iAm at Home on the Range.
Chapter Thirty Six; Sad Goodbyes and Happy Hello's.
Disclaimer; I don't own iCarly. I only own my own characters, this plot and this writing.
Remember, all of the horses pictures are on my profile!
Sam could feel her arm being shook as she awoke from her deep slumber.
"Sam…" She heard being whispered. It was girls voice… a voice she recognised. "Sam.." Carly.
"What?" The lazy blonde groaned.
"You need to wake it, it's 11 o' clock." Sam's eyes shot open at that, to find herself sprawled out on the couch at the farm, the sun blaring through the windows.
"What am I doing in here?"
"Well, we got back pretty late last night and you were completely passed out in the back of the truck.. So Freddie tried to move you, but he only got as far as the living room when you punched him square in the face…"
"Oh my god! Is he okay?" Sam asked, her eyes bulging out of there sockets.
"He's fine.. "
"Oh thank god.."
"Anyway… he went to try and move you, but you point blank refused and kept kicking about.. So eventually he had to just leave you down here on the sofa."
"Oh… wait, how did Echo settle in?"
"Well, while Freddie was trying to get you to calm down, Me and your aunt put down some straw for them both and put them in the barn. He settled in great Sam.. He and America were nuzzling over the bars." Sam smiled at this. At least he had made a friend. "So sleepyhead.. Maybe you should go upstairs and get ready."
"Yeah, be back in a minute."
"Amanda's running me into town! I'm gonna' buy Spencer one of those cute like horsey' bobble-heads they had in one of the windows." Carly grinned before she picked up her little black bag and practically skipped out of the door. Sam rushed up the stairs, almost tripping over a sleeping Honey as she lay on her side on one of the bottom steps. She heard Amanda and Carly pull out of the drive in Amanda's little Corsa. Amanda had two cars. A four-by-four for the farm and a Corsa for just being out and about. Pulling a checked shirt and a pair of ripped jeans on, she took three stairs at a time making sure to jump Honey this time. Running to the door, she yanked on her boots and slammed the door shut. She walked down the drive way, scuffing her black boots against the gravel underfoot. She could here the whinnies of the horses down in the barn making her smile. She swung herself around the barn door and spotted Freddie yanking up haynet in one of the top stables.
"Hey you." She smiled when he came out. He turned and grinned when he saw her.
"Alright Sleeping beauty?" He smirked, reaching her. That's when she saw it. The large bruise against his cheekbone.
"Oh my god." She ran a finger across the mark, caressing his cheek. "I'm so sorry!"
"Sam, I'm fine." He smiled softly at her.
"No your not! I punched you!"
"Sam please… I've put up with it for years, one little punch isn't going to kill me." She sighed and nodded.
"Fine."
"HELLO!" Sam jumped at the noise. She recognized the voice to be a mans, almost straight away. Freddie's face wore a confused expression while Sam's was a terrified one.
"Sam, what's wrong?"
"ANYONE HOME!" The voice echoed through the building. He was clearly just outside the barn.
"Sam, who is that?" Freddie asked her, his voice at a low whisper.
"Dylan." Was all she said.
"What?"
"Freddie? Where's Apollo?"
"Out back, tied up with some hay."
"Okay.. I need you to go out there and put him in the-"
"Ah! Samantha!" Dylan's voice boomed, a cocky grin upon his face as he pushed open the barn door and he and two large built men walked inside.
"It's Sam." She said through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry, but your trespassing… I'm going to have to ask you to leave the property."
"Oh no can do little girl."
"Excuse me?" She took a dangerous step forward, her eyes dark. Freddie placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Easy Sam…"
"I said.. No can do little girl.. I'm here for my horse."
"He's not ready yet." She simply said, folding her arms across her chest.
"Oh really?"
"Yes really."
"Well then… what's this?" He pulled a newspaper out of his black jacket, flipping through the pages, he landed on his desired page and thrust the paper towards Sam. Sam looked at the paper. Sure enough, she was on the page, up top Apollo with a large Champion Sash around her body. "Sam Puckett rides broken racehorse Apollo Sunrise to victory." He recited from the large headline. "Now… give me my horse."
"Your not having him." She said making Dylan chuckle.
"You think you can stop me?" He spat at her.
"Don't underestimate me."
"Listen… your trespassing… I suggest you leave before we call the police." Freddie said, calm as always.
"I don't think that will be necessary… you see, there's three of us and two of you…. I don't think it'd be too hard to get that stupid horse out of here."
"Just try it." Sam growled.
"Fine!" He snapped back at her, the cocky smirk returning to his face. "Check the back." The two men took off before Sam could stop them, rushing out the barn door. Sam's eyes narrowed towards Dylan. "I told you, you can't stop me." He span around and headed for the barn door but Sam was too quick for him. She blocked the doorway, stopping him in his tracks.
