CHAPTER 3

Capital City, Alberta Canada

Wednesday, September 24, 1924

Lucas was meeting with Edwin and Henry to go over his itinerary for the next week. "So, you want me to leave on Sunday night and visit all the outlying towns next week, correct?" Lucas asked both men.

"Yes," said Edwin. "We will start in Rock Creek, then move to Eagle Creek, Jamison, Union City, Buxton then go down to Benson Hills and finally Hope Valley. You would be back in Capital City on Saturday, October 4th." He told him.

"And you feel this trip is worth my leaving my wife and children for a week?" Lucas asked, not really wanting to go out of town.

"Lucas, I'll be staying in Capital City to take care of everything here while you and Edwin make the campaign stops. The people need to see you and not just in Capital City and Hope Valley. Balfour is making the rounds all over Alberta, the people need to see their current governor." Henry told him firmly.

Lucas sighed. "OK, fine. I will tell MaKayla. I also want to let you both know that MaKayla is pregnant and our new little one is due in mid-March." He told them with a huge smile.

"Congratulations Lucas. I am very happy for you and MaKayla." Henry said with a jovial smile.

Edwin clapped his hands together. "This is wonderful, the voters will eat this up. I will get a press release out as soon as possible. This will also explain why MaKayla isn't with you on this trip. Voters would ordinarily expect to see her with you." Edwin told her.

Lucas sighed again. The games that were played in politics was something Lucas thought he would never get used to.

Later that night at home, Lucas told MaKayla of his impending trip. She understood why he needed to make the rounds of the outlying towns. "Lucas, the children and I will be fine. We will miss you, of course." She said as she hugged him. "The election will be just two weeks away when you return and then everything can get back to normal." She said with a kiss. Lucas was looking forward to that day.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Union City, Alberta Canada

Wednesday, October 1, 1924

Despite Union City being Balfour's stronghold, all of Lucas's rallies in the city had gone well. There were still those die-hard Balfour hold outs but overall, Balfour didn't seem to have many supporters left in his hometown. Lucas, Edwin and Declan decided to have dinner at the Gideon Hotel. Lucas liked this hotel since this is where he and MaKayla had spent their wedding night.

As the group entered the hotel dining room, who did they see but Bixby Balfour. Unfortunately, he saw them as well so there was no time to turn around and leave.

"Well, well. Governor Bouchard, I heard you were in my town. Trying to rustle up some votes in my territory I see." Balfour said in a smug tone.

Lucas gave him a steely look. "As Governor of Alberta, all the cities and towns are my territory. I'm just checking on all my constituents." He told him firmly. People were starting to notice the two men talking so Lucas put on his most charismatic smile, something Balfour was incapable of doing. "Now, if you will excuse me, my friends and I are hungry and would like to sit down to dinner." Lucas said as he walked away.

Balfour was livid as he turned to his goon, Johnny Barker, as they were leaving the restaurant. "Why is he still alive?" Balfour asked him angrily.

"Not much longer Bix. Not much longer." Johnny told him as he eyed the young governor.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope Valley, Alberta Canada

Thursday, October 2, 1924

"Good evening, Doc. How was your day? How are you feeling? How are the twins?" Lucas asked when he telephoned his wife that evening. Not letting her get a word in.

MaKayla laughed, "Everything is fine here. We just miss you. But you will be home on Saturday, right?" She asked

"Yes, I'm meeting with Lee in the morning, then I'm having lunch with Jack. After lunch I'm going to stop off at the airport to see Andrew. I'm hoping to get another flying lesson in. I think I'm almost ready to go solo." He said excitedly. My train back to Capital City leaves at 4 p.m." He told her.

"You certainly have a full day planned. Tell everyone I said hello. I love you, Lucas." MaKayla told him.

"Je t'aime de tout mon coeur, mon amour." Lucas told her as he hung up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hope Valley, Alberta Canada

Friday, October 3, 1924

The next morning Lucas met with Lee over breakfast and was happy to learn everything was going well in Hope Valley. The town was flourishing with all the new opportunities in the valley. After that, he stopped at the jail to visit with Nathan to make sure everything was good there.

"No trouble from Balfour yet?" Nathan asked.

"None." Lucas confirmed. "I know he's up to something. It's just a matter of when he is going to spring it on me. You haven't heard of anything?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing, it's been quiet." He told him.

"I also checked with Daniel Sterling. Daniel says Balfour still hangs out with the same low life degenerates he always has but he hasn't heard any concerning chatter either. This makes me very nervous. I know he's going to pull something." Lucas told him.

"Don't borrow trouble if you don't have to." Nathan told him. "Oh, by the way, I hear congratulations are in order. MaKayla told Faith about the new baby. Actually, we are just a month behind you, Faith is due again in late April." Nathan told him.

Lucas stood up and shook Nathan's hand. "That is wonderful. Good news all around." Lucas said with a dimpled grin.

Lucas left the jail and went to pick Jack up at school. They then headed over to the café for lunch. Lucas told Jack about their new impending bundle of joy.

"Another one?" Jack said surprised. "I hope it's another boy." He said with conviction.

