Authors Note
I must say, I've gotten a number of interesting threats to continue this story and TP… I take it you guys like it than. And as enjoyable as being trampled by horses or chickens in thongs sounds… I think I'll just go ahead and update. Also, I know how Amy and Ty are going to get back together! What? Did you REALLY think they wouldn't? Hehe, well only I know! I also have a sequel planned for this story, and maybe more after that too. It's kind of obvious what it's going to be about… but you'll just have to wait till later to get the title! Okay I think I'll STOP teasing you now and get on with the chapter… review!
Disclaimer: Based loosely off of characters and events created and owned by Lauren Brooke.
Commander In Chief
Chapter 16
Thursday, Green Acres Prep
Mom's been gone for five days. Five long, horrible days. Nothing's been the same; the only thing I can relay on anymore is the stables and the horses. Dad hasn't been the same since, I hardly even see him anymore but when I do… Lou's basically taken over the whole management side of the business. Most days I find myself, and Alex too, throwing ourselves into working with the horses.
Ty hasn't even called me back.
The funeral came and passed and now dad was making me go back to school. I don't want to, but it's better to stay out of his way and do what he says these days.
I parked my Jeep Liberty in the parking lot, taking extra care to park as far away from the all too familiar black Cadillac Escalade EXT, petty, I know, but I wasn't in the mood. The almost cherry red paint job on my car seemed disgustingly, blindingly bright against my chosen wardrobe: dark washed jeans, black UGG boots, a navy long sleeved shirt from my school in England and my black North Face zipped up.
I held the front strap of my black messenger bag tightly in clenched fists as I walked slowly up to the entrance of my school. I was early, everyone was still hanging out outside. I noticed my friends were under The Tree, our usual spot and slowed down even more. Again, I wasn't in the mood. I eyed the doors to the school, wondering if I could slip through unnoticed and hide out in the library until the bell rang. I slightly angled myself in that direction when…
"AMY!" a voice yelled.
I froze like a deer caught in the headlights of a large vehicle. I turned slowly. I sighed in relief; it was just Soroya, gesturing widely for me to join them. I sighed; there was no running away now. I walked slowly towards them, my gaze fixed a determinably ahead despite all the eyes I could feel on me.
Soroya launched herself on me as soon as I reached them. I hugged her back.
"I'm so sorry," she murmured. She finally let me go and I pulled back. To my utter horror I felt my eyes fill with tears again. I stared at the ground and blinked furiously, no way was I going to cry again, not here at least. The rest of my friends softly spoke their condolences. I just nodded, still feeling the overwhelming feeling that I was about to cry again.
"Well I'm glad your back," Soroya tried to say brightly, the rest of my friends quickly agreed with her. I sniffled.
"Erm… Amy?" A voice asked uncertainly behind my back.
I quickly tried to wipe all evidence of any tears from my cheeks before I turned around. I came face to face with Lee, Ty's brother. I almost had to look up at him to see his face; I guess I never realized how tall he was before. "Oh hi, Lee," I said.
"Hi," he repeated. "I just wanted to say sorry, about your mom and all."
"Thanks, Lee," I said gratefully. "That means a lot."
He nodded his head. I thought he was going to walk away but he stopped and turned back to me. "About Ty…" he began hesitantly.
"I don't want to talk about him," my voice hardened substantially.
"Oh, well I just wanted to say that he's an idiot." A small giggle escaped my lips at that, Lee sounded so serious. A smile graced Lee's lips too. "You're really great Amy," he complimented me, "Ty was stupid to let you go."
I smiled; at least his brother was more considerate. "Thanks but," I paused unsurely. "It was both our faults I guess."
"You could call him," Lee suggested casually. My face darkened. Lee noticed. "What?" he asked slowly.
"I did call him," I responded. "He never called me back."
Lee seemed only marginally surprised. "I think he lost his phone," Lee explained helpfully.
"You don't have to make up excuses for him, it's not your fault," I told Lee. Lee seemed about to object but I continued, "I guess something's just weren't meant to be, right?" I tried to say lightly. Key word being: tried.
"Um yeah," Lee said uncomfortably. "I should be going," he said eventually. "Bye," he called over his shoulder as he walked away.
As I turned back around to face my friends again I caught sight of Ty. He was sitting on top of a bench, surrounded by a bunch of his friends. They were all laughing. Suddenly, as if he felt my eyes on him he raised his head and his brilliant green eyes met mine. I felt my breath catch in my throat and I was physically unable to break the contact. Finally, someone said something to Ty and he was forced to break the eye lock to respond. I quickly turned back around before he could look up again.
