Saving You

Chapter Seven "Inmates"

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my made up characters!

Monday, November 13th

I took another sip of my coffee as I stood in the doorway of the barn. Bryan stood next to me and both of us watched as the bus of inmates made its way up the driveway. I had opened my brand new automatic gate right from here and it was cool. My dad's friend had gotten everything installed for me. The gate was a nice touch and it had a camera so I could see who was at the gate. There was also a keypad but only certain people would know the combination to keep it safe. Bryan, Ross, Brynna, Grace, and Wyatt knew it. No one else, not even the deputies, which meant letting him in every shift change.

Two cameras were inside the barn and they watched the barn aisles/stalls, the other watched the tack/feed room. There were cameras on each corner on the barn and the right side where it was facing the mountains. One watched the older horse's pasture and there were multiple cameras properly spaced down the fence line of the property on each side. Small ones were on each corner of the house and a nice alarm system was set up in the house. I could see any of the cameras on my computer or cell phone and I could activate/deactivate the alarm system with my phone also, even if I wasn't home.

It definitely made me feel safer. Ranger barked as the first officer stepped out of the bus and waved at us. "They're friends Ranger. You stay here while Bryan and I greet them." I told the dog. I wore a thermal shirt under my Colorado State sweatshirt and I wore a thermal headband over my ears, there was also thermal pants underneath my jeans. Yeah, I was cold. My hair was up in a ponytail and I had on a pair of working gloves over my hand. It was cold this morning and I was happy to see the inmates were appropriately dressed.

"Good morning!" I greeted them cheerily. "Are you all ready for a day of work?" There were a few smiles from the men. John, Michael, Peter, Jamie, and Henry. I repeated their names to myself quickly. "This is my friend Bryan Ely, he'll be working with us, helping out. He trains horses and we're both going to help you with your mustangs."

I could see the men looking into the field where the horses stood. The sun was almost all the way up but the barn lights (old and new) shined over the fields. "Are those the horses?" Jamie, I think, pointed to the older horses, Faith and Belle.

Bryan and I smiled. "No those are the saddle horses and two non-program mustangs. The horses you'll be working with are right there," Bryan pointed to the field right behind them. "There are ten mustangs in the field and you'll each pick out your own horse to work with. I suggest you choose wisely."

"How do we pick them?" John asked Bryan, looking worried.

"You just pick the one that feels right to you. It could be their coloring or what they look like or how they act. But after you pick, it'll be your horse until the end." Bryan answered John.

"Today you'll just be picking out your horse and then we'll be working with the older saddle horses to help each of you learn how to properly care for a horse." I started, looking at all of them. "Every morning when you come you'll start by feeding your horse, cleaning their stalls if needed, grooming them and then working them." I smiled. "Of course this is after the rodeo of getting them to wear a halter."

Henry looked at the mustangs then me. "So these horses used to be free?" Bryan and I exchanged a look. In his words, I could hear the sympathy, the understanding in them.

"Yes. They were rounded up from troubled areas in the county. Usually it's a drought area, a sparse feeding area, or starving horses that are rounded up. Some of them are actually from Montana and Wyoming but mostly they're Nevada horses. But here at the ranch, they get back a piece of their freedom. We have six hundred acres almost all fenced in so they are almost free again. I let them roam and check on them to make sure they're all okay. The horses you'll be working with we're hoping to place with adoptive families and get them good homes." I told him.

"Do any of you have horse experience?" Bryan asked and they all shook their heads. Bryan nodded. "That's perfectly fine. We'll teach you everything. Is there anything else we need to go over?" Bryan looked towards the officers.

Officer Juneau stepped forward. "Just to go over the rules one more time. You all know what the rules are; you have the tracking devices on. Any threats made to Miss Allen or Mr. Ely or mistreatment of any animal on the ranch and you'll be kicked out of the program immediately and dealt with at the jail. Charlie, do you have anything to add?"

"I don't think so. I just need everyone to sign a waiver releasing the ranch from any liability while they work with the horses. It can be dangerous." I stressed to them. "These animals have had minimal human contact so they'll need work and it won't be easy. We'll do everything we can to keep you from getting hurt but there's always a chance even with our domesticated animals." They all nodded, understanding. "Another thing is that we've recently undergone some new security measures due to our personal situation which I think everyone has been informed of—"

"There's a killer running around right?" Peter interrupted. I winced but nodded.

