The Hermit

"Where do you want to stop first?"

"Well, what's on your list?"

You unfolded a scrap piece of paper from your pocket. "I got Co-op for some over-the-counter meds and supplies. Need to put in an order to get some of the more prescribed meds delivered. Cass asked for a few things at the tack shop and hardware. Oh, and a chocolate bar."

"Alright then, we'll start at the tack shop then hardware. Bobby gave me a long list of groceries for the party and your meds are temp sensitive, so we'll do that last. But first, what do you say about getting a coffee?"

"Isn't it a bit warm for one?"

Luke shook his head, "Nah. Never."

This was another thing you had to get used too. In small towns like this there were no big chain coffee companies, and no drive thrus either. If you wanted a coffee, it was a small café you had to walk in to order, and they usually had a very limited menu.

It was nice driving through town, as you had seen barely any of it yesterday. There were quaint shops along the main street, all giving the feel of an old western town. You made note of a bar that seemed cool, a restaurant you'd like to try and to your excitement, an antique shop. That place was going to see most of your salary.

"Here we are, best coffee in town." Luke stopped outside a darling little café.

"Isn't this like the only place?" You eyed the place, with its big windows and red roof.

"You want gas station coffee just let me know." He gave you a sarcastic look and jumped out of the truck. You were busy digging through your handbag, looking for your card when your door opened. Luke had opened it for you.

"Ma'am." he said tipping his hat.

"Thanks…" you giggled, "That wasn't necessary though."

"We'll then you surely haven't been around enough proper men."

'You aren’t wrong’, you thought but you just smiled at him.

Luke held the door open for you as got to the entrance but as soon as you were inside you nearly collided with a lady walking out.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." You stuck out your arms to try help stabilize her.

She was carrying a tray of coffees in one hand and a box of muffins in the other. Nothing had spilled or been dropped luckily.

"Hey no worries. I'd also be distracted walked around with that arm candy all day."

"Sheriff Mills." Luke greeted cheerfully.

"Hey Luke. How's it going?"

"Can't complain and you?"

"Works work. Like always. This your girl?" She pointed at you with a sly smirk.

"Oh, excuse my manners. Sheriff Jodie Mills this is Charlotte."

You stuck out your hand to shake hers but stopped halfway, realizing both of hers were occupied. Luke noticed and took the muffins from her. She gave a small laugh and shook your hand.

"And unfortunately, she's not my girl, she's the ranch's new vet."

"Unfortunately? If Carly ever pulls through town again and heard that, you'll be looking for another new vet if she found out." She laughed before she cut herself off. "How's Albert doing? I heard he moved in with his daughter. He, okay?"

You stood in-between the two of them very confused about the conversation, yet enamoured. Was it normal in small towns for the sheriff to know everyone's business like this? Or ask about an eighty-something year old that worked on random ranch? Deep down, it warmed your heart. This was the 'community' you've heard people speak about whenever they move somewhere, where the total population is about the same size as a normal high school. Second day here and you're already having these thoughts.

"Nah he's doing okay. Heard he runs his own bingo thing down that their community centre."

"Aww Albert, I'm gonna miss him, but I'm excited to get to know you, Charlotte. Welcome to Deadwood. You give me a call if these boys give you too much grief." Jodie gave you a genuine smile; it was warm and reached the corners of her eyes.

"With how things are already going I might need too." You joked, and Luke nudged you with a surprised "Hey!"

"Well, I better get back to the station. Tell Bobby I say hi."

"You can tell him yourself. We're having our get other for the newbies on Friday. Open invite for you."

You almost missed the blush that spread over her cheeks regarding the invite. Regarding Bobby. But you caught it.

"I'll see if I can get off and swing by."

"If you can't we'll just call in a noise complaint that only the Sheriff can take care of."

"Aww you’re sweet. Getting me off work." She gently nudged his shoulder and took her muffins back. "Charlotte, I hope to see you again."

"Definitely." you nodded.

…

After you got your coffees, you were back in the truck heading to Rapid City. The breeze coming through the open widows still had the slightest nip of winter, but the coffee kept it at bay, the cup nestled between your thighs. The hills surrounding the road had long shed their snowy coats and the trees stood strong and green. You could smell them as you passed. It was quieter now in the truck than earlier, the radio chattering softly to itself. The drive was so scenic, so serene.

"You better enjoy the stillness now," Luke mumbled.

You turned to look at him; he had a cigarette in his mouth and was trying to dig in his pocket for a light.

"What do you mean?"

"Give it a week," he lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. The initial smell of it being lit, that millisecond, brought a wave of nostalgia over you. A small comfort of home so far away. "Then the road and town'll be so busy you barely find parking. Or bread for that matter."

"I actually didn't think that Deadwood gets that busy."

"Recent years yeah."

You turned in your seat to face him more. "Is it mostly just tourists or?"

"Yeah, my mom owns the hotel on Main. She's so booked that it's people who reserved two years ago. Look I'm not complaining, it's good for the town. Just some of the people that come through…they're odd. People that come for the cowboy experience but look down at you for working at a ranch. Or dope smoking hippies that come to ground themselves in the mountains but pay no respect to the Native Tribes. Don't get Sean started on that."

"I haven't met him yet. Is he at helping out somewhere else?"

"He's helping the boss out in Wyoming. They should be back later though. You'll like him for sure. Get along just fine."

You fiddled with the lid of the coffee in your lap, taking a careful breath before speaking. "I'm more worried about getting along with my new boss. Thought Bobby was him."

It was Luke's turn to take a deep breath; you couldn’t tell if he was trying to be careful or hesitant. He chose his words choicely though. "Look, Dean's uh… how do I say this…"

"Jerk?"

"Ehhh…he's a good boss to be fair to him. Won't bite your head off for nothing but he'll chew you out real good when it's deserved. He's stubborn as a mule though. Hard ass. Will argue his way until blue in the face. Takes a while for him to warm up to someone. But," he sensed that he was starting to scare you, "Never met a harder working man in my life. He's good and he's honest. I can get shit on all day but I'm proud to work for a man like Dean Winchester. And trust me when I say this, once he warms up to you, which I bet my bottom dollar he will, he'll take care of you like one of his own. Just give it time."

You let out a breath that you didn't know that you were holding. Luke managed to help calm your nerves regarding your boss. Somewhat. The true test will come when you meet him later. You started mentally preparing yourself for that already.

"I gotta ask you something though." Luke said, trying to change topic. "Why don't you have a southern accent?"

He caught you off guard with that, so much that an unexpected snort shot through your nose, causing Luke to cackle. The laugh was much needed. "Luke, I'll tell you what Bobby told me. We got the whole summer stuck with each other. You'll find out eventually."

…

Rapid City was more of what you were used to. A lot more commercial and busier. To be honest you don’t remember anything from it, even though you passed through the day before. You gave yourself grace, telling yourself that it was a long drive and you were in a bit of a flat spin. First stop as discussed was the hardware and tack shop. Fortunately for you, the two were right next to each other. Unfortunate for whoever was paying. The lists sent with you did some damage.

"Do you have any proper boots?" Luke asked, as you were loading the bags in the back of the truck.

"Cowboy boots?"

He nodded.

"No. Why? Do I need a pair?"

"Yeah, you do. You're a rancher now. Gotta look the part."

You laughed, "Do I need chaps as well?"

"We can get those too." He was deadly serious.

"Okay." You shrugged. "Let's go then."

Luke drove halfway across town and pulled into a busy shopping mall, parking in front of a store that held up a huge red sign. Boot Barn, Western & Work Wear. You both jumped out the truck, this time however, you beat him to opening your door. The store wasn't as busy as you were expecting but before you had a chance to inhale the smell of oiled leather a sales associate took his opportunity to pounce.

"Welcome to Boot Barn. What can I help you with today?" He asked cheerily, smile never reaching his eyes.

Luke was going to answer but you gently put a hand on his arm and smiled back at the associate.

Your poor bank account, you thought as you placed all the bags in the truck. It may have been slight overkill, but it was true, you did need some new shoes. Five pairs though? Oh well, damage was done. The money would always come back into your account, but when would you ever find these limited-edition Tony Lamas again? All that you went in there for where for a pair of work shoes, which you did get, a nice pair of Ariats but you also walked out with roper boots, muck out boots and two stunning pairs of dress boots.

Luke chuckled at you on the way to next stop. "I think we forgot the chaps."

The rest of the errands went well; you managed to get everything on the lists thankfully. The Co-op informed you that they'd phone once your medication order arrived as well. So back home it was. Like always the drive from a place felt shorter than the drive to. Before you knew it you passed the gas station outside of town where you stopped at yesterday.

"You know everyone in town, right?" You asked Luke, turning the radio down.

"Yeah, pretty much. Why?"

"When I drove in yesterday, I stopped over there." You pointed back over your shoulder. "And the clerk, or manager said something weird when he found out that I was coming to work with you guys."

