Authors Note

I didn't really like the last chapter but you guys seemed to like it so it's all good. This chapter should be better and this story is now unofficially officially winding down. But there will be a good 5 more chapters, at the least. Basically it's reached the climax, or whatever you call it. But the problem still needs to be solved. Hehehehe! Review!

Everyone that's reading this should read 'The Peak'! I've just figured out the whole story and it's going to be AWESOME! Anyone like high speeds and ah-mazing cars and bad-boys? Of course you do! Who doesn't? READ!

Disclaimer: Based loosely on characters created and owned by Lauren Brooke.

Commander In Chief

Chapter 12

Amy's POV

A week later

"Mom," I whined as my mom steered me back to the living room. "I'm fine, really. It's been a week. I want to go see Sunny!"

Mom pushed me down onto the couch and handed me the remote control for the TV. "Amy you know the doctor said you should rest," she pointed out.

"But I have! For a whole week!" Damn the stupid doctors I'm sick of sitting around the house. It's like house arrest!

"Doctor Parsons said you need to stay in the house and rest for at least 10 days," she told me.

"It's already been 7," I groaned. I wasn't used to having to sit in the house all day, especially when there were barns full of horses right down the hill! And with the whole thing of Sunny being poisoned… argh.

"And you have 3 more to go," my mom said stubbornly, "When 10 days are over than you can go out."

"Mom it's not fair! I want to see Sunny."

"Amy I've told you everyday that Sundance is fine. The drug, Rabidus Equus, took its course and left. He's fine," she stressed.

"But…" I tried to protest.

"No buts," mom shushed me. "You can visit him in 3 days. Until than you are on house rest."

"More like house arrest," I mumbled grumpily but from the stern look my mother gave me I'm guessing she heard.

"Whatever you may call it, it's staying. Now you can watch TV, go on the computer, do the work your schools sent over, read, anything that's inside the house. You can make yourself something to eat. You can even sit in the backyard but no going down to the barns."

"Fine," I pouted.

"Amy, you're 16. I shouldn't have to remind you of something so simple everyday."

"Okay," I rolled my eyes. I know, petty but you try being caged up in the house for a week… all alone. Well except for when Ty's been here helping me with my 'homework'. Humph, that's what my mom thinks. Take that mo…

"Amy, are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" Mom asked tiredly and I was yanked from my thoughts.

Apparently I wasn't. "Huh?"

Mom sighed. "I said that Ty was stopping by later to check on Chief. I'll send him up here later on, okay?"

"Fine."

"You might want to change your pants though," she suggested with a glance at my jeans.

"Why? There's nothing wrong with them." I looked down at my jeans. They were all ripped up at the knees and had a few tears on the thighs. They were old and comfortable. I loved them but my mom hated them. Couple that with my black Billabong sweatshirt and it was all good.

"You know I don't like those jeans Ames." See? Told you she hated them. "I thought you were going to throw them away?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "As you said, I'm not going anywhere."

"I know it's no fun being cooped up in here all day," mom said and I snorted. "But it's almost over and we don't want to risk you getting hurt even more than you already are."

"I'm fine!" I said exasperatedly. I shook my head around to prove my point… okay so it only hurt a little but I'm still conscious! That's a major plus.

"We're not taking any chances," mom said sternly. Than she reached over and ruffled my hair succeeding in making even more of it come loose from my already messy pony-tail. "Have fun!" she said brightly before she walked out of the room. I heard the door close and her footsteps crunching on the gravel of the drive. And what was I doing? I was left behind, slumped on the living room couch with hair in my face. I blew at my hair and a piece fluttered up briefly before landing on my nose again.