Thankfully, five minutes later the bell rang, signaling that we had ten minutes to go to our lockers and get to homeroom. Everyone began to wander towards the front doors. I walked besides my friends, slowly. We were passing the benches where Ty and his group were located when they finally decided to move. I didn't see Ty, he was undoubtedly somewhere in the middle of his big group. I did, however, see Ashley. She was perched on top of one of the benches, legs crossed in front of her looking more perfect than she should. When she saw me her face brightened sickeningly and she smiled widely and waved.
"Oh, Amy!" she called out. The rest of her group silenced to hear what she was going to say, or what I was going to do. I kept my gaze turned resolutely forwards, refusing to look at her.
"I was right, wasn't I?" she yelled giddily. I was confused but didn't say anything. We had passed the benches and the school doors were insight. But that didn't stop Ashley as she called after my retreating back. "I told you he'd drop you and come back to me!" she said something else but I wasn't paying attention.
I walked a little bit faster, ahead of my friends now, eager to get into the building. My stomach churned nauseatingly at the sound of Ashley and her friend's high cackles.
I knew it. I knew he'd be back with her.
School had yet to start and this was already, officially, the worst day. I was tempted to just leave and not wait to see what other horrors the day had in store for me. But, not eager to face my dad and his new attitude I kept walking, straight ahead without looking back.
Commander In Chief
After school
I was up and out of my seat as soon as the final bell rang. I dashed to my locker and grabbed my books, stuffing them into my bag before I pushed my way through the crowded halls, desperate to get to the doors. I walked quickly to the parking lot, waving goodbye to my friends. I jumped into my Jeep Liberty and started the engine.
I was just about to back up when I saw Ty approaching through the windshield. Upon seeing I was about to leave he broke into a jog. "Wait," I didn't hear the word but I saw his lips move. I shook my head sadly and backed out of the parking spot and drove away. I made the mistake of glancing in the rearview mirror once and saw Ty standing in the parking space I had just evacuated, a funny expression on his face. Before I could analyze it any further I snapped my gaze back to the road.
When I arrived home I parked my car in the driveway and, leaving my bag in the car, headed down to the stables without changing out of my school clothes first. I went into the office, first, to see Lou. I stepped in and my greeting died on my lips as I saw that she was on the phone. She glanced up at me briefly when she heard me enter and held up a finger, indicating that I should wait a moment.
"Yes sir," she said into the receiver in her business voice. "One moment, let me just find the papers," she said. She clutched the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she turned her chair around and pulled open a drawer on a filling cabinet. Not a minute later she spun back around, a manila folder clutched in her hands. "Alright, I've got it." She paused as the person on the other line spoke. "Of course," she said. "If I could just have your name and address…" she scribbled something down on a paper. "Thank you very much, Mr. Henderson, for your interest in Gypsy May, we'll be expecting you tomorrow at noon. Have a nice day." She hung up the phone and turned to me. She opened her mouth to greet me but I beet her to it.
"Lou, what was that?" I asked slowly. "Gypsy May was mom's horse."
"I know," Lou sighed, defeated. She rubbed her eyes wearily. "That was someone calling about her; she's up for sale, Amy."
"What?" I gasped in shock. "Since when?"
"Dad decided a few days ago," Lou replied.
"A few days ago? But we can't sell Gyps!" I exclaimed.
"It wasn't my decision, Amy," Lou told me sadly. "I don't want to see her go any more than you do but…"
"How could he?" I exclaimed, the hurt painfully present in my voice. "Gypsy May was mom's horse," I repeated feebly.
The phone rang shrilly again before Lou could respond. She gave me an apologetic look but reached for it anyway. "Heartland," she began, "Lou Fleming speaking, how may I help you?"
I slipped out of the office, leaving Lou to do her job, and went looking for dad. I finally found him in the show horse barn (the one Commander In Chief was in). He was talking to one of the stable hands.
"Dad, can I talk to you?" I asked immediately as I reached his side.
"I'm busy, Amy," he answered me. The stable hand, Ben I think it was, waved and walked away, back to his work. Dad, not paying me any attention, continued down the barn aisle and disappeared into the tack room. I followed him. He was assessing the saddle racks.
"Dad," I began hesitantly, already well aware he didn't want to talk to me. When I spoke again it was in a rush. "Why are you selling Gypsy May?"
