Saving You

Chapter 4 "Bonfires and Attacks"

Disclaimer: I own nothing but characters I made!

Charlie POV Saturday October 22nd

I sat at the dining room table, writing out a list of food I wanted to get for the bonfire tonight. We had to postpone it two weeks from when I originally wanted to have the bonfire because of some issues with cattle, but it was back on. I was working at the BLM office with Brynna and learning the ropes. Ross and I went out on our second(and third!) date. No kiss yet but I was trying to be patient with him. There was a reason he was holding back.

Grace and Brynna were making desserts and salsa, so I'd pick up some chips, the Ely's were bringing drinks, Mrs. Coley would bring some stuff for s'mores, the Kenworthy's were bringing cups and plates, and the Slocum's were bringing ice.

I wanted to make some chip dip, get some hot dogs and sticks to cook them on along with some buns, condiments. I heard the door open and close, then heard the voices of Ross and Gabe. I smiled as they walked into the kitchen, Ross had asked me on a fourth date for next weekend since he probably wouldn't be off work until late this week, plus he'd be over here helping me out anyways. Gabe was set to leave tomorrow with Firefly to go back to Colorado. He was already a few days behind on leaving. I didn't want him to go but I knew he had to.

"Hey Charlie, got that list made?" Ross asked as he glanced over at me.

"Yep, got a few things on here for tonight and I want to pick a few more things up for the house. One of you want to go with me?" I stood up. I looked at Ross, eyebrows raised.

"I'll go with you, I wanted to maybe pick up a case of drinks for tonight." Ross said with a small smile.

"That'd be great, I would love the company." I smiled back at him. Gabe just looked between the two of us and rolled his eyes.

"I'll stay here with the horses, let you two lovebirds have time together." Gabe left the kitchen and Ross met my eyes. He grinned, grabbed my hand and walked me out the door to my truck.

"Want me to drive?" Ross held his hand out for my keys and I handed them to him nodding. He opened my door, waited 'til I got in and closed the door.

We left the ranch and headed towards the store, after a few minutes Ross reached over and grabbed my hand again. I looked at our hands and satisfaction stirred inside me. I enjoyed Ross holding my hand and maybe he hadn't kissed me but he was still affectionate in other ways.

"Don't mind, do you?" Ross looked over at me.

"Not at all." I gave his hand a squeeze.

…...

We unloaded the groceries from the truck and I got to making the chip dip. I was doing three different kinds, one was my favorite Spinach Artichoke Dip, one was sour cream and onion dip, the other was french onion dip. I played music as I made the food for tonight, Gabe and Ross were outside collecting some downed branches for firewood.

I looked outside at the horses and saw Preston's horse, Honey and sighed. What would we do with her? Preston's children had been at the funeral, though they had to leave immediately afterwards as they were both working overseas and only had a few days leave.

They said they were arranging to get more time off to come back, gather Preston's things. I was nervous. Would they want Honey? Would they want part of the ranch? I heard the door open, breaking up my thoughts, and multiple voices filled the air. "Charlie?" It was Sam.

"In the kitchen!" I yelled back. Sam, Grace, Brynna with Cody, Jen and Lila Kenworthy. "Hey ladies, how are you?"

They responded back and immediately starting setting things down. "Well Brynna and I went a little overboard with our desserts so we have a lot. Anything that isn't eaten can stay here with you. We don't need anymore food at our house. I baked two pies and a cake along with these that are at home."

I laughed at her dessert distress. "I will gladly take anything that is not eaten. Although I don't have much hope that much will be left with the way you cook."

We all talked and moved things around as I finished my dips. Ross and Gabe came in a few minutes later letting us know that they had all the downed branches by where the fire would be. "Thank you." I told them both but I caught Ross's eye. He smiled shyly at me and touched my shoulder discreetly as he passed. We didn't notice Brynna and Grace's eyes on us. "Uh, so are all the tables set up for the food?"

"All ready to go and set up." Gabe said while grabbing some food to take outside. Ross came to my side.

"What would you like for me to grab?" Ross asked looking at the rest of the food.

"Can you take the pack of hot dogs and the sticks with them out to the table? Oh and the chips," I pointed to where I laid everything.