After I got my hair into a semi okay pony-tail I flipped on the TV. Jimmy Newtron? Ha-ha, nope. Full House? Nuh huh, that show is so over. The Suit Life of Zach and Cody? Maybe, it's funny. Clifford the Big Red Dog? Yeah, I'm not in Kindergarten. I don't need to learn about sharing and friends. Jerry Springer? Dr. Phil? What am I? Like 50? ...Kids Next Door…? The Suit Life it is! Damn why is there nothing on the TV during the day? These people that make up the TV schedule should really take into thought that there are people, other that 2 year olds or parents with nothing to do, home during the day. And to top it off the episode of The Suite Life of Zach and Cody was the one where there's the horse, Tippy, loose in the hotel.

Half an hour later I clicked off the TV and trudged into the kitchen. After ransacking every cupboard, drawer and cabinet for something to eat I came to the conclusion that no one in my house has been grocery shopping for a week, at least. Why'd the lady that normally cooks for us have to take the week off to go vacationing in Bermuda? We're all going to starve…

This house is making me crazy!

Finally I decided that I should just go outside, in the backyard of course. I slid open the sliding glass door adjacent to the kitchen and walked out onto the lavish patio that my mom is so proud of. I jumped down the 3 stairs leading up to the porch and winced as I jarred my still bruised side. I walked down the sweeping, immaculate green lawn towards the pool. I only stopped under one of the big trees bordering the yard and grabbed a stick. I sat down on the edge of the pool with my legs Indian style. I rested my arm on my leg and propped my head up on my hand. I absently dragged the stick threw the water, swirling around a lone leaf that was floating in the crystal clear water.

My life is just so interesting…

I thought back to the show and when Scott told us that Sundance had tested Positive for Rabidus Equus. Rabidus Equus is, apparently, an old drug that used to be quite popular in horse racingwhich would explain why Ty had obviously heard of it before. Upon its arrival in the horse world it was used as a vitamin for horses, almost like a steroid that helped horses perform at a higher level. But it was used by vets as a medication for some diseases. The drug became quite common on the race track and was eventually banned when it began to exhibit side effects such as, restlessness, bucking, nervousness and anxiety. Rabidus Equus is a drug that works shockingly fast and is incredibly rare and very hard to get seeing as it is illegal and the penalty for having it is sever. The drug usually passes through the horses system in an hour or two leaving the animal as its normal self. But its quick passing time meant that you had to work fast if you had any hopes of catching a trace of it in the horses' blood stream. Unless given too frequently or in large doses it doesn't cause any harm to come to the horse… the damage a horse could do while under the effects of Rabidus Equus is, however, sever. All of this came into play and earned the drug the name Rabidus Equus or 'Crazy Horse' in Latin.

But the question was how did Sunny ingest the Rabidus Equus? Was there some on the ground? Maybe the drug has a base from a plant that was growing by my trailer. But the most likely possibility was that someone had given it to Sunny. But that was absurd, who would do that? I've only lived in Virginia for a couple months; I hardly think that that's enough time for someone to develop a grudge on me.

"Hey," I heard a deep voice say behind me and I whipped around in surprise to see Ty standing in back of me.

"Hi," I smiled up at him.

"What are you doing down here?"

I laughed, "What else am I going to do? I'm on house arrest."

"Not quite," Ty grinned down at me mischievously. "I've been here haven't I?"

"Yes, that's been the best part of all of this." I sighed and looked back at the water.

Ty grabbed my arm and pulled me up to my feet. I wobbled a bit and Ty's arm went around my waist to steady me.

Before I had time to comprehend what was happening Ty's lips were on mine and I felt the familiar sensation of his tongue on my bottom lip. I granted him access without hesitation. Ty had a strong hand on either side of my waist and was holding me close up against him. My arms moved around his broad shoulders and I ran my fingers through his silky hair. One of Ty's hands drifted from its place on my hip and gravitated towards the small of my back. I moaned in anticipation and hope that said hand might just happen to slip up under my shirt. I felt Ty's lips curve up into a smile against mine but instead he broke our contact. I groaned in frustration.

