Disclaimer: I still don't own Caitlin's Way.

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Saturday, Feb. 2nd, 2001 then next day

Kris's estate

10:11 AM MST (Mountain Standard Time)

Iz woke up and got out of bed. She looked outside her bedroom window and saw snow falling from the sky. She went to her bathroom, took a quick shower, and got dressed into some jeans, a t-shirt, and put on some sneakers. She brushed her hair and tied it into a ponytail. Iz walked out of her room and went down the hall to the stairs. She walked down the stairs and turned to her right to find Kris in the living room with Colin and 4 people she assumed to be her grandparents, uncle, and Kris's wife, making conversation. On one couch sat Kris's wife, Kris, and Iz's uncle. On a loveseat across from the one Kris sat on was Iz's grandparents and on a sofa chair was Colin. There was an empty sofa couch across from Colin that made up the square of furniture.

"Oh, good you're up," said Kris. "Sit. Join us. I'll have Lydia bring you something to eat."

"Is that Lydia?" Iz asked as she sat on the empty sofa chair.

"No, Lydia is the housekeeper," replied Kris. "This is my wife, Claudia."

"Hello Isabella, it's wonderful to finally meet you," smiled Claudia.

"Same," replied Iz.

Claudia was about 26 years old, had blonde hair and blue eyes, was about 5'5," and was petite.

"So, Iz what would like for breakfast?" asked Kris.

"Um, could I just have some jelly toast? I'm not that hungry," Iz said to Kris.

"All right," says Kris. Kris gets up from the couch he is on and pushes the intercom on a wall. "Yes, Lydia, could you please bring two slices of jelly toast to the living room for Isabella, please? Thank you."

"Isabella, these are your grandparents June and David," said Kris.

"Hello," said Iz.

"Hello Isabella," said June. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"Again?" said Iz.

"June and I saw you were when you were about 6," said David.

"Oh, well I have a really bad memory," said Iz.

"And this is your Uncle Luke," said Kris.

'He looks like he should be a cousin, not my Uncle,' Iz thought to herself. Her Uncle looked (and was) only a couple years older than Iz herself.

"Hey," greeted Iz.

"Hey," returned Luke.

There is an awkward silence, which is soon filled by June.

"So, Isabella, were you planning on doing anything this weekend?" asked June.

"No, not really," answered Iz. "I was thinking that I just might put all my stuff away and look around the house and grounds."

"Oh, well if you want we could go into town today," offered June.

"Well, today I just want to get situated, how about tomorrow?"

"Alright," smiled June.

A couple of seconds later, a woman with red hair, in her mid-thirties walked into the room with a plate with jelly toast in her hand. She handed the toast to Iz.

"Thank you," said Iz.

Lydia turned and left the room.

Iz politely answered questions that Kris, Claudia, June, and David asked, while Colin and Luke talked. After getting tired of answering questions, Iz looked up at the grandfather clock that was in the living room to see it was now 11:13. She excused herself from the table so she could put her things away. She walked up the stairs to her room. She dragged her suitcases into her closet, and opened them up.

After about an hour, she had organized her clothes into an order she liked and put some of her other things around the room. She went out of the closet and walked to her desk. She turned on her iMac and looked to see if it was connected to the internet. She found that it had DSL.

"Cool that it so much faster than ours at home," Iz said to herself out loud.

She connected to the Internet and opened Microsoft Internet Explorer. She went to AOL.com so she could download AIM. After a couple of minutes, the software had downloaded. She installed the program, then signed in.

When her buddy list loaded, Iz noticed that it was empty.

"Oh no, I forgot to write down my buddy list," Iz said to herself.

She remembered a few of them and added them to her list. A couple of seconds later, she that her brother was online.

Pixiestix13: What are doing up? You are usually asleep at noon.

Blinkme: First of all it's only 11:30 here. And second, I just felt like it.

Pixiestix: Whatever. So how's the weather?

Blinkme: Dry and cold. How bout in Montana?

