Chapter 14

Thirty miles may as well have been a hundred to Amy for as long as it seemed to take to drive out of Hudson and make her way back to Heartland. Stinging tears blurred the road and kept her wiping at her eyes with the back of her hands as the image of Ty looking so happy with another woman so soon after their breakup was just beginning to take hold of her. The nightmare of losing him was becoming real and a stark finality with no assurance that time would heal the hurt this time was filling her broken heart with a sense of hopelessness, and she could not think of anything that would turn the disaster that was becoming her life around. "Why the hell is this happening to me?" she screamed with all of the force her lungs could deliver into the empty interior of Jack's old truck traveling down the open road to the ranch.

Driving into the ranch, Amy decided she was not yet ready to go directly to the house and have to face Lou and Jack in her obvious condition, or even Georgie who had done nothing but judge her since she got back from the tour, and detoured to a place where she could take a little more time to think about what she had just experienced and what it meant to her future.

The old jumping course was grown over and long neglected. Bales supporting the logs Ty had dragged out of the woods to construct the makeshift course were torn to shreds by herds of deer and the passing of time leaving the once cherished place looking disheveled and sad. In spite of its current condition, the wonderful memories she held of the small patch of ground and the new ranch hand who was bold enough to set it aside from Jack's six hundred acres when he came here to live and work on the ranch were the best part of her very difficult fifteenth year. He had done it as his first indication of love toward her and the gesture completely changed her opinion of the brash young man into one of appreciation, and eventually into what became her first feelings of genuine love for someone other than immediate family.

Amy turned off the road and parked beside the special place, staring into the source of hope most of the important turning points in her life originated from, clinging to the flood of memories she hoped to be able to hang on to. Her eyes closed, trembling from the evaporation of strength as it escaped her body, and let each memory reveal itself in her mind.

She could still feel the emptiness and hurting from the traumatic loss of her mother, remembering the need for a place to practice with her horse because her family had been trying to encourage her to continue jumping as a way to help her heal and move on with her young life. She decided Spartan needed the challenge as much as she did, but the physically and emotionally damaged horse would not go into a trailer after the fatal accident and unless she was able to take him to a real arena with adequate jumps, nothing was ever going to come of her plan to compete again.

Even as a relative newcomer to the family, Ty realized that something had to be done to help his new friend find her way and made a habit of disappearing at odd times almost every day for two weeks, much to the dismay of the wary sponsor of the seventeen year old delinquent on probation in his care, and risked Jack's retribution by confiscating a small corner of an unused field to cobble together a course good enough to help Amy begin to train her new black gelding and put them both on the road to recovery.

The day Ty first brought her to this field to reveal his secret project after it was finished was the day she first realized that he was going to be someone special, far more complex and intriguing than she expected him to be, and the first embers of love began to glow between the young couple. That day led to setting up a bond between her and her horse, both in desperate need of hope, eventually ending the season of competing on the local jumping circuit culminating with winning the Fall Finale Classic, the most prestigious meet of the year. It was the single most satisfying moment of her life because it showed all the doubters who refused to take her training and riding skills seriously what she was really made of, with Ty acting as her coach and playing a key role in the strategy that helped her to win.

Later that evening, after the giddy couple slipped away from her victory celebration party to the privacy of the barn in front of Spartan's stall, Ty caressed her face with his fingers and gently gave her his first kiss, the kind that took her breath away and changed the course of both of their lives.

It all began here, when she first saw the simple labor of love that opened her eyes to the real boy in the loft, the day Ty brought her to explain the reasons he would go missing for hours at a time because of not wanting her to miss the chance to do something she needed to do, something he knew she loved.

There was no use to try and follow through with her plans for anything here at the ranch anymore. Ironically, now that she was financially able to invest in the dream that would have been her business, she realized all the reasons she wanted to do it in the first place were no longer valid. Jack was resisting any improvements to the old barn and babysitting high strung thoroughbreds for even higher strung owners had lost any appeal as a way to make a living here at home. That kind of complicated political nonsense just didn't seem to fit here in Alberta like it did in Europe. But most of all, it was becoming alarmingly clear that Ty would not be her partner, either professionally or personally, and accepting the loss of her best friend and love of her life put a hole in her soul too big for any dreams to fill.

