Chapter 1
It was early morning and Claire was getting ready to start the day. The first rays of sunlight danced around the room and hit her in the face as she buttoned her jeans with a yawn. She took a moment to shake the tiredness out of her body when a loud noise interrupted her. It sounded like something heavy collapsed and with a terrified look in her eyes she realised where the sound came from. The stables.
She ran as fast she could downstairs, all she could think of was Blaze - her prized possession.
Claire quickly got to the stables seeing the door to Blaze's booth, splintered, everywhere on the ground. Blaze she thought to herself and felt her heart race, only one thing could have caused this.
"The brumbies have taken Blaze!" Claire shouted as she could see Becky closing in on her from the shearing shed. "Get some clothes on and I'll call Killarney, we need the chopper!" Claire stated before making her way back to the house. She quickly found her way to the study with such a haste that she knocked over a picture in the hall, leaving an echo of splintered glass through the hall as the frame hit the floor. Normally she would have cursed at herself, knowing she would wake Tess by the smallest noise but she had no care in the world, not this morning, all she could think of was Blaze. She needed her, she was part of her big dream. "Come on Alex, pick up" Claire said restive, she needed him to pick up, now. "What's going on?!" Tess' voice sounded from the doorway. She looked like she was half asleep still, which meant that the picture had to have woken her. "Alex!" Claire said ignore her sister's question as Alex's sleepy husky voice sounded in the phone. "It's the brumbies, they've taken Blaze .."
Tess suddenly came out of her sleepiness, realising what all the fuss was about. She carefully studied Claire on the phone, the look on her sister's face matched her voice. Tense, to say the least. "What can I do?" Tess asked as Claire hung up the phone."Get some clothes on for starters. Alex is coming with the chopper" Claire said and walked passed Tess, making her look down herself. "Right" she said to herself and started to make her way back to her bedroom.
"You coming with me?" Alex asked with a cheeky smile as Tess came closer to him. He couldn't help but take a second look at her - It was early and she already looked stunning. "No thanks, scared of heights" Tess said with a smile, trying to match his cheekiness. It wasn't a lie, she was scared of heights but two could play that flirtatious game Alex had going. "I'll fly safe, I promise" he said smiling, hoping he could sweet talk her into coming with him. Ever since he met her for the first time she intrigued him and she was new, not from around here. "You can't take no for an answer can you?" Tess said and looked at him with a half smile. "Not when it's you" He smiled before he shortened the distance between them, making Tess weak in her knees. She had a hard time resisting him but she also had a lot of fun holding him back, playing this "Hard to get"-game they had going on. "What is that for?" Tess suddenly asked as she realised Alex what holding a rifle in one of his hands. He quickly looked down at it and looked back with a smile. "You have to be prepared, you never know with brumbies"
Claire frowned at the sight of her sister and Alex together, their smiles and laughs made it stir inside of her and for a second she felt angry and irritated with Tess. Why couldn't she back off and leave Alex alone? She shook her head trying to get those thoughts out of her system - Why was she even thinking like that, it was just Alex. "I'm coming with you in the chopper" Claire said, trying her best to act like her cheeky self as she walked closer to them "And put the rifle away will you, we are not gonna be needing it" she continued and gave him a harsh look. Most of the people around here never went hunting brumbies without rifles, saying you never knew where you had them but Claire had always disagreed. It was true that brumbies was unpredictable but that was the beauty in them and if you handled them the right way, handled them in their pace there was nothing to fear - That was always the way Jack and her had done it and she intended on keeping it that way.
"Tess you coming?" Becky yelled from behind, holding Oscar and Buddy's reins. "I'll better .. take the safe transport" Tess said with a smile before turning her back to Alex and Claire. Alex shook his head with a smile and turned to face Claire who felt a sense of relief seeing Tess walk away from him. "You and Becky check the fence line" Claire said and started to walk towards the chopper. "Oh, tell Meg to take the ute to Thomson's paddock, they might have run through there on their way out" she continued and turned around to get a nodd from Becky. "And Nick is checking the creek bay, he'll keep us posted" Alex said and followed Claire to the chopper still holding on to the rifle despite Claire's thoughts on it.
"Are you seriously bringing it?" Claire asked as Alex took place beside her in the chopper. He looked at the rifle and then at her "Just in case something happens" he smiled and started the chopper before Claire could say anything.
