Chapter 68

Jack rode Sergeant to the small log cabin just west of Hope Valley. It was a very short ride to the Conner's homestead. Even with the short distance, Jack enjoyed the ride on Sargeant. It was just nice to sit on the back of his horse. Frank Conner died in the mine accident and Judy Conner continued with the homestead. It was difficult for her in the beginning, but she managed. While still difficult, things were beginning to turn in her direction. She was a hard worker and passed that trait down to her daughter, Tyna. Tyna was a sixteen year old now. She is very smart and determined. She worked alongside her mother and did very well with the work. She was great at working with her hands. She didn't do well in school but did enough to finish in Elizabeth's second year at Hope Valley. She just wasn't into book learning. She was more interested in doing and learning how things worked on a practical level with her hands.

"Good morning, Constable."

"Good morning, Ms. Conner. I was hoping to talk with Tyna. Is she home?"

"She's in the barn. Is everything ok?"

"Fine…just fine."

Tyna looked up from her work bench when she saw movement at the front of the barn. "Constable Thornton. How are you today?"

"I'm good. What are you working on?" Jack asked as he nodded toward the wood contraption on the bench.

"I'm trying to figure something out on the wagon. I'm hoping this will work and resolve my little issue."

"Huh…" Jack walked up to the contraption on the bench. He really didn't know what it was for. "May I steal a few minutes of your time. I would like to run something past you."

"Sure thing. Have a seat." Tyna waved toward a stump that was close to the workbench. "What's on your mind, Constable?"

…

Mrs. P and JJ walked to the row house. Elizabeth was out in the back yard hanging some laundry on the clothesline to dry.

"Mommy!" JJ shouted as he walked through the back door. Elizabeth smiled at the sound of her little boy's voice. She loved that kid.

"JJ! I missed you!"

He ran to her open arms, smiling the entire way. She kissed him on the top of his brown head as he held her.

"Good morning, Mrs. P. I hope he was good for you?"

"He was great. We had a great time. However, I have an issue to speak with you about?"

"What did you do?" Elizabeth turned her attention back to her boy.

"Me? I didn't do it. You did!" JJ smirked.

"What are you talking about?"

"My guest bedroom smells like fish." Mrs. P stated.

"Oh…that." Elizabeth chuckled.

"Good one mommy…" JJ laughed. "Did you really have to put a fish in my pajamas?"

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"The odd thing is that we didn't smell it at first. We kept getting a whiff of it every now and then. We just thought someone was cleaning fish somewhere and the smell was coming in on the wind."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't think you are." Sassed JJ. He enjoyed using the phrase she used on him all the time.

"That was payback from what you and daddy did to me."

"Good one." He nodded his head. "Did you get daddy back yet?"

"Yes. Check his slippers."

"Oh…he loves his slippers."

"I know."

"What are you doing on this beautiful Saturday?" Mrs. P asked.

"Washing and hanging. Jack's at the Conners talking with Tyna. Then he's meeting with Reed to see what he needs to do."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, but I would love the company."

"Mommy, may I go and see if Emily and Sam are home?"

"Go and have fun. Please stay around this area where you all can see the home. Be back here for lunch."

"Yes, ma'am. Thanks Grandma P for having me last night."

"You're welcome, JJ. Have fun."

They watched the little boy run through the yard and then disappear in the house.

"No running in the house!" Elizabeth called out after he was already in the house. "That boy…" She shook her head.

"He's a good one. You two are doing well with him."

"He's great but that's more Steve and Joy. So…Grandma P?"

Mrs. P smiled. "He called me that last night and called Mr. P Grandpa P. I hope you don't mind? We didn't ask him to."

"It's perfectly fine. That little boy thinks of you as family. We would love for him to call you that."

"Thank you, dear."

…

"What's on your mind constable?" Tyna asked as she sat down on a stump beside him.

Jack smiled at the young lady. She was always a go getter. She wasn't one who would be overly social and try to take over a room, but she was friendly. She was also someone who worked hard and believed you needed to do so with whatever was in front of you. She wasn't afraid to try new things. That's what made him think of her. Elizabeth completely agreed when he mentioned it to her. She was all for it.

"We are expanding our business with Mr. Lee Coulter."

"That's great for Mr. Coulter."

"It is. The railroad will be bringing in a spur line soon." Tyna nodded her head but didn't understand why this was important to her for Jack to come and speak with her. "I have a proposition for you."

"Ok?"

"The lumber we are purchasing from Lee is for crates. We use a ton of them. Most of them are of standard sizes."

"I guess that would make sense. It would be easier to stack and load."

