DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CREATION OF HEARTLAND OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS!

RATING: T – FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY

***

Amy sat curled up in Ty's arms, a soft grin appearing on her face. Looking into his eyes, she saw what she was hoping for all along, the hope that he loved her back. All she saw as she gazed into his eyes was pure love. She could see how much he cared for her and that made her happy. She was so ecstatic she could not describe it in words. Ty leaned forward until his lips were brushing against her own, her heart leaped as she kissed him deeply again.

"Amy, I'm gonna need you to go on a trail ride with some clients…." Lou began as she walked into the living room, shuffling through a wad of papers. Looking up, she stopped mid-sentence.

Amy and Ty rashly broke apart. Amy glanced at Lou, however the moment she met her sister's eye, Lou raised her eyebrows causing Amy to blush deeply.

"I'm gonna go start the dinner." finished Lou as she walked purposefully into the kitchen.

"Ty, I'm gonna be a minute." Amy spoke as she jumped up and ran into the kitchen. Ty laughed.

Smiling, Lou gave Amy a look before beginning to peel the potatoes.

"What?" Amy asked.

"I knew something was going on with you two." Lou grinned triumphantly.

Amy looked away as she blushed, "Um, Lou…"

Laughing gently Lou gave Amy a hug, "We've gotta talk about this later Amy," but there was a glint in her eye, "Now you get back in there, you looked busy."

"Lou!" Amy said exasperated, giving Lou a light tap on the arm, "That's not like you." Smiling Amy ran back into the living room and curled back onto the sofa with Ty.

"What was that about?" Ty asked curiously.

"Nothing, just Lou being Lou," Amy laughed lightly, a cheeky grin spreading across her face.

"Really? Now I'm worried," Ty replied defiantly, his eyes shining.

"Ty!" Amy exclaimed, lightly tapping him on the arm, smiling Ty stroked her face.

Calming down, Amy gazed deeply into Ty's eyes, leaning forward; she closed her eyes and sighed as his lips met hers. Kissing him tenderly, Amy caressed his face softly.

Pulling away Amy spoke, "Ty, do you wanna go for a ride tomorrow, down by the river? If you're feeling up to it."

"Of course I am Amy; I would do anything for you."

Amy laughed, "That's not what I meant, Ty."

"I know." Ty took a deep breath wrapping his arms around Amy he continued, "Yeah I'm feeling up to it."

"Ok we'll take Spartan and Copper."

Ty looked at Amy in surprise, "Copper?"

"Uhuh, Copper." Amy looked at Ty mischievously. Ty grinned back at her, his eyes sparkling.

"What?" Amy questioned.

"Mallory will kill us." Ty replied, suddenly tickling Amy. Amy screamed with laughter.

"Cut it out you two!" Lou yelled from the kitchen, "I don't even want to know what you're doing!"

Amy and Ty quickly quietened down; Ty looked down at his feet and this made Amy concerned.

"Ty, are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just thinking about you." Ty gazed into Amy's eyes and watched her smile, "I'm just thinking about how beautiful you are." Stroking her face Ty grinned, "I love you Amy."

Amy looked adoringly up at Ty and leaned in to kiss him gently; Ty responded by kissing her back.

***

Placing Spartan's bridle on, Amy lead him out of his stall, only to see Mallory rush into the stables.

"What are you doing taking my horse Ty?" She demanded.

Amy rolled her eyes at Ty, "Mallory, can Ty ride him? Just for today?"

"No!" Mallory exclaimed snatching Copper's reins from Ty's hands, "Oh, are you going on a trail ride? Can I come?"

"No!" Amy replied.

"Oh, are you and Ty going on a romantic ride?" Mallory asked.

"No, Mallory!" Ty answered, "Can I please ride Copper?"

"No! I was gonna jump him later!"

"All right Mallory," Amy said, "Ty, take Sparky."

"Are you sure Amy?" Ty replied, beginning to feel unsure about the ride. He'd never ridden Sparky before.

"Yeah its ok, he's safe. Lou wouldn't have bought him for the dude ranch if he wasnt." Amy responded, "Here hold Spartan while I tack him up."

***

Cantering across the vast grassy plains, Amy and Ty laughed loudly. They were enjoying themselves greatly. The sound of thunder was heard rumbling across the sky, bringing a blanket of thick rain clouds with it. The thunder sounded again, but this time louder, Spartan jumped friskily.