"I don't think anyone is in danger and if anything happens the program will be put on hold immediately. But we do have an alarm system on the house and cameras around the property so if you need to use the restroom, Bryan or I will have to go with you because the alarm is set at all times." I heard a whine from behind me and sat Ranger wagging his tail. "C'mere boy." Ranger trotted over to me. "This is Ranger. He's very friendly and he has the run of the ranch. Is there any fear or allergy to dogs?"

Everyone shook their heads. "He won't come to you unless you call him that's the way I teach him. If he jumps on you please gently push him off. He has a habit of getting a bit excited at times." I think I covered about everything. "Are you ready to sign some waivers and see your horses?"

We got everyone's waivers signed and I put them in the program's folder I had made. I had a mini office in the feed room until they built the arena, which had a small office off the stalls. Bryan and I walked everyone through the field and we all looked at the horses.

I held a notebook in hand. "You all just tell me which horse you'd like and I'll write it down so we know. I'll keep the information on a dry erase board in our feed room. After you pick the other horses will be going back out to pasture."

"I'd like that black one." John was the first to speak. He pointed out a short and sturdy black gelding with two white socks that seemed friendly. He would make an easy horse once he was worked with. I wrote it down and put John's name next to him.

"Alright, you got yourself a four year old black gelding. He came from the Ruby Mountains after his herd was found in a drought area. He's pretty friendly and interested in people. You get to pick a name for him." I read off the horse's information. John stared at the horse and then blurted out a name.

"How about Cameron?" I smiled a friendly smile at John.

"Cameron it is." I wrote the name down. "Who's next?"

"I like that grey one. The one who is standing all alone." Jamie told us.

Bryan peeked at the copy of the horse's files he had. "That would be a five year old flea-bitten grey mare, she came from Montana where she was rounded up along with a herd that was in a wildfire area. She can be a little nervous but most of them are. She just weaned a baby not too long ago but her hormones should be gone by now."

"I'd like to name her Wildfire." Jamie told me and I wrote it down. Peter picked a black and white gelding who was three years old and an absolute sweetheart. He was so young when he was rounded up he wouldn't be no trouble. He named him Malachi. Michael picked a six-year-old chestnut gelding that was herd bound to Peter's horse so it kind of worked out. He named him Teddy. Now it was down to Henry.

Henry stared at the remaining horses and I took the time to study the men. John was tall and lanky, with short cut blonde hair and brown eyes. Jamie was a little smaller than John was and he was a bit sturdier. Not heavy but built I guess. His brown hair was completely shaved so there was little left and his brown eyes were friendly. Michael had black hair and dark blue eyes that were wary, his frame matching Bryan's. Peter had red hair that came down to mid-forehead and had green eyes to match. He definitely worked out at the prison. And Henry…well Henry had to be the youngest. He wasn't much taller than I was and his medium dirty blonde hair almost touched his eyes. His light blue eyes held something in them. You could tell he wasn't the typical type of a prison guy; he was a soft looking person. His figure was boyish and lean like he was still growing. I would have to go over their files again. I knew most of them were under thirty-five.

"I want that one. The one facing towards the mountains, the golden looking one." Henry pointed out a small buckskin mare. She had been a little bit of trouble to get into the pen and since we've moved the horses, I've always caught her staring at the mountains. "I want to name her Maverick."

I made sure I had everything written down. "Okay. Maverick is a four year old mare that was pulled from Wyoming in a flooded area. She was found alone without her herd and—" I broke off at the sad part. "It looks like she had been pregnant but lost the foal due to stress of being stuck in the flooding and then being rescued." I looked up at the horse. "Poor girl."

Officer Meyer clapped her hands. "Well I guess now that we've got the horses picked out we should start learning about horse care, right Charlie?"

I smiled and nodded. "We're going to be working with Calico, Ginger, and Judge today. They were my grandmother's horses that she had for many years. They used to be working horses when this was a cattle ranch and they couldn't be more perfect to learn with."

For the next few hours, Bryan and I along with the Officer's help showed the men how to groom a horse, how to lead them, how to treat them, about how to tie them, how to halter them, and how to saddle them. We got each of them up on a horse to teach them a bit about riding. Jeff, the deputy from Darton, even came to watch us teaching them.

