Author Note: I' so so so so so so sorry for not updating in months! I have excuses of course but they aren't very good ones. I guess life and my own laziness got in the way. But never fear, I'm back! And have chapter 9 all ready for you. Hopefully I will post the next chapter soon. I want to make it up to all of you and post as many chapters as I can as soon as possible. Anyway hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 9
Ty ran his hands through his hair as he took in the state of his truck. With a crack so big it would be illegal to drive on the windscreen, the passenger window completely smashed in and the large dents in the bonnet, it would take ages to fix. Luckily they didn't slash the tyres, or he would have been in major trouble.
Jack came to stand beside him, whistling as he looked over the blue vehicle.
"I'll tell you one thing," he stated, hands on his hips, "It definitely looked better in the dark."
Remaining silent, Ty walked round to the driver's side door, which was still wide open from last night. Unfortunately the storm had drenched the whole interior of the car, making Ty sigh in exasperation as it was added onto his list of expenses. He just knew this was going to smell by the end of the day.
He pulled the keys out of his pocket and inserted them into the slot. Closing his eyes, he turned them, praying that the engine wasn't damaged. The car spluttered for a few agonising seconds before it roared to life.
"Yes!" he whispered as he turned towards Jack with a triumphant look on his face. As he opened his eyes he realised that the old man had disappeared.
"Jack?" he called, walking forward. There was no sign of him. Ty was starting to get worried when the man emerged from the alleyway where he found the siblings last night. For a moment, fear blossomed in Ty's chest, his mind thinking the thugs were still there. Seeing the look, Jack held up his hands.
"Calm down, calm down," he said, leaning against the truck, "They're not there, I just wanted to double check. Long gone by now I would say."
Ty nodded as his heart slowed down to its normal pace. He then turned his attention back to his baby.
"We're going to have to pull the windscreen off before I drive it out of here." He said, tapping on the glass lightly, "Wouldn't want to get pulled over for that when I'm going to have to spend all my money on fixing it."
"I agree," replied Jack, also throwing an analytical gaze over the glass, "When we get it back to Heartland we'll fix it up."
"It's going to take ages to bang these dents out." Groaned Ty as he ran his hand over the metal. His palm came away with blue paint flecks attached, indicating a new paint job was in order, luckily it wasn't needed to run the car.
Looking up to the sound of glass tinkling, Ty saw Jack brushing the shards of glass off of the passenger seat. Despite the rain that had cleaned the interior, light specks of blood could be seen as the glass struck the pavement. A flash of anger erupted in Ty's chest as he thought of the injuries Becca had sustained from last night. Grinding his teeth, he unceremoniously pulled his car keys out of the car, making the engine cut off abruptly. The alley became silent again, as Ty stalked towards the door that let him enter his so called home for the past three months. Through his white hot anger, he registered that Jack had closed the car door and was following silently behind.
Ty found the house key and jammed it into the lock. Twisting it aggressively, he pulled the door open, causing the rust on the hinges to groan in protest. He remained silent as he walked into the hallway that led to the living room. Ty's anger evaporated as he smiled and took in all the 'remodelling' he and Becca had done over the past 3 months. All the decaying wallpaper had been removed from the walls and a light coat of yellow paint had been applied. It was sickly colour, but it covered up all the mould and was the only colour they could really afford that wasn't vomit green. It didn't matter to his sister though. She had been systematically cleaning the place for weeks before he arrived and he could tell she quite enjoyed it. It took her mind off of her mum and gave Ty a chance to spend time with her.
It took quite a while for Becca to warm to him. She was standoffish at first and didn't trust him. Probably had something to do with the fact that he was related to her father. In the first day of living here, it became immediately apparent that there was no love lost between his two relatives, although considering that she had only known her father for two months before Ty arrived in the picture, he wasn't that surprised. The only reason that Becca was living here was because it was this or the foster system. Apparently her mum didn't have any other living relatives that could take her in.
Ty stopped for a second as he reached the sheet covering the entrance. He had found out Becca had nailed it up there herself the week before Ty had arrived. It helped stop the cool air that came through the hallway, although it didn't stop it completely. A shiver made its way down his spine as he remembered how cold it got in here at night. Some nights Ty and Becca would curl up together on the couch, every sheet and blanket they could find, however meager, draped over them. He remembered how Becca would shake against him as she slept when a breeze would sweep its way through the room. For a sixteen year old she was quite small making the cold cut through her like a knife. Shaking his head at the onslaught of memories he pushed the sheet aside.
