Elizabeth could see that it was an elaborate plan which was borne out of just one probable sighting and the assumption that those men were planning the shortest way home to Gladstone in the quickest possible time.
He lamented his painful decision as he leaned on the wall, "I had to send Gene Tully and Jason as Nathan and Simon could be recognised and now I have to rely on Constable Les Graham, someone who I have never met. The arrival at Ringwood has to be absolutely precise or else there may be trouble with these ex policemen and things could go wrong very badly. Simon had spoken highly of the officer from Ringwood and he may also be in some danger if we are forced to depend on him as he will be the only one with jurisdiction in that district."
He sat back in gloom, "we've put the plan in place, now it's out of my hands and that's what I don't like."
Elizabeth took hold of his hand as she could see him worrying about the fate of his men above himself and everything else,
"Eric, it is so wonderful how you put life and meaning back into Gene after what he went through at Rainsford and back at the cape and I'm sure that he will look after Jason who is more than ready for an assignment such as this. Captain Glover owes it all to you for getting him here to be reunited with Christine. Your men will do just fine because they have you to look up to as their commanding officer, you should remember what you did for Amy and you can see the young woman who she is growing into."
Elizabeth sat with him and put her head on his shoulder and she thought to herself that there was nowhere else that she would rather be.
She could see that he had a lot of tasks on his mind, one of his major jobs was finishing the comprehensive report that was going to put Arnold (Buster) Brewster away for a very long time. He had included his eyewitness reports from Captain Glover and Mr O'Malley and also, reports from two Mounties who had to deal with the resisting arrest from the carriage and his complete lack of cooperation. The final report prepared and signed off by a captain should get the job done sufficiently well and ready to be placed in front of a magistrate. Once this was completed he was planning to look at Elizabeth's window and have it fixed just in time for tea. He wanted to see how Peter Glover was settling in before he would tackle the window, he prayed that the ladder that he had especially constructed for her did not plan to fail him while he was up the top.
He always welcomed Elizabeth's company the longer he had been in Hope Valley and he valued her council just as much as when he would report in to Sandra on a regular basis. Somehow with her right there by his side, he felt that all would be well and Arnold (Buster) Brewster would be successfully despatched in the morning and he would be able to have one of many conversations with Captain Glover and lastly but most importantly, fix Elizabeth's window. He needed to find the opportunity to talk to Constable Graham at Ringwood and make him appreciate the gravity of the situation that might be facing him with these two ex-policemen heading his way. Before heading to the rowhouses he arranged with Simon to set a particular time with him that would be convenient for a phone call with Constable Graham.
Elizabeth had taken his arm as they walked along and she was curious about Eric's desire to talk to Peter Glover seeing that all matters regarding the assault out on the road had been attended to and finalised successfully ready for tomorrow. She couldn't help noticing how serious he looked even though he was always a measure of relaxed concentration which was always one of his strongpoints, but now he looked as if he had something on his mind. He picked up Little Jack and carried the tired little boy who excitedly pointed out his home as they got closer,
"Jack, he's been here before when he built the ladder for us so he knows which house is ours."
Eric took a great deal of pride in his newly constructed ladder when he saw it and he knew that he could have confidence that it wouldn't disintegrate when he started towards the top. The window, however, was going to present him with a challenge, it was partially open but it was still jammed in its place causing an annoying draft and if he tried to force it too hard then the glass and the frame could break and that was something to be avoided especially when there was a little boy standing on the bottom rung of the ladder looking up at him. He knew not to be heavy-handed with it as much of the wood was nearing the end of its worth and it really needed a complete replacement. He was silent as he worked as he remembered the little boy showing him the photo of his dad when he was here last. He was nearly grief stricken himself to think that one photo was all they had left to remember him after they had planned a lifetime together. It was completely unfair that Little Jack was to grow up without his father when he could see Marie and Emily with their fathers right there for them every day.
Jack had died well before he, Sandra and her father had arrived at Fort Clay but he couldn't help feeling some responsibility now that he was a commanding officer in the very same place. Right now, he had to try and refocus on the job at hand as this window wasn't going to get fixed by itself, it didn't take him long before he could see where it was stuck. He had a file and a screwdriver and now he got to work carefully trying to prize it open. He was worried that he may not be able to get it closed again but, one thing at a time and after about half an hour with a careful hand and perseverance with the file, he was able to close it and reopen it quite easily even though he felt it to be just a temporary measure. It would have to do until he could organise new timber and spare glass if necessary, he planned on doing the job right especially now as he could see the poor condition of the other windows in the house.
