Fic: Quiet Sanctuary 5/14

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Quiet Sanctuary
Chapter Five
Word Count: 3,102
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Tim/Marion, eventually... Lou/Scott and Ty/Amy.
Warnings: Non-graphic discussion of child abuse.
Disclaimer: I'm never going to grow up. That means... I'm not legally responsible for anything, right?
Summary: AU. Heartland is a refuge, not just for abused and neglected horses, but for all.
Author's Note: I have to say, the story took another twist on me in this chapter. The first two scenes went according to plan, but the third one just went and switched itself around. Ty and Amy's conversation surprised me. :)

---

Leaves of Fall

 

"I don't want to go to school," Amy said with a pout, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not going to school. Why do I have to go if you're not making Ty go?"

Ty looked down at the floor. Marion shook her head. She didn't think that Ty felt the same way about school as her daughter. Wouldn't Amy be shocked to know that he wanted to go? Of course, the difficulty lay in trying to get him to say so. In the months that he'd been at Heartland, they had been so careful not to make him do anything he didn't want to do, and perhaps they had gone too far with that. It had been difficult, at first. He'd been skittish, scared, and he didn't say much. He would quietly endure the pain he was in and do any task around the farm. It was hard to make him see that he didn't have to work when he was in pain, and she had the feeling that he expected to earn his keep in some way, that he thought if he stopped being useful, they would make him leave. This belief wasn't one that they were able to rid him of, not even now, months later. Maybe that would never change. She still didn't know how he'd been treated before, what made him think that he had to do it.

The truth was, none of them wanted that boy to leave. Well, maybe Tim, not that he had much of a say in things these days, and he would only say that out of spite. No, Ty was a godsend. It wasn't just the way he'd gotten Jake working again, the way he'd caught onto something wrong with Jasmine before she came down with colic, the work he did around the farm, or his ability to focus Amy—those two were good together, gave each other a nice balance—but he was simply wonderful to have around. Though quiet, he was good company, always polite, with surprising insights into people and animals. He kept his things and his space organized. Though he had little, he was generous. He was smart, paid careful attention to his work. They never would have made it through the plowing season or the near drought of the summer without him.

"Would you like to go to school, Ty?" Marion asked. "I never wanted you to think you couldn't. You should. Don't limit your education."

"No!" Amy cried, grabbing a hold of her friend. "You'll send him away like you sent Lou away! I hate you! I hate school, and I hate you, and you're not sending Ty away! He's the only friend I have!"

Ty looked a bit worried, but he pulled Amy's hands off of him gently. It was nice to see that he no longer flinched when he was touched. The pain, of course, had been gone for some time, but the lingering effects of what had happened to him had persisted long after the pain stopped.

"Amy, your sister chose to go to boarding school. She wanted to further her education with things she couldn't learn here. She's happy there, and you know it. Now, if Ty chose to go away to school, I would not say no because I believe in education, but it's a choice he needs to make. And if he's your friend, then maybe you'd like to have him with you at school," Marion observed, watching her daughter and the boy who had become a son to her with an amused smile. She didn't want Ty to think he had to go, either, but Ty had seemed to want to go just a few minutes ago.

"I... am willing to try it," he began slowly, and Amy began to bounce around excitedly. Marion didn't think her daughter would ever be this happy about school again. She smiled.

"Well, that's settled. You two go give the animals their nighttime feed and wash up for supper," she said, and Amy grabbed Ty's hand, pulling him off excitedly. Marion shook her head, smiling a bit sadly.

"You know you just sent away my helper," Jack commented as he took off his boots. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

Marion laughed. "Oh, come on, Dad. The harvest will be here soon, and once that starts, we'll have more people here than we know what to do with. Ty's too young to be mixed up in all that chaos. It's better if he's in school, and he wants to learn."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, and that's a fine thing, don't get me wrong, but you're going to have to face some hard facts here, Marion. This isn't going to be as easy as you'd like to think. It's been three months, and while your husband isn't the same ornery beast he was when I was ready to throw him out of that bed, he hasn't gotten any better. He's not walking. He may never be able to work again. We've got a lot of land and not enough hands to work it. Ty's help got us through the spring and summer, and that little boy did everything he could, poured his heart into this work. Still, even with his help, we're not going to be able to keep the new homestead."

The new homestead. The original land of Heartland was safe, even the first hundred-sixty acres Tim had settled on near them, but the new section, Jack was talking about losing that, and if they did, they'd lose access to the water they needed to keep the whole thing going. "Dad, we were able to plow it. The crops this year—"

"Are better than last year, you're right. But this isn't about the crops. The law says someone has to be living on that land, and they're not. If the boy was older, I'd say let him stay out there—"

"On his own? Dad, no! Absolutely not."