"Anything for you." Ross said quietly and kissed my cheek. I blushed as I felt everyone's stare as Ross walked out the door with the stuff. Brynna and Grace were staring at me in shock, Sam had a grin on her face.

"What?" I asked as I stacked the Tupperware of dips on top of each other. Heat filled my cheeks and I knew I was blushing.

"You and Ross?" Brynna whispered, seeming shocked. "You're the one he's been going out with on the weekends!"

"Yeah, we've gone on a few dates the past few weeks." I picked up the Tupperware containers. "We're going to have another one this upcoming weekend."

"That's great! Did you guys have a good time?" Brynna asked as we walked out of the house. I felt an old ache in my chest as Brynna asked questions about Ross's and my dates—just like a mother would.

We organized the food as others parked their trucks. I could see Gabe and Ross crouching near the fire they had set up, I knew they were both excited about the bonfire. I took a deep breath as others called out greetings. Time to socialize.

…...

Charlie POV

"Save me!" Gabe grabbed me and whispered. I was at the drink table, pouring some soda and nearly spilled it all over.

"What is your problem?" I laughed, looking towards his panicked face. I put the soda back when I was done.

"Rachel won't leave me alone. She keeps flirting with me." Gabe groaned. I rolled my eyes.

"Well I thought you liked flirting with girls." I teased him as we walked back towards the bonfire. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves so far and I couldn't wait to reveal the new design for the ranch sign. I had worked with a friend who was an artist back in Colorado to design it and he would create it in his workshop for me, before shipping it here. It would arrive within the next week, unless he got super busy.

"I do but I think she wants to hook up." Gabe shuddered. "She's just not my type."

"She certainly seemed your type the last time we were here and you flirted with her the whole time." I looked at him over my cup, my eyebrows raised up.

"I was young and dumb then."

"You're still young and dumb." I sat down and we ended the conversation. Gabe glared at me as Rachel immediately came over to talk to him. I was sitting beside Sam and Jen.

"The bonfire is great." Sam commented as we sipped our drinks. "We haven't had one in awhile."

"I love bonfires." I said back. "We can have them all the time here." I loved being around the fire with friends and I loved watching the huge fire eat up the wood. I caught Ross's eye from across the fire and he smiled at me. He was over there listening to Pepper talk and drinking one of his beers.

"When are you going to tell everyone?" Sam asked pulling back my attention. I turned towards her and Jen. I think she was talking about the name change.

"How about now?" Jen asked excitedly. She knew as well. I smiled and shrugged.

"I guess so. Gabe looks like he needs saving anyways." I said with a pointed look towards where he stood with Rachel who was talking his ear off. I got up and walked over. "Hey Gabe, hi Rachel. I'm sorry to interrupt but I need my cousin for a quick second. I'll give him right back though."

Rachel smiled sweetly at me. "Of course, Charlotte." I cringed. I hated when people used my full name. I pulled Gabe over to where I had put the design, rolled up, on the table. We walked back over to the fire.

"If we could have everyone's attention for a moment, we'd like to make an announcement." I spoke up and all conversations stopped, faces turning to Gabe and I. Gabe motioned for me to speak. "We recently read Grandma's will and in the will it stated that she left Gabe and I the ranch to split. Now as co-owners of the ranch, we have decided to take on a new name."

A little bit of murmurs went around. We picked up the design and rolling it out to reveal the new name. "The new name will be Last Hope Ranch because to a lot of these mustangs, we're their last hope. This is the design that a friend of mine will be using to make the new sign for the ranch." It would be a long piece of wood with the ranch's name carved/burned into the wood. It would also have smaller sign attached underneath the words 'Mustang Sanctuary, where they can forever run free' and running horse silhouettes would be. We would hang it on the gate frame at the entrance that held the Deer Path Ranch sign. I was going to save the old sign and hang it somewhere.

"It's wonderful!" Lila Kenworthy spoke up. She came up to look at it more closely. "Your grandmother would have loved it." One by one everyone came to look closer at it and compliment us on the great design.

"Oh it was all Charlie." Gabe kept saying, looking at me with pride. I knew he loved the design also. After I put the design away, we started on the dessert. I got some of Grace's blueberry pie and two brownies. Ross came to sit next to me with a piece of chocolate mousse cake.

