SPIRITS

THIS STORY IS A SEQUEL TO THE WILL SO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THAT ONE,

PLEASE GO AND DO SO BEFORE READING THIS ONE.

I NEVER ACTUALLY INTENDED TO DO A SEQUEL BUT THE IDEA HAS BEEN

PLAGUING ME ALL DAY SO I WROTE THESE FEW LINES TO GET THEM OUT OF MY

HEAD.

PLEASE ENJOY AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKE EITHER OF THESE STORIES.



Time frame - about three (3) months after THE WILL



The boat docked itself at the small jetty that was attached to Bridger's little secluded island.

Two figures emerged from the craft, Captain Nathan Hale Bridger and Lucas Wolenczak.

Both looked very weary and in need of a few days rest.

After Lucas had returned from the Stud farm the crew of the SeaQuest had been seconded

on a long mission that had just ended. It was great for the fact that the long days at sea kept

Lucas's mind off his friends Mac and Lily Baron and the special friend GHOST that he had

lost recently.

There were moments late at night when Lucas had been alone in his quarters and cried over

the death of the large black stallion.

Lucas was carrying a brown paper bag containing some grocery items. Bridger was carrying

two small duffle bags. The teenager had gotten ahead of his father slightly as he headed towards

the house.

Bridger stayed behind for a few minutes as he and Tony Piccolo watched the teenager walk

up to the house.

"You two going to be alright Captain?" Piccolo asked with obvious concern in his voice.

"I think all he needs is time Tony" Bridger said with a note of sadness as he watched the

teenager's slumped form from behind.

"When are the other senior crew members coming for the barbecue lunch?" Bridger now

asked. "I wanted to hold something tonight, but I think Lucas and I will be too tired to do

anything much later than lunchtime."

"They should be along in the shuttle any time now" Tony as he helped grab another

couple of bags from the back of the boat.

While Bridger and Tony had been talking outside, Lucas had unlocked the front door

and walked inside.

He set the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and was about to unpack them and put

them away when his gaze was distracted by a flashing red light on the answering machine.

Not many people knew that he and the Captain were coming home for a week's rest and

recreation so it was a little unusual for somebody to be leaving a message on the machine

when nobody was going to be home. The curiosity got the better of him and he pressed the

rewind button on the machine and waited for the message to play back for him.

Lucas listened to the message once. He gasped out loud and rewound it back to the start

and listened again. He had been half asleep from fatigue upon entering the house, but with

the message he had just received he knew that sleep would now be a long time in coming.

He dashed upstairs and headed into his room to start preparations. He climbed out the

window of his bedroom with bag in hand towards the garage and his motorcycle from

his birthday.

Tony and Bridger had just made it into the house when they noticed the bag of groceries

that Lucas had been carrying still sitting on the counter. Bridger thought this was a little

unusual for the teenager and the hairs on the back of his neck started to raise with the

little bit of uneasiness that was beginning to settle in the pit of his stomach.

He couldn't exactly put his finger on what was wrong, but something told him that something

was amiss. He started to walk towards the bag of groceries when he too saw the flashing

red light on the answering machine. Just like Lucas he thought this was a little bit out of

the ordinary.

Tony had not sensed anything wrong yet but wondered where his teenage friend had gotten

to in such a short space of time. He knew the kid was tired but surely he hadn't gone up

to his room to sleep before people started arriving for the barbeque.

Bridger rewound the answering machine message tape and played it back to hear the message

that had been recorded.

Tony had heard the message but because of the lack of names he didn't fully understand

the message that had been left.

Bridger on the other hand did recognize who was on the other end of the line and now

groaned loudly as he wondered what could be in store for Lucas now.

"What is wrong Captain?" Tony asked when he heard the groan.

"The message is from Mac and Lily Baron" Bridger announced. "They weren't very specific

but they made it known that they wanted to talk to Lucas urgently for some reason."

