Thanks heaps to all my wonderful reviewers:ffgirlmoonie, PitBullLover, Ayana Starman, HorseAddict16, HorseDiva .. and of COURSE - AKERS2! STEPH! Who talks to me at random hours of the night/morning and inspires me to write and OH CRAP I just remembered I forgot to do that newspaper thing! AHH! So sorry! I will try and do later ...

Note: I don't actually own any of the Heartland books, so if the characters are OOC or Ty's hair is the wrong colour, sorry about that. I'm basically making up new physical appearances for the characters! Also: Scott is living at the Flemings' – he and Lou are engaged but not married yet.

Heart of Flame – Chapter 3

Saturday, Heartland

Jazz woke fast, leaving her dream behind with a flutter of eyelashes. Sun washed across the bed that she lay in, and she studied the walls with sleepy eyes. Even though Amy had moved out to the other room in the sleepout so that Lou and Scott could have some privacy in the house, the walls were covered by numerous ribbons and sashes that Amy had won, ranging from her little dun pony Sundance to the big show jumper, Summer Storm, who she no longer owned.

Jazz felt a twinge of jealousy. Look at all the ribbons she's won … I'll never get to do that now. Pulling back the covers on her bed, she stared at her legs with disgust.

She gasped and pulled the covers over herself again as the door opened, and a young woman a few years older than Amy poked her head in the door. A kind smile was on her face as she pushed her short, curly blonde hair out of her eyes. "Hey, Jazz. I'm Lou, Amy's sister."

Jazz just stared at her, not saying a word. If she's anything like her sister …

But Lou's face was kind and gentle, and she only smiled at Jazz – a complete contrast to the scowling Amy of the evening before. Jazz allowed herself a small, quick smile and Lou's face brightened in return.

"I just came up to help you get dressed. I thought since it was Saturday you'd want to get out with Amy, help her with Flame."

Jazz's face darkened in rage. "I don't need your help! I don't need help to get dressed!" Ripping the covers off her bed angrily, she tried so hard to move her legs, screwing up her face with effort. But they didn't move. At all.

Jazz hung her head, fighting back tears that were gathering behind her eyes. I'm useless. Now all of them will know that I'm absolutely useless.

Then, she felt a soft touch on her arm, and lifting her tear-streaked face, Jazz looked up into Lou's kind, but concerned gaze. "Jazz," she started seriously. "You're going to be here for a month or more. You need to accept the Amy, Ty, Jack and I are going to be your family for that time. We're all here to help you."

Jazz studied Lou's face. Then slowly, uncertainly, she let Lou take her hand. It was a start.

Breakfast was awkward, to say the least. Grandpa Jack, Lou and Ty were friendly to Jazz, but she was defensive and replied with as little as possibly when they asked her questions about Flame. Amy sat opposite Jazz, feeling ashamed of the way she'd treated her the night before – Jazz wouldn't even look at her.

But after breakfast, that had to change. As Amy and Ty helped to clear away the dishes, Jazz rolled herself outside to wait for them. Ty caught Amy's arm and said softly, "I'll go ahead and start mucking out the stalls. You just concentrate on getting to know Jazz and Flame, okay?"

"But Ty, that's not fair!" Amy protested. "I can't leave you to do all the work … and besides, Jazz doesn't like me already."

Ty gazed steadily back at her. "You're going to be the one primarily working with Flame, Amy. You need to get to know her."

She sighed in defeat, then followed Jazz outside. Ty smiled softly.

Jazz was waiting for Amy, her dark hazel eyes calm and collected. She smiled at Amy, but it was more of a sardonic sneer than a smile. And she said nothing.

Amy was definitely feeling uncomfortable. She sighed, feeling the weight of Ty's words. Staring straight at Jazz, she spoke the girl. "Look, Jazz. I know I was nasty to you last night, but – can't we have a new start? I'm apologizing for being a bitch, and I need to be on good terms with you if I'm going to help Flame."

Jazz still smiled scathingly at Amy. "Fine. I'll be nice to you. But that doesn't mean we have to be friends."

Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. That's … good. Now, let's go see Flame."

As Amy began walking, and Jazz wheeled her chair, the older girl attempted to start a conversation. "So, Jazz, how old are you?"

"Fifteen." A brusque, one word answer. But at least she was talking now.

"So you're a sophomore?" Jazz nodded curtly.

"I think that Fletcher woman has organised for you to come to school with me." Jazz almost laughed at the distaste in Amy's voice. She didn't like Fletcher either. She thinks my horse is crazy! She's the bloody crazy one...

"I'm sure you'll ... uh … love going to Jefferson High. There are heaps of great people to be friends with …" Jazz snorted as Amy trailed off, realising just how stupid her sentence sounded.

Trying to switch to a subject that both were more comfortable with, Amy decided to ask Jazz about her riding. "So, Jazz, what sort of things did you used to do with Flame?"

Suddenly, instead of a sardonic smile, Jazz's face was closed up and defensive. She didn't reply, so Amy prompted her. "Jazz?"

"Fine." The younger girl spat out. "We used to event up to prelim level."

Amy stopped in her tracks, staring at the girl who was wheeling herself ahead. "P-prelim?" She spluttered. "That's … that's … you mean you were doing CCI level at fifteen?"

Jazz just continued, throwing a curt, "Yes. You got a problem with it?" over her shoulder. Amy shook her head in amazement as she followed the younger girl. She was competing against people twice her age, on internationally ranked courses? Against people from Europe? What did Fletcher say … The woman's words rang in Amy ears. "She used to do some sort of competing on him …" Slightly more than some sort of competing …

But Amy forgot her amazement as Jazz let out a small cry of joy, seeing Flame's head bobbing over the stable door. The horse whinnied to her softly, his eyes shining. Though Amy didn't exactly like Jazz, she couldn't help but see how much Flame obviously loved his owner. Remembering what Jazz had just said, Amy whistled softly as she took in Flame's gleaming, muscled body. That must be one amazing horse.

Jazz rolled slowly towards Flame, speaking to Amy over her shoulder, all former nastiness forgotten. "They didn't let me see him after … well; I haven't seen him for a while. The one and only time Fletcher took me to see him … let's say, he didn't like her." The younger girl laughed softly.

Then, as if Jazz couldn't bear it any longer, her hands started working madly on the wheels of her chair, as she tried as fast as she could to get to Flame. Then – Amy almost saw it coming. Jazz sped up until, right outside Flame's stall, one of the many ruts in the stable floor, and her chair tipped dangerously. She uttered a small shriek as it tipped her out onto the floor, and she landed heavily on her arm. The chair crashed to the floor with a metallic screech as Amy swore and rushed to help her.

Flame started as the chair hit the floor, eyes rolling, and let out a loud snort. It rolled over, banging loudly, as he danced in the stall, trying to throw himself against the door. He was panicking at the loud noise. But Amy couldn't deal with the horse just yet. Jazz lay on the ground, dust covering her clothes as she tried in vain to pick herself up. Amy knelt down beside her gently, turning the chair upright. "Jazz? Are you okay?"

Jazz turned her face to the older girl, anger and humiliation flickering over it. "Do I look alright, Amy?"

Amy didn't know what to say. "Uh, yeah, Jazz, you look great!" "Um … no, Jazz, you look awful."

But before she embarrassed herself by saying anything, Ty was kneeling down next to Jazz, gently asking her what had happened. Quickly, he turned to Amy, and her eyes met his for a moment, telling him how grateful she was. He gestured to Flame quickly, and Amy got the message. It was probably dangerous, letting herself into the stall of a horse as frightened as Flame, but she had to risk it.

Distracted by Amy holding out her hands for him to sniff, Flame calmed down and stood on the spot, twitching every few seconds. Amy spoke to him soothingly, and then began T-touch on his blaze. Moving gradually up his face, around his ears, and down to his muzzle, she felt the calming influence of the T-touch as well. Flame eventually relaxed, stood quietly, and dropped his nose in Amy's hands.

