She didn't need to open her eyes to know that the sun was shining and she
had to get up. She wanted to turn over and go back to sleep for a change
but knew that she couldn't, so she got up, like she did every day. Claire
had to milk Madonna as Tess was no where to be found which also meant that
Tess' chores had to be done. It did not get Claire off to a good start. She
popped into town when she noticed she needed supplies to fix the broken
fence that one of the cattle had injured themselves on. On the way back she
got a flat tire and from the rain before, she got covered in mud changing
it. She started to fix the fence but cut her hand pretty deeply.
When Tess finally came back, Claire couldn't believe that Tess had the audacity to have a go at her for not being more considerate of her hangover. She then went to bed for an hour before attempting to do any work, leaving Claire fuming at the fact she'd had to do extra work and the hangover was Tess' own fault for spending the night at Nick's and getting drunk.
Alex showed up about mid morning to get some paper work. "Hey Claire, have you got that paper work for me yet?" "No, I'll get it to you soon though" "That's the third time this week you've said that Claire. This isn't something that can be left, its important" "I've been busy" "We're all busy Claire" "Oh please, your dad can just hire more staff" "What so you think that makes it easier?" "How can it not? Now I said I'll get it to you and I will, I just need more time!" "I've already given you enough time. If you can't keep up, then maybe we should reconsider if this is such a good idea!" "What are you trying to say?" "Just get the paper work done by the end of the day. I'll be back to pick it up first thing tomorrow." He stormed off leaving Claire even angrier. Things were going from bad to worse.
Claire went into the office and cringed at the amount of paper work that needed to be done. She was usually fairly tidy and up to date with the paper work but there had been so much work to do on the farm, she'd really got behind. She started to work through the huge pile that had built up on her desk when she couldn't find the piece of paper that she needed. She started to hunt for it and found it at the bottom of the pile. As she tried to get to it in haste, the whole pile fell on the floor. She cursed and banged the desk. Tess had come in at that moment and thought Claire had thrown it on the floor in frustration. "No need to over react Claire." "Just go away and do some work for a change" Tess was in no mood to argue so she just left knowing that Claire was in a really, really bad mood.
As Claire sat there, she started to look around the room. She moved over to a photo of her and her father. "I wish you were still here! What would you have done?" she got down on the floor and started picking up everything off of the floor. She got a paper cut and it stung like hell. Her hand was already sore and she just burst into tears. She quickly wiped them away after a minute and then Tess walked in "Claire, are you ok?" "I'm fine" She got off the floor, turning away from Tess and put the pile of papers on the desk. "Claire?" "I've got work to do" and with that, she started to finish off the work that Alex needed and then worked her way through the rest. She worked through dinner and then went out to do some more work that needed to be done before she could finally go to sleep.
She was in the barn and she was tired, fed up and just wanted that day to be over. She was however, glad that the paperwork had been done, the fence fixed and the cattle that was injured, hadn't got infected. She started to think about having to go into town the next day to get a new spare tire when she felt this excruciating pain on the back of her head and fell to the floor.
"Claire, the barns on fire!" Meg shouted out. There was no answer from Claire but Tess "Claire's not here, she went off to do some more work" "call the Ryan's and I'll get Becky and Jodi to put the fire out while I go and find Claire"
Claire came too and put her hand on the back of her head, where she felt blood. The person that had knocked her unconscious, while she was still in it had set the barn on fire. It was hot and smoky, her head was throbbing and her eyes were blurred. She moved back from the flames and tried to get to her feet. She started coughing and tried to get out. The door was shut and the flames were spreading. She made her way to the door through the flames when something fell from the roof that landed on her leg. She managed to get it free but her ankle hurt. She got to the door and it was locked. She tried to kick it down, but couldn't. She pushed against it with her wait but it wasn't going to budge. The smoke was getting thicker and she got to the ground. She made her way away from the flames, coughing harder. It was hot and hard to see. She tried to shout for help when she thought she heard someone outside calling out her name, but there was no hope. She was trapped and knew she couldn't get out. Her ankle was painful, her head was sore and it was getting harder to breath.
