A/N it's been quite a while but life's just not letting me. :'( by life I mean finals. One more week to go for me. Enjoy! Thank you for reading!

Chapter 30: He Rides the Wild Horses

' To your left folks, that's the three sisters Mountain. That's Faith, Charity and Hope' Buck pointed to the far left of the trail.

' Look at that view huh? If only they open up a Tim Horton's next to it, I'm moving here.' Lorelai said, taking pictures with her camera on her horse.

Luke got his horse closer to Buck while Lorelai was busy taking pictures of the view and the kids on their horses, ' Hey Buck, I wanna ask you something. Something rather important and serious.'

' Okay, fire it up.'

' I want to buy Abacus.'

Buck looked at him with raising eyebrows, ' You want to buy Abacus?'

'Yes.' Luke said assuredly.

' It's not impossible, but it does costs quite a lot. Not Abacus, we have more horses than we can actually take care of, but the shipping and everything. Are you sure?' Buck asked again.

Luke nodded, ' I am very sure. Whatever it costs, I'll pay it.'

Buck thought about it for a few second, 'Alright, you got yourself a deal.' He smiled and shook Luke's hand.

Lorelai just returned from taking pictures, she saw the handshake, she gasped, ' Oh no you didn't! You just bought Abacus! I can't believe this! Luke you're not supposed to be the insane one in this relationship! Come on, knock some sense into that thick head of yours!'

Jess who had not been speaking the whole trip down the trail, spoke up with wide eyes, ' Uncle Luke, Abacus is going to Stars Hollow too?'

' You bet, kid.' Luke had a big grin on his face.

Jess immediately lightened up, he laid his head on to Abacus's head, he whispered into Abacus' ear, ' Did you hear that? You're gonna come with us, to your new home. You'll love it.'

The four are on their horses, one following the other from behind, leading by Buck to another sight.

' So where are you going to put Abacus? Outside of your diner and pretend it's one of those quarter per ride machines at festival fairs? That will sure fire you up with at least 5 violation of Taylor's laws and regulations.' Lorelai said sarcastically.

' I will find a place, a good place to put Abacus in, I still have the house my dad left me, Jess and I could move there and we'll build a little barn for Abacus. It's all going to work out fine.' Luke replied.

' Jess is only 8, how is he supposed to take care of a horse! And horses must eat different food, drink different kind of liquid, where are you going to buy horse food or horse water or horse toothbrush or horse..'

' Relax, Lorelai.' Luke replied frustratedly, ' I know what I'm doing. I will help take care of Abacus. Besides, it's good for Jess to have some responsibility.'

Lorelai shot back, ' No i'm not going to relax, I am not going to see you go down this unwise path because you have just lost your mind for the day!'

' Well, Jess is my kid, and I know what is best for him!'

' Oh please, you do huh? You did make a damn fine decision of letting him go in New York! Look what happened?' Lorelai scoffed.

That adding salt to the injury, angered Luke, he barked, ' Even if I might be making a wrong decision, it is my decision, not your decision! You are not my wife here.'

Lorelai blinked, there was only a few times in her life where she didn't know what to say, and this was one of them, ' Right back at you! I'm so glad you're not my husband, you and your..'

Rory interrupted, ' Stop fighting! Jess is gone!'

The three adults stopped their horses and turned back, ' what?!'

' Abacus slow down! Easy boy. Woah, slow down!' Jess shouted holding tight to the belt, scaring that he would fall any moment, Abacus drifted off the trail and was now running on another direction off the tourist track.

After a good 20 minutes of speed galloping, Abacus finally decided to stop. Jess had never been on a horse, or been on a horse that has a speed that belongs to the jockey club. He laid his tummy down on Abacus' back to catch his breathe. Abacus walked towards the lake in front and started to drink water and Jess took that moment to slowly stepped out of the horse. He walked towards the lake, bent his legs and started throwing up.

Afterwards, he laid down on the grass, he was feeling a little dizzy. Abacus walked up to him. Jess looked up to Abacus, his eyes were squinting from the bright sunlight,' I thought we were pals. Why were you trying to kill me?'

Abacus lowered his head a little, and tried to push Jess up. ' Stop it, or I'm gonna throw up again.' Jess turned on his side and tried to close his eyes, the dizziness was getting more and more serious. Abacus pushed Jess again, this time he made a 'neigh' sound as if telling Jess to get up. Jess threw his cowboy hat at Abacus, ' go away!'

Abacus' not giving up, he kept nudging Jess until Jess stood up angrily, ' What do you want!' Abacus softly pushed Jess' head to another direction, towards a mountain across the lake. Jess saw someone with a horse waving at him across the lake. He walked closer to the lake with Abacus. The waving person was up on top of the mountain, Jess couldn't exactly see the person but he had a familiar feeling, he felt like he knew this person. He walked into the water, trying to get closer to the mountain across the lake. He climbed back up on Abacus, and Abacus slowly walked towards the mountain.

