The morning cold stung Ty's face as he stacked hay bales in the barn. The smell of straw mixed with damp earth filled his chest and reminded him why he was still there.
Feeding the horses, cleaning the stalls, training Spartacus, checking in on Marion at the hospital, helping Amy with the ranch bills… It was a lot for someone with only $700 in his pocket and a head full of dreams.
But Ty never forgot what he wanted from the very beginning.
To have his own ranch.
Not just work on one. Not be someone's employee forever. But to build a fence with his own hands, give a name to the land, raise horses he trained himself. To have a place that was truly his. Where he could build something bigger than himself.
That desire had burned inside him for years — even before Heartland, before Jack's trust, before Amy.
And now, with Spartacus, something felt different.
There was potential. The horse wasn't just wild anymore. Under Ty's guidance, he was learning to trust. He wasn't just a fierce animal — he was a living promise. A symbol.
Ty knew he couldn't rely on others forever. Even though he was part of the family now, deep down, he still felt the weight of not having land that was fully his.
That same afternoon, while saddling Spartacus for another round of training, he sat on the fence, opened his small notebook, and wrote what he'd never dared to write before:
Plan: Start my own ranch.
Goal: One year to take the first step.
Priority: Train Spartacus to earn income through competitions.
Initial investment: $700
First cattle: 2 calves (research prices).
Land: find cheap property near Hudson.
Name? (To be decided later…)
The system, that inner voice — not robotic, but intimate — flickered inside him:
Unlocked Skill: "Voice of Destiny" – Active.
This path was not in the original timeline.
But it's yours now.
He smiled at the message.
It wasn't just about escaping fate — it was about reshaping it. Taking the reins of life the same way he took the reins of Spartacus.
The horse snorted, agitated. Ty jumped off the fence and gently stroked the black stallion's neck.
— "You're going to be my first champion," he whispered. "And you're going to help me buy my land."
He started training harder. Spartacus still limped a little, but Ty alternated rest days with lighter circuits, controlled jumps, and firm cues. He observed everything. Learned fast. Used every mistake as a stepping stone.
At night, Ty studied land prices. He found small plots about 20 minutes outside Hudson — dry grass, little infrastructure — but they ranged from $5,000 to $7,000 CAD. Out of reach now, but he calculated: if he could earn even $800 per competition, he could start saving.
He also researched young cattle: calves sold for around $350 to $500 CAD in the region, depending on breed. A modest start, but possible.
Dreaming was free. Building the dream? That cost money.
Amy caught him once sitting on the porch, a sheet of numbers on his lap, staring out at the horizon.
— "Thinking about the future?" she asked softly.
Ty looked at her, hesitated, then decided not to hide.
— "I want my own place. My own ranch. Cattle, horses. A piece of land where I can write my own story."
Amy stayed quiet for a while. Then smiled.
— "You deserve that."
He looked down, afraid of sounding selfish.
— "I don't want to abandon you all. But I can't live just waiting for things to happen. I want to build something that's mine… with my own hands."
Amy nodded. She understood. It was the same fire that had always moved Marion. It was part of who they were.
— "Then start. One step at a time. I'm with you."
—
The next morning, Ty woke before sunrise. He mounted Spartacus, even in the fog, and they galloped toward the open field behind the stable.
There, in the middle of nowhere, Ty closed his eyes and imagined fences. Cattle grazing. A small barn. A wooden sign with the name of a ranch that didn't exist yet.
And for the first time, he didn't feel like just a kid searching for a place in the world.
He felt like he was already creating one.
With sweat. With courage. And with faith.
Faith that even with $700 in his pocket, an injured horse, and a hard past…
…he could still build the future with his own hands.