When Amy pulled up to the barn and got out of the truck she paused to take a deliberate moment to pan full circle and look all around the ranch that had always been her life. How could she feel like such a stranger in the only place she had ever called home? The warmth and comfort she had always felt here seemed to be gone, even the loved ones were distant and the pity that emanated from them was suffocating her.

Her own dust had barely settled when she noticed another cloud boiling over the rise beyond Heartland's entrance gate and Amy waited for the cause of it to crest the hill and descend the winding road to the ranch. A new black Chevy Tahoe parked beside Jack's truck and her jaw slacked in disbelief when Ahmed slammed the door and strode confidently toward her with his trademark smile turned up in its fully locked presentation.

"Amy, I'm so glad I finally found you!"

The dull pounding in her ears intensified with each step Ahmed took toward her and when he got within her arm's reach Amy timed a roundhouse slap against the prince's jaw that sent him reeling backwards on his heels and his oiled hair hanging from its secured shape and draped around his reddened face. "Amy! What are you doing?" the startled visitor pleaded, rubbing his palm against the offended area of his face.

"You sonofabitch! How the hell do you have enough gall to come here like you did nothing wrong?"

"I haven't any idea what you mean, Amy! I just came here to give you some good news! I did not expect to have to defend myself from one of my best friends!"

"The least you could do is to admit what you did! I hope you are satisfied with yourself for ruining my life!" she screamed, building dangerously close to another physical expression of her rage.

"Amy! Wait! Please explain to me why you are so upset!"

"Here's why!" Lou shouted, coming to the defense of her little sister, "Here is why you have ten seconds to get your royal ass back in that goddam truck and get out of here, or else you are going to find out what old time cowboy justice is all about!" and threw the box that had come to Ty the day of the calamitous reconciliation attempt as hard as she could at Ahmed's face.

The box bounced off Ahmed's forehead and its contents flew in every direction, the letter and the torn garment laying on the ground at his feet. "What is this?" the accused man asked. "I do not understand!"

"You should know what this is! You sent it!" Lou shouted as she placed a trembling finger at the tip of the prince's nose, making him jump back in fear of losing an eye.

"You sent this to Ty! How could you do such a thing to me, and to him?" Amy croaked, barely able to force the words to come out.

"But, I did not! Why would I do that to you, Amy? You should know how I feel about you! I have told you many times! I would never do anything to cause you to be unhappy!"

"Well, this has made her very unhappy, you bastard!" Lou countered, "Look at her! Is this what you wanted, to cause her to lose one of the most important things in her life?"

"Never would I want that for your sister, Lou! I love her, and I would do anything to please her!" the fumbling prince insisted.

"Why did you come here, Ahmed? What else is it that you came here to do?" Amy demanded.

"I came here to tell you, in person, that I have found Aleah and Rasha!"

"You found them? What do you mean, you found them? Where have they been all this time?" Amy looked stunned and Lou was getting more confused by the second and needed answers, now! "Who are Aleah and Rasha, and why were they missing?"

"It's something I never told you about, Lou, but there were two girls who worked for me on the team who went missing, one in France and one in Spain, and Ahmed had put his security people to work trying to find them before I left for home."

"Went missing? How, exactly?" Lou asked, weary of the sound of the incident and pissed that Amy had never thought her relevant enough to share this kind of information with her.

Amy and Ahmed took turns at filling the concerned older sister in with the details as they understood them and as if Amy's European trip could get any more confusing for her, Lou listened in disbelief at how such a dangerous situation went unmentioned until now.

Lou puffed a big exhale through an exasperated scowl, "We will talk about this later, Amy, but for now, we need to get back to the first issue, and that's you, asshole!"

"Lou! Wait! Hang on a minute!" Amy defended her former employer and friend, "Let's hear Ahmed out! He came half way around the world to tell me this, so, the least we could do is hear him out!"

