I wasn't planning on uploading today, but since you all seem to be enjoying it so much I thought I might as well upload another chapter! This is a shorter one then previous chapters, I didn't have time to edit it but I think it's okay the way it is. As I have said before, I've got the entire story already written out, so I won't be changing any of my already written major storylines but I am open to suggestions... There is a very good reason why I'm writing the storyline the way I am, and in regards to a review from a person in regards to Amy working with the horse, its not really going to happen as the horse (I won't use his name yet since I haven't mentioned it yet) is attached to the girl only. Later on, when he gets to know Jack and Lisa (just like the girl, spoiler Alert) he does trust them but Amy won't be working with him as such... He's calmer around Lisa, because he connects her to the girl... Hope this explanation makes sense lol

Also, as I stated before I was going to have a particular gun in the story. I since scrapped that idea and haven't mentioned exactly what gun shot the girl (for reasons.. Since it's too hard figuring it out) so I imagine it just as a sort of hunting rifle calibre... Hope this makes sense too.

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 6

The stallion reared and crashed against the fence, bolting around and around the pen. Watching the humans, he threw his head up as he slid to a stop and reared again, pawing the air. The whites of his eyes were visible as he reared again, then stood pawing the ground visiosly and snaking his neck. With a roar, he charged at them again, hitting the fence then trying again to get out of the enclosure he was in.

Scott waited till he was sure that he could get the stallion then he fired the gun. The horse exploded again as the dart hit its mark, rearing and bucking but slowly his movements began to get choppier as the sedative began to take effect. The stallion reared wobbly again, then collapsed on the ground with his teeth bared and puffing. 'Alright, that should keep him down for a good while.'

'What are you going to do with him Scott?' Amy asked as the vet put the gun away and walked into the corral with his bag.

'I'm going to check him over, then see if he has any identification.' Scott knelt down beside the horse's head, rubbing his neck. The horse was tense and stressed, even with the sedative and he knew that it wasn't going to help him. 'Amy, maybe you can try and calm him down.'

Amy looked at Jack. 'Is that okay?'

Jack nodded as he and Lisa walked into the corral too, closing the gate behind them even though the horse was down. If he suddenly got up, they didn't need him escaping. 'Alright.'

'Woah, easy boy, easy.' Amy knet down beside the stallion head, rubbing his neck and doing the T-touch on his head but still she could feel the stallion tenseness under her hands. She continued trying to calm him, but for some reason, the stallion wouldn't calm. 'Lisa, how did you and Jack get him in here in the first place?'

'Jack tried to get him away from the girl but he wouldn't let him anywhere near him. I tried and he finally calmed enough for me to back him in here.'

Amy nodded. 'Maybe you should try Lisa. He doesn't seem to like me too much.'

'Alright.' Lisa knelt down beside her. 'What do you want me to do?'

'Rub his forehead right here.' She placed Lisa's hand on the spot. 'Talk to him. It doesn't matter what you say just talk to him. We'll see if that will calm him down.'

'Okay.' She began to rub under his forelock, looking into his brown eyes. She could see sadness, fear, the same thing that she had seen in the girl's eyes the night before. With her free hand she began to rub his neck and she could feel him slowly beginning to relax. 'Easy boy, easy. Your okay. We're not going to hurt you. Your girl's going to be fine. She'll be back with you soon.'

Scott, Jack and Amy watched in amazement as the horse relaxed under her touch and closed his eyes, heaving a huge sigh. 'Looks like you've got the touch too Lis.' Jack commented , seeing how relaxed the horse had become. 'I think he likes you.'

'Maybe he does, but then again, who doesn't?' She grinned cheekily at him, then looked at Scott. 'You want me to continue doing this?'

'Yes.' He grabbed out the scanner from his bag and ran it over the stallion as the first thing to do. There was no beep, so no microchip. 'Well, he's not microchipped. Lisa, can you check and see if there's a tattoo under his lip? He does look like he's got Thoroughbred in him.'

'No tattoo.' She replied as she quickly took a look, then checked his teeth. 'He's a four year old.'

'Scott, what's this?' Amy asked, her finger pointing to a mark on the horses neck, just on his spine where the crest of his mane was. It looked like a scar, but a weird one.

Scott looked at the mark she was talking about, then rubbed the stallions shoulder. He now knew why the horse reacted the way he did around humans. 'A few years back, the government busted a horse rusting operation in the Rockies around Pike River. They were trapping and catching mustangs from the protected area of the mountains and this was how they used to do it. They'd catch a horse in a snare, then crease it to drop it and load it up on the trailer when it was still stunned.'

'Crease?'

'They shoot the horse there to hit the spinal cord Amy.' Scott explained, rubbing his hand on the stallions shoulder. 'It renders then temporarily unconscious and leaves them immobile so they can either get tack on to break them in or get them on a trailer. In this case, they were creasing mustangs to sell them to the meat truck. He was one of the lucky ones.'

'That's awful.' Lisa continued stroking the horse's forehead. 'How did they get busted?'

'An old Indian man.' He grabbed out a needle to take a blood sample to check back in the clinic. 'He knew that the horses were being rustled and he managed to get enough evidence for the government to listen to him. They busted the operation and returned the horses back to the wild that they could. My guess is he was one of them. If you say he's four, then he would have been about six months old when they got him.'

