AN: So, this is a little longer than most of the chapters in this collection but I don't want to publish it by itself so here it is. The April prompt from the Sunday Night Serge Facebook group was to write a story involving a character mentioned on the show but never seen on screen. I cam up with two ideas, both from season 6. This is the first one, involving the Sheriff that Bill mentions to Lee as his inspiration to join the Mounties.

Hope you enjoy!

As he often did, eleven-year-old Bill stood at the window, peering out the crack he made in the heavy curtains his mother had hung there. On the floor behind him, his brother and sister engaged in a game of checkers. He could have joined him, but he longed to be outside, kicking a ball around with his friends. However, he and the other kids were not allowed to play outside these days. Too dangerous their parents said.

Sheriff Curran said he was going to change that. The man had vowed to round up the bandits and gangs in this town and give it back to the citizens. Bill had heard his father say that even though he was an outsider, the new sheriff seemed to have taken on the cause as a personal one. Bill wasn't quite sure what that meant but it seemed to please his father.

There was movement in the otherwise quiet street. There was Sheriff Curran, leading a young man, in cuffs, on a horse behind him. Bill recognized the young man - Mark Taylor. He was about five years older, but Bill remembered playing ball with Mark at community picnics—back before the criminals had taken over. Like other young men in the town, Mark had chosen to join the gangs rather than fight or hide from them.

"Sheriff Curran arrested one of the bad guys!" Bill exclaimed.

The game of checkers forgotten, his brother and sister were soon beside him. The curtain was pushed further open, allowing all three to see the scene outside. Soon, even their mother was standing behind them.

"Putting away one criminal, one who is barely a boy, does not make this town safe," his mother said, though Bill thought he heard a hint of hope that he hadn't heard in her voice in years.

"Dad always says that filling a bucket begins with one drop," Bill said. "I think this is just the first drop for Sheriff Curran." The young boy didn't bother hiding the admiration in his voice and he planned on watching from the window as this new sheriff followed through with his promise to give the town back to the law-abiding citizens.

Sheriff Nathan Curran

A man of his word

Bill blinked a way of the tears as he looked at the gravestone of the man who had shaped his life. Though Sheriff Curran had never gone into details about why he had chosen to come to their town and clean it up, he had been a hero to the whole town—especially an impressionable young man who had chosen to follow in his footsteps. Not that Bill had ever asked.

"Why did you come here, Sheriff Curran?"

"Because no one is above the law, and a lawman can't play favorites. Sometimes that is easier to do when you're in a place where you don't have connections."

That was the only explanation the man had given, though Bill had observed that he had been careful not to get too close to the folks of the town—even himself. He was always polite. Would accept the dinner invitations extended to him? If he saw a need, Sheriff Curran would not hesitate to fill it.

No one would have called him a friend.

Bill was starting to realize that for many years, the man had influenced his life in more ways than a career. He had tended to keep most people at arms length throughout his life. The fewer relationships the easier being a lawman was—or so he believed.

He no longer felt that way. A man needed a feeling of belonging.

Turning from the headstone, Bill found a familiar face standing not far away—Nathan Grant. Hope Valley's quiet Mountie stood as straight and poised as ever. On his face was a poker face that would have served him well at the table if the man played. He was glad the man had chosen to stay in Hope Valley this past Christmas but getting to know him was proving to be harder than he had thought. Perhaps the town's, and his own, welcome of him factored into it, or perhaps it was just Nathan's nature. Recent events with Archie Grant had opened doors and Bill aimed to keep them wedged open.

"You are the last man I expected to see here," Nathan said, his tone neutral.

"I could say the same thing," Bill said, noting the bouquet of flowers that Nathan held. "Just paying my respects to someone who made an impact on me when I was young. Sheriff Curran was the reason I became a lawman. Though I reckon you wouldn't have been born when the man passed."

"You would reckon right," Nathan said. "I'm placing the flowers for my mother. She isn't feeling up to making the trip but she wanted flowers on her father's grave, just like she has every year since his funeral. My grandfather passed shortly after Colleen was born. My mother tried to maintain a line of communication with her parents though her father never approved of Archie. He had picked him up as a minor for petty theft and wasn't convinced he had changed any. My grandfather was right."

"Sometimes that is easier to do when you're in a place where you don't have connections," Bill said softly, finally understanding the man's meaning when he spoke those words.

"What?"

Remembering he wasn't alone, Bill chose to open up a little to the man standing before him. "Just something Sheriff Curran once said to me when I asked him why he had come to our town. I never quite got it, though I saw that he held himself a part from others. When I chose to join the Mounties to be a lawman like him, I thought that was just part of the job. Having met Archie, I understand him a little better now."

Nathan nodded as Bill glanced back at the headstone, another connection falling into place. "You were named after him," he commented, looking back toward Nathan.

Nathan nodded. "I was. I remember asking my mother one time why she chose to name me after her father and not mine. She told me that it was her way to honor him even though they had not been close in the last years of my grandfather's life. That it was only after his death that she truly understood why her father chose distance when she chose to marry Archie despite his disapproval. Shortly after, my father got arrested for the first time though there had been visits from the Mounties before that. When I was told about that arrest warrant for my father, and I knew that I had to follow through with it, I got a new understanding for the grandfather I had never met."

"You did what you had to do."

"I arrested an innocent man."

"You executed a warrant for an arrest. After which, you investigated to follow up on that man's claim. If you hadn't, your father would probably be sitting in a jail cell for a crime he didn't commit."

Nathan nodded a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Having known your grandfather, I feel confident in saying he would be proud of your grandfather."

"Thanks, Bill."

"I'll leave you to your task."

Bill stepped past Nathan and headed for the gate. He hadn't gone far when Nathan's call stopped him.

"Bill."

The judge turned back to the Mountie, who continued.

"Not sure what your schedule is like, but if you aren't in a hurry, you could come to my mom's place and have dinner with us."

Though the dinner invitation was welcoming, it wasn't just the food that mattered to Bill. This was an invitation from Nathan to enter his private life by meeting the man's mother. Bill had a feeling that he would learn more about Nathan over one meal with the woman than he had in the whole time he had known Nathan.

"I'll wait for you at the gate."

Nathan nodded and turned toward his grandfather's headstone. Bill turned and continued toward the gate. Life had interesting timing in revealing its secrets.