Authors note: welcome back to chapter 10 yay. i do not own harvest moon or the dixie chicks and their song "Cowboy take me away. " I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chelsea's P.O.V

I'd spent most of the day with the white mare, I think she just wanted someone as broken as she was. As soon as I showed up she greeted me and I walked her out to the animal shop's corral. I'd had Julia get me a few things together so I started by giving her a good bath while talking to her, followed by a firm brushing. Julia sat on the fence watching me.

"She need's a name, we can't keep calling her girl.", I said as I got the now clean horse to let me lead her by my lasso. "Well what do we call her?", said Julia as I slowly lead her around. "I've always been partial to Disney names", I said. I looked at her hard. Hey maybe we can name her after that one in Enchanted." I said. Julia's eyes twinkled "I loved that movie, Giselle would be a beautiful name." she said. "What do you think girl?", I said looking at the mare now. She let out what I thought was a happy whinny and rubbed her nuzzle on me. "Ok girl here's your treat.", I said giving her another carrot that she happily ate it. "I think she likes it.", said Julia. I rubbed the mares back before climbing on it and she walked around. " I know you said you worked with horses before but who taught you to ride?", she asked as me and "Giselle " walked around. "My best friend did when I'd visit my grandparents.", I said smiling. Me and Julia had come to the understanding that it was a code for when I meant younger Vaughn.

When he was on the island me and Julia had developed the code to keep him in the dark. "I don't know I can't picture him doing it bare back. ", she said. " Well we both seem to know a different version of the same guy.", I said as I hoped of Giselle and lead her over to Julia. "Got the sugar cube.", I said and she held it out to the mare and the mare sniffed it before taking it and letting Julia stroke her . I wanted to get her used to another person In case I couldn't be here for her.

It went this way for the rest of fall. I'd do my chores and come over and work with Giselle and help her and Julia get better acquainted which was great because she was eating better. But she was still really skittish of Vaughn and other men in general, and she was still a long way from saddle ready. On days I couldn't be there Julia would at least take her to where the other horses met so she was less lonely now when I wasn't there and did leave her stall much easier.

I was going to need Vaughn's help eventually to get her used to men though. She needed a gentle hand and I didn't know a gentler hand with animals that came on the island than Vaughn. I'd been rather busy with the mare most of the day when he was on the island, so except for when he walked me back to my ranch at night I hadn't had a chance to talk much to him, alone. Since I was over helping with the horse and wouldn't take Mirabella's money she'd feed me dinner the nights I came over after my other chores were done.

At dinner we talked mostly about the horse or my animals, or Julia's boyfriend it was great getting to spend time with Julia and I envied her a little. And not cause of her boyfriend, it was her relationship with Julia. It was great because I could be around Vaughn and not be around him since I had a lot I was doing with the horse.

I'd added another cow named Snowy short for Snow White and a few chickens named Mickey and Minnie, so I was saving up the money for the house upgrade in good time, and I had a few extra eggs, ect so my iron got better, and I started keeping Vitamin Water in my rucksack and a couple of nutrition bars in case of a blood sugar drop.

I enjoyed the part of my day with Giselle most though, because when I was with her I temporarily forgot my pain, because I was focused on helping her. It was the last day of fall and I had gotten up a little earlier due to needing to prepare for next season. So I had my to do list ready.

I went into my barn first and started feeding my cows while I sang and brushed them out and soon they were all mooing happily and milked, so I led them outside so I could clean their barn good later. I then went into my happy clucking hens and fed and petted them before also letting them. It was the last nice day of the year so the sun would make them even happier.

I went into the tool shed and brought out some tools and a radio and went into the coop and got to work fetching eggs and cleaning out the coop with the radio on singing while I worked on it. It took awhile but I got it good and clean so I stood around surveying. I pulled out my to do list and crossed it off before going to the barn to with my radio to start on the mess there.

And boy was it a mess. I began to sing happily to a Dixie Chicks song, Cowboy take me away while I worked.