Pixiestix: Cold and snowy.

Blinkme: So how's Montana?

Pixiestix: I haven't seen much yet. Kris has an enormous house. I have my own bathroom and walk in closet. I even have my own iMac and darkroom.

Blinkme: Wow. That's so cool.

Pixiestix: Yeah, I guess, but I just hope he isn't doing all this to buy my love.

Blinkme: He probably isn't. He probably just feels he needs to make up for all the birthday presents he didn't to give you.

Pixiestix: Maybe.

Pixiestix: Oh, could you do me a favor?

Blinkme: What?

Pixiestix: Later, could you go onto my AIM account and write down all the names on my list and e-mail them to me.

Blinkme: Sure, I guess.

Pixiestix: Thanks. The password is twinkies. If you even think about trying to use my account to trick people into thinking you're me, I will kill you!

Blinkme: Please, I have better things to do.

Pixiestix: Well, I am going to explore the grounds and take pictures. Talk to you later.

Blinkme: Alright. Bye.

Iz logged of AIM and disconnected from the internet. She went into her closet and grabbed her snowboarder jacket, a scarf, gloves, and a beanie hat, then to her desk to grab her camera, some rolls of film, and her watch. She walked out of her room and went down the hall to go down the stairs. She went back to the living room to see if anyone was still there, but she found no one. As she went from room to room to find someone to tell that she was going to walk around the estate, Iz took a good at each room.

There were three other rooms besides the living room. There was a dining room, a study, and a kitchen. Iz found an open door next to the kitchen that revealed some steps that went to the basement. She heard some loud music coming from down the steps, so she assumed someone was down there. She walked down the steps until she came to find that the basement was one big room that had a door to another room. She assumed the room was the entertainment/game room since there was a big entertainment center that included a big screen TV, various gaming systems, and a DVD player, a pool table, a pinball machine, and a stereo system. There was also a bar type counter thing set up near the pool table. Colin and Luke were at the pool table, in the middle of the game. Colin looked up and saw Iz standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"Oh, hey Iz. You want next?" asked Colin.

Luke turned around and looked at Iz.

"No," replied Iz. "I was just looking for someone to tell them that I was going to go for a walk."

"Oh, all right," said Colin. "If someone asks where you are, I'll tell them."

"Thanks," said Iz. She looks at her watch. "It's almost 1, so I'll probably be back at 4.

"Okay," replied Colin.

"Well, see ya later."

"See ya," replied Colin.

Iz turned and walked back up the stairs. She went into the kitchen, through the backdoors, and onto the back patio. On the patio was a hot tub. She observed the backyard. It was very large and had a pool that was covered up.

'This would be a cool place to throw a party,' Iz thought to herself.

She walked around the pool, and across the backyard till she got to a fence that marked the property lines. She opened the gate door and walked through it.

"Time to explore," Iz said to herself.

The land was empty. There was no sign of life that she could see. The nearest house besides her new home was probably miles and miles away. It currently wasn't snowing, but there was fresh snow on the ground. Iz decided that she could just follow her footprints back to the house. As she walked to no place in particular, she took some shots of the things around her.

An hour later, Iz found herself pretty far away from the estate, next to a tree that was next to a small (as in not that high up) cliff. She plopped down next to the tree and overlooked the view. She focused her lens and took shots of the land below her. The ground below came into focus, and soon in her view was a person in a black leather jacket, riding a horse. She used the zoom on her camera, and saw that the person was a girl. Iz snapped a couple of pictures of the girl before the girl rode further away. As time went by, the snow started to fall again.

'I better head back before it starts to snow harder,' Iz thought to herself. She glanced at her watch. It said it was 2:41. 'It's about time to head back anyways.'

She got up off the ground and started to walk back in the direction she saw that her footsteps came from. 10 minutes later the snow came down even harder and had covered up the tracks she had left on the way there.