"Jack, would you go and get your mother please but don't let her climb up the ladder,"
He was quite pleased with himself that he was able to fix the window without breaking the glass and doing real damage and now Elizabeth would be able to confidently let some fresh air into the house when she wanted to. He knew that all this would most certainly have been attended to long ago if Jack was still here as she had told him how Jack had organised the construction of the school building and what a wonderful legacy he had provided for the town. He wondered if Little Jack would have had a little brother or sister in the family by now instead of being alone. He couldn't help thinking about Sandra and how she was a tower of strength for everyone around her and then there was Emily next door and the circumstances that brought her to live with Lee and Rosemary.
"Hey, penny for your thoughts up there, what am I supposed to be looking at here."
The captain moved out of the way a little and proudly showed Elizabeth how he could now open the repaired window and close it and he couldn't hide the smug look on his face at his achievement and it didn't even squeak like what it had done before. Elizabeth squealed with delight and picked up her son excitedly and just as the captain was bowing in acceptance of all the acclaim he was receiving, the ladder shifted and it caused him to hastily grab the open window before he nearly fell.
"Oh, my goodness, Eric, are you alright, come down from there before you break your neck,"
she held Little Jack in horror with one arm and supported the ladder with the other just as Eric climbed down and set foot on solid ground once again.
"Eric, you could have really hurt yourself," she hugged him and Little Jack climbed into his arms.
Eric was more embarrassed than hurt and then Elizabeth grinned at him and they laughed.
"at least you didn't get any splinters and I love my window but I'm not letting you up there again."
His laugh soon turned to his serious look just as if he was about to issue out an instruction,
"Not a word of this to Nathan or even Sandra."
Elizabeth tried very hard not to smile as she put her finger to her lips, "my lips are sealed captain, your secret is safe with me."
She looked back up to the top of the ladder in admiration of her window that was back in service,
"well Eric, it's not me you have to worry about," as she turned her eyes to her son, "this little man here has no idea how to keep a secret, if he doesn't tell Nathan then I bet he will tell Emily and that will be even worse."
Eric looked horrified and he grabbed Little Jack and picked him up and told him that he was going to put him in the bin if word got out.
Elizabeth took his arm affectionately, "come inside and have some dinner with us, it is our pleasure to have you here Eric, are you sure that you don't need a walking stick."
His pride was still suffering from his potential mishap but he could see the funny side of it until she asked him rather cheekily,
"How do you feel about having your picture on the front page of the Valley Voice."
He was puzzled by that until he started to equate Emily with her mother and that brought a look of horror and resignation to his face, he said to Elizabeth,
"she wouldn't hesitate for an instance with a story like that would she," and with that he looked threatening at a startled Little Jack once again.
He looked suspiciously at Elizabeth once again and she replied, "don't look at me, I'm just glad to have my window fixed and you with no broken bones."
"You're an extra fine cook Mrs Thornton, and I think that I have told you that before."
They had a wonderful meal together and he was pleasantly surprised how Little Jack wasn't fussy with his food like many other youngsters and his mother had taught him good manners at the table. The captain was very impressed,
"he's easily going to be ready for school next year but I suspect that you might be wishing that he wouldn't be growing up so quickly."
She talked about how she had to learn everything right from scratch and how she couldn't have done it without the help of Abigail who had been such a good friend in the first few years. He was determined that he would help clean up and help with the dishes and then maybe she would come with him to see Peter Glover.
"The two most wonderful ladies who I know are you and Sandra and I always say how you were both dealt an unfair blow in this world and I'm in complete admiration how you both took calamity and faced it head on and it made you stronger."
He smiled at her, "I would bet that all of your students are better people because of you and I'm sure that the ones who have left over the years will always remember you."
He was full of compliments as they wandered past the Coulter's home and they could see that they weren't going to have to knock on the door as they could see the Glover family sitting on the steps out the front as the sun was starting to set. Eric's heart nearly melted to see Marie sitting comfortably on her father's lap with her mother, Christine sitting close by and they had just been staring out over the horizon in the fading light. Christine saw them coming and stood up with a smile and she had noticed how Elizabeth was arm in arm with the captain,
"Good evening captain and Elizabeth and of course, Little Jack, this is indeed a pleasant surprise to have you join us."