'Poor guy.' Amy looked down at the horse. 'No wonder he's the way he is.'

'I wonder how the girl came to have him.' Scott grabbed some gauze and began to clean the cuts on the horses chest from when he was bashing against the fence. 'It makes sense why he let Lisa near him and not Jack. He's been badly abused by the men from that little scheme they had going.'

'Scott, look at this.' Jack had his hand on the horses rump. A small wound that looked like it had been made from a bullet was bleeding quite badly. He hasn't noticed it before when he had been rearing and carrying on. 'He's been shot too.'

'Looks deep.' Scott took one look at it and turned back to his kit and moved around where near Jack was. 'It's still in there.'

'Are you going to get it out?' Amy asked.

'If I leave it in, he could get lead poisoning from it.' He grabbed out his scalpel and a needle and thread then looked at Lisa and Amy. 'You guys keep him quiet, I'll get the bullet out.' Slowly, he set to work. The bullet was in quiet deep, and after quite some time he managed to get it out and held it up. 'I passed the police on the way out. I think they might be quite interested in this.'

'I dare say they would be.' Jack handed him a snap lock bag from the kit for him to place it in then placed it in his pocket to give to the police. 'That's a very nasty round. I'd say that that's what would be what shot the girl too.'

'If she was shot with that, then she's lucky to still be alive.' He began suturing up the wound. 'I've seen the damage that these can do if they hit organs. A dog came into the clinic a few months back with one of these. He'd been shot while his owner was trying to get a deer and got in the way.'

'What happened to the dog?'

'It died.' Scott looked down at the stallion. 'It's lucky he was shot in muscle and not somewhere else. The damage would have been irreparable.'

Jack caught the look on Lisa's face when she glanced at him. 'Lisa, she's going to be alright.'

Scott bit his lip as he realised he probably shouldn't have shared that bit of information and turned the subject of conversation back to the stallion. 'Other then the cuts and wounds he got, he looks like he's in perfect shape.'

'What breed do you think he is?' Amy asked as Scott began to pack up his gear. 'He looks like he's Thoroughbred to me.'

'That's what I thought.' Lisa added, placing the halter on him that Jack had handed her. 'But he's not full Thoroughbred. He's too muscled and he's got a bigger build.'

'I'd say Thoroughbred with mustang. He's got the height from the thoroughbred and his build from a mustang. Conformation wise, you couldn't get a better horse. He's got perfect conformation and some purebreds I've seen have been worse then him. I'm going to run a DNA test on his blood when I check his other blood work out and comparing that with other breeds we can get a good idea of what blood he's got.'

'I think he's trying to get up.' She interrupted as he lifted his head and began to move his legs. 'We should probably get out now.'

'I agree.' Scott grabbed his case and the four of them quickly hurried out of the yard as the stallion got to his feet. 'Normally he should be down for another hour with the dose I gave him but it looks like he's not a normal horse.'

'You can say that again.' Jack scoffed as the horse reared again, still shaky but with spirit evident in the way he tossed his mane. 'It doesn't seem to have fazed him at all.'

'What are we going to do with him Grandpa? He can't stay in that pen forever.'

'For the moment he can stay in there till we find out what's happened with the girl.'

'I'd reckon that you best bet is letting Lisa handle him.' Scott watched as the stallion wavered again, then pawed the ground as he shook his head. 'He seems to like her.'

'And if the girl is dead?'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.' Jack looked at Lisa. 'Would you be able to look after him?'

'Sure, I can try.' She looked at Amy. 'You'll have to help me though.'

'I'd be happy too.'

'Alright, well I better get going.'

'Thanks for your time Scott.' Jack shook his hand. 'It was much appreciated you coming out at short notice.'

'Anytime Jack. Let me know what happens with the girl.' He got into the car and started the engine. 'If you need any more help with him, just let me know.'

'Will do.' He waved as Scott pulled out of the drive, then glanced back at the horse. 'We better give him some food and water. I better get on the phone to the Sargent and let him know what we got out of him.'

'And I really had better be getting home. I'll drop by tomorrow. Let me know if you hear anything about the girl.'

'I will.' He kissed her quickly on the cheek. 'See you later.'

Amy turned to the horse after Lisa and Jack had left and looked at him as he watched the road. His nostrils were flared and his ears were up, watching, waiting. Slowly, she walked over to the fence and climbed up onto it. 'Don't worry boy. She'll be okay. She'll be just fine.'

So, no news about the girl yet just to keep you all wondering... I'm a mean writer I know lol but I really am happy about how this story is playing out, I'm trying to take it slow and steady since it is quite dramatic, I don't want it over the top with drama so I hope it's not too much too soon. I felt like I needed to write this chapter about the horse, since the horse is a connection to the girls past and former home, in a way. I also wanted to write it as Lisa has the touch with the horse because in a way she can sympathise with both the girl and the horse not having a great past. (I can't say any more than that without exposing a major storyline with Lisa, but there will be little hints here and there about it. It won't be revealed for quite some time, way down the track but Lisa and the girl have a lot in common) so that will keep you guys wondering too... *sits here grinning knowing what happens and not sharing it with you all*

I don't know when I'll be able to upload again, I need to edit the next chapter when I get a chance so once that's done I'll post. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Adios!