A When Calls The Heart Jack and Elizabeth Story

A Devious Scheme: An Innocent Woman

Chapter 1

Constable Jack Thornton finished putting the last of his belongings into his satchel and moved away from the metal locker, leaving its door wide open. The empty locker which had kept his few items secure over much of the past year looked cold and unfriendly as it awaited the next Mountie to be assigned here.

Let's hope he likes this place better than I ever did, the man in his late twenties thought as he pushed the hair from his face.

Crossing the room, he took a final look at his cot; its simple mattress stripped of the sheets issued by the quartermaster. Although he had spent many afternoons and evenings in the warm beds of a number of young women across the city, the curfew which was imposed on Academy students had ensured that from 9:00 at night until 5:00 every morning, he was on that cot. Except for a few weekend passes when he had gotten his freedom from the oppressive regulations of the Force.

Jack Thornton was a good looking man with dimples that made ladies swoon, and blue eyes that he managed to make look innocent. In his Mountie-issued boots, he was finally the full 6 feet in height that eluded him during his youth.

Between his impressive looks and his equally impressive uniform, he had had his share of women. Some he pretended to court. Some he quickly seduced. And some, when he didn't want to bother acting like the gentleman, he simply paid for.

His fellow Mounties had quickly learned that Jack could talk a woman into bed faster than they could unload their service revolvers into a target at the firing range. Some women cried when he left them in the morning. Some smiled from pleasure. And some pocketed the money he left on their nightstands.

Jack grabbed his hat from the line of hooks on the wall. Before putting it on his head, he checked inside to make sure it was his. His name was printed in simple block letters on the tag inside. Jack Thornton.

His name had helped him get a place at the Academy, but that was all it had done. Having a father killed in the line of duty only got you so far. It got you sadness, poverty, despair, and unwanted pity. But it didn't get you to the top of your class. Jack did that all on his own.

As he walked outside of the barracks, Jack had a different name on his mind. Thatcher. Elizabeth Thatcher.

When Jack had first heard about the assignment to Coal Valley from Constable Bobby Tyson, who had recently received orders there, he had barely paid attention. Bobby was a naïve, somewhat goofy, Mountie who was just a few months younger than Jack.

Despite their closeness in age, Jack, to the surprise of many of their fellow Mounties, had inexplicably become Bobby's protector. Ensuring that the slightly younger man remained wholesome even while Jack fell further into the depths of immorality. It was when he was shielding Bobby from the seedy sides of life that Jack thought most of his own father. The man who had provided for Jack. Who had protected him from the harsh realities of life until his death.

Jack realized it was probably best that the wholesome fellow Mountie was assigned to a small town where he wouldn't encounter anything more serious than a drunk stumbling down the street.

Unlike Bobby, Jack had grown up having his share of fistfights and run-ins with the law before entering the Academy. He had committed more petty crimes than his mother could have ever imagined, and had his first drink shortly after his father died. His father's death had forced his family to live off a meager widow's pension and a teacher's salary. If his father could die and leave a widow with two young boys to fend for themselves, Jack had had no qualms about committing vandalism and stealing a few meals when the desire struck him.

Luckily for Jack, his boyish charm saved him from being thrown into jail more than once before he finally decided to stop eluding the law and become a part of it.

He wanted excitement and there was no reason why he couldn't earn a steady paycheck at the same time. For that reason, he had been looking forward to his assignment to Cape Fullerton. Now that he had graduated from the Academy, a curfew would no longer interfere with the games of poker and darts he had planned. The Scotch and cigarettes. The nights with the women.

But then, three weeks ago, he had sat down for breakfast at the mess hall with Bobby.

It was a breakfast that changed everything.

As Bobby explained over a cup of coffee and plate of scrambled eggs that he had just been assigned to Coal Valley because someone had requested special treatment for a wealthy daughter, Jack's ears had perked up.

By the time breakfast was over, Jack had formulated a plan. And it no longer included Cape Fullerton.

It had been simple enough to convince the naïve Bobby to switch assignments with Jack. It had taken a little more convincing and a week's worth of pay to convince the Sergeant in charge of assignments to change the orders.

Mr. William Thatcher, the shipping magnate of Hamilton, Ontario, had a young daughter moving to a small town to teach.

And Jack Thornton was moving to that same small town to seduce her.

As Jack rode into Coal Valley, he mentally went over his timeline again. It should take no more than a month to seduce the young socialite.

Another month to ensure that he got her pregnant.

He wasn't being vain. Jack Thornton knew what he was good at. He wasn't good at keeping the love of a virtuous woman. He had failed miserably at that. He wasn't even sure there were any truly virtuous women in the world anymore.

But getting women to give up their innocence to him was something he was good at. He had even made a simple barn floor covered in straw seem romantic to some women.

After Elizabeth was in the family way, it would just be a matter of a week or two before they were married and he was meeting his new father-in-law. And then Jack would insist that Elizabeth quit her job as a teacher. After all, she had their precious child and her health as her most important job, he would argue.

With no reason to stay in Coal Valley, Jack would graciously offer to resign from the Force and take a job with Thatcher Shipping. He would be the son Mr. Thatcher never had. He would be set for life.

From his quick investigation into Elizabeth Thatcher, Jack knew that she was headstrong and intelligent. That might make his scheme take a little longer than he had planned, but he was still confident it would work. He also knew that she wasn't in a courtship. That meant that she was pure and gullible. A perfect target for his charms.

Jack Thornton wasn't an evil man. He had never forced himself on a woman, killed a man, or stolen from a widow or child.

After he had once punched a fellow Mountie for teasing him about what he did with his poker winnings, the other Mounties knew to keep their thoughts to themselves. They never again laughed when they found Jack donating money to the families that lived on the poorest streets. That was his one soft spot. Hard working widows with young children.

Jack had grown up hard. He had never felt the unforgiving love of a woman other than his mother. And that had left him jaded.

Jack reined his horse to a stop at the top of the hill. He looked down at the small town in the valley. It was smaller than he imagined. More picturesque. For a brief moment, he actually wondered what it would be like to live a wholesome life in a small town. Working hard. Sharing his life with a good woman.

Then he banished that thought from his mind and began riding down into the valley.

Towards Elizabeth Thatcher.