"It is." He smiled at her acuteness of knowledge of knowing that. "However, we are also in need of specific sizes of crates. This always varies according to the product. We certainly don't use them as much as the standard sized ones, but we do have a need for them."

"Ok."

"We don't make them in house. It's just not cost effective for us to do that. We purchase them through others, but it's hard to get them."

"Constable Thornton, what does that have to do with me?"

"Mrs. Thornton and I was talking, and we wanted to offer you an opportunity to own your own business."

"Own my own business?"

"Yes. Would you like to start making those crates for us? It would be your own business and we would purchase those crates from you. They are to be built in a specific way. They must be made to the drawings we would send you. They won't always be the same. That's the issue. Each one is different and must be exactly to our measurements. The items they will contain are of certain measurements and must be packed in a certain way or it could be damaged. You may make the same crate more than once, but it won't be too often you would do that. It's a challenge and you will always have to figure it out. With the spur line coming in, you could ship them to our specified location when the train comes in for the lumber. You would get the lumber from Mr. Coulter."

"Constable, I don't have the tools for anything like that."

"We would purchase you the tools to begin with. You would pay us back in monthly payments until you reimburse us completely."

"You're giving me a business?"

"Absolutely not. Tyna, we are not giving you anything other than an opportunity. You will determine if this succeeds or fails. It will be a challenge to always make the crates to a specific size and in the time frame. You will have to figure that out as you make each one. You would get a drawing and measurements of what we are shipping. Then you will figure it out and make the crate. It's working with your hands and your head. You could set things up here in this barn or you could build you a new workshop. That's up to you. You would have a time frame to accomplish things. You won't become the richest person in the world, but you will make a good living. You may even need to hire someone to help if we begin to order enough things."

"My own business…" Her voice trailed off. The prospect interested her greatly.

"An opportunity of your own business. Tyna, it will succeed or fail because of you. Mrs. Thornton and I have a need that needs to be fulfilled. If you can do it, we will purchase those things from you. If you can't, we will begin to look somewhere else to purchase them. We can't promise you that we will continue to buy the crates from you if you are not meeting the deadline or doing a bad job at building them. If you are doing a good job, we will only purchase the crates from you. This isn't a handout. We are not giving you anything. You will earn it on your own."

"I can do this here?" She nodded to where work bench.

"Sure. Here are a couple of drawings for the ones we need soon. You can make them here and ship them with the train. You can use your wagon to get them to Mr. Coulter's mill and they can be shipped with his lumber until the spur line is built. It's not the easiest work, but you most certainly can do it if you set your mind to it."

Tyna took the first drawing and examined it for a few moments. Jack could see her mind was running through the possibilities. She looked up to Jack pointing at the drawing. "If you would support this end better with extra material, it would take the stress off this portion. Then you could remove this section. That would save on weight."

"Saving weight is extremely important to us in the shipping business. I can't begin to tell you how many conversations I've had about the weight of things." He shook his head. He loved the expression on Tyna's face. She was very intrigued. He didn't want to just hand her a business, but he also knew she would do a good job.

"The back end is all wrong. If they would place the supports a little better, all of that wouldn't be necessary."

"Do you think so?"

"I do."

"Could you guarantee that?"

"Absolutely."

"We buy the stuff to get you started and you pay us back as you begin. Then you will be our special crate builder and supply all the crates as we order them. You will probably get about three a week to begin with."

"That would take the whole work week." Tyna stated.

"Yes, between designing the crates and then building them. I would say about a day to a day and a half with each one. And if we increase those orders as necessary, you will need to be able to meet that expectation. Is that possible?"

"Yes. I would have to hire someone to help with that." She thought for a moment. "Constable…I don't know how to ask the next question."

"Tyna, just ask. We will figure out the next sentence."

"How much do you pay?"

"Since each crate is different, there isn't a set price. The company we are using now charges us the cost of the material plus twenty two percent. That helps cover any extra materials and shipping. Then another fifteen percent for labor."

"That's not too bad."

"That would be a good living for one person. If you can bring us a better product that reduces the damage to the products we ship, we would pay you more."

"Why?"

"We experience a lot of damage with the crates now. That costs us a lot in the long run. If you can bring a better product that will save us money in the long run, we will pay more for it. It will be better for us overall. We would pay for materials plus the twenty two percent. Then we would pay you twenty five percent."

"Constable, that's too much."

"Not if you bring us a better product. You would be saving us money in claims, damaged products, and time. That would also help the reputation of the company. Plus, we are already shipping the wood to our builders in house for the standard crates. The crates won't change the cost of shipping too much. You would save some money on shipping. If you could build the crates in less time than our other supplier, then you would make more money because you spend less time on them."