She hugged and kissed the captain as she knew how he was so instrumental in having her husband returned to her when he could have been searching for her forever.
Eric knew that Captain Glover was going to need a lot of time to rest and find his new life and his family and also recover from his injury,
"If I never said so before Captain Glover, welcome to the west and welcome to Hope Valley. I know that you had an arduous journey over the last four years and you are going to need time but I'm hoping that you can tell us about it when you may be ready."
He felt that he needed to relax as he couldn't believe what this family had gone through and how they had never stopped loving each other even for an instant.
"I have some news for you sir, I have completed the report that is going to send that man away for a very long time and you won't have to concern yourself about him ever again."
"I have to talk to someone tomorrow morning about another case and he's on the very train line that you came here on and I'm wondering if you might have run into him on the stopover at Ringwood. His name is Constable Les Graham and he has already been of some valuable assistance to us recently."
Peter had no hesitation in jumping in and recalling one of the many parts of his travels when he was seeking to try and find a family member who could have led him to where he was right now.
"Christine, there is so much that I have to tell you and this is just part of it, I barely know where to start. Captain I met Constable Graham while I was there at Ringwood and he kindly drove me to a little town called Overton and that's where I searched out and met Emma Gibson who was Emma Pennington."
Christine gasped as this was a name from her family that she had not heard of for many years even though they had barely seen each other through their youth.
"Of course, she had remembered Christine but she was so sorry that she couldn't help me, she had problems of her own trying to raise a young son, Danny on her own after she lost his father through illness. That night was when the storm hit and the young boy was clearly frightened with the thunder and lightning so he slept in my arms before we could put him to bed. They now live with James Pennington in Hartford after we buried his wife Judy after fifty good years of marriage."
Christine couldn't believe what she was hearing, this was just a small part of what Peter had to go through on his long journey. She tried not to hurt his arm as she hugged him and she was so close to tears.
"Christine, I have one other piece of information that you need to know, Constable Les Graham's wife is Carla who was Carla Pennington and she is one of three eminent doctors in the town and she has her own clinic."
Peter grabbed her hand and his eyes were welling up, "She gave me encouragement as she insisted without any doubt that you would be out there somewhere waiting for me and she was right."
Elizabeth squeezed Eric's arm a little tighter as she was starting to choke up herself.
Eric asked him, "can I pass on your thanks captain and tell Constable Graham that you arrived into Hope Valley and that you are reunited with your family which now includes a beautiful little daughter and her name's Marie."
Christine could fondly remember Auntie Carla and how beautiful she always was and now she was amazed how Peter had brought some of the expansive Pennington family together after so many years being far apart. It was now quite dark and Little Jack was nearly asleep and Marie had fallen asleep in her dad's arms so Eric and Elizabeth bid them goodnight. They could see the love in Christine's eyes as she now had her family reunited and they were complete,
"You should have been here yesterday captain, Peter was about to read a bedtime story for Marie but he soon found out that Emily had invited herself over and both of them were in the same bed together as well as Rusty the dog, all eagerly awaiting Uncle Peter to arrive with a book. They both fell asleep together and Rosemary would probably not have known that her daughter was not fast asleep back in her own bed."
"It would be my great pleasure if you let me help you put this little man to bed for you, I can't imagine how you would get him up the stairs these days, he's so heavy."
Elizabeth followed him up the stairs and into his little bedroom and as he carefully laid the boy down, he saw the photo of Jack next to the bed. He thought that it was fitting and kind of his mother that he should have the picture of his father so close. He put his hand on Little Jack's head and then pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and he couldn't help thinking again how he didn't deserve to have his father taken from him and he would grow up never knowing him.
"Elizabeth, if I ever get to have a son, I would want him to be just like Little Jack here, I don't think that I could ask for anything more in life."
Elizabeth was more than surprised and it had taken the wind out of her to hear him make a comment like that because he had always been so professional and devoted in his job and the only thing he had said outside of that was to say how he admired her and Sandra. He was slow and thoughtful as he wandered back down the stairs and Elizabeth could see that he appeared to need someone who he cared about to talk to. She had never seen him with such a heavy heart, she sat him down with her on the steps,
"What is it Eric," she looked at him with concern as she put her arms around him. He was silent for a while almost unable to find the words that he wanted,
"Elizabeth, I see your little son and I feel that Jack should still be here to tuck him in at night, I see Emily and I see Simon having to give her up, it must have been a heartbreaking decision after losing his wife in that accident and little Marie may have grown up without her father being around."
