Fic: Big Time Cowboys 3-5/?

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Big Time Cowboys
Chapters Three, Four, & Five
Word Count: 2,515; 3,078; 3,100
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Kendall/Jo, Logan/Camille, Ty/Amy, Lou/Peter (but don't expect that to last, I chose this setting for a reason), Lou/Scott, and possibly a bit of Jack/Lisa. As scary as that list might seem, this story is mostly about humorous antics and none of the pairings are a big focus of it, I promise. I just like to cover all the bases.
Disclaimer: I'm never going to grow up. That means... I'm not legally responsible for anything, right?
Summary: Four teenage boys. Two weeks. One ranch. Who will survive?
Spoilers: Nothing past Eye of the Wolf for Heartland, season 2 of Big Time Rush, with a very minor one from Big Time Moms. I couldn't resist.
Author's Note: I got a bit behind in posting updates to the comm, but I figured it's nicer for anyone who doesn't want to read fanfic not to have to get one every time I update, right?  Or so I excuse my laziness. :P

---

Chapter Three
Author's Note: I suppose the pairings come a bit more out to play in this section, since the girls arrive. Should that be a warning? I don't know. :P

---

Small Miracles

"Please tell me this was a part of your plan," Logan said, and Kendall looked over at him.

"Are you kidding? My plans usually work. This is clearly not working," Kendall muttered, annoyed. Logan couldn't really blame him. They were stuck, basically hiding, in a horse stall, covered in hay, and trying to avoid the crazy horse that had tried to kill James and Carlos, who were also stuck in the stall with them, wet, covered in mud, and smelling like they'd gotten into something else as well. It was fitting that they were all together in the end, but did it have to smell so bad? "Okay, new plan. Where's the Miracle Girl?"

"What?"

"Amy."

"If we survive this, you better not let Jo hear you call her that," Logan warned him, and Kendall rolled his eyes.

"I'm guessing none of you watched that youtube video of her calming down a horse in the middle of a wreck? Everyone calls her Miracle Girl. It's not just me, and I am not interested in her that way," Kendall said, looking up at the stuff hanging in the stall. He started to smile again.

"No way. You have to be crazy to try it," Logan told him, seeing where his mind was going with this. Normally, Kendall had great plans, but if he did that, there was at least an eighty percent chance he was going to fall and injure himself.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Hiding and letting the people who own the horse deal with it sounds good to me," Logan said, thinking that this only proved that he was right about the horse idea. It was a bad one. There was no way they were getting him on one of those animals. Ever.

"Oh, dude, check out the cowgirl," James said, smacking Logan's shoulder. Kendall stopped in the middle of his attempt to climb out of the stall, and they watched as Amy approached the horse terrorizing them, speaking to it quietly.

She actually managed to touch it, running her hands over the horse's nose as she continued to speak to it. The horse had been breathing heavily, rearing up and trying to get at them, but she managed to keep its feet on the ground, and though its ears kept flicking a bit, the horse's breathing seemed to be slowing down, like he was getting calm. It was something incredible to watch. Logan wouldn't have believed it if he wasn't seeing it with his own eyes. It wasn't like there was any reason why the horse should just... calm down like that. Maybe it was the intonation of her voice, the decimal range she was speaking at was probably a factor, and the touch could be a factor.

"That was..."

"She's awesome!" Carlos shouted, and they all looked at him, trying to cover his mouth so that his excitement couldn't upset the horse again. The last thing they wanted was it spooking and charging them again.

"Here, Amy," the stable hand bad boy scary boyfriend of hers said, passing her a bridle, and she continued to speak soothingly to the horse as she slipped it over the black's ears.

"That's it, good boy," she said, giving the horse an incredible smile. "Good boy. Shall we go out to the field now? Does that sound good?"

She let go of the bridle, and the boys stiffened, bracing for the horse to turn and charge them, but it didn't happen. She started walking, and the horse followed her. Logan shook his head. "I don't understand. How did she do that?"

"Told you they called her Miracle Girl," Kendall said, touching Logan's shoulder as he left the stall.

"I am so in love," James muttered, looking after her with a sigh. Kendall shook his head. He gave the stable hand an apologetic look, pulling James with them as they went to the stable doors, watching Amy and the horse until they were out of sight. Logan sighed. This was not going to work.

"That was so awesome!" Carlos said, grinning like a lunatic. Logan shook his head. "When do we get to ride?"

---

"We're going to have to put an extra lock on Dancer's stall," Amy announced unhappily, joining her grandfather in the middle of the driveway. Jack had come out from the house, trying to figure out what the latest commotion was, and he'd watched her calm down that horse, one he'd never wanted on his ranch in the first place. It was too dangerous, and he'd tried to talk Amy out of it, for all the good it did. She did what she wanted.

"You're sure it wasn't just those boys getting into trouble?" Jack asked, looking at the four of them in the middle of the driveway. Two of them were covered in mud and manure and apparently hell bent on getting it on the other two, who were just as determined to keep it off of them. He shook his head. He used to have a barn full of ranch hands once upon a time, but he was out of practice. Ty had pushed all of his buttons almost to the breaking point, and then came Caleb. Jack could do without young boys around. Two was plenty.