"Welcome to my home!" Ty announced sarcastically as he strode inside. He turned to see Jack eyeing the living room/kitchen/dining room.
"Cosy." Was all he said as he trained his eyes back on Ty.
"Our things are in here." Ty said as he walked towards his and Becca's bedroom. Without hesitating he grabbed his sisters few items of clothing and shoved them in her duffel bag, before leaning to pull the old blankets off the bed. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Leave those." Explained Jack, "We've got plenty of blankets at the ranch. Anyway I don't think Lou would be too happy bringing those into the house."
"Thanks," Ty said gratefully as he left the blankets where they were. Setting Becca's duffel bag on her trunk, he proceeded to stuff all of his belongings into his bag over the other side of the room.
"If you could get Becca's posters off the wall Jack, that'd be great." He said as he tried to tackle the zipper.
"Does she ride?" Inquired Jack as he took in the posters of horses frolicking in a field.
"Not that I know of." Replied Ty as he finally managed to get the zip closed, "I think she found those pictures outside in a magazine dumped on the ground. Wanted to brighten up the room a bit."
"Well, I don't think it did a very good job," Jack replied, casting his gaze around the dreary room. A smirk crossed Ty's face as he threw the two bags over his shoulder and leaned down to the trunk.
"Need a hand?" asked Jack as he carefully folded the worn out posters and slipped them into his jacket pocket.
"Nah, can't be too heavy." Replied Ty as he gripped the handles at each end. Bracing himself he lifted the case and immediately put it down again.
"That's heavy." He said as he released his grip. Snorting, Jack came over to help. Each gripping a handle they lifted it a lot easier than before.
With a grunt Jack started walking towards the door.
"What the hell is in this thing?" he asked as they walked past the kitchen.
"No idea." Replied Ty, "It's Becca's. She's never opened it to my knowledge. I think some of her mum's stuff is in it. She wears the key around her neck."
They had entered the hallway now, heading towards the door. Luckily Ty had left the front door open, so they didn't have to drop their heavy load. Ty didn't look back as they stepped into the morning sun.
"The girl's been through a lot." Summarised Jack. They had got to the back of Ty's ute and heaved the weighty object up and into it. Ty followed along behind it, pushing it into the corner of the boot.
"Yeah, she has." Ty said, jumping back down. For some reason he felt comfortable talking about his sister to the old man. He knew for a fact though that if she found out they were talking about her, there would be hell to pay.
"Better warn you though Jack," said Ty as the man in question started heading towards his own vehicle, "she's a bit of a handful." The image of her having a screaming match with his father about him selling all of her possessions that her mum left her flashed through his mind. That was one thing they had in common. When they got upset, they got angry.
"If she's anything like you, I bet she is." Replied Jack with a gentle smile.
"You know Jack," said Ty hesitantly, "If it's too much trouble having us at the ranch-"
Jack held up his hands to stop him, "Don't you go thinking you can leave. We only just got you back and in regards to your sister, well, she's family and we would never cast out family. Anyway, we could always use a couple of extra hands around the ranch."
A weight dropped from Ty's shoulders as Jack talked. He was scared it would have been a hassle having two extra people underfoot, especially after finding out Mallory would be living with them for the summer.
"Thanks Jack." Ty said, putting as much sincerity into his voice as he could.
Nodding, Jack turned back towards his car. He threw a quick "see you back at home," over his shoulder as he started the truck and pulled out of the alley.
As Ty lay a towel down on his seat so his pants didn't get wet, he let a smile spread across his face. He had his sister with him, they were living at the ranch and Amy was there. The grin quickly dropped as he remembered what Amy had said last night. He knew what he did was unforgivable. Guilt had eaten away at him the whole time he was gone. He couldn't remember how many times he almost called her, just wanting to hear her voice. His father's face flashed in his mind at the thought of what he had done. A look of disgust crossed his face as he thought, not for the first time, how much like his father he was.
It was during this minute of self-loathing that his phone began vibrating in his pocket. Seeing that the call was coming from Heartland, he pressed the answer button.
"Hello?" he asked, not knowing who was calling, a small part of him hoping it was the girl that had just been on his mind.
"Ty?" a voice spoke through the line. The hope was quickly dashed as a feeling of warmth replaced it.
"Hey Bec." He replied, leaning against the bonnet of his truck.