"Shhh, its okay, Spartan, its okay." Calming Spartan down, Amy glanced at Ty to see how he was coping with Sparky. Her heart leapt into her mouth as she took in the horror unfolding in front of her. Ty was struggling to hold onto the saddle as Sparky bucked violently.

"Hold on Ty!" Amy cried as she galloped Spartan towards Ty, quickly dismounting she took hold of Sparky's reins, "Shhh, Sparky, its okay." The chestnut gelding stopped bucking and put his head down, subdued.

Ty dismounted slowly panting heavily. He put his hand on Spartan's saddle to steady himself as he caught his breath. Amy walked over to Ty and stroked his back, concerned.

"Ty, are you alright?" Amy said, concerned, "That's not like Sparky."

"Yeah, I'm fine Amy," Ty replied but Amy did not look convinced, "No, really, I'm okay, don't worry."

"You could have really hurt yourself, Ty" Amy exclaimed, glaring at Ty sullenly.

"Look at me, not a scratch, I'm fine Amy!" Ty insisted.

Amy took hold of Ty and hugged him tightly as tears began to roll down her face. Feeling the warm wet tears on his neck Ty, lifted Amy's face up. Seeing her eyes swimming with tears Ty hugged her again, "I'm really okay Amy, I didn't fall did I?"

Amy glared at Ty again, "But you could have Ty, that was really lucky!"

"Oh come on Amy, I'm fine okay? I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Amy asked, watching Ty apprehensively.

"Yeah."

"Are you?" Amy asked again, but this time there was a glint in her eye.

"Yeah Amy, I'm sure!" Ty smiled lightly, placing his arm around her gently.

Amy laughed, but stopped as she heard more thunder, "Come on Ty we're gonna get wet, let's shelter under those trees."

Running with the two horses, Amy and Ty just made it to the shelter of the trees before the floodgates opened letting out a torrent of water.

Amy laughed again as she sat on the log, "Just in time."

Ty sat beside her and held her in his arms. Smiling, Amy watched as the rain soaked the land, releasing the beautiful smell of wet grass, looking back at Ty, she noticed that he was looking at something in the distance, "Ty, what is it?"

Ty pointed out to the sky, to a break in the clouds, where the sun was fighting to get through. "Isn't that stunning?" He asked rhetorically.

Just as they were looking, a rainbow appeared as the sunlight reflected off the water droplets creating a burst of colour. "Wow," Amy gasped before gazing back to Ty, "That's so beautiful."

"No." Ty replied. Amy looked at Ty surprised, "You are."

"Oh Ty," Amy replied before hugging him tightly.

As suddenly as it arrived, the rain ceased. Amy tore herself away from Ty's chest to glance at the sky, "Do you think we should chance riding back?"

Ty smiled at Amy, "Sure."

Amy was just about to jump up off the log, but Ty gently took hold of her arm, "Amy…" he began, but before he could continue, she kissed him causing a fire to explode in their mouths. Giggling, Amy swiftly stood up and swung herself onto Spartan's back, her eyes sparkling mischievously, "C'mon Ty, I'll race you!"

As they galloped flat out over the lush green hills, the sun began to shine brightly. Smiling, Amy took in the wonderful view of enormous mountains, dense forests and the powerful river they were racing by. As they galloped past a paddock, Amy saw a sweet little bay mare and stopped to go say 'hi'.

Ty kept galloping until he realised that Amy had pulled up. "You okay?" He asked, but knew that the answer was not good. As he approached the paddock, he suddenly realised why.

The pretty mare was stood all alone by the fence, her hooves buried in the sodden mud. Moving his eyes up, he saw that she was incredibly thin; her ribs were sticking out gauntly over her scraped legs. Her neck was covered in ugly red sores that seemed so painful. As the mare turned her head, Ty gasped, because on the other side, there was a deep disgustingly infected gash lining her neck. The mare winced in pain as she slowly tried to move to the gate.

"Ty… who could do this?" Amy cried.

"Look, don't worry, we need to get Jack." Ty replied as adrenaline coursed through him, however, Amy was rooted to the spot. She was horrified by the sight of the shivering mare.

"Amy, come on. We need to get help." Ty coaxed.

With that, Amy spurred Spartan into a gallop and was closely followed by Ty and Sparky, the short legged chestnut meeting Spartan stride for stride. This wasn't just a competition anymore; it was a race for survival.

PLEASE REVIEW! NEXT CHAPTER IS SHORTER THAN PLANNED... HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!!