He was struggling to find his composure, "We just spoke to a man who has spent four long years crossing the vast ocean countless numbers of times with the huge responsibility of bringing lifesaving goods to the masses of helpless people who depended on him and his crew and he never let them down at any stage. He had to guide that ship through the massive storms with waves twice the size of the vessel and pray that they would live until the next one came along. He is ten times the man that any of us will ever be and I thank God that he made it back to his family. Elizabeth, he could have gone years in a fruitless search for his wife and maybe never found her, we only heard a small part of his story. I'm sure that there must have been times when he was close to losing faith and we weren't there to help him."
His voice was choking up, "Elizabeth, we have done something really good here."
Elizabeth hugged him close, "Eric, he wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for you, that thoughtful phone call from you to his mother before the storm hit was very fortunate and I saw how you calmed Christine down and gave her hope with your gentle tone."
She remembered how her father's words had made her put two and two together and that was how it all started,
"Eric, it is quite true that Peter Glover is a great man but I am sitting here next to as good a man that anyone could hope to meet."
She looked into his eyes, "everybody who sees you admires you and you are a wonderful commanding officer and a perfect gentleman who gives confidence to all his men, and you were right Eric, we have done something really good."
They stared closely at each other into their eyes and then it looked very much like they were going to kiss until he said, "I think that I should go," he still had hold of her hand nervously,
"Thanks for being with me tonight and thank you for such a wonderful dinner, goodnight Elizabeth," and he walked off down the road into the night.
She was in a daze as she stood up and walked inside and leaned against the door with her eyes shut, she was trying to think about what had just happened or more importantly, what had nearly just happened. Her face was all red from being flustered and she closed the door quietly behind her so as not to wake her son and then she marched straight through the door to Rosemary's house. She paced up and down much to her best friend's amazement and she looked to try and say something but all she did was wave her hands around in despair. Rosemary knew her best friend better than anyone and she had seen it all before,
"Are you going to get around to telling me what is going on or do I have to drag it out of you."
She wasn't glaring at Elizabeth and trying to get her to relax yet but she was still full of expectation,
"will a cup of tea and some cookies help?" she was quite sure that she already knew why Elizabeth was here and what she was going to say.
She was trying to appear concerned but she was trying very hard to hide her amusement but, at the same time, she didn't like to see Elizabeth in distress. Elizabeth was still pacing up and down,
"I can't fall in love again, I just can't."
Rosemary's amusement quietly turned to sympathy for her best friend and she was here to help and now she brought all of her authority and intuition to bear,
"Elizabeth, please sit down with me and tell me what has happened."
Elizabeth was close to tears, "Rosemary, he's such a wonderful man and he absolutely adores Little Jack and he helps and cares for everybody and he asks nothing in return. He takes on everybody's problems and I told him that he can't fix everything but he will never stop trying."
Rosemary looked frustrated, "Elizabeth, you haven't yet told me who you are talking about and whoever he is, he sounds very much like someone who we could all fall in love with and we all adore Little Jack, I'm sure that I can't see what the issue is, I think that you should tell me what happened but you have to take some deep breaths first and don't choke on any of my cookies."
Elizabeth looked longingly and despairingly at her best friend and confidant,
"I thought he was going to kiss me until he said that he'd better go and that's when I came over here."
Rosemary stopped her in her tracks, "my goodness, if he tried to kiss you, I will have Nathan arrest him in the morning, we can't have that sort of thing going on in our town."
Elizabeth started to relax a little now that she knew that Rosemary was teasing her and also, she was being silly while she was making out that she had no idea who she was talking about.
"Okay Elizabeth, hurry up and tell me, your best friend who is sitting here next to you on the edge of her seat and there is a time limit, what led to this little intimate transgression that occurred not so long ago."
It was no longer funny to Rosemary as she could see that Elizabeth was really battling and trying to come to grips with her feelings.
"I told Eric that one of the windows at home was stuck and he offered to fix it and then he wanted to see Peter Glover," she had finally sat down but she was very much on edge.
"While he fixed the window I made dinner for him."
Rosemary butted in sharply, "you mean to tell me that you had a date with the captain and I didn't know about it," now she was the one up and on her feet and pacing around.