Hell, Tim had been bad enough. Having him around was probably worse than having those four boys. He shook his head.

"While I have to admit that Carlos worries me because he doesn't even seem to notice that he's hurting himself, that James is annoying when he tries to hit on me, and I really don't want to teach Logan to ride when he's clearly afraid of the idea, they're not... bad. I don't think they're lying when they say they didn't have anything to do with Dancer getting out," Amy said, sighing a little.

"I heard three names. There's four boys."

She nodded. "I'm not really sure what to make of Kendall. One minute he acts like he doesn't want to be here, and the next... Plus, there's something going on with him and Ty, and they think I don't know, but I'm not stupid. They actually seem to be getting along, and that almost scares me."

Jack grunted. "Have to admit, the idea bothers me. I would have thought I'd be fighting Ty for the right to throw those boys off my land."

"He probably is going to end up in a fight with James if he keeps flirting with me, but I think Ty has come a long way since that time when his stepfather showed up here," Amy said. She smiled. Jack nodded. Ty had come a long way since that day when he'd shown up looking for Marion. Jack was awful proud of that boy. He had a feeling that Ty was going to need another talking to, another adjustment to get his head on straight again. Kid was working hard here at Heartland, but he was supposed to leave for school.

"You talked to Ty about school yet?"

"No, not yet. He's been avoiding me, and with all that's been going on since the crash, the boys coming and all we had to do to get ready for them, it hasn't been easy to get a chance to talk," she admitted. "I figure I'll pin him down later, after the boys are—Is that another van?"

"Seems to me there was something about two more coming," Jack agreed as the van pulled into the yard. "And I do remember asking Lou where the parents were."

"I'm guessing that's not a parent," Amy observed, amused, as a dark-haired girl leapt out of the van and tackled Logan. The other three backed off, giving him space, and a blond girl stepped down from the van. The opposite thing happened with her, with one of the boys picking her up and spinning her around. Jack shook his head. Teenagers.

"No, but at least that looks like one," Jack said as red-haired woman climbed out of the van and started talking to the two who were covered in mud, shaking her head. She held out a package of disposable wipes, and the boys grumbled as they started cleaning themselves up. Jack was relieved to see that someone had some control over the boys. He didn't need to be stepping in and filling the role for another kid with a deadbeat dad. "Not sure what that is, though."

Amy gave the young girl who'd come out after the woman a look. Small as she was, there was something in her expression that bothered Jack. Calculating, but worse than Lou had ever been. "Trouble?"

"Might be best if we keep her away from Mallory," Jack agreed. "You seen her today?"

"No, and Lou said she was supposed to be helping with the riding lessons," Amy rolled her eyes. "I guess I would have thought, for a chance to meet four cute guys, that she'd be here."

"Might be time to go looking for her. And if you'll excuse me, I think I better go introduce myself and lay down some ground rules."

---

"Would you stop trying to cover us in manure already?" Kendall demanded, dodging his friends as they tried to drag him down into the dirt again. At least they missed most of the time. "I'm surprised you haven't gone rushing off for the closest shower, James."

"I'm taking a mud bath, and have you seen our shower, Kendall? What's the point?" James countered, rushing him. Kendall ducked out of the way at the last minute, and James got Carlos instead.

"I wanted to ride the horsies," Carlos whined from underneath James. Logan shook his head, and Kendall sighed. From what he could tell, Logan was the only one who really wanted out of the riding camp, and it wasn't working like Kendall had hoped. These people didn't seem phased by their usual stuff, though he was kind of worried about the old man because he did look like he wanted to get a shotgun out or something, but even the pie thing hadn't caused anything close to a Gustavo-like eruption. They were not even close to pushing the Fleming/Bartlett family to kicking them out.

"We'll see about riding the horses later, okay, Carlos?" Kendall told him, getting a look from Logan that forced him to shrug. He didn't know what to do. James would be happy enough if he was left alone to pursue Amy, Carlos wanted to ride, and Logan didn't. Kendall didn't know how to make everyone happy. "I think Amy wanted a break, and Ty just laughed at us after the whole thing."

"It wasn't funny," Logan began, still upset about the horse that spooked and trapped them in the stall. Kendall had actually thought watching Amy work was pretty darn cool.

"No, it was awesome!" Carlos declared again.

James shrugged. They looked over as the sound of someone driving down the dirt road got louder, the dust cloud coming closer. A van pulled into the yard. "Kendall, is that Katie in the front seat?"

"We knew we wouldn't be Mom-free forever," Kendall reminded them. The van came to a stop, and the sliding door opened almost violently as Camille threw herself at Logan. The others cringed as he hit the ground. Ouch. That looked like it hurt.

"Good to see you, too, Camille," Logan said weakly. "Con... Congratulations on your role on New Town High."