"Are you seeing anything?" Alex asked after 30 minutes of flying around. "Still nothing" Claire said with a shook on her head. She would have thought the brumbies would have appeared by now and she started to fear they were miles and miles away, leaving it impossible to get Blaze back. "She's a good mare that one?" Alex asked, noticing Claire's silence. "I wouldn't have asked you if she wasn't" Claire said and looked at him. "Stallions huh?" he said and turned his face towards Claire. "Nothing but trouble hey?" he continued with a smile and Claire couldn't help but snort. Trouble to say the least. They kept their focus at each other for a while, longer than usual and for a weird reason none of them could take their eyes from one another, for a brief moment it felt like there was a magnetic field forcing them to look at each other until Claire frowned and realised she was staring at Alex Ryan and he at her. She instantly started to feel out of place and grabbed the walkie talkie from her lap, anything to distract her from what just happened. "Becky, you see anything?" she asked and waited for Becky's voice to go through but to Claire's disappointment Tess and her hadn't seen the slightest trail of brumbies, only a vague shadow from Nick coming down the hill on his bike had appeared before them.
"Alright, keep in touch" Claire said and put the walkie back down. She couldn't believe this was happening. Blaze was the perfect horse, Blaze was her entire dream and now everything was hanging in a thin thread - but just as Claire had started to come to terms with the fact she might had to give up on Blaze something appeared in the distance. "Alex" she said and pushed him gently on the shoulder still keeping her eyes at what was ahead of them. "I see them" he said with a smile and started to stir the chopper to the left to get around the herd. Claire instantly started to smile as she saw Blaze amongst them, she was running beside one of the most beautiful stallions she had ever seen.
"We need to separate Blaze and the stallion from the rest, I'm gonna close in on them" Alex said and went down a bit lower. Claire nodded with excitement and a smile on her face, she was about to get her prized beauty back. "Becky!" She called in the walkie talkie "We found them, they are heading east of the creek bay, near the National Park"
"Claire are you there?" Meg's voice suddenly sounded from the walkie talkie just as Claire had informed Becky. "Meg, we found them. They are heading towards the National Park" she answered and waited for Meg to get back. "I'm sorry Claire, we are out - the car overheated" Claire sighed and rolled her eyes at Meg's words. It was just typical that a new problem appeared when one was about to be solved. "Alright, see what you can do" Claire said and looked down on the herd running below them. "I'm gonna land, then we can have a go on them on the ground" Alex said as he had managed to break Blaze and the stallion away from the rest. "I know the spot" Becky's voice sounded through the walkie talkie. "Just get here as fast as you can, we are landing" Claire answered and placed the walkie talkie in her lap again. "We are on our way"
Alex landed the chopper a few meters from Blaze and the stallion, making the stallion nervous and defensive. Claire took a step away from the chopper, amazed by the beauty of the stallion, it was even prettier up close. "Just give me a clean shot Claire" Alex said and prepared the rifle so it was ready to fire.
"Just wait" Claire said still with her eyes on the stallion. "It will take your head off" Alex answered with a cold voice, knowing just how dangerous brumbies, especially stallions could be. Claire shook her head and started to smile "Alex .. look at him. Just look" She almost whispered, captured by the beauty that was standing in front of her. Alex took a couple of seconds to look at the brown stallion. There was no denying it was beautiful with the brown base, white markings and silky mane but it was also a great danger to them if it got spooked. "Yeah, I can live without it" he said unimpressed by the stallions present. Suddenly Claire started to walk closer towards Blaze who was getting blocked by the stallion. "What are you doing?!" Alex said with a harsh voice as he realised Claire was on her way to Blaze. "I'm getting my mare" She answered corky and full of confidence. Alex shook his head, this was about the stupidest Claire had ever done. He readied the rifle and started to follow Claire, he was ready to take a shot if anything happened.
"Come on Blaze" Claire said as she was closing in on them, making the stallion neighing and run around Blaze to make sure nothing happened to her. It was feeling trapped and more annoyed by every step Claire took towards them. "Blaze, we had an agreement, remember?" she said, trying to keep herself from freaking out. She had never been so close to a wild stallion before and even though it scared her, she was confident she could get both Blaze and the beauty of a stallion home with her.
"Is she alright?" Tess asked with a great fear in her voice as her and Becky approached Alex. She didn't know much about horses but it was clear the stallion weren't giving Blaze up without a fight. "Just give me my mare" Claire said with a low voice, ignoring the fact that the stallion got more and more irritated and defensive. Alex had had enough of Claire trying to prove herself, the stallion was to great danger for Claire at this point and without thinking he took aim with the rifle. "No! What if you miss?" Tess said and placed a hand on the rifle to knock it down. She was right, what if he did miss - He was a good shot but it was Claire in between him and the moving stallion. He couldn't risk hitting her instead. Claire was only standing inches from the stallion now, locking eyes with him, feeling her blood rush through her body, trying to make it understand she was in charge around here and not him but before she knew it, the stallion took a sprint forward and knocked her over with great power. She heard the panic in Tess' voice from behind and opened her eyes to see the furious stallion neighing and tripping above her. She felt her heart race, she had no clue how to get out of there and she started to regret she hadn't listened to Alex.