"He can't stay in Lou and Amy's room forever, Marion. Lou will be coming home for the holidays, and he's a boy. It won't do any good mixing them up like that, sharing a room. You already know that Amy loves him. She calls him a friend. A few years from now, though, this puppy love is going to be a real problem."

"Now you're making problems out of nothing, Dad."

"And I think you're taking that advice about the damn basket too far," Jack retorted. "I know that we agreed to wait to make decisions until next year. That hasn't changed. There are things to think about, though, and where Ty stays is one of them. I want him here, you know I do. I'm just saying he needs a new room. Thought needs to be given to to permanent arrangements."

Marion nodded. "You're right. The boy needs a space of his own."

---

Scott had been thinking all summer of what Mrs. Fleming had said to him, and it was the only thing he could think of as he led his younger brother over to the school house. The other kids had started to gather already, and he saw Ashley Grant with most of the other girls her age and a little older, all except Amy Fleming and the new girl, the one with the exotic name. He knew that the Grants and some of the other people in town were treating them differently because they were immigrants. The girl deserved better.

Matt pulled away, going to join his friends. Scott let him go. He wasn't out of sight, and the teacher would call them inside soon. Scott felt out of place. Most of the boys his age had already stopped attending school. They were at home, working the farms, and no one really cared that they would never finish school. His parents did, they expected him to, and he felt like they were almost unreasonable, thinking about that instead of the way life really was around here. It was hard work, manual labor, that lasted most of the day. He was supposed to ignore all that and sit in a classroom. It was easier because he didn't have a field to work or animals to take care of, not like the others did. He knew most of the kids weren't even thinking of that when their mind wandered, but that wasn't the point.

Scott was pretty much alone here. Maybe if Lou Fleming wasn't off at boarding school, then he wouldn't be, but he was. He was alone with a bunch of younger kids, studying for a life that he didn't really want. He sighed, leaning against the school house. Marion Fleming had told him that he should think about being a veterinarian.

If he was going to school for that, maybe he'd feel differently. He looked over at the other kids. Amy Fleming had gone straight for the new girl, not afraid to stand back when the others ignored her. She'd dragged Ty with her, but he clearly wasn't comfortable standing there. Scott frowned. Since most of the local boys stopped going to school around twelve, Ty was the closest in age to him at this point, and they weren't even sure what age he was.

Ty was good with horses, though, and even if he was pretty quiet, Scott liked him. Amy had plenty of kids her age to hang out with, but the boys were clearly staying away from Ty. Scott shrugged, moving way from the school house and over to Ty's side. "So... How does it feel to be at school?"

Ty looked around. "It's... different."

"Did you go to school before?"

Ty nodded, but then he turned away to look at the school teacher. "She doesn't look nice."

Scott laughed. He'd often thought that the schoolmarm had lost all sense of humor years ago. Her face looked pickled and sour, and she never seemed happy. "She's not. Then again, she's a teacher. They're supposed to be strict. I doubt she'd have any reason to rap your knuckles."

Ty's eyes got wide, and he looked towards the schoolmarm with fear. Scott felt bad for making him afraid. He shook his head. "It'll be fine. She can't really hurt you, especially if you know the answers to her questions and you don't cause trouble."

Ty looked at his feet. Scott shrugged. "Come on. You can sit by me. She seats us according to age, but you're the closest to my age anyway."

Ty followed him, and Scott figured it was a good thing he'd taken the younger boy under his wing. He showed Ty where to sit as the schoolmarm rang the bell, calling the others inside. He gave the boy his old primer, and Scott watched him read over the first few pages. He looked smart.

"I see we have new students this year," Mrs. Pratt began, walking to the board. "Stand, please, and introduce yourselves."

The girl spoke first, helped by Amy encouraging her as she sat beside her. "I'm Soraya Martin. I've never been to a school like this before. I'm seven."

"Good to know," Pratt said. She looked over at Ty. "And you, young man?"

"Ty Baldwin."

"Your age?"

"Nine."

"Did you attend school before?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ty answered. He stood there, his whole body stiff, and Scott felt really bad for him. Ty didn't realize that he was making things harder for himself. Pratt would see his silence, his reluctance to speak, as impertinence.

"Very well. Sit down. We'll see what you know as class goes on," Pratt told him, and Ty sat down, glancing nervously at the teacher. Scott felt sorry for him. It was going to be a long school year.