' Mom?' Jess gasped, widened his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. The woman in white stopped waving once she heard Jess' shouting. She climbed on to her horse and was about to leave.

Abacus noticed as well, he ran as fast as he could, trying to get to the other side of the lake.

' Mom! Wait!' Jess shouted, he knew that was Liz, no matter what Liz did or how she was never there when he needed her the most, there's no way Jess wouldn't remember his mother.

Out of the blue, a rope was wrapped around Abacus' neck, he was being pulled back. Abacus fought back, he raised his front legs up, almost causing Jess to fell into the lake.

' Son get back here! Do you not see the sign?' An old man on a horse shouted, he pulled young Abacus back on to land.

Jess didn't care, all these weeks, he had been told she was dead, but there she was in front of his eyes, nothing else mattered. ' My mom! My mom!' Jess pointed towards the mountain to the man.

The old man sighed, took of his cowboy hat and wiped the sweat on his forehead, ' It's called the Lake of Nantucket for a reason.'

Jess frowned, not understanding what he meant. He climbed off of the horse and ran towards to the lake again. The old man immediately grabbed his arm.

' You look like an intelligent boy, can't you read the sign, it says you're not allowed to get into the water. Do you know how many people drowned in this lake per year?' The old man put back Jess onto the horse.

Jess was not paying attention to what the man was saying, he kept staring at the mountain, at the spot where his mother stood, he wonder if his mother was hiding behind the trees up there.

The man looked at what Jess was looking and then looked at Abacus, the horse was looking at the same direction. He caught Jess' attention, ' You both lost your mother didn't you?'

Jess turned and looked at the man, ' She was right there with a horse! I swear she was right there.'

' I once saw my grandmother there too in her pow wow dress and yellow bead hat. She waved at me.' The man recalled. ' Between the two tallest tree right?'

Jess nodded.

' It's not real son, Nantucket. Far Away.'

' Far away?'

' People drowned because they were trying to get to the other end of this lake. Lake of Nantucket. To see the person who lives far away.'

Jess looked down at the ground, and mumbled, ' so she's really dead?'

' They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.' The old man gently poked his index finger on to Jess' chest to make his point.

Jess flinched, he panicked even with the slightest touch from anyone but Luke. ' Don't touch me!'

The old man nodded understandably, he tried to change the topic, ' My name's Charles, I see your horse' from...'

' Leave me alone!' Memories of Charles Manthers all rushed back into Jess' head when he heard the word Charles, he covered his ears with his hands and then quickly tried to get the rope off Abacus' neck so they could run. Escape from this Charles.

The old man went in and helped Jess release the rope, which surprised Jess.

Jess was still catching his breathe, but he was so confused by the man's action, ' What are you doing?'

' Helping you. Helping you to run from fear.' The man simply said, ' You are running away from a man who named Charles. And I can't stop you, you are a man with a horse, a taming horse, you can do whatever you want and go whichever direction you want. I am not here to stop you.'

Jess paused for a while before he replied softly, ' I'm not a man. I'm just a boy. A wimpy boy.'

Charles smiled and nodded with wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, ' You are not a wimpy boy. I see it in your big brown eyes, wisdom, intelligence, empathy. And I see bravery is hiding behind your eyes. You've got it, it's just playing hide and seek with you.'

Jess looked up at the old man, ' How do I get it back?'

' A man must make his own arrows.' He looked back into Jess' eyes with assurance.

' I'm just a boy.' Jess replied innocently.

The old man chuckled, ' A boy is a man, a boy can do as much as he wants to if he doesn't let yesterday use up too much of today.'

Jess understood what the man was telling him, he just was not sure if he could do it yet. He felt calmer after talking to the elder but he was still feeling a little insecure being here with a stranger, ' Are you here to kidnap me?'

The old man laughed, ' and why would I do that?'

' because I'm white?' Jess raised his eyebrows.

Jess' answer made the old man laughed even more, ' Is this what they teach you in school nowadays? Natives capture white people to take revenge?'

Jess shrugged his shoulder, ' I never pay attention in school. But I'm Italian so it's useless if you wanna kidnap me.'

' You know that and you said you don't pay attention in school?' The old man questioned.

' I read books.'

The old man nodded, ' I see your horse is from Alpine Staples, you're way off the trail son, are you lost?'

' Abacus ran off the trail.' Jess sighed, patting Abacus' head.

' So this is Abacus! Ah, yeah he misses his mother just like you, that's why he ran off the trail and came here. Let me lead you back to Alpine Staples okay?'

Jess nodded, and followed the old man. It was a feeling, a feeling that made Jess trust this man, ' Are you related to Charles Eastman?'

The old man nodded his head again with a warm smile on his face, ' You were not kidding when you said you read, huh?'