"What did he say?"

"Something about devils in the hills would eat up a pretty thing like me. I, I just wanted to know if you understood what he meant?"

It had taken him a while to respond, and he struggled to keep his cool, but you noticed how his grip tightened on the wheel and how his voice strained as he spoke. "Oh, yeah, uh, that's Earl. Odd feller. Him and Dean don't have the best relationship. Probably just trying to scare his workers away. Nothing to worry about though."

You felt as if he wasn't telling you the whole story but decided to just leave it at that. So, you just nodded.

It was mid-afternoon when you guys stopped back at home. The sun hadn't fallen behind the mountain yet, but the sky already had that dusky tinge to it. Luke stopped at the reception to grab keys for the workers lodging; all the groceries had to be packed in there for now. The sound of an engine approaching caught your attention through the open window. You hopped out once you saw it was Bobby and Cass, squeezed into the side-by-side.

"Charlotte," Bobby greeted once they had stopped, "Find town alright?"

"Hey Bobby. Cass." By now Luke had walked out and joined the three of you.

"Yeah, no it was good. Got everything you guys needed, meds are ordered, got myself some proper boots. Oh," you snapped you fingers and turned to Luke, "Who did I meet again earlier? Ugh, her name is on the tip of my tongue…" You turned back to Bobby, his expression very wary.

"Jodie." Luke answered for you.

"Ahh yeah Sheriff Mills." You watched how Bobby's entire demeanour shifted. Was he getting shy? "She's really nice. Luke invited her to the party on Friday."

Bobby was going to respond with something, but the stillness of the late afternoon was broken yet again by the sounds of an engine and tires on the road. All four of you stopped to listen. A few seconds later a huge black truck floored through the gates and skidded to a stop in the lot, spraying you with dust and stones. You were busy wiping dirt out of your eyes, when the car door flew open and rock music spilled out, covering Cass' coughing.

One by one you watched denim clad legs swing out, and a pair of leather boots slam into the ground. What followed was not what you could ever have expected. You audibly heard yourself gulp and felt your mouth go bone dry. The passenger door opened as well but whoever climbed out there, you couldn't pay them any mind. All your attention locked onto this man standing in front of you.

You weren't a stranger to attractive men. You've seen them in every shape and form. You've seen men that look as if they've walked straight off a magazine cover, and they acted like it. They knew it. This man, however, would make them look like scrawny prepubescent boys. There was only one word to justify him. Godlike.

"Dean!" Cass yelled excitedly from next to you, and just about pushed you over as he scrambled his was towards the man.

Dean? Dean! No matter how good your poker face was, you were sure that the shock was visible on your face. This is Dean? From what you had heard, you had started to picture him as an older guy. Younger than Bobby, older than Cass. Grim and gruff. A weather-beaten hermit living up here int the mountains.

But that was not what stood in front of you. You had to take your time to take it in. He was older than you by a few years, it only showed by the faintest creases as he squinted at you. His smouldering gaze just drew your eyes in and held your gaze. This caught you right in your stomach.

Cass threw himself at Dean and enveloped him in a tight hug. He accepted it awkwardly, patting Cass on the back.

"Good to see you too Cass…" he waited for him to let go, "Okay. Cass." he patted him again. Still nothing, but he started to sway slightly. "Let go Cass!"

He finally let go of Dean and stepped to the side. Luke disappeared off to your right, you think. You were still locked onto Dean. Bobby walked over towards him as well, leaving you on your own.

"Why you come speeding in like that? Devil on your tail?"

"What can I say Bobby, I missed being home. Besides, Colonel needs a leak." Dean turned around and opened the back door, letting a very well-kept German Shepard out.

The dog bolting across the field was enough to pull your attention away, only for a spilt second though. Then you were straight back to gawking. However, your view of Dean was now obstructed by another man, adjoined by Luke. You saw his mouth moving but the blood rushing in your ears muffled it all out, only managing to catch the tail end of "-Sean."

"Sean." you said a bit too loudly. "It's, it's so nice to meet you. Luke's told me a lot."

"All good things, I hope? He likes his little white lies."

Luke nudged his shoulder and you chuckled, unsure of how to respond. "No, it has been good things."

"I'm glad. And I'm glad to have you around. We could you some new blood around here. If you get what I mean?"

"Not really…"

"Charlotte." Bobby called you over.

"I explain it later." Sean told you. You excused yourself from them and tried your best to walk straight but it felt is if you were walking across a trampoline, your legs struggling to hold your weight.

"Dean this is Charlotte, who I told you about on the phone. Charlotte, this is Dean, your actual boss." He turned from you back to Dean. "Poor thing thought I was the boss this whole time."

He was even more handsome now that you stood a few feet closer. You noticed how his shirt hugged tightly around his shoulders and how his hair just barley grazed the collar of it as well. His skin was sun kissed from long days outside. And you could see his strong jawline through the neatly trimmed beard. What stood out the most however, was the feeling of power radiating from him.

Steadily, you stuck your hand out and greeted him. Being careful not to appear overly eager.

He did not return the greeting. He didn't even seem to notice your outstretched hand. "I got a truck coming to deliver five bulls tomorrow. I want their health screenings done and then put in quarantine."

Whether he was speaking to you or Bobby, you could not tell. Your existence in that moment was simply trivial. Bobby threw a confused look at you then Dean, stunned that this was happening as an introduction. You looked back at him the same way. Not knowing if you were expected to answer or not. The words were there, about to form, but did Dean want it to come from you or not?

Thankfully Sean had picked up on the conversation and steered it a different way. "We'll just have to move the rest of the heard down and close some gates before the truck gets here."

That seemed enough to satisfy Dean, you guessed. All he did was stare down at his boots in thought, with a hand raking through his beard.  He nodded, already making his way back to the truck.

"Good to have you back." Bobby said, walking after him.

"Yeah, yeah" Dean said already halfway back in the truck. He whistled for the dog, who dove straight over his lap into the passenger seat. "Waylon and Curtis are stopping by tomorrow night with their boys. Hope you got enough for them as well." He yelled through the open window before putting the truck in drive and pulling away.

"He's got a stick up his ass." Bobby grumbled.

Sean lowered his head and giggled, "Yeah I would too if I ran into my vindictive ex at a livestock auction."

"Lisa?" Cass gasped. "What is she doing in Wyoming? At an auction of all places?"

"Looking for the next man with money no doubt. Someone dumb enough to fall for her bullshit." Bobby looked from Cass to Sean, "How bad was it?"

"So fucking bad man." He snickered.

"Well, I'm sure it's already doing the rounds. It'll probably circle back to me in a few days."

"More like hours. Every big name in the game was there. And Lisa put on quite the show."

Bobby cursed under his breath, "I'll take care of damage control tomorrow, let's just get a move on."

All five of you piled into Luke's truck, you sat in the back squeezed between Sean and Cass. Bobby turned and spoke through the seats at you, "I'm sorry about Dean. He isn't usually like this-"

"That's a lie." Luke chirped in.

"Don't apologize Bobby." you responded. To be honest you were quite put down regarding the interaction, but you understood. Besides, you've delt with far worse in the past, and a lot closer to home. It would take a lot more to affect you. One grumpy boss was something that you could handle.

Once you finished off loading the groceries, Luke drove you all home. You bid your farewells to all of them and walked the way up to your cabin. You packed away a few things that you bought in town and started with making food. Dinner was simple, just a pack of ramen and a coke. After you cleaned up, you jumped in the shower and got yourself comfortable in bed. Still ignoring your phone, that you had left on your bedside table the entire day.

…

The sun beams had barley shone through your window and the kettle had just finished boiling. The room was crisp this early, not cold but fresh. Through the open windows, the sweet songs of robins and thrushes filtered in. You were about to make yourself a cup of coffee when there was a knock on the door, new boots clopping sturdily on the floor as you went to open it. Three pairs of eyes meet you sheepishly as the door pulled open.

"Morning." They all said in unison.

"Hey guys. Sleep well?" You asked Luke, Sean and Cass.

They all muttered their own responses, all a variant of good, as they made their way in without an invitation. Sean nudged Cass forward and Luke urged him on under his breath. You picked up on it quicky.

"Everything fine?"

Cass hesitated, "Bobby took the truck this morning, so none of us have a ride down. Also…none of us have any coffee…"

You chuckled at the three of them. These men wrangled 1000lbs animal on a daily basis, yet they were too scared to ask for a ride and a cup of coffee. You ushered them to get comfortable and got their orders. It was oddly comforting, seeing the guys sitting on your couch. Luke on his phone and Sean going through a book on your coffee table. Cass looking at all the décor you managed to add, eyes lingering on a photo of a little girl knee deep in a creek. With an old man standing next to her. They made themselves at home and it warmed your heart, if only you knew that they would spend most of the summer nights in here like this.

