And here is the new chappie! Long awaited, I know. But many thanks to my Beta, Cookie Monster n' Elmo!

Characters belong to the incredibly talented Cassandra Clare. I just have fun with them :)

Amatis paced the kitchen in her loose fitting white pajamas as she worried her already mussed chocolate hair. Luke sat at the table scrubbing his face with the palm of his callused hand. Sitting in the old floral armchair, Jace's face was as expressionless as always. Clary figured he was thinking hard about something but she wasn't sure what so she just sat cuddled up on the couch as she waited for their group to figure out what to do. She was ready to scream at this point and it had only been five minutes since she frantically awoke her aunt and uncle after hearing what Jace had reported on. She still couldn't believe that this had actually happened and it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Clary, anxious about the entire situation, pulled at her nightshirt as she analyzed her morning so far.

When she had seen him staring at her, wide eyed through the screen door, she could tell that his face was paler than it usually was. His eyes, cold and anxious despite their warm color, watched Clary as she had put her hands on her hips and waited for him to start speaking. She didn't want to believe that something was wrong but his expression had said it all. Even the way that he had been standing led her to believe it. That, plus the fact that he probably wouldn't have been talking to her if there wasn't anything wrong. She had looked at him expectantly as she waited for him to explain this sudden and early awakening.

"I checked the horses this morning like I always do and… at least eight of them were just… just gone," his face had been a mixture of shock and disbelief, which was much different from the way he looked now. At least he had had an expression. "Their stalls were just wide open and the rubber ties weren't even attached. I don't know how they did it but…" he had trailed off in a complete loss for words. Clary's skin had gone ice cold as he spoke and she had stared at him dumb and unseeing. She still wasn't completely aware of her surroundings seeing as she was in a constant state of astonishment. As she had stood there, somehow her brain had formed a coherent thought and she voiced it aloud.

"Who?" It had only been a whisper but he had heard her and understood it correctly, for which she was glad. She hadn't been sure if she could say anything more to explain her thoughts since they had been, and still were, a complete and utter jumbled mess.

He looked down at her like he was going to tell her that someone had just died. "Caspian's gone too."

And at that, Clary's stomach had twisted. She knew quite well that southern California had predators in the wild that could be dangerous to horses if they came in contact with them. Mountain lions, for instance, were one of the most common. Even though it was disturbing that many of the other horses had gotten out she still couldn't stand the thought of Caspian being hurt somewhere up in the mountains. Most of the other horses that had escaped were horses that didn't belong to Morningstar anyway. Although, the calls that Amatis would soon have to make to those who owned the horses would not be pleasant at all. Clary was sure that most if not all of the people that were boarding their horses there would pull them out as soon as possible. If they were found that was.

She knew that Caspian had been up in the mountains occasionally but she also knew that he was not familiar with areas that were off the beaten track. And hopefully, Cas wouldn't have led himself and the other horses off that trail. Other predators however, who were familiar with their surroundings, would take this as an opportunity for fresh meat. Clary cringed as she thought about all of the possible things that could have happened to the horses already. She could just hope that they would have enough common sense to come home.

As Clary had tried to wrap her head around the whole thing, Jace kept talking, "He might've been the one to get out first 'cause the lock on his stall door was busted. I'm not sure but when I looked outside the barn, the hoof prints seemed to be going towards to mountains." He paused; seeming to have remembered something that he didn't like. His face was set into a worried and confused expression. "Clary? There are mountain lions up here aren't there?"

Slowly, she swallowed the thickness in her throat and looked up at him. "Yes," she replied her voice still heavy. She stared at him for what seemed like an hour before blinking and turning away from him, ready to get started on getting a search party ready. "I need to go wake up my aunt," she said, looking back at him as she hurried down the hallway. He was still behind the screen door and she had decided to be nice and just let him in. "Come in and sit down."

And now here she was sitting and waiting for her aunt and uncle to stop pacing and huffing so that they could just get started on looking for the horses. Just watching them was making Clary even more anxious about it. It was a wonder that she hadn't started losing her hair with all of the stress in her life. She raked and hand through her hair as she thought about being bald before the age of seventeen.