' Argo!' Buck shouted and then whistled, trying to calm down the horse that Luke was riding. Argo was running frantically off the trail with Buck and his horse catching up.

' Don't worry I got it!' Luke yelled back, trying to stable himself on the dashing horse. He understood Argo, Abacus' father, he was as nervous as Argo to find Jess. He allowed Argo run as fast as he could, to track down the scent of Abacus.

Lorelai and Rory were both slowly catching up with Luke and Buck. The four were all shouting Jess' name.

' Jess!'

Jess asked Charles to stop, ' I heard my name.'

' Jess!' The voice was closer to Jess. He recognised the voice of Luke's, Charles and Jess turned their horses back, Jess shouted back, 'Uncle Luke!'

' Uncle Luke! I'm here!'

' Jess! I'm here!' Luke shouted back, Argo started running towards Abacus' direction.

Jess' face lit up when he saw Luke coming up in front of him, he ushered Abacus to run.

Once the uncle and nephew reunite, Jess hopped onto Luke and gave him a big hug. Argo was slightly patting Abacus with the side of its face, Abacus leaned closer to his father as well.

' Sorry. Abacus ran off, he missed his mom.' Jess spoke into Luke's ear as Luke was hugging him tightly and laying Jess' head on to his right shoulder.

' That's okay. You're okay right?'

Jess nodded, ' I'm more than okay now.'

'More than okay?' Luke face lit up hearing that, he released Jess from the hug, trying to comb Jess' messy hair with his hand.

Jess nodded again, looking into his Uncle's eye with a small smile. ' More than okay.'

Alpine's Staple

Buck, Luke and Charles were chatting by one of the staples while Jess, Rory and Lorelai were patting horses. Jess walked into the staples to see his horse one last time before he will be loaded up on a big truck to transfer him to another facility before heading to Connecticut on a carrier.

Jess walked in but couldn't find Abacus, he walked out from another door on the opposite side of the staples, he found Abacus.

Abacus was outside on the wide green field, running beautifully. Jess placed his arms and head on the fence, staring at the mustang horse. He smiled, he couldn't believe this horse, his friend is going to be staying with him from now on. Then appears another horse, a bigger one, more fierce, more toned muscle in the legs, running ahead of Abacus. It was Argo. He watched as Abacus was trying to race his father as best as he could. Jess giggled when he saw Argo slowing down for Abacus, so that Abacus could finally win his father. Jess' laughter gradually vanished as he saw Argo playfully pushed Abacus with his head and Abacus returned the favour by pushing his whole body on to his dad. Jess didn't want Abacus anymore. He couldn't.

He walked up to the three men who were still chatting. He tucked Luke's shirt, grabbing Luke's attention.

Luke bent down and asked, ' Is everything okay?'

Jess was kicking the dirt on the ground, it was kind of difficult for him to make this decision and saying it out loud. After a long pause, he said, ' I don't want Abacus anymore.'

' What? Why?' Luke asked softly, wondering if something triggered Jess' trauma memory again.

' He needs his daddy. His daddy needs him too. And..' Jess explained, ' this is his home.'

Luke understood, he knew this was hard for Jess to say, he could see how much he wanted Abacus to come with them. He gave him a nod and a smile, ' okay.'

Jess was a little upset about his own decision, but he knew he did the right thing. He leaned his head on to Luke's plaid shirt, staring at Abacus from far away. Luke smoothed Jess' arm with his hand, as if he's telling him everything is going to be okay. ' Are you ready to go home?'

Jess looked up to his Uncle, he smiled,

' Yes, partner.'

A/N Ok, I know Charles Eastman was not from Alberta and there's no Lake of Nantucket. It's a fanfic, all is good. Sorry if I offended anyone, I have no intention at all, if I did, I apologize in advance. FINALLY, we're getting very close to snapping back to normal. But don't forget, Lorelai and Luke's little argument there. Luke solved one thing and another popped up, ay ye ye. This chapter could not be finished without looping Passenger's songs, 'travelling alone' and 'the whispers'. Thank you for still reading, I know I've been updating slow lately and dragging you guys up and down with all these craziness happening with Jess. So I sincerely thank all of you :) Reviews are always greatly appreciated, loved every single one of them. Till then...stay tuned.

Nancy, thank you for your review. Yes, Luke is actually doing a good job being a father figure to Jess. He's not perfect, but hey, who's perfect? He's getting there :) And yeah, Abacus is definitely a great help to Jess. I think Abacus will have another appearance in my stories (a sequal may be?). The Danes Clan haha, keep thinking what you're thinking ;)

Anon1, thank you for your review. Jess is a little heart breaker. He had gone through too much in this story, I really want him to get back to the adorable, witty, smart kid that he was before the trauma. I liked that idea! Luke owning a Tim Hortons, guess who's going to that Tim Hortons 10 times a day then? Yes, you guessed right, me!