"Enjoying yourself?" I asked as he ate his cake. He nodded, his mouth full. "You're so lucky to live with Grace, you can eat food like this everyday."

Ross chuckled. "I usually eat in the bunkhouse with Dallas and Pepper. Nothing like Grace's food."

I smiled. "Dallas doesn't cook that bad." Once we were finished our food, Ross went and threw our trash away. He came back and very slowly grabbed my hand. I could feel some people staring at us but I didn't care. I was just glad he was okay with people knowing that we were becoming a couple. I knew he was shy and very private, so this was a big deal.

I leaned my head on his shoulder as everyone kind of quieted down. I could hear conversations all around me but Ross and I sat in silence. I liked that he didn't talk all the time and we didn't have to talk constantly. Sometimes silence was soothing.

Wyatt and Brynna came over to us to talk about the new mustangs coming in. "We herded the first herd here so I'm thinking maybe we could herd these new mustangs here too." Brynna said to me. I looked at Ross.

"Be less stress on 'em." Of course wild horses wouldn't like trailers. I nodded.

"Then we'll herd them. When?" I asked Brynna. She looked at Wyatt before answering.

"We were thinking this Friday after we close down for the day. We'll be closing at three instead of five so we could have Sam, Jen, Quinn, Jake, Pepper and Ross herd them here for you."

"Sounds good." I remembered about run-in sheds for the mustangs. "Is there a chance before hard winter hits, we could maybe make some kind of shelter for them to get into? Like big run-in sheds maybe? I just feel so bad they're out there with nothing really. I'd pay for it of course."

Brynna nodded. "That's a good idea, especially for the older ones. Maybe just a couple long shelters. Just one long back wall and the roof, no sides. That way a good amount of horses could be under it and pecking order won't affect it too much." Brynna looked like she was thinking hard. "And I think there's a way I could get a grant for you to build them. Since you take on so many government horses that can't really be homed at the moment, we could probably—if you wanted, make you a non-profit rescue. You could get grants from the government and you could get donations, volunteers."

"That would be great. It would go along with the sanctuary part and maybe that way I could get some help with the horses, with the ranch." Ross squeezed my hand. Brynna looked at her watch.

"We better head home. Katie, the co-owner of Sterling Stables and a friend of ours, is watching Cody. We shouldn't stay out too late." I hugged Brynna and Wyatt goodbye and thanked them for coming. It seemed to be some kind of signal for adults because slowly, one by one, they left.

It was just me, Ross, Gabe, Pepper, Sam, Jake, Jen, Ryan, Quinn, Nate, Bryan, Adam and much to Gabe's dismay, Rachel. Someone had brought a radio out and it was playing music. A couple of the guys were drinking so I'd offer for them to stay if they didn't have a designated driver. I looked at the beer in Ross's hand and noticed the one in Pepper's. Sam was drinking a little bit now that Brynna and Wyatt were gone. Yep I was definitely going to have people staying here.

…...

I waited until Ryan and Rachel had left with Jen and we had cleaned up the food to say something. "Okay, all of you that have been drinking and don't have a designated driver have to stay here. I'm not letting you drive away when you've been drinking."

I didn't get too much of a protest. Nate, Quinn, Bryan and Adam were going to head home. Nate and Quinn had been drinking but Bryan and Adam hadn't. I looked at Jake and Sam standing together. Sam was a little unsteady on her feet so I knew Jake was probably staying to make sure she was okay.

I grabbed Ross's hand and pulled him towards the house. "I'm fine to drive." Ross grumbled.

"You had four beers within three hours. You're not good to drive." I grabbed Pepper's arm too. "Let's go cowboys. You're both staying here tonight." I got everyone into the house and Sam texted Brynna that she was staying here with me. "If you and Jake go up the stairs, there's a bedroom at the top of the stairs. It has two twin beds in it, you two can sleep there. Gabe, could Pepper sleep with you?"

"Sure." Gabe slapped Pepper's shoulder. "Don't worry man, there's two twin beds in there too. We don't have to share." Pepper chuckled. Gabe looked at me with a smirk. "Where's Ross going to sleep?"

