"Well the good news is, she's okay. She just needs to rest and get some fluids in her, not a scratch on the poor girl." I was glad to hear Maggie proclaim that Marlis was okay, after everything it would have been depressing to hear that she might have been hurt.

"She's sleeping on the couch. Take her up to the main house Duncan, Zib she'll need the blood wiped off her. Do it before she wakes up, she might be traumatized if she wakes up still covered in blood. Katherine can help you, Brin make yourself useful and help clean the mess up." I noticed that Katherine nodded, Duncan went and picked Marlis up from the couch and we headed back up to the main house. I directed Duncan to the room that she shared with Alexia.

I hadn't really been in the room since Katherine and her kids had arrived, when I opened the door I realized even more that Marlis was living in hell. Alexia had more or less taken over the room and everything that was considered 'Marlis' was pushed near her bed. Even Katherine inhaled sharply, Alexia up until that point had been reclining on her bed but sat bolt upright when we came charging through the door.

"What is she doing here?" Alexia said accusingly, she was glaring at my sister...Alexia wasn't even trying to hide her disdain for Marlis.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Duncan demanded as I cleared Marlis' bed so that she could be placed down on it.

"It means I'm so sick of listening to her crying and calling out to her dead mom, she's got a new mom. I don't know why she can't accept that, she should have just stayed gone." The anger that sprang to the forefront of my mind was all consuming as I turned from Marlis' bed to look at Alexia. She must have realized what she said because she shrunk back into her bed.

When I felt an arm on my shoulder it took a moment for me to register. But I looked at the hand and followed it until my eyes met Katherine's, she was clearly angry too as her jaw worked overtime.

"Leave this to me Zanzibar, you clean Marlis up." Though Katherine barely spoke above a whisper her words were clipped and there was obvious anger being restrained. I wanted to argue with her but I watched as she went over to Alexia and took hold of her ear, twisting it in her grip as she pulled her hard from the bed and marched her out the room.

"Mackenzie! Hunter, Deacon! Get out here right now." I turned back to Marlis as soon as Katherine was gone out of the room, Duncan had put her down and had removed her muddied and dirty boots. He kissed her forehead before he pulled away and stood.

"If you need any help I'll be out in the lounge, okay?" I nodded, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. All I could think was what had been going through Marlis' mind, what she'd been through and that I'd been too wrapped up in my own stuff to even consider her.

When Duncan had left I stripped Marlis out of her soiled clothes and made sure to burn them, I washed her down as gently as I could without waking her then dressed her in pajamas before tucking her in tightly.

I stood there for a few moments, just watching to make sure she was sleeping okay. When I turned to look around the room that used to be hers I felt my anger grow again and began pulling down things that I knew belonged to Alexia. There was a lot of stuff...mostly posters and stupid stuffed animals that didn't need to be in there.

Taking the only empty rubbish bin I began stuffing things into it until the room was less cluttered and Marlis' stuff could fit again. The single rubbish bin was nowhere near big enough for all of Alexia's things to fit but I had cleared enough until the morning.

I felt totally drained when I was finished, it was all so draining and I found myself laying down next to Marlis.

When I woke some time later I felt a presence in the room, it was dark and I assumed it was dad because it was comforting. Though whoever it was didn't say anything I felt as if they wanted me to go back to sleep...so I did.

The next time I woke, the room was just starting to lighten with the rising sun. Looking down, I smiled slightly to see Marlis cuddled into my side. Rolling over carefully I glanced over to Alexia's bed to see her still fast asleep, facing the wall.

The rubbish bin full of stuff was gone and a lot more of Alexia's things had been cleared then what I'd done.

Getting up from Marlis' bed I went out into the lounge, Duncan was fast asleep on one of the couches snoring softly. Someone had thrown a blanket over him and he had found a pillow from somewhere, I was half tempted to crawl in next to him and go back to sleep but my stomach was growling.

"Morning Zib, how'd you sleep? How's our Marli girl doing?" It was Beckett, dad and Katherine sitting in the kitchen. Dad looked absolutely exhausted, as did Katherine but Beckett looked about as excited as one could be after the events of last night.

"I think she'll be okay, no injuries and no bruises. She was sitting up in a tree when I found her, I could just reach her foot when I was sitting on Lakin...Gimmen is dead though. We'll have to go out and bring him back if we can." I don't know what was worse, leaving him out there to rot or bringing him back to the offal pit. Dad might be kind and even dig him a grave but he rarely ever let us do that for horses as they were just too big to bury most of the time.