Meanwhile, Ty crouched down next to Jazz, his hand on her arm. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "It's okay, Jazz," he murmured softly. "Everyone embarrasses themselves sometimes. I guess it means we need to get new floors around here …" Jazz looked into Ty's kind green eyes – which were presently sparkling with mirth. A small smile spread across her face slowly, and Ty grinned back at her.

"Ty? Do you think you could … help me?" Jazz gestured at the chair, and Ty nodded. He felt her body tense as he lifted her up in strong but gentle arms, and placed her in the chair. "Thanks," she replied, not meeting his eyes. Then, she wheeled over to Flame's stall, this time slowly and carefully.

Amy was concentrating so hard on the T-touch that she didn't even hear Jazz approach. Flame did, however, and when the chair's metal screeched again, he jumped, banging his nose on Amy's head. Ty stood behind Jazz, his expression apologetic as the horse started. The look on Jazz's face was almost desperate as she held her hand out for Flame to sniff. He shied away from her hand, confusion evident all over his face. Jazz backed away slowly, disappointment evident in her face and manner, all the sarcasm of before gone. Amy murmured softly to Flame and resumed her T-touch, as Jazz wheeled further away, so Flame couldn't see her.

After a moment, Amy came out of the stable. Jazz looked up at her, a different expression in her eyes. It took Amy a moment to recognise it. Almost something like – respect.

If it hadn't been so silent as they made their way out of the barn together, Amy would have never heard the words that Jazz whispered quietly to herself, sorrowfully. "He doesn't know me."

Monday, Jefferson High School

One perk of having Jazz around was that Lou decided she would drop them off to school every morning. Understandably, Jazz didn't want to ride the bus every morning, and Amy didn't mind getting a few extra minutes at Heartland every morning.

Jazz was silent all throughout breakfast and Amy suspected that she was terrified of facing the population of Jefferson High School. Though she felt sorry for the younger girl, Amy had absolutely no idea of what she would go through today.

Sunday had definitely been an improvement on Friday and Saturday. For some reason, after seeing Amy calm her terrified horse down, Jazz had become civil – almost friendly towards her. Though it had been raining and Amy hadn't ridden Flame, the two had talked all afternoon and Jazz told Amy all about preliminary one day events.

Amy still couldn't believe that this broken, battered Jazz was the same as one who'd ridden to such a high level. And what happened to her to make her this battered? Amy wondered if it was a riding accident – that would explain the scar that was on Flame's leg. She didn't want to probe too deeply into Jazz's past yet, though, for fear that the younger girl would back out altogether and become defensive again.

We can't push her too far yet – first she's got to handle school.

Jazz's face was tight and nervous as they waved goodbye to Lou in the school carpark.

I can't do this. It's going to be too different, too strange. They're going to wonder about me … why didn't I just go back to Cascade High? At least there everyone would know what happened …

Brushing aside her loose, dark hair, Jazz looked ahead to the buildings that made up Jefferson High. Thankfully they weren't too tall, so she hoped that they wouldn't have too many sets of stairs on the inside.

"Amy!" A tall boy with short, tousled blonde hair waved to them from across the lawn at the front of the school, and for a moment Jazz's heart leapt. Could it be? But no, as she got closer, she could see that the boy wasn't anyone she knew.

"Matt! Hey!" Amy called back, her face breaking into a smile. Matt looked curiously at Jazz, who was looking at him stonily, not an ounce of emotion on her face. Amy hugged him, then remembered the younger girl.

"Oh, Matt – I forgot. This is Jazz. She's Flame's owner – you know, our newest horse." Matt's eyebrows rose for a moment, but he quickly concealed his surprise. Sticking out his hand, he grinned cheekily at Jazz. "Heya, Jazz. Hope you're going to like it at our school."

She couldn't help grinning back at Matt and shaking his hand, though she knew that she would be their main topic of conversation for the rest of the day. "Do you ride, Matt?"

He grimaced. "Sometimes. My brother's a vet, Scott – Lou's fiancé. Can't say I'm that good though."