"Come," Ty said as he picked up my hand and led me over to the lounge area next to the pool. With a grin he sat down on a couch like thing that had dark wooden legs and was covered in dark red pillows and cushions and pulled me down onto his lap. I snuggled up against his hard chest and one of his arm snaked around my back, holding me in place, while one of mine went around his neck. "So…"

"So what?" I murmured against the material of his jacket.

"So… why are you out here again?" he asked me again.

I sat up straighter and said, "There's nothing to do," I shrugged.

"How are you feeling?" Ty asked sounding concerned.

"Fine," I answered truthfully. "My side's still a little bruised but otherwise I'm fine."

"That's good," he said softly as he began kissing my neck.

Oooooh that felt so good… I was in danger of loosing myself in him again, not that that would be so bad. But I had to ask him something first. "Ty?"

"Hmm?" he murmured against my neck. This is so not fair…

"I…" I started to say but than his lips met a really sensitive part of my neck, right under my ear by my jaw, and I officially lost my self in the sensations and moaned embarrassingly loud.

"Were you saying something?" Ty asked me jokingly after he had trailed a path of blazing hot kisses along my jaw. When his eyes met mine I noticed that the twin emeralds were glinting and twinkling (a/n: I hate the word 'twinkling', especially when used in context with Ty… bleck, oh well) with mischievousness. My fingers laced themselves through his thick, brown hair before I pulled his head down to mine. His soft, luscious lips crashed against mine and I was swimming. Almost immediately I felt Ty's tongue running along my bottom lip and I opened my mouth eagerly and let him explore while I did the same to him. (a/n: I CAN'T WRITE THIS! AAAAAAAAAAAAH! Gag this is horrible, I'm more of an action kind of girl not… this… -whimpers- save me, this one paragraph took me like 30 minutes to write! I kept stopping and drawing on my desk with sharpie every other word! I now have a big, yet colorful, blob on my desk that looks strangely like that Cingular guy, Motto or whatever…)

"Ugh get a room!" A young boy's voice exclaimed disgustedly. (a/n: this is me tactfully skipping anything of that variety that I'd otherwise explain. Make it up, use your imagination) I put my hands on Ty's hard chest and pushed him off of me, when did I end up lying on the couch flat on my back with him on top of me? Ty shifted his weight off of me and sat up, regrettably his hand slipped out of my sweatshirt, where he had been running his nimble fingers along the skin just on top of the waist band of my jeans. Man, what a couple fingers can do to a girl… ahem.

Alex. Yes, there was my 12 year old brother standing by the side of the pool with a few of his friends… watching me make out with my boyfriend. Can anyone say awkward? There were two other guys with him and two girls; I recognized them all as friends of Alex's that he had brought home from school several times before, I don't remember their names though. They were all Alex's age.

"Alex, what are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Last I checked this was a free house and I could go where ever I wanted," Alex oh so very artfully retorted.

"Shouldn't you be working Artemis?" I asked referring to his horse, a dapple gray Hanoverian. "You know, for the show next week?" Alex also competed in jumping just in the lower classes with the lower fences.

"Mom said to give Arty the day off," Alex replied. I looked at him curiously. Alex noticed my confusion and clarified. "I took him on the trails yesterday and did a bunch of cross country. Remember?"

"No," I replied flatly. "I'm not aloud to leave the house. Remember?" I mimicked him.

"Oh right." Alex looked Ty and I up and down slyly. "Didn't look like you were having a bad time though," he said 'innocently'.

"Alex," I said warningly. "Go away."

"I'm going, I'm going," Alex said as he started to walk back up to the house, his friends in tow. He stopped halfway up the lawn and yelled, "Remember to use protection kids!" before bursting into laughter, his friends joined him. What are they teaching 6th graders in school these days? "You learn some valuable things in health class, I just never thought I'd have to tell my 16-year-old sister about them!" he yelled out. Oh I guess that's my answer.

I blushed madly and attempted to sink into the lounge.