"Beckett and I are going to do that soon, we shot the buffalo last night. It was a bull and a few cows, hopefully there aren't any juveniles running around. Sit down, we're just going over a work schedule for the kids. Got any work you need doing?" Dad pulled out the seat next to him, I sunk down in it as I frowned...did he mean Katherine's kids?

"Well there's the tack room and the tack? It hasn't been polished or sorted through in ages, some of the hay bales need cleaning out too...the gardens, the dog kennels will need moving soon. Uhm, there's a lot of little tasks around that need doing. I hope you don't expect Marlis to do that sort of stuff?" I really had hoped dad would understand that Marlis was having a real difficult time with things and that he'd go easy on her but apparently I was wrong.

"Oh no, this work isn't for Marlis. I'm sending you into town today, you're going to buy all the damn tutu's and plastic crowns you can get your hands on. She's not going outside ever again, bloody hell I knew it was a stupid idea getting rid of her things. It's my fault she ran away last night..." dad stopped when he felt Katherine put a hand on his shoulder, it seemed to comfort him enough to stop his self-destructive thoughts.

"It's my fault too, Alexia admitted to telling Marlis that Helena had gone beyond the hills and that if she followed them for seven days and nights that she'd find her mom." Katherine stopped abruptly, she knew as well as I that if Marlis had gone undetected and had attempted to go seven days and nights that she would have ended up dead.

"Maggie was right, I've been protecting my kids while letting you three suffer and I'm so sorry for that. We're supposed to be a family and I'm doing a poor job of bringing everyone together, Marlis is the youngest and she should have been the one we were looking out for...but I wasn't, I know I wasn't." Again Katherine cut her sentence short at the thought of what could have happened to Marlis, I was kind of amused at dad's demand though. I hated shopping but if it meant that it would be a surprise for Marlis then I would happily do it.

"Okay, so we've got our tasks for the day. Katherine is going to look after Marlis, Beckett and I are going to take the kids out to do work and Zib you're going into town." We broke apart after that, Duncan wasn't on the couch when I walked by. I went to shower and came back for a quick bite and to grab dad's bank card before heading out to one of the trucks.

"Zib, wait up! I'm coming with you." I frowned when I turned to look at Duncan, I knew that Beckett or dad would have told him about my days plans and seeing as he was likely already packed up he was free to do whatever he wanted.

"Don't look at me like that, I've got a little sister like Marlis. Loves pink and purple so I know what I'm doing." Out of nowhere I began laughing, it was so typical that Duncan would know more about what princesses liked wearing that I would but I took hold of his hand as we walked out to the truck.

"So I suppose you play tea parties and dress up as well?" Even though it was a joke, Duncan nodded his head with all seriousness in his expression.

"Damn straight I do, only the best for my sister. It turns into picnics or banquets but I rarely ever get to see her so I spoil the sh*t out of her whenever I do." It was cute and admirable that Duncan would do that sort of stuff for his sister. He was this well muscled, lean guy that would look totally out of place at tea parties. But, I realized that Duncan viewed his sister completely different to how I viewed mine, she was precious to him whereas Marlis was cute to me.

Our ride into town was fairly quiet, Duncan did most of the driving and talked whenever the music grew stale. We laughed and shared stories here and there but otherwise we were both absorbed in our own little worlds. Marlis was still sleeping when we'd left so I couldn't wait to buy things and take them home for her to look at and wear.

We made short work of the shopping through, being a fairly small town there were only three stores that potentially sold tiara's and tutus and they were pretty basic. Duncan also helped me pick out a few other things that Marli girl might have liked including fake jewelery and a few toys too.

"Do you think she'll like everything?" I asked for the millionth time as Duncan pulled the truck up to the house. It was late afternoon by the time we had made it back to the station and we were both tired, I tried not to think about the fact that Duncan was leaving tomorrow and I wouldn't see him again for a few months. They'd be back a few times through the year but it was depressing to think that I'd have to wait any amount of time to actually see him.

"Oh my gosh! Zanzibar did you buy all these for me?" Marlis came running out to the truck as we unloaded and dove head first into one of the bags. I looked at Duncan who was watching her with the biggest smile on his face.

"Not just me, Duncan helped me pick a lot of things out. But daddy and Katherine sent us in to town to buy things for you...do you like them? How are you feeling?" Marlis was pulling a tutu up over her jeans and already had her arm looped through a crown. She looked so happy, the happiest I had seen her in ages and it was all because she could be herself again.

"Thank you Duncan! Thank you Zanny, I love them all so much! Daddy said I'm not allowed outside anymore...but that's not true, is it?" Marlis stopped her digging for a moment to ask Duncan and I. I honestly couldn't say, I think Marlis' little adventure took a few years off of dad and really made him realize a few things.

"We'll see Marli, we'll take it slow okay? Anyway lets get your things put away and go have some dinner...I'm really hungry." Duncan patted his stomach as he spoke, he wasn't the only one. We'd snacked on a few things throughout the day but otherwise had more or less gone without eating so that we could get in and out of town as quickly as possible.

Later that night while we were all eating dinner Maggie banged the table with her hand a few times to get everyones attention.

"As most of you know, it's tradition of us to get up and say thank you to the family for having stay for the shearing season. I know you're still not used to it Garrett and you likely never will be used to it, but we...the team just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for letting us come back year after year to do this work, I know we don't always look like we enjoy it but your place is choice and we wouldn't have it any other way. Things are a bit different this year, new faces and a few new challenges but you'll get through it all because you're strong and...uh...you might have a new son-in-law soon." I went beetroot red as Maggie announced that, there were a few wolf whistles throughout the room and a lot of laughs as Maggie bellowed her hearty, full throated laugh before sitting down.

We'd done this for as long as I could remember, dad would get up next and say something.

"Thanks Maggie, Moosy too. As always the food is great and you're leaving my family and I fatter and healthier for it. Team, I just wanted to thank you. You're a no much around lot, you get the job done as fast as I've ever seen and there's never been a complaint that couldn't be fixed fast. As for the son-in-law, Duncan. Welcome to the family, I might need you to stay on mate and help us out." If I had been standing up I think I would have fainted, the shame was too much for me to even think about. Dad had openly accepted and welcomed Duncan into the family and we were in a two day old relationship!

Not just that, he'd more or less offered him a full time job on the station too. I felt Duncan's hand squeeze my thigh, it took my attention away from the murderous thoughts that were rolling around in my head.

Looking up at him I smiled, "what do you say Zib? You wouldn't mind me staying on a few extra months, would ya?" Duncan gave me that usual smile and I found myself responding with a smile of my own.

"How could I turn you down?" Again there were a few wolf whistles as I leaned in to Duncan and planted a kiss on his cheek. If people were expecting anything more than that they would be waiting for an eternity.

"Duncan, we'll be sad to see you go. But, how could you turn down an offer like that?" Moosy asked from down the table, I don't think it even crossed Duncan's mind to turn the offer down as he pulled me in closer to his side.

There were a few chuckles and clapping as people congratulated us but otherwise dinner was done and cleaning needed to happen.

"And before everyone gets up and leaves, I would just like to add that this whole experience has been a huge culture shock. My kids and I are still trying to find our feet but we're getting there slowly and seeing as they haven't really done much while they've been here...I volunteer them and myself to do wash-up duty tonight." The clapping drowned out the grumbling of Brin, Alexia, Mackenzie and the twins as Katherine offered up their time and labour. Truth be told I'd only ever seen Brin do much of anything and it had been whilst dragging her bottom lip.

As always though I helped clear the dishes off the table once everyone was done and roped Marlis into carrying a few plates too. Beckett too helped clear things until Linda showed up looking a little out of breath and in need of a seat.

Beckett took one look at her and handed his dishes off to Duncan before following her out the door, I kind of wanted to know what was happening and why she looked so panicked but also didn't want to disturb their little moment so instead went to help Katherine.

"Zanzibar you really don't have to help, I appreciate it though. I'm sure the kids do as well," honestly they all looked ready to kill me and they probably would have if they also didn't look like they were ready to drop off to sleep in the blink of an eye.

"It's fine Katherine, many hands make light work anyways." I muttered. Dishes was one of the jobs I had never looked forward to doing, I actually hated doing it most of the time. But sometimes, when conversation was good and people laughed and had fun it was a nice chore to do.

And in the thick of it, Marlis stood on a box next to the sink scrubbing the dishes. She wore a pink checker shirt, a yellow tutu over her blue jeans and a fake silver tiara. I smiled to myself as I watched her, she too was doing a job she hated but she looked fabulous whilst doing it.