"I'm not exactly thrilled at the part I'm supposed to play, but I figure I can't complain too much," Camille said, sitting up. She pulled Logan up to his feet and gave him a more normal greeting, hugging him. He still winced, probably sore. "I'm the third wheel in a cliché love triangle, and everyone's going to hate me because my character comes between Jo's character and Jett's, but it is totally worth it to be here with you."

Kendall held up a hand. "Wait, did I just hear that your character comes between Jo and Jett?"

"Between his character and my character," Jo corrected, stepping down from van. "There never was and never will be anything between me and Jett. And, fortunately, my character is smart enough not to take him back."

"Jo!" Kendall cried, his happiness at seeing her and the news overwhelming him. He picked her up and spun her around. "Tell me I'm not dreaming. That I don't have to see you and Jett on screen pretending to be in love any more."

"You don't," she agreed. "In fact, maybe by the time we have some very special musical guest stars, my character will be open for a new romance with a very handsome singer."

"Oh, so I'm handsome, huh?"

She considered saying no, and he was about to pout when she grinned. "Yes. Now will you put me down?"

"No. This is like, the best news since James came back to the band, and we should celebrate," Kendall told Jo, not wanting to let her go. Being with her was simple. Less responsibility, less singing. He could relax and just be a boy with a girl.

"What is this?" his mom demanded as she got out of the van. Kendall pulled Jo to the side, keeping his arm around her waist. He really needed to find a way to get her alone, away from the guys... and his mother. She held out disposable wipes. "Carlos! James! You're covered in—"

"Manure, Mom, it's manure," Katie finished, climbing out of the van. "You boys are out of my sight for one day, and look at you."

"Hey, I managed to stay mostly manure free," Kendall said. "And Logan was clean until Camille got him. Not so much anymore, but he was."

"Well, hello there," the old man called, and Kendall flinched. This was the part where they got shot, wasn't it? "I'm Jack Bartlett, and I wanted to welcome you to my ranch. I also thought I might remind these young men about some of the rules around here."

"You know what? Mom's probably really tired from the flight in, so maybe you could discuss those rules with her while you showed her to her room?" Kendall suggested.

"A few minutes in my room does sound nice," his mom said. "It was a long drive from the airport. Do you mind, Mr. Bartlett? And boys, I'm leaving Katie in charge while we have this talk."

"Mom!" Kendall protested as the guys said, "Mrs. K!"

Katie folded her arms over her chest and smiled grimly. Kendall looked at the others. "Run."

---

Chapter Four
Author's Note: So much for writing a story my nephew would want to read. I guess my idea of entertaining and his are different. I'll try and see what he'd really like to see as a BTR fic and work on that after I'm done with these ones. Still, I enjoy this one, and I'm looking forward to a few of the later scenes.

Also, I'm not a big fan of Tim Fleming, especially not the television version of him. That... kind of came out in here. :P

---

Only the Lonely

 

"Scott?" Lou asked, coming out into the field. She couldn't believe he was out here. He should be at home, resting. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about Dark Dancer's stunt, figured I'd better check on him, make sure that he was all right," Scott answered with a smile. "And I hear you have a full house over at the dude ranch. There's a rumor going around about some kind of... boy band?"

"Big Time Rush," Lou agreed. She shook her head. "Other than eating the pie I baked for Grandpa, they do seem like nice boys."

Scott just looked at her, and she couldn't help it. She started laughing. 'Nice boys' did not really describe the four members of Big Time Rush. They were polite, sure, and nice enough, but they were also into everything, creating messes and mischief, and it was a time when they needed things to calm down a bit. They needed to recover from the plane crash, get things back on track. Ty was still recovering, even if he said he was fine. Fine would mean he was actually on his way to school, and he had not left yet. Lou might have had her hands full getting the dude ranch ready for the band, their family, and their girlfriends, but she still noticed that much. And now Scott was here, when he should be recovering. She could blame that on them, too.

"It's been a bit crazy," she admitted. "Still, the boys are out to have fun. That's something we—mostly I forget to do around here. I'm always thinking of the business, sometimes the horses, and the bills. Grandpa, he sees this place as his heart, maybe even his soul. Amy just loves the horses. Ty loves Amy. He has a love for the horses, too, but they don't mean as much as she does."

"He's got a good thing. I think he knows it, too," Scott agreed. He started to move and winced as his leg almost buckled under him.

Lou caught him under the arm and kept him from falling all the way to the ground. "You're so stubborn. You know you shouldn't be out here."

"Better to stay active. Good way to heal," he insisted. She shook her head.

"You know, Scott, when you were missing, after the plane crash, I... I was going out of my mind," she admitted. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, so, please, please take care of yourself. Let yourself heal. And remember, you're a horse doctor, not a people doctor."

"Similar principles," he disagreed. He stopped, pulling her arm. "Lou, I... I told Ty to make sure that he didn't let go of a good thing. Not to make the same mistake as I did."

She stared at him. He shrugged. "And on that note, I will go. I go home and rest for the whole night. Promise. Tell Ty to call me, and let Amy know that Dancer is doing fine."

