Cordell glanced at the clock, waiting for Maddie to return from checking on the mustang. They were almost back to Austin but still had almost an hour of travel before they made it back to the ranch and she'd insisted on them stopping for her to see how she was doing. The mare had been doing a number on the trailer with her kicking and since they had to go slow, it was taking them longer to get back home then the journey normally would.

The passenger door opened again, Maddie slipping into her seat as she closed the door behind her. 'How's she doing?' He questioned with a glance over at her.

'Managed to get her to drink a little water when I stepped away from the trailer.' She replied as the truck merged back onto the highway. 'She's still pretty highly strung which is no surprise…' She sighed heavily, thinking of the fate of the rest of the mustangs that had been on the trailer. At least the black mare would be spared from that end. 'You got the bill of sale for her, right?'

He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled a piece of paper out to hand to her. 'And if she doesn't come good? What will you do with her?'

'If we come to that bridge, then I'll deal with it…' Looking over the paper she was surprised to see that the breed had been filled in as Spanish Mustang and not just Mustang. 'Cordell, she's a Spanish Mustang.'

The Ranger raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the paper. 'R-really?'

She turned to him. 'Do you think there's any way of finding out any more information about her? Like where she came from? There aren't any Spanish Mustangs in the wild anymore, they're quite rare…' The next thought that came to mind was exceedingly depressing. If the mare was a Spanish Mustang, the rest of the horses on that trailer headed for the slaughterhouse could be as well. 'The rest of those horses, they could be Spanish Mustangs too.'

'You can't rescue every horse, Maddie girl.'

'I know…' I sure can try though. She thought as she pulled her phone from her pocket and began looking up Mustang rescues in the area.

Involved in her research, the time flew by and before long, they were pulling up in the ranch yard. Abeline and Bonham had come out of the house to meet them as Cordell backed the truck up the quarantine pens, Maddie slipping her phone back in her pocket once more. She'd make some phone calls later but right now, her main priority was the mare in the trailer.

'Did you guys bring a rhinoceros home?' Bonham questioned as Cordell and Maddie stepped from the truck, the horse in the trailer kicking up quite a storm. 'Cordell-'

'Dad, Dad… I-I can explain.' He interrupted.

'You better have a good explanation…'

Maddie slipped away from the group and over to the trailer, climbing up on the side to peer in. The mare was still clearly adjigated, her body soaked in sweat and foam. Flies were attracted to her open wounds and with them bothering her they only served to make her more upset. At the sound of the kissing noise she made, the mare turned around, her nostrils flaring as their eyes met. 'It's okay girl, you'll be out soon…' The black snorted, tossing her head. 'You're okay girl, you're okay.'

At the sound of raised voices, she glanced around and cringed. It was going as well as she had expected with Bonham. Very badly. Abeline placed a hand on his arm, telling him to quiet down with a single glance.

'Do you think she can handle the horse?' Abeline questioned, looking over at the trailer.

Cordell nodded. 'I-I know she can, given the chance and you know Maddie… Once she sets her heart on something, there's no persuading her otherwise. Dad, just… just give her a chance.'

Against Bonham's better judgment, he finally gave in with a nod and a sigh. 'Let's take a look at this horse then.'

As the group walked closer to the trailer, the mare started to move around nervously again. Maddie climbed down off the side and opened the gate to the pen before closing the one leading into the stables. Bonham and Abeline stood back as she and Cordell prepared to open the door, the mare bolting out of the trailer the second it swung open.

'I couldn't let her go for dog meat…' Maddie said softly, joining Bonham and Abeline at the fence as Cordell closed the trailer once more and drove it away. 'She just needs some time and patience.'

'We just don't want you to get hurt Maddie.' Bonham replied. 'You aren't ready to train a horse like that one.'

'If I didn't think I was up to it, I wouldn't have asked Cordell to help me rescue her in the first place.' Was her soft response. 'I couldn't leave her there, not after seeing what the man who bought her was doing to her. He was beating her with a bullwhip,' which the evidence of was very clear in the numerous visible wounds marking her hide. 'I couldn't just stand there and not try to help her.'

He sighed, ruffling her hair. 'Your big heart is going to get you in trouble one of these days, little one.'

