Young Writers Society

*Suddenly this issue feels like it's going to get resolved a lot faster*

Kyle passed by Kimmy on his way to the kitchen. He'd have to stall Jack until she came back.

He spotted most of the kids and Colt in the kitchen, with Jack sitting rather close to Tawny. Kyle sat across from them. "What did you name your horse, Jack?"

"Flame," he said, finishing off his sandwich.

Kyle thought of the horses in the stables. Only two might be called that. "Which horse did Colt pick?"

Jack shrugged. "The one with white socks, I guess."

He nodded and spotted Kimmy coming back from the barn. "C'mon. You're working with me this afternoon. Colt's told you everything?"

Jack nodded. "The stable stuff at least."

Kyle got up and headed for the door. "We'll work in the ring then."

~~

"Okay!" Kyle called once Jack was in the center of the ring. "The first step is getting Flame to come to you without food."

Jack shrugged and took a step towards Flame. Flame bolted, going as far away from Jack as possible.

"Guess he doesn't want to come to me today," Jack said, heading towards the gate.

Kyle chuckled. "It'll take more then that. I have another three hours before I'm going home, and we're working until then. Try again."

The three hours passed, and Jack didn't get any closer to Flame. Kyle hopped down from the fence and went to tie a lead onto Flame.

"How'd you do that?" Jack asked when Kyle had no problem.

Kyle shrugged, handing the lead over to Jack. "I've worked with him before. He knows I won't hurt him." Kyle spotted Colt coming towards the ring. "Colt! Mind getting Jack all squared away here? I need to get home."

Colt nodded, and Kyle went to Dusty. Dusty was keeping an eye on Heart's stall.

"Don't give her away," Kyle whispered, saddling him. Dusty understood and kept his gaze fixed up ahead. Kyle finished and trotted towards home. He'd have to tell Kimmy tomorrow.

***It might, I don't know.***

Fawn finally slipped out of the stall to get something to eat. It was pitch black outside and Kimmy hadn't come back to her stall probably hopping she would come in to eat. She slipped inside and grabbed some sandwich meat and bread. She heard footsteps and she spun around to see Tawny and Jack slipping towards the door.

"Where are y'all going?" Fawn asked making both of them jump. Jack looked towards her and smiled a little.

"A midnight ride, wanna come along? The more the merry right?" He laughed.

"No, you two better get back to your rooms and to bed." Fawn hissed.

"Oh, so now you can talk to us?" Tawny growled. She had slipped a little closer to Jack as if Fawn was out to steal him away. Fawn growled at the thought.

"Get to bed or I'm waking everyone up." Fawn replied.

"You wouldn't." Jack laughed. "You never tell on anyone."

"Oh, and you would know." Fawn smiled a little. "I don't have to say a word."

"Come on, just let us go have some fun." Tawny complained.

"Tawny, you don't know him. Go to bed!" Fawn replied her hand wrapping around her big glass cup.

"No! We're going for a ride, you won't tell." Jack hissed. Fawn knocked the cup to the floor where it made a defining crashing noise. Fawn heard feet moving upstairs running down towards the dining room. SHe smirked at the two then slipped out the door and ran to Heart's stall.

"Well what do we have here?" Kyle mused as he rode up to the ranch. Usually the stables were empty by the time he got there, with all the kids finishing their chores by eight. But today, Tawny and Jack were the only ones there, and they were still taking care of the horses.

"What happened?" he asked Colt as he took care of Dusty.

Colt glared at the two. "They were downstairs near midnight last night. Guess they thought they could get away with a midnight ride."

"Who sounded the alarm?" Kyle asked quietly.

Colt shrugged. "They say Fawn did, but I can't find her anywhere."

That's understandable, he thought sarcastically. Fawn would vanish in the best of times. These seemed to be some of her worst. "Guess we won't be able to work with Heart today. It might take all morning to find her."

"I'm willing to give her my spot!" Jack called bitterly. "After all this work, I'm beat."

"You broke the rules, you pay the price!" Colt called back. "You're still working with Kyle. That's part of life here."

Jack scowled and returned to his work.

Colt shook his head. "I heard you had a hard time with him yesterday."

Kyle nodded. "Flame wouldn't go near him. By the way, where'd the horses go?" He had noticed they weren't in the stables.

"In the pasture." Colt said quickly. "I wanted all the stalls completely cleaned. You aren't thinking..?"

He nodded again. "Keep them away from the pasture and the ring if you can. That's probably the only way I'll get to work with her."

Colt rubbed his neck. "The pasture, yes. The ring, no. You'll have to think of something else."

Kyle bit his lip. "I think I have something. Thanks Colt."