"Damn it," yelled Iz. "Okay, I'm pretty sure I was walking straight from the house, so if I keep walking, I'll eventually get there, right? Right."

So Iz kept walking in the direction she thought she had come from. As the minutes went by, the snow fell down harder, and Iz was less sure of where she was. She decided she might as well walk in the direction that she was going in.

As she walked, she noticed that nothing around her looked familiar and was pretty sure she hadn't come from this direction. She decided she might as well keep walking in the direction she was going in because eventually she'll to a house.

She walked for a half-hour and soon there was a house/cabin/ranch in her view, which was about a mile where she stood. She made her way to the house and soon she was walking up the house's porch steps. There had been a car near the house, so Iz assumed someone had to be home.

Iz reached the door and knock on it. A couple of seconds later the door opened and in front of Iz stood a boy around her age. He was 5'7", had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and was adorable cute.

"Hi, I'm Iz Swanson. I'm new to this town and was taking a walk, and now I'm lost," Iz said to the guy.

"Hi, I'm Griffen Lowe," smiled the guy. "Welcome to High River."

"Thanks," smiled Iz. There is a short pause, then Iz continues. "Anyways, I was wondering if you could possible tell me how I could get back to the place I'm staying."

"Oh, sure come on in."

Griffen gestures to Iz to invite her in. Iz hesitated, but decided that Griffen looked harmless, so stepped through the doorway. They walked into a living-type room. Griffen asked Iz to sit down, and they both sat down on a sofa-chair and the couch, respectively.

"So where are you staying?" Griffen asked Iz.

"About an hour or two away in walking distance," answered Iz as she slipped off her beanie.

"And do you know the address?"

"No, sorry, I don't. I got here late last night, and I never got a chance to learn the address. I'm pretty sure it will be in the phone book."

"Alright." Griffen got up and walked a couple a feet until he got to a small desk. He opened up the drawer and pulled out a small phone book. "So what's the name of the person who owns the house?"

"Kris Fowler."

"Kris Fowler? That really rich guy?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know him?" asked Griffen as he sat back down on the sofa couch and placed the phone book in his lap.

"Ummhe's my dad," replied Iz.

"Really? It must be nice to be rich," commented Griffen.

Iz's eyes narrowed.

"I'm not. Kris is."

Griffen knew that look. It was the same look his cousin Caitlin gave him when she got mad at him. He was about to say something when he was saved by Caitlin walking into the room.

"Caitlin, hi," said Griffen.

Iz turned around to see who he was talking about and saw a girl around her age with dark brown hair with red streaks in it.

"Hey Griff," said Caitlin. She looked at Iz. "So, who's your friend here?"

Griffen stood up and walked towards Caitlin.

"Caitlin, this is Iz, she's new to High River," introduced Griffen. "Iz, this is my cousin Caitlin."

"Hi," said Iz.

"Hi," echoed Caitlin.

Iz noticed that Caitlin was wearing a leather jacket and remembered the girl she saw riding a horse earlier.

"Do you ride a horse?" Iz asked Caitlin.

"Yeah, why?" asked Caitlin suspiciously, since the last time someone questioned her about her horse Bandit they tried to take him away.

"Oh, I think I saw you riding earlier, unless there are a lot of riders in High River who wear leather jackets."

"No, I'm the only one."

"Well, I really need to get home soon, I'm sure Kris is worried about me."

"Kris?"

"Kris Fowler. He's my dad."

'Oh, she's that rich guys' daughter. She's probably a rich snob. She'd be great friends with Taylor,' Caitlin thought to herself.

"You call your dad by his first name?" Caitlin asked Iz.

"Yeah," replied Iz, not really wanting to get into details of why she calls him by his first name.

"Why don't I drive you home, I know where you live," said Griffen.

"Okay thanks," said Iz.

"You're letting Griffen drive you in his car?" laughed Caitlin. "Are you sure that's safe?"

"Caitlin," scowled Griffen. "My car is perfectly safe. I even have chains on my tires."

