Learning to Love Again
Chapter One: Threatened, Cleaning, Introducing
I didn't have time for this, really. It was literally impossible to fit something else into my schedule with the horses alone. I barely had enough time to sleep, much less teach some bad boy fresh from Juvy Hall that Mom had once promised to look out for. Yep, Mom had once told an old friend that their son was welcome to come and stay at Heartland whenever they needed it. So those people had called up one day and asked if they could send their son over.
At first, I was fine with it. I imagined it would be like getting an extra hand around the farm, something we desperately needed. But then, as Mom explained the situation to me, I realized that I would have to be teaching this guy all the chores as well as teaching him how to ride. So unless Mom was planning to shave off hours from my school time, I was way overbooked. I had been hoping this kid would be someone who could help me groom, feed, and exercise the horses, but now I had to teach him how to do everything. And on top of that, he'd just gotten out of jail, or at least kiddy jail.
It was like they were making me his parole officer. We'd already had somebody from the department come down and explain to us everything that we could and could not do with this kid.
He would be living in the barn, in the room right next to the offices not far from where I was standing now in an empty stall. He was not allowed to leave the premises without our permission or supervision. If he ran off, we were to contact them immediately. He was to help around the farm and help me "fix" the horses. They told us this, for him, was like a form of rehabilitation. If he was any problem at all, we were to, again, contact their offices immediately.
I was thankful that this was kid was joining us the week after school got out. I'd already done everything with my friends. Soraya would be leaving for camp for the rest of the summer the day the kid got here, and Matt was going with his parents on a tour of Europe until school started. And, to top it all off, Ashley Grant was gone to about a million different camps and spas and shows until school started up again in September. There'd be no chance of seeing her.
I glanced over at the clock above the doorway to the office- 2:45! Crap! He was going to be here in 15 minutes and I still hadn't cleaned the barnyard or gotten the bedroom ready yet. Lou was going to murder me. I scrambled out the stall door, hastily latching it shut behind me, and rushing out the barn doors before yanking them shut. My grey eyes darted around the stable yard, trying to gage what kind of trouble I was going to be in.
Loads, to put it simply. Bridles were strewn around by fences and hanging off posts, a couple blankets adorned to the fence rails, feed buckets were littered everywhere, and there were pitchforks, rakes, shovels, and a wheelbarrow up against the barn wall. I was going to get grounded so badly for this. Doing my best not to dwell on the consequences, I hastily began scrambling around the front yard and started picking up all the halters bridles I could reach.
I had about twenty in my arms that were going to need a good cleaning and polishing before being sorted when I flung them up in air in surprise at the call of "Amy Fleming!"
Lou was here. Great.
I looked down at my feet at the mess of halters and bridles that had, at one point, been neatly organized. Now they were a mess of reins and buckles and straps. I cringed at the thought of turning around to see my sister's face. Mom wouldn't have cared. She would have said, "If it's good enough for a horse, it should be good enough for you." But Mom was off visiting her folks in Southern Virginia and going to conventions and showcases for at least two and a half weeks. That meant Lou was in charge of everything for the new kid. Which meant everything had to be clean and neat and perfect, something I'm not very good at.
I finally couldn't avoid the inevitable any longer and turned around to face my older sister. Her usually meticulously curled dark blond hair was stuffed up into a frazzled, half hearted bun, and her usually light and carefree baby blue eyes were screaming confusion and stress. Lou was taking this more seriously than I was. I mean, it was just some kid coming to the farm. From jail. I don't really think he cared what the place looked like so long as he was out of jail.
"Why isn't the yard done? I told you that had to be done hours ago!" she was screeching at me know, something she never does. "He's going to be here in 15 minutes! What have you been doing?" I glanced once at the barn, and Lou understood. "Amy!" She now sounded exasperated. "Is his room even ready yet?" She looked like she was about to kill me. And when I shook my head, Lou looked like she was about to explode into a million Lou colored pieces. "Amy Collins Fleming! You go get that boy's room ready, and it'd better be ready by the time he pulls up with that officer, or you'll be grounded from free rides along with having to clean and organize the tack room!"
"Organize the tack room, Lou? Are you serious?" I moaned.
All she did was point a finger back in the direction of the barn and mouth "no riding." I jogged off after that. No riding?! Were you kidding me? There was no way I'd risk that especially when it's the summer. Riding is my one pleasure during the day. I'm me and no one else. It's just me and the horse. And I had to clean and organize the tack room?! That was going to take ages. Do you know how much stuff there is in there? Saddles and bridles and halters and lead ropes… and more of them…and more of them… It never seemed to end. And right now they were sitting in a big pile, all tangled up. And on top of that, Lou was making me clean and polish all of them. My hands were going to be raw by the time this was over.