"Well I can sleep on the couch-"Ross started to say but I stopped him by putting my hand on his chest.

"He can sleep in my bedroom. I'll grab one of the twin mattresses for him." I glared at Gabe as he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Uh huh." Gabe leaned down by my ear when he passed. "Just make sure you keep it down." My face flushed again and I punched his shoulder.

"Nothing is going to happen!" I whispered. Sam and Jake started heading up the stairs. "Oh by the way, there's a bathroom right next to your room."

Sam gave me a thumbs up sign, indicating that she heard. "Gabe, be a dear and carry up the twin mattress please." I patted his shoulder. He groaned but turned to grab it. Ross helped him and they got it into my room. They sat it down a foot or so from my bed. Gabe left, but not before winking at me.

I muttered under my breath about killing Gabe. "Making jokes, huh?" Ross nodded his head towards Gabe's room. "'Cause of us sleeping in here together."

I blushed again. "Yeah. I guess I really should have asked you if you were okay with it. I just figured this would be better than the couch."

"It's okay." Ross pulled me towards him and held me. He put his forehead against mine. "I had a good time tonight."

"Me too." I murmured. "I'm going to go change into my pajamas." I went into the bathroom and changed in my flannel pants and grabbed my camisole. I left my hair down. When I came out of the bathroom, Ross looked a bit uncomfortable in his jeans. "Hey, do you want a pair of sweats to put on? I have a pair of Gabe's in my dresser."

"That'd be good." I handed him the sweats and he went into the bathroom to change into them. I got into bed, feeling a bit awkward. Ross would be sleeping on the floor right next to my bed.

Ross came out and went to set his watch and keys on the night stand but it was cluttered with my stuff. "I'm sorry, let me move that!" I went to move some of my stuff and ended up knocking a plant that was on the bedside table onto his bed. The water and dirt spilled all over the mattress. Oh crap. "I'm sorry!" I immediately starting cleaning it up.

"It's okay Charlie." Ross helped me clean it up. Once it was all done, the mattress was a brown mess. I looked at him apologetically. "I'll just go sleep on the couch, it'll be fine."

I stopped him before he could go. "Ross, just stay in here. Grandma's couch is really uncomfortable. I'm getting it replaced as soon as I can." I looked towards my bed. "It's a queen size. We can share and we don't even have to touch."

Ross rubbed his neck but sighed. "We could share." I crawled into bed and Ross laid down beside me.

"I have to warn you though, I hog the covers." I smiled over at him, trying to ease our awkwardness. "Gabe always would complain when we'd go camping together."

Ross smiled at me and brushed my hair back. "That's okay. I can deal with that." With that, I turned on my right side towards the wall and felt Ross shift to lay the other way. Definitely not how I imagined my night going.

…...

Sunday October 23rd

I woke up as I heard neighs and whinnies from outside. It was still dark and I tried to fall back asleep when I realized why I was so comfortable, my face wasn't on my pillow. I felt the warmth of another person and at some point Ross and I had cuddled together. I was laying on my side, he was laying right behind me, he was passed out with his arm around me and my head was laying on his arm. I couldn't help but smile at the sight. It had been so long since I felt the warmth of another person like this, since I was close to anyone. It felt nice.

I was just falling back asleep when I heard something shatter. Sitting up, I slid out of bed. I hadn't disturbed Ross thank goodness. I slowly peeked outside of my door and no one was there. I walked downstairs, using the small hallway night light to see. I checked everything and nothing was broken, everything was fine. Hooves thudded outside in the corral and I put my sweatshirt and boots on, wanting to check the horses.

It was slightly windy when I stepped outside and cold. I turned my flashlight on and walked towards the corral. There was no moon tonight to guide me and it only made it more dark. I finally got to the corral holding the domesticated horses and they all snorted when I shined the light on them. Looking them over, they seemed fine, just restless. I opened their gate to the pasture and watched as Judge and Calico followed the other horses slowly. Maybe I'd have to start putting them in the barn at night when it got cold. The cold weather could be hard on them.