Upon ending his sentence, Bridger's fears leapt even more when he fully thought out the

implications of such a message from Lucas's friends.

"Quick find Lucas" Bridger shouted as he started to head towards the stairs.

"Why?" Tony asked thinking that Bridger was getting concerned over nothing too serious.

"Remember what happened the last time he got a message from Mac" Bridger asked sarcastically

and proceeded to climb the stairs.

The reason suddenly struck home to Tony as well and he too started to climb the stairs two at

a time. They didn't make it half way when they heard the unmistakable sound of a revving

motorcycle engine.

"OH NO NOT AGAIN" Bridger said out loud as he dreaded to think what he already knew to

be true.

The two men raced back down the stairs and out the front door just in time to see the back of

the fleeing teenager on the big yellow motorcycle. Lucas looked back once through the visor

of the helmet but didn't stop to tell them where he was going.

"We'd better contact the rest of the crew" Bridger said as the fear for Lucas began to grow

within him.

Tony pressed the play button on the answering machine again trying to figure out what Mac

and Lily might have said that made the teenager take off in such a hurry again.

The words from Mac came through as:

SPEEDY, NEED TO TALK TO YOU NOW. NOT AT THE RANCH. COME TO

THE OTHER PLACE. HE'S OUT TO GET US BOTH THIS TIME SPEEDY.

BE CAREFUL !!!!!


Back on the island, the rest of the crew were just starting to arrive at Bridger's house. Bridger and

Tony were trying to go over some plans about going after the wayward teenager.

Kristen could see the two huddled together in the lounge room discussing something. She had no idea

of what had happened to Lucas. She casually walked over to them and asked where the teenager was.

She was still worried about his emotional state over the loss of his horse friend GHOST.

"What is so important you two? she asked jokingly. She had gotten herself into relaxation mode and was

looking forward to the idea of sitting around and eating until they couldn't eat anymore. The look she saw

on Bridger's face though when he looked up sent all sorts of messages to her and told her that something

had happened.

"Lucas got a message from Mac and Lily Baron" Bridger said with emphasis, hoping that Kristen would

understand the meaning of his words without going into more detail.

"Tell me you are kidding" she now said but already knowing it to be true.

"He took off on his motorcycle about ten minutes ago" Bridger informed her. Kristen knew all about

Lucas last flying dash to his friends. "It's a wonder you didn't hear him drive away when you walked up

the pier" he added.

"Oh no" she said with a groan and sat down on the couch in front of Bridger and Tony trying to work out

what to do next. By this time the rest of the senior crew had noticed the absence of the others and wondered

over to see what was up. They all gave the same reaction as the Captain and Kristen when they heard about

Lucas leaving again so soon.

"What are we going to do Captain?" Commander Brody now asked.

"You're sure you are all willing to help out again?" Bridger asked in surprise. He looked around at the faces of

his crew and knew well enough to know that they were all serious about helping Lucas. Most of them knew what

had happened only a few months ago when Lucas had been badly injured after a fall from his horse in a storm.

The horse had been killed by a hit-man hired by his own father Lawrence Wolenczak. Although there was no

information yet about what had made Lucas go back in such a hurry. None of them would be surprised if

Mr Wolenczak Senior's name didn't pop up again in the near future. The man seemed hell bent on getting even

with his son and making his life pure misery. He often succeeded at this task too they noted with dismay.

"I suppose the only lead we have at the moment is going back to the ranch" Bridger said trying to put things into

perspective. "Mac said for Lucas to meet him somewhere else but for now we don't know where that is. We

just have to hope that Lucas goes back to the ranch at some stage."

"When are we leaving Captain" Tony now asked.

"In the morning now Tony. Lucas would have caught the last ferry to the mainland for today about five minutes

ago. I personally don't like the idea of swimming. We can get the first ferry across in the morning and take

a UEO vehicle to the ranch. That's about all we can do for now until we work out what all this is about" Bridger

said. He didn't want to alarm the rest of the crew or over-react about Lucas's departure. Maybe Mac just

wanted Lucas to visit them. After all Lucas was practically family to the couple and they shared a special bond.

