HI! Ok. So the first thing I want to make clear (just to be safe), even though it's obvious, is that I don't own the Phantom Stallion series. Some of the dialogue in this chapter is taken directly from the book, or paraphrased, along with the events.
Another thing I want to say is that this chapter was super hard to write. It was difficult to put a story into a story that already exists, but I really tried. I also want to say thank you, thank you, and thank you to everyone who reviewed! They make me happy, and give me encouragement. I know a couple people said they were looking forward to this part of the story, and I hope it's half decent. Also, to Katrina the Unicorn, who mentioned doing Jake's POV of the accident - it didn't fit into this story, but maybe I will try writing that one day.
Lastly, this chapter only covers half of the final book. Once I started writing it, I realized it would be super, super long if I tried to fit everything. So there will be one more chapter.
Jake's eyes popped open suddenly. He looked around his room, glancing at his brothers as they all sat straight up in their beds and looked to their bedroom door.
The phone was ringing.
Jake looked to his alarm clock. Just after midnight.
No one called this late unless there was an emergency.
They waited in silence, knowing Dad would come and get them if they were needed.
"Luke!" They heard Mom scream from the kitchen.
All of the boys were up out of their beds as if she'd called every one of them. She sounded frantic.
As they got to the main hallway, Dad was walking out from his and Mom's bedroom. He gave them a look that said they better be careful with their words, and then trudged down the stairs in front of them.
Mom was standing next to the phone, although it was hung up, and crying.
"Maxine?" Dad asked, his voice quiet and trying to shield her body from the boys' curious eyes.
"Kit's coming home!"
Everyone in the kitchen froze, various forms of shock on their faces.
Jake suddenly felt dizzy.
"Why?" A chorus of voices rang out.
Mom wiped tears from her face and smiled. "He didn't say. All he said was he's close to home and he'll be here in the early morning."
While Dad made Mom sit down before she fell down, the rest of the family broke out in chaos.
"I'll call off work tomorrow."
"I can put off going to the library."
"We'll have to wait to go to the hay field."
Then Dad, turning to speak mostly to Mom: "I'll go into the mine late tomorrow."
Mom paid his words no attention, instead hopping up and glancing through the cabinets.
"I hope I have enough ingredients to make cinnamon rolls."
Jake stood stoic. He felt like it was all leading up to him declaring he would call River Bend and cancel his plans at Willow Springs. But that just wasn't going to happen.
Mom started speaking a mile a minute, fussing with recipes as she spoke.
"Nate, go upstairs and clear out the spare bedroom for him. Bryan and Adam, go clean the bathrooms. Jake and Quinn – go get a couple rags and start cleaning the living room and sun porch."
They all looked at her, speechless.
When they didn't move, she stopped her movements and waved her hands to usher them away.
"Like you haven't ever cleaned before in your life! Kit hasn't been home in years, I don't want him coming home to a pigsty."
"Mom, there's no way Kit would even notice. It's not like we're savages," Quinn tried to argue, but she waved her hand at them again and turned away.
"But it's midnight! We have stuff to do tomorrow, I need sleep!" Bryan complained.
"Yeah. If Kit says one thing about shiny tabletops, I'll –" Quinn cut off when Dad glared at them all.
They all reluctantly turned to walk out of the kitchen. Jake let his brothers walk ahead of him, instead leaning towards the kitchen door to see what his parents would say when they were all gone.
But all he heard was "Luke, can you go up in the attic and get the rest of the Christmas decorations down? We'll have to put them all up this year."
Jake scowled. They hadn't had anything but a tree and some lights for a couple of years now. Kit says he's coming home and all of the sudden they're important?
"Hey, man, I ain't doin' all this on my own," Quinn shoved a cleaning bottle in Jake's hands and pushed him through the living room door.
Jake cleaned part of the room while Quinn did the other. He would have been happy to just stay quiet and get it over with, but Quinn was determined to talk about Kit.
"Why do you think Kit is suddenly coming home? It's strange. He's never wanted to visit for the holidays before."