Carrying the mugs to them two by two, you took a seat next to Cass. They all let out a desperate thank you. The sun had finally peaked its sleepy head above the mountains now, illuminating the room in a warm glow. Tiny specks of dust floated around behind Sean and Luke, blurring the view out the window slightly.

"So, what are the plans for today?" You asked after taking a sip of coffee.

Sean closed the book and looked up at you. "Truck should be here at around seven. So, Luke and I need to move the cattle to the lower pastures. Then get the quarantine lot ready."

"Need to bring that bull up for Charlotte to have a look at." Luke muttered before blowing into his mug.

"What's wrong with him?" You asked.

"Bobby said he saw 'em looking lethargic. Just standing there. Didn't put weight on a leg either."

"Don't bring him up then. Is he out in the main pasture?"

Luke nodded. You were starting to pick up that he wasn't the biggest morning person and that he loved his coffee.

"I'll take my kit box out there. I don't want him putting unnecessary pressure on it. I'll check him out once I'm done with those coming off of the truck." You turned to Cass, "You have a busy day?"

"Not really, all I have for today, besides the usual, is choosing which horses will be delegated to which trails. And then starting to get everything set up for the party."

"Shit! I forgot about that." Luke rubbed a hand over his sleepy face. "What time are the greenies coming anyway?"

"First group should be here at ten, next at twelve." Sean answered him.

"Well then, we better get going." You announced as you stood up, grabbing the empty mugs off the table.

…

Your morning had gone smoothly so far, and you fell right into the groove of how things operated. While you waited for the truck, and Luke and Sean to get back, you had started getting everything ready for your inspection. Meds and syringes prepped, outside workbench kitted, and opened new files for them since they were rodeo bulls. Bobby had just brought the scale out for you and hooked it up, when you heard the truck pull in. He left to show the driver where to park, and deal with the paperwork.

Luke and Sean arrived just on time on their horses. They tied them up and made their way over to you. Already sweating this early in the morning. The truck reversed in under Bobby's guidance, and the boys jumped in as soon as they saw the brake lights. One by one they let each bull out into the squeeze shoot. The process was simple, you weighed them, took vitals, listened to their lungs and heart, inspected their eyes, checked their teeth and assessed their body and hoof condition.

After that was done, you gave them a routine dewormer. Their paperwork stated that another vet had given them their inoculations before the auction and their blood tests came back normal. You would have to wait for a bit whilst they were in quarantine to check that again.

You didn't pack up just yet, as you decided to watch the bulls in the pen for a while. Just wanting to make sure you didn’t miss anything. All five of them were in perfect condition and a healthy weight thankfully. Bobby made his way next to you, watching them as well.

"What are your thoughts Doc?"

"Dean knows damn well how to choose a bull."

Bobby chuckled and the other two joined you as well.

"I thought you specialized in horses." Luke said.

"I do, but I still had to learn about livestock in general."

He just nodded, then asked if you were ready to go check on the other bull. You told him yes, you just needed to pack up quickly. After you were done, the three of you piled into your 4Runner, Luke directing you where to go. Thankfully it also went smoothly, simple thing to be treated for. You just told them to keep an eye out in case anything got worse. Once you left the bottom pasture, you noted the time, just after ten. The first group of “greenies” should be here by now.

Outside of the reception, you saw two minibuses parked, donning the ranch's name, with about thirty-five people crowded around it. Seemed as if both groups arrived together. Bobby flagged you down and instructed you to pull into the parking lot as well. The three of you jumped out and went to go stand by him.

It was a rag tag bunch, ages ranging from twenty-two to about late fifties. You could instantly tell the seasoned workers from the rest. Seven were older men, weather beaten and hoary, but their bodies were fit and eyes sharp. You counted thirteen woman, they eldest you assumed to be the chef, Debbie. The rest were younger guys, and you could smell the cockiness seeping off them. They weren't really here for the work; they were just here to play cowboy for a few months.

Bobby called to everyone that they should make their way into the reception, where Cass has set out chairs and a white board. Once the group took their seats and settled down, Bobby started his well-rehearsed welcome speech. He introduced himself and quickly got into some of the history of the ranch, what they do here, what their new jobs would be and what would be expected from them.

"Before I close off, I would like to introduce you to our heads of staff. All of you will be working under one of them, all except for the Doc." He pointed a crooked finger at you. "Even though all of you will have your subordinates it's important to remember that you will be reporting to all of us." He went down the line in order of how you all stood.

"This is Cass, he's our wrangler, in charge of trails and outrides. Anything horse related, you go to him. Sean is the ranch's foreman. He supervises all the daily operations and manages our livestock. Feeding schedules, breeding management, equipment maintenance, anything you can think of that doesn’t revolve paperwork, is Sean's domain. Luke here, is our main ranch hand-" Luke interrupted Bobby with a subtle coughed to which Bobby begrudgingly added, "-and our best bull rider. Most of you, will be taught by him. That includes anything from fence repairs to cleaning paddocks."

"Last but not least is Dr. Charlotte. Our in-house vet. Now please I'm asking all of you, if you see any animal that isn't looking right or doing good, you go straight to her. I don't care if it's the snivels, a cough or a limp. You inform her immediately. The well-being of our animals is the first priority. Understood?"

He was met with a ripple of agreement that passed through the crowd.

"Now before I call all of you to come and get your schedules, I would just like Debbie and Elton to stand up." The oldest man there pulled himself to his feet and you were right in regards with who you thought Debbie was. "Elton and Debbie have joined us for many years now and I would like to properly welcome them back. Debbie will be both you and the guest's chef, so you better be nice to her. Least you get something…unpleasant in your Wednesday night stew." He chuckled slightly, and Debbie hushed him. "Elton, the old timer," another chuckle, "Will be another one of your supervisors."

After they took their seats Bobby continued. "Any questions?"

One of the younger guy's hands went up as quick as a lightning strike, "When's the rodeo? Are we allowed to join?"

Bobby glared over to Luke, as if he was the cause for the guy's questions. "We don't really let you guys compete in the actual rodeos. That's a different program-"

The young guy cut him off, "Well can I join that program?"

"No." Bobby said clearly annoyed. "We only train guys who already have the experience, and that's a very limited group. Which is full." He didn't leave room for further discussion.

Another person lifted a hand. A girl this time, about your age, with what you assumed to be a very thickly laid on Texan accent. Well, you guessed Texan, due her hat being the size of the state. "Is it true that our boss is the Dean Winchester?  I heard that he's quite the champion rider…and a stud. When will we meet him?"

Bobby was caught off guard at the statement, and he was stumbling for words, "Uh, Mr Winchester is real busy this season and I would just like to clarify, he won't be your boss. I am. And for further clarification, let's keep the inappropriate statements to ourselves."

He severely burst her bubble and when no one else raised their hands, Bobby called them up one by one, to grab their schedules. After each one, he wrote their names on the board under who they would be working for. Obviously have read through their resumes beforehand and deciding who got put where. Cass ended up with six helpers, one of the elder guys and five women. Including the one who asked about Dean. Luke, Sean and Elton all got nine helpers each. Leaving only Debbie and an assistant for her.

You could clearly see who was happy with their placements and who wanted better. They didn't try to hide it whatsoever. The friend groups must've already been established beforehand. To be honest you felt a bit out, everyone had helpers except for you. However, you knew that it was better this way, there was no chance that anyone one of them could help you in any case. The only way they would be was if they had to fetch a bull or bring the cattle up for you.

"Oh, one last thing. You guys are going to you lodging now, but we've arranged a little get together for tonight, with the neighbouring ranches. All of us will be helping each other this summer and it's just a good way to get to know everyone. So be ready at six, party will be down at the lawn by the guest hall. And don't go too heavy, you got work tomorrow."

…

The rest of the afternoon you spent lounging around your cabin, waiting for the clock to tick by so that you could start getting ready. You had offered the boys a lift back down again, and they had agreed to meet you at your car at quarter to six.

It was just before five and you decided to finally turn your phone back on. And it was exactly what you expected. Over a hundred unread messages and seventy-three missed phone calls. What made your heart hurt was that only one of those messages were from you father. It was predicable but you had hoped for something more. A phone call maybe or him asking if you were okay. But no, it was just a continuation of the beratement he was giving you before you left.

There were a few from your mom as well, they were also typical. Nothing to do with you whatsoever. No How are you doing? Or Are you okay? All of them were just bragging about your stepfather and brother. Half-brother. How amazing his girlfriend is and how he's graduating from Basic Training. Which you're expected to show up for. Memories of empty seats at your own graduation came flooding back and you deleted the Love you that you typed out.

The rest of the messages were a mishmash of other family members, friends and some from your old coaches and professors. There was one number that didn't recognize, it wasn't one was saved but you had the most messages from it. Letting out a shaky breath you tapped on it. Reading through the first few made it clear who it was from and by the fifth or sixth message you could hardly see through the tears.