My phone beeped at me and I saw Ross was entering the gate on Tank. The system would alert me when the gate was opened and closed even with the keypad being used. It was only about noon so I wondered why he was home. I waved him over to where we were and he rode Tank up to me before dismounting. Bryan was supervising Peter un-tack Ginger and I was helping Jamie un-tack Judge.

"Hey, what are you doing home so early?" I asked him as I watched Jamie loosen the cinch.

"Herd looks fine and there wasn't much to do so Wyatt sent Dallas and me on home. I think he only sent me home so Dallas wouldn't complain about Wyatt treating him like an old man." Ross grinned at me and I laughed.

"Poor Dallas." I said and then I stepped forward to grab Judge from Jamie. "He's trained to ground tie so you can just drop your reins like this—only with these saddle horses though—and he'll stay while you put that tack away. Bryan will show you where it goes." I nodded towards Bryan who was walking with Officer Juneau, Peter, and Michael.

"Thanks." Jamie gave me a smile before following. Ross pulled me by the arm closer to him.

"So how's it going so far?" He asked adjusting his hat.

"It's going good. They've all picked out their horses and they seemed to have learned a good bit today with the teaching session we've had. Tomorrow should be a good day when we get the horses into the smaller corral. Of course it'll be rough teaching the mustangs to accept human touch and halters but it's part of the training." I shrugged. "They all seem to be getting into their horses. They've already given them names."

"A start to the bonding process." Ross said and he smiled at me. "You look like you're enjoying yourself."

"I am. Very much and it's so great watching them work with the horses because they get this little bit of freedom. When they are training their own horses, they're going to get a sense of pride and accomplishment because they're doing something good. I get to be a part of that." I said back to Ross. He nodded, understanding.

"Well I'm going to put Tank away then head up to the house to shower. I'll be back out to help." Ross gave me a smile before moving off with Tank.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Henry asked and I turned.

"Yes."

"He's a real cowboy?" John joined in.

I nodded. "Yep. The real deal, he works for a local ranch. He actually just got home off the range from working cattle."

"Can we ask him questions?" John looked at Ross as he unsaddled Tank. I hesitated.

"He's shy. You can try to ask him questions but he doesn't talk much even to me and we've been together for a bit." I told them honestly. "Bryan also lives on a ranch around here. His family owns a cattle operation and he helps them when he's not with me. He'd be able to answer questions too."

"What's that building right there?" Henry pointed to the half-built indoor arena. Josh and his crew had been making good progress on the arena.

"That is where you'll hopefully be working your horses in another week or two." I answered him. "It's an indoor riding arena where you can work with your horses in out of the cold and on soft footing. We'll also be protected from the weather in there. Your horses will have stalls and corrals in there right outside of the arena. It will make it very convenient for all of you when you're working with your horses."

"Sounds like a lot of money." Michael commented. I huffed, a bit amused.

"Oh yeah. The bank loves me right now." I rolled my eyes.

….

Friday, November 17th

I pulled into the parking lot of Willow Springs just as Brynna was sending Hugh and the others home. This week had been amazing with working with the inmates although Tuesday and Wednesday it had rained a bit. Yesterday we got the mustangs into the smaller corral and today we had worked on trying to get halters onto the mustangs. It had certainly been interesting. But they were making progress with their horses.

I had been writing a lot about the new program in the blog for the BLM and it was getting a ton of hits. People loved these types of programs, just like they loved HARP. Maybe it was because of the bond between a horse and person that were having a rough time in life working together.

I was stopping up to talk to Brynna about this week's progress and bring her some files. "Hey!" Brynna smiled as she let me into the office. "How are you?"

"I'm good, how about you?" I asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in her office. Brynna sat down in her chair across from me.

"Good. We're having a little pump problem at home but I guess that's how it is when you're running a ranch…" Brynna sighed. "Actually, Wyatt is talking about taking a local man up on his offer to buy Tank. He's worried about hurting Ross though especially with it being his birthday tomorrow. But the money he's offering for Tank would cover the cost to fix the pump…"

My eyebrows furrowed. "It's Ross's birthday tomorrow?"

"Yeah, he didn't tell you?" Brynna asked. I shook my head. "Well that's a cowboy for you. Especially Ross, no fuss over a day." Brynna rolled her eyes.

"Well what if I bought him?" I suggested. "I would give him to Ross of course."

"Charlie, that would be great! But it would most likely be most of your checks what Wyatt is asking."

