Chapter Twenty-Six

Justin's P.O.V.



Wow, that girl is a serious piece of work. I'm just not getting through to her. Whatever way I try doesn't work, so I think I'm going to have to enforce some tough measures. She's not going to like what I have to do. I assure you, I'm not too fond of the idea either, but I can't have her flying off the handle like she did earlier. She will kill someone if she doesn't learn to control her temper. Don't get me wrong, I think Todd was wrong to say what he did and I will have words with him once everything has calmed down. However, I think Ariya was more wrong in this situation. She should have walked away. She should have come and got me so she could have a session with me. She should have done anything other than beat Todd up.

She really has an adversity to walking away and being the bigger person. I can't tell if that's just something she doesn't like or if it's because of something that happened. What I do know, is that she needs to keep talking. Even if she doesn't want to, she needs to. This is where my extreme measures will have to kick in. She's going to get a shock when we get back to the ranch, that's for sure. If I can just keep her and Todd away from each other for the trip back, then we have a good chance of having no more fights break out. Maybe that's wishful thinking, but that's what I'm hoping for.

I keep Ariya in my sight as we jog back to the campsite. This round up can't end quick enough. I almost feel like I'm watching a bomb. Like I can see the numbers counting down, but still never actually knowing when the explosion will happen. At least back at the ranch I can separate the two of them better. When I was deployed, my terror threat was always high, always expecting something to happen. Then when you knew something was just about to happen or had just happened, your body went into extremely high alert. I feel like I'm sitting at high alert, just waiting for the extreme to hit at any moment. I know the consequences aren't anywhere near the same, but my body is trained to deal with threats and threat assessment the same way. It's very difficult to stop thinking that way, even when you're back Stateside and away from an actual war zone.

I've never met anyone who has downright insulted my time in service. Sure, there have been people who don't agree with where we were and what we did, or those that don't know how to react so they just ignore it completely, but they have never insulted my service days. Ariya isn't one to shy away from the unconventional. If she feels like saying it, she will, even if it's not the politically correct thing to say. Now, I'm not saying I agree with all this politically correct trash, but there are times when you have to keep your thoughts to yourself. Obviously Miss Flynn doesn't think that way. I don't know why I thought any different really.

Once we get back to camp, Ariya makes sure Splash is settled before she grabs her sleeping bag and heads off into the distance. She's angry, but you know what? She has no right to be angry right now. I'm the one who should be angry. She's broken pretty much every rule I've given her and she's angry?! Does she think she's the only one who has the right to get mad at people? Does she think she's the only one who gets upset or frustrated at what people say to and about her? She needs to stop being so selfish and think about other people for once. I'm sure she doesn't even know how to do that, seeing as she's been in care and then on the streets. She's probably spent a great part of her life on her own, and worrying solely about herself, but she needs to learn not to be so self-centered.

Todd, Louise and Mike are sitting round the fire when Ariya walks past. No one says a word. All I hear is the crackling of the fire. Todd is holding his ribs gingerly, so I say, “Sit up. If you slouch it'll hurt more. Mike, did you bandage his ribs up?”

“No. We don't do that anymore.”

“No, but he needs to ride back to the ranch. He'll need the extra support. Not too tight. Todd, keep your mouth shut and stay away from her. I'm warning you, she's out for your blood. I can't watch you constantly on the way back because I'll be herding the cattle, so can you stay away from her?”

He quietly says, “Yes sir. I'll stay away.”

“Good. Keep your mouth shut as well.”

He nods.

Maybe he has learned his lesson. He does look a bit sheepish right now and I don't think it's just the pain. Although, he does need to man up a bit. I'm sure he is hurting, but he doesn't need to act so weak about it.

Ariya is staring at the sky when I place my sleeping bag next to hers. She doesn't turn to look at me, but I know she's seen me. It doesn't go unnoticed by me that she still won't turn her back on me. That must have something to do with the scars. I've been aware of her need to watch everyone and everything since she arrived on my drive. Any time I've been behind her, she's freaked out or reacted violently. Someone did something pretty nasty to her, if her reaction is anything to go by. She doesn't act scared, more angry and protective. Like she's going to prevent anything happening again. I think a lot of her fighting is to protect herself, emotionally and physically.

I don't say anything. I'm not angry; more frustrated and disappointed with her. I'm going to ignore her for now and see if that bothers her in the slightest. I'm not holding my breath, because it hasn't seemed to bother her before. I don't know why this time will be any different. I let myself drift off to sleep, I'll hear her if she gets up or tries to escape so I'm not worried about falling asleep. As I slowly drift off, I hear Ariya reciting something under her breath. It sounds like people's names. I've heard her muttering things before when she doesn't want to sleep, so I'm guessing that's what she's doing now.



I'm awake really early the next morning. As I stretch to get the kinks out of my body, I notice Ariya is already awake. In fact, on closer inspection, it looks like she hasn't even slept. Instead of greeting her, I say, “If you insist on not sleeping, then you'll need to eat a good breakfast. I'm hoping to get at least half way back before stopping.”

She doesn't reply, not that I'm really expecting her to. We can both be stubborn if that's the way she wants to play it.

