Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait, I've been having computer trouble. Thanks for all the great reviews for the last chapter! Just a note for the last chapter: I had a bunch of misspellings and word mix ups that I don't usually have! Just ignore them! Keeping in mind that I was practically asleep on my laptop at the time! Hope you like this chapter! Review!
Contrary to popular demand I am not in fact going to do a big boat scene! Now before you come at me with pitch forks remember: There is a chance for it to still appear in this story and I am also planning a sequel and Ty is not getting rid of his boat anytime soon, it will only be gone if he gets a new one!
Check out my new story 'The Peak'! It's a Heartland fic to and I think it's pretty good. Ty's character is pretty different though.
Disclaimer: Based loosely on characters created and owned by Lauren Brooke.
CIC- Commander In Chief
Chapter 10
Monday, Heartland
"Did you bring the saddle?" I asked Ty as soon as he got out of his Escalade EXT.
Ty laughed, "Course I did, didn't I just tell you I had it at school today?"
"Yeah but I'm just anxious to start." I said.
Ty reached into the backseat of his car and pulled out a saddle in a dark green cover that had the Baldwin Ways emblem embroidered on it in white thread.
"Did you bring your helmet?" I asked since Ty was supposed to ride Chief today and just incase he decided to freak out this time it was better to be on the safe side since his helmet saved his life last time. Okay so maybe that was a little dramatic but you get my point.
Ty pulled out a charcoal gray GPA training helmet and held it in front of my face.
Chief stuck his big, elegant bay head over his half door when he heard the barn doors shut behind us. He whickered and bobbed his head excitedly when he saw Ty was me and that he was carrying a saddle. "See," I said. "I told you he always looks for you."
Ty grinned and set the saddle on the saddle rack. He patted Chief's neck and Chief whickered affectionately. There was no questioning who the big, bay gelding's favorite was. Once I had gotten saddle pads, the girth, bridle and a grooming kit, Ty led Chief out into the barn aisle and clipped him to the crossties. We each picked up a curry comb and set to work on Chief.
"So," I said as I massaged Chief's coat in circles. "When did you get Chief?" I asked Ty.
Ty looked up thoughtfully. "He was actually bred at Baldwin Ways. He was sired by Back in Black, one of our Olympic gold medalist jumpers. His dam is Raz, Razina actually, a dressage champion, won the silver medal in the Olympics a few years back. Chief's seven so I got him when I was about eleven."
"I think I remember seeing Razina in the Olympics, she's a dainty bay with a star right?"
"Yep."
"So did you train Chief yourself?" I asked as Ty picked up one of Chief's hooves to pick.
"Well seeing as I was only eleven I had some help but for the most part I tried to do everything on my own." Ty smiled at the memory.
"Yeah I remember trying to do everything when I first got Sunny. I ended up falling off before I asked for help," I laughed.
"Same here, well in a way. I'd had someone helping me all along with Chief but one day I decided to take Chief out into one of the jumping rings before Marc was ready. I faced Chief at a water jump and ended up lying in the water."
I laughed pretty hard at the image of a little Ty lying in the water portion of a water jump. "I'm sorry," I said after a minute when I noticed Ty was looking at me with a bemused expression on his face. "I just… it was a funny image in my head. That's all," I finally managed to say.
"Not really considering that it was only March," Ty added wryly. In a weird totally twisted way that only succeeded in making it all the more funny. Ty shook his head as he lifted the spotless, perfectly oiled saddle up onto Chief's back but I noticed the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
After a moment I stopped laughing and leaned back against the stall door watching as Ty deftly did up the straps and buckles on the bridle. A thought struck me, "Wait, are you entered in the show on Saturday?"
Ty looked up at me, "I was but I scratched."
"Oh okay."
"Why? Are you?" Ty asked me.
"Yeah," I responded slowly before I grinned, "Maybe this time I'll be able to win."
"You won last time," Ty remarked.
"Yeah because Chief went nuts and you were disqualified!" I exclaimed. "So, are you going to come? To the show I mean?" I asked trying to keep the hope out of my voice.