Luke scratched his jaw once more before he spoke for the first time that morning. "Well, we need to get started here. No use in just waiting," he grunted as he stood up from one of the wooden chairs as that kitchen table. "Now, I think it's best if we start calling the owners now. Amatis?" He turned to his sister with a businesslike expression, he didn't look as worried as he did before but Clary figured he was putting on a strong face to lessen the situation. "Can you make the calls? I'm gonna go start getting what we'll need for the trip out there."

Amatis nodded quietly and started rummaging through the desk drawer for the log of who was boarding their horses at Morningstar. While she was looking, Luke turned to Clary and Jace in the living room. "Clary, you and Jace come with me," he said before striding towards the door.

Clary got up quickly from the couch and was immediately aware of how little clothing she was wearing when she saw Jace staring at her thigh where her night shirt had ridden up much to far for her liking. She laughed, nervous, as she blushed furiously and quickly pulled the fabric down further. She watched him move his eyes to the floor before she skittered to her room and grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and yanked them on. Hastily zippering them up and buttoning them, she went back to the kitchen and slipped on her old worn pair of sneakers and ran outside to meet up with Jace and Luke.

When she got outside she could already feel the heat of the oncoming day although it was still only about seven. Light filtered through the canopy of trees and landed on the ground, warming up the cool earth. Looking towards the sun, she could see rays of light bursting through the misty air off in the distance. It looked like the day was going to be another scorcher. She sighed heavily, thinking about the horses being dehydrated. She couldn't help being pessimistic about the situation, especially after the shitty things had been happening lately. Really the only thing that had gone right recently was Cas winning the race. If he'll even be able to race again after this... Wanting to stop thinking about the negatives she shook her head and jogged to where her uncle and Jace were standing near the entryway to the barn.

Luke turned his attention to her as she came up to them. "Clary, I want you to get Simon and Isabelle out here to help also. The four of you are going out as the search party," he said quickly as he walked into the near empty barn. "You're gonna need a lot of gear cause I don't know how long this is gonna take. Might even take a day or two to get a trail on them, but you're good at that Clary…" He continued on to talk about the several items they would and would not need as he moved towards the tack room. But what Clary was wondering was why he had said the four of you. He had only mentioned three, unless he was expecting Michael to get there?

She interrupted his explanation for why not bringing a tent was a good idea with, "What do you mean the four of us? Is Michael coming?" He frowned.

"Well, for whatever goddamn reason, Michael isn't picking up his phone and he was supposed to be here and hour ago anyways. You're leaving without him I guess unless he shows up here within the next half-hour or so…" He paused and jerked his head in Jaces direction. "As for number four, Jace will be going too."

Her eyes widened. "What! He doesn't even know how to ride!" She couldn't believe that Luke thought that she was supposed to be looking for the horses and babysitting Jace at the same time. What help would he possibly be if he couldn't keep up? This is one of the dumbest ideas Luke has ever had, she thought, glaring from Luke to Jace. She didn't want to have to deal with Jace for an entire weekend if that's how long it would take. She huffed and crossed her arms. "I'm not going to babysit while we're out there!"

Jace raised his eyebrows past his hairline and his topaz eyes sparked in the golden light of the sun. "Babysit?" he scoffed, offended. "What the hell gives you the right to say that? You're-"

Luke narrowed his eyes at her warningly as he cut him off in a stiff voice. "He has proven himself to be an excellent rider considering how little time he has had to learn. And last I checked, you were the one that taught him, am I wrong?" He peered at her and waited for her to protest, which she did not. She didn't want to piss him off further because, right now, it looked like he was ready to snap. "Now, unless you're ready to start judging your own skills at teaching riding, I suggest you shut your mouth," he paused and sighed before he continued in a less offensive tone." I don't know what problem you two have with each other, but its stopping. Now." His voice was hard and unforgiving as he watched them both. Evidently he had noticed the tiff that they were having over the past few weeks.

Clary unfolded her arms and let her shoulders droop. "Fine," she said, not wanting to make Luke angrier. He already was uptight because of the horses getting loose, like the rest of the family was, but she didn't want to fight with her uncle too. She was too exhausted. Jace relaxed his shoulders also and waited for further instructions from Luke with an unreadable expression.

