Update time!

Apologies in advance that its short lol, I'll try to update in a couple days. Enjoy!

Chapter 27.1

'What's going on mate?' Jessie asked Warrior as she stood watching him in his stall the next day. Amy had tried working with him before she left for school earlier that morning and the stallion had been perfectly fine till he was asked to go into the arena. Then hell broke loose. He'd done everything short of bucking Amy off and trampling her, fighting her till they'd given up. As soon as she had ridden him away from the arena though the stallion was back to his usual self. It had confirmed that he didn't like going into the arena but they still didn't have any answers to why.

'How'd he go this morning? Any luck?'

She glanced over at Jack as he led Paint into the barn, sighing as she rested her head on her arm on the door. 'He wouldn't go into the arena, we've tried and tried for the last four days and still he flat out refused. Amy doesn't know what might be wrong with him, we're going to give it another shot when she gets back from school.'

'He seems fine now.' He remarked, glancing over at the stallion calmly eating from his haynet. 'It doesn't make any sense.'

'I know. It's driving me crazy.' She sighed again then walked away from his stall and joined Jack as he untacked his gelding. 'Lisa contacted you yet today?'

'Yeah.' He chuckled, undoing the cinch. 'She sent me a message before she headed to some race meeting or something telling me again to keep an eye on you.'

'Because I'm such a handful.' She rolled her eyes, teasing. 'I've been good.'

'Yes, you have been.' Jack slid the saddle off Paint, carrying it over to the tack rack. 'How's your shoulder?'

She glanced down at her arm, still in a sling. 'It's feeling okay. Can I go for a ride later?'

'I don't think so. Three more days to wait young lady.'

'How'd I know you were going to say that?' She sighed again. 'Not being able to ride is driving me crazy.'

'And everyone else around you too.'

'Oh haha. Very funny.' The girl gave Paint a pat as he replaced the bridle for a halter so he could lead him out to the paddock to turn him out. 'I miss coming out with you to go check on the cattle. I like our rides together.'

'I miss you coming along too.' He agreed, leading Paint out of the barn towards the back pasture. 'But it's only for a few more days, it will go fast. Don't you worry Jess.'

'I know.' She kicked a rock on the ground in her path then jogged to catch up with him again. 'Scott's here early. What's he doing here?'

'I think he's going to check Spartan over again.' He shot a glance towards the house where Scott's truck was parked outside. 'But he's probably having breakfast with Lou at the moment.'

'Can we go crash their party?'

'No.' He chuckled, letting Paint loose into the paddock. 'There you go boy.' He patted him, the gelding ambling off to join the other horses after a few moments. He closed the gate behind him then turned back to the girl. 'We've got other things to do.'

'Like what? I can't exactly lift weights with this shoulder.'

'I need to do a few things to the tractor, you can come and help me with that if you want.'

'Sounds like too much work. I think I'll go spend some more time with Warrior. Maybe I'll get what his problem is figured out.' She glanced over at the road hearing another vehicle. She frowned. It was the same red truck Jack and said something about a few days ago. 'There's that truck again.'

Jessie led Warrior out of the barn to the round yard a little while later, patting him as she turned him loose into the corral. He snorted, sniffing her arm then trotted over to the bucket that had been left inside to see if there was anything left in it. She chuckled, closing the gate. Everything was food with that guy.

'How's training with Warrior going?'

The girl turned around at the voice and smiled seeing Scott walking over. 'It's not at the moment.'

'Yeah, Lou mentioned what happened.' He nodded down at the girl's arm in a sling. 'Figured out why yet he carried on like that?'

'No.' She sighed. 'And it's really bugging me. I have no idea why he chucked me off and now he won't go anywhere near the arena. It's very strange.'

Scott nodded, glancing towards the stallion. 'I'll give him a quick look over once I check Spartan if you want.'

'I'd appreciate that.' She replied as they started walking towards the barn. 'How is Spartan?'

'He's okay, Ty and Mallory saved his life. If they hadn't given him that charcol solution when they did it would have been too late.'

'Amy would have been devastated if anything happened to him. She loves that horse.'

'Yes she does.'

'Thought I heard your voice Scott.' Jack exclaimed as he walked out of the office, wiping his hands on a rag. 'Morning.'

