I had my phone answered and up to my ear before I even fully realised it had been ringing, stress and exhaustion had me working on complete auto-pilot it seemed.

"Lisa, hi, it's Scott."

"Oh hi Scott, it's good to hear from you."

"Listen, I'm at Heartland right now, with Amy Fleming. Remember, the trainer I told you might be able to help Promise?"

"Yes, yes I remember." During his last visit, just after Briar Ridge had sent Promise back he had told me in passing that he knew someone who might help. I had also spoken to Nick Harwell, she had successfully treated one of his horses. He had nothing but good things to say about this Amy Fleming.

Her mother had made a name for herself locally, taking in abandoned and troubled horses. I couldn't say I was very familiar with her methods, I just knew what I heard, a faith healer by all accounts although I took that with a grain of salt. I'd never had much reason to try such methods. I didn't deal with troubled horses, the tried and true methods of saddling and training a young horse had always worked. Until now, and Promise was already 'broken-in' per-say. I sighed internally, I knew Promise wasn't a rogue horse, whatever Val Stanton and her trainers might say. Briar Ridge had been a last resort at best. As inexperienced as I was with non-traditional methods, I was all too familiar with Val's firm hand. I was at my wits end.

"She says she'd love to come see Promise, if you're free right now," Scott's voice on the other end of the phone broke off my train of thought.

I glanced at the clock on the wall, I had plenty of time before Dan was due to arrive to go assess a horse in Calgary. "Sure, I'd love to meet her, anyone who thinks they can help this horse I am more than happy to meet."

"We'll be there within the hour." I could hear the smile in Scott's voice, he'd probably picked up on my slightly exasperated tone.

I lay the phone back down on my desk and dropped my head into my hands, elbows propped up on the desk. This Amy Fleming really was my last hope. I was at a loss, I didn't know how I was going to tell my friend I couldn't keep her horse. What would I say? Yeah sorry, you sold me a wonderful horse with a perfect temperament and by all appearances I've turned her rogue. Just great.

I glanced up to see my head groom passing my door.

"Sam," I called him in.

"Yeah Lisa?" He leaned over the threshold, one hand on the door handle, the other on the door frame.

"Scott just called, he's gonna drop by with someone to look at Promise in the next hour, could you get her ready to be in the top ring with one of the trainers when they arrive?"

"I thought Briar Ridge was your last hope?" he raised his brows.

I sighed, "Me too, but Scott seems to have a good feeling about this, so what have I got to lose?"

"Besides more money on a horse that how many stables now have written off as a lost cause?" he said wryly.

I raised a brow at him doubtfully. "You know as well as I do Promise isn't a lost cause, she's not rogue, or even mean. You know that."

He shrugged, "I know, I'm just reminding you of the facts."

I couldn't bring myself to be angry at his bluntness. What he was saying was true. "What can I do, Sam? I'm not giving up on her yet. Who knows? Maybe this Amy Fleming can do something the others couldn't." I had to hope at least.

"Amy Fleming? Any relation to Marion Fleming? The woman that died in that awful accident a while back?"

"Daughter, from what I gather. Do you know much about her?"

"Marion? Sure, she had a gift. A way with horses, so to speak. Some people said horse-whisperer, but-"

"Yeah I'd heard that too."

"I wouldn't buy that though. I went to one of her clinics with a friend a few years back. She was incredible, I guess it could look like horse whispering to some. But she just seemed to understand the horse, as if she was… I don't know, letting it tell her what it needed, if that even makes sense." He shook his head slightly. "Maybe you're right, if her daughter has even a smidge of the ability I saw in Marion, who knows? Maybe she will help Promise."

"I hope you're right Sam, I really do."

"I'll go find someone to prepare Promise."

"Thanks Sam, and let me know when you see Scott's truck arrive."

"Will do."

I was too tired to fire up the computer and get any work done in the meantime. As a pretence of productivity I took out my schedule and flicked to the coming week and stared blankly at the overflowing pages, twirling a pen in my hand.

By the time Sam returned to announce Scott's arrival I could feel a headache coming on putting me in an irritable mood, coupled with my annoyance at myself for doing nothing productive with the last half hour of my time, it was a struggle to force a pleasant smile on my face as I stood to leave my office.

"Harry is in the top ring with Promise." Sam said at the door before departing towards the barn to attend to the rest of his duties.

"Thanks." My reply fell short as he was already on his way. Sighing, I lowered my sunglasses over my eyes before stepping out into the sun, the last thing I needed was a full-blown headache for the rest of the day. Dealing with Dan could be difficult enough on a good day.

I walked briskly towards the main courtyard and caught sight of two waiting figures in the shade of some trees.

"Hi Lisa," Scott greeted me when I reached them.

"Scott." I nodded before extending my hand to the girl. "I'm Lisa Stillman, you must be Amy Fleming."

"It's nice to meet you." she replied, shaking my hand in return. It was only when I heard her voice that it struck me how young she seemed. I realised my sunglasses were still in place, I quickly perched them on top of my head to see clearly. Oh my, she really was young.

