As the final bell of the day pealed through the halls of the school, Jake gathered his things and stuffed them into his backpack as quickly as he could, as the phone in his pocket vibrated.

"Meet me in the parking lot please."

Ms. Owens was texting him?

He still marvelled at the fact that Ms. Owens knew what texting even was, let alone how to do it, and hit her name in his contact list and waited for her to answer her phone.

"Hey...did you find it?" He asked hopefully, as he swung his backpack over one shoulder and made a beeline for the front doors of the school.

"Damn." He said simply, disappointment evident in his tone when she told him she hadn't been successful in finding his memento either.

He'd spent every spare moment retracing his steps from yesterday, and searching for the ring. He'd torn everything out of his locker, checked all of his classes, even gone back to the locker room to look there...but it had all been in vain.

"I need  to find it...that ring means everything to me...it's all I have left of hers..." He confided to her over the phone, his voice thick with emotion, and he went silent for a moment to swallow the lump in his throat.

It was of course at this moment that a hand clapped down on his shoulder, and he spun around to look to see who was interrupting his conversation.

Josh opened his mouth to say something, having overheard the snippet of the conversation and was met instead with a deep scowl.

Jake covered the mouthpiece to his phone and snapped, staring at the leather wearing teen with narrowed eyes. "Just leave me alone. You said plenty this morning," And turned away and sped up his pace towards the door, wanting nothing to do with Josh and his cocky attitude.

"I'll be at the truck in a sec. See you then." He said into the phone, hanging up before Ms. Owens really had a chance to respond, and strode down the rest of the hall, and out the doors into the afternoon sun.

 …

Josh sighed lightly, gripping the ring in his palm and returned it to his pocket as he watched Jake's retreating back. He hadn't meant to piss him off or offend him this morning, he wasn't even trying to insult him, truthfully. It seemed though, he'd done both, and he got the feeling it was going to take a while to get Jake to even give him the time of day.

As he strode towards the janitor's office, he wondered who "her" was, from the bit he'd overheard Jake say. It seemed Jake was becoming more and more of a mystery, layers of secrecy wrapped up tightly in an untrusting teen.

Detention day two.

He reported for duty to the janitor's office, and smirked at Derek as he listened to the Janitor assign him his task for the day. He was to cart a bunch of boxes of old textbooks and equipment down to a storage room in the basement, the dark, damp, bowels of the school building. While it might have been a somewhat exciting place to explore, it wasn't somewhere Josh himself wanted to wind up alone, and he was relieved it wasn't his punishment to do.

Until he heard his assignment and the smirk was quickly replaced with a look of disgust.

"I seriously hope you have like, a hazmat suit then..." He quipped to the janitor as he was assigned with the task of scrubbing graffiti off the bathroom stalls. He was given a thick pair of rubber gloves, a scrub brush, some steel wool, and a spray bottle of chemicals that made his eyes water when it was sprayed, and got to work.

He didn't mind the brain numbingness of the cleaning task. It gave him time to kind of zone out and think and it was far better than having to lug boxes up and down a flight of stairs.

As he scrubbed, he took some time to read some of the markings he was trying to remove, and ended up laughing to himself at some of them. Sure there was the typical crude drawings of certain parts of the anatomy, but there was actually some funny stuff written there too.

"I finally brought my sharpie but have nothing to say."

He read, smirking.

"I used this toilet to get to the ministry of magic"

He laughed,

"Don't look here, the joke's between your legs"

Was his personal favourite though and he continued reading as he scrubbed to help pass the time.

…

Sliding into the front seat of the pickup truck, Jake buckled up and looked to Ms. Owens. "I won't take long at the dock...I promise...but I wanna get there before the sun sets. I was really kinda hoping you'd find it like, in the laundry or something..." He told her.

She shook her head, her expression somber, her eyes filled with something that had his stomach clench with worry. "Jake...I need your help. I know that finding the ring is important to you, and I promise to keep helping you look for it, but there's something we need to go and do now, and we're running out of time." She said, both hands clutching the steering wheel as she returned her eyes to the road ahead, and pulled out of the parking lot.

His eyebrows furrowed tightly with concern as he studied her face and let her words sink in. This was very unusual behaviour for the usually calm and cheerful matriarch of the Owens' family, and he tilted his head.

"What...what's wrong? Sounds serious..." He pressed, hoping she would elaborate.

"The Sheriff was called to old man Jenkins' property this afternoon..." She began slowly, unsure of just how much to tell him of the situation, but continued. "Do you remember him? We've run into him in town a few times?" She asked.