He trotted towards the pasture. Heart was by the fence where it met the forest, munching on sweet grass. Kyle crossed the pasture and went over.

"Fawn?"

*Okay, basically he won't do anything. He'll try to get more information on Jack. If they can (somehow) work with the horses, Kyle knows about a clearing in the woods that would work.*

"It took you ten minutes to find me." She said looking down at him from a tree. "Colt and Kimmy tried to find me, but gave up."

"They had other things to worry about." He shrugged looking up at her. "Come on down, please."

"No, why don't you come up?" She replied as she leaned against the tree. He smiled a little and climbed up the tree next to her. "I couldn't stay in the barn sense Colt was having them clean it out. It wasn't easy to sneak out either."

"I bet it wasn't, Colt's on full watch today because of what happened last night." He replied with a smile like he thought the whole thing funny.

"I wasn't letting them go." She shrugged. "I don't like Jack, and Tawny seems kinda cool."

"Your talkative today." Kyle smiled looking over at her. She shut her mouth and laid her head on the branch. "Ah, come on."

"Sorry Im' talking your ear off." She growled.

"That isn't waht I meant, and you know it." He replied. "How'd you know they were trying to sneak out?"

"I snuck inside to get some food.' She replied.

"Why'd you turn them in?"

"Cause, Jack is scum." She replied glaring at him. "He's a player, he's no good scum! Sorry I acctually thought I should make sure Tawny didn't find that out the hard way!"

"Don't get mad." He said softly.

"I'm sorry, I always get mad when I think about him! He should be locked up!" She climbed out of the tree and walked over to Heart. "Now are we going to work with Heart today?"

"We can't use the corral, but we can work with her out in a meadow I know about." He smiled as he climbed down. His smile didn't reach his eyes though.

"Then can we go? I've talked to much already!" She said as she stroked Heart's head. She didn't know why she was talking so much, she wanted to tell them why they shouldn't let Jack around any of the girls, but she couldn't. Jack was right, she never liked telling on someone. It seemed he always picked out girls that wouldn't tell.

Kyle tried to keep the worry off his face. He'd been right. But unless Fawn admitted it he couldn't say anything. That, or somebody caught Jack. Kyle hoped that if he did get caught, it'd be before anybody got hurt.

He went over and stroked Heart. "I think she's too stressed for a ridding lesson, but she should be okay for just a walk."

Fawn nodded. "She's picking up on what I feel, isn't she?"

Kyle went and got Heart's lead. "Yep. You two really are close. C'mon, we'll take the back way."

She raised an eyebrow. "The-- back way?"

He smiled. "You'll see."

A few meters from where Fawn had been hiding was a gate that Colt sometimes used when bringing the kids on trails. Kyle had used it often when he had wanted to get away. He let Fawn go first before closing the gate behind him.

The meadow was about a half-hour walk away. With a thick band of trees surrounding it, Kyle wasn't worried about Heart running. Besides, she always stood close to Fawn.

As Heart munched on new grass, Kyle watched Fawn relax.

"It's beautiful here," she said quietly, sitting under a tree.

Kyle smiled, relaxing as well. "Glad you like it. This was where I went when I wanted to get away." He sat down beside her. "Hardly anybody knows about this place. I don't think Colt's used it since I left last spring."

She wrapped her arms around her knees. "Do you miss it here?"

"Sometimes. But, it's nice to have a home-- a real one. I don't worry about leaving." He looked at her, trying to see any emotion. "This was my second state. Had I not come here, I might still be in the system."

"What-- What made you leave the others?"

He shrugged. "Number of reasons. Mostly pranks. Other times people just got sick of me finding loopholes everywhere."

Fawn chuckled. "Is that why you help out here? To-- well,"

"Make sure kids don't keep jumping from home to home?" he finished for her. At her nod he continued. "I guess. Colt's done so much for me, I want to help him out however I can. He and Kimmy are great, but it can be hard for them to get how hard it is to move every week."

She nodded sadly. "Yeah, some stuff, they just don't see it."

Kyle put a hand on her shoulder. "If you want to talk, you can trust me."

Fawn tensed a little and then relaxed. "I know, some stuff you just can't talk about." She said looking towards Heart.

"You can talk about anything, Fawn, I went through the system too. I know what it's like." He said as he moved his hand off her shoulder again.

"I know, but it's different for guys and girls. Guys usually get in fights, or pull pranks. The worst that can happen to them is maybe an abusive home. They don't have to worry about the other kids in the home." She said taking a deep breath. "No matter how hard we try to act tough, we're still girls. We still can't really protect ourselves. Guys can talk about how they got in a fight here, or did a prank there. But somethings even they won't repeat."