"That would provide for a really good living." She thought out loud.

"It would. Plus, if you need to expand, you would have enough in that payment arrangement to pay someone a good hourly wage while still making money on each crate. Think it over and let me or Elizabeth know."

"I'll do it." Tyna stood and extended her hand.

"Great." Jack smiled at her. "Get with Abagail to file paperwork on your new business. Get a list of tools and things you will need to begin. We will meet at the mercantile and order what we can. If Mr. Yost can't get it, we will order them from Medicine Hat or from Hamilton and have them delivered. Keep records of what you purchase and then you can begin to pay us back as you go along. If you order from Mr. Yost, just put it on our account. If you have to order from anyone else, we can put it on the company's account."

"Thank you for doing this, Constable."

"We are only giving you an opportunity, Tyna. You will be the one putting in the work and making this work, not us."

"I'll do my best."

"Elizabeth and I knew you were the one for this job. We have all the faith in you. We look forward to a very long partnership."

…

Frank sighed as he settled on his horse. He had visited a family that was struggling but refused help. It was a pride issue. No matter how hard he tried to convince the older couple, they just wouldn't listen. He nudged his horse's side with his heels and turned him to Hope Valley.

He was trying to enjoy his ride but could only see the older couple. They needed help with getting firewood for winter. It wasn't cold yet, but that time of year was coming soon. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't persuade them to allow others to help. While the older couple could probably do it, the wood chopping would take them a very long time and take a toll on them physically. They weren't mad at him, but they were unrelenting with the pastor's advice.

"Hey."

Frank looked up and noticed Elizabeth walking along the road. It was then that Frank noticed that he was very close to Jack's and Elizabeth's new home. He didn't even know how he got there.

"Hey Elizabeth. How are you?"

"I'm good today."

"Well, congratulation on the baby."

"Thank you. What are you up to today?"

Frank sighed. "Trying to talk the McMahan's in accepting help with getting their firewood for the winter."

"Oh…good luck with that. They are a very nice couple, but I don't get the feeling that they would be welcoming for outside help."

"You would be correct. They are dead set against it."

"Mrs. McMahan was a schoolteacher. I would say if you could get the kids involved somehow, you would have a better chance in getting it done."

"How can I do that?"

"Pastor, do I have to do everything? I was the one who suggested using the kids to break through their wall." She sassed with a friendly smile.

"Jack always said you were the smart one…and determined…and stubborn…and…"

"That's enough pastor." Elizabeth shook her head with a laugh.

I think you may be right with Mrs. McMahan. The kids may be my way in." Frank thought about it for a moment. "Elizabeth…" He paused for a moment. "…thank you for coming back. You are a great benefit for this community."

Elizabeth nodded her head. She was grateful for his words, but she just didn't want to dwell on the past.

"Now, what are you doing up here? Does Jack and JJ know you're here?" He sassed.

Elizabeth huffed. "Yes." She stated in a voice that made Frank laugh. "They brought me here and showed it to me. Of course, JJ had to blind fold me to bring me here." She shook her head.

"That sounds just like him." Frank laughed.

"Have fun figuring out your home."

"Have a nice day pastor." Elizabeth continued up the hill to her home. She admired it the whole way. She marveled at the river rock in the daylight. It ever so slightly changed colors. She stood and watched that for a few minutes.

…

"Hey Thornton. What are you doing?" Reed stated as Jack walked into the jail.

"I came to check in on the injured mountie." Jack sassed. It was common for mounties to tease each other if one was injured.

Reed raised his arm to show Jack it was ok. He only flinched a little. "See…"

"I saw you flinch. Honestly, how is it?"

"A little sore but doing ok."

"Feel like a ride?"

"I'm up for it. Want to go and take another look?"

"Absolutely. Let's go."

Jack grabbed a pad and a couple of pencils. He wanted to sketch the area and further explore the surrounding areas. Yesterday when they looked around, they needed to get back and send in the wire to headquarters. This time they wouldn't be rushed or with the effects of the situation. They would have time to look around with a critical eye.

…

Elizabeth was walking around the living room with three pieces of paper. The first piece was a sketch of the room. On this piece of paper, she wouldn't write or sketch anything on it. She wanted it to be clean. The second was a list of furniture and appliances they had ordered. The third was a piece of paper that had eraser marks and faded lines all over it. She would sketch the room with the furniture. After walking around the room with that sketch, she would move some things on the page and walk it again. She had spent almost an hour walking just in the living room trying to get it the way she wanted.