Lucas laughed. "You don't think that Ciara would like a little sister this time?" Lucas asked the boy teasingly.

"Nah, me and Matthew need another brother for a baseball team." Jack told him seriously.

Lucas laughed again, "Well, Auntie MaKayla and I will see what we can do about that. Now it's time to get you back to school buddy." Lucas said as he and Jack left the café together.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lucas drove up to the airport. He was impressed at how good everything looked. Andrew came out of the hangar where the planes were housed. "Lucas, good to see you." He said as the two men shook hands. "I also understand congratulations are in order. Baby number three, you two aren't wasting any time." He said with a laugh.

"Thank you. You and Jenny won't be too far behind us." Lucas said giving Andrew a pat on the back. "Any chance I can get in some flying time before I leave?" He asked. "My train doesn't leave till 4."

"Sure, let's go." Andrew told him. They put on their leather jackets, caps and googles. They pushed the plane out on to the run way. Lucas got the propeller spinning and both men boarded the plane.

Johnny Barker looked on from the tree line surrounding the airport on the left. With his binoculars he could see the two men board the plane. "Goodbye governor." He said with an evil laugh.

Lucas was in the front seat of the plane. Andrew was letting him have complete control of the plane. It was a beautiful day for flying but suddenly the plane started to sputter. Lucas looked at the gas gauge. "Andrew, do you feel that, the plane is sputtering." Lucas yelled. "The gas gauge says we are about empty."

"That's impossible. I filled it up this morning." Andrew yelled back. "How much gas is left?"

"We are flying on fumes." Lucas yelled back again.

"We need to find a place to put her down gently. Stay away from the mountains or we're dead. Look for a clearing." Andrew yelled.

The plane was losing altitude quickly and there did not look to be any clear land below only forest. Both men desperately tried to hold the plane as steady as they could while trying to ease her descent to the ground. About 100 yards ahead they noticed there was an opening in the tree cover. The noise of the plane crashing through the trees was deafening. The body of the plane hit the ground with a hard thump. The plane started shaking as Lucas braked with everything he had. The plane came to a resting spot between two trees, as an eerie silence settled over the area.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back in Hope Valley, Edwin was pacing around the saloon. It was well after 4 p.m. and Lucas was nowhere to be found. They missed the train back to Capital City. This was very unlike Lucas and Edwin was growing concerned. Edwin wished that Lucas hadn't let Declan stay behind in Union City to visit with family. It now appeared that Lucas could have really used his bodyguard. Just then Nathan Grant came into the saloon.

"Constable, I'm glad you're here. The governor is missing. We had a 4 o'clock train back to Capital City but Lucas hasn't showed up. We need to find him." Edwin told him alarmed.

"I believe he was going over to see Andrew Donovan at the airport before he left for the train. Let's go check the airport." Nathan told Edwin as the men went outside. "Do you ride?" Nathan asked Edwin.

"Uhm, no. I'll wait here. You let me know what you find." Edwin told him.

Nathan rode up to the airport and immediately spotted Lucas's car and also saw Jenny Donovan walking around the property. "Jenny, is Andrew here?" Nathan asked

"No, he was supposed to be home by now, which is why I'm here. Sometimes he gets caught up in things and I have to pull him away. But there's no sign of him and there is only one plane here, which means he went flying. Lucas's car is here too. And I don't see him anywhere around either." She said nervously.

Nathan eyed her with concern. "Lucas had a 4 o'clock train back to Capital City and he missed it. Something must have happened for him to have missed that train." He said as he took in Jenny's furrowed brow. "Where is Cottington?" Nathan asked her about Andrew's employee.

"He had a mail run to Jamison today. He won't be back until tomorrow." Jenny told him as fear started to gripe her heart. "We need to get a search party to look for them." Jenny told him frantically.

"Let's go back to town. I will make a call to headquarters. We can have Mounties here by tomorrow morning to start searching. Afterall, it's the governor and his brother-in-law that is missing. The only problem is, we have no idea which direction they went in." Nathan said as he too understood the implications of this.

As they arrived back in town, Nathan filled Edwin and Bill in on the situation. Word was spreading quickly around town that the governor was missing along with Andrew Donovan. Elizabeth left Jack with Rosemary, as she didn't want Jack to be upset until she knew for sure that there was really something to be upset about. She went into town to find out what she could.

As she entered the saloon, she saw Jenny Donovan sitting at a table by herself crying. Elizabeth approached her. "Jenny, can I sit down?" She asked gently. The distraught young woman nodded. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Oh Elizabeth, I really don't know. It looks like Lucas and Andrew went up in one of the planes this afternoon and something must have happened because they haven't come back yet. Lucas was supposed to be on the 4 o'clock train back to Capital City. You know he wouldn't have missed the train if something hadn't happened to them." She told her as the tears started to stream down her face.

Elizabeth looked over at Nathan, Bill and Edwin. "Let me go see what I can find out." She told the young bride as she stood up and made her way over to the men. "Is there any update?" She asked nervously.