"Over my dead body are you getting that horse."
"It's cute that you think that Sam."
"Don't call me cute."
"Get out of my way."
"Go to hell." She spat through gritted teeth.
"Sam…" Freddie warned, trying to get her to stop. He stepped beside her, glaring at Dylan.
"Your going to have to go through me to get to him."
"Don't think I won't!" With that, he gripped her by the hair, yanking her to the side, and throwing her hard to the concrete barn flooring with a loud 'ooft'
"Sam!" Freddie shouted, dropping to his knees beside her, helping her to sit back up. "Are you okay?" She nodded her head silently, taking a deep breath.
"I'm fine." She grabbed his hand in hers and smiled up at him. The both jumped and looked around at the sound of the barn door slamming. Sam stood up wobbly and gasped.
"No!" She walked over to the door and yanked on the handle. When it refused to open, she realized he'd put on the bolt.
"What?"
"He's locked us in!"
"Oh.."
"He's gonna' take Apollo!" Sam let a single tear fall as she thought about it.
"No! No he's not okay! Your aunt must have a set of keys for the fire door around here somewhere." Freddie asked.
"The tack room!" She ran towards the tack room. Skidding around the corner and through the door, she tore open the cabinet door and began searching until she found whatshe was looking for. A single silver key. She grasped it between her fingers and rushed to the emergency fire door. Fumbling with the key with shaking hands, she pushed it into the lock, and pushed open the door just in time to see the door slamming on the large black four-by-four.
"No!" She screamed, hearing the distressed whinny of the stallion as they took of down the drive, him stuffed into the back of a trailer.
"Oh god…" Freddie muttered. "I'm sorry Sam." She shook her head, fighting back the tears.
"The car."
"Come again?"
"Freddie, the car!"
"I don't know what your talking about!"
"I'll be right back!" She took off running, despite Freddie's shouts of confusion. Rushing to the house and bursting through the door, She grabbed the car keys for the four-by-four from the table beside the door, before slamming the door shut again, and running full speed back down the drive. Within a few seconds, Sam was back at Freddie and was yanking open the drivers door for the large land rover.
"Sam, what are you doing?"
"Going after my horse…"
"Is that a good idea?"
"Freddie, are you coming or not!"
"Well.. Yes but-"
"Good, then get in the car!" With that, she slammed the door shut. Freddie groaned but got in the car none the less.
"Sam, you have no licence!"
"So?" He groaned again.
"This is gonna' end badly." She rolled her eyes. Shoving the keys into the ignition, she shoved the car into gear and put her foot on the pedal. Driving down the lane, Sam suddenly stopped dead and gasped, making Freddie jerk forwards in his seat. Blue flashing lights up ahead made her blink in surprise. 'Why were the cops here?'.
"What are you doing now!"
"Cops!"
"Oh!" Sam slammed the car into reverse and quickly parked it up where Amanda had left it. The both shot out of the car and up to the house within seconds of hearing the tire tracks coming up the drive.
"Act natural!" Sam whispered to Freddie both of them flopping down onto the couch, Sam quickly picking up one of Carly's magazines. She tore through the pages as Carly came running through the door.
"Sam! You have to come now!"
"What's wrong?" She said, acting confused.
"Just- Come!" She shouted breathlessly. Freddie and Sam jumped up off of the couch and ran behind Carly down the gravel stone drive. Sam stopped dead, her mouth dropped. There stood Apollo all high and mighty.. Bold as brass.
"What? How?"
"What do you mean?" Carly asked her confused.
""Dylan… he took him…"
"Yeah, and we knew."
"You knew!" Sam shouted. "And you didn't think to tell me?"
"We knew you'd only try and stop us if you did…" Amanda replied, holding onto the excitable stallion.
"What happened?" Freddie asked Amanda confused.
"Well, when I told Sam that we were going to town.. We weren't…" Carly said.
"Then where were you going?"
"We were sitting at the back of the drive. We drove past them, They were by the bottom of the drive with the trailer and so we swung around. They had no idea we were still there. So when they drove up the driveway, was called the cops."
"He's been arrested?" Sam enquired. Amanda nodded.
"They arrested all three of them for horse theft." Sam sighed relief. Suddenly, a car door slammed making all four of them look up. Sam's eyes widened as a women was walking towards them. She gasped, a small smile on her face. The woman's shoulder length bright blonde locks stood out, clearly dyed. She smiled softly at Sam.
"Hello Sam." She said finally reaching them.
"Tara?" Sam asked, confused. The woman nodded. " What are you doing here?"
"We invited her." Amanda smiled. "I know you wanted to give Apollo back to his rightful owner.. So we invited her here."