I turned to go back to the house when I saw a black figure standing by my truck. More importantly, blocking my way back to the house. I froze and my breath seemed to stop, the flashlight dropped the ground. My heart was racing and I realized how stupid I was. Coming out here to investigate sounds by myself when Grandma and Preston's killer was still out there? I took a step back and the person stepped forward. I started walking backwards, not sure where to go. They pulled something out of their pocket and I turned around to take off. They broke into a run after me.

Where should I go?! Where to go?! I screamed inside my head. I ran through the barn and slammed the door shut, I continued to run into the mustang's pasture and I spooked horses as I ran through the field. I could hear the barn door hinges squeaking, meaning the person was coming after me. "NO!" I screamed as I ran. Tears were rushing down my face. I went farther into the dark pasture almost hitting horses and dodging trees. There had to be a way for me to get somebody's attention or this could be it for me.

This person obviously was up to no good and most likely, the person who murdered Grandma and Preston. They had to finish me too. How big could this grudge be? I didn't want to die. I stopped behind a tree and tried to make a plan. How could I get to the house from here?

…...

Ross POV

I woke up as I heard a scream. I looked to my right and Charlie was gone. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my boots. I ran out of the bedroom just as everyone else ran into the hallway. "Did you hear a scream?" Pepper asked, concern heavy in his voice.

"Yeah and Charlie's gone." I ran down the steps. The front door was unlocked and her boots were gone. She was outside. Crap! We bolted out the door to find Charlie. Panic racing through me as the thought of Charlie out there alone in the dark. She had screamed. What had happened?

…...

Charlie POV

I tried to calm my breathing as I heard the footsteps get closer. They had slowed down, the person knew I wasn't running anymore. I was trying to slowly inch my way towards the fence. If I could get over the fence, I'd be in the open field between the pasture and the house. I could beeline straight for the house. I saw lights flick on in the house and stopped. Had someone heard me? The front door opened and I saw people coming out of the door.

"Charlie!" I heard them all shouting. I decided to just go for it and threw myself on the fence. I had just gotten over the fence and was running when I heard the thump behind me. I looked back and the person had jumped after me. I ran harder, pushing myself. Just as I thought I would make it, I was tackled from behind.

"Ga-" I started to scream but my mouth was covered. I struggled in the person's grasp, trying to break free. Some of the self defense classes were coming to mind but I was at such a disadvantage with the way they were on top of me. Finally I managed to get my elbow in their side and they groaned. I pushed my elbow out again but this time I got them in the face and they rolled slightly off of me. It was enough for me to scramble out of their grip and run towards the house. "Gabe! Ross!"

I saw Ross and Sam turn towards my voice. Ross ran towards me and met me halfway. I was sobbing by the time I got to him. "We have to get in the house!" I cried, shoving at his chest. "They're coming!"

Ross looked behind me. "There's no one there honey. You're safe." Ross took me to the house with Sam, Pepper, Gabe and Jake closely behind.

"I've already called Heck. He's on his way with the state police. Heck is bringing his horse and they're going to go on a search. I'm joining them." Jake said with a concerned look towards me. "Could I borrow one of the older horses?" I nodded wordlessly.

"You should probably call your parents and let them know everything is okay before someone hears it on their scanner and they freak out." I told Sam. My voice was completely void of any emotion. I felt numb but I could feel myself shaking. "The phone is over there." I pointed towards the end table. Sam went to call her parents and Jake went to get dressed the rest of the way.

"What happened out there Charlie? We heard your scream and we saw the flashlight, Jake saw the footprints. We knew something was wrong." Gabe asked, taking my hand as Ross held onto me. "Take your time."

"I—I woke up and heard the horses neighing outside. Nothing alarming at first. I was falling back asleep when I heard something shatter..." I started to tell them everything and once I was done, there was a knock at the door. It was Heck and two state police officers.

Heck asked if I was okay. "I'm fine, just shook up."

"I'm going to need you to tell me everything, start from the very beginning. I know you had a bonfire tonight." So I re-told my story again, not leaving anything out. Heck looked around at all of us. "Have you seen your truck?"

"My truck?" I shot up and headed towards the door. I hadn't looked at my truck. What had the guy done to it?