Dad sighed but kept his eyes on the racks. He marked something on a clipboard he held in his hands. "Not now, Amy," he said.
"Gypsy May is mom's horse!" I exclaimed anyway. "You can't sell her!"
"I am in charge here," dad responded. "I can sell, or do anything for that matter, that I want."
"But she's mom's horse!" I said again.
"She was your mother's horse," dad pointed out acidly. "However, she has no use for a horse now and Gypsy May is taking up a stall that could be used for another horse," dad concluded.
"We have plenty of stalls!" I argued.
Finally, dad turned to me. "I do not want to have this discussion Amy!" he roared. I stepped back, startled. "That horse has no reason to stay. She's going to the first person who wants her and that's final!"
The familiar, tell tale prickling at the back of my eyes arrived. "But..." I tried again.
"That's final Amy!" Dad stated again. He turned back to the racks and I knew I was dismissed. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment as the cool tears caressed the burning flesh. I fled from the tack room and down the barn aisle, blinded by my tears, having only instinct tell me which way to the door. I continued running until something stopped me. Actually, it was more like a 'someone'. A 'someone' I ran into and to keep me from falling gripped my shoulders.
"Sorry, sorry," I gasped in surprised and tried to clear my tears from my face, which was not easy, with the person holding my arms and all.
"That's okay," a horribly familiar voice answered.
I looked up and jumped backwards in surprise, it was Ty. His hands fell to his sides and his amused smile dissolved when he saw my tears. "Oh sorry!" I gasped again. "What are you doing here?" I managed to ask, suspiciously.
"We're here to look at Commander In Chief," a new voice answered. I looked up, Ty's mom, standing in my barn with all her glory. She was dressed in immaculate full seat, white breeches, spotless and shinning, high, dressage boots, a white turtleneck and a black vest zipped up to the top. My stomach sank. I was not in the mood for this, not now. "Ty didn't tell you we were coming?" she asked questioningly with a glance at Ty.
Ty shifted his feet uncomfortably. "I…"
"No, he didn't," I interrupted him. Ty scowled, I scowled back.
"Oh, well, this isn't a bad time is it? We can come back later," Liz said. Her facial expression hinted at my tears.
"Uh, now is fine," I responded. "It's just my dad…" I offered as some sort of explanation.
Liz smiled warmly and relived me. "I understand. I'm sorry about your mother, Brad is too, he sends his condolences," she added.
"Thank you," I said gratefully. But, this was weird; I thought Liz hated me… "So, did you just want to see Commander In Chief?" I questioned, trying my best to be professional, while still giving Ty the cold shoulder. I purposefully stressed Chief's whole name, Ty flinched. I was satisfied.
"I'd like to ride him," Liz began, "If you think he's ready," she held me under her sharp, blue eyed gaze, scrutinizing.
"Um…" I trailed off, looking, I hoped, unsure. I COULD tell Mrs. Baldwin that Chief wasn't ready, to make Ty suffer of course. I sighed, "He's great, his stalls right over here," I lead her down the aisle to Chief's stall. I couldn't do that to Ty, no matter how mad I was at him I still… loved him. I probably always will.
As we approached, Chief's big, elegant, bay head shot over the stall door and he whinnied and bobbed and shook his head around in excitement when he saw who it was. Liz stroked his head fondly for a moment before Chief went on to but Ty in the chest. I quickly walked away, into the tack room, to get Chief's tack. Dad was still in there, doing something. I remained silent as I walked to Chief's rack. I picked up his saddle, saddle pads, girth and bridle. I turned to walk out of the tack room.
"What are you doing?" Dad's voice echoed after me.
"I'm getting Commander In Chief's things," I responded tightly, not turning to face him.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously. I could almost feel his eyes narrowing behind my back.
"Liz and Ty are here, to look at Chief," I answered. I shifted my weight from foot to foot in irritation.
Dad was silent for a few long seconds. "Fine," he said eventually.
I continued out of the tack room without saying anything else.
"Don't forget to make dinner later!" dad yelled after me. I was almost to Chief's stall and Liz and Ty turned around at his raised voice. I flushed furiously.
"Whatever," I muttered furiously as I plunked the saddle and the rest of the equipment down on the saddle rack. "I forgot the grooming kit," I said in irritation. I started too turned around but someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
"Its fine," Ty said amusedly. He dropped my arm hurriedly after a moment. "Look," he pointed at Chief. I looked into the stall curiously. The rays of light streaming in from the window bathed Chief's coat in glistening crystals. The sun reflected off of his expertly groomed coat.