"Don't be embarrassed Ames!" Apparently Alex wasn't done humiliating me just yet. "Mrs. Crandle said that it's natural and that everyone does it, even our grandparents still do it!" (a/n: ew health class brings back some nasty memories… oh my god I have health class next Monday… for 6 weeks… save me…)

Oh my god… can you just say EW! I so didn't want to know that.

To make it worse I heard one of the girls in Alex's group say in a mock stage whisper, "Hey wasn't that Ty Baldwin?"

"Eh me god!" the other girl squealed and I flinched at the high, piercing sound. "You're so right Lexi! He is so hot!"

"Totally," the first girl, apparently here name is Lexi, agreed with her friend.

"Dude," one of the guys said. "Forget about rich boy, what about your sister Al?"

"Amy?" I heard Alex say. I could almost see him wrinkling his noise just like he does every time he's disgusted. "Are you ser…"

"Alex go AWAY!" I yelled loudly and heard their feet scampering up the deck and the door sliding closed. "Oh my god that was so embarrassing," I groaned once they were gone. "I'm so sorry," I said to Ty. I expected him to be mad or at the very least a little embarrassed but oh no! What was he doing? Shaking with laughter is what he was doing.

"S-sorry!" Ty managed to sputter out between laughs when he caught me looking at him in bewilderment. He was almost doubled over from laughing so hard, was it really that funny? Frankly I was mortified. After his laughs had subdued he looked me straight in the face and with his face kept poker straight he said, "Well it looks like I've got myself a fan club," before he was overcome with laughter again. I snorted, okay so it was funny. Soon we were both laughing our heads off. "You've got one to," Ty added.

I hit him in the arm. "Knock it off 'Rich Boy'!"

That just succeeded in sending us into fresh peals of laughter. I clutched my side in pain from all the laughing we were doing. Freshly mended broken ribs and this much laughing defiantly does not agree with each other.

After a few minutes we calmed down. I turned to a still chuckling Ty and said, "So…" I trailed off and shook my head at the fact that he was still laughing.

"So what?" now where have I heard this conversation before?

"So," I said again. "When are you taking Chief back to your place?"

"Oh I don't know," Ty said looking thoughtful. "I suppose it's pretty safe to determine that Chief acted under the influence of Rabidus Equus at this point and that it was not because of any underlying problem but…" Ty sighed and looked up at the sky that was now blanketed with ominous gray clouds; we were defiantly going to get a storm later on. A sudden breeze blew across the yard sending gusts of hot, balmy air in our direction. "It looks like we're going to get a pretty big storm," Ty commented as he pushed the hair the wind had blown across his face out of his eyes.

"Yeah," I agreed with him as I heard a rumble of thunder in the distance. "Maybe we should finish our conversation inside?" I suggested.

"Good idea," Ty agreed and we both started walking leisurely up the large lawn hand in hand. Suddenly I felt splashes of water on my face and noticed that it was starting to rain, and pretty hard at that. "Hurry up!" Ty grabbed my hand and started running towards the house as the rain started coming down harder. We pounded up the porch stairs and barged through the door just as a huge crash of thunder echoed over head. We emerged into the kitchen to see Alex and his friends sitting at the table talking. When we entered they looked up at us.

Alex grinned at the sight of us slightly wet and damp and covered in spots from the rain. "What's up?" is all he said however, which I was thankful for.

"It's raining," I stated obviously as the sound of the rain hitting the roof increased and two cracks of thunder crashed overhead and caused me to jump a little.

"That it is," Alex agreed. He turned back to the conversation he had been having with his friends before we came in and Ty and I headed out of the room and into the living room.

Ty sat in one of the big, comfy armchairs and pulled me down onto his lap. I put my legs over one of the arms of the chair and leaned against his solid chest. "So…" I said.

"So what?" Ty said without thinking. He shook his head and grinned, "We really need to stop doing that."