Bridger knew deep down inside however that all was not right. He doubted Mac would just telephone on the

spur of the moment and expect the teenager to drop his life again and help him. No, something big must have

happened for Mac to want to involve Lucas again. What the hell was it?

**********************************************************************************

Bridger had been right about Lucas catching the last ferry of the day across to the mainland. He was just arriving

on the other side and had taken repossession of his motorcycle. He straddled the seat, started the engine

and headed towards Summer Fields Stud farm.

About 20 minutes later, just before the road turned off towards Lily and Mac's ranch, Lucas took a turn left

down a narrow dirt road. He road for about a mile when he arrived at a small cottage. The house was only

one bedroom and was made of timber. It looked particularly old and weather-beaten. He doubted it had a

coat of paint on it in decades.

He got of the motorcycle and set it on the foot stand, removed his motorcycle helmet and walked up the rickety

steps to the front door and knocked on the screen door. He was greeted at the door by a smiling Lily Baron.

"Lucas honey" she said and engulfed the boy in a bear hug. She pulled back a little with embarrassment. She knew

the teenager was a bit wary about such affection being shed on him. "How are you dear" she now asked in a quiet

voice. "It's been a couple of months now since we saw you last" she said not really admitting to the fact that she didn't

think she or her husband would ever see the young man again after he left the ranch three months ago. The boy still

had tender ribs back then and the embrace had to be a touch gentler. Now looking at him, he almost looked like

the energetic youth who had been under her feet all those years ago.

"I'm fine Lily" Lucas answered as he followed the plump woman into the small house. "Sorry I haven't phoned

or written to you these last few weeks. It's just a little difficult living on a submarine the whole time. The mail isn't

always on time I'm afraid and even when it gets sent there is no guarantee of actually getting to it's destination.

"That's okay Lucas. I know you do your best" Lily said as she went about pouring him a glass of milk and

offering him a slice of fruit cake. She was always offering him food because the boy just looked to thin for her

liking. He had always been a finicky eater and it showed in his slender frame.

Lucas had noted the obvious absence of Mac and had been a bit nervous about asking of his whereabouts.

Now he asked the question anyway "So tell me, where's Mac at. Spending most of his time with the horses

I assume" Lucas said casually.

"He's inside resting. I'll take you in to him in just a minute and let him know you arrived okay. I'm sure he can't

wait to see you either." Lily said and then quickly turned away from the table and went to the sink to hide the

distressed look on her face. She knew that the teenager wasn't going to like what he saw when he greeted his

old friend again.

"Okay Lily, out with it" Lucas said with a little firmness in his voice. He could see that Lily was skating around

everything but the truth of him being here. He wanted to know what was going on. Something must have scared

them enough to leave the ranch. Lucas knew that this house was the one Lily and Mac had lived in before moving

to Summer Fields. They never really stayed here anymore.

Lily knew she wasn't going to get around what she had to tell him so she sat down at the table across from him

and put her hands on the table and looked at them the whole time she was speaking. She couldn't have looked

him straight in the eye and told him anyway.

"There has been some mischief at the ranch since you left Lucas" she began. "At first Mac and I didn't think anything

of it. Some of the ranch hands started making strange demands about more money. When we said we couldn't

afford to pay them, seeing we were still struggling to get on our own feet, they quit. Not all at once, but most of them

over the period of a month or so. The ones that stayed were the older ones that had been with us from the beginning.

When we tried asking around for others to take up the offers of work with the horses, we got told that nobody would

work for us." she explained.

"How many have you got working on the ranch now Lily?" Lucas asked as he listened carefully to the problems that

seemed to be plaguing the ranch. His uncle Michael never seemed to have a problem keeping staff or hiring new

ones if others left.