"Okay, whatever you say," said Caitlin.

"Let me go tell my mom I'm going," said Griffen. "I'll be right back."

"Alright," replied Iz.

Griffen left the room, leaving Caitlin and Iz in a silence. Caitlin sat on the sofa chair that Griffen had been sitting in earlier.

"So, what's your horse's name?" Iz asked Caitlin, breaking the silence.

"Bandit," answered Caitlin.

"Oh, cool name."
"Thanks."

There was another silence, which was ended this time by Caitlin.

"So, where are you from?"

"Portland, Oregon."

"Is that a city, town, or more empty than here?" asked Caitlin, not sure of what Portland was like.

"It's a small city," replied Iz. "Nothing at all like this place. Sohave you lived here your whole life?"

"Me? No. I just moved here two years ago."

"Oh. Where are you originally from?"

"Philadelphia."

"That's cool."

Before either girl could say anything more, Griffen walked into the room.

"Alright, ready to go Iz?" asked Griffen.

"Yeah, sure," said Iz. She turned to Caitlin. "It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, same here," replied Caitlin.

Iz stood up and followed Griffen out of the house. Griffen walked to a beat up looking car and unlocked the door. As he climbed into the driver's side, Iz walked to the other. Although she barely knew the guy, Iz felt it would be alright if she got into the car with him. She opened the passenger side door and got into the car.

Griffen started the car and they drove down the driveway to a little road.

"So, where are you from?" asked Griffen as he concentrated on driving.

"Portland, Oregon," replied Iz.

"What's it like?"

"It's a small city."

"Cool. I've lived in this small town my whole life. Why did you come here?"

"Ummlet's just say Kris wanted to spend some quality time with me, and my mom agreed to it."

"Oh. How long do you plan on staying here?"

"I don't know. You sure like to ask question don't you?" smiled Iz. She was fine with it since she tended to ask people questions a lot too.

"Only when I want answers," replied Griffen with a smile. "So, are you going to go to High River High School on Monday?"

"I'm assuming it's the only school here?"

"You assumed right."

"Then probably."

"Well, it's not that bad, as long as you know the right people."

"Are you one of those 'right people'?"

"Yep," grinned Griffen. "I know a lot of people, so I can introduce you to people, if you want."

"Sure, that'd be nice."

Iz could tell that she and Griffen were going to become friends during her stay in High River. During the 10-minute car ride Iz and Griffen talked about their interests and other stuff. They both liked to sing and wanted to be famous some day. While Griffen was a science whiz, Iz was a math whiz. Iz learned that Griffen hung out with three guys named Eric, Brett, and Jordan and had a girlfriend named Nikki.

Soon, they drove up to Kris's estate, and pulling next to the silver BMW Iz had ridden in the night before. Iz opened her door, then turned to Griffen.

"Do you wanna come in?"

"Sure."

Griffen opened his own door, and both he and Iz got out of the car at the same time. They walked up the pathway that led to the front doors. Iz twisted the doorknob and found that it was unlocked. She pushed open the door and stepped into the house followed by Griffen.

Griffen stared at the interior of the house amazed. Iz chuckled at Griffen, knowing she probably looked the same when she walked into the house yesterday.

"I'm home!" Iz yelled through the house to no one in particular. She just thought she'd let someone know she was home.

Soon Iz saw Claudia rush into the hall and squeeze Iz in a hug.

"Oh, we were so worried about you when it started to snow hard," said Claudia as she let go of Iz.

"Well I'm fine," said Iz. Claudia reminded Iz of one of those bitchy step-moms on soap operas who pretend to be all nice and caring, but aren't.

Claudia noticed that someone was standing in the hall with Iz.

"Oh, hello," Claudia said to Griffen. "Who's your friend here?"

"Claudia, this is Griffen," Iz said. "Griffen, this is Kris's wife, Claudia."

"Nice to meet you ma'am," said Griffen.

"Call me Claudia."