Jake didn't answer. He was starting to analyze the situation too much and it was scaring him. Why was Kit suddenly coming home? After all, he was a grown man who had left his birthplace almost ten years earlier. He'd made it clear that he had moved on with his life. The only time he had returned was when he was injured.
Jake paused for a moment when he let that last thought sink in. Kit was probably injured. Coming to that realization did nothing to calm his growing nerves – Kit could only get injured so many times before he would be forced to retire. And then what would he do with his life?
Jake refused to think about it. He didn't want to. No way would Kit be gone from ranching for so many years and then decide to come back for good. Jake let himself focus on Quinn's rambling instead.
"I'm not vacuuming. She didn't say we had to, so I'm not."
Dad slowly shoved the door open and entered the living room. In his hands, he carried two boxes labeled GARLAND and LIGHTS.
"That's probably a good idea though, Quinn," he said. "You might as well do it before your mother wakes you all up at three in the morning when she remembers."
Quinn glared.
Dad started to untangle Christmas lights, and Jake decided it would be a good idea to sneak back into the kitchen and tell Mom he was still going to Willow Springs. At least she would be alone and he wouldn't get interrupted.
"I'm gonna get some paper towels," Jake excused himself.
Mom was measuring out flour.
"Hey, Mom. You know I still have to go to Willow Springs in the morning."
She put the measuring cup down and looked at him, her face blank with surprise.
"What? Jake, I'm sure Brynna can borrow one of the River Bend cowboys for an hour. She'll understand. Your brother's coming home for Christmas!"
Her voice was high pitched, and Jake realized that she was either going to get angry with him or weepy. Jake looked at her, bewildered. She knew that he'd promised Brynna and Sam that he'd help.
"Mom, I promised. And I need this money. Like you said, it's only for an hour or two. It's not like Kit's gonna disappear. I'll still see him when I get home."
Her eyes got slightly glassy, and Jake fidgeted.
"Jake, please. We can all have breakfast together as a family. We haven't had a Christmas with all of us here for years. I just want this to be special."
Jake had run out of things to say. She was so unexpectedly upset that it made him uneasy.
"Maxine, it'll be fine. You said yourself that Kit will be here in the early morning. Brynna won't mind if they're a couple minutes late. He'll eat breakfast and then leave."
Jake looked over his shoulder at Dad, who was standing in the doorway with lights still in his hands.
Mom shook her head and turned away from them. "Fine. But you are definitely not leaving until after breakfast, Jake."
She sounded sterner, and Jake was glad they had avoided the crying. Dad grabbed Jake's arm and pulled him back to the living room.
"She's just surprised, is all. I think she had given up on Kit coming home."
Jake nodded, but he felt just as surprised and emotionally confused as Mom probably was.
"Dad, about Kit . . . isn't Cowboy Christmas sometime this week? Why would he come home instead of goin' there?"
Dad looked at Jake, his face hesitant. "I don't know, son. But that's probably what's got your mother so excited. Him comin' home instead of spending Christmas at the rodeo like he usually does."
Jake just knew, thinking about all those big prizes Kit could win if he were at the rodeo, that something drastic must have happened for Kit to choose to return to Three Ponies this particular Christmas.
When they had all finally convinced Mom that everything looked fine, and they were all in their beds again, Jake let himself think about Kit.
He couldn't get the idea out of his head that Kit's visit wouldn't be brief. He wouldn't give up one of the biggest rodeos of the year just to come home for Christmas – he never had before.
He spent a good part of the night coming up with different scenarios as to why Kit was coming home. All of his speculations were premature; after all, Kit really might have just decided to come home for Christmas.
The beginnings of fear were starting to creep into his thoughts. What if Kit really was going to stay for good? What would that mean for the future of Three Ponies?
What would that mean for Jake, who had finally chosen a college, and planned his life out?
The next morning, his eyes wide awake despite lack of sleep, Jake entered the kitchen and knew immediately that Mom was going to be crazy the entire time Kit was home.
