I know this chapter is a bit of a cliff hanger, please let me know what you think and review at the end. I would love for my little story to get closer to 100 reviews and it will encourage updating faster (P. S. I have already nearly finished the next two chapters.

Chapter 13

It was the first week in August when the harvest finally got underway. After Fergus Monroe gave the nod, the threshing, gathering and binding of the grain began in earnest, with every man, woman and child working from dawn to after dusk to get the harvest in before the weather turned. During this time, there was barely a moment to think, let alone be alone with each other, and both Danny and Lindsay found that they missed the easy bond and comfort they had found with each other.

The times they did spend together were snatched moments of pure contentment: Danny would always try to sneak into the barn in the evening after dinner, before everyone collapsed for the night, and catch a few minutes in private with her. For a few joyful moments she would abandon her brush and they would kiss against the partition between the stalls. Or after a particularly gruelling day he would rub her shoulders and give her back massages to ease the tired muscles. Slowly, they learned to be comfortable with each other and each other's bodies, whether they were sitting and catching up with their days or quietly grooming Violet.

Finally, midway through September, the work began to ease. They were on the home straight having collected the bulk of the harvest, and Mr Monroe started making more trips into the town to sell his grain. For these trips he usually took his son Jem with him, leaving Frank in charge of the men working in the fields. As expected, some of the men took this opportunity to slacken off with their work, leaving the others to pick up the extra. Danny could not wait until he didn't have to work with Simon and Ian anymore.

The first free Sunday they had after the harvest Danny and Lindsay decided to test Danny's new equestrian skills by riding into town to watch a movie at the Nickelodeon.

They were just riding into town when Lindsay pulled up sharply, and Danny stopped a few paces ahead with an alarmed look on his face.

"What's wrong", he asked, looking her up and down, "you okay?"

"I'm not sure," she dismounted deftly and circled the horse slowly as she studied the beast, "something's wrong with Violet. I think she might've thrown a shoe."

Danny dismounted somewhat less gracefully than she had and led his older mare over to where she was stood.

"Yeah", she continued as she lifted Violet's leg, "lost her shoe. Its ok, we're nearly in town and if we leave her at the Smith's house they can re-shod her in the morning. We can make it back both on one horse tonight after the movie."

After stopping at the Blacksmith's house and arranging for the horse to be lodged there and collected in the morning, they headed to the movie theatre. Their choice of films was fairly limited as they only had a small theatre in Bozeman, however they cheerfully bought two tickets to ******************* and treated themselves to some treats. As they waited for the film to begin Lindsay regaled Danny with her personal colourful history with the theatre,

"…and then my friend Kara can running in screaming that there was a monkey in the bathroom and caused a riot of people trying to leave the theatre", she explained, almost doubled over laughing. Danny was laughing too, picturing the scene clearly as she explained one particularly funny event.

"Where is she now?" Danny asked, "Your friend Kara?"

"Oh", said Lindsay, her smile fading a little, "she left Montana when we were sixteen, to seek her fortune as a singer in California."

"Shhhh…its starting," she said, although Danny got the feeling that she was glad for an excuse to change the subject. He knew Lindsay didn't have that many friends and that this upset her a little.

After the picture had finished they saddled up Danny's horse again and both seated themselves on its back. Lindsay sat in front, with Danny behind her so that, due to her much shorter height, both of them could see ahead. He wrapped his arms around her, ostensibly to hold on and have his hands on the reigns as well, but in reality this allowed him to cradle her in his arms and brush his cheek against hers as they rode. It was an unexpectedly intimate embrace, their bodies moulded to each other as they swayed with the movements of the horse.

As they neared the edge of town though, they met Robbie coming the other way. The large buck slung over the back of his horse and the exaggerated sway of his body attested to the fact that he had been hunting and drinking, never a good combination. He did not realise who they were until he was quite close, and for a moment Lindsay thought he was going to let them pass without comment. However, almost as soon as this thought passed through her mind, events spiralled out of control. Things happened so fast she could barely keep up…

Danny and Robbie throwing each other dirty looks…

The muttered insult: 'whore'…

Danny throwing a punch…

Robbie recoiling, blood streaming from his nose…reaching for his gun…firing into the air…

And then all of a sudden she was flying through the air as the old horse reared, flinging both her and Danny up into the air…she vividly remembered hitting the ground with a thud, rolling away to avoid the old mare's flailing forelegs, and turning back over just in time to watch in horror as the horse's hoof landed square on Danny's chest, over his heart.