Hi all,

Guess whos back? Yep, you'd be right! Its the cliff-hanger queen. Enjoy!

Chapter 31.1

'JACK!' Jessie screamed, her lungs filling with smoke that made her cough violently. She couldn't see him, couldn't find him. The flames were everywhere, she was trapped. She looked around frantically in the burning barn, trying to find him. She had to find him, had to find him before the roof fell in. 'J-ACK!'

Suddenly she saw a form lying on the ground and she ran forward, tossing a burning piece of timber out of the way as she hurried to him. 'Jack! Oh god! Jack!' He wasn't moving, lying facedown on the concrete in front of a stall door. The sounds of the horses were forgotten as she came up beside him, trying to figure out what to do. The heat, the flames, the smoke- Tears poured down her face. Frantically she tried to lift a beam that had fallen on Jack off him, the pain in her shoulder and the burning in her hands making her cry out. Suddenly she heard the sound of cracking timber, screaming as the roof collapsed on top of her…

Jessie gasped as she sat up in bed, her heart pounding as she tried to catch her breath. It was just a dream, it was just a dream. She was safe, she was okay. So was Jack. There was nothing to worry about, she was safe.

Cougar nudged her with her nose, purring loudly and she placed her bandaged hand on the cat. 'I'm okay. I'm alright girl.' The cat licked her cheek, her whiskers tickling her skin. 'I'm okay girl, it was just a dream.'

She looked over at her alarm clock, lying back down as she tried to get back to sleep. Slowly she watched as the minutes ticked by, ticking by slowly. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't close her eyes. She was too scared to go back to sleep.

She sighed, sitting back up again after another sleepless hour had slipped past. There was no point trying to sleep. She slipped out from under her covers, looking up at the window as the first rays of the sunrise began to peak over the horizon and fill her room with a gentle light. She grabbed the sling that Scott had fixed up for her off her bedhead, placing it over her head and sliding her arm in. She looked down at her bandaged hands, knowing people were going to start asking her questions when they saw them. Would they think she was responsible for the fire?

The girl managed to get herself dressed with some trouble, placing her hands in gloves to try and hide her bandages. She didn't want to talk about what happened, she wasn't ready to talk about what happened. If no one saw them, they wouldn't ask questions. Simple, or so she hoped.

'Come on girl.' She called Cougar as she started to the door, grabbing her phone when she walked past her bedside table. The cat climbed down off the bed, following her as she crept downstairs. The house was still and quiet, a slight smokey smell still lingering in the room. She looked around then saw the clothes she had been wearing the night before in the basket to be washed. Something stirred inside her and she strode over to them, picking them up and tossed them in the garbage bin. There was no way she wanted to wear them again.

Quietly she snuck out of the house after she'd thrown her clothes away, heading out to the barn in the dim morning light. The smell of smoke was strong in the air as she walked closer to the barn, able to see just how much damage had been done as she got closer. The roof over Copper and Pegasus stall had collapsed, a shudder running over her as she stood at the door looking in.

'JACK!' She had screamed into the flames again, hoping against hope that he would come out any second now but he didn't appear. A battle inside her mind was tearing her apart. She knew running in there was dangerous, that it was the worst thing she could do but what else could she do? She had rung the fire brigade. They were on their way. She looked towards the highway again but there was no sign of a fire engine. The sound of Warrior's frantic screams reached her ears again and she turned back to the flames. They weren't anywhere near and if Jack was in there-

She felt Cougar place her head under her hand as she started to sob quietly. If she hadn't gone in there, Jack would have been dead. Why did she feel so terrible when she had saved his life? Why couldn't she explain what she was feeling? Why couldn't she make sense of it? She had done what she needed to do, she had done what she could yet somehow in her mind it didn't seem to be enough. Could she have done more? Maybe if she had come down sooner she could have stopped him from getting hurt.

Wiping her tears off her cheeks she took another step closer. She could see the flames again, could remember running in through that door to get the horses out. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it had only been a few hours. Cougar purred loudly, reassuring her that she was there for her.

Jessie walked in carefully, her eyes adjusting to the dim light as she soberly looked around. Warrior's stall was charred, the door half burnt. Stepping over a burnt timbers littering the floor she made her way into his stall, hearing again his frantic screams. She could imagine how he must have felt, standing in his stall. He would have been terrified, trying to do everything he could to get out. Even lashing out at those who tried to get him out.