She had clearly been trying to outdo herself.
Plates of dozens of cinnamon rolls, bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, everything . . . just everything, were sitting on the counter.
Jake glanced at them wearily, figuring this was torture. There was no way Mom would let him have any until they were all sitting at the table, and that wouldn't happen until Kit arrived.
Mom looked at him, her face cheery and flushed from the heat of the kitchen.
"Good morning, sweetheart!"
"Looks good, Mom."
Despite his growing fear, he couldn't deny his mother the compliments. She had done nothing wrong. She hadn't been this excited about something for a long time. Had she even stopped cooking since midnight?
"I'm going to warm up Witch."
Mom gave him a disapproving look. "You are not leaving until Kit gets here. I won't let you. So you can warm her up, but don't you dare leave, even if Sam gets here early."
Jake glanced out the window at her words, and saw that Sam had just arrived. She was looking around the yard, clearly wondering where everyone was. It was probably the first time Jake hadn't been impatiently waiting for her so they could leave.
"She's here now."
"Jake, I'm serious. I'll wring your neck if you aren't here when your brother arrives!"
The door slammed behind him as he made his way outside. Mom didn't have to worry. Jake had a feeling Sam would want to stick around and meet Kit anyway.
"Good morning. It's almost Christmas!"
Jake would have normally teased Sam for stating the obvious, but today he felt words popping out of his mouth, completely out of his control.
"You're just in time to welcome back everybody's hero."
"Huh?"
Jake was ashamed to admit it, but he was glad that she didn't automatically guess it was Kit. Everyone else in his family was already treating Kit like he was a prodigal son. Sam was the one person who, if Jake would actually talk to her, would understand his fears. She had an objective view of the situation: She didn't know Kit. She just knew that Jake was a good rancher and had done everything he could in life to dedicate himself to it.
"Kit's coming home today."
She was just as surprised as everyone else had been. Jake could tell by her face that she was curious and wanted to ask questions, but he wasn't in the mood to talk about Kit anymore.
"You might as well give Singer some time while I work the kinks out of Witch."
Sam left him. Although she wanted to ask questions, Jake knew she would be just as pleased to play with the coydog.
Jake had almost been hoping Witch would be in a foul mood, but she was surprisingly cooperative. He needed to get his bitter feelings out of him before his brother arrived. Snapping at him, or anyone else, wasn't going to make anything better.
No matter how much Jake, or the gusty winds, tried to encourage Witch to misbehave, she just wasn't. Jake watched with contempt as a tree branch flew over their heads and smashed into the windshield of the truck.
Normally, it would have made him a bit angrier, but today he was distracted. Seconds after the branch hit, and he dismounted, a figure appeared.
Gal ran up to stand beside him, barking her head off.
The moment Jake saw his brother, his mind automatically reverted back to boyhood wonderment.
"Kit," he breathed, without even thinking about it.
His brother was like a storybook cowboy.
Kit appeared from the shadows of snow, carrying just a duffle bag and a saddle. Although some details of his childhood with Kit had become blurry as time passed, seeing Kit's smile brought back a flood of memories. Games, birthdays, Christmases, camping – and horses.
Jake's hostile feelings about Kit's arrival momentarily vanished.
The rest of the family came pouring out of the house, all trying to get a better look at the oldest brother.
"Where's your truck?" Bryan asked. Jake silently wondered the same thing.
"Traveling light."
Mom couldn't hold herself together anymore. She went crazy. She cried and then fussed over Kit's cast.
Jake looked at it with disdain. He just knew there would be some type of injury.
"Honey, what happened to your arm?"
"Nothing. Comes with the territory." Jake knew he was lying, and all it did was add to his annoyance.
Jake wanted to say "Hi", or anything, to Kit, but he was retreating into his silence because he felt so uncomfortable. Everyone else greeted him, and before Jake could figure out what to say, Kit was looking straight at him.
"Baby Bear."
Jake had been hoping that Kit would see him and drop the nickname. It was awkward now; he wasn't a baby anymore. Jake hated being called a kid. If Kit had been around more often, he would have known that Jake wasn't a child anymore.