Meg went in search while Tess called the Ryan's who were on their way, and Jodi and Becky started to fill up the pump. Meg couldn't find Claire and so realised she must be inside the barn. They called out for her and heard a faint reply. Tess headed to the door to get her out, even though Meg tried to hold her back, but she couldn't get in, it was locked. Claire wasn't answering them. They started the hose trying to put the fire out, but it had already spread so quickly unusually fast. Tess was frantic and still trying to break the door down, when the Ryan brothers showed up. "Alex, it's Claire, she's inside and we can't get her out, the doors locked." He went and grabbed an axe from the back of his Ute, while Nick got another pump and tried to put the fire out. "Mum, I can smell petrol" Tess and Meg looked at each other with terror over their faces.
Alex couldn't believe what was happening. He had to get her out of there. She had to still be alive. "Claire, Claire, can you hear me?" there was no reply. He'd cut the lock and gone racing in to get her out. It was thick with smoke and he couldn't see her anywhere. He went further in until he eventually found her. He was so relieved. She was unconscious, but she was breathing, barely, but she was alive still. He picked her up into his arms and went to turn around, when the fire blocked their exit. He went to one side of the barn, and there was a lose plank. He put Claire down and pulled it away. He then pulled at the second one. It didn't want to come loose, but eventually he made a gap big enough for him to carry Claire through, so he picked her up again and got her out. Tess screamed and everyone ran over as Alex tried to get Claire as far away from the flaming barn as he could. He laid her on the floor and she stopped breathing. He started to do CPR and finally she started coughing. Nick took Claire from him and put her in the back of the Ute.
Meg made sure that Alex was ok because he was coughing an awful lot. He took his time catching his breath but he was all right. Nobody knew what to think. Meg made Alex see the doctor when they got to the hospital. He was fine and Claire was going to be as well. She just had to stay in over night. She was sleeping so they decided to go home for the night. The fire had been put out and as soon as Becky and Jodi knew Claire was ok, they fell fast asleep.
Alex, Nick, Tess and Meg all sat quietly around the kitchen table all thinking about what had just happened and not daring to think it possible. "She wouldn't have. She loves this place too much" Nick stated. "I want to believe you, but its not how it looks" "yes, but this is Claire, Nick's right Tess" "You saw all that I did. The locked door and you could smell the petrol. The barn was set alight on purpose. When I saw her she had thrown a pile of papers on the floor, then she was crying." "She didn't eat, and things kept on going wrong for her today, broken fence, injured cattle, she cut her hand and then she got a flat tire!" Meg added "I had a go at her because she was getting behind with the paper work. She said how she had too much work and I just told her that she should think about whether we should still be partners or not." Alex finished before there was silence again. "I should have known something was wrong and helped her. She could be dead and it would be all my fault" "Its not your fault Tess!" Alex couldn't stand it anymore, and stormed off home.
Meg and Tess went to pick Claire up the next day. They were nervous and didn't know what to say or think. They wondered how she would be and if she still wished she was dead. When they got to her bed, a police officer was leaving. "What did he want?" Tess said surprised. "They found the person who did it" "Did what?" "Set the barn alight of course" "you mean?" "What did you think I was trying. you're kidding me? You did, didn't you?" Claire sat there laughing as the other two looked slightly embarrassed and then started to laugh a little themselves when they realised they'd been wrong. "I cant believe you think I would actually think that" "Well the state you were in. Meg told me all that had happened, then Alex shouting at you and you throwing the papers on the floor and crying, what else were we supposed to think?" "The papers fell, I always fight with Alex and you weren't around so I had to do your work too, of course I was pissed off, but kill myself? It would take a bit more than that for me to want to kill myself" She started coughing. "Are you ok?" "I'll be fine, I just want to get home"
"I'll phone Alex, let him know your ok" "No, don't, I'm gonna go round there later" "Do you think you're up to it?" "I'm fine. I've just got a bit of a cough and they fixed my leg. My head doesn't even hurt now" "the doctor said to take it easy" "I will, teasing Alex"
"Claire, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed? How are you feeling?" "Better thanks Liz, is Alex about?" "He's round the back. I think you gave him a bit of a fright last night, in fact all of us. What happened?" Claire explained and then went off to find Alex. He was working on a tractor.
