Wow! Two chapters in one day! Hehe, have fun reading (Its to make up for not updating sooner) :)

AND PLESE DROP ME A REVEIW! MUCH APPRECIATED!

Abigail led the horses into the barn, then put them in their stalls and gave them a feed, then she left them and went to her own house, and to bed.

Thunder was stabled in Spirit's stall, the stallion eating his oats quietly. "I need to thank you for leading me out of the canyon."

"No thanks needed." Spirit replied, oats drippling out of his mouth. "I was happy to help you." He turned around after he finished his dinner and addressed the other horses. "I would like you all to make Thunder feel at home here, so lets all give him a warm welcome."

Junipero neighed loudly. "Welcome Thunder."

"Welcome Thunder." Chicalinda agreed from her stall, the other's all joining in with excited neighs. "We've heard a lot about you."

"Really?" Thunder snorted. "I'm not that special."

"Well, everyone else seems to think so." Sorrel butted in. "Lucky wouldn't stop talking about you the whole time after you came through with your rider yesterday."

"Was the person who rode me Lucky?"

"No." Boomerang said as he knocked over his oat pail to get the last little grains out. "That was the school teacher, Miss Floris. Lucky is Spirit's rider."

"So, she seems to think I'm pretty special hey?" He asked Spirit. "I hope you don't get jealous."

"Never." Spirit chuckled. "I know what Lucky's like. She means a lot to me, that girl."

"I know what you mean." Thunder whinnied softly as he thought of Jenny. "I hope my owner's alright. She's the only human I trust."

"I wouldn't have noticed that you didn't like humans." Chicalinda added. "You seemed pretty gentle with Kate."

Thunder shook his head. "Its men I'm afraid of. They've always abused me. Jenny is the only person I've ever let rid me, except for the teacher you talk of. Everyone else I've flat out refused to let them ride me." He looked at the scars on his legs. "Even after all the men did to me back where I came from, I still wouldn't let them near me. I trampled two of them to death. I'm just sick of the way they treat me."

"I can understand that." Junipero agreed. "I had a really nasty owner before the one I have now came along. He used to stave me and beat me too, and he is just a pure snake."

"I hope you don't hurt Mr. Granger though." Boomerang nosed into the conversation. "Cause if you do, you won't be here long."

Thunder snorted. "I'll only be here till Jenny is better, then we'll be off again. I'll be gone by morning to hide till she's better. I just don't trust humans."

"You can trust ours." Chicalinda nibbled on his mane across the stall wall. "They're always nice to us, and they give us extra oats when we're good too."

"I still don't trust them." He shook his mane. "I'll never trust anyone except Jenny."

Spirit looked at him with his wise eyes. "You'll learn soon enough that even though there are bad humans, there are good humans. Like Lucky's dad, Pru's dad and Miss Floris. They are the nicest humans I've meet, considering I bucked Pru's father clear over the corral fence." He chuckled. "I'm surprised he lets me in his barn after that. Mr. Granger is a tough customer."

"I bet he didn't like it."

"Nope. He didn't." Spirit snorted. "Its getting late, time to get some rest." He walked over to the corner of his stall and laid down, the rest of the other horses doing the same thing, except for Thunder.

Thunder stood, staring out the window to the house where he knew Jenny was. Instinct told him where she was, but he still couldn't help worry about her. He snorted again, then whinnied loudly. He quickly became quiet again, so that he didn't wake the other horses, then walked out the door and trotted off onto the prairie to hide….

Lucky opened her eyes and rubbed her head, then sat up and looked around the room. Cora and her dad where in chairs beside her, asleep and she saw Kate over on the other side of the room, with another girl. That must be Jenny. She thought, then she yawned.

"Hey sweet pea." Jim said as he waked up. "Feeling better?"

Lucky nodded. "Yes, a bit better."

Cora yawned as she woke up. "Glad to hear that Lucky." She got up and walked over to Kate and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Kate, wake up, its morning."

Kate's eyes fluttered open, then she saw the clock on Lucky's bedside table. "Oh, no, I'm going to be late to teach school."

"Calm down Kate." Jim chuckled. "We closed the school for the day." He handed Lucky a glass of water to drink. "Here, drink it slowly."

Lucky took a long drink, then passed it back. "Thanks dad." She looked over the other side of the room. "How's Jenny?"