Kit's eyes traveled over him, and Jake wanted so badly to shift or turn away.
Kit laughed, although it was restrained. "Not anymore, I guess. You're tall as me. How'd that happen?"
Jake wasn't usually one for sarcasm unless he was mad at Sam, but he wanted to snap at his brother.
I grew up? It's been five years since I've seen you - of course I'm bigger?
"Witch is lookin' good," said Kit, nodding in her direction.
Jake couldn't have loved Witch more when she flattened her ears and bared her teeth. She seemed to sense Jake's discomfort and decided she disliked Kit.
But Kit was one of the best horsemen Jake had ever known, and with a stern glance and straight face, managed to get even Witch to pretend she'd never snapped at him.
There was a silence, and Jake knew that his family was waiting for him to say something, to greet his brother in some way. But it didn't feel like Kit was his brother. Jake didn't know how to act around him. So much had changed in Jake's life since he'd seen Kit last: puberty, Sam's accident, all of the work he'd done for Wyatt – Kit had missed important years in Jake's life, and now it was almost like they didn't really know each other anymore.
"Where you all going?" Kit asked, nodding his head toward the trailer.
Ignoring everyone else, Jake said, "Willow Springs."
Did Kit remember anything about his home? Did he know where that was, or what it was for that matter? Did he care? Because if he truly did want to return home and run Three Ponies, he would be more attentive than a passerby.
But Kit didn't remember, and his face conveyed that. Jake hoped he didn't say anything childish in front of him. It seemed like every time Jake was around Kit, he reverted back to immature ways: the punch, the angry silent treatment. What would he do this time, especially since Kit might be jeopardizing everything Jake had worked for his whole life?
It felt odd to tell Kit that he was working for a wage to round mustangs up for auction.
Luckily, the conversation turned a different direction.
"You're thinking of Samantha. She's fourteen," Quinn said.
"And she's around here somewhere," said Adam, glancing around.
Jake was glad to have the conversation turn away from him, and knowing exactly where she had been watching him exercise Witch, he looked over and motioned her to come near them.
Her face was already red in embarrassment, and Jake was silently glad that at least he wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable. She even stalled coming over to see them, and Jake was a bit surprised. He was usually the shy one, not her.
"Can't be," Kit said over and over when he saw her.
Jake glanced away from her when she kept trying to meet his eyes. Jake had seen her do a million fool things in his life, and never once had she considered shutting her mouth. It got her into trouble. But today, she was silent.
All Jake wanted to do was leave. Maybe he could do what he did last time. Maybe he could avoid Kit. And maybe Kit would eventually just leave and Jake wouldn't have to spend his time worrying about the future.
But Mom made him eat breakfast. For the first time in a while, Jake had to be forced to eat his mother's cooking. Kit told as many stories as he could think of while they ate. He described a foreign world.
Everyone was enthralled. They made the kitchen loud as their questions overlapped.
When Jake had eaten enough to satisfy Mom, he glanced at her, clearly meaning to sneak away.
But somehow, although Kit had been the center of attention and excitedly telling his stories, he still managed to notice Jake's single glance at their mother.
Jake wanted to throw his hands up in frustration when Kit looked at her too, as if asking permission.
"I'll ride with Baby Bear, if he don't mind."
Jake had been trying not to be hostile, but his words made him scowl. Kit had been home for ten minutes. He hadn't been home in years, he arrives in the early morning after traveling all night long, is greeted by his adoring family, and he wants to come with Jake, just to watch them round up mustangs?
Jake was ready for Mom to blow. But to Jake's frustration, she didn't. Mom didn't even try to argue with her oldest son. After everything she'd put them all through, after all that grief she gave him about staying for breakfast, she was just going to let Kit go with them without complaint?
"Fine," Jake snapped.