"He's playing you, Amy! Any damned idiot should be able to see that!" then turned to Ahmed, "And what is this bullshit of people turning up missing from your team? What kind of half assed operation are you running over there? It sounds to me like its nothing but a spoiled rich kid's playhouse and the crazy shit just gets buried in payoffs and bribes! I don't trust a word that comes out of his mouth, Amy, and neither should you!"

Snapping at the verbal assault from someone who she thought should have been more understanding and supportive, Amy unleashed all of her frustrations with fierce retaliation, "You know what, Lou, I have had just about enough of your telling me what I should be thinking or doing! It's my life, not yours! You and everyone else around this dump of a ranch are too busy meddling in somebody else's lives to get you own lives in order!"

"Your opinion of the fancy life you lived in Europe is nothing but a lie, Amy!" Lou squared off to her sister who she believed continued to show an escalating lack of respect for who she was and where she came from, "Smoke and mirrors! This so called wannabe prince, the ridiculously overpriced horses you do nothing for except to babysit, what's that all about, huh? Did you forget what your dreams were all about, you know, actually helping horses that really need help, and making a difference for them and the people who give them homes for the rest of their lives?" Your head is getting too big for any of the hats you are wearing and we are all getting really fed up with your attitude!"

Ahmed watched the sibling meltdown and used the opportunity to defend his friend, "Amy, you do not have to listen to these people! Why so you allow them to speak to you in such a way!"

"These people?" Lou hissed.

Now that he had both of the women's attention, "Come back to Europe with me, Amy! Leave with me, this minute, and I will take care of you so you won't be subjected to this disgusting lack of respect!"

Lou snapped, "Shut your mouth, asshole! Your money or crown is worthless around here and you have no say in how we deal with each other!"

"Is this what you want, Amy, to be treated like a child all of your life, by this…, overbearing, unappreciative woman?" he spouted, feeling empowered by Amy's rejection of the people and the place anchoring the ties that kept her from letting him into her life like he wanted.

"Get out of here, NOW!" Lou screamed, ready to lash out again if Ahmed did not comply.

"I don't know what I want any more, Ahmed," Amy admitted. "I was expecting to stay here, but it looks like I have overstayed my welcome!" Amy said, not believing the words as they escaped her mouth. "I'm not ready to leave, I haven't even thought about packing to go back to Europe to take the job and…,"

"Do not worry, Amy!" the prince interrupted. "Anything you need for this evening, we can pick up on the way to the airport. We will be in the air by five, so there is enough time. The rest of your things, forget them! Leave them here! You will have nothing but the best from now on, I promise you that!"

"How can you even know what Amy needs?" Lou shot back at the prince. "You have no idea!" And then Lou turned to her sister, "Amy, you have doctors' appointments coming up. You're in no condition to walk away from something so important to your health!"

Ahmed sensed he had gained the offensive position in Amy's struggle for answers, "If there are still medical concerns from your injuries, I will get the best doctors in the world to oversee your healthcare, like I tried to do before. These people stood in the way of my helping you, Amy, when they should have allowed me to find you the best care available in all of the world, and now you are paying the price for their ignorance and neglect!"

"How dare you!" Lou was incensed.

"It is true! If you and that stable hand had not stood in my way, I would have seen to it that she had the best care available when she needed it and not have been so foolish as to let her continue to suffer like she is now!" He turned to his prize and tried to convince her once and for all, "Come with me, Amy, and I will make sure that you will not continue be mistreated in this miserable place and have the life you deserve!"

Amy felt the crush of her former life under her foot when she took the first step to the new black vehicle waiting to take her away from the disappointment and heartbreak that had become the new normal at Heartland Ranch. This piece of Alberta was from now on nothing more than an unpleasant memory soon to be forgotten when her busy new life in Europe was in place, and the roar from the many memories as they whirled around in her head kept her from hearing the frantic pleas of her sister as she reached for the handle and pulled the door open to slip into the passenger seat.

Lou wailed at the cloud of dust rising behind the black Chevy Tahoe as it sped up the drive toward the gate, wishing there was something she could do to make Amy come back and hug her and say she was sorry for the things she had said in anger, but instead she was left with a fear surging up inside her gut because she knew her little sister was in serious trouble and she had no idea how she was going to help her now.

To be continued