Cora looked up at Lucky as she finished checking Jenny. "She's weak, but she's still sleeping, so we need to be quite." She walked over to the door. "I'm just going to get Doc to have a look at both of you."

"But I'm fine." Lucky protested. "I want to go see Spirit."

"Not till the doctor says you can, young lady." Cora affirmed as she left. "And that is my last word on the matter."

Lucky flopped back against her pillow. "Dad-"

"Your Aunts right." Jim butted in. "Another half-hour or so won't hurt you. In the mean time, I'm going to go make us all some breakfast." He got up and left the room, leaving Lucky to sigh miserably.

"It's not fair." Lucky huffed to herself as she stared at the ceiling. "I'm fine."

"They just want to be sure of that." Kate said as she walked over to Lucky's bed, and sat down beside her. "You had quite a nasty knock to the head last night. That's not something to be taken lightly."

"I know, I know." She rolled her eyes, then turned serious. "I need to thank you, for last night."

"It was nothing, Lucky." Kate assured as she stroked Lucky's fringe out of her face. "I'm just glad we're all fine, to some degree." She looked back at Jenny. "What do you know about her, Lucky?"

"Not much." Lucky pulled a paper out of her bedside table and handed to Kate. "I just know what's in this article."

Kate looked at the paper and saw that the article was written about Jenny's rather infamous ride. She gave a little chuckle. "Looks like the two of you will get along, she dressed up like a man to ride that race."

"That's where I got the idea from." Lucky explained. "But that's all that I know about her."

Kate nodded, and was about to reply when Cora and the Doc walked back in. "Nothing's wrong with Lucky's attitude." She teased as he walked over. "She's rearing to go."

Doc Wilkins chuckled as he walked over to Lucky and began his examination. "Not feeling nauseous or dizzy anymore?"

"Nope." Lucky replied with certainty. "I'm back to normal. Can I go for a ride on Spirit now?"

"I don't see why not." Doc Wilkins finished her check over. "You seem to be in great health. Just take it easy for a couple days, and don't go and do anything strenuous."

Lucky threw back the covers and leapt out of bed, then she saw Cora's disapproving looks. "That's strenuous? Can I go out now?"

Cora sighed. "It wouldn't matter if I tried to stop you or not, you always do what you want. Go on, but-" She didn't get to finish the sentence as Lucky ran out the door. "That girl."

Kate chuckled. "She's a go getter that one. You'd sooner hold back the tide then keep her from Spirit."

"I swear that horse and Lucky will be the death of me." She sighed again, then saw the doctor looking at Jenny. "How is she?"

Doc Wilkins glanced in her direction as he checked Jenny over. "To be honest, I'm surprised she made it through the night. She's a fighter this one, and she's tough." He unbandaged the wound and looked at it. "No sign of infection, so that's a good thing, but she's still weak. The fact that her pulse is getting stronger is a good indication that she should make a full recovery, in time."

Kate breathed a sigh of relief. "Now all we have to do is wait for her to wake up."

Lucky ran out to the barn, eating a couple of pancakes she had stolen off the plate in the kitchen as she ran through the door. She saw Abigail and Pru standing outside's Spirit's stall and went over to them. "What's wrong?"

"Thunder's gone." Abigail replied as she opened the stall door to let Spirit out into the walkway. "I put him in there last night, and now he's taken off."

"He shouldn't be out there." Pru added in, a bit worriedly. "He needs to rest, and his wounds need to heal."

"He was hurt?" Lucky asked in disbelief as she brushed Spirit quickly. "How bad is he hurt?"

"I don't know." Abigail placed Boomerangs saddle on his back and did up the girth. "But he had quite a few nasty cuts on him, especially his face." She looked at the blood on the floor. "And he's bleeding quite badly."

Sprit looked at Chicalinda and Boomerang as the girls spoke. "Do you know when he left last night?"

Boomerang shook his head. "I was asleep."

"So was I." Chicalinda added. "I didn't hear him leave."

Spirit snorted loudly. "He shouldn't be out there, not with how tired he is. He could get badly injured, or if those men find him, he could get caught."

"He's not going to be easy to find though." Chicalinda added knowingly. "He's smart, and he would have found himself a nice place to hide in." She nudged Pru as she felt the girth on her saddle get done up. "Too tight."