'I don't think it'll be today though.' The mare stopped pacing along the fence for a moment, looking at them. 'See the whorls on her forehead? Side by side, above her eyes? That means she's intelligent and talented. Now, if she had three or four whorls, that would mean she was dangerous but she doesn't.' With a snort, the mare started off again. 'She's just scared and needs time. She's probably never seen humans before today. I just want to give her a chance and well, if she can't be tamed, I'll find her a mustang rescue to go to. She deserves at least one chance.'

After making sure that the mustang had plenty of water, Maddie decided it would be best to leave her alone for sometime to see if she'd calm down at all. She could tell that Bonham, Abeline and Cordell were all less than impressed with her decision but she knew she couldn't focus on that. She needed to be solely focused on the mare, for her sake. From the first moment their eyes had met in the auction house it was like the mare was asking her for help. Maddie could understand how she felt. Scared. Alone. She just needed some time though, and since she had volunteered to pony Rocky over to the Davidsons that afternoon, she had plenty of time to let the mare settle.

Cordell had offered to join her on the trip over to the Davidsons but she declined, saying she wanted some time to think. Thinking though was the last thing on her mind as she rode one of the work horses down the trail to their property. She had phone calls to make.

By the time she arrived at the Davidsons gate, she had managed to find out the story of where her mustang had come from. She'd been part of a herd left to run wild on an old gentleman's ranch but since he had passed, the ranch had been sold and the horses had to go. With a little prompting, the auction house owner had given her the contact of the person who had sent them to the sale. After speaking with the son of the man (who, by the way, hadn't cared at all that the horses had been sent for slaughter) she had found out that each and every one of those mustangs were pure Spanish Mustangs with bloodlines going back to the wild herds of the 1950's. Armed with that knowledge, she had set the second part of her plan in motion.

Contacting the local mustang rescue.

After explaining to the lady who ran the rescue what had happened, the woman had assured her they would do what they could to save the mustangs from the slaughterhouse. She said they had dealt with that kill-buyer before and that he held the mustangs near the border until he reached his quota. Though the lady had said the chances that the mustangs could be saved were slim, she had said they'd do the best that they could. Their fate was out of her hands now, she had done all she could.

After leading both the horses through the gate onto the Davidson land, she locked it once more and remounted, leading Rocky up to the house. A lady she recognised as Gale was tending to one of the gardens as she rode up, the woman standing as she brought her horse to a stop and dismounted. 'Afternoon ma'am.'

'You must be Maddie.' Gale said, brushing the dirt from her jeans. 'Colton has mentioned a bit about you. Gale Davidson.'

Maddie felt her cheeks redden slightly as she shook her hand. 'Maddie Stanton. Only good things I hope.'

She nodded then glanced over the teen's shoulder at the gray. 'We've gotten a pasture ready for Rocky, if you'll follow me this way. Bring your other horse too, there's a place you can tie him up and give him water.'

Leading both horses after Gale she followed her around to the back of the house and to a decent sized grassy paddock. There was a three sided shelter kind of like the quarantine stables back at the ranch with a thick bed of wood shavings. Gale opened the gate for her and offered to hold the work horse for her so she could turn Rocky loose. The gelding took a few tentative steps forward, sniffing the grass for a moment before trotting off to explore his new home. She smiled as she walked back to Gale, closing the gate behind her again. 'He looks like he'll be happy here. Thank you, for this.'

'No thanks needed, just trying to help out where I can.' They walked over to the hitching post beneath a tree, Maddie tying up her bay as she brought over a bucket of water for it. 'You know, I've got some chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven up at the house. Perhaps you'd like to join me for a couple.'

She nodded. It would be impolite to decline her invitation.

'Anything else I need to know about Rocky?' Gale questioned as they walked up to the house.

'Well, I'm still trying to find out where he came from, hopefully we can locate his owner. He might have been abandoned but I don't think that's the case. I think he might have escaped from somewhere but Bonham rang all the ranchers when we first found him and no one seemed to know where he came from. It's a bit of a mystery really.'

'Hopefully you can find his owner but if not, he's got a permanent home here.' She replied, leading the way into the kitchen. 'Excuse the mess, we're still unpacking. Have a seat.'

'Thank you.'

'Colton should be home soon, he went to town to pick up extra supplies for Rocky.' Gale remarked as she placed a couple cookies on a plate. 'He said you had something for his leg though?'