Over breakfast, I explain the rules of driving the cattle back. I tell Ariya and Todd that the horses will do the work; they mostly just need to sit on the horse and make sure they stay in the saddle. I explain that if they see one of the herd going astray, they need to cut it back into the herd, so the others don't follow. The horses know how to do this, so I'm confident they will pick up on which animals need herding back.

I finish up by saying, “I want to get at least half way back to the ranch before stopping for the night, so we need to get a move on. It's going to be a long time in the saddle, so be prepared for it. Ariya, you stay away from Todd or we're going to have serious problems.”

She glares at me and grinds out, “With pleasure.”

She really hates this guy. Before Ariya appeared, he wasn't really like this. It's like she's brought out the worst in him. He is a bit chauvinistic and I've had to pull him up on a few things he's said to Lou, but never to this extent. I don't know how he isn't scared of Ariya to be honest. It's like he doesn't mind taking a beating or something. If that's the case, the guy has got issues all of his own.

We drive the cattle home at quite a steady pace, so we make it just over half way back before the light has faded too much for us to continue. The cattle are tired so they eat and doze. I'm not worried about them straying too far. They're too tired to go anywhere before we start heading for home again.

Ariya doesn't eat dinner, she just sits and watches the cattle until I tell her to go to bed. She hasn't eaten anything all day, which is a little disconcerting. She's using up a lot of energy being in the saddle for this many hours, she needs to keep her strength up. I suppose living on the streets, you never know when your next meal is going to be, so going for a day without food isn't unknown to her. That thought does make me a bit sad, and it leads me to wonder why she doesn't snatch up the chance to grab a meal every opportunity she gets while she's here. She certainly is a puzzle, that's for sure.

We start again at 4am, heading for home. At this rate, we should be back by early afternoon. I'll be glad to get back. I'm looking forward to a nice long shower and the chance to relax a bit and not have to worry so much about Todd and Ariya being at each other's throats. Well, more like Ariya being at Todd's throat. He doesn't really stand a chance against her.

Once all the cattle are safely in the coral, I say, “Take the horse's tack off and wash them off before putting them in their stalls. There's wash down stuff in the saddle room. Make sure you use the stuff with lineament in it, to help their muscles. Y'all can go shower after that. I'll order take out, so no one needs to cook.”

Everyone goes off to sort their horses out. I notice that Ariya waits until everyone has started washing the horses down before she goes into the saddle room. I'm guessing she doesn't want to be near anyone. Well, she's going to get a bit of a shock, because I'm going in there now. When I enter the room, she's putting the wash down lineament into the bucket of water. When she hears me walk in, she spins around, so she's facing me instead of having her back to the door. I can't be sure, but I think I see her relax slightly when she sees it's me. She doesn't say anything though, she leaves with her bucket and sponge. She's good at this ignoring game. In fact, apart from ignoring everyone, she's actually been pretty well behaved today. I know that Todd has stayed well away from her, which helps greatly.

Todd, Lou and Mike all finish before Ariya and myself, so they head their separate ways to sort themselves out. I watch Ariya closely; she's carefully washing Splash down, like she actually cares about him. After recent events, I didn't think it was possible for her to care about anyone or anything. Except maybe herself.

When she's finished and Splash is back in his stable, she gives him and the rest of the horses some hay and checks all their waters. The others just assumed the stalls were ready for the horses.

I say, “I'm gonna lock you in your room so we can both wash up. I'll let you out when the food gets here.”

She doesn't respond, just walks toward the house. I sigh as I follow her. She's not helping herself or making this easy for either of us. I don't want to take drastic measures, but I will if I have to.

The pizza arrives an hour later. It has to come from the nearest town, which isn't particularly close, hence the reason we pretty much always cook for ourselves. It's nice not to have to worry about making something every once in a while though. When I open Ariya's door, she's got socks round her hands and she's punching the wall. Does this girl ever give up? I mean, seriously? How can she keep going with the fighting and training, especially when she hasn't eaten a thing all day?

“The pizza is here.”

She grunts, “Not hungry.”

“You have to be hungry. You haven't eaten all day. You're going to eat, Miss Flynn. I don't even care if it's one slice, but you're going to eat something.”

She throws the gloves, er socks, down and silently follows me. Before I get to the stairs, I stop and turn to face her. She wasn't expecting the abrupt stop and she almost crashes into me. She doesn't show any emotion on the matter, she simply takes an extra step back and eyes me carefully. She's thrown up her defenses and I can see the hardness in her eyes.

“Listen, Ariya, you might think I'm being a jerk or that I'm ragging on you, but I'm not. I'm just trying to help you. You don't see it now, but by the time you leave, you will understand. I know what anger does to you. I also know you can't live like it for the rest of your life. It will either eat you up from the inside out or it'll get you into some form of trouble that you won't be able to get out of. I do know what I'm talking about. If you're not going to listen to me, then I'm going to have to make you listen to me. I don't want to do it that way, but you're leaving me with no choice.”



She rolls her eyes at my words, but doesn't say anything. I don't think she believes me. She really is going to get a shock tomorrow. I'll allow her to sleep in a real bed tonight, because we've been out in the open for nearly a week. Tomorrow, everything changes. Tomorrow, we find out what she's really made of and we find out if she really is as tough as she acts.