Her blood ran cold as she turned to look back at the door. Warrior had been the closest horse to the door, of course Jack would have tried to get him out first. That wound he had hadn't been caused by a falling beam, it had been from her stallion. Grief and remorse flooded through her. Jack had been hurt trying to save her horse.

'Jessie.'

She was jolted from her thoughts and put a brave face on as she turned around, seeing Ty standing in the doorway of the stall. 'Ty. What are you doing here?'

'I saw you come over.' He replied as he joined her, giving Cougar a pat as she rubbed up against him. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm alright.' Jessie replied half-heartedly. 'I'm doing the best I can considering the circumstances.'

Ty nodded, looking around. 'It seems so unreal doesn't it. We were only standing in here yesterday and now look at it.'

'Unreal is probably the best word for it, even though it is very much real.' She sighed, walking out of her stallions stall. 'Warrior's is the least ruined it looks like, the others are pretty much destroyed.'

'It was just lucky Jack was able to get the horses out. Amy said he doesn't remember what happened but he got them out.'

Jessie didn't reply, looking at her saddle as she walked over to the tack. It was charred, an entire fender was burnt and the rest of it was covered in a layer of ash. She sighed, brushing the ash off as she looked at it sadly. 'I've got a bit of work to do on this.'

'You want me to carry it out?'

'Please. I might as well know how much work I've got ahead of me fixing this saddle.' She looked around again as Ty carried her saddle out, wondering where on earth to get started cleaning up the barn. From what she could see mostly everything inside was destroyed, if not by fire then by the soaking the firemen had given the place. Some stuff would be able to be salvaged, like Warrior's bridle that she picked up off the floor but all the feed was ruined. What were they going to give the horses to eat? 'How's the loft Ty?'

'It needs to be fixed, there's some damage to it.' He replied, walking back into the barn. 'I'll be staying at the dude ranch for sometime I imagine.'

'Yeah. I don't know what they're going to do.' She brushed more ash off another saddle, checking it over. 'Looks like Amy's saddle fared pretty well though. Can't say as much for the feed.'

'I brought a few bales of hay over from the dude ranch to feed the horses so they'll be taken care of.' He looked around the barn again, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder. 'How about we go check on the horses and come back to clean this up later?'

She nodded, following Ty out of the barn. 'Has anyone rung Mallory to tell her yet?'

'I think Lou did, I expect she would be back soon. Do you know who was the last person to be in the barn yesterday?'

'It was Mallory I think. I went inside after you left and she was still looking after Copper. Why?'

'The firemen think the heater was the cause of the fire. I overheard the captain talking with Lou last night.'

'Oh no. What's going to happen then?

'I don't know. I guess we'll see what Mallory says.' He grabbed a bale out of the back of his truck, carrying it over to the fence for the horses. 'Lou and Jack will figure things out though.'

'Yeah.' She sighed, patting Warrior as he grabbed out his pocket knife to open the bale and distribute it for the horses. 'Just another setback. First the glass in the arena and now the barn burning down.'

'Seems like a coincidence, doesn't it?'

'A very unusual coincidence.' Jessie agreed softly, pausing patting Warrior to think for a moment. She turned back to him, frowning.'But if they think that the fire was caused by the heater wouldn't that be an accident?'

'Suppose so, but still, something doesn't seem right about the whole thing.' He gave Spartan a pat as the gelding poked his head over the fence to grab a mouthful of hay. 'Scott check them over?'

'Yeah. They all have some degree of smoke inhalation but Pegasus is the worst for that since he got out last. Luckily though none of them were wearing rugs or it could have been a lot worse.' She patted Warrior's neck gently, the stallion walking out of her reach when Ty threw him his hay biscuit. She sighed, placing her hand down on the fence. 'Things could have been a whole lot worse.'

Jessie looked up at the driveway as she heard a car pulling up at the gate, pausing from brushing Warrior down to watch as Mallory hopped out and walked up the drive. She glanced around behind her as Ty and Amy continued cleaning out the barn, sorting out what was still good enough to keep and what they needed to throw out. She sighed, turning back to Warrior. After she had taken a decent look at her saddle she had realized that it had been damaged worse than it had appeared at first glance. It was going to take her some time to fix it, especially with her burnt hands.

