Disclaimer: I still don't own Fringe.
Author's note: Thanks for all the story alerts and reviews! There will be two more chapters after this one, both of which have been written but need to be typed up still. Hopefully I'll get that done in the next week or two.
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Disappearing, Olivia found, was deceptively easy. She had deposited most of her winnings in a bank, from where she straight away transferred them to a confidential offshore account. It seemed that money could easily buy anonymity, as well as a very convincing false ID. She deliberated briefly on what her new name should be and settled on Olive Lane. It was risky, but she knew that the most convincing lies always had a ring of truth in them. Her tasks in Las Vegas completed, all there was left for her to do was slip quietly out of the city.
In all her preparations, Olivia realised that she had unconsciously learned a lot from Peter over their time working together. After years of nomadic life as a conman, the younger Bishop had remained elusive, as if he could still disappear at the drop of a hat. Old habits did indeed die hard. It was ironic, she thought, that the man she was principally running from had taught her how to run.
Away from the glamour of the casinos and luxury hotel, Olivia found a Saturday morning car boot sale. It was a quick task to pick out several changes of clothing and a non-descript bag to hold all her new belongings. She also chose several hats, scarves and three pairs of sun glasses. Satisfied that she had everything she needed, she headed for the central bus station. There she purchased a ticket to Carson City and made a point of flirting casually with the young man at the ticket counter so that he would remember her should anyone come looking. She boarded the bus with a large crowd of people, having deliberately chosen a rush hour departure time.
The bus stopped in many places on its way out of Vegas and she got off at one of those places, chosen at random. She walked to a nearby park and to public toilets she had spotted to change into the first of her newly-acquired outfits. She chose a yellow summer dress, only slightly too loose for her narrow frame, and twisted her hair into a bun under a wide-rimmed sun hat. She put on a pair of sun glasses and carefully folded the grey trouser suit she had been wearing before. On her way back to the main road, she stopped by a young homeless girl and wordlessly handed her the bundle of clothes. The girl looked puzzled but stammered a quick thanks after Olivia's retreating figure.
On the main road, she picked a bus going south and stayed on it for several hours until they stopped at a relatively large town. There she exited the bus, grabbed a quick bite to eat, changed into another outfit and found herself another bus heading out of town in a different direction. She repeated her evasive steps several more times, each bus taking her further away from Las Vegas and the chance that anyone could track her. The evening found her in a new town, where she found a motel for the night. She paid with cash and made sure that her name in the visitors' log was deliberately illegible. She barred the door of her room with a heavy armchair and slept with her newly-purchased gun in her grip.
The following morning she checked out early and stopped by in a café to purchase a sandwich and a cup of coffee. She ate while she walked to the train station and headed for the toilet there for her final disguise. Her trip to Iraq with Peter had been useful, for she was able to cover her hair and face with black scarves without any great difficulty, until only her eyes were visible. Thus dressed she bought herself a train ticket from a self-service machine, confident that most people would not look beyond her veil, but not wanting to take any risks. This time she stayed on the train until the destination printed on her ticket, a large city in Kansas. Glad to stretch her legs after sitting still for hours, she walked unhurriedly through the streets until she came across a used car dealership. Half an hour later, she drove off in a grey Land Rover.
Olivia waited until she was well out of habited area before discarding her final disguise. A truck drivers' rest stop provided a secluded spot for her to change into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt she had purchased earlier in the week. She kept her hair up in a bun and hid her eyes behind another pair of sun glasses. The clothes she had worn she dropped in the nearest bin. Now feeling more like herself, she started her car and eased back into the road. As she travelled, she made sure that she exceeded the speed limit slightly, not enough to be pulled over but so that she would not rouse suspicions by driving exactly at the set speed either. The last thing she needed was to draw police attention to herself. Now that she had safely left Nevada behind and she had a car, she had no particular aim in mind, but rather she hoped she would know what she was looking for when she found it.
It was a week later and Olivia was somewhere in the heart of Montana. She was heading back to the motorway, having stopped in a small town for a late lunch. As she enjoyed the beautiful mountains in the distance, a small sign at the side of the road caught her eye and made her slam her foot down on the brakes. 'Olive Branch Ranch - For Sale' She stared at the sign for a while and then almost without realising put on her indicator and turned to a smaller road winding between fields and through a small sparse forest.
As the car emerged from the woods, she released a breath she had been unconsciously holding. The narrow road wound between fields where horses were grazing in small groups and ended up near a cluster of buildings. There appeared to be a relatively small farm house, a large stable block, couple of other outbuildings and five small cabins slightly further away. Beyond the buildings, more pastures stretched to a small lake, which was a creating a beautiful reflection of the Montana mountains in the distance. As Olivia took everything in, easing her car to a near crawl, she felt a tremendous sense of peace wash over her. It felt like for the first time since her return, she had come home.
When she pulled up outside the farm house and got out of her car, an old woman came out with a warm smile on her face. She looked to be about 70 and the way she carried herself suggested that she was used to decades of physical work. Her steel grey hair was cropped short and she wore faded jeans and a blue denim shirt. Behind her, a red and white Irish Setter slipped out of the door and rushed to Olivia. She bent down to greet the dog and had to brace herself against falling backwards when the dog all but climbed onto her lap. She let out a laugh at this and buried her hands in the dog's silky coat.
"Dexter, come away you silly dog," the old woman said to the dog, trying to hide her smile. "Leave the poor woman alone." Dexter ignored his owner and licked Olivia's neck. Olivia spent a few moments petting the dog and then straightened.