He nodded slowly. The name was somewhat familiar, and he did remember them bumping into an old wrinkly guy a few times at the grocery store and post office. Then again, about half of the county was made up of people over the age of fifty, so he wasn't entirely positive he could have picked Mr. Jenkins' face out of a crowd.

"Well..." She continued gently. "It seems Mr. Jenkins passed away several days ago in his home, likely from a heart attack." She smiled softly to him, glancing over to gauge his reaction to the news.

"Oh. I'm...sorry. We're you friends with him?" He asked, not entirely sure how he could help in this situation...he didn't know the deceased very well, but maybe she just needed some moral support if she was taking the news hard or something.

"Well..I knew him...but we weren't close...but the situation is this..." She continued, as they drove. "He had several animals on his property... A dog...a couple of cats...some chickens and an old cow...They've all been caught and are being taken care of...But there is a mare there who is in very rough shape...she's severely underfed, and skittish as can be...and no one has been able to catch her..." She explained as they made their way towards the center of town.

"The vet thinks she should just be euthanized...she's old..and it will take an awful lot of work to get her trusting and in good health again..." She added, looking to him once more, watching how expressive his face and eyes were as he went through emotions and thoughts.

"No." He said simply, eyebrows wrinkling once more in determination and resolve. "She doesn't have any major injuries, right? Like, her leg's not broken or anything, or like, festering wounds?" He asked, taking in as much information as he could as he formulated a plan in his mind.

"None that we could see, but as I said no one has been able to get close enough to examine her...she could be dangerous just due to being so afraid of people...but..." Mrs Owens trailed off, trying to think of how to word what she was thinking.

"She deserves a chance. I wanna try." He finished for her, shoulders squaring and sitting up a little taller in his seat. "Hey...can we stop at the store first?" He asked, pointing at the parking lot of the grocery store as they approached it.

She pulled into the lot, and came to a stop, fishing around in her purse. Pulling out her wallet she handed him some money and he ran off, reappearing a few minutes later with a full brown paper bag. Setting it between them on the seat he climbed back up and nodded to her as he handed over the change and they continued on their way.

He sat, staring at the window thinking about what was to come, and chewed on his thumb as his eyes danced over fields and fences. After a few minutes in silence he leaned forwards and clicked the radio on. He looked over to ask permission and turned the volume up when she nodded her approval, vaguely recognizing the opening chords as a song started.

"When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse"

He leaned back in his seat again, letting the music wash over him and help him to relax, clearing his mind and focusing on the music as he tried to figure out what the song was.

"And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?"

He smiled a little, as the words seemed so appropriate considering his current situation, and began to hum, recognizing more and more of the song, though not enough to sing along.

"Lights will guide you home...
And ignite your bones..."

He started to mouth the words, outright singing the last line as it finally clicked and he recognized the song.

"And I will try to fix you"

…

As the truck finally eased to a stop outside of a small, dilapidated farmhouse he'd never seen before, he slid down out of his seat and made a face when his feet landed in mud. He wrapped an arm around the bag of supplies he'd picked up at the grocery store and together they walked towards the group of people gathered around staring at a small paddock that had long ago been trampled into mud and puddles.

Mrs. Owens spoke with the Sheriff and the veterinarian and told them that she'd like to give Jake a try at catching the mare before more drastic measures were taken, and the two men reluctantly agreed. He leaned over to speak quietly to Mrs. Owens, knowing she would be far better at handling the crowd of men and rescue workers than he would be. He drifted off through the mud. climbing through the rails of the fence and into the pen.

It took a bit of convincing, and a little bit of wheedling, but Ms. Owens was eventually able to get the men to follow her out towards her truck. She'd come prepared, and she served out coffee from a large thermos and tempted the men with a box of donuts from the baker in order to give Jake space and time to work his magic.

He didn't even see the mare at first. She'd obviously been mightily spooked by the gathering of loud men, and she'd gotten herself as far away from them as she was able to, nearly cowering in the furthest corner by the fence.

Fear, isolation and hunger were things he understood all too well.

He found a slightly less muddy patch and set the brown bag down, digging around in it and pulling out two large apples, one of which he rubbed against his shirt.

Save for the motion of polishing, and then biting into the apple, he remained completely still, turned sideways to the animal so she wasn't intimidated by him, but not leaving himself too vulnerable by turning his back to her. They stood that way for a long while. At first, she just stared at him with eyes wide and wild with fear, and nostrils flaring, stomping every now and then in the hopes of scaring him off. He on the other hand just maintained his position, his eyes roaming over the surrounding fields as they enjoyed the afternoon sun in silence.