"Oh," I said. "Someone must have groomed him earlier." I slide the bolt on the door open without another word. I turned halfway back around to grab Chief's tack. I had almost had it when suddenly, it was gone. Ty had it nestled in his strong arms.
"I'll do it," he assured me. I shrugged and backed up, opening the door further in the process. I closed the door once he was through, leaving it open just a crack. I stood quietly as Ty tacked up Chief, Liz watched intently to see what Chief would do, which, obviously, was not much. All he did was throw his head up and prance around slightly when he saw Ty with his saddle. Ty quickly clamed him down, he, Chief, snorted excitedly when the saddle pad brushed across his withers and his muscles quivered anxiously as Ty pulled the girth under his stomach.
"So," Liz's voice surprised me. I turned my head and saw that she was watching me intently. "What have you done with Chief so far?" she asked me.
"Well," I began, "When he first got here I gave him some of the Bach Flower remedies that my family is know for using, just to help him settle in. He settled in fast than I lunged him and he was fine so I rode him, again he was fine, perfect actually. I thought that maybe there might have been a problem with his back and he was in pain. I gave him more of the natural remedies, to ease any pain he may have had, and the vet came and checked him out and recommended the chiropractor come see him. So," I continued, taking a breath, "Chiropractor came, he said he couldn't find anything wrong with Chief. Than, I tried him with the saddle that, uh, Ty had been using in the show thinking that maybe it was rubbing or pinching him. He was fine, Ty rode him, Chief was perfect," I concluded.
"Hmmm," Liz made the sound in the back of her throat. Even her 'hmmm' sounded classy and elegant; it was light and a dainty soprano. "So what have you found out about why he acted that way?" her eyes narrowed slightly.
I shifted uncomfortably under the piercing aqua blue gaze. "Oh erm… uh, well, at the show two weeks ago Sunny, my horse, started acting exactly like Chief did and the vet took a blood sample," I felt it best to just skip over the whole part where I was unconscious. "The test came back showing that Sunny had tested positive for a drug called Rabidus Equus, it's an ancient drug that…"
"I know what it is," Liz cut in.
"Oh, okay, of course. Well, according to the lap results there was a high level of the drug in Sunny's blood. I talked with Ty and he told me about the drug and what it's made of and the effects and we, basically, determined that Chief had also been under the influence of Rabidus Equus whenTy had his accident so… yeah. We had our suspicions about this one guy that was in our class but…" I trailed of. "I guess we never did anything about it," I finished.
"We should though," came Ty's voice. He was standing in front of the stall door, the reins we re held loosely in his hands. "We can still catch Daniel," Ty said with a grin. I looked away before its brilliance could affect me too much. "You know," Ty joked, "Catch the bad guy in the act and all."
"We don't even know if it was him," I responded hardly. Why was Ty acting like nothing had happened? That everything was perfect and happy between us?
"Well he's our best guess," Ty looked at me quizzically. I looked away again. "Come on," he urged playfully, apparently choosing to bypass my skepticism. "We have to try something."
"Why?" I responded icily. "It's over, just forget about it." I didn't mean it, I wanted to catch who ever had harmed the horses, I think I was kind of talking about something else.
Ty looked hurt. "So we just let him get away?" Ty sounded like he was getting a little mad now too.
"I don't care, if you want to catch him so bad why don't you? I have bigger things to worry about at the moment. The least of my problems is some random guy at a horse show."
Liz's voice cut through the thick tension hovering between us like a knife. "Shall we get started than?"
"Yes," I said, tearing my eyes from Ty's. "I'll show you where the ring is."
I opened the door and Ty led Chief into the aisle without as much as a glance in my direction. They followed me as I walked out of the barn and down the path that led to where all the rings were located. I glanced around quickly and chose a ring that wasn't being used. "We can go in here," I announced as I reached the gate.
"Actually," Liz spoke up, "Do you have a ring without jumps? A dressage ring perhaps?"
"Oh yeah, sure," I responded quickly. I turned and started walking back down the path in the direction of the dressage rings. Approaching us was the stable hand my dad had been talking to earlier, Ben Stillman, he was riding his horse, What Luck or Red, as was his stable name. Ben boarded Red here at Heartland and worked to keep his stall. "You can go in there Ben! We're going to a dressage ring," I called over to him when he started to turn away; the ring we were just at was the last free ring.