"Now Clary, go call Simon and Isabelle and ask if they can get down here. We could really use their help," he picked up two lead lines from the rack to his right and threw one to Jace who caught the object quickly. "I'll get you a horse and tack him up for you."

She quickly moved past Jace to the phone that they kept in the tack room. It was old and busted up from all of the times that it had dropped from its cradle on the wall but it still worked and that was all that mattered. Her uncle and Jace walked out and she could hear the doors of the stalls sliding through their metal tracks along with the ringing through the phone as she waited for Simon to pick up. Not being all too sure that Simon would even bother to answer the phone so early on a Saturday morning, she tapped her fingers on the wall nervously.

He answered on the last ring. "Ergh?" he slurred tiredly; obviously she had woken him up. Feeling only slightly bad that she had disrupted his sleeping, she rushed into an explanation about what had happened and how she really needed his help. She could tell that he had been angry with her the night before at the party but she was hoping that he would still come anyways. She really hadn't meant for it to seem like she was blowing him off to talk to Jace that night but that was the way he had taken it.

"… And I'm going to call Isabelle too to see if she can come," she said, waiting for him to respond. When he didn't, she suspected that he had fallen back asleep. "So… how does that sound? Will you come?" she asked again, still waiting. She could hear the rustle of fabric on the other end as well as the sound of a jacket zipper.

Suddenly there was a large thud and a crash as he dropped the phone. "Sorry! Sorry! Yeah, I'm coming right now. I just need to find my shoes…" he trailed off and she could hear him running through his house.

"Thanks Simon," she said gratefully. She smiled into the phone, glad that she had him as a friend. He was always there for her even when she didn't really deserve it. In a way, he was like a brother to her. "I'll see you in five?"

There was another bumping noise followed by a few curses. "Ow, yeah."

She laughed half-heartedly and hung up before dialing Isabelle number quickly and waiting for the ring. Unlike Simon, Isabelle was an early starter. She answered on the first ring. "Oh, shut up already!" Clary heard Isabelle yelling in the background. She didn't sound all too happy. "Hello?" Isabelle lowered her voice with a sigh into the phone.

Clary gave her the same story that she gave Simon and Isabelle promised she would be over as soon as possible. As Clary was talking there were a few more yells in the background mostly sounding like Maryse's voice. But when Clary asked what the problem was Isabelle brushed it off as another one of her mother's "incessant nagging streaks" that had become somewhat of a morning ritual.

Isabelle quickly switched the subject right back to the horses. "Michael is coming to help too right?"

Clary sighed. "He's not even here. He was supposed to be here like usual at six but he wasn't. Which was weird because I saw his car last night when…" she paused not too sure if she should tell Isabelle about how she got home last night. She didn't want to provoke any probing questions that would surely be asked if she told her. Clearing her throat she continued, "When I got home." Clary hoped she would hear the sudden change in the tone of her voice. She tried her best to hide it but the fact was that she was a horrible liar.

Isabelle hesitated before answering. "How exactly did you get home last night? You left before I could even say goodbye." Clary could practically see the pout on her face as she talked. She would feel horrible if she blatantly lied to her best friend but she also knew that Isabelle didn't care too much for Sebastian at all. She wouldn't understand the way he had changed last night considering that the only thing that she had seen from him was an arrogant attitude and a disqualification in his last race. Hell, I don't even understand what made him act so differently, she thought.

"I… um… Sebastian took me home," she said quickly wanting to get off of the subject as fast as possible.

"Woah. Hold on a second there. Sebastian Verlac? The idiotic guy that almost made Caspian lame? That Sebastian? What?" Isabelle's astonished voice rang through the telephone. Clary sighed. She knew that Isabelle would freak out.

Clary twirled the phone cord around her pinky finger. "He- he was just different last night, OK? I had a huge headache and-" Clary kicked the door to the tack room closed, not wanting Jace to overhear the rest of what she was going to say. "And Jace ended up being at the party, don't ask me how the fuck he got there but I guess I looked like shit after I talked to him so Sebastian took me home. That's all." She really didn't feel like talking about it anymore. Just thinking about last night was giving her another headache.