Pru loosened off her mare's girth after Chicalinda had snorted her disapproval. "Sorry girl." She mounted her horse, Lucky and Abigail already up on their horses, waiting for her. "Where do you think we look first?"

"The butterfly meadow?" Abigail asked as she led the way out of the barn. "Maybe Thunder wanted to see the butterfly's, I know Boomerang wants too."

Boomerang snorted as the other two horses whinnied with laughter "Yeh, right."

"I don't think Thunder would go there." Pru replied as she stopped her horse to look at the map. "There's no where to hide there. My guess is that he headed for the forest."

Spirit put his nose to the ground as Lucky and the girls discussed what they were going to do. He could faintly make out the scent of the black stallion, and he wasn't headed to the forest. He put his head up and whinnied in the direction the scent led. "Thunder?"

Lucky gave Spirit a pat, as the stallion began to move in place. "I think he wants to go this direction."

"But that's to the plains." Pru disagreed. "He would have went to the forest for cover."

"I think we should let him lead us." Lucky said as she gave him another pat. "When has Spirit been wrong?"

"Never." Pru sighed. "Lead the way."

Spirit felt Lucky nudge him with her heels, and he transitioned into an easy canter, following the scent, the other two horses close to his flanks. He snorted as a snake slid into the path, but he cantered on, trying to follow the scent before it drifted away. Already it was a few hours old, and he knew the stallion wasn't going to make it easy on him.

Thunder galloped on into the night, not worried where he was headed, just knowing that he had to get away from the town, where humans were. He didn't trust them, didn't trust them at all, and certainly didn't want to be anywhere near them. He galloped on and on, the night gradually giving way to daybreak, but still he continued, going higher and higher through the mountains just after the prairie plain he had crossed.

He slid to a stop on a rocky outcrop and looked around, the wind blowing strongly through his mane. He was tired, but he felt exhilarated after his gallop. He loved to run, loved to race the wind but he knew he had to stop. He sniffed the wind, to make sure that there were no scents that warned of danger, and to his relief all he could smell was the mountain sheep and a couple deer. He looked around down on the plain, then satisfied that all was safe, he laid down with his back against a cliff and went to sleep as the sun began to beat down overhead.

Spirit and the two horses swapped between cantering and galloping, always following the stallion's scent, trying to catch up to him before it disappeared in the hot daylight. He took shortcuts when he knew he could, and knowing the country as well as he did, he cut a couple of hours off the trip, getting him closer to Thunder.

Lucky pulled Spirit to a stop as they came to a creek. "We'll rest here for a minute, and let them drink." She caught the bottle Pru threw to her and took a long drink, then threw it back. "Thanks."

Pru nodded. "Your welcome." She got out her map, and began to figure out where they were, then she saw Abigail getting stuck into their lunch. "Abigail!"

Abigail looked at her innocently, crumbs all over her face from the cake. "Yes, your honour?"

"Lunch isn't for another two hours." Pru groused on her. "We can't eat it now, or we'll be hungrier later."

"Awe." Abigail complained as she stuck the lunch back in her bag. "But I want to eat now."

"You'll have to wait like the rest of us." Lucky said as Spirit and the two horses drank from the creek. "We'll eat soon, once we've caught up to Thunder. He's certainly been on the move today."

Pru suddenly looked up from her map, horror on her face. "He's headed for Greyson's land."

Abigail spat cake crumbs everywhere as she looked at Pru. "What? Where?"

"The Greydew mountains."

"Oh no." Lucky exclaimed as she realized the danger Thunder was in. "We have to find him before Greyson does. They were doing a horse roundup today."

Spirit jerked his head up as he heard what Lucky had said, then he looked around, to make sure Greyson wasn't around. He could see the look on Chicalinda and Boomerang's faces. He hated that man, and if Thunder was in any danger, he well… He knew what he would do. He began to move under Lucky, trying to get her attention.

Lucky patted his neck. "I know boy, we have to find him." She looked at Pru. "How much further do you think we are before we hit his boundary?"

"About three miles." Pru replied as she tucked the map away. "Let's hope that he's on this side though."

"And if he's not?" Abigail asked as she brushed the crumbs off her saddle.

"We follow." Lucky affirmed. "We're not going to let him get his greedy hands on Jenny's horse." She nudged Spirit with her legs. "Let's go."