"That's just it Lucas, none now" Lily said with sadness. "The last one quit about four days ago. That just left

Mac and me to run things together again. We thought we might be able to struggle through for a while until new

hands could be found. That's when some of the accidents started to happen."

"What sort of accidents Lily?" Lucas said with uneasiness in his voice. The way the word was used, Lucas was

sure that there was no accidents at all, but acts that happened deliberately to hurt his friends.

"Oh just small things at first that could be explained away by a million other causes. But then they started to get

a little more frequent and a little more dangerous. That's what happened two days ago and why Mac left that

message for you back on the island. We knew that we couldn't fight him alone anymore Lucas" she said, holding

back the tears that she felt.

"Who is 'he' Lily" Lucas asked already knowing the answer. He felt his insides drop to his shoes and the fear

start to work its way up from his toes into his stomach.

"Your father Lucas" Lily answered without any emotion in her voice. "We got a letter from his lawyer about

a week ago" Lily continued. Lucas could think back and remember the little bald headed man in the solicitor's

office that day the will was read.

"He threatened to take the ranch out from underneath us and that we wouldn't be able to get anybody to work

for us again. He told us to pack up and sell and he would give us what he called a fair price for the place and

leave us alone for good." Lily said with anger starting to edge into her words.

Lucas felt the same contempt as he thought about the tactics that his father would implore to get his own way.

He knew that the offer of a 'fair price' would be less than 10 per cent of what the ranch was really worth. He

didn't doubt for one second that his father Lawrence wouldn't use any method at his disposal to get rid of

Lily and Mac. He had the pain of his father's gentle persuasions for most of his life. He now knew that he

had to help his friends hold onto the one place that they considered home. He had given them the ranch as

both a way to give them a income in the future and somewhere to live in their later years. Neither of them were

young people anymore. That only made the need to protect his friends even stronger in Lucas. He had come

to know over the years that his father would use anybody and misuse everyone to improve his own financial

position in life.

"I won't let him take the place from you Lily, I promise" he said and gently reach across the table and squeezed

her hand for reassurance. "Now let's go and visit Mac." he said with a fake smile. Inside his lungs were just

starting to breath again after the revelation that he would need to fight his father once again in his life.

Lily and Lucas both got up from the table and headed towards the one small bedroom at the back of the house.

"Hi Mac" Lucas said in a loud and cheery voice as he entered the bedroom. He could scarcely hold back the

gasp of shock though as he saw the damage that 'the little accident' had caused to his friend. Lucas walked over

to the bed and gave his friend and awkward and brief embrace before seating himself on the edge of the bed.

"So this is what you have been doing since I have been gone huh?" he said with cheek in his voice. "One little

bump on the head and you think the boss will give you a week off." he added with a laugh. Truth was, the

bruising covered almost one side of Mac's dark skin. It was purple and blotchy in places and looked very

painful to Lucas.

Mac tried to keep up the appearances with his young friend, but the grin on his face quickly faded and Lucas

could see nothing but defeat etched on the man's face.

"I'm too old to be doing this anymore Lucas" Mac finally said in a quiet voice. "I've worked hard all my life

and fought many a battle. Now I just want to take things easy this second half of my life. I just don't have the

strength to fight anymore." he said and he too fought to control his emotions.

The forlorn looks he could see on the drawn faces of his dear friends only seemed to incense the normally timid

and placid Lucas. He could feel the fire of anger starting to kindle within him and he could feel rage building

within him like a sleeping volcano. He couldn't find the words to utter the obscenities that he could use to describe

what he thought about his father at the moment. In the past he had been the one kicked down and tossed aside.

Well no more he told himself firmly. If his father wanted a fight, then that's exactly what he would get. Tooth and

nail if necessary. He was sick of taking the punishment and never having the courage to dish out some of his own.

It was time to turn the tables.