When she was satisfied with the latest sketch, she turned her attention toward the master bedroom. Their bedroom furniture was sparse. She liked that. There was a bed, two small dressers, and two small tables that go on each side of the bed. She just didn't want to clutter up the room. She stepped onto the little deck off the bedroom, she knew instantly that she wanted a small bench seat instead of individual seats. She thought there was still room for a small table to place their cups and other things. She did take a few minutes just to look over the landscape. It really was an awesome view.

The more she walked around the home, the more she loved it. She just couldn't believe this was going to be her and Jack's forever home. She also noticed things she just didn't notice before. Out of curiosity, she checked the corner baseboards in the living room. She was a little surprised to feel sadness that he hadn't carved in their initials like he did at the school. As she walked to the master bedroom before going outside on the small deck, she already figured out where she wanted everything. She ran her fingers along the wall opposite her bed. She had the perfect picture to go on that wall. She quickly turned her head to the corner wall. She thought she saw something move. Her first fear told her it was a spider. With two boys in her home, she didn't have to tackle any spiders. However, her boys weren't with her. She slowly made her way to the corner. She sighed when she didn't see any spiders. She really hated them. As she turned to leave, her eyes dropped to the floor. She stopped and turned back to look closer. There on top of the baseboards in the corner, were her and Jack's initials just like the school. She checked each corner and in every one of them were their initials. The love she felt for that man was ever increasing. He didn't always say things the right way, but he did always show her that he loved her.

Since it was a log home, she didn't have to pick the colors for the outer walls. They were logs. She did, however, pick out a stain that enhanced the wood. She hasn't progressed with the upstairs as much yet. The interior walls upstairs would need paint, but she was more determined to have the downstairs space ready first. Plus, she promised JJ he could pick the color for his room, within reason. There was one interior wall in the master bedroom and living room that she was going to paint. She just hoped that Jack wouldn't think it was too girly.

Before leaving the new house for the day, Elizabeth went back out on the small deck outside of her bedroom. She wanted to look at the scenery again. She was only out there for about two minutes when she began to cry. She wasn't sure why. She was just more emotional now. Frank's statement about her coming back to Hope Valley was the cause of the first tear. For about two seconds, she relived that horrible decision in the schoolhouse. She looked around and then at her still flat stomach. If she had agreed to marry Charles, she would have missed out on all of this. She placed her hand on her stomach and shook her head. She and Jack agreed a long time ago that they weren't living in the past. It was a mistake. She apologized for it. Most importantly, she had proved to Jack her heart.

Elizabeth looked down at her stomach, and for the first time, she spoke to her baby. "My little one, you will be so loved by many people. Mommy and daddy will love you with all we have. We may have to correct you but know that we love you with our whole hearts. Then you will have an older brother. JJ already loves you. He thinks you are a girl. That's what he's praying about. Then there is Auntie Abagail and Uncle Frank, Mr. and Mrs. P. then my parents and your daddy's parents…little one, you will be loved." She had no idea why she was so emotional. Tear flowed freely down both cheeks.

…

Jack and Reed slowed their horses as they approached the area where he was shot yesterday. They were on high alert. They didn't know if Reed was singled out as a target or if it was a stray bullet. They wanted to be prepared. The area seemed quiet.

"What are you hoping to see that we didn't see yesterday?"

"Well, yesterday our emotions and adrenaline was high. You were hurt and we were both on high alert. At times, that doesn't lead to us finding things, especially subtle clues. We can be too jacked up that we can miss something special. Today, we are more cautious and reserved. We may just see something."

"So, emotions are good and bad at times?"

"Yes, Reed. Emotions are good but they can also be bad. We need to learn to control those emotions. We also may need to look things over when the situation dies down and we can see everything without the emotions clouding everything."

The two men looked around for a few minutes. They wanted to take in the whole area and then proceed to look at each section of it. They needed to find something that would help them to figure out what happened and why.

"I'm not ruling anything out, but let's look to the south. There are not any cabins for a little while. There are some patches of dense trees. Let's check those areas out first."

"Lead the way, Jack."

"Let's start from the beginning of the tree line to ten feet in the trees. Then we will go in every ten feet. We'll start in the middle and work our way out. Keep your eyes open for any debris or broken limbs."

"Got it."

They began in the middle of the first dense patch of trees and Jack went right and Reed went left. They slowly made their way to the edge. Jack was about ten feet from the edge of the trees when he noticed something that just didn't seem right. At least it didn't feel right. He looked again for a few moments and then he called for Reed.