Ty looked up at the rafters. "I don't know…" he contemplated. "Unless you want me to come?"
I tried to shrug lightly and look like I could care less. "If you want…"
"Well let's see, no football, no races, no shows… I think I could fit you in," he said playfully.
"Well in that case," I said as he came up to me and put his hands on my waist.
"I'll be there," he said softly before he leaned down and his lips met mine. My arms snaked around his neck and I played with the back of his hair as he pushed me up against the stall door. Soon I felt the familiar and welcomed feeling of Ty's tongue along my bottom lip and I eagerly opened my mouth to let him in. He explored my mouth and I explored the dark fortress that was his. One of Ty's hands slipped around to the small of my back and pressed my hips up against his, making my back arch.
Final conclusion: Stables make very good places to make out with your boyfriend especially when the boyfriend in question is Ty Baldwin.
Than I felt something against my leg, and no it's not what you're thinking you perverts! It felt like something was vibrating… um, is there something I should know here? Apparently Ty felt it to sense he broke away from our serious lip lock and reached into his pocket taking out his silver RAZR. Oooooh, I so knew it was his phone.
I was disappointed that our mini make out session was over and judging by Ty's groan of annoyance he was to. He looked at the caller ID before flipping it and saying, "Hey dad what's up?"
I couldn't resist running my fingers threw Ty's hair, even as he talked to his dad. Sure it was a little weird to be in this position, Ty still had me pressed up against the stall door, while his dad was on the phone but… what his dad can't see won't hurt him.
Finally he got off of the phone and dropped it back into his jeans pocket. He looked down into my eyes and like I did every time I met those emerald green orbs I completely and utterly lost myself in them. "So you remember when my dad said he wanted to see Heartland sometime?"
"Yeah," I responded.
"Well turns out that 'sometime' is now."
"What?" I asked surprised. "He's coming now?"
"Guess so. He said he wants to see the place and the horses and hear about your methods. I told him that you were just about to work Chief and he said that he'd like to watch and that he could wait for a tour."
"Oh, so uh when is he coming?" Well I guess there won't be anymore nice little make outs.
"He said he was on his way and should be here in 2 minutes." Okay so we REALLY can't make out anymore more. Man, parents ruin everything.
Chief snorted and stamped his hoof on the ground behind Ty. Unfortunately, Ty let go of my waist and turned around. I stepped to his side and Chief bobbed his head up and down as if to say, "Let's go!"
"But you were going to ride Chief today!" I said disappointed, I'd been looking forward to getting to watch Ty and now I had a legitimate reason to stare at him while he did so. After all I was supposed to be treating Chief.
"Yeah," Ty said clearly disappointed. "Well maybe he won't stay long. Let's go up to the ring anyway," he suggested.
"Yeah I guess so." I looked at Chief who was raring to go outside and get some exercise. "Chief needs some exercise anyway."
We led Chief up to one of the exercise arenas that had a medium height course of 12 jumps set up around it. Chief pricked his ears excitedly when he saw the jumps. That was the one thing I hadn't yet done with him! Jumping. So maybe he only hurt while jumping?
"I haven't jumped him yet!" I exclaimed to Ty.
"Really?" Ty asked incredulously. "Do you think there might be something wrong when he jumps?"
I shrugged, trying not to look too hopeful but I was really hoping that I'd finally figure out why Chief had acted odd at the show. "Guess we'll find out today."
"So are you going to get on him?" Ty asked me. "You can borrow my helmet," he tossed me his charcoal gray GPA helmet. I caught it and put it on my head where it proceeded to fall over my eyes.
"I see someone has quite the big head," I remarked jokingly as I pulled the helmet off.
Ty laughed. "Well…" he stopped and looked over my shoulder. "Dad's here," he said.
I turned around to and saw a gleaming black Hummer H3 (a/n: Hummers are so hot!) pulling into Heartland's driveways. After it parked Brad Baldwin jumped out of the driver's seat. He took off his sunglasses as he looked around that fields and barns. When he caught sight of Ty and I watching from a little ways off he waved and strode confidently over to us.
