When Calls the Heart Season 4 Episode 8: Courageous Hearts

AJ and Bill are on their way to Hope Valley when the sun falls and the two camp out for the night. Before reaching their destination, they have to find the ledgers that AJ buried, which will help Bill bring Henry to justice. The next morning Abigail finds Elizabeth dining at the café. Elizabeth is still worried since Jack hasn't written her back.

Abigail tries to lift Elizabeth's spirits by offering to plan her wedding. At the mercantile, Carson runs into a face from the past. Frank overhears the shady conversation between Carson and Dean, but Carson covers up quickly saying that he and Dean go way back when they worked on the railroad together. Frank doesn't buy the story and later tells Abigail his suspicions.

Elizabeth is happy to see Chad and Earl's father back in town. She informs him of all the behavioral problems she is having with the sons. Ray interrupts the conversation and tells his brother he doesn't have to listen to Elizabeth, sending him back to the railroad headquarters. Ray advises Elizabeth to stop trying to meddle in their family affairs or she will be sorry.

Elizabeth tells Ray she does not back down to bullies. Back in the woods, Bill and AJ are having a hard time finding the exact location to where she buried the ledgers. They are caught off guard by a man who recognizes AJ's face from a flyer he picked up at the bank, where there is a reward to bring her to justice. The man orders AJ to tie up Bill, but the two hatch a nonverbal plan, where she ends up punching the wannabe bounty hunter, knocking him out.

After school, Elizabeth witnesses Cody invite Chad over for dinner. Chad gets excited until he remembers he has to fish with his older brother. Earl tells both Chad and Elizabeth to leave them alone. When Elizabeth tells Chad that it is okay to stand up to his brother, Earl intervenes and grabs his brother and they both leave.

Ray finds a moment alone with Abigail and offers up a deal: he will close the commissary if she pays him 20 percent of her take home from the café. Abigail has a better idea: she tells him to leave. Later on, Elizabeth stops by and they both vent about their run-ins with Ray. Their conversation is interrupted when Elizabeth notices a newspaper story about an ambush in the northern territory, where two Mounties were killed.

Abigail tells Elizabeth that she is going to see a lot of stories like this in the newspaper. All Elizabeth wants is for Jack to come home. It is morning and Elizabeth and the kids begin their day, but are shocked to find it has been vandalized. Earl comments that the school looks like a pig sty and Elizabeth realizes the vandalism was caused by the Wyatt brothers.

She expels both students when they refuse to apologize for their crime. She tells the rest of the students that they will be having class outside on the lawn. Lee gets a new car and his next step is to teach Rosemary how to drive. She is surprised with how much harder it is to drive a car compared to riding a horse.

Chad and Earl's brother stops by the school and feels awful about the damage his sons caused. Elizabeth refuses his money to pay for the clean-up, asking that he instead deal with Earl and Chad's angry behavior. She recommends that he address his wife's abandonment of the family, or Earl will only get worse. Bill finally finds the ledgers but before he can celebrate, AJ pulls a gun on him and demands he give them to her.

He challenges her to pull the trigger, but she chickens out and he takes the gun from her hands. Before the two can get any louder in their fighting, Bill spots Ray's henchman, Dale in the distance. They team up to lure Dale into a trap and when they corner him, Bill punches him square in the face and the two escape! Chad and Earl get into a loud fight, where Earl tells his brother he doesn't need him anymore.

Their dad interrupts the fight and tells Earl to blame him for their mother leaving. He tells his sons that their mother left him, not them. All three end with a group hug. Abigail finds Henry at a bar drinking and her suspicions are heightened when the mayor doesn't want to discuss his relationship with Ray.

At Elizabeth's house, she is helping Rosemary settle in for the night on the couch. She and Lee got into a big fight over Rosemary's horrendous driving. Rosemary tells Elizabeth that Lee is treating her like one of his employees. Elizabeth takes Lee's side, citing that not only did Rosemary almost crash his car, but she rarely gives Lee credit for all the nice things that he does.

Rosemary begins to see the light and realizes how lucky she is to have Lee. Frank breaks into Carson's room, determined to find out what he is hiding. He gets caught red-handed by Carson himself. Frank confronts him head-on and tells Carson he wants to know his true identity and background.

Carson dismisses the questions and tells Frank to leave. The next morning, Rosemary heads back home to admit she was wrong. She tells Lee at times she can be insensitive and selfish, but the real truth is she takes Lee for granted and apologizes for not giving him the respect he deserves. She calls him the best thing that has happened to her.

Frank tells Abigail that he broke into Carson's room but was caught. Abigail warns Frank to not do that again. The two are interrupted by Carson, who finally reveals his backstory. He shows them a picture of his wife and tells them she died after fighting a long illness.

He says his goal was to come to Hope Valley to start a brand new life and still has a hard time opening up about his past. Abigail thanks Carson for being so honest, but Frank leaves, still having his suspicions. Elizabeth goes to the school to find Chad, Earl and their father cleaning up the vandalism. She also finds out that Ray fired his brother for putting his foot down on his work travel to stay home with his sons.

Elizabeth assures him he will find work again in Hope Valley. She also grants permission for both Chad and Earl to come back to school. She is relieved to know that the boys and their father have also started opening up more about their mother's absence. Henry and Ray are surprised to see AJ and Bill back in town, especially when they had sent Dale to shoot them.

Bill arrests both Ray and Henry on the spot, charging them with bribery, attempted murder and obstruction of justice. AJ also tells them that she has the ledgers, which will help incriminate the two men as well. Henry is willing to make a deal but Bill says he cannot make any promises with the judge. A desperate Ray draws his gun and Henry stands in the way.

Bill then draws his own gun and orders Ray to drop his weapon. Bill later takes AJ to the local jail to lock her up for running from justice. Before he can place her behind bars, she pulls him for a kiss. He still locks her up, but not before turning from her with a smile.

Later on, Abigail pleas with Bill to take into consideration that Henry stopped Ray from shooting him and to let the judge know that, as well. Bill promises he won't forget to relay the message. With Henry going to jail, Elizabeth wants to know if that means Abigail is going to be mayor again. Abigail calls it her destiny.

Elizabeth heads to the mercantile to check the mail and is excited to see a letter from Jack. She heads to the hillside to read it alone. His letter lets Elizabeth know that she is constantly on Jack's mind and he dreams of the day they will be married. He ends the letter telling her he loves her with all of his heart.

Abigail calls it her destiny. Elizabeth heads to the mercantile to check the mail and is excited to see a letter from Jack. Elizabeth Thornton heads to the hillside to read it alone.

The episode's closing beats are left open in the official recap: how the threads above resolve is not confirmed within this episode, and the recap leaves them to be carried into the next one.