Wynn's Anger - Chapter 31
Meanwhile, a stagecoach left Hope Valle with thirty-five men and two women, all of whom were spies or henchmen for Charles III. They had been arrested in the previous night's shootings: These two women, one worked at the school and the other claimed to be the wife of a miner. They had been there for months and were always sending William Thacther or Charles information about Elizabeth and her son, what she was doing, who she had contact with. When she found out from her former butler that there were informants in Hope Valle, Elizabeth decided to fight and give everyone a reason to stay away from her. At the time, she knew there were people there, but she didn't know who they were. A little over a year ago, one day, by chance, she felt someone following her when she was going to the lake. When she saw one of the women, from then on she paid attention and began to notice incidents, or many times they were present when something was going wrong for Elizabeth. But now they would all go to Hamilton. There were more than a hundred Mounties to escort this group of bandits. They would all be tried in Hamilton for various crimes.
In another city, there was also a stagecoach monitored and protected by more than sixty Mounties, heading to Hamilton for arrest and trial for various crimes. Ten Pinksons, William Thacther and Charles III were on their way. They shouted, but were still arrested, handcuffed and headed towards their punishment.
In Hamilton, at the Thacther mansion, several Mounties entered at that moment, with an arrest warrant for Grace, Viola and Julie. After receiving a telegram reporting the arrest of William and Charles, they were already packing their bags to flee the country. Little did they know that Wynn Delane wanted justice for her daughter's pain. She warned the Mounties in Hamilton, and they surrounded the house, where they were all arrested, handcuffed and taken to prison to await trial.
In the hotel room, hours after Edward's surgery, he woke up weak. His wound was bad, it had reached his liver, but he was reacting well even though his skin was discolored and lifeless. But he wanted to know how his sister Elizabeth was doing. Henry, Gab and Frankison, who had been waiting for him to wake up the whole time like watchmen, looked at each other, saying that she was doing well, very well, but that she was sleeping, and that he should do the same and sleep and rest. Edward was too tired and weak to think, and ended up closing his eyes and sleeping as he had been told.
The next morning, Elizabeth didn't wake up. It was already her third day without eating. That last night she spent delirious the whole time, with a very high fever, where everyone could hear her screams, and some atrocities committed by her family or by Charles during part of her life. She called and even talked to Jack Thorton, and at that moment Charlotte, in tears, saw and heard as if her son were there because she knew that way of talking and playing between the two. Charlotte held Nathan's hands, as if begging him not to be jealous, but he just shook his head and wiped Charlotte's tears, saying softly that they would always be each other's first love. She called her little Jack, then she screamed for help, asked Philip, Edward for help, and in a moment of terror, running away from something or someone, she grabbed Nathan's hand and screamed for him tirelessly as if someone was trying to kill him. She begged them not to do anything to the children, she said she was hungry, very hungry. She cried, but at no time did she wake up. Everyone who was there was already losing hope; it was three days of despair, listening to her screams of horror. She was very agitated and Carson was starting to worry.
— Nathan, we need her to react. Her fever has been going on for days and is very high. She has a broken rib from Charles's kicks. Those bruises on her arms, legs, back and face are very dark and must be causing her a lot of pain. From the moans of pain, we can all tell that there is a lot of pain in her body. During the next night, Edward became impatient. He knew something was happening. Something was wrong. His room was the last one he had been put in after the surgery. Besides, everyone always left and locked him in there. Frankison noticed that he was agitated and wanted to give him some medication to help him sleep. But Edward kept shouting:
— What's going on? Something's wrong and I know it! You're all telling me that she's fine but sleeping. I know her well. She wouldn't miss coming to see me, even for a minute. Where is she? He stood up and pushed Lee and Henry's hands away. The men tried to stop him, but it was in vain.
The door to Elizabeth's room opened with a bang, and Edward, staggering in pain, entered the room, startling Nathan, who already had his gun in his hand, and Charlotte, who was doing the same. Edward raised his hands apologizing, and when he looked into Nathan's eyes he realized that something was happening there. Charlotte said, Come in, and let's finish our prayers. Everyone, with their heads bowed, asked God to give Elizabeth the health and strength she needed to overcome this new stage in her life. Carson came to Edward's side and asked him to go to his room to lie down, only then would his recovery be complete.
Edward was impatient. He looked at the floor on the other side and saw many blood-stained cloths. He looked at Elizabeth lying down and only then did he notice her deadly paleness...
— Is that hers? Edward asked.