"I... I will," Lou managed to say. That was all she could do. He shouldn't be walking, and she didn't even know how he'd managed to get out here. She couldn't think about that right now. She didn't really know what to think of what he'd just told her. Unless she was completely mistaken, he had said he regretted breaking things off. She knew that she still had feelings for him. A part of her would always love him. She'd admitted that much to Peter during the search. She hadn't thought that Scott would change his mind. The way it had ended had been... messy. He didn't even come to Heartland as a vet for a while.

"Hey, Lou!" Jack called, and she looked over at him, forcing a smile.

"Grandpa."

"This here is Mrs. Knight. She's Kendall's mother," Jack began, introducing them. "My granddaughter, Lou. She's the financial genius behind Heartland's equestrian retreat. The dude ranch. She should be the one giving you the tour. I was just hoping to set down some ground rules. Last thing I need is a bunch of randy teenagers creating a big mess around here. Just finished settling that with Ty and Amy."

Mrs. Knight smiled as she looked over at him. "You don't have to worry about that. The boys and I had a long talk about what would happen if things went too far before they were eighteen, and they're very attached to the body parts in question."

Lou blinked. Jack frowned. Mrs. Knight shrugged. "You have to say something when they hit that age, and if your boys are about to become a band with thousands of girls throwing themselves at them, you want a plan that will keep them in line no matter where they are."

Lou smiled. "That is very smart."

"With those boys, you have to be smart. Then there's my daughter... I love them, all of them, but it is the kind of job that deserves hazard pay."

"Coming through!" the helmeted boy who'd eaten the pie cried, running past them.

"What I'd like to know is where the cows came from?" the long haired one said as he ran next to him. "No one said anything about actual cows!"

"Someone did say not to mess with that fence," the brainy one said.

"This reminds me of the time you put the octopus in the pool," his girlfriend added. "Though... there are a lot more cows."

She was right. By Lou's guess, that was at least fifty head of cattle out there, heading right for the middle of the yard. She winced. It wasn't a stampede, but it would do enough damage.

"Kendall!" Mrs. Knight called, and Lou looked over to see him lift up his hands, protesting his innocence as he stood next to the schooling ring with his girlfriend and sister.

"Lou," Jack began with a tight edge to his voice. "Those your father's cows?"

This got even better. "Yep."

---

"Mallory?" Ty called, looking around the trees. He saw Copper, but he didn't see her anywhere. It wouldn't be the first time she'd wandered off and ended up in trouble. She had a pretty good knack for that, actually. "Where are you?"

"Ty!" Amy called. "Over here!"

He turned, stopping to tie Harley up to the nearest tree before he followed the sound of her voice. She couldn't be very far away, but the trees were kind of thick here, and it was hard to see much of anything. "Amy? Where are you?"

"Careful," she called back to him. "Watch your step."

"This is like a forest fire waiting to happen," he observed, carefully making his way through the undergrowth. It was a good thing neither of them was a smoker or anything. This whole place would go up in seconds. "Where's Mallory?"

"Down here," her voice came from below, and Ty looked down, past the crest of the hill. Almost right underneath where he was standing was a sinkhole and a very tired Mallory, covered in dirt. Her hair looked more brown than blonde. "I kind of... fell."

"Yeah, we noticed."

"I figured it would have been a few more hours before you guys even noticed I was missing," Mallory admitted. Ty and Amy approached the edge of the hole. "That it would be dark, and I'd be out here all night with the wild animals looking to eat me."

"I suppose you can thank the boys for avoiding that fate," Amy told her, holding out her hand. "You told Lou you would help with the riding lessons, and you never showed up."

"Man! I missed them, again? I'm still mad at my parents for saying I had to stay home last night for some bogus family dinner so that I had to miss seeing them show up," she said, pouting.

"They're here for two weeks," Ty reminded her. "There's plenty of time. Now do you want us to help you out of that hole or not?"

"I need help. I think I twisted my ankle," she admitted, looking down miserably.

"Great, there goes you helping with the riding lessons," Amy muttered, shaking her head. Ty shrugged. He stepped down into the hole and helped Mallory up to the edge of the hole, Amy assisting from the top.

"Is that all you care about? I could have been killed!"

"Don't be over dramatic, Mallory. Let's just get back and get your ankle looked at," Amy told her. "Scott said he was coming over to look at Dancer, just to be sure nothing happened when he got out earlier, so we need to get back. I'm sure he can take a first look at your ankle if he's still there, and if not, Ty will drive us into town, right?"

"Scott's coming out? He's still... hurt, right? He shouldn't be going anywhere," Ty said, frowning.

"He said he was fine," Amy answered. She frowned at him. "Is something going on? Have you not talked to Scott since the crash?"

"Yeah, sure I have," Ty said defensively. Amy gave him a look.

"Ty, what is going on with you? You haven't talked to Scott, you've been avoiding me, you haven't left for school..."