"Nice place you've got here Amy," Brad remarked as he reached us.
"Thank you Mr. Bal… I mean Brad."
Brad turned to Chief and patted his neck affectionately. Chief, in turn, whickered a greeting to Brad. "How's ol' Chiefy boy doing?"
"Well he's been fine so far, no indication of any trace of a problem," I said slowly hoping that he didn't freak out at this news like his wife had.
"Hm," was all Brad said but than he added, "Never thought there was anything wrong with him in the first place."
"You didn't?" I asked surprised.
"Of course I didn't. Chief's just not that kind of horse and I think that by now I know horses."
"So what do you think happened at the show that day?" I asked Brad.
"I couldn't say," Brad said. "But horses have their bad days, just like humans."
"True," I agreed.
"But of course Liz doesn't see it that way. Convinced there's something wrong with him she is."
"Well that's mom for you," Ty agreed as he rubbed the white star on Chief's forehead.
Brad nodded in agreement. "So, what were you going to do with him today?" Brad inquired looking at me intently.
I glanced at Ty. "Oh uh, I was just going to ride him, put him through his paces, you know. Maybe take him over a few jumps at the end."
There was a glint in Brad's eyes as he looked down at the helmet I was still holding. "Is that your helmet?"
I looked down at Ty's helmet. "Oh yeah, it's mine," I said quickly. I glanced at Ty and saw him trying to suppress a laugh. I put the helmet back on my head hoping that it would magically fit this time around. It didn't, it fell right over my eyes so that all I saw was the dark inside of the helmet. Ty gave up on trying to hold in his laughter and burst out laughing, loudly.
"Is this another of the techniques Heartland uses?" Brad said chuckling a little himself. "Riding blind?"
"Uh…" I took off the helmet and glanced at Ty who was all but doubled over laughing. It wasn't that funny, was it? I crossed the distance between us in a few strides and hit him on the head with the helmet.
"Hey," Ty said looking up at me. "What was that for?" The corners of his lips were still lifted in a grin and he was still laughing a little.
"You have a big head," I said simply shoving the helmet into his hands.
"I know its Ty's helmet," Brad said. He took the helmet from Ty and pointed to one of the sides. "See? The Baldwin Ways emblem." Sure enough there it was, on the side of the helmet. Oh brother.
"Do you have anything that doesn't have this on it?" I said as I jabbed my thumb at the emblem.
"Well," Ty said. "Most of my barn stuff has it on it." He shrugged, "Mom's like the personalzation Nazi or something."
"So what were you really going to do today?" Brad asked questioningly peering at us both intently.
"Actually I was going to ride Chief," Ty put in.
Brad was silent for a minute. Oh god he's going to be so pissed off at me I. "So why aren't you on him yet?" huh? That was defiantly not what I was expecting.
Apparently Ty was just as surprised at Brad's reaction as I was if what he said next was any indication, "Huh? You don't care that I was going to get on him? Mom said…"
"I don't care," Brad cut in. "Remember when I told you that I didn't think there was anything wrong with him? I meant that. We can keep this our little secret, your mother need never know." He paused for a moment. "So go on, get on him. Show us all what you two can do together."
Ty shoved his helmet over his head and buckled the buckle under his chin. I went to unlatch the gate and held it open so that Ty could lead Chief through.
"Just remember that the saddle's the one that you wore at the show. It might have been pinching him so just take it easy at first and…"
Ty cut me off with a laugh, "I know," he assured me before he passed me and was inside the ring. I closed the gate behind him and latched it shut. I than went and stood next to Brad behind the fence. I leaned against the top fence post as I watched Ty lightly swing himself up into the saddle. He stood up in the stirrups for a moment before slowly lowering his weight into the saddle. Once he was sitting he didn't move for a moment. Chief swung his head up and craned his neck around to look up at Ty.
"Probably can't believe Ty's up there again," Brad said softly from next to me.