"When will you be getting back?" his sister quickly asked. One thing he found out was that Rebecca didn't beat around the bush. He supposed she got that from her mother because he and his father certainly could spend forever trying to say what they wanted to say before lyng through their teeth. A small frown graced his features as he noticed how stressed she sounded.
"I'm just leaving Calgary now. Should be back in an hour or two. Why?" He asked, although he was already getting an idea as to why she called.
"Nothing, never mind. Just get back soon ok?" He could hear a hint of desperation enter her voice at the end of the sentence. He could tell all the new people were starting to get to her. The short time he had spent with his sister, he realised she wasn't that comfortable around people and tended to get defensive when someone she didn't know was hanging around.
'Ok, well I better start driving then." He replied not unkindly. Hopping into the driver's side and shutting the door.
"You and your rules about driving." Huffed Becca over the phone.
"Hey!" said Ty indignantly, "It's just safety. Do you know how many crashes are caused by people talking on the phone in a year?"
"No, do you?" she immediately shot back. A laugh escaped Ty as he buckled his seatbelt and started the engine. He could practically hear Rebecca rolling her eyes back in the living room of the ranch house. There had been this ongoing joke between them about Ty's driving ever since she called him a grandpa driver the first time she had been in the car with him.
"Yeah, yeah. Why don't you go out and help Amy with the horses or something. You'd like that, I know how much you like animals." The first week he had been living with them, Becca had found a stray cat and had taken it in. Ty helped her feed and look after it before their dad found out. He was apparently 'allergic' to cats so they had to take Harry to the shelter. Bec had proclaimed that his name was Harry because a black zig zag marking on his forehead that made him look like Harry Potter. His sister had actually cried a little when they had dropped the cat off. He had held her and comforted her as they drove back to their alley. It was the first time she had let her guard down around him and despite the sad circumstances he was grateful something had happened to help him get that one step closer to becoming a brother.
"Can't. Apparently one of the horses got loose during the storm last night and her and that guy went to chase it down. Lou, is that her name? Anyway, Lou's making me and Mallory clean up the yard. There's branches and leaves and mud everywhere."
"Well why are you on the phone with me then and not out there helping?" He asked as he felt the water soaking the towel beneath him. He mentally groaned, realising he's going to have to change his pants when he gets back.
"I told them I needed to go to the bathroom. You know me, I'll do anything to get out of manual labour." He could practically hear her smirking into the phone.
"I doubt that." Replied Ty. Becca went for a run almost every morning. Ty had to take up running with her because he didn't think it was safe for her to run in a neighbourhood like this. He had tried to make her stop but all that accomplished was a heated argument. They had settled for running together. It was during these runs he noticed how fit she was. Always wearing those baggy clothes he never noticed the muscles she had. It was also noticed that she didn't like staying still. Even when she was sitting her leg would be tapping or her fingers would be playing with her hair. He noticed that her mood would get worse when she didn't go for her runs. It was the only form of exercise she did because other than that she was stuck in the house all day while their dad went out and did god knows what. Becca had revealed to him one night that she had grown up on a large property over the other side of the country and that her mum used to live in Australia on a small plot of land before she moved to America. I guess movement is in her blood, Ty thought.
"Oh, I gotta go." Said Becca quickly. "I think Lou just entered the house. I better get off the phone."
Ty laughed, "It's not like she's going to chew your head off if she catches you talking to me."
"Says you!" Becca huffed, "I swear she breathes fire."
Ty could hear Lou's voice in the background calling out for Becca.
"I'll see you when I get back." Ty said, finally starting up the car.
"Just remember that the accelerator is on the right. Don't want you going and disrupting traffic with your grandpa driving."
"Bye Rebecca." Ty said, ignoring her last comment.
"Bye Ty" she said with a laugh as they both hung up.
Ty stared at the phone for a second before he snorted. Despite the distress at the beginning of the call he thought his sister sounded slightly, he wasn't going to say happier, but more relaxed then he had ever heard her other than when it was just the two of them alone.
Still smiling, he pulled onto the road and didn't look behind him as he headed towards home.
It took another few minutes for him to remember that Becca had said that Amy was out with 'that guy.' What guy!
Author's Note: And that's the end of chapter 9! I tried to make it a little bit longer but didn't make it too long cause it's just one of those filler chapters. You know, that chapter that's quite boring but reveals information that can't fit into the other more exciting chapters? Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and I welcome any reviews that come my way. Fell free to tell me how annoying I've been with publishing this chapter. It will give me a kick up the butt and get me moving on the double digits!