"Do we really have to do this now? What does it matter? It's my decision whether or not I go to school, and it's my business whether I talk to Scott or not. What is with you? Why all the questions? You know, I thought the problem was the four boys from that band that you don't have the time to teach, not me."

"Uh, guys, my ankle?" Mallory interrupted. "Not that I don't find the relationship drama and Ty's very bad attempt to avoid any conversation regarding his feelings fascinating, but I'm kind of in pain right now. Can we go back to Heartland now?"

"Yeah, sure," Ty agreed, helping her up the hill.

---

"All we were doing was looking at the fence. There were no cows there when Logan told us not to open the gate," James insisted. "Carlos thought Amy and Ty had gone that way—something about looking for someone named Mallory, and we were talking about following them—"

"'Cause James thinks he actually stands a chance with Amy," Carlos muttered, shaking his head.

"Hey, don't hate me because I'm beautiful," James said, and everyone groaned. He took out his comb and fixed his hair. He was still covered in dirt and something else, but he knew that he looked good. "Then the fence came open, Logan was yelling at us to shut it, and suddenly, there were a lot of cows."

"Because Carlos was sitting there making cow noises," Logan said.

Camille shrugged. "I have to say, he makes a pretty good female cow in love."

They all looked at her. She shrugged. "What? One of my first roles was on a failed remake of Little House on the Prairie. It didn't make it past the pilot, but I did get to hear a lot of cows."

"Okay, focus," Kendall cut in. He looked over at the Heartland staff. "How much damage was done, and what do we have to do to fix it?"

"Kendall!" the other three protested.

"Look, guys, I know not all of us want to be here, and we don't want the role in the movie and we might not want to ride horses, but we also don't need to destroy their home."

"He's right," Logan said. "We can't exactly pay for any damages, but I suppose we could... help clean up."

"What? Have you seen this face? I cannot go around shoveling cow poop!" James objected.

"It would be horse poop, and yeah, you can," Lou told them. "I will have Amy give you a schedule of chores that you will be responsible for for the rest of the time you're here, and you will start on them first thing tomorrow. Right now, I would suggest that you all head back to the dude ranch and take turns in the shower."

"I call first dibs on the shower," James said, and the others started shouting.

"No way! You'll be in there all night and use up all the hot water. You are not going first."

"Quiet!" Lou screamed, doing a better job of it than Kelly. "If necessary, I will assign a shower rotation schedule. Everyone gets a strict fifteen minute limit to complete their shower. Carlos will be first, followed by James, and I will continue with the list in a minute. I just need some pen and paper and everyone's names."

"Like they're gonna give you the real ones," James muttered, not happy about having his shower time shortened. It took precise timing and the perfect temperature of water to keep him looking pretty.

"James, we are going to cooperate," Logan said, and James gave him a look.

"Sure, anything you say Hortense," James said, and Logan winced, shaking his head as he tried to convince Camille that James was kidding. James smiled.

"Hey," Kendall said, shoving James out of the way and pointing across the yard. "Who is the sleazy cowboy putting the moves on my mom?"

Lou turned to look. "That would be my father."

"And I'm sure he's a great guy," Kendall said, grabbing a hold of Katie. "Gotta go."

---

"We have got to get the sleazy cowboy away from Mom," Kendall said, looking over at the girl. She nodded, folding her arms over her chest as she studied Tim and Mrs. Knight with a calculating look. "What do you think, Katie? Any brilliant ideas from the little sis?"

"Trust me, big brother, the mind is working overtime."

Mallory smiled despite the pain in her ankle and the chill of the ice around it. "Oh, it's so cute. You two don't want your mom to date."

Their heads snapped towards her in unison. "No."

"Really?"

"Actually, I think we're fairly well adjusted to the idea of Mom dating again," Kendall began, and Katie nodded. "We created a profile for her online, and we got a bunch of handsome doctors to compete for the chance to ask her out."

"We even kidnapped Fabio to get her a date to the school dance," the girl added. "We're fine with her dating. What we are not fine with is that."

She pointed to Tim with a look of disgust, and Mallory watched him lean against the counter as he spoke low to Mrs. Knight, the rodeo cowboy smugness coming out in full force. Tim was a legend on the circuit, and he never let anyone forget it. "That is unacceptable."

"He's not a bad guy once you get to know him," Mallory began, and Kendall gave her a do you think I'm stupid look.

"Don't think I know nothing about Tim Fleming, because I do. Not only did I gather valuable intel from Ty on our first night here, but I also made sure that Katie here prepared full dossiers on all of the members of the Fleming and Bartlett families before her arrival."

"Really," Mallory said, folding her arms over her chest. "And when did you have time to read them? When you were getting chased by Dancer, when you were hugging your girlfriend, or when everyone was running from Tim's cattle?"

"The last one," Kendall answered. "And how do you even know about the rest of that?"

"I've got a twisted ankle. Since all I can do is sit around and listen to people talk, I've picked up a few things. And you can't believe everything you find online. It's not like I'm in those files, am I? But I'm a part of this family."

Katie looked at her. "Who says you're not a part of the files?"