Amy broke in excitedly. "Matt, did you know that Jazz used to …" Then she made the mistake of glancing at the younger girl's face. Jazz was frantically gesturing to her not to say anything. When Amy looked at her, puzzled, Jazz glared back at her, hoping that she'd get the message.

"Used to …" Matt waited for her to go on.

"Used to do eventing with Flame." Amy finished quietly, adding nothing about the high level that Jazz had competed to.

Matt shivered. "Jumps. Not cool. Don't like jumps at all …"

Jazz could have almost laughed at the expression of utter distaste on Matt's face. Amy continued her friend's sentence. "See, Jazz, Soraya and I were teaching Matt how to jump a few years ago, and we were leading him over a jump – seriously, 30 centimetres – and he fell off. At trot."

Jazz put her hand over her mouth, trying hard not to laugh. Matt mock scowled at both of them, but his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Jazz suspected he was slightly embarrassed. After all, thirty centimetres wasn't … a lot.

"Speaking of Soraya …" As Amy spoke her other friend's name, Matt turned quickly, scanning the crowd, as a tall girl with dark curls bounced up to them, a wide smile on her face.

"Jazz! Hey! Amy's told me heaps about you, and Flame – I've got to come over and see him! He sounds so cool!" Soraya smiled at Jazz, immediately making the younger girl feel welcome.

"Soraya!" Amy scolded. "Jazz's only been here two nights! Give her a chance to settle in!"

Jazz spoke, feeling more friendly and charitable than she had when arriving at Heartland. "Sure you can come see him … I mean, he's at Heartland for healing, but that doesn't make him a bad horse or anything. He's a real sweetie."

Matt slipped his arm around Soraya's waist as her dark eyes stared at Jazz intently. Jazz felt herself blush under the other girl's intense scrutiny. "You know, Jazz … I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before … did you ever come to events around here with Flame before …" Soraya clapped a hand over her mouth before she could say anymore. But, strangely enough, the normally prickly Jazz didn't mind. Shit. She'd better not remember.

"It's okay, Soraya … no, I've never been to any shows around here before," she replied quickly, not meeting any of the threes' eyes.

"Well, look what Fleming dragged in. Another crippled stray." Jazz froze as the nasal tone of another girl reached her ears. Amy groaned and turned around slowly, obviously not wanting to face whoever it was. Jazz's cheeks flamed red, not with embarrassment – but with anger, towards the person who had dared insult her. Spinning her wheelchair around, she laid eyes on a tall, blonde girl with a smirk on her face. Seeing Jazz looking at her, the girl smiled sweetly. "Shouldn't you be in special ed, sweetie?"

Opening her mouth, Jazz prepared to let loose with a stream of inappropriate words.

But Soraya got there first.

"Look, bitch – we know that you're looking for classmates in special ed, but that doesn't give you a reason to go round assuming that people want to join in with you. Get a life, Ashley – Jazz is with us."

The blonde's demeanour changed instantly. "Soraya – I … I – Matt, why are you hanging out with this lot?" Obviously unable to think of a better comeback, she stalked off, followed by two girls throwing dirty looks at Jazz, Soraya, Amy and Matt.

The other three turned back to face Jazz. "And that, Jazz, is Ashley Grant," Amy explained with a sigh. "She's got serious, serious problems …"

Matt looked pensive. "She's not really that bad, Jazz, she's just got no one to understand her."

Jazz snickered. "Sure, Matt. I'm afraid that I share Amy's opinion on girls like that. But … thanks, guys – for sticking up for me like that." She stared at her knees for a moment, twisting her fingers together. "Umm … Amy? You … you didn't register me for special ed, did you? Because I'm just as together as the rest of you, you know."

Amy couldn't stop from laughing softly. "Don't worry, Jazz. You're not in special ed." The bell rang as she was speaking the last word, and the four of them began making their way towards the main building.

Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as I thought.

So that's chapter 3 - hope it's not too boring! Not much fun to write, but I need to set up the story before I get into the COOL STUFF!

PLEASE review!

Ais