"I won't let him hurt you again Mac" Lucas said as he held Mac's attention. Mac looked into the young man's vivid

blue eyes and saw the flame that burned within him. He had rarely seen such a display of anger from the teenager

knew from what he saw in those eyes that a battle of immense proportions was about to begin. He could see that

Lucas was finally ready to stand up to his father and tell him that he wasn't going to be the bully in the schoolyard

anymore.

"Now the first thing we need to do here is to get you back to your own bed on the ranch" Lucas said as he now took

charge of the situation. "That place is yours and you have every right to stay there if you wish." he added.

"Lucas are you sure" Mac said as he gripped the edge of Lucas's sleeve.

"I'm sure" came the simply and firm reply.

About two hours later, Lucas's motorcycle was laying down in the back of Lily and Mac's old pick up truck.

Lucas was driving the old vehicle and Lily sat closest to the other window. Mac was positioned in between

them to make the ride more comfortable. While Mac's injures were mostly bumps and bruises, Lucas was

determined to take care of his old friend, just like they had taken care of him only twelve weeks ago.

They pulled up outside the house and Lucas and Lily helped Mac inside and closed the front door behind

them. There were a lot of chores around the ranch to be done with the shortage of hands, but Lucas assured

Lily that he would be more than capable of doing some physical work as soon as he got Mac settled.

He secretly wanted to see how the young colt was doing as well.

Towards the front fence of the ranch a lone car was parked and it's occupant watched the house from a distance

with a set of binoculars. He picked up his mobile phone and dialled a pre-set number and waited for the call

to be picked up.

"Hello" came a deep baritone voice on the other end of the phone.

"Boss, I'm out at the ranch. Something's just happened that I think you should know about. Those two old

folks just went back inside the house. They had someone with them as well. Looks like they intend to stay

after all and ignore your little warning." the man informed his boss.

"Who was with them?" the other voice asked.

"Your son Lucas" came the reply. There was silence for a few seconds before the party at the other end of the

phone hung up.

*****

By the time Bridger, Kristen, Tony and Dagwood turned up at the stud farm in their U.E.O. vehicle, Lucas had

already been putting in a hard days work with the numerous chores that needed to be done around the place.

With no hands left at all and Mac laid up in bed for a few more days at the least, somebody had to be willing to

put the work in. That somebody just happened to be Lucas.

He had risen with the sun. Something he was very unaccustomed to doing, but he quickly reminded himself that

he was doing this for Lily and Mac. He couldn't bear to stand by and let his father take over all the hard work

they had put into the place and get offered next to nothing for it.

Lucas was working in the barn, mucking out the horse stalls when Bridger and the others arrived. He was so

deep in thought about what he was going to do about all the problems that he didn't hear the vehicle pull up

outside.

Lily however had heard the transport and now warmly greeted the friends she had met a few months ago.

"Nathan, Kristen it's so good to see you" she said. "Tony and Dagwood it's nice to see you again too."

"Hello Lily" Dagwood said politely.

Lily could already see Bridger looking around to try and spot the missing teenager. There could be no mistake

about why they were here. "He's in the barn working" she replied to Bridger unspoken question.

"How is he?" Bridger asked. The anger he had first felt about Lucas riding off again was now just replaced with

his usual worry.

"He got here yesterday. Mac and I were hiding out at another place. Lucas told us that he would make sure

that no harm would come to us so we decided to band together and come back. Hopefully if we put up a united

front then Lawrence will leave us alone." Lily now said.

"That's all very well Lily, but I don't really know if I like the idea of him trying to take Lawrence on again at all"

Bridger admitted. "It's nothing to do with helping you or Mac I promise you. But maybe Lucas is taking on more

than he can handle at the moment. He is only just recovered after the injuries he got last time and he is no-where

near healed inside about the loss of that horse."

"Oh, I think you will see a great improvement on that today" Lily said with a little amusement in her voice as she

started to walk towards the barn. She turned slightly and used her hand to beckon them to follow her quietly.