Mallory frowned. Kendall shook his head. "That doesn't matter. The last thing this family needs is another deadbeat dad. That is why we—and by that I mean Katie and I—are going to make sure the smooth talking rodeo clown stays away from our mother."

"Kendall!"

He jerked when he heard his name bellowed out by Lou. She looked at him impatiently. "You're next. Shower rotation."

"Crap."

Katie smiled at him. "Don't worry. I got this."

"As much as I love you, that look honestly scares me," he told her, kissing her on the forehead as he turned, sighed, and followed Lou.

"No worries," Katie called after him. "The cowboy is the one that should be scared."

"You do know that it could just be a harmless flirtation, right?" Mallory began, because frankly, that look was starting to scare her, too. The girl was what, ten? Exactly what had their dad done to them to make Katie grow up like that? Amy's father had abandoned her, and her mother was dead, but she had come out almost... normal. "Just a way to pass the time."

"Let me ask you this, Ms. Wells," Katie began, and Mallory frowned, not used to being called by her last name. "If your mom was single for any reason and that man was interested in her, would you be encouraging it?"

It wasn't a question Mallory had ever given much thought to. She missed her parents while her father was touring, but she never really thought about what it would be like if only one of them came back. She occasionally got paranoid that there might be a divorce, but she didn't give much thought to the actual dating process after the fact, and definitely not what it would be like if Tim tried to date her mother.

"That's what I thought," Katie said. "Stand back. I have a job to do."

---

Chapter Five
Author's Note: So I swear I was just doing some prep work for some stuff coming in later, and all of a sudden Jack took over the story... I let him have his way 'cause I kind of think he was awesome, but it wasn't supposed to go like this. :P

Definitely not supposed to have this much drama, supposed to have more humor. *shrugs*

---

Bonding

 

"I don't know how we're going to survive another twelve days of this," Lou muttered, and Jack looked at her, shaking his head as he poured her a cup of coffee.

"Think you need this more than I do," he told her as he passed it to her. "You mind telling me what brought this on? I thought you did pretty good getting all of them into the showers and in their rooms right after dinner."

Lou had become a regular drill sergeant with the shower schedule, kept the guests moving until everyone was done, saw them through the meal Marnie brought over, and packed them up for the night without a further incident. Well, mostly.

Jack smiled when he thought of his former son-in-law at the mercy of that ten year old hellion. She was something, that was for sure. Her mother may have been upset with her, but the older brother had congratulated her later. Their guests were growing on Jack. Anyone who didn't like Tim...

Lou sighed. "It's just that I have a lot on my mind, given what Scott told me yesterday, and then we have our hands full here, and just when I thought I'd get a break, get some time to calm down and relax and even sleep... Peter calls me from Dubai, and we end up getting in a fight."

Jack waited. He was still not sure about this oil guy of Lou's, and while it would have made him happy if they parted ways, he wanted his granddaughter to be happy. If she really loved this guy, then Jack would do his best to like him. The efforts he'd made in the search for Ty and Scott and a few other times helped, but this place wasn't meant for the likes of him. Lou had always dreamed of other places, bigger cities, and that was this Peter's world. Still, Jack liked to think that Heartland was still home to her, would always be home. She had started to see that again, but she could still leave at any time. If this Peter had his way, she'd move halfway across the world.

It wasn't an idea that made any of the folks around here happy.

"I don't know what to do, Grandpa," she admitted quietly. "I guess I should never have told him about what Scott and I had because when I mentioned that he was here and that we talked... Peter got upset. For no reason. Scott has always been my friend. Why does it matter that he was here?"

Jack looked at her. The way she was talking, that was clear enough. She might not be able to see it, but anyone on the outside probably could, even Peter. "Guess that depends on what your conversation with Scott was."

Lou studied her coffee cup for a minute. Then she took a slow sip. "I think... Scott told me he had regrets, but... I don't even know for sure that's what he meant or if that matters... I have Peter now. We're... happy."

"Are you?" Jack countered. She looked up at him in surprise, unable to answer. He nodded. "You think on that some. Take as long as you need."

He left her with that thought as he headed outside to the yard. He had considered calling up Lisa and heading out to the fishing cabin to get away from all this nonsense, but he'd save that for a later time. There was still plenty of that left while the boys were here.

He went to his fence, leaned against it, and enjoyed the cool morning and quiet for a second. He knew this moment of peace wasn't going to last.

"Mom, you can't ground Katie!" a loud, young voice interrupted Jack's moment, just as he'd expected.

"What, because none of you stay grounded?" Mrs. Knight demanded, and Jack turned around. Against his better judgment, he wanted to watch and see how this played out. "What she did last night was completely unacceptable, and she should have consequences."

"Mom, Katie was just—"

"Just what? Trying to humiliate me? Trying to push away a very nice man by making up lies about him?"

"They're not lies! Go ask the old man over there if they were lies! Tim Fleming had a bad rodeo accident and got hooked on painkillers. He left his family, and the fact that he he's here now doesn't make all of that better. What would you do if Dad walked back into our lives now?"