She nodded. 'It's a herbal cream I've found helps heal wounds pretty quickly. I brought some with me, it needs to be put on twice a day, morning and afternoon. Rocky is pretty easy going about it too, we haven't had any problems with him. He will need his hooves done by a farrier when you can get one, I trimmed them up the best I can for now but it needs to be done properly. He also needs his teeth done, I noticed while he was eating that he seems to have a bit of difficulty chewing.'

'We'll organize to get that done as soon as possible.' The woman brought the plate over to the table and placed it in front of the teen. 'Would you like anything to drink? Water, lemonade?'

'Water would be fine, thank you.' Maddie picked up a cookie, nibbling at it gingerly then a wide smile came across her lips. 'Oh, these are good!'

Gale smiled as she grabbed a glass from the cupboard. 'Old family recipe those ones.'

'These are great, almost like the ones my Grandma made when I was little.'

'Glad you like them.' She joined the teen at the table, handing her the glass of water. 'So, Colton mentioned the Walkers adopted you in a way. If you don't mind me asking, I'm just curious-'

Maddie chuckled. 'My father and I moved into the area awhile back and I started working at the Walkers ranch in exchange for riding lessons. When my father passed away a few months back, they offered me a place with them.' She finished off the cookie then picked up another one. 'Colton said he was adopted too when we first met.'

'Yeah, he is. Speaking of Colton,' She heard a vehicle pull up outside. 'it sounds like he just got back.'

After speaking with Colton for a short time and giving them the cream for Rocky, Maddie headed back home. They seemed nice enough from first impressions and she had extended an invitation to Colton to come watch her work with her new mustang when he had time. As she rode back to the ranch, a nagging thought at the back of her mind worried her. If what the Walkers said about the Davidsons was true, how would things turn out with them being back in the district?

'Hey girl…' Maddie stood at the fence later that afternoon, watching the mare closely. The black mustang seemed to have calmed down slightly, no longer pacing up and down the fence like she had been but was still rather quite frightened. Finally left alone just to observe her quietly, Maddie looked her over with an experienced eye.

The mare was about sixteen hands, perhaps a little taller and she estimated she was probably about twelve hundred pounds. At the sound of her making a kissing noise, the mare's head shot up, their eyes meeting as the mustang took a good look at her. Her head was well proportioned, her ears, eyes and nostrils set appropriately with all the features of an intelligent temperament. The mare was smart, everything about her spoke of that and if she could successfully train her, Maddie had the feeling that this mare had unlimited potential.

They stood, each eyeing the other carefully.

With a snort, it was the mare who broke eye contact first, the mare turning on her hindquarters and started to do laps of the yard again. One thing was for certain, she was a beautiful mover. She had an air of poise and grace about her though she was definitely of more muscular build with a broad chest, deep girth and strong legs. There wasn't a spot of white to be seen on her, she was the purest black the teen had ever seen. She was built for speed and endurance, both qualities that Maddie had been looking for in her new horse.

The mare slid to a stop, pawing the air as she reared, her long mane and tail cascading in the breeze. Maddie smiled. This mustang, though she was unhandled and frightened, was the horse of her dreams. Swift, strong, beautiful. All she had to do now was teach her that humans weren't as bad as she thought, though that wouldn't be an easy lesson.

Trust.

The one thing that any kind of relationship was built on and once broken, never the same again.

She only had one chance with this mare, she had to get it right the first time or there wasn't the slimmest hope that she'd be able to be tamed.

At the sound of more people approaching, Maddie glanced back to see the entire family had turned out to watch her first lesson with the mare. 'No pressure hey.' She chuckled. 'Didn't know I was putting a show on for y'all.'

With the new people at the fence, the mare started pacing along the steel panels on the farthest side, looking for a way out.

After speaking with them for a short moment and explaining what she was going to do with the mare, she climbed into the yard.

The mare spun around, tossing her head and pawing the ground as Maddie took a few steps into the center. 'Hey girl… that's a girl…' As soon as their eyes met, she dropped her gaze and stepped back from the mare, leaving the mustang to think about it for a moment. Slowly starting forward after a moment, she began to repeat exactly the same process with the mare that she had done at the auction yards to load her onto the trailer.

The family watched in silence as Maddie slowly made progress with the mare, the teen carefully approaching her then retreating.

When Maddie felt like she had gotten close enough to the mare, she started to include hand movements though still kept a calm energy. A few times the mare spun around and began to run around the yard but each time she forced her to stop and face up to her. The mare stood, tossing her head and snorting as she walked towards her again, Maddie waiting for eye contact before she retreated.