There was a short pause before Claudia spoke again.

"So, where did you two meet?"

"I was taking a walk, got lost, stumbled onto his family's ranch, and he gave me a ride back," summarized Iz.

"Well, thank you for taking care of our Iz," said Claudia.

"It was no problem," said Griffen.

"So, Griffen, you want me to show you around?" Iz asked him.

"Sure," replied Griffen.

"Follow me."

Iz walked around the house. She showed Griffen the dining room, living room, and kitchen and pointed out the backyard and where the entertainment room was. She then went upstairs and pointed out the rooms. Finally they were in front of Iz's darkroom.

Iz opened the door and walked through the light trap hallway.

"This is a really weird and dark room," commented Griffen from behind her.

She glided her hand on one of the walls until she felt a light switch. She flipped the switch up and the lights turned on, revealing the darkroom.

"Wow, you got a darkroom? That is so cool!" said Griffen. "Caitlin would be real jealous."

"Caitlin likes photography?"

"Oh yeah. It's her favorite thing to do. Well, that and riding Bandit."

"Well, she can come and use it whenever she wants."

"I'll tell her that."

"Now, let's go to the last room. You can get out of here first."
"All right."

Griffen walked through the light trap and out to the hallway. Iz flipped off the lights and walked out of the darkroom. She turned to the right and opened her bedroom door.

"This is my room."

"Man, your room is like three times the size of mine."

"Yeah, same with mine back home."

Iz walked out of her room, back into the hallway.

"So do you want to go down to the entertainment room?" Iz asked Griffen.

"Sure."

They walked down the hall to the staircase and went downstairs. They walked back to the kitchen and went down the stairs to the entertainment room. When they got to the bottom step, they found there as no one in the room.

"So, what do want to do?" asked Iz.

Griffen didn't answer, but stared in awe at the room before him.

Iz waved her hand in front of his face.

"Griffen. Hello?"

"Huh? What?" asked Griffen, coming out of his daze.

"I asked you what you wanted to do."

"Oh. Why don't we play pool?"

"Alright."

They walked to the pool table and each grabbed a pool stick.

"Do want something to drink?" Iz asked Griffen.

"Sure, what do you have?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure there is something. Why don't you set up the game."

While Griffen set up the game, Iz flipped up the counter door thing and walked to the mini fridge that was in the little room. She observed that inside were a couple of beers, some cans Coke and Mountain Dew.

"Do you want Coke or Mountain Dew?"

"Mountain Dew."

Iz grabbed herself a Coke and a Mountain Dew for Griffen. She walked out of the little room and closed the bar counter. She handed Griffen his drink and then opened hers. She grabbed her pool stick.

"So who gets to break?"

"Ladies first."

Iz set down her drink on the bar counter then took her shot. The balls spread out across the table, but none went into any of the pockets. Griffen took his shot and sunk in a solid ball into one of the corner pockets. He took his next shot, but missed. Iz took a shot and sunk in a striped ball into a side pocket.

"So, does High River High have a bus?" Iz asked Griffen as she took another shot.

"Yeah, Caitlin and I ride it."

"Do you know if it passes here?"

"Yeah, I think so," replied Griffen.

They talked more about school and Griffen gave her the info about the teachers. Iz had won the game with Griffen still having to put three more balls into a pocket. Griffen glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost 5.

"Well, I better get going, my mom told me to be home by 5:30."

"Okay."

They set their pool sticks on the table and walked up the stairs. Iz walked with Griffen to the door.

"It was nice meeting you," said Iz as she opened the door and walked onto the front steps.

"Yeah, same here," replied Griffen. "Well, I'll see you on Monday at school, I guess."

"Yeah," replied Iz. "Bye."

"C-ya."

Griffen walked down the steps and to his car. He started the engine of his car and backed up his car. He waved to Iz who waved back, and drove back down the small street he had driven on earlier. He turned on his car stereo and music provided by the only rock station in the town blared out of his car speakers.

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