All five of them now stood just outside the barn, peering in to see what was happening. At first, due to the darkness

inside and the blinding sunshine outside, they could only make out the figure of Lucas using a long handled pitchfork

to move old hay from the stalls.

Lily motioned for them to walked into the barn a little more to see what was happening. They did so and they had

to chuckled at the sight before them.

Lucas was indeed cleaning out the stalls as it appeared, but as they took a closer look at the other side of the barn,

in the opposing stall, they could just make out the white tip of a soft nose. They watched and waited to see what

would happened.

After a few seconds, the white nose came out of the stall and tried to nibble on the exposed waistband of Lucas's

blue jeans. The owner of the jeans spun around as soon as he felt the tugging on his clothes but the little horse

quickly retreated back into the stall it had come from. Lucas now put the pick fork up against a beam and playfully

stroked the little foal.

"Hey you, I have a bone to pick with you" they all heard Lucas say as he appeared to be admonishing the foal.

"I have a bone to pick with you young man" came the voice of Kristen as she now alerted the teenager to their

presence. Lucas almost jumped out of his skin. Not only from hearing another voice in the barn, but also

recognizing who it belonged to.

"Jeez, don't scare me like that" he began as he tried to regain his composure.

"Don't scare you like that" Kristen said back sarcastically "Lucas Wolenczak, do you know how badly you have

scared all of us over the last few hours?"

Lucas walked towards his friend, looking mostly at his feet as he tried to figure out the words to say about him just

taking off like that.

Kristen and Bridger were about to let loose a few more scathing words until they got a closer look at the teenager

as he walked out into the sunshine. Lucas had been tired before he had ridden away. Now he just looked worse.

His eyes were blood shot and his hair was mussed up. He looked like he hadn't been to sleep at all for days.

"Lucas, you look terrible" Kristen now said in a gentler tone. She wanted to tell him again about how much he had

scared them all, but now she was more worried about the boy's physical appearance and health. "Have you had

anything to eat recently?" she quizzed him.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that Kristen" Lily now said "I have been making sure that he has had something

to eat every meal time since yesterday."

"That's sure a relief Lily" Kristen said with a thankful smile, "But you really do look like you could use some sleep

Lucas."

"Can't yet Kristen, too much work to do around here. Nobody else to do it either. Mac is still healing and the hands

that were working here before have just got up and left" Lucas now said.

"Can't you hire any more hands?" Tony asked his friend. He too was worried about his friend's obvious exhaustion.

"That's what I was just going to do after I finished with the stalls" Lucas informed them. "I was going to go into town

and ask around who wants some work. I can pay good money so it shouldn't be too hard to find them. We won't

be able to keep up with all the upcoming work needed for the horses with just me doing it all."

"You sure you want to go alone Lucas" Bridger now asked. He was a little reluctant to asked the question, knowing

how strongly Lucas felt about this place. His worry for Lucas however was now taking over.

"Yes, everything should be fine Captain. I need to do this, not just for me but for Mac and Lily. I feel kind of

responsible for what has been happening because it's my rotten father who is to blame for it all. What I would like

to ask you if you are going to be here a little while is to keep an eye on things here while I am gone. I don't trust

my father one bit and Mac is already paying for his last unannounced visit."

Lucas now pulled the Captain aside slightly wanting to clear the air before he left for town. "Captain" Lucas said

and he took hold of Bridger's arm and lead him away from the others. "About taking off again" he started and

looked directly into the Captain's face as he said the words "I'm sorry".

Bridger just stood there for a moment, not moving at all, not saying anything in reply. He was trying to work out

all the thoughts he could see racing through the teenager's head. "It's okay Lucas." he said and put a supporting

arm around the young man's shoulders.

"Really?" Lucas asked, scarcely able to believe that he wasn't going to get a chewing out for his actions.