"That is an entirely different story."

The boy folded his arms over his chest. "Is it? You know that Katie and I don't actually have a problem with you dating. It's him that bothers us."

"You are my son, not my keeper. You had no business looking him up and throwing all his mistakes in his face or encouraging your sister to do it!" Mrs. Knight snapped. "And don't think I don't know that you weren't trying to find a way to get you and your friends out of this cowboy camp when you found all of that. You should be grounded as well."

"What are you going to do? Tell me I can't go anywhere? There's nowhere to go!" the boy yelled, opening his arms to point to the ranch.

Mrs. Knight shook her head. "Just because you can't go anywhere doesn't mean you haven't caused trouble."

The kid shook his head. Jack wanted to see what he'd say about this. "Logan is actually afraid of horses, and no one seems to care about that; so, yeah, I talked a bunch of ranches out of taking us on, and I would have done it again if I could have. I don't know how to make this work. Carlos wants to ride, and I'm not trying to stop him. James is in his pretty girl mode, which makes him almost impossible to reason with, but some of what happened isn't even our fault. We were involved, but we didn't cause the problem. I'm not trying to wreck things around here. Gustavo's right. We are bad luck."

"Kendall, you are not bad luck," his mother said, reaching over to touch his cheek. He gave her a slight smile. Mrs. Knight patted his cheek. "But you are grounded."

"What?" he asked, frowning. "I just told you—"

"I know what you said. It's what you did that's the problem. Just accept that no romantic hay rides with Jo are in your future," she said, walking away from him. "And Katie is still grounded."

The teen watched his mother go into the ranch house, his hands clenching and his whole body tense with frustration. Jack looked at him for a minute and shook his head, cursing himself for being a dang fool, before he walked over to him.

He put a hand on the boy's shoulder, and he jumped. "Oh, uh... Hello, Mr. Bartlett..."

"Take a walk with this old man, son. I think we should talk."

---

"Jack said he was taking Kendall out for a discussion," Ty told Amy as she came into the barn. He had already started on the feeds, and she joined him at the bucket. "So you have one less student to worry about, I guess. Mallory insists she can help the boys with the ground work, because all she has to do is give them orders."

Amy shook her head. "Too many people think they're natural born riders or that they know exactly what to do with a horse, and that causes so many problems... They need to see it done, have someone lead them through every step, show them where to put their hands, how to keep the right amount of authority and partnership going as they develop a bond with the horse..."

"Wow. I kind of wish you'd taught me to ride," Ty said, with a smile. "You know, you're cute when you get passionate about your work."

"Just not cute when I confront you about your feelings?"

"Hey, you're the one that never wanted to talk about them, afraid it would ruin things," he said, getting defensive again. She winced. That wasn't what she wanted. Not at all.

"Maybe I was. I'm sorry. Look... I know that we're not really good at this, but... I was so worried about you. The plane crash. Scott. I just don't think you're dealing with it."

"And here's the part where I turn around and ask if you really dealt with your mom's accident," he shot back, then shook his head. She stared at him. "We're close, Amy. We know where the wounds are, and we can make them hurt if we want to. If you wanted to say something about my dad—"

"Oh, no," she said, shaking her head. "Let's not bring dads into this."

She winced, thinking of the way her father had gone after Mrs. Knight last night, and the way her daughter had gone worse than Mallory in asking questions and demanding answers for all the mistakes Tim had made in his life. It had been a disaster. Her father got really upset, Mrs. Knight was unhappy, and Lou had almost lost it. Grandpa had been amused by the whole thing. It was embarrassing and awkward.

"What, you're not interested in a stepmother, a famous stepbrother, and a scary as hell little stepsister?" Ty teased, and Amy reached over to smack him.

"No, no, and no." She sighed. "Well, I guess I don't know Mrs. Knight very well, but I didn't really do well with Dad's last girlfriend. I think Kendall's pretty decent, for a teenage boy, but there's a lot of downside to his life. Katie is..."

"Scary," Ty finished. Amy rolled her eyes at him, trying not to laugh. "Come on, Amy. Just admit that the little girl terrifies you."

"You mean she doesn't scare you?" she countered, and he shrugged. Amy shook her head. How had they gone from almost fighting to joking around? She would never understand people. Horses made so much more sense.

"No, she does," Ty agreed. He took a deep breath. "I am going to see Scott later. I called and spoke to him this morning."

Amy smiled at him. "I'm glad."

"Will you still be glad when you realize that leaves you with just Mallory to help you with three boys, two girls, and a bunch of horses?"

"No," Amy answered immediately. He started to say something, but she stopped him. "Don't cancel. I'll make it work. I guess I'd better call Caleb and see if I can get him to come in and help out today. And I'm going to drag Lou out here if it's the last thing I do."

"Let me know if you don't get a hold of Caleb, and I'll stop by on my way into town," Ty said. "You know... You do have a bunch of guys that are supposed to be helping out with the chores."