Isabelle made a noise that sounded like she was choking. "Jace? What the hell! He was not on the invite list." Clary could hear the jangle of keys in the background as Isabelle spoke. "OK. I'm going right now and when I get to your house you are going to tell me everything… alrighty?" The sound of the engine starting reached Clary's ears, signaling that Isabelle was already on her way.

Just as Clary was about to respond, she heard Isabelle's phone click shut. Sighing, Clary put the phone back onto its cradle and walked out of the tack room to see whom Luke had chosen for her to ride. As she walked up to him she saw that he had already finished tacking up George and was starting on filling the saddle bags with various items including a flashlight, a box of matches, and a hoof pick. Patting the horse's soft chestnut coat, she said, "Simon and Isabelle are coming. I'll go tack up two more." Luke jerked his head noncommittally and returned to rushing around the barn gathering the small things that they would need for the trip out.

Shrugging, Clary went to two more stalls and got a horse out of each one and tied them up individually. She practically ran to the tack room and threw a saddle blanket over her shoulder as well as a heavy western saddle. She bent over under the weight and tried to shift it to her hip when Jace came up behind her.

"Let me help," he said, he hands outstretched and waiting to assist her. Clary scoffed. Yeah right, dickface. She wasn't about to look like a weak little girl and accept his offer. She still didn't even want to be looking at him, let alone talking to him. Luke told her to stop fighting with him, not to be nice to the guy. And she wasn't going to forgive him for his idiocy that easily. She kept walking to the dappled gelding that stood down the hallway, completely ignoring him.

Jace sighed and flopped his arms down to his side. "OK, look. I'm trying to be the good guy here. Can't you just try and do the same?" Clary hoisted the saddle up and onto Mozart, starting to cinch up the girth and check the stirrup length. She couldn't believe that he thought he was being the good guy. How could he think that not talking to her, fighting with her and her friend, and pretty much leading her on was being a good guy? Deciding to bite her tongue and not blow up on him, she turned and walked past him to get another saddle for the second horse she had tied to the crossties.

As she reached for the saddle blanket in the tack room, Jace put his hand on her shoulder and spun her to look at him. "Why won't you just talk to me?"

At that, Clary cracked up and started laughing. For the first time in what seemed to be a long time, she laughed wholeheartedly and it felt great to let out some of the tension she had been building up over the past month. "Me? ... Not… to you?" she gasped, still laughing as she tried to speak. She couldn't believe he was trying to turn what she had said to him weeks ago back onto her. It made no sense. She at least had a reason for not wanting to talk to him but he just… didn't.

"What's so funny?"

She bit her lip as she tried to control her laughter. "I said basically the same thing to you a few weeks ago," she said, sobering up at the thought of him yelling at her. "And you had no reason to not want to talk to me."

He looked at her and narrowed his eyes slightly, but didn't argue his point any further. Clary figured that he knew that she was right so she raised her eyebrows at him before grabbing the saddle pad from the large chest and turning to walk out.

She quickly hefted the saddle onto the pad that rested on the horses back and cinched up the girth just as Simon came running into the barn. Clary stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him, his glasses askew and his hair spiked up in weird directions. His shirt has inside out and wrinkled, and his shoes weren't tied. She resisted the urge to laugh as he stood, panting.

"I got here as fast as I could," he said between breaths. "What d'you want me to do?"

"Well, sit down first," she said gesturing to the stool that sat to the left of her. "What did you do, run here?" He sat and leaned back into the wall as she continued to gear up the horse.

He groaned. "Yeah."

Clary snorted. "Why didn't you just ride your bike? You just got a new one didn't you?" She turned to him when she finished to look at his dumbfounded face. "Ah, that's why." He had obviously forgotten about his bike in his haste to get there. It was nice to know that he was so concerned about her and it made it seem like he really was a big brother to her. She knew that he would always be there for her, through thick and thin. She gave him a half smile and said, "You can go into the house and ask Amatis to find four sleeping bags, OK?"

"Sure!"