Reed came over and Jack explained what he thought. Then he told him what he felt. As a mountie, Reed fully understood. They paid extra attention to the general area. Jack accidentally kicked a small log. When he looked down, he noticed a shell casing.

"Reed." Jack stated pointing to the casing on the ground. Reed stepped to Jack and looked down.

"That looks like the same caliber that hit me."

"It does, but we can't be certain since it was just a grazing wound."

Jack reached down and picked up the casing. Both Jack and Reed examined the casing.

"You know what this means." Jack stated.

"I was targeted." Reed stated as he began to look around. "There." He pointed.

There were a couple of small broken branches that were about five feet behind the bullet casing. They followed it a few more yards and noticed a few more broken branches and leaves that were turned over. It was evident to notice once you knew what to look for. They followed the faint trial until the trees ended. Once the area opened up to the large, empty field, they lost the trial.

"You said there was nothing other than dense patches of forest and open fields for a long while and then cabins."

"That's right Reed. Cabins are about three miles dead south. There's a lot of patches of forest between her and the cabins."

"You know what that leads to?"

"Whiskey runners." Jack stated while Reed nodded his head. "They saw the red serge and panicked that you were looking for them."

"I think you are right. I'm just lucky they missed." Reed stated as he swung his left arm back and forth.

"Let's look around but stay together. If they shot at you once already, they would do it again."

"Let's go."

…

"Hey you." Elizabeth stated as she looked up. Jack was walking down the road in front of the row homes. He went back to the jail with Reed and wrote up their report and findings. Jack left for home and Reed was heading to the mercantile to send a telegram to headquarters.

"Hey beautiful." Jack gave her his patent dimpled smile.

"Wow!" She whispered to herself. Those dimples are going to be the death of me. She thought to herself.

Jack sat down beside her on the steps. He followed her eyes to the field and saw that JJ was playing with Sam and Emily.

"Has he been good for you?"

"He's always good." Jack sniffed the air. "Is that fish I smell?"

Elizabeth chuckled at his facial expression. "It is."

"Elizabeth…I thought we already paid for our little stunt."

"You did. We're having fish for dinner." She laughed at his raised eyebrows. "We haven't had fish for a while, so I thought I would bake some fish for us."

Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"What's that smell?" JJ asked as he came over to say hello to his father.

"Fish." Jack stated.

"Mommy…you said we were good when we actually sincerely apologized the second time."

"Yes, the apology where you two wasn't laughing as you spoke. We are having fish for dinner."

JJ turned his attention to his daddy. He was seeking his assurance. Grandma P's house, his pajamas, and Jack's slippers still smell like fish.

"That's what she says…"

"…and mommy doesn't lie."

"No she doesn't, but she does sneak fish into our clothes."

"That sounds fishy." Elizabeth stated trying her best to hide her grin.

"Good one." JJ and Jack stated followed by a big belly laugh.

…

Reed walked from the jail to Abagail's. He really loved eating there. When he turned from closing the door, his smile grew at the curly blonde head in his sight. Faith was sitting with her back to the door, so she didn't see him. Even with her back to him, he knew instantly who she was. Unfortunately for Reed, she was sitting with some woman that he didn't know. He wanted to sit with her, but knew it was rude to interrupt their conversation. With a small groan, he sat at a table that was a few tables away from them.

After placing his order for country fried steak, carrots, and mashed potatoes, Faith and the other lady stood to leave. Faith turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see the red serge sitting somewhat close to her.

"Good evening, Constable Reed."

"Good evening, Nurse Carter."

"Please, call me Faith."

"And call me Sam."

"Have we had this conversation before?" She teased walking toward his table.

"Maybe." His face turned a slight color of pink. He was doing his best to keep from blushing. He didn't understand this woman's ability to get to him like this. No one has ever been able to before.

"How's that arm? You don't seem to be favoring it very much."

"It's good. A little sore since it's the end of the day, but I'm ok. Thank you for all you did for me."

"You're welcome."

"Would you like to have a seat?"

Faith thought about his question for a second. She had already eaten, but she couldn't deny that she wanted to speak with this man. She just liked being in his presence.

"I know you have already eaten, and I just ordered my meal, but maybe we can have dessert. If you don't mind, maybe you can share a little bit about Hope Valley with me."

"That would be lovely." Faith stated as she sat down across from Sam at the small table. "Have you been changing that wrap?"

"I did before coming here. The wound wasn't red or anything. I think you did a great job in cleaning it out."

"Good. So, what brought you back to Hope Valley?"