She watched as Heart walked over and nuzzled her leg. "I think she wants to work." Fawn said getting up and walking towards the middle of the meadow Heart following. "What are we going to do today?"



**All I had. :S**

Kyle got up. "Something new. Try getting her to come to you out here, with all the distractions. Don't worry if she doesn't. Dusty doesn't always come when we're in the woods. It's mostly to just have some fun."

She chuckled and called her. Heart looked up for a patch of leafy plants, snorted and went back to sniffing them.

Kyle chuckled. "Guess she just wanted attention."

Fawn laughed quietly. "Guess so! What's she sniffing?"

He went up to Heart. "Spearmint. No wonder she's interested."

"Really?" Fawn trotted up.

Kyle took a leaf and rubbed it together in his fingers. "You can eat spearmint if you need to."

She inhaled. "What else do you know about the plants around here?"

He chuckled. "A lot, actually. I'm usually the one to teach the kids about the plants they can eat on the trail."

"Can-- can you show me some?" she asked hesitantly. "I'd be nice to learn."

Kyle debated his answer, but in the end agreed.

~~

A couple of hours later, Kyle sighed. "We should get back. It's almost noon, and I need to work with Jack after lunch."

Fawn frowned and clipped the lead back on Heart. "How's he doing, by the way? Not that I'm interested."

Kyle wondered if he should tell her or not. After all, his lessons were one-on-one. "I can't really tell you, but, I think it's too early to tell."

She clicked her tongue. "Let me guess. His horse doesn't trust him."

"Yep."

Fawn shrugged. "The way I see it, horses can be a better judge of people then humans."

Kyle patted Heart. "Most of the time they are. But with skittish ones it can be hard to tell."

"Is Jack's horse usually skittish?" she asked flatly.

Kyle sighed. "No."

Fawn smiled at that and then put her normal uncaring face on.

"Your not surprised?" He said more matter-o-fact then a question.

"Nope." She replied.

"Tell me why, please?" He asked.

"Nope." She said as she walked a little faster.

"Fair enough I guess." He sighed as he kept pace with her.

"So, what's your story?" She asked glancing at him.


***All i had***

He shrugged. "I don't really remember my parents. They left when I was five. I was raised by an elder on the reserve. When she died, nobody was willing to take me on. Even though I was only thirteen, I had a.... reputation, so to speak. Cutting class, mouthing off, you name it. I'm just lucky I didn't get into drugs."

"Is that when you started going to homes?" Fawn asked gently.

Kyle nodded. "They weren't much better. I dropped out then, just to prove they didn't have any control over me. I think the longest I lasted at any home was two weeks. I went through all the homes in the state pretty quick."

Fawn cocked her head to the side. "When'd you come here?"

"Couple of springs ago. By then I had been out of school for a year. Colt had to drag me to school that fall, even after the whole summer of working with him." He chuckled at the memory. "But once I started going and started getting used to people, things got better. I was adopted last spring."

"But you still come back?"

He nodded. "Colt did so much for me I like to return the favour. And it's fun watching the kids bond with horses."

Fawn raised an eyebrow. "Was it 'fun' watching me?"

Kyle laughed. "No. Rewarding. You and Heart share one of the closest bonds I've seen."

"Thanks," she muttered, blushing.

By now they were back to the pasture. Kyle opened and let them go inside before he shut it. "Time to go work with Jack again. If you need anything Fawn, let me know."

She nodded before climbing back into the tree. Kyle lingered a moment before going to the stables.

Fawn watched him walk off and she leaned against the tree branch. He probably had good parents, where as she didn't. Her parents hadn't cared about her at all. Her mom as soon as she'd had Fawn went back to drugs and alcohol, and her dad had never stopped using. Just when she got bigger....She stopped her memories shivering as images flashed through her head and tears pushed at her eyes. SHe didn't want to remember that. The abuse she sustained from her parents ahd hurt ten times as bad as from any of the houses.

Why can't all parents just love their kids, truely love their kids? She asked herself for the millionath time. From where she was she could kind of see Kyle working with Jake. She growled, Jake wasn't worth having someone like Kyle help him. SHe saw someone standing at the side of hte barn watching them. It was probably Tawny gawking at Jake.

Most people would think Jake was so handsome. But Fawn knew the real Jake. He wasn't as handsome after he hurt you. She groaned and climbed out of the tree. She didn't want to watch. She couldn't tell Tawny what happened, just warn her. And warn her Fawn had done, in her own way.

"PEople are so stupid." Fawn sighed walking over to Heart. "Course you knew that." HEart bobbed her head a little but kept eating.