Ben grinned widely and waved as he passed us. "Thanks Amy!" he pushed Red into a trot and the leggy chestnut picked up the spring step neatly.
"No problem," I replied with a smile of my own. I notice Ty's face darken as he watched and heard our exchange. I made sure to add, "I'll see ya later, Ben!" just to get on Ty's nerves. Hey, if he can get back together with Ashley than why can't I flirt? Besides, I wasn't even flirting, he was my stable hand, I think I'm entitled to talk to him. But let Ty make of it what he will.
"Yeah, see you!" Ben turned around in the saddle and called back to me. He grinned and waved once more before slipping into the ring and focusing on Red. Ben was hoping to make the nationals with Red this year, they deserve it too. They've worked really hard; Ben and Red are a great team. Despite some of Ben's methods of training not being compliant with the Heartland way, his ways work well, for Red, and Red responds willingly to those methods.
Finally, we came to the dressage rings. There are a couple of them but I led Liz over to the most formal one, getting the impression that that was the one she wanted to ride in, her eyes just locked on it. It was full sized, 20m x 60m or 65ft x 197ft. the ring was rectangular and enclosed by a short, white fence, probably about a foot or a foot and half in height all around except for at letter 'A' where the entrance was. The letters were displayed all around the ring on white cubes. The sand had just been raked so there were no hoof prints presents on the smooth, almost impenetrable seeming surface.
Liz took the reins from Ty and led Chief into the ring. I headed to the opposite end of the ring, letter 'C' where there was our single judges box. Normally, this is where the Chief Judge would sit, there would be two other boxes on either side of him and one at letter 'B' and another at letter 'E', 'B' and 'E' were opposite each other in the center of the ring. We just had the Chief Judge's box so there was someplace to sit while watching, also, so the rider could practice his or her salute. Our Chief Judge's box was like a white pentagonal gazebo with a tan shingle roof but the two parallel sides were closed and the straight face was left open. The point at the head of the pentagon was as a white fence, the box was completely open,
I didn't look behind myself but I could feel Ty following me. I slipped into the box and sat down in one of the chairs. Ty came in a second later and sat next to me. I was thankful he didn't say anything.
I turned my attention back to Liz and Chief. Liz lifted the leather reins over Chief's head and looped her arm through them and pulled a pair of black, leather gloves out of a pocket on her vest. Chief lifted his head up into the wind and the wind blew his mane and forelock around him elegantly. Chief's attention snapped back to Liz as she pulled down the stirrups and, after making them the right length she mounted. Despite Chief's incredibly tall height she didn't even have to bounce on her foot to get up. Liz settled into the saddle quickly and, using invisible signals, pressed Chief into a smooth trot.
When Ty rode Chief it was customary for Chief to goof around a bit at the beginning, out of pure enjoyment, never spite. But, with Liz, Chief immediately focused and went to work. Liz put him through his paces and completed figure eights and circles, serpentines and half circles, flying changes and perfect transitions. She had Chief extend and shorted his strides in all of his paces. Liz sat tall, straight and effortless in the saddle, she hardly moved at all. She was like a carving in stone, but she wasn't stiff and rigid, she was sitting light and was relaxed, the reins were held between her gloved fingers lightly but even with just the soft contact she had on Chief's mouth, Chief arched his next perfectly, never relaxing his carriage. It looked almost natural for Chief.
"We need to talk," Ty's voice made me tear my eyes away from the musicless dance happening in the ring before me.
"About what?" I responded, knowing perfectly well what he was talking about. "Wait I know," I slapped my forehead like I had just remembered something. "Should we talk about how you never even called me back? I left like five messages on your phone." I glared at Ty and he flinched slightly at my words.
"I lost my phone," Ty said simply.
I snorted. "So, you're still going with that?" his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You even had to get Lee to tell your lies for you."
"Okay, I don't know what you're talking about but, I did loose my phone."
"So you never got any of my messages?" I asked, slightly hopeful.
Ty paused and debated internally if he should tell me whatever was to come next. "I got the first one," he eventually said. That wasn't what I had wanted to hear. I remained silent. "I was going to call you back but…" Ty trailed off. "I didn't know what to say, we'd both acted stupidly," he finished lamely.
"And loosing your phone fits into this all where…?"
"I left it on the couch and I guess it fell in between the cushions," Ty said. I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "I was talking to my mom and than she left and I checked my phone. Than she called me for dinner and I accidentally left my phone on the couch."
"But you'd already gotten my message. Are there no other phones in your house, excuse me, I meant your palace," I corrected myself.