I said," I wanna touch the earth

I wanna break it in my hands

I wanna grow something wild and unruly"

I loved this song, I remembered singing it on my grandparents farm all those years ago as I did chores to help them out. I could remember my grandma smiling while I sang.

I wanna sleep on the hard ground

In the comfort of your arms

On a pillow of blue bonnets

In a blanket made of stars

Oh it sounds good to me.

Flash back**************

I remembered back then I didn't notice a certain cowboy standing in the doorway while I worked and sang.

I say, " Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue"

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to Heaven above and

Closer to you, Closer to you

When I did notice him watching he tipped that hat over his eye, like he did when he wanted to hide his expressions. And my grandpa was standing with him and my grandpa was grinning to watching while I brushed my grandparents happily mooing cows and baaing sheep.

I wanna walk and not run

I wanna skip and not fall

I wanna look at the horizon

And not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one

For miles and miles

Except for maybe you

And your simple smile

Oh it sounds good to me

Yes it sounds good to me

I'd known back then I'd had a crush on Vaughn for a while, and I'd hoped he didn't know I was thinking about him. I saw my grandpa who was saying something quietly to Vaughn who blushed and covered his eyes again with his hat. And I would daydream at school about riding off into the sunset with him.

Flash back over*************

I was older now but I still loved singing the song so I kept at it while cleaning. It had always made me think of Vaughn.

Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue"

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to Heaven above and

The song was ending and my back was to the door but I kept singing

Closer to you

Cowboy take me away

Closer to you

I turned around to find myself face to face with Julia, and I could bet I was blushing cause my face felt hot. She giggled, ", I didn't know you could sing Chels, better not let Lanna know she'll be jealous." and she giggled a little more. I shook my head and stuck my tongue out at her. "What brings you here Julia?", I said as I took my radio with me to the tool shed and switched tools so I could do take care of my crops. "Me and mom were talking about birthdays and realized we didn't know when yours was.", she said sheepishly.

"You came all this way for a birthday?", I questioned. "Well ya, we don't want to miss your birthday." insisted. "Well it's summer 14." I said as I started to pick the last of the fall crops. "You mean we missed it and you never said anything!", she said placing her hands on her face with a horrified look. "It's no big deal, I hadn't celebrated it in a long time. One more year won't make a difference.", I said rolling my eyes as I plucked a few more pumpkins here and there.

"Well when was the last time you had a birthday?", she asked. "11 years ago.", I said as I began walking some of the pumpkins to the shipping bin because it was gonna take a while.

"11 years!", she said even more horrified. "Yah my best friend and I started it by going riding and went swimming for a little while.", I said smiling while I placed another pumpkin in the bin. "He was trying to keep my busy because my grandparents wanted to surprise me with a cake."

She stared at me with a questioning look in her eyes. "That doesn't sound like the grump I know and love as my cuz.", she said "He's so quiet and reserved, and he can be downright mean at times." "I admit he's always been a little shy and reserved, but we always used to click.", I said loading another pumpkin into the crate. "It was like we always brought out the best in each other." she looked at me some more.

"How did you guys meet?", she asked as she sat on a rock while I continued to work. "Now that is a great memory.", I said

Flashback*************************

I was at my grandparents house, I was about nine and I'd climbed the tree to pick apples and while eating them when I looked over and spotted a trio of boys. I noticed one of them had beautiful silver hair and was being held by a boy while another one was hitting and taunting as he was doubled over. I scrambled down the tree and charged down the road.

I sacked the boy doing the hitting startling him as he fell to the ground. He tried to scramble to get away but I wound up pinning his arm behind his back and every time he struggle I'd pull on it while he squealed like a pig for mercy. The other bully dropped his captive and came to try to help his friend.

