April 16th 2021

Chapter 106
Our Opening Into Expansion

"Hey, Lucas? Some man's here to see you?"

He was on his way back from the clinic to the stables when one of the trainers came jogging after him and pointed toward the area where they held some of the riding lessons.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

It had been two weeks now since the start of the school year. Even though he didn't work there himself or have any other direct stakes in it, he had people. He had his wife and one of his oldest friends working there, he had students there that he knew of and cared for, to some degree or another… So, even though he was on the outside looking in, what he did see… It sat in his heart, unavoidable.

There was the tragedy of the Russell family, which just remained as a stormy cloud over everything still, threatening to rain down torrents at any moment. He saw it most of all in how it affected Maya, naturally. His wife had this empathy about her… It was one of the things he loved most about her, but it also meant pain for her, feelings of helplessness in this specific moment… What could she really do? The only thing that would make it all better was the one thing that couldn't happen. Khalil and Desi hadn't been in school since that day, but Lucas and Maya had both seen them, had visited first on their own, and then with the twins, who just wanted to be close to their friend, to comfort her in what way they knew how to. But it was so hard, on all of them and in their own ways. Time… That would be the thing to do it, time and persistence of care.

Then, on another level, they had the Orlando/Munroe saga to deal with. That was really what it felt like sometimes, didn't it? All these twists and turns, and all the while it seemed like someday soon one of those turns would take the ground right out from under all of them. Dylan had been teaching at the school for the past week, and on the whole it was going great. The kids loved him, and he was happy with what he was doing. Being on the outside of it, Lucas could see all that in his friend, but then he could also see the rest, couldn't he? He could see how being in there, meeting and interacting with his half-siblings for the first time, was bringing a new layer of turmoil in him. He was getting to know them. He was getting to like them. And he was keeping secrets from them, not because he wanted to, but because he had to… for now.

In the middle of all that, he'd started his residency. It occupied so much of his time that when he got to come back out to Sullivan Stables for a day like this, it felt like resetting the clocks, reminding himself what was on the other end. That almost made it sound like he wasn't enjoying himself when he was. It was a very different pace than what his days were when he was at the ranch, but he was getting to put some things in practice that he had only learned from books and lectures up to now. It continued to solidify the path under his feet, continued to take him onward.

"Walt!" Lucas called out. Even as he'd been further away, only seeing the back of the man, the hat on his head, the way he leaned to the gate, it was like a memory pulled straight from his childhood. The man turned around, and his face lit up with such a smile. In some ways, he'd always reminded him of Pappy Joe in his demeanor, though the two men were in no way related. Walter Murphy was his Grandpa Jax' younger brother.

"I tell you, now, you are looking more and more like your old man every day. Come here," Walt reached out his free arm – the other pressed to his cane – to hug him. To Lucas, he had always been Uncle Walt, and though he didn't get to see him too often, when he did see him, he felt all those old memories lighting up within him.

Before Jackson Murphy came to work at Sullivan Stables, he had grown up on his family's farm, where they raised horses. Walt had taken over running the place after their father passed away. Growing up, before and after Jax' passing, Lucas remembered getting to go out there to visit his uncle, seeing the horses… It was a whole other atmosphere than the ranch, both of them excellent, just different, and he loved them both for their own reasons.

Lucas took his uncle to see the archive. He hadn't been able to get out and see it yet, and he walked in there with the eyes of memory alive in him, the way those who'd known the place for a long time did. They ran into John Carson, and the two old men reunited like brothers. Lucas had been waiting to get Walt out here to ask him for stories, for his project, and now that he was, it felt like he should be walking around with a voice recorder the whole time, just in case.

"I'm really glad you came today," Lucas told his uncle as they sat outside the archive. They'd set up a number of seats along the wrap around porch, the better for visitors to stop and enjoy their surroundings, and right now he definitely felt it had been the right call. It was one of his favorite places to be, only surpassed perhaps by the balcony just above them and then the porch outside his grandmother's old house.

"Me, too," Walt slowly nodded, both hands perched on top of one another on his cane.