No. no. no. no. no. no. This was not going to happen now. You threw the phone down on the bed and walked into your lounge. The sky was that warm orange again as you stood by the window, arms wrapped tightly around yourself as you choked back sobs. You needed some fresh air. Now. Out on your balcony it was as warm as the light had looked through the window. It comforted you as you crossed your arms on the railing and rested your head down on them.

Your peace maybe lasted a few minutes when you heard a sharp whistle. You lifted your head to look and down on the grass in front of his cabin stood Cass. He pointed to an imaginary watch on his wrist and gave you a thumbs up. You shot him one back and took a deep breath once he disappeared back inside.

"Fuck." You mumbled, sniffing back water dripping from your nose. All this shit can wait for a later time; you weren't going to be a downer tonight. Through the open door you could see the clock on the wall, six on the dot. Might as well start getting ready. Pulling yourself together took a lot, not being in the mood for anything right now. The shower helped somewhat, your music some more.

Once you were clean and your hair was fresh you felt more at ease, the one worry you put focus to was what you were going to wear. It a party with a bunch of ranch hands, so you went simple, jeans, a nice shirt and a pair of your new boots. They were still stiff on your feet, but they would turn supple the more you wore them. You dried your hair and kept it natural, makeup simple as well.

Just as you were about to leave, you remembered your jacket. You grabbed it off of the bedroom door but stopped once you saw your phone. Lying there so unavoidable. The elephant in the room only noticeable to you. It was strange in that moment, that something so small bore so much weight inside of it. It should've fallen through the bed, through the cabin floor, deep into the earth, with how much it carried. That weight would be carried in your back pocket tonight. Just for in case.

Cas and Sean were already waiting patiently for you in the car, as you came trotting down the path. They hushed their conversation once you opened your door.

"You guys are looking smart. Where's Luke?" you asked.

"You're looking fine yourself," Sean responded, "Luke jumped in with Bobby. Had to help set up. Cass tapped out of that."

The whole drive down they two of them were prepping you. Who was who. What ranches they had or worked at. You also got the low down on who they liked and disliked. You felt as if they were prepping you for war and you were getting flashbacks to the type of parties you were used to going to. Same pre-event conditioning.

There were six trucks parked at reception, along with the minibuses. Sean told you to drive down and park next to one of the guest houses. There were a lot more people here than you expected. What you didn't except though was seeing Dean's black truck parked across from you. You didn't think that he was one to join for something like this. Yet there he was, surrounded by probably half of the party.

You watched him, deep in conversation with another man about his age. When someone snuck up behind you and grabbed your shoulders.

"Fuck!" you let out a startled shriek. However, Luke seemed more surprised than you. He held his hands up and apologized for scaring you. He didn't expect you to be so far away in your own head. Cass and Sean excused themselves to mingle and get a drink. You were about to join them, but Luke stopped you, holding out a drink he grabbed for you. Politely thanking him, you took and opened it.

"The place looks good. Did it take you the whole afternoon to set up?"

"Thanks, but Debbie did most of it. I was just here to carry the heavier things."

The two of you stood at the edge of the party for a while. You told him what you learned in the car and would occasionally ask him who was who, when someone passed by. This went one for the better part of an hour, and you kept one eye on Dean. Just curious as to who he would speak too.

Whilst Luke was telling you about the twins who worked for Curtis, someone inserted themselves between the two of you and felt an arm over your shoulder.

"Who we gossiping about?" came a woman's voice.

"Sheriff Mills!" Luke exclaimed once he saw who it was, "You made it."

"Did someone call in a noise complaint?" you giggled.

"No. I told my deputies I had to ask around about something, and that I'd be out late. Which isn't necessarily a lie."

"What do you have to ask around about?" Luke asked.

"You know Earl? From the gas station just out of town. Yeah, his ties got slashed and it seems like there was brake fluid poured over the hood of the truck."

"Really?" Luke asked concerned, but he had a certain lilt to his voice. "Well, that's, just something. What is this town coming too?"

"Mhm." Jodie just started at him nodding, lips pursed. "You know anything about that?"

"No ma'am. We were in town the whole of yesterday. Sorting cattle and the greenhorns today."

Jodie was about to question him more, but Luke interrupted her by call to Bobby. Who was walking out of the hall with a cupcake in one hand and beer in the other. The poor guy looked like a deer caught in headlights and he was probably cursing Luke under his breath as he waddled over. He bashfully greeted Jodie and the two of them walked off to find her something to drink. Luke disappeared not long after as he spotted some of the guys he did rodeo with. Dean had also vanished from the scene.

You spent most of the night by yourself, greeting people as they passed by now and then. Every few steps you took you felt that familiar weight in your back pocket. The messages from earlier still rolling around in your head. You found yourself one side, by the fire. Mesmerized by the flames licking up at the sky, when you felt something press against your leg. For a second you were frightened by the eyes looking up at you, but you relaxed once you realized it was Dean's dog from last night. 

"Hey boy." You hushed gently, letting him smell your hand before you pet him. Colonel was quick to accept you and made a prompt move to sit in between your legs, back towards you. He'd shuffle every now and then if he noticed you stopped with your scratches.

'Great,' you thought, 'I'm that weird person who sits with the dog at a party.'

"You're lucky. He doesn't usually like people." Came a deep voice from behind you. "Brought you a beer. You've been nursing that one since you got here. Thought it would be warm."

Above you stood an older man, late sixties by your guess. His silver hair hung on his shoulders, under his wide brimmed hat and a thick moustache made him seem to have a permanent frown.

"Oh, uh thank you." You stood quickly, taking the beer from him. "I'm Charlotte."

"Waylon. May I?" he motioned to the seat on the log next to you.

"Please." The beer made a sizzle as you cracked the top off. "What did you mean about the dog?"

"Oh him?" Waylon extended his arm to pet Colonel but decided against it. "He's a grumpy bastard just like his master. Don't like people. I've seen him bite maybe a hundred eager ranch hands over the years."

You laughed, slightly wearier of the dog between your legs. "I think he just doesn't like people in his space. Has to be on his terms."

"Mhm," he nodded. "So, Bobby tells me that you’re here to help out for the summer. He also tells me you specialize in horse behaviour."

"Yes, Sir I do."

"I got this one horse. My wife, Sadie, bought him off the track when I was away. She bought him so that our grandson had one of his own. He's a mean one. Tries coming at you over the fence. Won't let you come near with a halter let alone a saddle. He kicks, bites, bucks. Everything you don’t want around a kid."

"Well, if you're looking at riding him you need to find a good trainer. Sounds like he had it hard.”

"Nah, I don't want to ride him. He kicked one of my wranglers, broke the guy's hip. I pulled my gun out to shoot the damn thing, but when I looked into his eyes, I couldn't do it. I'll buy my grandson a new horse, one of Dean's if he gets some new stock in. Ten years ago, I would've sent that horse to become dog food…"

"What changed?"

"I got older. Softer, I guess. This horse just spoke to me. The fear I saw in his eyes, didn't sit right with me. If I can help make a change with him, help give him a better life. I wanna try."

"I'll come and take a look at him. A lot of the times, when a horse lashes out like that, physical pain can be big precursor. I just, uh, need to obviously check with Dean. Make sure he's okay with it."

"You leave Dean to me. I've known the Winchesters since they were in diapers. There he is now. Dean!" Waylon called to him, gesturing to him to come over.

Most of the party were still congregated around him, and they followed him as ducklings follow their mother as he sauntered over to you. The brazen girl for earlier, Amber was near glued to his side, not touching him but if he stopped too suddenly, she'd end up toppling over him.

"The Colonel's made a new friend." Waylon chuckled once Dean realized it was his dog in between your legs. "I was just speaking to Charlotte here. Sadie bought a horse and I've asked her to come and have a look at him. That okay with you?"

Dean scratched the back of his neck before he spoke, "Uh, yeah. Let's just get it done before we all start getting too busy."

"Good. Thanks." Waylon said more to you than Dean. "Charlotte, take my number and let's see if we can make a plan for during the week."

You were glad in that moment that you remembered the anchor held in your pocket. It felt weightless as you passed it to Waylon, who took it gently and entered his number. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught Dean staring intently at the two of you. At his dog nestled comfortably at your feet.

…

"What did you find Bobby?"

The two men stood apart from the rest, where the firelight just barley reached.

"Took a while to find the right person but found her, nonetheless. Her recommendations check out. I had my people phone around and ask. Nothing but good things to say. A+ student, volunteered at animal shelters in her spare time. Professors loved her. But I found something else." Bobby pulled a folded page out from his pocket and handed it to Dean. He spoke as he read it, "She didn't tell me that she was a 5-star cross country champion or that she's ranked top in the country. Won the Kentucky 3 day, three years in a row along with the Maryland 5 star. She's a national champion Dean, they were thinking of sending her to Olympics. She dominated endurance as well. Tevis Cup, Big Horn 100 and she won the AERC National Championships.