He tried to grab me by my hair but the silver-haired boy had gotten his bearings and knocked the other boy down and they were wrestling. "Call your buddy off and get out of here or I'll break it I said pulling on they bully I was dealing with s arm up." , I said knowing from experience he was in a lot of pain. "Jeff, Jeff, back down, she's serious an this hurts bad.", he cried

I let him up and slugged him in the face when he came face to face with me. "Just in case you get any dumb ideas." I said grinning at the red mark on his startled face as he ran away and shortly his buddy ran after him. I turned to the silver-haired boy and was fascinated by his violet colored eyes as he looked at me a little confused. "Hi I'm Chelsea.", I said cheerfully as I offered my hand to shake. "I'm Vaughn, ", he said shyly.

"Wait you're a girl. Girls ain't supposed to know how to fight.", he said. "I live in a bad neighborhood , so I learned to fight so I wouldn't get beat up.", I said smiling. He looked at me quizzically "where do you live?" He said raising an eyebrow. "I live with my parents in the city." I said studying his face. "Then what are you doing here?", he asked. "Oh, I'm visiting my grandparents. They own Millers Dairy.", I said.

"Oh so you're the granddaughter Mr. Miller was telling my dad was coming to visit. I live on Vaults ranch, which is next to your grandparents farm." he said and I noticed he had some bruising. "Hey my grandma Is making some cake, how about we see about treating you black eye that's forming.", I said. He nodded in agreement and we walked into my grandma's house.

"Gramma, do we have anymore ice packs?", I called as we entered the kitchen were my grandma was canning tomatoes. She looked up at us and saw Vaughn and gave a smile, of course Chelsea, you know where they are. I went into a cabinet and eventually found the first aid kit and found the ice pack and came to the table where my grandma had a towel while I broke the pack so the cool substance would be ready.

My grandma wrapped it in a small towel, and then placed it on Vaughn's black eye directing him to take over. "Now does someone want to tell me what happened.", she said in a firm voice looking at us as she began to clean up the fat lip which I hadn't noticed that Vaughn had.

"There were some boys picking on him Gramma, so I evened the odds.", I said with a smile as I got out two slices of Marble cake and set them by us on the table. And fetching a few glasses of milk. I loved going to my grandparents, there was always food to eat, and no one hit me. With my parents in the jail I was staying here until they got out.

Her eyes twinkled as she smiled at me. I placed a couple forks on the table before digging into my slice of cake. It was so moist and chocolaty. "You know Vaughn, Chelsea likes horses too. ", my grandma said with a wink and my ears perked up. "Maybe you two should go riding on your family's ranch sometime." she said. "Sure don't see why not sounds like fun.", he said as a small smile touched his face.

"Grandma your forgetting something.", I said blushing. "Oh." she said. "Ya I've never been on a horse before, unless you count the metal thing outside Kmart." "Well Vaughn happens to be a champion rider maybe he can teach you sometime." she said winking at me again. "Sure I can teach you sometime." he said studying me as he held the ice pack with one hand and began to eat the cake with another.

"Really!", I said elated "That would be awesome!" I said happily as I jumped up and hugged him making him blush. For the rest of that summer if our chores were done we were hanging out. It turned out we had a lot in common and we practically read each others minds. I was sad that summer ended and I had to go home to my parents. But we emailed often and I had a pickup and go cell phone that my grandparents had filled for me, so I called him often but I never stored his number and I kept it on vibrate so my parents never knew about it, hiding it in my floorboards when I didn't carry it.

End of flashback

Chelsea's P.O.V.

I'd finished loading my produce and was done with chopping the stalks when I finished my story. I was beginning to feel a little hungry. "Hey Julia how about after I clean up we go get some lunch at the diner today before we go work with Giselle?", I said looking over my filthy stinky self. "Sure sounds like fun then we can talk about winter thanksgiving next month.", she said as we went into my house. I grabbed a change of clothes and a fresh bandana and went into my bathroom and took my shower. When I was down I smelled like a chocolate covered raspberry and I had the purple wig on.

"How long do you have to dress in that.", she said pointing to my wig. "Until the man looking for me is dead or decides I'm not worth the effort.", I said as I put the wig in a pony tail as I placed a winter hat on and put my coat on. We walked over to the diner

Where we agreed to split a pizza, and both got Cokes to go with it. "You know I think Giselle's almost ready for a saddle, we need to find a soft one to try on her.", I said sipping my coke. "Hmm I think we have a few to try.", she said taking a big cheesy bite. "I think I'll try it out today then.", I said stirring my pop.