"Definitely," I agreed. "But what were you saying before?" Ty looked at me in a confused manner and I clarified. "You know about Chief and taking him home all that stuff."

"Oh right," Ty said. "Uh I told my mom about what happened to you and Sunny and what Scott's diagnoses was. I told her that Sunny's behavior had been exactly like Chief's and that it was pretty likely that Chief had also somehow ingested the drug."

"And?" I prodded. "What did she say?"

"She said that unless I could prove that that is what happened to Chief than he can't come back to Baldwin Ways." He shrugged.

"What?" I asked shocked. "Didn't you tell her that Chief has been perfect here? That he doesn't have any problem at all?"

"Of course I did," Ty said. "But she didn't listen; she just said that he was dangerous and unpredictable. Than dad told her that he watched me ride him last week and that we had gone perfectly…"

"Oh no," I said regretfully. "What happened?"

"She flipped out," Ty concluded. "She said that she had given very strict and clear orders that I was not to get on him until he was cured." He absently massaged little circles into my back… oh man did that feel good… Ty continued, "Dad told her that Chief was fine and that nothing happened but it didn't do anything."

"So I guess Chief's staying here awhile longer?" I asked.

"Yeah I guess," Ty sighed. He looked up and grinned at me, "Well at least it gives me an excuse to come over here and see you."

I smiled back. "True," I nodded. "But seriously, how do you think they ingested the Rabidus Equus?" I voiced the question that had been bothering me since Scott had told us the news about Sunny in the hospital a week ago.

"I have no idea," Ty sighed tiredly, like he had already thought about this a million times over and hadn't come up with anything logical, just like I have. "I've heard of Rabidus Equus before from being around racetracks and racehorses all my life so I know something about it. The root of Rabidus Equus is derived from a base of a plant called Deadly Nightshade (a/n: this is a real thing but forget all the scientific stuff and just go with what I say, I'm not in the mood for research at the moment, some of it is right though. Sorry if it's confusing). It's a plant that has little black bulbs that look like berries that are surrounded by small dark colored flowers and grows on a vine."

I nodded in recognition of the name. "I've heard of it." At Heartland we use a lot of alternative natural remedies so I have I pretty wide range of knowledge on that and other plants.

"Okay so than you'll know that Nightshade is extremely poisonous."

"Yeah."

"It's made up of three major things, tropane, jimsonweed, and pyridine. Some of which are also found in tobacco and steroids. Now there are many different types of Nightshade but the kind that I'm guessing the horses came in contact with is the one that used to be so common on the racetrack. (a/n: most of it will now be made up) This version contains a high amount of steroids and a little marijuana leaf added to the original composition of the berry. That is why it was called a vitamin for horses before technology was good enough to find out what was really in it. When Rabidus Equus was first starting to be used it was safer but as time went on more marijuana leaf was added. The resulting affect was a horse that was strong and fast but somewhat crazy at the same time." Ty paused and looked at me. "Got it so far?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "But didn't you say it was highly poisonous?"

"I did," Ty nodded. (a/n: this next bit is actually true) "You see, the berries, when not yet fully ripened are the most poisonous while the fully ripe berries are not as much so. The berries used in the drug or ones that are almost fully ripened. (a/n: and again it is now made up) Keeping in mind that the purpose of the drug is not to kill and that even the ripe berries have some effects on the horse."

"Oh okay," I said in understanding. "So how is the drug formed than?"

"Well the berries are taken and the juices are squeezed from them before being mixed with marijuana leaf powder and a steroid. To add emphasis to the affect the drug has on the horses speed, strength and stamina oats are added to the mixture. When completed the drug is a thick, pasty mixture. The drug is usually administered to the horse through the means of a treat. Apple slices or carrot or peppermint would be added and molded into a horse treat."

"So the horse would just think they are getting a treat?" I comprehended what he was telling me.

"Exactly and the smell of the drugs is covered by the smell of the apple or whatever is added and it gives it a good flavor."