The stallion suddenly made a jump for it, making Claire cover her head as much as she could and leaving Alex ready to take a shot on it. He fumbled with the safety handle on the rifle, feeling his heart race and blood rushing through his veins. This could not be happening, he couldn't let Claire get hurt but as he was about to pull the trigger Nick almost flew in from the side on his bike, stirring the stallion away from Claire. Leaving Alex both relieved and annoyed. Claire was safe but he was suppose to be the one to make sure of that, not Nick. Claire got up from the ground, half-seated she looked towards Blaze seeing Becky putting the reins on her and a wide smile spread itself on her face. Blaze was safe.
Alex got to Claire's side fast and reached out his hand to help her back on her feet. As he pulled her up from the ground they locked eyes and he realised how scared he had been to lose her, he couldn't lose her and his heart started to ache thinking of that - why he didn't know, but standing in front of Claire, looking into her eyes stirred something inside of him he didn't know was there.
"You bloody idiot" Was all he said as he kept looking into her eyes. Claire opened her mouth but nothing came out, she was lost in the blue eyes of his. She was left for words and that was one thing she never was in front of Alex. She kept looking at him, feeling her heart beat faster and the same magnetic field that had covered them in the chopper was back. "I'm okay ..." she finally fumbled out, trying to grasp her head around a useful sentence. "You want to come over later? Tennis and BBQ?" She blurred out, not knowing what else to say but instantly starting to curse herself for ruining the moment they just shared, whatever that moment was. Alex looked a bit surprised as he himself had felt the same moment pass. "Yeah, sure .. to celebrate" he said making sure not to break their stare.
"That was fantastic! Absolutely fantastic!" Tess said with eager and pushed herself in between Claire and Alex. Claire looked at Tess and gave her a half smile but her eyes quickly found Alex's once again. She didn't understand what just happened between them but something did, she could feel it. Alex took a final look at Claire, slightly irritated by Tess ruining the moment but he couldn't help but think it was for the best anyway - It was Claire, his best mate. Both Claire and Alex broke away from Tess, wanting to widen the distance between them leaving Tess to stand alone. "Well okay, I'll be enthused by my own then" she said and felt the weird tension between Claire and Alex.
Claire walked to Blaze's side, happy to know she was safe and that her dream still lived on. "Don't you ever do that again. I'm not up for a fight with a stallion every week, hey?" Claire said and smiled as she stroke Blaze's mane. Claire had made her way to the stables, admiring Blaze from a distance, happy to know she was safe and sound and where she was supposed to be. She smiled as Blazed took a playful jump towards one of the other horses out in the ring - She didn't look like she had taken any greater notice of what had happened this morning.
Claire sighed and leaned back, resting her back against the fence as she watched the last of the sun go down. Her mind found its way to Alex and the odd moment they had shared. She started to question herself about what truly had happened, she know she felt something that hadn't been between them before. It was like a old hidden flame suddenly started to sparkle in her inner but it couldn't and it shouldn't. He was Alex and she was Claire - best mates but somehow she felt herself longing for more and if she wasn't mistaken, Alex as well seemed to feel that longing but who was she kidding? Of course Alex didn't think of her as more than Claire and he had been all over Tess from the moment she had gotten here, which had caused an ache to her heart without realising why, not until today and it broke her heart even more now as she was busy telling herself nothing good would come out of telling Alex about her feelings, she had to let the flame die, keep it from getting bigger - but it was hard.
She shook her head and cleared it. She had to get herself together, he was just Alex and with that thought she saw his ute pull up in front of the stables and even though she felt sad about the choice she just made, she couldn't help but smile as he got out of the ute. She would much rather kill the flame inside of her than lose him as a mate, she couldn't do without him.
"Hope you ready to get your butt kicked" Alex said with a racket in his hand as Claire walked towards the ute. She couldn't help but let out a laugh and shake her head. Alex Ryan, always full of himself. "Yeah, we'll see about that" Claire said confident and frowned. "I'll bet ya!" Alex said with his cheeky smile only he could get away with. "Don't do it Claire, you'll never hear the end of it" Nick said with a smile and got out of the ute, knowing too well where this would end.
"Just because you are scared of losing to me mate" Alex teased his brother. "Yeah?" Nick said and suddenly felt the need to prove Alex wrong. "Yeah" Alex said and closed the door to the ute before stepping away from it, joggling the racket in the palm of his hand. "I think you should put your money where your mouth is then" Nick said and pulled out his custom made racket he had used all through his teenage year when had taken up tennis. "Oh, you are on" Alex said and started to walk towards the house followed by Nick.
Claire laughed for herself and shook her head - this was typical the Ryan brother's.