"Thank you Sam, I thought I'd never see him again. It's been so long!" Tara ran her hand up and down Apollo's neck. "I've missed him so much. " Sam nodded.
"I understand… and well, it was my pleasure." She grinned. "He is truly a one of a kind horse." Sam kissed his muzzle and the horses top lip curled up, into an sort of smile, making Sam laugh. Tara was staring at the two, her right perfectly shaped eyebrow raised and a small smile against her lips. She could see it…
"I guess it's time to say your goodbye's Sam." Sam heard Amanda say to her, so she nodded and balanced her forehead against his. She sniffed, feeling multiple tears falling.
"I'm never going to forget you…" She cried, shaking through her tears. Apollo snorted and playfully bumped her in the stomach, making her giggle again. Freddie and Carly stepped forward to say a quick goodbye too as Sam turned to Tara.
"You can borrow our trailer to take him back in if you want." She said to the woman in front of her as Amanda handed Apollo to her. The young woman grasped the bright red lead rope in her hands, twirling it about as Apollo danced at her side. His ears were pricked forwards and his head was high. He was clearly alert.
"No, that's okay… I won't be needing it.."
"Oh? Really? Because I don't see a trailer anywhere?" Sam said, clearly confused.
"I won't be needing your trailer Sam…. Because I want Apollo to stay here with you." Tara smiled softly at the teen whose mouth had dropped to the floor.
"Excuse me?" She whispered, unsure if she had heard her right.
"I Want Apollo to stay with you."
"But why!" Tara shook her head and laughed. "You were just saying how much you missed him!"
"Yes.. But just now when you were saying goodbye to him… he's happy here Sam. You two have some sort of connection. It wouldn't be fair on either of you to separate each other."
"But, I'm not staying here.. I'm going back to Seattle… I'll only be home for holidays… how is that fair on him?"
"Sam, he's settled here. This is his home now."
"But-"
"Sam please, just accept him." Tara said. Sam breathed out a sigh and suddenly her face broke into a large grin.
"Okay!" The five of them all smiled as Tara handed Apollo back over to Sam.
"Then congratulations Sam! You are now the owner of one utterly barking mad thoroughbred!" Her piercing green eyes stared at Sam, who had one of the largest grins on her face that she had ever seen.
"It'd be an absolute honour." Sam reached over and pulled Tara in for a hug. " Thank you so much."
"Your welcome Sam.. You deserve to be happy." The rider smiled at the teen, her face suddenly turned gravely serious. "I'm so sorry to hear about Angel… I know how special she was to you. She was as special to you as Sky was to Ava." Sam nodded, blinking back tears.
"Thank you… that means a lot. And thank you.. For letting me keep Apollo."
"Don't mention it… well.. I should probably get going.."
"Thank you Tara." Amanda smiled warmly.
"Anytime." Tara walked to her car she had got out of and within a few minutes, she drove off down the driveway, waving goodbye. Sam smiled and turned to Apollo who was waiting patiently to go back to his stable.
"Well Apollo… looks like your stuck with me now big guy!" Sam grinned, holding back a laugh as he snorted, shaking his head up and down. Boy.. She was gonna' miss this when she went home.
Okay.. long authors note ahead! Read it for lots of seddie information! Jennette; So you like Seddie? I can see by your shirt you do!
I did promise a new chapter... and here it is.
I'm quite sad this isn't too far from being over now, but theres a sequel, and i can't wait to write it! :')
Oh and thank you! I'm so grateful i've hit 200 reviews on this!
Anyway, Who watched iPity the Nevel last night.. i did, and i must admit, it wasn't as good as i thought it would be. It was still a good episode, but i felt like it was missing something... maybe a little seddie ;D No but seriously... it seemed really short and well, yeah, it was missing something.
Now we have to wait until June for iParty with Victorious unless episode 10 pops up between now and june which i doubt it..
But hey, as i said on one of my other storyies author notes; iOMG... it's a seddiesode. Jennette McCurdy confirmed it too a fan during a meet and greet.
Basically their convocation went something like this.
Fan; Yeah!
Jennette; Well you'll like the season finale then!
Fan; What? iOMG..?
Jennette; Where did you hear about that!
Fan; Internet.. we just don't know the airdate yet.
Jennette; Neither do we!
Jennette actually wanted to talk to her more about it but something about her people were trying to push her to sign more autographs.
But there you go kids! Confirmation for seddie or atleast some seddie in the season finale!
And remember Dan was saying... after iStart a Fanwar we'd be very happy if we were on the seddie team! Well.. this could be it! :)
Anyway.. after this incredibly long authors note.. i will leave you in peace with just two final words... Please Review!
-Dreamer