Sighing again, she put the brush back in her pocket and let Warrior return to his grazing, heading over to Mallory as she walked past the corral. 'Hi Mallory.'

'Jessie.' She replied, walking over to her. 'Hi.'

'You okay Mallory?'

'Yeah, I guess so.'

Jessie nodded, guessing Mallory was probably feeling about as bad as she was. She motioned towards the barn where Amy and Ty were working. 'I think Amy was hoping to talk to you.'

'Okay.' She was going to say more then hesitated and walked around the coral to the barn, standing in dumb amazment at the mess infront of her. The yard in front of the barn was strewn with piles of burnt timber and ruined feed, Ty carrying out more tack from the barn as she looked around.

'Hey.'

'Oh my God, Amy.'

'I know.' She agreed, placing a bucket she'd been using to water the horses down next to the truck and walked over to her. 'Pretty bad, huh? The horses are all fine.'

'I can't believe it even happened. Do they know how it started?'

'Yeah, they think they do.' Ty replied, placing another saddle down on the rail outside the barn. He motioned for her to follow him into the barn. 'Come here.' He walked into the barn, Amy and Mallory following him. 'Were you the last one in here yesterday?'

'Yeah, last night before I went to my sleepover. Um, I fed Copper and closed the barn up for the night. Why?'

'Did you remember to turn off the heater?'

'Yes.'

'They said they found it plugged in. The fire marshal said it's what caused the fire.'

Mallory bit her lip as she looked down at the heater. She was sure that she had turned it off before she had left, but if it was found still plugged in then they must think it was her fault why the barn had caught fire. 'I made sure I turned it off before I left. I didn't leave it on Ty, I didn't.'

'Mallory, even if you did-' Amy started but the girl cut her off.

'I didn't! I swear!'

'Mallory-'

Jessie got out of her way as Mallory stormed out of the barn, sighing. She knew Mallory would have reacted like that, finding out that the heater had still been plugged in and of course the blame would be laid on her because she had been the last one to use it, and after she had been told not too. She sighed, looking at Ty and Amy. 'What did she say?'

'She said she made sure that she turned it off.'

'I believe her. Mallory wouldn't be so stupid to leave a heater on.' The girl sighed again, looking around. 'What a mess.' In the better light she could see just how much damage had been done to the barn. Pegasus's stall was completely destroyed. An unexplainable feeling rushed over her, looking at the stall. If the gelding hadn't helped her get out when he did-

'Jessie, are you okay?' Amy asked with concern, looking at the girl as her shoulders began to shake. 'What's wrong?'

'No, I'm fine.' She was quick to assure her, trying to get her miniature panic attack under control before it progressed into a full-blown one. She saw the looks that Amy and Ty were giving her and quickly fled out of the barn without another word. Slowing down to a walk, she forced herself to take long, deep breaths, trying not to relive the images of the events of the night before. Deep breaths Jessie. Deep breaths.

'Jessie, I left you some breakfast in the fridge.' Lou remarked as she walked past her, holding a folder. 'There's some bacon and eggs and a few other things, you'll just need to heat them up.'

'I'm not hungry.' She replied, glancing behind Lou at Jack as he walked back into the house. 'Is he going to be okay?'

'Yeah, he's just fine.' The woman looked down at the girl, sensing something was off with her. 'You alright? You know you need to have something to eat.'

'I'm fine, just don't feel like it.'

'How about I bring you a couple of muffins back from Maggie's? I'm about to head into town, I've got to do a couple things there anyway.'

Jessie shrugged. 'I suppose, if you want to.'

'Alright. I'll see what I can do. Blueberry is your favorite, isn't it?' The girl nodded, still looking towards the house. 'Don't you worry about Jack honey, he's going to be fine.'

Everyone was saying that, yet she just couldn't get rid of the feeling in her stomach that was telling her something just wasn't quite right. She plastered on a fake smile however, trying to keep up with the pretense that she was okay and that she was holding herself together. 'Yeah, he's going to be fine.'

Her smile faded as Lou continued on, hoping in Jack's truck to head to town. She sighed, wishing she could shake this feeling but she couldn't. Her instincts were telling her something bad was going to happen, she just really hoped that for once she was wrong. What could happen that was worse than the barn burning down? She didn't want to know the answer.