"So how do you think Sunny and Chief got…" I was cut of by a crake of thunder that was louder than any of the others. I jumped a little in Ty's lap and his arms went around my waist reassuringly and protectively. The rain was pounding on the windows and it had suddenly gotten very dark outside. As I was looking out of the window an intense bolt of lightning, that almost seemed to touch the ground, lit up the horizon, illuminating that outline of the forest swaying in the wind. "Okay so how do you think Sunny and Chief got the drug than?" I repeated.

"The only thing I could think of is that someone fed it to them," Ty said.

"That's what I though to," I seconded. "But isn't Rabidus Equus really hard to get?"

"Yeah it is. Ever since it was made illegal it has been in scarce amounts because of the fines and punishments the person violating the law on it are so intense. But if you want it and you know where to find it you can get it. Though it wouldn't come cheap."

"But who would want to poison Sunny and Chief?" I asked in confusion.

"I don't know that either," Ty said sounding just as lost as I felt.

"Maybe someone at the show?" I suggested. "Well duh that's obvious," I reprimanded myself as I processed my words. Ty laughed and I felt it reverberate through his chest. "Someone in our class no doubt or someone who has an in with one of the other riders and wants them to win."

"Yeah," Ty said and he looked lost in thought.

"Was there anything happening that was suspicious at the show last week? Anyone acting strange that you noticed?" I asked.

"Wait," Ty said suddenly. "It was right after we got your number and signed you in that Sunny started acting different, right?"

"Right," I affirmed. "And than we went to the water trough to get Sunny a drink," I tried to remember every detail of the day. "The only other person there was Daniel…" I frowned. "You don't think it was him do you?"

"I just remembered," Ty said after a moment before turning eagerly towards me. "After the paramedics came and took you to the hospital the judge announced the winners. Daniel won and I swear it was the first time I've ever seen him actually smile or seem remotely happy, and I've been showing in the same classes as him for years. I don't know if I imagined it or not but when he saw me his eyes seemed to harden."

I was silent as I thought over this information. Suddenly I remembered more to, "At the water trough Daniel seemed unusually excited and cheerful and than when he said he hoped you were okay he seemed to do it out of spite. And when he asked if you were showing that day…" I trailed off as I remembered the glint I had seen in Daniel's eyes as he spoke to Ty.

We were silent for a moment. I turned my heads towards Ty and met his gaze. "It was him," he said softly.

Just than the phone rang shrilly from next to our chair and I reached over to grab it. "Hello?" I said into it.

"Amy?" My mom's frantic voice cut through the phone.

"Hey mom, what's up?" I asked in concern at the sound of her voice.

"Amy," the static coming through the phone made it difficult for me to hear her. "Listen to me. There's a to…" the phone went dead. No static, no nothing.

"Hello?" I asked even though I knew that she wasn't there anymore. I hung the phone up slowly.

"What happened?" Ty asked in concern as he came and stood next to me.

"That was my mom," I said slowly. "The phone went dead before she could tell me whatever she wanted to say though…" I listened to the wind howling outside. It was much worse than before. There was the noise of various objects of debris hitting the roof and the sides of the house. The rain was no coming down harder.

I was about to say something to Ty when a new noise started up. It sounding like a train, a train that was getting closer and closer by the second. I looked out of the window but it was too dark to see anything. I looked up at Ty. He was standing frozen on the spot. "What…" I started to say but was cut off when Ty was suddenly all action.

"Everyone into the basement!" he yelled in a commanding voice and not 5 seconds later Alex and his four friends were all standing in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Alex asked in confusion.

The howling got louder and there was a blast of thunder that seemed to cause the whole house to shake.

"Everyone into the basement!" he instructed. "NOW! It's a tornado!"

a/n: well that certainly didn't go as planned… maybe I'm not as close to the end as I had originally thought. I don't know what's going to happen though so it would help if you gave me some ideas! Hope you liked it, REVIEW!