She hobbled over and threw down some paper work next to him on the floor. He came out from under the machine. "Here's your damn papers!" she said in an angry voice. He came out from under the machine and looked from the papers to her. "How you feeling?" "Fine, no thanks to you" "What, so I was supposed to just leave you there and die, well I'm sorry Claire, but it's not just about you. When you do something like that, it effects others you know" "what I meant, is you could have hurried up, you know get me out of there sooner!" "So you didn't." She started laughing, but soon started to cough. Alex knew she needed some water so he picked her up, knowing it would be quicker because of her leg and carried to the kitchen where he got her some water. "Thanks, but I can walk you know." He sat down next to her. "So if you didn't try to kill yourself than what happened?" "You know, I can't believe that's what everyone thought. Some person, who they have taken to the mental hospital, knocked me unconscious. Thanks for saving me last night. I thought I was going to die" "So did I" "there was no need for CPR though" "There was when you stopped breathing" "how do you think I felt, waking up to your mouth over mine? I didn't know where I was or what was happening" "You think I enjoyed it? And you're saying you wouldn't have done that for me if you had to?" "I guess I would have to force myself to" "You loved it really" "Oh really?" "Yes, you did" "I think I may need some reminding" "I think you do too" they had been edging closer together and before they realised, they were kissing each other. They parted and looked into each other's eyes. "Don't ever do that to me again" Alex said firmly. "What, kiss you?" "No, scare me. I thought you were dead and that you really wanted to kill yourself." "I thought I was going to die, but you saved my life and I don't intend on dying anytime soon" "Well I don't intend on letting you!" "Well you can definitely practice saving me anytime you like you know." "Good, because I think I need a lot of practice!" they laughed and kissed again. "So does this mean?" Claire started. "Yes, now shut up and kiss me" he reached for the back of her head when she winced "what?" "My head, its still a little sore" he chuckled at how innocent she sounded and she whacked him. "You know I still cant believe everyone thought I'd actually try to kill myself" "Will you shut up talking and let me kiss you!" It had terrified him, the thought that Claire could have died, so much so, he had to admit his feelings and how much he cared for her, way beyond friendship. Claire had seen the look in Alex's eyes the night before and decided that she had to do something about her feelings for him. She felt that he did have feelings for her and if she was wrong, at least she had tried and could try and get over him. Luckily he did care for her as much as she did for him and they would live happily together for ever, as soul mates do.
When Tess finally came back, Claire couldn't believe that Tess had the audacity to have a go at her for not being more considerate of her hangover. She then went to bed for an hour before attempting to do any work, leaving Claire fuming at the fact she'd had to do extra work and the hangover was Tess' own fault for spending the night at Nick's and getting drunk.
Alex showed up about mid morning to get some paper work. "Hey Claire, have you got that paper work for me yet?" "No, I'll get it to you soon though" "That's the third time this week you've said that Claire. This isn't something that can be left, its important" "I've been busy" "We're all busy Claire" "Oh please, your dad can just hire more staff" "What so you think that makes it easier?" "How can it not? Now I said I'll get it to you and I will, I just need more time!" "I've already given you enough time. If you can't keep up, then maybe we should reconsider if this is such a good idea!" "What are you trying to say?" "Just get the paper work done by the end of the day. I'll be back to pick it up first thing tomorrow." He stormed off leaving Claire even angrier. Things were going from bad to worse.
Claire went into the office and cringed at the amount of paper work that needed to be done. She was usually fairly tidy and up to date with the paper work but there had been so much work to do on the farm, she'd really got behind. She started to work through the huge pile that had built up on her desk when she couldn't find the piece of paper that she needed. She started to hunt for it and found it at the bottom of the pile. As she tried to get to it in haste, the whole pile fell on the floor. She cursed and banged the desk. Tess had come in at that moment and thought Claire had thrown it on the floor in frustration. "No need to over react Claire." "Just go away and do some work for a change" Tess was in no mood to argue so she just left knowing that Claire was in a really, really bad mood.