'Morning Jack.'

'Thanks for dropping in.'

'No problem.' He looked into Spartan's stall, resting against the door. 'How's he been doing? Is he drinking and eating alright?'

'Yes, he's been just fine.'

Jessie stood back, watching Scott as he checked Spartan over and spoke to Jack. She just wished she could figure out what was going on with her horse, it wasn't like him to be this difficult about something. It wasn't him at all and the ache in her shoulder reaffirmed that. There was some reason why he didn't want to go in the arena anymore and she just wished she knew why so she could fix it. She guessed it probably wasn't a physical reason as to why he refused to go into the arena but getting Scott to check him over would help rule that out. She sighed, taking a seat on a bale of hay as Jack and Scott continued their chat over the gelding. Maybe she just wasn't supposed to enter the rodeo.

'Alright, we're done here.' Scott exclaimed, placing his stethoscope back in his case. 'If you want to go get Warrior Jessie I'll check him over quickly before I leave.'

'Sure. I'll go catch him.' She got up, heading out of the barn to the corral as Jack put Spartan back in his stall. She whistled lowly to get the stallion's attention as she picked up his leadrope, Warrior trotting over to meet her as she opened the gate. 'Hey boy.' She snapped his lead onto his halter, patting his neck as he gently nudged her. 'You be good, okay?'

She led him out of the corral, the stallion following at her shoulder. She halted him just outside the barn as Scott walked out, chuckling as Warrior rubbed up against her again. 'Okay, okay. Enough of that.' She teased, pushing his head away. 'That's enough.'

'Hey Warrior.' Scott came over to him, extending his hand towards the stallion so he could sniff him. Warrior sniffed his hand a couple times then relaxed and closed his eyes as the girl patted his neck. 'I hear you've been a handful lately.'

'Yeah. Wouldn't know that looking at him now.' Jessie rubbed his forehead as Scott began his examination of the stallion. Warrior snorted when the vet ran his hand over his neck then settled down again, the warm sunlight sending him to sleep. The girl chuckled, looking at the horse. 'Don't let us keep you awake.'

'There doesn't appear to be anything physically wrong with him.' He exclaimed once he'd done a thorough check up of the animal. 'Nothing that I could say as a defiant cause to his behaviour.'

'Hmmm.' She sighed heavily. 'I guess the mystery deepens then.'

'I wish I could have been of more help.'

'It's okay Scott, I'm just thankful there isn't anything actually wrong with him.' She turned as Jack walked out of the barn, joining them. 'Well, he's got a clean bill of health but still no idea why he's been acting up.'

'Well that's good and annoying at the same time.' He chuckled, patting Warrior. 'Thanks for checking Spartan and Warrior over Scott.'

'No problem Jack. Happy to do it.' Scott replied, closing up his vet case. 'I'll be on my way now, I've got a couple calls to make before I head back to the surgery.' He felt for his phone, frowning as he didn't find it in his pocket. 'I think I left my phone and wallet in the house.'

'I'll go find them.' Jessie offered, handing Jack the stallion's leadrope. 'I'll be right back.'

'Thanks Jessie.'

'No problem.' She called back over her shoulder as she headed towards the house. Jumping up onto the porch she opened the door and walked into the kitchen, looking around. Lou was at the sink washing up a couple of plates but the girl didn't seem to notice her unusually sober expression. 'Scott said he left his phone and wallet somewhere in here. have you seen them?'

'I think they're on the kitchen table.'

'Thanks Lou.' The girl headed into the dining room, her cat yawning as she got up off her bed and walked over to her. She chuckled, picking up the phone and walled as Cougar rubbed up against her and she knelt down to her level. 'You want a pat?' Cougar purred loudly as she scratched underneath her chin and she smiled, patting her for a couple moments. 'Alright, that's enough for now. I better go give Scott his stuff.' She got up, the sound of something falling catching her attention as she turned to leave. She frowned, turning around. A small piece of paper had fallen out of his wallet and she sighed as she bent down to pick it up to put it back where it belonged. As she turned it over, her frown deepened as a flood of recognition washed over her. Why did Scott have a photograph of her mother?