"I just thought," Ty started, visibly fighting to remain calm, "That with everything that had happened, with your mom and all, that it would be better if…"
Ty, of course, was right. Somewhat. I still think he should have called or came over or something. But no. He got together with Ashley. I bet they had a jolly good time while I was home, alone. I wasn't going to say anything but it just slipped out. "You moved on quickly."
"I… what?" Ty asked in confusion. I didn't blame him, for being confused I mean, I had changed the topic completely, without any warning. I didn't say anything though. "Okay, I don't know what you're talking about, Amy, but I know that I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said."
My heart soared, he was sorry! He said he didn't mean it!
But, there was still that one little detail.
"It's a little late for that, isn't it Ty?"
"I…" Ty sounded confused.
"You got back together with Ashley," I supplied.
"What? No I didn't," Ty denied my accusation.
"Yeah, right, Ty."
"Where did you get that idea?" Ty asked. He was laughing now. I was fuming.
"How about Ashley herself? Come on Ty!" I exclaimed at the look on his face. "You were sitting right there when she chose to yell it out! Everyone heard."
"And you believed it?" Ty asked sounding shocked. His voice was astounded, like only an idiot would believe it.
"So now I'm stupid?" I accused him.
"I didn't say that!" Ty quickly said.
"You implied it," I replied stonily.
"I… no. I didn't," Ty insisted. "I'm not back with Ashley," he said again.
"Okay," I said in a sing-song voice. It was clear that I didn't believe him.
Ty sighed and leaned back in his seat. He didn't say another word on the subject. His eyes focused back on Chief and his mom. "What did you mean earlier?" Ty asked suddenly. I didn't look at him; I kept my gaze straight ahead, unseeing. "When you said the thing with the horses and Daniel was the least of your problems? I thought that that was important. What could be…"
"Oh, I don't know," I interrupted Ty abruptly and sarcastically. "How about this, my mom just died. Or how about another one? My dad's completely turned, he's crazy. I don't get on at all with him anymore, at all," I stressed. I continued to blindly poor out my confessions. "He's never even home anymore; I don't know where he goes at night, just that he doesn't come home till early in the morning and he always smells of stale whiskey. I have to take care of Alex, I have to make him dinner, and breakfast, and make sure he does all his schoolwork and I have to supervise while he works Artemis. And, as if that's not enough, I have to do my work, work the horses, exercise and spend time with Sunny and now, to top it all off, my father is selling Gypsy May, mom's horse," I concluded, feeling close to tears. "But if that's not important…" I trailed off.
"I'm sorry," Ty said softly after a moment of silence.
"It's not your fault," I replied bitterly. I took a deep breath. "Just forget it, forget everything. If you want to solve this whole mystery than go ahead, have fun but, don't count on me to do anything. There aren't enough hours in the day to finish everything as it is."
"I can help," Ty offered graciously. "I can help you here so that you have more time. I can…"
"That's real nice and all, Ty, but no. you have your own stuff to do. Just take Chief and forget about me."
"I can't forget about you," Ty said so softly that I wasn't sure if I had heard him properly.
"Well you better," I said firmly, my eyes still locked on the border of the forest in the distance. "Like you said, we're over."
Ty didn't respond. My heart was thudding forcefully against my chest; I wouldn't be surprised if Ty could hear it, that wasn't what I wanted.
Instead of saying what my heart was telling me to say, I turned back to Liz and Chief. After the half and hour work out Chief didn't look sweaty at all, there was only a small darker patch showing on his hindquarters, but, he wasn't breathing hard and didn't look over worked. Liz halted him in the middle of the ring and took her feet out of the stirrups. I thought she was going to dismount. Suddenly, she retook her stirrups and walked Chief back out to the rail. She walked alongside the fence until she got to the entrance, than she turned so she was positioned directly in the middle of the ring. Chief picked up neat walk, his hindquarters pushing him forwards. Liz rode him expertly down the center line, straight towards us, and stopped at 'X' (the center of the ring). The halt was a smooth, fluid movement and Chief stood squarely on the ground, his neck arched beautifully.
Liz looked at us for a moment; I leant forwards in my seat, intrigued.
Suddenly, Liz took both her reins in her left hand, bowed her head and dropped her right hand to her side. I immediately recognized it as the traditional salute that women used before and after dressage competitions. She kept the position for a respectable five seconds before she raised her head and took up her reins. Upon her signal, Chief picked up a fluid trot, tucking his chin in to his chest. Liz sat deep in the saddle. At the top of the ring, closest to us, Liz turned Chief to left and on the straightaway she asked him to extend his trot. Chief's leg's snapped forwards, straight and tight, and his powerful hind legs pushed off in the back.