Soon Ty started walking Chief around the ring. However, walking was not good enough for Chief and he pranced about excitedly at having Ty riding him again. Ty sat deep in the saddle and soon had Chief collected and going smoothly. Ty moved Chief up to a trot using no visible signals. Ty posted smoothly around the ring for a few laps before he transitioned smoothly to a sitting trot. Chief seemed to float effortlessly around the sand in the ring and it was clear what a good pair the two were. Watching Ty riding Chief I felt almost like I had when I would watch mum do join-up with horses when I was little. Ty did figure eights, circles and serpentines at the trot, posting and sitting, and at the canter he performed a few perfectly executed flying lead changes.
After about fifteen minutes Ty circled Chief at the top of the ring and faced him towards the four foot vertical. If Ty was jumping Chief than obviously he didn't feel as though there was any problem. I trusted Ty's judgment that he wouldn't ever do anything if he thought it would hurt Chief.
As Chief approached the first jump he tried to rush it but Ty kept him steady and they flew over it perfectly. The same could be said for the other eleven jumps in the course.
As they cleared the last four and a half foot double with over a foot to spare Brad started clapping and I joined him.
Ty cantered Chief in a circle at the bottom of the ring by where we were and than slowed him back to a walk. Ty directed Chief over to where I was standing with Brad. Ty clapped Chief on the neck and Ty had a huge grin on his face. He dismounted in front of us.
"You looked great Ty!" Brad told his son proudly.
"That was amazing!" I exclaimed. "So are we ruling out that it was the saddle?" I asked even though I already knew the answer to that question. There was just no way that chief had been in any sort of physical pain during that little show.
Ty shook his head. "It's defiantly not the saddle," he confirmed as he unbuckled his helmet and took it off. He brushed the dark brown hair away from his eyes and said, "In fact he felt perfect, just like he always does." Ty frowned. "So what could have happened?"
"Like I said, horses have bad days to, just like us," Brad commented.
"I guess." Ty said uncertainly. "But Chief had been fine before the show and when we got there. It was just right before I went into the ring that he started to act up. It didn't feel like he was 'in a bad mood' and it feel like he was in pain. It felt like… I dunno. Like there nothing I could do to calm him down and he was in his own little world where something was preventing him from listening and doing things correctly. I shouldn't have even taken him into the ring, I should have just scratched," Ty said defeated as he played with Chief's silky bay mane.
"Maybe he ate something that upset his stomach?" Brad suggested.
"That's what I thought to," I commented. "I guess now that's our main cause."
CIC- Commander In Chief
Saturday, the show
"Hey Sunny," I said to my beautiful buckskin gelding as I walked into the trailer through the little door on the side. Sunny pricked his ears excitedly and whined, Sunny loved show days. I untied Sunny's lead rope and led him down the ramp that I had just lowered with Ty's help. Once out in the open Sunny held his head high and took in the bustling show grounds. I led him to the side of the trailer where Ty was standing and tied him to the hook on the side.
"Hey he looks great!" Ty commented as he took in Sunny's buckskin coat gleaming in the slight sunshine and braided mane and flowing tail.
"Thanks," I smiled happily. "Today's going to be a good day; I wanted him to look his best."
"Yeah. We should go sign you in and get your number," Ty said as he glanced at his watch.
"You're right," I said to him before turning back to Sunny. "I'll be right back, be a good boy," I told him. He whickered at me as if to say, "Am I ever anything but?"
I went with Ty up to the sign in table and signed in. The lady manning the sign in table gave me my number, which was 222, and told me that my class was due to start in 30 minutes and that I was to be the last competitor.
When we returned to Sunny he was swishing his tail and nibbling on some of the grass. Since I still had awhile left before I went into the ring I took Sunny over to the trough for some water.
There was someone else at the trough to. It was that guy Daniel Lawson and his horse, Burning Amber.
"Hey," I said casually as I made sure to keep Sunny a fair distance from the other horse since sometimes Sunny could be a little rude to other horses.