"How are we gonna fix her problem with men.", she said and I thought. "I need to slowly acclimate her. Maybe on days Vaughn's here. He's good with horses so he'd be the easiest to get her used to. "She needs to see she can trust him. And then it should slowly fall into place." I said. "Oh do you mind if we stop at Gannon's before we go to your place, I need to pay him so he'll upgrade my house and I can have some heat this winter." She giggled and nodded as we finished our pizza.

We then stopped at Gannon's where I paid him for my house upgrade and he left to work on it right away, while Eliza and Charlie played tag outside. We passed Taro who waved us over. "Hello Chelsea, I wanted to tell you tomorrow were going to have a doozy of a snowstorm so don't go out.", he said. "Oh thanks, I guess I'll pick up some extra animal feed from Julia's after I'm done helping over there.", I said as I thanked him and we headed to Julia's place.

I went and got Giselle out and Julia came out with a soft saddle. She looked at me with her eyes full of trust as I threw the saddle over my shoulder. "Now sweety if we can get you used to this I won't have to climb the fence every time I want to get on your back." I said in a calming voice and she stayed still as I placed the item on her back. Thankfully I had her trust so she held still while I buckled it after I placed it. "See girl nothing to be afraid of.", I said I adjusted her bridal as I climbed on and then I had her cantering around the corral. "Good girl.", I said rubbing her affectionately while she tossed her head back happily. I was so proud of her she'd improved by leaps and bounds since we'd been working with her. Julia was glowing. " Hey Chels over here.", she said snapping a picture of me and Giselle. I leaned forward and hugged the white mare.

All to soon it was time to put the horses back in, so I helped Julia before going in to buy some extra feed from Mirabella. We came in and I walked up to the counter. "Hey Mirabella.", I said cheerfully. She smiled leaving her computer and coming to the counter.

"What can I do ya for Chelsea.", she said matching my mood as her blue eyes sparkled.

"I need to buy some extra feed in case the storm turns out to be longer than planned.", I said putting down the g's. "Chelsea you've been such a big help with that mare I can't take your money this time.", she said pushing my money back to me. "Julia will help you carry it so just take what you need this time its on the house.

We went into the back room and got a couple of bags down and dragged them to the front.

"It's to bad your cousin isn't here he could just throw these over each of his shoulders and carry them like there nothing." I said panting. She nodded in agreement, "Maybe I can call Elliott, his family has wagons and carts, maybe they have one for the job." she said and I nodded back as she called up her boyfriend. "Hey Elliott do you have something over there I can borrow to help Chels get these bags of feed over to her ranch?", she said cheerfully. "Oh really that would be great, thanks Elliott see you in a few."

I got the feeling she was happy for any excuse to see her boyfriend and vice versa.

He was over in less than twenty minutes with the wagon, and helping us load the bags, between the little pecks on the cheek they shared. Pretty soon we were on the way with the bags to my ranch and Julia and Elliott put them in the building while I got my animals closed in for the night and settled.

As we were closing the buildings Gannon came up to us. "I finished your house Miss. Chelsea.", he said and I looked and no longer did my house look like a drafty old shack but a cozy little farm-house. "Oh thank you Gannon, it looks great!", I said excitedly as I hugged him and he blushed.

A little while later we were all walking back toward town, and Gannon went home while us girls and Elliott went back to the animal shop. Elliott and Julia exchanged a goodnight kiss before Elliott was on the way home with his wagon. And again I was feeling a little jealous of Julia. Not only did she have a loving mother(something I've never had) but she also had a boyfriend who was desperately in love with her and nothing was in the way of that.

"Hey girls welcome back, your just in time I made a big pot of carrot soup.", came Mirabella's cheerful tone. "Sounds yum.", I said as me and Julia went to the sink to wash our hands before supper.

Vaughn's P.O.V.