He got up and nearly ran past the horses, causing them to shuffle nervously with his abrupt movement. When he reached the driveway, Isabelle practically ran him over in her Porsche as she screeched to a halt on the gravel driveway, pebbles shooting out in all directions. Isabelle got out, stepping for one of the first times with sneakered feet onto the gravel. She ripped off her sunglasses and glared at Simon who was staring at her with an astounded expression. "Hey," was all she said before she strode into the barn, patted the horses as she walked by, and came to a stop in front of Clary. With her hands slung casually in her back pockets, Clary noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual fancy clothes, which was something that she hadn't seen her do in years. Her jeans were a dark wash and looked frayed at the bottom from wear, and her top was just a basic band t-shirt. It looked like she hadn't even brushed her hair that morning but Isabelle didn't seem to care.

"You packing up?" she sighed, looking sympathetic. Clary knew that her compassion was real but looking at her eyes filled with the emotion was unbearable. It made her feel like she already knew Caspian and the rest of the horses were lost for good, or even worse, dead. The heaviness that already resided in her stomach grew even heavier and she turned from Isabelle and shut one of the flaps on the saddlebag and blinked her stinging eyes. She didn't want to think so pessimistically about the situation but it was hard when it seemed like things wouldn't pull through.

Looking up from the floor she replied, "Yeah, can you help me with this?" She gestured to the girth that needed to be cinched and Isabelle nodded as she walked closer. Clary went to the shelf a few feet away and grabbed a few lead lines, rolling them up and placing them in the saddlebag. Neither of the girls spoke for quite a few minutes.

"What happened last night?" Isabelle asked, breaking the somber silence. She knew that she should tell Isabelle more about what had happened but she really wasn't in the mood to do it. Not with the horses gone and everyone worrying. But she bit her tongue and sighed, giving her a full explanation about the events of the night before.

At Isabelle's astonished face, Clary continued with her explanation. "I'm not even sure why Jace was there. All he did was make Simon and I angry. After we had uh… talked," Clary left out the kissing part, thinking Isabelle might explode from drama overload, "I ran back into the house and Sebastian pulled me aside and offered to take me home. It's not like I trust him or anything but I just felt so terrible and I'm pretty sure I was crying and him there at that moment was just somewhat of a comfort." She took a deep breath, as Isabelle looked more understanding. "I just needed to talk to someone that wasn't either Simon or Jace and I guess Sebastian was that someone. Does that make sense?"

Isabelle's eyes softened. "Of course it does, hun. I just wish I could have been there for you, I'm a sucky friend aren't I?" she joked, lightening the mood. She leaned in and gave Clary a strong hug. "Now the only thing I'm confused about is why Sebastian changed so much… he seemed like such a dick that first day we saw him," she pondered, shrugging her shoulders. Clary shrugged her shoulders also just as Jace waltzed back into the barn carrying two of the four sleeping bags. Simon scurried along behind him with a sour face as he hefted the other two. Isabelle flashed Clary a look and stood up, offering to take one of the sleeping bags from Simon.

Jace slipped past Clary on his way to attach the sleeping bag to the back of George's saddle, his arm quickly brushing against hers and causing unwanted goosebumps on her skin. She didn't want to want him anymore. He truly wasn't all that appealing considering he was mean and sarcastic and noncommittal. But, she still had an undeniable need to find out what was up with him. He was troubled and Clary wanted to know what the problem was, not that she was going to want to help him with the way he had been acting towards her. What a douche, she thought with frustration.

She turned towards him, seeing that he was having trouble attaching the sleeping bag, and walked over to him. He glanced at her as he saw her coming towards him and she silently took charge of the situation. She quickly tied the sleeping bag to the saddle and when she was finished she looked up at him expectantly.

"Thanks," he grunted, pushing his hair back and out of his face. His hair had gotten even longer since he had been at Morningstar, she noticed. It fell into his eyes and covered them when he didn't sweep it back. So cute… She mentally shook herself for thinking something like that. She didn't want to think about how cute Jace was. Although he is… But the fact of the matter was that Jace was someone that she didn't want to talk to. But looking at him is fine… She chastised that annoying part of her mind that kept telling her that she liked him still. It was obviously delusional. She nodded and turned from him smartly, moving to help a discombobulated Simon.

