"Excuse me?" Lucy called out from the couch where she had taken residence for most of the weekend. "How am I suppose to get around school tomorrow?"

Crutches were out of the equation given her wrist and she wasn't able to walk long distances.

"Damn. I hadn't thought about that." Beth whispered to Rip.

"Wheelchair?" Rip suggested.

"I can't go to school in a wheelchair!" Lucy groaned.

"She could stay home and do the work here?" Rip said.

"I've got work and so do you." Beth told him.

"It's not as if she can sneak off. I can check on her for lunch." Rip said. Beth looked over her shoulder at Lucy before nodding.

"I'll call them in the morning." She said to Rip. "Hey. No sleeping down here tonight. Rip will help you upstairs if you need."

"Yeah the couch sucks anyway." Lucy told them, Rip couldn't agree more.

Lucy woke the next morning to the sound of Beth's heels of the stairs and floorboard. She checked the time seeing she had slept in.

"Fuck!" She said to herself trying to get out of bed quickly and carefully. She could hear Beth on the phone before coming up to her bedroom. "I slept in, I won't be long."

"Get changed. You're doing your work from here. I'm just going to the lodge to print it for you." Beth use to hate not having an office from home where she could easily spread out and print documents as needed. Rip's strong dislike for modern technology meant it was unlikely they ever would have one.
Over the years she came to agree with Rip that no home office was nice but that was the extent of her agreement with his distaste for modern technology.

She drove up to the lodge strolling down the hallway to her father's office to print the work the school had sent.
John looked down the hallway seeing Beth.

"Everything all right honey?" He called out to her.

"Yeah, I'm printing Lucy's work." She said holding the pile of papers, leaving.

Lucy had managed to get herself ready for the day and was having breakfast at the table when Beth got back.

"Here is the work you have to do today. Both of us are at work but Rip will come back at lunch time to check on you. I want it done when I get home Lucy." She told her sternly.

"What if something happens?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Dad is always going on about how dangerous it is."

Beth rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying he is wrong but he's being dramatic." She scribbled down Kayce and John's numbers as an emergency, putting them on the fridge. "You have our numbers anyway but here is Kayce and my Dad's."

Lucy looked over nodding.

"I gotta go, I'm already late. Don't do anything stupid, that work better be done when I'm home." She said grabbing her bag. One last glance back at the table where Lucy sat Beth told her she loved her before closing the door.

"I love you too." Lucy said to a now closed door.

She flicked through the papers, figuring the easiest subject to knock off first was an essay for English. She read through the instructions before putting it aside to come back to it later. Lucy opened the next subject which was art, something she quietly enjoyed but rarely did outside of school. The task was to paint a view that gave them peace.
She thought about what it was that made her the most calm. It wasn't a what, it was a where she realised. It was the cabin. The teacher had requested it be painted and on a canvas, two things she did not have.

Lucy groaned. I have to get some of this done she thought flicking through the other subjects worksheets. She slowly did the Science and Maths work, reading the text and answering the questions before re-visiting the essay. She read the information for a second time before looking at the prompt, 'Connection with others is important for many individuals, particularly within families. What does connection and family mean to you.' Lucy read to herself.

Writing came easily enough to Lucy to be able to get the essay done quickly. She thought about her life prior to knowing her parents and her life since. She grabbed her pen and started to write.

'I was lost as a child. Lost in a world where I did not know myself, lost from the people who desperately wanted me and lost with a compass that failed to point me north. Families are complex in nature, immediate and extended, the binding that holds them together sometimes stretched, in some cases beyond repair. My family is no stranger to this.' She continued to write until her ankle began to hurt from having it down for the longest period of time since she hurt it.

She looked down at her foot and noticed her toes looked extremely swollen, almost like little balloons. She took the bandage off that John had applied to see if that offered some relief. The bruising from the sprain had started to come out and her ankle was now a purple colour, rather than the normal creamy complexion like Beth.
That looks like shite, she thought. She decided to rest it on the chair to see if that helped, continuing on with her work. Lucy managed to get through majority of her essay before the pain was beginning to get the better of her.
She rang Beth's phone which went to voicemail before she hung up. She dialled Rip's number next, she had never called him let alone during the day. She wasn't sure if he was likely to hear his phone while he was working or even answer it. She thought correctly when that went to voicemail too.