"It wasn't a date Rosemary and you know very well that it wasn't, he was perfectly charming and he wasn't the least bit presumptuous and he was so impressed with Little Jack with his good manners at the table. He ignored me when I refused to let him help with the dishes and the cleaning up, he is the perfect gentleman."
Rosemary was suddenly rather obstinate, "I bet you cooked something special for him and now you're trying to tell me that it wasn't a date."
"Rosemary, you should have seen Eric when he put Little Jack down to bed, I will never forget how he looked at him, you know my son went to sleep in his arms as we walked back home, I saw his face when he saw Jack's photo and I'm sure that he felt so sorry that he wasn't there for his young son."
Rosemary didn't have to say anything but she knew that this was as close to a date, even if it was unofficial, as what it was ever going to be.
"You said that he wanted to talk to Peter, did you get that far?"
It had taken this long for Elizabeth's heart to stop beating like a marching band and she was thankful for the cup of tea and cookies that had taken so long to arrive.
"When Peter spoke, Eric was mesmerised as we were hearing just a little part of what he had went through when he was looking all over the country for Christine, Eric's just like Jack who was there to help everybody at the drop of a hat but somehow he's different in some ways. I've only ever seen him as calm and calculated as he deals with any issues but tonight I saw him very differently, he showed a vulnerability that I haven't seen in him since he has been here. We listened to Peter speak about when he was in Ringwood and do you know Rosemary, Christine has an auntie who is a doctor there, someone who she hasn't seen in many years, her name's Carla."
"After we put Little Jack to bed, we sat on the steps and talked for a while and that's when I thought he was going to kiss me."
She clammed up and froze at the thought of that moment. It drew her back to the same time with Jack and also she could remember having the same reaction with Lucas, these were little but heart wrenching moments that were important to her and times that she would never forget as she was just starting to cry.
"Rosemary, I can't go through all this again, I lost Jack and then I died a thousand deaths when I was faced with having to move to Union City with Lucas, I just can't do it all again."
She shrugged her shoulders, "maybe Eric feels the same way and that's why he didn't kiss me in the end."
Rosemary had a very good memory of how she got to where she was in her life, she had shed her share of tears, there was when she and Jack finally broke up for good and she had to see him marry Elizabeth. Her life had been rocky to say the least and then she found Lee and fell in love, then Emily came along and decided immediately who her mother was going to be.
"Elizabeth, we both know that you don't get to decide when we might fall in love, it just happens all on its own, you can try and fight it every inch of the way, I'm not telling you anything that you don't know or haven't experienced before."
She was whispering hoping that she wouldn't wake Emily because getting her back to bed with Auntie Elizabeth here would be impossible.
"Elizabeth, please don't take this the wrong way but I think congratulations are in order, you couldn't ask for a more wonderful man than Captain Eric, you said yourself how he adores Little Jack, if you don't take him then I will give Lee the flick and marry him myself."
Elizabeth listened to all of Rosemary's carry on and somewhere in the story, she knew that she was actually making some sense, whether she liked it or not, there had been a moment earlier on the steps that was unmistakable and it was going to have to be attended to at some time.
"I can't fall in love with him because he will have to leave here and return to Fort Clay eventually and he will know that I will want to stay here so that my son can go to school where Jack would have wanted."
"Well Elizabeth, I think he's a decent and honourable man and you should be proud that he appears to want to be more than just friends with you, as for not going through with a kiss I would venture to say that he is a man who says that a kiss should happen when it really means something and he is obviously not a presumptuous man and he would hate to think that that he would have appeared to take advantage of you. Just the same, I'm going to dust off my bridesmaid's dress just in case,"
Elizabeth hoped that Little Jack would not wake up and find that mum was not there so she hugged Rosemary and frowned as she headed for the door,
"Rosemary, most of what you said tonight was helpful but the bit about the bridesmaid's dress was a comment that I could have done without."
Rosemary grinned at her, "I knew that this conversation was going to happen and soon as we could all see that the captain could barely move all this time without having a certain someone hanging onto him like a leech and, if you noticed Elizabeth, he wasn't shying away from you."
Having to travel a long distance with the goal of apprehending convicted former police officers was a daunting prospect and a concerned Sandra had made Jason promise her that he would be careful and come back soon, she tried not to look worried as he waved goodbye on his horse. She was fond of every Mountie at Fort Clay but Jason was extra special to her and she was missing him already. Nathan had assured him that he would look after her and he would be there for her wherever she wanted to go while she was at Hope Valley. This afternoon Amy had invited her for dinner with Ned and Florence at the Mercantile so Nathan was commandeered to help with the wheelchair and he instructed them all that when Sandra was ready to come away, under no circumstances were they to tackle the wheelchair on their own without him being there to help.