After a time the stomping stopped, and though her nostrils still flared at his every movement, she took a cautious step towards him, muscles tense, ready to bolt if he tried to turn to catch her.

He smiled to himself then, and dropped the core of his apple into the sac, and bent at the waist to pull another, and two large carrots out from it.

She whinnied at his movement, stepping backwards, but he just continued on with what he was doing, tucking one apple, and one carrot into the pocket of his sweatshirt and snapping the other carrot in half, biting into it.

Her stomach was winning this war. Her ribs were clearly visible, and she was underweight enough that it was cause for concern, and she could smell and hear the food and she was desperate for it. But could he be trusted enough to approach him?

The crack of his carrot echoed through the silence, and her ears twitched as she eyed him, stepping ever so slowly and carefully to circle him and attempt to approach him from behind.

He watched her, from the corner of his eye, his lips twitching lightly as they tugged into a smile as when mustered up enough courage to approach him.

He moved as slowly as he was able, palming half a carrot in one hand, and an apple in the other, and crossing his wrists behind his back. He watched her for as long as he could from his peripheral vision, having absolutely no worry at this point that she would try and hurt or attack him. He kept his stationary position as she slipped from his sight, using his sense of hearing now to listen for her to approach.

The blast of hot air on the back of his neck as she sniffed him nearly made him jump out of his skin, as he wasn't expecting her to get quite that close this fast, and he bit down hard on his lip to keep from moving, or making a sound, and grinned.

When he still didn't move, she lowered her head, nosing at the fingers of his hands until they uncurled and her treats were released, and her lips nipped at his fingers gently as she snatched up the goods.

He continued to stand silent vigil. Had he attempted at this point to turn and touch her, or even broken the silence by speaking to her, the moment would be lost and the bit of trust he'd gained, severed. It was far more important she get used to his presence without him invading her space, and for her to feel the energy he was exuding, than to talk to or touch her at this point.

He moved one of his hands as slowly as he could as his eyes remained on the horizon in front of him, and dug around in his shirt for another piece of carrot.

Sensing that there was more food to be had, and that he would provide it, she nosed at the back of his neck, the leather skin breathing warm breath softly against the short hairs there, and he was once again grinning, this time because it tickled.

When that didn't seem to get the desired result, she lifted her head enough to set it over his shoulder and try and nose her way into the pocket of his shirt, and he laughed softly, breaking the silence.

Her ears twitched, and her nostrils flared, but his hand slid out with a half carrot in it which he held up to her, and she gobbled it up as quickly as she could as the trust between them grew.

He had one more piece of carrot left in his pocket,and he dug it out and held it up to her, letting her eat with her neck resting over his shoulder, smiling.

Once it was done, he bent slowly, and reached down to dig through the sac and collect several more carrots and a few apples, stuffing them into his pocket until it was bursting, and snapping a carrot in half, holding it up to her.

They stayed this way through a few more carrots and a couple of apples, before he reached slowly up with one hand to touch her nose. His hand froze in mid air when she went to pull away, but she quickly realized he meant her no harm and returned to happily accepting snacks from him. Gradually, she permitted him to pet her. First the bridge of her nose, and then the side of her neck, and by that point he knew that he had earned her trust enough to move on to the next phase.

As she nuzzled a carrot half out of his hand, he stooped to pick up the brown bag that was much lighter than when they'd began this trust building exercise, and strode away towards the barn, to see what she would do. It took her a minute to finish chewing before she realized that her human vending machine had walked away, and she quickly followed him, nosing his neck once more once she'd caught up.

He grinned at her, feeling entirely at ease with her now, as if they were old friends, and he looked inside the barn for a halter and lead rope to put on her. Once he'd located a set, it didn't take much coaxing...an apple through the hole intended for her nose, and she slipped into it with ease, and he smiled in relief. She'd obviously already been tamed, and he figured she'd likely been ridden, too, and his heart was swelling with joy that he'd been asked to come and work with her, saving her from being euthanized. She was incredibly gentle, even playful, and far too sweet to have been destroyed.

It wasn't long before he was leading her out of the paddock and over towards Ms. Owens' truck, to be greeted by slack jawed expressions of surprise by the men, and he grinned as he led her along, feeding her more carrots and apples each time she nuzzled at him.

"Can we keep her?" He asked, his eyes pleading Ms Owens.

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Author's note: The song playing in the truck is Fix you, by Coldplay.