IT HAD BEEN A YEAR or so since Belle fled Lincoln with her fiancé, Josiah Scurlock. The two young lovebirds had migrated to New York. 

There, the two finally got married. It was a private, informal wedding, with no guests - just the couple and the priest. It was not a traditional wedding. Belle did not wear her fantasy white gown, and Josiah did not wear a fancy black suit. They both settled for the next best thing. Which just so happened to be the only new clothes that they could afford if the little money they had. Belle wore a long blue dree, the sleeve resting at her elbow. Josiah wore a clean white shirt and a pair of brown dress pants. They both settled on wearing their old muddy riding boots.

Although the ceremony was nothing like Belle imagined her big day would be like, she treasured every single second of it. She walked into the small barn church with Josiah, their arms linked together. In her hands, Belle clutched onto a colourful bunch of flowers that Josiah had picked for her before they entered.

After that day, they searched for jobs, a house and some clothes. The newly-wed couple had sold just about everything they had with them; their equipment, their guns, and their horse. It was just enough for them to buy a small shabby home. The rickety shack that they called their home had one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen and two small sitting areas. It wasn't much, but it was theirs.

Both of them managed to secure jobs at a small school in their town. Their classrooms were next door to each other. Josiah taught the middle-school boys, while Belle taught the middle-school girls.

Along with the mass of children that they taught on a daily basis, the couple was blessed with two healthy baby boys. Belle discovered she was pregnant a few days after they got married and bought their house, but she was not expecting twins. When their sons were born nine months later, Josiah suggested they name one 'Richard John Scurlock' and the other 'Charles Stephen Scurlock' with respect to the four men they had lost. The two sons went to the same school but went to the nursery until their parents were done with their classes.

It was now the fateful day that ruined their quaint lives forever. The two young teachers were currently teaching their sets the alphabet. Josiah and Belle had discovered that they were teaching the same syllabus so decided to combine their two classes together to ensure both groups got the same lesson.

Josiah was walking around the classroom with flashcards with bold letters on, while Belle wrote down all the children's word with white chalk on the large blackboard, asking the students if they could give a shot at spelling them. The blonde man knelt down to a young boy, named Pietro, holding up the 'F' flashcard to him.

"Uh... Friday?" The boy hesitantly guessed.

"Brilliant, Pietro," Belle beamed at the boy. "Do you think you could spell it for us?"

With a gulp, the boy nodded. "F - R - Y - D - A -Y?"

"Very close, just one letter is wrong, do you want another shot?"

"F - R - I - D - A - Y?" Pietro tried again, taking his time with his answer.

Both teachers smiled. "Good, very good, Pietro," Josiah stood back up, circling around the classroom once again. "Mrs Scurlock, what words have you got so far?"

"We have 'Friday', 'family', and 'fulminate'. All very impressive words and spellings, well done, children. Shall we move on to a new letter, sir?"

"Of course. How about," Josiah grinned at his wife, searching through his flashcards for a letter the class had yet to be taught. "W?"

Josiah went back around the class, stopping at a girl called Sophia and showing her the card. "Welcome?"

"Excellent, Sophia," Josiah complimented. "Could you spell it for us?"

Nodding the girl, spelt the word correctly the first time, causing Belle to grin at the small girl. "Extraordinary, Sophia. Well done!"

Josiah smiled and moved over to Joesph, holding the same card. When the boy didn't answer, clearly unable to think of a word under the pressure, Josiah pulled his pocket-watch from his pocket, swinging it in front of his eyes. Belle giggled at her husband.

"Watch?"

"Watch! Very good, Joesph! Spelling?" Josiah kindly smiled.

"W - O - C - H?"

Belle smiled, writing Joesph's spelling on the board. "Almost," Belle underlined the 'O'. "This 'O' needs to be replaced, and we need an extra letter to go after it. Anyone?"

A girl named Annabella raised her hand, Belle nodded her head at the brunette girl with a chuckle. "W - A -T - C- H?"

"Yes, well done, Annabella, and well done, Joesph!"

When the room became quiet and the boys and girls couldn't think of any more words starting with 'W', the two teachers began to act out words. Belle successfully acted out the words 'wink' and 'walk', while Josiah did 'weep'. Together, the couple acted out the word 'waltz', causing all the students to laugh and giggle at the young teachers. Belle was in a fit of giggles as she watched her husband act out the word 'wobbly' while pretending to walk a tight rope.

However, the laughter filling the room was cut short when the door was kicked in, causing the glass to shatter. Gasps and short screams erupted from the students' mouths. Belle and Josiah placed their hands on a few of the scared students' heads as if to say that they should not be afraid.

An officer emerged in the broken doorway, holding his rifle up at the couple. "Don't move,"

Two officers barged through the classroom, grabbing hold of Belle and Josiah. "Hey, hey! Stop! Can't you see we're teaching here?!" Belle accused as one of the men wrapped a rough piece of rope around her wrists tightly, the other doing the same to Josiah.

"You're coming with us back to Lincoln," the officer said.

"Lincoln?!" The teachers asked in shock in unison. "What about our sons?! We can't just leave here without their mother and father!" Belle shouted as they pulled her out of the building.

"We'll," The officer roughly pushed her when she began struggling against his hold. "We'll take care of them."

Belle and Josiah both began to protest when they heard a few officers laughing at the comment made about their children, both fearing the worse for their young babies.

But it was too late. The two teachers were being latched onto two long ropes that were attached to the back of a wagon and to the wrists and were being hauled along the dirt road back to their hometown.