Sandra was impressed with how Ned and Florence ran the Mercantile as a husband and wife team and it sounded like it was all done with the minimum of fuss. She insisted on being allowed to help prepare dinner but she didn't have to as most of it was done already, most certainly with the minimum of fuss. Amy had never encountered anyone who was confined to a wheelchair but she was amazed how she hardly even noticed any restriction as Sandra was as self-sufficient as anyone else, she was so pleased to have her here in her home with Florence and Ned to entertain her. Sandra had only heard bits and pieces about Amy from Simon and Nathan so she was looking forward to hearing about her. She knew that Amy hadn't started off well in Hope Valley so she was going to be careful and try to avoid any embarrassment, she was more interested in how she had been helped by Elizabeth and all the children and how she turned into the confident young woman that she was observing here right now.
"I owe Nathan and the captain everything and I will spend the rest of my life here if they let me. My father thought that every woman should know her place and he didn't think that I could do anything but fetch and carry for him all the time."
Sandra was quite surprised to see how Amy could talk about this without being upset but she was told how her father was well in the past and she had moved on with the guidance of the people of Hope Valley. She compared that awful father with her own loving father who had nothing but support for through the years before and after her accident. She thought how fortunate Amy was to have come through such a difficult upbringing to where she is now, a loved and well respected part of her community.
She loved how Amy would refer to Florence as her mum and how she had dedicated a lot of time to making them glad that they had taken her in when she needed a family to love and care for her.
"It was mum who asked Mrs Thornton to help me and it was her and all the children, even the little ones who spent their time teaching me how to read and write,"
she had tears in her eyes and she had to stop and catch her breath and composure.
"Those children were so patient with me and they could see that it was hard for me but they knew that I really wanted to be just like them, I made sure that they all appreciated what Mrs Thornton was doing for them because I never got to go to school and that wasn't fair. I go to the school every day now and I try my hardest to read to them but I can never finish one of the books because I always cry because I know how hard they all worked for me and they know that I can do it."
Florence was so proud of her relatively new daughter and she knew that, as she was so determined, there was nothing that she couldn't do if she turned her mind to it, she had done so when she needed to when she had decided to write a letter to the late Judge Tierney's family. Florence didn't want to cause any embarrassment to Amy but she thought that this was so important that it was something that Sandra should know about. Sandra pricked her ears up immediately upon hearing the name of Judge Tierney and she started to volunteer her story about what had happened to her when she was only a twelve years old youngster.
"When you ride a horse you have to expect to fall off occasionally and my father would say that you just get up and get back on and that's exactly what I would do. It was one day when lightning struck out of the ordinary and I wasn't ready and they wondered later whether I would have been alright if they hadn't moved me until the doctor came."
"I seemed to recover and accept the situation over time but it destroyed my father for over two years and it was only for his greatest friend and his help, Judge Tierney that he learned to accept that it wasn't his fault. He started to see that I was becoming self-sufficient and I wouldn't waste a moment of any day and I would find something worthwhile to do. My father takes me there every year so that we can pay our respects to his memory."
Amy said how she was sure that he was nearly going to send her to prison if it wasn't for Captain Foster and Judge Avery.
"It was only after that when we found out that he had been gravely ill. His daughter, Mrs Campton came to Hope Valley to see me after they read my letter and she said that her family was going to help me when I make up my mind what I want to do with my life."
It was getting quite late and Amy was expecting to have to go and get Nathan but when she strutted out the door she saw him sitting on the steps outside patiently waiting. He was soon in the process of wheeling her back to his place as Sandra had been staying there with Fiona, Allie and Nathan. She spied an agitated man on the front porch of the jailhouse pacing up and down and she was surprised to see that it was Captain Foster,
"Nathan, can you take me over to see the captain at the jailhouse and then he might be able to take me back to your house later." She knew him better than anyone and she could instantly see that something was not right, she remembered that earlier in the day she had seen him and Elizabeth walking arm in arm towards her place. Both men lifted the chair up together onto the landing and she told Nathan that she would be alright and she would be home later.
She sat quite still just watching Eric and she was gobsmacked to see him, not out of control but rather, looking intense and troubled and completely out of character.