"What's up?" Ty seconded.
"Oh you know, this and that," Daniel answered. "So are you guys entered in the high junior jumpers?"
"I am," I said.
"I'm not," Ty said.
Daniel looked at Ty and said, "Oh right you had the fall a couple weeks ago right?" Ty nodded in confirmation and Daniel smiled. "Why aren't you competing this week? You seem to be fine."
"I am fine," Ty said. "I'll be back in a week or two."
"Oh that's good," Daniel said dully with a smile that seemed a little forced.
"So wha…" I started but abruptly stopped when Sunny snapped his teeth at Burning Amber and pinned his ears back. I stroked Sunny's neck. "Sorry about that," I said to Daniel. "Sometimes he does that to other horses." Sunny swished his tail angrily and threw up his head.
"Oh it's okay," Daniel said. "I understand."
"Sunny what's wrong?" I asked as he threw his head up again. I patted his neck and noticed that there was a patch of sweat forming there even though it wasn't a particularly hot day today. I dismissed his behavior for his normal antics and turned to Ty.
"Let's head back to the trailer," I said.
Ty looked at his watch, "Yeah you should start to get ready soon."
I turned Sunny around and started walking back towards my trailer when Daniel called out, "Good luck in the competition today!"
"Yeah thanks, you to," I called back distractedly as Sunny struck the ground with his front hoof and gave a little buck. "What's going on Sunny?" I asked softly as I tied him back to the side of the trailer.
Luckily, I had already groomed him so I only ran the soft brush over him to get any dust or dirt that had settled on him while traveling off. As I ran the brush over Sunny's hind quarters he stamped the ground with a back hoof and snorted. "Hey," I said softly as I stroked his neck soothingly. "What's going on Sunny?"
"What's going on?" Ty asked as he rejoined me with my saddle, saddle pads, girth and bridle slung over his arm.
I looked at him in confusion, "I don't know. Sunny's acting strange." As if to prove my point Sunny threw his head up into the air. I looked back at Ty, "I wouldn't worry about it though, sometimes he just gets like this," I tried to shrug it off.
"Okay…" Ty said like he didn't really believe that that was what was wrong.
Sunny stood quietly while I put the saddle on his back but when I reached under him stomach to take the girth Ty was passing to me he swung his head around and snapped his teeth in my direction. I dropped the girth back to the ground in shock; Sunny's never tried to bite me before.
"Whoa!" I exclaimed as I stood back up. I stroked Sunny's silky muzzle he seemed to calm down a little but I could still see a little of the whites of his eyes.
"Amy," Ty addressed me hesitantly. "This is exactly how Chief was acting before the last show."
I shook my head like it was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. There was no way that Sunny was going to start acting like Chief had. "No. Before I got Sunny he was very abused and sometimes has his moods. That's all this is. He will be fine when I get on him." I stressed my point.
"Well he's your horse so you know him best but I'm just saying that he's acting exactly the same way Chief was and you know what happened than."
I fastened the girth and this time Sunny didn't try to bite me. "See," I said facing Ty as I fastened the buckles. "He's already calming down."
"Maybe…" Ty trialed off and looked at Sunny skeptically.
I looked at my watch and was relived to see that it was time to go over to the warm up ring and warm Sunny up. I slipped off my sweatpants to reveal immaculate tan breeches, I took off my muck boots and zip up and buttoned my white show shirt over my white tank top and pulled on my gleaming, black leather high boots. I shrugged on my navy blue blazer and buttoned the silver buttons and slipped on my black leather gloves.
"Ready?" Ty asked me once I was all dressed.
"Yeah," I said as I grabbed my spotless, black velvet show helmet. I took a hold of Sunny's reins and led him forwards. He seemed to go willingly enough.