Slowly, she moved closer to the mare.

Time slipped past, the family so captivated by this new way of training that they didn't notice it was slipping into late afternoon. Bonham wondered where Maddie had learnt what she was doing, she certainly hadn't learnt it from him since it was far from the training he would have done with an unhandled horse. When Abeline slipped her arm around his waist, he glanced down at her.

'She didn't learn this from you, did she?' She questioned.

He shook his head. 'Whatever it is that she's doing though, it seems to be working.'

The mare slowly turned from frightened and skittish to calmly licking her lips and chewing.

'That's a girl.' Maddie praised softly, only a few feet from her now. The mare's ears flicked forward at her gentle voice and she snorted softly before extending her nose out to sniff her. Maddie drew back, not ready yet to let the mare sniff her and when she retreated, the mare took a cautious step towards her.

She grinned.

The mare's curiosity had started to be aroused.

All the while speaking softly to her, she kept approaching and then retreating, still doing her 'butterflies' with her arm and using her 'rocking boot' movements. Varying how close she got to the mare she kept moving closer and closer, reading the mare's body language carefully. Finally, she was standing in front of the mare and slowly extended her hand for her to sniff.

The mare cautiolsuly sniffed her and then she quickly retreated, having decided they'd made enough progress for the lesson. A smile was on her face as she joined the Walker's back at the fence, the mare still standing where she'd left her. 'Show's over folks.'

'Aw, man…' August complained as he turned off the video recording he had been doing. 'Already?'

'It's enough for her for one day.' She stated as she climbed out of the yard.

'Where did you learn how to do that?' Bonham questioned.

'I've been using it when I first started Chester and Copper, I found the method online from a guy in Australia and it really seems to work.'

'That-that was amazing Maddie.' Cordell had been blown away by how calm the mare had begun after Maddie had worked with her. He'd seen a little bit of it back at the yards but he certainly hadn't expected for the mare to be gentle like that and actually sniff the teen. 'What happens with her now?'

'Tomorrow I'll keep repeating it over and over until she accepts me being in her space then I'll slowly start working down both of her sides. Hopefully in a couple days or so she'll let me tend to those wounds, I don't want them to become infected.'

'I've never seen anything like that-' Liam started. 'Dad would have just thrown a rope on her neck and hung on for dear life.'

Maddie chuckled. 'There's no way I would be strong enough to train her like that, and this way, she's not going to be traumatized any further then she already has been. No ropes, no whips. You don't need them.'

'Well, I for one think it's a better way of training, don't you Bon?' Abeline remarked with a smile. 'I think Maddie knows what she's doing.'

'That might be so, but young lady-' He turned to her. 'You aren't to go into that yard unless someone is with you. Not until I trust her.'

Maddie nodded. 'Understood, loud and clear.'

'Good. Just make sure that you do.'

'I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting hungry.' Abeline said after glancing at her watch. 'Anyone want to go to the Side Step for dinner? It's too late to prepare anything.'

'I think that's a good idea but I need to feed and water the mare first.'

'August and I will help you.' Stella offered.

'Just make sure Maddie is the only one who goes in the yard, I don't want either of you in there until she's trained her.' Cordell remarked as his dad, mom and brother headed to the house. 'Understood?'

Stella rolled her eyes. 'Yes dad.'

'Augie?'

'Yes sir.' He nodded, turning back to Maddie after his father had left. The three of them went to get the hay from the feed shed and brought it into the shelter. 'You know Maddie, should start a facebook page to document her training.'

'I don't think people would be interested-'

'I think they would be.' Stella interrupted. 'I mean, that mare was crazy upset when you first started with her and now look at her-' She motioned over to where the mare was slowly walking around the yard. 'She's calmed down.'

'I'll think about it.' Maddie replied as she poured the last bucket of water into the trough. 'Alright, everyone out, I'll open the gate and we'll call it a day.'

Both Stella and August left the shelter, Maddie herself climbing over the fence to open the gate from the outside. As soon as the mare spotted the opening, she jogged over to investigate, stopping just before she walked into the shelter. She snorted, tossing her head as she decided whether or not it was safe to proceed but after a moment, curiosity won.

'There you go girl…' Maddie said softly as the mare found the water trough and took a good drink. 'Not so bad after all.'

August joined her at the fence, resting his arms on the rail. 'So, what are you going to call her?'

She thought for a moment then her face lit up. 'Isobelle. Bel for short.'