Quietly she slipped into the house, struggling to take her jacket off slightly with her arm still in the sling. She contemplated taking her gloves off for a moment then thought against it, guessing that no one had told Jack she had been burnt. Amy, Lou and Ty hadn't mentioned anything either, she could only guess that Kit and Scott hadn't told them and if that was the case she was grateful. She didn't need people fussing over her.

She walked into the dining room, seeing Jack sitting on the couch and she went over beside him. 'Mind if I join you?'

He shook his head as he looked up at her, patting the seat beside him. 'Not at all honey. Come here.'

'Thanks.' She smiled, snuggling up to him. 'Have you spoken to Lisa?'

'I did talk to her briefly this morning. She wanted to cut her trip short but I told her it wasn't necessary.'

'I think I scared her pretty bad last night.' The girl sighed, resting her head on Jack's shoulder. 'One moment we were talking then I had to run off.'

'I just wish I could remember what happened.'

'You don't know what happened?'

Jack shook his head. 'All I remember is standing out on the porch smelling smoke and then nothing. The doc rekons that I'll start to remember in a couple days.' He looked down at her. 'Do you know what happened?'

'No.' She lied. 'I just called the fire brigade.'

'Somehow the horses got out, I must have been able to get them out but I don't remember.'

'How they got out doesn't matter, the main thing is that they're out.' The thought briefly crossed her mind of how he would react if he learned that she was the one who got the horses out, and saved his life. She couldn't stop the shudder that came over her body thinking about what she went through the night before. 'I think I'm going to go work on my schoolwork.'

'You don't want something to eat? I think Lou left you breakfast.'

She shook her head as she stood up. 'No, I don't want to eat.' He just nodded and for once didn't argue with her about her not wanting to eat. She sighed, heading upstairs to be alone. She needed to be alone otherwise she was afraid she would break down. She couldn't tell anyone what had actually happened. She closed the door behind her as she walked in, leaning against it as she finally let herself break down.

Cougar walked over to her, rubbing against her as she sobbed and she sank to her knees beside her cat. 'Why did this have to happen girl? Why?'

'Well, I just feel terrible.'

Jessie knew that voice as she walked back down the stairs a couple hours later, lingering on the last one as she peered into the kitchen. Val Stanton was sitting at the kitchen table with Jack, obviously deep in conversation with him. Almost instantly her hackles went up so to speak. She didn't like that woman, didn't trust her the least little bit. What was she doing here?

'How could I have even guessed that no-one told you about the insurance problem?'

Insurance problem? She was all ears.

'Oh Jack, I'm so sorry. Can I get you something, more coffee?'

'No need.'

'Well, listen. My offer still stands.'

Offer? What offer?

'I'd like nothing better then to be able to help.'

You'd like nothing more than to worm your way into Jack and Lisa's relationship more like. She had to refrain from snorting her distaste at whatever offer Val was making him. It was much more interesting being able to eavesdrop on their conversation. Great timing to be away Lisa.

'You know, what are neighbours for, huh? Sleep on it.'

She glared at the woman as she got up and left, waiting till the coast was clear before she walked into the kitchen. 'What was that about?'

'Val just came by to see how we're all doing, that's all.'

'Hmm.' She replied, glancing out the window as the woman got into her car. Casually she turned back to him as he got up from the table. 'What offer was she talking about?'

'Just something she ran past me the other day.' He replied, grabbing his coat. 'Have something to eat Jessie, please. There's plenty to choose from in the fridge.'

'Alright.' She gave in even if she was only agreeing to it to keep him from worrying about her. She sighed as he walked out, getting up to grab herself some juice and a sandwich that was already made. Looking at her gloves as she placed the sandwich on the bench she realised she wouldn't be able to eat with them on. They were filthy, especially since she'd been petting Warrior while wearing them.

Jessie glanced out the window as she grabbed herself a knife and fork so she could eat, seeing Mallory standing outside with Jack, giving him a hug. She smiled but it wasn't her happy smile. It was a smile that meant she was coping, only just.

'You eating with gloves Jessie?'

She turned around at Amy's voice, seeing her walk into the kitchen. 'Yeah. My hands are cold.' She tried a weak lie, turning away from her as she filled her cup up. 'How's the clean up going?'

'Seemingly endless. Ty forced me to come in and take a break.' Amy sighed as she grabbed her schoolbooks and took a seat at the table. 'How are you doing?'