"Really, but I will tell you a little secret" Bridger said in a whisper. "Next time you do it, I will personally tan

your hide with Lily's biggest switch" he said in amusement. He couldn't help but laugh at the shocked expression

on Lucas's face. He then promptly pulled himself up in his head and admonished himself for saying such things

to somebody like Lucas.

Lucas didn't seem to read into the words what Bridger did about his past experiences with being beaten by his

father. Lucas just smiled sheepishly and repeated that it wouldn't happen again. Bridger sighed in relief that the

words hadn't gone any further.

"Come on everyone, I will make you all lunch" Lily now said as they reached the bottom of the porch around the

house.

"Lily, save mine will you. I want to get this thing in town finished with so I can come back and eat and then get

some sleep" Lucas said as he now made his way to his motorcycle.

"Bring back some extra bread with you Lucas" Lily yelled out as Bridger and the others watched Lucas put his

helmet on and do up the chin-strap. Lucas nodded his head to indicate that he had heard her request.

"Be back shortly" Lucas said as then revved the engine over the top of his voice. He lifted his hand in a wave

at his friends and then turned the motorcycle around, heading down the dirt road between the paddocks.

*************

Lucas had spent the best part of an hour talking to various rural outlets and stores in town about finding out if

anyone was interested in working with horses. He got a few grunts from some of the shop-keepers who were

a little wary to be talking to somebody so young.

Everywhere he went either someone didn't know any workers or they said that most people had other jobs

they did. Lucas had now bought Lily's bread and was about to head back to the ranch and rethink the strategy

on how to hire more workers.

Lucas didn't even have time to put the bag of bread on the motorcycle before he felt someone grab his arm roughly

from behind.

Lucas tried to look over his shoulder as he was pushed roughly into the alley way beside one of the set of shops.

There were five men in all making sure he didn't alert anybody to his plight or try to call out for help.

Lucas saw one of the men grab the bag of bread and proceed to stomp and squash it into the ground with his

boot. Lucas could feel his anger bristle. He hadn't done anything. What did these men want with him?

Lucas knew what was about to come. As the first punch was thrown at him, he tried to defend himself as best he

could, even trading a few blows himself. He soon found himself out numbered and overwhelmed from the blows and

punches to his body. The blows rained down everywhere on him, his ribs, his legs, his back. Thankfully one of the

few places that he wasn't struck was his face.

He could now scarcely stand up on his own two feet, the next blow causing him to curl up in a ball on the ground as he still tried to prevent the blows hitting anything vital.

When the blows slowly subsided, he looked up into the face of one of the men instigating the beating.

"Got a message for you Wolenczak" he man spat, grabbing a hold of Lucas's shirt for emphasis. "You aren't

going to find anybody around here to help you out on that ranch, so leave things alone. You will get more of

that if you come back asking again".

Lucas didn't need to guess very hard that the message had come from his father Lawrence Wolenczak.

The men now walked away, leaving Lucas to try and stand on his own two feet.

After what seemed like forever, he managed to sit on the saddle of the bike again, his arm wrapped protectively

around his bruised and possibly broken rib cage.

How he managed to start the bike and then successfully ride it being barely conscious he would never know.

Somehow he managed to ride the big motorcycle down the road of the stud farm leading up to the house.

Once he got to the house he got painfully off the bike and set the kick stand down for it to rest on. He then walked

very dazed towards the front porch of the house.

A couple of times he almost stumbled into the grass, but he stopped himself and almost managed to reach the front

door. He knew that he couldn't stay on his feet very much longer.

His eyes were barely open as he finally managed to get a finger on the front door bell and alert the people inside that he needed help.

Once he had pressed the bell his body seemed to know that help would soon be coming. He tumbled to the floor

and was now out cold............

I took the story down and decided to fix it a little and add a little more to it – hope you like the changes.

My second favourite show next to SeaQuest is Bonanza so the scene with the men and Lucas actually

was taken from an episode with Little Joe Cartwright. I changed it to suit my story. Don't beat me up

because of it………………