'I'll finish the last few lines and then deal with it'. She picked the pen back up pausing to think.
'To me connection is not just to people or my family but rather to my home, land and those who share it. My family is more than my blood, it is those who have come in to my life and chosen to stay. It is true as they say as one door opens another closes, at least it has been so far in my life. My family, particularly my parents are my compass and when things go south, they are the ones to guide me back to true north, without question, judgement and fail.'

She got up and checked the first aid kit for painkillers but couldn't find any. She looked at the two numbers left of the fridge, 'I do not want to call them', she told herself. She looked at the clock, it was way too early for Rip to be coming home for lunch. Unsure what else to do she grabbed the bandage and her bike helmet, deciding to pedal as best she could to the stables to see if Rip was there.

'This is way harder than I thought it was going to be', she thought struggling to get anywhere on her bike. She stopped to think about it before decided to push with her good foot and hold the other one up with no pressure on it. She had never been so glad for a slight descent in the gravel to give her some momentum.
She got to the stables with a grimace, there was absolutely no one around. She reached to her back pocket for her phone to try calling Rip again but felt nothing, realising she had left it at the cabin.

Lucy dropped her bike, sitting on the bench seat out the front of the stable deciding to wait for Rip. John left the lodge, deciding to go for a horse ride in the sun when he saw Lucy. Neither Beth or Rip were around and as he got closer he noticed she didn't look too well, he saw she had one shoe on, the other barefoot.

"Everything ok?" John asked giving her a fright.

"Umm. I'm just waiting for Dad."

John looked at his watch. "He won't be back for a while."

"Oh. Do you mind calling my Mom? My phone is not here." She asked.

He grabbed his phone from his jacket calling Beth, waiting for her to pick up. "No answer. Are you sure you're ok? You're not looking too well."

Lucy weighed up her options. It was either sit and wait and hope Rip came back soon or talk to John. She sighed. "No. My ankle is really sore and its super swollen."

"Let me see." John said. "If you like?"

Lucy nodded sticking out her ankle. "I took the bandage off." She said holding it.

John noticed the very swollen toes and indentation from the bandage. "Did you take it off yesterday?"

Lucy shook her head. "Was I meant to?"

John smiled. "Your leg won't fall off this time. It's just swollen from the sprain and the fluid had no where to move to with the bandage. Have you had any pain killers?"

"Can't find any at home."

"I'll get you some. You can come up to the lodge if you want?"

"Can't walk. I'll wait here." Lucy said.

"I'll give you a hand. Hop up." John said putting one arm around her so she could hop. John helped her slump in to the couch before getting her a glass of water and painkillers.

"Thanks." She said before taking them. John sat across from here as his phone rang.

"It's Beth. This will be interesting." He said putting it on speaker. "Hi honey."

"Dad, I can't get a hold of Lucy. She rang me twice and then you rang. What is happening?"

"She's fine. Her ankle was hurting and she couldn't get a hold of you and Rip so she came to the stables and I found her."

'Put her on.'

"You're on loud speaker Mom."

"You ok? I was in a meeting with some dumbasses."

"Yeah. Turns out we were suppose to take the bandage off, I've got balloon toes." Lucy said lightly.

"All right. I'll leave early. Rip was going to check on you at the home."

"You don't have to Mom-"

"She can stay here. I'll tell Rip when he brings the horses in." John interjected.

"You want to do that Lu?"

Lucy looked around her surroundings. "Ok Mama." She said quieter.

"Dad, you look after her you hear me."

John nodded. "I promise you that now." Before hanging up. "Put your foot up and I'll go talk to Rip."

John went out on to the porch seeing nearly all the cowboys except Rip. He walked down to them asking where he was.
"He went to check on Lucy, sir." Lloyd told her.