As Claire sat there, she started to look around the room. She moved over to a photo of her and her father. "I wish you were still here! What would you have done?" she got down on the floor and started picking up everything off of the floor. She got a paper cut and it stung like hell. Her hand was already sore and she just burst into tears. She quickly wiped them away after a minute and then Tess walked in "Claire, are you ok?" "I'm fine" She got off the floor, turning away from Tess and put the pile of papers on the desk. "Claire?" "I've got work to do" and with that, she started to finish off the work that Alex needed and then worked her way through the rest. She worked through dinner and then went out to do some more work that needed to be done before she could finally go to sleep.
She was in the barn and she was tired, fed up and just wanted that day to be over. She was however, glad that the paperwork had been done, the fence fixed and the cattle that was injured, hadn't got infected. She started to think about having to go into town the next day to get a new spare tire when she felt this excruciating pain on the back of her head and fell to the floor.
"Claire, the barns on fire!" Meg shouted out. There was no answer from Claire but Tess "Claire's not here, she went off to do some more work" "call the Ryan's and I'll get Becky and Jodi to put the fire out while I go and find Claire"
Claire came too and put her hand on the back of her head, where she felt blood. The person that had knocked her unconscious, while she was still in it had set the barn on fire. It was hot and smoky, her head was throbbing and her eyes were blurred. She moved back from the flames and tried to get to her feet. She started coughing and tried to get out. The door was shut and the flames were spreading. She made her way to the door through the flames when something fell from the roof that landed on her leg. She managed to get it free but her ankle hurt. She got to the door and it was locked. She tried to kick it down, but couldn't. She pushed against it with her wait but it wasn't going to budge. The smoke was getting thicker and she got to the ground. She made her way away from the flames, coughing harder. It was hot and hard to see. She tried to shout for help when she thought she heard someone outside calling out her name, but there was no hope. She was trapped and knew she couldn't get out. Her ankle was painful, her head was sore and it was getting harder to breath.
Meg went in search while Tess called the Ryan's who were on their way, and Jodi and Becky started to fill up the pump. Meg couldn't find Claire and so realised she must be inside the barn. They called out for her and heard a faint reply. Tess headed to the door to get her out, even though Meg tried to hold her back, but she couldn't get in, it was locked. Claire wasn't answering them. They started the hose trying to put the fire out, but it had already spread so quickly unusually fast. Tess was frantic and still trying to break the door down, when the Ryan brothers showed up. "Alex, it's Claire, she's inside and we can't get her out, the doors locked." He went and grabbed an axe from the back of his Ute, while Nick got another pump and tried to put the fire out. "Mum, I can smell petrol" Tess and Meg looked at each other with terror over their faces.
Alex couldn't believe what was happening. He had to get her out of there. She had to still be alive. "Claire, Claire, can you hear me?" there was no reply. He'd cut the lock and gone racing in to get her out. It was thick with smoke and he couldn't see her anywhere. He went further in until he eventually found her. He was so relieved. She was unconscious, but she was breathing, barely, but she was alive still. He picked her up into his arms and went to turn around, when the fire blocked their exit. He went to one side of the barn, and there was a lose plank. He put Claire down and pulled it away. He then pulled at the second one. It didn't want to come loose, but eventually he made a gap big enough for him to carry Claire through, so he picked her up again and got her out. Tess screamed and everyone ran over as Alex tried to get Claire as far away from the flaming barn as he could. He laid her on the floor and she stopped breathing. He started to do CPR and finally she started coughing. Nick took Claire from him and put her in the back of the Ute.
Meg made sure that Alex was ok because he was coughing an awful lot. He took his time catching his breath but he was all right. Nobody knew what to think. Meg made Alex see the doctor when they got to the hospital. He was fine and Claire was going to be as well. She just had to stay in over night. She was sleeping so they decided to go home for the night. The fire had been put out and as soon as Becky and Jodi knew Claire was ok, they fell fast asleep.
Alex, Nick, Tess and Meg all sat quietly around the kitchen table all thinking about what had just happened and not daring to think it possible. "She wouldn't have. She loves this place too much" Nick stated. "I want to believe you, but its not how it looks" "yes, but this is Claire, Nick's right Tess" "You saw all that I did. The locked door and you could smell the petrol. The barn was set alight on purpose. When I saw her she had thrown a pile of papers on the floor, then she was crying." "She didn't eat, and things kept on going wrong for her today, broken fence, injured cattle, she cut her hand and then she got a flat tire!" Meg added "I had a go at her because she was getting behind with the paper work. She said how she had too much work and I just told her that she should think about whether we should still be partners or not." Alex finished before there was silence again. "I should have known something was wrong and helped her. She could be dead and it would be all my fault" "Its not your fault Tess!" Alex couldn't stand it anymore, and stormed off home.
