Chapter 1

Full summary: Amy will stop at nothing to save the wild horses from death. But desperation is not the mother of reason. An impulsive dare finds her and Ty trapped, alone, and in danger. They must rely on and trust each other to survive this.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Heartland. And this is supposed to be set in season one.

Ty stretched from his sleep and forced himself up from his bed. He drew a deep breath of the cool morning air that his loft did little to keep out, and walked to the window. He threw it open to allow the soft sunlight to spill into the room, warming his bare chest and face. As he blinked away the light, his eyes found what he expected to see. He could see only the back of her, her blonde hair whipping in the breeze behind her moving body. The black horse she rode carrying her quickly away. Amy was riding Spartan again, as she had done most every morning, as Ty had grown used to seeing her do. He knew she wasn't riding because she loved it, even though she did. He knew she was running from the pain, the haunting pain of her mother's death, the pain of not being able to stop it, hiding from the guilt and doubts, galloping away from the things she couldn't change. This was her escape. He knew because he knew the pain so well. He had tried to hide from so many things in his life. So many things he'd wished he could change but couldn't. Running never made the pain go away, but it numbed it for awhile. Made it just bearable enough to live through. It never lasted long enough, but he was glad she could find it at all.

He hated to see her suffer, the way he had suffered. Death hadn't taken his parents from him, but there were times Ty wished it had. It might have been easier than them just leaving him, abandoning him, betraying him. In a way it was worse than death. It left Ty with an anger he couldn't escape, that he couldn't forget or forgive. An anger he knew he could never hold on to if his parents were dead. His pain came from a different kind of loss. His was the loss of abandonment. Hers was the loss of forever. Her mom was dead. But yet their losses where the same, in that they both were reminded every day by pain.

That was the part of Amy Ty understood. The part of her that was hurting. He understood her in a way no one else in her life could. The rest of her he could only admire. He didn't understand the gentleness in her voice when she spoke to the crazy horses she worked with, or the way she risked herself to help them. He didn't understand her love for the every horse that had caused her mother's death. But that's what made her different, that's what made her special. That's what drew him to her.

Ty knew Amy meant something to him. He just didn't know what. He couldn't unravel the mystery that bound his strange feelings to her. He didn't know what it meant when they locked eyes like they so often did, silent words spoken between them that he didn't understand. So many times he'd wanted to tell her that. To tell her how much she met to him. He had let so many chances to tell the people he cared about slip by. And then he'd had to watch them walk away, walk out of his life. And every time he couldn't fight the echoing thoughts that maybe it was his fault. Maybe if he would have told them. Fear had always stopping him before, fear always lead to the regrets. But this time it was different. He had chosen not to let fear rule his life anymore. This time he wasn't afraid. He wanted to tell her. He had even taken the footsteps towards her, his heart racing as words trailed to his lips ready to be spoken. But it was always his past that stopped him. Always his mistakes that drew him away. Always his scars that pulled him back. Amy was better than the mistakes he'd made. She was better than him. She deserved more that he could ever give her, more than he could ever be. He didn't, couldn't, deserve her.

She smiled at the familiar feeling of Spartan's body galloping under hers. It was always thrilling despite how often she did it. The cold air prickling her skin as it rushed into her face. The steady, constant, and strong rhyme of his gait. It was freeing. The sun was rising, shinning brightly in her eyes. She loved the quiet peacefulness of the morning, the only time she had to herself. It was her mom's favorite time of day too. Amy felt the pain forming in her chest. Her mom wasn't there anymore. No matter how many times she remember this, the pain was still fresh and new. And it hurt. Loneliness and loss drug her down, drowning her in grief. It pressed in on her until it feels like she would collapse into nothing. But the guilt was worse. It felt like a knife, slowly pressing into her skin. Every second worse then the one before, more blood, and more pain. It would never go away. Her mom wasn't there anymore, and it was her fault. It was always in the back of her mind, always too close to her memory. The loss and guilt where overwhelming. Sometime she felt like she was being swallowed by it and it would consume her. Sometimes it felt like it would just kill her. But on mornings like this, when she rode Spartan it was easier. It didn't go away completely, but it would fade enough to bare. She could escape through Spartan and the fields and the air and the knowledge that she was doing what she wanted to do with her life. Saving horses from abuse and disease, and most often the fear that controlled them. Somehow fixing them, healing the brokenness in them, healed her too. Putting their shattered pieces back together was just another one of hers she set into place. And most importantly she knew she was doing what her mom would have wanted her to do. That was the driving force that pushed her through the days when she was the most broken, when she was the closest to falling apart. Her mom always told her to never give up on a horse. Amy knew the best way to honor her mom's memory was to never forget that.