"Damn." He said before borrowing Lucy's discarded bike to ride to the cabin. It took him a second to get going, he couldn't remember the last time he had ridden one. He got to the cabin to find Rip going through each room leaving the doors flung open.
"Rip. She's at the lodge." John said from the doorway.

"Is she all right? What happened?" He said looking at the school work still on the table and her phone on the other side of the kitchen.

"Ankle was hurting her. She said she tried to call you and Beth but came to the stables and I found her."

Rip pulled his phone out of his pocket seeing a missed call from Lucy and John and multiple missed calls from Beth. "Have you told Beth?"

John nodded, "I spoke to her on the phone."

Rip grabbed Lucy's phone before closing the door to the cabin. "I'm just going to check on her." He said getting on his horse.
John wouldn't have minded swapping to the horse so Rip could have the bike but it didn't look like that was going to happen. Rip tied his horse up before going in to the lodge to find Lucy sleeping on the couch with her foot up. He breathed a sigh of relief seeing her there. He put her phone down on the coffee table, leaving her there.
"I know you're my boss, Sir. But you keep an eye on my girl."

John nodded as Rip left, chuckling at the similarities between Beth and Rip when it came to Lucy. Inside he grabbed a blanket off the back of the sofa carefully putting it over her before sitting in the armchair with a whisky and his book. He didn't pay much attention to his own book instead watching Lucy and noticing how similar she really was to Beth. He didn't realise how long he had been doing that until he heard a door slam and Beth's heels on the floor for the second time that day.

"She's asleep." John said as she came in to the living room.

"How long for?"

"A while."

"Hey baby, wake up." Beth said sitting on the edge of the couch. Lucy groaned and tried to turn away. "Nope. You won't sleep tonight if you keep that up." Lucy turned to Beth with a scowl.
"Yeah, I'm just so awful." She said with a smirk. "Let me look at your foot."
Beth turned pulling the blanket back, the swelling still noticeable but better than it was. "I got you something on my way home. Dr said it would help so you can go back to school."

"Oh great." Lucy said sarcastically, sitting up. Beth left to get something out of her car before coming in with a moon boot, set up ready to use. She gave Lucy the information sheet so she could put it on herself.

She tried walking around. "It's heavy and a bit awkward." She told Beth before saying thank you.

"We'll pick Rip up on our way back home. Thanks Dad." She said standing to leave.

"Thanks John." Lucy said quietly.

John waved it off watching them leave.

"Backseat, kid." Beth told her before driving to the bunkhouse. Rip came out of the stables to find Beth waiting by her Mercedes.

"Lucy is at the lodge, darling."

"I'm here!" He heard her yell from what he thought was the backseat. Beth smiled, throwing him the keys before getting in the passenger seat. Rip hated the Mercedes, always telling Beth it was too small but it was the car she loved.

"You all right kid?" Rip asked once they were inside.

"Yeah. I'm good now. I didn't mean to make you panic." She said to them both.

"Sorry we didn't answer our phones." Rip told her.

Lucy went to Beth's bookshelf looking for one of her new books from when Rip and her went to the bookshop last before settling in to the chair.

"I'm going to go through your work, Lu." Beth reminded her.

"Uh-huh." She called out as Beth sat at the dining table. She flicked through the science worksheets unsure whether it was right or wrong before moving on to the maths work. She went through the equations, noticing they were nearly all correct before she found the English essay. Lucy had written the prompt in red at the top of the page before Beth read what she had written. Beth bit her lip reading it feeling all the emotions Lucy had tried to convey in her writing. She cleared her throat to get Rip's attention before calling him over.

"Read it."

Rip took the paper, reading it slower than what Beth had before looking over at Lucy engrossed in her book. "I think she knows we are trying." He said kissing Beth's head.

"Hey Lucy." Beth said trying to get her attention. "Baby." Lucy heard Beth voice looking over.
"Maths and Science look good, but this essay is very well written. I didn't know you could write like that."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders a bit embarrassed realising what words her parents would have likely both read. "I guess it's a bit easier when it's true." She said turning back to the page in her book.