"How old are you?"

"I'm almost sixteen."

"Hmm." I stalled for a moment, looking at Scott, what on earth had he gotten me into? He remained obstinately silent and appeared almost amused. "Uh… Promise is a very valuable horse. I'm afraid I can't let her go to a fifteen year old." I felt a twinge of guilt but what could I do?

"I've treated valuable horses before, Mrs. Stillman." I tried not to flinch at 'Mrs Stillman', "I just worked with Star, Nick Harwell's horse."

I knew that, but still… He didn't mention how young she was. No one had thought to mention how young she was.

"I did speak with Nick. He did sing your praises, but…"

She interrupted me there, "My mother taught me. She was a horse trainer."

"Yes, your mother the horse-whisperer," Ouch, that came out wrong. I hadn't meant to sound condescending, I didn't even think she was a horse whisperer-the phrase had just stuck in my mind from my conversation with Sam. Too late now, the words were out and they hung in the air.

"My mother didn't whisper to horses, she listened to them." Her words echoed what Sam had said about Marion seeming to let the horse speak to her. He hadn't been far off the mark after all.

The young girl had such a determined look in her eyes as she waited for my response I was almost taken aback. This wasn't a girl who would give up easily. Something in the stubborn set of her jaw combined with the unassuming yet blunt nature reminded me of myself when I had taken over this business after my father died. Despite being originally off-put by how young she was, my gut was telling me this girl might actually be able to help Promise.

"Ok." I found myself smiling. "OK, I like your attitude." Stop being so snobbish Lisa, if Scott says she's good, she's good. Who cares if she's a bit young? "You want to see her?"

"Sure."

I led her to the ring where Promise and Harry were waiting. "So you've taken over your mum's business?" I queried as we walked, I had to admit I was curious, "I heard about the accident at the time, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you. Yeah, I used to help her with the horses she treated and I always sort of figured I'd continue it."

"I didn't really mean what I said, the horse-whisperer thing, someone put words in my mouth." I felt it was necessary to apologise, I couldn't stand starting off on such a bad note, it didn't make for good business. "Although I am curious as to what your techniques are, what your mother's techniques were."

"That's ok, a lot of people don't understand at first. Our methods aren't exactly widely used, or known." She replied graciously. "Like I said, our primary aim is to do what a lot of people seem to forget, listen to the horse. Almost every time the horse knows what's wrong and what can be done to put it right, you just need to listen." Her confidence grew as she spoke.

I nodded. She was right, listening was something most people forget to do, myself included I had to admit. It was too easy in my business to see all the horses that come and go as mere passing entities. I rarely thought about it any further, I couldn't really. There were so many, most were here one week, sold and shipped the next. It wasn't always ideal, but it's the way it was.

My face must have betrayed my line of thought because she quickly continued. "I mean a lot of it is obvious, we do it without noticing. Knowing when a horse is content is just as important and most people listen to and acknowledge those cues subconsciously. It's just when a horse acts up people often resort to trying to dominate, they forget that they can listen."

I was slightly taken aback at the young girl's wisdom, for a fifteen year old she had a level head on her shoulders. I smiled at her. "Well you certainly know a lot about what you do."

She smiled shyly, "My mom knew a lot more."

"Trust me, you're doing alright… and you have plenty of time to learn."

She was about to reply when her eyes flickered forward and caught sight of Promise in the training ring ahead. "Is that her?" She asked, almost excited.

"Mm-hmm," I smiled, avoiding Scott's amused expression at Amy's enthusiasm. Amy stood on the bottom rung of the railing to admire her.

"She's beautiful."

"She sure is." I agreed, motioning towards Harry to begin.

"She doesn't look aggressive."

"No, she doesn't, not till you try and ride her." We watched as Harry attempted to saddle Promise, as usual she was having none of it and lashing out to prove her point. Harry grasped the lead rope tightly as she spun and veered to avoid the saddle.

"Was she fine at her last home?"

"Absolutely, I bought her about six months ago from an elderly friend of mine, whose grandson rode her, who was blind, and she couldn't say enough about how gentle Promise was. But she is just the opposite of gentle here. Briar Ridge already gave up on her, said that she's a rogue horse and I just don't believe it."

Harry was still struggling with her in the ring. "Harry, let's stop." I called out. "Let her calm down."

"Ok." came his tired reply.

I turned back to Amy, "So what do you think, can you help her?"

She was eyeing Promise somewhat apprehensively, "I'd love to try, I just don't know how long it would take."

"You know what? I don't care how long it takes, I just want the horse to be alright." She was nodding slightly to herself. "So yes?" I pushed once more.

"Yes." She extended her hand.

"OK." A real smile spread across my face as I shook her hand. It was a weight lifted off my shoulders, I actually had a good feeling about it this time. Maybe I could finally get a full night's sleep without stressing over my very own "rogue horse".