"I'm guessing that's impressive?" Dean asked.

"Clearly you don't understand the skill and training it takes to do what she did." Bobby huffed, clearly annoyed.

"And I'm guessing you do?"

"I dabbled," he shrugged he shoulders, "You don't get to my position by not knowing stuff like this."

"Mhm," Dean muttered.

"I don't get what's gotten you so worked up about this girl anyway. You weren't half as bothered with anything regarding Cass, Luke or Sean. Let alone the other hundreds of people you've had working here."

"She's familiar Bobby. Her name if not her face. And it ain't a nice memory tied to it either." Dean let out a harsh sigh. "Now you tell me that she's apparently a world champion, who threw away her career, to come work on a ranch in South Dakota."

"You think she's hiding something?"

Dean slowly lowered the printout the Bobby gave him and just stared off into the distance. He was trying to understand and put the few puzzle pieces he had together. "I don't know. Maybe. Something's just not sitting right."

"Well, her record's clean as far as I can tell. If anything, I'd say you're putting way too much stock into this. I don't see the need to worry here."

"I just don't want this turning out to be the same situation we were stuck in last time. I'm still trying to get that mess cleaned up." Dean said after a long silence.

"Look, if it puts your mind to ease, later tonight, try and do some of your own research. See what you can find out."

"How am I supposed to do that? I don't have your resources."

Bobby patted him on the back as he walked away, "You have Google."

'Better,' Dean remembered, he has the town Sheriff that owes him a favour.

…

Later that night Dean sat in front of his computer and searched around, he only had your name to go on but that was more than enough it seemed. It hadn't even been a few minutes until he found something relating to you.

'Charlotte Everett Wins AERC National Championship'

'Charlotte Everet Wins Maryland 5 Star Course'

Feat after feat. Dean scrolled on and on, taking a sip of his whiskey. The were all boring to read through. Nothing helping him with what he needed. Even though he didn't know what he was looking for really. They were just plain old accomplishments. Your name was listed on plenty of websites congratulating you, he had even found an interview you had done but this was nearly ten years back.

He took a longer sip and carried one searching, until he found a few articles that caught his eye.

'Georgia Champion Engaged to Stud Farm Heir' and 'Charlotte Everett in carrier ending fall'.

The first one was just a puff piece that some mediocre journalist wrote about you being engaged to some big time Thoroughbred Stud Farmer. Big money. From what he could make out from all of this is that you ran in high profile circles. Like seems to find like he thought to himself. The cover image of the article was you in a sundress standing next to smug looking man. Dean noticed how your smile didn't reach your eyes.

Second was one he really wanted to read, it was a longer piece, more professionally done. At your last competition your horse had apparently been acting unusual and had slipped a few times on the track. You coach made you push on but at one of the last jumps your horse misjudged it and flipped over, falling on top of you. They had to air lift you to hospital and your horse was put down, right on the track due to 'serious injuries'. Not much else was written about what happened afterwards but Dean could give an educated guess.

After he read that, he couldn't seem to find anymore, so he switched to looking for any social media you had. This also proved difficult, as there were many people who shared your name. Eventually he managed to find it after doing some cross referencing, but he was just met with more disappointment. You hadn’t posted anything, or if you did, you had taken everything down.

So, Dean went through what you had been tagged in, which resulted in a lot. However, there were still many blank spots to fill in. How the dates jumped around on the posts suggested that you had removed many of them or asked to have them deleted. Through this he did manage to find who he assumed to be your mother; he couldn’t be sure though. All her posts were of a boy in military uniform and a pissed off bald guy. The only thing that pointed to this being your mother was a photo from 2015, where a girl you kind of looked like you posed with the boy at his ninth birthday.

Dean gave up after another hour searching, he wasn't going to find anything else. He let out an exhausted sigh and grabbed his phone. The message he typed out was well worded, he made sure of that, there was no hesitation to send it. Hopefully, his favour will be remembered, and he'll have the answers he needs by tomorrow.

To him, it wasn't necessarily a problem that you didn't tell anyone about what he had just read. Everyone has their history. Some wore it like badges of honour. Proud that they made it through what they did. Others would die before anyone knew anything about their past. He was the latter in this scenario. If you didn't want to tell anyone, that was your business. Where the issue came in, selfishly, it that it was affecting him. Therefore, impacting his work and livelihood.

Where could he have ever met you before? You were from Savanah, and he hadn't stepped foot in Georgia in maybe fifteen years. So, he couldn't have met you there, and he never saw you at any of your events. Yet, from the moment he saw you there, standing between Bobby and Cass, a pit opened in his stomach and memories from the worst time in his life came flooding back. He dreaded going to bed, because he knew, just like the previous night, he'd see you face floating around a dark corridor, and he'd wake up in a pool of sweat.

…

You were busy in your office, cataloguing old files and catching yourself up with of your new patients when a knock at the door called your attention away.

"Hey, boss wants you out at the arena." Cass told you, hanging on the door frame.

"Everything okay?" you asked putting your files down.

"I don't know, he just asked me to get you."

"Oh."

Following Cass outside all that you could think of was if you had done something wrong, and if you were about to get a disciplinary hearing. Dean was waiting for you by the main arena, leaning back against the fence. He barely noticed you, didn’t even bother to greet you and when you greeted him, nothing. He ignored you and got straight to giving orders to Cass.

"Cass, have Rover saddled up and bring him out here please. Bring Harmony and Piston up from the pasture, have them ready to go just for in case."

"Just in case for what?"

This is where he finally looked at you.

"You need a horse, and I need to see if you can ride like you claimed."

"Wh-what? I never claimed that I-,"

Dean cut you off, "Bobby asked you of you can ride right? That's a yes or no question. You said yes. I need to make sure if the time comes for you to help out with the guests, that they'll be in safe hands."

"But-I-,"

"I do it with all head staff here. It's the job requirement." He said sternly, leaving no room for you to try and rebut him. Dean had you follow him into the arena; this was his biggest one. You remember Cass telling you that they used it mostly to practice barrel racing and bull riding.

"Stay here. And be nice to my horses."

He walked off after that; it left you confused as to why he made you follow him out here. He could of just told you to go and stand “over there", with his gruff voice and deep-set worry lines.

After waiting for a bit, Cass emerged from the barn, horse in tow.  A beautiful red roan. You hadn't left the spot Dean had put you in trying you best to stay still but you felt the shockwaves from your legs and hands shaking hit your spine. Cass tentatively paced over to you and passed you the reins.

"Good luck." He whispered, but his eyes screamed with pity. Cass walked back to the group that had formed watching you, throwing worried glances back every few steps.

Dean sat on a fence post in the middle of a gathering crowd, seemed as if everyone wanted to watch the show. Even Bobby made the trip down.

"Mount the horse!" He yelled firmly.

Taking a deep breath, you tried to steady yourself. Ever so slowly you put a foot in the stirrup and gently pulled yourself up. The jeans you were wearing were so tight you struggled to get your leg over. A snicker found your ears from the crowd. Once you sat down in the saddle, you took a moment again. Deep breath. The saddle felt awkward beneath you, heavy and clunky. Not at all the sleek and compact ones you were used to.

"Okay, now take him around." Dean waved his finger in a circle.

Squeezing your legs together, you slowly nudged the horse into a walk, following the perimeter of the fence. Your teeth clenched down on your lip to stop it quivering. Even though the walk was going fine, you felt the unease in the horse beneath you. He felt tight, his movements constricted. He was very uncertain with you on his back. In that moment you made a point to force yourself to relax, closing your eyes. You felt the seat slide under you, noticing how wide it was and surprisingly comfortable. Felt the worn leather between your fingers and the spongy stirrups that cradled your feet. You opened your eyes and could instantly feel a difference in the horse's gait.

When you were just about done with the loop Dean told you to speed up the pace. Begrudgingly you agreed and put the horse into a trot.

Halfway int the second loop he yelled at you. "Faster! Are you on a pony ride at the fair? Faster! Come on!"

Cantering now. You had gotten back into the groove of this and had relaxed a lot more. However, you still muttered a prayer under your breath and asked the horse to be nice with you.

Another "Faster" got yelled. Gallop? No way. It wasn’t big enough for that. You pulled the horse up to Dean and them, protesting your thoughts.

"We train for barrel racing in here. It's big enough. If you can't do it then just get off. You don't belong on the horse then." This was a risky move and he knew it. If it were any other newbie on the horse, he wouldn't have done it. But he had the slightest faith in you. Besides, you needed the push, if what he read about you last night were true, this wasn’t anything that you couldn't handle.

You stared at him in disbelief, anger simmering at the surface, he just stared blankly at you. Challenging you. Turning the horse around, you clicked you tongue and put him forward with your heel. To Dean's surprise, you didn't go through the slow movements you had just done, you took off at full speed, pushing the horse in the tight arena.