I lost myself in the effortless, graceful dance of flowing patterns and shapes. Liz included extended and shortened forms of all Chief's paces, walk, trot and canter. They did pirouettes in all three paces; a pirouette is when the horse pivots on the hind leg and turns a complete circle. They did passages; an elevated, springy trot. They did piaffes; a passage with little, if any, forward movement. The did half-passes; a movement when the horse moves diagonally across the arena, taking good sized steps forwards and sideways, and keeping his body bent in the direction in which he is moving. His shoulders are allowed to be just fractionally ahead of the hindquarters as he makes this movement. His outside hind and foreleg cross over in front of his inside hind and foreleg.
Some of the most difficult, challenging movements in dressage, only a very skilled rider and horse could ride these. I watched, stunned into silence.
Liz slowed Chief at 'F', from where I was sitting at the top of the ring it was the bottom left corner. Chief did a pirouette at the trot and halted once he was facing in our direction. Than, he side-stepped and halted again on 'D' (a point at the bottom middle of the ring) and continued to 'X' at a shortened trot, his hooves snapping beneath him cleaning. Liz, again, moved her reins to her left hand, bowed her head and dropped her right hand to her side in a flourish. After another five seconds Liz lifted her head but kept both reins in her left hand. She loosed her hold and gave Chief a long rein, which he gladly accepted, and nudged him into a free-walk. She walked Chief around the ring to cool him off. There was some white foam around Chief's mouth and there were patches of sweat on his shoulders, hindquarters and down the top half of his hind legs. But, Chief didn't look tired, he kept his energetic walk going but stretched his neck out and shook his head around. Liz laughed and patted his damp shoulder lovingly.
"Wow," I finally was able to gasp.
"Yeah," Ty said, there was a light smile on his face. "Mom used to compete in dressage," he supplied.
"I gathered that much," I responded, completely astounded at what I had just seen. When I voiced my thoughts to Ty he laughed and said,
"Yeah, she was great. Dressage was her life. She made the United States Olympic Equestrian team about 20 years back," he told me. I could, however, detect a slight sadness in his voice.
"What happened?" I asked. "I don't remember her name, she was sure to have won the gold with that display."
"Yes," Ty said softly. "I remember that routine, she's done it before when she didn't think anyone was watching. It was the routine she was going to use in the freestyle dressage competition in the Olympics."
"What was her horse like?" I asked, intrigued, instantly forgetting the tension that had previously existed between Ty and myself.
"Dancing Beauty, that was her name, mom said she called her Beau for short. She was huge, 17.2 hands I think, a Holstein Hanoverian mix, a gorgeous mover, tall, well built and muscular. Beau's actually the Great Aunt, or something, to Chief, her color was exactly the same as Chief's is. Mom got her when she was just a few weeks old. Beau's mother had died and the farm she was born at wanted to sell her. Mom was young, only 12. She rescued her and trained her. Deciding to focus herself on dressage, mom had always been fascinated by it. Beau turned out to be a. astonishing dressage horse; she soaked up the knowledge like a sponge. Mom and Beau won all the shows they were entered in, no one even came close to them. When she was 19, mom tried out for the Olympic Equestrian team. She made it, easily.
"What happened?" I asked again.
"There was an accident," Ty began, "It was only a week or so before the Olympics were scheduled to start. There was a fire in one of the barns the U.S horses were staying in. Earlier that day there had been a hay delivery. The hay was left outside and it rained. Hands brought the hay in as fast as they could. They hayloft was directly above Beau's stall. When wet hay dries, if it goes wrong, it can start a fire. The fire started and caught fast. Everyone tried to get the horses out, all the others were okay. The burning wood fell from above and hit Beau's back." I gasped in horror. Ty nodded grimly but continued in the same low voice he had been using, "The burning wood and hay scorched her back, severe, severe burns. They had to put Beau down; she would have been in pain the rest of her life. If the burns hadn't killed her the trauma would have. Mom stopped competing after that."
"That's horrible," I whispered.
"It is," Ty said sounding regretful. "I know it still hurts her, even to this day. Some begged for her to train their horses in A-Level dressage but she refused. She told me that Chief is the only one she taught, the first horse she was able to do dressage work on again after the accident. They've formed a real special bond, Chief and my mom. He'll only do that kind of work for her."
