on his face, turning into something more evil, and his voice became sharper and darker

"Don't forget our deal"

Giving a sharp nod towards the two men behind the couch, they carried their black briefcases with them, and exited the opposite door from which Elizabeth and Julie entered.

As soon as the door shut, Julie ran to her father's side, while Elizabeth kneeled in front of her mother. She placed a hand on her mothers cheek, noticing the other, which was normally pale and white, was now darker red.

She noticed her mother's coat on the floor, a piece of broken glass lay next to it.

"Did he-"

Grace just nodded. Water filled up Elizabeth's eyes, as Elizabeth grabbed a tissue and started dabbing the red spot on her mother's forehead, a silent prayer in her thoughts, hoping no piece of glass got in.

"They are the ones that are asking for the money?"

Elizabeth asked, not able to hide the worry to be hidden from the crack of her voice.

Grace just nodded, biting her lip, controlling her tears. Elizabeth kept the tissue on her mothers head, placing gentle pressure on it, and glanced at her father. Julie had one hand on her knee, and was whispering something gently. She saw her father nodding, that guilty look Elizabeth has been seeing the past few weeks not disappearing. If Elizabeth looked closer into her father's eyes she would have seen water being held back.

Elizabeth shifted her gaze back to the mother, placing a small band aid on the bruise. She stood back up and looked around

"Where's Viola?"

Elizabeth asked

Her mother glared up at her, and Elizabeth saw her eyes which were usually twinkling blue, now were shimmering with tears. Elizabeth's heart ached seeing this.

"She went out with Lionel, went to the bank to meet someone to discuss about the-"

Her mother didn't need to finish the sentence. Elizabeth knew.