I shrugged. "Ross would be devastated if Tank was sold. He wouldn't say anything but he would be. He loves Tank. It's worth it."

Brynna sighed. "Ross is lucky to have someone who cares about him like you do."

"He's a good guy." I told her and it was the truth. Ross was such a good guy.

That's why later that night I purchased Tank from Riverbend Ranch and planned a small party for Ross with Grace.

The next day I could barely keep the smile off my face as Pepper and Dallas picked Ross up to go to breakfast. He thought they were just going to Clara's. He was wrong. They were going to distract him all day so Grace, Sam, Brynna and I could decorate for his party tonight. We worked hard for hours on the decorations and Maxine brought over some food as we decorated.

By the time they brought Ross back, everything was in place and when he walked into the door, we all shouted "Surprise!"

You could tell he really was surprised. "What is all this?" Ross asked me as he dragged me into the kitchen a little while later.

"It's your birthday party." I put my hands on my hips. "Which you never told me it was your birthday…"

Ross shrugged. "It's not important."

"Not important? Ross it's your birthday! Of course it's important." I scolded him.

"Whose idea was this?"

"Mine and Grace's." I told him and he kissed my cheek.

"Thank you." He whispered. "I appreciate it."

It felt nice for him to be happy with his party and I couldn't wait any longer to give him his gift.

"I need you to stay here. I have to go get your gift. I left it outside." Ross's eyebrows raised but he just joined everyone again. I grabbed Sam's arm to whisper in her ear.

"I'm going to bring Tank into the yard. Bring Ross out when you see me, okay?"

"Sure thing." Sam grinned and I knew she couldn't wait either. Ross was going to be ecstatic. I went outside and haltered Tank, pulling him out of the field. I tied the big red ribbon around his shoulders and walked him up to the yard by the house. The door opened and out came Ross with Jake holding his hands over Ross's eyes. I laughed at the sight. "He was the only one tall enough! Don't laugh."

"Can I see what's going on?" Ross asked with his hands on his hips. I nodded for Jake to remove his hands. Everyone was outside now. The Ely's, the Kenworthy's, Mrs. Coley, Sam and her family, Pepper, and Dallas too.

"Happy birthday!" I said as I motioned towards Tank and his big red ribbon tied on. Ross looked at me in shock.

"What is this?" Ross looked away from me to look at Wyatt.

"Tank is your horse now." Wyatt handed him the ownership papers. "Charlie bought him yesterday. Happy birthday Ross."

Ross walked off the porch and pulled me into his arms. He must be in such shock he forgot about the crowd because he usually kept the hugging or being affectionate to a minimum around people. I pulled back after a moment. "I'd say you like it then."

"I love my gift. Thank you so much." Ross took Tank's lead rope and gave him a heavy pat on his shoulder. "Let's get you back to grazing buddy."

Sam and I shared satisfied grins. Ross loved his gift.

….

"Did I tell you how amazing you are yet?" Ross asked as we climbed into bed that night. I smiled and laid my head on his chest.

"Ah, maybe just a hundred times. But don't worry, I don't mind." I joked. Ross's hand pulled my chin up so I was looking at him.

"I think it's a little past due for this." Ross leaned down and he kissed me. It so gentle, so shy, so Ross. His lips moved gently against mine and his hand went to the back of my head. I could feel his strength in his hand holding onto my head and his lips moving against mine. He pulled back and smiled at me. "How was that?"

I smiled. "Great." I paused unsure if I should continue. "But really I'm just so glad you're finally comfortable enough with me to kiss me. That's what's important."

"You're great Charlie and I should have done it sooner." Ross kissed me again. "Sleep time?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I pulled the covers up higher. "But I could kiss you all night."

Ross chuckled and rubbed my back. "Go to sleep."

….

AN: Hey readers! Here's your chapter up for you sooner than I thought and longer than expected! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and their first kiss. I'd love to hear what you have to think about this chapter! Did you like the inmates? I'm going to try to get more into them and their development into the next few chapters. I love these types of programs and would love to get involved with one. It's give them a second chance to better their lives and fix their mistakes.

Also, the third chapter is up for You Are The Only Exception. My Phantom Stallion: Wild Horse Island fanfic. Check it out if you haven't!

Thanks for reading! –Quinnandseth'sgirl15. My next update will be: Savannah's Journey. It should be up within the next few days!