Not all people are stupid, there is always Kyle. A little voice said in her head.

Ya, but all other people are. She replied to the voice. I think he understands.

Then tell him about Jake. If he understands he can protect Tawny.

"NO!" She hissed. "I won't EVEr tell anyone."

*You've changed the name. I thought it was Jack, not Jake. And sorry for not posting yesterday, I had a case of writer's block.*

Kyle watched Jack stand on one side of the ring, Flame on the other. The way Jack kept looking over his shoulder towards the barn made Kyle glance to the same spot. Tawny was there, trying to stay hidden.

Kyle shook his head. "Keep your head in the game Jack! This is about your horse, not looking good for the girls."

Jack smiled a player's smile. "Can't it be both?"

"Not while you're still working!" Kyle called back. "You have to earn the trust of this horse before you can move forward. Unless you want to actually have free time, you'd better get this."

Jack snorted. "Colt won't take away all free time just to bond with a stupid horse."

Flame stopped and flattened his ears, blowing a gob of spit towards Jack.

Kyle had to chuckle. "You've done it now. Flame used to just not trust you. Now he doesn't like you."

"So what?" Jack called back. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Kyle shook his head in disbelief. "For one, you won't be allowed to ride as long as horses don't trust you. And no ridding means you spend all your free time here, with Colt, learning how to earn a horse's trust. Plus we do some pretty cool stuff on the trail, and you wouldn't want to miss that."

"Alright! Alright!" Jack said impatiently. "I'm concentrating!"