Jake suddenly would have rather been anywhere else. Sam already looked excited and was watching them like they were characters in a TV show. It wasn't that Jake hated his brother. It was just that the entire situation was weird to him; it had been years since they'd seen each other, and Kit returned home with an injury and unknown plans for the future. Jake wasn't used to the emotions he was feeling, and he needed to get away.
But Jake knew he was smiling when Witch proudly walked calmly into the trailer. He swore Witch could read his mind sometimes.
"Easy loader," said Kit, and Jake eased up a bit on his anger. Kit wasn't purposely trying to upset Jake. Kit's words had probably even been meant as a compliment; after all, he knew how temperamental Witch could be.
Within minutes though, with Sam giggling at Kit's joke and his impromptu slumber, Jake was almost back to feeling bitter.
Jake tried to figure out a reason why Kit would want to come with them in the first place, and on top of that, sleep as soon as he got into the truck.
Ranchers didn't particularly like the BLM, and all Jake and Sam would be doing while there was rounding up mustangs for auctions; it wasn't terribly exciting. Kit should be focused on what Adam and Bryan had suggested – riding around the homelands and spending time with the majority of their family.
Sam was getting fussy. She couldn't go long without talking, especially when something she deemed exciting was going on. She probably wanted to ask him a million questions about Kit. But Jake didn't want to talk, especially because he wasn't certain if Kit was actually sleeping or not.
They were almost there when Kit spoke once more.
"Passin' through Alkali, I stopped for a cup of coffee. Sittin' at the counter, I overheard someone sayin' you're the real horseman of the family now –"
Jake barely had time to process his words before he snapped out, "Who said that?"
Really, who would say that? That early in the morning, in a restaurant? More importantly why would they be talking about Jake?
Kit ignored his question.
"Maybe we'll have to get us a couple wild horses, little brother, and see if you can prove it."
Sam turned to look at him, her eyes wide and dramatic.
In that moment, Jake knew this wasn't going to be a normal visit. Kit could have mentioned his overheard conversation in another way; he could have smiled and looked Jake in the eyes. He could have said it when Witch walked right up into the trailer. But instead, Kit had chosen to issue the words almost as a challenge – if Kit truly just wanted to see Jake's skills, he wouldn't have asked Jake to prove them.
Of course, maybe Kit just wanted to have a good time. But instead of hearing it that way, Jake imagined Kit to have asked "You think you're better than me?".
Jake was confused and wanted to ask his brother questions – why was he back, why did he want to go to Willow Springs, and what did his words really mean? But Jake just ignored him instead.
Soon after Kit issued his challenge, they were arriving and he was getting out of the truck. Jake wanted to smile when Sam refused Kit's hand to get out. She'd apparently decided that she didn't approve of Kit's words to Jake.
Jake worked out his feelings while they were rounding up the horses. He would just have to accept it if Kit was challenging him, if Kit really was back for good. Growing up, Kit had been the family's pride and joy. Just like Jake was treasured for being the youngest of the family, Kit was treasured for being the oldest. Three Ponies had rightfully been Kit's. As the firstborn, it was his birthright to have first choice, and he had proven that he was definitely capable of running a ranch. Kit was really good at it. But then, he'd chosen to go off. A completely different path, one in which his family hadn't supported. Jake knew without a doubt that Mom would do anything to get Kit to come home – and if Kit had come home and decided he needed to stop doing rodeos and settle down on a ranch, who was to say that his parents wouldn't give him Three Ponies?
Then there was Jake. He had always been the underdog. He always got the crappy chores and had always been the one to wait to learn ranching while the rest of his brothers were already old enough. He had finally, finally, proved himself. But with Kit here, with everyone coddling him and hero-worshipping him, did Jake's hard work even matter anymore?
Jake made it his goal to prove to Kit that he was the one who had been at Three Ponies all these years, caring about the ranch. He wanted to prove that he was capable and wanted to take it over.
It wasn't until after they were finished rounding up the mustangs, and Sam had walked away from them, that they finally spoke.
"How long you been doing this?" Kit asked. Jake faked interest in the mustang in front of him.
"Never really done this before. But I've helped Brynna if she asked."