---

"I think the teacher hates him, and that's not fair. She doesn't like Soraya, either. I don't like her," Amy said at dinner. Ty was really quiet again, had been since he got home. Marion had asked about their day at school. She couldn't hope but be curious. Pratt was known to be rather strict, and Marion had almost hated leaving the boy in her care. Still, she couldn't keep Ty hidden away at Heartland forever. He needed more than just this place, even though she loved this place with everything she had and knew her father and daughter did the same. "Ty doesn't have to go again, does he? I mean, he really doesn't, does he?"

Ty looked at her, and Marion simply waited. She knew the boy had plenty to say, even if he tended to hold back most of the time. "I want to go to school. She's not a nice lady, I know. She might not like me, either. But she has to teach me."

Amy frowned. "Why do you want to go to school? Isn't better here, with the horses?"

"Horses are nice," Ty said. He reached for his cup and took a sip. He ate another bite, having a surprising amount of appetite for the way he'd acted when he got home. He had seemed quiet and withdrawn, but he was perking up again. "They aren't everything."

"Would you go away for school, like Lou did?" Amy asked, looking worried.

"Why would you care?" he asked, annoyed. "All you did all day was play with the new girl. It doesn't matter to you whether I go to school or not. Scott's thinking of becoming a veterinarian, and maybe I should do that. I don't have to stay here."

"You... don't? You don't want to?" Amy asked quietly, looking horrified and sad all at once. Jack was quiet, listening and watching. Marion felt her chest tighten. Ty was as dear to her as a son she'd given birth to herself, and she couldn't bear the idea of him leaving them, not for anything. "Why would you leave us? You... never answer when I ask you about your home or your family. You... I thought you didn't have any."

Ty shrugged. "I don't have to have family to leave."

Marion struggled to speak. "Ty..."

"I know. I'm still welcome. I just don't think it's right for Amy to assume that she knows what I think or want or where I should stay," he said, picking up his drink again. "I am staying. It's what I want, as long as I'm still welcome. School is what I want. Stop trying to tell me what to do."

"I wasn't..." Amy stopped. "Am I really that bad? Do you hate me now?"

He shook his head. "Of course not, Amy. I don't hate you. I just wish you would... stop assuming you know what I want and speaking for me."

"You never talk!"

"You talk too much," he countered, setting down his fork. "Maybe I wanted to think about what I was saying, and maybe that took me longer, but you could have let me have that time."

"You could just say you hate me instead of lying!" Amy shouted back at him, running up the stairs. Ty looked after her and sighed.

He looked over at Marion. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset her, not really. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, you needed to say that," Marion assured him. She touched his shoulder gently, trying to convince him. "You have a right to your own mind, your own thoughts, and you should feel free to speak when you want to and if you want to, you know that. You are welcome here. You can go to school as long as you like. I'm afraid Amy's a bit used to having her way, and she's not going to accept the change easily, but she'll come around. In the meantime, there is something Dad and I wanted to talk to you about."

He looked at her, those smart and too old for his years eyes waiting patiently as she took a deep breath. "We have to make some adjustments to the way we live. Where we live. There's a section of land near us that Tim claimed as a homestead three years ago, when the wells here ran dry. It gives us the water that we use for everything else."

He nodded. She wasn't sure how much of that he understood. Jack took over. "The law says the land has to be lived on for five years. Tim and I built a new house for them down near the water. It's been sitting empty since Tim's accident."

Ty frowned. "Then... no one's living on the land. Will they take it away?"

"They might, especially if Ted Grant tries to go after it. That's not something we need to worry about just yet, though," Jack answered. "It's been easier for Marion to take care of Tim here, in my home, but it is time for someone to move back into their home."

"The children were talking about moving into town for the winter."

"Some do. We don't. Call us stubborn if you like, but my father believed in this land, and he knew when to stay and when to go. I reckon I do, too," Jack told him. "We'd need an addition here, if nothing else, because Lou will be home for the winter, and there's just not enough space. Where would you like to stay, then?"

"You'd have your own room in either place," Marion explained. "Dad suggested leaving Tim here, since this is closer to town if something were to happen with him."

"Basically, I'd be on my own one way or another, because Marion will be with Tim and Amy with her. I wouldn't mind some company."

Ty nodded. "I... could stay with you, then, Jack. Once you've figured out which house. Can I go out to the horses now?"

"Yes," Marion agreed. "It's time for their nighttime feed."

Ty headed outside, and Jack looked over at Marion. "That went surprisingly well. I suppose you better go see to Amy now."

Marion nodded. Somehow, she knew this conversation wouldn't be as easy as the one with Ty had been. That was her daughter, all right. Amy was a regular spitfire.