Hi guys,

Thank you all for your reviews and support, its much appreciated!

This is just a short fill in chapter, just a little bit more character growth for Jessie and how she interacts with those around her.

Enjoy!

Chapter 33

'I called him Jackson.'

Jessie rolled her eyes as she heard Mallory's voice inside the barn then chuckled as she pulled her stallion to a halt and slid off his back, patting his neck as she led him into the barn. 'Whose Jackson?'

'Jack.' Mallory replied, glancing at her then turning back to Ty. 'Not once. Not twice, three or four times. Jackson! Jackson! Jackson! I couldn't stop myself.'

'Oh my God, that is serious.' Ty laughed, filling the water bucket in Warrior's stall. 'You can give him a drink now Jessie, it's cleaned out.'

'Thanks Ty.' She patted the stallions neck as he snorted, watching him intently. 'Its okay boy, he's not going to hurt you.'

'Its not funny.' Mallory insisted. 'I plan to spend my summer here.'

'The whole summer?' Ty asked as he went back to finish cleaning the stall he had been working on.

'Yeah and how's that going to work out when Jack hates me?'

'That'll work fine. Amy hates me and I'm still here.'

'She doesn't hate you. It's the opposite of hate.'

'Oh yeah? She seems pretty friendly with that Caleb guy. What's his story?'

'He lives in a trailer, has a big truck and his nickname is Odell-icious. How much time you got?'

Jessie rolled her eyes again as she brushed her horse down. Mallory certainly was quite the busybody, filling him in on everything that had happened while he had been gone. She chuckled as she gave her stallion a hug. 'Ain't you glad I'm not like her.' Warrior snorted, nudging her with his nose. 'I guess that's a yes.'

Jessie sat on the fence watching Amy with the mustang the next day, shaking her head as she tried to catch the stallion when he clearly didn't want to be anywhere near her. 'Amy, just let him go. He's not going to be tamed.'

'I'm not giving up.' She tried to rope him again, the stallion snorting as it raced away from her. 'Easy, good boy.'

Jessie looked at Ty watching her as he led a horse towards the back paddock. 'She's not going to give up, that's for sure.'

'Yeah, she's going to get herself killed.' He watched the stallion closely, seeing him start to get aggressive. 'Amy, get out of there.' He threw the lead rope to Jessie as the stallion charged at Amy. 'Get out of there Amy!

Amy saw the stallion running towards her as if she were in a trance when the stallion knocked her to the ground. Ty ran in, shooing the stallion away as Jessie hurried in after him. 'Back off!'

Jessie quickly got between Amy and the stallion, shooing him back as Ty helped her get up. The stallion snorted, pawing the ground as it looked at her. 'Back off!' The stallion ran at her but she held her ground, throwing her hands in the air as she yelled loudly at him. 'Get back! Back!' She glanced over her shoulder at Amy and Ty. 'You alright Amy?'

'Yeah.' She brushed the dirt and mud off her jeans. 'Just fine.'

'One of these days, that horse is going to kill you.' Ty added as he helped her out of the pen. He glanced over his shoulder at Jessie and the stallion as he opened the gate. 'Alright Jessie, we're out.'

'Good.' She backed up towards the gate, not taking her eyes off the horse. Reaching the fence, she climbed quickly out of the pen and walked over to Amy and Ty. 'That was close Amy, too close.'

'I know.'

'You still having trouble with that stallion?' Caleb asked as he led shorty from the barn. 'I could give you some pointers if you like.'

Amy shrugged her shoulders. 'Guess it couldn't hurt.'

Jessie followed them over to the round yard after she'd tied the loose palomino up and out of the way. She wondered what Caleb was going to suggest, but if it was anything like that exhibition he did when he tried to catch the stallion it was going to be good. 'How many horses have you broken in Caleb?'

'A few.' He led Shorty into the round yard, closing the gate behind him. 'Well, breaking in a horse, it's not exactly rocket science. There's a lot of different ways of doing it, and this here is a tried and true.'

'Well, have you done this before?' Amy asked, not entirely convinced.

'A few times, yeah.'

'With a mustang?'

'No, you've got to catch them first. Given you manage to rope that mustang and get him into a pen, you tie a leg up like so.' He lifted the geldings near foreleg, slipping the loop of his lasso over the fetlock. 'And then you just sort of get him down to the ground. Lay down, lay down, lay down.' He pulled the horses head around as he made him lie down. 'Easy boy, easy, easy. You're okay. Lay down.'

Jessie raised her eyebrows as the horse lay down. If someone had tried to do that with Warrior, he'd have killed them or himself by fighting it. It might work with some horses, but she didn't see it happening anytime soon with the mustang stallion.

'Once you've got him on the ground, well, there's no doubt about who's boss now. And then you let him up.' He let the gelding rise. 'Easy now, easy. Well, you got yourself a fully broke horse. He'll never look at you with evil intentions ever again.'

Ty looked at Amy. 'Is that what you want, Amy? A mustang for a house pet?'

'I don't mean to offend anybody,' He remarked to Amy as Ty walked out of the pen. 'but I think your friend there might not be cut out to work with livestock.'

'I don't think the mustang should be broken either, that's just my opinion.' Jessie shrugged her shoulders as Amy followed after Ty. 'All I know is that if you tried to do that with Warrior, either one or both of you would have died trying to get him on the ground. You can't boss a horse, you have to respect each other.'

'I'll think we'll just leave it as aggreaing to disagree on this subject.'

'Sure.' She rolled her eyes as she jumped off the fence. Gosh, no wonder Jack said she had more sense then him.

'So, how'd you sleep last night?'

Jessie looked over at Jack as she ate her cereal and smiled. 'Pretty good.'

'You haven't had any more of those nightmares, have you?'

'You heard me up and around last night.' She sighed. 'Yes, I got woken up and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up to watch the stars.' She didn't mention her midnight meet up with her favourite big cat. 'Sorry I woke you, I didn't mean to.'

'It's not your fault, I know.' He nodded as he took a seat beside her. 'So, what mischief are you planning on getting up to today?'

'A ride with Warri, help around with the Chores, nothing major.' She sighed as she finished her breakfast and sat her head down on the table. 'I just wish Lisa was back.'

'So my company isn't good enough for you anymore?' He teased. 'Didn't think it'd take long for you to get tired of me.'

Jessie laughed. 'No Jack, it's not that. Sometimes a girl just likes the company of other girls and with Mallory and Amy at School and Lou off working at Maggie's I'm surrounded by the opposite kind who sort of get on my nerves. Namely Caleb.'

It was Jack's turn to laugh. 'Yeah, I don't blame you for wanting Lisa's company. She'll be back soon.'

'Yeah, I know. She rang me again last night.'

'That's good of her. She does like you.'

'She travels a lot, doesn't she?'

'Yeah, she's always going somewhere. That's Lisa though. Always busy.'

Jessie yawned as she glanced at the clock. 'Oh well, might as well get out and go for a ride. I'll see you later Jack.'