"Charlie—wait! I don't think you should-" Pepper tried to stop me but I went outside and saw it. My hand flew to my mouth in shock and I cried out. Every window in my truck was busted out, the windshield was cracked. On the sides of the truck it was spray painted with words like 'Get Out', 'Leave' and the most chilling words, 'You're Next'. I took a step back and Pepper grabbed onto my shoulders. "Come back inside."

As the sun came over the mountains, more officers were showing up. Soon enough my place had cops all over it and most of my neighbors. Jake was getting ready to ride out with Heck and a small group of people. There were a couple of officers that were going along with Pepper, Luke Ely, and Jed was going. I saw Ross putting on his jacket and hat. "Where are you going?" I asked quietly.

"I'm riding out with them." Ross said a bit stiffly. I grabbed onto his arm.

"I think they have enough people." I didn't want Ross to go. He made me feel safe. I wanted him to stay here with me.

"I'm going. Stay safe please. There will be a couple of officers here with you and I asked Dallas to stay around with you." Worry ran through me but also a spark of warmth that he had asked Dallas to stay with me. Of course with the amount of people and cops here, I would never be alone. Ross gently stroked my face and kissed my forehead before walking out.

So I sat there and watched as they rode out on their horses with dogs trailing. Dallas pulled me inside and sat me down in the kitchen. A minute later, he sat a mug of coffee in front of me. "You're probably tired as hell, you should drink that." So I sipped on the coffee as Brynna, Grace, Sam, Jen, Lila, Maxine and Dallas talked around me. The rest of the Ely's were holding down Three Ponies and Riverbend while everyone else was here. Wyatt stood by the doorway holding Cody. Gabe was outside tending to the horses.

"Charlie, honey, I think you call your father." Grace rubbed my hand and pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked over at her. "He really deserves to know."

"He'll freak out and yank me out of here faster than I can say I'll be fine." I couldn't leave now. The mustangs were depending on me and I had a job. I couldn't leave.

"Honey, if he learns what's been going on from Gabe and not you, he's gonna be upset." Grace told me. I sighed.

"I'll call him later when he's home from work." Grace squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"Is Gabe still leaving tomorrow?" Brynna asked, looking worried.

"Yeah, he has to get back to classes. He's in the middle of his Master's program." I wish he wasn't. I was going to be here all alone but I would have to get over it.

"Well I suggest taking some security precautions." Wyatt spoke up. I turned to look at him. "I think you should get an alarm on the house and look into getting a dog." Wyatt went to lay Cody in the pack-n-play that was set up in the living room. "Maybe even cameras if you can afford it. After this morning, it's obvious you are the new fixation of this guy. He's coming after you."

Chills ran through me at his words. "Wyatt is right Charlie." Dallas said worriedly. "He lured you outside and then attacked you. Last time, he lured Ross out but he was trying for you. He's becoming bolder and you're in danger. You've only been here a short time."

"Heck is talking about keeping a deputy here with you every night. We can switch staying off with you until Heck catches this person." Maxine spoke, looking around. "Every one of us would be willing to stay here to make sure you're safe."

"You guys are so great." I leaned into a hug with Sam and Jen. Everyone was banding together for me. I loved my neighbors. They were truly great.

…...

Mystery POV

I watched from afar as the group of men rode off on their horses. I almost had the girl, I had her lured out and under me ready to take her away, to get rid of her. My plan was getting more complicated. She was making it more complicated. The blonde haired boy was staying with her, her cousin or something. Then her boyfriend was almost always over on the weekend or during the evenings.

I would figure out a way to get to her. The ranch would be mine eventually. I would get what I deserved.

…...

A/N: Hey readers! Sorry it's been so long since I updated. Lots of stuff has been going on in my life. I became a mother, started college...and a bit of writers block! I finally have almost every story updated. I've also added a few new stories, including a new Phantom Stallion story, called Sophie's Choice. Check it out! Also there's a Criminal minds story called Stronger Than I'll Ever Be. If you're interested check them out!

Anyways, sorry it's been so long! But I'm back and going to try to update at least once a week(at least one story a week) and I should be writing more regularly. I'm not in school right now because of family issues so I'm at home with my son so I'm going to try to update more after I finish the things I need to and when I have time to write. So please read and review! Thanks!

QuinnandSeth'sgirl15