Kit didn't reply. They walked around the corral slowly.
"Don't know who they were. But they were talkin' about some horse work you did for Wyatt."
Kit returned to the earlier conversation easily, as though it had never left his mind.
Jake wasn't one to be openly proud of his accomplishments.
He shrugged. "We take horses, break them, sell them for a profit and split it. "
"When'd he marry Brynna?"
Jake looked to where her office was, as though she'd come out and help move the conversation along.
"About a year ago."
Kit suddenly changed topics once more.
"You two get along good now?" Kit nodded towards Ace, but Jake knew he was referring to Sam.
Jake shrugged again. "As well as we can."
"She's pretty."
Jake glanced at Kit from the corners of his eyes.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"Heard there was a bad accident a couple years ago."
Jake turned towards his brother fully now, his face bewildered and angry.
His only words were, "What's the point of all of this?"
Kit smiled a little and motioned towards the truck when he saw Sam walking outside again.
As they walked towards the blue vehicle, Kit leaned in closer to him and whispered: "I know Jake's still in there somewhere, but it doesn't seem like he wants to be seen. You need to loosen up, Baby Bear. I missed you."
Kit walked ahead of him, not letting his brother reply, and Jake fumed. Yeah right, he missed him. He hadn't tried all that hard to see him. If Kit wanted his brother to loosen up, he needed to stop purposely trying to make him angry.
The ride home didn't get any better. Kit wanted to see mustangs.
"Don't suppose you know where you could scare one up on such short notice?"
Jake didn't know if Kit was testing his knowledge or not, but he wanted to prove that he knew the range better than anyone.
Then, after seeing the Phantom prance for Sam, Kit told his ridiculous Sitting Bull story.
Jake hated people who only talked to get attention, and Kit was definitely getting attention from Sam. She almost cried at his words.
Jake, who had never been one for teenage hissy fits, knew he was seconds away from having one.
After dropping Sam off, the ride to Three Ponies was completely silent. Kit must have figured out just how moody Jake was.
When they got back to the ranch yard, Adam, Bryan, and Quinn were clearly getting ready to ride out.
"You got back just in time!" Bryan yelled. "Grab a horse, come with us!"
Kit winced as he hit his arm off the truck door as he was climbing out. Jake was examining the windshield again, figuring that Dad would probably make him pay for it.
Kit nodded to his brothers in agreement. Turning to Jake, he inclined his head to the trailer.
"You think Witch is up to it?"
Jake froze. Looking at his brother in surprise, he found himself speechless. Did his answer really matter? The roundup hadn't taken too long or exerted Witch too much, but Jake was still reluctant to say yes.
"I guess."
Kit patted Jake on the back in thanks as he walked past him.
"I'll use my own saddle. I won't overwork her. Better go along with those idiots or else, right?" Kit smiled.
Jake didn't. He didn't like the idea of Kit's prized saddle on his horse.
"Yep," was all he said.
He watched as Kit unloaded Witch and ran his hands over her. He watched as Kit went back inside, walked back out, and put his saddle on Witch.
When his brothers were gone, Jake made his way into the barn. He picked up Singer quickly, before he got angry and started punching the wall.
It was almost like nothing had changed. Even though Jake wanted nothing more than to be by himself, had his brothers even considered inviting him along? Jake knew he was being silly, but he was so emotionally confused that everything suddenly felt like a threat.
He would just have to hope that Kit wasn't planning on staying. But things didn't look good. Kit, who usually could not stop talking about the rodeo, had not mentioned any future plans. He had even hinted that adopting a mustang would only give his family two more mouths to feed.
With a sigh, Jake sat down on the floor and let Singer lick his face.
What were Kit's plans?
He would just have to wait and see.
AN: Next chapter, Kit will give his interview, Jake will go on his mental tangent, and there will probably be a serious conversation between the two brothers about the future of Three Ponies. I'll try to update soon, but if I don't, it's because I've gone on a mental tangent of my own trying to figure Jake out. :)