I was watching the weather report in my apartment and noticed a blizzard was hitting the island where my aunt lived. I figured they be ok, but I wondered how that farmer would be. She'd be stuck in her house alone if she stayed home with her memories, and when if she started sleepwalking she could freeze to death. I looked over at the picture of me and my Chelsea. "I sure miss ya, Chels.", I said thinking about the smiling brunette in the picture as I picked it up and stared at her. "You were crazy just like that farmer is, but I loved your brand of crazy and I miss it. You'd probably like two peas in a pod with her or my cousin." I said.

My phone rang a couple of times so I picked up, it was my cousin Julia. She sure sounded excited. "Hey Vaughnie!", she said. "I wanted to see how you were doing. And to tell you how that Giselle's doing." "Giselle?" I said gruffly, who was Giselle? "That's the mare that Chelsea's been helping out with.", my cousin said cheerfully. On my visits they mare had shown a steady improvement since the farmer began helping. "Chels got her in reigns and saddled today!", my cousin said excitedly. I had to admit as skittish as that horse was that was progress, but she sure took to that farmer. I felt myself almost smiling. "Well that's pretty good progress.", I said putting my feet on the coffee table.

I sat and listened as my cousin chattered about the day her and the farmer had, and about her boyfriend and other things on the island. Eventually I let go of my cousin and my thoughts returned to that farmer. So much about her was unnatural, except for the way she related to people and animals, she could almost read them.

Flashback*********************

It was summer and I'd gone to the woods to visit a local pack of wild dogs that I had been bringing food for. They'd been playing and it was fun to watch. I followed them to the spring by the church where we'd managed to startle the farmer. She was wearing her red bandana, and her purple hair was peeking out. "It's ok there safe.", I said as she looked a little white for a second. She then knelt so one of the dogs could smell her hand and quickly it was licking her. "Well how about we help them burn off some energy and play with them." she said with a goofy grin. I had to admit it was a good idea.

We spent the next couple hours running and playing with the pack until they went home.

Then she sat down by the spring again moving her hand around with the current. "That was fun cowboy." she stated as I plopped my self down myself. "Yeah it was good to get some exercise for a change. With my job and all the traveling I do I don't get to do that kind of stuff much.", I said.

"Have you ever thought of settling down and staying on one island." she said thoughtfully "I one point I did, but I'm a born wanderer now, plus not many people can get along with me for very long." I said staring ahead. "Well I like having you around, you may be grumpy, by your straightforward, and even though you try to hide it you're a very passionate person, who has a kind heart." she said staring up at the moon. I pulled my hat over my face to hide my blush, and she giggled a little before I glared at her. "One day cowboy, mark my words, I will knock that scowl off your face.", and the way she looked at me I'd almost swear she looked like my Chelsea for a moment."

Flashback over**********************************

I thought for a moment and wondered if maybe the two girls were cousins with the same name and decided to get out my laptop and I pulled up the ordering information the animal shop had online and noticed that the farmer had no last name listed or birthday.

Which was weird and I noticed all her animal shop transactions were in cash.

I grabbed my phone and called my aunt. "Hello", came my aunt's cheery voice. "Hey Aunt Mirabella I was going over the animal order forms and I noticed Chelsea didn't list a birthday or a last name.", I said tapping my pencil. "Well honey she's here for dinner and she says she doesn't have a last name, and her birthday was summer 14.", my aunt said with a sigh. "Can you believe she didn't tell anyone and the poor girl forgot the day she was born."

"Does she have any next of kin.", I asked. "Chelsea says no.", my aunt says, "anymore questions for the girl sweety, she needs to get back to her house before the snowstorm sets in ." "No not for now Aunt Mirabella. Thanks.", I said hanging up. Summer 14, that day sound familiar, I said as I looked at the picture on the table in front of me.

Then I remembered, that was my Chelsea's birthday too. Two girls, same name, same birthday. I think I needed to have a little talk with the farmer and try to find out what she's

Hiding. There's just to many things alike and I didn't believe in coincidences.