AN: This chapter is a bit shorter than normal but I wanted to get a chapter out there for this story. This will also allow me to make chapter 9 all about Faith and Gabriel's dates. Looking forward to hearing what you think of the chapter! Thanks to all who are following this story!


After leaving Sam, they had filled their canteens at the spring and found their fishing hole. While fishing, the boys had insisted that he remain seated the whole time. Christian had even found a flattish rock, which he had brought over. Taking off his jacket, the boy padded the rock and told Gabriel to elevate his foot. "I don't know why, but Maggie insisted elevating a sprained ankle was important when Miss Eleanor sprained hers," the boy insisted. Gabriel chuckled, thanked the boy and obliged. As the fishing pole wasn't the easiest to cast from his sitting position, Vincent baited and casted Gabriel's pole and then handed it to the Mountie. As they all sat there, waiting for a fish to get interested in the line, Gabriel could not wait to tell Lillian and Grace just how helpful and courteous the boys were being.

Fishing was successful, and the group went back to camp with four nice sized trouts between them. Reaching their campsite, Sam had made good on his word, and everything was back in order. With Gabriel supervising, the boys went about cleaning and cooking the fish. Though the first two fished were a bit crispy on the edges, the second two came out well and all four was edible. Some boiled green beans rounded the meal out.

Christian and Vincent insisted that Gabriel stay put while they went to the river to clean the pan and dishes from their meal. Giving that they would still be within shouting distance and it was daytime, Gabriel allowed them to go. The boys finished their task and hurried back to camp. By then, the ache in his ankle had gone. Knowing the boys would get restless just being around camp, Gabriel suggested they go on a casual nature hike down a trail he knew to be relatively flat. He also knew that there were boulders and logs for him to sit on along the way and give his ankle breaks during the walk. The boys enjoyed the nature hike. They were interested in learning about the plants they passed. The boys were delighted by the deer and the rabbit that crossed their path a different times of the walk. When the passed an open field, Gabriel spotted a moose in the distance. Knowing that moose could be dangerous if they felt threatened, Gabriel cautioned the boys to stay quiet and keep movements slow. He handed them his binoculars so they could better see the majestic animal, though he remained ready to use his rifle if need be. However, the moose continued to munch on its meal languidly as they watched and the trio was able to move on without incident. They even found a patch of edible berries along their path and they picked some for their dinner that night.

The one not so pleasant sight they came across during that walk was a doe who had managed to severely break her leg. Knowing the creature would die a slow death out in the wild, Gabriel explained to the boys that the best thing to do was to be merciful and end the doe's suffering by shooting it. The meat could then be used. It was a hard, sad lesson for the boys but an important one in Gabriel's mind. Though the boys turned their backs while he shot the doe, the boys did show interest in what to do with the deer afterwards. They even assisted in the search of the area for a possible fawn. They did locate a fawn hidden in some brush not far away. Knowing that the chances of the mother being the injured doe, Gabriel knew the fawn was too young to survive on it's own quite yet.

"Do you have to shoot it to?" Vincent asked.

Gabriel shook his head. "Harley's ranch is nearby. He has a ranch hand who has rehabilitated some injured animals before. I'll take the fawn over there and we'll see if we can get it back out into the wild. We'll give them the meat we don't need as well so it doesn't go to waste."

The boys, though subdued by the experience, nodded in agreement. Working together, the trio got the fawn and doe meat over to Harley's ranch. The fawn was handed off to the ranch hand who rehabilitated animals and the doe meat to the cook for the ranch hands. The cook quickly cut some of the meat for Gabriel to cook for him and the boys, along with giving them some seasoning for it and Gabriel took the boys back to the campsite.

Knowing where their supper came from did not hamper the boy's appetite. After cleaning supper dishes, the boys asked Gabriel if he could tell them a story or two. As he still remembered so not too scary ghost stories his father told him as a boy, he obliged. Even with the ghost stories, Vincent and Christian slept better that night as they were more use to the environment they were in.

As the group would miss the sermon given by the pastor who would be in town this week, Gabriel did his own worship time with the boys after breakfast the next day. He knew that Lillian and Grace were trying to give the children in their care a foundation of faith and Gabriel wanted to foster that. He gave each of the boys a chance to add to their prayer that morning and Christian's thanks to God that he allowed them to come along the injured doe so it didn't suffer and its baby might be given a chance the afternoon before touched Gabriel. It also told him that the boy had understood his lecture about the circle of life and how some animals and plants provided the nutrients so that others could survive.

To Gabriel's amusement, Vincent and Christian fell asleep in the back of the wagon as he drove them back to the orphanage that afternoon. As soon as he woke them up and they saw they were home, the boys were full of energy again. They ran off in search of the other kids to relate their tails to.

Lillian walked up to him, as Gabriel stood smiling watching the boys run off.

"Thank you for taking them camping, Gabriel," Lillian told him. "It is important for these children to experience as normal of a childhood as we can give them. Grace and I know we cannot do that alone."

"It was my pleasure," Gabriel told her. "You would have been proud of those two this weekend, Lillian," Gabriel said before telling her about the incident with the deer and how they had fussed over him and his ankle on Saturday afternoon.

"How is your ankle?"

Gabriel shrugged, ready to give her an "it's fine" reply until he saw the look Lillian leveled at him. He suddenly felt like one of her orphans trying to get something past her. "Anyone ever tell you that with that look, you would make a good interrogator?"

"No," Lillian replied. "And you still haven't answered my question," she stated without even a twitch of a smile starting.

"Well, ma'am, it does ache," Gabriel admitted, happy to see the ma'am comment got a ghost of a smile from Lillian. "My plan is to go home, unpack, and prop the ankle up for the rest of the night. I do hope that the community cooperates with me."