Thunder was woken out of his sleep by the sound of many hooves, and excited yelling. He leapt up, and in the distance, he could see a herd of horses being chased by a group of men. He snorted as he looked around, hoping they hadn't seen him, and he leapt off the little crag he had been on and galloped up higher on the rough ground to hide in the trees.

He found himself a nice little thick grove to hide in, and he stood stock still, watching what was going on at the bottom of the mountain. The men had cornered the horses against the base of the cliff he had just leapt up, using the ledges to climb, and they were in the process of cutting out the horses they wanted and roping them, throwing some to the ground when they resisted.

As the horses screamed and tried to get loose, Thunder could smell the fear and terror in the air. He was sweating from fear himself, it beading off his coat and running down his legs. His nostrils were wide, puffing in terror, and he hoped that the men hadn't seen the tracks he had made. He saw that they had dogs, and he was glad he was upwind, so that they couldn't smell him. He had already had one time when he had run to away from dogs before, and he wasn't keen to do it again.

He snorted as he sniffed the air again, then he could faintly smell Spirit, Chicalinda and Boomerang. He looked down closely, and in the far distance, he thought he could see them in the grove of the trees on the edge of the plains. He snorted again as the men began to lead the horses they had caught away, letting the ones they didn't want go, but he knew that if they saw him, they would want him. He pawed the ground with impatience to get away, far away from these people when he heard a twig snap behind him. He wheeled around just in time to prevent himself from getting caught in the man's rope, it glancing off his neck as he reared.

"Well, aren't you a fine beauty." Greyson sneered as he got his rope ready to throw again, Thunder trapped in the trees. "You'll bring me a pretty penny."

Thunder roared, then sprung forward at the man, teeth bared. He snapped his jaws shut, feeling the man's jacket in his teeth as he sprung back, then wheeled around and kicked, knocking the man's horse to the ground. He roared again, then galloped forward, jumping over both man and beast. He galloped back where he had come from, hearing the man and his horse coming after him. He looked around, then looked forward again, knowing that he was going to have to go down the way he had come up.

Spirit stopped with a start as he smelt the fear from horses in the air, almost chucking Lucky clear over his neck. He snorted as he sniffed the air, looking up at the mountain through the edge of the grove where he had stopped, the other's beside him.

"What's going on?" Pru asked as she looked at Spirit. "We can't stop now, we have to find him." She went to nudge Chicalinda forward, but before the mare had taken two steps, Spirit blocked off her path and neighed at her. "What's his problem?"

Lucky patted Spirit's neck to calm him. "Easy, easy boy. What's gotten you so upset?"

"Look." Abigail pointed to the horses coming into view over a rise. "Those men are chasing those horses!"

"We have to stop them!" Lucky kicked Spirit forward, but the stallion refused to move. "Come on, we have to stop them boy."

"Lucky, no!" Pru protested. "That's Greyson's land. If we go there, with him there, you know what could happen."

"But we have to help them."

"Pru's right Lucky." Abigail joined in as Boomerang watched what was going on in horror. "We shouldn't interfere."

"But it's not right!" Lucky argued again. "What if Thunder's with them?"

"If Thunder's with them, we can only hope that he gets away." Pru replied as she looked at the herd, and gave a sigh of relief when she saw that Thunder wasn't with them. "And he's not."

Spirit sniffed the air again, and he could just faintly, so faint that he could hardly smell it, smelt Thunder. He snorted as he made a mental map of where the other stallion was. Thunder was on the top of the mountain, and he knew that on the other side was Greyson's ranch. He was trapped. He looked at Chichalinda and Boomerang and whinnied gently to them. "Thunder's up there."

Boomerang jumped from hoof to hoof with worry. "What's he going to do? There's no way down, except the cliff face, or the slope to the ranch, and if he goes down there, he'll be caught."

"Thunder's smart." Chicalinda replied, trying to ease all their worry as the men began to lead the caught horses to the ranch. "He'll know a way."

Lucky looked on as the men let some of the horses go and led the rest to the ranch. "That's so not fair."

"It's not fair, but that's life." Pru replied as she watched the men leave, going out of side around the mountain. "I'm just glad that Thunder's not in that bunch."

"There he is." Abigail said as she pointed to the top of the cliff. "Oh no, and Greyson's behind him!"