"Eric, we have known each other for some years now and I think that I know you better than anyone else, I could say that I'm not leaving here until you tell me what has happened but we both know that I'm stranded here anyway at your pleasure."
She hoped that her comment would be taken light-heartedly but unfortunately it fell short of the mark,
"Eric please, what is it, come and sit down next to me."
The only other times that she had seen him like this were when he had hard decisions to make with his men on discipline matters and he had often sought out her advice. He was on edge as he started to speak to his greatest friend,
"I'm a senior officer in the front line force where we are commissioned to protect the people and that is supposed to be my first duty. In my position, I can't allow any other issues to get in the way."
She had waited right through his heartfelt and regimental spiel but now she wanted to know what had happened to him to make him so confused.
"Sandra, I must have let my guard down and that was completely unprofessional and I can' let it happen again."
She thought that another sentence had gone by and she still didn't know what had happened.
"Eric, for goodness sake, do I have to drag it out of you," she said exasperatedly.
She now had to wait momentarily while he had to go and quell Buster down who had heard him talking out on the landing to someone,
"I want to get out of here so I can go back to work in my line gang."
Eric told him that it won't be long now but he must be quiet.
Sandra's patience was running low but it was more that she cared so deeply for her good friend and confidant. He returned and sat with her,
"I went and fixed Elizabeth's window and then we had dinner together and then we all went and talked to Peter Glover, Sandra, I was hanging on every word and when we went back to her place I put Little Jack down to bed. Elizabeth and I sat out on the steps after and I was overcome, what with Little Jack and Peter's story and I nearly kissed her until I hurriedly said goodnight."
He put his hands to his head in shame, "I was completely out of order Sandra and I must have upset Elizabeth terribly and that's the last thing that I would've wanted to do and I'm going to have to apologise to her tomorrow, I hope she can find it in her heart to forgive me."
Sandra decided to settle in for the long haul, she didn't expect to get anywhere near her bed until after midnight, she had a lot to say and she wasn't sure just where to start,
"Eric, I will probably ramble on a little as I have a lot of things going around in my head, we never knew Jack and, from what I can gather, it took a long time for them to get around to deciding to commit to having a life together. Jack was supposed to go to Cape Fullarton but Elizabeth's father intervened, much to Jack's annoyance and he finished up here with the task of looking after his daughter. He didn't expect to develop feelings for her and it was something that he was to have no control of, just like everybody else."
All captain Eric could see was that he died in the unfortunate accident and his son who he was never to know was going to grow up without seeing him. He didn't know what he would do if he never had Sandra to confide in, what she had said so far was making sense,
"You don't get to choose who, when and where it might happen to you and it is not something that you can just switch on and off despite what some people might say. Elizabeth is an exceptional woman and she has experienced much joy and more than her share of sorrow and look what a tower of strength she is in this community. She had her short life with Jack and then there was the turmoil with Nathan and Lucas and I've never heard of anyone leaving their groom at the altar at the drop of a hat."
She took hold of his hand firmly as she had done many times before, "even after all of this, I am sure that she has feelings for you and what could possibly be wrong with that, she probably didn't even know herself but it is there and it is not going to go away. There can be nothing more wonderful than the love between two people wherever they may be, just ask Simon and Janie. I can't imagine how Simon recovered after losing Sarah and now he ready to make a life's commitment all over again, I don't think that he had much of a choice in the matter."
"Eric, this is a completely new experience for you and I'm not surprised that it has thrown you off balance, time will help and once you can break the ice with Elizabeth, I'm sure that you will see in her why you have fallen in love with her, there is nothing wrong with telling her how you feel and you may find out that she feels the same way. She has been arm in arm with you everywhere that you go and her feelings for you are unmistakable to all of us."
Eric's lips were quivering, "She had her arm around me when Peter told us how they only knew each other for about not much more than a week but they both knew that it was true love and the time and distance apart from each other made no difference, there could be no one else for them. I have to admit Sandra, I was very close to breaking down as I listened to him and I was grateful to have Elizabeth there to support me."
He realised right then what he was going to say to Elizabeth sometime tomorrow and he knew that he wasn't going to be embarrassed after Sandra's reassurance. On the way back to Nathan's home, Sandra recalled her sobering vision of how Eric and Elizabeth were standing over someone in a hospital bed and no matter how hard she tried, it would never go away.