"He's beautiful," Olivia smiled and nodded towards Dexter who had gone to sniff her car.
"Yes, but as you can see obedience is not really his thing," the woman replied, grinning fondly at her pet. She then turned back to Olivia. "Were you looking to rent one of the cabins?"
"Actually, I'm here about the 'For Sale' sign."
The old woman, who introduced herself as Jenny Hart, led Olivia into a spacious living room and poured her a glass of lemonade. She explained that her husband Frank was in town picking up groceries and would return a little later. Dexter had followed the women in and now lay by Olivia's feet with a contented sigh.
"Could you tell me a little about the ranch?" Olivia asked and took a sip of her cool drink.
"My husband and I have owned the ranch for 27 years now. We used to rear cattle, but for the past 10 years or so we have been offering riding holidays and cabin rental. There are five cabins which all house four to six people, and there are three guest rooms above the stables. We have 20 well-trained horses that are reliable on the trails and many different routes mapped out. The longest is a two day ride, where we camp by a lake further towards the mountains, but most of the others are half a day or full day ones. Sometimes people rent a cabin but prefer to do hiking or fishing instead of riding. We have three stable hands who look after the horses and sometimes take the groups out, and we also employ a local woman to cook for the guests and clean the cabins. Frank and I deal with the paperwork, bookkeeping, reservations and marketing, as well as frequently taking people out on the rides.
"We are selling the ranch rather reluctantly, but our daughter has persuaded us to move down to California to be closer to her and her family. Besides, we are not getting any younger and running a business like this requires a lot of energy. Although we'll be sad to leave behind a place that has been our home for nearly three decades, we are rather looking forward to spending our retirement days looking after our grandchildren.
"I can show you around the farm house and the other buildings, if you want?" Jenny asked, seeing that Olivia had finished her drink. "Your timing is ideal in that we are currently in between groups of people coming to stay, so that all the cabins are empty."
Olivia got a brief tour of the farm house, which consisted of the living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and an office. Everything was clean and well-kept, although the style of the decoration was a little out-dated. They then went through the cabins, which the Harts had built when they started their holiday business, as well as the barns housing the feed for the horses and the ranch's two pick-up trucks. The last stop was the stables, which were well-lit and very tidy. The tack room had each horse's gear neatly labelled and it led to a small break room where the guests could gather before and after each ride.
Jenny picked up two lead ropes and head collars and took Olivia back out and towards the nearest paddock. The three horses there all lifted their heads to watch the women approach and came to meet them at the gate. One of the horses, a black mare with mottled appaloosa markings, caught Olivia's eye and she offered her hand to the horse. The mare leaned forward and blew warm air into Olivia's palm before rubbing her nose against the offered wrist. Olivia smiled and stroked the horse's cheek with her other hand.
"This is Sierra," Jenny said, slipping a head collar over the horse's head. "She is almost four months pregnant and soon we will be gradually decreasing the amount of exercise she does, although she does need gentle exercise throughout the pregnancy." Jenny handed Sierra's lead rope to Olivia and then expertly caught one of the remaining mares.
"We own a lot of land," Jenny explained as they led the horses towards a grooming area outside the stables, "and the best way to show you most of it is on horseback."
As they tied up the horses, a blond man in his early twenties emerged from behind the stables and smiled at the women. Jenny introduced him as Thom, one of the stable hands, and explained briefly that she was showing Olivia the rest of the ranch.
"Let me get Sierra ready for you," Thom said, offering Olivia a friendly smile and a firm handshake, before disappearing into the tack room.
While Jenny and Tom gave the horses a quick groom and saddled them, Olivia stood gently stroking Sierra's neck. Jenny kept up a steady chatter about the horses they owned, with Thom adding in a sentence or two every so often. More than once Olivia caught him staring at her with curiosity and each time he blushed and quickly looked away. When the horses were ready, he held Sierra while Olivia adjusted the stirrups and pulled herself to the saddle.
The tour of the ranch's acreage took almost two hours at a comfortable slow pace. All through it, Olivia marvelled at the wild beauty of the land around her. It had been a good 15 years since she had last been on a horse, but Sierra's steady gaits soon reminded her how to ride. The western saddle was not what she was used to, but it was wide and comfortable to sit in. Still, she was fairly sure that all her muscles would be sore the following morning.
By the time they got back to the stables, a pick-up truck parked next to Olivia's car indicated that Frank was back. Thom and two other young men, Will and Mark, took their horses and promised to rub them down and return them to the paddock, while Jenny led Olivia back to the farm house.
Frank turned out to be a tall man, with tanned face and friendly brown eyes. His handshake was firm and Olivia saw him size her up as they were introduced. Jenny explained briefly why Olivia was there and if Frank thought it curious that a young woman was interested in buying their large ranch, he did not let it show.
"So, do you like what you have seen here?" Frank asked as they sat down in the living room. Dexter sat by Frank's feet and begged attention from his master.
"The only thing I don't yet know," Olivia replied, smiling to the Irish Setter, "is how much you are asking for the ranch."
Frank and Jenny glanced at each other and then Frank named a figure. Olivia had little experience in buying ranches, let alone businesses, but the asking price seemed perfectly reasonable for the land, buildings, horses and a successful business. More importantly, with her casino winnings Olivia knew that she could easily afford it.
"I'll take it," she said, surprising both herself and the Harts.
Two weeks of legalities later, Olive Lane was the proud new owner of the Olive Branch Ranch.