ggknow it's short, but it was originally even shorter! And, yes, Leo WILL eventually be introduced, as well as many other familiar characters. But... two BIG things, have to happen before then. Actually, if it's BIG, it's four. Yups. It will take a while, and this is gonna be a LONG fic. But, they will be introduced, trust me! You'll see a little bit of why at the end of this chapter!

SYAD YNIAR - Thanks.
WINTER BLAZE - Yup yup yup! He's an ass. Thanks for the review!
OTHCHARMEDFREAK - Yeah, sorry, this is the last chapter with them. They MIGHT come in later, I'm still debating that. But, it really won't be a big part in the plot. I have stuff that'll be big. Teehee! Thanks for the review!
ASHERSMASHER - Yay adverbs! I love 'em. Teehee! I'm hyper. And yes, P/L hook-up will happen, eventually. This story spans quite a long time period, and she'll meet him in, like, a few months. Not too long, as I will be skipping time. A lot of 'Step One' will be in 1 day. You'll see why. And yes, I have come up with the eight steps, they'll just come along slowly, and some will be long, and some even combined. I'll be having lots of fun with this fic. Thanks for the review!
LILLYNILLY - Evil like mean. I'm PROBABLY not gonna have magic in this fic, but it's still a slim possibility. Thanks for the review!
CLAIRE - Yes, poor, poor Piper. A lot more poor at the end of this chapter. Teehee! Thanks for the review!

Chapter three...

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Early the next morning, Piper woke up to her alarm at seven o'clock AM. She knew that it was really early, but she couldn't get up any later. She needed to be out of the house by eight if she didn't want to see her father. She was still furious about their row the night before, and she didn't want to deal with his attempts to apologize and/or his attempts to make her apologize. There was no way an apology would be accepted that morning, or ever, really. She would never owe one to him, and she would never accept his.

But, it turned out, seven a.m. was the time that most of the employees of Bennett Estate showed up for work, including Marcie. When Piper was getting dressed in clothes that were comfortable to ride in, Marcie snuck into the room. She jumped when she spotted Piper.

"Girl, what in the heck are you doing up this early?" Marcie asked, putting her hand over her heart. "I'm going for a ride." Piper replied shortly, putting her long hair up in a ponytail. "At seven in the morning? You don't get up at seven in the morning." Marcie said. "Well, I do today." Piper said, turning towards Marcie. "I do NOT want to run into Victor." Piper added. "Uh-oh." Marcie said, her eyes going wide. "You're back to calling him Victor. How'd he piss you off this time?" "We fought last night. I don't want to talk about it." Piper added the last part when she saw Marcie open her mouth to ask a question.

"Sisters?" Marcie asked anyway. What could she say? They were friends, and she was curious. "Yes. Apparently, he thinks that I should have forgotten about them by now, as I'm never going to see them again." Piper said, clenching her teeth and pulling extra hard on her boots. "Should I tell him where you are?" Marcie asked, and Piper nodded. "Yeah, but say that you tried to stop me. I don't want you getting fire because of this." Piper said, and opened the door. "See ya later, Marcie." she said, and headed out of her bedroom door.

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Ryder's Horse Ranch opened at seven o'clock every morning. That became very fortunate for the Ranch's richest customer, as she really needed to think that morning, and just plain old relax. She wanted to forget about the argument with her father, and just enjoy the serenity of the landscape at Ryder's Horse Ranch.

When Piper walked up to the gates at about eight o'clock, many of the stablehands were surprised. Piper was not known to be an early riser, and also ALWAYS came in a limo. But, since she came up to the stable with some casual clothes good for riding horses and her boots, everyone stopped and watched.

As soon as Piper reached the stables, Bridget ran up to her. "Piper, what in the name of New York are you doing here this early?" she asked. "Um... I'm here to ride a horse." Piper stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Yeah, but you normally come around, say, noon at the earliest." Bridget pointed out. "Well... I had a blowout with my dad last night, and I needed to escape him." Piper explained. "Are you sure that he won't get worried?" Bridget asked. "Yeah, I told Marcie to tell him." Piper said. Bridget knew all about Marcie, and Marcie knew all about Bridget. The two had actually met without Piper to get to know each other, and had become fast friends. The three of them sometimes got together at 'common places', as Victor Bennett would call them.

"Well," Bridget said, "Chupachunga is over this way. But, be carefu. She's extra skiddish this mornin'." "Don't worry, Bridget." Piper reassured. "You know as well as I do that I'm the only rider that Chupi really likes." "Yeah, and you're also the only one that she will allow to call her Chupi." Bridget said. "Well, it's easier to say." Piper defended. "I know, I know." Bridget said. Piper took Chupachunga from her friend's hands and saddled her up. After Chupachunga was ready for the early morning ride, Piper climbed on her back and set off. "Have a good ride, Piper!" Bridget called. "Thanks!" Piper called back, and then was out of sight.

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Ryder's Horse Ranch was a wonderful place to ride horses. There were fifty acres of beautiful land, with varying terrains and many different trails through the then-acre woods on the property. It even had a ten-acre mini-forest. It was a gorgeous place even without the horses, but it was one of the BEST places to ride them. As Piper rode along, she slowed Chupachunga down to a slow walk. She wanted to just enjoy the scenery of the woods and enjoy the peaceful morning air.

Piper was on Chupachunga, the two of them going slowly down the trail in the middle of the woods. Suddenly, Piper became aware of a horse galloping up behind her and Chupachunga. She directed Chupachunga towards the right of the trail so that the rider could pass. But, the move proved to be unnecessary as the rider slowed beside her. Piper didn't bother to look at the rider, as she didn't really care to start a conversation with anyone. She figured that the rider would eventually speed up if it was being ignored.

After a moment, Piper began to get curious about who the rider was, but before she could turn her head to see she felt something touch her back. It was cold, and metal.

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About two hours after Piper set off her riding, Bridget was taking care of a few other horses in the stable. She was taking a break when she saw something run over the nearby hill and into view. She used her hand as a visor over her eyes to make out what it was. As it came closer, she could make out what it was. 'A horse?' she thought. 'What the hell is a horse doing without a rider?' Bridget set out in a run towards the horse, not wanting to lose one of the valuable animals. With the horse galloping wildly towards her, and her running towards it, the two met up in no time.

Just before the horse ran past her, Bridget hopped on, wanting to calm it. "Chupachunga?" she whispered as she ran her hand through the horse's mane and down her side, trying to calm her down. "What are you doing here?" Bridget's thoughts immediately went to Piper, one of her best friends. She quickly rode the horse over to the stables, and jumped off of her as soon as they were under the roof.

As soon as she was next to the still horse, she noticed an envelope tucked right under Chupachunga's saddle, making it stay in place. Bridget took the envelope out, and flipped it over. There was no name on it. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the envelope. A folded piece of plain white paper was revealed, and Bridget opened it up. She read it.

Mr. Bennett,

We have your daughter.

We'll call with instructions.

Meet each and every one of our demands if you ever want to see your precious little girl ever again.

Bridget had to read over the newspaper and magazine clippings letter again to make sure that she wasn't just in a bad nightmare that she would soon wake up from.

"Oh my God, Piper."

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AN: Dun Dun Duh... Quite an interesting turn of events, huh? Teehee... please review!