""""""""

When the four of them had finished getting all of their supplies together Luke met them out in front of the barn as they all stood near each of their assigned horses. Luke went over the things they needed one more time to make sure that they had everything just as Amatis walked out of the house, screen door slapping shut behind her, to join their group. Her brows were furrowed in a somewhat constant state of worry as she listened to Luke spouting off the various items that they had. She was still dressed in her pajamas, a long white nightgown with fuzzy yellow slippers. She held the cordless house phone in her hand as she looked towards Clary and gave her a small and unsure smile. Clary could tell that she had had a tough time talking to the owners and she felt bad that Amatis had to deal with that. Clary watched as Amatis turned her gaze to the ground and wiggled her toes in her slippers, thinking hard.

"That's all you will need I think. Each of you have cell phones right?" Luke asked, and the four of them nodded. "Good. I want you all to stay together and don't go off by yourselves. We don't need anyone else to get lost in these woods," he said warningly. "Call the house if there's any problems; Amatis and I will both be here if the horses decide to come back on their own." Luke shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked at them with a very fatherly expression. "And stay safe out there."

The group decided that that was the end of his speech and they all moved to mount their horses; Clary on George, Isabelle on Mozart, Simon on an old gray gelding named Jumanji, and Jace on one of the new arrivals to Morningstar named Starfire. Luke walked over to Clary to give her a leg up but Clary dismissed him and got up on her own using one of the slats in the fence. Luke shook his head with a half smile, "Always wanting to do things on your own." He gave a small laugh as Clary nodded and smiled slightly.

His face turned serious fast. "I want you to keep you head out there. You're most likely gonna be the leader out there so don't do something stupid." He patted her leg as he looked up at her before walking away to help the others. Clary knew that he was concerned about their safety and that wasn't a bad thing, but Clary was sure of herself. She had been out in the mountains many times and she knew some tracking techniques that could help them find the horses. Her worrying had subsided some and now she just wanted to get out there and find the horses as fast as possible. She knew that there was still a chance that some of the horses could be hurt or even worse, but he had decided to start having a more hopeful outlook on the situation. She really didn't want to keep thinking that Caspian was gone for good. Just the thought tore at her heart and made her eyes sting. She couldn't bear to lose him.

Clary quickly glanced at Simon who was shifting in the saddle as he got used to riding again. She guessed that he hadn't been on a horse since last summer and he had lost some of the comfort that he used to have while on horseback. He returned her glance and finished squirming to give her a small reassuring smile. Her emotions must have been written on her face because he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking about. His smile was much appreciated. Clary needed all the reassuring she could get to stop thinking about the worst scenario possible.

Wiping those thoughts from her mind, she looked to Isabelle who appeared confident and ready. She had taken her long dark hair out of its messy bun and now it flowed down past her shoulders. Simon had followed Clary's eyes to look at Isabelle himself and Clary could see the awe in his eyes. She smiled as Simon continued to stare at her as she fixed her reins and patted Mozart on his neck.

Finally, Clary looked at Jace who was still mounting Starfire. He settled in quickly and he looked completely comfortable in the saddle. He must have gone riding on his own, she thought, noting how he looked like he had been riding for a while already. IN a way she felt as if he should have told her that he went out riding, but she also knew that he didn't exactly like her or talking to her so he probably didn't even feel the need to. She sighed and wondered how the two of them would get along on this trip. Certainly she didn't want to be bickering with him the entire time, especially if this trip lasted days. But she didn't see how they could fix their relationship from where it was already. She sighed again and started wondering where the horses might be.

She guessed that by now the horses would probably be thirsty and would want to find water. Lake Berryessa was just one of the many lakes in the area but it was the closest one; it only took about an hour to get there, and the horses were most likely more than an hour away. Clary figured that following the tracks as far as they would let them would work best and if the track was lost they could check the surrounding lakes. She was just worried about the tracks leading up the mountain. That would be one of the worst scenarios considering the large cats that roamed those areas of higher elevation.

As Clary thought, Amatis wished them all good luck and Luke suggested riding for only a few hours at a time and then taking rest stops because of the heat. There was no need to give the horses more reason to be tired and dehydrated on the trip. As they said good bye, the four of them trotted off in the direction of the mountains with Clary in front of the pack.