"Then stop talking and keep working!" Kyle replied, his temper running short. This would take awhile.

~~~

After they finished somewhere around three, Kyle watched Jack hesitantly brush Flame down. Flame had already tried to bite Jack once, and even with two leads attached to his harness he still tried.

"How's it going?" Colt asked softly, coming into the barn.

Kyle shook his head. "Not good. I suggest extra work to get these two over their trust issues."

Colt nodded in agreement. "Alright. This evening after dinner you're working with me Jack."

Jack scowled before continuing his chores.

Colt jerked his head towards Dusty. "Go home Kyle. You're already late."

Kyle nodded in thanks and saddled Dusty. Before leaving he looked back towards the pasture. Heart had moved, and he guessed Fawn was hidden somewhere near that horse. He sighed, wishing she would talk to him, and nudged Dusty into a trot.

Fawn heard the dinner bell ring and her stomach growled. She walked to Heart snapping her lead on and then walking towards the house where everyone had already gone. She tied Heart up to a post and then walked inside the house.

"Why didn't you just put Heart in her stall?" Kimmy asked when she walked in.

"She doesn't like the small area, no way of escape." Fawn replied not really looking at anybody as she sat down at the table. Jack and Tawny glared at her, but Fawn felt it was for two totally different reasons. She didn't care, let them glare, it wasn't about to hurt her feelings. Tawny should be thanking her, but whatever floated her boat.

"Alright, let's dig in." Colt grinned. Fawn had missed the prayer, not that she really cared or anything about it. She snagged food as it went around eating her fill and she starting to slip out.

"Fawn, can you wash the dishes with me tonight?" Kimmy asked.

"Sure." Fawn replied. "I'll be upstairs until y'all are done." She wanted to growl. She walked up to her room, her bed was still made, she didn't plan on sleepign inside though. SHe liked being outside with Heart. Though they'd stay in the pasture tonight, that stall had one exit, the pasture had many.

When she heard Kimmy call down for her she went down and started helping wash all the dishes.

"You and Heart are inseperable. She keeps looking over here for you." Kimmy smiled.

"We're alot alike." Fawn replied.

"Want to hear the history of Heart?" Kimmy asked. Fawn looked up at her.

"Please."

"Well, about two years ago we got a phone call. It was the animal control people, they said they had a horse that no one could work with, wanted to see if we wanted her. SO we went down to the rescue center and looked her over. She was skinny as could be, and you couldn't get within ten feet of her. She was mean too. She was also pregnate." Kimmmy sighed a sad sigh. "Her owners had been using her for a brood mare, but they hadn't been taken care of her. From what we could figure was whenever she would foal they'd go in, take the foal when it was old enough and then just turn her out with a stallion. Didn't mess with her much. When they were around her they were beating her and abusing her. A neighbor saw her one time and turned them in. It was amazing that she'd made it that long."

"What happened to her foal?" Fawn asked looking out at Heart.

"Poor thing was so small. We spent days fighting to keep it alive. We couldn't leave it with Heart because she wouldn't let us near so we could help too. I hated taking it away from her, but we had to so we could save it. It was the most beautiful little filly." Kimmy took a deep breath, "She lived about two weeks, then we thought we lost her. The vet came in and gave her a few shots and took her in to the clinic."

"And?" Fawn demanded tears pricking her eyes.

"Well, two days later we get a phone call, Blessing was up and moving again. But she'd never be rideable. She was way to small, boy she was a beauty though. She...."

"What happened to her?!" Fawn growled. Kimmy laughed.

"She lives next door, she's still really small, but they have a little girl that can't walk, her and Blessing are best friends. Hannah can't ride, and Blessing can't be ridden so they were the perfect pair." Kimmy replied.

"Oh." Fawn finished the last dish. "Could...could I see her sometime?"

"I'm sure Kyle wouldn't mind letting you ride out there with Heart when you two are able to ride outside the ring. I'm sure Heart would love to see Blessing. If it wasn't for Blessing we would've had to sell Heart a long time ago. But Blessing helped us enough so that we could get close to Heart, but still not really work with her. YOu saw how she was when you got here."

"Thanks for tellin me." Fawn made a bee line for the door.

"Wait a minute. Fawn, you can't block everyone out. We love you, alright, just remember that." Kimmy said softly.

"No one loves me." Fawn replied turning and darting otu the door before Kimmy could say anything else. Tears pricked at Fawn's eyes. SHe knew Kimmy really meant it unlike any of the other people that had said it. Maybe that was what was making Fawn's guard fly up, the fact that she kenw these people loved her and cared. But she knew in the end it would turn out just like all the other families. "We're more alike then I thoguht." She said stroking HEart's head. Heart nickered softly and Fawn led her out towarods the pasture.

Kyle got the the ranch the next day at his usual time. One glance in the stables told him to check the pasture first, once he had brushed Dusty down.

He went to the same tree as before and climbed up. "Hey."

Fawn turned to look at him and smiled. "Took you less time today."

He laughed. "I only had to brush Dusty down. Whatcha looking at?"

She looked back over the pasture. "The neighbours."

"So Kimmy told you about Blessing, huh?"

Fawn nodded. "She said I could go see her once I can ride outside the ring."

Kyle shook his head. "And let me guess. She said I'd take you."

She grinned. "Yep!"

"Alright," he said, climbing down. "Nobody's in the barn, so we'll work on riding today. C'mon Heart."

Heart nickered and went towards them. As soon as Fawn hit the ground Heart stuck to her like glue. Kyle had to smile at that, but he couldn't get Jack out of his mind. Fawn couldn't avoid the house forever. In the winder she'd have to sleep there. Heart wouldn't be there to protect her then.

~~

Once Fawn was seated on Heart, Kyle went to his usual place on the fence. "Try to direct her this time. Just go in a circle around the ring!"

*I'll leave that attempt to you. *

*Alright*

Fawn rubbed Heart's neck and leaned forward.

"When you turn turn your body and look at the spot you want to go. SHe knows where you head is and all." Kyle called. She nodded and did as he said. "Steer her with the reins a little too."

"Ok." She did as he said and Heart shook her head a little. "Sorry girl."

"Your going to the left, so press your left leg a little in her side. Just barely." He called. She did as he said and Heart tossed her head then turned to the left. "Good job."

They spent the rest of the day getting better at turning. THey worked until she could turn without problems. Heart didn't like her using hte reins so she used her feet and her body.


*Ugh*

"Good job," Kyle said as they walked out. "You'll be riding out of the gates before you know it!"

Fawn ducked her head. "Thanks."

He smiled and they continued to the stables.

~~~

For the next month Fawn worked on getting Heart used to the saddle. Slowly Heart learned to relax with a person on her back, and her bond with Fawn deepened. Kyle couldn't say the same was happening with Jack. Flame took two weeks just to take a step towards him, and usually something would happen soon after that put the trust back to zero. Kyle noticed Tawny was usually near by, watching.

At school, Fawn was usually at the back of the class. At lunch she'd stick close to Kyle, often drifting towards Tawny but never getting close. Kyle wished Fawn would just tell him and end the tension, but she wouldn't. He was just glad he was in the same class as her. He knew she'd lose all confidence if she wasn't.

~~~

Come early October, Fawn had just finished riding Heart in several interlocking figure-eights. Heart had lost almost all her stress, and could now go up to a slow trot.

"That's enough for today!" Kyle called somewhere around lunch. When Fawn was at the gate he clasped her shoulder. "Ready for Colt to check out your skills?"

She gulped. "I-- I guess."

"You'll be fine," he reassured her. "You've got the basics, at least."

She blushed and kept walking towards the stables.