"Her corners are tight." Bobby said to Dean with genuine pride in his voice.

Dean stayed silent and motioned for you to do another lap. He thought for a second and motioned for Cass to come over to him. "Scrap Harmony and Piston. Bring me Duke. With his saddle."

"But Dean-" he interjected.

"What are you thinking?" Bobby asked him quizzically.

He had the smallest smile on his juicy lips, "This is too easy for her." He whistled for you to stop.

You skidded to a stop at the far end of the arena and walked towards the middle. On top of the horse you sat, panting, mouth dry and nerves pretty much gone at this point. Dean jumped off from his seat and walked over to you. You expected him to say something, but he just motioned for you to get off. He waved at one of the new guys to come and take the horse away. Then he pointed at five others and waved them over, and they came scuttling. "See those," he pointed towards to poles on the ground, "I want you to lay them three feet apart, then five, the eleven."

"Mr Win-" he cut you off harshly continuing with instructions. "In the shed next to the barn, there's jump stands. Bring 'em all out."

"No…no I-" you started.

"I don't care." He said coldly. "You will do it. If you want to keep this job."

He left you no chance to protest as he had already turned on his heel and walked back to the fence post. From above the crowd, you could already see the movement of ears. Everyone parted at once, only to reveal an absolute monster, dwarfing Cass who led him on. This horse was much, much taller than the one you had just been on. The sun highlighted his pure black coat that the glimmer made you squint your eyes. He beauty and size would have impressed you, had you not noticed the saddle he had on.

Cass had tried passing you the reins once in front of you but stopped when he saw genuine fear in your eyes.

"Cass, no no no please don't…I-I can't…" your voice waived, throat tight and burning with the tears you were holding back. Confronted, Cass looked between the reins and you. He laid a comforting hand on your shoulder, "You can do this Charlotte. Fear is only a perception until you conquer it."

"Huh!" your voice cracked. "What fucking motivational poster did you get that from?"

"From the top!" Dean's yell overpowered your small pleas.

You refused to look over at him, as your hand held tight over Cass', blocking him from trying to give you the reins. Everything was starting to feel too much, it really was as if you were on a carousel, but you couldn’t decide whether you were spinning or everything else was. Your breath laboured, the feeling akin to a wet cloth over your mouth. Years of repressed emotions and pure fear, swirled and gushed around inside you. It needed to come out now, and it did.

The feeling of your knees hitting the floor did little to ground you, nose and throat burning as your breakfast made its way up your throat. Tears wet the corners of your eyes, as much from force that came out as the embarrassment that this was happening in front of everyone. Cass was at your side in an instant, kneeling next to you. He rubbed slow circles on your back, gently urging you to get it all out. Luke jogged over to you with his water bottle in hand. Through your gags and the crunching of sand around you, you barley heard it. Laughing. They were laughing at you.

Not Cass and Luke thankfully, they were too worried, but everyone at the fence, they were having a field day. Reluctantly you lifted your head and forced yourself to sit back on your haunches. Luke pushed the water bottle to your lips, urging you to take a sip. You could make out that both were asking if you were okay, but it didn't register. What did however register was Amber's shrill voice, cutting through the air.

"What's wrong Doc? Can't handle the big boys?" She cackled. Through blurry eyes you watched her turn to Dean, grabbing the fence next to where he was sitting, arching her back as she spoke up to him, "If she can't do it, I'm more than willing to show her how it's done."

You expected him to answer her, to call you out and fire you right then and there. However, today Amber wasn't exempt from Dean's indifference. He kept his eyes trained on you, just subtly lifting his brows.

"Dean." Bobby said firmly. "This has gone too far. Get her out there now. And you lot-" he pointed a steady finger at everyone that had laughed, "Quit it. Or I'll have you cleaning out septic tanks all season."

Luke pulled out a bandana from his back pocket and passed it to. Fuck this you thought, wiping your mouth. On numb legs you pushed yourself to stand, Cass and Luke helped you from either side. It was rare for you to feel this extreme amount of anger. Not saying it hadn't happened before, just that it had been a very, very long time. An anger like this burned its way through any fear, any emotion. It was all consuming. Dean wanted to push you. Amber wanted to taunt you. Fine.

From Jello your legs turned solid, your nerves, steel. Duke hadn't moved from when Cass and dropped the reins, you grabbed them and chuckled them over his neck. "I need a leg up." you said, voice hard.

"What? No. Charlie don't." Luke protested.

The look you had, left them no room to protest. "Leg. Up." again you demanded.

Cass obliged and step forwards to you. He bent down and locked his hands in place, giving you a step. From his boost you swung yourself into the saddle in one smooth go. The saddle on this horse was much smaller than the last one, this one was made for jumping, one you were very much used to. You fixed the stirrups to your preferred length and leaned forward to pat Duke on the neck, whispering a "Hey boy".

It was amazing at what anger could make you do. How quickly it could turn fear into confidence. Once the poles were placed, you took Duke through the movements, walk, trot, canter. Each time they were moved further apart, you did it a turn more than what Dean had asked, wanting to warm both you and the horse up.

"Good! Bring out the stands!" Dean commanded.

Luke and Cass brought them out for you. Not trusting the new guys to do it right. They followed Dean's instruction at what height they needed to be. They started off small, easy and low to the ground. In your focus and determination, you forgot your fear. A part of yourself that you had long forgotten had emerged in that moment. You felt it more the higher the jumps got.

"Seems too damn easy." Dean said as you trotted back over to him, "What do you think Bobby how about 1.4m? That should be good."

Dean hauled himself off the fence post and called the boys to help him. He started to arrange the course to his liking. You could tell that this man had never been to a show jumping or cross-country event, with the way he laid everything out. But who were you to say anything? You could manage it, could Duke though?

That confidence was short lived once you saw they were raising the poles higher. Your jumps back in the day were max 1.2m, 1.3 at a push. These were close to being 1.5m, and your stomach began to drop again. Staring down and the reins in your hands, you noticed how white your knuckles were with how tight you were clenching them. Your inner thighs ached; it had been so long that you had forgotten how fit you used to be.

Duke felt eager beneath you though. You could tell that this horse had been doing this for years, it was in his blood. He pawed at the ground and kept shifting his weight, tail swishing and flicking continuously. His confidence inspired you somewhat. Still however, you walked the layout first.

Bobby started at Dean worry lines etched deep into his face. He knew that Dean was trying to prove something, to push you. He already wasn't happy with the fact that you had thrown up, he recognized that that was some panic or anxiety attack. But you prevailed so far, and you were doing damn good.

"Can Duke even jump that high?" he asked. To which Dean just responded with a shrug of his shoulders and a "We're about to find out."

You had made your decision and chose your lines. Now you just sat there calculating. Now or never. Duke took off at a sped he was comfortable with; all you had to do was guide him. You had tackled jumps at this height before, only a few times tough and never this intricate. The dizziness started to creep back making you cling onto Duke for dear life. You trusted him to make the jumps, but you wouldn’t dare push him if you thought otherwise. But he did everyone, his long legs gracefully taking each one in stride.

You don't know how you missed it, easy mistake though with everything going on. But Dean's little surprise for you nearly caught you. The last jump was higher than all the rest. Duke's back legs clipped the pole and he stumbled slightly. In that split second you wanted to bail, to get your feet out of the stirrups and choose a side. What your mind wanted and what your body did were two completely different things. As muscle memory took over, you instantly gave the reins slack as you pushed all your weight into your heels, leaning back. He caught his footing fast however and continued effortlessly through the stride.

Duke coasted to an easy stop; he was tired but eager for more. You shook like a leaf, and once again holding back tears. If you hadn't already emptied your stomach, you would have now. Your legs felt like bowed lead when you slide off the horse, almost losing your balance when your feet it the ground. Duke was your anchor though; you rested your forehead against the saddle to steady yourself.

A slow clap of hands brought you back to reality, along with Dean's deep voice. "Not bad, but you clipped-"

"Fuck you!" you turned on him so quickly he stepped back. Not expecting the outburst. "I don't know what kind of humiliation kink you have but if you ever do that again…"

You couldn't bother finishing your sentence because when you look at Dean's face, you saw no remorse, nothing. A stone statue stood before you, and what was the point in saying anything to that. "Dick." You seethed as you pushed past him.

The crowd that had gathered parted like the Red Sea when you walked through them. All of them stood in dead silence, eyes wide. Probably because of what they just heard you say to the boss. Bobby and Cass called after you, but you kept on walking, back to the stables, back to your office. Once in there you slammed your door shut and slumped against it. Sliding down until you hit the cold tiles.