"That's amazing," I breathed. I was awed at the horrific tale.
Five minutes later we left and joined Liz at the gate. She just smiled wistfully at my praise for her riding. Ty and him mom headed back up the driveway towards their car once Chief had been settled back into his stall.
"So," I started, "What are you going about Chief?"
Ty looked at his mother hopefully. Liz paused for a moment but than smiled brightly. "Yes, Chief can come home. I have to say, I have missed the little devil." Ty hugged him mom gratefully.
As I watched them drive away I, I felt conflicting emotions. I was happy, on one hand, because Chief got to go home and Ty got to be happy. On the other hand, I hated Liz's decision. Chief was my last real link to Ty, without Chief Ty had no reason to come to Heartland and I had no reason to see him anymore. I didn't want to believe it, despite what I had said earlier, but I guess that now, we were really over.
Commander In Chief
Later that night
"Sorry," I said regretfully to Alex as I placed his dinner in front of him. Tonight, dinner consisted of spaghetti and meatballs. Not the best dinner possible, especially when I cooked it, but it was substantially better than some of the other thing's I had given Alex to eat in the past week. "I just make some soup or something if you want that instead," I offered.
"Its fine," Alex assured me. "This isn't your job anyway," he mumbled. "Dad shouldn't be making you cook every night."
"Well we can't do anything about it," I said as I plunked down in a chair and twirled some of the slightly overcooked spaghetti around my fork. "This is just the way it's going to be now."
"I hate it," Alex groaned.
"My cooking or life?" I questioned him playfully, trying to bring some humor into the conversation.
"Life," Alex clarified. "Ever since mom died… dad's changed. He's not the same. I hardly see him at all. I saw him once today and he just told me to go do something else because he was working," Alex said disgustedly. We were silent for a minute. Alex took a bite of spaghetti and grinned at me after he had chewed and swallowed. "You're cooking's not that bad," he tried to assure me politely. I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "Well it could be worse," Alex said innocently with a shrug.
"Hey!" I exclaimed and threw a napkin at him.
Alex laughed and easily ducked the paper napkin that, due to its light weight, hardly went anywhere at all. It just went up in the air and floated down pathetically to land on the floor.
"Nice throw," he scoffed jokingly.
"Ha-ha-ha," I said dryly. I picked a meatball off of my full plate and threw it at Alex. It hit the side of his face, his cheek. The meatball left a red sauce mark. I practically died from laughing so hard.
Alex picked the meatball off of the floor, aimed it at me and swung his arm back but before he could throw it dad clomped into the kitchen. Well, this was certainly early for him.
He stopped by the counter and turned to face us. "What's going on here?" he questioned us suspiciously. He caught sight of the spot on Alex's head where there was a glob of tomato sauce. "We don't play with our food in this house," he told us sternly. I remained silent; Alex did too and picked up his napkin to wipe the sauce away. "I thought you would have known better than that, Amy."
"Sorry," I muttered under my breath sarcastically. "Did you want something?" I asked him bluntly.
"Yes, in fact I did," he responded to my question. "I want to tell you that I'm going away for a couple of weeks."
"What?" I asked in shock. "Where are you going? Why?"
"I'm going to Australia," dad responded. My eyes widened. "It's a… business trip, of sorts."
"But, but…" I stuttered at a lose for words.
"Who's going to watch us?" Alex inquired.
"Amy's going to be in charge of you, Alex," dad answered.
"What!" I exclaimed. "I can't…"
"Don't be ridiculous Amy!" dad berated me. "It's only for a week or two. You're 16 you can handle it. If you really need help than there's Ally and John, there house is by the barns." Ally and John were a husband and wife pair who supervised the barn's at night and during the day too. My family had supplied them with a house on our property.
"Fine," I sighed, I didn't like it but I knew there was no use in arguing. I was defeated. A quick glance to Alex told me that he wasn't happy with the arrangements either. "When are you leaving?" I sighed out the question.
"Tonight."
a/n: wow! That was long, and pretty good, if I do say so myself. Let me know if it's horrible though. You should see me right now; I have like five HUGE horse books opened on my desk to the dressage sections. Of course I looked through my zillion and one huge books before I remembered that I had a smaller, paper back book. Oh well. lol. I want to do dressage really badly now. Well, I'm sorry to say that this is the last update for a bout a week, The Peak included. I'm almost done one of my other storied in another category but haven't updated in over a month. There are only like three chapters left though. Review!