When Calls the Heart Season 9 Episode 1: In Like a Lion

Elizabeth and Little Jack are welcomed home to Hope Valley by Lucas after a family visit in Hamilton. The cab, which Lucas arranged for them, drops her off along with Mr. Smith, who is in town to discuss business with Lucas.

Faith is now running the infirmary, and Joseph is renovating Dottie's dress shop for Florence and Ned's mysterious grand re-opening. Rosemary is at work making The Valley Voice into the paper of record for Hope Valley.

Suddenly the whole town stops to look up as Cooper notices a large hot air balloon arriving, and everyone joyfully waves at it. Even Nathan finds himself swayed to wave.

As they ride their horses down main street, Bill tells Nathan that things are changing, including for Mounties who must now be trained to drive automobiles. Nathan is not giving up his horse, and Bill chides him to at least give up his mustache. A car races by and narrowly misses them; it is Henry returning to town in a hurry.

Henry finds Jerome Smith at the oil derrick with Lucas, Fiona, and Hickam. He wants nothing to do with Smith and threatens to leave the company if they pursue business with him. Smith and Henry were partners in the past and did not have an amicable split. Off to the side, Lucas asks Fiona whether she knew about their past; she did, and apologizes for not disclosing it.

Back in town, Nathan asks Elizabeth for a favor: can she ask Lucas to teach him how to drive? Elizabeth offers to give him the lessons herself, and Nathan agrees. A man on a horse speeds past him; he tries to follow but loses him.

Outside the row house the stranger stops and hops off the horse, watched by Little Jack from the window. The rider takes off hat and coat, revealing not a man but a woman named Mei, who catches Little Jack watching and kindly gestures for him to remain quiet. Mei rides past Nathan again and he gives her a second glance.

Later at the saloon Lucas asks whether Henry will join him and Smith for a chat. Henry refuses, claiming Smith should not be trusted. At a table nearby Nathan sees Mei, approaches, and comments on the speed with which she rode into town that morning. The introduction is interrupted as a fight breaks out between Henry and Smith; Nathan breaks it up, but Smith declares he wants to press charges against Henry.

Mei arrives at the mercantile and introduces herself to Florence and Ned as a licensed pharmacist, saying she would like to become the Yost Mercantile pharmacist. Ned and Florence are confused, as they have been corresponding with Mei's husband Geoffrey about the job; Mei admits it is she they have been corresponding with, not Geoffrey.

At the jail Minnie brings Henry some breakfast, and he feels a bit foolish about the fight that landed him in the cell. Minnie takes a moment to sit with him and say grace.

Outside the saloon Lucas thanks Nathan for breaking up the fight. Nathan appreciates the gesture but notes Lucas did not need much help, saying it is surprising as he always considered Lucas a poet, not a fighter.

Nearby, the grand re-opening of the newly renovated Dottie's begins, and Ned and Florence do a song and dance to reveal that Dottie's is now Yost's Pharmacy & Soda Fountain.

At the newly opened soda fountain Faith confronts Mei to ask what is going on, saying she tried to reach Geoffrey but could not track him down. Mei is not ready to share more about her background yet, and simply asks Faith to help her start a new life.

Lucas takes Elizabeth on a hot air balloon ride. During the ride he shares that he is not taking Smith on as a partner and will make it a priority to spend more time with Elizabeth and Little Jack.

Below, things are not so sweet, as Nathan encounters a car flying toward him. He tries to get out of the way, but whether he was fast enough is left open.

The episode leaves the oil-company conflict open. Henry threatens to leave the company if it does business with Jerome Smith, the two fight at the saloon, and Smith presses charges, but how the dispute resolves is not confirmed within the episode. Mr. Smith's business with Lucas is left pending as well, with Lucas telling Elizabeth only that he will not take Smith on as a partner.

Mei's identity is left unresolved within the episode: she presents herself as a licensed pharmacist and admits that she, not Geoffrey, wrote to the mercantile, but she tells Faith she is not ready to share her background and asks only for help starting a new life.

The final beat is deliberately unresolved: a car speeds toward Nathan on the street and whether he got out of the way is not confirmed within the episode, carrying the thread into the next one.