She sighed. "I'm not sure how much help they're going to be. Logan's afraid of horses, Carlos seems to have coordination problems or maybe bad depth perception, and James..."

"Why not let Mallory handle James? Or Soraya? Seems like all he would really want is someone to pay a lot of attention to him," Ty suggested. He looked towards the door. "Wow. I think you've got competition for cowgirl of the year."

Amy elbowed him, but she had to admit, the two actresses coming towards them had actually taken to their roles rather well. The clothes looked comfortable and broken in, not like they'd just bought them for this job, and both of them had actually gotten the boots they needed to handle the work they'd be doing. "Hi. You two are up early this morning."

"Not really. Katie and Mrs. Knight were arguing almost all night, and then Katie got Kendall involved, which ended up waking everyone up," Jo admitted, yawning. She reached up to pat the chestnut closest to her on the neck. "You remind me of Starlight, the horse I took lessons on back home."

"You took lessons before?" Amy asked. "Then why are you...?"

"I took lessons, too, but neither of us could resist the idea of seeing the boys make fools of themselves while learning to ride, so we convinced our agents we needed refresher courses," Camille explained with a grin. Amy couldn't help smiling. She thought she liked these two.

"I'm going to head out now," Ty said, kissing Amy's cheek. "You'll be okay with everything here?"

Amy nodded. Camille grinned wickedly. "Oh, we girls have it under control."

---

"I am sorry about the old man comment, really," Kendall began, feeling increasingly nervous the deeper they got into the woods around the ranch. Bartlett hadn't said anything since they left the yard, and it was starting to get to him. "You seem really young and fit. I swear."

Bartlett laughed. "Shovel the manure to someone else, kid. I've heard it all."

"Uh, okay," Kendall agreed, looking around and wondering if this was where the old man hid the bodies. It seemed deserted enough, creepy enough. "Why are we here? If it's about what I said about your son-in-law—"

"I'd be the last person to be defending Tim Fleming," Bartlett interrupted quickly. He shook his head. "I never thought that man was good enough for my daughter, and I never will. I accepted him because my daughter loved him. I pushed him because he was family. Then he had his accident, and I kicked him out. I kept him away from my granddaughters as long as I could. If it was up to me, if that was my mother, I'd be doing the same thing and trying to keep him as far away as possible."

Kendall waited, not sure what to think now. Was he still in trouble, then? Because he thought he was when the old man asked him to take a walk, but if Bartlett didn't like Fleming, what exactly was the problem?

"The thing I learned from my daughter was that I could try and keep Tim away from her, but the more I pushed, the more she pushed in the opposite direction. Don't get me wrong; she loved him, heart and soul. But I didn't get what I wanted, couldn't change how she felt. Same with the girls. They had to see their father for who he is. I can't change how they feel about him, but they know the truth. They still let him be a part of their lives, but it was a choice they had to make."

"So you're saying I should let my emotionally vulnerable mother be taken advantage of just so that she learns what a jerk he is on her own?" Kendall tried to sum it up, and Bartlett laughed again.

"How long have you been the man of the house, kid?"

Kendall shook his head. "That's not how it works."

"Sure it is. You might not have called it that or thought of it that way, but it's pretty clear in the way you take care of your sister, your mother, and your friends that you've taken up that role. It's not easy being the head of the family. Complicated enough here on a ranch, but you're a lot younger than I was when I started, and I'm not off chasing fame and fortune," Bartlett said, bending down to pick up a piece of wood.

"I'm not... Do you do this with everyone?" Kendall asked, frowning. "You don't seem like a guy who talks much, so why did I get so lucky?"

"I'll admit, when I heard four teenage boys were coming to my ranch to learn how to ride, I had a good mind to throw them out," Bartlett said. "Boys are bad enough, but we already had one 'star' here causing trouble for all of us, and we didn't need any more."

"You could have kicked us out. Logan would have liked that."

"I see something in you that reminds me of Ty when he first came here."

"Okay, I dressed up like a bad boy and trashed Gustavo's office, but that was just for show, really. I mean, yeah, sure, I talk back to him all the time and don't listen to what he says, but I faked the bad boy stuff to get Wayne Wayne out of the band and keep Big Time Rush us. Four friends who play hockey and happen to be good at singing, not some commercialized idea of what a band should be so that it sells records," Kendall protested. Bartlett gave him a look. He sighed. "The point is, I'm not the bad boy type. Not like Ty."

"You looked up everyone here. What did you find out about Ty?"

"Nothing," Kendall began, turning to leave. He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Don't walk away from me," Bartlett warned. Kendall sighed and turned around. "That's better. Here. Take this."

Kendall reached over and accepted the piece of wood with a frown. "Why?"

"All these trees around here, they have thick skins, just like that piece of bark in your hands. Protects them from the weather and the animals, lets them grow. But you peel off that bark..." Bartlett's voice trailed off, and Kendall heard him move away as he stood there for a moment, studying the wood and wondering when he'd signed on for lessons in life from an old cowboy. That, he knew for sure, was not in his contract.