But now, you had left that behind and drove nearly two full days heading straight to the Black Hills in South Dakota. You couldn’t do it, couldn’t stay in the town where everything had happened. Didn't think twice about it. When that notification popped up on your phone, you stood glued in the threshold of your bedroom, just staring at it. You were accepted for the job. A job you didn't even mean to sign up for. Your professor told you to branch out and look at ranches that needed seasonal help. Something that would 'look good on my resume, that I could work in different environments'.

You applied to a few; Texas, Nevada, Wyoming… South Dakota. Not thinking anything would come from it. No one had gotten back to you, except for now. Instantly you accepted it, emailing them back that you would be up there as soon as you could. Two days later, here you are driving into your new life for the summer.

The drive had been mostly a blur, you kept yourself awaking, Red Bull after Red Bull. Your music played loudly the whole way, drowning out the thought too loud in your head. You don’t remember passing through Sioux Falls, but six hours later you were in Rapid City another hour Deadwood.

The welcome sign passed by slowly. A massive wall held up by stone pillars, with a painting of the town and cowboys on it. 1876 Deadwood, it read in a thick black font, the one you see synonymous with anything western. Deadwood was a small town from what you could make out from the quick Google search you did in the last gas station bathroom. Population here wasn't even 2000.

This was the type of town where everyone had known everyone for their entire lives, thirty-fourty years. Where back in the 80s the guy who works at the gas station used to date the lady at the post office. Where the librarian used to get bullied by the boutique owner back in high school. And the man at the hardware is the cousin of the diner waitress, who also had a fling with the gas station guy. Which is probably the reason they broke up. And everybody here knows.

Everyone one here has direct ties to everyone else. If Ms McGee wouldn’t share her pie filling recipe at the church potluck, the whole town would know withing the day and she would be excommunicated. But when the news eventually gets back to her it's been so warped you would swear she killed and ate the neighbour's dog.

How do people live like this? You wondered, there's no anonymity. You didn't particularly grow up in the big city but you would still call Savannah a city. There you could walk into a grocery store and never run into anyone you've ever met. It was rare to know someone out in public. Here they probably know each customer by name, because it's been the same people for the last twenty years. How do you go about with everyone knowing you and your business. If you had a teen pregnancy or you dad got arrested, it permanently known as 'That Thing' or you're from 'That Family'.

And strangers here, they stick out like a sore thumb.

You weren't even sure where you needed to go, your GPS couldn't find the address the guy had sent you after reply to you. Most of these ranches were out on old dirt backroads with no names. You could try googling the place, you knew that it was a poplar place for out rides and lodging, but your phone had died.

A small light came up on the dashboard. Fuel light. Shit. You hadn't been paying attention to it for a while now.

Up the road you saw a sign for a gas station. Two miles, you should be fine. It came into view in no time there on the right, you pulled in and up next to one of the pumps. It was quite warm here for June, but still much cooler than the 80s you were used to this time of year back in Georgia. This heat was different though, no thick and muggy and the lack of humidity made it so much more bearable. Your thighs still managed to stick to your leather seats though. Making an obscene slurping sound when you got out at the gas station.

The place was surprisingly well maintained, you were excepting a rundown, dingy place with a rusty signboard nearly falling. You walked inside and shivered a bit when the air conditioning hit you. You were the only person in here beside the janitor who was busy mopping an isle and the guy behind the register. He was younger than you by a few years, with wispy peach fuzz on his lip and acne on his cheeks.

You grabbed another Red Bull from the fridge and walked up to the cashier. "Hi, $70 on pump 3 please."

He hummed in acknowledgement as he scanned your drink and you handed him the cash.

"You new around here?"

"Huh?"

"I haven't seen you come in before? You new? Just passing through?"

"Yeah, I'm new, starting a job here." you grabbed your change and gave him a quick thanks. You walked away but stopped and turned back, "Actually, can you help me? I need to get to the Winchester Ranch, and I have no idea how to get there?"

"Winchester huh?" a gruff voice asked from the backroom. Behind the scrawny guy a burly older man made his way to the counter.

"Uh yeah…"

"What are you doing looking for that place?"

"I'm the new vet. Starting today."

"Right…" he eyed you carefully. "Stay right at the split in town. Carry on that road, head past the mine on your left. You'll see a sign for Maitland, right there. Stay on the Maitland Road for about ten miles. Up on the mountain, you'll see the sign for the ranch." He looked past you out to where your 4Runner stood. "That car should be fine heading up there."

"Thank you so much. Have a good day." Just as you opened the door the man said something.

"Miss. Be careful. There's devils up in these hills. They eat up precious little things like you."

You just stood and stared at him. Trying to see if he was joking or not. He stayed silent just staring at you blankly. Turning your heel, you left the store.

You followed the creepy man's directions, through town, past the mine and right, up the Maitland Road. It wasn’t paved, but the white ground had be compacted from daily use. The road snaked in-between tall hills, fully covered with pine trees. The road turned up ahead, but you could see a sign pointing right up the mountain. 'Winchester Ranch'. The whole way you kept thinking about what that man at the gas station said. What did he mean by it?

The road was the same as the one out of town, white compacted dirt. It changed though when you came to a cattle grate, from there on the road was tarmac. Probably for the livestock trucks and trailers. Up the mountain you climbed until you reached the top, where a huge wooden sign hung over the road, acting as the gateway.

You stopped your car in what seemed like the visitor’s area. The place was quite desolate when you stepped out of the car. You could hear cows mooing and horses neighing far off, but it was quiet. Bugs hummed and whizzed past you. There were a few signs posted up with directions and a large log cabin. Maybe this was where you needed to go? Boots crunching on the stoney lot drew your attention, far off on the other side of the lot a man was walking towards you carrying a bunch of boxes.

"Excuse me miss, we're not open until next week." The man said after getting closer. The boxes he was carrying were piled so high he could barely see properly. He stumbled a bit and a few of them went sliding.

You rushed to help grab them, trying to take a load off of him. "Here let me help you."

"Thank you ma'am." Now that you could see his face properly, he was cute with long blonde hair that just barely touched his shoulders.

"I know that you are open yet. I'm actually here to see a Bobby Singer, about a new job."

"Oh yeah the new vet. I'm sorry, where are my manners, I'm Luke."

"Nice to meet you, Luke. I'm Charlie."

"Well Charlie, welcome to the Winchester Ranch. I'd be happy to take you down to Bobby."

Luke led the way down the stone stairs, towards the reception building. It was done up very nicely, local quarried stone were the base of the building, on top of them sat dark logs, thicker than you. The window frames were painted a dark green, that matched the roof. A tall chimney stuck out, made from the same quarry stones. Along the edge of the building, in neatly kept garden beds grew a variety of flower and small shrubs.

Along the backside of the building, he opened a side door and let you walk in first. He placed the boxes down on the floor and grabbed yours from you, placing them down as well. You followed him to the one of the doors down the hallway, where he knocked briskly.

"Yep!" came a voice from inside.

Luke swung opened the door ushering you inside, "Bobby. Charlie is here. The new vet."

Behind an old worn table sat a grizzled old man, with worn work clothes and a dirty baseball cap. His office was full to the brim with books, trophies, rosettes and photos. You didn't know how he could find anything in this mess. He had kind eyes though.

"Thanks Luke." he nodded towards the younger man as he stood up and reached out a hand. "Dr Charlotte."

You shook his hand and he motioned for you to take a seat. "Please call me Charlie, Mr Singer."

"Call me Bobby." He got comfortable in his own chair. "I knew you said you'd be up here as soon as you could make it but I didn't think this soon."

"I didn't want to keep anyone waiting. I imagine that the busy season starts soon and I wanted to be up here so that I can get ahead with getting things ready and meeting everyone."

"Well, I appreciate it, really do. So far, we're fully booked this summer and with our old vet gone now, we've had to rely on the local one. He's so busy that we barely get a call in." He rubbed a hand over his chin and grabbed a file that you saw had your name on. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go over some of the things I asked you to send in."

"Sure." you shifted nervously.

Bobby folded the file open and wrang his hands together. "To be honest with you, I just need to ask… your credentials are well, a lot. A lot for a job like this I mean. A registered animal heath technician, DACVS, DACVB and a DABVP specializing in horses. I had to google what most of them meant." he chuckled.  "What I'm trying to get at is, why come here? Your recommendation letters are from world-renowned veterinarians. You…you could be working top class establishments but now you're stuck on a ranch in the middle of nowhere."

"Well to be completely transparent with you, I did have another job lined up, but my heart just wasn't in it. I'm not really someone who would like be confined to an office room all day."

"Understandable." he said as he grabbed another file. "So, the contract we sent you states that this is just a seasonal job, while we wait to get some more permanent. You understood that correctly?"

Slowly you nodded. "Yes, I did."

"Okay then. Looks like we're done here. Let me show you around, give you a bit of a tour."

"Uhm…okay." you said as you got up from the chair.

"Everything fine?" Bobby was standing up behind his desk now.

"Yeah…I…sorry I was just expecting you to ask more personal questions. Get to know me. See if I'm the right fit and that you trust me."