After the initial "let's do this, and go that way" talk, there wasn't much talking after that. For the most part everyone just rode silently and followed Clary; all keeping their eyes on the land for anything that might help them find the horses faster. After about an hour or so of riding, Isabelle pointed out that there were a few small broken branches and hoof prints going off into a different direction from the track that they had started on. As Simon and Isabelle argued over which direction they should go in next, Clary rolled her eyes and dismounted, leaving George ground tied, to get a better look at the prints.

She walked over and crouched closer to the ground, wiping a finger in the dirt. It came up dusty. "These are old. At least two days maybe three… They didn't go this way; these prints are from mustangs you guys," Clary said matter-of-factly, effectively ending Isabelle and Simon's debate.

"I told you, Simon," Isabelle said confidently as she flipped some of her hair out of her sweaty face. Although it was only about eleven thirty, it was so hot that all of them were sweating, even Isabelle who never did.

"Oh," was all he said. He reached down and took his canteen out of one of the flaps his saddlebag and took a sip looking harassed.

Jace, who hadn't spoken at all, piped up. "How do you know that?"

The three of them looked over at him as if they had almost forgotten he was even there. "Uh, well," she cleared her throat awkwardly and continued, "you can tell that these horses weren't wearing shoes." She pointed to the older tracks. "And that these," she shifted her arm to point to the path that they were already on, "were. All the horses at Morningstar have shoes on at least two of their hooves." They all stared at her. "What?" she asked, confused as to why they were all giving her the same dumbfounded look.

Simon smiled at her. "That's amazing," he said, twisting the lid to his canteen back on. "I would never have noticed that."

"That's not saying much…" Jace muttered quietly, but loud enough that Clary heard him. She flashed him a look of petulance before she stood up, dusted herself off, and walked back over to George, taking out some of the peanut butter sandwiches that Amatis had made for them.

"Let's stop and rest here for a bit," Clary said, tossing a sandwich to Simon after he dismounted. She turned and walked to one of the large trees around them that lent enough shade so that they could escape the blistering heat. She slumped against the side of the trunk and slid down to the ground, plopping herself into a seated position with a huff. Simon came to sit beside her as Isabelle took a swig from her canteen and held her opposite arm out for a sandwich, which Clary tossed to her. Jace sat a little further away from them that made Clary a bit irritated. Did he dislike her that much that he didn't even want to sit near her? She scowled and threw one of the bagged sandwiches at his face.

He caught the item swiftly before it thumped to the ground. "What the hell?" he asked, looking at Clary directly for the first time in over three hours. It annoyed her that he no longer even looked at her now. She understood that he disliked her but his aversion to her was almost like he couldn't even look at her. She was quite obviously offended by his behavior but he seemed to not even notice.

"Oops. Didn't mean to," she lied.

Isabelle laughed and received a rather harsh look from him. "Hey, don't be mad at me dude. She's the one with bad aim… or good aim, depending on the way you look at it," she joked, glancing at Clary causing her to start laughing along with her. Jace scowled but let it go quickly as he took a large and vicious bite out of his sandwich.

Not wanting to keep worrying about Jace and his attitude, Clary focused her attention on the landscape. There was tall grass and trees for as long as she could see as she looked to her left, but there was a mountain fairly close to them to her right. Its size was intimidating considering how low to the ground they were. She gazed up higher to look at the sky which was an absolutely pure shade of blue that wasn't marred by clouds. The sun shined unfailingly, probably giving her a sunburn. At that thought she immediately looked down at her arms and sure enough they were already starting to turn pink. She cursed her pale skin and sighed, looking towards the horses that were munching on grass and just lolling around looking tired. She figured they should find a lake soon so that they could at least get some relief from the heat.

After about an hour of snacking and relaxing in the shade, they gathered their things and set out again. They followed the tracks at a walk, looking for signs of the horses but also keeping a look out for a lake or a river to get water for the horses and to refill their canteens. The terrain changed after a while, becoming rockier and causing them to lose the trail of the hoof prints. Knowing that the rocky ground meant that they were getting closer to water, Clary led the group in the direction of the rocks and the horses' hooves clattered noisily against the hard material.

There still wasn't much talk, and if there was any it was about the heat or the direction they were going in. Clary desperately wanted to just find the horses and be done but no matter how far ahead of herself she looked, she couldn't see any more signs of where they were. When she stopped looking so intently she noticed how slow their pace had become. They were still at a walk but as she looked to the side of her she noticed that Jumanji looked almost lethargic. About an hour later they finally found a lake to stop by for which she was thankful. She didn't want to have to worry about the horses they were riding considering she was already worrying so much about the other horses.