Meg and Tess went to pick Claire up the next day. They were nervous and didn't know what to say or think. They wondered how she would be and if she still wished she was dead. When they got to her bed, a police officer was leaving. "What did he want?" Tess said surprised. "They found the person who did it" "Did what?" "Set the barn alight of course" "you mean?" "What did you think I was trying. you're kidding me? You did, didn't you?" Claire sat there laughing as the other two looked slightly embarrassed and then started to laugh a little themselves when they realised they'd been wrong. "I cant believe you think I would actually think that" "Well the state you were in. Meg told me all that had happened, then Alex shouting at you and you throwing the papers on the floor and crying, what else were we supposed to think?" "The papers fell, I always fight with Alex and you weren't around so I had to do your work too, of course I was pissed off, but kill myself? It would take a bit more than that for me to want to kill myself" She started coughing. "Are you ok?" "I'll be fine, I just want to get home"
"I'll phone Alex, let him know your ok" "No, don't, I'm gonna go round there later" "Do you think you're up to it?" "I'm fine. I've just got a bit of a cough and they fixed my leg. My head doesn't even hurt now" "the doctor said to take it easy" "I will, teasing Alex"
"Claire, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed? How are you feeling?" "Better thanks Liz, is Alex about?" "He's round the back. I think you gave him a bit of a fright last night, in fact all of us. What happened?" Claire explained and then went off to find Alex. He was working on a tractor.
She hobbled over and threw down some paper work next to him on the floor. He came out from under the machine. "Here's your damn papers!" she said in an angry voice. He came out from under the machine and looked from the papers to her. "How you feeling?" "Fine, no thanks to you" "What, so I was supposed to just leave you there and die, well I'm sorry Claire, but it's not just about you. When you do something like that, it effects others you know" "what I meant, is you could have hurried up, you know get me out of there sooner!" "So you didn't." She started laughing, but soon started to cough. Alex knew she needed some water so he picked her up, knowing it would be quicker because of her leg and carried to the kitchen where he got her some water. "Thanks, but I can walk you know." He sat down next to her. "So if you didn't try to kill yourself than what happened?" "You know, I can't believe that's what everyone thought. Some person, who they have taken to the mental hospital, knocked me unconscious. Thanks for saving me last night. I thought I was going to die" "So did I" "there was no need for CPR though" "There was when you stopped breathing" "how do you think I felt, waking up to your mouth over mine? I didn't know where I was or what was happening" "You think I enjoyed it? And you're saying you wouldn't have done that for me if you had to?" "I guess I would have to force myself to" "You loved it really" "Oh really?" "Yes, you did" "I think I may need some reminding" "I think you do too" they had been edging closer together and before they realised, they were kissing each other. They parted and looked into each other's eyes. "Don't ever do that to me again" Alex said firmly. "What, kiss you?" "No, scare me. I thought you were dead and that you really wanted to kill yourself." "I thought I was going to die, but you saved my life and I don't intend on dying anytime soon" "Well I don't intend on letting you!" "Well you can definitely practice saving me anytime you like you know." "Good, because I think I need a lot of practice!" they laughed and kissed again. "So does this mean?" Claire started. "Yes, now shut up and kiss me" he reached for the back of her head when she winced "what?" "My head, its still a little sore" he chuckled at how innocent she sounded and she whacked him. "You know I still cant believe everyone thought I'd actually try to kill myself" "Will you shut up talking and let me kiss you!" It had terrified him, the thought that Claire could have died, so much so, he had to admit his feelings and how much he cared for her, way beyond friendship. Claire had seen the look in Alex's eyes the night before and decided that she had to do something about her feelings for him. She felt that he did have feelings for her and if she was wrong, at least she had tried and could try and get over him. Luckily he did care for her as much as she did for him and they would live happily together for ever, as soul mates do.