"I do too," Lillian said sincerely. "I was going to ask you to come for supper but what if I just send Sam into town with something for you tonight."

Gabriel's independent streak had him wanting to refuse. His promise to Faith to rest if the ankle started bothering gave him pause though. "I would appreciate that," he consented. "Thank you and thank Eleanor for me."

"I will," Lillian told him. "Now go home and rest that ankle. I know for a fact that there is a certain doctor in town looking forward to a certain town Mountie making her dinner tomorrow night."

Gabriel felt the heat rise in his cheeks. As he hadn't told anyone about the date, he assumed Lillian had found out from Faith.

"I wasn't trying to keep it secret from you . . . " Gabriel tried to explain, trailing off when he realized he was assuming Lillian might be upset about him asking another lady out so soon after her rejection of him.

Lillian reached out a hand to touch his arm. "I am happy for you, Gabriel. You deserve to find someone who can love you for who you are. Faith is a nice person. It does me good to see you open to giving her a chance."

Gabriel felt a wave of relief, wash over him. His feelings for Lillian had been genuine. Even if she couldn't return those feelings, he did not want her to think otherwise.

"I may have even invited her to supper the same night you had supper with us in the hopes that something might develop between the two of you," Lillian admitted. "I value your friendship Gabriel, and I want nothing more than for you to find someone that you can share what I do with, Sam."

Gabriel nodded and then as he often did with his sisters when they got too far into the emotional realm where words tended to fail him, he reached out and enveloped her in a hug. Just because things couldn't work out romantically between them, it didn't mean that they couldn't still be friends.

"I will be in touch about setting up that nature hike for all the kids," Gabriel told her, taking a step back and moving the conversation back to less emotional ground.

"Good," Lillian replied. "I have a feeling all of us could learn something interesting from that."

"I will try not to bore anyone," Gabriel said lightly. "Have a good day, Lillian."

"You too," Lillian replied as Gabriel turned to climb up on the wagon seat.

Settled on the seat, reigns in one hand, Gabriel gave Lillian a final nod before releasing the brake. Lillian gave him a final wave as the wagon started forward. As he drove into town, Gabriel felt more at ease about things then he had all week. It felt like things were finally settled between him and Lillian with this latest conversation. Emotions had been acknowledged and they were in agreement to leave that all in the past as the moved on.

At the thought of moving on, Faith's blue eyes and blonde waves immediately came to mind. She had already expressed the fact that his profession did not bother her. He felt confident that she was aware of the dangers of his job, given her own profession as a nurse and now a doctor. He was sure she had treated Mounties along the way. She had also been in Hope Valley when Jack had been killed in the training accident. Gabriel wasn't sure how close she had been to Jack, but from what he knew of Hope Valley from Nathan, he knew the whole town had been affected by that loss.

Even after that, Faith was still interested in him. It gave Gabriel hope that maybe this time, he had finally found his special someone.

As it was Sunday, most businesses in the town were closed. Even the infirmary had the closed sign in the window though like himself, Maggie and now Faith, were always on call if they were in the area. As he reached the end of the street, there was some activity around the Royal Brookfield as people came in and out. Gabriel was also greeted by the sight of Joe sitting in the rocking chair outside of the Mounted Police Office.

"You know Gabriel, this chair really is surprisingly comfortable," Joe commented, looking up at him as the Mountie brought the wagon to a stop in front of his office.

"I am glad you approve," Gabriel replied engaging the brake. "Is enjoying my rocking chair, your only reason for being here?"

"No. It would seem our new town doctor was concerned that our town Mountie might not have rested his ankle as much as he probably should have this weekend. She told me that if I was truly his friend that I would offer to unpack the wagon and care for the horse when he got back so that he could go right inside and put his ankle up."

"So you are just here because of the doctor's orders are you?" Gabriel asked, an amused smile on his face.

Joe shrugged. "I also might not have had anything better to do," he said lightly. Getting to his feet, Joe approached the wagon. "Seems to me, I remember you lending a hand with some of my deliveries as well. Figured I could return the favor."

"Well, as my ankle is aching a bit, I am going to accept your offer with my thanks," Gabriel replied, having secured the reigns and started moving toward the edge of the wagon seat.

"Probably a wise choice as it looks like the pretty doctor is making a house call," Joe commented, nodding in the direction behind Gabriel.

Looking over his shoulder, Gabriel noticed Faith walking across the street. The small pail she carried had Gabriel thinking she had been waiting in the hotel for his return and was bringing ice.

"Good afternoon, Faith," Gabriel called out.

"Good afternoon, Gabriel," Faith returned. "I brought some ice for your ankle, though I am hoping you listened to me a little bit about taking it easy and that ankle of yours isn't too swollen."

"I did try to follow your orders, doc," Gabriel replied lightly, as he climbed down from the wagon. He looked to Joe. "Are you sure you have this?"

"Yes," Joe said.

"I'll give him a hand too," Chuck called out. "I can spare some time before heading back to the ranch."

"Thank you both," Gabriel told the two men, sincerely. He was more than ready for a relaxing evening after the camping trip with the boys despite the fun he'd had with them. He glanced at Faith who was now standing next to him. "Well doc, I am all yours if you are ready to lecture me," he told her offering her his arm.

"I guess we'll see if the lecture is necessary," Faith replied, moving the pail of ice to her other hand so she could slip her arm through Gabriel's.

Gabriel led Faith toward the door to the mounted police office. "You two can just leave the supplies in the office. I will sort through it tomorrow," he told Chuck and Joe.

Joe acknowledged the direction as Gabriel unlocked the office door and then led Faith through the office to the door leading to the apartment behind the office.