Once we got to the warm up ring I pulled down my stirrups and mounted. Sunny sidestepped when I sank my weight down into the saddle. "Shhh," I hushed him as I patted his neck. I walked around the ring a few times to settle him down. Eventually Sunny began to accept the bit and got his haunches underneath himself but I couldn't help but notice that he lacked his usual grace and style and confidence. I pushed him forwards into a trot and his usually smooth movements were choppy and disoriented. After Sunny was adequately warmed up I faced him towards the practice fence which was a two foot vertical. I had to steady him when he tried to rush the fence but we cleared it nevertheless. Upon our landing Sunny gave an angry swish of his tail.
After I rode a few more fences I dismounted and led Sunny over to where Ty was watching from the fence.
"Are you sure he's okay?" Ty asked again sounding concerned.
"Yeah," I tried to say lightly. But inside I was worried about what was going on with Sunny.
We headed over to the ring and watched the competitors before me compete. No one had a really impressive round except Daniel Lawson; he was currently in first place.
As Daniel finished his round I mounted back up onto Sunny who again sidestepped. I applied slight pressure to the reins and after a second he calmed down.
"Good luck," Ty said to me as Daniel soared over his last fence. The big, stocky horse he was riding moved with unusual grace for such a cumbersome animal. "Be careful," he added.
I smiled down at him. "Thanks Ty and don't worry, I'll be fine. Sunny would never hurt me."
"Not on purpose he wouldn't," Ty added. "Chief would never purposely hurt me either."
"And the next and final competitor in the high junior jumpers program is our last week's winner Amy Fleming on Sundance!" The announcer cried out and I push Sunny forward into the ring leaving Ty behind.
When I was in the ring the crowd exploded with applause and Sunny threw his head up and started a nervous canter at the noise. This confused me; Sunny had never had a problem with crowds and noise before. "It's okay Sunny boy," I said to him soothingly as I eased back down to a choppy walk. "That's just your fan crowd. Remember? You like them."
When the buzzer went off I pushed Sunny up into a canter that he was reluctant to take. He hollowed his back and threw his head up as I approached the first jump. Suddenly the five foot jumps looked daunting. Sunny tried to rush the fence but I managed to steady him. After we landed on the other side Sunny gave a small buck of protest and pounded up to the next jump. This time it took every ounce of strength I had in me to keep Sunny at a suitable pace. He cantered stiffly and gave a tremendous leap to get over the fence, slightly unseating me. Sunny's ears flattened against his head and he took advantage of my momentary lapse in concentration and attempted to snatch the reins away from me. He managed to grab the bit a little making the third jump worse than the other two.
As we rounded the bottom of the ring I attempted to sooth Sunny. "Come on Sunny, please!" I said exasperatedly as my soothing attempts failed to do any good. His ear wasn't even flickered back like it normally was listening to me. What was going on?
I saw Ty standing by the fence worriedly. He raised his eyebrows at me as if to say "What's going on?" I just shook my head in despair before I turned my attention back to my horse.
The next fence was a five foot double that was in the middle of the ring. I used my legs to turn Sunny and he gave a buck of distaste before he picked up a very fast pace. I couldn't move Sunny in a different direction and I couldn't pull him up. There was nothing I could do and I knew the best we could do for this fence was crash through it. I clutched a handful of Sunny's mane and held on with my legs. I was leaning low over Sunny's neck to try and distribute my weight evenly when he through his head up into the air. His neck connected with my face, specifically my noise and I felt dizzy.
I thought for sure that Sunny was just going to stop and refuse the fence, which I would have been very thankful for, but no such luck. Sunny jumped up into the air like a rabbit in front of the jump and I was jerked upwards with him loosing a stirrup in the process. I managed to stay in the saddle, barely, as the polls went flying everywhere. When Sunny's hooves hit the soft, sandy ground on the other side of the jump he lost his footing and I was tossed from his back sending the few polls still upright falling to the ground as I crashed through them heavily.
My head felt weird and I hurt everywhere, especially my back and my legs. The last thing I saw was Sunny bucking around the ring, exactly like Chief had been and Ty dashing across the sand towards me before the final poll gave way and I fell down flat on my back.
A/n: so there's chapter 10! I hope you liked it! It's pretty long to. I'll update sooner than this time. Review!