Chapter 12 - Lasso

"…Okay, thanks for the animal fodder, Mirabelle. I owe you one," Chelsea said, clutching the sack of feed tightly to her chest.

"No problem, Chelsea. You take care now, you hear?" Mirabelle replied, and Chelsea nodded in response, before walking towards the door leading out of Mirabelle's shop.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Vaughn asked me to tell you that he's free to check on your pregnant animals. All you need to do is go and get him, and he'll drop everything," Mirabelle explained, and Chelsea turned back to the shop-owner, a confused look on her face.

"Oh? Well, I could really use him now, actually. Spot's close to giving birth, and I need to check that everything's alright. Where is he?"

Mirabelle smiled happily, and pointed to the window in the living area of her shop. Slowly, Chelsea walked towards the window, and poked her head out of it. Her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Easy girl! Whoa!"

Chelsea gasped as she saw Vaughn dash out of the way as a light grey horse came charging towards him, whinnying in what seemed like distress. She watched in shock as Vaughn straightened himself out; tilting his hat up his head a little.

"Tch…you're being such a pain, y'know," Vaughn murmured, his eyes locked on the horse as she trotted around in a circle; her hooves pawing at the ground as she snorted, "I just want to check on your baby. I'm not gonna hurt you."

At this, the mare straightened up; choosing to stand her ground fearlessly as he began to walk towards her. She shook out her mane and her tail swished from side to side in evident anger as he approached her.

Is he mad? Chelsea thought with worry plastered across her face, attempting to check up on that horse is like asking to be attacked! Everyone in the Sunshine Islands knows that Lily is as close to a wild horse as you can get!

"Easy, girl…easy…" he whispered, keeping his eyes on the agitated and heavily pregnant horse as he took yet another small step towards her. Lily watched his every move, waiting until he got close enough. And then she struck.

"Vaughn, No!" Chelsea screamed as the horse bucked; her front legs lifting up as she screeched out in anger. Vaughn's eyes widened in shock as Lily brought her hooves down mere inches away from him; causing him to fall backwards.

"Okay…no more fooling around, Lily…" Vaughn grumbled as he watched the mare canter away from him. He reached into a small pouch that was located on his hip, and pulled out a long piece of rope.

"A lasso?" Chelsea murmured in disbelief, "he's gonna try and lasso Lily…Is he crazy?"

Mirabelle merely chuckled at the farmer as she came to stand next to her, watching intently as Vaughn began to swing the lasso round; making a ring around his head.

"You'll be surprised at how skilled Vaughn is. He's been lassoing ever since he was a boy," Mirabelle explained, and Chelsea couldn't help but notice the far-off look in his eyes. He didn't even look like he was trying.

With a gracefulness that surprised Chelsea, Vaughn threw the lasso towards Lily, who was charging towards him. The timing was perfect; the loop wrapped itself around her neck with ease, and Vaughn stepped to the side and tugged, slowing the horse down. This caused her to whinny in shock, and skid to a stop, preparing to buck again. Vaughn was prepared however, and tugged again, causing her hooves to fall back onto the ground with a loud thud.

And then Lily did something that shocked everyone. She stopped her attempted assault; her chest heaving as Vaughn approached her cautiously.

"It's okay…it's okay…it's okay…" Vaughn whispered, repeating the phrase as if it were some ancient spell. Slowly, Lily's muscles loosened, and after a few moments, she allowed Vaughn to touch her swollen stomach. All the while, Vaughn had a tight hold of the rope; not fully trusting her enough to let go.

Chelsea could only watch in admiration as Vaughn checked her over; pressing his fingertips against her stomach to check the status of the baby. All the while, Lily just watching; not threatening to harm the cowboy, but not entirely happy about his presence near her either.

Once he was satisfied that there was nothing wrong with the young baby growing inside her, he slowly lifted the lasso off around Lily's neck; his way of saying that she was free to go. She didn't need telling twice; she was off like a shot in mere seconds; back into her stable. Vaughn sighed, and stuffed the lasso back into his pouch, before turning back towards Mirabelle's shop.

"She gave you trouble then, Vaughn?" Mirabelle asked as he came through the back door; taking his hat off and waving it around, before placing back on his head and shutting the door.

"Not much, but a little, yeah…Chelsea?" Vaughn turned to look at the farmer, who's eyes were wide.

"That…was awesome! You're so cool!"

At this, Vaughn's cheeks lit up in a light red blush, and he cleared his throat, before straightening out his hat.

"Ahem…I'm gonna go…check on your cow…that's what you wanted me to do, right?" he mumbled, and before Chelsea could say anything else, he was out of the door; nearly sprinting towards her farm to get away from the embarrassing situation.

"Okay! And if you have to, lasso my animals! That was amazing!" Chelsea yelled out of the shop window, and Vaughn pulled his hat over his eyes, hiding his growing blush…

Annnnd done! Next up is 'M'! Hope you enjoyed, and please review!