"Somehow, I don't think the only reason you came was for a tour," Lucas went on, and his uncle shook his head. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, please, look at me. With this new hip, I am good to go," he laughed, tapping his side confidently. But… "I'm selling the farm," he revealed, and Lucas could hardly be surprised. He'd been keeping it up on his own for some time. He had help, but it was getting harder to keep it going, especially as he got older. "I'm moving in with my daughter, her husband, the kids… It'll be good. I'll get to see them growing up in what time I have left."

"I'm sure they're really excited to have you," Lucas smiled. He tried not to smirk at the quiet sort of 'mmph' sound his uncle made, which would have to be some unspoken dislike for his son-in-law. The two of them had never gotten along. "Do you have a buyer yet?"

"I do, yes," Walt nodded. "Damn near broke my heart, but I signed the papers. Money's going to Millie and the kids, should help get them in college when the time comes. But that's not what matters right now. I'm here to talk to you about the horses. I want you to take them, bring them here. It's where they should be, not sent off to strangers. They should stay in the family."

The words and the sentiment didn't surprise him. That was what Juliet had said when she'd put it down that Lucas would get Sullivan Stables when she retired. It was the spirit of the whole ranch, of the people who'd made it what it was. They understood the importance of the right people working together toward the same goal. They all cared so much about looking after these animals the right way. Now, this offer of his…

"How many horses are we talking about?" he asked.

"We have eight of them left to us now," Walt slowly nodded. "Six of them are in peak condition, and they'll stay that way if they're looked after properly."

"What about the other two?"

"Old timers, not much left in them. Not sure how they'll handle leaving the farm, and once they're here…" he shook his head. "Can't very well put them down for being older, can I?" He tried to chuckle, to indicate himself and make a joke that would compare his age to theirs. Underneath it though, he just recognized the feeling of trouble at the thought of letting them go, of leading them down the way to an early demise. But Lucas smiled; he had been through this before, and the solution was easy.

"I know a place where we can bring your old timers. They'll be well looked after, I give you my word. They'll get to live out their days." Walt looked at him, and it was there in his eyes, how he knew he could trust his nephew… and he was so glad for it, so relieved. "Have you spoken to Juliet about any of this?" He hadn't, not yet. "I'll take care of it."

He went and found her, back at the house. She was finishing up with a bride and groom who'd come to visit, to make plans for their wedding the following summer. When they were gone, she invited him in, and they sat in the kitchen. He told her about Walt dropping by and she smiled. They'd had plenty of dealings over the years. Some of the horses already part of their stables had come from Walt's farm. When Lucas told her that he was selling the farm, she had the same look about her that he must have had, sad but understanding.

"The horses?" she asked.

"That was what he wanted to talk to me about. He's got eight left. Two of them I would take to Sanderson Farm, like we did with Trooper. Then there's the other six. Are we ready to bring them all out here?" She often told him that he should feel free to take initiative, to behave as he would if he already ran the place. She would never get in the way of a good idea. Still, he wouldn't do anything so big, not without consulting her first.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Juliet considered it for a few moments. "Let's go have a look. If we need to, we have been meaning to refurbish a couple of the structures, possibly expand them… This might be just the thing to get us started."

After he and Juliet had gone on their walk out to inspect and discuss their plan of action for Walt's six, Lucas put out a call to Sanderson Farm to inquire about lodging the old timers. The stable had stayed empty following Trooper's passing. The elder Mr. Sanderson took the call, and upon hearing of the two horses, he was more than happy to take them in. The arrangement would be as it had been before. They would tend to the pair, but Lucas would have to see to them and do his part. That was not a problem at all.

With all this settled, Lucas returned to the archive, finding Walt and Carson were still chatting away, laughing over some story going back some forty years. Lucas informed his uncle that everything was settled, that his six and two would be seen to, here and at the Sandersons'. His face was taken with new relief at hearing it, and he thanked him. For what time they spent together before Lucas had to get back to work, Walt told him about the horses, those who would become part of the Sullivan Stables family, and the two who would retire to the farm. He wanted to know almost especially about them, as they would be his personal priority. They were called Andromeda and Orion. They had been with them from birth, and his daughter had grown up loving the stars. They were only the last two of what Walt and his wife had affectionately called 'Millie's Constellations.' Lucas could see them soon becoming bonded to another young girl. He couldn't wait for Missy to find out they were coming.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners