"Come on Red leave that poor squirrel alone." The girl commanded and continued to the corral. When she reached the corral she looked around for her horse, but she could not see him.

"Lancelot!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. A loud whinny and the thunder of pounding hooves answered her call. She watched as the big black gelding raced toward her with his head and tail held high. He truly was a vision of beauty. He came to a stop within a foot of her and nuzzled her pockets looking for the carrot she always brought him. She reached out and patted the white blaze that ran down his face.

"Not so fast boy." She laughed as her blue eyes shone with love for the big black horse that stood sixteen hands. "You know you have to shake for it." The girl bent over with her right hand extended. Lancelot lifted his left leg and offered it to his master, who took it in her right hand and pumped it up and down three times. After the girl let go of the leg she pulled out the carrot she had in her pocket and gave it to Lancelot.

"You know Uncle Nick thinks I spoil you." She said as she patted his neck. She put her arms around the horse’s strong neck burying her face in his mane as the tears began to fall.

She was so excited. This was the first time her father let her accompany him to a horse auction. She watched the horses being led in and out of the auction ring as she stood beside her father. She noticed how her father carefully studied each horse and only bid on the very best horses. At lunchtime the Auction broke for lunch.

"Come on Tara. Let's go get something to eat." Her father said to her as he started to walk toward the confession booth.

After Tara and her father finished their lunch they walked around the grounds looking at all the horses while they waited for the Auction to resume. As they walked past a group of horses, she noticed a little bay mare with a white stripe running down her face. The mare's ribs showed though her dull coat and her hooves where too long. The blonde girl recognized the little mare as one of the horses that was on the auction block early that morning; one of the horses her father didn't bid on.

Tara watched as a man came and roughly grabbed the little mare and tried to lead her away. When the little mare refused to move the man started to hit her with a whip. Without another thought the eleven year old girl ran toward the man and the horse.

"Don't hit her." She screamed at the man.

"She is my horse girly I will do what I want with her." The man sneered.

"Tara, let's go." Her father said as he tried to pull her away from the man.

"Papa you can't let him hurt her." She pleaded.

"The horse is his and even if I don't agree with how he handles her it is his business honey." Her father explained.

"Then buy her. You said that I could chose any horse I wanted for my twelfth Birthday. I want her." She cried.

"Are you sure sweetheart. You can have a better horse." Her father asked.

"Yes, I am sure." Tara said with conviction. She knew that she could have chosen a horse from one of the high bred stock on the Barkley ranch, but she wanted this little mare.

Heath knew that Tara was choosing this horse because she felt sorry for the little mare. He knew he should tell her no, but as he looked into his daughter's determined blue eyes he saw a fire that he had not seen burn in those eyes since her mother died three years ago. He turned to the man.

"How much do you want for the mare?" He asked.

"One hundred." The man said.

"I'll give you sixty. We both know she isn't worth half that much." Heath countered

"Okay sixty it is and only because I like the little lady." The man said knowing that he got a great deal since he only paid fifteen for her. Heath handed the man sixty dollars. The man handed the lead rope to Tara and walked away.

"So what are you going to call her." Heath asked.

"I think I will call her Gem." Tara said as she stroke the white strip that ran down the little mares face.

When they arrived at the ranch with the horses they bought at the auction Nick came out to look over the new string of horses. When he saw Gem he could not believe that Heath would buy such a horse. The little mare was just under fourteen hands and she had bad conformation. She stood pigeon toed and when she trotted she threw her front legs out to the side. The mare had to be at least fifteen.

"What do you call that. " Nick scoffed.

Heath saw his daughter's face drop at Nick's words. "This is Gem, Tara's new horse. She picked the mare out herself."

"Well your daughter sure did not inherit your eye for horse flesh." Nick stated shaking his head, as he looked the mare over.

"Maybe not Nick, but she inherited her mothers compassion." Heath said with pride in his voice as he grinned at his little girl. "The man that owned the mare was beating her so Tara insisted we buy her."

Tara smiled back at her father as she saw the love he had for her shine though his dark blue eyes. Her heart swelled with pride when she heard him tell Nick that she was like her mother. She and her mother were really close. When her mother died during childbirth three years ago part of her heart died as well. She went into a shell and did not talk to anyone for over a year. It was her father's strength and love that finally brought her out of it. He had been there for her even thought his own heart was broken by the death of his wife and unborn child. He never gave up on Tara and she knew he would always be there for her. Now he was defending her choice of horse to her Uncle Nick. She ran and threw her arms around her father.

After Gem had put on some weight she was actually a nice looking horse. Heath determined by looking at the little horse’s teeth that she was ten years old; her poor condition had made her look older.

Even though the little bay mare didn’t have the best conformation and trotted funny Tara loved her and rode Gem everywhere. Everyone would tease her about her little mare especially her Uncle Nick, but she did not care. A year after she got Gem she decided that she wanted a foal from Gem so she approached her father and Uncle about getting Gem bred.

"Father, Uncle Nick could I bred Gem to Prince." She asked.

"You want to bred that mongrel of a horse to pure bred like Prince." Nick exploded. "Any foal that mare would have would be worthless.

"Worthless! Tara screeched. "So does that make me worthless."

"Now where do you get that from?" Nick asked his angry niece.

"Everyone knows my father isn't a full Barkley, that his blood isn't pure. So does that make me worthless." She asked. Her voice raising with each word.

"That is enough Tara." Heath yelled at his daughter. "You will apologize this instant to your Uncle."

"No I won't. He has done nothing but insult my horse since I got her." She yelled back at her father as she stormed from the room and ran to her room. Once in her room she flung herself on the bed and cried.

Heath watched as his daughter raced from the room. He was furious at her for her behavior. "I am sorry Nick I will make sure she apologizes to you." Heath said as he started to follow his daughter.

"No, Heath I should apologize to her. I never realized that she would parallel that horse with your life. That she would feel that she is not as much of a Barkley as the rest of us because of what I said about her horse."

"I always thought that it was in the past. That it would not affect my child, but I guess sin affects everyone." Heath said as he looked out the window.

"Let me go talk to her." Nick asked as he placed a hand on his brothers shoulder." Heath just nodded his head.

As Tara lay on the bed crying she heard a knock on the door. "Tara, can I come in." Nick pleaded.

"Go away." Tara ordered. "I don't ever want to talk to you again. I hate you." She knew her father would be angry with her for the way she was treating her uncle, but she did not care.

"Tara, I am sorry if I hurt you when I teased you about your horse. I was only joking." Nick apologized though the closed door.

Tara slowly got up and walked to the door and opened it to allow her uncle in. "If you never meant anything you said about Gem then why did you say them?"

Nick looked into her dark blue eyes that were so much like her father's and saw the pain that he had caused. "I said them because I thought they where funny and because I am stupid. I never realized that you would take them seriously. I did not know I was hurting you. Please forgive a foolish old man." Nick said giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

"You are not old and you are not stupid. You are just insensitive, and I am probably too sensitive." Tara said as she looked at her feet. "I forgive you Uncle Nick. Just never say anything bad about my horse again."

"Okay I won't and if you really want to breed her to Prince you can."

A year later Gem was due to give birth to her foal any day. Tara took up camping in the stable. Heath, who did not like the idea of his daughter sleeping alone in the barn, camped with her.

It was the fifth night in the barn that Gem finally had her foal. Tara was asleep when Heath shook her awake.

Tara watched as the little foal came into the world. Her father had to help the mare because she was having difficulty and he had to break the sack that surrounded the foal because it would not break. If her father had not been present when the foal was born both mare and foal probably would have died.

Both father and daughter watched as the little steel gray foal with a white blaze on his face struggled to his feet and walked over to his mother and began to suck the first milk, which is essential to his survival.

"Well you have yourself a colt. What are you going to name him?" Asked Heath.

"Sir Lancelot." Tara answered with pride in her voice as she watched her newborn colt suckle.

Nick came into the barn and whistled when he saw the foal. "That is one good looking colt. Maybe we should keep him as a stud."

"No. He is Tara's horse so he will be gelded. A stallion would be too much for her to handle." Heath stated.

With the help of her father Tara trained Lancelot. She would spend every day after school playing with him. Within the first two weeks of his birth she had him halter broke. She made sure that he would allow her to pick up his feet. She even trained him to shake a hoof. She would put blankets over his back so that he would get use to something on his back.

When Lancelot turned two she started to train him to longe. She introduced him to the saddle. At first she just left it on the corral fence so he could see it and smell it. Then she started putting it on his back and the taking it off. Finally when he was use to the weight of the saddle on his back she slowly did up the girth. He was a little nervous, but he trusted her.

Heath always watched as his daughter work with the colt. He would give her pointers of what to do and what not to do. But she seamed to be a natural and picked things up very quickly. She reminded him of him self when he was her age.

Heath remembered Nick saying that Tara did not inherit his eye for horseflesh, but as he watched the black two year old colt move around the corral, he realized that Tara had seen something in the mare that he himself had missed. After Lancelot was born they had rebreed the little bay mare. The filly Gem had was also a good-looking foal. Nick was so impressed that he insisted that the mare be added to the breeding stock even though her foals would not be purebreds.

When Lancelot turned three Tara insisted that she should be the one to ride him. Heath did not like the idea and was afraid that the horse would buck her off. He told her that he would ride the colt first. Tara defied her father's wishes. The next day as Heath watched, Tara put the saddle and bridle on Lancelot like she had been doing for the past year. She walked him to the other end of the corral from where her father stood, and she mounted Lancelot.

Lancelot just stood there and turned his head to smell her leg as if to say "What are doing up there." Tara petted his long black neck and then she dismounted.

Heath came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. His face was red with anger. "I told you I would ride that horse first. He could have bucked you off. You could have been killed."

"But he didn't buck and I knew he wouldn't. I am sorry I defied you, but you would not listen to me. I am as good of a rider as you, Uncle Nick, or any of the boys, but because I a girl you treat me like glass. He is my horse and I should be the one to ride him." She told her father.

Heath looked at his seventeen-year-old daughter. She was right she was a good rider and she could read horses. Of course she would have known if Lancelot were going to buck or not. He had refused to let her try to ride Lancelot first because he was afraid that she would be hurt or killed. He had lost his wife and one child he could not bare the thought of losing Tara too. Since his wife's death he had been over protective of his only daughter. Now he realized his little girl was growing up. Soon she would be leaving him to start her own life.

"You are right, I should have listened to you. But you should not have disobeyed me. For that you are grounded for the rest of the week. You are not to work with Lancelot until the week is over. Then you can ride him." Heath said as he took Lancelot's reins and led him to the barn.

When her week of grounding was over Tara began riding Lancelot. Heath accompanied her on her rides. At first he rode with her because he was afraid that she could get hurt on a green horse, but latter he rode with her because he enjoyed the time with his daughter. Tara also enjoyed the rides with her father. They would ride together almost every night except for times when Heath was too busy to accompany her, and then Tara would ride Lancelot alone.

Heath was very impressed at how well his daughter had train Lancelot that he had her help train the new foals born on the ranch.

TWO YEARS LATER "He will still be here when you get back you know."

Tara let go of Lancelot's neck and turned to see her father standing beside her. "I know but I will miss him while I gone."

"Oh sure you going to miss the horse, but not your father." Heath said with a mock hurt in his voice as his blue eyes danced with laughter.

"You know I will miss you." Tara said as she threw her arms around her father.

"Well you don't have to go to Europe with your Aunt Audra and cousin Sue you know. You could stay here with me and your horse." Heath said.

"I know, but I want to see Europe and it will only be six months. Sue is looking forward to us going together. You will take care of Lancelot for me won't you? You will ride him so he does not get out of shape?"

"Don't worry I'll take care of your horse." Heath said.

"I know you will look after Lancelot, but who is going to look after you." Tara asked with concern in her voice.

"I'll take care of myself sweetheart. Now we better get moving if you are going to make that train. Heath answered as he took her by he hand. They both exited the corral and headed back to the house with Red racing ahead of them chasing squirrels.