'I wish everyone would stop asking me that.' The girl snapped then instantly regretted it. 'Sorry Amy. You didn't deserve that. I guess my temper is running a little short at the moment.'

'It's okay Jessie, I think everyone is kind of like that right now.'

'I'll come help you guys but I need to get some schoolwork done first.' She lied. It wasn't schoolwork she had in mind, it was more work of the sleeping variety. Even if she didn't want to admit it, she was exhausted and she was in pain. Her shoulder had been playing up all morning and her hands were constantly reminding her of what hot concrete felt like. 'I should be done sometime this afternoon.'

'That's alright Jessie, just come out when you can. You did quite a bit this morning.'

'Yeah.' Jessie sighed, cutting up her sandwich with some difficulty. 'I just wish there was something else I could do. I felt so helpless last night-' Her voice trailed off as she tried keeping her emotions in check. 'I might go eat upstairs, get started on my schoolwork while I eat.'

'Okay.' Amy nodded, frowning slightly as she watched the girl leave. There was something she wasn't telling them, she could feel it. First her reaction at the barn and her body language now. It didn't make much sense. It had been a shock for her last night when she and Lou had gotten back and seen what had happened but the girl had been there, watched it all unfold. Was it any surprise that she would be acting the way she was? She made a mental note to mention it to Jack as she opened her book up to start her assignment.

'Where'd Jessie go?'

She looked up as her grandpa walked back in, hanging his coat up on the rack in the mud room. 'She grabbed a sandwich and headed upstairs. Said she wanted to work on her schoolwork.' He nodded as he walked in to grab a drink. 'I think you need to talk to her Grandpa, there is something going on with her.'

'What do you mean Amy?'

'I mean she acted really weird in the barn, almost like she had a panic attack or something.' She turned around in her chair to face him while he filled a cup from the sink. 'When I tried to see if she was okay, she took off and just now she did the same thing. Something is wrong.'

'I know. Things don't add up.' He agreed as he sat down at the table with her. 'I just wish I could remember what happened, it might explain a few things.'

'I don't think Jessie is going to be very forthcoming with her rendition of what happened last night. She just seems to have shut down again.'

'If only I could remember-' His voice trailed off as he tried again to figure out what had happened with the barn fire. 'She did say something last night, something along the lines of 'I thought I was going to lose you' or something. I don't know. She seemed pretty upset.'

'Maybe you should try talking to her?'

Jack nodded as he got up again. 'I'll go talk to her now.'

'Okay.' She turned back to her book as he left, trying to concentrate on her work but not having much luck with that.

'Hey.'

She glanced up as Lou placed a couple shopping bags down on the chair, flipping the page she was holding absentmindedly. 'Hey. What's wrong?'

'The barn wasn't insured.' Lou replied as she grabbed out the milk and placed it in the fridge. 'There's damage to the roof and I have no idea how we're going to afford it. All the estimates I've got so far are sky high.'

'Well, we have to.' Jack interrupted as he walked back into the room.

'Grandpa, I'm so sorry. I didn't know how to tell you.'

'Well, we'll fix it.'

'How?'

'Well, we'll find a way. There's always a way.'

'Did you speak to Jessie?' Amy asked, moving her books so Lou had room to sort the groceries out on.

'No, she's asleep. I thought it best not to disturb her. If you're right Amy, then her getting some rest is exactly what she needs right now. I'll talk to her later.'

'What was that about?' Lou questioned, lowering her voice as he left the kitchen and headed into the living room. 'Is there something wrong with Jessie?'

'I don't know.' She shrugged. 'It's just a hunch I get. I mean, I know that the barn burning was a shock for all of us but Jessie was here. She saw it happen.'

'Your probably right there and with her history-' She folded up the paper bags and placed them to the side. 'It's just so unfair.'

'I'm going to make grandpa some tea and toast, you want some?'

'No, I can't eat.'

'Alright.' Amy got up, grabbing what she needed. 'I think we'll be able to cut back on the shopping for a while, no one seems to want to eat around here.'

'I got some muffins for Jessie while I was in town, I got you a couple too.'

'Thanks. I'll eat them later.' She placed the cup of tea and plate of toast on a tray, carrying them into the living room. Jack was standing at the fireplace as she placed the tray down on the table then a loud thump on the floor made her turn around quickly. 'Grandpa!' She exclaimed, running over to him, kneeling down beside him as she glanced up towards the kitchen. 'Lou!'