Her attention was pulled from her thoughts when she heard voices ahead of her. They where quiet and distant, but they shouldn't have been there at all. It was early, and the shouts cut through the morning like a blade, foreign and out of place. Something was wrong. Amy quickly picked her way through the woods that separated her from the noise, and as she grew closer the voices blended with the sound of motors and horses. The trees finally thinned and she could see past the leaves into a bright sunlit valley. Amy felt surprise creep up through her at the scene spread before her. Large metal railed panels, the kind they used for their round pen, where placed to form a corral wider at one end then the other, like a funnel towards the center of the field. The smaller end led to a cattle trailer that was pitching and swaying, only meaning that is already had animals inside it. The sound of motors vibrated in her ears and her eyes search to find the source. Three men on 4-wheelers where driving horse, spirited and unmanageable through the paneled walls into the trailer.

Amy felt the air collapse inside of her. They were mustangs. They were rounding up a herd of mustangs. A shout of protest build in her mouth but sudden fear shoved it down. These men were obvious immoral and cruel. She didn't know what they were going to do to the horses, but it didn't matter. What she was watching was wrong. And she knew trying to stop them could get her hurt. Still, part of her felt a need to. How could she sit there half hiding behind branches and watch horses be wronged? How could anyone?

A loud clanging drew her eyes away from the men circling the herd to a horse halfway through the corral. A large dark bay was spooked and thrashing against the rails trying to get free. In a lot of ways it looked like Spartan and Amy instant felt desperate pity for it. It was rearing and being pushed back again and again by the other horses being herded into the trailer. In a frantic attempt to escape, it reared and jumped at the rail. But with no room to run it never had a chance of making it. It collided into the metal, it's legs buckling beneath it, and fell to the ground. In an instant Amy was off of Spartan and stumbling towards the injured horse. It couldn't get back up. It was getting trampled. She felt her eyes burning and tears blurred her vision. Instinct to help it and adrenaline pushed her forward even when reason told her to stop. Only when she saw all three men hurry towards it did her feet stop moving. She couldn't go down there. But it was hurt. As the men drew nearer it struggled to stand, to flee from them. It couldn't. Every time is fell back exhausted and in pain. A tear spilled from the rim of Amy's eye and then down her cheek.

"It's bad, too bad," she heard one of the men yell to another. "Then take care of it quickly and let's get out of here," a different voice yelled. One moment the horse was struggling on the ground and then the next a deafening shot split the air and the horse was completely still. The sound echoed in Amy's ears and her heart dropped into her stomach. They killed it. A sob of grief, rage, and terror jerked her body. They killed it, just like that. Not a second thought. No value for its precious life. Suddenly Amy knew she had to leave. These men were killers. They were dangerous. She had to get someone to help. The others couldn't die too. She couldn't let them.

She ran back towards Spartan, blinking the tears and shock away. She looked up from her feet and choked on a gasp. A man, middle aged, tall, and with a look of shock and horror covering his face stood in from of her. Before she could think to run he grabbed for her, snatching her arm, trapping her. Her heart pounded against her ribs, and her face burned with panic.

"What are you doing?" the man yelled at her, his voice dripping with anger. His eyes were cold and furious.

"I," Amy stammered unable to form the words on her tongue.

"Are you alone?" the man said, searching around him for another intruder. She nodded her head in response, still unable to speak. Her hands shook. Terror raced through her body like ice, freezing her. It writhed inside of her like fire burning away her senses. All she could do was stand. But she had to get away. His fingers pressed into the skin of her arm. They could kill her, just like they killed the horse. She had to get away.

"Where were you going?" he asked, staring at her face. Amy swallowed and sucked in a breath.

"Home," she force through her teeth. It sounded innocent, it made her sound young, non threatening. The man's eyes darted from her to his three companions, like he though maybe somehow she hadn't seen them and what they were doing. Maybe she was too naive to know. Amy glanced back too. The trailer was closed and the men were loading up the rails. She could see the dark body of the horse lying in the grass. Lifeless, dead. A shiver split through her, almost forcing her knees to collapse. She had to get away.

She felt the man's grip on her arm loosen as he tried to decide what to do with her, and she felt adrenaline rush over her. She had to run. And she did. She ripped her arm out of the man's fingers and bolted towards Spartan as fast as her body allowed. She didn't let a second be wasted by looking back. Fear for her life was stronger than curiosity. She had no way of know if the man would have let her go. He could have. Or he might have drug her down to the truck and taken her. He could have killed her. Terror unmatched by any she'd felt before drove her to her horse, and only when she was mounted on his back did she glance back. The man might have let her go, and he might not have, but either way, now he didn't follow her. He didn't chase her down. Relief collapse over her. She was free. There was space enough between her and him to flee. And she did. She dug her heels into Spartan's ribs and let him go. "Just mind your own business girl!" she heard a shout behind her, a warning, the voice cold and direct. The same kind of voice that would shoot an injured horse. Her heart beat in every inch of her body, pounding like Spartan's legs racing her towards safety. It pumped the adrenaline out of her until only fear and pain and relief where left, laced together and spilling out of her through tears. She needed to reach home before it was too late to save the other horses, before they were killed too

Please review! I would love your honest opinion. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, I'm terrible at proof reading. The next chapter should be up soon. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for chapter two!