"Well, are you planning on stealing any of the horses or cattle?" He cut you off before you could respond. "Darling, we'll be stuck together for a few months. We'll get to knowing each other in time. I'm more worried that you know how to do your job."

You gave him a small smile before following him out the door. He led you to the back of the building, to where a side-by-side stood. Both of you climbed in and he took off up the road past where your car was parked.

"That yours?" he nodded towards it.

"Yip"

"Good car. Reliable." He said it in a way a dad would when choosing out his owns daughter's car.

"Needed something like it for this job. Some places are hard to reach."

Bobby just nodded in agreement.

It took a while for him to speak. As if he forgot that he was supposed to be giving you tour. "So, this ranch started back in 1880. Sits on just under 10 000 acres. At the moment we have about 3000 head of cattle, 43 of them are for stud. Breeding stock for rodeo bulls. We have a feisty champion here; you'll see him soon enough. And 59 horses. Some of them are used for the rodeos and barrel races. The rest are just used for the trail rides."

Bobby gently stopped in the road and pointed to your right. Far off in the distance, where the surrounding mountains lead into the valley. "There's where the trails are. We have permits to take the horses into the national park."

"It looks beautiful." you said and it really did. The whole ranch was in this huge valley with tall, jagged mountain peaks surrounded the entire thing. From where you were you could see for miles into the distance. Luscious green meadows and fields were gently separated from each other by a long winding river. Spruce and pine trees climbed high up on all of the mountains and slowly let go the closer they were to the pastures.

Bobby brough you back from admiring the surroundings. "So, you've met Luke now. He helps work the cattle and he's also one of our cowboys that competes in the rodeo. You'll meet Cass soon enough; he's the barn manager. Takes care of the horses though mostly."

"Is there anyone else?"

"Permanently there are only five of us. Sean helps with the cattle as well. We get a lot of help from the neighbouring ranches. We all share the work and the help." Bobby drifted off slightly. "I forgot to ask. You can ride right?"

"Uh," you hesitated, "Yes I can."

"You don't sound too sure."

"I would say that I can ride."

"Good. If things get too busy then you might need to jump in and help with the trails. We just have to wait for the boss to get back so that he can judge how good you are. The he can decide what horse to give ya."

"The boss?" you stared at Bobby confused. "I thought you were the boss."

"No!" he laughed. "I'm just the ranch manager. The big boss, is in Wyoming, looking at some new steers for the herd. He should be back tomorrow though."

A slight uneasiness came over you. You had already warmed up to the old man next to you, thinking this was your new boss. He technically was, you guess, but now you were worried if the actual one wouldn't like you. The road up ahead forked and you guys kept right. The road on the left was closed with a big gate, a sign hung on it that said, 'No Entry'.

"Up left there is the boss's house. Usually, every Saturday the main staff and some of the neighbours get together up there for a few beers." He nudged you gently with his elbow, "That includes you now."

"That sounds nice."

Further down the road a big double story log cabin came into view. Built identical to the reception where Bobby's office was.

"Is that the guest house?" you asked.

"No, the guests stay closer to reception. Down that road that takes you to stables. Over there is where the seasonal workers stay."

"When will they be here?"

"Should be end of the week. Once all of them are here, we'll have a bit of a get together. It’s a tradition so everyone meets each other. Nice icebreaker."

"And do you know any of them? Have some people been here before?"

"Some of 'em have been here a couple of seasons. One of them is the chef, Debbie. Think this is her 8th year, don't know the others. They're usually wanna be cowboys and ranch hands. Some come and help with the cattle and the horses."

A few miles down the road, the trees became slightly sparser and opened up into a small clearing. Five smaller log homes were arranged into a half-moon, with a huge fire pit in the middle. There were two homes on the left and three on the right, and what looked like a communal space in-between them. The cabin far left was a bit bigger than the others, it had a wraparound porch and a small shed next to it. You assumed that one was Bobby's.

The two of you got out of the side-by-side and you followed Bobby. Now that you were slightly closer you saw that all of the houses had their owner's quirks. One had different state's number plates zip tied to the porch railing, the other was sparely decorated. The only thing giving away that someone lived there was the laundry hanging on the line next to the house. Flowers and windchimes decorated the small porch of the other one. On the far right stood the last cabin. It was more tucked into the tress, with its curtains drawn closed.

"Here we are. Home sweet home." Bobby said. He walked towards the far-right cabin, up the squeaky stairs and pulled out a key from his vest pocket. Stepping aside for you once the door swung open. You walked in, surprised with how spacious it was. The small kitchen sat on the left, living room to the right; with your own fireplace. Two doors on the back wall. You guessed it led to the bathroom and bedroom.

"Our old vet moved to Tacoma to stay closer to his kids. Worked here for three generations."

"I guess I have big boots to fill then." you said, still looking around the cabin.

"You'll fit in just fine, don't you worry now. We can head back down so that you can get your stuff, show you the barn quick. Then you can come and get settled in."

…

 The 'barn' was just down the road from reception. Like the road heading up here it was paved; made it so much easier when it came to the horse and livestock trailers. To say that you were impressed when you saw the actual stables was an understatement. You had worked at and been to stables where a horse's livery costs more than a college tuition. But this…this was something else.

Three buildings sat in a line that acted as the stables. All of them had a weathered look to them with steep pitched rooves. The road stopped and diverted at all of them, transition from asphalt to concrete slabs that ran right through each of them. Huge barn doors sat on rollers at both sides of each building. With the barn doors open like this you could see through, all the way down, towards the river you saw earlier with Bobby. Endless stretches of green pastures came to a sudden halt, cut off by multiple sandy arenas and crisscross pathways.

There were twenty stables in each, although the one building was slightly bigger. Inside, each stable was made from a yellow tinted wood and smelled of pine. With wrought black iron along the top of them. The roof had thick beams holding it up, and small windows at the top let some light in. It felt magical in here.

Bobby led you into what you would assume was the main barn, which had a few rooms off to one side of it. You could hear someone softly singing in one of them.

"Cass? You in here!" Bobby yelled.

The humming stopped abruptly followed by a scuffling noise and things dropping. Out of the room on the right appeared a man holding a bridle he was busy repairing.

"Bobby. Hi. I thought you were busy up top." he said flustered.

"Sorry to interrupt you prima donna, but I've got someone I want you to meet."

You stepped in, in front of Bobby with your hand extended. "Hi I'm Charlie. It's nice to meet you."

He grabbed your hand in his. "Cass. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Charlie here will is old Ben's replacement. You guys will be working closely together. So Cass, I expect you to show here the reins around here."

"The reins are in the tack room." Cass pointed a finger behind him.

Bobby just sighed and stared at him. "Please excuse him. Sometimes I think it's his first day on earth. Come on, let me show you your new office." Bobby pushed open the door opposite the feed and tack rooms.  Inside it was a pretty standard veterinary room. Stainless steel tables lined the walls, white tiles covered every inch of the room, and there on or two very outdated pieces of equipment. "Think you can work with this?"

"These dinosaurs have seen their day, but I'm sure that I can still get some use out of them. I brought some things from home as well just in case."

"Well, we're also low on supplies as you can see," he pointed to the empty cabinets, "Local vet would just bring his own stuff, but now we need to stock up. Make a list and you and Luke can go into town tomorrow to get what you need."

"No problem. Sounds good."

"Alright then, we've concluded the tour. I think you can head back home and get settled in. And get some rest, we got a lot of work to do. Tomorrow you'll see the pastures and fields. And met your new patients."

"Yes boss." you saluted Bobby and saw a small, annoyed smile cross his face.

…

 It had taken you a few hours to unpack all of your things and get your new home set up in a way that worked for you. You had first cleaned everything and the worked meticulously room for room. Kitchen was finished but the pantry and fridge where empty, bathroom disinfected and stocked. The living room you rearranged to that the couched were all tucked around the cozy fireplace, and you had put some personal memorabilia up on the mantel piece. You were busy putting you own sheets on the bed when someone knocked on the door.

Cass stood by the door when you opened it, holding a tray of muffins. "Howdy neighbour."

"Hey Cass. How's it going?"

"I made muffins, to welcome you to our small community here." he passed you the tray, and you could feel they were still nice and warm.

"Aww that's sweet of you thank you so much. I'm sorry that I don't have anything to offer you in return." You looked back to your empty kitchen.

"No problem at all. I just came over to give you these and see if you're all settled."

"Yeah, I'm just about done here. Just need to finish with the bedroom."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Luke said that he'll be ready to leave at eight tomorrow for town. I just wanted to come and give you the message."

"Thank you. I'll be ready."

"Good night Charlie. I hope you sleep well."

"Sleep well Cass. Thank you again for the muffins."

He nodded his head and walked off of the porch. You called out after him.

"I like your windchimes by the way!"

Cass smiled and waved goodbye.