She looked at her watch as everyone dismounted and led their horses to the lakeside and saw that it was almost five thirty. Not noticing the time before, she felt bad for letting the horses keep going for so long without resting. She knew that they would have to stop and rest there for the night. As she led George to the lake, she looked at her surroundings once more. She saw more mountains than she had before and she guessed that they were quite a few miles from home. They had actually searched a fairly large area and this made her concerned. How far could they have gone? She thought to herself. The horses had only been gone for about a day and a half. She wrung the reins in her hands nervously as George drank thirstily at the cool water.

"Clary?"

It was Isabelle. Clary looked at her with a feeble smile. "What's up?" she asked, wondering if she needed something.

Isabelle sighed and looked at Clary thoughtfully. "You're worrying again, Clary. We're going to find them. I can feel it. Now stop choking your horse and come and have some food," she said quietly, taking Clary's hands and untangling them from the reins. She led her over to the group silently, set her down near a large boulder, and handed her another sandwich. It really was the most substantial thing that Amatis had packed other than some trail mix and dried beef jerky.

She ate the sandwich almost mechanically as she continued to think about where they should go next and what time they should wake up to get moving again. As she thought, Simon, who was sitting close by, tossed her the large bag of trail mix which fell into her lap, bringing her out of her robotic state. He nodded towards the bag and said, "The raisins taste like old man." Clary chuckled, knowing that Simon had an unnecessary hatred for dried fruit and shoved her hand into the bag, taking a large handful. She hadn't realized just how hungry she was. As she chewed she looked over and saw that Jace stood leaning against a tree nearby, holding his canteen lazily in his left hand. She watched him pour some of the water onto his head and shake, letting the water droplets fling out in all directions before pushing his hair back again and continuing to lean against the tree.

"Ugh, so hot," Isabelle said vehemently. Clary started as she was pulled out of her reverie and glanced at her friend, realizing that she wasn't thinking the same thing she was. Isabelle was talking about the weather. And she was right. As Clary looked up she saw no clouds in sight that could give them some relief from the heat of the sun. Isabelle fanned herself with her hand as she lay on the boulder above her. Sitting up suddenly she asked, "Who wants to go for a swim?"

Simon waved his arm into the air tiredly in a sign of agreement. Clary was all for it, she felt all sweaty and disgusting and she figured a nice swim would fix that. Jace looked at least remotely interested also considering he had looked up from the ground and he was now staring at Isabelle. "I'll take that silence as a unanimous yes?" Isabelle asked as she slid off of the rock and started to take her boots off.

The rest of them stood up and followed suit, taking off their socks as well. Isabelle unashamedly took off her shirt first showing a rather ostentatiously red sports bra; no one had thought to bring swimsuits. Simon averted his eyes almost immediately, his face turning pink. Clary chuckled under her breath at Simon's reaction and looked to her left just as Jace took his own shirt off, her eyes lingering just long enough for him to notice her watching him. He smirked at her just as she looked away hastily. Blushing furiously, she chastised herself for staring at him again.

Isabelle and Simon were already in the water by the time Clary looked up again and she saw Isabelle playfully splashing Simon in the face, effectively starting an all out splash-war between the two of them. Clary laughed as she watched Simon get beaten by a girl, cowering as she pelted him with splashes. "Aren't you coming?" Jace asked as he walked by her, only in his boxer shorts. She blushed again and looked away, quickly continuing to take off her own shirt

"Woo! Clarrryyy!" Isabelle shouted at her, adding a wolf whistle. She blushed a deeper shade of red as she looked down at herself seeing a very modest camisole. She looked up to see Jace looking back at her with almost a smile. He looked at her form for a moment longer than was needed before turning back and stepping into the lake. With her head held just a bit higher, she began taking off her jeans and threw them aside hurriedly. She joined the other three, eager to escape the constant heat.

Please REVIEW and tell me what you liked and/or disliked about this chapter! :) I would love to hear some reviews about my work and not about when my next update will be :P