"It looks like the plane they were in went down. We did hear from old man Wilson that he heard some strange noises around 3 p.m. today when he was riding back into town. From his description, we think the plane might have gone down somewhere in the surrounding woods around Benson Hills. A search party of Mounties are on their way here. There's not much more we can do right now; it will be dark soon. We can start searching first thing at daybreak." Nathan told her.

"Has anyone called MaKayla, to tell her?" Elizabeth asked. All three men shook their heads no.

She gave a heavy sigh. "I'll call her. She should know even if we don't have many answers right now." Elizabeth told them as she walked away to use Lucas's private office to make the call.

Johnny Barker was listening intently to the conversation at the bar between the men. He chuckled softly to himself. Everything had gone perfectly. He gulped down the rest of his beer and left. He wanted to get to Union City tonight to inform Balfour he had finally taken care of Bouchard once and for all. The best part he thought, no one would be the wiser and tie him or Balfour to Bouchard's untimely death.

Elizabeth sat down in Lucas's office chair and steadied her nerves to make one of the hardest telephone calls of her life. "Hello, may I please speak to Mrs. Bouchard? This is Elizabeth Thornton calling from Hope Valley." She told the housekeeper. Elizabeth waited anxiously for MaKayla to come to the telephone. As she waited, she picked up the picture on Lucas's desk of Lucas, MaKayla, the twins and Jack. After everything he had been through, it couldn't end this way, it just couldn't, she thought. He finally had the home and family he always desired.

"Hello, Elizabeth. How are you? What do I owe the pleasure of this call?" MaKayla said easily.

Hearing MaKayla's voice brought her out of her reverie. "MaKayla, I…I wish I didn't have to call but there appears to have been an accident." Elizabeth stopped talking as she heard the twins in the background saying loudly, "talk dada." Elizabeth lowered her head as a tear escaped.

"Elizabeth please hold on one minute." MaKayla told her. "Mrs. Cleveland could you please take the twins to the playroom. I will be there shortly. Thank you." MaKayla said to the children's nanny. "I'm sorry Elizabeth, Mrs. Cleveland is taking the children to the playroom. What is this about an accident?" She asked

Andrew and Lucas took one of the planes up this afternoon and they haven't returned yet. Lucas was supposed to be on the 4 o'clock train back to you, he never made the train. Nathan thinks their plane crashed somewhere in the forest near Benson Hills. Since it will be dark soon, they can't start looking for them tonight. But the Mounties and everyone from town will be searching at daybreak." Elizabeth said hurriedly.

MaKayla's heart caught in her throat. This explained the uneasy feeling she was having all day. MaKayla was silent for a long moment before she spoke. "Elizabeth, I will be on the next train to Hope Valley. If Lucas was dead, I would feel it in my heart. And although I'm scared, I know he is alive, so is Andrew. I will see you tomorrow. Elizabeth, thank you for calling." MaKayla said as she gently placed the receiver down. Thankfully Lucas's parents were in Europe and would not hear of this latest misfortune to befall their son.

She sank down into Lucas's library chair. She leaned back in the chair and gently caressed her abdomen. "Don't you worry little one. You will get the chance to meet your daddy. I just know it." MaKayla whispered ever so softly to the baby growing in her womb.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Union City, Alberta Canada

Friday, October 3, 1924

Johnny Barker entered the Gideon Hotel feeling pretty good about how his day had gone. Everything had gone according to plan. He would get paid from Balfour and then he could move on. He did not want to be around when all hell broke loose over the young governor having been tragically killed in a plane accident. Barker spied Balfour across the room and made his way over to his table.

Barker sat down. "Have you heard any news about Bouchard?" He asked him quietly with a smug expression.

Balfour smiled. "There seems to be some scuttle going around town that Governor Bouchard has been in a plane crash and there is thought to be no survivors as of right now. Was this your handy work?" Balfour inquired quietly.

Barker smiled broadly, "Yes, it was. I cut the fuel line. That is, I slit it just enough so the gas would leak out bit by bit, so that they would be over the densest part of the forest when they found themselves running on fumes. Worked like a charm. They never had a chance. Now, I would like to paid. I did what you asked. He told him.

Balfour eyed his hired gun closely. "Nice work. But until I have confirmation that they have a body, Bouchard's body and he truly is dead, then and only then will you get your money." Balfour told him menacingly. "This man has an uncanny knack of getting himself out of the direst situations." He said with a pained expression.

"It could take them weeks to find the wreckage. From what I could tell they went down in the deepest part of forest. Pay up now. I don't want to be sticking around here for the mayhem that will ensue when Bouchard's death is confirmed." Barker told the older man.

"Check back with me in a week if Bouchard's body hasn't been found by then. You really need to go back to Hope Valley and keep tabs on the situation from there. I'll pay you a little extra. I don't want Bouchard pulling a fast one on us." Balfour told him. "He can be tricky."

Barker growled at his employer. "Fine, one week. That's it, whether they have found Bouchard or not." He told him in no uncertain terms. Balfour nodded his agreement. The thought of Bouchard finally being out of his way was music to his ears. Now he just hoped it was indeed true.