After I yanked open the barn door with one hand, I couldn't help but stop for a second and take in the smell. There were the horses which always gave me comfort, an age old scent that triggered so many memories and thoughts and gave me such comfort, the familiar scent of the straw, the gentle perfume of the saddles and bridles. And all around me were the small sounds that assured me my blessed horses were close by. Tiny muffled nickers, a couple snorts, and even one or two occasional whinnies. All the sounds and smells that I had been brought up on.
Shaking myself out of my memories, I quickly spun around and turned to the room next to the office, a room I had always wanted to live in. Ever since I had been little, I'd wanted to move from my room in the house to this room out here in the barn. It was perfect in my opinion. All the walls were made of the same wood as the barn and gave off that same calming, soothing smell. A rustic bed sat in the middle of the room in front of a window that over looked the fields of horses. A small nightstand stood next to the bed, there was a large dresser in one corner, and a small closet off to the side. And to top it all off there was even a small bathroom. I had always wanted this room so that I could be close to the horses. Horses were my life. I lived them, breathed them. They were my job, my reason to get up in the morning, and what put me to sleep at night.
More than once had Lou or Mom woken to find me asleep in one of the stalls with the horse standing over me protectively as if I was their own foal. It amused Mom to end because she used to do the same thing, but Lou would chide me and tell me that one time, a horse was going to step on me. When I insisted that they would do no such thing because they cared too much for me, Lou laughed and said that horses couldn't tell the difference. But I had been known to find her sometimes dozed off in Sugarfoot's, a miniature horse, stall. She loved them just as much as I did.
I shook my head again and hurriedly ran over to the dresser and pulled out some light blue sheets from the bottom drawer. As I placed them on the bed, I noticed that on the nightstand, next to the bed, underneath the lamp there was a picture of me on JackRabbit, my old Connemara Pony that I used to jump with. I smiled at the memories of the feeling of jumping over the bars with nothing but the horse under me. When the sheets were done, I pulled out the old and well worn red plaid flannel comforter and put it on top. The pillows came next, and I put covers on each of them before moving to the small bathroom. There wasn't anything extravagant. Just a sink, a cabinet, a toilet, and a small shower. I pulled out the towels from a bag in the bottom of the dresser and placed them in the cabinet and made sure that the toothbrushes and toothpaste along with all the shampoo was in its proper place.
When I was satisfied that everything was done, I walked back out into the barn aisle, perfectly content to stay there until Lou fetched me to come and meet the new kid. I deftly slid into Sundancer's stall. The little buckskin gave a nicker when he saw it was me and pushed against my pockets looking for the mints that I always kept there. He knew me too well, the little devil. "Aren't we greedy today?" I asked him as I unwrapped a peppermint and held it out to him.
He gave a short snort and tossed his head again. "Yeah, I love you too, buddy." I rubbed up and down his nose affectionately before habitually returning my fingers to the soothing pattern of t-touch, something my mom had taught long ago that had an unnatural calming effect on the horses. "You like that, don't you?" I asked when I got to his favorite spot and started rubbing there. By now, he had begun to lean into me. "I don't know if you heard, but there's a new guy coming to Heartland. He supposed to be helping out, but he's really just making my life more difficult. Along with all my other chores, I've now got to teach him about everything and teach him how to ride. There just aren't enough hours in the day, are there Sunny?" I asked the gelding. When he snorted, I gave a little laugh that sent my light brown hair swinging. "Well, I'll bet he's one of those bad boys. You know, leather jacket, motorcycle, dark mysterious air to him. That's just what we need, isn't it boy? A convict working with abused horses. Wait till Lou puts that in the papers…" I gave a little sigh.
"I'm sure I'll bring in loads more customers," I heard an unfamiliar deep voice say.
Instantly I whipped around and found a kid my age standing in the doorway of the barn.
What do you guys think? This is my first Heartland fic. Let me know!Yes, Amy doesn't like Ty becuase he is overly arrogant and cocky. I mean, hwo really likes a guy like that? But, yes, if you could'nt tell they will soon learn to setle their differences. Now, please don't hold me to these remidies of the horses. I kinda combined things I think would be effective and things I've read about. Just so you know, this goes for the rest of the story- I OWN NOTHING RECOGNIZABLE. And yes, I do love Ty!